The enemies continue to destroy the Assembly’s allies just as the Assembly is killing their enemies.
Their recent stint to Oldtown for supplies is quickly becoming one of the most important things they’ve done to date, given the circumstances. They each down healing potions, potions of invulnerability, and buff each other to give themselves an edge.
As the numbers on the field diminish, the Assembly finds themselves in an increasingly dire situation. Illus’s minions continue to pull out all the stops, with huge lines of lightning, fire breath, paralyzing touch – just to name a few.
But the Assembly has their own tricks. Qarzdaq attempts to summon an acid-based meteor swarm, but Illus notices this and immediately counters it! However, the Counterspell fails.
A look of shock and disdain spreads across Illus’s face. He knows the Counterspell should have worked… He now knows that at least one of the gods must be helping the Assembly.
Large boulders slam into the ground around the park lawn, splashing those in their vicinity with acid, decimating the remaining foes. One of the meteors strikes the statue, or would have, had it not been for some sort of protective magenta shield. The shield is only visible as it is struck, disappearing seconds later.
QARZ: Why don’t you take down that magenta field and fight us like a man?
ILLUS: Oh, men. Flesh and blood is so yesterday.
QARZ: Fight us like a ghost. I don’t care.
ARAN: If you want to do it on the ethereal plane, that’s fine.
ILLUS: Oh, you want to go to the ethereal plane?
QHOR: We are the busters of ghosts.
Illus smirks.
ILLUS: Okay, we can go to the ethereal plane.
Suddenly, the rider freezes in place, turning to stone. Corporeal wights, deathlocks, and deathlock wights emerge from around the statue just as the Earth Elementals retreat underground. Simultaneously, a glowing green shard appears on the statue’s base, just under the horse’s raised hooves.
The undead immediately attack Qhortho and Aran, dealing significant damage to both. Qarzdaq looks at the dragon, currently flying away from him.
QARZ: Cut and bind, slice thy mind!
These words initiate Mind Sliver of Regret on the dragon, causing it immense psychic pain. The dragon cranes its neck to look for the source of this pain. Its pupils dilate and fiery blood begins pouring from its nostrils.
It crashes into the grass hard, rumbling across the field. It tries to stand one last time but stumbles and falls, dead.
After more back and forth with the undead, and despite all their potions and progress, Aran falls in battle. Qarzdaq attempts to throw a vial of healing potion into Aran’s down-below opening but fails to hit his target. However, Qhortho, still under the effect of Foresight, manages to see the throw and intercepts it, alley-ooping it into the intended target. Aran jumps to life, ready to fight!
The Assembly eventually destroys all except the one creature that was banished: an iron golem.
It comes back into view and immediately attacks Qhortho, bringing him within an inch of death.
Farron manages to shoot a mote from his Crown of Stars directly into the creature’s eye, killing him. It falls backward with a thud.
As the last enemy falls, the mostly invisible cube that had been protecting the statue flickers to life then disappears. The statue at the center of the park crumbles, covering the green shard.
As the statue crumbles, so does the façade of the wide-open landscape around you. The park-like environment fades, revealing the bare stone room they’ve been this entire time. With none of their allies still alive, only the core members of the Unlikely Assembly are able to appreciate their victory.
They rush toward the rubble and dig out the green ice shard. Aran takes it to the door, which is now plainly visible, and inserts the shard.
<CLUNK>
They stand around for a moment, trying to figure out what to do next. Then they remember they need to remove the shard before the doors can open.
When he removes the shard from the door, they experience the same crackling sound they’d heard when removing the other shards from their doors. The shard fades from green to transparent as the doors open with a low-frequency rumble.
With the halls still empty, they take the transparent ice shard to the central chamber door. Inserting the colorless ice shard into one of the cavities, it clicks into place and begins to pulse with the same purplish-magenta glow as the chamber it protects.
We end this session on Day 958 with the conclusion of another battle where all of their allies were killed. With their allies dwindling, it doesn’t bode well for the next fight where the Assembly plans to bring the acolytes from the Red Temple and the maesters from the Citadel. Each member of the Assembly has gained 16.5kXP, elevating them to level 18!