Session 102

• Hopefully all playes will present and ready to go.
• WILD MAGIC continues Far Realm Wild Magic Surge Table KEEP UP
• When they get to LAKE URDA, the longer they are there - they lose HIT DICE (DM will roll a d6 for how many) - when NONE left, they become STAR SPAWN GRUE or worse (variant)
• MAK'TI - visited by RAVEN QUEEN to tell him the following (if the moment feels right, let the other players be present)

Mak'Ti Il, one of my chosen. I, the sole deity left to directly interfere on Terus. I had my eyes on you and Vrae since the moment you met in the desert. There was destiny upon both of you, a fate a clear as any I've ever seen. But for all my assurances that one of you would be the vessel we had been waiting for, imagine my surprise that I could not see which is you was fated for this task. And then you died, as Vrae and your allies crept closer to darkness, and I sensed she was not the vessel, testing her with my Holy Symbol, which weakened and cracked every day spent with her. I summoned a new potential champion, the Leonin Gorrazar, hoping he might prove himself to be the vessel... but while he proved to be a mighty ally and symbol for good, he was not the vessel of light.

And my attentions were so wholly focused on Terus that I did not see that your spark had not passed quietly into the underworld. It had fought bitterly to hold on, to be reborn on a new plane, assuming a new identity, always righteous, willing to fight for the cause. In secret I contact the Alathar, using my power to convince them to send you to Terus, to rejoin the Black Tear, to find the Raven... knowing your transformation was almost complete. And I rejoiced at your victories, the might of the Black Tear once you had all reunited, the joy when you regained your memories and became Mak'Ti once more...

And why am I telling you this? You need to know what you are about to do. For all your prophecy, I know you cannot see beyond this conflict. There's a reason for that. Your fate has become entwined with Cthulhu. If you choose to be this vessel... Did the Bard tell you of his earliest vision? His first memory? He was feral, mindless, wild, alone on an island, the only soul on Terus. And it would have have stayed that way, had Eberron not shattered the seals around the prison realm. Madness needs mind to corrupt. Creatures with the mental capacity to ignite the spark of hunger that yearns to spread its insanity throughout the multiverse....

Have you not wondered, with all this talk of gods and their champions and vessels, where are the other deities? What has their attention held when so much is happening on Terus? It is hope, and a plan for the future. They are building a NEW realm, a new prison, with the sublimely optimistic assurance that a vessels will reclaim the Great Old one, and once it has done so, they can take the prison vessel to the new realm and leave it there for the rest of time. For this time, it will be a realm that will truly be impenetrable to the rest of the multiverse, correcting the errors of Terus.

Do you understand what I'm telling you? If you choose this burden, you will no longer be Mak'Ti. You will sacrifice everything you ever were, ever will be, to contain this great evil. Da'ath is correct, you are special, you are chosen, and you can save the multiverse, but not in any glorious way. You alone, a being of great arcane power, a being who denied death, who's mind has grown beyond the mortal sight, you have made yourself into the only thing that can possible hope to trap him.

But I cannot let you walk this fate without the knowledge that it will cost you...everything.

• Mark and Da'ath visited by Moloch Moloch - Devil of Hell
• MOLOCH Moloch Sheet CR21

Without warning, the ground shudders violently, cracks radiating outward as scorching heat fills the air. A circle of molten stone blazes into existence, and from its heart, a towering, horned figure rises—Moloch, the Dread General. His massive, red-orange form is wreathed in shimmering waves of heat and ash; the shockwave of his arrival sends animals and lesser mortals fleeing in terror or collapsing, unable to look upon him without failing against a tide of despair. Moloch’s gigantic, metallic claws grasp the ground, and his shark-toothed maw opens in a guttural, earth-shaking roar of amusement. The landscape warps: grass ignites, trees blacken, and a choking cloud of brimstone rolls outward. His yellow eyes flicker across the party, intelligent and cruel, promising destruction and domination.

"How I have longed to visit the Prison Realm!"

He eyes lock with Mark, then to Da'ath.

"With me," he says simply (DC CON 28 to resist, with DISADV because they are enslaved to Molach), as he marches about 30 feet away, for privacy from the rest of the party, to whom he growls, "If you'll excuse us, I need a word with my minions."

With each step, the stone beneath him glows red-hot and the temperature rises, making the air ripple and shimmer. Moloch’s six-tailed whip cracks, slicing through the haze with sparks and thunder as if he’s already marshaling his infernal will and power. Shadows dance wildly in the infernal light, and all smell burning flesh and metal as his very presence threatens to unravel hope. At the edge of your vision, faint outlines of lesser devils begin to manifest, drawn to the archdevil’s call. The sense of doom is palpable—Moloch’s majesty is absolute, even as the party already stands at the threshold of catastrophe incarnate.

Player Impact

• Anyone who meets Moloch’s eyes feels despair creeping into their mind—a magical compulsion to flee or collapse. They sense, viscerally, that this fiend can crush or command anything in sight, and only the most powerful magic, faith, or heroism offers even a glimmer of resistance.
• (DC WIS 25 not to flee inside from the DEVIL)
• This scene becomes a pivotal moment, marking the arrival of a genuinely cataclysmic force. The players now face a choice: stand against terror incarnate—or else be swept aside by the might of Hell unleashed.

I'm gonna keep this simple, because Mark is a moron, and I don't think you're much better.

(if Da'ath tries to talk, he growls "SILENCE!" to both and casts the COMMAND spell, DC WIS Sav 26 with DIS to save)

Fuck the gods, fuck the multiverse. All their chips are on your little group to stop the great Tentacled One, each of you poised to be a "vessel" whether they would tell you that or not. So I don't want you to kill the blue mage. I want you to sabotage the ritual, at the worst possible moment, the point of no return, no recovery. Let the gods figure out Cthulhu, its their mess. Do that, and I'll free both of you from your contracts with me. You can keep your insufferable lives, and I'll never bother you again, unless you want to freely join my crusade to retake the 9 Hells... no better time to do it than when everyone is busy with old squidface.

But if you fuck this up, if you betray me, even if you're friends pull this off and "save the multiverse," you'll both suffer eternally as mindless lemures in the deepest pits of the hells, forever bound to me, forever tormented, tortured, abused, never to to know light, happiness, contentment again. You may think you know pain, you may think you have strength, but you know NOTHING. But I can teach you. Or you can do what I ask. Don't let this ritual happen. To be perfectly clear, let Cthulhu free, destroy any chance of containing him. And then you'll be free. Your freedom or his. The choice is yours, but its all or nothing - if one of you fails me, you both fail me and will feel my wrath.

Now if you'll excuse me, I hear the Staff of Orcus is in this realm, and I'd love to collect it before this place fully goes to shit.

NEW SHI

• The group discusses thew new revelations from their gods
• Mak'Ti more than willing to give up his life to save everyone, though he does cast "ENCODE THOUGHTS" and puts a copy of his current memories into his Spell Shard and directs group to "rebuild" him in a construct so at least a part of his will survive
• The discussion continues, MARK reveals that Moloch wants him and Da'ath to sabotage the ritual, threatening the eternal damnation of their souls if they let the ritual happen, but offering to free both of them from their pact if they follow his will. 
• As the discussion continues, a Hobgoblin tells Narinn that the Star Spawn Grue are within range, and fighting at New Shi is about to begin
• Mak'Ti teleports the group, plus DRONZROH, to Cullile Village, next to Lake Urda

• They immediately find "Steven Seagal" and begin the evacuation of the village.
• They are also given a NUMBER of supplies/potions by the fleeing VILLAGERS, many of whom continue to glare at Vrae, remembering her actions from earlier. 
• Gorazzar and Da'ath and Nuri search for the Githzerai fortress, EVENTUALLY learning it is on the other side of LAKE URDA, near a dock that BORD dreamed about back in Session 3 (an image they pulled from Bord's mind)
• Da'ath meditates to communicate with them, asking them to protect the people around Lake Urda that are fleeing, and almost dumbfounded, they agree, leaving the main fight to the Black Tear. 
• Narinn senses the approach of TUM TUM, who had escaped Stosan during its fall, and had been coming down the mountain to find Narinn at the end of things. TUM TUM joins the fight alongside Narinn
• Mak'Ti searches into the lake with his eye, spotted lots of enemires, aberrations, Aboleths, Sahuagins, and eventually, an underwater Eldritch Lich dressed in the clothing of Judai'aruki, which dispels his eye. 
• The group braces itself as Da'ath is given the power of foresight, and is UNABLE TO BE SURPRISED in combat. 
• Da'ath immediately tells everyone to prepare themselves and "look out" as a projectile hurls toward the group, shattered in a million pieces
• As they look around, they realize it was the COMPLETE ORRERY OF THE WANDERER, now utterly destroyed (Mak'Ti does take a piece for himself)

BATTLING JUDAI'ARUK

• Judai'aruk appears as a Hallucinatory Terrain appears, both illusory and physical illusions, of abberant and regular spell circles, coffins full of fake ritual components, runes that control the illusions, and a small whole containing a non-descript piece of the Orrerry, humming with Necromantic power. 
• Judai'aruk maintains an illusion of his former self over his Eldritch Lich appearance, and the group quickly realizes he is only putting up a minimal fight, with Bord even catching a glimpse of his true face with looks unhappy, and under duress. 
• Nonetheless, this has been their primary enemy for months, so they battle on, bashing him over and over again, even as they retrieve the piece of the Orrery and take out one of the illusions (the physical piece). Eventually, they land the final blow on Judai'aruk, and his body crumpled, but they sense he is not dead, for he is a lich. 
• Bord grabs the piece of the Orrery, and realizes it is Judai'arul's "PHYLACTORY"

• Hopefully all playes will present and ready to go.
• WILD MAGIC continues Far Realm Wild Magic Surge Table KEEP UP
• When they get to LAKE URDA, the longer they are there - they lose HIT DICE (DM will roll a d6 for how many) - when NONE left, they become STAR SPAWN GRUE or worse (variant) - ROLL AFTER THE BATTLE
• WERERAVEN TRANSFORMATIONS SOON!!