Session 6

The Party finally reached the tower. As they did, they heard the whistle that signaled the other strike team having successfully infiltrated the tower. Samuel Bayard Fariman kicked open to door and the party rushed inside just in time to see the first team crushed to death by a collapsing wall trap. Aravo Zacksted moved carefully through the floor, scanning for other traps, but failed to spot the invisible quarsit who snuck up behind him and clawed him in the back. All around the party more of the things popped out of invisibility and assaulted to unexpecting party. The party dealt with these demons, and though they had sustained a few injuries from the encounter they were mostly no worse for the wear and continued on.

The party braved floor after floor of booby traps, puzzles, and booby trapped puzzles to scale the tower. One one floor they found an unconscious man wearing Crusade of Light armor tied to the tower's central pillar. When Fariman tried to untie him, the man exploded, and Fariman was sprayed with blood and shrapenal. As they approached the next flight of stairs they found the stairway full of many more of these unconscious and unwilling traps. Aravo made several attempts to get by, but ended up accidently detonating most of the Crusaders. The party eventually made it up to the next floor, leaving behind the remaining Crusaders cause they could do nothing for them.

They came across the room where is seems they human bombs were constructed. A man lay, stomach open, on an operating table with an inactive explosive beside him, the surgery stopped apparently suddenly, likely because of the assault of the Crusade. The man was alive but was bleeding out quickly. Marcus Hildebrand quickly rushed into action and saved the man's life. The man rose from the operating table and introduced himself as the General of the Crusade. He didn't trust the party enough to even give his full name, saying Biel was a master of deciet and had often pretended to "rescue" him in hopes that he would give up valuable information. Marcus gave him a sword and the General declared that he would accompany the party to the top of the tower.

After making it through several more floors worth of tricks and traps, the party finally arrived at the top of the tower. There in the center of the room was a large, glowing orb of evil power, what they had set out to destroy. Marcus tried to get a sense of how evil it was and was quickly overwhelmed by its aura, having to be dragged away from it. It burned Fariman to the touch, and repeated attacks by the General's sword yielded no results. The party began to search the room for some way to destroy the orb. The General grew increasingly frustrated as the party set to exploring books (which Marcus then set ablaze becuase they radiated with evil) and trying to get a magically sealed chest open (which the General then smashed out of his annoyance).

Eventually Aravo got the idea to try to use his experience manipulating magical artifacts to try and get a control of the device itself. He grabbed onto it and, after a few moments of the land outside shifting rapidly out of control, managed to get control of the device. He sealed the tower to stall the return of the tower's defenses and. at the general's demand, commanded the orb to destory itself. It did, and the land outside shifted to return to the way it had originally been. It was then the party got a view of where they were: Auria, after its destruction at the hands of the Demon Lords.

The General explained that some time ago the Demon Lords began assembling a great power in the Southlands, in the unexplored regions of the continent past the Dead Marshes. They recruited among the native people there and began sending thier minions back to our world. In time the amassed enough power to launch a surprise assault on the rest of the world. The Dragon Martyrs didn't stop fighting for a moment to counter the assault, in fact, they openly fought one another and sabatouged each other's attempts to deal with the demons in order to place themselves ahead. The last surviving mortal stronghold was said to be burned to the ground by the last forces of the three martyrs fighting one another, the demon horde only needed to walk through the burnt remains. After the fall of the armies, the Martyrs fled the Plane. The Dieties, too powerless to be of much help, presumably also left, but he couldn't be certain.

After learning the truth about the possible future, the Party was teleported once again by Paris's magic. When Marcus continued to refuse to make peace with Fariman, despite the rest of the party's insistence that he should and Aravo preaching scripture of Themis about forgiveness, it became clear that one of them would have to leave. Aravo wished to continue with his fellow follower of the Trinity, Marcus, while Skarl Hrolfson preferred to keep Fariman around, feeling that Marcus's over-righteousness would come bite them in the ass one day. Paris was forced to make the decision for them and sent Marcus to another city and brought the rest of the party to him.

The party, now minus Marcus, found themselves in Paris's Paradise, a pocket Plane that Paris had discovered. It had been completely devoid of life once, but Paris had turned it into a place of peace and life. Paris himself was reclining back in a chair and relaxing as the party approached him, demanding answers. He explained to them how he had seen the future during his time studying to be the Dragon Speaker of Solon and now worked to prevent it from coming to be. To this end two forces were in play: The Church of the Trinity, or at least a splinter faction of them, led by Verice Lancaster, was fighting on the southern front, sending troops into the Dead Marshes to try and disrupt the Demon Lords rise of power, hoping to at least stall them. The Scioni were fighting on the Dragon front, acting in secret under the pretense of being a criminal syndacite (whom the martyrs were more likely to ignore) they worked in the shadows to try to undermine the martyrs power, hoping that if they can be defeated and thier hold broken the world will be able to unite as one when the Demon Lords strike.

The party was chosen for a special purpose. When Paris met them in the carriage of Lady Bastier he was surprised to learn that they had survived the aura produced by the dragon statuette during the Battle of the Summit, which was powerful and demonic in nature. Though it messed with thier memories, they proved to have at least some natural resistance to the demonic artifact. They were needed for this purpose, to go where even someone as powerful as Paris could not becuase he lacks such a resistance. He couldn't explain everything to them, for if someone else was to read thier minds his plans could be discovered, but he assured them that thier mission was of paramount importance and asked them if they were willing to accept it.

Aravo was in almost immedietly. Fariman mumbled something about giving up the retirement plan of a Dragon Speaker but agreed. Skarl was reluctant, but agreed to go along with it at least for the moment, on the condition that more information would be revealed in time. Paris was delighted to hear it. He explained that they must now go to Auria where the Scioni would seek them out. He would send them to Pacil, however, for teleporting them directly to Auria was a sure way for them enemies to take note of them. From Pacil they would head to Auria by the quickest means possible.

Once back in Pacil, they found the town in celebration over the defeat of the ogres, which they attributed almost entirely to Marcus. They found Ronald entertaining the crowds with songs of the party's adventures, which Skarl joined in on. Fariman and Aravo went to the inn and took part in a variety of drunken bar games. Fariman later took Ronald aside and briefly explained to him thier situation, asking for him to work as an agent of propaganda for the Scioni and the Church. Ronald didn't really understand but he agreed.

As the party prepared to set out the next day, they found the innkeeper in hurried conversation with some of the townspeople. Apparently, a battle was soon to take place between forces of Solon and Astraea not far from the town. While the town itself would likely be spared, the townspeople worried about the young woman who tended to the flowers out in the area. She was "not quite right in the head" and didn't listen to any of the warning to come into the safety of the town. The party set out to find her, riding the horses that Paris had left for them. They found the Girl of the Flowers right where they were told she would be. As they were warned, she didn't seem quite "normal" and absolutely refused to leave her flowers, incoming battle or not. She handed Fariman a rose, which he crushed in his hand to show what would happen when the battle was fought here. She became furious, and with lightning fast speed she pulled a sickle from under her sleeve and had it at Fariman's throat. Fariman and Aravo struggled with her, eventually making her drop the sickle, but she overpowered the both of them and pinned Fariman to the ground. It was only with Skarl's intervening that she agreed to get up. No amount of convincing could force her to go, it was clear, and Skarl said they should respect her decision. He gave her a few daggers to help defend herself and the party saddled up and were on thier way to Auria.

As they rode away, they saw the encroaching armies in the distance, ready to fight another battle in the of thier gods.