Dæmons of Fire

The final Fallship delivered the Quest to the depths of the water-realm, Melaskos. Unlike all the other realms of the Underdark, here there was no landing stage, no frame of reference at all; the brazen hatch of the Fallship opened onto a smooth meniscus of dark water, kept at bay by some magic inherent to the vessel.

Donning their rings of Water Breathing, and storing their perishable gear in Sack's Bag of Holding, the members of the Quest slid into the cold water. Immediately, they had to come to terms with the awful feeling of their lungs filling inexorably with water; unpleasantly like drowning. But soon, drawn down by the weight of their armour, they were spiralling down through the murky waters. Kobort had rendered them all Invisible, and Hildraft had contributed Freedom of Movement, so the effects of submergence were much reduced.

The water they were passing through varied in its' composition. Some of the time it was dark and murky; other times, there were weeds and fishes which radiated a faint phosphorescence, enough for the darkvision of the Questers to see by.

After about half an hour, a bed or bottom came slowly into view. Rocky, covered with a film of silt or slime, it was pocked and riddled with cave entrances and tunnels. A glimpse was visible, away in the distance, of a group of vaguely humanoid creatures marching across the bed. Then, suddenly, they were down. Hildraft consulted his locator ring.

Sure enough, one side of the red gem was a pale green, indicating that the Sancrist crystal was near, and in that direction. Following the indicator, Hildraft led them into the tunnels.

For hours they sloshed through the caverns under Melaskos, half swimming, half wading, while the signal grew stronger. Twice they saw the monstrous Aboleth, once with more of the strange icthyoid humanoids they'd seen before, who seemed enslaved by the fish beings. Hildraft was eager to reduce their numbers, but Surya restrained him, reminding him of what Verdaeth had told them about the creatures' powers of domination.

So they moved on, their stealth and invisibility protecting them from discovery by the Aboleth and their minions. Finally, they entered a larger chamber in the rock, and, looking upwards, realized that this one had a surface - though it was deep below the bed. The floor sloped upwards towards the centre of the chamber.

Cautiously, Sack moved forward until his head broke the surface. Ahead of him he could see a tall tower, easily 100' high, set on a plinth. Leading up to that plinth were four equidistant ramps, on one of which he was standing.

The tower was featureless, save for a high archway entrance at the top of each ramp. Through these spilled a pale blue radiance, familiar to Sack after the circle at Maraka; the light of a Sancrist. Blocking each arch, however, was ...a shadow... vaguely man-shaped, huge, dark and indistinct; but radiating an unmistakable aura of menace. Hildraft and Kobort joined the half-orc, and various Detect spells revealed the presence of five evil creatures and/or one undead of some sort.

Clearly these, whatever they were, were the guardians of the Crystal. The party took stock, and split up; Kobort and Sigred moving round to the north arch, Hildraft remaining at the eastern one, Sack taking the southern, and Surya and the Fae Mhor the western. When all were set, the spellcasters opened the proceedings with a barrage of offensive magic.

Hildraft flung the power of Kord at his guardian in a Holy Smite; Kobort cast a Chain Lightning, which fizzled into nothing as he caught an arm on his armour and muffed a somatic component; Sack invoked Summon Nature's Ally, and a tiny viper, venomous and optimistic, appeard beside him and wriggled to the attack; Silustriana appeared to be talking with her warhammer as Launcivos blasted a Lightning Bolt into the western guardian figure; Sigred unleashed a Knife Storm that seemed to score.

With the ranged attacks delivered, Sack and Surya raced forwards, blades drawn, and under the arches to face their opponents.

At that moment, a cold, empty voice rang out from within the tower, speaking Elvish with an ironic and sardonic twist. "Let there be light!"

With a soft "whoomph", each of the four figures was suddenly enveloped in twisting flames, and could be seen more clearly. At least fifteen feet high, they were hooved and horned, blazing-eyed, armed with sword and fire-stranded whip; demons of terrible power.

Thinking fast, Hildraft realized that the best counter to so much fire was water, and water was certainly available. Raising his arms, he called on Kord to raise the water level around them. Gurgling and rushing, the water of the chamber poured up the ramps, flooding towards the blazing demons - but the one Hildraft faced lifted a clawed hand and spoke a word in its' own terrible language. The spell's effect drained away, and so did the water. With a roar of triumph, the demon curled its' whip around Hildraft, trapping the warrior priest, though not managing to pull the stout dwarf off his feet.

Kobort released his cloak's Web, to no avail; the strands flashed into flame and disapeared as soon as they touched the demon. Just in time, the sorcerer brought up his Interposing Hand, as the demon slashed out with its' whip, trying to snare him in the burning strands.

Sack and Surya sprang at their foes, unleashing a blizzard of swordcuts as they ducked and dodged to avoid the whips. Each took wounds in turn as the huge swords, ten feet long at the least, cut and burned into their flesh. Silustriana also leaped in with her hammer, and Sigred raised a commanding hand. "In the Name of Aderra - begone from this plane!" he declaimed. Still very much incarnate, the demon brought its' sword crashing down inches from the priest's head.

Valourous but ineffectual, the viper reached the demon's hooves and tried to sink its' fangs into them.

Hildraft shaped the magic again, bringing up a Blade Barrier between himself and his foe. Faced with the choice of standing within the whirling, churning maelstrom of flying metal or losing its' whip, the demon dropped the weapon and backed into the tower.

Hacking and slashing, Sack and Surya dealt heroic blows to the demons, bringing them crashing down. As they fell, their bodies seemed to increase their inner glow, in a way reminiscent of gathering power rather than dispersing life. Warned, the two dived for cover, and the huge bodies vaporized in massive explosive blasts of fire which washed over the Questers as they huddled against the walls.

Unprotected and unnoticed, the plucky little viper was crisped instantly like straw in a furnace.

Charging in, Sack and Surya headed across the tower towards the eastern and northern arches respectively. Reaching the eastern demon, Sack tried to shoulder-charge it into the whirling blades without success - though he did wound it - and it spun to the attack, raising its' sword to strike the temporarily unbalanced half-orc. There was a loud crack!, and a shower of molten fragments flew across the chamber as the blade intersected Hildraft's Blade Barrier. Bringing the ruined hilt slowly back in front of its' face, the demon stared at it in confusion. Siezing the moment, Sack leaped in and hacked its' head off, dropping and rolling away as the blast of its' death throes began.

On the north side, Surya had similarly defeated his foe, taking it from behind with the dread blade Tormentor, just as Hildraft rounded the corner of the northern arch, having run around from the east to get around the Blade Barrier. Gasping, the Quest regained their breath, some grabbing potions from belts to ease their hurts, and looked towards the centre of the tower to see where the mysterious voice had come from.

In the middle of the tower floor was a cylindrical pillar, twenty feet across, with a spiral stair running up around the outer face. At the top was a small pillar, like the one in the centre of the circle at Maraka, holding the Sancrist Crystal - Kingmaker at last!

Standing before it was a figure; small after the huge blazing demons at merely man-sized, but holding a far greater power and menace. Black plate armour, damasked in gold and mithril, enclosed a powerful-looking figure, but the face in the winged helm was a mere skull. A mighty greatsword rested point down between its feet; its' gauntleted hands were crossed on the pommel.

Hildraft frowned. Something was familiar about the metalwork of the armour. He thought for a moment, and then he had it. He'd last seen armour like this in an underground vault... in a ruined city... this armour, almost certainly, had been made by Elverandil the Mastersmith!

Sack meanwhile was staring at the creature wearing the armour. His studies with the Renders of the Dark in Karennal had brushed on such undead. They now faced a fallen hero, once a mighty champion of the light, then tempted to a fall from good into blackest evil, and sold by his own hand into the powers of Darkness - forever.

A Death Knight.