Chapter Eight: The Virid Coronation

Leth immediately identifies the Hierophant and his aide Lendras leading the group. The Hierophant carries a long staff and has a broadsword sheathed at his belt.

The Hierophant appears to ignore Zangua, but once he draws closer he replies. "Hopes were high that you might kill this mad wizard, or at least keep him from the Sphere. It appears he has gotten the better of you."

The devils have laid the Pharate down before the Mastaba. In this light and angle it resembles a fly-pupa made of clotted blood. Gorham levitates high above it, singing, but you cannot make out his words. About fifty cultists encircle them from a respectful distance of about thirty feet.

"I do not know if the blood of Ilhaz will awaken this...lifeform they have recovered," the Hierophant says. "But a small pool of the stuff does remain, many meters below the ground. Sealed away with stone and mortar, nothing more. They will reach it well before sunrise if they are not stopped, and right now the finest warriors in Hazard, the elite of the city guard, are busy covering the evacuation of the great noble houses to their villas in the hills. If they are to be stopped, it falls to those of us here now." He unhooks the sheathed sword from his belt and hands it to Lendras.

"Master--?"

"I leave the Pharate to you, Lendras. The vorpal blade will pierce it. I for my part will cast the devils back down to Hell. I remain a servant of Aitas, and on this plane he retains authority over their kind." He turns toward Zangua, Leth, and Felor. "My retainers will engage the witch-men. Will you three deal with Gavrel Gorham?"

The Hierophant's retainers start to charge toward the gathered cultists, Lendras among them, while the Hierophant clutches his staff in both hands, leans his forehead against it, and begins to mutter prayers. Over by the Mastaba, Gorham drifts slowly down to the ground in front of the Pharate, surrounded by the five towering devils.

Party members, what actions are you taking at this point?

The Hierophant's retainers waste no time charging toward the loosely assembled cultists and giving cover to Lendras in her approach to the Pharate. Gorham stays where he is, but the devils begin to advance toward the Mastaba's defenders.

Last chance for pre-combat actions. If you're ready to fight, please roll for initiative.

Gliding a few inches off the ground, Gorham drifts toward you. Abruptly, one of the Hierophant's retainers charges a cultist and cuts him down with a longsword. The devils hold their polearms ready and fan out to flank the small force of attackers while the Hierophant leans his head against his staff, chanting and rocking back and forth. The massive, lurid form of the Pharate seems to expand and contract with some hellish breath, resembling a blood-gorged leech or the extruded lung of some gigantic creature. It makes strange and distressing sounds, croaking and groaning and trilling like a monstrous cricket.

Gorham stops. He looks as serene as any of you have ever seen him. "Yield here," he says quietly, though you can all hear him clearly over the din of the battle that now begins. "You have come so far, and you can bear witness to a thing that no living soul has ever seen before. A creature of pure life, born outside the petty laws of the gods and the arbitrary constraints of Prime Materiality. The supper which has been prepared for it awaits below. The last gift of Ilhaz. Come, help me clear the way. Let us awaken the sleeper and midwife a new Werld into being." He smiles a madman's smile.

Edit: Party, you have the initiative and may take your actions.

Gorham rises into the air as Zangua charges him, and a fleeting look of surprise crosses his face as Zangua corrects course by taking flight as well. Unused to aerial combat, Zangua's first strike misses, but he clips Gorham in the arm as he swings it back and smashes the butt of the glaive into his chest, sending him cartwheeling backwards through the air to come to a sliding stop on the roof of the Mastaba.

Edit: Felor attempts to restrain Gorham with prayer as he gets knocked back through the air, but when Gorham staggers to his feet on the roof and takes to the air again, he realizes it was unsuccessful.

Though outnumbered, the Hierophant's fighters are managing to keep the less-trained cultists occupied without taking too many casualties. Lendras continues to weave through the battlefield, taking opportunities to cover and assist her compatriots when she can, but working her way closer to the Pharate, which remains guarded by the five ice devils, all of whom seem to be warily focused on the Hierophant himself.

"Aitas walks with me!" the Hierophant roars, thumping his staff on the ground. "The hand of Aitas is upon me! The eye of Aitas sees you! In the name of Aitas, depart from here! Aitas, overtake me! Make me the instrument of Your will!" He bashes the butt of his staff against the ground again and green sparks burst from it, swirling upwards.

Leth is up!

Leth aims two high shots. Gorham rises to evade the first but fails to anticipate the even higher shot that follows, which pierces his calf. Swooping around to the south side of the Mastaba, he lifts his hand and three glowing, amber-hued points of light begin to swirl around it. Leth only has time to feel the wizard's gaze upon him and realize that he is the intended target before the lights dart towards him, striking near simultaneously. The pain is searing but short-lived, and Leth keeps his footing.

One of the devils lowers his polearm and begins to charge the Hierophant, who bashes the head of his staff on the ground before him and bellows "Aroint ye! Return to Hell!" A gout of green flame bursts up from the ground in front of the devil, who recoils, staggering. Two of the other devils raise long palisades of jagged ice in front of the Pharate. Lendras turns away from the nearest ice wall to run the long way around it and finds herself confronted by two cultists; she quickly runs one through with her sword and pivots east to run back toward the thick of the fray.

Party members, it's your turn again.

Leth and Felor, any actions to take?