The doors at the top of the ramp burst open and three more cloud giants storm onto the scene. They are followed by the massive form of a huge rune giant. His skin is etched with countless Thassilonian runes as he barrels forward.
The party quickly realizes that they’re still reeling from the initial wave and they need to buy themselves some time if they want to have any hope of survival. Fobias summons a tall circle of flames, preventing the giants from getting any closer without taking a few licks from the fire. Fyn also contributes, summoning a pair of bone devils to block the way.
Once the bone devils appear, they go straight to work, summoning multiple ice walls to impede the giants. The rune giant gets out in front of the frozen structures, but he is cut off from his allies who begin ramming their fists into the walls to break them. This gives the party enough time to burst down the rune giant and control the battle on their terms.
Unfortunately, this rune giant doesn’t go down without a fight. He creates a mini explosion from the stored energy in his runes, sending the party reeling for a moment before taking him down. The bone devils advance, using their invisibility to impede the cloud giants as they attempt to break down the icy walls. Fobias, realizing that his wall of fire is now cumbersome, tries to morph the stone to get around the wall, but the magic of the building is too much for him to overcome.
Fyn creates an acidic fog to choke out the giants who can’t get through the ice walls. This also gives the party enough time to move through the fire and heal up. The bone devils get the MVP chant.
Eventually, Fyn teleports Trace and Barnaby to the top of the ramp to engage the final cloud giant. Thanks to an improper combat maneuver, however, Barnaby drops his scimitar right before the teleport, which sets off a chain of somehow getting back to his weapon now that he’s blocked off by ice and fog. It’s a whole thing.
Trace looks beyond the double doors and sees a quadrupedal beast covered in eye-laden tentacles, gibbering in the hallway. It bounds backwards out of sight, but Trace fears the worst. This certainly isn’t the last wave of enemies.
The paladin cuts down the final giant and moves into the doorway. He sees the chaos beast again, next to a pale man with long, flowing black hair. He casts a Disintegrate spell at Trace, who weathers the brunt of it. In layman’s terms: he doesn’t turn into a smoking pile of ashes.
Many potions are chugged as the party groups up and prepares to square off against their latest threat. The bone devils lead the charge once again, blocking off the chaos beast from his master. Krask steps into the room and takes a shot. It’s a shot that, as it stands, is his last.
A staticky image of another man emerges. He has a long, banded braid of dark hair and sullen features to go along with his gem-studded skin. The party has seen depictions of this man in many forms; it’s Karzoug.
“And so the fools have found me. I must applaud your tenacity. You are much more persistent than the worms I thought you to be. You are more like hungry maggots in your endless squirming and writhing to get to the death that awaits you at the core of your fate. I am that fate, maggots. I am your death!”
Karzoug, probably
And with that, his jaw unhinges to an unnaturally disturbing width. He lets out a terrifying scream that could split a soul. Krask drops to his knees, covering his bleeding ears but the damage is done. The kobold slumps over on the floor, and stops moving.
The party is shocked and stunned at the sudden turn of events. Fyn steps forward and sees Karzoug. He is able to determine that this is a figment, albeit a powerful one. Without hesitation, he concentrates and dispels Karzoug’s image, which breaks apart in a thousand bursts of light.
The spellcaster remains, facing a party down one member.
Is this how Krask’s story ends? Will the party be able to overcome this setback? Will Karzoug finally be taken seriously?
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