Chapter #1178
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+ THE ADVENTURERS +
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+ Epic VI +
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+ Many of the locations, non-player characters, spells, and other +
+ terms used in these stories are the property of Wizards of the Coast +
+ which has in no way endorsed or authorized their use. Any such +
+ property contained within these stories are not representative of +
+ Wizards of the Coast in any fashion. +
+ The player characters depicted in these stories are copyright +
+ 1991-2024 by Thomas A. Miller. Any resemblance to any persons +
+ or characters either real or fictional is utterly coincidental. +
+ Copying and/or distribution of these stories is permissible under +
+ the sole condition that no money is made in the process. In that +
+ case, I hope you enjoy them! +
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+ Alindyar 18th level dark elven wizard +
+ Lyra 14th level female drow wizard +
+ Belphanior 18th/18th/18th level elven fighter/wizard/thief +
+ Otto 12th/14th level dwarven fighter/thief +
+ Skektek 14th level human wizard +
+ Ys 14th level reptilian fighter +
+ Kronos ancient lich wizard +
+ Parekh 18th level female human wizard, innovator +
+ Drak 15th level human barbarian +
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+ Date: 7/27/586 C.Y. (Common Year) +
+ Time: early evening +
+ Place: the sky somewhere above the Hold of the Sea Princes +
+ Climate: cool and breezy +
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+ "I want you to do something for me. It's dangerous." +
+ "Good. I'm in." +
+ - from _The Godfather Part III_ +
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MCLXXVIII. To the Hellfurnaces
The magnificent flying ship sliced through the air far above the world's
surface, moving faster than any spell of flying and much faster than any
land-based means of transportation. On the skyship's bridge, several of
those on board were engaged in discussion as the vessel soared above the
clouds...
Belphanior: I'm glad you were able to repair this craft.
Kronos: (doesn't bother with a shrug, or any other bodily expression for
that matter) As am I. The work was not easy, and it took far too long,
but then again we have all been busy of late.
Belphanior: At least we had it for the attack on Rary...and we again have
it for this mission.
Parekh: It's unfortunate that the teleportation runes we added previously
did not survive the last cycle of damage and repair.
Kronos: Rest assured, I had no inclination to study the runes and attempt
to reverse-engineer a way into your laboratory or any other place. That
is why I returned them to you, albeit in their damaged state.
Parekh: Much appreciated.
Kronos: For better or worse, this skyship is in the same basic state as
when I first built it. (to Belphanior) Aside from crashing the ship
into the ocean, you and your team actually took reasonably good care of
it.
Belphanior: (nods) And we thank you for its use. It...came in handy, on
more than one occasion.
Otto: Good thing I learned to pilot the ship many years ago...when we get
where we're going, the skyship will be both secure and ready while you
wizards do your thing.
Aside from Belphanior, Kronos, and Parekh (not to mention Otto, who was
present for exactly the reason he had just stated) the skyship also held
Alindyar and Lyra, who were in the hold below standing watch over the odd
cargo that the group was transporting. Additionally, Drak, Skektek, and
Ys were also aboard as reinforcements. The eight surviving wizards of
the Bright Alliance, some of whom were still recovering from their ordeal
beneath the scorched sands of the Bright Desert, had held firmly to their
recent resolution to never again have the entirety of the group engaged
in any battle or other effort. Accordingly, almost half their number had
remained behind to deal with the continuing construction and other efforts
in the Brass Hills.
Belphanior: We're making good time even at cruising speed...three days so
far, and we should be over the Hellfurnaces sometime tomorrow.
Parekh: I hated to delay two days to prepare, before we left, but it was
necessary. Transporting something as dangerous and evil as the crown is
no simple matter.
As they had learned previously, the safest state of the evil artifact
was when its powers were neutralized by the anti-magic sphere, and thus
the two items were locked in the thick, airtight metal box that Belphanior
had utilized in the past to store the sphere and block its unique, potent
radiations. Unfortunately, that container - at least whenever it held the
sphere - could not be teleported; before they started this voyage, Pallin
had explained the reasons why, which had something to do with the unique
magic-nullifying energies and the complex intra-dimensional nature of the
very fabric of space itself. But the end result (whatever the reason) was
that the safe-box had to be moved by some physical means...either horses
and wagons, or atop a flying carpet (which was how they'd brought it from
the ruins of Utaa back to the Brass Hills). That particular journey had
been an interesting case of a minor artifact - Wu's carpet, more properly
known by its true name as the Ample Tapestry of the Wind Dukes - being
employed to carry a major artifact on the first leg of what would end up
being a historic journey....and now the skyship was being used for the
second and final leg of that journey. After Kronos brought the ship back
to the Brass Hills three days ago, the group had set sail, soaring through
the sky and over the lands below...first crossing the Wooly Bay, then the
Pomarj, and then sailing over the Ulek states and Keoland in turn...and
today they passed over the regions once held by the Sea Princes. Not much
further, less than a day's time to the southwest, lay the immense mountain
range known as the Hellfurnaces. It was here, where the Scorpion Crown
had originally been forged more than two thousand years ago, that it could
be destroyed.
Kronos: One wonders what the crown's reaction will be, when it realizes
what is happening. (he frowns) Assuming it can.
Belphanior: I bet it can.
Parekh: That won't be possible until it comes out of the box where the
anti-magic sphere holds it securely in check. (she frowns) Thank the
gods that Alindyar realized the danger and had that idea. (she turns
(to Belphanior) And thank you for the use of both the sphere and its
container.
Belphanior: (nods) No more pocket dimensions. The cursed thing is at
its safest when its powers are simply neutralized. It's the same basic
logic I used to surprise and defeat one of the most powerful archmagi
that Oerth had ever known. (he allows himself a slight smile at that
memory)
Parekh: As long as we take care not to open the sphere's box while still
airborne...lest we all fall into a volcano.
Kronos: (matter-of-factly) That would be unfortunate.
Otto: So what's the plan? Land this thing on the edge of one of the
Hellfurnaces and carry the box out? For that matter, do we seek one
particular volcanic peak, or will any of them do? (he thinks about
how difficult it would be to locate a single exact mountain amidst the
thousands that exist within the range, and frowns)
Parekh: Neera's research suggests that any Hellfurnace will do. As for
the mechanics of the...disposal, we have a couple of options, none of
which will work if we're airborne, so yes, we do have to land somewhere.
Belphanior: After which we can open the box and remove the crown. After
the box is closed again, it should be a trivial matter to take the crown
and fly up and over the nearest volcano...and then just drop the damn
thing in.
Otto: Sounds simple, which is why it might not be.
Kronos: Very astute. Alindyar has already mentioned that the crown seeks
to communicate with and influence anyone around it, and its reach may
span other worlds besides this one. Accordingly, whoever carries it up
toward its destruction will need to move fast. There will be no time
for reflection and soul-searching.
Parekh: But who will carry it?
Belphanior: It should be someone with a strong will, someone used to an
item that constantly, incessantly tries to bend the bearer to its will.
Kronos: You believe that your experience with that dark blade of yours
will render you resistant to the Scorpion Crown's whispers of power and
glory.
Belphanior: Well, you're not phrasing that as a question, so...yes. Yes,
I do. And this earring I wear - the same one that protected me from
Shattados' psionic attack - will undoubtedly bolster my resistance even
further.
Kronos: You are almost certainly correct. I would also posit, however,
that my unliving nature, combined with my millennia of knowledge and
experience, make me the best choice to take the crown to its doom.
Parekh: Let me offer a third idea...we don't touch the thing at all, but
instead use telekinesis to lift it, carry it, and drop it. That way no
one is directly exposed to...well, to whatever it might try in order to
save itself.
Belphanior: These are all valid ideas. Heck, if Cespedes was around, he
could have commanded the adamantine golem to carry the crown into the
volcano. That golem is theoretically indestructible - it might actually
survive intact if it did fall into a volcano.
Parekh: We haven't had the time to deduce the control mechanism for the
construct - or the means of guiding the iron dwarf, for that matter.
Those things will soon happen, I'd venture to say, but not yet.
Kronos: (nods) Soon.
Otto: (recalls how, before the group left the buried palace in Utaa, the
iron dwarf was placed in some sort of magical stasis as a short-term
measure to avoid the risk of him spontaneously going berserk and doing
damage once back in the Brass Hills site)
Belphanior: So we have at least three solid options.
Parekh: They're not all solid. Not necessarily.
Kronos: But they are the options we have.
Belphanior: In any case, we can discuss this with Alindyar and Lyra when
we're closer to the destination.
Otto: (silently ponders these possibilities, thinking to himself that he
actually prefers the one involving the adamantine golem)
Kronos: We need to consider something else as well; Dexitheseus brought
this up in the full discussion several days ago. It is possible that
others in the world - those with exceptional means of sensing certain
things, or those who were perhaps watching all the while - could now be
aware that the crown has been found, and possibly that it is being moved
elsewhere. We could come under attack at any time.
Belphanior: Agreed, but from long experience I can assure you that when
within that box with the anti-magic sphere, the crown can't be found or
reach out if you any way. It's basically inert. (he frowns) But...in
the moments before we put it in there, and after we take out out again,
yes, it's exposed. Given the fact that we haven't been approached since
the day we took it out of the buried palace of Shattados, I think it's
safe to say that no one noticed then.
Parekh: Or they did notice but decided to wait, hoping for a time when
less than our full number accompanied the thing.
Belphanior: Good point, although if true, any potential watchers would
then have lost track of it when we put it in the box six days ago. And
they won't see it until we open the box again.
Kronos: There is a fallacy in your-
Belphanior: I just caught it. (he sighs) They don't have to know where
the crown is now...they just have to know where _we_ are. If it was me,
I'd just follow us and figure the crown will reappear at some point.
Otto: (nonchalantly piloting the skyship through the clouds while this
discussion unfolds) Isn't this why all of us have been on high alert
for this entire journey, and why you're keeping several detection and
defensive spells up at all times?
Parekh: Of course.
Kronos: (his crimson eyes glowing, he waves a hand, and certain of the
skyship's controls move and shift)
Otto: Whoa.
The airborne vessel gradually came to a stop, the setting sun visible
ahead and to the right, the clouds beneath more gray than white due to
the diminishing flight.
Kronos: Fear not, we will be underway in short order. But we need to be
in a fixed location for this. I am going to bring some reinforcements.
Parekh: The ship can't hold many more people.
Kronos: It won't have to.
The pale lich strode out onto the deck and began a working a powerful
incantation to open a portal between the current location and some other,
distant place of his choosing. While his pair of white dragons were one
option, they would not do well in the exceptionally hot climate of the
Hellfurnaces. However, those were not the only dragons that Kronos had
as allies (or in some cases, thralls).
Otto: (the first to spot the dark rift in the evening sky, he points)
Belphanior: A portal of some sort, I'd guess.
Parekh: It is indeed.
There was no scale with which to measure the size of the portal, but
once it grew to the point where it eclipsed the seventy-foot length of
the skyship, those watching realized that whatever was about to show
up...it would be gigantic. Moments later, an immense, shadowy form came
through the rift in the fabric of space, its huge tattered wings flapping
as it fully emerged and took flight, slowly circling the skyship in wide
arcs. No one even noticed as the portal closed up and vanished, and the
lich returned to the bridge of the ship.
Belphanior: What the hell is _that_?
Kronos: Behold the dracolich Nuzaanth. She was once a rather old red
dragon, but as you can see, she is now...something else.
To be sure, the hundred-plus-foot form that now shared the sky with the
ship was no longer a thing of flesh and blood. Large sections of muscle,
sinew, and bone could be seen through rotted areas of skin and flesh; the
exposed areas were all gray or black. The wings beat and somehow allowed
the huge undead monster to fly despite numerous torn and missing sections
throughout the wingspan. The beast's eye-sockets were either empty or the
eyes were too dark and sunken to detect - it was hard to tell, and no one
wanted to stare lest the creature take notice.
Parekh: Amazing...for all of my wanderings and adventures, I had never
seen one of these.
Belphanior: Me either. (to Kronos) Is it tame?
Kronos: Such a creature cannot ever truly be tamed. But she will assist
us and fight with us - and I assure you that her power is substantial.
The fact that she was once a red dragon, in the context of this quest,
is simply a useful coincidence. She will not suffer from the heat of
the Hellfurnaces, nor from fire-based attacks made by monsters native
to the region.
Parekh: (nods) Excellent.
Kronos: Summoning the dragon to aid us was...not as simple as I made it
appear, and I did not do it lightly. But this endeavor is of utmost
importance and we need to stack the deck in our favor.
Belphanior: (watching the undead dragon fly by outside) I'd say you did.
Otto: (notices that the skyship is moving again)
Kronos: (addresses the dwarf quietly) I apologize if my taking control
of the vessel surprised you. Rest assured, you have an important role
in all this - I cannot effectively pilot it while engaging in battle or
spellcasting...and I anticipate both happening sometime between now and
the crown's fate tomorrow.
Otto: Uh...okay, got it.
As darkness fell and the ship continued to the west and south, the five
magi rotated the guard duty; the agreed plan was that there would be two
of them in the hold, with the sealed box holding the Scorpion Crown, at
all times. While the thing was theoretically secure for now - and they
from it - a dedicated pair of watchers was a precaution they were willing
to take. Within short order, Alindyar and Lyra were briefed on recent
discussions and events before being relieved.
Alindyar: Aye, I sensed the presence of...something.
Lyra: An undead dragon, eh?
Kronos: More than that, an actual _lich_ dragon. I suppose that I could
attempt to explain the differences, but it would take some time.
Parekh: Yet another unique topic for a future dinner conversation. This
group certainly has no shortage of those.
Belphanior: It's quite a life we've all chosen for ourselves, isn't it?
We're each one in a thousand, maybe one in ten thousand. Regular folks
never think about dragons...never journey halfway across the continent
in a flying ship...never bring an evil artifact that cursed an entire
land to its destruction amidst a range of huge, furious volcanos that
have been belching fire and lava and ash into the world for thousands
of years. (he nods) Quite a life.
next: the Hellfurnaces beckon
map: http://www.peldor.com/world/atlas/bright_desert_1156.jpg
www: http://www.peldor.com/download.html
homepage: http://www.peldor.com/
email: tmiller@peldor.com
released: 11/29/2024
notes: After hammering away at the keyboard for a while, I realized
that this mini-arc could be more than a single episode long. I think I
can do it in two or three.
I wrote this one in mid-October 2024 with a scheduled release date of
late November, the day after Thanksgiving actually. At this time, I'm
hoping I can power through December and not have to have a short break
without new episodes being published. The problem is that I have a long
trip planned for December and no writing will happen during that time.
Well, by the time this episode is released, this matter will have been
decided. It's the odd time-warp effect of me writing these well ahead
of their release dates.
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