Act II: The Hall of Snurre Ironbelly the Foul, Fire Giant King

Brief Recap: Last turn Bronk subdued his brother while the party fought with Githyanki. Eclavdra revealed the Obsidian Stone.

In the Githyanki Temple

Humphrey tries to grab the stone with his Telekinesis spell, and succeeds in snatching it from the palm of Eclavdra as she floats and gloats [to hit roll 17]. The stone zips toward Humphrey.

Bibi transforms into a falcon and flies toward the stone. But Eclavdra's response to Humphrey's action takes no more time than a thought. She focuses on Humphrey, and he feels his will overcome by her power [failed saving throw v. Mind Blast].

A piercing pain stabs Humphrey's brain, directly between his eyes. All sense leaves him; it drains out the hole in his mind put there by Eclavdra. In his mind's eye he sees her drinking the Goblet of his Knowledge, a large gold cup filled with thick blood. Red rivulets drip from her green chin. In his last thoughts, she lowers the cup, laughs, and pours the rest of the goblet's contents on the floor.

Humphrey is permanently Feebleminded. He stares dumbly ahead, not moving. His staff falls from his slack fingers and clatters on the floor. [Humphrey's combined Intelligence and Wisdom is 5. He cannot attack or defend, and has no more memory of spells.]

Bibi's flight takes her across the stone's path before it falls, just as it is released from Humphrey's Telekinesis. Her falcon claws lock onto the stone and tear it from the last remnant of the spell. Bibi quickly flaps back to earth, near where she started, as safe a place as any. She resumes her human shape. Having transformed seems to have done much to alleviate the effects of the witch's spell.

Ghotu Graver sees that Mog is beset upon by two sword wielding Githyanki knights and charges. Unaware of Ghotu's charge, the two knights attack Mog, who seeks to avoid them and cast a spell. The first hits the cleric in the left arm with his long sword, disrupting his spell and spilling orc blood. The second knight stabs Mog in the leg [13 and 11 damage, down to 63/98].

Ghotu blind sides one of the knights, and the now-familiar sound of Ghotu's axe bashing a Githyanki helm rings throughout the strangely lit room [19 damage]. The knight is stunned and falls to its knees as the other knight returns Ghotu's attack. Ghotu deflects the point of the sword with his shield and dents yet another Githyanki helm [21 damage]. He tries to follow up with another shot, but his arms feel like lead, the effects of Eclavdra's spell. He misses his second attack.

While Ghotu attacks the second knight, Mog casts a spell on the first (the one Ghotu knocked down). He casts Slay Living, but he is not able to snuff out the life of the Githyanki, though he does drain some of its life force [12 damage].

After Humphrey activates his staff and becomes visible, Bronk sees him and yells, "Humphrey, over here!" When Bronk sees Humphrey drop his staff and stand motionless, he knows he is under the influence of some spell. Bronk moves a step closer to the wizard, not wanting to leave his brother. Two of the three knights on the other side of Humphrey charge past the catatonic mage toward the party. Bronk quickly retrieves his halberd and stands before his brother's unconscious form.

One of the knights charges Bronk, and Bronk catches him at range with his halberd [21 damage]. The knight closes with Bronk, slashing him with his sword [16 damage to Bronk, down to 78/100]. Bronk swings his halberd again, hitting the knight once more [21 damage]. The knight misses Bronk with its second attack.

Blade tries to sprint toward Eclavdra, but finds his speed has left him and he feels almost like his boots have weights attached. Before he can reach the elemental, the second of the two charging knights targets Blade with an attack. The knight swings its sword down in an overhand stroke on Blade, hitting the fighter [Blade takes 13 damage, down to 86/115]. Blade takes the blow hard on his short sword and moves past the knight to the elemental beneath Eclavdra.

Bibi, now fully transformed into her human shape, takes the Obsidian Stone and presses it against the central depression in her locker. But something is wrong.

The stone does not fit.

Bibi tries to think if Azrael ever mentioned the Stone changing size, or if she herself had ever remembered it being larger. She tries again, and the stone is simply too large to fit in the depression of her locket.

Suddenly, the stone is snatched from Bibi's hands by an invisible force. It flies across the room through the bluish glowing shapes and lavender lights and directly into the waiting palm of Eclavdra.

Eclavdra laughs, a hideous cackling. The stone's power begins to glow an evil green within her tightly closed fist.

Blade pushes his efforts to the limit by planting one foot on the elemental's strangely shaped trunk, then the other on what could be its shoulder or head, and finally jumps off to grab Eclavdra where she hovers in the air. Due to his weakness from the spell, Blade is only able to grab her around the waste, dropping his short sword to the floor below and wrapping both arms around her sizeable hips, his face buried in her crotch.

His weight pulls them both to the ground rapidly, and Eclavdra howls in anger at the assault. The Obsidian Stone burns even brighter as she attempts to unleash its power against Blade, who is on the ground next to her scrambling to grab his short sword. She extends her hand with the Stone toward Blade, her lips pulled back in a snarl and her teeth clenched, expecting to unleash the power to kill her enemy.

But instead, her snarl turns to a grimace of pain. The green energy that was building in the stone now encompasses her entire arm, extending like a green fire to quickly engulf her entire body.

At that exact moment, a bright red flash and a thunderous clap distract all in the room. On the dais, near the giants and in front of the Portal, Thae-Rune Ibn suddenly appears. When he speaks, his voice is clearly heard echoing throughout the massive hall.

"So, Eclavdra, your treachery has finally undone you, and my trap is sprung."

Eclavdra, now entirely engulfed in flames, gives a final inarticulate wail and dissolves into greenly burning pitch and soot.

Posting Instructions: See the battlemap for positions and enemies. Please post two rounds of combat.

HOME