Dungeons and Dragons Day 24: Apocalypse
The Chosen Death Knight:
The day of the constantly foreshadowed Apocalypse was upon the party, and they were trapped in prison. Their jailer’s were hordes of Angels loyal to Exscutchon. While Caic, the Paladin felt safe, being in such close proximity to the source of his power, the rest of the group was on edge.
Their first encounter with an Angel had been a quick escalation of violence. Grez, the Monk had no illusions that they could be executed at any time. This view was shared by Hadron the Barbarian/Warlock and Gonk the Were Boar who had been forced out of his form by said Angels.
The group was also eager to know what had happened to Sigvard, their Death Knight companion. He had not been caught up in Antoinette’s scheme and was very likely trapped in the Dwarven City. Their eagerness for information caused the group to fall silent as their Angel Wardens flew forward and with another prisoner in tow.
“This one will have to die. He has the blessing of all three…” Said one of the beings.
“Yes.” answered a second Angel. We can stop this before it starts.” They were referring to Sigvard who was unconscious.
“Lock him with the others for now,” a much grander looking Angel commanded of the rest.
Now that the party was reunited, they needed to plan what to do and quickly. When Sigvard came to, he had many questions for the others. But given the strange circumstances, none of them had any proper answers to how they ended up in their current predicament, minus a certain Vampire. Worse, the Apocalypse was coming and the group still had no idea what this meant.
Exscutchon:
Their conversation was cut short as all the Angels standing in attendance suddenly bowed their heads. Their eyes averted a massive pillar of light that was coming towards the group. “Avert your eyes mortals! Lord Exscutchon approaches!” The Angels warned in unison.
“No need to fear,” the pillar of light stated. “I have come to judge the worth of you all.” Its voice demanded obedience, but not in a forceful way. Rather Exscutchon spoke with heroic resolve personified into sound.
“What would you ask of us My Lord?” Caic was eager to serve his God directly.
“I must ask for what reason you deem that this one should live?” Exscutchon made it obvious he was talking about Sigvard without doing anything visible. “His very existence will doom the entire world?”
“This world is already doomed.” Grez stated and the Angels reacted with horror that a mortal was so direct to a God. “Sigvard is out friend. I would rather choose him over strangers.”
“And are you all willing to live with the consequences?” Exscutchon asked. “What about you, Hadron, who has been cursed by Kranaak?”
“I beg your pardon, but I have no idea how I am cursed by that evil God.” The Barbarian Warlock interjected.
“Should you let Sigvard live, you shall find out soon enough.”
“That is enough answer for me then,” Hadron stated.
“I can see your resolve, even if it is misguided.” Exscutchon declared. “Release them!” The God’s voice boomed and the pillar of light vanished.
Seperation:
The Angels continued to glare at the party and Grez dared glare back. As they wandered about they learned that this was a part of the Astral Realm, notably the location of Exscutchon’s throne. The other two Gods also had such planes of reality here. The group wanted to learn more about these realms and sought more answers. Grez and Hadron decided to pay Charice a visit in hopes that her servants would be too drunk to attack. Meanwhile, Sigvard went to an area of his own mental creation. Gonk and Caic remained behind.
Kranaak:
When the Monk and Barbarian Warlock arrived via teleportation to the other Astral Realm, they were very disappointed to discover that despite the heavy drinking, Charice’s Angels were immune to the alcohol and were just as grouchy as the others of their kind. However, out of no where, every single creature in this realm vanished, leaving the two mortals all alone. Slowly the sky that had kept this place bright began to darken and as it did, a man dressed in fine clothes appeared in the gloom.
“I see that Charice fears me.” Neither the adventurers dared say a word, completely confused by the ever increasingly convoluted events. But the mysterious figure stared back at them with an intense smile. Finally, Hadron asked who this man was.
“I thought that was obvious. Your weapons are reacting to my presence. I am summoning you personally to the big event.” Things were becoming clearer by the moment, and Hadron already knew who this speaker was. There was no where to run either. “One does not say no to Kranaak. The Vampires in the Dwarven City learned that quite well.”
The Chaotic Evil Deity hurled the two through the Astral realm to yet another plane. His smile did no offer comfort in the slightest. Nor did his final words: “Showtime”
Memories:
Sigvard sat in the field of flowers in deep reflection. His memories had been flooding back and this gave him serious pause. There was an entity that kept beckoning to him: A being known as Lord Death. Though the Death Knight had no idea who this was. Also he was still thinking about the woman that the Succubus had masqueraded as. Who was she?
Unfortunately, Sigvard did not remain alone. They sky had remained at dusk despite the Death Knight wishing for a night filled with stars. But now the world at large darkened and for a brief moment, the stars did appear. However, whatever the cause of the darkening sky forced the stars to go out one by one and Sigvard feared what he would find when he finally turned around.
Orabaras:
He regretted not acting sooner when the stranger was right behind him. And although he had never met this individual in his life, there was no doubt who it was. A beautiful form towered over him. She had snakes wrapped around her body as the only form of clothing. The Dark Goddess who had caused Sigvard no end of trouble lately finally came in person to ruin his day.
“You have been a troublesome pet.” Orabaras stated. Her words made his body tremble. She was much more potent than any seduction Demon when it came to glamour. Sigvard was using all his willpower just to resist whatever compulsion she was trying to use on him. “But a pet you are nonetheless.”
While the Death Knight had been focused on his mental battle against the Dark Goddess, he had remained ignorant to the brand that had immobilized his body. The snakes from her Goddess form wrapped their way around his body as they pinned him to the ground. The flowers wilted as he hit the ground.
“One last screw before the end.” Orabaras whispered in his ear as she placed herself atop him. Sigvard’s screams fell on no ears and he failed to block out the horrific experience.
Nihilin:
Caic took in the sights of the Astral Realm. Now that all the violence had halted for a time, he wanted to appreciate being in the realm of his Patron God. The Angels that served Exscutchon continued in whatever tasks they needed to complete. Their voices spoke of impending doom. The Paladin very much wanted to know what was going to happen. Over and over many dark entities had spoken of an Apocalypse and if what he was hearing was true, this was the day it would occur.
Suddenly, the sky blackened and as it did the Angels all screamed in pain. Caic drew his flails prepared to defend this realm from whatever threat was posed. But whatever this menace was, it was causing the Angels themselves to vanish one by one. There was no sign of Exscutchon either. The Paladin was courageous and refused to back down from a fight, but he did not know what the enemy was.
Turning back towards the sky for a moment, he was stopped, awestruck. Drool began racing down his face, but Caic could not even deal with that. Not with the mass of madness staring him in the face. His brain could not fathom what was appearing above. Only one word that he had been taught his whole life summed up the… thing… he was staring at: Nihilin
Apocalypse:
When Grez finally opened his eyes, he found himself in location that had only one visible way to define it. Or rather, there were three of them. Kranaak stood on the right side of this gathering of powerful individuals. Which meant that the other two must be Orabaras and Nihilin. Screams threatened to wreck havoc on his consciousness from even a single gaze at the God of Death and so after looking at Orabara’s extremely beautiful form just long enough to plan strangling her with her own snakes, he returned to staring at Kraanak.
Sigvard’s memories were flooding back and Orabaras had added some traumatic experiences to the mix. But more than that was the other figure who existed right to her side. The Death Knight knew not to look directly at this figure. After all, this was his most bitter of all enemies: Nihilin the God of Death. His entire existence was to defy this being. But that would have to wait. The day that the entire group had been preparing for was finally upon them!
Hadron and Caic joined the group and finally looked upon their greatest foes. And their servants joined the powerful Gods just as quickly. While many of the figures were unknown, notably most of those near Nihilin, there were enough notable figures present that indicated what was happening. Rose and the High Priestess she served stood near Orabaras. Antoinette was near Nihilin as was the Drow Lich that the group had accidentally helped birth. Finally, the Dwarf who had planned to betray them from the beginning, Fodrin stood high near Kranak. Indeed given his position, he was likely the Dark God’s chosen follower.
The Chosen:
Many others appeared in the open field arrayed for this occasion. But it was obvious to Hadron that they were still in the Astral Realm. This became even more obvious when a spherical shape appeared in the sky. “What planet is that?” Grez managed to ask, affirming what the Barbarian Warlock wondered.
“That is our world of course.” Orabaras had managed to overhear and answer Grez. Her own followers were on the ground, prostrating to their Goddess’ will. The followers of the other two did likewise and Kranaak took up the conversation.
“The time of our rule beacons. Observe!” The world which had appeared bright slowly had a shadow fall upon it. The God of Chaos continued to speak as the world slowly was engulfed by darkness. “You have all been chosen either by one of us, or a servant that has been chosen as our emissaries.”
“All here are destined for greatness in the new and glorious world.” Orabaras teased. “But it seems that some of you have not taken your rightful places among us.”
A Gruesome Death:
Grez did not move, but he spotted that everyone else was being pulled by shadows as they emerged from the ground. Noting that those from the tournament: Naked Monk, Rangar, Orengar, and Gonk were all present and being drawn towards respective deities, the Monk tried to step back. But his movement was blocked completely.
Sigvard was in a dire situation. As he had been marked by all three Gods, all of them tried to claim the death Knight. Physics completed its brutal work and the man was torn asunder. His screams of anguish echoed and unlike his time recently with Orabaras, this time they did not fall on deaf ears. Instead, the followers of the Dark Entities laughed at him as his final moments among the living draw to a close. “Lune…” He called with his dying breath.
Hadron watched his friend die, and had no time to react as Kranaak pulled him to his group. A horde of Demons and Dwarves greeted him with insanity in their eyes. Noting that Caic had been brought with him, the Barbarian Warlock wondered what would happen next. Orabaras was more than happy to answer. “Now that you have been chosen, you must all prove your worth. Show to us that you are worthy of living in this new world!”
“We have prepared a proper task for each of you.” Kranaak added. Nihilin had not said anything the entire time this exchange had played out. And that seemed to be what would happen ultimately. This part of the astral realm faded and everyone within vanished elsewhere.
Grez: Ironic Hell
When Grez awoke, he found himself in yet another Astral Realm. Once again he was alone. He wandered around this strange location and came to a door. He was getting tired of trapped doors at this point and blasted this newest obstacle down. However, his attack went through the door. Wondering what new trap was before him, he reached out. If there was a trap, it was a fake door. Not exactly the worst thing he had encountered.
Feeling a bit safer, he proceeded into the next room, and immediately took back feeling safe. A hulking monstrosity was looking right at him. And although Grez normally would fight anything he saw, something about this enemy made him rethink that. Instead he ran and with this foe in pursuit.
Later rooms were not better as he ran into another horde of creatures. This time monsters made of ice. These ones appeared weaker and so Grez decided to try and fight them. Only when his attack phased through the creatures did he understand the door. He was unable to harm anything in this place. But the wounds he received from the creatures indicated that the inverse was not true. He needed to escape this place and fast.
Hadron: Flames of the Abyss
Hadron was not faring any better in his own Astral Realm. Multiple empty rooms had lulled him into a sense of safety, but finally he came face to face with a massive fiery Demon. His knowledge of such creatures was advanced enough to know that this was an enemy beyond him. The Barbarian Warlock enraged to give him a chance of surviving if he was forced to combat such a being before making a mad dash past the monster.
Unfortunately, the next room held three more Demons. These were four armed snake creatures with a different weapon in each one. He was forced to take a couple hits that would have been lethal if not for his enraged state. Closing another door made of bone behind him, he continued to wander the passages of this deadly realm. While trying to combat the prior monsters, he had come to the conclusion that he could not harm these foes at all. With no choice but to run, he frantically searched for an exit.
He came to a small room, and unfortunately half of the space was taken up by another fire Demon. In close quarters, Hadron knew he was going to be hard pressed to survive. Taking a deep breath, he sprinted and the Demon followed. Just short of death, he reached the exit of the room and with heavy breathing wandered the Astral Realm, hoping this nightmare would end.
Sneak Peak: Trapped in Another Nightmare
Sneak Peak once again found himself in the Astral Realm after a night’s sleep. The Rogue had believed that after escaping the Dwarven City that he was in the clear. This nightmarish situation proved him wrong. Still, he wished to make best of a bad situation, and while searching for treasure, found a glowing crystal. Treasure called to him, and he clutched it, only for the room to spin.
When the world stopped rotating, he came face to face with a hulking monstrosity even larger than he was. Trying to shoot the creature proved pointless. The attack simply passed through. Sneak Peak was forced to run, luckily this was a skill he was quite adept at utilizing. Fleeing into another room led to more enemies. The Rogue continued running not liking this situation at all.
Finally, he took a moment to catch his breath, wondering if he would die in this place. While relaxing, another horde of monsters, this time made of ice, decided to try their chance at slaughtering him. Sneak Peak took a couple hits and realized that he was still vulnerable. He simply wanted an easy life of riches. This was the opposite of that.
Caic: Halls of the Dead
Caic found himself trapped with armies of Undead and no way to stop them. This was clearly the work of Nihilin, as these were his chosen servants. The Paladin wondered if he had been pulled into the Dark God’s very realm. Mummies and shadow specters continued to try to end his life. He had no way to fight back. Holy Magic failed to work and trying to turn the Undead was not working either.
And so the Paladin ran. He could not fight. His Magical Flail would not strike his foes. Any courage Caic had was now gone with this change in the world. The Dark Gods would have their way and as a servant of Exscutchon it was his duty to combat the evils of the world.
Traps threatened Caic as well, but their powers were not potent enough to overcome his divine fortitude or his racial abilities. Training had served to protect the Paladin from deadly substances in the past and benefited him greatly in this time of dire need. And a world without Exscutchon was dire indeed. Only his continued walk stopped the paladin from embracing despair.
Horrors Await:
Sigvard is dead. The others are trapped in nightmarish Astral Realms. The world is being destroyed. The party seems to be at an all time low. Have the Dark Gods won?