IC: Disjunction

[Watcher]

OOC
Dice Rolls

Spoiler: Disjoiner of Fate

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Disjoiner of Fate
Major Artifact
CL: 20

This rod is deceptively simple in design, but magic pours off of it. It fires a bolt of grey light that has diverse effects depending on what it strikes.

An unlimited times per day, the Disjoiner of Fate can fire a projectile with unerring accuracy within a range of 300 feet.

• Evil Outsiders are healed for 2d8+10 hit points.
• Good Outsiders take 10d6 damage and are sickened for 1d4 rounds. Fortitude DC 23 halves the damage and negates the sickened effect.
• Mortal souls are branded with a strange grey sigil that consigns them to Hell, Abaddon, or the Abyss.

The Disjoiner of Fate's inner workings are unknown to you, and its true power is yet hidden.

Spoiler: Initiative

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Knave
Ghaele
Zalgoth <---
Taker <---
Nosoi
Planetar

Ghaele: AC 28, touch 16, flat-footed 26, SR 25
Planetar: AC 32, touch 13, flat-footed 28, SR 27
Nosoi: AC 15, touch 15, flat-footed 12

[Watcher]

The masked songbird vanishes in a puff of feathers. Mortal souls scream in surprise, and the planetar worriedly tries to calm them. The ghaele's eyes would normally be too bright to read, but even her surprise is evident when she sees the corpse of the nosoi at the foot of a thin-looking mortal soul who reaches down to pick it up.
The ghaele recovers quickly and releases a pulse of crackling divine light. She picks up her greatsword and readies to attack.

Most of the remaining nosoi turn invisible in fear. Some of them remain visible as they flit around, waiting for an opening.

Spoiler: Spellcraft DC 19

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The Ghaele just cast Divine Power.

Spoiler: Initiative

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Knave
Ghaele
Zalgoth <---
Taker <---
Nosoi
Shizel <---
Planetar

Ghaele: AC 28, touch 16, flat-footed 26, SR 25
Planetar: AC 32, touch 13, flat-footed 28, SR 27
Nosoi: AC 15, touch 15, flat-footed 12

[Athaleon]

Taker regained his composure and directed his baleful gaze towards the cluster of intruders, attempting to cow them into hesitation even if he didn't quite expect them to flee.

Spoiler

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Casting the Fear SLA (DC 25), from the description of the room's layout it should catch the ghaele and planetar if Taker moves to within 10' of the ghaele. A bunch of psychopomps will surely be caught in it as well. With Disruptive Spell Like Ability, those that fail the save also have to make a Concentration check (at the same DC) to cast a spell.

[Watcher]

The planetar and ghaele don't outwardly react to the spell, but Taker can tell that his ability had some effect, at least for a while.
The few nosoi that didn't already turn invisible start flying erratically, clearly in panic. The mortal souls, already dead, are unaffected. One starts stroking the shaking nosoi on his shoulder.

Spoiler: Initiative

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Knave
Ghaele (Shaken)
Zalgoth <---
Taker
Nosoi (Panicked)
Shizel <---
Planetar (Shaken)

Ghaele: AC 28, touch 16, flat-footed 26, SR 25
Planetar: AC 32, touch 13, flat-footed 28, SR 27
Nosoi: AC 15, touch 15, flat-footed 12

[Feathersnow]

Knave slinks back into invisibility to prepare his next sneak attack! If anyone asks, that is definitely the most useful thing he could have done....

[ngilop]

Zalgoth steps forward and unleashes a wave of sadness into the psychopomps and celestials, though it seems to not have the effect desired.

Spoiler: OOC

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Casts crushing despair will DC: 27

Spoiler: Spells per day remaining

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0 na
1st 10/10
2nd 9/9
3rd 8/8
4th 8/6
5th 9/-
6th 7/-
7th 5/-

[Watcher]

The planetar shrugs off Zalgoth's spell and quickly peels another brand off of another mortal soul. Evidently, he thinks the ghaele doesn't need his help yet. Or perhaps his priorities lie with rescuing the mortal souls.

The ghaele rushes Taker and swings her holy greatsword. The tip barely grazes Taker's incorporeal form.

Spoiler: OOC

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The ghaele rolls a 29 to hit on Taker, just barely missing him, and only because she's temporarily Shaken. She's currently adjacent to Taker.

Spoiler: Initiative

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Round 1:
Shizel <---

Round 2:
Knave <---
Ghaele (Shaken)
Zalgoth <---
Taker <---
Nosoi (Panicked)
Shizel
Planetar (Shaken)

Ghaele: AC 28, touch 16, flat-footed 26, SR 25
Planetar: AC 32, touch 13, flat-footed 28, SR 27
Nosoi: AC 15, touch 15, flat-footed 12

[Feathersnow]

Knave shoots another Nosoi, not bothering with poison!

[Watcher]

Another nosoi dies instantly. Its body is lost in the throng of mortal souls. The remaining Nosoi vanish from sight as they turn invisible in their panic. The faint sound of flapping wings signifies their presence, but it noticeably quiets as many vacate the room.

Spoiler: Initiative

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Round 1:
Shizel <---

Round 2:
Knave
Ghaele (Shaken)
Zalgoth <---
Taker <---
Nosoi (Invisible, Panicked, many are dead or gone)
Shizel <---
Planetar (Shaken)

Ghaele: AC 28, touch 16, flat-footed 26, SR 25
Planetar: AC 32, touch 13, flat-footed 28, SR 27
Nosoi: AC 15, touch 15, flat-footed 12. What remain are invisible and their locations unknown.

[Athaleon]

Taker drifted back to bring his weapon to bear against the ghaele assaulting him.

Spoiler

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5' step back and full attack with Power Attack. If any of these hit, the Ghaele is Sickened in addition to being Shaken. Intimidate checks via Cornugon Smash to see if it continues being Shaken in later rounds.

(1d20+16)[35] vs Touch
(1d8+23)[28] Damage
(1d20+26)[33] Intimidate

(1d20+11)[30] vs Touch
(1d8+23)[24] Damage
(1d20+26)[27] Intimidate

(1d20+6)[25] vs Touch
(1d8+23)[25] Damage
(1d20+26)[41] Intimidate

[Watcher]

Taker's attack connects, but the ghaele's tough skin partially repels his weapon. At the moment his lance connects, a flash of holy light engulfs Taker, threatening (unlikely as it may be) to blind him. He knows that this will happen every time he hits her.

Spoiler: OOC

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The ghaele has DR 10/cold iron AND evil. She also has a natural Holy Aura which is baked into her stats, but every time you hit her with a melee attack, you face a DC 21 fortitude save vs blindness.

Taker is incorporeal, so there's a 50% chance it won't affect him, and his fortitude save is high enough that he succeeds on anything but a natural 1. A 1/40 chance of blindness isn't nothing, however. Taker can roll the incorporeal ineffectiveness chance himself for future hits if he likes.

Spoiler: Initiative

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Round 1:
Shizel <---

Round 2:
Knave
Ghaele (Injured, Shaken, Sickened)
Zalgoth <---
Taker
Nosoi (Invisible, Panicked, many are dead or gone)
Shizel <---
Planetar (Shaken) <---

Ghaele: AC 28, touch 16, flat-footed 26, SR 25 - DC 21 Fortitude save vs blindness if you hit her in melee.
Planetar: AC 32, touch 13, flat-footed 28, SR 27
Nosoi: AC 15, touch 15, flat-footed 12. What remain are invisible and their locations unknown.

[Watcher]

The planetar squints at the battle and quickly peels off another brand from a mortal soul with his magic knife. The planetar moves laterally, not getting any closer but stopping in the southeast quadrant of the room.

Spoiler: Initiative

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Round 1:
Shizel <---

Round 2:
Zalgoth <---
Shizel <---

Round 3:
Knave <---
Ghaele (Injured, Shaken, Sickened)
Zalgoth
Taker
Nosoi (Invisible, Panicked, many are dead or gone)
Shizel
Planetar

Ghaele: AC 28, touch 16, flat-footed 26, SR 25 - DC 21 Fortitude save vs blindness if you hit her in melee.
Planetar: AC 32, touch 13, flat-footed 28, SR 27
Nosoi: AC 15, touch 15, flat-footed 12. What remain are invisible and their locations unknown.

[Feathersnow]

Knave fades into invisibility once more, so as to be able to sneak attack.

[Watcher]

The ghaele slices through Taker's form with her holy greatsword, hitting twice. It penetrates Taker's defenses, but not as much as she would like.

Spoiler: OOC

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2 hits, 29 damage and 24 damage. After incorporeal halving, 26 damage total, which bypasses DR/Good. Her debuffs almost cancel out the buff she cast, or else she would have hit 3 times.

Spoiler: Initiative

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Round 1:
Shizel <---

Round 2:
Zalgoth <---
Shizel <---

Round 3:
Knave
Ghaele (Injured, Shaken, Sickened)
Zalgoth <---
Taker <---
Nosoi (Invisible, Panicked, many are dead or gone)
Shizel
Planetar

Ghaele: AC 28, touch 16, flat-footed 26, SR 25 - DC 21 Fortitude save vs blindness if you hit her in melee.
Planetar: AC 32, touch 13, flat-footed 28, SR 27
Nosoi: AC 15, touch 15, flat-footed 12. What remain are invisible and their locations unknown.

[ngilop]

Zalgoth unleashes another wave of howling flames towards the celestials, but lets out an angry gutteral noise as the creatures are able to shrug off his spell again.

[Watcher]

The flutter of wings falls silent. What few Nosoi had lingered are now gone.
The planetar hesitates for a moment before holding his knife upwards and channeling a Holy Smite through it, consecrating it. Divine flame sears the party. The fading flame reveals a silver string that connects the planetar's knife to the Disjoiner of Fate on Taker's person. The planetar shakes his knife as if to dislodge the string, but he has no success.

Spoiler: OOC

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The planetar casts Consecrated Holy Smite (effectively, Maximized). 60 typeless damage to Knave, Zalgoth, and Taker, and they are blinded for 1 round. A DC 21 Will Save halves the damage and negates the blindness. (Half damage to Taker, quarter damage if he doesn't roll a natural 1.)
He rolled a natural 20 on his caster level check to overcome SR for a total of 36.
Zalgoth can go ahead and take his Round 3 action right away. I haven't cut off old turns yet.

Spoiler: Initiative

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Round 1:
Shizel <---

Round 2:
Shizel <---

Round 3:
Zalgoth <---
Taker <---
Shizel <---

Round 4:
Knave <---
Ghaele (Injured, Shaken, Sickened)
Zalgoth
Taker
Shizel
Planetar

Ghaele: AC 28, touch 16, flat-footed 26, SR 25 - DC 21 Fortitude save vs blindness if you hit her in melee.
Planetar: AC 32, touch 13, flat-footed 28, SR 27
Nosoi: AC 15, touch 15, flat-footed 12. What remain are invisible and their locations unknown.

[ngilop]

Zalgoth grimaces and unleash a spray of caustic vile greenish liguid that rushes towards the planetar. This time he is able to overcome the creature's innate magic resistance and the acid does its job well.

Spoiler: OOC

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reflex save DC 29 vs acidic spray

Spoiler: Spells remaining per day

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0 na
1st 10/10
2nd 9/9
3rd 8/8
4th 8/6
5th 8/-
6th 7/-
7th 5/-

[Watcher]

A high-ranking angel's reflexes are quite good, but they aren't his specialty. The acid hits him square, and he makes a halfhearted attempt to brush the acid off. He seems content to let his natural regeneration handle it.

The ghaele casts a withering glare across the room. The next moment, her body erupts into pure light, and she slowly rises from the ground.

Spoiler: OOC

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I just realized the ghaele has a gaze. Everyone roll a DC 18 Will Save vs shaken for 2d10 rounds. Choosing to avert or shut your eyes will apply concealment for your next turn only.

The ghaele turned incorporeal as a standard action and 5 foot floated upwards. She automatically makes the hover check.

Spoiler: Initiative

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Round 1:
Shizel <---

Round 2:
Shizel <---

Round 3:
Taker <---
Shizel <---

Round 4:
Knave <---
Ghaele (Incorporeal, Injured, Shaken, Sickened)
Zalgoth <---
Taker
Shizel
Planetar (Injured)

Ghaele: (Incorporeal) AC 28, touch 16, flat-footed 26, SR 25 - DC 21 Fortitude save vs blindness if you hit her in melee.
Planetar: AC 32, touch 13, flat-footed 28, SR 27
Nosoi: AC 15, touch 15, flat-footed 12. What remain are invisible and their locations unknown.

[Athaleon]

Taker snarled, a horrifying thin wail, and pressed his attack against the ghaele once more in a bloody-minded fury. He knew his weapons would still bite home on the celestial, incorporeal or no.

Spoiler

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Full attack, power attack, 5' float if needed.

(1d20+16)[33] vs Touch
(1d8+23)[26] Damage
(1d20+26)[39] Intimidate
(1d20+23)[34] Fortitude vs the blinding effect (IIRC the miss chance no longer applies now that we're both incorporeal)

(1d20+11)[31] vs Touch
(1d8+23)[27] Damage
(1d20+26)[27] Intimidate
(1d20+23)[39] Fortitude

(1d20+6)[19] vs Touch
(1d8+23)[26] Damage
(1d20+26)[29] Intimidate
(1d20+23)[35] Fortitude

[Watcher]

The being of pure light is blown backwards by the second lucky strike, but her incorporeal armor becomes effective against incorporeal strikes, and she deflects the final strike. Her light flickers, then shines strong.

The mortals had grown increasingly skittish when their celestial protectors hadn't immediately gained the upper hand. A few of them make a break for the wound in reality consuming the eastern wall. The ghaele and the planetar are preoccupied, and with no nosoi to dissuade them, nobody stops them from jumping into the void.

Previously, the void had seethed when a single, clean mortal soul passed through.

This time, it roars. Their translucent bodies fade from sight, but their gray brands and the silky tendrils pulse brighter. The gray knots together and tries to assert... something over the nothing of the void. The void roars louder, and the hole in reality turns from concave to convex.

Spears of nonexistence stab out ten feet in every direction from the breach. Unlucky mortals who stood too close are impaled (harmlessly?) before they're pulled through the rift, causing a chain reaction that grows the hole in the Pocket Plane ever larger.

Then, a spear reaches the planetar's magic knife. The chain reactions cease instantly. The knife shudders.

CRACK.

Like a bolt of lightning, a line of nonexistence erupts between the planetar and Taker, along the silk thread that connected his knife to the Disjoiner of Fate.

Time freezes entirely. Even thinking is impossible. Then, with a rumble, time groans back to a start. Even incorporeal, Taker has to steady himself. With each movement, the Disjoiner of Fate paints nonreality onto the world like a paintbrush.

It doesn't take an oracle to feel that something very bad is about to happen, but Zalgoth senses an incoming disaster better than anyone.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Combat rounds continue.
Rifts in reality have opened up in a 15 foot radius around the eastern wall, and in a northwest-southeast diagonal between Taker and the Planetar. Taker is currently unaffected, but any square he leaves will be occupied by the continuous rift.

If you start your turn in a rift or pass through it during your turn, roll a d100. 1-50, you are staggered until the start of your next turn. 51-100, you are hasted until the start of your next turn.

Spoiler: Initiative

Show

Round 1:
Shizel <---

Round 2:
Shizel <---

Round 3:
Shizel <---

Round 4:
Knave <---
Ghaele (Incorporeal, Badly Wounded, Shaken, Sickened)
Zalgoth <---
Taker <---
Shizel
Planetar (Injured) <---

Ghaele: (Incorporeal) AC 28, touch 16, flat-footed 26, SR 25 - DC 21 Fortitude save vs blindness if you hit her in melee.
Planetar: AC 32, touch 13, flat-footed 28, SR 27
Nosoi: AC 15, touch 15, flat-footed 12. What remain are invisible and their locations unknown.

[ngilop]

Zalgoth feels himself awash with a deep sense of dread, but realizes that what it happening is not something that can be prevented, this is not actual zalgoth's plane of existence... so hedging bets Zalgoth feels should reform back on Abaddon should things get worse. And that finishing off the celestials is the most prudent thing, as that is something Zalgoth can control the outcome of. Orbs of energy fly from outstretched tentacles and into the planetar and while bypassing the creatures resistance, does not seem to have the impact Zalgoth was looking for.

[Watcher]

The planetar steps five feet north, closer to the east-center of the room, and the knife stretches the rift coursing through it. He eyes it warily and casts a spell with his free hand, releasing waves of negative energy that overwhelm and exhaust the entire party. His composure begins to break; he's openly relieved that his magic is unaffected by the spacial calamity.

The ghaele acts soon afterwards, floating just out of Taker's reach and pelting him with rays of light that bypass all of his defenses. Similarly to Zalgoth, it's guaranteed damage, but not as much as she was hoping for.

Spoiler: OOC

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The planetar five foot steps and casts Waves of Exhaustion. There is no saving throw, only spell resistance, which he rolled a 24 to overcome. All party members are exhausted.

The ghaele five foot floats and fires two light rays at Taker, dealing 21 damage. They're both incorporeal, so damage is dealt normally, and her light rays bypass all damage reduction.

Combat rounds continue.
Rifts in reality have opened up in a 15 foot radius around the eastern wall, and in a northwest-southeast diagonal between Taker and the Planetar. Taker is currently unaffected, but any square he leaves will be occupied by the continuous rift.

If you start your turn in a rift or pass through it during your turn, roll a d100. 1-50, you are staggered until the start of your next turn. 51-100, you are hasted until the start of your next turn.

You can skip this roll if you avoid the rifts.

Spoiler: Initiative

Show

I've reset initiative. The planetar just took his round 4 action, and the ghaele took her round 5 action. Everyone can act once or twice before the celestials act again.

Round 5:
Knave <---
Ghaele (Incorporeal, Badly Wounded, Shaken, Sickened)
Zalgoth <---
Taker <---
Shizel <---
Planetar (Injured) <---

Round 6:
Knave <---
Ghaele (Incorporeal, Badly Wounded, Shaken, Sickened) <---

Ghaele: (Incorporeal) AC 28, touch 16, flat-footed 26, SR 25 - DC 21 Fortitude save vs blindness if you hit her in melee.
Planetar: AC 32, touch 13, flat-footed 28, SR 27
Nosoi: AC 15, touch 15, flat-footed 12. What remain are invisible and their locations unknown.

[Feathersnow]

Knave shoots a poison blowgun dart at the Planetar, then retreats into invisibility once more.

This is serious. They brought it on themselves.

Spoiler

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(1d20+22)[37] to hit
(6d6+5)[31]sneak attack!
Poison DC 16 or 1d2 str damage


Second round: invisibility

[Athaleon]

Taker reeled under the draining spell and the wounded ghaele's rays of light. He didn't know quite what was happening but he knew the rifts were growing and this fight had to end soon whether, in victory or flight.

Grimacing with anticipation, not knowing exactly what would happen, he moved around to put the ghaele between him and the planetar, cut the reality rift through his target. Then, he would teleport to behind the Planetar.

Spoiler

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Moving and then using his Greater Teleport SLA as stated.

[Watcher]

CRACK.
Thin tendrils of nothingness erupt from where Taker teleported to and from, like spiderweb fractures in a block of glass. There's a palpable but brief feeling of impending doom. The fabric of space between the two new fractures strains, then bottoms out.
A thick, straight rift consumes the ghaele and the planetar. The ghaele remains a being of pure light, but the planetar's surprise, fear, and pain is plain on his face. Both were seriously hurt by Taker's risky teleport, and both stop moving completely, like time has ground to a halt inside.

The room starts to vibrate. Thin peninsulas of reality between the rifts break off and unfurl into nothingness. The Disjoiner of Fate spits out bolts of gray light in a rapid fire, tracing silk-thin rifts that widen when they collide with the rifts already consuming the room. The gray light lances through the party, healing each of them for 44 hit points. The rifts seem to have the opposite effect on the party, speeding up their movements.

Zalgoth knows it won't last. The shattered fabric of the plane is too weak to withstand any further conjuration magic. The rifts are ejecting ghosts from the Pocket Plane, consuming their brands, and cracking ever wider, reaching more and more ghosts. The Disjoiner of Fate is resonating with its equal opposite, the knife remaining in the planetar's hand. In about six seconds, Everything will end.

Spoiler: Initiative

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The celestials are frozen in time and helpess. The party is hasted and can take one more turn each before combat rounds end. Conjuration spells and spell-like abilities are currently impossible.

Final Round:
Ghaele (Suspended animation, Incorporeal, Hurt?)
Planetar (Suspended animation, Hurt?)
Knave (Haste)<---
Zalgoth (Haste)<---
Taker (Haste)<---
Shizel (Haste)<---

Ghaele: (Incorporeal, Helpless) AC 21, touch 9, SR 25
Planetar: AC 23, touch 5, flat-footed 28, SR 27

[Feathersnow]

Knave encourages his anarchic armadillo mount to flee the room at all due haste, while he holds onto the reigns fir dear life!

[Athaleon]

Taker had no time to gloat at his celestial foes. He whirled around and fled the room with all the speed he could muster while avoiding the growing rifts. He drew the Disjoiner of Fate and held it in hand, careful to keep his body from getting between it and the Planetar. His first instinct was to drop the Disjoiner before fleeing, but reasoned that it only resonated with the Planetar's knife when he'd drawn close enough—perhaps if he took it far enough away, the effect would subside.

[ngilop]

Zalgoth blink a couple times, its mind refusing to accept what is happening at first, as soon as it does though, Zalgoth flees as fast as possible "We got to make it out of here completely... this whole pocket plan is going to fold itself into nothingness!!" Not that you have known the creature for a lengthy amount of time, but you are pretty sure this is the first time you have heard genuine terror in Zalgoth's voice.

[Watcher]

The Disjoiner of Fate explodes in Taker's hand.

Rifts open between your skin and your flesh. Rifts open between your eyes and your eyelids. Rifts open between your spirit and your mind.

Gray light washes through the cracks in a torrent. Chunks of reality occupied by your body drift away. You remain physically whole, but you've lost something. Even now, the gray light doesn't dissipate but surges brighter. It heals you, it holds you together, it scrubs hotly at the spaces between your bones.

The thread snaps. The gray light fades, and you are adrift. The shattered remnants of the Skimming Chamber have drifted away from you, and you're in a void without time, helpless to do more than to think and observe.

Further away, the rest of the Pocket Plane has cracked into five equal pieces, which slowly unravel further.

Nosoi flit between the islands of reality, followed by angels. The ghaele and the planetar remain adrift, just like you. Angels extend something to the ghaele, but her form of light breaks apart into smaller and smaller motes of light until she disintegrates completely. They retract the "rope" and extend it to the planetar. He crumples in on himself. Blood sprays weightlessly from his mouth and his back. The angels pull him out.

The angels and psychopomps see you, adrift. They don't extend anything to you. The silvery mist of the Astral Plane leaks in through the cracks, or perhaps the remnants of the pocket plane are decaying back into the misty planestuff from whence it came. The angels form ranks, ready for battle. When the edge of the Astral Plane washes over you, time will stabilize, and you have no doubt the celestials will attack in force.


The forced ceasefire graces you with the opportunity to take stock of yourselves. The source of the sense of loss is obvious to pinpoint.

Evil has been your constant companion throughout each of your existences. Fight it, embrace it, or ignore it, but Evil was a fundamental part of who you were. The Lower Planes built you from Evil, and your very flesh is composed, at least partially, of planar Evil. It was completely inseparable from you.

You don't feel very Evil right now. Your body is probably still made out of Evil, but somewhere between your flesh and your brain and your mind and your spirit and your actions- Wherever it is, somewhere, there's been a serious disconnect. It's disorienting. The implications are unclear.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

You can respec your characters and change alignments now. Evil is optional but no longer compulsory. You can also change along the Lawful-Chaotic axis if you choose.

I'll take Knowledge (Planes) rolls to see what you know about the implications of what just happened. I'll also take a Wisdom check to represent introspection. You can roll any other checks you think are appropriate, but you currently can't move or cast spells.

You can communicate with your party members.

[Feathersnow]

Knave is unaware of the changes that transfigured him from a guilty but vile hypocrite gremlin to the mischievous and jolly trickster he was always meant to be.