Previous

Hail the Conquering Heroes

On the final week of our campaign, the party turned their attention to the threat of the Abyssal Legion, the horde of magically augmented humans1 still led by the surviving lieutenants of Asmodeus and bent on the destruction of Undermountain. If they could destroy the Soulstone, the devilish influence on the Legion would be removed, leaving the surviving members alive and sane2. As they debated how to destroy it, and whether to use its power for themselves, Azoreas communed with Bahamut to ask his advice. Bahamut informed him that the temples of Bahamut and Tiamat had been reinforced with holy power to combat the devils, as the party learned when they killed the pit fiend. No temple was more powerful than the Temple of the First Dragons, the shared temple of Bahamut and Tiamat in the heart of the Shadowfall Mountains. If the party brought the Soulstone there, a group of powerful dragons was prepared to channel the power of the dragon gods to destroy the Soulstone. After some deliberation, Lester teleported most of the party to the Shadowfall mountains to seek the aid of the dragons. Shanky and Cayosin were left behind out of fear of their allegiance to Regina3.

When most of the party arrived at the gates of the Temple of the First Dragons, they were greeted by a mighty gold dragon. In a booming voice, it thanked them for their service and promised the aid of the dragons in destroying the Soulstone if the party entrusted it to them. It prohibited the party from entering the Inner Sanctum, with the exception of Ione, who was given special privilege thanks to her draconic blood and service to the Order of Endless Light. After some final hesitation, they gave the Soulstone to the dragon, and it took it into the temple. Ione followed and observed the mighty dragons performing a ritual to finally destroy the Soulstone. After a time, she emerged from the sanctum bearing news that the ritual would take about eight hours to complete. With that, the party's job became simpler: instead of defeating the Abyssal Legion, they would only have to delay them for long enough to complete the ritual.

Taito remained behind to guard the ritual while the rest of the party returned to Undermountain and reunited with their sightless members to plan a way to deal with the Legion. The plan they came up with was simple: Lester would disguise Cayosin as the pit fiend, and he would would use his superhuman persuasive skills to convince the Legion to briefly halt their advance to plan a more effective attack on Undermountain. They teleported to meet the one of the two main branches of the Legion and pulled of the plan perfectly, sending the Legion back to await further orders. When they met the second branch, however, the Legion was accompanied by the surviving devil lieutenants, who tried to convince the legion that the pit fiend was a fake and to attack the imposter. However, Cayosin countered that the devils were the true imposters, and with Regina's blessing, he was significantly more persuasive4. The devils died at the hands of their followers before they retreated as ordered, ending the threat of the Legion.

With the Legion kept at bay and the leaders of the devils defeated, the party had an uneventful final few hours before the Soulstone was finally shattered at the hands of the dragons. A wave of immense magical energy swept through the continent, banishing devils in its wake and removing the mental influence controlling the Obelisks of Power and the Abyssal Legion. Azoreas was finally reunited with with his wife, and at long last, Elysium was safe once more.

A few days later, the party was summoned to the throne room of King Garrun Ironforger one final time. There, they were given an official thanks for their services and a small monetary reward. In addition, each party member was made a lord of a city in Undermountain to rule as they saw fit5. After this was announced, the party was summoned to a second ceremony in the Shadowfall Mountains. When they arrived, they found themselves face to face with the Dragon Council and its seven elder dragons. After some initial tomfoolery, the mighty gold dragon that ruled the council, Regiathazar, offered his sincere gratitude to the party on behalf of all dragons. By defeating the forces of Asmodeus, they had prevented a threat to the Material Plane itself, and saved the minds and souls of over a thousand dragons who had been bound to the service of Asmodeus by the Obelisks of Control. The gratitude of the dragons was measured in gold, and the party received a hundred thousand gold pieces each6. In addition, they each received a favor from dragonkind, which they could call in at any time7. The party received the gifts with surprising grace, and returned to Undermountain as heroes.

Before finally going their separate ways, the party decided to finally delve into the heart of Mount Derenor to find the mysterious creature that Demogorgon had told them about. They used their new wealth to procure significantly better magma-faring suits, and in the absence of devils setting traps to explode them, they made their way through the tunnels without great difficulty. Deep in the mountain's core, they found a strange chamber with a magical barrier that blocked the magma from entering. The party went into the seemingly empty chamber and were greeted by a voice that seemed to echo from the walls itself. It explained that it was essentially the Material Plane itself, though it called itself Elysium. It readily told them the Truename of the pit fiend, though it would do them little good with the pit fiend defeated. It also revealed to them deep truths of the Material Plane and the forgotten history of the dragons.

In the ancient time before history, the world was a simple paradise entirely devoid of sentient life. Animals and crude monsters wandered the fields of Elysium and the waters beyond, but there were neither mortals nor dragons to give the world meaning. After eons of such life, the peace of the world was shattered when a massive planar breach opened. Two mighty creatures passed through the breach into our world: the Ur-Dragons, Baphomet and Tehom. The Ur-Dragons were creatures from a land beyond, and with their raw power and supreme intelligence they warped the world around them. Yet Elysium was not without power of its own, and as the Ur-Dragons remained on the plane, they too were changed by it. When they mated, the essence of their new plane infused their offspring, and the first dragons were born. These were the first sentient creatures native to the Material Plane, and they spread throughout the world, easily dominating everything in their path.

After an unknown millenia, the Ur-Dragons opened a new planar breach, and they left the plane as they came. Elysium's knowledge does not extend beyond the Material Plane, and it does not know where they came from or where they went when they left. Yet the dragons endured, and as ages passed, their ancient memories of the Ur-Dragons passed into myth. From myth came belief, and gods were formed from the shadows of their ancestors: Bahamut and Tiamat. Under their rule, the dragons were slowly molded into diametrically opposed forms, with metallic dragons serving Bahamut and chromatic dragons serving Tiamat. These opposing sides fought each other for pride and philosophy, but without the driving impetus of age and mortality, the dragons grew ever more fat and lazy and prideful.

Then came Regina the Fireheart. She was a young red dragon with a burning ambition far beyond her kin, and she travelled into the farthest reaches of the world in search of knowledge and power. In time, she found the ancient home of Elysium, and for the first time since it came into existence Elysium had a companion. It told her the history of the world, and the story of the Ur-Dragons who wielded power far beyond even the mightiest of dragons. She left its chambers inspired, and a decade later, she disappeared into a mysterious planar breach.

Centuries later, a final planar breach appeared, and Regina returned. No one knows what she found in the worlds beyond, but she came back as an elder dragon of unimaginable power. She travelled the world, seeking to unite all dragons under her banner and to put an end to the false divisions imposed by the gods. Thus began the first true Dragon War, with Regina seeking dominion over the world. Bahamut and Tiamat were threatened by her power and goals, and they put aside their differences to contest her before she gained so much power that she could destroy even the gods.

With their combined power, the gods were able to subdue Regina and banish her to a demiplane from which she could not escape, but were unable to kill her permanently. They sought out Elysium, who had spoken to Regina before she left the plane, and questioned it about what it told her. Having seen the devastation brought to the world by Regina's actions, Elysium was afraid, and lied to Bahamut and Tiamat. It told them that Regina had gained her power through dark and twisted magic, and they believed it, charging it never to tell anyone of the dark magic that Regina had sought. In fear of the power she wielded, both as a threat to themselves and as a threat to the stability of the world as a whole, Bahamut and Tiamat banished all memory of her from history to ensure that no one else might follow her path.

In all of the eons since then, Elysium had never seen any threat to itself - to the Material Plane - that would change its mind. Even the most vicious tyrant was still of the plane, and from Elysium's perspective, would be no better or worse than any other ruler. However, the invasion of the forces of Asmodeus changed its perspective. If that invasion had succeeded, the Material Plane itself could have been forfeit, corrupted by the dark influences of the Abyss. Elysium now sought champions who could wield the same powers that Regina found to defend the Material Plane against such extraplanar invasions. Having seen the party's actions8, it offered them the chance to use its deep knowledge of the plane to gain such power for themselves.

Everyone except for Lester accepted its offer, and rode off into the metaphorical sunset in the search for power9. Lester, in contrast, spent the rest of his days being an immense thorn in the side of kings, queens, and any sort of overly pompous authority figure, while his keen wit and gift for comedy made him a hero of the common folk. However they spent their days, the party was assured of one thing: the tales of their deeds would endure as long as history10.

  1. And a smattering of other races, but mostly humans.
  2. Well, hopefully. They were pretty sure it would work that way, at least.
  3. Cayosin occupied his time by consulting members of the Order of Myriad Truth, hoping to enlist their aid to prevent the party from doing anything colossally stupid. Meanwhile, Shanky searched Undermountain for his long-lost pig and ate it.
  4. The devils also had the difficult task of convincing a horde of mind-controlled fanatics that the direct agent of their infinitely powerful master had been killed by ragtag group of mere mortals.
  5. Undermountain's financial situation was struggling after its time as last bastion of mortal civilization, and its resources were limited. Granting lordship to the party was as much a reward as it was a way to recover organizeed rule of Undermountain after their recent struggles. The debt they owe the party will not be forgotten for ages to come, however.
  6. Bringing their combined monetary gain from both dragons and dwarves to nearly a million gold pieces in total. That's a hundred million chickens!
  7. Craggles used his to join the Elder Council in a toast from his personal supply of beer. In their infinite wisdom, the dragons decided to offer him a second favor.
  8. It's worth mentioning that Elysium doesn't see mortal actions in quite the same way as anything else. This, or possibly desperation, may explain why observing the party's actions made it decide that the party was a suitable choice to wield ultimate cosmic power.
  9. Though Shanky's creative approach to governing his city in Undermountain was studied by decades afterwards by civic planners, possibly as a cautionary tale.
  10. Which, depending on their success in acquiring the legendary power of the Ur-Dragons and their wisdom in using said power, might not be as long as one might hope...

Stupid Awards

Cayosin Ione Aedan Azoreas Lester Shanky Craggles Taito Everyone
Previous