Hardcore Heroes Otherside: Episode 5

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== Synopsis ==
In a high-stakes scenario atop The Great Pyramid of Heatstroke, Van-Healsing and his companions face multiple crises. Van attempts to use the "Oil of Timelessness" to preserve and potentially resurrect their fallen ally, Kain, despite Mother Ellyse’s doubts about divine intervention. Meanwhile, they struggle with food shortages, demon attacks, and unsettling encounters in the Shadow Plane. Georg and Malakai, investigating in the Shadow Plane, discover oddities and hostile entities before reuniting with Van and the group. The party explores a mysterious portal and a large, fiery mirror, leading them to a dangerous realm filled with demons. A fierce battle ensues with a Task Master Demon and its minions. After defeating their foes, they theorize that a resonating tuning fork they found might detect other portals, and they prepare for further exploration as the landscape around them shifts ominously.
==Recap==
=== The Great Pyramid ===
In a chamber atop The Great Pyramid of Heatstroke, Van-Healsing covers Kain with the "Oil of Timelessness" to preserve him, so there is more time to resurrect him. Mother Ellyse is sceptical that even in this unnatural world gods would grant them the power to resurrect, but despite that as long as they have the oil she insists on using it on more people such as Kel Breda and Lord Dicky.
Van then creates an scroll, using one of his statue of Astair which he grinds into dust, and then mixes with his own blood. He casts on the scroll and it isn't destroyed, therefore the scroll is safe to use. Van sacrifices the jewelled sword and scabbard so Ellyse can cast .
Before they can cast the spells, the food situation has gotten worse. The Phase Spider and Displacer Beast meat has run out so Van sends out groups of people to hunt lone demons to supplement their food reserves. Only those with Mist Demons inside them aren't feeling the hunger. To make matters worse the demon worshipping sect appears to have grown in numbers so Van casts Defect Evil on a possessed person. He gets a Dim Evil aura and personality of patient type.
Van then casts and tries to Scry on Malakai, but the spell fails. Van is nervious about his plan to resurrect Kain so casts to ask the question "is it safe for me to learn magic to raise people from the dead?" but Chis doesn't answer. Van abandons the plan to resurrect Kain.
Van heads downstairs in the Great Pyramid to investigate the distorted mirror.
=== Portal Tower ===
Malakai and Georg start in Shirebrook. Georg buys two hourglasses to help measure how time passes in the Shadow plane, Georg steps through the portal while Malakai stays behind and waits for an hour before stepping through as well, turns out time seems pass the same. Georg casts a Magic Mouth to warn whoever enters the chamber against going through the portal with a "Turn back if you value your soul mortal" in common, dwarvish, ogre.
Georg and Malakai step through Portal to the Shadow Plane and arrive at the top of the stone tower in the Draken Ridge in the Shadow Plane. Georg uses a clairvoyance to scry on Aldric's tower, and notice's several small details out of place such as the telescope having less details or bookshelf having different shape. Malakai spider climbs around the portal tower and finds no doorways or windows. One side ends into the mountain, and the other side goes down for a long way. Malakai uses clairvoyance to scry beneath the floor of the tower, and finds that there are no floors underneath where they are, the walls descending into darkness. 
=== Shadow Shirebrook ===
Georg reduces Malakai, places him into a deep pocket, and teleports to Aldric's tower. Georg enlarges Malakai, and they look around the tower and find the small details about everything are slightly off, also there seems to be no wind or movement at all. They search around the town and keep, finding no one. When they get to the Half Pint, they find a scrap of paper in Malakai's usual seat.
:"We are heading up to Heatstroke. You can find us at the holiest site in Eridon. XOXO - Van"
Before they head to Heatstroke the party checks out the mine in the Shadow Plane, and find that it is shaped differently, with no portal room. Malakai polymorphs into a Pegasus, and Georg flies on his back to the area within the hidden valley inside the Shadow Mountains, taking a quick look at the valley from the air. It looks the same. The party flies back to Shirebrook and sleeps in Georg's tiny hut.
The next morning, Malakai asks Georg whose side he is on, thinking that perhaps Georg might be delivering him directly into hands of Malkis, but Georg waves off the accusations explaining that there's no binary here, that it's a circle of life. Georg uses clairvoyance to scry on Heatstroke, and sees a huge pyramid in the centre of the city. Malakai gives Georg, the person from Solum, a quick rundown on the temple and it's general history. Georg scries a second time 10 feet below the top of the pyramid, and sees a floor beneath the roof. The party decides to wait one extra day and goes out into the town square to test a spell, but spots a misty shaped creature crawling towards them. Georg runs forward and tries to the creature, which comes out as a colorless spray of dim light, having no effect. Malakai drops the creature with a set of magic missiles. Malakai spots seven more creatures approaching, one of which launches itself against Malakai, who stops it. Another creature hurls itself at Georg and possesses him. A third creature sits close Malakai and lies in wait. Malakai destroys the creature on him with a set of magic missiles, and then blocks the third creature's readied attack. Malakai destroys the last creature with a final set of magic missiles, and goes over to Georg whose curled up shivering from the pain, Malakai startles the suffering wizard and Georg slips into his pocket dimension, leaving his robes behind.
Malakai barricades himself in the Halfpint, and takes a look in a few of Georg's deep pockets. Half an hour later, Georg reappears and rushes naked over to join Malakai. He has an amulet hanging from his neck. They begin discussing whether to teleport now or wait another day, but the two wizards are interrupted by sound of numerous bat wings approaching them, and Malakai opens the door and fireballs the entire group, burning them to ash. The party decides it is time to get out of there. Georg reduces Malakai and puts him in his pocket, and then teleports to Heatstroke.  
=== The Great Pyramid ===
Georg makes it to the top of the Great Pyramid, and pulls Malakai out of his pocket. The people outside see the wizard and scream for Van, who rushes out of the pyramid. A tense moment passes with both groups taking the sight in until Georg introduces himself. It takes a bit for Van to notice the tiny Malakai hanging out so before enlarging him Georg takes the opportunity to joke that physical size on this plane equates a wizards power. Van asks Malakai to prove who he is, to which he utters a curse about dwarves. Van instantly gives him a big hug. Van informs Malakai of Kain's death, and the situation surrounding it. The reunited party speculates about Malkis, and his intentions. They also discuss the creatures they have found in the Shadow plane. Malakai and Jeeves, who mentions he has seen this here darker than even the wizards soul, reunite, and Malakai gives out food to Jeeves, which almost causes a riot among the people. Van mentions to Georg that Malakai met Venlen before the disappearance, a possible connection perhaps. The party moves inside the pyramid while Van finishes memorising a spell. Malakai has a conversation with the leader of the group of demon worshippers, whose name is Lord Seth. The young Lord seems to have grown warped by the journey though and he claims that the demons are their saviours and that no one leaves this place. Malakai tries to convince the people to remain strong and keep hope for a return to Shirebrook. Malakai's conversation with Lord Seth goes poorly, a fight breaks out and mother Ellyse ends up breaking it up with Malakai walking out in a huff. Georg explores the pyramid and discovers it has a lower floor shaped just like the upper one, only inverted. 
When Van is finished, the party meets in the pyramid room with Kain's body, and discuss the concepts of resurrection and the planes, Van proposes that the shadow plane might be Malkis domain even if it wasn't created just to imprison them. Malakai adds that the creak in Hidden valley might be the spot where Malkis entered this world although Georg opposes the idea a god would just leave a tear in space-time open like that. Van informs them of the mirror in the basement of the pyramid, and leads them down to show them. The party spends more time getting to know each other and discussing demons on the way, Georg explains they were the early creations of the gods. They also introduce Jeeves to Georg. The party comes to the bottom of the pyramid and sees a huge mirror that is carved to look like it is wreathed in flames. It is hovering a foot above the ground. Van casts Detect extra-dimensional space to determine that the mirror is a portal, but has no alignment however. Malakai goes up to find Lord Seth, and convinces him to come to down to the portal room. Van tries an Augury to determine if going through the portal will do them harm, and to question "What will happen if I attempt to interact with this mirror" gets the response "Unbroken glass is always safe". Georg goes and touches the portal, finding it cool and bendy to the touch. Malakai returns with Lord Seth, who spouts rhetoric about the demons as saviours of man. Van becomes angered and punches him, vowing to end the influence of the cult. As the group discusses methods of bringing all of the people back to the Prime Material plane, they see Jeeves check the portal and start being pulled through. Malakai grabs onto Jeeves and starts to go through the portal with him. Georg tries to grab Malakai and only is able to grab his boot. The group debates for a minute, Georg hesitates, and Van grabs him and drags both of them through the portal.
=== The Other Otherside ===
Malakai and Jeeves land on a path of chiselled stonework, as if the ground itself had been worked into a road. Malakai sees a Task Master Demon with wings, a sword, and a whip. At the demon's feet sit a dozen bulbous 2 foot tall Toadie Demon, who are chiselling the ground. As they look around, Van and Georg come through the portal, and a battle immediately ensues. Several Toadies jump onto Van and Georg and hold onto their legs. Malakai steps forward and drinks a potion and then breaths fire in front of him. He roasts 6 of the Toadies, but the Task Master is unharmed. Georg displaces himself while Van dispatches one of the Toadies on his leg. The Task Master bashes against Malakai's stoneskin. Malakai casts a spell and all of the creatures start slowing down. Van slays the other Toadie on his leg as Georg blinks immediately behind the Task Master. Malakai summons a Shadow troll, who rips into the Task Master. Van shield rushes into the Task Master, bounces off him, and falls to the ground. Georg taunts the Task Master, calling him a scaly bastard, and then blinks away. The Task Master roars in the direction of Malakai, Van, and Jeeves, stunning and deafening the heroes and bringing Jeeves down. The remaining Toadies die to the roar of the Task Master. The Shadow troll tears into the Task Master again, bringing it down. Georg stabilises Jeeves.
The party looks around and sees large spires of rock and pools of boiling lava all around. They see that the road the demons were building extends down the mountainside out of site, behind the portal is a sheer cliff. The road seems to be built with more fine detail at the portal. Everything is greyscale, including the sky. The party theorises that this is the Shadow plane of the Second Material plane. Van detects magic, finding a large magical aura coming from Georg, and also what looks like a forked tongue of a creature on the waist of the Task Master. It looks like a tuning fork. When Van picks it up, it starts to resonate. He puts tries to put it into one of Georg's deep pockets, it starts to resonate very loudly. The party hears a large roar, and as they retreat through the portal, they see 3 Task Masters and about 20 of the Toadies barrelling around the corner. The party creates a defensive stance around the portal....and nothing comes through. 
=== Pyramid Basement ===
The tuning fork starts resonating again, and after pointing it at the portal and then Georg's robes the party theorises that it detects portals.
== Experience and changes ==
* Georg, Malakai and Van gain 6171XP (Including 10% prerequisite bonus)
* Malakai is less than 1000XP away from level 9
Category:Hardcore Heroes Episodes
Category:Georg Episodes