The Return of Korvath (Part 1) (April 13th 216 B) ------------------------------ Korvath is slightly dazed after being returned to life. But he does seem happy to see everyone. H e is brought up to speed on the situation quickly and explains, "Um, I heard a bit about this on the other side. There was this celestial guy who warned me about demons pouring onto the material plain. He said the agent of Wee-Jas was responsible for creating the gateway. Some deal between her and some devils or something." Korvath is a little foggy on the details. Later that night he comes upon Katie when she is alone in her inn room. "Katie, where should I go when I die?" Katie thinks a moment and says, well i would expect you would go to "Elysium", but since you asked, I expect you went to somewhere less traditional, maybe "The Beastlands"? "Hmmm that might be it, what is it like?" "Well they are not like what you would expect from heaven, they are somewhat savage and filled with natural forces. It is rather savage and untamed from what my books say. It is often discussed as a resting place of druids and rangers." Korvath shudders. "It isn't very pleasant at all. It was raining when I was there and I felt wet and miserable. Giant trees blocked the light, and the ground sucked an my feet making it so that I was afraid to stay still or I might get stuck. It was wild like you said, but it was also sinister, I didn't like it much at all..." "Hmmm I had heard it was nature untamed, but I never would have guessed that it would be so savage to those that were called there." "That wasn't the worst part. There were horned beastmen that would shove me into the muck and jeer at me. It took hours to get back out, and sometimes I had to step on other people or creatures to get out. The worst part was that I could feel the thrashing of things even farther below the surface" Katie blanched noticeably "Oh my, that seems most horrid!" "Sounds like your friend went to the swamps of Baator". Both Katie and Korvath jump as Dreyah steps into the room. "It isn't very wise to talk about being in hell where people can overhear you" Dreyah grins and then sits down near the other two. She turns to Korvath mockingly, "So tell us more of this Celestial you met. Did he have great big horns and flaming skin?" "No, he had feathered wings and a torn cloak that made him hard to see. He said he was an undercover angel" "Hah, a likely story", Dreyah raises an eyebrow. "And you believe him?" "It is not just a matter of believing him. Loch told me something important. He said the gate was intended to be used by some demonlords but it was stolen by an imp servant of the demonlord charged with guarding it. The imps were working with a devil named Ixion who had friends on this plane. there were a bunch of pacts or something. I didn't catch it all" "You friend seems awful clueful for an angel, I am still dubious." "Loch helped me avoid the beastmen while I was there, and he looked pretty ragged himself. I honestly doubt it was his natural environment. And here is the clincher, as I was getting brought back, he yelled something to me. he said the hellgate is being held open by Wee-jas's agent" Both Katie and Dreyah almost fall out of their chairs. "Did you say an Divine Agent is involved?" "Yeah, does that mean something to you?" Katie and Dreyah eventually explain the fact that hell is a closed system, bodies can enter, but once entered can never leave. unless an outside power opens an exit. Divine agents can come and go as they wish, but one opening a hellgate from inside hell has nasty implecations. While normally gates only open into hell, a sufficiently powerful deity might be able to open one out of hell. That is probably why Wee-jas is involved, she is one of the most skilled beings at magic. The nasty part of her opening the gate is that to close the gate, you have to be on the side it opened from. "And if you close it there is no way out", Korvath said, showing he understood what they were leading towards. "Well there is one exception", Katie said, "If the gate is divine in origin, a high priest of Wee-Jas can close it, from either side" Korvath throws his hands in the air, "Great, then all we need to do is find a high priest of Wee-Jas that is willing to piss off her avatar!" Katie looks smug, "Or I could do it." Korvath shot a glance at katie. "Sure you can, little lady. Why don't you fetch the others while I come up with a real plan." Katie crosses her arms over her chest and glares up at Korvath. "I mean what I say. And if you ignore me you are a bigger idiot than everyone says you are." Korvath looks hurt, "Ow, don't get personal. Last time I checked you were still a priestess of Athena" "It doesn't matter. For purposes of this I might as well be a priest of Wee- Jas. I have access to the same source. i just need to ask for it from Athena. Wee-Jas and Athena have always been at odds, so I don't need to worry about what Wee-Jas thinks" "But you would have to go inside hell, and you aren't as powerful as a full agent. So you have no chance, right?!?", both Dreyah and Korvath seemed puzzled. Katie sat back in her chair "Let me tell you a story..." Katie Tells a Tale (April 13th 216 B) ------------------ About 200 hundred years ago Athena wasn't even a god. But she had done a great service and was granted the power of death, but she swore to never use it. Eventually grumblings were heard saying the powers too dangerous for a being of lesser power. Since Athena wouldn't use her only source of power, she would not be able to properly defend it against a malicious force. Wee-Jas, the Ruby sorceress, was bitter at the loss of some fraction of her power over death. She felt that the power should belong to her since she truly understood that realm. To this end she devised a trick for Athena. Wee-jas bred dragons for a hobby and one day she invited Athena to see one of her favorite creatures. The worm was a wrinkled little thing and Athena laughed when she saw it. She grinned and said that it was ancient looking, but Athena had seen bigger ones when alive. Wee-Jas smiled and offered to let their wyrms fight but Athena sighed since the dragons she had know were not hers to command. Sad since dragon battles are truly wonderful to behold if you are not facing them, Athena smiled slowly and said "I have no wyrm, but I know something larger that spits icy mist and can stand against your pet." Wee-jas laughed gleefully and said, "wonderful! I will pit my pet here vs. your champion and if this wyrm destroys your champion I will claim a single boon from you, and if you win I will grant you a single boon. But know that if your creature is killed I will claim your power for myself!" Athena agreed and Wee-jas laughed and dismissed the illusion to reveal the dragon that appeared so small was actually miles away and could fill the sky. "This is the oldest of the red wyrms and no creature is greater! Look at my pet and despair for you can never win!" Athena smiled slightly and said "The ocean spews forth freezing mist and is not killable by a creature even as great as that one." Finding her own trap turned on her Wee-jas laughed with glee. "It has been a long time since I have had a worthy adversary! Ask for anything and it should be granted." And to this Athena responded that she would like to be made a god fully Wee-jas's equal. Beaten without even a battle Wee-Jas nodded appreciably and granted Athena fully half of her powers. And that is how Athena became a full god. A Plan is Made (April 13th 216 B) -------------- "So you see, I am not kidding when I say, I could probably close the gate. For as far as my magic is concerned, I might as well be channeling directly from Wee-Jas." The others looked stunned. This was the type of lore that lay in musty vaults for centuries. The entire party was summoned and briefed. To see if there was a chance of her plan working they consulted a priest of Boccob. Boccob is often claimed as a consort to Wee-Jas, but while Wee-Jas is dark, he is neutral. The divination revealed much. "That which Athena makes possible, desecration and the guardian make impossible" This was translated as the gateway being in a foul area that Katie would have to sanctify. Also the guardian must be no other than Ixion himself. Dreyah explained the meaning of the celestial/fell polyglot name "Ixion" being a very close approximation to guardian of the hellgate. And teh party soon decides that if the imps truly have the hellgate and the devils do not yet know, it is best to close it before the real powers of hell can have it retaken. Familiar Faces, (AKA My Deal with the Recording Industry) (April 14th 216 B) --------------------------------------------------------- The party set the next morning for Brindenford. CeeJay went along because he didn't know any better, and Dreyah tagged along out of a morbid curiosity. The group skirted all habitation and travelled quickly. The first night out they encountered the first sign of Fell presence. After the group fell asleep winged demon, undead horses, and horrendous varghouls all attacked with little warning. At one point the entire party was paralyzed by demonic powers, but Alex broke the curse when he psionicly conjured a large tent between the party and the varghouls. After the visual paralization was broken Moge hewed into the skeletal horde, before Katie blasted the dead into dust. Meanwhile the party was busy fighting a swarm of imps. An imp was taken prisoner. And this was not just any imp, but one the party had seen before. "Curses, you fellas. I knew you was bad luck when you wrapped me in a curtain and beat me last time. This time you do the same thing. You know I am getting sick of this. I walk through a friggin gateway after having a bad day and it had to bring me back to you guys. Oh the big guy must be wetting himself..." Alex grins, "Well if you joined us, it would be your enemies that get entangled next time" A bargain is quickly struck. The imp agrees to tell the party about Ixion's plans in return for freedom, Essandri is upset that the others seem willing to bargain with a devil. Alex seems rather relaxed about the prospect, "I don't know if I would go along with it if he wasn't so damn cute." (tweaks imps cheek) The imp definitely hams it up for the party, "you wouldn't believe the ice cream socials they have in hell. Every day I tell you... come on, what do you mean you don't believe me. Is this a face that could lie?" Much fun is had and finally a bargain is made. Dreyah steps in as moderator and makes sure the pact is official and binding. The imp agrees not to speak with Ixion, and will not mention anything about this day. The imp signs the contract with a leer, "Normally we seal a bargain with virgin's blood, but the presence of you guys is probably more than adequate." The imp's tale confirms the party's fears. There is a gate to hell open directly beneath the temple of Pelor in Brindenford. Ixion the enforcer made a deal with a Tiefling priest. The Tiefling was to open a gateway for Ixion in return for hellish minions. Ixion in turn made a deal with the imps so he would have some talented support on the ground that he could muscle around. Well the Tiefling's deal collapsed when the party intervened and stopped some special ceremony that had taken weeks to set up. Unfortunately this was covered by an act of gods clause, so there was no legal compensation for the imps or Ixion. At least one Imp had borrowed heavily from barbazu moneylender's with the hopes that he would never have to pay it back. As the debtors began yelling for money teh Imps had to find a way out quick. (Expecially since all the money had been spent on drugs, booze, and easy women.) So the imps did the only thing they could. An imp named Klaxienne stole a contract the circle of eight had made with Wee-Jas to open a gate. "This was a bad move, but we were getting desperate. So we give the contract to Ixion with the understanding that any imp that asks will be able to leave." (Pissing off the circle is a sure way to kill off most of the imps for good) With the bargain sealed the imps began migrating from hell en mass. This attracted a little attention at first. Current events stand with one in ten imps free. Some on this side, some on the other. A few imps yet to make a break, but most imps locked down tight by their masters. Ixion has been using the imps for scouts. Most fighting is left to the undead, and he has a few other fiends for strategic strike teams. Pretty much everything within a day of Brindenford is Ixion's at this point. A few more days and he will have the entire barony under his thumb. The Road to Hell... (April 15th 216 B) ------------------- The party finally freed Qarnien to go on his way. The information had confirmed most of what they new and added lots of details beside. Watches we set up for the rest of the night. There were several small bands of mindless undead, but nothing the sentries couldn't handle. In the morning, the group skirted the village nearby. (Qarnien had warned of other imps, lots of undead and sporadic visits by Ixion.) Being very careful the group made it to Brindenford outrunning any of the mindless dead that saw them. That night the party crawled right up to the walls of Brindenford itself. A strategic dash by the Northgate put the party only a block from the Temple of Pelor. Korvath scouted a bit and changed the party's fall back location to the wall after discovering a hellcat between the temple of Pelor and the smithy. (which was to be the original fallback point) Several plans were made and scratched before Korvath and Mel decided to scout the East wing of the temple with the party standing right outside for cover. Carefully and systematically Korvath opened the outer doors. Opening them only a foot he and Mel slipped inside and began listening to doors. Slowly they worked their way up to the one open door. Safely warded from sight he poked his head around the corner and saw something that made him start backing up. Carefully backing up he stepped on a piece of glass that broke loudly. Still nothing happened. As he finally turned to let the others know what he had found a great snuffling came from the room and the baying of dogs began. SESSION END (April 15th 216 years after the Breaking) NEXT TIME : One Hell of a Time REWARDS ------- 550 Experience to all Present. 450 To Katie who was not present. (there was significant threat of death)