Session 23 - How do you kill a god?
General Summary
As everyone stares at the huge form of Ma'lak the fire God, Rashal runs to Orryn and asks about using Maelor's spectral hammer. Orryn says that it is ready to use and he can teleport half of the group to the circle but not while the shield is still active, Rashal looking up sees the shield is flickering on and off in patches and Faen says that he can deactivate it but he will need Halin's help.
Krux quickly heals Halin and everyone runs to the generator, but Ma'lak's leg comes over their heads and a shower of fire rains down on them. Quickly disabling the shield they feel the steady rain from Beira begin falling on them but because of the immense heat from the god it instantly burns any exposed skin.
Orryn quickly teleports half the group with Faen using his own circle to teleport the rest. Their last view is of Ma'lak inhaling deeply before breathing a plume of fire into the lower sections of the city and peoples screams ringing in their ears.
The fire elementals attack quickly lashing out at Saresh, Gimil-sin, Hanurak and a group of rune men, Faen casts spells while Krux casts sanctuary on himself for protection while taking out 10 elementals with toll the dead.
While Orryn seeing the party struggling kills 40 elementals easily with a single spell before beginning the preparations for the hammer.
Pulling out his spellbook and as best he can protecting it from the rain he tells Faen and Astraea he needs their help as there are not enough magic users to finish the ritual and that they will need to concentrate on the spell for at least 30 seconds while he finishes the final summoning.
In the brief lull, Valanthe heals the group before summoning her unicorn totem and as Astraea runs to help Orryn she throws ice storm killing 17 more elementals. Rashal summons lighting killing 8 more and Hanurak going into a rage after being attacked kills more while Thorbrith kills 3 with toll the dead. As Orryn begins the spell with Astraea and Faen the soldiers form a circle around them with the others to protect the three spell casters. The rain beats down curved in towards the columns by the immense magical forces that begin to form visibly warping the material world around them. Ma'lak sensing strong magic in the air turns turns from his destruction of the city and the surround area and begins moving with purpose towards the party, his Gargantuan size eating up the ground around him causing pools of lava to erupt and shake the very earth itself. As more elementals slam into the ground summoned by their master, Saresh lashes out with her whips killing five before giving a primordial scream and doubling her efforts killing 10 more. In retaliation they hit back at party hard hitting Hanurak, Thorbrith and Gimil-Sin.
Moving quickly to change the tide of battle Krux casts bless on the other magic users. But the party look up at the sky seeing more and more streaks of light as more elementals are summoned. Valanthe kills 8 with blight and Rashal washes 30 of them away with a tidal wave while Hanurak does what he does best, hitting them with the flat bit of his sword slicing through 10 more.
Thorbrith not wanting to outdone kills 8 more with another casting of Toll the Dead. Orryn Astraea and Faen continue to concentrate and the magic grows stronger as the pillars glow brighter the lines of force being concentrated ever tighter around the circle.
Seeing soldiers and runemen falling left and right, Saresh draws her crossbow and unleashes a rain of bolts killing 10 more elementals while the remaining ones flank the group lashing out firery tendrils at Krux, Gimil-sin and Hanurak as well as the columns themselves.
Still reeling from the attack Krux quickly helps the group while more fire elementals rain down around them.
In the distance the party see Ma'lak reach up an arm and suddenly three meteors slam into ground throwing from their feet.
Valanthe casts more healing spells while Rashal is hit by a fire elemental as he moves to get away from the enemies surrounding him but he fights back mananging to give the horde pause for a moment.
Hanurak still raging presses the advantage killing more elementals with his sword which allows Krux time to heal everyone while Thorbrith throws his shield into the air to protect him before charging towards the next group of elementals.
The three casters who’ve managed to maintain their concentration through all of Ma'lak's attacks continue to weave the magic of the spectral hammer closer, feeling the energy of it coursing through their bodies as the columns glow ever brighter meanwhile the other magic users can feel magic being pulled towards the circle. Saresh seeing Orryn making progress unleashes another attack while Krux keeps the rest of the party in the fight with his healing spells before summoning spirit guardians to assist. Valanthe seeing the party hard pressed but knowing the line has to hold casts another blight on the nearest group of fire elementals as they land and Rashal backs her up with frostbite.
Hanurak continues on his killing spree oblivous to the carnage around him while Gimil-sin and Thorbrith protect his flanks.
Seeing Thorbrith and Gimil-Sin about to be overwhelmed Saresh rushes forward her Urumi becoming a whirling dervish as they slice through the elementals. But before she can react Thorbrith is flanked by a fire elemental and with his age catching up with him is knocked unconscious to the floor. Orryn shouts at Astraea and Faen to concentrate as the spell grows ever stronger around them and the forces starting to warp the pillars themselves curving them towards the centre of the circle, neither Faen nor Astraea have ever felt magic this powerful before and they both feel exhilarated at the power they now command.
Krux seeing Thorbrith fall brings him back with a quick heal, the dwarf confused for a moment lashes out at the fire elementals coming towards him. Meanwhile on the other side of the circle more elementals fall as Valanthe continues blighting the oncoming elementals before noticing circle’s glow forms into a giant hammer above the pillars.
At that moment Ma'lak finally reaches the party. Quickly Orryn tells the others to concentrate on Ma'lak as he prepares to aim the hammer directly at him, with a cry of rage at his failure to banish the fire god before Orryn unleashes the hammer which streaks towards Ma'lak hitting him directly in his chest. The wound glows for a moment with arcane energy leaping across his body, another moment passes. Everyone looks on as Ma'lak heals the wound that appeared in his chest but as he does he shrinks down in size before a guttural scream of rage comes from him and he heads directly for the circle. Saresh quickly ducks behind the pillars for cover and shoots some crossbows at Ma'lak's arms while he lashes out at Hanurak and Gimil-sin who have charged towards him.
Faen now free from concentrating on the spell for the hammer casts mirror image on himself while Krux continues to heal everyone that he can.
Valanthe attacks more elementals with blight killing 10 more and as if in retaliation Ma'lak strikes out hitting both her and Faen, with Astraea casting meteor storm over Ma'lak’s location which seems less effective that she expected. In retaliation the fire god sweepts his leg across the entire group knocking them all back except for Rashal who deftly manages to dodge but this leads to his moonbeam missing in the chaos, lighting up some nearby supplies. Thorbrith is hit by Ma'lak and following Hanurak and Gimil-sin runs in striking at any part of the titan he can reach with his hammer.
At the same time Ma’lak strikes Krux with his whip and succeeds in flinging him across the battlefield. Saresh continues attacking the legs and Ma'lak falls to a kneeing position. At that moment Ma'lak showers the area with another meteor storm knocking Faen and much of the party unconscious. Thorbrith manages to continue the fight and managing to bring himself back to conciousness Krux quickly heals the party.
Faen rising from the floor groggily shakes his head and sees magma erupting next to Hanurak and Gimil-sin. Behind Orryn throws a chromatic orb at the chest of Ma'lak which hits him dead centre causing huge damage which he again heals but also shrinks down in size again. He rises from kneeling as he does Valanthe casts storm of vengeance over him while Astraea casts sunbeam but they both get hit by his legs knocking them both to the floor and causing their concentration to be broken. Seeing this Rashal throws up an ice storm causing damage and with a huge intake of air that almost sucks the party off their feet Ma'lak breaths out igniting the air over the group, fire spreads over the entire area killing fire elementals and soliders alike.
The group take a huge amount of damage as the air around them burns. Hanurak in his rage continues to pound away at Ma’lak’s legs causing him again to drop to one knee at the same moment his whips strike Faen. Seeing this Thorbrith throws his hammer to distract the titan but just misses, as Ma'lak raises his arms again he lashes out at Thorbrith knocking him unconscious again and throwing Hanurak and Krux back across the battlefield striking the pillars as they go.
Saresh quickly hits Ma’lak with an eldritch blast and while he is distracted she strikes again with her urumi. Ma'lak hits Krux again hitting anything within reach and knocks out Valanthe with a fire storm while Astraea is able to shake off much of the damage thanks to her fire resistance.
Faen feeling the battle is hopeless but determined to fight anyway hits Ma'lak's chest with chromatic orb causing more damage.
Again the titan lashes out at Krux as the gnoll dashes to safety and continues healing the party. Ma'lak manages to stand again as his legs regenerate and in revenge at the party’s impudence his lashes out hitting Gimil-sin and knocking those around him to the ground as he falls Orryn takes out more of Ma’lak’s fire elementals to give the group breathing space and Valanthe casts tsunami to try and turn the tide of the battle managing to disable and pin Ma’lak’s legs again in place as they are doused in the magical water.
Astraea flies up and casts ice storm which begins to freeze the titan’s head as the spell takes effect and in pain Ma'lak kicks out with his legs hitting Faen and Valanthe knocking both unconscious. Seeing his friends are in real trouble Rashal heals as many as he can while Ma'lak again unleashes a huricane of fire over the party knocking Faen, Valanthe, Orryn, Saresh and Krux over.
In the next moment Hanurak stands up and in an epic sweep of his arm throws his javelin which lodges in Ma'lak's chest from over 100 feet causing the torso to start to solidify and causing the god to roar in pain and rage and swing his arms widely around hitting Krux, Orryn and Hanurak while Thorbrith continues to strike out killing more fire elementals. Saresh manages to hit Ma'lak's legs causing him to fall to one knee again and with a roar he summons fire and lightning which ignites everything around the circle and causing Valanthe and Orryn to fall while Faen hits him with another spell distracting him so Krux can again heal those that fell but it is short lived as Ma'lak breathes out again.
Valanthe and Faen to fall unconscious, seeing everyone around him falling Orryn casts a meteor storm at ninth level, with his mastery of magic and using the last of his strength he manages to tweak the spell changing its damage type to cold striking Ma’lak hard, but the toll is too much and Orryn falls to the ground, unconscious.
Orryn quickly teleports half the group with Faen using his own circle to teleport the rest. Their last view is of Ma'lak inhaling deeply before breathing a plume of fire into the lower sections of the city and peoples screams ringing in their ears.
Eidover ablaze
The next thing they know is they are standing in the centre of the columns for Maelor’s Spectral Hammer, the din of battle is all around them as the Orryn's army of rune men and soldiers from the City State of Viken fight of hundreds of fire elementals as more pour from the sky.
As the fire elementals close in Saresh quickly takes out a few of them with her whip and Krux seeing Thorbrith is injured heals him with a quick healing word.The fire elementals attack quickly lashing out at Saresh, Gimil-sin, Hanurak and a group of rune men, Faen casts spells while Krux casts sanctuary on himself for protection while taking out 10 elementals with toll the dead.
While Orryn seeing the party struggling kills 40 elementals easily with a single spell before beginning the preparations for the hammer.
Pulling out his spellbook and as best he can protecting it from the rain he tells Faen and Astraea he needs their help as there are not enough magic users to finish the ritual and that they will need to concentrate on the spell for at least 30 seconds while he finishes the final summoning.
In the brief lull, Valanthe heals the group before summoning her unicorn totem and as Astraea runs to help Orryn she throws ice storm killing 17 more elementals. Rashal summons lighting killing 8 more and Hanurak going into a rage after being attacked kills more while Thorbrith kills 3 with toll the dead. As Orryn begins the spell with Astraea and Faen the soldiers form a circle around them with the others to protect the three spell casters. The rain beats down curved in towards the columns by the immense magical forces that begin to form visibly warping the material world around them. Ma'lak sensing strong magic in the air turns turns from his destruction of the city and the surround area and begins moving with purpose towards the party, his Gargantuan size eating up the ground around him causing pools of lava to erupt and shake the very earth itself. As more elementals slam into the ground summoned by their master, Saresh lashes out with her whips killing five before giving a primordial scream and doubling her efforts killing 10 more. In retaliation they hit back at party hard hitting Hanurak, Thorbrith and Gimil-Sin.
Moving quickly to change the tide of battle Krux casts bless on the other magic users. But the party look up at the sky seeing more and more streaks of light as more elementals are summoned. Valanthe kills 8 with blight and Rashal washes 30 of them away with a tidal wave while Hanurak does what he does best, hitting them with the flat bit of his sword slicing through 10 more.
Thorbrith not wanting to outdone kills 8 more with another casting of Toll the Dead. Orryn Astraea and Faen continue to concentrate and the magic grows stronger as the pillars glow brighter the lines of force being concentrated ever tighter around the circle.
Still reeling from the attack Krux quickly helps the group while more fire elementals rain down around them.
In the distance the party see Ma'lak reach up an arm and suddenly three meteors slam into ground throwing from their feet.
Valanthe casts more healing spells while Rashal is hit by a fire elemental as he moves to get away from the enemies surrounding him but he fights back mananging to give the horde pause for a moment.
Hanurak still raging presses the advantage killing more elementals with his sword which allows Krux time to heal everyone while Thorbrith throws his shield into the air to protect him before charging towards the next group of elementals.
The three casters who’ve managed to maintain their concentration through all of Ma'lak's attacks continue to weave the magic of the spectral hammer closer, feeling the energy of it coursing through their bodies as the columns glow ever brighter meanwhile the other magic users can feel magic being pulled towards the circle. Saresh seeing Orryn making progress unleashes another attack while Krux keeps the rest of the party in the fight with his healing spells before summoning spirit guardians to assist. Valanthe seeing the party hard pressed but knowing the line has to hold casts another blight on the nearest group of fire elementals as they land and Rashal backs her up with frostbite.
Hanurak continues on his killing spree oblivous to the carnage around him while Gimil-sin and Thorbrith protect his flanks.
Seeing Thorbrith and Gimil-Sin about to be overwhelmed Saresh rushes forward her Urumi becoming a whirling dervish as they slice through the elementals. But before she can react Thorbrith is flanked by a fire elemental and with his age catching up with him is knocked unconscious to the floor. Orryn shouts at Astraea and Faen to concentrate as the spell grows ever stronger around them and the forces starting to warp the pillars themselves curving them towards the centre of the circle, neither Faen nor Astraea have ever felt magic this powerful before and they both feel exhilarated at the power they now command.
Krux seeing Thorbrith fall brings him back with a quick heal, the dwarf confused for a moment lashes out at the fire elementals coming towards him. Meanwhile on the other side of the circle more elementals fall as Valanthe continues blighting the oncoming elementals before noticing circle’s glow forms into a giant hammer above the pillars.
At that moment Ma'lak finally reaches the party. Quickly Orryn tells the others to concentrate on Ma'lak as he prepares to aim the hammer directly at him, with a cry of rage at his failure to banish the fire god before Orryn unleashes the hammer which streaks towards Ma'lak hitting him directly in his chest. The wound glows for a moment with arcane energy leaping across his body, another moment passes. Everyone looks on as Ma'lak heals the wound that appeared in his chest but as he does he shrinks down in size before a guttural scream of rage comes from him and he heads directly for the circle. Saresh quickly ducks behind the pillars for cover and shoots some crossbows at Ma'lak's arms while he lashes out at Hanurak and Gimil-sin who have charged towards him.
Faen now free from concentrating on the spell for the hammer casts mirror image on himself while Krux continues to heal everyone that he can.
fire elementals from the sky
More fire elementals fall from the sky landing around them while Orryn tries to polymorph Ma'lak's legs but fails from the immense toll the hammer took on him. Valanthe attacks more elementals with blight killing 10 more and as if in retaliation Ma'lak strikes out hitting both her and Faen, with Astraea casting meteor storm over Ma'lak’s location which seems less effective that she expected. In retaliation the fire god sweepts his leg across the entire group knocking them all back except for Rashal who deftly manages to dodge but this leads to his moonbeam missing in the chaos, lighting up some nearby supplies. Thorbrith is hit by Ma'lak and following Hanurak and Gimil-sin runs in striking at any part of the titan he can reach with his hammer.
At the same time Ma’lak strikes Krux with his whip and succeeds in flinging him across the battlefield. Saresh continues attacking the legs and Ma'lak falls to a kneeing position. At that moment Ma'lak showers the area with another meteor storm knocking Faen and much of the party unconscious. Thorbrith manages to continue the fight and managing to bring himself back to conciousness Krux quickly heals the party.
Faen rising from the floor groggily shakes his head and sees magma erupting next to Hanurak and Gimil-sin. Behind Orryn throws a chromatic orb at the chest of Ma'lak which hits him dead centre causing huge damage which he again heals but also shrinks down in size again. He rises from kneeling as he does Valanthe casts storm of vengeance over him while Astraea casts sunbeam but they both get hit by his legs knocking them both to the floor and causing their concentration to be broken. Seeing this Rashal throws up an ice storm causing damage and with a huge intake of air that almost sucks the party off their feet Ma'lak breaths out igniting the air over the group, fire spreads over the entire area killing fire elementals and soliders alike.
Faen feeling the battle is hopeless but determined to fight anyway hits Ma'lak's chest with chromatic orb causing more damage.
Again the titan lashes out at Krux as the gnoll dashes to safety and continues healing the party. Ma'lak manages to stand again as his legs regenerate and in revenge at the party’s impudence his lashes out hitting Gimil-sin and knocking those around him to the ground as he falls Orryn takes out more of Ma’lak’s fire elementals to give the group breathing space and Valanthe casts tsunami to try and turn the tide of the battle managing to disable and pin Ma’lak’s legs again in place as they are doused in the magical water.
Astraea flies up and casts ice storm which begins to freeze the titan’s head as the spell takes effect and in pain Ma'lak kicks out with his legs hitting Faen and Valanthe knocking both unconscious. Seeing his friends are in real trouble Rashal heals as many as he can while Ma'lak again unleashes a huricane of fire over the party knocking Faen, Valanthe, Orryn, Saresh and Krux over.
In the next moment Hanurak stands up and in an epic sweep of his arm throws his javelin which lodges in Ma'lak's chest from over 100 feet causing the torso to start to solidify and causing the god to roar in pain and rage and swing his arms widely around hitting Krux, Orryn and Hanurak while Thorbrith continues to strike out killing more fire elementals. Saresh manages to hit Ma'lak's legs causing him to fall to one knee again and with a roar he summons fire and lightning which ignites everything around the circle and causing Valanthe and Orryn to fall while Faen hits him with another spell distracting him so Krux can again heal those that fell but it is short lived as Ma'lak breathes out again.
Valanthe and Faen to fall unconscious, seeing everyone around him falling Orryn casts a meteor storm at ninth level, with his mastery of magic and using the last of his strength he manages to tweak the spell changing its damage type to cold striking Ma’lak hard, but the toll is too much and Orryn falls to the ground, unconscious.
Orryn preparing to cast his meteor storm
Looking down on the group and seeing her friends falling Astraea looks Ma'lak straight in the eyes and with a calmness that belies the fury burning in her soul she raises her hand and clicks her fingers at Ma'lak and a beam of necrotic energy whips out licking at his head and torso as they begin disintegrating it into ash, looking up Rashal sees Astraea’s spell and as she does he calls to Beira for strength and lightning lashes out from the the sky impacting every inch of Ma'lak’s body shredding it as it leaps from wound to wound.
Rashal invokes Beira and calls down lightning
Giving a primordial cry of anguish Ma'lak disappears as a portal opens behind him sucking him into darkness everyone manages to hold on before they are sucked into the portal with him but as a last act of vengeance Ma'lak reaches out and grabs Orryn as the hole winks closed.
The rain falls softly from Beira for a few moments as the group look around at each other and the carnage about them as the fire elementals start dissipating and the sounds of battle fade.
Report Date
07 Apr 2019
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