Pax Viginti Team 1 IC [5E]

[TriciaOso]

You search through the history and design of the dungeon, but are not able to find conclusive answers. You come across some notes on the different nature of various Powers--the Kraken is labelled as Rapacious, the Medusa as Suspicious.

Eokos attempts to restore the dungeon, but with mixed success; the raging Kraken has damaged the outdoor ecosystem in a way that is hard to repair, although the underground parts look right...

Then a fourth, unseen user selects DESTROY and wipes the entire map. The only thing remaining is a small pocket you did not see before, hidden behind the other chaos of the dungeon. Time to EXPLORE...

---

The demiplane behind the demiplane is bigger than it looked; perhaps Zazzlebrax has been working on nesting planes. It is paradisical, and it especially aligns with your tastes, Eokos. The cloud flecked sky and wine dark sea remind you of your home. The marble columns and humid jungles remind the rest of you of the dungeon, but the dungeon had less luxurious furniture and art pieces around. The best spot is given to a stone statue of a large humanoid construct, wielding a strange thin sword that looks rather like the scimitar of speed Jeevok acquired. The sword is metal.

You have only a moment for reflection before Zazzlebrax himself appears out of thin air. He is surprising. He doesn't look like the frail old man the clone reflected. It's the same face, but like the creatures in the lab, it's on a different body. Unlike the creatures in the lab, this body is rather good-looking; tall, strong. He has a second pair of arms. He wears light white linen, but his chest is covered in a breastplate of gemstones.

On closer inspection, those might be ioun stones.

He hovers a few inches above the ground.

"Well, let's hear it," he says wearily.

[Nyan]

Temaias stood in awe at first, looking around in the new place at its splendor. But his awe turned to firm stoicism once the individual he could only assume to be the Enchanter appeared. Temaias looked at his comerades at first, he knew they all felt the need to question him...On so many things, to ask him about his world, his reason for leaving the pax, why he is avoiding it and more. But that was not their task. At least not yet... They would do what they came here to do before interjecting any personal inquires or feelings to the matter. Temaias straightened his back and met the eyes of the enchanter as he took a few steps forward to come within an arms reach. "My name is King Temaias. We are sent as messenger by the Pax. They have tasked us to deliver their summons." With these words he would give a court bow, before reaching in to his bag and taking out the scroll they were tasked to give to the enchanter and reaches it out to him...There were all manner of things that Temaias wished to say to this man...But he would hold his tounge untill their task was done or that they were needed to convince him to accept. His voice was monotone, his stance firm, revealing little to no emotion like a soldier simply performing his duty despite the whirlpool of emotions beneath it all.

[TriciaOso]

"Shocking, this is my shocked face," grumbles Zazzlebrax. He accepts the scroll grudgingly, and the spell burns away as the spell binds him. "Congratulations, you have successfully harassed an old man."

[Nyan]

Temaias eyes do not lower from the enchanters...There are so many questions and his attitude to all of this did not help the situation. Finally with their task done he allowed himself to ask the questions that has been burning in his mind since speaking with his clone. "What happened to your world Zazzlebrax?...Why didn't the pax intervene?...Why seclude yourself and avoid them?" his voice now turned more emphatic but still firm. He needed to know the full story before he could properly address his concerns.

[Thokk_Smash]

Even as Temaias asks his questions, Eokos also says, "More than giving you the summons, I first wanted to convey my condolences for your homeworld, as long ago though it was. My world was almost destroyed, though by powers far beyond my control--I had far less power than you did to stop it, and you were held back from helping. I can't imagine what that would be like."

Bulling on, though, he also asks, "Your clone mentioned something called 'memetic symmetry', because your dungeon and my world shared a ton of similarities. I'd love to talk about your world, y'know, see if it's similar to mine at all?" His tone is hopeful, as he is still a bit homesick. Inkokos also looks hopeful, holding his hands together beseechingly.

[TriciaOso]

Even as Temaias asks his questions, Eokos also says, "More than giving you the summons, I first wanted to convey my condolences for your homeworld, as long ago though it was. My world was almost destroyed, though by powers far beyond my control--I had far less power than you did to stop it, and you were held back from helping. I can't imagine what that would be like."

Bulling on, though, he also asks, "Your clone mentioned something called 'memetic symmetry', because your dungeon and my world shared a ton of similarities. I'd love to talk about your world, y'know, see if it's similar to mine at all?" His tone is hopeful, as he is still a bit homesick. Inkokos also looks hopeful, holding his hands together beseechingly.

"Yes, memetic symmetry. You are familiar with the concept of ur-Gods, the underlying cosmic forces that manifest on many different worlds as similar gods? Your friend's beloved Bahamut is one such. There are families and connections among these ur-Gods, whole mutable pantheons, and worlds where they manifest carry similar flavors. Depending on all the different influences in the stew, worlds may end up being quite similar."

"Our gods were powerful but deeply flawed, human drives paired with godly appetites and ambition. A world of great heroes and monsters born from the same sources. Warm. There were olive trees, and myrtle and laurel. Mortal men prized glory in battle above all things. Every city had its patron god and little rivalries."

Temaias eyes do not lower from the enchanters...There are so many questions and his attitude to all of this did not help the situation. Finally with their task done he allowed himself to ask the questions that has been burning in his mind since speaking with his clone. "What happened to your world Zazzlebrax?...Why didn't the pax intervene?...Why seclude yourself and avoid them?" his voice now turned more emphatic but still firm. He needed to know the full story before he could properly address his concerns.

Zazzlebrax stares at Temaias for a long tense moment.

"Surely any spellcaster of your experience knows that the Outer Planes exist in a state of cold war. Sooner or later, in the expanse of eternity, this war must turn hot. This is called an eschatological event. All gods and powers root for this, dream of it. It is the final and only stable state of reality. The material plane and all its ambiguity purged; all souls collected to their appropriate Outer Plane and a final, irrevocable balance of power reached."

"Good gods hope this conclusion ends with their alignment triumphant. Evil gods want to the reverse. But they all long for the consummation, the final release of tension. The tidying away of all the messy mortal business that gets in the way of their ideals."

Spoiler: Temaias make his case.

Show

Temaias eyebrows furrowed...This is was far beyond his comprehension but none the less pressed the matter. "So your world was destroyed in such an event?...And the pax did not intervene, why?..."

Zazzlebrax shakes his head. "Why would they? What are they telling their errand boys these days?"

Eokos murmurs out the side of his mouth, "The Pax is all about peace, balance, Tem. Between Good and Evil--they couldn't intervene without tearing themselves apart from the inside."

Temaias looks back towards towards Eokos, nodding but still pushing. "So explain why you separated yourself from the pax?...They chose to keep this balance and this is what you begrudge them for?"

Eokos glances at Temaias askance with a raised brow, as if to ask 'Really?', but says nothing.

"I created the Pax. I recruited them. I taught them. I built the foundations of their system," Zazzlebrax says in a low voice, carrying menace. "I devoted thousands of years to keeping that balance. I am an old man, and everything that ever mattered to me is gone. I walked away from the Pax. They have no claim on me. You certainly do not. How many billions of lives have you saved, little lizard?"

Temaias let the insult slide off his hide for now, despite the wound to his honor. "So I have understood. You built it, taught them and spent all this time to save countless lives of this I have no doubt." He gives a dramatic pause. "Yet here we stand. You have not walked away from the pax. At least not fully as your spells still remain in their foundations and their wards. Those which they want you to unbind." He then points to the enchanters chest. "You know what I see?...For all your elevation as a being you are a man who is grieving...And this, this I understand." Temaias clutches his fist, closing his eyes. "But what I don't understand...What I can not fathom...What I am furious over." He opens his eyes and glares at him. "You could do so much more..." He gestures towards everything around them. "All this power within your grasp and what do you use it for?....Creating an over sized playground for horrific monsters? No. I can not accept this. I see a refuge for people who are about to lose their world! I see a home! While you sit here hiding in your grief countless billions die or worse! While they could be protected here! Do you deserve to grieve? YES yes you do! But with power like yours, with beings like us who are so far beyond the common mortal we have a responsibility that we simply cant avoid! No matter our loss, our burdens we must go on for those that cant shoulder such burdens. You do it in the memory of those you have lost!" He slams his chest. "For you never lose them, for they are always here! In your heart and in your memories! They only stop mattering when you say so. You have lost your conviction." His voice has grown louder which each sentence.

"Yet I know some part of you still want to continue! That sliver of hope that you can still make a difference! For if you truly had walked away then your spells would have been made undone already! Reason it all you want but if you want the pax to change their ways you answer those summons and you fight to make them change for the better! All this time you spend here you could be fighting so that no one ever suffers like your world. You do it for those that you loved. For those that you still care for within the pax. No matter how many decades or eons it might take you, never relent, never back down. You fight despite your grief! Nothing is impossible for a being with your power! And an immortal like yourself no matter many inches you'd have to push for change you will eventually get there!" He puts his arms out. "You can be better than this! You must be better than this! For what hope does anyone else have if this is the result of an immortal life like yours!? If this is the example?! I refuse to accept it! So if im wrong! If you have truly given up then feel free to strike me down! Show that in it is inevitable the flame of hope dies in all things!"

He turns Temaias into a duck.

He looks at the other heroes. "Any other opinions from the kindergarten on how I choose to spend my retirement?"

Spoiler: Eokos makes his case.

Show

Temaias the duck quacks angrily once before walking back to the other two.

Looking from Duckmaias to Zazzlebrax and back, Eokos gives a tired chuckle. “I could’ve told you how that’d go, Tem,” he says, stooping down for the newly-made mallard to hop into his arms if he wanted. Temaias the duck Snips at Eokos' finger.

Standing back up, Eokos looks at Zazzlebrax and shrugs. How often will he get to talk to someone of Zaz’s caliber? Might as well go for it. “You’re hundreds of orders of magnitude beyond us in both power and experience. We don’t even know a fragment of your story—though I’d love to hear more, stories are kind of my thing.” He twists to show the lute strapped to his back.

“I respect your anger, and your reason for leaving the Pax. I only recently joined the Pax; my planet’s soul was trapped, and in helping free her she blessed me with power beyond my world’s current limitations. I miss my world; I miss my friends, the family I had found for myself. The friends who came along with me were too tired to continue adventuring, and they’ve set off for other pursuits in the City of Lights.”

He pauses. “I’m not that tired. But maybe after living a thousand lifetimes, seeing a million mistakes, saving a billion lives, I would be ready to lay down my lute and stop helping. For awhile, at least.”

He looks Zazzlebrax in the eyes, openly beseeching. “You have so much power. Such a huge potential for goodness in the multiverse. Even without working with the Pax, you could do so much good for so many. Hell, for all we know you run an inter-galactic orphanage somewhere we haven’t heard of, and I could be talking out of my furry behind. But from my, perhaps infantile, perspective, it seems like such a shame that you have remained away from adventuring for so long. Y’know?”

"There are no adventures left for me," Zazzlebrax says wearily. "At this tier of power, little ones, nothing you do is without consequence, and even the best intentions are woven with tragedy. You think I hate the Pax, and I do. Truly, I do. But they acted according to the best principles I knew to teach them. There is no principle you can live with for as long as I have; the exceptions always find you out."

"An orphanage--the ultimate orphanage, a harbor for the desperate and overlooked from across reality. And under me they would be better fed and better educated, more powerful than the princes of any world. And loyal to me, for good reason. A nation under my benevolent leadership; an army under my command. Do you think the Pax would stand for that? And if you think they should, then what should they do when a disciple of Asmodeus does the same thing?"

"Power does not corrupt. It complicates. And eventually mortal mind is not enough to navigate the complexities, little one. There are no more adventures for me."

He waves a hand and turns Temaias back.

Eokos opens his mouth to respond, then checks himself. “I was going to ask why you couldn’t train fledgling wizards, but then I figured someone would take umbrage to that,” he mutters crossly, a scowl on his face. “Either because your apprentices would be too strong for others their age, or people would kill—literally—to be taught by you, or a half hundred reasons I can’t even think of.”


A hundred other suggestions of what Zazzlebrax could do to benignly be benevolent in the multiverse flow through his mind. And a hundred thousand comebacks are imagined based on what Zazzlebrax had already said. The web spins deeper and wider, ensnaring any thoughts of philanthropy before they can fly to freedom.

“That ****ing sucks,” he finally says with a look of pure impotent frustration. Then his face softens and he looks back at Zaz.

“Sorry for the impertinence. But are you…lonely? Are you okay? Being alone for so long…”

He laughs grimly. "So you begin to see. I created the Pax to have a monopoly on world-changing power, to hold it in reserve, only exercised by mutual consent. I still cannot see a better way. And yet they failed me; restrained me when I wished most desperately to exercise my power. And if I will not join them once again, then I can do anything I want... as long as it doesn't ultimately matter."

He looks at Jeevok. "What about you, little lion? Any lectures or pity for me?"

Spoiler: Temaias tries again.

Show

As Temaias turns back his eyes are closed and his head down, fists clenched, his eyebrow twitching and a rumble of a growl. But he took at deep breath and restrained his intent to shout. "I refuse." He said looking up from the ground to the enchanter. "I renounce your words." He looks at Eokos and him in turn. "There is always a way. You can continue to think about the consequences of ones deeds for eons, layers upon layers, but if you do so you end up doing nothing. I refuse this as the truth. You were restrained when you wanted to save your world Enchanter and I understand this was the intended purpose of the Pax...But if you will not fight to see this change then fine." He points at himself, raising his chin. "But mark my words I will fight with every fiber of my being for such a situation not to occur again. It might not be now or in a million years but I will prove your words wrong Enchanter. There is always a way."

Zazzlebrax stares at him dead-eyed and waves a hand, manipulating an invisible control. "That was rude. I wasn't speaking to you. You had your turn."

Temaias disappears, finding himself launched back to the teleportation circle in the City of Lights.

Spoiler: Jeevok makes his case.

Show

As Temaias finds himself back in the city of lights he scoffs. "Wizards..."

With a growl of frustration he marches to report the mission to Myrddin. Letting them know the others will arrive later.

Jeevok replies: "No pity. I think I can see where you are coming from.

I have a history that is somewhat different from yours. My world was prey to war and misery, And the pax never came. They knew what was going on, and didn't interfere. But then, after I grew and led the charge to solve it all, they came to me, and asked me to join them.

I hated then at first for their arrogance, but decided to give them a chance, and now I'm starting to understand what makes them tick. What makes people like you tick. Like you say, it's complicated, different interests make things complicated and it goes beyond just good and evil.

I have a different proposal. Let us do the adventures. Me, my two friends, and others from our generation. We are young, at least compared to you immortal beings, and we lack the negative experiences that would make us think it won't work. That's what young people are for, right? To try again where the older generations think there is no hope for success.

But we still lack power compared to yours. And the same experience to know what works and what doesn't. So your guidance, your resources and your control over the City of Lights would be invaluable. My suggestion is provide those things to us, and let us do the dirty work. The annoying missions, the politics, the risky decisions and acts of bravery that will make the Pax judge us. We are already doing it for people like Myrddin anyway, and we will keep doing it, but if you can drop by every once in a while and nudge things in a way that make our jobs easier, it would be great."
"But if you don't, I understand. Your eternal time is yours to decide how to use. But myself, I will keep running and slashing until I can end the injustice in all worlds I go to. Or until I grow tired, and hopefully someone younger than me steps up and continues my work. That is all I can do."

He adds another point. "That loud friend of mine? Myrddin sent him here to deliver mail. But before then, he sent us to kill some vampires and demons, and after we did, the dragonborn went on a solo quest to find a genie and release the soul of the guy we had just killed from Shadowfell. Imagine what he could do with someone like you helping him find the right things to throw himself at.

I'm not saying we will plead loyalty to you, though. We still work for the Pax, including Myrrdin and all the others. But you could add your own voice to the ones who guide us"

[TriciaOso]

In the City of Lights, Myrddin curses and strides hurriedly away from Temaias, towards the teleportation circles.

---

"Enough," Zazzlebrax says. "That is enough. You have each made your argument, and moreover I have seen what you have done with my dungeon, both as questors and as its masters. A most enlightening journey... for me, if not for you."

He folds his arms over his chest, and his other arms behind him, regarding Jeevok and Eokos.

"You were much more effective, you know, as warriors than as designers. You don't have the right perspective. Well, but why should you? You are young and unused to the exercise of power. None of that is surprising. What is surprising... is where my sympathies lay. You are quite charming... even your noisy companion. I apologize, but he, at least, has learned the great skill of the Pax: the filibuster."

"Yes, I think I have made my decision. You know, I don't breed monsters for the sake of monstrosity, or to guard my dungeon... my ultimate purpose is self-improvement, beyond even the reaches of magical items or natural power levels. I have incorporated many improvements."

It's at this point that Myrddin appears, Temaias hot on his heels.

"Honored Zazzlebrax--" he begins, but the elder wizard makes a gesture, and silence falls, absolute except for his ringing voice. Everyone in the room is held fast.

"No, no more filibusters, young man," he says sternly. "Myrddin, it may surprise you to know that I have prepared for many centuries to divest myself of my responsibilities with the Pax. I could do it in a moment. In a moment. And so now I do. The responsibility is yours now, Myrddin. May you enjoy it." He throws the breastplate of ioun stones at the sorcerer's feet.

"As for me--" He makes a complex series of conjuring passes, and begins to move through the space around him, as if dancing or moving through some martial art. With every motion, he seems to change. You recognize the effect you saw in the chimera's lair, that he is moving through a series of zones that affect him temporally. With each movement, his body changes, cycling through many modifications and transformations. Wings, extra limbs, great height.

It takes a long, long time before he looks like the old man in the cloning tank, and then he keeps going.

He's a young man, not long out of his teenage years, when he pauses. Zazzlebrax of level 14 is medium height, reedy, with dark hair and eyes and olive complexion. His beard is sparse. His voice is very different--no less strong, but less cracked and less mystically charged-- "What do you think?" he asks. "Far enough? I don't quite fancy stomping rats for tavern owners again..."

His spells of silence and binding fade.

[Nyan]

As Myrddin stormed off Temaias with hurried steps followed behind. All the while the conversation with the enchanter repeated in his mind with each loop infuriating him more and more. Besides the indignation of the wizards actions and the insults. He agreed with none of the wizards words. He refused to accept such a truth. That someone of such caliber, a power like those within the pax, a power that Temaias strives to reach one day would suddenly be unable to act in the name of good for possible consequences? Consequences that would maybe outweigh the good the act did?...Nay, he refused this to be the truth. If it was he would change it. He refused to accept the enchanters mindset, that it would be the end for every individuals journey who reaches such power. At first he saw the Enchanter as a possible figure to look up to, to somehow help him see where he needs to reach just like Myrddin. But after their conversation this was his view of him no longer. Now he was the example as for what Temaias would strive not to become. But it had also made him think about the Pax as a whole...He had first simply seen it as a force of good, sending him and those akin to his companions to save those in need, those who could not protect themselves from the threats their world contained. But if the Pax strove for balance what if the opposite was true as well? Did they send villains to other worlds to unbalance them?...Did they destroy forces of good that tried to reach out beyond their boundaries? He looked at Myrddins back as he followed him, contemplating these questions...What if Temaias took the paladins, heroes and paragons of good from his world and Bahamuts palace on a multiplanar crusade for the good and all those in need?...Would they stop him? Or what if there ever came a time where Temaias could do something to save a world or someone, yet was told by the pax not to do so...What would he do?

Finaly reaching the teleportation circles Temaias follows Myrddin in to the one that leads back. Then as Myrddin began to speak once they appear, and promptly being interrupted by the enchanter and the entire room silenced and held in place, the spells that Temaias had cast upon himself earlier allowed him to be released from the magics restraints but he was still silenced. His gaze first snapped to Myrddin to see his reaction to the magic. But seeing no direct hostile response, resistance to the magic, at least nothing obvious or even a defensive posture from him Temaias would move his gaze back to the Enchanter as Temaias crossed his arms, just to make the enchanter see Temaias was still able to move. He would not be bound by him. What happened next perplexed Temaias as the Enchanter seem to revert back to a younger self. But his frustration towards the situation and the earlier conversation overpowered his curiosity and so he said nothing about it. He was sure the others would ask plenty question to have him grasp the situation without him needing to raise his voice. He lingered his gaze towards his companions with a questioning look, despite frustration clear on his features, what had they said to him?... He then looked towards Myrddin for his response to all of this.

[Ninja Dragon]

Jeevok needs a minute or two to proccess what he is now seeing.

"That's quite literally the opposite of what I just proposed. But I guess it fulfills the idea in spirit, huh." - he comments, smiling.

"So, what now? Will will just be happy not having the immense power you are used too? From my experience, most people have a really hard time letting go of power, even when they don't really need it."

He almost greets Temaias when he sees the dragonborn coming back, but changes his mind when he says the expression of fury on his face. It's better not to annoy him further.

[Thokk_Smash]

After watching Zazzlebrax's declarations, and renunciations, and transformations, Eokos can only let out peals of braying laughter. "Theé mou, you mad lad!" he cries, having to visibly hold himself back from embracing the now slightly-less-imposing figure that is the younger Zazzlebrax. He had not been expecting this outcome at all, but he cannot say he opposes it. What a choice!

"Welcome back to adventuring, Zazzlebrax! But hey, if you're going to be starting over, why sing the same old song? You could be anything: a fighter, a rogue, a cleric. Mix sword and sorcery and all that jazz. I'd be happy to help you power-level past the rat-stomping phase." He knows there are other things he could ask, like, the consequences of Zaz's actions--what will happen to his stuff? Will he be able to get back to his demiplane if he wanted? What if he wanted to get back to his older self? But he figures those answers can come later. Right now, he just wants to congratulate the man's choice in divorcing himself of responsibility.

[TriciaOso]

Zazzlebrax the Younger chortles at this idea, clearly delighted by his change in destiny. "Haha, yes, why not?" He spins through a few more passes, regenerating to a beardless youth, even as Myrddin steps forward to protest.

"Zazzlebrax, be sensible! Where will you go? What will you do with this place, and your treasures? What about your responsibilities?"

The young man leaps to the podium of the petrified quarut and pries loose the scimitar of speed. "My responsibilities were to the power I wielded, which I hereby lay down. My treasure are now lost to the ethereal, excepting whatever these fellows copped for themselves. Although I would rather like my lionskin back," he adds pointedly to Jeevok.

"As for this place... ask your scaly courier, old friend. He is full of ideas for it." He points at Temaias. "I myself will be..." He looks at Eokos. "What was the name of your world?"

[Ninja Dragon]

Oh, sure. Didn't know this was yours.

Jeevok gives the cloak back to Zazzelbrax.

Now that you mention I don't remember how I got it either. Time travel is complicated.

[Nyan]

Temaias did not share in his companions cheer. Although the fact that it seemed like Zazzelbrax would once again start going on adventures, which was indeed a good thing, all the potential that he could have achived and done with his previous abilities not to mention all the riches of the demiplane left a sour taste in the dragonborns mouth. Just to gingerly cast all of it asside as well as its responsibilities did not sit well with him at all. To him it was akin to breaking ones oath or a promise... Something like that was completley beyond the pious paladin to even consider. When the enchanter mentioned him about the future of his demiplane he raised his chin as he replied. "The name is Temaias..." He said slowly emphasising every word. He had already been disrespected plenty this day and his patience with the enchanter was running low. The fact he would be deciding what happens to the demiplane not exactly dawning on him yet.

After Eokos' reply Temaias pondered Zazzlebrax choice...Although he did not agree with casting away all this power, responsibility and such so casualy he did however see some silver lining to it all...A hope that perhaps...Perhaps seeing the enchanter as a new person, a person which, given the right example and a new perspective...Could see things differently in the end. If only perhaps he would see all the good he could do with such power he weilded once he regains it perhaps Temaias himself could help the Enchanter see it...So that next time history would not simply repeat itself. This thought, however much of a stretch or difficult such a feat would be...Gave Temaias a sliver of hope. Temaias despite his indignation and frustration regained the smile on his face and a spark in his eye. "Prove yourself wrong." He then said to the young enchanter after a long silence, staring intently at him for quite some time.

[Thokk_Smash]

The implications of Zazzlebrax's last question make Eokos literally jump in excitement. "Crucible will be a great place for you, I promise!" Eokos says happily. His mind races with thoughts of what Zazzlebrax could do on his homeworld. "I'll write up a letter of introduction for you to Illaria--she's the most important person on the world at the moment, essentially, and we worked together for years. Here, I have a ballad I've been composing for the past months, so I haven't had much time to, ah, embellish it too much. One thing you should know about it, is the main source of power gain is called 'cultivation', where you gather natural energies of different kinds and merge them with your own. Like, if you meditate near a volcano, you could possibly draw in Fire, or Light energy, then use it to your advantage.

"It's not so hard to learn, I could give you some tips before you go--well, assuming you've never heard of it before. Now that I think of it, you've probably heard of it and mastered it a thousand years ago," he finishes with a sheepish grin. He doesn't feel too embarrassed for rambling about his homeland. He'll happily gush on and on about Crucible if Zazzlebrax or Myrddin will allow it. Hell, he wonders if he'd be allowed to visit Crucible when Zazzlebrax goes...

[TriciaOso]

Myrddin looks seriously displeased at this entire plan, but stoops to pick up the breastplate. "This is absurdity and cowardice, Zazzlebrax," he says.

"No," Zazzlebrax says, "it was absurdity and cowardice to live so long doing nothing but planning to live even longer. Living forever is a trap, my friend. You outlive all your purpose. A lesson there."

"One advantage of this arrangement," Myrddin says with quiet fury, "is that I am no longer required by deference to your grey hairs and experience to listen to your advice. Come along, everyone, while this demiplane still holds."

In a flurry of piqued magic, the five of you are returned to the City of Lights. Myrddin scowls. "Eokos, Maia will help you get him established in Crucible. Temaias, come with me and we'll discuss what Zazzlebrax was talking about. Jeevok, please compose a report on what in the Hells just happened that I can present to the Council."

"Mission accomplished, I suppose," he sighs heavily.

[Nyan]

Temaias looked at Myrddin as he responded to the situation. In a way releived that he wasnt the only one who thought that way about all this. He felt the blood in his veins echo the other sorcerers emotions but said nothing more on the matter. When they then were transported back to the city of lights he replied to Myrddins command swiftly. "I'll be right behind you, sir."

[Ninja Dragon]

After arriving from what was probably the weirdest quest in his life, Jeevok went back to the City of Lights, feeling like he had aged weeks in the time he was there. Oh wait, he had. Time travel is so weird.

He decided to then record that experience in his fighting journal. After doing it, he feels like he could repeat the experience if he concentrated strong enough.

He then goes meet with Temaias, where the two practice. Temaias practices his body, with Jeevok sparing with him to help improve his constitution. Meanwhile, Jeevok practices his mind, with Temaias and Eokos using their magic to try to control Jeevok's will, while he tries to resist. After a few sessions of that, he feels like he won't be caught so easily by charms and mind control magic again, like he has been in the last two missions.

While Temaias finishes his business, the goblin decides to look for a place to improve his athletics, too. He feels like he is way behind the dragonborn in things like climbing and jumping, and that could be corrected. He eventually finds a gym, where he finally finds out where the fighter types of this city are. He spends a while training there, while socializing with the people who are like him. He is starting to enjoy this city.

Finally, he returns to that library where everything started, thinking it won't hurt to improve his constitution a bit too. He then spends the night before the next mission reading the Manual of Bodily Health. At the start of the next day, he feels like he has gained a whole new outlook in how to keep his body healthy. Enemies will have an even harder time killing him now. Hopefully his fighting skill continues to improve so they have a harder time killing whoever he is protecting, too.

Spoiler: OOC

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+ proficiency at Athletics
Gained feat Resilient Wis (lv 14) - already had that, but wanted to explain how I got it
Read the book that gives +2 con
Recorded portents at fighting journal and gained the portent battlemaster ability

[TriciaOso]

You have a long stretch of downtime before you hear from Myrddin again; approvals for missions are being held up by the complications created in the Council by Zazzlebrax's retirement.

Finally, you hear from Maia about an opportunity--not quite a mission, but something to keep you occupied and sharpen your skills. They direct you to meet with Santino Safflower, a senior advisor on a lower floor of the tower, working with adventuring parties in the world outside the Pax; the same job as Myrddin but with lower level adventurers. The job is not with Safflower, but he is the one who knows about it.

Safflower is a halfling sorcerer, pear-shaped and dark-featured, with a fussy goatee and beautiful doublet. Jeevok has met him before, at the Improbable Tavern. After a light grilling, he sends you to his friend, the artisan illusionist Ramona. You meet here in her workshop, in the neighborhood called the Mills.

Spoiler: Ramona

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It's a large suite of rooms, primarily because Ramona is a large person, but it's very busy and full of scribbled notes and stacked books and art pieces; paintings and small models of creatures, large calculations scribbled across walls. Like many workshops it's a little bit like climbing into someone's brain.

The someone is a naga with skin that is coppery brown shading to brassy yellows. From the waist up she is a woman, albeit a scaly one, with a quite human face except for her eyes. Her hair is blonde and short in tight curls. From the waist down is a serpentine body that coils and snakes around the room; if you walked through here blindfolded you'd trip over her several times.

In contrast to her bright coils, she wears somber grey and purples, and like most of the people you're used to seeing here she wears pins that indicate her affiliations - the solid golden disc of a level 20, the hammer of an artisan, the upraised hand that indicates she is active in the Council. The stars around it indicate that she represents a pretty large block of proxy votes -- not as many stars as Myrddin, but not many people can compete with him.

She explains the nature of the problem she is facing:

"There is an artifact certain cultists seek--or rather, a set of artifacts that can be assembled into something greater. The Corona of Tiamat. Five candelabra, one for each order of chromatic dragon."

"One of Santino's duties, and the primary reason for his association with young adventurers, is the collection and keeping of such powerful artifacts. Recently, he came into possession of three of the candlesticks. He has earnestly sought the remaining two--but also worried about how to store them safely, for even the three he holds have certain interactions. Even unlit, it might be unwise to re-unite all five."

Her face grows grim. "I attempted to simulate the result. Better to do it within an illusion than find out here in the city. And--within the illusion--it indeed had dire effects."

"It summoned a marilith, a fiendish handmaiden on Tiamat. Or again, an illusion of one. But illusion or not, the fiend has seized control of the spell. I have no doubt it is trying to invoke her. I don't believe she could transcend an illusion into reality, but I would not like to find out.

"Of course I ended the spell immediately--or tried to. It sustained itself without me, and has resisted my attempts to dispel it. When I went back into the illusion to try and end it from within, I was killed within the illusion; fortunately my simulations always incorporate a Death Ward effect."

"It is currently contained in the spell, but I am loathe to leave the spell to... fester."

"When I began, the illusion was a very simple black box for testing purposes, but the foundational spell I used is one designed to test the capacity of adventuring parties. Therefore, making you stronger may increase the difficulty of the simulation -- or the illusion may strip you of your advantages. I will test my spellcraft against the fiend, and give you every advantage I can."

"The corrupted spell is designed to simulate a full library of locations and scenarios, but the base and original is the place I know best... the Isle of Sunhome itself."

"These tokens will mark you as eligible for conjuring into the demiplane where you will be safely held while the illusion plays out. If you are killed by the illusory effect, the conjuration effect will bring you back unharmed."

[Nyan]

Temaias after having had everything explained would look towards his allies one by one. "I don't know about the two of you. But I am ready to set forth. We should not delay this any more than nessesary..." He clenches his fist in front of his face. "We will charge in and crush the Marilith before this profane ritual continues."

[Ninja Dragon]

"Yes, I don't believe I have any more preparations to make. If it is fighting that you need from us, I'm ready to fight. Let's go." - Jeevok says, confidently.

[TriciaOso]

You pocket the tokens, and a moment later conjuration magic latches onto you, summoning you to a harmless demiplane. It is a void of total sensory deprivation, floating weightless in perfect silence and darkness, until the illusions begin to land.

First the terrain resolves into focus, a large circular stone courtyard open to the skies, the view ringed with jungle plants. A volcanic peak rises against a gorgeous aquamarine sky, vomiting black smoke into the tropical beauty. The ground forms a shallow bowl, so blood from the five equidistant altars ranged around the room can flow down into a central pit. Rising from this pit is a plinth on which you can see the five candles of the Corona of Tiamat burning.

Then your senses are engaged. You feel the flagstones underfoot, you can smell the blood on the air and hear the distant rumble of the volcano. It's sweltering here, and you begin to sweat.

Finally, the room begins to populate with illusions of other beings. Around the plinth, each candle is guarded by an abishai, a fiendish dragon. You also see the towering forms of six mariliths in the larger courtyard, each surrounded by an army of diminutive kobolds.

And flickering in the center, not yet fully formed, you see an avatar of Tiamat herself.

[Ninja Dragon]

Jeevok doesn't waste time.

There are the main enemies. Lesser enemies. And the victims. None of them are real. But he came here to kill them, and to prevent what is probably Tiamat from forming in the center. So he zeroes on one of the snake people, and in a fraction of second, every cell of his body is working to get his Scimitar of Speed as close as possible to the thing's vital organs.

He passes through the kobolds as he moves, taking some scratches but dodging most of them without even noticing, so fast he is moving. He also sees some candles. He makes a quick mental note to do something about them later.

And just like the wind, his blade connects, going through the enemy's admitelly strong but not strong enough defenses, and drawing blood.

[TriciaOso]

The red abishai in the center lets out of a bellowing roar, freezing Eokos and Jeevok to their bones. Two more mariliths converge on Jeevok and attack in a whirl of blades, hacking him brutally even as they envelope him in their coils. In a single round they carve him near to death. The white abishai also sweeps by and gets a claw in.

The other three mariliths surround the spellcasters. Eokos counterspells a domination effect from the green abishai, but the momentum is squarely with the fiends as the kobolds crowd round.

The partially formed avatar of Tiamat blasts out lightning breath from her blue head, only avoiding a deadly attack because she is not fully summoned. The blue abishai follows up with chain lightning, and the black abishai drops a cloak of darkness over the pedestal.

[Thokk_Smash]

Eokos, frightened of the red dragon-like creature, is bolstered by Temaias. He readies himself to cast a teleportation spell once Temaias brings them closer.

[Nyan]

As Temaias was cast in to the illusion it felt more like he traveled back in time. Emotions he had felt, long since forgotten by the passage of decades and centuries came flodding back. The site of the ritual eerily similar to the very same that conjured Tiamat in to his world for the second time. The sacrifice of his brothers the price at the hands of the traitor Exarch. For a moment he thought he would see them once again but then the shock and pain from the immediate assault of spells and breath snapped him out of his daze. The lightning cascading around him as his power shielded him from most of the blast. He hadnt even noticed Jeevok rushing ahead, swift as he was to attack the multi-armed monsters. He snapped his gaze over to Eokos, their eyes met and even tho Eoko's was filled with fear Temaias knew what they needed to do.

As much as he wanted to purge all those foul creatures within the room, his wrath burning bright in his chest they needed to disrupt the ritual before anything else. So he grabs on to eokos and in a flash of light, after glaring defiantly at the monsters that charge towards them they throw themselves in to the darkness.

Once there he notices Eokos scream of pain and the immense cold that freezes his friend, hearing no incantation for his spell he knew he did not get away. Without as much as a second thought he grabs on to the cold form beside him and leaps away. His instincts to protect winning over his desire to destroy his foes. He felt some wounds from claws and small blades but went mostly ignored. As soon as they came in to the light and he once more could see he channeled his energy in to eokos to spare him death at least for a little while. The gem on his chest transporting him and his friend further away from the danger.

As they tumbled in to a corner of the chamber he placed his back towards his foes, bending over eokos' body all the while a corona of energy surrounded Temaias shielding him from harm. "JEEVOK! THE MONSTERS VANISH AS SOON AS THE CANDLES ARE REMOVED!" He cried out hoping his other companion would somehow get himself out of danger. Cursing himself for not being able to protect them both at the same time.

[Ninja Dragon]

What was previously an instinct for aggression turns into an instinct for survival, as one enemy becomes 4 and Jeevok is chopped by their multiple attacks. It's clear he can't win this. And when his friends call him to do something else, he decides to just listen to them.

But going after those candles is out of question. Something about that red dragon just makes the goblin want to get away as soon as possible.

And so, the adrenaline fills his body, and even hurt, he manages to jump out of the grapple, escape while dodging everything that tries to get a last hit at him and run as fast as he can, to what looks like an injured Temaias and an unconcious Eokos.

[TriciaOso]

As the heroes huddle against the left wall near a stone door, the mariliths that surrounded Jeevok teleport closer, crowding around them. The two remaining mariliths by the entrance vanish as well.

From the darkness around the pedestal, the abishai swoop closer; the red abishai cries out in Draconic, enraging the mariliths. The green one casts a spell that Jeevok shrugs off, and the black abishai claws at Temaias, trying to tear the frozen body from his arms and retrieve the candle.

[Nyan]

Temaias bears the attacks towards his unconsious companion. The energy from the gem protecting him from the foul servants of the anathema. He reaches out to Jeevok as he dashes towards them. The enemies teleporting and charging at their location. Surrounded by foes and with a downed ally Temaias knew better than to risk the lives of his friends by standing his ground even if he possibly could do so.

"We have one candle! Lets go!" And as soon as his hand touches Jeevok he teleports away with him and Eokos, without any incantation or sign as to not give his foes an opportunity to stop him.

[TriciaOso]

For a moment, you hang in blackness as you teleport beyond the currently-active area of the spell. Then the illusion rushes in like the tide.

You are high on a ledge on a snowy cliff-face. In the distance below you can see only clouds. You are perhaps halfway up the tallest, starkest mountain peak any of you have ever seen, except for the other peaks just like it which march away to the north and south in a titanic range. The sun is high and tiny, a brightly-burning tarnished coin nailed to a sky of deep sea-like blue.

There is no sign of the door.

[Nyan]

Temaias will first be quite surprised by the sudden change on environment. For a second he thinks he has come home to the ice covered peaks of his world but the terrain was unfamiliar still. He was about to heal his fallen companion but Jeevok was quicker to the act as he was fed a potion instead, Temaias helping to hold his friend in a proper position. "Come on stand up my friend we need you." He mutters encouraging his friend to rise. However as Eokos eyes open only to notice something above them with his prodigiously sharp senses, Temaias not really understanding the expression he made before they started getting assaulted by ice shards coming down at them. "Take cover!" He calls out as he out of instinct shields Eokos with his huge frame while the ice shards crash down on to his back.

Once the cascade was done and Eokos throws up the protective barrier around them Temaias is at first relieved but then actually notices the ancient white dragon bearing down on them further up the mountain as Eokos points it out. "Bahamuts breath, no rest for the righteous huh?..." He grits his teeth and stands, looking up at the dragon within the mist. "Alright...I can take us down the mountain but we have to stop the dragon from chasing us, I am not as swift on my wings so it would with no doubt catch up." He peers over the ledge to the bottom. "We can drop down quickly most of the distance then I'll stop our fall with my wings, but I'd have to hold on to the both of you. Heal yourselves first if you must and then let me know when you are ready." He nods towards his companions then sheathes his sword leaving both of his hands free.