CXXX. Astral Asskicking

General Summary

Up on the peak of Primordius Mons, the Ring & Wren were engaged in battle with the Astral Terror and his Seer... Soora, sticking close to the crumbling walls of the Temple of the Hierotitan, shot a poisoned arrow into the Terror. She had been doing this for most of the fight, but the Terror had been consistently healing from the damage, much to her frustration. The Seer was still compelled to fight Kohinoor and hit her with his Comet Staff, though she managed to resist its incapacitation effect. He grumbled and walked forward, phasing through her and Wynna's bodies and causing the two psychic pain as he did. King, now free, made up for all the time he'd lost as the point of focus for the Terror's minions and unloaded eight shots at the Terror, four of which hit. Kohi moved around Wynna, putting herself between her and the Seer and then attacking him, Waythe glowing as she hit him with two divine smites. Behind her, the Terror made to crush Wynna with a claw, but Kohi covered her and took the brunt of the attack instead. Inside the Terror's donjon, Jäger revivified Amari, who'd been killed by the Hierotitan's disembodied arm. Amari returned to life even more exhausted than he had been from the five day climb up the mountain.

"Don't you ever die. I'll kill you if you die."
- Jäger Ironbeard

Jäger had noticed that the ring containing the Third Shard of the Astral Diamond had healed some of his wounds, so he tried to hand it to Amari, hoping it would do the same for him... ...but he hesitated. Something...something in him didn't want to let it go. Amari looked at him, eyes pleading. Not again. Jäger's hand hung in the air between them for two impossibly long moments. The two were by themselves in the belly of the beast...but though they were separated from the rest of their friends, they weren't alone. Jäger almost took the ring back, but it was his friendship with Amari, the bond between them, that gave him the strength he needed to push past the incredible resistance he felt in his mind. Amari met his hand halfway and took the ring. As he did, he instantly felt his exhaustion melt away. Jäger let out a sigh of relief, but otherwise the two said nothing about what had almost happened. Jager turned away and instead picked up the Hierotitan's dropped greatsword, covered in Amari's blood.

"We're getting out of here."
-Amari of the Ring & Wren

Amari went to take Jäger's hand, but Jäger badgered Amari into at least picking up a handful of gold before they left, concerned that they wouldn't be able to get back inside once the Terror was dead. Amari rolled his eyes but complied, shoving the gold into his pockets before taking Jäger's hand, tapping his staff on the ground and casting Plane Shift. The spell created a mirror image of the donjon that faded away as they arrived back in the Temple of the Hierotitan. Back in the midst of battle, Amari ran off and away from the Terror's gaze, which had landed on King, Kohinoor, and Wynna. Flames licked the area surrounding them, the last remnants of Wynna's Fire Storm spell. She dodged the Terror's gaping maw as it tried to bite her, but even her Shield couldn't protect her from the rapid series of claw attacks that targeted her and Kohi after that. The Seer incapacitated Kohinoor just before Wynna's Spirit Guardians descended and finally rent him apart. The Terror attacked her once again in retaliation--clearly Wynna was one of its biggest threats. King tried to use his shard to Dominate the Terror and end the fight early, but it seemed the creature was older than even the Astral Diamond itself, and thus immune to its power. This creature doesn't understand charms, King, Amari thought, it only understands this...he prepared to cast Meteor Swarm to end the fight once and for all. But before he could... With the Seer dead and her senses returned to her, Kohinoor turned to the Terror, Waythe breathing back to life as she left its anti-magic gaze and sliced up its claw, all the way to its face. Cracks of golden light split off from the cut, followed by the flesh itself peeling away from the force of the divine punishment. As the Terror died, it exploded outward into pieces before they were all suddenly sucked inwards and disappeared completely. A second later, several priceless artifacts and thousands of gold and platinum coins rained down from the now-inverted extra-dimensional pocket they had resided in. The party sifted through the treasure, finding a wide, white belt shaped to resemble clouds and a red metallic ring that shimmered like fire. Amari identified the magic items as a Belt of Cloud Giant Strength, a Ring of Fire Elemental Command, and the Hierotitan's sword as a Vorpal Greatsword. They found five statues of antiquity among the forty-eight thousand gold and twenty-eight thousand platinum they collected. [The party also picked up the Seer's Comet Staff] As he identified each item, the Third Shard healed all of Amari's wounds completely. He decided to hold on to it until the time came to collect the final piece. He didn't trust Lady Kohinoor with such an important artifact just yet. Besides that, he seemed to be dying quite frequently recently. This shard would help him avoid that. With all their business taken care of up on the mount, the party plane-shifted back to Felstadt, where they learned that an old friend was waiting to give them information...

Rewards Granted

Third Shard of the Astral Diamond
Vorpal Greatsword
Ring of Fire Elemental Command
Belt of Cloud Giant Strength 28,000 Platinum Pieces
48,000 Gold Pieces
5 Statues of Antiquity