As the team leaves the City of Spiders, the noble drow briefly turns and looks back at his home in the distance. He couldn't help but wonder how they were doing these days, if they had all survived great Demogorgon's onslaught, if they knew anything about his fate. A part of him wanted that they would regret having cast him out but he knew that wasn't so, more likely they hadn't given him the slightest thought since he was sent off to Velkynvelve to die. Would they think more of him if he would give his life to save theirs, would they care at all...

Arriving at Blingdenstone, Traydark seems somehwat more relaxed, fond memories of the evenings at the local inn coming back to him, but it seemed so distant now, and there was no time for frivolities, nevermore. "You all better talk to the troops, I would only discourage them from coming." He says with a hint of bitterness as he has resumed solid form, ready to seek out their allies.

"You are one of us, Traydark... You are part of this - and an important one" Khessa gently places a hand on the noble drow's shoulder. "Those who are willing to be discouraged... are probably better off not coming. Just because I don't always fully agree with some of your opinions doesn't mean I don't want you to voice them".

Upon finding themselves back in Blindgenstone, the blonde arcane warrior is struck by memories of her own... In particular... "They know how to send Earth Elementals into battle here! They did it before, when we eradicated the threat of Juiblex! They had the problem of Ogremoch's Bane... A problem we couldn't solve back then... But if we could solve it now... Earth Elementals could be recruited without the risk of them going out of control! We could have a small unit of Earth Elementals to help us finish off the last of the Demon Lords!"

Furthermore, when Lunaria seems to claim that she can create Holy Water without any problems, the tall adventurer looks at her with hopeful blue eyes: "Could you create entire barrels of it? If we could prepare a trap for the last of the Demon Lords, such as a shower of Holy Water that the demon champion can't possibly avoid completely, maybe we could kill it outright (or at least seriously injure it)..."

Katryl finds herself agreeing with Khessa. "Yes, we should all speak with them."  To Traydark she adds, "Tell them your fears and misgivings. This is meant to be truly their decision.  They need to understand both what is at stake and what the dangers are."  

Glad the others have encouraged Traydark to speak candidly to their allies, Lulu replies to Khessa. "Aye, well..." she runs a hand up through her bangs and the crease between her brows pulls at the eight-pointed star mark in the center of her forehead as she thinks. "I can't say I've ever tried to fill a barrel before, lass, but I could certainly try. A flask of holy water takes an hour of prayer and a might bit of powdered silver to bless, so I imagine a barrel would be quite a task." She tries to convert measurements in her mind, but is completely off. 

Her tails curls with sudden thought. "And ye ken, we clerics can perform more than just water blessing ceremonies. Dedications to the Mistress of Moonlight or..." she looks from Khessa to Traydark with a slight quirk to her brow, "holy matrimony?"  


((@DM, would it be feasible for Lulu to make a barrel of holy water? Or would that take way too long and cost way too much?
Also, @party, Ceremony has some FANTASTIC buffs if anyone wants to get married or dedicate themselves to serving Lurue :3 lolol))

[[ OOC: @MissAbyss: Lol! I know about Ceremony... ]]

Khessa smiles when the holy firbolg mentions the ceremony she herself had already thought about more than once: "I believe I have never made a secret of my feelings, Lulu, so the step you propose would certainly not meet with opposition from me; but as for Traydark's feelings and decisions, it is only right that he answer you himself. Each of us has his own path... and no one better than him can know at what point of it he feels he is".

(Given the circumstances, I'm going to say that is impractical at this time, as it requires not only time and gold cost, but also spell slots to make a mere flask. Attempting to fill an entire barrel will take a very long time. This would be a project for some downtime months in the future perhaps. :) )

(Gotcha!! Lulu would let Khessa know that then!)

“Aye, lass. True enough,” she smiles at Khessa. Concerned she’s put him on the spot, the firbolg pulls attention back to herself as they walk into the city. ”There is no pressure, of course, my friends. I only wish ye to ken that these Ceremonies offer divine protections for a time. But, in any case, I'd hope the night before our final battle could involve merriment of some kind if—Mistress preserve us—it is to be our last on this side of the veil.” 

Khessa sighs as the impracticality of creating large quantities of Holy Water is explained to her. But she's not the type to give up, so she focuses on the umpteenth possibility of help that had come to mind: "We just have to try and see if we can get rid of the Ogremoch's Bane, then... I seem to remember that spells were needed that, at the time, were out of our reach... but your powers have increased so much, Lulu... I think that now you could free Blindgenstone from the uncomfortable presence of that corrupting gaseous creature!"

"And once that is done," the blonde arcane warrior goes on "the Earth Elementals of Blindgenstone would no longer risk going mad and attacking everything in sight. The Diggermattocks would then probably agree to summon some Earth Elementals to participate in the final showdown. Maybe even just 5 or 10..."

"The elementals could wait immersed in the rock of the ground, then engage the last surviving Demon Lord at the end of the Royal Rumble..." the tall adventuress explains "thus allowing us to bombard with ranged attacks. We might even manage to kill the last Demon Lord before it can kill all the elementals and come face to face with us, with a little luck. Or at least, if I were forced to cross Dawn's blade of light with, say, giant black rubbery tentacles, at least the owner of the tentacles might have been further softened up by then... Maybe I could kill it in a handful of seconds. Hopefully, a handful of seconds smaller than the handful of seconds it takes it to kill me. Isn't it worth a try?"

The noble drow merely nods at the suggestion he too would speak to their allies. He would struggle to make a balanced account of what he suspected was ahead. Considering what was at stake he wasn't sure why he would bother with whether these brave men and women would live or die, he just couldn't imagine the outcome would be decided by their numbers. While it would make more sense that the most powerful heroes of Faerûn would fight this battle, fate had for some reason instead chosen him and his companions to stand against the doom of all the realms. At least they would first likely be witnesses to the different factions of demons tearing themselves to pieces.

As the firbolg brings up holy matrimony he simply gives her a strained smile but says nothing, instead following along in silence to find their allies.

Dorbo and Senni are glad to see you all again if you talk to them, and the rest of your allies, the troops you mustered from Guantlgrym will be there within a day or two, fates willing.

Khessa warmly greets the Diggermattocks and asks if Ogremoch's Bane has been cast out or it is still in Blindgenstone, making the use of the elementals more hazardous.

If Ogremoch's Bane is still a problem, the blonde arcane warrior reminds: "To get rid of Ogremoch's Bane once and for all, someone able to cast a Dispel Evil and Good was needed. And now we have the right holy person for the job!" she gestures to Lunaria "Now we can finally free you from this plague. And shortly after, we will attempt our final move to free the entire Underdark from the Demon Lords' fold! But we could use some of your elementals, to have a greater guarantee of success..."

"Dorbo... Senni..." the tall adventuress' blue eyes fix on those of the two rulers "You have experienced firsthand how tangible the threat of the Demon Lords is. Thanks to us, the Demon Lord who had his eye on Blindgenstone, the shapeless Juiblex, was defeated. But the Demon Lords are eternal. If they are allowed to remain in the Underdark, sooner rather than later, they will return to bother you. Help us send them back to the Abyss once and for all. How many earth elementals could you summon and entrust to us, to assist us in a deciding battle?"

"No one has cleansed the area, no. Wait...are the demon lords coming here!? There's no way we'll survive! Why are they coming? What good will a few elementals do against demon lords?" Senni gets a bit distraught. "How long do we have? Weeks? Days? Hours!? I mean we can maybe get a few depending on how long we have...hopefully...you're welcome to them though of course!"

Katryl shakes her head as Senni worries. "No, no."  She glances at Khessa, then tries to reassure Senni. "She didn't mean to frighten you. We're merely meeting up here. And looking for help.  The demons should be showing up elsewhere."  

The genasi had listened closely to what Lulu had said before, though attention had been directed to Khessa and Traydark.  She waits for later, and speaks to the firbolg in private. 

"Indeed, my dears..." Khessa confirms Katryl's assurances "The deciding battle will be held far away from here. There is no point in going into too much detail, but know that the elementals are not meant to be sent against the full strength of the Demon Lords... At the end of our operations, only one Demon Lord will remain, weakened by a battle that will have been hard and merciless even for him. The elementals will have to attack him and keep him away from us while we finish him off from a distance. If everything goes as it should... of the Demon Lords, down here, there will only remain sad memories".

"But you too will understand" the blonde arcane warrior emphasizes once again "that it is important to keep even the last Demon Lord at a distance, while we finish him off... If an enemy of that power were to come to us in close combat, the outcome of the battle might not be the one we hope for. For this reason I ask you again: how many elementals could you be able to summon and send with us for this important final battle?"

Horkas keeps his mouth shut but his ears open. He was never the best at cajoling or encouraging others...

Senni takes a few deep breaths and looks up at Khessa again, "Well like I said it depends on how long you have. Or we have. And how fickle the elements are being that day. Amassing an army of elementals would take...umm...a long time though. We can probably get you a small handful though if you need to be quick."

"I think," Khessa estimates "we could easily wait a week, for example, if necessary. Maybe one handful will give us enough time to win... Are we talking about a handful of 10? Or a handful of 5?"

'Why am I even asking anyway?' the blonde arcane warrior sighs inwardly 'Even if it were just a handful of 1, it would be better than nothing... It would always be a little extra help'.

'Am I the only one who seems so worried about the prospect of having to fight a creature of legendary overwhelming chaotic evil, so powerful that it can corrupt reality with its mere presence?' the tall adventuress secretly wonders 'Okay, I'll be the one on the front lines... but against an opponent like that, no matter how wounded, I won't have a hope of holding out for more than a handful of seconds. And after I fall, it will be the turn of my so serene battle companions. And after they fall, it will be the turn of the rest of the population of the Prime Material Plane. Why would I expect to see them more... active in seeking precautions against this not so implausible scenario?'

"Oh a whole week? Oh umm...well goodness, umm, hopefully at least five I would think...maybe one or two more if things go really well." Senni begins musing to herself and pacing a little.

"What exactly do we need to do alleviate this bane thing?" Katryl asks. "Certainly worth a week to get some additional help to come with us." 

Her conversation later with Lulu: