Tombs of Scoria: Episode 79

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== Synopsis ==
Tyrael and Imrik slay the Firewyrm and Imrik absorbs its knowledge of the planes. After much deliberation, Tyrael and Imrik travel through the Astral Plane and then the Elemental Plane of Air. The Brothers meet a royal family of cloud giants, and learn that a few weeks ago, Anton had pierced through the Elemental Plane of Air and the Pseudoplane of Velthara. In the resulting break in reality, a rift was left behind, which the Brothers learn they can travel through to reunite with him. 
==Recap==
===Preparations to Fight the Firewyrm===
Tyrael, Imrik, and Imprik (the Imp) stand before the inner chamber of the Firewyrm, finding themselves with some breathing room to discuss how to best conduct their assault. The Brothers take a few minutes to allow Imrik to regenerate HP. 
The Brothers grapple with the complication that they cannot merely slay the Firewyrm; Imrik must be hands on with the Firewyrm as the killing blow is struck, so as to prevent the Firewyrm from dissipating, before Imrik can consume the brain of the Firewyrm for its knowledge. Further, the Firewyrm resides in the middle of a giant lava pit. 
Tyrael, Imrik, and Imprik consider their arsenal and tactics they could theoretically bring to bear on the Firewyrm, such as , , the Wand of Paralyzation, the Sword of Sharpness, and so on. 
As discussions finalize, a pack of Thungs and Demon Warriors arrive as reinforcements. 
Tyrael casts from a scroll on himself and Imrik. Imrik casts on himself and Tyrael. Imrik casts on himself. Tyrael drinks a healing potion. 
Imrik peeks around the corner and casts on the pack of Thungs. The Thungs die outright. The eventually sinks into the lava pit and is burnt out by the extreme heat.
Combat Start: Tyrael and Imrik vs The Firewyrm
The Firewyrm opens with its breath weapon. Imrik’s completely negates the breath weapon; Tyrael successfully saves and suffers 22 fire damage. 
Demon Warriors charge at Imrik to engage him in melee combat. Imrik draws his Bow of Speed and fires 6 bow shots, dealing 8 damage to a Demon Warrior. A Demon Warrior strikes Imrik destroying a charge of . Imrik fires another flurry of arrows, dealing 7 back to the Demon Warrior. 
Tyrael consumes a Potion of Protection From Fire. 
Imrik steps back and continues to fire on the Demon Warriors, dealing 8. A Demon Warrior strikes Imrik and destroys another charge of . 
Tyrael, wielding Frostbrand and the Moonblade, opens up, dealing 37 to a Demon Warrior, slaying it. The two remaining Demon Warriors greedily squeeze into the doorway to engage Tyrael, suffering penalties to their attacks and AC. 
Imrik fires over Tyrael, missing in an effort to avoid hitting Tyrael. Tyrael deals 39, slaying another Demon Warrior. The remaining Demon Warrior fails to strike Tyrael.
The Firewyrm’s breath weapon recharges. Caring little for its minions, it attacks: Tyrael saves, suffering 9, with some cover mitigating the breath weapon; the Demon Warrior saves, suffering 14; Imrik saves, allowing his to completely negate the damage. 
Imrik switches to his Bow +2, dealing 17 to the Demon Warrior. Tyrael deals 10 to the Demon Warrior. Imrik lands another shot for 8, slaying the final Demon Warrior. 
Tyrael engages the Firewyrm in melee combat, dealing 14 to the Firewyrm, then disengages behind a pillar with his Boots of Springing and Striding. Imrik moves into the inner chamber, dealing 5 damage to the Firewyrm with a bow attack. 
Tyrael re-engages, dealing 32. Tyrael gambles on baiting an attack of opportunity from the Firewyrm to leave its melee range. The Firewyrm critically bites Tyrael with a Roll to Hit of 50 (11+39), dealing 37 (6d12). Imrik casts , attempting to push the Firewyrm’s head, but the hand proves completely ineffective.
Tyrael, at only 11/87.5 HP remaining, retreats from the inner chamber to take cover. 
The Firewyrm’s breath weapon recharges; Imrik saves, suffering no damage. The Firewyrm howls in frustration as its mightiest weapon repeatedly fails to slay its attackers. A previously unseen Demon Caster emerges, casting a Ring of Fire around the Firewyrm and pointing the flames outward to deter attackers. 
Despite his terrible wounds, Tyrael still feels he has it in himself to destroy the Firewyrm. Tyrael activates his Cloak of the Cheetah believing in himself and the powerful magics protecting him from fire. Tyrael moves at tremendous speed and jumps through the Ring of Fire, suffering 3 fire damage in the process, but critically striking the Firewyrm for 23, and double critically striking again for 32. Tyrael activates his Boots of Springing and Striding to disengage from the inner chamber. 
As Tyrael retreats, Tyrael conveys a knowing look to Imrik that he cannot risk consuming health potions due to the ongoing effects of the Protection From Fire potion, but he will not abandon his little brother. 
Imrik lines up the Firewyrm and the Demon Caster and fires off a ; the Firewyrm fails to resist the bolt but saves, suffering 20; the Demon Caster also saves, suffering 20, but has its spell interrupted.
The Firewyrm’s breath weapon recharges once again and it attacks Imrik; Imrik saves, suffering no damage. 
Tyrael assesses his surroundings, and at blinding speed, manages to sprint and jump down to a lower level of the opposite side of the inner chamber, attacking the Demon Caster for 15, slaying it. The Ring of Fire remains. 
Imrik draws his Bow +2 and continues firing on the Firewyrm, dealing 14. A Demon Warrior enters the chamber, spotting Imrik and engages him in melee combat, destroying another charge. 
Imrik steps back and suffers an attack of opportunity from the Demon Warrior, losing another charge. Imrik continues to fire on the Firewyrm between the pillars of the inner chamber, dealing 15. 
Tyrael shouts he is coming to save Imrik. 
Imrik continues to strike the Firewyrm, dealing 30 in a critical volley of arrows. The Firewyrm’s wounds show as it teeters on the brink of death. The Demon Warrior, in its desperation, throws down its sword and shield to grapple Imrik. 
In a ruling, Imrik’s unexpectedly fails to ward off the Demon Warrior, as specifies that it protects against extraplanar creatures rather than specifically evil creatures. Here, the demons are on their native plane, rendering Imrik himself the extraplanar creature. Thus, the Demon Warrior is able grab a hold of Imrik and attempts to bring him to the ground. The Demon Warrior successfully grapples Imrik, pinning the wizard’s arms.
Tyrael surges forth towards the Demon Warrior, dealing 26 to the distracted Demon Warrior and sprints back to cover. 
The Firewyrm’s breath weapon recharges and it attacks Imrik; Imrik saves and takes no damage; the Demon Warrior is incinerated by the flames. 
Imrik double criticals the Firewyrm, dealing 15, bringing the Firewyrm down to a sliver of HP. Imrik, realizing he cannot risk slaying the Firewyrm from range, drops his bow and draws his sword.
Slaying the Firewyrm
Tyrael, comprehending the situation, uses the last of the speed granted by his Cloak of the Cheetah to run back to Imrik, and throws Imrik Frostbrand before retreating one final time. 
Imrik, wielding Frostbrand, faces a dilemma: the Firewyrm sits in a pit of lava, where it is imminently capable of submerging to escape, likely never to be seen again- if he does not get into physical contact and strike the killing blow now, Anton is likely lost forever. If he misses, he plummets into the lava pit, facing certain doom. 
As the Firewyrm attempts to submerge, a slow process due to its sheer size, Imrik walks forth, dispelling the Ring of Fire with his newly gained magic resistance. Imprik goads Imrik to make the jump needed to close the distance. 
Imrik, realizing he is going into the lava regardless of what he does if he fails, commits to his attack. Imrik rolls to attack and successfully impacts the Firewyrm; critically succeeds on a Strength Check to grab a hold of the Firewyrm; his protects him from the searing touch of the Firewyrm, and he plunges Frostbrand into the Firewyrm, slaying it.
Imrik succeeds on an Int Check to split the Firewyrm’s skull to reveal its brain, but finds only lava. Imrik decides to not overcomplicate things and scoops up the lava and consumes the molten rock, suffering 12 damage. 
Tyrael re-enters the chamber and pulls out the magic rope to bind himself and Imrik, and hauls his little brother back up.
As the Brothers look up, they see that combat had attracted many demonic spectators who watched without intervening. With the Firewyrm dead, the demons descend into chaos, seeking to ascend into greater beings and fill the power vacuum left by the Firewyrm.
Imrik’s head swirls with his newfound knowledge. The Brothers retreat up a tower in the Firewyrm’s keep.
Combat end: Fire Wyrm is dead and consumed.
=== The Knowledge of Demons ===
Imrik casts to seal off the tower. Tyrael chugs healing potions. As the knowledge settles within Imrik, he is granted considerable knowledge of the structure of The Planes, but the information is incomplete, as the Firewyrm’s information was limited to its goal of the conquest of the The World (Third Material Plane).
The structure of the planes proves difficult. Imrik finds that the Astral Plane connects most, but not all planes, acting as an intermediary connection between many inner planes. The Brothers realize they must be absolutely sure of where they are going before entering the Astral Plane, as going in the wrong direction would mean sealing off all possibility of reaching Anton. Further, the Brothers realize that Pseudoplanes are dead ends, and entering a wrong one would also seal Anton’s fate.
The Brothers know that:
* The Second Material Plane (Demon Homeworld they are on currently) is 5 jumps from Anton;
* The Third Material Plane (The World aka The Prime Material Plane aka home) is 4 jumps from Anton; and
* The Elemental Plane of Air of The Third Material Plane is 3 jumps from Anton.
From that information alone, however, they cannot deduce with certainty where Anton is. The Brothers decide they must go to the Astral Plane and then to the Plane of Air, because Anton has to be in a plane that is adjacent to it. Imrik takes 20 hours to learn spells. 
Tyrael activates the planar manipulator and they travel to the Astral Plane.
=== The Astral Plane ===
The Brothers arrive in a vast, open, and empty nothingness. There is no ability to move, and no sense of direction. 
The Brothers are able to see the three dimensional structure of The Pantheon, like Sayor, Reluna, Matrigal, and others. The Gods are shaped around the Third Material Plane, which appears to be cloudy and watery from a great distance. 
Imrik casts Locate Planar Traveler, and finds that they are 4 jumps from Anton. The Brothers conclude their next jump must be the Elemental Plane of Air. Imrik casts , Tyrael activates the planar manipulator and they travel to the Elemental Plane of Air.
=== The Plane of Air ===
The Brothers arrive, and it is misty, damp, and cool. The Brothers fly through the fog. Imrik calls out to see if any creatures will answer. What seems to be hours later, a cloud answers, exchanging an open palm gesture, but the Brothers are unable to communicate.
Imrik casts and asks, “take me to the palace of the Djinnis.” The spell succeeds and the Brothers fly towards the palace until they find a dense cloud they cannot displace. The Brothers opt to go to the entrance. The Brothers knock on brass banded doors. 
Tyrael activates the Charisma granting Ioun stone and wields the Rod of Splendor, increasing his Charisma to 18. The door opens, and a 25 foot tall cloud giant with pale skin and robes answers. The cloud giant replies in Eridonian. The Brothers are brought into the castle, which appears surprisingly ordinary, albeit with a sparkling dome and adorned with massive gemstones and precious metals.
The cloud giant, Cosmo, a doorman, is amazed by the presence of the Brothers, and they are brought before the Nova royal family. They are fascinated by the McGarys and the planar manipulator. The two groups are able to piece together that Anton was the thing that had pierced the Plane of Air and the Pseudoplane of Velthara few weeks ago and left a rift in the break in reality. 
The Brothers learn that rifts are temporary passageways, unstable, high energy, and incredibly dangerous in nature, and that the rift is closing. The Brothers assure the cloud giants that as long as they have the name of the pseudoplane that Anton went through, they can travel directly to where he is without issue.
The cloud giants begin to question who the Brothers are, two humans who are able to travel with such ease between planes. The Brothers say that they are able to do so because the planar manipulator. The cloud giants question the Brothers further, asking where they obtained such a device from, and asking if it comes in giant size. The Brothers say they obtained the device from the wizard . The cloud giants accept their answer, but are unsure whether the Brothers are humans or dwarves.
Cosmo brings the Brothers to the entrance to the Pseudoplane of Velthara and leaves. The Brothers and Imprik reason that because the planar manipulator can default to taking users through the thinnest and nearest break in reality, all they need to do is get close enough to the rift, and they will arrive directly at Anton.
Category:Tombs of Scoria Episodes