GoCorral

This session was attended by everyone but Jamie. That worked out quite well as his character didn’t have much to do.

Hunting the God Stealer

The party wished to capture the new Divine Amalius. Amaletar had stolen some divine juice from Zeus. If they got the juice back and gave it to Zeus, then the all-father could defeat Blendegad for the party and save Cimmeria. Sadly, finding the powerful psion would be next to impossible; but perhaps they could go somewhere they knew Amaletar would be present. Perhaps the wedding of Fauxmalius?

Back when Amalius was a man he had his memories altered by the Xorians to think a particular family was his own, when in fact he had no relation to them. This fact was eventually revealed to him and his “wife,” Denara. Rather than end the relationship Amalius and Denara continued to live as husband and wife. They still had memories of their union, even if the memories were false. They still enjoyed each other’s company. They still had three children to raise, even if Amalius was not their biological father.

Amalius and Denara’s marriage survived the truth, but they had never actually been married. Rather than remain in what was technically an adulterous relationship Amalius wished to officially marry Denara. He had sent out invitations awhile ago announcing that the wedding would take place on December 15th. Now the time had come at last. With the events of the last few days, Fauxmalius would be the one going through the marriage ceremony. No one could say what Amaletar would do or if he would even be present at the wedding.

No official plans were made for intercepting Amaletar at the wedding, but Hektor kept his magical eyes looking for any hint of the psion. He maintained the domination spell on Fauxmalius, but did not exercise its power.

Amalius’s Big Day

Soon the day of the wedding arrived, December 15th, the day considered to be the most unlucky for a wedding. Amalius had chosen the date to flout the rule of the gods and the superstitions that reinforced their divine rule.

The entire city of Jipangu along with all the refugees joined the celebration. A hundred cows and a hundred sheep were sacrificed, roasted, and shared out to the populace. A multitude of other dishes were cooked and served in mountains of food. Wine, beer, and ale flowed in rivers through the streets. Amalius had hired entertainers of all sorts. Fire breathers, puppet shows, dancers, musicians, and animal trainers. The city was decorated in yellow banners bearing the shattered sun of Halkias. Everywhere good smells, sounds, and sights assaulted the senses.

The nobles who were actually invited to the wedding ceremony itself included people from all over Eastern Cimmeria. All the Alliance Council members, the leading members of Jipangu society, the royal courts of Mars’ Oasis and Aractrash, and of course the faithful members of the Exiles. In addition, Amalius invited a few of the commoner friends that Amalchus had made during their family’s ostracism from Jipangu. The ceremony took place at a large shrine a few blocks from the Halkias estate. Chairs were set up for the guests to sit on. Amalius and his brother greeted everyone as they arrived. Fauxmalius wore a red, black, and gold uniform that combined the styles of Phoenix and Jipangu to create something that seemed solidly masculine while maintaining a fluid appearance as if his silks were made of water. Amalchus wore gold and black silks, but in the traditional flowy style of Jipangu.

Danar wore black satin with gold trim to match the Halkias colors, but his clothes were heavily embroidered in the style of his home country, Sheerzen. Gorwinua wore a purple robe with a bold cut that displayed the sides of her torso. Her dress was cinched with a turquoise cord and turquoise jewelry covered her arms, ankles, neck, and ears. Hektor wore his father’s ceremonial armor from Aractrash as he always did for special occasions. Tagenadi wore his armor, but used a small glamer to make it appear as if he was wearing a white toga with golden accents. Torin wore white, purple, and gold clerical robes appropriate for his role as officiant. Additionally the dwarf had elaborately knotted his beard.

Eathirilu was the only one of the group to not dress up nor did he bathe. He went as his naturally reincarnated form, a stinky piss-covered wolverine. He still wore his magic armor that resized to fit any of his forms. Eathirilu was as rude as possible as he snarled and growled to disturb the other guests.

Torin and Tagenadi had parts to play in the wedding as officiant and torchbearer respectively. The other Exiles sat in the last row of chairs in the shrine.

Prior to the wedding Denara had spent time in the company of the women of her household. In the absence of her own family, this was with Amalius’s family. Amalius’s mother, Hiroka, would act as Denara’s mother, bathing her and preparing her for the wedding. Denara was familiar with the ceremony from her marriage to her first husband, but the particulars were much more elaborate in the Halkias noble household. Scented perfumes and oils, servants to assist with every need, music to calm the mood, and food available on request. Denara ate nothing but was grateful for everything that was provided to her.

When Denara’s bath was done Hiroka informed Endi, Amalius’s squire. Endi ran to the nearby shrine and instructed Amalius that Denara was ready for him. Fauxmalius left with Endi to retrieve his bride. Tagenadi, Aldarian, and Amalchus followed. Fauxmalius returned a few moments later with his wife in a golden veil. She wore a dress that matched his uniform. The couple was surrounded by Amalius’s torchbearers, Tagenadi, Aldarian, Amalchus, and finally Hallion, Amalius’s “son” with Denara. Hallion was too small to carry the four foot long torch, so Endi carried it in his stead. The Halkias women followed behind the torchbearers.

The couple filed down the aisle between the chairs to stand beneath the podium that Torin was behind. The torchbearers took their places, two on each side of Fauxmalius and Denara.

Torin began the ceremony, “We are gathered today to join Amalius Halkias and Denara in the bonds of holy matrimony. While they have lived together before, they weren’t really married, and it’s a bit complicated. Anyways, we are here to witness their official union as husband and wife in this holy place where we are joined together. If any person thinks these two should not be wed, speak now or forever hold their piece.”
Silence filled the room.
“Hmm…” Torin mumbled to himself, “I thought there’d be somebody.”
“This couple has had it rough. They’ve made it through prison, losing their memories…” Torin continued on. He had prepared a nice speech, but was forgetting portions and stumbling over the rest. Torin’s talents are better suited for war, not officiating weddings. His inexperience was showing.

Silent Alarm Tripped

Hektor’s magical alarms went off. Two people were watching the wedding through scrying sensors! He examined the first. Following the sensor’s magical tether to the source he saw Amalgami. The lich had made himself invisible, but Hektor saw him none-the-less. Amalgami stood in the assembled crowd of commoners outside of the Halkias estate. Hektor examined the other sensor, following it to its source as well. He saw Amaletar in a stone room. The bodies of elite Mars’ Oasis guards were strewn about him. The angelic psion was pushing a blue dragon head into a portable hole. Amaletar had attacked the dragon vault in Mars’ Oasis! The place that the heads of the dragon monarchs were kept imprisoned so that they could never return to the earth. He was stealing the heads while the party was occupied!

Hektor spoke in a harsh whisper to Eathirilu, Danar, and Gorwinua, “We need to go now. Amaletar is in Mars’ Oasis stealing the dragon heads.” The party stood up and went to the edge of the shrine. They cast a few spells on themselves, earning quite a few looks from the other wedding guests. Then Hektor teleported them away, following the scrying tether through the astral plane.

The group arrived outside the dragon vault in Mars’ Oasis. Dead guards were strewn about the place and Amaletar was shoving another dragon head into his portable hole. Hektor shouted, “STOP!” and the party attacked.

Gorwinua prepared a spell to prevent Amaletar’s escape if he tried. Eathirilu transformed into a dinosaur and charged. Danar hefted his axe and charged as well. Amaletar ignored their ineffective attacks. Danar struck with his full force, enough to decapitate a mountain peak. Amaletar had not a scratch on him. Hektor shouted. “He’s using a psionic technique. He’s immune to everything we do temporarily!”

Eathirilu said to Amaletar, “Can’t we stop this? Can’t we put all this behind us and move against the dragovinians together? Put down the dragon heads and we can talk it out.”
Amaletar replied, “Of course we can,” and Eathirilu felt his mind being assaulted. Waves of psionic energy pounded into him. They felt different than all the attacks the Exiles had seen Amalius use previously. The angel’s mental energy was cloaked behind an invisible curtain. Was this why they’d missed his timeless body effect that made him immune to spells? Eathirilu gritted his lizard teeth and bore through the cerebral invasion. He maintained control over his own thoughts and actions.
Amaletar continued, “But perhaps not today. On a later date we can watch the gods fall and mortals rise, together.” Amaletar began casting another spell. The same invisible curtain passed in front of the Exiles’ eyes. Those who were so trained at recognizing different forms of magic were like children before Amaletar’s godly power. What was he casting?
Gorwinua realized it at the last second, a teleport spell! She flung her own gathered energy at the psion and countered his escape.

Then from behind Amaletar his psicrystal appeared. It was no longer a black jagged crystal as they had last seen it or a deep red orb as it had been before that. The crystal now took the shape of a white tesseract, constantly rotating in and out of three dimensional space. The crystal folded space around it, Amaletar smiled, and they were gone, taking the portable hole with them.

“Damn it! No!” Hektor cursed. “I won’t let him get away!” Hektor focused his most powerful energies and made a wish, “Take us to where Amalius has run to.” The party’s surroundings shimmered and changed. They left the dragon vault of Mars’ Oasis and appeared in another place, on another plane of existence. Flames roared around them. Everything was fire and ash and heat. The Elemental Plane of Fire! Amaletar floated in front of them.
“You followed me as I thought you would. Predictable.” He waved his hand and another wave of invisible psionic energy crashed against Eathirilu’s mental fortress. The power surged and pounded against Eathirilu’s defenses. He resisted. He would not fall to his old companion’s magic. He knew it too well.
“You cannot control us Amalius,” said Eathirilu. “Give up! It’s over.”
Gorwinua shot a green ray out of her finger. The magic ray hit Amaletar and the green energy spread across his body. “He’s dimensionally anchored! He can’t get away now.”
Hektor erected a forcecage around Amaletar. There would be no escape through magical or physical means.
Danar spoke to Amaletar, “Let us take Zeus’s power from you. We don’t have to kill you. Just give the power back and we’ll end this now.”
Amaletar spoke to all of their minds, “No. I am immortal now. It will never be over and it will never end. Not until the world is free.” And then he disappeared along with his psicrystal.
“WHERE DID HE GO?” Hektor screamed. The dimensional anchor prevented teleportation. Hektor’s true seeing magic was active as always, Amaletar was not invisible. The forcecage was still erected so he could not have physically left.
“What spell did he cast?” The Exiles did not know. Magic that was so easy to identify before was now foreign and strange when Amaletar cast it. Had he cast a teleportation spell that overpowered the dimensional anchor? Had he altered reality to escape? If they followed him would he simply do the same thing again?
Danar said, “He got away for now, but we can find him again another time. Let’s go back to the wedding.”
Gorwinua said, “Let’s stop at the dragon vault first. Maybe one of the guards is still alive and could tell us something.”

The party returned to the Material Plane and to Mars’ Oasis. A minute or so later, Amaletar’s time hop expired. He reentered the time stream exactly where he had been before, within the forcecage. He smiled smugly to himself. They had acted just as he predicted. He removed the dimensional anchor and the forcecage before returning to his secret lair.