Sixty-sixth session - 11 November 2005 - The Chaos Gate

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In attendance:

3 November 1108

After spending the “night” a short distance away from the “south-west” Blood Gate, the party heads back down river toward the pyramid. Once there, they spend a few fruitless hours trying to get more information out of the undead guards. In the end, they have learned nothing more and camp for the “night”.

4 November 1108

Before tackling the main problem of the Chaos Gate, they decide to head up the “north-west” river to locate the one known remaining Green Slaad. Even with Roderick's Find The Path spell up, the trip takes almost the whole day.

Near the source of the river (only a couple miles before its Blood Gate), they find the remains of the Green Slaad. He apparently came to a violent end at the hands of undead. They proceed to the Blood Gate, where they find a crew working on the wall. The foreman, a Death Knight, tells them it was his crew that killed the Slaadi - though dozens of his workers were destroyed in the process.

5 November 1108

Once again, they trek down the river to the pyramid. On the way down, Vincent conducts an experiment with the Winds of Limbo. When the winds blow through, he unfurls his Wings of Flying and learns that he can, indeed, fly. However, the winds are so strong and chaotic that he cannot control his flight.

At the pyramid, they seek an audience with the Governor Warden to ask him whether the teleport trap can be disabled. He tells them that it is part of the plane and he has no control over it.

They spend the rest of the evening planning their assault on the Chaos Gate. Despite being warned that such spells will be intercepted by this plane's owner, Roderick casts a Divination spell and asks how the Chaos Gate can be brought down without dying in the process. The cryptic answer, apparently from Hades, provides little for the party to go on:

   Air against Earth
   Fire against Water
   Light against Dark
   Shadow against Shadow
   Send your soul to me
   and the Wand will bring down the gate

6 November 1108

Since Bigby's Chaos Wand has the power to control winds, he waits until the Winds of Limbo blow through and catches them. Roderick then casts his Wind Walk spell and the party learns that they can (with care) fly.

Since they seem to have no other viable option, they head out in this form toward the Chaos Gate. Before they reach the area controlled by the Slaadi, they drop down to the ground and cast a flurry of protective spells. Then, they return to gaseous form and head toward the gate.

Once over the gate area, they see that it has moved closer to the river from when Ust'olda last saw it. In addition, there is magical darkness covering three regions of the river. Since the transition back to solid form takes a significant amount of time, they revert while still in the air and rely on Bigby's Feather Fall spell to keep them from hitting the ground. As it so happens, the restriction on magical flight keeps the spell from taking effect until they are just a few feet off the ground - which makes the landing especially rough.

Once on the ground, they proceed toward the darkness field nearest to the Chaos Gate. Bigby dispels it with his Chaos Wand, and Roderick casts an Invisibility Purge - which reveals the Gray Slaad!

With his safety compromised, the Gray attacks ferociously, while a steady stream of Blues head toward the area. The battle is swift and in the end, the party's defensive spells manage to deflect many of the Gray's most significant attacks. With the Gray and several Blues dead, the remaining Blues decide to wait until reinforcement arrives - in the form of a 50-foot-tall Blue!

Meanwhile, at the Siphon Gate on the river, Pavo spots a Chaos Wand intertwined in the apex of the energy arc. He tries to grab it with his Mage Hand spell, but it bounces around so fast that he is unable, so he casts a True Strike spell to steady his aim and manages to pull it from the field.

The Slaadi pause gives Bigby time to analyze the Chaos Gate and devise a method to bring it down. Based on the principle known as Melf's Guidance of Symmetry Bigby realizes that he can use the Frost and Magma crystals, along with a source of Positive Energy, to create Shadow. This, in turn, will weaken the bindings on the gate and make it vulnerable to a Dispel.

The most handy source of positive energy is Salinthine, Roderick's intelligent Mace of Disruption. When asked, Roderick hands it over with little hesitation. Bigby then shifts into energy form using the crystals and begins a simple ritual to create shadow. Pavo and Roderick then simultaneously use the two Chaos Wands to hit the gate with Dispels and it collapses!

With the Gargantuan Blue quickly approaching, Bigby sprints back to the Siphon Gate and hits one of the anchor stones with a Disintegrate spell. Then, he gathers everyone together and casts Teleport while Roderick casts Word of Recall. Since these spells are not allowed on this plane, they deposit the group in the prison cells by the pyramid.

They shift back to gaseous form and head upstairs to report their success to the Governor Warden. At first, he is skeptical, but when the necromantic energies reappear in the “East” river, he dispatches a scout, who reports back that the Chaos Gate is, indeed, gone.

7 November 1108

With their second contract fulfilled, the Governor Warden returns the confused and frightened Lashmere to the party and explains that the most efficient and proper way to arrive in Hades' realm is to be dead. Since he considers this an acceptable state of existance, he does not agree with the party that this is a violation of the terms of the contract.

In the end, the party decides they will take matters into their own hands. Pavo uses the Frost crystal to shape an enclosed ship of ice made up, in part, from the body parts in the river. With added protection spells to ward them against the evil and death magics of the river, they ride their new ship down the river, under the pyramid, and down the drain into The Underworld…

XP awarded: 1,800 for Bigby; 2,400 for Roderick, Aramil, and Vincent; 3,100 for Pavo and Bria.