Banishment of the Elder Gods

## Common Knowledge

Denizens of Ivoran might remember a period in 10,017 A.B. where people were violently hostile to any outsiders for a few days.

## Contributing Factors

### Belladonna

The Lone Fateweaver of Madness, Belladonna jeopardized the lives of countless innocents in her grand plans to eradicate all magic. Orchestrating the most recent Giant-Dove-Folk War in the Overbright, genociding the Newt-Folk, helping Amity steal the stars, inventing the Angst Plague, kidnapping the Fateweavers, enthralling the Unseen, all these things made Belladonna a clear and present threat.

### Madness

What goes for Belladonna must also go for her patron deity, the Elder God of Madness. Madness’s attempts to breach the Material Plane for his own designs had led to Belladonna’s actions, and no doubt countless other horrors.

### Escalation of Threats

In the years leading up to this event, the Material Plane was threatened with countless assaults. Darkfell, the Planar War, the Stars’ Disappearance, the Fel Invasion, the Angst Plague, and most recently the return of the God of Dreams. William Wilson, known to his patronizers simply as “Shop”, watched these events and countless others transpire. He eventually reached the conclusion that while not the sole problem, the Elder Gods interfering with the Material Plane caused a great deal more trouble than they were worth.

## Binturian Involvement

The Binturian Party is the primary mover of the Banishment of the Elder Gods. Though the plans and rituals were constructed by Samuel Slater and William Wilson, the Binturians found the ritual pieces, the Binturians found a peaceful solution, and the Binturians killed Belladonna.

## Order of Events

### The Belladonna Problem

The Binturian Party entered Shop's Tavern to find it oddly quiet. The Unseen running the shops did not speak much, only piping up when addressed. Samuel Slater appeared to be gone, and William Wilson did not say a word, but nonetheless the Binturians went about their night. A few of their fellow Party members came in, acting strange and insisting on bringing the others somewhere, so off they went to investigate, finding themselves defusing bombs and fighting their friends. A young woman revealed herself to be "experimenting" with the Binturians, and left it at that. Once back at the Tavern, a mysterious stranger entered and called upon the Binturians for assistance. He led some of them out of the Tavern and they struck down a being like no other, and once the task was complete, the stranger offered the Binturians a wand and left without a trace. A bit of time passed, the Party reflecting on the events of the night so far, when William Wilson suddenly appeared to them, telling them that they best gather in one room to hear the news he had brought. He sat them all down and stood before them, speaking slowly and calmly: he knew how to kill Belladonna.

After months upon months of research, he had at last found a way. He explained to the Binturians that Belladonna was gifted an immortal heart from the god of madness, and the heart essentially was a mark on Belladonna telling Death that he may not take this particular soul. Death does not deal with anyone with an immortal heart because it means that the bearer is being protected by an entity much more powerful than himself, the god of knowledge in William's case and the god of madness in Belladonna's case. William told the Party that in order to kill Belladonna, they needed to trick Death into thinking he had permission to take Belladonna's soul, and the way to achieve that was to kill Belladonna using the blood of the god of madness. The Binturians were quick to react, questioning how in the worlds they were supposed to take down the god of madness if they could not even take down Belladonna. William quieted them down and continued to explain: they needed the blood of the god of madness, which could be from anyone descended from the god of madness. The one they needed to take blood from was Samuel Slater, who William revealed is the son of the god of madness. Samuel would be able to kill Belladonna himself if his will was aligned with the god of madness, but due to his position as a Fate Weaver his will is aligned instead with the god of knowledge.

The Binturians fell silent as William went on, saying that if they killed Samuel, his will would be destroyed and they would be able to use his blood to kill Belladonna. The Party once again was quick to speak up, insisting that there had to be another way. They did not wish to kill Samuel, but William kept repeating that this was the only way; there was no alternate way of changing Samuel's will, despite all of the options the Binturians tried to offer William. He expressed that of course he did not want to kill his little brother but it had to be done. He told them that Samuel had run away but they would worry about that at a later time, and instead at the moment they needed to focus on gathering items for a ritual. The ritual would weaken Samuel significantly so that the Binturians could actually take him down, and it would also gain them the god of knowledge's favor. Samuel himself was never given an immortal heart, and instead the god of knowledge resurrected him whenever he died in order to avoid upsetting the god of madness. If they completed the ritual, they would be able to kill Samuel without the god of knowledge bringing him back again and possibly returning his will to him. The Binturians still questioned William's plan, but William was stubborn and kept insisting this was the only way of taking out Belladonna. She needed to die and this was the path they had to take to get there.

Finally, the Binturians gave in and William told them they needed to retrieve five items for the ritual: Nala's clock pendant, the will of one of the Unseen loyal to Belladonna, an ancient Necromancy tome, a special bottle of Everlife potion, and the soul gem containing Fist the Puncher. Once the explanation was said and done, William told the Party that they needed to start searching right away, and that the first item to bring back was the pendant. It was created by a Duergar blacksmith in Maestoso named Erisselo, and at some point in the future Nala stole it. The pendant that the Party had gotten from Nala after their fight with her had returned to its proper time, so they needed to get the one from the current time. With that, William teleported the Binturians to Amerale, where they set off. They got past the city guards by insisting one of their Party members was extremely sick, and after helping one of those guards kick a loitering old woman out of the Fallen Oak Tavern, they were led to the tunnel down to the Underdark. Once there and after fighting past hordes of spiders and bats, they were quick to find the forge of the blacksmith Erisselo and his wife Yorri, who was in hysterics.

They vented to the Binturians that a thief had broken in and stolen almost all of their belongings, including Erisselo's works. They pointed the Party in the direction the thief had gone in, and the Binturians headed out, tracking down the thief: a slightly crazed bat-kin named Phantomflight. Around his neck was the very clock pendant the Party was looking for, and after he refused to hand it and the other items over, the Binturians attacked, taking him down and retrieving what had been stolen. They returned Erisselo's creations to him and the blacksmith noticed that the clock pendant had been damaged, and offered it to the Binturians as thanks while Yorri gave them all some stone. The Binturians called out to William and he teleported them back to the Tavern, thanking them before asking for them to give him the pendant. When the Party asked why he needed to hold onto it, he insisted that it would be safe with him versus with the Party, who would be going in and out of the Tavern on dangerous quests to retrieve everything else. They at last gave him the pendant, and the Binturians settled down around him, some conversing with one another while others picked at William's brain for more information about the elder gods. William heard them out for the most part, although for some questions he would merely respond with "not important". At last, he turned in for the night and left the Party to themselves, advising them to rest before they continued searching come morning.

### A Battle of Will

After taking the night to rest, the Binturians awoke and immediately began preparing for the day, making themselves breakfast and gathering supplies. It was not long before William appeared to them again and asked if they were ready to continue gathering items for his ritual. The next item they needed to retrieve was the will of one of Belladonna's Unseen, and William had tracked down some Unseen still loyal to her in the forest of Ivoran, where Samuel had been trapped in Belladonna's dungeon months earlier. The Binturians asked how they were supposed to take the will and bring it back, and William gave them a spell that they could use on a powerful Unseen once it was dead to manifest its will into something physical they could take. When asked why they could not just use this spell on Samuel, William said that doing so would still require killing him first, which they could not do at the moment. William also reminded them that only those with Essence could attack the Unseen, and that the Unseen were hidden to the normal eye. He offered to Curse them to be able to see the Unseen, and the Curse would also give them the Essence they needed to attack the Unseen. Once the Curse was cast, William teleported them to Ivoran, where they were immediately confronted by forest animals. After walking for a while, they ran into a group of gnomes swinging swords at the air, and the Binturians were able to see they were trying to fend off Unseen. The Party fought to take down the Unseen, and the gnomes thanked them immensely. They told the Binturians that "the voices" had been around the forest and that the Tall One usually handled the voices but that he had only been around every so often recently.

The conversation went on until the gnomes suddenly fell silent and the psions in the Party felt a powerful wave of Phantasmal magic pass over them. The gnomes stared at the Binturians before them. Their eyes glazed over and they raised their weapons, starting to attack. The Party reluctantly killed them before resurrecting them, and they tried to figure out what had happened. The gnomes stated that they had heard a voice in their head before everything went black, and that was the only explanation the Binturians received before the gnomes' eyes glazed over again and they once again attacked. The Binturians fought the gnomes again, telling those who were not yet affected by the magic again to run away. The Binturians continued on, unnerved by the encounter, until they reached a gnome village. The gnomes there were speaking excitedly about the return of the Tall One, who had come there a short while ago. The voices in the air were coming and going, but the Tall One was handling it. The Binturians wandered the village for a bit, talking to the residents and warning them of their earlier gnome encounter, before suddenly the wave of Phantasmal magic returned and the gnomes began attacking. They rushed the Party, screaming at them to leave right away and saying that they needed to do this to protect the Tall One.

The Binturians fought their way through the village, eventually escaping and heading deeper into the forest. A boulder floated into their path, and Laciel and Chant'folne fought whoever was moving it for control before they managed to get it out of the way. They arrived in a meadow, where they saw a cloaked figure crouching in a Circle of Protection: it was Samuel Slater. The Binturians saw that he was panicking, clutching his head and breathing hard, and they immediately rid themselves of their weapons and spellbooks. They hurried over to him and he immediately jumped up, pointing his sword at them and demanding that they stay away from him. His eyes glowed a bright pink, and Phantasmal magic pulsed from him and out of the Circle.

The Binturians raised their hands as a sign of peace and promised him they were only there to talk with him, but Samuel was still extremely wary, saying that he bet William sent them there to kill him. The Party once again said they were only here to talk, but Samuel kept snapping at them. He said he had had a vision and had seen William stabbing him straight through the chest, so he had been running all over Orelisle to try and keep William from being able to track him. He kept the Circle and his sword up, telling them that he knew that the Party would never listen to him now that they knew he was the son of the god of madness. However, the Binturians kept calm, talking slowly and assuring him that they did not want to hurt him. They were already wary about following William's directions and said that they would be willing to find another way of killing Belladonna. They asked Samuel if he had another idea, and Samuel hesitated before telling them that he did, but that it was much more difficult and risky than William's.

The Binturians asked Samuel if his method required killing William, and Samuel responded no in a heartbeat. He told them that William's way would work, but that there was something off about it. He explained that Death would be able to take Belladonna's soul if she was killed by something more powerful than the god of madness: the god of life, the elder god inside of the Beast Below who Samuel referred to as Leaf. He had found a ritual that would offer someone up to become a Prophet of Leaf, who would gain Leaf's will by extension and be able to kill Belladonna and overrule the immortal heart. The ritual required the Binturians to gather four items, each representative of the most powerful elder gods: a name stolen by a Fae to represent the god of madness, an ancient Celestial tome to represent the god of knowledge, a remnant of the old Binturian King's crown to represent Leaf themselves, and a special flower from the Underforest to represent the goddess of protection. He told the Binturians that Leaf created everything they know, including all the elder gods, and that each of the Big Three elder gods and Leaf created the respective planes: the god of knowledge made Celestial, the god of madness made Phantasmal, the goddess of protection made Elemental, and the god of life created Soul and the mortal plane. The Beast Below was formed because Leaf had taken residence under Binturia since it was first made and their magic began to overwhelm the plane, and the old King and his Mages tried to control it and the Conduit by forming the Beast. The god of life immediately merged with the Beast and put him and themselves to sleep in the Underforest, also trapping the Big Three in their respective planes to try and remove as much magic from the mortal plane as possible.

When Finn blue-screened the world, it let the Big Three escape and come back to the mortal plane if they chose to. The god of knowledge and the god of madness cannot enter the mortal plane in their true forms or else it will overwhelm the plane like Leaf's did the first time, so the god of madness was using Belladonna to try and remove all of the magic from the mortal plane so he can come in. Saying any of the Big Three's names will result in death to anyone who hears them, and saying Leaf's real name will have the same effect as saying the Beast's real name. After Samuel told all of this to the Binturians, they said that they were willing to help Samuel instead of William. They asked Samuel if they could trust William, and Samuel said that he wanted to tell them yes but he truly was not sure. He said he would put his trust in them and answer any questions they had, but that William would probably still be trying to convince them to help him instead, although he would not try to outright stop them from taking this different path. The Binturians vowed to protect Samuel and swore that they would not kill him, and Samuel was extremely grateful. He told them that he was not planning on sending them on these dangerous missions alone; Snowpaws, Broomhilda, Soul Weather, and Sinbad knew the situation and were willing to help, and each of them would be assisting the Party in going to get the items.

After he finished explaining, Samuel teleported them back to the Tavern, where he was rather paranoid of William trying to get him but he told the Binturians that he could just escape if William did try to get him. The information broker Kasper offered to hide Samuel away but Samuel told him it would not matter; William could find him anywhere if given the time. Soon enough, William appeared and Samuel did not hesitate to teleport out. William was rather monotone, stating that he noticed the Party decided to side with Samuel. The Binturians were steadfast, saying that they were unanimous in that they would not kill Samuel. William told them that they were running the risk of angering Leaf and creating even more chaos. However, the Binturians did not back down and said that they were willing to take the risk. William's calm facade slowly cracked as he kept insisting that his way was the best way to keep order and make sure things ran smoothly, but the Binturians still denied him. Finally, he teleported out and Samuel warily came back, and the Party once again promised that they would keep him safe. After they had rested and talked a little more, Samuel requested that they go out and retrieve the first item: a name taken by a Fae. He told them he had sent Snowpaws ahead to Valdislag to look into a Fae child named Igni there who was stealing names. He warned them that touching the name could corrupt someone into a Changeling, so he gave them a special box to store the name in once they got it. He wished them luck and begged them to be careful and not try to fight Igni, and then teleported them off.

The Binturians found themselves on a floating iceberg and through feats of acrobatics and Grace of the Elements, they got to solid land. They fought their way through snow wolves and Arctic foxes and over thin stretches of ice. They eventually happened upon a group of selkies whose skins had been stolen by polar bears, and the Party set off to find them. On the way, they ran into Snowpaws, who had gotten one of the skins and said he could not convince the polar bears to give him the rest, so the Binturians took them down and returned the skins to the selkies. As thanks, the selkies pointed them in the direction of the Fae child, and the Party headed off once more. It was not long before they saw a very colorful young girl in a jester outfit, Igni, surrounded by penguins, and she immediately came over to them, asking if they wanted to play a game: she wanted to penguin sled race them. If they won, she would give them a name, and if she won, she would get a few of their names. After much negotiating, the Party agreed to play with her and chose Thome as their racer. They mounted their penguins and were off, Igni throwing chunks of ice and Phantasmal spells at Thome but he still managed to beat her and Igni reluctantly handed over a name, which the Party put into the box. Snowpaws then teleported them all back to the Tavern and Samuel greeted them. He was thrilled that they got the name and took it gratefully, thanking them. He told them that they should rest for now and that he would send them to retrieve the other items later. It was only going to get more difficult from here.

### Trials and Tribulations

The Binturians took a short break to eat, gather more supplies, and catch up the Party members who had just arrived at the Tavern. There was much discussion about who they were going to choose to become the Prophet, but they did not have time to fully discuss it before Samuel approached them. He asked if they were ready to go out and retrieve the next item: the ancient Celestial tome. He told them that the tome was being guarded by a gold dragon named Zlato underneath Oz, and that Zlato was a rather calm being and may give them the tome without violence if they negotiated with him. He explained that the dragon was very fond of testing wit, so the Binturians would be faced with many puzzles and riddles, but Samuel also assured them that they would not be going alone; they had Snowpaws in Valdislag, and for this quest they would have Broomhilda, who knew the way through Zlato's lair. After wishing them luck and requesting that they not fight Zlato, Samuel teleported them off, and the Binturians found themselves in the middle of the moors of Oz. The land stretched for miles and hot winds blew around them, and there was no indication of which way they were supposed to go.

After wandering for a bit and fighting off some vipers, the Party happened upon Broomhilda, who complained about them taking too long and who did not hesitate to start leading them in the right direction. They fought their way through Hebi, strange winged snakes native to Barg, before coming across a sign seemingly in the middle of nowhere. There was a riddle on it, and once the Party spoke the correct answer, the piece of moor next to the sign opened like a hatch and revealed a staircase going down. The Binturians powered on and found themselves in a magnificent ballroom; suits of armor lined the perimeter and on the walls were painted beautiful murals of dragons and mortals working and learning together. It was rather quiet, and as Broomhilda was explaining that gold dragons tend to construct their lairs like human mansions, the suits of armor suddenly began to move and attack the Party. The Binturians fought their way through and managed to escape into a kitchen, where they had to solve yet another riddle by cracking an egg into a bowl. The next hallway was filled with more living suits of armor, and after working their way through, the Party found yet another door with a riddle, albeit this time with a lever next to it. They discussed the answer for a few minutes before finally coming to a decision, giving their answer, and pulling the lever, and the door swung open.

They went up the stairs revealed behind the door to come across an observatory. There was a clear space in the moor above them so that they could see the sky through the glass ceiling, and on the walls were more murals of dragons. At the other end of the room waited another riddle, which the Party guessed correctly and progressed into one more long hallway. This hall ended in large wooden doors labeled as the library, and a sign that warned that the Party had to pass one more test before facing "His Resplendence". More suits of armor came to life, this time with one much bigger and stronger than the others, but the Binturians fought hard and got each one down, and the doors swung open. The library was grand with shelves as high as the already high ceiling, staircases spiraling around them, and more murals hanging on the walls. In the center of the library stood an old man in brilliant golden robes, and he calmly addressed the Party. He introduced himself as Zlato, and congratulated the Binturians for making it through all of his puzzles. He asked what they were looking for and why, and they told him they needed the Celestial tome in order to save a friend and stop an old enemy. Zlato found the tome they were looking for and told them he had one last test for them, and gathered them around a table to present a colorful puzzle. He said they had fifteen minutes to solve it, but not to worry if they did not pass the test, as he had a different one for them to try if that happened. However, the Binturians solved the puzzle with almost ten minutes to spare, and Zlato congratulated them and handed over the tome. He told them to use it well, and with that Broomhilda teleported them back to the Tavern.

Samuel gratefully took the tome and thanked the Party before telling them he needed to prepare a few things before he sent them off to find the next item. He quickly returned, however, when he realized the very person he was looking for was already in the Tavern, and he approached the hooded figure in the corner playing ukulele to reveal it was Soul Weather. Samuel addressed the Binturians once more and told them the next item they needed to get was the remnant of the old Binturian King's crown, which was buried deep in the Binturian Ruins. He said he could tell there was something powerful guarding it, but he could not tell what exactly it was, so they best be cautious. With that, Soul Weather led the Party into the woods, where they powered through, even when the trees shifted to block their path and Undead shambled out to attack them. They managed to get to the Ruins rather quickly, but were greeted by an encampment of Lesser Demons, who refused to let them pass. They said that they would only let the Party through if someone challenged and defeated their strongest fighter, Skachen, in an honor duel. Sir. Oscar was the one to accept, and after a hard fight, he got Skachen down. The Demons congratulated the Binturians on their victory and pointed them in the direction of the deeper ruins, and off the Party went.

It was not long before they heard a scream and came across someone trapped under a pile of rubble. They were quick to pull the individual out, and he thanked them, introducing himself as Lloyd Oktin, a student of Hot E. Archaeologist. He had been in the deepest parts of the ruins researching when something huge, dark, and magical attacked him and he ran off. He warned the Binturians to be careful of the creature, and after taking the warning to heart, they set off once more. Soul Weather led them to a tunnel down to the deeper ruins, and on the way through it they could hear Unseen whispering in their ears, telling them they were going to die if they kept going. They emerged from the tunnel, and the air was eerie. They could see structures that had once been magnificent now crumbling, including a large castle in the distance. The Undead in this part of the ruins were different: they could use spells. The Binturians could also hear more voices speaking to them, some singing old chilling songs while others cackled that they would never be good enough.

After fighting their way through the Binturian Undead, they easily broke into the castle and explored the main halls. The once bright walls were faded, the decorations were all broken, and the paintings were beginning to peel, but the Party decided to save one painting of the King and his Mages by teleporting it back to the Tavern. They made their way through the castle, and eventually found their way to the throne room where they found a tall, cloaked figure: a Reaper. She introduced herself as Razrah and said that only the most worthy could take something that once belonged to the god of life's host. They told her as they had with Zlato that they needed the crown to save a friend, and she said they must pass her three trials before she would give it to them. They passed the first trial, one of power, quite easily, and the second, one of wisdom, even more quickly. She expressed her surprise but then warned them that for the next test, if they wanted to give up, to just say the word, and did not hesitate to cast a powerful Horror on them all.

The Binturians were faced with their greatest fears: being abandoned by their friends, seeing their loved ones die, getting called useless, and facing old enemies. They were indeed shaken but none of them called for Razrah to stop, and when the Horror faded, she deemed them worthy of the crown remnant and handed it over. Soul Weather checked to make sure everyone was alright before teleporting them back to the Tavern, where Samuel had been musing over the new painting on the wall. He gladly took the remnant and asked what had been down in the Ruins, and after they explained that it had been a Reaper and they had faced their fears, he thanked them continuously for going through so much for him. He had never expected the Binturians to take his side over William's, and now here they were with only one more item to retrieve. He told them to rest and eat, as the last one would by far be the hardest to get.

### The Underforest

After taking some much needed time to rest and learn more about the Fate Weavers from Broomhilda, Samuel, and Soul Weather, the Binturians were ready to set off once more. They asked Samuel where William was, and he replied that he did not know but that he was not in the Tavern, and that they did not have the time to worry about it. He warned the Binturians that this last path was going to be challenging, and suggested that they get extra supplies. Once the Party deemed themselves ready, he gathered them and told them that the last item they needed was the special flower from the Underforest. They could not just go down and pluck a random flower; they would know this one when they saw it. It was guarded by an Ent named Vefor, who most likely would take quite a bit of talking down since the goddess of protection was never particularly fond of visitors in the Underforest, especially the Binturians.

Samuel told them that there was an entrance to the Underforest hidden in the Binturian Forest, and that once again he would be sending someone with them, but this time it would not be a Fate Weaver. He was sending them with his old friend Sinbad, who teleported in then as if on cue and announced he was ready to go. Samuel wished them luck, thanked them again and told them to be careful, and with that Sinbad led them into the woods. It was not long before Sinbad took them to a clearing, shouted out a few strange words, and a sign sprouted from the ground with a riddle. The Binturians were quick to solve it and the clearing shifted to reveal a tunnel, and they went down only to find themselves in the Underdark outpost of Etude. The Dark Elves there welcomed them and asked what they were doing there, to which the Party explained that they needed to go down to the Underforest. The Elves gladly led them to the next tunnel down and offered them any enchantments they might need; Etude is dedicated to studying the Beast Below and they respected the connection to and the knowledge of the Beast that the Binturians possessed. After bidding the Elves farewell, the Binturians headed down to the Underforest.

The atmosphere was not nearly as welcoming as that of Etude, and the Binturians had barely set foot out of the tunnel before they were ambushed by a mixed group of elementals. They fought their way through waves upon waves of the elementals before things quieted down for a moment, just before the trees around them uprooted and began to move their roots and vines into the Binturians' path. The Party weaved their way through and barely had time to collect their thoughts before elemental mephits appeared before them, fairy-like creatures with special elemental breath. The Binturians powered on, fighting the mephits and dodging their way through roots and vines again, and all suddenly fell quiet. The Party walked for a while before vine monsters burst from the ground around them and closed in on them. The Binturians cut their way through, and once again did not even get a moment to catch their breath before the dirt beneath them turned to quicksand; it was obvious that the goddess of protection wanted them out. Some of the Binturians managed to pull themselves out and hurried to help the others escape, before Morgan used Grace of the Elements to drain the water out of the quicksand and turn it back into normal dirt.

After fighting through more elementals, the ground began to shake and out emerged an Ivy, a grotesque humanoid plant fusion. It charged them and the Binturians fought hard, managing to strike it down. They continued, soon enough spotting a very large tree with a bush of sparkling purple flowers behind it. They recognized that the tree was in fact the Ent, and woke him up. The Ent introduced himself as Vefor and demanded to know why the Binturians had awoken him from his slumber. They told him that they needed one of the flowers to save a friend, and Vefor said he was not sure he should give it to them; the goddess of protection was less than pleased that the Party was there at all. Finally, he agreed to give them one of the flowers, but only if they proved themselves worthy enough to use it. He challenged them to a battle, and after trying to convince him that there had to be a less violent way of proving themselves, the Binturians finally gave in.

It was a long, exhausting battle, fighting Vefor and his seemingly endless army of loyal elemental golems. At last, though, Vefor called for them all to stop and said they were worthy, and handed over one of the flowers. He told them not to make him regret giving it to them and to get out before the goddess of protection got annoyed again. With that, Sinbad teleported them back to the Tavern and they were met with a nervously overjoyed Samuel, who took the flower. He could not stop thanking the Binturians, close to tears as he said he really did not think they would go this far for him, and in return the Party told him that he was a good friend and a good person, and that he deserved to be saved. He told them that he needed to begin preparing for the ritual and that they should all rest, since the morning was going to be tough. With that, he headed off, leaving the Binturians to themselves. There was again much discussion of who the Prophet was going to be, and also talk of how to prepare for the fight with Belladonna. Larkeicus and Shump managed to decode part of the Zlato's Celestial tome and unlock an ancient spell, while Morgan, Thome, and Chant'folne spoke about why they each believed they should be chosen as the Prophet. However, the final decision would be made in the morning, and the Binturians settled down to sleep before the long battle they knew was approaching.

### The Belladonna Solution

Shop's Tavern was lively in the morning, and the Binturians who had been there over the past two days did their best to explain the situation to those who had just arrived. The atmosphere was tense as they all prepared to face the coming challenges. Samuel was pacing the Tavern, his journal clutched tightly in his hands. He admitted he was nervous, but excited; he never thought that this moment would come yet here they were. He asked if the Party had decided on who the Prophet was going to be, and they informed him that there were three candidates and they would take a vote. He requested they do it quickly, since Belladonna was no doubt waiting for them. Soon enough, they gathered in the front of the Tavern, Samuel standing off to the side as Morgan, Thome, and Chant'folne faced the rest of the Binturians. They each had reasons for wanting to become the Prophet of Life. Chant'folne explained that she was willing to give up her Fel corruption, which in the end would make her more powerful and thus getting rid of it would be significant to her. Thome stated that he was surrounded by storybook characters who could come back from death, and he did not believe himself to be like that and thus valued life immensely. He was willing to give up his memories of his father, the only family he ever had. Morgan said that he, as an Animus, knew the ups and downs of the magic of Life, and that he already worshipped and served the god of life; he was willing to give up his vows of peace.

The Binturians took a few minutes to further question the candidates: Chant'folne explained how the Underdark is considered the womb of Orelisle and thus she respects the value of life. Thome told them that he believed that this could be the very reason he was chosen to come to Binturia. Morgan expressed that he was indeed willing to go the extra step and kill Belladonna, despite his current pacifist behavior. Samuel gave his quick input before saying that they were running short on time and needed to vote. He counted the votes, and the winner was clear: Morgan had 5 votes, Thome had 3, and Chant'folne had 1. Morgan was thrilled that he was chosen and had only a moment to celebrate before Samuel led them all outside of the Tavern.

He placed each of the four items the Binturians had retrieved for him at the edges of his ritual circle, and asked the Party to gather around. He called upon Morgan to join him in the center of the circle. He asked Morgan to state his name and what he was sacrificing. Morgan reiterated that he was giving up his monastic vows and, in addition, his chances of ever being reincarnated as anything but a monster. Samuel gave him one last chance to back out, but Morgan insisted that he was ready, and Samuel asked the Binturians to help him begin the ritual. He opened his journal and began to read: he prayed to the god of life, the creator of everything that they knew. He asked for the god of life's blessing for Morgan, who was honorably giving up a significant part of himself in order to become a servant. As Samuel spoke, magic of various colors swelled up around the edges of the circle, from the Binturians themselves and from the items placed down. Samuel named only a handful of the god of life's creations and once again offered Morgan as a new Prophet, and Morgan dropped to his knees in a near bow. The magic became brighter and brighter and Samuel's gaze met Morgan's, and he asked one last time if he was ready. Morgan once again said that he was, and with that, Samuel told him he was now becoming the Prophet of the god of life, and he spoke the god's true name: Elu.

The Binturians did not have even a heartbeat to be surprised before there was a blinding flash of light and they were knocked down, and when the light faded they found Samuel and Morgan kneeling in the center of the circle. The four items they had gathered were gone, and Morgan looked beyond exhausted. Samuel and the rest of the Binturians were quick to help Morgan up, asking him how he felt, and he said that he felt different: more powerful. Samuel asked him if he knew what he had to do, and Morgan immediately replied that he needed to protect the god of life's innocent creations and take out any threats to those creations.

Samuel broke into a grin, staring around excitedly at the Binturians as he declared that the ritual had actually worked and that they could finally go kill Belladonna. The Binturians were not completely convinced and Sir. Oscar even went so far as to demand that Morgan punch him, but Morgan was much too tired. Samuel said they should take a few minutes to prepare and let Morgan rest, and then he would teleport them all to the chameleon-kin islands to find Belladonna. He would be there to fight beside them and would keep them up for as long as they needed, but in the end Morgan had to be the one to deliver the killing blow. Thunder rumbled in the distance as the Binturians offered each other enchantments and sharpened their weapons, and once they were ready Samuel gathered them together again. This was it. This was the moment they had been preparing for.

With that, he teleported them, and they arrived in an open marsh. Through the rain they could see Belladonna surrounded by Unseen, and Samuel quickly mentioned that the after-effects of the ritual allowed them all to temporarily see and fight the Unseen without a hitch. There was suddenly another brilliant flash of light and magic energy channeled from the sky into Belladonna: the god of madness was giving her everything he could to help her fight. Belladonna broke out into maniacal laughter, and the Binturians offered her one last chance to redeem herself before only getting cackled at in response. She taunted them and dared them to try killing her; she found it funny that they thought their plan would work. With that, the two sides charged each other. Belladonna's sword Tonitrus crackled with power and shocked anyone who it hit. The Unseen were merciless, as well, and the Binturians did their best to keep everyone in the Party up and fighting. Belladonna was difficult to catch and, for a change, was throwing spells at the Binturians, empowered by the god of madness's blessing. Samuel took a few swings at Belladonna himself but mainly focused on getting the fallen back up, and assuring anyone who kept checking on him that he was fine and that they should keep their attention on Belladonna.

The fight was long but not too long, and eventually the Binturians managed to rid Belladonna of her Magic Armor and Chant'folne suddenly came in and used Telekinesis to force Tonitrus out of Belladonna's hands. Belladonna managed to summon another sword but it was not long before Morgan took the plunge and used Touch of Death on her. Belladonna fell lifeless to the ground. The Binturians gathered around in awe as they stared at her limp body. Samuel stepped forward and broke into nervous laughter, in amazement that they had actually done it. Chant'folne was still holding Tonitrus, which buzzed with power even now that Belladonna was dead. A few of the Binturians commented that that had been much more simple than they had expected, but were quick to break into cheers and say that they should teleport back to the Tavern and drink to their victory. Samuel started worrying about telling William, but the Party told him that they had proved William wrong so he had no reason to be sore at them. Before Samuel could teleport them back, however, he suddenly fell to the ground, clutching at his hair. The Binturians panicked, trying to find out was wrong, but all they got as an answer was Samuel choking out William's name before they were suddenly all teleported to a wide, open field outside the Tavern.

### Near-Death of a Salesman

Before them stood none other than William Wilson, and he looked much less than pleased. Samuel immediately hid behind the Party, breathing hard and staring in terror at William, and the Binturians were quick to stand in front of him. William went off at them about how they had messed up his plans by taking Samuel's side, and that he still had to kill Samuel in order to complete his real ritual. The Binturians asked what he was talking about, and he explained that his ritual would in fact have resulted in Belladonna's death, but he also needed Samuel dead because his true plan was to rid this plane of any troublesome elder god influence. First, he would get rid of the god of madness's links to this plane, which were Belladonna and Samuel, and then he would need to complete his ritual by dying in battle. That would rid the plane of his own influence, and his soul would leave his body and kick out the god of madness and the goddess of protection. The god of knowledge and any Fate Weavers were not a worry, since the god of knowledge never touched this plane and the remaining elder god Fate Weavers were not nearly powerful enough to cause trouble.

The Binturians looked in the distance and could see William's ritual glowing brightly, already too far in to be stopped. William told them that since the Party had decided not to help him, he had had to send out his Unseen to get the items instead, and they had not brought back quite what he had asked for. Instead of the will of one of Belladonna's Unseen, a Necromancy tome, a special bottle of Everlife, and the soul gem with Fist the Puncher, he got one of his own Unseen who sacrificed himself, the Necromance book, a bottle of Everlife put into a cauldron, and a bag of assorted severed fists. However, it had still managed to make the ritual go off, which meant that Samuel could now be killed.

Morgan was quick to put the Lei of Peace around Samuel, to which Samuel scoffed and in a panic pointed out that William is the son of the creator of Celestial so it was foolish to think the Lei would work against him. The Binturians kept trying to talk to William, saying that if he had told them what his plan was from the beginning they probably would have been more likely to help him or find an alternative. William was still angry, telling them that he had been planning this for years upon years and followed every step to a tee. He had to follow through with this in order to keep the god of madness from rising to power in the future. He had had to release the god of madness in order to properly lock him up again, and he had had a hand in events such as the Planar War. He had had a vision all those years ago and needed to maintain order by fulfilling that vision, no matter how long it took or how much sacrifice it required. The Binturians tried to reason with him and insisted there had to be another way, but William refused to listen.

Finally, Samuel stepped forward and called out to William, and the field fell silent. William turned to Samuel, and Samuel stood tall as he stated that they could work this out and find a different way of getting rid of the god of madness; they had found a different way of taking down Belladonna so there had to be another way of doing this, as well. William only laughed and approached Samuel, saying that he thought of all people Samuel would understand that this had to be done. Finished with the Binturians' attempts to be talked down, William vanished, and the Party and Samuel all found that they could not track him down. William appeared out of thin air and began attacking Samuel, and the Binturians reacted immediately, gathering around Samuel and promising as they had the day before that they would keep him safe. Samuel was close to tears, begging that they not kill William despite everything that was happening. They told him that they did not want to kill William but it did not seem like he would be easily convinced. The Binturians were constantly checking behind and around them, unable to tell where William had gone whenever he disappeared. William and his Unseen fought mercilessly, trying to taunt the Binturians into fighting back. Samuel was screaming at the open air, pleading with William to reconsider. Even as he was being attacked, Samuel did not dare lift his sword to strike William back.

The Party was scrambling to find a solution in the heart of the battle, some of the Party shouting that they needed to kill William, others saying they needed to let William kill Samuel, while others still argued against both sides. Some questioned Samuel as to why William was acting like this and if perhaps something was influencing him, to which Samuel told them that William was just being obsessive since he had been meticulously planning for this moment for hundreds of years. Thome asked Samuel if he trusted the Binturians and Samuel without a moment's hesitation replied that of course he did, and Thome told him that William needed to be killed and right now Samuel was the only one who could do it. They would bring him back. However, Chant'folne told Samuel that he needed to let William kill him so that it would seem like his vision had been fulfilled. Morgan, off to the side, had meditated to consult the god of life themselves, and he received a vision that gave the message that neither William nor Samuel should die. Finally, though, Samuel took a deep breath and stepped into the center of the field. He challenged William to fight him, and at last William appeared before him. He looked desperate, asking if Samuel was finally going to help him. He was almost begging Samuel to kill him, and Samuel only responded by saying they would see how the fight ended and then move forward from there. The brothers' swords clashed, the Binturians standing by and watching nervously. Both fought hard, both looking exhausted and near breaking, and finally William struck Samuel down. The Binturians immediately went after him, a handful staying back to get Samuel back up, and Morgan delivered the killing blow to William. Samuel awoke to find William's body lifeless on the ground and he shoved his way past the Party to get to him, demanding why they had killed him. They calmed him down and were quick to resurrect William, who snapped at them for bringing him back.

### Realization and Reconciliation

They pointed out that he had fulfilled the vision and that everything should be solved now, but William reiterated, his voice and entire being shaking, that he needed to Nirvana so that his soul could leave his body to kick out the god of madness and the goddess of protection. The ritual would not be complete until such was done. Larkeicus suddenly had a thought and asked Morgan what exactly being the Prophet of Life allowed him to do, and Morgan explained that one of the things he was now capable of was giving up a piece of his soul to grant an extra Nirvana life to someone else. They exchanged a glance as they both had a realization, and Larkeicus exclaimed that they had figured it out: they could give William and Samuel an extra Nirvana, kill them, have someone other than Morgan sever their spirits, and then wait for them to come back. William stared at them in shock, contemplating if it would work, and Samuel waited in nervous silence. Finally, William admitted that the Binturians' plan should work, and after clarifying what exactly needed to be done, Morgan performed a short ritual to grant the extra life to the pair of brothers.

William stated afterwards that he still needed to die in battle, and Samuel hesitated before speaking up: he asked if he could fight beside William instead of against him, and William broke into a little smile as he agreed. After William used a Nebula to refresh all of the Binturians, he and Samuel made their way to one side of the battlefield while the Binturians waited at the other. Samuel and William stood beside each other, swords up and at the ready, before William broke and pulled Samuel into a tight hug. The brothers embraced at long last, vowing to fight well together, and then the battle began. It was a short but good fight, Morgan delivering the killing blow to the brothers before Magnus severed their spirits. After William's body turned to ash, his soul burst forth from his body. It was the bit of life that Morgan had given him, the very same piece of Morgan's soul that the god of madness had taken months earlier. William's ritual went off and the soul split, one half speeding upwards while the other half spiraled down into the ground. There was enough magic in the air for the Binturians to tell that the god of madness had been locked away in the Phantasmal plane and the goddess of protection had been kicked out into the Elemental plane. Chant'folne held William's hat in her hands and it was not long before William reappeared to take it back. Samuel reappeared not long after, and the Binturians were silent for a heartbeat, in awe of what they had done, before breaking out into cheers.

They had saved both brothers and managed to still complete William's ritual. However, they fell quiet again as both Samuel and William stumbled back, clutching their heads, and when asked what was wrong, they said that the land was changing. It was difficult to say how exactly it had changed, but William had seemingly achieved the order he had been striving for. Samuel breathlessly thanked them all and William began to lead them back to the Tavern. As they walked, Unseen emerged and began applauding around them; the Binturians had saved their King despite all odds. The Binturians called themselves heroes, a new era of the Binturian Party, while Samuel told them that he believed they were legends. William and Samuel stayed close together, thrilled to have reached such an unexpectedly happy ending. The Party asked if there would be free drinks at the Tavern to which William replied that he would maybe give them a discount. They asked Samuel what he planned to do now, to which he said he believed he needed a break from the world for a while, and that perhaps he would just stay in the Tavern with William. William argued that they had work to do to ensure the ritual's effects stayed in place, but Samuel told him that he really thought they needed a rest for a while first.

The Binturians arrived back at the Tavern tired but in high spirits, a new air about them. They walked with the son of the god of knowledge and the son of the god of madness, who owed them their lives. They had achieved what had seemed to be impossible: they had saved two close friends and still managed to solve the issue at hand.

## Aftermath

The Elder Gods (Knowledge, Madness, Protection) no longer have direct influence on the Material Plane, and the dangerous Belladonna is dead forever.

## Further Information

* Belladonna
* The Binturian Party
* Deathless Days
* Elder Gods
* Elu
* Étude
* Planar War
* Samuel Slater
* Underforest
* William Wilson