** Multicolored ripples of energy streamed across the landscape, like ribbons of every hue and size… and yet somehow, blended together in a mildly hypnotic and beautiful cascade **
“There are not many things that feel better than floating in the manathereal plane” murmured Sorvani as he drifted along, all 4 of his processors uncoupled to drink in as much mana as possible - yet linked at the tops of their heads like a giant black orchid. The peaceful tones of a soft elven ballad emerged from a small crystalline ioun stone that orbited above him.
“Turd in a punchbowl !!” opined the phantom Erok disparagingly - cracking Sorvani’s mood as he wavered in and out of visual perception.
The drow sighed loudly. “Go the fuck away, you damnable runt ! You’re not even here !!” For the 2467th time, the powermaster scanned his entire being - triggering a Dispelling Cascade across himself which blew away every active enchantment he had running.
“Deuce in the juice !! Elven fairy dingleberry !!” taunted the phantasmal half-ogre, seemingly unaffected by the cascade.
Scowling, the drow reformed himself and shook an angry finger at the mocking illusion. “One day, ONE DAY SOON i’m going to figure out how you and that damned beholder pulled this off !! And then there will be a rec…” Sorvani’s tirade was cut short by the CHIME of an incoming message. Scanning it quickly with his psionic process, he archived it for later. “No time to be battling dust bunnies and bookworms in some old dwarven library. Guess my 5 minutes of peace and quiet are up ! Fuckin’ ogres… fuckin’ beholders… fuckin’ dwarves !”
Calling back up the latest status report from the Dragon Slayers (what a stupid name), he reviewed the message and pondered how this ‘Kheg Moldur’ could wind up establishing their hold so close to the strongest seepage of mana on the planet. The news triggered some interesting ideas with theories Sorvani had previously considered and discarded, so he came here to research more in depth the boundary between this sphere’s prime material plane and the manathereal.
The worst thing you can do to a powermaster is deprive him of power, so Sorvani was always on the lookout for bigger and better ways to have access to mana. Idly pondering how nice it would be to have an unlimited supply of it like Daren had access to, the drow had to admit it’d be a long, long time before he’d approach the plateaus of power which Daren or Zap had reached. Dim-dooring away a short distance, he resumed ping-mapping out the Planar Boundary with his mini-me on the other side - toying with the idea of taking up the mantle of Ancient so he could ascend to a One, like Erok’s dad first did.
The phantom half-ogre watches the drow pop away in a shower of sparkles and go back to work. “Pitter-patter goes the fecal matter” he chortles with a grin and vanishes back to inactive status.
Most of the populace of V’ral was up and about, moving thru their busy morning tasks with industrious glee. Occasionally one will pass thru a street that opens up onto Obelisk Circle and spare a glance at the towering Obelisk Prime that reaches into the heavens like a massive crystalline spear. Little rings of letters and numbers slowly wheel about its circumference, giving informative data on everything from the current time and air temperature, wind speeds, alerts and closer to the bottom, daily news - while higher up is the current Defence Condition (4 outta 5) and under it ‘Cold War with Laputa’ along with the distance to the closest flying laputan citadel. Very little made it past the observation of the town’s mighty obelisk, now that it was a full Prime.
Outside the city, what looked an awful lot like a ginormous glimmering soap bubble encapsulated the town and everything in a 5 mile radius. Encountering the soap bubble and pushing your way thru wasn’t difficult - much like the resistance of wading thru a pool of water, but all of the denizens of V’ral knew that could change into unbreakable blue spherecrystal in less than the time it took to blink your eye.
Previously, the lesser obelisk had cloaked itself against observation from afar - all that changed with the first investiture, as the portal home opened for a brief hour. A massive infusion of personnel, Rolandites and their dwarven protectors, even a ‘Troubleshooting Squad’ of Argopolis badasses to bolster the city watch and crank up military combat training a notch or twelve. Several Demigods also came thru to secure their churches here and begin sending tendrils out into the nearby cities and town… Roland, Mystra, Torm, and Damar the Overforger - who was already turning millenia-old forge gods on their ear, with knowledge and techniques never seen or considered before in this sphere or any other.
That sudden influx of power wasn’t lost on the far-off Laputans, however. What was previously an annoying fly biting at their flanks had suddenly turned into a blood-maddened bull, glaring at them over the mountain range. A mountain range, which uncoincidentally, got somewhat blown up a few short weeks later. Long used to resting on their laurels and bullying the ‘lesser races’ into providing all their needs, the Empire of Laputa now faced a surprising and worrisome opponent across a chessboard that hadn’t been played in a thousand years. The war machinery of their empire got swiftly repaired and was slowly grinding to life once again, drawing concerned glances and a great many scrying eyes from every native culture on the planet - even the denizens far below.
Abruptly, a loud klaxon HOOONNNK announces a status change as DEFCON drops to 3. Underneath the prior text, it now reads ‘Kargin invoked escape contingency - Dregnoth shitting the bed’. Above the city, the bubble suddenly coalesces into perforated crystal - blue gemstone crawling upward along the faceted lines and leaving only small openings here and there.
Without so much as a by-your-leave, Sorvani is forcibly yoinked back to the Prime material plane by one of the few beings capable of doing so. Blinking, the powermaster finds himself standing next to the Obelisk in V`Ral. The drow reaches out to the crystal, mentally and physically, to find out what is going on. Immediately an image of Dregnoth creating a monstrous beholder eye rail gun shimmers into view. Along with this live feed, he also gets a sped-up replay of the last couple minutes.
Sorvani mutters under his breath as he watches, “Your pet frog was simply annihilated you mad bastard, just ask the Obelisk to make a new one.” As things continue down a path that can only lead to more bad things, Sorvani ponders removing Dregnoth - but the alchemist has already blown up one mountain, maybe a second one will obliterate him from existence for a few months of peace and quiet while he regrows.
Strangely, that thought seems to ECHO in the powermaster’s head… getting a little louder each time.
“Obliterate him from existence”
“Obliterate him from existence”
“Obliterate Him From Existence”
“Obliterate Him From Existence”
“OBLITERATE HIM FROM EXISTENCE”
“OBLITERATE HIM FROM EXISTENCE”
After chaining together about 20 focused beholder eyeballs, Dregnoth kicks the monstrosity on, bathing the wall in focused antimagic. For the first 10 seconds or so nothing seems to happen, then suddenly the wall splits diagonally with a thundering crack. Instinctively growing a new set of eyeballs, Sorvani is mildly surprised when the scry is not suddenly disrupted. The alchemist gets out a single “ha” before suddenly the space behind the cracked wall seems to shudder, wobble, and rotate.
In a blink, Dregnoth, along with all loose objects in the vicinity are pulled into the the quickly expanding voidfissure. Within a few seconds the entire mountain peak has been erased and the voidfissure continues to grow at an exponential rate. Approximately 10 seconds after cracking the wall there is an earthquake felt across the planet as the voidfissure breaches the planet’s crust.
The obelisk’s loud klaxon HOOONNNK announces the status change of DEFCON 1. Underneath the prior text, it now reads ‘Dregnoth shitting the PLANET !!!’ Above the city, the bubble hardens into SOLID BLUE SPHERE CRYSTAL - with naught but emergency openings at the top and side.
Watching the far continent quickly being erased from existence with no signs of stopping, Sorvani vents his frustrations through the Obelisk powered scry, "Dammit Dregnoth !!!”
Elsewhere on the world, another scry taking place reveals the continent being eaten by a voidfissure. Gorlen’s eyebrows shoot up to their highest point as he watches thru his white-star crystal ball. “Rut ro, gotta go !” Looking at the librarian, the gnome points in the direction of V’ral and fails to teleport. Quickly shuffling his mental papers around, he locates the correct keyphrase and arrives on the steps of the Great Library, peering up at the inside of the blue dome. Stepping backward thru the door, he spots the librarian inside working unconcernedly at a table of books. “Wha…weren’t you… how did you beat me here ?”
“Ssshhh…”
Gorlen’s face gets a little pink. “Don’t shush me old man ! How’d you get here so fast ?”
The librarian smirks. “I never leave. You know that ! Are you worried about my Book Golem ? Aww - that’s cute !”
Throwing his hands up, the gnome stomps off. “Of course he’s got a book golem. Probably a scroll golem, a pamphlet golem, and a bar napkin golem… Ruddy eternals !!”
Thinking furiously, Sorvani is all too aware of the shitstorms Daren has had to deal with after breaking the weave or the world. He mutters, “Even if Dregnoth caused this, I will get the blame, if I can even roll it back. Too bad I can’t blame that on Kargin.” Summoning the mini-me he always leaves in the tower while he’s on the Manaethereal Plane, he reaches into his robe and clutches his old holy symbol of Roland - invoking the divine contingency that the deity asked him to hold decades ago.
As his mini-me begins to shimmer in from the teleport, suddenly the sky goes full RED and everything seems to pause. The powermaster feels a light thump on the top of his head and turns to see Roland himself standing on the other side of him away from the Obelisk. “Wow, i forgot you even had that ! S’not everyday someone triggers a 200+ year old contingency !” the demigod offers with a smile.
Sorvani successfully fights off the urge to kneel, knowing his old adventuring pal would probably get offended by it. Looking at the red sky, he asked “This some kind of divine-level time stop ? We’re in a bit of a rush ! Can you believe that little shithead bumblefucked his way into destroying the world ?”
Waving two chairs and a barrel of mint julep into existence, the deity throws an arm around Sorvani and ushers him to a chair. “Not so much a time stop, as a sidestep between seconds. We could sit here and drink and bullshit for a century if i wanted. It really only affects thee and me, little bit o’ the days hailing back to Rolmart. Perks of divinity, i suppose !”
The drow dunked his mug into what was his favored drink so long ago and tilted it back, savoring the refreshment. “Damn, i haven’t had this in forever ! Little extra alcohol to fortify my nerves before doing a fatepoint suicide can’t hurt, i suppose ! Gonna send V and Rose back to the Mess for safety first, tho…”
Roland digested that information, looking up and down the strands of time as only gods truly can. “Don’t really need to worry about that - Prime here is fixing to detach the city and bugger off before the fissure reaches V’ral. Tho i think i’ll take a half-second to kick on my Reverse Recall to bring the outliers back home quick, all the same.” Standing up, he strode over to one “off” looking corner of the pentagonal inlay around the obelisk - summoning an intricate staff to his hand from apparently nowhere, he slammed it into the ground and turned it like a massive key. Bright white lights filled every window of his church and the main castle as the god summoned back his priestesses.
Returning to the vacated chair, he drank down a second mug of julep. “There we go !”
Sorvani blushed a little. “I…er…was more worried about blowing them up when i try my thing. Don’t know if an omega fate point has ever been done !”
Several amusing expressions crossed the god’s face as he pondered that idea. “Well, you’re right AND wrong on that idea. Its never been tried by a mortal, but Fate does wind up kicking one off every once in a while. Just nobody remembers - HA ! Heard one guy say it was like having a splinter in your mind, like you know somethings wrong but you don’t know what… or why, or when.”
The powermaster felt somewhat relieved. “Okay. I guess that makes sense. So channeling my zoomie thru Prime here won’t make a big kablooey, even if i fuck it up ?”
Roland shook his head. “Nope, just like if i tried to kick my way into a blue crystal sphere that a clockmaker had sealed from within. Bruise the hell outta my foot, but i wouldn’t get far ! Prime has a heart of real blue spherecrystal, not this synthastuff you see in the sky. THAT STUFF, you might shatter with enough force. Might even be able to crack Prime, but you’d never shatter him - and he’d implode you long before you got close to that.”
Pounding back his second mug of drink, Sorvani drew a third and stared into it. “Is this thing i’m attempting going to kill me ?” he asked his god.
The divinity took a long pull off his own mug. “I’d give it a 50/50 - unless we cheat. Not quite ready to retire to a life of wings and chasing down my errant children ?”
Involuntarily laughing out loud as the image of that came into his mind, the drow admitted “Still got a lot to figure out here ! Keeping Varalla and Rose out of mischief is hard enough, thank you very much ! Not to mention that goddamned alchemist !”
“Well then i guess we should cheat !” pronounced Roland with a grin. Reaching into his own shirt, the demigod withdrew a LARGE holy symbol of Istus and took if from around his neck - holding it out to Sorvani. “DO NOT try to interface to that, or you WILL DIE - most spectacularly. Just put it on and let it guide you.”
The powermasters eyes got very, very large. “Is… that HERS ?? Like, her own personal one ?”
Roland nodded. “Genuine article ! Always kept it around for a rainy day…”
Taking it reverently in his hands, as soon as he touched the bare metal he felt… SOMETHING in his chest begin to vibrate. Roland removed Sorvani’s old holy symbol from around his neck and sat it next to the coalescing mini-me. The temptation to reach inside and touch the heart of a personal artifact of a greater goddess was almost too much to bear, but the image of a moth bursting into flame was smack dab in the center of his minds eye. “Sweet fuck, boss - this has got some SERIOUS JUJU !” the drow muttered in awe. A sudden realization hit Sorvani. “This… is a one-shot thing, isn’t it ? You sure about using this ?”
Roland winked at him. “Abso-freekin-lutely !! Mortal me mighta said keep it for later, younger me would’ve fretted about this, that or the other. Old me is confident that anyone as wise as the Goddess of Fate knows EXACTLY what the hell she’s doing, and would lay a million gold on the table that this is the very moment she gave it to me for in the first place. Besides, that amulet isn’t going to let ME fix the world, it isn’t gonna let PRIME fix the world - its only gonna HELP you do it !”
Chest puffed out with the pride of his god, Sorvani put on the holiest of holy symbols for the Church of Istus and placed his hands on the face of the Obelisk. “Let’s do this ! And for what its worth, thanks for believing in me. I won’t let you down !” The last thing he sees of the demigod is the trademarked sparkling gold smile, as the sky fades back to blue.
Summoning his luminescent blue spellpoint geode to his forehead, Sorvani leans into the Obelisk and channels his entire essence into the that unique Powermaster ability to call on the Fates to roll back events around him. He pushes the ability out, through the geode and into the Obelisk, crafting a Divine Omega Fate Point. The resistance of the Fates is enormous, but ameliorated by the roaring white fire pouring from the amulet he now wears. Gritting his teeth, he pulls every ounce of his stored power through himself and the geode - his form growing smaller and smaller, feeding his own life essence into the Divine Omega Fatepoint.
*** In the heavens across the world, Gods and Solars and other divine beings rush around in a panic as something unforseen devours their churches and worshippers of every stripe and alignment. Below them, a voidfissure tears every larger as it shreds the planet and everything on it. Seven of them are busily trying to summon the clockmaker, knowing full well there’s not enough time. Theros, the GOD of time, is staring at one strange grainule of sand that appears to be stuck - floating serenely in the top part of his quickly emptying hourglass. “What the fuuuu…”
Then whats left of the globe, around half the planet - suddenly stops moving, as do all of the gods on high. Everything is frozen, for one heartbeat or a hundred - its hard to tell. Then, ever so slightly, the gods and planet start moving BACKWARDS… as time and reality itself spin back up in reverse. The voidfissure flares WHITE and disgorges stone and wood and bedrock by the gigaton - spitting out creatures and lifeforms it had just moments ago devoured. Undrinking an ocean of water, the voidfissure begins to shrink smaller and smaller until it seals itself shut with a terribly loud BANG when a wall snaps in place atop it. ***
–
When Sorvani comes to, he finds himself inside what appears to be a giant, white egg… the size of a castle. Pure white ceramic walls arch up and away, pure white ceramic floor tiles go off in every direction. The single object before him is the only thing he sees - a 20x20 marble pedestal containing some clear crystalline cylinder with Dregnoth inside. The mad alchemist does not seem to spot Sorvani, making walking motions and moving his lips as he waves his hands about. Several attempts at magic are made by the imprisoned Dregnoth, none of which appear to have any effect.
Glancing down at the base of the pedestal, the powermaster sees a small plaque with 4 words in common inscribed :
Obliterate him from existence ?
Below the plaque is a red YES button, and a red NO button. It seems to be waiting for Sorvani’s response - both tempting him and taunting him at the same time. Dropping to a seated position, the drow slips into a meditative trance - going over the pros and cons of obliterating the thrice-damned alchemist which brought the Forsaken to this completely unaware world. For the better part of an hour he debated internally, then rose to his feet and punched the NO button. “As much as i might come to regret this decision, i do not believe Dregs idiot ass had any inkling of what would occur - nor do i think him evil enough to deliberately destroy the reagents of this world. Though i will be keeping a closer watch on his future endeavors !”
A feminine voice rumbled the walls. “Interesting…” was the last thing heard by the powermaster before he found himself 5 miles above V’ral, just inside the dome - falling towards the Obelisk below. Incanting a simple fly spell surprisingly had no effect. “Huh ?? Why did she… doh ! Never mind, that was ME that depleted my pool. At least my physical shell is back to normal !” Sacrificing a single hitpoint, he converted it to mana and retriggered the fly effect - landing gracefully beside the obelisk, where his mini-me was just emerging from a dimension door. Picking up the old holy symbol of Roland, he looked up at his bigger, pale self. “Tell me you didn’t summon me here just to pick up after you !”
Laying his hand on Prime, he muttered “Scry Dregnoth… and a refill, please !”
As fresh mana began flowing into his powder-white form and returning it to his proper shade of black, an image of the Avatar of Luuuve appeared - sliding beholder central eyes together into some weird design that only a madman would attempt. As the powermaster was about to open his mouth to warn off Dregnoth from continuing, writing appeared on the wall in Sorvani’s handwriting - noisily scribbled there by a hand identical to his own wielding a charcoal stick.
YOUR PET FROG WAS SIMPLY ANNIHILATED YOU MAD BASTARD. REGROW HIM.
Peering up at the squeaky noise, the alchemist frowned and read the message. “Really ? Hokay… i can fix annihilated ! Gruzar, don’t touch the wall - its some offshoot of an annihilation sphere ! Back in a bit…” Hopping in his portable lab, he began mixing up a regen potion and pouring it over the fried legbones of yesterday’s supper. “One pair’s gotta be right !!”
