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June 26, 2010
Meanwhile, back in the crazy dungeon, the party tried talking a befuddled old man into giving over a gem he didn't remember having. The monkeys with bats were looking aggressively. Deciding that the party could not handle the puns from the old man, they headed into the next room. There they found a hydra with dragon sock puppets. The hydra seemed to think he was Tiamat, the queen of all the evil dragons. His/her crown had a large gem on it. It was a fantastic battle, but eventually the party killed the trouble hydra. They then thought to surprise the old man and his monkeys. The battle was less glorious, but in the end the enemies of the party were destroyed. When the last monkey died, the only man fell down, died, and shat out a gem.
Then they boldly rested, holding the percentile dice would not reveal that a Fate had slipped and cut a cord. Luck was on their side, and they all lived through their nap. Then they entered the room of the Dvorack, a wonderfully efficient creature that used spears, spiked chains, and short swords. He was an adorable creature, but the party had a goal and the Dvorack was in the way. After killing the poor fellow, they cut open his body and rooted around until they found the gem inside his cut.
Pushing on the party found an expert necromancer at an all-you-can-eat buffet. His name was Roger, and he was the cheapest necromancer they'd ever seen. He memorized his spell book and sold it, which made Eron angry. He didn't put up much of a fight... perhaps he wasn't an expert afterall. On his body they found only 4 coppers, a crappy gem, and a small penis.
Then they discovered the room of the cyclops and his very large sheep. Rather than come up with some clever plan involving holding onto the underside of the sheep, they charged the cyclops for the gem that hung around his neck. Perhaps the lack of subtlety of their plan caught the cyclops off guard. They didn't even bother learning his name.
They then rested again, tempting fate. Sadly, no one died.
They then put the gems into the giant stone door. The door slid open, and they were greeted by the stench of dog farts. Dauntless, they pressed on. They came to what the players knew to be a merry-go-round, but the party knew only to be disturbing. The horses on it breathed fire, ice, lightning, acid, sonic waves, and shit. Around the room were also statues of clowns. Predictably, the clowns shot acid from their flowers and kicked with their enormous shoes. The party whined a lot, but again emerged victorious. At the end of the battle, the merry-go-round was a pile of rubble, and in the middle of was a golden feather. They took the feather and were silently annoyed that there was no more awesome treasure in there. They then headed out of the dungeon, passing by Dionysus, who commented that he was fairly confident he would cease to exist after they left. Either way, the left. They found the stone seal over the stairs had been shattered, and the wind was blowing very hard. It was grasping at the feather, but they held tight and got the hell out of Thay.
The returned to Candlekeep and met with Lankyforpot. The wind was blowing there too, and Lanky suggested perhaps they should let the feather go. Eron complied, and the feather was taken away. That day happened to be High Harvestide, which perhaps would have been more interesting if anyone had noticed. In the previously sad nation of Thay, it is certain that High Harvestide was a fantastic day.
That began a wonderful break for the party. They'd been busy saving the world for so long that they really wanted to drink, gamble, and steal. They had a wonderful time, and then about 3 weeks later their break came to a sudden end. A shining, silvery man came to land on the ground in front of them. Men who enjoy the company of other men might describe him as the "silver surfer," despite the 4 horns and the circlet between the tops of them. The skin of this fellow matched the sword Marchosias was using. After falling from the sky, the man walked directly to Marchosias and introduced himself as Kraslos. He then requested his sword back.
Marchosias was not so keen on giving up his sword. He weaseled some comments about wanting something in return. Kraslos pointed out that he is naked except for one crappy longsword. He then went on to mention that the entirety of creation depends on his having that sword. Nonplussed, Marchosias asked if he were sure there wasn't something Kraslos could get them. Kraslos said he would return in one day to reclaim his sword, by force if necessary.
The party debated for some time. They tried contacting powerful entities on other planes, but that did not help much. Eventually they decided to detect whether Kraslos was good or evil when he arrived. The next day, they learned that he was both good and evil. As that wasn't possible as they understood it, they decided that they would continue haggling. Kraslos wasn't in the mood, so he decided to go after Marchosias. Honorably, the party ganged up on Kraslos and beat him down. For a moment Marchosias thought he would be sending Kraslos to another plane, but then it turned out that he nearly send the monk there. In the end, six against one was too much for Kraslos. Upon his death, his body seemed to break apart into magical components and wash over the party.
You are all compelled to seek revenge for the deaths of your family by the Cosmic Overlord Seskin Layori who resides in City Forever. You must kill him, end his line, and restore the Council of Seven to rule the Interplanar space. You can sense some aspects of your quest, though you know a complete understanding now would destroy your mind. It begins in the city of Waterdeep at a tavern called Hank's.
This was a bit of a surprise to the party. They figured they were just killing a potentially nice guy and taking his sword. They probably did not foresee this particular consequence.
They headed off to Hank's. Hank was a nice fellow who knew exactly what they were looking for. Beneath his tavern was a portal. They stepped through the portal, and were in a place they found surprising.
It was a smooth, white floor. The floor was a hallway, approximately 10 feet wide. The hallway, called the Hall of Worlds, passed through an absolute void. There were other portals, each marked with a unique rune. They knew their destination was to the left. They began walking. Eron noticed the magic weave was different, perhaps it was not governed by Mystra here. Yenrab, more disturbingly, noticed he could not contact his god. He could manipulate the essence of the gods themselves, but that was not a simple task for him.
After walking for many many miles, they encountered another traveler. Brax Vorellian was a warrior, and sometimes a guide. He told them about Trapper John's, an inn that could be accessed by stepping off the hallway and into the void in very specific locations. He also mentioned that under no circumstances should they step off the hallway in other locations. He was not sure what would happen because no one ever did it.
Eron then decided to cheat a little. He wanted to throw some copper pieces off the hallway, but he didn't have any. Sadly, Marchosias decided to skip this opportunity to rid himself of the wizard without any repercussions.
They briefly visited Trapper John's, a huge inn built in a place that doesn't exist. There were people of all sorts, though primarily humanoids, insectoids, reptilians, etc. They spoke many languages and used many currencies, but that didn't seem to be a problem.
They spent one night and learned that City Forever existed at the end of the Hall. There was no known other end of the Hall. They set out in the "morning" and eventually came to the end of the Hall. They stepped through the portal and found themselves in a city. It was made of dark gray stone and amazing architecture. There were soaring spires and huge arches. It was a vast city, and the party had a good view on a high platform. The unique thing about this city is that it is surrounded by a void. The city may be floating in the emptiness, or perhaps it's on a giant stand. All the party could see was that the city was on a huge round disc. In the center of the city was the tallest tower.
The party also noticed that they were faintly glowing silver, as if they were slowly changing to appear like Kraslos. Given all the odd races here, it did not stand out much. The party also felt much stronger.
They found an inn to their liking, Shangri-La. They stayed put for a couple days before a man in simple black pants and a gray shirt. He wore a rapier at his side. He approached the party and said "I am Orsalan, and we must speak privately."
They found a private room, and Orsalan asked about their home world. He then began explaining things.
You probably do not know why you are here. I can help you understand. The previous Questor must be dead. That may have been Kraslos, or perhaps another. I assume you know something about that, though whatever your part in it was is irrelevant. When the Questor dies, another is chosen. In the past there has only been one, but in this case there must be some bond between the six of you. I cannot say what that is, but it is the only reason I know why there would be more than one of you. It smells like the forest, but that's all I know.
This is City Forever. This place was not created. It simply existed when time began. This place may have had a view of the creation of the multiverse you know. This is all places and none. There was a society here, ruled by the Council of Seven. This society was formed shortly before the Gods War, which I will discuss in a moment. Before them, this place may have been empty. The purpose of the Council of Seven was to ensure safety between all the people who made it to this interplane space. They wanted to establish rules of the Hall and perhaps even create a map of the doors. They did not last very long, though, as they were removed from power before they got very far.
Long ago, in ages before your world cooled from the stardust, the Valheru were the masters of all of the prime material plane and beyond. They were also known as the Dragon Lords. They mastered and rode dragons across the cosmos, ravaging worlds. They were not good, and they were not evil. They simply were, and they did as they chose. They were not aware of any greater concepts than themselves. In these days we would call them evil, but they simply could not imagine anything else. These looked like humans, but they were significantly taller and much, much stronger. A newborn Valheru would be able to kill a warrior of your world.
Then came the gods you know today. How they came to be is beyond my understanding, but they existed. They brought with them concepts of law, chaos, good, and evil. They cared for the mortals, and they did not want to see their worlds destroyed. That was the beginning of the Gods' War.
Had you lived during the Gods' War, you would have not enjoyed it. You may be out farming with your rock-based tools when suddenly your world failed to exist. How long this war lasted is unknown, but it is believed to have lasted well over a thousand of your years.
The Dragonlords were eventually destroyed… except for one, Seskin Layori. He found his way here, where the gods could not touch him. He recognized that he was safe here, and it didn't matter to him the Council of Seven already ruled here. He quickly removed them and established himself as absolute ruler. He assembled his forces and sends them out to ravage worlds whenever he can. The gods cannot touch him because their power is derived from the worlds, and they cannot reach into this non-space. However, the gods of the multiverse came together and established the Questor. The original Questor was named Gerlick Cain. We do not know his original world, only that he was a boy when is family was killed by the soldiers of the Overlord. He wanted revenge, but he was unable to do so on his own. He accepted the magic of the gods willingly. The quest was to destroy the last of the Dragonlords. The sword, as it was forged by the gods, was fused with the blood of the fallen Dragonlord Hargron Layori, his brother. It may be the only sword that can kill Seskin. We call it simply "Cain's Sword."
Great battles raged as the Questor attempted to make his way to the Overlord. The greatest power they developed was that when the Questor was destroyed, another was chosen by the sword itself. Sometimes it is the one who slays the sword, sometimes it is merely the closest person, sometimes it is someone on a distant world. There is, however, only one sword. It has been lost for eons. The Questor can sense the sword when it is held by another, but with all the planes… no one held on to it long enough for it to be located. I do not know how it ended up on Toril. For some reason Cain's Sword chose you.
The force has brought you here. In time, it would force you to attempt killing him, but the force is almost intelligent. It knows you could not simply attack the tower and survive. That's why I am here. I am a member of the Divine Alliance. We are mortals who promote the works of the gods, which is necessary is this place where they cannot go. And whether you like it or not, you have just joined us until either the last Dragonlord or you are dead.
You should come with me to meet the others. I won't lie, the only thing smaller than our numbers are our chances.
Should the days pass here the same as on Toril, then it is the 9th day of Uktar, the 11th month. Eron may eventually figure out that he once carried the robe of a Valheru. He will probably fail to understand that it would have destroyed his mind.
I must point out that I have again ripped off an author. So... special thanks to Raymond Feist for being creative as hell. I also owe Weis and Hickman a lot, and in a little bit I'll be ripping off David Eddings. I mention this because the Hall of Worlds and City Forever were the most blatant so far.
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Do the asparagus look threatening?
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