The War Without End – Episode 1.15

Ebon, Graffan and Korbin face the Braxats; huge reptilian humanoids, with hard carapaces covered in bony protrusions. A brutal fight ensues.

The Hobgoblin guards are rapidly routed by Holy fire called down from above by Graffan, but the two Braxats are a much greater challenge. Ebon repeatedly hits them with mighty swings of his glaive but they soak up the damage and strike back powerfully with claws and mind blasts that leave the Med-Jai reeling. Ebon is only able to remain standing because of the protective and curative powers of Seraphine, the spirit bound into his new armour. Things look bad for the three companions, and they start to wonder if they can hold out long enough for Heiron to come and rescue them, but almost imperceptibly the Braxats also begin to weaken. Eventually Ebon drives one of the creatures away, causing it to lumber back into the darkness and vanish. The second follows soon after.

Beaten and bloody, Ebon, Graffan and Korbin regroup and wonder what else might be coming.

At that moment Ebon is startled by a telepathic communication from Heiron. It says, “Elsabeth is dead. Kai will be joining you. I will retrieve you when you have finished”

Ebon is stunned by the news about Elsabeth but there is no time for him to dwell on what might have happened. There are more immediate things to worry about.

Kai appears out of nowhere; stepping through a portal Heiron has opened with his Mirror of Triumphant Transportation. Ebon and Korbin hurriedly explain the situation to him.

An eerie quiet has descended and there is no sign of any more resistance, so the four men begin cautiously working their way back into the depths of the cube, toward the room where they spoke to Tanemous.

When they get there, they find it deserted. Two obvious exits are apparent however, a secret door in the wall behind where Tanemous had been standing and a trap door in the ceiling above some barrels. Neither was visible earlier and both are now wide open.

As they cautiously move into the room they hear a despairing cry emanating from the secret doorway, “NOOOO! YOU CANNOT ABANDON ME!”

They go to investigate.

Beyond the doorway is a passage that leads them to a parapet. It overlooks a room some thirty feet below, where Tanemous kneels at the edge of a summoning circle. At his side, are two Dragonnes, winged, sleek-looking, lion-like creatures.

Ebon finds a ladder and starts climbing down.

The Dragonnes spot him and slip away from their master. Threateningly they stalk toward the parapet.

Alerted to the Med-Jai’s presence Tanemous rises to his feet and turns.

“Kill them”, he commands.

Unleashed, the two Dragonnes spring forward, but Kai intercepts them before they reach the ladder. He makes a spectacular leap from the parapet, somersaults and lands gracefully in their path. His spiked chain lashes out and both creatures instantly turn their attention toward him.

Bravely Kai holds them back while Ebon completes the descent. But the Dragonnes are fierce and agile, darting past the monk’s defences and clawing him on more than one occasion. It is not long before Kai is gashed and bloody.

Hastening to Kai’s assistance, Ebon arrives just in time. One of the Dragonnes leaps at him as he enters the fray, but a mighty swing of his glaive connects in mid-air and nearly cleaves the beast in two. He follows up with a second strike that cripples it and leaves it motionless upon the ground.

The second Dragonne also turns on him but fares little better. Moments later it limps away and cowers fearfully in the corner.

Ebon and Kai leave the creature be and turn their attention to Tanemous, who has drawn a wicked looking falchion. Korbin and Graffan join them.

“Don’t kill him. We need him alive” Graffan reminds them.

They fan out and close in. Kai hangs back a little, slowed by his injuries, and Graffan begins to call upon the power of the Staff of the Saintly to carry out an exorcism.

Seeing what Graffan intends to do, Tanemous suddenly goes on the offensive. He lunges toward the cleric, swinging his falchion in a deadly arc that connects with Korbin. The blade carves through clothing and flesh down to the bone, leaving Korbin grievously injured. Somehow he manages to stagger away.

Ebon intervenes, blocking Tanemous’s path to Graffan and also protecting Korbin. Despite his wounds Kai moves to help. Together they hold Tanemous at bay while Graffan finishes summoning the divine power he needs to perform the exorcism.

When Graffan completes the ritual, a bright glow emanates from the staff and Tanemous collapses. A moment later he begins convulsing. A black vapour starts pouring from his mouth and swirls in the air around him.

“Be gone foul fiend” roars Graffan, brandishing the staff in an attempt to dispel the possessing entity. The vapour is driven back, away from Tanemous.

A shape begins to form within the mist. It is large and powerful, a horned humanoid with baleful glowing red eyes, that looks like a Minotaur. It is one of the Yak-Folk.

For a moment the demon stands over Tanemous’s body and then it speaks in a deep, booming voice that rumbles around the room.

“Now you will all die”, it threatens.

Ebon hits the demon with his glaive but it laughs at them and surges past, reaching the parapet in a couple of huge bounds.

Knowing that the Yak-Folk has gained the advantage the Med-Jai rapidly seek to dislodged it before it can dominate the high-ground.

Ebon heads for the ladder and starts upward, while Graffan hurriedly treats Korbin’s wounds and checks to make sure that Tanemous is still alive. Once again, despite his injuries, it is Kai who makes short work of the climb. Leaping high onto the ladder above Ebon, he acrobatically vaults onto the parapet beside the Yak-Folk.

The demon glares at Kai, its baleful eyes are full of fire, and then Tanemous’s falchion materializes in its hand. With its first blow the Yak-Folk catches Kai in the side. The monk staggers and nearly falls. Slowed by his wounds he fails to dodge the second attack also. He tumbles from the parapet and lands hard. He is barely conscious.

Though Kai has paid a heavy price he kept the Yak-Folk occupied for long enough. Ebon reaches the top. Tightly grasping his glaive he clambers onto the parapet and stands up.

As he faces the demon, glowing red eyes bore into him. Tendrils of dark power try to grasp his mind, but his will is strong, he resists and they fall away.

At that moment, Graffan appears, using magic to carry himself through the air to the parapet. Brandishing the Staff of the Saintly he tries to dispel the evil creature once more. But though the demon recoils Graffan fails to banish it back to where it came.

Graffan continues using the power of the staff and drives the Yak-Folk back, forcing it to retreat down the passage, until it turns on them and charges. It knocks Ebon to the floor but fails to get past Graffan. While he is protected by the power of the staff and the divine might of Heironeous, the cleric cannot be bested.

Ebon regains his feet and he and the Yak Folk battle back and forth. Their blades clash together repeatedly.

For a while the two combatants appear to be deadlocked, but then Korbin, who has been hanging back because of his wounds, courageously joins the fray. He repeatedly distracts the Yak-Folk in an effort to provide Ebon with an opening and eventually the tactic succeeds. With a mighty swing Ebon buries his glaive deep in the Yak-Folk’s chest and the demon staggers, its knees buckle and it falls to the ground dead.

The Med-Jai breathe a collective sigh of relief.

Shortly afterward Heiron appears. “My timing needs to be improved I see” he comments upon seeing the fallen demon. “I’m sorry, it took me rather longer to get here than I’d imagined”

After Kai and Korbin have been healed and some indecipherable documents have been found in a desk drawer, the group take the demon’s corpse and the unconscious Tanemous and return via the Mirror of Triumphant Transportation to the Fortress of the Second.

Once they are back at the Fortress, Heiron inspects the papers and determines that, though he cannot understand them, they are written in a code form of the Yugoloth language. The Yugoloth are known to be servants of the Dark Lord and the existence of the documents suggests that more sinister forces than Heiron had imagined may be behind the imprisonment of Shilaze. He declares that he will immediately inform the appropriate authorities within the Eleventh Tribe and he believes that, once the possession of Tanemous is revealed, there should be enough evidence of foul play to ensure that Shilaze is released.

Ebon and Graffan are overjoyed at this and there is more good news to follow. Heiron tells them that, thanks to the benevolence of Pelor, Elsabeth has miraculously returned from beyond the veil of death and that Blanca has regained consciousness. Ebon immediately departs to go and see his sister at the Gatehouse.

Notes:

This episode is continued from Episode 1.13: Tangrel and Tanemous

After the fight with the Yak-Folk is over the Med-Jai heal the two Dragonnes and set them free.

When Ebon goes to see Blanca at the Gatehouse he tells her all that he has learned over recent weeks. There is a lot to take in and she is both amazed and moved by his tale. He has gone to great lengths to restore her to health. Blanca reveals that two years earlier she had declined the Med-Jai’s offer to join them because, as the older sibling, she had considered it her responsibility to stay and look after her younger brother. She could not have left without him. Since Ebon is here and the Med-Jai’s offer is still open, she agrees to stay in Sigil and consider her place amongst the tribe. Though first she must regain her strength.

Graffan and Korbin return the Staff of the Saintly to the Temple of Heironeous.

Representatives of the Eleventh Tribe arrive and take Tanemous away for questioning.

Shortly after this episode Growler and Shredda, his Velociraptor, return from the Outlands. Growler has a disturbing message for Baratus. Carved into the flesh of a dead horse are the words “Baratus, giv me bak da bown of mi son”. Growler and members of the Sixth Tribe found the horse carcass at the scene of one of a number of recent massacres conducted by the Fensdreg tribe of Ogres and Trolls.