20 - 10/04/23 : Close to the Edge
"Your stars grow dim! Your song, distant! You will wander without hope until I see fit to end your misery!"
The Avatar of Lolth
As the party recovered from their bout with Duran, they decided to plan ahead for the challenges to come. They theorized on what to do about Aezora still being around, and Ozwik suggested asking Halaster to empower Hilda to strengthen her 'anchor' on Aezora, effectively imprisoning the demoness in the Undermountain. Ozwik called on Halaster to propose this idea, and the mad wizard arrived on cue. Halaster heard the plan and stoutly refused, since empowering Hilda with his magic would come too close to violating his agreement with Tasha the Witch-Queen to not take on any of her progeny or descendants as apprentices. Halaster did, however, offer to sell the party any last-minute potions or other goods before the final battle, acting as a supposed representative of the 'Undermountain Annex' of the Luck & Legend. The party bought a few potions where Halaster's supply allowed, while Hilda spent an exorbitant amount of gold on an immovable rod (which would noticeably go unused for the foreseeable future). Halaster also bestowed the party a moment of respite via his magic, and asked them to kick the drow out of his dungeon for good. The party continued through a hidden door that led to a portal, subsequently finding themselves in a throne room built of dark stone and bright glowing crystal, which overlooked a seemingly endless chasm of spiderwebs. Awaiting them in a grandiose obsidian throne was the matron mother of House Arkennheld. To Vesper's surprise, she looked upon her own mother; Argedia DeVir, once matron mother of House DeVir of Menzoberranzan. Argedia greeted Vesper and her companions coldly, and welcomed them to her domain. She revealed the breadth of her role in the conspiracy to assassinate the Open Lord, and also shed light on her house's motivation: House DeVir had suffered greatly after losing the faith of a Szarkai, one supposedly blessed by Lolth. In the wake of Vesper's departure from Menzoberranzan and drow society, House DeVir fell from Lolth's favor and was largely destroyed by opportunistic, rival houses seeking to earn the dark goddesses' favor. Argedia, however, survived the destruction of her house, and through years of scheming and assassinating her way to the top, she managed to seize control over House Arkennheld of Uyen Asari, once again finding herself in command of a small army of warriors and priestesses. Argedia wished to cause chaos to please her goddess, and also wished to invade the Undermountain to expand the domain of the nearby city of Uyen Asari and to increase her own power in the region. However, her personal and ultimate goal was to locate and kill or capture Vesper as a sacrifice to Lolth, to repay the mistake of allowing Vesper to escape from Lolth's clutches. Seeking entry to the Undermountain, Argedia collaborated with Duran Stoneborn, to whom she was introduced by a 'mutual acquaintance' that she did not name. She fancied Duran's plan to bait the forces of Revelmoore to invade the Undermountain, seeing the dungeon as a powder keg waiting to be lit. Between Halaster, the drow, the forces of the city, and the Xanathar Syndicate, there was sure to be blood and chaos on a massive scale. That this allowed her to get closer to Vesper was all the more motivation. After having assassinated the Open Lord using Urstul Floxin's ability to seize recently dead bodies as his own, Argedia came into possession of Aezora, the Luck Blade that once served as the Open Lord's badge of office. However, she desired more than the single wish left in the blade, and also knew of its true nature again thanks to her unnamed associate. Argedia had elected to excise the succubus within the Luck Blade and had her priestesses attempt to imprison the demoness. To this end, they summoned a piece of Desposyni, Aezora's home layer of the Abyss, as an 'anchor' for the extraction. However, the priestesses failed to contain Aezora after bringing her into the material plane, as they were unprepared for the power she wielded. Aezora escaped, though she was bound to the Undermountain by the bit of Desposyni that had been used to extract her; the sliver that regained its sentience as Hilda, which also managed to escape from the ritual bowl in which she had been contained. Finally, Argedia revealed that Urstul was bound to her service as well; while searching for traces of her daughter, she chanced upon the furious spirit of Urstul, whom she magically bound as a tool for her own vengeance and as a way of breaking down Vesper's spirit. With all revealed, she asked if the party had any other questions, though she knew that things could only end one way. With no more pretense, Vesper swore to drive her mother out of the Undermountain, so that she would never harm another in Lolth's name ever again. Argedia and her entourage of warriors, priestesses, mages, and scorpion servants engaged the party in a deadly clash. Ozwik opened the battle by utilizing his new weapon acquired from Duran, the Blade of the Lost Kingdom, to create blasts of thunder that stunned many of their opponents. Edea and Hilda's duplicate hung back to assail their enemies from the rear, while Vesper, Sin, and the real Hilda advanced against their foes. Sin darted through the enemies guarding the matron mother with her deft mobility, and made a daring strike against Argedia herself. Although she was able to land a few blows, Argedia responded with powerful dark magic that sapped Sin's life essence from her, reducing her vigor and making her vulnerable to further harm. Eventually Sin was struck unconscious, and was saved from death only by Hilda's timely healing intervention. Eventually, the party was able to push through the opposition, and Vesper was able to land a killing blow on her mother. Argedia stumbled back, confused as to how the power of Lolth could fail to a chosen of her sister Desna. As she crumpled and died, her body began to crack and morph in a horrific symphony of sinew and broken bones, slowly reshaping into a gargantuan horror; an Avatar of Lolth herself. The Avatar of Lolth greeted her enemies by cursing them with a virulent affliction; one that they could feel was quickening their hearts and hastening them to a sure death. Tired, wounded, and on borrowed time, the heroes threw their all into fighting the greatest threat they had ever faced. The Avatar of Lolth struck at her foes with a deadly dagger, a wicked whip, and eight sharp bladed legs, and wielded horrific magics spawned from the abyss. Sinelthriandra and Ozwik struggled to pierce the creature's tough hide while defending themselves from the onslaught of blades, and Hilda's magic was dulled by the divine resistance borne by the avatar. Even Edea's unerring aim struggled to find purchase in the avatar's armored body. Only Vesper's radiant strikes seemed to inflict noticeable, significant damage. However, even against the insurmountable odds and the quickening of their blood, the party held firm and coordinated with each other to chip away at the defenses of their enemy. Soon the Avatar grew enraged, and for a moment it seemed that all was lost as the darkness began to grow around the eyes of the heroes… However, the temperature began to plummet in the area, signaling the arrival of an unexpected ally; Yzzan, arriving in his reconstituted dragon form, struck at the avatar to save his friends from an untimely demise. His freezing aura held back the curse, and together with their draconic ally, the party launched an all-out attack against the avatar of Lolth. Ozwik coordinated with Yzzan to launch himself for a powerful strike, Sin danced with her blade to find weak spots in the failing avatar, Hilda teamed up with her duplicate to bring down the fury of thunder and the moon, and Edea's guns formed a storm of bullets that not even a demon lord could ignore. Finally, Vesper grasped Elenathra tightly and unleashed a torrent of holy energy borne from the very divine power of Desna, leaving the Avatar stunned and open for one final blow. As the Avatar cursed her enemies and began to glow, signaling her intent to take the party with her in the wake of her demise, she was suddenly rushed by Yzzan. The white dragon launched himself at her, barrelling straight through the floor of the throne room and into the dark abyss below. Far from the rest of the party, deep among the webs and darkness, the Avatar of Lolth erupted in a conflagration of shadows and flame, incinerating both herself and Yzzan. As a burst of force rushed through the hole left behind by Yzzan, a single white scale landed before the party, confirming Yzzan's fate.
As the party recovered from their bout with Duran, they decided to plan ahead for the challenges to come. They theorized on what to do about Aezora still being around, and Ozwik suggested asking Halaster to empower Hilda to strengthen her 'anchor' on Aezora, effectively imprisoning the demoness in the Undermountain. Ozwik called on Halaster to propose this idea, and the mad wizard arrived on cue. Halaster heard the plan and stoutly refused, since empowering Hilda with his magic would come too close to violating his agreement with Tasha the Witch-Queen to not take on any of her progeny or descendants as apprentices. Halaster did, however, offer to sell the party any last-minute potions or other goods before the final battle, acting as a supposed representative of the 'Undermountain Annex' of the Luck & Legend. The party bought a few potions where Halaster's supply allowed, while Hilda spent an exorbitant amount of gold on an immovable rod (which would noticeably go unused for the foreseeable future). Halaster also bestowed the party a moment of respite via his magic, and asked them to kick the drow out of his dungeon for good. The party continued through a hidden door that led to a portal, subsequently finding themselves in a throne room built of dark stone and bright glowing crystal, which overlooked a seemingly endless chasm of spiderwebs. Awaiting them in a grandiose obsidian throne was the matron mother of House Arkennheld. To Vesper's surprise, she looked upon her own mother; Argedia DeVir, once matron mother of House DeVir of Menzoberranzan. Argedia greeted Vesper and her companions coldly, and welcomed them to her domain. She revealed the breadth of her role in the conspiracy to assassinate the Open Lord, and also shed light on her house's motivation: House DeVir had suffered greatly after losing the faith of a Szarkai, one supposedly blessed by Lolth. In the wake of Vesper's departure from Menzoberranzan and drow society, House DeVir fell from Lolth's favor and was largely destroyed by opportunistic, rival houses seeking to earn the dark goddesses' favor. Argedia, however, survived the destruction of her house, and through years of scheming and assassinating her way to the top, she managed to seize control over House Arkennheld of Uyen Asari, once again finding herself in command of a small army of warriors and priestesses. Argedia wished to cause chaos to please her goddess, and also wished to invade the Undermountain to expand the domain of the nearby city of Uyen Asari and to increase her own power in the region. However, her personal and ultimate goal was to locate and kill or capture Vesper as a sacrifice to Lolth, to repay the mistake of allowing Vesper to escape from Lolth's clutches. Seeking entry to the Undermountain, Argedia collaborated with Duran Stoneborn, to whom she was introduced by a 'mutual acquaintance' that she did not name. She fancied Duran's plan to bait the forces of Revelmoore to invade the Undermountain, seeing the dungeon as a powder keg waiting to be lit. Between Halaster, the drow, the forces of the city, and the Xanathar Syndicate, there was sure to be blood and chaos on a massive scale. That this allowed her to get closer to Vesper was all the more motivation. After having assassinated the Open Lord using Urstul Floxin's ability to seize recently dead bodies as his own, Argedia came into possession of Aezora, the Luck Blade that once served as the Open Lord's badge of office. However, she desired more than the single wish left in the blade, and also knew of its true nature again thanks to her unnamed associate. Argedia had elected to excise the succubus within the Luck Blade and had her priestesses attempt to imprison the demoness. To this end, they summoned a piece of Desposyni, Aezora's home layer of the Abyss, as an 'anchor' for the extraction. However, the priestesses failed to contain Aezora after bringing her into the material plane, as they were unprepared for the power she wielded. Aezora escaped, though she was bound to the Undermountain by the bit of Desposyni that had been used to extract her; the sliver that regained its sentience as Hilda, which also managed to escape from the ritual bowl in which she had been contained. Finally, Argedia revealed that Urstul was bound to her service as well; while searching for traces of her daughter, she chanced upon the furious spirit of Urstul, whom she magically bound as a tool for her own vengeance and as a way of breaking down Vesper's spirit. With all revealed, she asked if the party had any other questions, though she knew that things could only end one way. With no more pretense, Vesper swore to drive her mother out of the Undermountain, so that she would never harm another in Lolth's name ever again. Argedia and her entourage of warriors, priestesses, mages, and scorpion servants engaged the party in a deadly clash. Ozwik opened the battle by utilizing his new weapon acquired from Duran, the Blade of the Lost Kingdom, to create blasts of thunder that stunned many of their opponents. Edea and Hilda's duplicate hung back to assail their enemies from the rear, while Vesper, Sin, and the real Hilda advanced against their foes. Sin darted through the enemies guarding the matron mother with her deft mobility, and made a daring strike against Argedia herself. Although she was able to land a few blows, Argedia responded with powerful dark magic that sapped Sin's life essence from her, reducing her vigor and making her vulnerable to further harm. Eventually Sin was struck unconscious, and was saved from death only by Hilda's timely healing intervention. Eventually, the party was able to push through the opposition, and Vesper was able to land a killing blow on her mother. Argedia stumbled back, confused as to how the power of Lolth could fail to a chosen of her sister Desna. As she crumpled and died, her body began to crack and morph in a horrific symphony of sinew and broken bones, slowly reshaping into a gargantuan horror; an Avatar of Lolth herself. The Avatar of Lolth greeted her enemies by cursing them with a virulent affliction; one that they could feel was quickening their hearts and hastening them to a sure death. Tired, wounded, and on borrowed time, the heroes threw their all into fighting the greatest threat they had ever faced. The Avatar of Lolth struck at her foes with a deadly dagger, a wicked whip, and eight sharp bladed legs, and wielded horrific magics spawned from the abyss. Sinelthriandra and Ozwik struggled to pierce the creature's tough hide while defending themselves from the onslaught of blades, and Hilda's magic was dulled by the divine resistance borne by the avatar. Even Edea's unerring aim struggled to find purchase in the avatar's armored body. Only Vesper's radiant strikes seemed to inflict noticeable, significant damage. However, even against the insurmountable odds and the quickening of their blood, the party held firm and coordinated with each other to chip away at the defenses of their enemy. Soon the Avatar grew enraged, and for a moment it seemed that all was lost as the darkness began to grow around the eyes of the heroes… However, the temperature began to plummet in the area, signaling the arrival of an unexpected ally; Yzzan, arriving in his reconstituted dragon form, struck at the avatar to save his friends from an untimely demise. His freezing aura held back the curse, and together with their draconic ally, the party launched an all-out attack against the avatar of Lolth. Ozwik coordinated with Yzzan to launch himself for a powerful strike, Sin danced with her blade to find weak spots in the failing avatar, Hilda teamed up with her duplicate to bring down the fury of thunder and the moon, and Edea's guns formed a storm of bullets that not even a demon lord could ignore. Finally, Vesper grasped Elenathra tightly and unleashed a torrent of holy energy borne from the very divine power of Desna, leaving the Avatar stunned and open for one final blow. As the Avatar cursed her enemies and began to glow, signaling her intent to take the party with her in the wake of her demise, she was suddenly rushed by Yzzan. The white dragon launched himself at her, barrelling straight through the floor of the throne room and into the dark abyss below. Far from the rest of the party, deep among the webs and darkness, the Avatar of Lolth erupted in a conflagration of shadows and flame, incinerating both herself and Yzzan. As a burst of force rushed through the hole left behind by Yzzan, a single white scale landed before the party, confirming Yzzan's fate.
Portraits
HALASTER BLACKCLOAK
THE FAIRHILL FOUR & CO.
NON-PLAYER CHARACTERS
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