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Rixs' communication was clear. Nelg-sareth, the emperor of Voriph, had announced during one of his brief appearances, that he would grant the suffix saleth to Vix-thur- a level of viziership both unprecedented and essentially a promotion to imperial status. Nelg-sareth had not been seen outside the stewardship of Vix-thur or his few trusted henchmen for years. This naked power grab was, in the view of Maexxna, the best possible time to strike. The Voriphan resistance was prepared, the Voriphan nobles would be insulted by the puppetry, and Vix-Thur was talking about a new device that would bring "peace".
Keichi sought out Lady Sarah Anne. He found her with an unseasonable parasol, out possibly looking for him. Keichi shared the timing of the plan, but not the details.
The plan was thus: the Voriphan resistance had, over the last several years, infiltrated the grounds crew of the Viridian Tower, a government structure that holds many of the high ranking officers- including Vix-Thur's private chambers. Each wave of renovations was done with the goal in mind of providing a secret passage- a way to sneak in, or at least, near. Vix-Thur's chambers, under constant guard, would likely be where he would return to if threatened, and Maexxna's temporary alliance with some of the metallic dragons would provide that, assuming that the city-wide ancient draconic discorporation field could be disabled- and he believed it could, with little risk of failure, but likely only for a few minutes unless Vix-Thur was intercepted- and likely his destruction would be needed to ensure any manner of success.
Ash, Ribgy, Keichi, Alenka, Morgrim, Rixs, and Octessa teleported to Tura, and from there were smuggled across the sea again, leaving Mayella and Zeth in Emerald. They waited in the tunnels, clutching the grapes- the small tasty grapes that, when consumed, teleported the user instantly to a small tree, a magical artifact used by the Voriphan resistance. Betrayal was not on their minds, but any failure in the plan was.
The discorporation field is a spell like projection originating from an ancient, non working machine, kept in the center of the palace. Made almost entirely of Orichalcum, the machine hasn't functioned, possibly ever, but was repurposed long ago to defend Fen-Aran from dragons and other magically sensitive types of monsters by amplifying powerful spells.
And for the first time in generations, it was disabled. Still waiting in the tunnels, the group waited, while the metallic dragons attacked. With them in sight, entire groups of the Voriphan military joined in open rebellion. The group, Vix-Thur, faced with dragons with anti-magic field active on them, retreated to his chambers, talking of reactivating the field...
Where he saw his Umbran allies either destroyed or very nearly so. He responded with bluster and spells, his magical Eyes each attacking his foes. He immediately announced that no further delays would be accepted, and gestured with his starfilled blade at the device. Seated in each crystal chain were Narso, Orchid, a mind controlled Caleb, Ventrashaan and his eidolon- all in some form of stasis. He laughed as they traveled back in time, in violation of logic, sense, and direct command of the Gods- and they returned immediately, no longer in stasis, but animated and cursing about travelers going home. The battle was joined entirely. Vix-Thur's magical protections were stupendous- a confusing mass of abjurations. The heroes- Octessa in this cases- learned soon enough that casting abjurations resulted in an immediate counter from the Eyes of Caligo- his favorite type, based upon their number.
Orchid taunted Caleb, and ordered him to fight his friends. Alenka and Keichi attacked the weapon masters, who stood near the bodies of the fighter and cleric that they had already slain. Morgrim and Octessa wasted no time unleashing powerful spells- they would in short order deal with a psion and a wizard. Ash called upon the power of Latukefu, but before he could call down too stupendous of powers, he had to go bring some PC back to life. Such is the life of a cleric.
Within seconds, The Night Cloak had joined the battle, attacking Vix-Thur and stripping away one of his magical defenses. Rigby saw an opportunity and took it- a section of the room hidden behind part of Vix-Thur's library. From there he could read a scroll of disjunction, entirely dissolving Vix-Thur's magical protections, and removing the ability of the strange collected set of crystal time chairs from travelling through time again.
Vix-Thur cast time stop, maximizing it with his blade. He then set about casting both offensive spells (gray voids that would disrupt enemies) and some clutch defensive buffs, many of them quickened. Even with those, he was far weaker than before.
Ventrashaan withered under the assault of the PCs. His spells were only partly effective. His eidolon had dashed forward to Rigby, who had left the area. Instead it attacked the rest of the team with less results than he had hoped. He had to recast sunlit eyes just to see the battle after being disjoined.
Orchid, almost unhittable except for Alenka, was injured by her... but then Alenka was stunned by a weapon master of the mercurial greatsword. The stun was long enough for Narso to steal her sword. Vix-Thur called after him, naming him a worthless rogue. He had seen movement by the drapes, and was going to investigate- or more likely, run away like a champ. He knew that this crew would kill him, after all- Sandrella had told him that. But, it would not be today!
Vix-Thur and Morgrim ended up in prismatic spheres. By this point in the fight, Vix-Thur's numbers were depleted to a degree- he was relying mostly on the raw power of his offensive spells. Octessa and Ash had dealt with some of the remaining eyes, and the ship's psion that Vix-Thur had brought as personal security had been destroyed.
The Night Cloak, thinking over the pseudodragon net, identified herself as Lady Sarah Anne at the request of the party. This was a cause for brief mental teasing, but the amusement ceased when Rixs was slain.
The prismatic sphere was disjoined, and Rigby called upon Kobold Tail mountain to finish him with fire, which rolled over him. He cursed, and told him that he had seen a future, seen Emerald laid low by airships, seen a united Caligo, seen the motive force of Caligo restored and under his control, the Nameless One freed- he died a failed hero, destroyed by those too ignorant to see his truth.
Moments after, the Seryantic that he had "bound" appeared. It opened by destroying an airship that was arriving to help Vix-Thur, and then assaulted Morgrim's mind- an assault he succeeded at resisting, the poisonous philosophy of Zheng repelled. The Night Cloak, with one dagger that applied dimensional anchor and another that dispels effects, went to attack the Seryantic, and was blasted into nothing. Her mental voice quickly mentioned being unwilling to throw another Twin at the effect.
Alenka, however, had run outside the room, the twin deathseed planted in her seeking a target. Lacking one, she dashed back in and slew the Seryantic.
In the aftermath, there were visitors.
Chrysanthemum and Haluk stopped by. They were there to die attacking the Seryantic if need be, and were very happy that none of that was needed. They helped everyone clean up quickly.
Below,t he airship festered where the black line had been drawn through it by the Seryantic's manifest form. As the group prepared to leave, an ill wind whispered through the area, making their normally well practiced act of looting substantially more distressing. It became visible as anger- unbridled fury- against the failure of the distant gods. The sources was Miryanna, the goddess of passion. A former sorceress and always tightly bound to Voriph, her anger at her favored nation being secretly influenced by something as alien as a Seryantic made her furious. She blessed those present (Caleb, Ash, Alenka, Morgrim, Rigby, Rixs, Octessa) in some fashion but offered no thanks as she disappeared to mourn the results- for the carefully laid plans of the gods do not normally encompass the secret collusion of powerful mortals and the dark Seryantics, who wish nothing more than the destruction of Caligo and the realities it protects from their grasp. Countless trillions of realities full of enslaved minds, all seeking a way in, a way to disrupt that engine for just a moment...
Much of the room was shoved into a portable hole of Vix-Thur's. It contained various gems and currencies, and quickly had plenty more added to it.
Back in the safehouse in Tura, the group memorized spells. On the mourn, they went to the Unbound, whereupon Ash exerted his will to resurrect Rixs. He also communed with Latukefu, his direct questioning learning that there may yet be two other Seryantics- knowledge that the players had already come across at Zem tower, but this was a pretty direct confirmation that there could still be a threat.
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