21 - 7/15/24 : A Taste of Armageddon

"My patience, unlike my authority, is limited."   - Xardorok Sunblight

 

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  With the shrunken duergar in hand, Ragna held fast while the rest of the party dispatched the vicious mimic. They then tried to interrogate the captive duergar, whom they learned was one of Xardorok's sons; Durth Sunblight. Durth refused to give up critical information despite fearing for his life, as he feared his father more than the party. When questioned about his father's supposed loyalty to Levistus, Durth was confused and had no knowledge of Levistus' involvement.   Unable to get anything significant out of Durth, Ragna slew the duergar and continued onwards. The party stumbled across another bedroom, this one containing the mounted heads of several creatures but nothing else of note (although Melfina did pocket the head of a drow warrior for unknown reasons). The next room contained an elevator, as well as several duergar hammerers; horrific fusions of man and machine, created from duergar volunteers or prisoners encased in a torturous mechanical chassis.   After slaying the hammerers and freeing them from their painful existences, the party descended via the chain-operated elevator to the fortresses' forge level. Within, they came across the office of Xardorok's high priest of Don Duergedyn; Klondorn, an abnormally calm and collected duergar who was scribing a spell scroll. After speaking to Klondorn about Xardorok's plans for the Chardalyn Dragon and only receiving vague answers, the party came to realize that something was off with Klondorn. When Ragna asked if he was really a duergar at all, Klondorn laughed and assumed his true form; that of a devil, specifically an erinyes.   Introducing himself as Mendrion, the devil revealed that he was indeed a servant of Levistus, having tricked Xardorok into thinking he was a devout cleric of Don Duergedyn instead. Shockingly polite, Mendrion told the party that they and everyone who had ever brandished weapons and killed others during the Eternal Winter was doing La Saia's bidding, whether they realized it or not. He did not elaborate, but teased that the party would realize it soon.   When asked about chardalyn and the role it played in the Winter, Mendrion cryptically and rhetorically asked the party a question; where did it come from, and why did it only appear in the Taiga? He stated that the material's value was steeped in blood, not magic, and that it had a closer relation to the coming conflict than anyone dared realize. He also stated that the party would likely find the answer should they survive the conflict against Xardorok and King Siegmar.   Mendrion was also adamant that he and the party would remain enemies as long as they did La Saia's bidding (willingly or otherwise), and that they would meet under far less polite circumstances someday in the future. Melfina took this opportunity to ask him about the spell scroll he was working on; Mendrion revealed this to be a powerful scroll of Power Word: Pain, and would gladly relinquish it in exchange for a portion of Melfina's force of personality. Melfina agreed, sacrificing a portion of her charisma in exchange for the scroll.   Although he did not elaborate on the nature of the conflict between La Saia and Levistus (much like he did not elaborate on much else), Mendrion allowed the party to go and meet Xardorok without a confrontation, and then teleported away in a burst of blackened feathers.   The Lonesome Few proceeded to continue their search for Xarodorok and his nefarious creation. In a nearby room, they found a shrine to Don Duergedyn; strapped to it was a living mind flayer left in a brutalized state, having been lobotomized and its face-tentacles sawed off. The party suspected that it had been placed there for Xardorok's amusement, and Alith executed the creature out of principle.   Through a narrow arrow-slit, Ragna spotted their brother Ysmir standing next to what could only be the chardalyn dragon. Alarmed, the party decided to enter the forge area through a nearby door.   The forge occupied a massive cavern, with a massive anvil and lava intake occupying the center. Chained to the ceiling above the forge was the angel that Grandolpha mentioned previously; the enchanting celestial being had been clearly subjected to great torture, his wings shorn of feathers and his body covered in wounds.   Xardorok turned his attention from his forge to the party, infuriated by their intrusion. Ragna revealed that they knew that the Chardalyn Dragon couldn't depart without concurrent orders from both Xardorok and Siegmar. Xardorok countered this by maliciously commanding Ysmir and the dragon to depart, for Siegmar had already given the order and was waiting on Xardorok's agreement.   Ysmir wordlessly obeyed and mounted the chardalyn dragon, which launched itself up through the escape vent and into the skies above the fortress. As the dragon flew away to raze the Ten Towns, Xardorok then turned his attention to the party and commanded his minions to attack.   The battle with Xardorok commenced. A fearsome combatant, the duergar king employed thick grafted armor, an enchanted chardalyn fist, a complete mastery of duergar enlargement magic, supreme magical powers. Although Xardorok believed his powers to come from his faith in Don Duergedyn, the party knew the truth; he was an unwitting warlock bound to Levistus himself.   Cutting through Xardorok's innumerable minions proved to be a challenge, but this was quickly surmounted when Melfina called upon the powers of the Ring of Winter for the first time. Summoning a powerful blast of ice, Melfina wiped out an entire squadron of duergar soldiers with a single spell, and as the magic faded, she felt a shiver and let a small laugh escape, a small hint of icy breath escaping her lips as she did so.   Ragna and Alith closed the gap while cutting through Xardorok's reinforcements, covered by Melfina interfering with Xarodorok's attempts to stop them with powerful spells. Despite the king growing to a gargantuan size and his overpowering offensive, the party was able to wear down the duergar enough for Alith to land a killing blow - she grasped the king's beard and pulled him low enough to drive her blade through his temple, ending his tyrannical reign forever.   With Xardorok dead, the party was left with a quiet forge, and several questions left unanswered. Where were the prisoners said to be trapped within? What was to be done with the withered angel above? What was Levistus' place in all of this? And just what had been unleashed upon the Taiga when the Chardalyn Dragon went flying?   All the while, the barbarians closed in on Whiteridge, their blades held tightly and their songs echoing across the snowy plains…