Episode II Story Reference

February 20 Session
THE EVENTS HEREIN

Having witnessed the destructive evil ritual kill Bahamut, your party was still in a shock when Tiamat burst through the top of the now-active volcano, making the earthen platform you were standing on collapse. After blacking out shortly, you awaken to find that Laduguer is still awakening, rising from the now seeping and flowing lava in the cave.

Down one hallway, you witnessed Paridius casting some sort of teleportation ritual. As Alek summoned a legion of angels to attempt and fight the still-waking god, the rest of the group began to make their escape, only to be headed off by Duergar scouts and their spider companions. After a rough battle for some members, the party split up, trying to find an exit from the cavern. One lead to a small pool, with a glimmer of outside light shining in. Another lead to more branches of the cave. However, one of the paths lead to a grand Silver Dragon, who was resting on his stash of gold and treasures. Once awoken, he was informed of the events that had passed, and leapt into action, blasting a hole in a cave wall, allowing you to escape.

Being no fools, however, Zetheril used his sorcerous magics to whip the dragon's hoard into a whirlwind that could be drug out of the cave as well. Luckily for the party, the dragon had much more important things than gold on his mind, as he rushed off towards the now burning city of Darromar. Rickard's cart could hold the majority of the gold, but the party had to use every resource available to get the rest with them.

Just as the last of the gold was loaded up, lava burst out of the mountain and it was time to go. Even the Incredibly Strong Horse could not pull the wagon more than a few feet, but luckily gravity took over as the horse jumped on the wagon with you. Rushing out of control down the mountain, Thotham used his mastery of the earth to divert the flow of lava away from the wagon, and Zetheril was able to make a small barrier by freezing the lava. Alek used his holy radiance to force the cart in the opposite direction, slowing it, while Dox and Graben used their great agility to create a makeshift brake. With a combination of luck and skill, they made it safely to the bottom of the mountain, and with every member of the party pushing, made it to outside the Darromar gates within 90 minutes.

However, upon reaching it, the view of what was happening became clear. In the skies over Darromar, a battle had erupted between the chromatic followers of Tiamat and the metallic followers of Bahamut. The city was in ruins, with the Archdemon Asmodeus himself leading the chromatic dragon's charge. He was wearing the same crown Tiamat was during the ritual, and seemed to be searching the city for something. As you arrive however, you witness King Haedrak running out of the gates, holding his unconscious wife, the Queen-Monarch Zaranda. Alek rushes over and is able to get him to your wagon, but as you meet a large demon intervenes.

Asmodeus stands between your party, demanding that you hand over the King. He believes that the King posesses an Imaskarcana, legendary artifacts long lost in the land of Faerun. The king had revealed to Alek that he has already hidden the Imaskarcana in his Queen's ancient blade, Crackletongue. However, not swayed so easily by the forces of evil, Alek and Thotham refuse to hand over the king, and stand in Asmodeus' path.

Unable to simply take what he wants, Asmodeus prepares a blast, giving another deity the time he needed to interrupt - Amaunator! As Asmodeus fires his chaotic hellblast, Amaunator's divine scepter deflects it, and he lands in the Devil's face, commending Alek on his excellent work as his servant. With no time to spare, Amaunator slams his scepter on the ground and rips open a brilliant portal of light, no less than 40 feet wide, and demands you run into it. As you run into the light, it envelops you, and the sight of battle slowly disappears, as you see Amaunator slam into Asmodeus and take the upper hand.

As the sounds of chaos fade, the sounds of a bustling marketplace fade into existence, followed by some gasps of surprise. When the light fades, you find yourself standing in the middle of the bustling High Imaskar Marketplace! After the royal guard intervenes to regain control of the situation, the party finds themselves relieved to be alive.

With the guard looking for the rogue mage "Skerp Merderf" who teleported you all into the middle of a non-portal area, Alek was free to bring the King and Queen to the temple of Bahamut, which is in a state of panic. None of their magics were working at all, and the high priest could not figure out why. In a private meeting, Alek revealed that Bahamut had been slain, leaving the high priest in a state of shock. He suggested that Alek and the others should look to Deep Imaskar for answers about the Imaskarcana, for that is where they were created. After gathering some more information from the temple of Amaunator, and leaving the King and Queen in their hands to protect and heal, Alek took the Imaskarcana and rejoined the party.

The party, meanwhile, had been getting their stash of wealth counted at the local bank. After a grand fiesta of money counting and bartering with some local stores, the party split up their wealth and had a day on the town, collecting magic items. With Alek's news came a messenger, alerting them that the monthly caravan to Deep Imaskar would be leaving tomorrow at noon. With preparations to be made, the party set off to their own tasks for the night, with plans to regroup in the morning and prepare to head to Deep Imaskar, a path through the Underdark to the ancient city of magic.