XXV. Battle for the Ashmaker
General Summary
The party descended into a temple on the lower level of Snurre's fortress on a rope after opening a hole in the ceiling using Nolzur’s Marvelous Pigments. The temple had a cairn along its north wall carved from rock with red and purple veins. Suspended from the ceiling (or floating) was a triangular stone with a Y shape carved into it. King Snurre was standing on a dais along with a huge metal box. After landing, the rope was cut by Obmi in an act of betrayal. Taking it in stride, the party conversed with King Snurre, who tried to negotiate a laying-down of arms to avoid mutual destruction. He introduced what he called the Ashmaker: a large, black spiked sphere made of metal. He claimed that the force of its explosion could level the entire fortress. Despite his grandiose claim, the party decided to do what they had come to do: fight and win. The battle began with a bang: specifically, the bang of the Fire Giants’ Slagspitters as they ripped molten rock through the air. The party had already been in battle. Although they had rested before this fight, it didn’t take long for the party to realize just how underprepared they really were. Snurre’s prists priests blocked Akwele, Kohinoor, Dev, and Alizeh off from Achilla, Valoryn and Baui with great walls of flame. Akwele fell unconscious as fire rained upon him from afar, both from the Barbed Devils off to the side of the battlefield and by the giants’ monstrous, smoking cannons. Dev rushed to help Akwele but was cut down by a particularly vicious attack from a Fire Giant guard. Lady Kohi was incapacitated, tormented with visions of Gault and the Behir that killed him as a Chain Devil caught her in his grasp. Alizeh was left alone to bear the remainder of the Giants’ ire and fell as well. Valoryn, who had made himself invisible at the beginning of the fight, crept around the battle and behind King Snurre, who still stood beside the empty crate the Ashmaker had been stored in, pitching slag at the party members across the field. Valoryn suddenly revealed himself, charging between Snurre’s legs and driving a dagger into his ribs, dealing massive damage with the hit. King Snurre called for his guards, who all began to strike Valoryn down with all their fury. Achilla moved forward to help defend him. It was at this point that Baui stepped forward and decided to call Snurre’s bluff. Calling on the powers of the grave, he thrust two fingers forward and shot a Guiding Bolt into the Ashmaker. Snurre looked terrified as he shouted:
"NOOOOO!"...but after a moment, he looked up and saw what Baui had been counting on: the bomb was a dud. Valoryn and Baui began to laugh hysterically.-King Snurre
“Those Drow will pay for this!”The battle hadn’t yet ended, and now Snurre had nothing to lose. Valoryn knew something was wrong when he couldn’t hear Dev’s encouraging words or Akwele’s triumphant laughter. He briefly considered trying to escape the battle before resolving to stay. He reached out his hand, sensing for a shadowy blade to fill it—and it did, for a second—before it was pulled away, wielded by someone else. So close, he thought. Gripping his hexblade, he ran forward, launching himself off Achilla’s knee into Snurre’s chest and sinking the blade deep into Snurre’s heart.-King Snurre
“If I can’t have it, no one can.”Valoryn whispered this as he watched the life leave Snurre’s eyes. The king was dead. Snurre’s men were shocked for only a moment before they returned to their senses, the fire of vengeance in their eyes. They struck down Baui and Valoryn, who had been weakened after Valoryn’s first attack on Snurre. Achilla, the Shield of Ivargrad, made her last stand, cornered at the north end of the hall, before she fell as well. The entire party lay, both defeated and victorious, slowly dying in the hall of King Snurre. Only Valoryn, Achilla, and Lady Kohinoor clung to life as the rest of the party succumbed to their wounds and lay dead on the floor. It was Valoryn who suddenly awoke, laying facedown on top of the box the Ashmaker had been stored in. He overheard the guards whispering frantically, trying to figure out what to do now that their King had been slain. He laid completely still as the Giants checked his pulse, then proceeded to take his gear. He heard them command to dispose of the dead and take the living to a cell until they figured out what to do, and then he felt himself being lifted. He watched carefully as they took his gear down a different hallway before depositing him, Achilla and Lady Kohinoor in a cell together…-Valoryn Nightshade
