The party descended in to the catacombs, the low ceilings and narrow, ancient brick hallways oppressively close as they searched for the Countess. They found their way to a large crypt, filled with stone sarcophagi and walls filled with skeletons in alcoves. Standing on the far side of the room were two familiar creatures quietly talking. Reith snuck in and took up a position that let him overhear their conversation. They were discussing the horrifying monstrosity the Countess held in the catacombs and how it came to be there. One seemed to know more of the plan than the other, telling him of the pillar and how it would amplify the creatures power to a point that it could tear a rift to the reality of the Elder Ones and allow Xel’lotath access to this world.
Renwick decided to make use of the pair, attempting to charm them. He failed with magic but succeeded with his winning personality, convincing them of his high standing with the Countess. He worked them for more information, including the location of the pillar and the solution to the door puzzle blocking their way. Renwick then set them against one another in a contest to gain favour with the Countess, resulting in the death of both creatures, one by the others hand, one by Renwick. The party quickly cleared the few remaining crypts of anything they could use and moved to face the Countess once and for all.
Entering the final chamber, they found themselves in a hastily carved cavern, long and deep, with a steel and stone walkway and platform suspended above the largest creature any of them had ever seen. The bottom of the cavern was filled with a fleshy mass, covered in mouths, with six large red tentacles and hundreds of smaller ones. From the walls of the cavern, four giant translucent green chains came down and burrowed in to the flesh. Two of the tentacles were woven in to a 30 foot tall tower in the center of the platform. A complex structure of bone, flesh and blood, it came to a point at the top. In front of the pillar, a stone table held a solitary black candle, connected to the pillar by two fleshy strands that seemed to be both the base of the candle and part of it. It was nearly burnt out, but it had no simple flame. The candle seemed to burn a small rift in space, dancing on the wick. Through the rift a manic starscape could be seen, pulling at the minds of the party. Standing next to the candle was the Countess, bell in hand. She taunted the party, telling them they couldn’t prevent the coming of The Lady.
The party disagreed.
Renwick opened with a joke, which managed (No shit!) to catch the Countess off guard. The tentacles, on the other hand, were very prepared to take on the party. They fought hard against the might of the beast but took heavy damage. As things started to look bleak, Mantorok spoke to Edward through the Blackstar, telling him that the relic was a lost cause, it wouldn’t hold up to the use needed to defeat the Countess but if Edward were to shatter it Mantorok would have a brief moment to manifest its power through Edward and help them stop Xel’lotath from coming though. Mantorok had plans for this world and it would not let his rival have it first. Edward immediately smashed the Blackstar at his feet, shattering it like black glass. For a moment, nothing happened.
Just as Edward thought he might have done this for nothing, he was consumed in a pillar of blue tinged white light. It form a shape around him, that of a giant jellyfish. It swung it’s glowing tentacles around the room, passing harmlessly though everything that was from this world. As it passed through the Countess, it ripped the Bell from her hands, sending it skidding to the corner of the platform. It then passed though the spectral chains, shattering them. As they broke, the many mouths of the creature below called out
“I’M FREE”
The light faded and Edward found himself standing among the remains of the Blackstar. Looking down, he grabbed the largest piece he could find, hoping that he could remain in contact with Mantorok though it.
The Countess regained her footing but both the party and the tentacles descended on her with everything they had. As they fought, Reith made a attempt to grab the Bell. His mind was nearly broken from the power of the relic. Edward managed to knock it from his hands and grab it himself, his allegiance to Mantorok seemingly made him immune to its powers.
The Countess fell, just as the candle finished burning. As it went out, a giant rift appeared over the pillar. It quickly ripped up though the ceiling of the cavern, blowing out in to the air over Istust. The creature below spoke to the party
“I cannot stop what is happening to this world but I can stop this from happening now. I can make you a portal to take you away, it will not be far as it will take everything I have to close this. If you want to live, go now!”
One of the tentacles whipped quickly through the air, creating a rift that opened out to the graveyard on the edge of town. R4D grabbed the Countess’ body and the party rushed out the portal. Looking back, the rift tore out through the roof of the cathedral, tearing out over the town toward the water. In the hellish, spinning stars they could see the hand of Xel’lotath, impossibly large, moving toward the rift. As this happened, the cliffside started to crack and fall away. Tentacles began to pour out of the hole, pink lightning arcing out from them. The bolts tore thought the area, leaving bright lines in their wake.
Suddenly the party saw a horse and cart racing up the road toward them. Geldof the halfling merchant that escaped the massacre at the guild hall, was flying toward them. He skidded to a stop and told them to get in.
“I don’t know what that is but I don’t want to hang around to find out!”
The party piled on and the cart took off as quickly as the horse could manage. Behind them the rift continued to grow, the enormous fingers began to slide through the space. At the same time, the lightning made larger and larger circles in the area until they formed a complete circle around the rift. The circle was instantly filled with light, a loud buzz filled the air.
Then, silence.
The place that was once Instust was gone. A perfect sphere cut out of the rock, taking everything with it. The sound of rushing water filling the void shook them as they looked back, only twenty feet behind them where the cliff now ended.
They’d done it. They’d stopped it.
Geldof took them to Cedoria, where they could take the train back to the Bureau.
Early Frost Warning 