LongestRoad Run6
16 Horse Moon, 1372
The deeper we go into the Abyss, the more I worry about you. I haven't scried on you in a few weeks, need to make sure you're alright. Stay focused, Ezel. The sooner we get out, the better.
First problem: The portal in the River Styx. If any water splashes on you, you forget everything. I don't know if it works on me, and I don't want to know. We slept overnight and planned a strategy. I formed a magical funnel around the portal and channeled it up to the surface. Then Sil threw a fireball down to evaporate the water. We casted flight spells and jumped through. It was like a slide. We made it to the next level without a problem.
Note: I could sell this idea for entertainment, the Super Happy Fun Slide. With the profits, I could buy every scroll I ever wanted to!
This plane was a jungle. The air was yellow and thick; must have been hard to breathe. Before Evathyth could figure out where to go, Querca headed off. She saw one of her stupid religious signs and simply had to go. We followed, of course.
We passed by a ripped-open Century Worm. Something tore its way out from the inside. I wonder if it's that holy symbol. Surrounded by three Bloodthorns (they like to drink blood, who knew?) and several Maurezhi. These demons are scavengers, feeding on corpses. The man is quite wounded, and Querca wants to save him. Sure, why not?
I learned a new spell, Demon Dirge. Demons, especially those from the Tanar'ri, love it. And by love it, I mean the Maurezhi spent a bit of time spasming on the ground. Gave me plenty of time to destroy it. Michael usually handles this, but he plowed into a tree. He scared the other three, too. Hah!
Looks like Ellowyn enjoyed his new spell, Baleful Polymorph. Turned one of the Bloodthorns into a four-leaf clover. Jeralyn held the other two at bay while Sil carried the wounded man away.
I had to kneel. No, not because I wanted to. Because it was a demigod. We rescued one of Obad-Hai's seedspawn. This one was named Laon-Hai. Yet another , desperate to do something glorious to gain a shred recognition from his much too busy father. You were saved by a group of mortals, weakling.
Truth: Gods produce thousands of demigods every year. “Blessed” with immortality, demigods spend their cursed lives trying to gain some sort of achievement. An eternal rat race, ha.
Why was he in the Abyss? Apparently this demon war reached new heights. The fight between Graz'zt and Pazuzu even got the gods' attention. They've sent their lackeys, like this sack of flesh, to investigate. We're caught in the middle of something big. The dragon orbs are only a part of it.
Anyway, Jeralyn and Laon-Hai run off and clear a path. He is on the lookout for an Armanite that would pass through soon, possibly with a passenger. The Armanite demons are bull-like but with huge fists, like a gorilla. And guess what? Because Laon-Hai is a wimp wants to see us perform, he will let us fight it all by ourself! Thanks!
We waited in ambush, and yes it did come. He had a girl tied to his back who screamed and cried and had red wings on her back. Although it saw us first (can see through invisibility, I didn't expect that) we handled it fairly quickly.
As for the girl. Michael detected her as evil, but the rest of the party found her to be oh so cute. She pulled the innocent girl routine quite well. Now that is “cute:” a young succubus. Her name is “Rose” and she's the daughter of Bera, one of Lord Pazuzu's flunkies. Pazuzu is apparently really cool and has tons of treasure and green dragons, and he's totally awesome. Green dragons? He has control over them, probably. I wonder if we can get those orbs.
And now a dilemma: How do we handle “Rose?” I wanted to kill her immediately, but we needed to reduce casualties (the civil war must continue.) Also the group would crush me if I couldn't prove she was evil. Ugh, lousy moral-ridden murder brigade. Okay, if I could dispel her transformation and show her true form – I'm out of spells, and Querca couldn't do it. Our best bet at this point is to hold onto her until tomorrow, when I can try stronger dispel powers.
Fun Fact: Succubi are masters at anything except combat. They are fantastic liars, very nimble escape artists, and are trademark seducers. Never trust anything inherently evil - um, besides me of course.
Succubi are very resourceful, unfortunately. If you don't kill them instantly, they'll find a way out. Case in point: Rose managed to relax enough to teleport away. I heard a rustle, but I couldn't break my concentration, learning spells. This might come back to bite us later. She has not learned our big plan, but we did drop many clues. Subtlety isn't our strong suit. *sigh* Just one more day and we can get out of here, Aezma. I can't wait to see you again.
