And just like that, the battle ends. At least for the moment...
Lord Vader's lightsaber loomed large in his hand as he menaced Greko, caught between the old Lizardfolk and the young Samurai who had come to his aid. Sensing Violet's bombardment, he set about setting up his defense. He threw up a shield, shattering one hit, and then another...and then fire and sparks splashed over him, washing over his armor and scattering across the ground as the attack exploded against him.
The Sith Lord, near indomitable before now, sunk down to one knee, never releasing his hold on his lightsaber. He finally fell forward onto all fours as the final Eldritch Blast ruptured over his back, blasting his helmet away. A weld in the helmet, from some prior damage, broke, leaving it in two pieces as the battered and scarred face of the warrior beneath was exposed.
"No." He rasped, struggling to breath in the heat around him, around all of the combatants. He said something else, but it was drowned out by the sound of the ceiling overhead cracking, fracturing into a million pieces. He was still talking as the sound ended. "...not be undone by deadmen who do not understand the power they meddle with."
He paused, gasping, struggling for breath. The Force began to shimmer in the air around him. Lightning ripples in short crackles like the release of pent up static. The air begins to smell like ozone.
"You have not beat me..." He continues, gasping for air between breaths. "You have only given me to my Master..."
The lightsaber fails, turns off, but Vader continues to grip the hilt of the weapon, keeps it tight in his hand. He struggles to remain on all fours, even as the ball of crackling energy forms around him. Lightning lashes out, raking a scar across the ground and leaving glass in its wake.
Behind them, oblivious to all of this, Godzilla roars again, and begins to make his way toward the Subhylian Sea, watching with a cocked head as the world literally begins to fall in on itself. More and more water begins to cascade in from the tear over the ocean, and it's obvious that now not only will the whole cavern will flood, but it's going to flood fast.
Water begins to gather around the band's feet...
Lord Vader is climbing to his feet, electricity crackling the air around him as he struggles to rise to fight again. And as he struggles to stand, three beautiful Luck Dragons land nearby...
...you can still hear the screaming coming from the invisible Lady Kaede and Balthor, but the sound is fading as they fly off west to safety in the distance.
Though Rum is invisible, as Stasolya flies past him, the shimmering aura around her brushes over him.
Banking and flying then towards Vader as water rushes in around them all, she starts to play a new tune on the bagpipes--one that starts with a wailing scream reminiscent of that of the departing Godzilla, and morphing into a haunting melody as the Sith Lord staggers to his feet.
Action: Stasolya's Bagpipes of Haunting Each creature within 30 feet of you that hears you play must succeed on a DC 18 (DC 16 +2 Proficiency) Wisdom saving throw or become frightened of you for 1 minute. If you wish, all creatures in the area that aren't hostile toward you automatically succeed on the saving throw. A creature that fails the saving throw can repeat it at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. A creature that succeeds on its saving throw is immune to the effect of these pipes for 18 hours.
"A terrible mistake..." Lord Vader says, wheezing as he thrusts one hand into the sky and aims it directly at Stasolya. Suddenly the air shimmers with the Force as he tries to pull her, Jek, and Violet down on top of Greko...
Godzilla continues his march toward the sea, ignoring the fight, the sound of the bagpipes and the Luck Dragons. For their part, the Luck Dragons keep to a safe distance, even as they position themselves in the rising water. However, a small Halfling leaps from the back of one of them, her attire a clear sign that she is a nomad from the Shem Desert. She is shouting something as she rushes forward, getting the Luck Dragons moving again as she waves her arms frantically.
A huge boulder falls from overhead, slamming into the ground only a hundred feet or so away...
Stasolya jolts like a bad pocket of turbulence, her magical feathered wings flailing and flapping as the bagpipes screech and wail. But, as if she is drawing strength from the indomitable sound of the pipes which she resolutely keeps playing, the centaur manages to hold her position in the air against Vader's force pull, hooves galloping in circles, sparks flying from her magical horseshoes.
Greko watches Vader turn his attention to Staolya but in his weakend state he is unable to accomplish his intentions of burying Greko. Greko takes this opportuity to run, quite spryly for his age, towards one of the luck dragons. He stops about 75 feet away from Vader and looks back at the broken shell of what was once a powerful jedi. He yells back "You were a good man once! We could have helped you but you've chosen your fate...****y Siths deal in absolutes....Hopefully you will see the folly in this in the next life!"
Greko raises his staff once more and slams it into the water causing a streak of lightning to project straight towards Vader. Greko not only is trying to scorch Vader but also elcetrocute him as he stands in the water. He then turns and hops onto the luck dragon patting its head and scratching it behind its ears
Rum is still unable to shake off the fog in his mind, and clings to a still invisible Porkins, who merely circles waiting to follow the others if they retreat.
Violet remains on Stasolya's back, voicing her opinion that she is more than eager to get out while the getting is good. Even Godzilla is watching the cave in at this point, getting more and more observant of what is falling and when as he goes further out into the Subhylian Sea.
Vader shifts his eyes to Mike as he swings his lightsaber, first cutting a vicious streak across Mike's middle before the saber passes fruitlessly back through the same injury. The air elemental looks like it is breaking apart...and if it does, so to will be Greko's current means of escape...
"That's Atoh Khan!" Jek says excitedly from Stasolya's back, pointing toward the landed Luck Dragons. "It's Atoh Khan of the Khun Clan, and their Luck Dragons!"
Updated Post Order
Lord Vader Greko the White Mike the Air Elemental Lady Kaede Rumble of Hunger Porkins Balthor Violet Jek Utinni Stasolya
As Jek shouts, Stasolya turns and wings her way towards the Luck Dragons. With both of her passengers wanting to leave, and water pouring into the cavern, with a last glance at the lightning bolts zapping between Vader and Greko, and then an even laster glance at the departing Godzilla, Stasolya bleats out a last triumphal and wistful note on her bagpipes, and then tries to fly as quickly as she can to the Luck Dragons. "Atoh Khan! What brings you and your noble Luck Dragons? Are you here to help us escape?"
"Just good luck I guess!" Atoh Khan replies to Stasolya, the expression on her face more than just a little wild and crazy. "No, no that's not entirely true. We went to Celestia looking for Falkor, and learned about the failing magic of the world. Gandalf needed to find the AURYN Champions and...well, here we are. No, finding you really was luck! Kalos, er, one of the Luck Dragons, just...well it was luck! We followed Godzilla..."
The little Halfling seems to struggle for a moment with her words as she grapples with what to tell Stasolya.
"We need to go!" She says finally, looking back toward Kalos and the other two Luck Dragons. Then her sight returns to Vader, and his fight with Greko. Then then, her eyes turn up to the collapsing ceiling. "Oh this is bad..."
Almost as if on cue, the water flooding into the cavern begins to come into contact with the lava in vast quantities, casting up huge clouds of steam, obscuring sight all along the battlefield. Then another boulder comes loose from the ceiling overhead and crashes down.
"Tola! Get Greko!" Atoh Khan shouts back to one of the Luck Dragons.
"I think we're about to run out of luck!" One of the Luck Dragons, presumably Kalos, says with a laugh that is really out of place. Another one wiggles around and starts a meandering flight through the air toward Greko the White...
Lord Vader sees none of this.
"How pathetic." He says, either unaware or, more likely, ignoring what is going on around him. "You thought you could bring an end to my neverending story here?"
Fog begins to steam up around him and Greko.
"How very wrong you all were."
His lightsaber slashes at Greko's arm and torso before he tries to knock Greko's staff out of his hand...
If Greko drops his staff, Vader puts his foot on it.
Seeing the way things are going, Atoh starts shouting and pointing toward the hole in the roof of Subternia over the Subhylian Sea.
"Go!" She shouts as loud as she can. "Get out of here while we still can!"
Updated Post Order
Lord Vader Greko the White Mike the Air Elemental Lady Kaede Rumble of Hunger Porkins Balthor Violet Jek Utinni Stasolya
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Greko slashed across the arm losees his staff....The old Lizard is mad and he's not going to take it, no he's not going to take it, he's not going to take it anymore. He casts heat metal on any and all pieces of Vader's armor that has metal in it causing Vader to take 23 damage
Mike, who is on his last leg and should retire instead of playing with the Wizards, tries to help Greko by swiping at Vader
Lady Kaede has been oblivious to most of this, until Vader is suddenly distracted and his trance over Kaede disappears. Shaking her head in disbelief as to how she even got on the flying beast, she suddenly notices the newcomer appearing to help Greko, along with the magical flying....DRAGONS! WOW! This is truly a sign that the GODS are with her, right now, at this very moment!
Without hesitation, she steers the best towards the new hole in the ceiling, and makes haste at full flight speed to evacuate as soon as possible, living to fight another day.
Rum still can’t shift the fog from his mind, and afraid of being crushed by falling rocks Porkins decides it’s time to get out of here. He heads for the hole in the ceiling.
Stasolya smiles. "Luck, Godzilla, and the Childlike Empress are the warp, the weft, and the shuttle of Hyboria," she says. But there is no time to say more, nor to thank her for coming, as the water explodes in steam and the cavern continues to collapse. Stasolya nods to Atoh Khan in response to her instruction, flaps her magical wings, and leaps into the air, Jek and Violet still clinging to her back. Has it been an hour yet? Time drags so slowly in these moments. She may hope there is enough time for her to take her passengers to safety and put solid ground beneath her hooves before the potion wears off, and so she angles towards the hole in Subternia's ceiling, avoiding falling debris as best she can.
Lord Vader throws his hand out in response to Greko's spell, and the air between them shimmers. His armor does not heat...and then he swings his lightsaber, cutting right through the middle of Mike and causing the air elemental to break apart and dissipate into the air itself.
Cold, dead, yellow eyes turn toward Greko, a look of hate fiery and intense spanning the distance between them. The Lord of the Sith can only watch as Tola the Luck Dragon snakes through the air and snatches Greko up in her mouth before the two of them roll skyward in an undulating gate. Vader doesn't resist, doesn't try to stop what is happening. Anyone who looks back will see him simply pick up the halved pieces of his helm and then watch the party, at least those he can see, as they depart. The image doesn't last long as the obscuring fog conceals him.
The three Luck Dragons are quickly airborne, heading up through the hole in the ceiling and through the rushing waterfall of the sea. Within minutes, they are back under the dark, infinitesimal twilight of the post Great Conjunction world. Shortly after, Rum and Kaede begin to shake off the effects of being incapacitated. Below them, the sea swirls down into Subternia in a terrible maelstrom...
Since it went pretty well last time, Violet will do the same quickened scorching ray + eldritch blast combo she used last time.
Scorching Ray:
Attack 1 - Nat 1, not bothering with damage.
Attack 2 - Attack: 24, Damage: 4 (fire) + 5 (necrotic, from hex)
Attack 3 - Attack: 23, Damage: 8 (fire) + 5 (necrotic, from hex)
Eldritch Blast:
Attack 1 - NAT 20 (total 31)! Damage: 15 (force) + 7 (necrotic, from hex)
Attack 2 - Attack: 20, Damage: 7 (force) + 6 (necrotic, from hex)
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And just like that, the battle ends. At least for the moment...
Lord Vader's lightsaber loomed large in his hand as he menaced Greko, caught between the old Lizardfolk and the young Samurai who had come to his aid. Sensing Violet's bombardment, he set about setting up his defense. He threw up a shield, shattering one hit, and then another...and then fire and sparks splashed over him, washing over his armor and scattering across the ground as the attack exploded against him.
The Sith Lord, near indomitable before now, sunk down to one knee, never releasing his hold on his lightsaber. He finally fell forward onto all fours as the final Eldritch Blast ruptured over his back, blasting his helmet away. A weld in the helmet, from some prior damage, broke, leaving it in two pieces as the battered and scarred face of the warrior beneath was exposed.
"No." He rasped, struggling to breath in the heat around him, around all of the combatants. He said something else, but it was drowned out by the sound of the ceiling overhead cracking, fracturing into a million pieces. He was still talking as the sound ended. "...not be undone by deadmen who do not understand the power they meddle with."
He paused, gasping, struggling for breath. The Force began to shimmer in the air around him. Lightning ripples in short crackles like the release of pent up static. The air begins to smell like ozone.
"You have not beat me..." He continues, gasping for air between breaths. "You have only given me to my Master..."
The lightsaber fails, turns off, but Vader continues to grip the hilt of the weapon, keeps it tight in his hand. He struggles to remain on all fours, even as the ball of crackling energy forms around him. Lightning lashes out, raking a scar across the ground and leaving glass in its wake.
Behind them, oblivious to all of this, Godzilla roars again, and begins to make his way toward the Subhylian Sea, watching with a cocked head as the world literally begins to fall in on itself. More and more water begins to cascade in from the tear over the ocean, and it's obvious that now not only will the whole cavern will flood, but it's going to flood fast.
Water begins to gather around the band's feet...
Lord Vader is climbing to his feet, electricity crackling the air around him as he struggles to rise to fight again. And as he struggles to stand, three beautiful Luck Dragons land nearby...
DM of AURYN: The Measure of Devotion - Escape from New York
...you can still hear the screaming coming from the invisible Lady Kaede and Balthor, but the sound is fading as they fly off west to safety in the distance.
Last to know and first to be blamed...
As a free action, can I regret my life choices?
Though Rum is invisible, as Stasolya flies past him, the shimmering aura around her brushes over him.
Banking and flying then towards Vader as water rushes in around them all, she starts to play a new tune on the bagpipes--one that starts with a wailing scream reminiscent of that of the departing Godzilla, and morphing into a haunting melody as the Sith Lord staggers to his feet.
Bonus Action: Aura of Vitality, healing Rum for 2 HP
Action: Stasolya's Bagpipes of Haunting
Each creature within 30 feet of you that hears you play must succeed on a DC 18 (DC 16 +2 Proficiency) Wisdom saving throw or become frightened of you for 1 minute. If you wish, all creatures in the area that aren't hostile toward you automatically succeed on the saving throw. A creature that fails the saving throw can repeat it at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. A creature that succeeds on its saving throw is immune to the effect of these pipes for 18 hours.
Rum feels the little bit of healing invigorate him, but he still can’t shake off the fog from his mind.
”Fol…low…….oth…ers”, he manages to stutter in celestial to Porkins.
"A terrible mistake..." Lord Vader says, wheezing as he thrusts one hand into the sky and aims it directly at Stasolya. Suddenly the air shimmers with the Force as he tries to pull her, Jek, and Violet down on top of Greko...
Godzilla continues his march toward the sea, ignoring the fight, the sound of the bagpipes and the Luck Dragons. For their part, the Luck Dragons keep to a safe distance, even as they position themselves in the rising water. However, a small Halfling leaps from the back of one of them, her attire a clear sign that she is a nomad from the Shem Desert. She is shouting something as she rushes forward, getting the Luck Dragons moving again as she waves her arms frantically.
A huge boulder falls from overhead, slamming into the ground only a hundred feet or so away...
DM of AURYN: The Measure of Devotion - Escape from New York
Stasolya jolts like a bad pocket of turbulence, her magical feathered wings flailing and flapping as the bagpipes screech and wail. But, as if she is drawing strength from the indomitable sound of the pipes which she resolutely keeps playing, the centaur manages to hold her position in the air against Vader's force pull, hooves galloping in circles, sparks flying from her magical horseshoes.
Greko watches Vader turn his attention to Staolya but in his weakend state he is unable to accomplish his intentions of burying Greko. Greko takes this opportuity to run, quite spryly for his age, towards one of the luck dragons. He stops about 75 feet away from Vader and looks back at the broken shell of what was once a powerful jedi. He yells back "You were a good man once! We could have helped you but you've chosen your fate...****y Siths deal in absolutes....Hopefully you will see the folly in this in the next life!"
Greko raises his staff once more and slams it into the water causing a streak of lightning to project straight towards Vader. Greko not only is trying to scorch Vader but also elcetrocute him as he stands in the water. He then turns and hops onto the luck dragon patting its head and scratching it behind its ears
Lightning Damage: 40
Dex Save 16
Lightning crackles along the top of the water as Lord Vader force leaps away, getting singed but not directly hit by Greko's attempt.
"I will be done when I am done!" Vader says, thrusting one hand out toward Greko and returning his lightning bolt in kind...
Restarting Initiative!
Updated Post Order
Lord Vader
Greko the White
Mike the Air Elemental
Lady Kaede
Rumble of Hunger
Porkins
Balthor
Violet
Jek Utinni
Stasolya
It is Lady Kaede's turn!
DM of AURYN: The Measure of Devotion - Escape from New York
Lady Kaede:
DC20 INT saving throw: 9
Last to know and first to be blamed...
As a free action, can I regret my life choices?
Rum is still unable to shake off the fog in his mind, and clings to a still invisible Porkins, who merely circles waiting to follow the others if they retreat.
Violet remains on Stasolya's back, voicing her opinion that she is more than eager to get out while the getting is good. Even Godzilla is watching the cave in at this point, getting more and more observant of what is falling and when as he goes further out into the Subhylian Sea.
Vader shifts his eyes to Mike as he swings his lightsaber, first cutting a vicious streak across Mike's middle before the saber passes fruitlessly back through the same injury. The air elemental looks like it is breaking apart...and if it does, so to will be Greko's current means of escape...
"That's Atoh Khan!" Jek says excitedly from Stasolya's back, pointing toward the landed Luck Dragons. "It's Atoh Khan of the Khun Clan, and their Luck Dragons!"
Updated Post Order
Lord Vader
Greko the White
Mike the Air Elemental
Lady Kaede
Rumble of Hunger
Porkins
Balthor
Violet
Jek Utinni
Stasolya
It is Stasolya's turn!
DM of AURYN: The Measure of Devotion - Escape from New York
As Jek shouts, Stasolya turns and wings her way towards the Luck Dragons. With both of her passengers wanting to leave, and water pouring into the cavern, with a last glance at the lightning bolts zapping between Vader and Greko, and then an even laster glance at the departing Godzilla, Stasolya bleats out a last triumphal and wistful note on her bagpipes, and then tries to fly as quickly as she can to the Luck Dragons. "Atoh Khan! What brings you and your noble Luck Dragons? Are you here to help us escape?"
"Just good luck I guess!" Atoh Khan replies to Stasolya, the expression on her face more than just a little wild and crazy. "No, no that's not entirely true. We went to Celestia looking for Falkor, and learned about the failing magic of the world. Gandalf needed to find the AURYN Champions and...well, here we are. No, finding you really was luck! Kalos, er, one of the Luck Dragons, just...well it was luck! We followed Godzilla..."
The little Halfling seems to struggle for a moment with her words as she grapples with what to tell Stasolya.
"We need to go!" She says finally, looking back toward Kalos and the other two Luck Dragons. Then her sight returns to Vader, and his fight with Greko. Then then, her eyes turn up to the collapsing ceiling. "Oh this is bad..."
Almost as if on cue, the water flooding into the cavern begins to come into contact with the lava in vast quantities, casting up huge clouds of steam, obscuring sight all along the battlefield. Then another boulder comes loose from the ceiling overhead and crashes down.
"Tola! Get Greko!" Atoh Khan shouts back to one of the Luck Dragons.
"I think we're about to run out of luck!" One of the Luck Dragons, presumably Kalos, says with a laugh that is really out of place. Another one wiggles around and starts a meandering flight through the air toward Greko the White...
Lord Vader sees none of this.
"How pathetic." He says, either unaware or, more likely, ignoring what is going on around him. "You thought you could bring an end to my neverending story here?"
Fog begins to steam up around him and Greko.
"How very wrong you all were."
His lightsaber slashes at Greko's arm and torso before he tries to knock Greko's staff out of his hand...
If Greko drops his staff, Vader puts his foot on it.
Seeing the way things are going, Atoh starts shouting and pointing toward the hole in the roof of Subternia over the Subhylian Sea.
"Go!" She shouts as loud as she can. "Get out of here while we still can!"
Updated Post Order
Lord Vader
Greko the White
Mike the Air Elemental
Lady Kaede
Rumble of Hunger
Porkins
Balthor
Violet
Jek Utinni
Stasolya
It is Greko's turn!
DM of AURYN: The Measure of Devotion - Escape from New York
Greko slashed across the arm losees his staff....The old Lizard is mad and he's not going to take it, no he's not going to take it, he's not going to take it anymore. He casts heat metal on any and all pieces of Vader's armor that has metal in it causing Vader to take 23 damage
Mike, who is on his last leg and should retire instead of playing with the Wizards, tries to help Greko by swiping at Vader
Attack 1: Attack: 27 Damage: 14
Attack 2: Attack: 25 Damage: 8
Lady Kaede has been oblivious to most of this, until Vader is suddenly distracted and his trance over Kaede disappears. Shaking her head in disbelief as to how she even got on the flying beast, she suddenly notices the newcomer appearing to help Greko, along with the magical flying....DRAGONS! WOW! This is truly a sign that the GODS are with her, right now, at this very moment!
Without hesitation, she steers the best towards the new hole in the ceiling, and makes haste at full flight speed to evacuate as soon as possible, living to fight another day.
Last to know and first to be blamed...
As a free action, can I regret my life choices?
Rum still can’t shift the fog from his mind, and afraid of being crushed by falling rocks Porkins decides it’s time to get out of here. He heads for the hole in the ceiling.
Stasolya smiles. "Luck, Godzilla, and the Childlike Empress are the warp, the weft, and the shuttle of Hyboria," she says. But there is no time to say more, nor to thank her for coming, as the water explodes in steam and the cavern continues to collapse. Stasolya nods to Atoh Khan in response to her instruction, flaps her magical wings, and leaps into the air, Jek and Violet still clinging to her back. Has it been an hour yet? Time drags so slowly in these moments. She may hope there is enough time for her to take her passengers to safety and put solid ground beneath her hooves before the potion wears off, and so she angles towards the hole in Subternia's ceiling, avoiding falling debris as best she can.
Lord Vader throws his hand out in response to Greko's spell, and the air between them shimmers. His armor does not heat...and then he swings his lightsaber, cutting right through the middle of Mike and causing the air elemental to break apart and dissipate into the air itself.
Cold, dead, yellow eyes turn toward Greko, a look of hate fiery and intense spanning the distance between them. The Lord of the Sith can only watch as Tola the Luck Dragon snakes through the air and snatches Greko up in her mouth before the two of them roll skyward in an undulating gate. Vader doesn't resist, doesn't try to stop what is happening. Anyone who looks back will see him simply pick up the halved pieces of his helm and then watch the party, at least those he can see, as they depart. The image doesn't last long as the obscuring fog conceals him.
The three Luck Dragons are quickly airborne, heading up through the hole in the ceiling and through the rushing waterfall of the sea. Within minutes, they are back under the dark, infinitesimal twilight of the post Great Conjunction world. Shortly after, Rum and Kaede begin to shake off the effects of being incapacitated. Below them, the sea swirls down into Subternia in a terrible maelstrom...
DM of AURYN: The Measure of Devotion - Escape from New York
Violet finally lets out a sigh of relief now that they've gotten out alive...
"Um... who was that guy?" she asks her companions shakily. "And why does he hate you so much?"
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Provide feedback!