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I. The Battle of Ust Natha


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#1 Guest_Oryx_*

Posted 12 November 2002 - 05:29 PM

Prologue

Following his destruction of Melissan in the Abyss, the cavalier Onyx ceded the throne of Bhaal and journeyed with his ally and true love Aerie to the avariel nation of Faenya-Dail to finally marry her. However, the madman Cyran waged war across Amn in an effort to seize the unclaimed throne, thus beginning the First Throne War, or the War of the Coin of Bhaal. Onyx, his companions, and his long-lost song, the young monk Kan, defeated Cyran's forces at de'Arnise Keep and Paradise. Kan then destroyed Cyran in mortal combat and ascended the throne.

Onyx and Aerie's son Eryx was soon born, and thereafter a daughter Sky as well, and despite the raising of their children they had many great adventures in the twenty years since. As the tide turned against evil, the new Prince of Demons, Decagorgon, allied demonkind with fiend-blooded tieflings and balance-seeking druids and waged the Second Throne War, the War of the Heart of Bhaal. Decagorgon and the risen Irenicus sought also to lure Onyx’s son Eryx into evil. Father and son slew Decagorgon but the risen Irenicus then led the struggling Eryx to challenge his brother Kan for the throne. On the eve of his own fall, Eryx spared Kan and vanquished Irenicus instead.

In the two years since this war, Eryx has traveled the multiverse laying waste to demons while Onyx and friends keep evil in check in the Prime. Or so it seems. Sarevok has wrested control of the Black Network of the Zhentarim and it is rebuilding its former terrible glory. Meanwhile, a mysterious circus, run by three mad bards, has just appeared and is sowing mayhem across the land...

I. The Battle of Ust Natha

Onyx was strolling through his garden. Suddenly a dimension door opened and a beholder appeared

“Hey, Spec!” grinned Onyx. “Long time no see! But then, I’ve only got two eyes!”

“Oh, don’t even get me started man,” Spectator Beholder began. “So you’re duking it out with that drow freak Sendai right, and I have to split. So anyway, I still hadn’t gotten anything to eat after guarding that chest for eons - hey, what was in that thing anyway? – “

“Ah, some key or a piece of a halberd,” Onyx muttered. “You know, standard adventurer type stuff.”

“Yeah, I thought it was something lame like that. So anyway, I’m headed to the nearest hive, gonna get me some grub - don’t ask what we eat, trust me - and maybe check out the ladies, know what I’m saying, so - hey, things work out with that little elven chick?”

“Oh yeah,” Onyx chuckled; flashing Spectator the feminine handkerchief he had tied around the arm of his armor. “Two kids even. Still been getting out to dragon hunts and godhood-ascension wars and stuff now and then, though. Weekend warrior, like they say. Kids have even killed a lot of monsters themselves - uh, no offense. Pretty nice life.”

“Cool, cool, so anyway, that’s what I was about to get to. So I meet this one number, man what a sphere, I tell you. Big round eye-orbs, nice thin stalks - yeah, I know, it always comes back to that somehow, doesn’t it - I was talking to this old sahuagin pal and apparently - well anyway, she had the whole works. To believe it you’d really have to behold her - uh, no pun intended.”

“Sounds like love at first sight - er, sights.”

“Yeah, I was gazing so hard I practically disintegrated her - and I think she must have shot back a glance with a dire charm and a feeblemind or something, cuz pow! I was enchanted and I started babbling like a little gauth.”

“Don’t even get me started. When I first saw Aerie - back at that circus, you know - after the whole ogre-illusion wore off and I saw HER - I was like man, this has GOT to be just another of that gnome’s illusions! Either that or she’d just cast Friends on herself about a dozen times. So things work out?”

“Oh yeah, we were telepathically chatting for like hours. Then this big old eye tyrant comes up and starts trying to stare me down, but he makes a pretty nice garden statue now, so I think it all worked out nicely.”

“Garden? So I take it…”

“Yeah, a lot like this one - well, the plants in mine would probably eat you alive - but same idea. So yeah, I ended up moving in with her and it’s been pretty nice - but hey, let me just say you’re lucky elf-gals don’t lay eggs by the thousand.”

“So you’ve had your hands - er, whatever you use - full?”

“Yeah, but there’s still time every now and then to go around cremating adventures - uh, no offense, I’ll watch out for your kids - or whatever. Sometimes though, late at night, I find myself just staying awake and guarding a treasure chest that isn’t there anymore, man, that stuff really haunts you…”

Onyx nodded. “Yeah, now and then, I find myself waking up for my guard shift…and I almost still hear the goblins and xvarts interrupting our camp…that little ‘eeeeee’ noise they make…”

“Yeah. Well, I gotta split, but maybe we’ll meet up in a dungeon or something soon. If you’re ever leading an adventuring party into a hive to foil some diabolical plan or whatever it is you guys do, be sure to look me up.”

“Will do, Spec,” Onyx nodded as Spectator opened another dimension door and hopped through.

***

Somewhere in Faerun, In a town plaza, under a huge black and purple circus tent…

The stands were packed; virtually the entire town was there. But the three rings were deserted. Deserted save for one. A single tiefling, a bard, stood in the center of the middle ring. Haer’Dalis took a deep breath.

“Ladies and gentlemen, children of all ages! Dwarves, elves, gnomes, and creatures of all races! Welcome to the greatest show on Toril: the one, the only, the truly amazing Ciiiiiiircus of Chaaaaaaos!”

Suddenly he clapped his hands and smoke clouded the floor. As it cleared, from nowhere had emerged an eclectic crowd of tiefling rogues. Jesters juggled, cartwheeled, somersaulted, trapezed from the roof, and walked tightropes, some doing many of these ones at once. Blades and swashbucklers spun, swords flashing in mock swordfights with one another while skalds pranced around them singing of the epic scale of these battles. Other bards formed demihuman pyramids, dancing lines, and cavorted through the audience. Still others flew out of small catapults through the air, grabbing trapezes and the feet of already-swinging jesters. Long chains of them formed on the trapezes and tightropes, hanging hands-to-feet in demihuman ladders while swashbucklers climbed up these ladders and even had mock swordfights on them. The ladders swung into the audience and eyepatch-donning swashbucklers, daggers in their teeth, ran along them like they were gangplanks and “boarded” the audience stands. Bounty hunters set off web traps and gymnasts fell from the air onto them, bouncing from one to the other or back up to the trapezes. Blades fenced each other on the tightropes, falling down and landing on the traps or other bards.

Bards cartwheeled through the audience, furtively picking the pockets of wealthy-looking townspeople as they went. The swashbucklers in the audience had hoisted maidens over their shoulders and carried them back up the demihuman-gangplanks, which then swung away from the audience and back into free-hanging ladders. The swashbucklers hauled their booty up to the trapeze platforms and tightropes and began tying them up. Trapezing bards grabbed them and swung them through the air while blades plopped them onto the tightropes and continued their dual-sword fencing on either side of the frightened captives.

The audience was roaring, except for a few of the maidens’ unlucky parents and lovers, but all went silent when another chain reaction of smoke clouds went off. Now emerged all manner of monsters. Trolls, bugbears, griffons, manticores, displacer beasts, bears, otyughs, wyverns, umber hulks, mind flayers, and even young purple dragons. The beasts all had their fur or scales painted bright colors and the mind flayers were wearing clown suits that nearly disguised them. The audience gasped in fear but then broke into laughter and applause. The animals, led or ridden by tiefling rogues, began walking around the rings. Some were made to perform various stunts. The wyverns, dragons, griffons and manticores flew through the air, snatching up rogues and captives in their maw and setting them down in other places or tossing them to each other. Trolls began juggling and tossing their own body parts, the displacer beasts disappeared and reappeared, and rogues rode bears, bugbears and umber hulks around, some carrying lances and engaging in mock jousts. The mindflayer-clowns were juggling with their hands and tentacles. The otyughs went up and down the aisles cleaning up trash.

Haer’Dalis hopped on the largest baby dragon and spoke again. “And now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for. Our masters of ceremonies. In the center ring, myself, yours truly, the blade for any maid, he delights as he fights, he spins as he wins, the very face of chaos and entropy, the one, the only, Haaaaaaaaer’Dalis!!!!!” He started dancing and spinning his swords around madly.

The audience roared and applauded. The umber hulks began to walk to the edges of the rings, facing the audience and forming a solid line of painted fur.

A puff of smoke in one of the side rings. A human bard appeared atop another dragon, shadow-fencing gracefully and winking or blowing kisses at ladies in the audience.

Haer’Dalis announced, “And in the ring to by right, dazzling and carefree, check out that goatee, a most debonair rogue, he’s ever in vogue, the one, the only, Ellllllllldoth!”

The audience applauded and swooned as Eldoth continued to woo and dance. The mindflayer-clowns moved to the outside of the rings and got up on the umber hulks’ shoulders, still juggling.

A puff of smoke in the other side ring. A jester appeared atop another dragon. He was juggling skulls and two katanas and laughing insanely.

“And in the ring to my left, there’s no bester jester, the master of disaster, he confuses and amuses, he distorts and cavorts, a profusion of illusion, the one, the only, Cyyyyyyrex!”

The audience laughed and clapped as Cyrex, who was painted black and purple, grabbed his two katanas out of the air and used them to slice the skulls in halves as they fell down around him.

The thieves on the floor and in the air kept running and swinging around while the bards quietly started preparing spells.

“And now, ladies and gentlemen, for our next act, may we have your attention please, as I tell you a tale. An epic tale, but a curious tale, one of cunning, deceit, and illusion…..”

Haer’Dalis continued rambling as he and the other two masters of ceremonies drew out harps. They began playing, and soon, just as the blade’s tale hit upon its opening plot twist, the three harps strummed a terribly dissonant chord.

At that cue, the umber hulks began to cast their enchanting gaze over the audience, causing magical confusion. As quickly, the mind flayers were emitting psionic rays and dominating the townsfolk’s minds. The bards cast chaos spells into the stands.

The crowd went completely berserk. They started running and screaming and scrambling and throwing food and children. Those who ran into the rings were quickly devoured by the many monsters. Those two ran amidst the stands soon crashed into and began fighting each other, as shadowy assassins went through the crowd backstabbing them with poisoned daggers. Other people ran out of the tent and into the night, wreaking havoc across the town. After them out of the tent flew the purple dragons, breathing noxious laughing gas over the town, Haer’Dalis, Eldoth, and Cyrex astride the largest three and all laughing hysterically.

***

A retinue of Zhentil bodyguards escorted Sarevok, Viconia, Edwin, Xzar and Korgan down the tunnel. They were headed to the front of the battle they were waging in the Underdark, a battle for the conquest of Ust Natha.

Sarevok and Viconia had each been defeated but not slain in the Second Throne War, and met up soon after and, of course, had set to scheming since. The legendary warrior Sarevok had joined and quickly risen through the ranks of the Zhentarim. With the help of resurrected lackey Montaron, he had then assassinated the aging Lord Manshoon and framed it upon the second-in-command, thus deposing them both and himself become the Zhentil Lord. Meanwhile, the revived Korgan had done much the same in the Bloodaxe clan and become its chieftain. Needless to say, the drow-hating dwarves were most eager to join Sarevok is his siege of Ust Natha.

Gathering still more allies against the Lolth-worshipped bulk of the drow, Sarevok had then allied the Zhentil with the renegade Shar-worshipping drow cult that Viconia had become archpriestess of during this time. Despite desperately needing clerics after the death of Bane, the nonhuman-hating Zhentarim had been reluctant in this. Sarevok’s execution of the outspoken commanders soon relegated such complaints to barracks slurs and graffiti. After Viconia freed Edwin and Xzar from their phylacteries and restored them from lichhood, Sarevok hired them into the Zhentarim circle of elite mages. Xzar had been himself once been a Zhentil mage and agent, sent to investigate the Nashkel mines long ago. Edwin was however a Thayvian, although any conflicts arising from his Red Wizard affiliations had yet to surface. Needless to say, the presence of both powerful specialists caused much discreet speculation among the Black Network’s other top wizards.

In the twenty-two years since the First Throne War and Kan’s ascension, then Zhentarim had been struggling to maintain their iron grip upon Faerun as the paladins and rangers of Amn, Baldur’s Gate, and the Savage Frontier kept their open military at bay while Athkatla’s Chancellor Nalia and Chief Inspector Valygar had routed their underground trade-dominating operations. The former-Iron-Throne-master Sarevok now once again found himself helming an underground cartel and had skillfully been regaining men and funds for the Zhentarim. They were still not strong enough to launch an open invasion upon Faerun again, but Sarevok and Viconia yet had a trump card to play. The widely-awed and renown metallurgists of the Zhentarim had worked closely with the renegade drow weapons engineers and together they had very nearly perfected what had been sought in vain for centuries - an alloy of adamantium that could withstand direct sunlight.

But they needed sheer volume of raw materials to experiment and manufacture - and thus Sarevok and Viconia now led a Zhentarim-Sharite invasion into the Underdark. They were hoping to capture and hold Ust Natha and the surrounding mines, which were still largely untapped due to the inefficient, constant infighting of the drow. The militant, organized Zhentarim would be able to mine them must faster and quickly. If the alloy worked, they could have enough to outfit the entire array of their armies.

The Zhentarim were infamously adept at the close coordination of fighters, clerics, and mages. The fighters, heavily armored and magically enhanced and protected by the Sharite clerics and Zhentil wizards, had been making quick headway into the tunnels and chambers west of Ust Natha, outfighting the drow warriors and protected from the drow spellcasters. A Zhentil trooper at the front lines was nearly always found to be under the effects of infravision, haste, strength, protection from energy and various elements, rigid thinking, and defensive harmony, and as a result a nearly invincible and very destructive solider. The wizards and Sharite priests were even better magically protected themselves by spells and drow natural resistance. Physically protected by the impenetrable phalanx of fighters, they were easily able to stay just behind and keep up the front lines’ enhancements as they were dispelled or wore off, generally not bothering to waste their energy on offensive spells against the magic-resisting drow. Viconia and her cult knew the tunnels well, and in addition to waging aggressive battles in the larger chambers, their forces had strategically gained and controlled the many bottlenecks and chokepoints throughout the caverns.

Now they had reached the southwest gate of Ust Natha, and Sarevok and Viconia were standing at the back of the last chamber. Wizards were casting various dispelling magics at the many wards and soon had them down. Then troops wheeled powerful battering rams through the Underdark and began pummeling the huge barred doors while thieves climbed around the edges picking apart the hinges and traps.

With a final thrust, the great doors gave way and fell inwards. Drow archers and mages behind them immediately began firing. The thieves were killed but the wizards had been protected from missiles and most of the magics. Edwin snickered and cast greasy oil and then incendiary clouds upon their own rams, setting them alight. At his words and hand movements, the rams then levitated slightly. As Edwin pushed the air, the rams flew forward, knocking the defenders into the pits on either side of the first bridge. They then exploding in massive fireballs which took out the rest of the drow on the first plaza-disc of Ust Natha. Sarevok gave a war cry and his forces went into full charge through the gates and into the city.

The hasted fighters quickly ran across bridges from plaza to plaza slicing apart the thick defenders or drew their bows and picked off the drow who were falling down upon them from the high ceiling of the underground city. Sharite clerics were healing and reenchanting their fighters while they engaged their brethren in unholy magical duels. Zhentil wizards stayed behind lines of armored forces and kept up their protections and enhancements as dispellings flew at them. With Viconia and her clerics, they were also summoning monsters over the heads of the enemy drow and the called beasts dropped into the defenders, clawing or slashing or eating them.

Drow mages and archers were firing down from the upper platforms of the city, but the same of the Zhentarim fired back, struggling to overcome the elevation disadvantage. The Zhentil magical defenses began to thin and drow evocations and enchantments flew into the attackers, taking out many of them. Soldiers screamed as they burned or froze, many running off the bridges on fire. Other soldiers became confused or charmed and began attacking their own comrades. Viconia began casting great earthquake spells at the ceiling over the drow forces, bringing down chunks of rock that flattened some and then shattered into flying shards which pierced many more. Though taking heavy losses themselves, the Zhentarim pressed forward, overwhelming the dark elves with numbers and matching them in skill.

Drow generals of different houses began bickering with each other and the defending chain of command started to crumble. The drow troops could hear conflicting orders and dissolved into every-elf-for-himself fighting. The disciplined Zhentarim phalanx now easily pushed them back and back. Drow soldiers, beginning to flee, pushed and shoved each other, sometimes into the pits, as they tried to make individual retreats.

Zhentarim were now invading the various buildings and homes of the city, attacking their residents and running up staircases to get onto the upper decks of the city. As they emerged, they hacked through the thinner drow fighters of the upper levels and then set about slashing through or pushing off the archers and spellcasters on the bridges. The Zhentil archers and spellcasters, close behind them, emerged and began raining down upon the fractured drow army below.

As a battalion of deserting drow began trying to unbar and open the east gate, Viconia cast another earthquake spell across the city and huge boulders fell in front of it, crushing the deserters and preventing escape for all others.

The drow, both military and civilians, were now rapidly diminishing in number as the Zhentarim pressed them into the back reaches of the city and continued to slay them with almost mechanical regularity. Finally the entire population of the city had been slain save for the nobles and archpriests holed up in the great temple of Lolth. The Zhentarim rolled more battering rams down to its front doors and began to pummel through them. As they broke through, a swarm of summoned spiders scurried out, devouring the ram operators. The Zhentarim began hacking them apart as some of them turned green and fell dead from poison. Edwin tried to magically push the rams into the temple again but the magicians within were pushing back. Finally, sweeping his arms to either side, Edwin sent the rams into the pits beside the temple gates and then Sarevok ordered his soldiers to charge in.

They soon met the best drow fighters in melee combat and were mostly taken down by them as the elite spellcasters within made short work of the rest. Sarevok commanded more of his own high-ranking soldiers and spellcasters to charge in along with some summons but the results were largely the same. Sarevok then uttered a special command to his elite group of mages. Along with Edwin and Xzar, they each donned an amulet of electricity reflection and then drew a wand of lightning in each hand. They formed a line outside the gate and, pointing the wands through the doors, began firing lightning bolts inside. They flew out of the wands one after another and bounced around inside the temple. Drow could be heard screaming when their magic resistance failed and bolts shot through them. Some bolts flew back out the doors but they reflected off the mages and back inside again. The smell of charred dark-elf began wafting out and several fleeing drow followed but who were quickly blasted away. Viconia licked her lips at the smell and drew some rations from her pack, eating and watching the show.

Finally the screams inside died away and the lightning bolts dissipated. Viconia, suspicious, instructed Xzar to divine within and he reported that two still lived inside. She exchanged mischievous grins with Sarevok and they clasped hands and walked inside. On the altar stood the high Lolthian priestess of Ust Natha behind her prime bodyguard. Viconia flashed the archpriestess a wicked smile as the elf recognized her. They each began casting as the bodyguard lunged down the stairs straight at Sarevok brandishing two scimitars. Sarevok swung his sword Soul Ravager up as the warrior fell upon him. The priestess exploded as Viconia brought a column of flames down upon her and the bodyguard flew through the air towards Sarevok. Sarevok ducked and held his sword high and the bodyguard’s scimitars both slashed air while his own body flew through Soul Ravager’s blade and landed on the ground in two halves. Viconia cackled triumphantly and gave the sword a lick and then planted a bloody kiss on Sarevok’s cheek. He chuckled and hoisted her up over his shoulder, heading back out as she flailed his back and screamed at him to walk faster.




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