Adventure in Eberron: The Paradox Wars

[The Demented One]

The world is not as it should be.

When the apocalypse swept across Eberron, everything seemed to change in a moment. Suddenly, the towers of proud Sharn were in ruins, the skies above poisoned with smoke and Mournmist. As far as any of you know, your band of seven is the last bastion of mankind in the world, the last seven mortals alive: Mahogany, a strangely good-humored old man; Vaajek, a ruthless warrior who seems more demon than man; Sinan, a mysterious and knowledgeable sorcerer; Drann, a mere mortal capable of taking on the form of a celestial champion; Azraal, a man both calm and collected, blessed with psychic talents; Dahak, a scholar obsessed with prophecy; and Chesley Beleth, a young maid haplessly drawn into the band of heroes' quest. It began aboard a mighty airship, a pinnacle of modern artifice–but all its magic was not enough to withstand the might of the ineffably gargantuan beasts that now roam amid the rubble that is Sharn.

After the airship was destroyed, the seven of you fell into the ruins, where a monster out of legends attacked you. It was a behemoth, more dead than alive, but with a ferocious hunger, and strength to match. But between your strength and magic (and the mysterious intervention of an unknown force, a power that warped time itself to strike at the cyclopean beast), you were able to fell it, sending its corpse plummeting into the ruins below, to fester alongside the millions more dead in the rubble, the people of once-great Sharn. With nowhere else to go, no one else to find, you ventured down into the ruins.

In the smoldering wreckage of Sharn, you found an artifact of immense yet unknown power, a glyph-traced orb of blue crystal that hummed with the pulse of passing aeons, and the sound of ever-beating drums. As Vaajek laid his hand upon the orb, it triggered the magics lying latent within it, opening a gateway to some unknown vista. The world has fallen to ruin, and before you is a portal that could lead anywhere. What will you choose?

[Krimm_Blackleaf]

Vaajek (http://fc33.deviantart.com/fs39/f/2008/359/1/5/Vaajek_by_Nny2.jpg) looks inward, a dark doorway behind his hand still held up where a surface was only a second before. He hardly hesitates but then he steps through the doorway of the strange device, looking around to see what he can. His sword clacks in his belt, and it's almost as if Vaajek is listening to it's silent words.

[The Demented One]

Vaajek enters into the portal, and finds it as simple as stepping through a doorway–there is no feeling of being teleported or transported. Lights suddenly flare into being within the orb, illuminating its interior. They do not seem to have any source, but simply permeate the whole space within the crystal. He mutters in awe as he looks at the inside, his mind barely able to process what he sees: the orb is bigger on the inside than on the outside. While the sphere itself is perhaps ten feet in diameter, the room within it is the size of a small courtyard, with a ceiling at least forty feet high. In the center is what looks to be an altar or panel of some sort, a jutting spar of gold-tinted metal with a violet crystal set in a plinth at the top. Crystalline screens ring it, each displaying words and images, though Vaajek cannot make them out from across the room. To his right there is a flight of metal stairs that leads up to a railing along the top of the wall, leading to a set of six doors. A plaque on each doors labels it, in both Common, Riedran, and a strange language Vaajek does not recognize. The plaques read: Quarters, Library, Vault, State Room, Null Room, and Sanctuary.

[Krimm_Blackleaf]

He gazes all around the inside of whatever this is and utters words almost unimaginable from him, "Yeh res ah myssara vero..." Spoken in a language too beautiful than should be spouting from him, but something deep down makes it feel like the language comes naturally from him.

For anyone that speaks Celestial.
Figure I'll start translating what the hell I'm saying now.
"A thing of mystery indeed..."

[dyslexicfaser]

Azhi Dahak

The dark-eyed human Dahak took a final look around the hollowed out ruins of Sharn, and followed Vaajek's lead. There was nothing left for him here but death and the shambling dead. The way forward lay through the portal.

On the other side of the portal lay... a wonder. He was instinctively drawn to the metallic-and-crystalline contraption in the center of the room.

At the core of Dahak's being lay the imperative to understand, to know. And here was a worthy mystery, indeed.

[Ellas Aramond]

Drann Sinderra

"This is new." The artificer says, brushing hair out of his eye so he can get a better look at the crystal. "It couldn't have been here when the city was destroyed. There's not a speck of dust on it."

A flick of his finger brings a ruby tipped wand into his grip, not trusting that anything beyond the portal is harmless. Weary, he follows the others into the vessel.......then immediately has to run outside again as he tries to wrap his head around what he just saw.

"What...?" He says, a look of confusion and amazement on his face. He had used a fair amount of extraplanar storage devices, but nothing like this.

Popping his head in and out of the vessel a few times only makes a wide grin form as he comes to appreciate the magical marvel sitting in front of him.

"It's...bigger on the inside." He finally says before stepping back in. "Qi miao!*"

* Ignan for Fantastic!

[The Demented One]

The crystalline plinth in the chamber's center is covered with crystalline screens, glowing with glyphs and intricate designs. Dahak only recognizes the purpose of two of the panels: One displays a complete map of Eberron laid out on a grid, with a small, luminous pinpoint hovering above Sharn. The other one displays what looks to be the date - the year, the month, the day, and the minute - using the Galifarian calendar as well as the Old Sarlonan Reckoning, along with a third calendar he cannot recognize. There are no obvious physical controls for any of the panels, but the same glyphs and runes that covered the orb's exterior can be seen floating in them. One screen is covered in frantically pulsing red runes, while a trio of smaller ones seem to cycle through intricate prismatic mandalas. The panels give off a faint hum, and Dahak can feel the vibration from them in his bones before he even touches them.

[Krimm_Blackleaf]

The kajubaan walks slowly toward the massive device in the center of the room and looks at it up and down, then seems to focus on the core for a few moments with intensity. After a moment of this he looks back down into his belt and gives it a quiet snarl, as if telling it to be quiet. "Kassak Velkonn, Ayus..."

Abyssal translation
"Silence yourself, witch..."

[The Demented One]

Mahogany carefully follows the others within and a look of utter amazement and disbelief alights within his creased face.

"Oh my soul, I must have went abed and not yet woken..." he breathes, and pinches himself and twitches. "Why I am awake, leastwise as much as I ever am, but we've walked right into a tale, mighty folk. Lands, but never'd I think I'd see the day when I'd heard tell of findin' a for-real, jab you in the belly, true to toast Yester'eve Ship, must less be steppin' aboard..."

The old man simply continues staring, drinking in the sight.

OOC


Due to having a work schedule that would make lesser men tremble, Vorpal Tribble's not going to be able to play. I'm going to keep Mahogany in as a support NPC, in case Tribs decides to come back.

[Regord_Silentflame]

Azraal

After the others had walked into the 'doorway', and Drann even returning, Azraal could see there was no danger, and so he follows in after them, so as not to get separated. Once inside, he looks about the chamber, taking in his surroundings, and only after having seen it all, he lets out a low whistle,

"How unexpected, it's so much bigger inside" he says flatly. He glides about the room with a surprisingly fluid gait, considering how short and bulky he is, moving over to the center, in front of the displays that show the map, and the times, and standing straight and still. Only his eyes move as he scans the screens, and speaks without curiosity, and not turning to address anyone
"What purpose would someone have for knowing such precise location and time in an empty room?". He remained still as he spoke, almost as if he were conversing with the wall 20 feet in front of him.

[Krimm_Blackleaf]

Vaajek still stands before the core of the room, looking about at the screens and controls. Red light catches his eye and he gazes down at a button... He looks back up at the core for a moment, then with something of a smirk he mutters, "Kurra Akroll'onn Yanaa..." He promptly then pushes the button.

[The Demented One]

With all the caution and care of a magpie, Vaajek presses on the crystal panel, pulsing with crimson runes. As his skin touches the crystalline pane, he feels a great force, drawing his hand down with such power he could not pull it away if he tried. The red runes shift and trace across Vaajek's hand, forming an intricate ring of glyphs that pulses in an ever-quickening rhythm. As the panel activates, the lights within the chamber begin to pulse red in time with the runes, and a deep-pitched bell begins to toll from somewhere within the chamber, the fell tones of a cloister bell.

As the pulsing lights and tolling bell reach a fevered crescendo, you all here a telepathic presence within your minds, an emotionless but feminine voice that commonly incants, in whatever language you call your own, "Immediate escape request acknowledge. All operating protocols and procedures have been disabled; all safety measures have been bypassed. Temporal core breach in three...two...one. "

Suddenly, one of the crystal panes begins blazing with light, all but blinding. The panel that once displayed only the date is now a scintillating font of light, the numbers on its display changing faster than many of your mortal eyes can register. Suddenly, without any great fanfare, the numbers cease their whirling, and a calm wave of violet breaches the crystal at the chamber's center, suffusing the whole chamber in a purple aurora for the briefest of seconds, before flickering away.

The temporal panel now reads, quite plainly:


-1,500,00 Y.K.
Autochton Maxima of the Second Age, S.R.
∑[§]å~?, R.C.

[The_Snark]

Sinan

The bespectacled elf mage is likewise at the plinth, though something is clearly distracting him. More than distracting, really—he is staring ahead at nothing, muttering words and grasping his strange seeing-staff, even as the lights flicker.

"Aha-" The voice manages to cut off whatever he was going to say. Sinan glances about wildly as the light billows.

In the aftermath, he says, "Well. I was about to say, I believe this is some sort of traveling device—indeed, perhaps like a ship, just as you say." He nods towards Mahogany.

"I suppose we've just had that proven, but really, sir!" The round little elf bristles slightly as he confronts Vaajek, looking like a scrubjay confronting an eagle. "Don't you think we should have looked at that before pushing it? We'd no idea that wasn't the safety to wipe every mind in a thousand-foot radius clean, in case of invasion from Dal Quor! I am afraid I must insist you try to be more cautious in future."

Sinan catches sight of the date panel. "Well, a little more cautious, anyway," he admits, curiosity and excitement deflating his ire. "One million years, eh? My word. Autochton Maxima; I've no idea what that is..."

The same vision-spell he'd employed in the last thread, Demented; I assume the answer (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=4809477&postcount=115) is the same?

[The Demented One]

Mahogany startles as Vaajek triggers...whatever he just triggered. As the lights flicker, he braces himself for the worst. Once the travel is over, though, a slow look of realization comes over his face. His eyes begin to shine like tiny, emerald stars, and a smile grows across his wrinkled face, revealing the teeth of a much younger man.

"Sovereigns and hellfire, but we're at the start of it all! It worked!" All but dancing with joy, he claps Vaajek on the back in joy. "You realize what you just did? Lands, the dawn of history itself...I never thought I'd ever lay eyes on such a sight."

OOC for Sinan

Yep, your vision gives you the same information.

[Krimm_Blackleaf]

The demon looks about ready to make what someone might consider a coat out of Sinan, the elf showing far more manhood than should be reasonable when face to face with Vaajek, but for some reason looks confused and calmed slightly when the old man slaps his back. He then just gives something of a passive glare to Sinan, not that he truly notices.

[Ellas Aramond]

"Lio coh jwei ji neong hur ho deh yung duh buhn jah j'wohn!*" Drann exclaims after it's clear that Vaajek didn't trigger anything malevolent. "Are you out of your damn mind!? That button could have been anything! It could have killed everyone in here! Ai Yah Tien Ah!** Why in in Fierna's flames would you do something like that?"

Drann is visibly shaking with rage as he yells this. He had faced death more then once as the Silver Guardian, but never anything like this. He had been completely powerless as the great device had done his thing, and he didn't like that feeling. Not one bit.

Translations from Ignan:
* Stupid son of a drooling whore and monkey!
** Merciless Hell!

[The Demented One]

"Now, now, best not to be angry." Mahogany counsels Sinan and Drann. "Young master Vaajek may be a mite impetuous, but we're on the finest ship in all creation, not some Cannith deathtrap. We don't even know how to fly her, boys; the only way we'll be finding out how is with poking around and a smidge of guesswork. For instance..."

The wide-grinning old man hustles over to the chamber's wall, and places a gnarled hand upon it. Just as when Vaajek opened the orb, light flares up to meet Mahogany's palm, and lines of light spread across it, forming an intricate lattice of light across the crystal. A glowing ring of light forms around Mahogany's handprint and begins to expand, growing to the size of a small window or door, an oval about five feet high and three feet wide. With a flash of light, the crystalline sphere opens, its surface retracting like an iris within the ring of light, creating a door.

"Now boys, our ship seems to be a bit tuckered out," Mahogany says, pointed to the faded crystal at its center, no longer pulsing with power, "And we're at the very dawn of time. What do you say we go out and take a quick look around?"

[Regord_Silentflame]

Azraal watches the screens blink and change with a quiet disinterest, nothing was really happening to him, so why should he care?

After things died down, and they apparently 'ended' their travel, one thing did catch his attention. He glides over to Mahogany near the door, his dark eyes staring into Mahogany's, unblinking

"My friend...I wonder about how you seem a adroit in knowing what is going on around her, despite it being new to us all..." leaving the question hanging awkwardly in the air

[The Demented One]

"Oh, I just have my horse sense to me, I suppose. When you've been around quite as long as this old soul, there's not much left that can surprise you." Mahogany says, with a mysterious smile that reveals nothing. "And to be fair, all this wonderment is just as new to me as the rest of you. Can't quite say I've ever visited the rise of dragonkind, now can I?" he chuckles.

[dyslexicfaser]

Azhi Dahak

Mahogany's last words lit a fire in Dahak. He was out the 'door' - loosely speaking - almost as soon as the other man stopped talking, his usual caution overridden. He wasn't even touching the ground anymore, floating like a feather caught in the wind. The lesser mysteries of the origin of Mahogany's knowledge, that purple light, the destruction of the great city of Sharn, could wait.

The rise of dragonkind...

He'd spent most of his short life seeking the dragon's Prophecy, and to have such an opportunity fall into his lap was nothing short of amazing. He would have kissed Vaajek for his impetuousness if he wasn't sure the being would rip off his arms or something equally unpleasant for it.

He was, in all honesty, as giddy as a little schoolmage.

[The Demented One]

Stepping out of the temporal chamber, Dahak sees that they have indeed traveled far. The vista before him is entirely unlike Sharn ever was: The orb lies upon a rocky cliff, craggy and spiked, that overlooks the sea. The sky ahead is veiled with black storm clouds, with only the occasional leap of lightning providing any light. The sea below the cliff is not the vibrant, healthy sea that lies off of Breland's coast, but a primordial ocean, its waters a vitriolic green. No plants rise up from the earth, no trees reach upwards toward the cloud-hidden sun.

But Dahak need not consult the vessel's map to determine where they have arrived. Even with the passage of a million years, the mage would recognize the forbidding spires of Argonessen anywhere. You all stand in the primordial cradle of dragonkind, the mysterious land where the Prophecy first revealed itself to mortal minds. Hazarding a guess, Dahak concludes that they stand amid the Wyrmsperch Mountains, and that the acidic sea they look out on is–or will later be–the Bronze Bay, a sea whose waters conceal untold broods of black and bronze dragonkind.

[Krimm_Blackleaf]

There is a fearsome sound as the metal of his sword rings against the metal lining his belt as Vaajek draws his blade and walks out into the primordial landscape. He gazes far and wide, the look on his face normally of hatred and rage is now of mere annoyance and a twinge of wonder.

He then pushes at the ground with both legs and lifts off into the air, flying with ease, even without wings. His gaze circles and moves about as he rises, taking in as much as his incredible elevation will allow him. "...Haez ah vo..." He whispers to himself from many-a-meter in the air.

[The_Snark]

Sinan

Sinan follows the others outside, gazing about at their surroundings in fascination. "Do keep in mind," he cautions, "we may well be the first humans and elves to ever set foot here. Any dragons we find may not know what we are—and I daresay their language is not the same as the dragon-tongue we know of."

[dyslexicfaser]

Azhi Dahak

Dahak floats upwards, following the demon's lead, taking in the vista in all its primal beauty and mystery. He feels invigorated; no mortal he had ever met truly knew the origin of the draconic Prophecy (if the dragons themselves knew, they weren't talking), but this was indeed the place of its birth.

He comes back to himself, somewhat, at Sinan's words of caution. Dahak digs into his Handy Haversack and produces a book entitled 'The Big Book of Dragons'. He begins paging through it, the Cosmic Librarian's form of augury to see if it were likely they would be eaten by a grue (or maybe just a dragon) if they were to head deeper into the Wyrmsperch mountains.

He wasn't entirely certain where his knowledge came from - he seemed to draw it from thin air sometimes. But it was very often accurate.

Augury:
Likelihood of the augury succeeding: 88%.

[The Demented One]

As Vaajek and Dahak gaze out, the see mountainous ridges stretching towards the horizon, each peak ringed by storm clouds, some sputtering volcanic fire. The valleys down below lie beneath a heavy bank of mist, a fog to rival that conjured by any mage's spell. They can make out faint, shadowy shapes off towards the horizon, flitting about in the sky for the briefest of moments before disappearing back behind the clouds.

OOC for Dahak

As you flip through your tome, you take in a storm of words and phrases:

"Breath of flame, but also–"

"rich with dragonshards"
"by air or sea, they travel thousands of–"

"behemoths, immortal and unstoppable"

"Flee."

The augury speaks of woe and weal intertwined, of great treasure and power at the cost of great danger.

[dyslexicfaser]

Azhi Dahak

"Oh dear. Weal and woe. Dragons and dragonshards." He floats down to the rest of the group. "Well, what is reward without risk?" he asks philosophically. He slips his book back into his Haversack.

"All the same..." he focuses his energy into providing his companions with what meager protections he can bestow. "If any of you happen to have magics that protect against flame or other draconic energies, you might consider invoking it. No sense being stupid about it."

Endure Exposure invocation on everyone, Energy Immunity: Fire invocation for myself.

[Ellas Aramond]

Drann

"What I think is on everyone's mind right now, is just what is this reward you speak of?" Drann speaks up as soon as Azhi finishes, sliding the wand back into his bracer. "And more importantly, we were just in the ruins of one of the greatest cities in the world. A city, may I add, that was still standing the last time any of us saw it. Shouldn't we be focusing more on finding what could have caused such destruction, rather then gathering riches from the past?"

Despite this, he still takes a moment to cast his own protections, doubting that his concerns will fall on caring ears.

Casting Resist Energy (Fire) on himself and anyone else who wants it. Fire resistance 30 for three hours.

[dyslexicfaser]

Azhi Dahak

Dahak shrugs, unknowing. "Magical divination is an ... imprecise art at best. Your guess is, perhaps, as good as mine."

"There is that," he admits to Drann, thinking back to the devastation of Sharn. It's obvious, however, that Sharn is 'out of sight, out of mind', and that the wizard is much more interested in what is before them.

[Krimm_Blackleaf]

Vaajek lands again on the ground with an impact that didn't even seem to hurt him in the least. He looks back at the group as they cast their spells and speaks up, "Would you so easily forget dragons that do not breathe flame? Dragons of lightning or ice... All dragons of tooth and claw. Should we go, weaklings such as yourselves would be wise to stay behind one who can handle a dragon's form..." He sneers, showing off razor teeth. "Lukkrok Valuokk..."

Abyssal translation
Pretty much just a mild personal insult, but apparently being used in respect to everyone present.

[Regord_Silentflame]

"All that glitters is of no consequence to those faced with death; yet the chance to rewrite history's Injustices, no price is too heavy for that" Speaks Azraal, following the rest of the group outisde, the word Injustice spoken along with a palpable hatred, followed immediately by the return of his unwavering collected nature.

He refuses any protections granted by the others, agreeing with Vaajek's sentiments about the varied colors of dragons. "Magical energies are limited, and we should not waste them without knowledge of our necessities.

He stares at the landscape ahead of them with focus "I am Ready. The dangers of this primordial land will not divert me from the endless horizon of possibilities outstretched before me"

[The Demented One]

As you argue over what is to be done and prepare your protective dweomers, Sinan suddenly notices a sound on the very edge of hearing, one that must have been there all this while. A faint whooshing, almost indistinguishable from the wind...the sound of wings. He silently gestures to you, leading you over to the very edge of the cliff, where the noise is coming from. As you peer over, you see a sight no mortal has laid eyes upon in millenia...

A Black Wyrm, hovering in the air. Its scales glimmer with raw arcane power, and its maw drools out viscuous globs of acid that sizzle in exposure to the air. It looks up from a few dozen feet beneath the cliff with eyes like alien stars, huge and lantern-lit. With one flap of its wings, it rises level to you, and begins to speak. Its language is strange and archaic, too old for any of you to know, but its voice is laced with potent magic that makes its speech impossible not to understand.

"Hmmm. Tiny demons. I suppose I shall have to kill you all now, no?"

Encounter/Negotiation Start!

Initiative
1. Vaajek
2. Azraal
3. Sinan
4. Mahogany
5. Drann
6. Dragon
7. Dahak

Map

http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/2215/mapnl2.png

Big D: The dragon.
V: Vaajek
A: Azraal
M: Mahogany
Dn: Drann
S: Sinan
Dk: Dahak

The brown squares are solid land, the red squares are where it stops. You're on a cliff, so going off the edge means a plunge of a couple of a hundred feet into an acidic sea. Endeavor to avoid this.


Vaajek's Turn

[dyslexicfaser]

(OOC: Is it just me or are the OotS forums getting more unstable? Also: am I remembering right, that you can use a Swift action on other people's turns - at the expense of not being able to use a Swift action on your next turn - or am I confusing it with some other type of action?

I'm also hoping my Polyglot ability will let me speak Ancient Dragon or whatever language this is well enough to pass for one)

Azhi Dahak

He looked up at the enormous Black, impressed. Though he found dragons unconscionable, he had to admire their ability to crush mortals like himself.

"A Black Wyrm. So much for 'breath of flame.' How embarrassing," he muttered, referring to the outcome of his augury that he had interpreted that they would be facing a Red.

Well, perhaps we can bluff him.

Without gesture or word, Dahak left his human form behind and grew, assuming the form of a mature (huge-sized) adult red dragon.

"No demons, mighty one," the somewhat smaller dragon-Dahak assured. "Merely an amusing new spell I have developed."


Swift action to cast the 9th level polymorph spell Dragonshape, and altering it (via Cosmic Librarian's Spell Lore ability) to remove vocal and somatic components, and to Extend the spell to 36 rounds. Which is, what, 3 and a half minutes?
[roll0] trying to hit a DC of 35.

[The_Snark]

You're thinking of immediate actions, I'm afraid; swift actions have to be used on your turn. Speaking of immediate actions, though, Sinan generally casts Nerveskitter as combat begins, giving him +5 to initiative. Where does that put him on the chart?

[Krimm_Blackleaf]

The kajubaan narrows his eyes at the dragon at the 'demons' comment, his gaze defiant and rebellious, and he tightens the grip on his sword. A drop of ichor falls from the hole in his chest as he looks headlong at the dragon. He decides to stay still, expecting the dragon to be fooled soon enough to let his guard down and strike at his heart.

OOC
Delaying my action until after Dahak bluffs. This is effectively destroying my turn, so this better pay off.

[The Demented One]

Azraal's Turn

OOC for Everyone

While Dahak hasn't cast his spell yet, he still tried to Bluff the dragon (the dragon won't react until its own turn). You may want to delay your actions in order to react appropriately.

OOC for Dahak

It's immediate actions that you can take during other people's turns; so you won't transform until your own round. However, you still made your claim to the dragon; you just won't transform until later.

OOC for Sinan

Ah, in that case, it bumps you up before Mahogany.

[dyslexicfaser]

Thanks for rolling with it, y'all. Hopefully I didn't just give 'Blacky' a free turn against us.

[The Demented One]

OOC for Dahak

No worries, odds are she'll delay her turn until after yours to see if your claim is true/see if your substantially boosted Buff check succeeds.

[Regord_Silentflame]

(OOC: Azraal readies an action until the dragon makes a hostile act)

Azraal stands tall and unafraid, but he waits for his companions, or the dragon, to make the first mistake, not himself.

[The Demented One]

OOC for Sinan and Drann

Post if you're planning to take an action before Dahak's turn, or just let me know if you'll be delaying. If I don't hear anything from you guys by tomorrow night, I'll just assume you both delayed, to hurry things up.

[Ellas Aramond]

OOC: Sure, I'll delay.

[The Demented One]

All fall silent as Dahak makes his audacious bluff, their mouths agape with surprise. Hands loosen on the hilts of swords, arcane words are quashed on tongues, as all wait to see what will come of his duplicity. The dragon regards him just as silently, waiting to see proof of his claims–but the vitriolic spew that seeps from between its fangs serves as stark reminder to what should await if Dahak's ploy fails.

With all eyes, mortal and draconic, upon him, Dahak casts his spell. He needs neither incantation nor hand-sign, shaping the arcane power with his formidable mind alone. An inner flame seems to well up within him, a crimson light that shines like a lesser sun. Dahak begins to swell, his form shifting and distending. With a surge of magical effort, he sloughs off his mortal skin like a serpent wriggling out of its old scales, a trick he hopes will fool the dragon. In a few moments the crimson nova fades, revealing Dahak in the shape of a red dragon, but a few yards shorter than the mighty black she-wyrm.

The black dragon regards Dahak circumspectly, waiting for him to finish his metamorphosis. She pulls her fangs back in what might almost be called a smile and speaks, her voice resounding like a foamy breaker beating against a ship's hull and three-tiered oars.

"Oh, you silly little demon. You would not be the first of your hell-bred brood to learn our tongue, or to mock up some half-wrought arcanum to take on a dragon's shape. I am not one of your fellow fiends, to be fooled by enchantment and illusions–I am Aruru, the eldest wyrm of the Seventh Clutch, whose aura is terror, whose breath is death! Did you think you could deceive a dragon, who can hear every flutter of your heart, the slightest mis-beat as the falsehood crosses the threshold of your mind? Now, let the truth be revealed!"

With that she barks a word of arcane power, so ancient that not even Dahak with his tomes of lore has ever read it, and weaves a sigil of unbreakable power in the air with her foreclaw. Completing her spell, she looses a wave of cerulean magic that washes over Dahak, enfolding him. He can feel it corroding the magic he has cast, eating away at the shape he has assumed. But, desperate as his magic was, Dahak wove well his transfigured shape, the dweomer withstanding the dragon's nonchalant dispelling. The cerulean aura about him flickers, and then fades away entirely.

There is a moment of nine months-pregnant silence, a pause so ponderous that the awkwardness is all but tangible. With a look of what might be called shame, the she-wyrm drops her head ever so slightly, casting eyes obliquely at Dahak.

"...oh...it would seem I have made the merest hatchling of myself, brother. Forgive one whose only crime was a zeal too fierce, a heart too bold. Pray, tell me of yourself–your name and brood, your shared blood? It has been a decade since a dragon of the Red Flights has come to our demesne; it would be the light of Siberys itself to my honor if I could guide you inland to our haven–and of course, your slaves as well."


OOC for everyone

Looks like combat's been averted, for now at least. I'm gonna let you guys talk the rest of this out, and see where it goes from there (of course, if someone wants to just drop her in a surprise round, I'm not stopping you. Krimm).

[dyslexicfaser]

Azhi Dahak

Dahak waved a foreclaw generously, forgiving the Wyrm her reaction. "Though you were hasty, my Black sister, I cannot fault your zeal. Truly, we must ever be vigilant against the demons, and I would expect no less of my brethren."

"Know, then, that I am Kalkalenth, fifth eldest of the brood of Xalros, of the Red Flight," he said proudly, naming a lesser-known red dragon that almost certainly hadn't been born yet. "And your offer of haven is most gracious."

"It was a good likeness, was it not?" he referred to his supposed 'spell' to take the form of a demon. "If I can further refine the spell, I could think of any number of uses for it."

He gave a toothy, knowing grin. Not that he knew what he was implying, but he was rather hoping she would draw her own conclusions.

Yet though he spoke well, his mind was racing wildly. Had they come to a time when the dragons and demons still battled for supremacy of the world?

He had been lucky that his own magic had withstood hers; it might not a second time. And even so, this form would not last long; not even close to long enough to enter Aruru's haven and exit again safely, nevermind that it would, quite literally, be entering the dragon's lair.

On top of that, elder dragons were notoriously strong-willed and resistant to magic that trammeled the will. He wouldn't really care to pit his Enthralling Voice against her, though if he couldn't think of something else soon, he'd have to risk it.

He glanced down at his new companions, hoping his eyes were properly conveying 'Help!'

OOC:
Unfortunately, I didn't think that far ahead: when I suddenly revert back to 'demon' form, she might not buy whatever we're selling.

But anyhow... do we want to follow the nice Black dragon lady, or what? I'm open to suggestions.

[Krimm_Blackleaf]

The demon knows when he has the advantage and not, and he knows when to prod an enemy when they're not thinking of battle... Vaajek stands there and begins focusing on natural magic power, focused on the massive black dragon.

OOC
Using detect thoughts SLA and concentrating on it.
Good f:smallfurious:king luck with that, Vaajek.
CL check: [roll0]

[Regord_Silentflame]

Azraal stands watching the encounter, trying not to ruin their ruse.

[The_Snark]

Sinan

"Er, I am afraid you have misappraised the situation slightly, madam," comes Sinan's voice. The rest of him is noticeably not visible any longer, and attempting to pinpoint him by sound is difficult, since his words bypass the ear in favor of speaking directly to the mind. Conveniently, this also bypasses the language barrier for all involved.

"We are not, in fact, slaves, nor are we demons, although given your clear lack of prior experience with our kind, and the fact that we physically resemble some types of demon more than we do dragons, your misunderstanding is quite understandable. With your permission, shall I explain further?"

Employing telepathy; Diplomacy is at +27.

[The Demented One]

"Greetings, Kalkalenth. Indeed, were I more skilled a sorcerer, I would surely delight to assist you; but alas, my mastery of magic is so sadly limited, almost pathetic."

Having seen the dragon casting spells beyond the reach of most modern mages, Dahak has to wonder whether this is but a show of false modesty–or whether Aruru's magic truly is weak, compared to that of other dragons.

"And yet, we count many sorcerers more puissant than this inept thaumaturge among our flight, and of them there is a Silver brother, most skilled among all of us at transmutation's art. He would be most interested to hear of your spell, and could surely devise some cunning improvements to it. No dragon of my memory has ever cast a dweomer to take on the shapes of demons; it would be a fresh new hunt for him."

At Sinan's intrusion, however, Aruru takes pause. She sways her head from side to side, searching for the sound's source. Finally, she replies back. "What is this? Are you all but dragons transformed? This is a sight stranger than any I have ever met!"

As Aruru rambles, you all hear a voice at the back of your minds, barely distinguishable from your own thoughts. Their is no audible quality to it, by which its owner might be discerned–but the conviviality and warmth of the thoughts makes it most certainly Mahogany's.

<Oh, keep her talking! She's dressed herself up with more spells than a wizard's drawers, but they're burning off fast! Keep her distracted, talking for as long as we can. I have a few tricks I might be able to lay without her taking notice, maybe the rest of you could do the same.>

[The_Snark]

Sinan

"Not quite dragons, madam; I will endeavor to explain. You are, of course, aware that the race of dragons is born of the Dragon Above, just as the fiends you refer to are born of the one deep beneath the earth? We," the scholar explains blithely, "are creatures of the Dragon Between."

[The Demented One]

"Eberron's brood? Then...then you are neither dragon nor demon? What other things are there, then, besides a dragon's herd of well-bred slaves?" One might almost imagine the arrogant wyrm trying to conceive of anything that might be more than an enemy or slave to the dragons.

[dyslexicfaser]

Azhi Dahak

Well did Dahak know the selfishness of dragons in their own time, yet even he was almost impressed by Aruru's unthinking arrogance. Strangely, it somehow managed to humanize the Black monster in his mind.

"I can hardly fathom it myself," Dahak offered in an effort to help Sinan's case. "Yet they are such ones, and they care for demons nearly as little as those of our kind.

They are reasonable beings, and they would make powerful ... allies... indeed. Each one is very nearly the equal of myself, despite being of such small and puny appearance."

'She's dressed herself up with more spells than a wizard's drawers'? That's quite an evocative image Mahogany draws, there.

Oh, also, if we need to do some rolling, Dahak bluffs with a +27 modifier.

[Krimm_Blackleaf]

Vaajek scowls and turns his head to the side, his concentration no longer withstanding. He mutters something instinctively from abyssal. "Maalk Varaa..."

Abyssal translation
"Six be damned..."

[The Demented One]

Aruru perks up at Vaajek's muttered oath, her draconic hearing letting her catch the whisper nearly before it escapes the demon's mouth. She levels with him, her will-o'-wisps of eyes locking his in an unshaking glare...and yet, for all the intensity of her gaze, her eyes seem almost to stare past Vaajek, not able to fix on the demon. With a wary, calculated suspicion, the suspicion of one who can barely conceive of being deceived, she asks the fiend, "You. Are you sure you're not a demon?"

[Krimm_Blackleaf]

Vaajek looks back up at the dragon all of a sudden with mouth now closed. A silence seems to penetrate the area with a bitter aura. The tension is almost physically tangible. He turns on his heel to face the beast with all his courage... the grip on his sword tightens.

"Quite."

[The Demented One]

"Oh. All right then." Aruru says, her gaze suddenly vacant. Despite the blatant lie in Vaajek's voice (and the gaping hole in his chest), the she-wyrm seems perfectly willing to accept him as nothing more than mortal. Indeed, all of you realize that thinking of your companion as anything besides a mere human is quite difficult, bringing on a slight queasiness. Only when you focus on the warrior do you have any recall of his fiendish feats of strength and brutality; once your mind wanders, all is forgotten.

[The Demented One]

OOC for Everyone

Dahak's spell is going to end, at a minimum, by tonight. If anyone wants to try anything before the gig is up, now'd be the time.

[Krimm_Blackleaf]

OOC
Readying an action to use greater teleport to jump on her back when things get sticky.

[Regord_Silentflame]

I suppose I'll ready an action to manifest a power.

[dyslexicfaser]

Azhi Dahak

Dahak turned a thoughtful eye on Vaajek. It was strange, that a creature such as Vaajek somehow seemed so... human in passing. He wondered if it was the being's doing, or something else entirely.

Even thinking of it bothered him, so he stopped. He cleared his head of such musings.

He'd thought that he could make an ally of the wyrm, but perhaps that was too much to hope for from a race that saw anything not-dragon to be enemies or slaves. He simply couldn't think of anything to say that would sway her to their side, and she was almost certainly going to realize she had been tricked very soon now.

Dahak made one last attempt at avoiding the acidic death he saw in his near future. "I am sorry, Aruru of the Seventh Clutch," and he was, for more than simply refusing her offer. He could be a soft touch, at times. "but it seems I will have to decline your most gracious offer. I feel we would only add more strife, taking these little ones to a haven so filled with hatred for and fear of demons. They are, perhaps, just too different from us."

Looks like all I succeeded in doing was dragging things out for another 3 days >.>

I was planning to use Enthralling Voice, because I thought it worked like Charm Monster. It doesn't - and it won't work on something as strong as a wyrm, in any case. Anything below 18 HD, maybe. Wyrm, not even close.

So I'm just gonna spend my standard action to switch over to Energy Immunity: Acid.

[The Demented One]

Aruru begins to reply, but before her sonorous words can rise to your ears, Dahak's transmutation falls to shambles. Not even a mage as skilled as he can hide the obvious tells of a spell ending, as draconic scales soften into flesh, behemoth bulk folds in on itself to a more mortal size, and fragments of incorporeal magic slough off of the decomposing spell. Aruru's shining eyes widen in surprise, as she bellows a guttural roar, the howl of a dragon betrayed, and ready to attack.

But while Dahak's ruse has failed, it bought some advantage. The dweomers that glittered on Aruru's scales have faded and dwindled, and the mage's companions had ample time to ready themselves for the fight. Before Aruru can do anything, Vaajek vanishes, slipping into the Astral. With a painful whine of dimensions parting, he reappears atop the dragon's back, his sword held in hand. He cannot get a good footing atop the heaving beast's back, however, and falls prone, gripping at her scales with his demonic claws. At the same time, Azraal discharges a shining beacon of psychic power. As the she-wyrm roars her fury, the rest of you move into attack.

Initiative
1. Vaajek
2. Azraal
3. Sinan
4. Mahogany
5. Drann
6. Dragon
7. Dahak

Map

http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/4378/mapob3.jpg


OOC for Everyone

Since everyone had delayed until after Dahak, I'll just start the initiative order over again at Vaajek.

OOC for Azraal

Just let me know what power you used your readied action to manifest any time.

Vaajek's Turn

[Krimm_Blackleaf]

Vaajek seems to stand tall all of a sudden, but not because of keen balance, but because of his innate magical ability to fly. He takes a deep breath and roars out, making sure the dragon can hear, "Graal Ur'Ossok, Saajin'ayus!!" Suddenly the steel of his sword blackens, as does his flesh and his eyes gleam red. Ash spreads from his body in a swirling torrent and it becomes far simpler to note that he's a demon...

Suddenly he holds his blade high and roars even louder than when he called out to his sword. He thrusts down at the dragon with all his fury, aiming for the base of the she-dragon's neck. "Yaagra Vo Kallukk Kaa!! Demekkaa!!"

Going into fiendish release, using my Epic Tactics (Feral Death Blow).
Feral Death Blow Jump check: [roll0]
Attack: [roll1]
Damage: [roll2] also 1 negative level(and my weapon's unholy if that matters)
FDB Dmg: [roll3]
Abyssal translation
"Spread the Lament of Heaven, Blind Witch!!"
"Choke on your glory!! Dragon!!"

[The Demented One]

Vaajek's blade strikes home, the edge piercing between two adamant-black scales. Though he can feel a pulse of necromantic taint coursing through the dragon's blood, chilling it in her veins, the demon's face seems wrought with disappointment–he had certainly not expected the dragon to be still alive after his dramatic blow.

Initiative
1. Vaajek
2. Azraal
3. Sinan
4. Mahogany
5. Drann
6. Dragon
7. Dahak

Map

http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/4378/mapob3.jpg


Azraal's Turn

[Regord_Silentflame]

Azraal lets loose the power from his mind, the magical essence from the area coalescing into a large green orb which fires off and shoots at the dragon. After Vaajek leaps onto the dragon, he lunges forward as well, and lets loose another blast from his mind, attempting to break it's mind.


[roll0] entangling ectoplasm
[roll1]

[The Demented One]

Azraal probes the dragon's psychic defenses like a captain assaulting a garrison, trying every gate and bulwark–but only to find his efforts resisted, each wall unyielding against even the man's considerable psionic might. The cascade of telepathic power backlashes harmlessly, breaking against the psion's mind like sea foam dispersing on the shore. However, his ectoplasmic entanglement meets with more success, catching the dragon in a net of manifest thought that binds its claws and wings, hampering its every movement. Aruru bellows with annoyance, the acid that froths forth from her nostrils of no avail in melting away her bonds.

Initiative
1. Vaajek
2. Azraal
3. Sinan
4. Mahogany
5. Drann
6. Dragon
7. Dahak

Map

http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/4378/mapob3.jpg


Sinan's Turn

[The_Snark]

Sinan

A truly scrupulous observer—one not distracted by the clash of massive dragon and heartless man below—might, by straining, catch a glimpse of Sinan, hovering in the air some distance above the dragon and muttering the words to a spell; as he releases the arcane energy, a wash of colors sputters over the dragon, a result of clashing abjurative magics.

The elf then releases a brilliant stream of light at the dragon. By the time the afterimage fades, the elf has lost himself again in midair.

Casting Smothering Dispel, as essentially a targeted Greater Dispel Magic; caster level is 19. Roll as appropriate.

Afterwards, quickened Lucent Lance (Spell Compendium, ranged touch [roll0]; on a hit, the target is blinded for 1 round and takes [roll1] damage, plus [roll2] sneak attack), followed by hiding in plain sight again. It probably counts as sniping, so there's a -20 penalty to the Hide check; once again, roll if necessary.

Spell resistance for Lucent Lance: [roll3]

[The Demented One]

Sinan unleashes a tide of abjurative magic that drowns the She-Wyrm, rending apart the last of her protective magics while leaving Azraal's ectoplasmic net untouched. However, the dragon's iron will throws off Sinan's choking influence, its magical prowess unhampered. Sinan, unperturbed, casually looses a shaft of light, but the dragon's arcana-wrought scales deflect it harmlessly; the mage's puissance is insufficient to overcome the she-wyrm's resistance to magic.

However, it seems there is more to Sinan's magic than was obvious (or perhaps not–the sorcerer seems just as surprised as the rest of you), as a web of violet light begins tracing itself over the dragon, illuminating its entire body. Suddenly, the light begins to glow like a beacon, and then blindingly bright. When the incandescence subsides, the dragon seems aged, its outermost scales sloughing off.

Initiative
1. Vaajek
2. Azraal
3. Sinan
4. Mahogany
5. Drann
6. Dragon
7. Dahak

Map

http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/4378/mapob3.jpg


Drann's Turn

[Ellas Aramond]

Drann

"Lets get this over with then." Drann mutters to himself as he crosses his arms over his chest. "Yin'xii!"

What results is a blast of silver fire, completely engulfing the artificer; making it easy to believe that he had just killed himself. But before the flames have a chance to fade away, a being clad in red and grey armor, wreathed in the same silver fire of the explosion rushes out at the beast.

"I'm sorry." He says before mounting his attack. And truly, he is. In his mind, they shouldn't even be here. 'Damn the Flame if one dies on my watch, though.''

Assuming avatar form and shifting into Giant's Stance right before I 5-foot step next to the dragon and use Searing Blade.

Attacks:
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]

Damage:
[roll4]+[roll5] fire
[roll6]+[roll7] fire
[roll8]+[roll9] fire
[roll10]+[roll11] fire

[The Demented One]

Not even in his transformed state is Drann able to pierce the dragon's scales with his fist; his flaming blows fall like a tarrasque's footsteps, but to no avail. Aruru, distracted as she is by Vaajek's blade lodged between her scales and the web of ectoplasm cast over her, fails even to notice that she has been struck.

The she-wyrm flies across the field of battle, hovering out of any of your reach. She intones a word of frightening power, and weaves a net of force in the air before her, and flings it at Vaajek. However, the demon is able to dodge the web of force, which fades away to nothing. Then, with almost unbelievable speed, she breathes out a jet of acid that burns flesh and corrodes through bone. While most of you can withstand the vitriolic spray, Chesley, cowering on the ground, is not so lucky. All that is left of her is a puddle of gore mixed with acid, her flesh and bones eaten entirely away. (Azraal and Drann each take 93 acid damage)

Initiative
1. Vaajek
2. Azraal
3. Sinan
4. Mahogany
5. Drann
6. Dragon
7. Dahak

Map

http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/6782/mapgw4.jpg


Dahak's Turn

[dyslexicfaser]

((OOC: Apologies, guys. Was unavoidably detained by the world.

EDIT: Poor Chesley. Guess we shouldn't have brought an NPC into the prehistoric past with us.))

Azhi Dahak

Dahak floats upwards and to the side ((left three spaces)), getting into the correct range to unleash his power. He places a hand on a dagger at his belt with a red gem in the hilt.

He draws in an enormous breath and exhales. What emerges seems far too large to come from a human mouth; an enormous bolt of flame roars forth, entertwined with bobbing, floating blue spheres of magic.


Fire Breath (60' line) Damage: [roll0], DC 29 reflex save for half damage
Clinging Breath effect applied (half damage next round)
An added casting of swift action Stunning Breath on it, so that's a DC 29 fort save to avoid a one-round stun effect, too.

[Krimm_Blackleaf]

The kajubaan roars in an animalistic rage as his eyes burn like great red cinders. He hurls himself through the air at the black-scaled dragoness with his sword in hand, held in a way to let him swing in a wide arc at the beast. He hopes to spill it's blood even more than last time. As he flies, black and red smoke emanates from the sword and the screams of Shavralath echo through your mind...

Charging and using Feed the Maw of Hell. Also using Shock Trooper/Power Attack to take 10 from my AC(making it a 46) and adding 10 to my damage.

Attack: [roll0]
Weapon Dmg: [roll1] plus 1 negative level, and poison(DC 29)
Feed the Maw of Hell: [roll2] vile

[Krimm_Blackleaf]

Crit? Looks like a 19 to me.
Confirm: [roll0]
Extra damage: [roll1]

Edit: Gah. The odds.

[The Demented One]

Dahak breathes out a blast of dragonfire, striking Aruru head-on. She flails, desperately trying to escape the worst of the blast, but her massive wyrmbulk makes this a lesson in bleak futility. Flame courses over every inch of her scales, and the web of ectoplasm over her glows bright blue, as the immense heat causes the nigh-indestructible ooze to superheat, still searing Aruru's flesh even after the first wave of flame has passed. However, the dragon seems unstymied by the concussive force of the blast; while Dahak had hoped it might stun her, the wyrm has prevailed over that.

Barely has the fire died down before Vaajek rends the sky, charging towards the dragon with manic speed. His blow is devastating, spreading an intermingled tide of necrotic essence and abyssal poison through Aruru's veins, a fate undeserved by even the arrogant wyrm. She wavers on her wings, their oarage momentarily becoming unbalanced. Vaajek seems almost disappointed–for all the devastation his strike wrought, his inhuman eyes can see a bloated artery but a few inches from where his blade struck true.

Initiative
1. Vaajek
2. Azraal
3. Sinan
4. Mahogany
5. Drann
6. Dragon
7. Dahak

Map

http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/6849/mapjz5.jpg


Azraal's Turn

[Regord_Silentflame]

Azraal turns his eyes away from the dragon, looking at his feet momentarily before...he disappears, but after only a moment of confusion, can be seen opposite the dragon, his fingers on his forehead as he sends forth another barrage to the dragon's mind.


Manifesting Temporal Acceleration, spending the additional 4 pp to have 2 rounds of accelerated time.
Using Body Adjustment, Augmented to heal 6d12 hp per use, for both rounds of sped up time. If that heals me more than 60hp, I will do the same thing I did last round, if not, I will manifest body adjustment again. During the move actions of my accelerated time, I will move to be 50ft away from the left side of the dragon, in line horizontally with Vaajek.
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]

[The Demented One]

By all rights, the mental onslaught Azraal unleashes should fail against the iron bulwark that is the ancient mind of Aruru, mighty wyrm that she is. And yet...between being enmeshed by a web of ectoplasm, on fire, in the throes of a muscle-killing poison, and tainted by necromantic energy, Aruru cannot quite muster the force of will to throw off the Elan's attack. Her eyes bulge sickly, and corrosive vitriol dribbles down from her mouth, melting the earth beneath her. All of you take heart–the dragon is entirely defenseless now!

OOC for Everyone

The dragon's out for six rounds...well damn. Everyone, just post your next sixteen (or if you're Krimm or Regord, fifteen) rounds worth of action. Have fun. Once everyone's posted there 15/16 rounds, I'll go from there if she's still alive (fat chance, damn natural 1's). If something someone posts makes whatever you do invalid (for example, killing the dragon), then feel free to take back/change your actions.

[Regord_Silentflame]

After seeing the dragon incapacitated, Azraal runs up to his dazed and dreary foe. During the following half-minute, he stares focused at the draconic beast, awaiting for it to rise.

[Krimm_Blackleaf]

Vaajek floated down and landed in front of the not-so-mighty beast. "Aruru..." He spits in the beasts eye, with saliva that looks like it's got quite a bit of dirt and ash in it. "An old, foolish beast if there ever was one, isn't that quite right? So mighty... so mighty were the dragons... perhaps to the apes that wander the world, right? But what strength have they against demons, hm?" He grins, bearing sharp teeth. "Aruru, I want you to know in your last moments that your slayer was in fact the demon that will destroy your oh so mighty draconic empire..." The last of his speech being in his own race's dialect of abyssal.

The kajubaan then bellows forth an incoherent call of slaughter from the deepest pits of his body and begins swinging and thrusting his blade at full force, his sword in both hands and no regard for his own defenses. The ash swirls around his body in his fury, slashing at the thing nearly half a dozen times until he pauses for the briefest of moments an a red, hellish aura engulfs his sword like not long before then and he thrusts it deep into the softest spot of the skull of the ebon-scaled creature, making sure to leave it's eye and ear intact... he wanted it to see and hear it's final moments, the moments it spent being slaughtered by a demon.
He continued this assault, soaked in dark, stinking blood until the monster was dead, covered in slashes and gaping holes... A final thrust into the beasts torso letting out the air of it's lungs, the last air that would ever touch the lung...

He paused... staring at the dead monster in front of it and dripping with dark red liquid. He turned around to look at the rest of the group looking more or less calm, or as calm as he's ever looked. "Are any of you capable of animating corpses?"

[The Demented One]

OOC for Everyone

Krimm's attack has the dragon dead by the third round of all this (and your characters probably all saw it coming). Just keep that in mind if you're planning to do anything aimed towards making it be less alive.

[Ellas Aramond]

OOC:
In my case, the battle's over. The Guardian won't take any actions.

The Guardian's flames die down as he floats back to the group. He reards the corpse of the once great dragon with a hint of sadness. Something just didn't seem right about what they just did, but he'd let Drann handle that. He was here to defend and protect, not to punish. Besides, his champion would have a field day with this one.

"Was that really necessary?" He asks Vaajek, not being able to let at leat a few of his thoughts go unsaid. "Yes, she wanted us all dead, but this is not our time. Let her die with a little dignity. She was a creature of might and magic. One that our world will never know."

[Krimm_Blackleaf]

Vaajek walks up to the silver guardian, making sure to stand very close and showing his height above the guardian's. He stares down into the red helm below, his own eyes still blazing red and ash swirls around him, the powers of his sword still active. The blood and gore dripped from him, the smell was pungent, especially in such close contact to fire.
"One whose arrogance let it die with such shame..." The powers of his sword faded, the glow of his eyes faded and the ash ceased to swirl around him in a twisted halo. "I don't need to explain myself, guardian. It died without dignity because it had the terrible luck of setting it's claws on my path..."
There is a sick pause that begs anyone else to hop into the conversation.

[dyslexicfaser]

Azhi Dahak

Dahak allowed himself no more sympathy for the fallen Black, setting aside emotion in favor of thought. The whole senseless situation simply showed how far he was from mastery of the Prophecy.

"I have no skill with the dead," he answered Vaajek distractedly, thinking ahead. "Anyway, raising Aruru would draw the ire of every dragon even more surely than we have already."

"On the other hand... such a thing might prove beneficial to allying with the demons. And as I recall, the origin of draconic hoards in our time were the treasures of the Overlords..." Left implied was that his plan, such as it were, ended with the betrayal of the demons and absconding with those very treasures.

Having said all he wished to say, he uses his Cosmic Librarian magic to draw forth a book entitled 'From Azazel to Zuregurex, a Demon's Guide in Eberron, first ed.' and begins paging through it.

Call Forth The Tome: Allowing me +10 on Knowledge (Planes) checks, and the ability to use scrying or legend lore on the book's subject matter.

[Regord_Silentflame]

Azraal Finally looks up from the dragon's corpse, assured that it was defeated.
He addresses the group in general, but no-one in particular
"I believe the defeat of this dragon may prove to our benifit. If we are to roam the lands here, then the assassination of one of their elite, although may win us some ire, is sure to also bear with it a great deal of fear, and that may give us safer passage than kindness."

[The Demented One]

Mahogany sighs sadly as the dragon falls before Vaajek's ungodly onslaught, the old man seeming to feel every shattered bone, every gush of blood, every splatter of the wyrm's warm brains on Vaajek's armor. He walks over to the great beast, resting his hand on her devastated head. As his comrades argue, he turns to face them. "Vaajek was right," the old man says, his voice faltering. "Aruru's pride allowed no end to our meeting save this one, or our doom. But lands, perhaps her fate was one crueler than her crime warranted. All of you, mark me! We all are travelers here, and we can hardly think ourselves lords of these lands. Every scrap of earth and field is the keep of dragons and demons, and neither are likely to have much kindness at heart for us." The old man's voice is deep and imposing, much changed from what it was before.

"I don't think we'll be desecrating poor Aruru's bones, no, not today. In fact, Vaajek, why not build a cairn over her? It would let you put that great strength of yours to more use, and by all you know, it may well still stand when you return. Wouldn't that be a wonder to see?" The old man addresses Vaajek fondly, as if he were no more wicked than a wayward son.

He next makes his way for Drann, his footsteps more lively than an arthritic elder's should be. He lays a hand like a gnarled oak on the young champion's shoulders, and whispers in his ear. "It looks like the wyrmspit did its work on you, lad. Let this old fool see if he can't find a way to set the right." Before Drann can even respond, he sees his flesh begin to bubble and seethe, liquefying into a distorted shape. But, rather than melting, as under the touch of acid, it is reforming itself, as if corroding in reverse. When the unnerving metamorphosis is complete, he feels hale and intact, as if the dragon's breath had never touched him.

OOC for Everyone

Encounter over. Everyone receives 2500 XP.

OOC for Drann

Mahogany's healed you back to full hp, not that you have any clue how he did it.

[Krimm_Blackleaf]

Vaajek turns his attention from Drann to the old man in silence as he gives his speech. He listens far more somberly than you would expect him ever to be. At the end of the speech given by Mahogany, Vaajek walks over to the massive corpse once again, wiping blood from himself as he walks. "Belmanaa, Ur'Collaakth." He utters quietly before taking his sword in both hands, pointed down and stabs down twice, severing a length of her horn about as long as his own forearm. He picks it up and fingers the runes on the side, then looks back at Mahogany. There's a long pause, he then puts the horn and sword both in his belt and begins looking around for rocks large enough to stack around the dragon.

Abyssal translation
"Sleep, or lament in death."
OOC
Also, we need to find this thing's hoard.

[Ellas Aramond]

"My thanks, zhang lao."The Guardian says respectfully to Mahogany. In truth, he probably would have been okay depending on Drann's magic, but help was always appreciated.

The flames covering his body begin to flicker just as he's about to go help Vaajek with the building; his champion's signal that he wants his body back. The Guardian sigh and crosses his arms over his chest. "Until next time."

With that, an explosion of silver flame similar to the one that Drann set off earlier engulfs the armored form. Instead of dispersing like normal fire, however, it reverses, until Drann is revealed unharmed.

"Ai yah tien ah." The artificer curses under his breath, seeing the dead dragon. "You actually went and did it. Do you have any idea what repercussions this could have! Killing something in the past has the potential to radically alter our present! Flame! This might cause Sharn to never be built!"

Ignan Translation:
"Elder."
"Merciless hell."

[Krimm_Blackleaf]

Vaajek stops piling rocks and looks at Drann. His expression is so much to say, less than amused. He approached him without drawing his sword and got close, now he was even taller now that he wasn't the guardian. "...Do you recall Sharn before we left on this endeavor? I don't think we could be much worse off..." His eyes seemed to flare with orange red light as suddenly you looked upon him and it became all too obvious that he was an unholy creature, aspects that weren't simply forgotten, passing thoughts.
He looks up at Sinan and shouted quite brashly, "You look knowledgeable! Tell me how much worse a dead dragon would be for us!" He looked at everyone else, "We're all here, we're all intact and ourselves, are we not?"

[dyslexicfaser]

Azhi Dahak

Dahak has to chuckle at that. It's a good point about Sharn, if indelicately put.

"That we are, Vaajek. That we are."

He thinks for a moment, then pulls out yet another book - a spellbook. He begins flipping through it, muttering to himself, "I'm sure I had a spell for that, where is - aha."

He casts a spell that brings into being a fleet of floating orbs each the size of his fist. He waves a hand in a 'shoo, shoo' gesture. "Off you go, my little helpers. Scatter and seek out dragons, demons, treasure, or other interesting phenomena. Report back if you find something."

The eyes bob once and scatter in every direction.

Spell/OOC

Prying Eyes conjured: [roll0], they'll last for 18 hours.

They'll scout out for a mile in any direction, and if they find something they'll return and I get a little film reel about what they found.

Also; convenient guy, that Mahogany.

[The Demented One]

OOC for Dahak

One eye scouts out the underside of the cliff–there are no further hangers on clinging to it, although its craggy surface would lend itself to being climbed, if any of you had any desire to take a swim in a sea of acid. It briefly peeks down through the acidic waves, getting a glimpse of bizarre aquatic life, more dragon than fish, and huge primordial plants waving about on the seabed. A glint of gold can briefly be seen, but the eye cannot go down into the corrosive waters to investigate.

Others scout out the area behind the cliff. It seems that soon after the cliff ends, a forest or jungle of sorts begins, teeming with huge trees–a lush valley of life amid mountains of harsh suffering. Small animals dart from tree to tree, to fast for the eyes to clearly make out what they are–but the glinting of metallic scales is clear enough for you to see. The jungle stretches on for as far as the eye can travel, and seemingly further, having no apparent end. Save for the titanic trees, some as tall as small Sharn-tower and with roots like a labyrinth (and, just like it, seemingly leading down underground), there are no other structures.

The rest go upwards, scouring the mountain face on either side of the jungle valley. Craggy and seemingly insurmountable, the mountains hold no wildlife, plant or animal. There seem to be no openings–no caves, not even fissures in the earth. However, one eye, eagerly bobbing as it returns to your hand, shows you an image of an opening masked by illusions, a simple glamer cast over it to make the opening seem solid stone.

[The_Snark]

Sinan

"Er," Sinan says, descending to the ground, "I'm afraid I'm hardly an expert on time travel, but it seems to me that since we still exist, the worst-case scenario has not taken place, yes?"

"I would surmise that since such travel is possible, the worst conjecture about it can't be true, or else something would already have gone catastrophically wrong. Perhaps everything we've done has already happened, and has been factored in to the history we experienced; there have been a number of religious sects with teachings of that sort, I believe, and of course there is the draconic Prophecy. In other words, it's just as likely that the death of this dragon wasn't what caused Sharn to be built."

He adjusts his spectacles. "I imagine there are some dangers involved with this magic, but if it were as dangerous as you say I should think something catastrophic would have happened long before we found it. I will have to think on how we might find out more about these possible dangers. Which reminds me, actually—what reason do we have for staying here any longer?"

"I appreciate the lure of the unknown as much as any of you, but is there that much to be learned from wandering about a landscape where every fiend and dragon wishes us dead? It seems to me that we ought to devote ourselves to more specific, fruitful lines of questioning first, such as how to safely use the device, or perhaps even how it came to where we found it." He peers about at the others. "Besides, I don't feel that we should stray far from it, or leave it unattended too long. Losing our, er, 'yesterday-ship' so soon would be... less than pleasant."

[dyslexicfaser]

Azhi Dahak

Dahak really, really wanted to keep going, but that was now two of their number that cautioned against it, and Sinan did have a point. Losing their newly-acquired Yestership would be... bad.

"I didn't consider someone - or thing - taking off with the ship," Dahak admitted. "As fantastic an opportunity as this is, I would very much not like to be stranded here."

He broke off his thoughts as his last, most successful scout returned to him. "I feel I should note that there is a cave or similar opening a little ways up the mountainside, hidden by a simple illusion spell. Perhaps Aruru's clutch or lair, perhaps something else of interest. Just thought you all may like to know."

[Krimm_Blackleaf]

Vaajek ignores the talk of the possibility of the ship being stolen, simply walking over toward the cliffside then taking off into the air and then over the side of the cliff. He then spends a good deal of time searching out the wall, touching to see where his hand moves through stone as if it were nothing.

OOC
Taking 20 on a Search check, with an end result of ....well, 25.
Will save to disbelieve any illusions: [roll0]

[Regord_Silentflame]

Azraal watches as Vaajek leaves, then simply disappears, reappearing next to him, then after a moment's concentration, looks upon the cliff-face, and walks through the illusion to the other side.


Azraal uses psionic dimension door to follow Vaajek, then uses psionic true seeing to find the illusion, and walks into the cave, assuming all goes to plan.

[The Demented One]

Vaajek and Azraal (with the rest of the party on their tails, guided by Dahak) enter the cave, discovering a trove unlike any in the modern age. Though it is surely a natural cave, there is no sign of a stone floor, for every inch is litter with glinting purple dragonshards. They cast a fell light that illuminates the cave, a pale aurora that is unnerving even to the stoic Azraal–and to the demon, they are outright terrifying, for he recognizes the stones for what they are. Khyber dragonshards, the ancient weapons by which his people were bound and imprisoned. Even if only a fraction of the dragonshards actually had demons bound within, it would still be a veritable hellish legion trapped within the dragon's lair.

The light of the demon's prisons illuminates the walls, revealing murals etched into them with acidic dragonspit. The murals depict a black dragon (doubtlessly Aruru, or one of her ancestors) killing large numbers of demons, and seeming to enjoy herself thoroughly. While the technical form displayed in the murals is superb, especially considering they were made with a dragon's breath, the artistry seems to betray a certain lack of imagination.

In the center of the cave there is stone mound, piled high with some strange metal neither Vaajek nor Azraal has ever seen. From the arrangement of the metal, shining red-gold nuggets piled high upon each other, it seems that this was the dragon's bed. At the base of the stone mound there is what looks to be a cage or vault, forged entirely of adamant, and bound up with seven bolts.

[Krimm_Blackleaf]

Vaajek floats in and his black and red eyes widen. He staggers backwards through the air and hits the wall with his arms in front of him as if guarding himself. Instead of obvious fear he instead looks angry, opening his mouth wide and bearing pointed. He can't seem to stop looking at the ground at the countless demon prisons that lay on the ground.
Any that pass near enough to him at the mouth of the cave hear him muttering in abyssal, but it's still unintelligible.

[The Demented One]

As the assembled companions, all of them now within the cave, survey the piled-up riches, there is a sudden scent of magic, the redolent perfection of blossoming roses no comparison to the sublime aura that suffuses the air. There is a sound like a crystal goblet set vibrating by the piercing notes of a Cyran aria, and a flash of pale scarlet light, like the pink radiance that alights upon the clouds as the sunsets. At the center of the light appear two very different figures, transported by a most flamboyant teleport spell.

One is a hulking, brutish behemoth, a towering demon adorned in cruelly spiked adamant armor. It wields a blade like a monstrous engine, great gears and cogs at its hilt twisting chains that encircle the sword's edge. Gouts of burning steam surge forth from a cagish contraption affixed to the sword's pommel, wreathing its demonic wielder in scalding mist. His partner is a lissome woman of overvoluptuous beauty, the scarlet cascade of her hair and her diaphonous gown the only concessions her elsewise naked form makes to modesty. She holds in one hand a jagged shaft of mithral, capped with an opalescent gemstone head that is tumescent with a baleful light. In her other, she holds a shard of green crystal whose facets ripple like water, a scrying stone. They are quite obvious to any verses in planar lore as a monstrous Balor and a succubus.

With the lightning swiftness of a coiled serpent springing forth from some shaded hidey-hole, the Balor falls to one knee and lets its wondrous weapon fall to the ground, sending dragonshards sprawling everywhere. The succubus struts, her steps weaving serpentine, up to Vaajek, and bows revealingly low. "Hail, most glorious saviors! You have felled one who has done unspeakable pain to us. I know not what rajah you serve, but within the desmesne of our lord, She Who Births Apocalypse, you are eternally welcome." Her voice is sultry and seductive, but rings sincere to even the most discerning of your ears.

[Krimm_Blackleaf]

He suddenly recovers from his aggravation and puts on another cold shell, looking them both up and down. He looks at the bowing succubus in a few moments of silence, everything about him seems calm except his left fist, closed and shaking slightly. "Ivaa Vaajek Vo... Vo'Kaar Quaazch Vokkel Dorr. Karra Vo Kallus, Ayus." His tone is almost as calm as his position, but even as calm as they are his language is poisonous.

Abyssal translation
"I am Vaajek... I serve no lord but myself. Now show me your eyes, witch."

[Regord_Silentflame]

Azraal looks at the fiends bowing in front of his comrade, looking from one, to the other, to Vaajek, awaiting the resolution of the encounter. given the long life of such creatures, they could serve as useful allies, but he still doubted how fruitful this encounter would be, despite how gracious they were. And so he waited for this to end so they could move on.

[The Demented One]

The succubus seems taken aback by Vaajek's needless harshness, gaping seductively. As she sultrily stammers, trying to find words, the Balor beside her steps up and forward, laying a gigantic claw upon her shoulders–almost gently, it seems. He speaks with a voice like the grinding gears of a war machine, or the still-threatening whir of a torture machine as it is shut down. However, for the menacing timbre of his voice, his words betray no trace of anger or malevolence.

"Lords, forgive my wife if she has misspoken. We come before you as supplicants." The colossus of hellfire and manifest damnation looks almost sorrowful as he speaks to you. "You see, we come here not to challenge you or your claim to this wyrm-bitch's lair. We have a son, but a new-born fiendling...or rather, we had one, before Aruru attacked us in our sanctum and trapped him within one of these soul-cages, simply to satisfy her sadism, to watch a father held powerless and a mother weeping as their child is stolen away. We would but ask that you let us search through the dragon's cages for however long it takes to find our son and free him. On her other treasures, we have no wish. If you would grant us this supreme favor, dark lords, then we could surely win you the favor of She Who Births Apocalypse. Even for demons as powerful as you, her aid would be a potent boon."

[dyslexicfaser]

Azhi Dahak

Dahak's eyebrows rise. He tries to recall if he'd ever heard of a demonic marriage before. He'd always kind of wondered if demons were made the 'old fashioned way'; he'd always assumed it involved damned souls or something. He glances at his companions.

"I believe it would be little inconvenience to us if you accompany us while we search this lair. I confess I have no particular interest in trapped fiendlings, and rather more in items of power and the patterns of these rather interesting dragonshards."

He glances down at the book in his hand, as though drawing strength from it.

"As we do, perhaps we may speak more of an equitable exchange for our ... humanitarian aid in this manner. I know little of your lord, She Who Births Apocalypse."

Lovely naming sense, these demons.

Knowledge (Planes) for that thing I said: [roll0]

[Krimm_Blackleaf]

Vaajek looks at Dahak as he speaks and waits a moment before speaking after him, and seems to speak as if to both him and the demonic couple. "Certainly your offer is most beneficial for us... We keep the treasure we have so rightly earned without interference, favor with your mistress and another warrior of demonkind in oh so many future wars. A deal so beneficial for us leads to ask... what is it you're not telling us?" His voice is still harsh, though not as harsh as before when he so darkly spoke in abyssal.
He finishes his sentiment, "And what I also want to be told is your names..."

[The Demented One]

The Balor nods assent to Vaajek's request. "I am Dukkha, Whose Mouth Is Fire, Whose Breath Is Death, Whose Aura Is Suffering. My wife is Orabila, Who Once Knew Nothing Save The Sea. All we ask is the chance to save our son; our thoughts hide nothing, if you would but look."

OOC for Dahak

You've never heard anything about any particular Rakshasa Rajah–such knowledge is all but lost to modern demonology (and hence, tremendously valuable). You are certain that She is a demon of power almost immeasurable, capable of defying the nature of reality. You would also imagine that she, well, births apocalypses. Probably a metaphor. Possibly not.

[Krimm_Blackleaf]

The kajubaan seems to slip in and out of a trance, looking at the balor and succubus both. He then drags a sharp nail across his chin in thought.
"Your thoughts betray no lies, it seems." He says quietly, he then draws his sword without apparent explanation and speaks loudly and with very slightly more menace, "Then be on with it, free your child from what prison he may reside. Then immediately after you will aid us in gathering this vast treasure, and you'll bring us to your Rajah."
When he finishes, he takes a small black cloth from his belt and begins to spread it on the wall with incredible manual dexterity. In only a few moments a wide circular cloth disk becomes a deep hole in the wall. Inside is only a small pile of gold and a crystal ball and apparently empty glass bottle both set atop it.

[The_Snark]

Sinan

Vaajek's statement is punctuated by a small cough from Sinan. "Friend Dukkha, while your offer of introduction is appreciated, I am afraid my companion has let a small but rather pressing matter slip his mind. We shall certainly permit you to retrieve your offspring, but we must attend to this matter before meeting your liege."

His voice elaborates inside the minds of the other five. "My friends, I feel we should discuss this offer among ourselves before going to meet this rajah. I also feel we should not leave our device unguarded for long, and it seems to me that we can kill the proverbial two birds with one stone by returning to it. If we hold our discussion in another time, we would be a good deal more safe—and we could return quite quickly, if we choose to return at all."

Belatedly, he adds, "And I suppose we should gather the hoard first, since it would seem odd to simply leave it." He has the feeling they wouldn't have liked the idea of leaving it much. Silly, really; with all of time at their disposal, wealth meant very little, and magic was only a little harder to come by.

[Regord_Silentflame]

Azraal pushes his mind, opening a link from his mind to his companions.

Telepathically to all:


"Sinan, I believe your statement may have been in haste. These creatures are fiends, although Vaajek finds them truthful, I worry that undermining each other in front of them may lead to our downfall. I agree with your concern over our new device, but I believe we should refrain from disagreeing with Vaajek while in their presence, he seems to be the most knowledgeable of us in dealing with them.

"Friends, while I do agree with Sinan, I feel that these two cannot be trusted, despite their gracious appearance, their ultimate goals for us remain hidden. Any diplomatic step we take may easily take a turn for the fatal for us all. For this reason, I believe we should take full advantage of our newly acquired device. We should split into two groups. One of which to deal with these Demons, while the other should return to the craft, and learn it's workings. We should designate a location, and time, to meet, and if the diplomatic group does not show, the group at the device can return to this time, and advise against trusting these creatures.

If you all agree, I would volunteer myself to return to our craft, I can teleport myself and others quickly to the site, and hopefully be of great assistance in working it.


During his mental conversation with the group, he turns himself to look expectantly to Vaajek.

[The_Snark]

Sinan

"Hmmm, you may be correct, Azraal; I will do my best to avoid openly contradicting him in future. I think it unwise in the extreme, however, to rely on employing the device as you suggest; if my earlier supposition was correct, it may not be possible at all. If I am wrong, any kind of tampering may have potentially disastrous consequences. I think it better to simply set a date at which we will contact the pair, should we choose to, and leave for another time. Remember, there is no hurry, and thus no real reason to split up."

"I suspect that not all our companions are incapable of replying in the manner we are using; we should adjourn to the ship soon, so as to allow them to speak. Vaajek, would you be the one to make our excuses to these two?"

[Krimm_Blackleaf]

Vaajek's eyes rolled over to Sinan for a brief moment. He still stood tall and proud as if hearing nothing. 'I think perhaps we've got a hoard to collect before all else, and two new bodies to do it. I looked into their hearts and I saw fear... fear of me. I do not sleep, and cannot be stabbed in the back while sleeping. They will come with us. Whatever business we must do between now and meeting their Rajah, I care not about...' His voice penetrating your thoughts like a violent intruder, in the heads of all his comrades, but keeping them out of the heads of the demons.

He looks back at the two demons, "You, how long will retrieving your spawn be?" He said in a way one might if asserting dominance.

[The Demented One]

Orabila responds to Vaajek's entreaty, her voice uncontentious and amorous, though it does not seem she has any seductive intent. "How long does it count to number teeth of Khyber, my lord? The she-dragon's shards number in the hundreds if not thousands, and I must cast my divinations on each one until we find him. If me and my mate are lucky, we will find him within hours. If we are not...then we are willing to spend years looking."

[Krimm_Blackleaf]

He hears her grim explanation and pauses for a moment before looking back at the rest of the adventurers, and almost shouts "Who of you has a swifter way of doing this!?"

[dyslexicfaser]

Azhi Dahak

Dahak chuckled. Vaajek might be a horrible monster, but at least he was an amusing one. He shrugged. "If I had the fiendling's name, I could attempt a scrying or sending of my own - on the off chance that he knows his prison's location - but it would likely still come down to the luck of the draw, so to speak."

[The Demented One]

The succubus steps forward, as gracious as she is salacious. "Our son's name is Hrothdun, The Ebon Rose That Flowers In Unknown Gardens."

[The_Snark]

Sinan

"I have a number of finding-spells at my disposal; I suppose it would not hurt to employ one on your behalf." Sinan clears his throat, and speaks the words to a common divination spell, ending in a clearly intoned, "Hrothdun!"

Locate Creature (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/locateCreature.htm)! This assumes that knowing his name is good enough for him to count as known; if not, Discern Location would work, but it takes longer.

[The Demented One]

Guided by his well-worked divination, Sinan digs through the scree of shards, quickly producing the soul-cage of Hrothdun, Whose Demonic Title Is Mildly Effeminate. It is an icosahedral gem of shining violet, with a seething, angry light at its core. Picking it up, Sinan can almost feel an empathic seething of suffering and desperation suppurating in the shard. As he picks out the dragonshard, Hrothdun's demon-parents seem almost transfigured with joy, their visages graced with a love unfamiliar on mortal faces, much less demonic ones.

However, as the demons rejoice over their new-found son, Mahogany sidles up behind Vaajek and Dahak. "Lads, I'm more than a mite worried than this. Sure, these two mean us no harm...but they're demons, and so's their son. If we let him loose in the past, then that's one more demon–lands, for all we know, one more rajah!–running loose and free in the present. Keep a sword and a spell ready, you two, and mull this over."

[dyslexicfaser]

Azhi Dahak

Dahak tilts his head back as he listens to Mahogany. He murmurs, "Truth. It would take greater minds than ours to truly map all possible ramifications of our deeds here. One might as well attempt to map the draconic Prophecy in all its glorious complexity. The death of Aruru and the release of a Balor, a Succubus, and their get may be harmful to our world. Yet looking at them now, I find little stomach for slaying them. This may require more thought."

[Krimm_Blackleaf]

Mahogany catches his eye as it once again rolls to look out sideways at him. His expression is no longer cold, it is in fact the opposite. Despite the rage hidden just under his skin but clearly visible to Mahogany but in his eyes alone, his words are calm, quiet and smooth, "Demons. Yes. Wouldn't want more of those around, would we. Vekkorr Yaaj, Mahogany."
He turns back to the demons and speaks clearly and with fierce pride in his people's language. "Korrok'Vo Vekkor Maakal Var'Kurrik Mal, Vurr Narkur Kellek Nurrku Vo'Raath Kel Mekkal..."

Abyssal Translation
"Watch your teeth, Mahogany."

"I wish nothing more than to meet your son, and hope he is wise enough to respect my strength as you both do..."

[The Demented One]

Dukkha anxiously waves his claw, and the Khyber dragonshard flies from Sinan's hands into the expectant father's massive hands. With a surge of battle-strength, he crushes the gem in his palm, and light streaks out from between his might limbs of fingers as his son is freed from his prison, his demonic visage still inchoate and indistinguishable. A look of pure joy comes over both demonic parents' face as their son begins to manifest, finally freed from the soul-cage.

OOC

Anyone who wishes to do so can take a round's worth of actions before their son manifests.

[Regord_Silentflame]

Azraal will manifest psionic tongues.

[dyslexicfaser]

Guess I'll switch back to Fire Immunity now.

[The_Snark]

Um, I don't think Sinan is expecting combat, so no, no actions.

[Krimm_Blackleaf]

OOC:
It looks like our good DM is at Disneyworld, and is only connected to the internet by an iphone.

[The Demented One]

As the dragonshard shatters in the Balor's claws, there is a burst of light, a deep red that cascades into a shocking azure, a wave of blinding luminescence that forces even Vaajek's lids to flick shut. There is the sound of cracking crystal, but without any hint of cacophany, like the tolling of an elegant glass bell. When the unbinding is completed and your eyes no longer burdened by the pressing tide of light, you look back at the newly released demon–some in awe, some in horror.

For it is the nature of demons to be born, not by any carnal copulation, but from the very fundament of the planes. Each demon that walks the earth is an incarnation of the immanent evil of the multiverse, a personification of the suffering inherent in reality–save for this one. It was born of a demonic union, and while it soul is born of the same planar evil that manifests in its parents, there is another aspect to it: love. Some dim pearl of love, beyond pocket or price, coalesced in the union of Balor and Succubus, and it has wrought a strange transformation in their child.

He looks as human as any of you–more so than Vaajek, in fact. His skin is milk-pale and his features elven, lithe and lissome. But any frailty of body is belied by his vestments, a heavy hauberk of golden dragonscales glistening in what little light lingers in the wyrm's lair. His hair is long, and flows in large, lazily looping ringlets, and his eyes a piercing grey. But for the stream of light that seems to flow out of him, he would seem no different than any other youth; but his aura of radiance marks him as a demigod, or a being not far from one. Deep within his chest, a red light pulses, a light that can be seen through both his skin and scaled shirt. He looks about the lair, frightened and confused, until he looks upon his parents. He says nothing, still mute from a timeless imprisonment, but a sudden joy wells up in his countenance.

[Krimm_Blackleaf]

Vaajek watched in awe as this creature formed. He looked into it's eyes, he was motionless. The expression on his face is a bit unusual... almost mortal. The silence stood for just a moment, but it feels so very long until the kajubaan snapped his head toward the new creature's parents and said in an both almost pained voice and expression, "What... is this?!" His words were almost a shout, and his voice betrayed a sense that he already knew.

[The Demented One]

"Greetings and exaltations, brother demons." the child says, with a voice like a brazen spear striking a bell of soft crystal, only to be harmlessly rebuked. "Surely, I must seem strange to your sundry senses, but know that I am of demonic blood no less than you; my spirit is merely expressed in novel, massy form. I am Hrothdun, The Ebon Rose That Flowers In Unknown Gardens, and I am called Aelya'drann, for my shape and blood are fully new."

Between the new being's form and what he calls himself, his true nature is obvious to all among you who know of planar lore, albeit no less perplexing for it. He is an Eladrin, albeit one born of fiendish blood, with no taint of demonkind about him.

[Ellas Aramond]

"Wo bu shin wo dah yan jing." Drann whispers as he sees the being appear from the light. He finds that he can't take his eyes away from it, the surprise taking him that completely. Deep down, he has to suppress the urge to just let his Guardian alter-ego take over.

"Vaajek," he finally says, all traces of his usual annoyance gone from his voice, "Juh shi suh mo go dohng shee?"

Ignan Translations
"I can't believe my eyes."

"What the hell is this?"

[Krimm_Blackleaf]

Vaajek is silent for a moment, staring at the creature as he speaks and for a few moments afterward. The rage is gone from his face entirely, he is only shocked. It takes a moment until he looks down at the massive gap in his chest as it slowly oozes dark, viscous blood then looks back at the elven creature in golden armor before him. He looks back at Drann and his words are almost a whisper and tears run down his cheeks, but his face is now mostly neutral, "Eladrin."

[The Demented One]

A silent conversation passes in the intermittent moments, an invisible dialogue from demon to demon. Finally, Vaajek nods, his head drooping almost mournfully, and Hrothdun claps his hands with finality. "Very well then, we shall depart for Rajahstan. Father, mother, our guests wish to see what hospitality we have for visiting demons, let them not be disappointed. Come swiftly, newfound brothers, for the passing seconds are wonders that you could be delighting of in my lady's kingdom. Hurry, follow! Fly with me!" The notion that any of you might have some reservations regarding this is foreign to his mind, as he leaps up from the earth, balancing on the thin breezes as he flies off towards the West, his abyssal progenitors in swift pursuit.

[Regord_Silentflame]

Azraal will ready to manifest Psionic overland flight, but has nothing to help anyone else.

[Krimm_Blackleaf]

Vaajek turns back to the rest of the group, his natural body heat having since evaporated the tears and speak, "If any of the lot of you have a way to guard or collect our hoard in the next ...six some seconds I suggest you employ it." With that he launches himself out the cave exit on sheer magical propulsion, following the Eladrin but making sure to stay ahead of it's parents.

OOC:
I also left my portable hole there in case anyone wants to dump the hoard into that and take it back to me.

[Regord_Silentflame]

Azraal takes no interest in the hoard, and simply manifests his power, and flies after Vaajek

[The_Snark]

Sinan

Sinan's fascination with the implications of this—Eladrin sprung from demons, and the demons seemingly unknowing of the fact!?—is broken only by Vaajek's abrupt declaration. "Ah—well—I'll just see to that, shall I? I'll catch up as soon as I can," he says weakly.

Telepathically, he adds, "I'll guard the ship while I'm at it. We really can't leave that unguarded."

[dyslexicfaser]

Azhi Dahak

Dahak briefly went through his mental catologue of spells, but he had nothing particularly suitable for either treasure recovery nor for guarding a priceless ship. He dipped his head in thanks and said, "We'll leave it to you, then."

A ship containing a dragon hoard and that can go anywhere and anywhen, or a chat with a demon lord. What a difficult choice. he thought to himself. He wordlessly flew off after Azraal and Vaajek.

[Krimm_Blackleaf]

...The vessel can be taken with us. I will return to claim it again once I have arrived to meet the Rajah. Vaajek's deep, dark voice rings in your head.

[The Demented One]

The spires of Rajahstan soon come in view, towers of brass and black lead suspended over pits resplendent with green fire and coursing tides of acid. Hrothdun alights on the surface of one such pit, his feet balanced perfectly on the surface of the acid. He waits for the rest of you to land, not thinking for a moment that you might not be able to replicate his feat.

"We are here, great mother!" the eladrin-demon calls out, crying out to the tallest tower. There is a rumble, and darkness begins to spread out from the towers, blotting out the sky. One monstrous eye, the size of the moon, opens wide, looking down upon you. Hrothdun leans over to the party, his conspiratorial whisper not for a moment suggesting anything about this is unusual. "Go on, introduce yourselves."

[Krimm_Blackleaf]

Vaajek keeps his composure in the face of the grand sensory organ that appears in the sky. He stares up with his typical mien of anger, although he is calm and looks to the eladrin as he speaks then speaks up himself, "Ivaa Vaajek Vo, Kirkera Vo'Golk. Garkaan Na Raak K'nellek Aelya'drann, Merkaa Nar Ko'Rakkak."

Abyssal translation
"I am Vaajek, you're best to remember it. I am also savior of the Eladrin, though I received aid."

[The_Snark]

Sinan

"Er, very well," arrives a last telepathic communication. "But I think it would be wise to keep our device a secre-"

The Adventures of Sinan, Scholar-Mage Extraordinaire, continued by PM!

[dyslexicfaser]

Azhi Dahak

Dahak elected to hover slightly above the acid, having neglected to prepare any sort of float spell. He looked up at the massive eye.

He let out a short bark of laughter. It was either that or start screaming and never stop, and that might be off-putting to companions and resident demons alike. His abilities allowed him to follow Vaajek's lead in the demonic tongue, albeit somewhat more diplomatic. He supposed they could conceivably fight a demon of that stature, but he wasn't convinced that they would be particularly successful at it.

"Greetings, mighty one. I am called Dahak, new to this domain. We did indeed render some aid to a few of yours, and thus were invited to your demesne."

[Regord_Silentflame]

Azraal follows a little behind the others, stopping a few feet behind Vaajek.


I'm assuming my Psionic Tongues is still in effect

He follows suit, speaking in abyssal

My name is Azraal, a willing companion.

[Krimm_Blackleaf]

Vaajek bellows a bit as he speaks impatiently, "Speak, Rajah! I did not travel so far and wide to be treated with silence and ignorance!" He draws his blade, "I spared the eladrin and his parents, I expect to be rewarded for such resistance!"

[Krimm_Blackleaf]

Damn you, Demented One.