Chapter #1180
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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 +
+ Nuzaanth a summoned dracolich +
+ Parekh 18th level female human wizard, innovator +
+ Drak 15th level human barbarian +
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+ Date: 7/28/586 C.Y. (Common Year) +
+ Time: early afternoon +
+ Place: the Hellfurnaces mountain range +
+ Climate: hot and dry +
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+ "They're about to be taught a lesson in the REAL use of power." +
+ - Hans Gruber, from _Die Hard_ +
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MCLXXX. Sulm's Burden Undone
The quest to find and destroy the Scorpion Crown - curse of long-dead
Sulm - is nearing its conclusion. After locating the evil artifact and
quite literally tearing it from the head of the now-dead King Shattados,
wizards of the Bright Alliance have transported the cursed item halfway
across the continent to the mighty volcanic mountain range known as the
Hellfurnaces. However, after landing and making initial preparations...
the group has just found that they are no longer alone here.
Belphanior: What now...?
Alindyar: We have visitors. (he gestures to the direction from which
the skyship sailed here)
There were at least two dozen airborne individuals scattered across the
sky nearby and above. Most appeared to be flying under their own power,
which likely made them wizards; a few appeared to be warriors or priests,
which suggested that they were utilizing other means to be airborne. One
person was actually riding a large griffon, and a flying carpet bore four
people.
Parekh: I wonder what they want.
Belphanior: (wearily) I think it's safe to assume they're not here to
sit down with us and have a merry feast.
Kronos: (notes one of the flying wizards now flying down and toward the
skyship and its recently-disembarked occupants, both hands raised high
with palms out) It appears they wish to parley.
Alindyar: (ESPing to Lyra) We do not have time for this. Every moment
the crown remains intact brings a greater chance that something will
happen to prevent its destruction.
Lyra: (ESPing to Alindyar) What do you suggest?
Alindyar: (ESPing to Lyra) Let us hear these new arrivals out. Unless
they are here to aid us in this endeavor, they will likely want to take
the crown for themselves. In that event, we must strike swiftly and
decisively.
Lyra: (ESPing to Alindyar) Agreed. And since you and I have already
discussed our battle tactics, we will each know exactly what do to.
Alindyar: (ESPing to Lyra as he eyes the potential hostiles in the sky
above) Aye.
As the man drew near, it became clear that he was indeed a wizard. Aside
from his long reddish robes and pointed hat with arcane symbols woven into
its fabric, he bore a staff of dull, gnarled black wood. The fellow was
human and middle-aged, with a thin build and a long, bushy gray beard.
flying wizard: (clears his throat) I am Stilrax. My associates and I
have ventured far, and in great haste, to speak with you.
Kronos: You have chosen an odd place, then, to hold a discussion.
Stilrax: Only because you lot have chosen an equally odd course of
action-
Parekh: We have urgent business, and you are keeping us from it. What is
there to talk about?
Belphanior: Yes...what exactly do you want?
Stilrax: (clearly surprised and taken aback by the lack of a single clear
leader among this group, he pauses, seemingly struggling with exactly
what to say)
Alindyar: You would do well to be more efficient with your words, fellow.
Stilrax: (somewhat exasperated) Well, I'll get right to it, then. You
people possess the Scorpion Crown, and apparently mean to destroy it.
Belphanior: That's for damn sure.
Parekh: Not that it's any of your business.
Stilrax: It is now. That item contains great power...power that can be
used to right wrongs across the world.
Lyra: (ESPing to Alindyar) He is trying to intimidate us.
Alindyar: (ESPing to Lyra) Aye...but he chose the wrong group for such
an effort.
Parekh: The crown can't right any wrongs. It's cursed and brings only
doom to any who try to use it.
Stilrax: You can't know that! None have tried for two thousand years-
Kronos: Because for two thousand years, the crown's powers cursed an
entire land and all its people. Any fool can clearly determine that.
Stilrax: (shaking his head) We just need more time to research it and
learn how-
Belphanior: No. (he glares at the wizard, his magical eye glowing red
as he speaks) This conversation is pointless. The crown isn't yours,
it's ours. We sought it. We found it. We fought for it. (he frowns)
And now, we will destroy it.
Stilrax: By what right-
Belphanior: (points to the other) This is your only warning. Leave now.
Stilrax: We can't do that. (a shimmering, light blue bubble of defensive
magic appears around him)
At the same time, the wizard's various companions in the air above all
began the familiar motions of spellcasting - or in some cases, readying
weapons or preparing to descend and attack.
Stilrax: And we can't allow you to waste the power of the Scorp- (his
eyes widen) What?!?
The wizard - force field and all - was suddenly pulled from the air and
forcibly dragged into the open volcano, down toward the lava below.
Stilrax: Aieeeee! (alarmed, he looks around frantically as he descends
rapidly toward a fiery death)
Alindyar: If you thought for one moment that we would not proactively
respond to any threats...you were sorely mistaken. (he continues to use
his magic to drive the other wizard and his magical bubble downward into
the volcano)
Before landing here, the five members of the Bright Alliance had talked
and formulated an exact plan for just such a situation. Alindyar's role
was to deal with the closest foe, while Lyra's was to blast any who were
grouped together. After that, Belphanior (along with Skektek) would deal
with the strongest of those who remained. Kronos and Parekh were to stay
near the Scorpion Crown, to protect it from anyone who used magic or other
means to get close; Drak, Ys, and Otto would assist them with that duty.
As for the dracolich Nuzaanth...Kronos would communicate directly with that
one by magical means, and direct its efforts as the situation developed.
The rest of the new arrivals were now beginning to react to the attack
on Stilrax, but Lyra had planned her attack while that one had still been
talking. She completed a quick spell, launching a potent bolt of lightning
at the assortment of airborne foes. The electricity blasted the nearest of
those, incinerating him...and then leaped to the next-closest person, and
the next, and the next, and so on. In this manner, four of those in the
sky were slain - including the priest who rode on a griffon - and another
two were wounded and plummeted from the sky. One of those was unfortunate
enough to be over the volcano, and he fell right into the lava, vanishing
from sight as well as this mortal coil.
Belphanior: (spies what appears to be a flying warrior, who saw the chain
lightning and retreated in time)
Kronos: (to Belphanior) You take that one - I'll deal with the carpet.
Belphanior: Got it.
As the elf took to the sky, rapidly closing the distance with the enemy
warrior, Kronos issued a silent command to the dracolich using a magical
link similar to the one employed by Alindyar and Lyra when they privately
communicated with each other. Moments later, the huge, dark form of the
undead wyrm swooped down from above...and the flying carpet, along with
its four riders, disappeared into the monster's gaping maw.
flying warrior: (hurls a spear at the approaching Belphanior)
Had the weapon been a normal sort - or even a slightly-enchanted sort -
it would have glanced off of the elf's magical defenses. However, this
spear bore a powerful enchantment, and while its point was turned away,
the lightning bolt tied to it was not, and it blasted the flying elf with
tremendous force.
Belphanior: Aaargh! (he wobbles in the air, then begins to fall, dazed)
Parekh: (having conjured a gigantic blue fist ahead of any attempt to get
near the Scorpion Crown in its chest, she quickly positions the fist
below the plummeting elf, as it opens up into a hand)
Belphanior: (caught by the force-hand, he shakes his head as he recovers
from the lightning blast)
flying warrior: (already readying another magical spear, he suddenly finds
himself staring at an approaching, ever-widening arc of flame) What?
Skektek figured that the warrior, having used a lightning-based weapon,
might just have some immunity to that type of magical energy. It had also
been a while since he'd let loose with a fireball in a big battle. In any
case, the attack was not only successful, but also took out three of the
other airborne foes as well as catching the dracolich in the outer fringe
of its blast.
Skektek: (to Kronos) You said it wouldn't be hurt by that, so I took the
opportunity to lay waste to that group of foes.
Kronos: (smiles thinly) Indeed.
Parekh: (having previously cast a spell of warding, she now notes the
sudden presence of outsiders nearby) We have visitors!
A half-dozen warrior-types had somehow appeared on the level surface
near the skyship, and they now charged toward the chest and its guardians.
Otto: (fires a bolt, catching one in the thigh, dropping the man even as
the deadly poison on the missile begins to take effect)
Drak: (charges forth, suddenly growing to giant size as he swings his
gigantic mallet)
warrior #2: (swatted aside, broken and bleeding)
Ys: (also charges forth, his greatsword at the ready)
warrior #3: (throws a series of small, sharp darts at the larger foe)
Some of the relatively puny weapons failed to pierce the Ys' thickly-
scaled hide...but a couple did, and he found himself slowing, his limbs
somehow not functioning as they should. The warrior now produced a short
metal staff, sidestepped Ys' now-clumsy attack, and prepared to strike a
blow to the reptilian's head.
Kronos: (speaks a word of power, and the staff-wielding warrior stops in
his tracks, stunned)
Drak: (whirls about and brings his giant hammer down)
warrior #3: (flattened, messily)
Drak: (to Kronos) My thanks.
Ys: Mine...too...(he slowly crumples to the ground, his movement slowed
by whatever toxin or magic was on the darts) Ungh.
Otto: (fires another bolt at the next-closest warrior, but the missile is
turned away by the foe's armor)
warrior #4: (leaps over the dwarf, closing in on the chest containing the
crown)
Parekh: Enough! (having already put Belphanior down nearby, she brings
her force-hand around sharply, grabbing that warrior and another of his
number, then closing the hand into a fist that pins their arms to their
sides and crushes the life from them both)
warrior #4: Argh!
warrior #5: Ungh!
warrior #6: (also making for the chest, twin daggers held in her hands,
she finds herself suddenly held in place, immobile)
Alindyar: That is far enough.
The dark elf was suddenly bombarded by a series of magical missiles from
one of the two remaining airborne foes, and his control over the last of
the warriors was broken. The woman leapt toward him with surprising speed
and agility - but was then blasted into ash by a fiery missile, thanks to
Lyra. Skektek hit the flying wizard with a lightning bolt, reducing him
to ashes right there in the air. The last airborne spellcaster then sent
a fireball of his own in the general direction of the skyship and most of
the Alliance wizards; Kronos successfully disrupted that attack, and then
Belphanior - recovered and once more airborne - hit the enemy mage from
behind, his dark blade spearing the fellow's chest and draining the life
from him.
At this point, all active threats had been neutralized and all of the
foes were either slain or immobilized...and the party regrouped and took
stock of things.
Kronos: Is the chest intact?
Parekh: (nods) It remains secure.
Lyra: It helps that it's so damn heavy...and can't be teleported away.
Alindyar: Aye.
Belphanior: (his previous lightning-based wounds now healed thanks to the
life force he just took from the wizard, he lands near the others) Who
the hell were these people?
Parekh: Given that some are still alive, we'll find out, after we deal
with the crown.
Kronos: I'm afraid not. (he gestures to the nearest of the few surviving
attackers)
The wizard who had been wounded by Lyra's chain lightning and fallen to
the ground, and the two who had been snatched up by Parekh's force-hand,
were now crumbling into dust before the victors' eyes. They died silently
and without any apparent expression; one moment they were there, injured
and captured...and then they just disintegrated into tiny flecks of black
dust.
Alindyar: Fear not. I actually spared the leader, the one who called
himself Stilrax, rather than immerse him in the lava below. I am not
ruthless, and at any rate, he was immobilized. (he brings the magical
bubble out of the volcano...and frowns)
Even as they saw that only motes of dark ash remained of the wizard,
the shimmering blue bubble ceased to exist along with the one who had
conjured it.
Alindyar: Hmmm.
Lyra: I don't get it. Did the survivors just kill themselves?
Kronos: I doubt it. More likely, someone else did. Either a failsafe
or some sort, or an active spell.
Parekh: That is...disturbing.
Kronos: (frowns) The latter case could mean that we are being watched
even now.
Belphanior: Which is even more disturbing. We need to get that crown
into that volcano, and right away.
Kronos: (concentrating)
Parekh: Eh?
Kronos: I have directed Nuzaanth to circle above - out of the range of
the anti-magic sphere - but also to utilize all of the magic at her
disposal to watch for any further foes or attacks.
Belphanior: Then let's do this.
They proceeded according to the plan. First, the warriors surrounded
the chest and readied themselves for any sudden attack. Then Belphanior
opened the chest - bathing the immediate area in the unique anti-magic
radiations of the sphere within and rendering all of the nearby wizards
powerless - and removed the Scorpion Crown. He then began walking toward
the rim of the volcano as Ys and Drak closed the heavy lid of the box and
once more blocked the anti-magic sphere's rays. As the wizards' magical
abilities gradually began to return, the elf suddenly felt a surge of raw
power from the artifact he bore; the crown was silently reaching out to
him. There were no words, nor telepathy, but the message was clear: if
he would but place the crown atop his head, untold power and glory would
be his. The message blasted through his mind, causing him to stagger and
slow in his march toward the volcano's center.
As he had suggested to the others previously, Belphanior had some degree
of experience with this sort of contest of wills, having borne Blackrazor
for many years. The dark blade had a will of its own, and when not fed a
steady diet of slain souls, it exerted that will upon its wielder. Many
a lesser individual than the elf had, in past years, been overwhelmed and
dominated by the sword - but not Belphanior. His will was exceptionally
strong, and he had driven back the black sword's urgings for a long time
now. And those past battles did indeed help him this day, as he fought
the evil urgings of the Scorpion Crown.
Belphanior: (comes to a stop twenty paces from the edge of the volcano's
rim, holding the crown in both hands, his teeth clenched and beads of
sweat forming on his brow) No...NO. (he gasps in pain as the black
iron of the crown burns his hands with an unbelievably intense cold)
I...will...NOT!
The beleaguered elf hadn't exactly put the crown on his head, but he had
also stopped his advance toward the edge and the lava that awaited below.
Fortunately, he was accompanied this day by some very powerful friends.
Parekh: (conjures another giant hand of force, and suddenly directs it
to snatch the crown out of Belphanior's grasp)
Belphanior: (cries out at the loss, despite himself) No!
Before the elf could do anything crazy under the influence of the crown,
or before it could reach out to anyone else, Parekh employed her summoned
force-hand to quickly take the thing over the lip of the volcano and down
toward the bubbling, molten lava below.
Parekh: (reels as the crown suddenly lashes out, through the magical hand
and into her mind) Urrgh! (the hand, holding the crown, stops just ten
feet above the lava as its creator fights a battle within her mind) I...
it...so strong...!
Belphanior was recovering, shaking his head to clear it (though Ys and
Otto were on either side of him, ready to hold him back if he did moved to
try and get the crown.) Kronos completed a spell of his own, and added a
mighty telekinetic boost to the strength of Parekh's conjured force-hand,
roughly doubling the strength of the push down toward the lava. The ten-
foot gap became nine...then eight...and then five...
Kronos: (his crimson eyes widen and his brow furrows with effort) Ungh!
The evil artifact was fighting back against the wizards with every iota
of power contained within its black metal form. It sensed its potential
demise and struggled against that date with a force of will that no single
individual could withstand...perhaps not even two.
Alindyar: (employs his own magic, literally willing the crown to move
downward into the inferno and significantly bolstering the efforts of
the other two archmagi)
With the added power of the dark elf, the combined power of the three
wizards finally tipped the scales. The Scorpion Crown was thrust into the
lava, and a piercing shriek immediately registered in the minds of all who
were present. The spot where it had sunk bubbled and hissed, and strange
unearthly noises - somewhat resembling the rending of metal, but at the
same time not completely identifiable - emanated from the lava. However,
that lasted for but a few moments, and then there was silence.
Belphanior: Is it...?
Alindyar: (nods) I sense nothing there now.
Kronos: Agreed. The Scorpion Crown is no more.
Skektek: Whoa! That was wild!
Ys: (to Drak) The things we see, when around wizards...the strangest
things.
Drak: (nods) I learned long ago to just go with it.
Lyra: Whew. I'm glad that's over.
Alindyar: Aye. I feel as if this endeavor has taken far longer than it
actually did.
Belphanior: That's for damn sure. (he smirks) And as far as which of
us was the best choice to put the thing into the volcano...I guess we
were all right.
Parekh: Except for the part about the adamantine golem. Although that
would have worked too.
Kronos: Unless the crown somehow took over the construct.
Parekh: Mmm, true.
Alindyar: It matters not now. (he looks around) We are done here.
The group began the process of loading the heavy metal chest back onto
the skyship, and preparing the vessel for departure. As they did so, a
number of other individuals elsewhere in the world were reacting to what
had just happened...
Somewhere in the Bright Desert, the sorceress Shemeya - a prisoner in
her time-displaced tower since the Scorpion Crown first cursed Sulm more
than two thousand years ago - detected the sudden absence of that curse
and the fundamental shift in the region as all of the gigantic, unnatural
scorpions perished and turned to dust. More importantly, at least for
the long-suffering Shemeya, she would now be able to leave her tower and
re-enter the world outside its enchanted walls. This was the absolute
best possible outcome for one who had watched time pass at an accelerated
rate outside of her prison but been unable to intervene or escape.
In a hidden place, shielded by magic most powerful, the one responsible
for alerting the wizard Stilrax to the emergence of the fabled, long-lost
Scorpion Crown pondered the evil artifact's destruction. Truth be told,
either outcome would have been acceptable. If Stilrax and his hastily-
assembled allies had triumphed, then the Bright Alliance would have been
significantly weakened - and another kingdom somewhere on Oerik would have
likely become a wasteland depending on what was done with the crown. The
defeat of Stilrax and the others cost this individual nothing (aside from
their lives) and had proved a useful test of the capabilities of this new
group of wizards - plus the crown was destroyed, which could be either a
good thing or a bad thing. Only time would tell.
In the Brass Hills, within the Bright Desert, the other members of the
Bright Alliance - Dexitheseus, Pallin, and Wu - sensed that the Scorpion
Crown was no more, and held a subdued celebration. They would get the
whole story from their companions when the latter returned, but the short
and long term effects of the crown's destruction would benefit and advance
their agenda in the region. The weeks and months ahead would certainly be
the busiest yet.
next: progress on many fronts
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: 12/13/2024
notes: And that's that. As you read this, it's mid-December 2024
and this mini-arc is wrapped up, and the healing of the Bright Desert
can now begin in earnest. For those who aren't familiar with the old
1992 accessory WGR3, _Rary the Traitor_, one plot thread hinted at was
that if Rary was able to find the Scorpion Crown, he could possibly
neutralize the curse it inflicted on the region two thousand years ago.
(He also thought he could use its power to expand his rule, but I opted
out of that dumb idea by having Neera learn that it had no such power.)
Anyway, some online Greyhawk material or campaigns have advanced their
Oerth timeline to 591 or 597 C.Y. and had Rary solidify his new kingdom
of the Bright Lands in that time (although he never found the Scorpion
Crown.) What I've done - what I basically decided I was going to do at
the time Rary was slain by the alliance of wizards - is to have them
hijack Rary's plan, except they'd destroy the crown and forge a kingdom
by more peaceful, reasonable methods. Of course, it helped that they
had a lot more collective magical power and resources than Rary alone.
I feel that a high-level party in an actual D&D campaign might well have
had the same idea and done the same thing. What player doesn't want to
build and rule (and in some cases, at least when one steps outside the
shoes of a greedy player, try and make the world a better place?)
At any rate, that's where things stand now. The first milestone was
the defeat of Rary. The second was the long and arduous effort to find
the Scorpion Crown. The third was actually destroying the damn thing.
So the stage is set. There are other threats out there in the world,
both within the Bright Desert and outside its reaches, and you can bet
they'll have to deal with some of those as time goes on.
But first, I need a break. After a few years off, I turbocharged
things and wrote non-stop from March 2020 until September 2022, took
a little more than a year off (though I did write during that time, but
didn't release the stories) and then released new stories from December
2023 through December 2024. I need a rest - mainly because I have quite
a bit of travel planned for the end of 2024 and the beginning of 2025.
No need to fear, though...I've got a plan, as outlined above, for the
next few hundred episodes. Look for the next episode (1181) sometime
around April 2025.
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