Epilogue

The townsfolk of Crux gathers to the construction site, some bring wood, others have tools, others food and drinks. "It's a good hammer. It will do the job." The half-orc hits one more wooden pole on the head, the Hammer of the God of Thunder cracking with power. Ashinn laughs, holding their child in her arms. 

In her moonlit realm, the goddess Xeridani slowly recovers her power. It will take centuries, maybe millenias, but she has all the time in the Multiverse. From up above, the souls of her followers are like falling stars, becoming one with their goddess. The brightest star falls gently in the palm of her hand. "Welcome home, my friend" she whispers, as she holds the star near to her heart.

He walks the halls of the Shattered Temple, not as a servant, but as the Master. Factol Serghor of the Athar surveys Sigil from up high, braziers alight on the balcony to dispel the night's darkness. A form of silver and amber, her head crowned with blades, floats to him, meets his gaze. The Factol holds the Key in his hand. Then something happens that never happened before. She speaks. "Use it wisely"

 

We're losing her... We're losing her... Hang in there, you can do this! Smell of rust, cold steel. Blinding lights. She opens her eyes. God, the light burns! She's alive... Pain everywhere. Are you... are you Meghera? Strangers, holding her down. Yes...

Session 71

Heroes: Meghera, Serghor, Xeridan, Trull

The Heros run to assist the Lady of Pain, but it's too late. When they touch her body, she dissolves in a flash of divine power, leaving behind the Key of Infinite Doors, a powerful artifact capable of opening portals to any location in the Multiverse.

While the gigantic form of Orcus destroys Sigil, the Heroes make their way across the onslaught, seeking the help of other gods. From the dying manifestations of Thor and Mystra they retrieve the Hammer of Thunderbolts and the Staff of the Magi. They trust that with these godly weapons they'll be able to face the horror of Orcus.

But reality shifts again, and they find themselves back in the present, on Orcus' corpse-island, facing Quah-namog and his undead minions. The Heroes keep fighting, but the battle it's taking its toll. In an act of selfless sacrifice, Meghera uses the magical circlet she found in Tcian Sumere to touch the emerald skull of the Wand of Orcus. In an explosion of tremendous energies, Quah-namog and Meghera are completely obliterated, while the others are severely wounded.

Then they're back into the future.

Sigil is still under attack, but Orcus is now Tenebrous, a sickly shadow of his former self. Every time he uses the Last Word to kill an attacking god, his form is wracked with pain. The Heroes prepare for the final assault. 

They summon the Punisher of the Gods, Zakonik the Crimson Bull of Vengeance. The minotaur throws himself into the sky and attacks Tenebrous with the Hammer of Athun. With each hit, Tenebrous form loses big chunks of necrotic matter, visibly hurt by the assault.

The Heroes destroy the Gem of Seeing and the Sword of Orcus that they retrieved in Tcian Sumere, weakening the god even more. Then they take to the sky with the help of a fly spell, and unleash their power on Tenebrous.

The Hammer of Thunderbolts cracks with divine power, but the undead god is still too strong. Then Xeridan flies to the head of Tenebrous, and breaks the Staff of the Magi in two. The explosion is devastating, obliterating Xeridan, but also inflicting the fatal hit on Tenebrous.

As a shower of silver magical flames fall on Sigil, the form of Tenebrous dissipates.

As the future becomes the present once again, Trull and Serghor find themselves back on the corpse-island, but there's no trace of Xeridan or Meghera. Together with the Bull of Vengeance, they mourn the loss of their companions, who heroically sacrificed themselves to save the Multiverse.

Session 70

Heroes: Meghera, Serghor, Xeridan, Trull

The Heroes seek to find Quah-nomag and the Wand of Orcus, before the dark priest succeeds in bringing the Lord of Undeath back from oblivion. Their search brings them to the Astral Plane, where they meet a manifestation of the god Anubis, Keeper of the Dead, that points them in the right direction.

They travel through the Astral Plane, eventually reaching the island-corpse of Orcus. No matter how they try to approach the floating island, they find themselves appearing near the "feet" of the island. A 4-miles journey to reach the "head" of the stony corpse is ahead of them.

As they travel across the dark rocks, they're stopped by the lich Aldarion and his undead minions. The fight against the lich drains much of their resources, but eventually they manage to defeat the undead mage.

When they reach the "head" of Orcus, they find Quah-namog reciting a dark ritual of resurrection, surrounded by more undead creatures. The Heroes charge ahead, but before they can reach the dark priest, reality changes around them.

They find themselves in Sigil, but the city is under attack. Somehow they realize they've been sent to the future, or at least one of the possible ones. Buildings are on fire, citizens are running for their lives. On the streets of the Cage, the dead bodies of several gods lie in pools of radiant blood. Up above, the colossal form of Orcus can be seen, miles tall, ravaging the city with his huge claws. As the Heroes bear witness, a silver and amber form gets thrown at their feet, broken and lifeless. They look at the torn body, and immediately recognize it.

The Lady of Pain is dead.

Session 69

Heroes: Meghera, Xeridan, Trull

Xeridan is restless. He has been painting for several days as if possessed, and his paintings show alien landscapes filled with ziggurats and bleeding moons. He feels a pull to visit once again the Forgotten Temple in Sigil.

The Heroes sneak inside the Temple, but something has changed. When Xeridan utters a prayer to the forgotten goddess Xeridani, the power of five monoliths inside the church awakens. As the Heroes approach the monolith, they're whisked away and enter a foreign dreamscape, the memories past, present, and future of the goddess.

They witness her youth, the eternal fight against her father, the sun god Necalli, and then her love for her most trusted priest... Aonar! The same Aonar that murdered her on the steps of her own temple, to steal her power. Having protected and helped the goddess through each dreamscape, they awaken a hidden power in the Temple. A hidden monolith rises from the ground, and with it comes the draconic form of Aonar, bent on destroying the Heroes. 

When they defeat Aonar's terrifying figment, they finally lay the goddess to rest. Or have they really brought her back? As she walks into the blinding light of a portal in the Astral Plane, she blesses the Heroes with Truesight. A power that will come in handy when they face Orcus' visages again.

Session 68

Heroes: Meghera, Serghor, Trull

The Heroes perform in the Cynosure to earn the respect of the travelling madhouse, and come into contact with Antha, a bariaur healer. Antha asks the Heroes to bring her to the gate-town of Fortitude, and in exchange she will tell them how to reach Agathion.

One plane shift spell later, and the Heroes are sipping honeyed ales in Fortitude, while Antha tells them of the Ingress, a mythical race of creatures capable of transporting them anywhere they want among the enclosed "bubbles" of Agathion. To find the Ingress, they must first travel to Caderis, a ruined fortress on Phlegeton, the third layer of Pandemonium.

The day after the Heroes plane shift to Caderis, which has become a waymeet for travellers in Pandemonium. After a quarrel with some fellow planeswalkers, the Heroes obtain directions to the Ingress cave. The Ingress is in fact a fleshy, gargantuan creature incapable of communicating. the Heroes simply need to think about their destination, and then walk into the folds of flesh of the creature (!).

They're trasported to Agathion, in the cave that contains the famed Wand of Orcus. When they're about to take possession of the Wand, reality changes around them: the visages have arrived! But they're not alone; together with them is the half-ogre Quah-namog, last priest of Orcus. Quah-namog and the visages, empowered by their rising god, defeat the Heroes and plane shift away with the Wand.

The Heroes return to Glorium to lick their wounds after this defeat, and to plan their next move in order to find the Wand again. While they're resting, they're approached by the Prophet, the minotaur sage that has crossed their path before. He tells them to take a boat, and go out at sea, and jump into the waters; there, the Bull of Vengeance will make himself known.

They do just that, but when they jump into the water they find themselves at the bottom of an unknown abyss, with a titanic creature ready to devour them... a kraken! The Heroes battle the creature and defeat it. Thunder rumbles, and the voice of the Bull can be heard.

Law and Chaos... Good and Evil... Right and Wrong... only one thing matters...

When they answer "Victory", the Bull fo Vengeance, Herald of Athun God of Victory, and Punisher of the Gods appears to them, as a crimson minotaur clad in golden greaves and a golden hammer, the mythical Hammer of Athun. The exalted warrior praises the Heroes for their prowess, and pledges to come to their aid once when they will call for him.

Session 67

Heroes: Meghera, Xeridan, Trull

 

The Heroes defeat the nobles of House Kilsek and deliver the Vault of the Drow to the Tormtor clan. Matron Verdaeth keeps her word and tells the Heroes what she knows about the entity haunting them.

 

The dead god that is trying to come back is none other than Orcus, Prince of Undeath. Upon his death at the hands of Kiaransalee, the goddess tasked Erehe and Kestod to hide the infamous Wand of Orcus where it could not be found. The two devoted drow hid the wand in Agathion, the fourth layer of Pandemonium.

 

The Heroes leave the Vault and begin researching a way into Agathion. They come to the conclusion that their best shot is to travel to Pandesmos, the first layer of Pandemonium, and from there join the Cynosure, a travelling town/circus/madhouse said to have travelled through all of Pandemonium.

Session 66

Heroes: Meghera, Serghor, Xeridan, Trull

The Heroes follow the lead they uncovered in Tcian Sumere and travel to the prime material plane of Oerth. From there they scry on Erehe and the Vault of the Drow, and spy on the dark elf discussing political matters with a priestess in a finely appointed room. Without losing any time, the Heroes teleport into the room and rapidly knock Erehe out. Before they can kill him, the priestess convinces them to parley.

She introduces herself as Verdaeth, matriarch of house Tormtor and high-priestess of Kiaransalee. When she learns the reasons of the Heroes' arrival, she tells of her connection with Erehe, and proposes a deal. Erehe was Verdaeth's lover, before he performed a task for the goddess Kiaransalee, for which he was rewarderd with drowning in the River Styx. Verdaeth prayed to her goddess for the return of Erehe, and her wish was granted. Yet, his memory was still gone.

Thanks to the psychic powers of her githyanki allies, part of Erehe's past experiences was uncovered. Verdaeth knows what Erehe did for Kiaransalee, she knows the name of the god she killed, and knows where to find the lost power of this entity. She will reveal all this information to the Heroes in exchange of Erehe's safety, and if they will help her win the civil war currently ongoing in the Vault. The Heroes readily accept.

The day after, the Tormtor army assaults the Great Gate, where the Heroes defeat the general and the archmages of the Kilsek family. They then rush to the Kilsek palace, and enter the inner sanctum of the matron mother. In the temple of Lolth they're faced with yochlol demons, and a matron blessed by Lolth herself with a monstrous spidery form.