Session 20: Three Good Boys and One Bad Boy Report
General Summary
The Lich King's Revenge
On the streets of Aurumopolis Fez brings Zernon to surprise Lucius as they both return from their trips. Zernon went back t his homeland where his pride were very curious about his meeting with their ancestor, the Arimoanga. Lucius was coming back from doing missionary work in the Pit's Daily Manifest.
"We woke up the wizards on the top floor, fought off the spider-robot-dude and they gave us the Bayani-sun Casino!"
"No way! Did you get any loot?"
"They upgraded my tattoo, but the roof is missing!"
Unseen by them, Sahl Uzan the Desolate, the reborn illrigger that was once the soulforged fighter/warlock T-R01D The Death-Bound Revenant, watches them through Fez's eyes. Sahl is practicing with his new abilities and his awareness is focused on seeing through someone else's perception. Suddenly Sahl feels tearing in his reborn flesh. He ignores the feeling trying to focus on his dwarven "friend."
Meanwhile, the trio of good bois hear a ruckus coming from a block over. They were prepared to ignore it and head home to the Casino. But Midnight's Bane flares up by Lucius' side. "I am Midnight's Bane! All undead shall fall before my holy light! Can we please go kill the undead I smell?"
Lucius turns on his angelic form, flying up to the roof where he finds a deathlock and a bodak directing an undead swarm to attack a poor unknown soul. Zernon cat scratches his way up the building next to Lucius. Fez rages and runs around the corner. Sahl announces himself as a Soldier of Hell and the reborn version of their soulforged friend. They agree to talk about it later and turn their attention to the undead horde.
The deathlock declares, "Who do you think you are? T-R01d or Sahl or whatever you're calling yourself now? You made a pact with the Lich-King and then immediately broke it! We are the first judgement of our King and we will... Oh shit! Is that Midnight's Bane?"
The Good Bois +1 make quick work of the horde of minor undead and the three undead messengers. The final messenger, a shadow assassin, burns away in the sunlight of Lucius' many auras. It makes a promise to Sahl, "Traitor! You have not heard the last of us!"
An Archdevil, an Archbishop, and a Fisherman Walk Into a Bar
The four of them finally make their way back to the Bayani-Sun Casino where Lucius and Zernon marvel at the changes that have taken place in their absence. As they enter, an archdevil, Titivilus Ambassador of Hell waits to meet Sahl Uzan, the new Illrigger of Ar-Tamak. The Zone's Archbishop of the Sun, Bror Malmström, comes to visit Lucius and Zernon. As they meet to talk, a loud boisterous tiefling eats fish and flirts with the ladies at the bar.
Conversation With the Devil
Titivilus has come to the Bayani-Sun to ensure that Sahl will keep his Oath to Ar-Tamak. He says, "You've had so many masters and broken so many oaths! All your holes are so loose!"
Sahl ensures him that his life as an orc of Borthakar, his time as a skeleton of Dolgathan, his Tour of Duty to the Kirinal Defenders, his Pact with the Lich-King, and his Tattoo of Tambanokano all mean nothing to him and he will faithfully serve as a Hell Knight of Ar-Tamak forever! (Until he changes his mind again.)
"If you say so." says the Ambassador as he leaves. "The eyes of Hell are on you now!"
Attention From the Archbishop
The Archbishop of the Sun in the Zone has come to visit Lucius and Zernon. He praises them and looks forward to officially making them a High Priest and Knight Banneret in the Church of the Sun & Moon once they reach 9th level. Fez tries to participate in the conversation, but the Archbishop mostly ignores him.
After getting through the pleasantries, the Archbishop brings up Lucius' parentage. He was unaware of the Wardens of Tambanakua, but he had done his research. They have an awful but necessary job. He asks Lucius what his plan is for the next Summer Solstice. The sacrifice of the Ring of the Burning Sun will satiate the Lava Spider for another year, but that little taste of Lucius will only make the monster hungrier for her missing snack.
Lucius promises that he will head to the Island of the Sun to face his destiny before the next Summer Solstice. The Archbishop nods his head, "You have a promising future ahead of you! They Eye of the Sun is on you now!"
Tito Apolaki
As Archbishop Bror leaves, the friendly brown-skinned tiefling at the bar calls over Lucius and Zernon. "Hoy, pare! I need to talk to you!"
As they get closer, they see that he's a well-tanned Salvager with carabao horns and a smiling face. He pushes away a mostly eaten plate of lumpia and sisig and downs his shot of lambanog. He has a pseudodragon that looks like a tuko gecko wrapped around his neck.
"I don't like to get mixed up in church business, but the voice in my head keeps bothering me! It told me to come talk to you!"
"My name is Apolaki. No! Not 'that' Apolaki, I'm just named after him! I knew your mother back in the motherland! She was a great girl and gave up so much for you!"
"I'm here to tell you that your father, who's chained to a bed in that volcano, can help you. If you can release him, he'll even the odds against that spider! The Sun wants you to win! I'll be here if you call boy! I'm rooting for you too!"
He tells them a little about his life, mostly how he just wants the three F's: Food, Fishing, and Fu... Fulfillment!
Betting Against the Belt Bros
The next day is Shatter and the Heaven known as Arborea appears in the Pit. The particular realm is the white dust desert of Mithardir. They see the ruins of an ancient giant and titan civilization rising out of the cloud covered sand. They enter to explore and are greeted by a loud booming voice.
"Fee! Fie! Fo! Fum! I smell the blood of a dwarf, an aasimar, a cat, and... what the hell is that?"
The giants call themselves the "Belt Bros" and they offer a challenge to the Good Bois + 1. We have many magical belts and if you can beat us in a challenge or just a fight you can get some of them! But you have to ante up a magic item of equivalent value! What say you!
The Bois agree and Lucius and Zernon get into a shouting match over exactly which items they want to wager. Eventually Sahl puts up his Dragon Wing Longbow and his Hammer of Warning. Fez puts up his Barrier Tattoo. Lucius and Zernon are so busy arguing, the timer goes off and they put up nothing.
They get into a long pitched battle with two hill and two cloud giants. The giants hide in the mist, pelting the Bois with boulders from afar and hiding back in the clouds. The fight goes on and on with Sahl going down multiple times. They slowly pick off the hill giants. Eventually, Zernon and Sahl use their reactive magic to invoke divine and infernal retribution to take down one cloud giant.
The last giant flies up above the cloud to rain boulders down from above. Sahl invokes a seal on the giant that brings it crashing back down. Fez enters the cloud and gets smacked out of one cloud and into another. This contines for a while until they finally pin down the last giant and taking it down.
The Belt Bros congratulate them on their victory and hand over the prizes: a belt of hill giant strength, a belt of dwarvenkind, and a belt of fire giant strength.