We fight with Wantad and his crew. Unfortunately, this crew now seems to include Giro who joins in the dancing – to the effect that the gathering magic gains intensity. The lights in the room get brighter and brighter until they become almost blinding. Even the smallest magic effects becomes incredibly destructive.
The intensity of magic gathers to a crescendo whereby some items explode, including the parrot. Then all magic ceases to function and a wave of force knocks most people off their feet. The room is now only lit by 3 green nimbus’ of light from glass chambers. A small amount of time later magic returns but of a normal magnitude. Charity falls a number of times. We summon Valadrin Grovesong, the angel. Valadrin brings much needed curing and a pleasant aura …
Tar sets about rusting the metal tubes that connect the chosen children to the greater ceremony. The pressure within each of the glass chambers ratchets up to the point where they’re ready to explode. The dancers continue to flail themselves even as their bodies rise in to the air, their bodies flying around in a circle. Wantad continues to grow as he’s enthralled in the ceremony.
We eventually get Charity up to Wanted with the Kalcicaro. Charity smashes the Kalcicaro on the black hand that Wantad is standing upon. The chaos foes all fall to the ground, blood pouring from the eyes and ears. All of Wantads diabolic minions expire though Wantad himself survives, as does his mage. A visage of Orcus appears and screams his anger and fury at Wantad. Orcus claims that the Night of Dissolution will still happen even if he has to “wake from his slumber himself”. Then Orcus glowers at the rest of us, and his gaze rests upon Red: “You have returned …” Orcus screams. Orcus claims to have banished “the Winlords” once already and that he shall do so again. The implication is that somehow we’re the reincarnation of these “Winlords”.
As Orcus put his gaze towards Red the ex-feather glows silver and seems in some way to be antagonistic towards Orcus, in some way wanting to assail the great demon. Could it be that when Orcus put his gaze towards Red and mentioned "You have returned … " that it was actually referring to the silver wand?
During the final stages of the battle, where Wantad vents his anger on the party, Red gets dragged through the blue portal and into another world, or at least another city. The city is ring shaped and seems to exist on the inside of a spokeless wheel. Through the middle of the city is a giant stone column, possibly several miles across. From within the pillar appears a giant face surrounded by blades of a similar colour and texture. The faces seems to start straight at Red.
As Red watches on, enchanted by all the new sights, a black skinned figure passes a message on to Red before climbing up some vines. “The means to return will drop into your lap if you want to learn more of who you are. Ask the pillar of skulls for the key to Sigil.”. Red returns through the portal, back to the party.
A few of the figures in the tubes are children but one is the barbarian king who the army outside the city has been looking for. As Wantad rises as a revenant the King puches his way out of the glass chamber and joins the fight. As the fight draws to an end we make our way out, through part of the city and to some sewers. We travel close to the city walls to where we can send the King back to his people.
We head back to the guild to collect our chests of loot. It seems there’s trouble in the guild. Jesingar (the Night Master) and Jamil (the old instructor who had used the All-Key) have been murdered. The mages accuse the guild and the guild accuses the mages. Seems like we’re being roped in to trying to figure out who did what. We go to the murder scene.
It’s an apocalyptic scene … Red’s chest seems to have been looted. It looks like the Red’s chest is empty other than a jar.
From examining the body of the Nightmaster we see a small pin prick in the back of her neck. Her body has some tell-tale signs of poison.
Jamil seems to have had the life drained out of him. Red’s working assumption is that Jamil used the All-Key on the chest and that the chest drained the last of the life out of him.
One of the chests appear to belong to Slab and Wookie.
Javica tells us a story about her lost arm. A dark elf approached her and gave her a chest, very similar to the ones we have. In exchange, she was given our chests and asked to keep them secret. Javica was told that when the right people come along she was to give the chests over and that it was obvious that we were the ones. The arm Javica has is a form of primal chaos and Javica has to force the arm to reform in to the tangible form of an arm that it is today.
During the interview with Haydn he tells us there’s something wrong with Sam and Anna Gill … and Nobby has been behaving oddly. Barin (a cleric of Olidamarra) also, apparently, has no spells left and had to be allowed in to the guild through the use of a coin, rather than being able to make it through the portal himself. We go to talk to Barin and expose him for the treacherous dog that he is.
…. after many hours investigating, searching and interviewing we corner Barin with greater certitude over his suspicious activities. The game is up! Barin changes into a large dinosaur and rushes for the exit. We chop it down, eventually, after it’s changed in to a large spider and then back to its dinosaur form. Upon its demise it transforms into a humanoid form the like of which we’ve never seen before. It also regurgitates some green chaos liquid that Red then transforms in to a hat.
Unfortunately, we couldn’t link Barin to the Green Man so, for today at least, the Green Man remains a criminal in waiting.
The following day we go to the Commissars who rewards us with the deeds to Pythoness House, complete with chaos tint and ghosts.
We then travel to the Cathedral of Pelor to get some ailments treated. Apparently there are a number of high ranking members of the cathedral missing and that a reward is being posted for information leading to their recovery.
We return to the guild and open our chests.
We speculate upon our purpose in the universe. A Tar-ian theory suggests we may be the weapon that Orcus so covets and fears …
We go to Pythoness House. We seem to have a ghostly butler in the making. As we wander around our new abode Gabe disappears. We follow through some kind of portal. On the other side is a red canvas of a sky and a smell of sulfur. We appear lying down with some strange blue lattice effect. It turns out that we’re in Hell, at least according to a diabolic creature we encounter. Apparently we’re in the first layer of Batur. In one direction lies the Great Road, another direction are some mountains. Another direction is a river of blood.
Asking about the Pillar of Skulls the devil suggests we talk to the Old Witch, a planes walker who may know, though the creature does suggest it’s heard about the Pillar. “Over the river of blood is a cave where the hag hangs out”.
Balls of fire burst from the floor as we make our way through a basalt rock laden plain. Temporarily protecting ourselves from fire we make our way to the river and jump/wade/fly our way over.