Mistress of the Storm

Following Nicki’s unprovoked attack on the crysmals that were tending the crystalline “mainframe” of the Storm Tower, the group found themselves under psychic attack from the scorpion-like creatures. Two had already fallen to their blows, but four more still remained.

Sawyer moved into the control room and sliced at one with Suishen, damaging it even though the blade couldn’t find purchase on its crystal exoskeleton. It backed away and blasted him with a psionic assault. While Sawyer was trying to uncross his eyes, Zhustin blasted his assailant with a volley of Magic Missiles. Outside, Sandoval and Marie had surrounded one of the crysmals, but suddenly two more teleported out of the control room and behind them, and now they were the ones who found themselves surrounded. (And how had those crysmals known just where they were from inside the other room?). The crysmal he’d been attacking lashed out a Sandoval with his tail, delivering a painful but minor sting.

But the battle was all but over. Marie shattered one of the crysmals with her mace, and Bella and Shinjiro charged in to join the fight on the other two, and they were soon nothing but glistening splinters on the ground. Sawyer crushed the one remaining in the control room, and the fight was done.

Nicki was standing in the control room, not quite sure what to make of it. “Hey Bella – you might want to come take a look at this,” he called, and the rogue joined him. The room was full of a bewildering array of crystals, flashing and blinking with multicolored lights. If there was a pattern or meaning to the array, it was well beyond their comprehension. Most of the crystals were worthless, but Bella immediately saw that some were very valuable gemstones, and she and Nicki immediately began looting the room, prying gems out of their mountings. As they did so, some of the surrounding gems would fall dark, or begin flashing faster or more brightly (and as they progressed with their vandalism, it seemed there were fewer green lights and more red ones for some odd reason). Nicki and Bella were unconcerned, but others of the group tried to get them to stop. Sandoval in particular was concerned that they would do irreparable damage, possibly disabling the elevator or worse, causing the entire structure to become unstable. But they could not be dissuaded, and didn’t stop until Bella didn’t see anything else worth stealing.

Once he realized he couldn’t stop them from their looting, Sandoval began trying to figure out how to work the elevator control panel, thinking this might be their last chance to get down, but he couldn’t figure it out. Looking up the shaft, he could see that there appeared to be another floor 100 feet above this one. Another 100 feet above that was an opening in the roof, and the crackling sphere of energy floated above that. Nicki finally finished stuffing gems into his pack and came out to try his hand at the control panel. Using his arcane knowledge, he pressed and pulled a sequence of crystals. But instead of the magical elevator platform, a silvery-blue hemispherical bubble appeared in the shaft. It stayed there for a half-minute or so before vanishing. This was unexpected, so they had Nicki try it again. Once again, the half-bubble appeared. It was opaque, but by throwing fragments of crysmal at it they determined that it wasn’t impervious. What’s more, the fragments continued falling down the shaft, so there wasn’t any floor to it.

Not quite sure what to make of that, they told Nicki to step away from the control panel and let Bella take a look. Bella quickly figured out the mechanism, and this time, the usual blue floor of force appeared, and rose quickly to the next level. As it reached the top, the howling winds were again cut off until the elevator disappeared.

So they had their way up to the next level. This time, they decided to do a little preparation. Nick cast Invisibility on himself, and Marie cast Shield on Shinjiro. From their previous experience with the elevator, they knew they’d have one round more before they reached the top to cast additional spells. Bella again summoned the elevator and everyone leaped on board.

No sooner had the elevator begun rising than a lightning bolt came flashing down from the storm sphere directly onto Shinjiro. Apparently the trial run of the elevator had alerted someone upstairs to their presence. Marie quickly cast a Cure Serious Wounds on the monk, and he gulped down a Potion of Cure Light Wounds. As the elevator continued to rise, Sandoval cast Good Hope, and Bella quaffed a Potion of Fly. Zhustin, certain they would be in for a fight from the instant the elevator stopped, cast Haste on the party. Feeling extremely vulnerable and exposed, they waited for the elevator to reach the top.

When it did, they found themselves in the center of a huge hexagonal chamber. Four stone platforms jutted from the walls fifty feet above the floor. Each of the six walls was pierced by a pair of windows, fifty-five feet up, open to the icy landscape outside. Between each pair of windows was a large blue crystal, each sending a constant stream of crackling electricity up through a hexagonal opening in the ceiling to feed the massive sphere of energy rotating slowly above the roof. A howling gale swept down from the sphere, carrying the rumble of distant thunder.

And they were not alone. Standing around the elevator shaft were three Hoarfrost Spirits, while another stood atop one of the platforms to the south. They’d encountered these before, back in Iqualiat in the shaman’s lair, but these were easily the size of giants. Standing among them was another creature, clearly demonic in nature.

Katiyana

But these were but the minions of Katiyana, the Mistress of the Tower. On the platform to the north stood a beautiful, blue-skinned female figure, massive blue-black wings spreading from her back. She glared down at the party with open fury. “You worthless mortals have no idea what you are interfering with! When the monoliths I have consecrated to Sithhud are all in place, I will use them to channel the power of this Storm Tower and I will control the morozkos. I will send them out to freeze and batter all the soft lands to the south, and when the great lords of the Abyss see what my master Sithhud has wrought, they will return him to his former glory and power. Now, FLEE!”

Upon this last Command, the party felt the full power of Katiyana’s will lash out at them. Luckily, everyone was able to oppose her will with their own – everyone, that is, except Sawyer. He felt no fear, only an unquestioning need to obey. The big fighter dashed off the platform and ran until he reached the farthest wall, pressing himself against it and wishing he could go farther to please his mistress.

And so the battle began. Marie could tell that they were once again on Unhallowed ground, and eyed the undead surrounding them apprehensively. She quickly activated her Aura of Freedom’s Call to protect those near her. Nicki suddenly realized that his Invisibility had, well, disappeared. He immediately cast another. He flickered briefly, but remained stubbornly visible. Not wanting to get trapped on the soon-to-disappear platform, he dashed as far as his Hastened feet would carry him. Unfortunately, the Babau Demon summoned a lesser demon right next to his new position, and it clawed him painfully. Not caring to go toe-to-toe with any sort of demon, he fled to the south, near where Sawyer cowered.

Babau Demon

Unfortunately, one of the Hoarfrost Spirits saw him, and closed to attack, its claws chilling him to the bone. Another did the same to Zhustin. Bella dashed off the platform, dealing critical damage to another of the spirits as she used her Spring Attack ability to dash on out of reach after striking. Sandoval began singing as he moved off the platform. Shinjiro remembered that the Hoarfrost Spirits were so cold that he had damaged himself when he hit them; not wanting to repeat this experience, he circled off the platform to get behind the Babau Demon. Bella dashed over to join him, and smacked it with her warhammer. The creature was coated with a layer of acidic slime, and it splashed onto the haft of her hammer, causing it to smoke, but it held for the moment. Shinjiro lashed out with a flurry of blows, but found that the acid burned his skin with each strike. He just couldn’t find a foe he could fight without hurting himself.

Zhustin was still caught on the platform, under attack from one of the giant Hoarfrost Spirits. Taking a step back, he used Dimension Door to suddenly appear 10’ behind Katiyana on the platform high above. Intent on the battle below, she was unaware of his presence, and he used the opportunity to study her. She looked like the spawn of an unholy union between a sylph and some fiend from the Abyss. Her wings were more than decorative; she actually flapped them to float a few inches above the platform, and the howling winds did not seem to bother her in the least. Unfortunately, he couldn’t see any obvious vulnerabilities. He saw her cast some spell, and then curse when it had no effect on its intended targets. Zhustin racked his brain for the best strategy to use against her.

Down on the floor, Nicki backed away from the Hoarfrost Spirit attacking him, and cast a Fireball behind it, totally incinerating it. Unfortunately, the Babau Demon, not liking being surrounded, suddenly teleported away from the crowd surrounding it, and reappeared right next to Nicki, and its Dretch Demon minion immediately began rushing to join it. Nicki quickly summoned up another Fireball, catching both demons and killing the Dretch Demon.

Katiyana called down another Lightning Bolt from the Storm Sphere, this time on Bella, but the nimble thief dodged out of harm's way. With the demon out of reach, Bella turned on the nearest Hoarfrost Spirit, and shredded it. The remaining Hoarfrost Spirit breathed out a Cone of Cold that caught Shinjiro, Marie, and Bella, although Bella again managed to dodge. Shinjiro was looking shaky again, and Marie delivered a quick Cure Serious to keep him in fighting form.

Up on the platform, Zhustin finally decided what to do. He Summoned a Giant Ape next to Katiyana, and the massive simian swung its massive fists at her … and missed badly. Suddenly realizing the threat behind her, Katiyana called for a Spiritual Ally to take care of Zhustin and his monkey, then flew off the platform, headed towards the platform to the east. Zhustin hit her in mid-flight with a volley of Empowered Magic Missiles. Thoroughly annoyed, she landed and pointed her finger in Zhustin’s direction, and it suddenly grew very quiet on Zhustin’s platform. Sawyer, seeing Katiyana move to a new platform, hurried to the wall opposite her new position, desperate to please his mistress by staying as far from her as possible.

On the ground, Shinjiro gritted his teeth, and launched a flurry of blows against the Hoarfrost Spirit. The cold damage he took was worth it, as the spirit crumpled to the ground. Bella, taking advantage of the Haste, raced down to help Nicki, and the Babau Demon fell to her warhammer. There was still one Hoarfrost Spirit left, but it was on the platform 50’ above them, guarding one of the crackling power gems. Slipping on her Claws of the Ice Bear, Bella activated their Spider Climb abilities and began scaling the wall.

Marie summoned a Spiritual Weapon that began attacking Katiyana. Her fury mounting, Katiyana called down yet another Lightning Bolt onto the cleric’s head, but her Spiritual Weapon continued drawing blood. Sandoval cast a Sound Burst on Katiyana just before Marie cast Silence on her platform. Shinjiro saw what Bella was doing, and donned his own Claws to begin climbing up to Katiyana’s new position.

On the other platform, Zhustin discovered that the Spiritual Ally, being a construct of magical force, could not be damaged by physical attacks; no matter how the ape pummeled it, it was unharmed. Ignoring the ineffective ape, the Ally slashed at Zhustin. Thinking fast, Zhustin had the ape change tactics. Directly behind the Spiritual Ally was one of the power gems, sending a crackling stream of electricity up to the Storm Sphere. He directed the ape to try to manhandle the Ally into the gem, hoping the electricity might do some harm. Then, taking a cue from Bella, he slipped on his own Claws of the Ice Bear, and began climbing down the wall. He was just in time. The ape succeeded in grappling the Ally back into the gem. As they made contact, there was a tremendous explosion of electrical energy, vaporizing both the ape and the Ally.

Nicki had been studying those gems, and decided to focus his attention on them instead of on Katiyana. He fired off an Empowered Magic Missile against the gem to the northwest. There was a huge explosion, not just of fire, but also electricity. When the smoke cleared, the gem was still functioning, but it now sputtered and sparked. Encouraged, he followed up with a volley of Magic Missiles, with the same result.

Nicki reached the top of the platform, and attacked the Hoarfrost Spirit lurking there. Shinjiro also reached the top of Katiyana’s platform, unnoticed by her thanks to Marie’s Silence spell. He lashed out against the half-fiend, provoking a silent scream of rage.

Throughout the combat, Sawyer had cowered against the wall, slavishly obeying his mistress’s command. Finally, his own will exerted itself, and he broke free from her power. Unfortunately, as he looked around, he found nothing nearby to fight, so he began running across the room towards Shinjiro and Katiyana’s position.

The party earned 686 XP for the night, putting them at 69,998 XP with 75,000 XP required for level 9. We’ll be at Rich & Joette’s next week.