4 - 037: The Fourth Piece

[K Man]

Romar -

The queen's face twists into a wry smile, both at the low bow and your words. It's clear she's used to being worshipped...



"...Of all the words in the lexicons of language, those were the ones I wanted to hear."

She stands and the sea of advisors and attendants parts, letting take two graceful strides towards you.

"You see that? Above us?"

You follow her lithe hand skyward as it points through the amber ceiling into the room above. Through the semi-opaque glass, you can make out machinery and strange objects, but little else. Whatever is up must be both complex and enigmatic - for you can fathom nothing of it.



"That is a device, conceived of by the most sagely and wise Elven minds that this eon has presented us. It is a weapon, capable of firing a beam of pure, unfiltered magic at any point in the world."

"It would reduce a living mountain to sand, the ocean to ash...and 'The Master' to nothing, all within seconds."

She motions to a darker section of the ceiling.

"It is powered by the strange shards that are present throughout our world. Though one has been in our midst since the oldest Elves can remember, more have been appearing...and 'The Master' seeks them with fervor."

"We endeavoured to discover why and that is when we uncovered that they are nearly pure magic...the essence of arcane."

"We knew almost immediately that what 'The Master' sought could be turned against him and that is when we began to build the weapon."

The Queen moves back to her throne and takes a seat, spreading her royal garb out ceremoniously. Her head tilts back to the same reverent pose and her hands rest calmly at her side.



"Though that is the heart of our dilemma. Until tonight, we had but one of the crystals."

"Thanks to your actions, we have quadrupled our stock...but it is not enough. We need one more to ensure the blast of the weapon will be enough to eradicate 'The Master'."

Those cold eyes come to rest on you again.

"The people of the Gathered Nations have one such crystal in the Dune Palace - at the center of a desert Northwest of here."

"Our previous attempts at...negotiation have failed to procure it."

"They know my son, they will surely know me and they mistrust any Elf within their borders. Our magics of the earth do not work as well there because of the choking sand of the desert."

"Hence...I find opportunity in your appearance here tonight."

The wry smile returns, splitting from nearly ear to ear.

"So tell me, before I go into detail, are you still willing to help us end this war Romar?"

------------------------------------------------------------------------

All but Romar -

Course of action in mind, you each set about mentally preparing yourselves for this moment. Garor says a short blessing, [Righteous Might] and the remainder of you get behind Yuri, putting every ounce of prayer you have into the one toss of the bead.

The great feet of the colossus shake the ground as you near, each one like an earthquake. The ogres move mindlessly about, each team taking an end of the stone rollers beneath and moving it to the front - only to have become the end again eventually. The stone block continues to lumber along at the gait of the giant, moved slowly by his bulk.

Though the ground shakes, you manage to move closer and prepare the attack. You sneak to within throwing range and Yuri brings his hand back....

And time seems to stop...

The dust around the foot of the colossus, the undead ogres moving stone pillars...even the flapping of the unmentionable creatures above the army seem to slow to an creeping pace. Yuri's arm pulls back and slowly arches forward, the pearl moving in slow motion as it flies...

It arches through the air, just as slowly, driving towards the stone side of the block. [Ranged Attack Roll = not a 1]

When the pearl touches the side of the fortress, the world comes screaming back into real time. The blast is loud enough to split the sky and rip the ground asunder....for those of you at Cannon's Foot when it feel, it is something similar. The light is intense and all is washed out in miliseconds of thunder and smoke.

When your senses finally adjust, bringing the world back slowly into focus, you immediately look to the edge of the fortress. There, as though struck by a meteor hurled by Kord himself, the side of the fortress has been ripped open - barely enough for one person to squeeze through.

It may even be too small for that, but you'll have to judge when you get closer...


Map;

................................................
................................................
................................................
................................................
................OOOO..OOOO..OOOO..OOOO..OOOO....
..............******************************....
..............******************************....
........CCCC..******************************....
........CCCC..******************************....
........CCCC..******************************....
........CCCC..******************************....
..............******************************....
..............[]****************************....
................OOOO..OOOO..OOOO..OOOO..OOOO....
................................................
................................................
................................................
....G..YD.KA....................................
...T..M...R.....................................

[/pre]

>>Legend>>
*** = 'The Masters' Fortress
[] = The hole made by the pearl
CCCC = Colossus
OO = Undead Ogres (teams of 4, 20 to a side)
G = Girud
D = Galdren
R = Garor
A = Adelia
K = Krysta
M = Mordrock
T = Alton
Y = Yuri

{The hole is big enough for one person to squeeze through as a full round action. This includes climbing into the crater and squeezing through the hole, so some of you will have to remain outside...since there's 8 of you trying to go through.

Determine an order and let me know who's going through first. There is no initiative yet since all this is happening so suddenly.}
__________________________________________________________________________________________

[Japic]

(Unfortunately) Girud is among the last, with Alton staying outside to help. (his fireball arrows should decimate these guys rather well)

{KMan, would the explosion have knocked over (or killed) any of the ogre thralls? It seems to me with a blast that big it sould have cleared or wounded atleast a few.}

I won't go so far as suggesting the full order but Girud should be last or second to last unless someone has a better idea. Actually come to think of it, if Yuri could handle it, he should be the last. In gaseous form he should be able to seep through in no time, possibly with or after the last of us (assuming the transformation doesn't take time..?).

Basically Girud stands a chance to knock these A-Holes around, so I'd like to be towards the end. Alton has a Bane agains undead bow, so will be itching for the opportunity to use it (or his special fireball arrows for those not next to us). If he can stay mobile he's better at what he does, so with that in mind, I ask someone to formulate the specific entry plan.

[GeneralMHB]

(OOC: I'll be last to go in since I can get in faster than anyone here, IE Gaseous form or bat. Let Mordrock go in first since he is shorter. I'll provide some cover for everyone. Might I recommend fighters go in last, anyone with the fewest HP go in first.)

[Jevva]

Galdren stays back with Girud and Yuri, ready to provide cover for his companions.

[BluSpecs]

Garor waits till near the end to enter the fortress as well.

He will move up and cover the others by attacking any creature that makes a move for them.

Masterwork Maul (+17/+12, 2d8+12, . 20\x3 Ghost Touch

AC: 24 DR 10/evil



note:

Righteous Might
Transmutation
Level: Clr 5, Strength 5
Components: V, S, DF
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: 1 round/level (D)
Your height immediately doubles, and your weight increases by a factor of eight. This increase changes your size category to the next larger one, and you gain a +8 size bonus to Strength and a +4 size bonus to Constitution. You gain a +4 enhancement bonus to your natural armor. You gain damage reduction 5/evil (if you normally channel positive energy) or damage reduction 5/good (if you normally channel negative energy). At 12th level this damage reduction becomes 10/evil or 10/good, and at 15th level it becomes 15/evil or 15/good (the maximum). Your size modifier for AC and attacks changes as appropriate to your new size category. This spell doesn’t change your speed. Determine space and reach as appropriate to your new size.
If insufficient room is available for the desired growth, you attain the maximum possible size and may make a Strength check (using your increased Strength) to burst any enclosures in the process. If you fail, you are constrained without harm by the materials enclosing you— the spell cannot crush you by increasing your size.
All equipment you wear or carry is similarly enlarged by the spell. Melee and projectile weapons deal more damage. Other magical properties are not affected by this spell. Any enlarged item that leaves your possession (including a projectile or thrown weapon) instantly returns to its normal size. This means that thrown weapons deal their normal damage (projectiles deal damage based on the size of the weapon that fired them).
Multiple magical effects that increase size do not stack.

[VemuKhaham]

Romar takes in the information about the elven plan to stop the Master. One shard away from stopping him forever? Only one? One journey to the Dune Palace?

From what he heard of the tales of his former companions, they were indeed gathering shards, but they seeked as far as Hell itself to get to them. But the Dune Palace... wasn't that just one of those last few places still relatively safe in this world? Or had five years of war and destruction changed that as well?

He thinks, trying to remember any knowledge he might have heard sometime in his past about this place, or of the Gathered Nations. The Dune Palace was its capital he remembered, but what else?

Nevertheless, he is positive as to what his answer should be:

"Yes, your majesty the queen, your plan sounds more promising than all the plans I have heard of in a long time."

He looks up, to the strange machination behind the ceiling. "Engineering however isn't a skill I possess, and neither is diplomacy. Send me to the Dune Palace and I shall try to find another way to take this crystal."

---

Knowledge (geography) +1 to check what I know about this Dune Palace and the Gathered Nations, especially about things like their role in this war, whether they're welcoming of strangers and the like.

[Japic]

{Oh, I forgot to mention it in my post earlier, but they should have one more than your claiming KMan. Don't forget they have the shard from Boone's Freehold that we brought them.}

[Fangor the Fierce]

Krysta points at the hole, and motions for Mordrock and Adelia to go fast. Next, she will go to make sure the place is secure. Galdren and Girud look to be next with Garor. Yuri and Alton are the easiest to enter, so they might be last....

[Jevva]

OOC: I don't want to ruin our chances of getting in, but if Garor becomes large, can he still get in through the hole?

[Japic]

jevva said:

OOC: I don't want to ruin our chances of getting in, but if Garor becomes large, can he still get in through the hole?

{OOC: I'd say prolly not, but he can dismiss it when his turn comes and squeeze through then. Otherwise the hols would need bto be larger. As it sttands, once we get inside, we're relatively safe from the zombies outside; I think. They should all be large creatures themselves and therefore unable to squeeze through a hole that mediums are having a tough time with.}

[BluSpecs]

Yup Garor was planning to stay big in case we needed to fend off some zombies to get in....