A Race Against Orcus
Our party knew that we wanted to get rid of the Staff of Orcus, by taking it to Mount Celestia, but we had no idea how we were going to do it. I decided to try and contact the Raven Queen, and see if she could offer us any assistance. I started a ritual spell in the vain hope of making contact with her, as Slagathor stayed by my side and kept the room quiet.
I had just finished the incantation, when suddenly the air became colder. A fine thin mist, started emanating from our raven pendants. The medallions themselves became increasingly cold. The mist kept billowing out filling the cabin of the airship, pouring out of the portholes. Faal, Dexter and Targ were on deck, and looking over the side of the airship, they too could see the mist pouring out, filling the valley until the whole airship was covered.
Then the image of the Raven Queen, laying on a chaise lounge type sofa appeared in front of us. But it wasn’t a visual image, she was almost actually there. We knew we were on the boat, yet we knew we were somewhere else at the same time.
The Raven Queen smiled as Slagathor took to one knee, and she welcomed our presence. Slagathor and I both asked the Raven Queen if she could assist us in our quest to dispose of the staff of Orcus. She looked over at something and raised an eyebrow, exclaiming that she was happy to see that our quest was half complete. She told us that our path would be dangerous, but the quickest way to Mount Celestia is through Everlost and straight in to The Elemental Chaos. The Raven Queen sadly said that she is not allowed to interfere in matters such as this, however she will see what she can do. All that she asked was that we sent a signal high in the sky to indicate where we were.
Slowly the Raven Queen faded away, and along with it, most of the mist in the air ship. Faal then shifted in to an eagle, and I cast Light on him to make him glow brightly. He shot up in the air as high as he could go, and hovered in wait. He did not have to wait long, for the sound of beating wings could be heard shortly after. Dexter was able to discern that the sound was coming from a flying creature in the distance. As it approached, it turned out to be a dragon. but this was a familiar dragon. I turned to Slagathor and we both said the name.
Umba! Except instead of the fiery red, it was more of a black dragon. Umba landed and told us that the Raven Queen had asked for him to be our “assistance” in getting to Mount Celestia. Without further ado, we fired the engines up, and headed straight for Everlost. Suddenly behind us, the flapping of wings. Faal looked in the distance to see a hydra behind us, with it’s third head carrying a death knight!! We put full power to the airship and proceeded to make our way as fast as we could. Umba flew behind us and headed straight for the hydra. They exchanged glancing blow, Umba getting the upper hand and hitting the hydra backwards. But the hydra regained it’s speed again. Very quickly. Then suddenly we saw it. Flying down from up high was a creature of such evil energy, it almost sucked the life from you just by looking at it. It’s long horns, and large dark wings made it instantly recognisable.
It was Orcus.
He had give then hydra a hand after Umba had hit it, and now he was joining in the battle! All three of them threw bolts of energy both normal and necrotic at one another. Umba got hit quite badly, but then struck a devastating blow on the hydra, and it plummeted down from the sky, taking the death knight with it. It was now Orcus and an injured Umba. If Umba failed to protect us, we would have no hope. We all crossed our fingers as we sped up to Everlost, getting closer and closer. Orcus and Umba were still battling behind us, as the glooming fortress came in to sight. The quickest way to the Elemental Chaos was straight under the fortress, through the chasm. The airship should fit through.....SHOULD fit through. I aligned the ship as best I could as we raced towards the gap. We all took a deep breath as the airship whistled cleanly through the gap, and breached the edge of the Elemental Chaos.
Inside, things started getting weird. We were seeing images of people and creatures we’d encountered before. High Priests, Merchants, Callarel, Beholders. Lots of different images fading in and out of sight, then all of a sudden....blackness.
We awoke slowly. We appeared to be on a beach of some description. The airship behind us, the balloon deflated and the engines cold. Everyone was accounted for, and we assessed the situation. Behind us, was a great big mountain. Mount Celestia. In front of us was an ocean, but not of water. An Ocean Of Positive Energy. This was it. This was the staff’s final resting place. Targ casted Hallow on the ground, creating a sacred area for me to stand. I reached my hand in the to bag of holding and gripped he handle of the staff. I could feel the staff trying to corrupt me, but the sacred circle battled it off. I looked towards the ocean, and with all my energy I flung the staff towards it. The staff curved, and flew in an arched motion, dropping in to the ocean. Where it dropped in the ocean, bubbles started appearing, slowly becoming more and more vicious. Lights of purple, shot out from the water, burning the sky. Then slowly, the water once again became calm. The chain holding the medallions around our necks vanished, and the medallions themselves appeared to sink in to our bodies. The sigil of the Raven Queen then marked us, almost like a tattoo. Then suddenly we heard a voice in our heads.
You have completed the task I set you. As promised, you are no longer able to be brought back from the dead. You have my blessings.
And with that, the voice quietened, and we finally heaved a huge sigh of relief.
Fin















