S69: Far Above

Mammon speaks, “You have done well child. Look at the riches you have brought to your god. You deserve…  incentive to continue this golden path.” Mammon reaches toward Nom with his thick hands. Nom stays still. His hand wraps around her head and neck as he pulls her closer. A wide tongue licks her face. Nom endures. Her skin begins to burn -- burn like acid is being spread across her flesh with a large coarse sponge. Nom endures and performs. She pretends to enjoy the pain, pretends to enjoy being burned alive, and pretends to enjoy the company of this grotesque devil. She winces in pain as Mammon smiles. 

Finally, after what seems like minutes, Mammon retracts his tongue and sits back in his newly acquired mound of gold. Nom opens her eyes. She looks at her hands, then her arms, then her legs. She gasps. She feels her strong half-orc muscles flex once more. Nom smirks. “Do not forget your debt.” Mammon waves his hand as flames engulf Nom's body. 

The rest of the crew floats through a quiet sky in a great gas balloon toward Milbin. They wait and mentally prepare for what comes next. The uncertainty of what comes next. Just then Krom smells smoke. He watches as smoke then flames burst into existence on the deck of their balloon. The flames last only an instant. As the smoke dissipates, standing before them is a fully naked half orc. Krom draws his weapons and snarls. Dorus, tilts his head and his eyes go wide in approval. “I’m back baby,” Nom exclaims. Krom and Dorus have never seen Nom in this form, but the voice… the voice is familiar. Alora and Mokon welcome Nom back, happy to see her back to her original self. Sweets startles awake, runs over to Nom, and hugs her muscular leg. “I’m glad you are back Nom.” Nom shrugs in indifference.

Nom re-acquires her belongings, armor, and weaponry from her team. The gas balloon floats closer to its destination.

Having moored their balloon in this location multiple times and similarly walked through Milbins hall of traps. The crew quickly enters Milbin’s underground chamber. As they approach the bottom of the stairs they hear Torin yelp,”Huther you don’t have to do this!” Huther responds,”I will crush you like the worms you are.” As the SOG enter the room they see no signs of Jeb or Milbin. Huther’s hulking body is arched over Torin. Torin’s eyes are wide. Alora begins to prepare for a fight. Krom politely, yet forcefully, yells out asking what is going on here. Huther turns. “Oh hey guys, we are just playing a little game. We call it Crushy Crushy Worm Worm. Want to play?” Torin waves for the group to join. Krom and Dorus eagerly accept sitting in a circle around Huther criss-cross-applesauce style. Huther reaches deep into his body pulling out a handful of multicolored worms and grubs. “Ok, crush as many as you can. Go.” He drops the handful of worms to the ground. The group laughs and plays the best game ever created by a sentient mound of roots, moss, and insects.

Milbin and Jeb walk out of the food pantry with mouths full of bread arguing and complaining as they often do. When Milbin see’s the group he rushes forward. “Do you have all the souls? Time is of the essence. The rift is incredibly unstable.” The group can see the rift once again spastic and angry. The new red gems did allow them more time, but not as much as Milbin had hoped. They explain they have all the souls except Malaak. The crew is still uncertain how they will persuade Malaak as she was not very eager the last time they spoke. “It’s not my problem. Figure it out. We are almost out of time.” The group initially wants to bring Huther and Torin to help with the potential disagreement with Malaak, but are dissuaded to the idea. “If one of our vessels is killed the soul shards will once again be free. Not a great idea,” Milbin interjects. They’ll go it alone. 

Before leaving, Alora asks Jeb for advice. “Well, Euk had worms once… real bad. I actually caught em’ too, you know… close proximity to my best buddy and all.” Alora has no idea what this has to do with Malaak, so she asks. “Well, I guess I would say Euk and I didn’t like the worms very much and we wanted to stay as far away from them as we could.” Alora and Krom take that to mean Adeline’s husk could be a good option.

Remembering the ice mirror Malaak had created, they use the reflective surface in Milbin’s chamber to quickly travel to Malaak’s hut. (Since Kloci and Zola had been promoted the route is exceptionally fast.)

Upon arriving at Malaak, all is quiet. A thick fog hangs in the air. Krom yells out for Malaak. There is no response. They head inside. Malaak is nowhere to be seen. Krom heads directly to the basket where Malaak had enclosed Adeline’s husk. (An item of which Malaak had shown signs of fear.) Krom removed the lid revealing an empty container. Dorus looks at the talisman. A black beacon points not to the basket, but to an old stove. Dorus moves closer. The stove still emanates a slight heat. Deep ash lines the bottom of the stove, a single partially unburned doll arm pokes out from the powdery residue. The talisman points strongly in the direction of the ash. Dorus sets out a satchel and begins to fill it with the ash from the stove. As he does so he feels a metal coin touch his skin. Instantly, the room begins to darken as if the shadows are overtaking the light. Dorus’ skin begins to burn as bright white sigils burn themselves onto his skin, his green hair loses all color turning a bright white, his eyes flash black. Krom snatches the pendant from Dorus concerned about what will happen if he continues to hold Kruss’ soul during this strange transition. A disembodied voice speaks,“Malaak is not who she appears. She cares not who lives and dies. Dorus you must be the vessel to restore my soul.” The shadows once again fade. Dorus stands before the group white haired and branded with otherworldly symbols. Carefully, the group picks up the metal object from the stove. It is some sort of thin metal coin covered in small, unrecognizable glyphs. Mokon readies his blade. Dorus feels a sense of emptiness, but otherwise feels fine. Confused, the group heads outside -- Krom in the lead.

Through the fog, a figure appears -- it is approaching the hut. “What are you doing in my home?” Malaak slowly asks. Krom and Dorus do their best to deceive Malaak explaining they smelled something delicious and were investigating. Malaak accepts their explanation. “Have you brought me more souls? We need to complete the ritual before it is too late. Give them to me.” Krom, who currently holds the soul pendant hides it behind her back. She tells Malaak that they do not have all the souls and want to collect them all first before handing them over. Malaak is not interested in waiting. Krom deftly hands the pendant to Alora. Malaak grows more restless and annoyed.

Alora, unsure what to do, rushes forward and touches the soul pendant to Malaaks skin. Malaak slowly turns toward Alora with an unsettlingly wide smile. “I told you I had protected myself against such things. Why do you do this? If you will not give me the souls I need to fix this… I will take them.” Dorus attempts to touch Malaak but is held aloft by powerful magic. “What have you done Dorus? Why have you forsaken me?” Dorus tries to explain that he did nothing, but Malaak knows the truth. She glares and smashes the ice mirror to remove any options of escape. Dorus’ form turns into that of a great white dire wolf. The group watches as Malaak’s body begins to unfold. Her long limbs rip away her cloak. Her body contorted and bent. Multiple heads begin to chatter. Arms seemingly extend from deep within crooked bones until standing before them is a massive multi-limbed, multi-headed troll. The words pour from Malaak each head speaking a single word before moving to the next. Each head speaks in different tones and cadence. “Give me the soul.” Dorus is dropped to the ground.

The group prepares for an epic battle. Dorus lashes out with tooth and fang biting deeply into Malaak’s sickly green flesh. Her eyes go wide. “Dorus… why? Did you think you could defeat me so easily?” Malaak’s body drops to the ground and bursts into a white mist. Dorus feels a surge and feels a great evil, but something is missing. Malaak’s soul is not complete. The amulet begins to pulse. A white beacon points partially at Dorus, but also into the hut. The group renters the swamp lodge once more following the beacon’s light. The pendant leads the group to the cauldron in the middle of the room. Closer inspection reveals a green light emanating from below. Krom and Mokon attempt to move the cauldron, but the awkward shape causes the content to spill across Krom scorching the hair from her legs. Dorus and Nom step in to finish the task unearthing a metallic trapdoor. Dorus opens the door. A set of stairs lead downward. Green light emanates from below. 

The group descends, finding themselves in an underground cavern. Torches emit a green light showing hundreds of vials, bottles, and urns. The amulet flashes white in four unique directions. One at Dorus, and the others within the room. Krom follows the amulet’s direction, finding three ancient urns. They dare not open the urns in fear of letting Malaak escape once more.

As time is of the essence according to Malaak and Milbin the group travels back to Milbin’s with the help of a mirror created by Alora.

With haste, the group traverses the mirror and find themselves standing in Milbin’s chamber once more. Milbin is eager to move forward. “Do you have Malaak’s soul fragment? Where is it?” Krom explains they are in pieces in the urns. Milbin grabs on and opens it. A collective gasp is heard from the crew. Nothing happens. “Is that a heart?” He grabs another, “A piece of a brain?” Milbin opens the top the the third,”Perhaps this is a spleen or pancreas. This is all quite disgusting. Here Dorus.” He pushes the urns to Dorus who was ill-prepared for Milbin’s speed. Dorus eyes flash white. He feels confusion and a darkness wash over him, along with a sense of completeness. He waits. Nothing more happens. Dorus looks downard just as Torin grabs his hand. Torin takes in a deep breath as if the wind had been knocked out of his lungs. Dorus eyes flash red. He feels wild excitement. “Come play with us Dorus,” Torin exclaims as he runs back to play another round of Crushy-Crushy-Worm-Worm with Huther and Sweets.

Alora, and the others now feel more confident that Sweets, Huther, and Jeb should be fine, although still unsure what will become of Dorus.

Dorus approaches Jeb asking him to high-five. Jeb has no idea what Dorus is talking about and begins to rant. Krom grabs Jeb's wrist, slapping Jeb’s hand to Dorus’. Dorus' eyes flash green. He feels a sense of wisdom that comes with age and experience and also… genuine good rarely found in a human being. (It is difficult to understand how anyone could find Jeb anything but honest, trustworthy, and virtuous. As far as humans go, Jeb is just shy of a saint. Gods look down upon Jeb and say,”Damn that guy… that guy should be up here. We should start praying to him.” But I digress.) Jeb takes a deep breath. “I still don’t understand all the hand slappy mumbo jumbo, but as long as yer  happy.” Jeb wanders back over to Milbin.

Next is Sweets. Dorus squats down next to the small gnome. Dorus puts out his fist for a fist bump. Sweets smiles and puts her hand flat against his large fist. Dorus eyes flash pink. He feels as though anything he could dream could become reality. Sweets gasps for a deep breath. “Phew, that felt weird. Thanks Dorus.” She goes back to playing with Torin.

Huther sees where this is heading and embraces Dorus in a deep and heart-felt hug. Dorus eyes flash orange. Dorus feels his brain expand. Questions are answered that Dorus had never asked. Biology, mathematics, physics were all so easy -- for an instant. “That was better than that time you killed me am-I-right.” Huther sits back down to play with the children.

The final soul, the soul Kruss held, is currently trapped in the amulet -- the last piece to complete Adeline Gummnibler’s shattered soul. The group is quiet, exchanging glances and worries for what happens next. Dorus, internally, is prepared to die to make the world whole once more. “Well, what are you waiting for… the world to blow up?” Miblin impatiently hurries the group to their final decision. Alora hands the amulet to Dorus. Dorus feels the amulet’s pull, it wants the souls. Dorus focuses and pulls as if with his own soul. He feels the amulet grip loosen as the soul is ripped from the pendant. Dorus eyes grow wide as they flash purple in color. He feels hundreds of souls of the dead spiral within him. A hunger. Then the feeling of completeness. A feeling of one. A feeling of finality. The amulet drops to the ground devoid of magic. Krom picks it up… just in case.

“Well come on.” Milbin grumpily insists. Dorus slowly makes his way toward the red diamond. He looks back at his group. He sighs. He accepts his fate, whatever it will be.

Alora begins to ask questions about what will happen, “I don’t know, but I’m sure it will be fine. We don’t have a choice. Dorus?”.

Dorus takes a deep breath and an even deeper gulp. He reaches toward the diamond… then pauses. He turns to look directly at Nom. And with the most gallant of motions, he grabs Nom by her muscular waist with one hand and the back of her neck with the other. He gently and gracefully leans her backward. Dorus’ strong trunk wraps around Nom’s torso as he kisses her deeply. Nom’s body turns to jelly. Alora wipes the drool from her lower lip.

Dorus then stands and props Nom on her now weak legs.

Dorus touches his hand to the diamond. A rush of energy is unleashed. Dorus feels a healing, not of human flesh, but of the universe. The rift begins to stabilize. Its rumbling slows. Its color goes from a turbulent blue to a crystal clear. Dorus removes his hand. “Haha… it worked!” For the first time since the group had met Milbin he genuinely seems happy. “Well, I’ll be…” Jeb wipes his head with a kerchief. Euk wanders out of the pantry, a carrot stalk hanging from the corner of his mouth.

Milbin’s smile turns back into a stern expression. “Well, what moment in time do you want to travel? Hmmm?” The group begins to discuss, and decide upon the moment they came to the Grimshackle. They could make different choices, and put this world on the right track. “Very well… so go already… jump in.” Milbin gestures to the now very inviting and stable rift orb.

Just then, in the far distant they hear Yeenoghu’s horn blow. Fearfully, they prepare for the worst. “Not to worry, I’ve put a sound dampening field around this chamber. Although, I don’t know how much more it can take. Get going already.” Milbin gestures much more aggressively toward the rift. The group wastes no time with goodbyes.

They jump in.

The orb is comfortable. It is warm. Calm. Peaceful. Mokon, Nom, Alora, Krom, and Dorus are unable to move. They are not fearful. They are frozen in time. 

“Oh I almost forgot. Milbin, don't you have something you wanted to give them… you know… before they leave?” Jeb looks toward Milbin with raised brow. “I told you, unless there is magic attached these sorts of things are worthless trinkets. There is no value whatsoever. A waste of metal.” Jeb gives Milbin a gentle nudge. “Fine, here.” Milbin pulls a necklace from around his neck. “This was given to me by a close friend when I was very young. For luck he said. I don’t much believe in that sort of thing, but Jebediah does, so here. I honestly don’t know why I kept the blasted thing. Ahem… Good luck or whatever.” Milbin tosses the necklace into the orb. The necklace floats for a moment before it is suspended in stasis.

They watch as Milbin begins to recite incantations and cast various spells toward the rift. Jeb also watches as do Huther, Sweets, Torin, Banli, and Euk.

They watch as black ooze begins to flow in from the walls, floor, and ceiling of the chamber. They watch as a puddle forms in the center growing until it is the shape of a man. A man they know as Glug. They watch as Glug encases Milbin and Jeb in a thick black sludge. They watch as another figure appears as if through the black ooze itself. A figure they know. The Black Pearl. 

She looks toward those who are not currently encased in slime. A quick flick of her wrists offers them the same fate. She slowly walks up to Glug and runs her fingernail across his chin. “Glug… as always you are very helpful… much more… able than that pathetic Kruss.” Glug hangs his head as if in shame. “Now, what do we do with you? This place is much too fun to have you ruin it in the past. How about a few hundred years in the future?” Black Pearls rests her hand on the red diamond. Black veins begin to pulsate downward into the diamond itself giving it a sickly black hue. The group begins to feel ill as if the rift itself is becoming sick. 

They watch and wait as they have little choice.

They watch as a small fiery hole begins to open behind Black Pearl. They watch the hole quietly expand. They watch two large clawed paws reach out from the hole, finding purchase on the stone floor and pulling a furry horned creature into this realm. They watch as an enormous Gerald pulls himself from the flaming pits of hell, on his back a half-elf adorned with bone armor and a smile -- Fay. She smiles at the group as she moves silently toward her prey. Glug looks up. He sees fay. He then looks at your group. His eyes furrow with a look of determination and honor. Black Pearl wheels around as you watch Glug and a Gerland mounted Fay rush Black Pearl. You hear a scream as the rift orb shifts to vibrant, blinding white. You feel a whirlpool of time as you are pulled downward in an out of control torrent. There is silence.

The SOG hit the ground with a solid thud. Their eyes still blinded by the brilliant white of the orb. As their eyes adjust they realize they are in an underground burrow of some sort. Brightly colored and pulsating gems grow from the dirt walls. Hovering in the center of the area, a small three foot diameter white orb. Milbin’s necklace lay on the ground. 

Shadows begin to grow darker in the room, choking out the light. Adeleline’s voice speaks. “Dorus, now is our chance to eradicate this destructive force. I underestimated its true power once. I will not make that mistake again.” Without thinking Dorus raises his hammer and Mokon raises his sword. With all the power they can muster they bring their weapons down upon the orb. Multicolored lights race down Dorus arms and through his hammer. An explosion of brilliant light erupts from the orb. The light fades. Dorus no longer feels the presence of Adeline. A mundane white orb rests on the ground. Dorus touches the orb. It feels like an orb of stone and nothing more. He picks up the orb and places it in his pack -- just in case. 

A faint light can be seen through a small hole upward. The group begins to dig. It takes some time to make their way to the source through the soil, rock, and mud. As they breach the surface they find themselves in a wooded area and they hear a voice… a familiar voice.

“And… here… you… are… like a cockroach that won't be killed… I know… I've tried. You couldn't leave well enough alone, could you.” Black Pearl is holding her side. Dark blood floods from a deep wound. “That Glug… haha… (she groans in pain) he just couldn't let you go… and Fay… she just had to be a hero… well… was a hero… or will be… who knows. Do you know how much time and manipulation… I had Glug eating out of my hand. And Fay, she didn’t know which way was up. I had her completely confused… which god should I listen to… boo hoo. And this place, Grimshackle. It took me hundreds of years to orchestrate that perfection. It was my masterpiece. And you… you had to ruin it.” Black Pearl continues to rant, hardly noticing the heckling coming from Krom and Nom.

“Ok, well, if I’m going to kill you, let’s do it right.” Black Pearl raises her hands. A giant black tower explodes from the ground. They watch as the beautiful woman begins to grow into a large equal beautiful giant draped in an ornate red dress. Tendrils whip from somewhere behind her body. Black ooze drips from her body as she floats to the top of the tower. 

The SOG begin to create a strategy on how to tackle their foe when they hear a scream from atop the tower. They feel their souls pulled from their body and then thrust back, but with a slight alteration. It takes a moment for them to realize that their souls were indeed put back into bodies… just not their own and with a skillset of which they are not completely familiar. Dorus finds himself in Noms body with her abilities and skills. Similarly, Nom resides in Mokon; Mokon in Alora; Alora in Krom.; and Krom in Dorus. 

“Bwahahahaha, this is fun is it not.” Black Pearl laughs.

A battle begins to rage. Confused, the SOG each do their best to fight in a body that is unfamiliar using weapons and skills that are foreign. Amazingly they do quite well embracing the fate they were given. Blow after blow they attack Black Pearl, but she is strong. 

She lowers herself to the ground a mass of ghostly specters appear behind her, the speed toward the group penetrating their very souls. They feel their life force drain.

“Did you really think it would be so easy to defeat a Goddess? Pathetic.”

Just then, a thin line appears in midair. It widens. A multicolored orb floats out through the fissure.  “Hello friends,” the voice of Benny is a wonderful voice to hear. Loudly speaking at Black Pearl,”I believe you have taken advantage of the situation. This is not a fair fight. Let’s see if we can even the odds.” Another fissure, much larger than the first, appears on the ground. Moving upward the fissure reveals two large metal feet connected to strong hydraulic legs joined to a large round shielded torso connected to two bulky steel arms with hammerlike fists protruding from the ends. 

Time to beat down a Goddess!