Mythic Quest - Abaddon All Hope

EPISODE 3

  The party gathered at their safe house to plan their next move after discovering troubling intelligence about an alliance between blighted fae and daemons. Their recent adventure to the First World had revealed an ongoing war between corrupted fae and their uncorrupted kin, with the blighted forces carrying mysterious planar keystones. The group discussed what they knew about Abaddon, the daemon realm they would soon visit, learning about its oppressive atmosphere of cold black mist, rotten air, and strange eclipsed sunlight.   Before departing, the party prepared extensively for their journey. Navilla used her culinary skills to create a magnificent feast that would bless them with divine protection and enhanced abilities. Their enchanted chest refilled its stock of potions and restorative draughts, while Tyrannis and Kyzikos reviewed their spells and wards for planar travel.   Using the planar keystone taken from a defeated blighted fae, the party teleported to Abaddon and found themselves in a foul-smelling daemon tower. The oppressive atmosphere immediately assaulted their senses as they explored the structure, discovering spiral stairs and multiple chambers. Tyrannis detected magical protections throughout the walls and a glowing enchantment on the main exit door. Their thorough investigation revealed they had arrived at an established portal location marked with macabre daemonic imagery.   In one of the tower's rooms, they discovered a wild hunt scout - a blighted fae with pointed ears, blue eyes, and ram's horns - sitting by a desk. The creature appeared surprised by their arrival, having heard them moving through the tower. When Kyzikos attempted to subdue the scout with a Hold Monster spell, the magic took hold, leaving the fae unable to speak or move while remaining conscious and breathing.   Navilla spotted an important document on the desk and retrieved it for examination. The letter was addressed to someone named Kazrot and signed by Arlantia, revealing crucial intelligence about the alliance between blighted fae and daemons. The correspondence detailed plans to spread blight across Golarion while heroes were distracted and helpless, with instructions to let daemons lead assaults on churches of the gods. The letter promised that Arlantia would meet with her allies in Golarion once all the portals were completed.   Through their knowledge of planar lore, the party learned that Arlantia was a blighted dryad known as Patient Zero of the dark corruption. She had opened a portal to the abyssal realm of Cyth-V'sug, merging demonic influence with fey magic to create the blight within herself. The dryad commanded a black dragon herald named Naphexi and currently resided in the Fangwood forest on Golarion, spreading her corruption from there.   The paralyzed scout, Kazrot himself, eventually broke free from the magical hold and immediately began casting a spell. Tyrannis attempted to strike him down, but his blade found only empty air as the fae completed his magic. The scout vanished in a flash of dimensional magic, though the party heard the telltale sounds of footsteps ascending the tower's spiral stairs. They quickly pursued, enhanced by Kyzikos' haste magic.   On the second floor, they discovered an elaborate chamber filled with torture equipment and braziers. What appeared to be a humanoid prisoner tied to the devices turned out to be an elaborate trap. The supposed victim chuckled, shapeshifted into an imp-like creature, and disappeared, triggering the summoning of eight demonic crucidaemons. These creatures materialized with chains piercing their wrists, ending in curved blade weapons that dripped with malevolent energy.   The battle erupted with devastating magical force as Kyzikos unleashed a banshee blast, summoning elven spirits that shrieked through the chamber. The sonic assault overwhelmed three of the tormentors, sending them into a panic that caused them to flee in terror. Navilla engaged the remaining enemy with her starknife, delivering precise strikes that carved through demonic flesh. The tormentors proved largely ineffective against the party's superior defenses and magical protections.   Kyzikos followed up with a chain lightning spell that arced between multiple enemies, the electrical energy crackling through the air as it jumped from target to target. The devastating magical assault eliminated one tormentor entirely and severely wounded the others. Navilla continued her relentless assault, her blade finding weak points in demonic armor with supernatural precision. The remaining tormentors, overwhelmed by the party's coordinated attack, were quickly dispatched.   After tending to their wounds and recovering from the battle, the party discovered that the tower's stairs continued upward. They ascended to what appeared to be the structure's peak, emerging onto an open rooftop with spiky architectural features of varying heights. The oppressive atmosphere of Abaddon stretched out before them, and they could hear the ominous sound of leathery wings approaching from beyond the tower's edge.   Four powerful flying daemons crested the tower's perimeter, their forms silhouetted against the strange eclipsed sun of Abaddon. Two astradaemons with grotesque fish-like heads accompanied two purrodaemons bearing vulture heads and wielding massive halberds. The creatures' eyes glowed with malevolent intelligence as they positioned themselves for attack. Kyzikos quickly cast protective magic over the party, warding them against the evil emanations of their foes.   The battle commenced with Navilla launching a barrage of starknife attacks against one of the fish-headed astradaemons. Her weapons found their mark repeatedly, carving deep wounds in the creature's hide as it struggled to maintain its position. The purrodaemons retaliated with powerful flame magic, calling down columns of divine fire and crackling electrical energy that tested the party's magical defenses.   Kyzikos demonstrated the true power of mythic magic by enhancing his disintegration spell to target multiple enemies simultaneously. The spell's energy beams lanced out across the battlefield, striking two daemons with devastating force that began to unravel their very essence. The magical assault left both targets severely wounded, their forms flickering as reality itself seemed to reject their presence.   Tyrannis called upon divine power to summon an astral deva, a celestial being of radiant beauty and terrible purpose. The angel materialized with wings of light and a war hammer that gleamed with holy energy, though it struggled against the daemons' supernatural defenses. Six additional jackal-headed meladaemons joined the fray, their emaciated forms darting between the party members with snapping jaws and raking claws.   The tide of battle shifted when Kyzikos employed suffocation magic that stripped the air from multiple enemies' lungs simultaneously. The affected daemons found themselves gasping and staggered, unable to cast their most powerful spells or coordinate effective attacks. This tactical advantage allowed the party to focus its efforts on the remaining threats while its enemies struggled to breathe.   A new and more dangerous foe entered the battle as Zelishkar of the Bitter Flame materialized on the rooftop. This mythic daemon possessed a feline face with three wicked tongues and commanded powerful fire magic that spread like a contagion between targets. His flames created ongoing threats that persisted across multiple moments of combat, forcing the party to adapt their tactics to deal with the spreading conflagration.   Tyrannis channeled divine authority to cast an overwhelming presence, a spell that forced enemies to prostrate themselves before what they perceived as divine majesty. One of the meladaemons fell to their knees, rendered helpless by the overwhelming sense of religious awe that washed over them. This divine intervention provided crucial breathing room as the party dealt with the most immediate threats.   The battle reached its climax as the party coordinated its most powerful abilities. Kyzikos unleashed lightning magic while Navilla continued her relentless assault with enhanced starknife attacks that ignored Zelishkar's defensive illusions. Tyrannis delivered a coup de grace to one of the helpless enemies, his blade finding the creature's vital points with divine guidance. The combined assault proved too much for the daemon forces, and one by one they fell to the party's superior tactics and magical might.   After the battle, the party searched Zelishkar's remains and discovered several powerful magical items. Among his possessions were three enchanted rings: the Ring of the Nine Facets with its daily-changing powers, the Ring of Martial Protection offering armor and regeneration, and the Ring of Freedom granting movement and resistance. They also found a bone breastplate and an amulet of natural armor, valuable additions to their growing collection of magical equipment.   As the party caught their breath and distributed the magical treasures, they surveyed the daemon realm spread out below them. An active portal glowed with runic energy in the fields beyond the tower, while construction sites for additional gateways dotted the landscape. The scope of the daemon operation became clear as they observed the infrastructure being built to facilitate the invasion of Golarion.   Their moment of victory was short-lived as a massive figure descended from the poisonous skies of Abaddon. Apollyon, the Prince of Plagues and one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, landed near the tower with earth-shaking force. His muscular form bore a skeletal ram's head, and clouds of flies buzzed from his mouth as he fixed his terrible gaze upon the party. The Horseman of Pestilence spoke with a voice like grinding bone. "Do you truly believe," the Horseman asked, "that you will leave Abaddon alive?"