Unnecessary Evil: Missionholme

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This was a major adventure within the Unnecessary Evil campaign, presented here to provide more exhaustive detail for posterity.

Plot Details

In a rather dizzyingly impossible fashion, the party suddenly found themselves on the shore of a massive grey sea. The waves were choppy, like a storm had just passed, and the water was a flat grey, like stone dust permeated it. Though they could not see the other side of the sea, there was an enormous mountain island jutting up from the water some distance out. The mountain had three peaks in a row, the tallest in the center. A city was visible in an alcove at the base of the tallest peak. Two towers were visible, one each at the top of the two shorter peaks. Two small forested villages or towns were visible, one each at the valleys between a short peak and the tall central peak. The top of the central peak was carved or built to look like an enormous demonic skull, and there was visible through the eyes of the skull a large palace. The slopes of the mountain were covered with black clouds that seemed to roam up and down the mountain like things alive.

They searched for and found some evidence of a camp where Klytus might have been. While they inspected the camp and tried to find a way to the mountain, they saw a small canoe slowly rowing out toward them.

The canoe arrived, delivering an unexpectedly innocuous looking elf who introduced himself as Dex Mission. He asked which among the travelers was the supplicant, and when they said that they were not supplicants, he was surprised. But then a strange force seemed to take over Dex. A disembodied voice that sounded like the squirming of a million worms slithered the words "TELL THEM". Dex protested, saying that they were not supplicants, but the voice persisted in its insistence, until Dex vomited up a big pile of living worms. Afterward, the voice silenced and Dex seemed well again and he explained many of the secrets of Missionholme.

Missionholme, he explained, was both the ethereal residence of the New Lord of the Obyrith, whose voice was just heard, as well as an ethereal prison for the New Lord of the Obyrith, whose voice was just heard. Long ago Dex and his brother, Flex Mission, joined a party of adventurers to defeat an Obyrith demon named Zhudun. This demon was the self-titled New Lord of the Obyrith. But when Zhudun was killed, he left his claws behind as a powerful relic, infused with his evil will. Flex Mission chose to wear the claws as gloves, both out of a desire to suppress Zhudun's will and to gain his power. In order to protect the world from his mistake, he used the power of the claws to create Missionholme, both his ethereal palace and the prison of Zhudun and his numerous Obyrith followers. The other Obyrith Lords, called Great Masters would send supplicants to Missionholme. These supplicants were meant to challenge Zhudun and destroy him, claiming the power of the New Lord for the Obyrith Great Masters who opposed him.

But Flex remained conflicted. Part of him was still the New Lord, who wished to reign over Missionholme. But another part of him was Flex, who wished to be freed from the mistake he had suffered for all those years. Dex wanted to keep innocents away from the hungry Obyrith of Missionholme, but he ultimately served Flex, and helped usher supplicants into Missionholme in the hopes that one of them would be able to slay Flex and free him from his torment. Dex further explained that it was very important for the party to accept the mantle of supplicants upon arriving at Missionholme. Without that title, the Obyrith would likely swarm upon them and consume them. Dex confirmed Torn's suspicions that a supplicant named Klytus was already

The party agreed to the role, and journeyed by canoe across the murky water to the docks of Greyshore, the town at the base of the floating mountain. Upon arriving, they realized that the shores of the Tarfields were completely gone; grey water was all that could be seen in every direction. Dex also explained how the supplicants would have to prove themselves worthy of facing the New Lord. He said that they must travel to the New Lord's sanctum at the central peak of the mountain, inside the palace there. This could be accomplished in one of three ways. First, the party could have journeyed to the back of Greyshore and into the labyrinth of the mountain and seek the path to the top. This would have been the safest way to ascend the mountain, but also the slowest. There were minimal physical threats in the labyrinth, but it could take a very long time to find the right path to the top. This was the path that Klytus chose, not realizing he was being followed. The second option would have been to scale the outside of the mountain. This would have been the fastest and most direct route, but also the most dangerous. The clouds seen flying around the mountain were actually powerful Sibriex demons that mindlessly consumed anything ascending the mountain, even supplicants. If the party wished to take that path, they would face dangerous falls while fighting powerful demons.

But the party chose the third option, called the Road of Rooms. This path could have been much quicker than even scaling the mountain, depending on how clever the party was. The Road of Rooms was a series of special rooms located in Greyshore, Sunset Keep (the name of the left valley city), and Sunrise Village (the name of the right valley city). While these rooms were separated by great distances, someone in possession of special keys would have been able to pass from one of these special rooms into the adjacent special room, through a temporary portal created by the key and the magical archway in each room. To traverse the Road of Rooms, the party had to first find all the keys, and then learn their way around the strange maze of rooms to find the correct path to their destination room in the palace at the peak of the central mountain. The party was also told of strange rules that governed behavior in Missionholme, such as bowing your head whenever entering a door, circling something dropped three times before picking it back up, never showing kindness to a feedling (mortal), and never harming an insect.

The first key, a ruby, they were given by Dex. They found an archway in the stables where the ruby began to glow, along with a similar gem in the archway. Two other archways in the room had such gems, both topaz. They found the topaz keys inside the bodies of the Silent, three Iron Golems gifted to Flex Mission by Drax, the Golem Master, before his ascension to be Pellex, the God of Artifice. Walking through the two topaz archways with the topaz key hurled them into a mill and an inn in what seemed to be a small human village. This turned out to be Sunrise Village, nestled in one of the valleys of Missionholme. The residents of Sunrise did not seem to be aware of the fact that they were imprisoned by the New Lord of the Obyrith. They lived entirely illusory, normal lives. The party would later discover that Sunrise Village was where the Obyrith harvested wasted dreams of lives that never became what the mortal wished.

In Sunrise Village the party found more archways with different gem keys. They were also able to secure another gem key from the Obyrith Lord of Sunrise Village, Irz'Oggon, who watched over the duped humans from the tower on the lower peak of Missionholme. Irz'Oggon, a powerful Sibriex, it turned out, was the creator of the Voice of the Wind. Since the party had actually met the Voice of the Wind, they were able to secure Irz'Oggon's key by promising to use a special rod upon the Voice of the Wind. With that key, they were able to reach yet another location, Sunset Keep located in the opposite valley. There humans unknowingly lived lives of a different sort. The party would later discover that Sunset Keep was where the Obyrith harvested ruined dreams of lives that became what the mortal wished, but then fell from that lofty place.

There they obtained another key from the Obyrith Lord of Sunset Keep, Fraz'Urb'Luu, the Prince of Deception. By far the most difficult of the keys to obtain, the Prince of Deception was a deadly opponent who threw the party into illusions where they battled each other believing them to be Fraz'Urb'Luu. But the party was able to overcome the deadly battle, and defeated Fraz'Urb'Luu, who forfeited the key to escape with its life.

Another key came from an imprisoned Angel, Andrala the Kind. She was thrown into The Furnace for repeatedly breaking the rule of kindness to feedlings. She had apparently been in Greyshore trying to secure the liberation of a mortal soul when Flex submerged the realm into its Ethereal prison, trapping Andrala. The party found Andrala in the Furnace, who was unable to believe that the party was actually benevolent. She did battle with the party, and became hopeful of their honesty when they spared her life after her defeat. She relinquished the key she carried and hoped that they would be able to defeat the New Lord quickly, for it was the key that had protected her from the flames of the Furnace. Suddenly the party was racing against time to scale the mountain of Missionholme before Andrala was consumed in the Furnace.

They found another key on the surface of the mountain, thankfully avoiding battle with the mindless Sibriex that scoured the surface like evil storms. And the final key that they required, the onyx key, was found in the caves of Missionholme. There it was protected by an Elder Mind of the Illithid. The Elder Mind had apparently come to the New Lord during the Gilded Age seeking aid. The New Lord granted it amnesty and it had been living in the caves of Missionholme ever since. But it was a very difficult key to acquire. The Elder Mind attacked the very core of the party's psyche. It wrestled with the identity of each party member, trying to twist the truth of what made each an individual. Some fared better than others, and the party learned a great deal about each other (such as Atrius' love for his mother in the Crystal Tower that he has been trying to drive the party to). But ultimately, they were able to acquire the final key.

With that, they walked the rooms which were part of the magical network of teleportation until they were able to complete the Road of Rooms and arrive in the halls of the Palace of the New Lord at the highest peak of Missionholme.

Once in the city atop the central peak, the Obyrith became almost reverent to Torn and his companions. They took in the view of the grey sea from inside the skull, and then made haste to their goal. One of the Ekolid shouted in their reverse-common speech "When the new lord is done with you, we shall feast on your nightmares for eternity!" Passages of corroded metal and flesh eventually gave way to a room where Klytus stood with his retinue of demons, old and new.

A wall of invisible force separated Klytus from the party, but they were able to have a muffled dialog. He was surprised to see the party and was even more surprised to learn that they traversed the Road of Rooms. He said that he'd have considered the mountains if he knew that Torn was so close on his trail. He says the tunnels took a long time. He revealed that the Succubus, his favored slaves, are unusual demons: they are the only ones who don't resemble one of the original forms of the Obyrith, and their true names are normal, like his current slave Ilsabeth. He also explained that knowing her true name will do no good, because she is bound to his will.

Eventually the voice of the New Lord is heard, and he explains that there have never been two supplicants at the same time. The New Lord devised a race to entertain him.

Once on the crystals, the room dissolved into abstract geometric shapes and forms. The voice explained the rules: "At your feet you will see a key. This key will open a matching door. However, you will need to charge your key with the motes of ethereal energy that is flittering above the facts upon which you tread. Be careful, once you have bound a mote into the key, the crystal facet will crumble, leaving a pit into oblivion. Once you have each unlocked a door, the crystals will warp and you will have proceeded further into the palace. There are six sets of doors, and if you hurry you will have a head start on Klytus for the Ascent."

After transporting through the last of the portals, the party arrived at the base of a tall shaft filled with metal and flesh, creating a dangerous, twisting labyrinth. Alternating between making progress, hindering their enemies, and aiding each other, the party climbed to the top first. There they did battle with Klytus. Before the fight, he said that it pleased him to be destroyed by such a capable opponent, and that he would test Torn's might. He recalled being impressed when he heard the screams at the Gar's Mouth Inn in Istilqa Matar. He asked, before the lethal chapter of the intersection, to know which Great Master Torn served. When learning it is the Oracle of Dust, he revealed some secrets: She is the Great Master of the Ekolid tradition, the masses of tiny objects. She is a mass of eyes. She is the only Great Master to have never taken a supplicant, ever. Klytus revealed that he served the Nightmare Beast, Great Master of the Uzollru tradition.

The New Lord also sent his final trial at the two supplicants, in the form of six nightmare eel swarms. The party defeated Klytus, Ilsabeth the Heirophant Succubus, and his nightmare scales. They also defeated the Nightmare eel swarms. That left the party in the room with The New Lord imprisoned in some kind of crystal. Dex Mission arrived looking calm and hopeful, as the ghostly memory of Flex's humanity longing for release.

A voice called out, speaking in the backward common of the Obyrith. It said "In order to face the new lord, you must awaken him from his meditations. In order to awaken him from his meditations, you must discover their nature."

Dex was able to nod and shake his head in silent assent or dissent to the party's questions. This way they found out the answers to the riddles. "First, discover from where this realm comes (answer was: The Harrows). Second, discover why only the Elder Brain performs this purpose now (because Flex is suppressing it to avoid his own Harrowing). Now you understand the nature of his meditations. You can only end them with forgiveness from a creature of innocence, or by invoking the power of Zhudun."

The touch of Atrius proved unexpectedly adequate to begin the Harrowing. The room swam with visions of Flex's past. In those visions they saw Flex as an elven warrior, along with his brother Dex, defeat Zhudun and take the Claws of the New Lord. They watched the Claws corrupt his mind, through the whispers of Zhudun in his mind, ceaseless. Then they saw his rise to evil as he began by attempting to contain the Obyrith, and eventually became a cold master of them. Other powerful creatures, including gods and even the gods of gods came to ask him to help defeat a creature of unsurpassed power. He declined at first, but then reality began to unravel, so he joined their quest. The vision showed him join with other of the most powerful creatures in the divine realms, and try to defeat a creature known only as Aeon. They used an enormous silvery key in the shape of a sun (triggering the memory of the prophecy) to open a door into a massive silvery room. There they were defeated and almost destroyed by the massive crystalline creature within. While Flex recovered from the defeat, the vision showed the world shatter, as the crystalline corpse of Aeon crashed into the Harrows, sending the rubble spiraling into the void beyond the Divine Realms. As the Tanari rose from within, they devoured the forms of the Obyrith, changing the nature of Flex's minions forever. The New Lord fed on innocents trying to recover his vanishing form until one of the many heroes that came to defeat the New Lord was Dex, his brother. Upon killing his own brother, he regained a moment of humane clarity. He used the power of Zhudun to move his realm, Missionholme, deep into the dream-like corners of the Ethereal Sea. Weakened by moving his realm, by his injuries, by the loss of the Obyrith Form he possessed, The Great Masters began the Obyrith traditions and began assailing Missionholme, trying to dethrone the New Lord at his time of weakness, finally to be rid of the tyranny wrought by Zhudun.

Their visions gave them great insight, and they were able to battle the New Lord refreshed and advantaged. When the visions cleared, they were back in the room, but the crystal was gone. Now Flex Mission, New Lord of the Obyrith stood before them. Now talking directly to the creature, he speaks in two twin tones. One is a pained, weakened, sorrowful elf. The other is a deep, booming, sounding like the slithering worms of an Ekolid.

He explains that he is weakened by eons of living off of mortal detritus, stale souls. He was at a fraction of his former power.

He was surprised to learn that Torn was sent by the Oracle of Dust. "Finally she makes good on her promise. She said she would only send a single supplicant, and I believed her." A voice shouted that he cannot lose, he must wield the power, while another voice sighed that he cannot bear to win, his soul weary. He explained that the Oracle of Dust isn't wrong about the death of a thing, ever, and that Torn's arrival spells the New Lord's doom.

The battle took place over several semi-real illusionary mindscapes. The first was full of illusions, hiding real hazards or showing false hazards, like razor pits. In the mindscape of illusion he fought with claw strikes and parrying catches. After being damaged there, the mindscape changed to a realm of shadow mist. There was a haze that made it impossible for friends to tell the difference between friend and foe of which there were illusioary forces. There were also patches of immobilizing animated shadow chains. In this place the New Lord fought with psychic rage and could steal powers from the party. After more damage, the New Lord fought in a warped space where places were connected in a non-linear fashion. There he fought with a thunder clap fist slap and tentacles that came out of nowhere to constrict. Next the New Lord fought on a field of an ice flow, sliding the party around and damaging them with soul-searing cold. There he fought with force of will commanding minions that rose from the ice, and icy pillars that froze the party solid briefly. After taking more damage the mindscape shifted to the last battlefield. There, at death's edge, there were four whirlpools of purple darkness that seduced the dying into their center, urging the bloody to death. There he fought with space-defying claw stabs and a singularity that pulled enemies into the center to stun them and kill them almost instantly.

The party fell, repeatedly. It seemed impossible for them to win, but somehow, (without any mercy from the GM at all) they stood back up each time and eventually defeated the New Lord through all five of his mindscapes. Then Torn took the Claws of the New Lord, and wore them, becoming the New Lord of the Obyrith, and sealing his epic destiny.