Everything
There's too much to cover than there's room for in the title!
BIG BIG stuff here, so PAY ATTENTION!:
Ok, We got Sylph! That's good - now we need to get her to Ras Mar...he's in Agapollack - an underground city being controlled by hell. He's there with all the Jade Brothers trying to stop the Bwel Cromth from coming into the real world. What is the Bwel Cromth you ask? Good question! From what we saw, it's a giant pig-headed monster with 4 arms and it's scale 5! EEP! That's what Ras was fighting all by himself?! ACK! Sylph really needs to help him!!!! This adventure was soc huge, we brough in 2 more players to help with the ass kicking (as in the bad guys kicking our asses). Thanks for coming guys! Those hit points you lost could have been ours! ^_-
And FYI, this game update will be split up in 2 main sections for understandibility - the Orange will be the party in Agapollack. The Purple will be the party in the Vendrill's Spire.
The party gathered in Agapollack - Gray Tarrenson, Half Elf, Paladin of Venna & retired weapons master; Forgan IceWing, Drak Paladin of Haltessa and Malfestian Lord; Kyros the swashbuckling magic user; Alus, Knight of the order of the Golden Dragon and the guy who formerly had the power of "dust cloud"; Sashraddon Zarris, Forlumb's daughter and Gray's girlfriend, also a fay kin; and Sylph, the fay that was formerly the Princess Sarah Tar who loved Ras Mar more than anything or anyone. MacCarr (the giant Bard) and Vorren (the air dragon) were smart enough to stay outside and not even go in there. Smart move. Once they gathered together and other troops separated and decided where to go and what needed to be done, the party saw the direction that Ras headed and knew that's where they needed to bring Sylph. She honestly didn't want to go because she was scared out of her mind of what they might meet along the way. Too bad for her, she was the one who could help them get across - there was a lake of lava between where they were and where they needed to be. Yikes! They convinced her to take them all and the party was flying across the lava towards the next piece of "dry land". Uh oh....Monster....The party was then attacked by one of the greatest Demons available to hell - the Balor! Scale 2 and covered with flaming armor!!! This won't be pretty. The party fought however they could, but only did minimal damage to this thing. It didn't seem to be hurt at all! However, after a bit of fighting and help from Sylph to grow Forgan a few more feet to reach Scale 2 himself, Gray was the one to strike the final blow. and my goodness I do mean BLOW! He killed it in one hit and it EXPLODED! Somehow, he managed to get off with just a scrape. I don't know how because everyone else was pretty bad off - Forgan was hurt less from being scale 2, but Sashraddon and Kyros both died and Alus came really close. Luckily, Sashhraddon had the ring of preventing death once and Kyros had a divine favor from Vorrex! *whew* That was close...too close. But at least the Balor was finally dead. (dun dun AAAAAAH!)
Elonora left the party just before they went to go fight Brenin in the Mountains of Malfestus. She said she had to "go somewhere" and just walked off without explaining. Forgan's audible guess was in fact correct - she was going in the Vendrill's spire. And this was the plan of the King (No not Elvis...FORLUMB!) What? You thought Forlum was a vegetable? Well, he gave this plan to Elonora back in Malfestus when they had just arrived and it was finally time to come into play. After Ras Mar was finally united with Sylph, we'd have to do save Lissa. The Deamon lords working for T'horne would realize we're on this mission and stop us in time, but they wouldn't see a double-whammy coming! We hope... Anyway, Elonora was to take this rock that Forlumb had given her that would make her temporarily undead so that she would resemble Morkir. She arrived through a portal that was there for her to enter and when it closed, she heard a voice from behind her - it was Forlumb! But he was currently embodying an evil skeleton...?! He gave her a bomb and some confusing directions to find Lissa while he went off to find Brekarium. Amazingly, Elonora made her way through the fleshy, pulsating halls of the Vendrills spire and arrived at the point she thought would be the doorway to Lissa's chamber. She beckoned to Vendrill as Morkir, for her entrance to see Lissa and giver her a "blessing". Vendrill agreed and allowed her through. The room was pretty much Womb shaped with hilly, bumpy floors and walls. Lissa was draped over one of the mounds and as Elonora approached, she rose to her feet - her 6 FEET! ACK! Lissa is a Vendrill Monster!!! from her design, Elonora could see that the baby inside was fine because her monstrous design was clear-skinned in the stomach area. She had a spiders abdomen and 6 sharp, pointed legs and a jaw that hung loose revealing many worm-like tounges. But she can't die - the baby inside will be the next God of Creation!! If she dies, the baby dies!
After recovering and gathering themselves again, the party headed towards a breeze. A cool breeze - in hell? Who let the Bwel Cromth out? Ras had to be that way. But, of course, they were stopped in their tracks by Calios, lord of the 4th plane of Hell. However, he wasn't there to fight himself - he was there to summon a few others to fight the party. Raschem was there too - he didn't look so good. Calios commanded him to bring the girl. Girl? What girl? Soon after, a hooded figure appeared and was swept up by calios. She was shaking and twitching so that the hood fell off and the party saw that it was Roberta Fitsooth! She had horns growing out of her head and wings coming out of her back and she looked pretty bad off. He told her that if she didn't fight the party, she wouldn't be free. At that same time, another form arrived - this one was Gray's father. You may be assuming that since Gray is such a holy Paladin, his father would have been half-decent, but no. He was pretty cruel and indecent. Gray was to fight him alone and the rest were up agains Roberta. She clearly was backed into a corner by Calios, who then dissapeared. She faced the party and stood trembling until Kyros made a move, disarming her parry dagger. She quickly responded by disarming him of his rapier. He dove for both as Forgan splased her with Haltessan holy water and she was encompassed in bright blue spiraling flames screaming out in pain. Her eyes grew bright red and her wings fully emerged and somehow pushed the flames away off of her. She then dissapeared (She said something - I can't remember what, though). Gray fought his father almost with joy. He was offered a second chance at freedom if he was victorious in this combat. Gray made sure he wasn't and completely disarmed his father by slicing off his arms! (no Monty Python references, please - they've already been made). As his father was sucked back through the floor into hell, Gray continuously beat him with his sword. He kept beating the ground even after he had completely disappeared. The rest of the party rounded him up and re-gained his focuses and they headed outside towards the battle. The people who had been living there for over 500 years were many of the combatants against demons of all sorts. They knew exactly where Ras Mar was when they daw those four-winged demons thrown in all directions.
Elonora wasn't sure how to deal with this - how to keep from getting killed or killing Lissa. Her mind was destroyed by the plague and she was nothing but a mindless vessel for the baby to live in. With some quick moves, Elonora jumped on the spidery back of Lissa and proceeded to punch her in the head repeatedly. BEing caught off guard, Lissa wasn't sure how to fight back - there was a stinger that came from her abdomen, but she was too confused to strike properly. Elonora managed to choke her and punch her to unconsciousness and strap her onto her back and leave. She ran down the way she came, but ran into a dead end that used to be an opening. Some sort of alarm sounded and she could hear Deamons coming from down the hallway. There was no other way - she had to run that way and hope for a side entrance. Luckily, there was one - she was bound to get lost, but this was the only option. As she ran, she felt an explosion and a rumble below her - that must have been Forlumb! Just then, she ran into three deamons! EEK! a small fight ensued and she was off and running again. She reached the end of the hall and saw Skeleton Forlumb running down the hall carrying Brekarium over his head and being chased by a hoarde of deamons himself. Elonora blew them all up with her bomb and quickly ran after Forlumb's lead. They tuned a corner and stopped short to see Bvorcheck'Norr standing there yelling "I SEE YOU!!!" at skeleton Forlumb. They tuned around and kept running and were soon cut off by Brenin running towards them, bleeding all over and being chased by Wolf Murdoc Sorrel. The two were trapped with Brekarium and Vendrill monster Lissa between Bvorcheck'Norr and this new fight. Not sure which way to go, they headed towards the crazy Dwarven woman just as the side wall opened up and out came Sorrel's original Pilot! Forlumb quickly dashed down that tunnel as he was occupied with fighting both Sorrel and Brekarium - a three way fight that neither Forlumb not Elonora wanted any part of! As they ran, the fleshy tunnels and hallways moved and bended, herding them in a complete circle straight into the heart of the spire. a round fleshy room with something pulsating in the center of the floor. There was a flesh bridge that went above it with a platform in the middle and the party was stuck. The three-way fight was now clearly heard again.
Trying to get closer to Ras Mar was a task in itself. The party wasn't just going to be invited in and Ras wasn't really in his right mind right now. Thw Bewl Cromth was seen stomping over the mountainside, destroying all in his path. As the different party members faced off with various Demons in the fray, Ras mar was using his Kylos abilities to make a bigger, projected version of himself to fight the Bwel Cromth made of red light. (insert cheesy Star Trek fight music here) Gray wasn't sure if there was enough time for everyone to get Sylph to him - she may have to go by herself and dodge between the fighting. He tried to convince her to do so while the others kept the demons at bay. She was truly scared and confused. Princess Sarah had locked all her emotions into this form and had nearly forgotten who she really was. While they spoke, Calios's voice could be heard echoing in the battlefield ecouraging Ras to give in to his anger and defeat his foes. Gray knew that Calios didn't want to be the lord over the 4th plane of hell anymore and it seemed that he was trying to pawn it off on Ras Mar - maybe he was hoping to get a bonus from the rest of the Deamon Lords and lords of Hell. Whatever he was doing, it was working. Ras Mar was furious and blinded by his anger - red light poured from his eyesockets and mouth as he fought the scale 5 abomination.
Sorrel ripped out a new entrance into this room and leapt from the wall to the platform on the bridge in one bound. The other two followed behind, just too late. Everyone watched as Sorrel opened a portal with his hands made of Shadowflame, creating a doorway and waiting for something or someone to emerge from it. The flames spread out and began burning everything it touched but Forlumb saved the four of them by making his own shadowflame barrier. Soon enough, out came a naked man with a grin on his face - it was Krak Vir being re-born. He raised his hand towards Brekarium and summoned the sword he was weilding - the sword that could control Sorrel. Sorrel just stood there slumped over, like a puppet with cut strings. Krak Vir leapt over to the platform of flesh that the party stood upon and began to ensue battle with Forlumb and Brenin arrived (still bleeding all over himself) to face off with Elonora. The shadowflame was still eating everything in sight and it was now visible to everyone through a hole in the floor that the capital city of Malfestus was heading straight for us!...either that, or the spire was falling!
Gray made more desperate pleas with Sylph - reminding her that she loves him and encouraging her to make him stay and make him realize his love for her is more imprtant than any battle. She was angry enough now that she remembered how much he brushed her off and how unimportant he made her feel, that she made her way past the demons and over to him. Her voice deepened each time she called to him. it was clear that she was becoming Sarah once again. However, Ras didn't notice - not at first. She yelled at him to quit ignoring her and he grabbed her neck and nearly hit her. She responded by turning around and cuddling the arm that grabbed her. He was too confused to be angry anymore. The red was dissappearing and his expression softened. The illusion that fought the Bwel Cromth disappeared and the mosnter was left a bit dazed. Ras began to come out of it and realized what he was about to do. He then pulled Sarah close to himself and they embraced. Calios was crushed. He had no idea what to do now! He freaked out and the Bwel Cromth pretty much fell to so many itty bitty pieces that it eventually diappeared. Around Calios, appeared all the other lords of hell. In a united voice they banished Calios from hell and from his leverage and position in it. He collapsed to his knees and Gray came over to congratulate him on achieving what he wished for. A bit shaken, Calios started his first lesson on feelings as Gray punched him square in the mouth. Bleeding was new to him too.
As the spire was burning, falling and decaying all around, Brenin was facing off to Elonora - he didn't want her leaving with Lissa. The newly re-born Krak Vir was now facing Skeleton Forlumb (wait a minute, something's backwards here...) and Brekarium was in a heap on the ground. Since Brenin was already beat up from the fight on the mountainside and from Wolf Murdoc Sorrel, he wasn't at his best, but he and Elonora dealt some blows against eachother. Krak vir got Forlum in a headlock and popped off his skull. Didn't seem to bother Forlum tho, he just turned around and checked Krak in the ribs with his boney elbow another blow from Krak and Forlumb's arm was off! This was getting to be a bit difficult here. Elonora destroyed the rock that made her undead and tried to pick up brekarium and fly away through a hole in the wall. Unfortunately, Brenin cursed her with weakness and she could barely fly with Lissa on her back. She managed to duck away from the fight and head towards a ledge, but headless, armless skeleton Forlumb was still there with Brekarium..and they were about to land!!! Elonora once again called out to the Raven and asked him as nice as she could if he'd lift the curse and allow her escape. Thankfully, he was feeling gracious! Nobody is quite sure what happened when the spire landed, but it sure did make one heck of a BOOM and a dustcloud that followed.
With the Bwel Cromth Destroyed and most of the Demons either fleeing or killed, there wasn't much to do except figure out a head count and kiss your loved ones. The battle was so huge, there wasn't really a tally of who was there in the first place, but lots of Jade Brothers died, lots of Seekers died, and lots of innocents who were trapped in Agapollack died as well. Luther, the Dwarven paladin was still around and a fellow Dwarf who had previously challenged Gray to Honorable combat. They both survived. The party went over to a ridge where others had come to fight. Colwyn was there looking for someone and despaired that he couldn't find it. There were two arrows on the ground - very magical ones - one black and one white. Kage's arrows, but no Kage. No sign of Malcom either, but there were broken peices of the Kasser device laying around. The party ran into Sir Barrak Dessedra, the only paladin of the Order of Thorns and his squire Casa Revens. They spoke of the horrors and the relief that it was over. The paladin mentioned though, that there was something that needed to be done still. It still wasn't completely over. Was it something about the Elves invading from Valis? No...though that has already happened. Was it about the War in Satile agains the Malfestians? No.... Was it about the plague? maybe...not so directly....LISSA! That's what it was! The party (including this paladin and his squire) was transported to Malfestus just south of the Capitol of Malfestus right where Elonora was flying.
Elonora got out of the spire just in the nick of time and decided to head south since she didn't quite know where else to go. Maybe someone here will be able to transport her to Satile? Well, it wasn't very long before Vendrill monster Lissa began waking up and trying to get free from being tied to Elonora. She had to land quickly! She tried landing, but it was still pretty high up in the sky when lissa dug her teeth into Elonora's back and began to paralyze her and infect her with the plague whose spire was just destroyed.
The party had arrived in time to see Elonora begin to spin and fall towards the ground. They slowed her fall and managed to get Lissa off her back. The Paladin that had come with them knew then that this was what he was sent to do. He held up his mighty spiked club and with a blessed swing, he struck Lissa, taking the plague unto himself by holy intervention. She was cured and regained her original form as he collapsed to the ground and the disease began to spread. He called to his squire telling her that it was her time and that she was ready. The "order of knights" that this knight was of, allowed for only one knight to exist in it at a time. He was knighting her by accepting her sword into his heart. With tears in her eyes, she killed her knight and in a flash of light, he vanished. Kyros began trying to help Elonora with the gaping wounds in her back, but a healing spell did very little for her paralyzation. Forgan purified her and eventually she regained movement. She re-gained her voice and told everyone to stay back and to not touch her because she could feel vendrill flowing through her. Gray gave the last cure to Forgan and he gave it to Elonora (there will be no tossing of wolf spirit!). She hasn't drank it yet because.....
.......that's where the game ended! Wow, a lot was accomplished today! Maybe we'll all go rent a room at an inn for a change...
...that won't happen. It'll just get all exciting again. All the more reason to come back and check next week's update of Jaystorm!!!