Volume 6, The Darkest Timeline 3 - The Fall of Barada

Part 9 - Vendari Casts a Long Shadow

As the Thanes await their exchange with Serap, they place their information about the Shovrhan into the box and Margarita joins them to let them know that Serap's had a last minute meeting put in that he's trying to finish quickly.

Suddenly all hell breaks loose below...

Suddenly there is a commotion on the ground floor of the Markaz. A figure that looks an awful lot like Serap is running across towards the palace gate, another figure, dark-haired pursues. Margarita lets out a yowl and disappears reappearing in a darkened corner below.
In a flash the dark-haired figure disappears from sight only to reappear again at the central fountain, leaving Serap to run to the gate. The figure makes a grabbing motion in the air in front of them, they pull back their arm, and then bring it crashing down towards the fountain. For a moment there are two Serap’s, one metres from the exit to the palace gates, the other lying against the crushed stone work of the fountain below. And then there is only one, the Serap running in the distance dissipates.
The Markaz has descended into pandemonium. People scream, grab their children close and run for cover.

Suddenly Jeramyn intrudes upon your minds, he’s maintained a link with Margartia, images swim into your minds eye. You see the scene play out from Margarita’s eyes, as she lays crouched and out of sight, you feel every fibre of her being tense, on edge, watching for any excuse to pounce. An almost imperceptible movement from Serap tells her to stay. A wave of anger and sadness washes over you it is not your own. And then the other figure speaks, and Margarita shifts her gaze up to the form of Vendari before her.
“You’re good Ustasi, but I’m afraid I see through all your tricks. And now I believe you have something that belongs to me.”
He reaches down, Serap tries to hold him at bay, clutching something tightly in his hands, there is a cracking sound, a cry of pain and Vendari returns to standing, the Ring of Obfuscation in his hand. He lets go of Serap and places it on the middle finger of his left hand, letting out a sigh of relief as he does so. Jed feels his connection with the ring disappear.
Behind the two figures, a crowd of soliders and guards both storm into the chamber, officers crying orders all heading towards the centre of the Markaz. One of them falls, and then another. A number of death slaad, deep grey and covered in horned ridges appear as if from thin air hacking into the group of soldiers. To make matters worse, a number of the warriors turn upon their fellows, it is chaos.
In the distraction Serap incants a spell and fires it upwards, Vendari goes to dodge but there’s no effect… until suddenly a great black dragon appears in the air above them both letting out a mighty roar.

“Another illusion, really? I’ve told you I see through your tricks.”

Serap grimaces and pushes himself up to sit against the fountain, as through your own eyes an incredibly real looking dragon rushes towards you, up and up through the Markaz chamber.

“It’s not for you,” Serap says as the illusory beast stops short of the ceiling and lets out a geyser of acid. Illusory or not, the acid seems very real, and as the torrent subsides you start to hear the creaking of metal as the fastenings on the great metal disc above you start to dissolve.
With a cacophonous screeching of metal on metal the disc falls. There is a moment, where time seems to stop, giant disc mid fall, illusory dragon starting to disappear and Serap and Vendari below. The moment passes, the disc tumbles, spinning over and over like a flipped coin until, with a tremendous crashing, it bisects the fountain below.
Despite the chaos, despite the tragedy unfurling 100s of metres below you, some part of you cannot help but be in awe of the scene. Framed into the ceiling, now freed from it’s metal covering is a humongous diamond protruding from the rock. And from the diamond emanates a column of perfect, pure, silvery light. And as the light shines down like a spotlight through the tower, it is caught and reflected on every gem, jewel and reflective tile of the Markaz. A beautiful, miracle of light hidden in a city of darkness.
Suddenly your senses are pulled back into Margarita as she instinctively arches her back and bears her teeth.
“So, you figured it out… very good.” Vendari sounds strange, slightly distorted and looking upon him it is as if he were another person… another thing. The skin of his face is pale and stretched thin, his body is covered in a dark chitin. Strange cord like veins travel the length of his body and a multi-pronged crest of bone seems to extend out from the back of his head.
“For that you’ve earned the right to watch, but you really must stop being such a nuisance.” In one rapid movement, Vendari takes his hand and rips out half of Serap’s throat.
As Serap clutches wildly at his wound, and Vendari casually tosses the viscera aside, your nemesis looks up towards the ceiling, and in a voice that fills the room and chills your soul addresses you for the first time.

“Are you there, Thanes of Order? I hope you are. It would only be fitting for you to be here at the site of another of your failures.”

He rubs his fingers over the newly placed Ring of Obfuscation.

“You know the weak, cowardly pretenders you call Gods, having nothing to offer themselves, forged everything about this pathetic realm from the scavenged remains of the one, true God. You must know this story right? Do you remember what it was that Oloch stole to forge darkness. It was Kek’s Despair. Despair at his betrayal, despair at the humiliating, grovelling, indignity that is life, despair that his dreams of peace might never be fulfilled."

"He shall have no more cause for despair, for I am the inheritor, I carry the will of Kek within every aspect of my being, and I am the herald of his great future. I will see his vision come to pass, before succumbing to the wondrous embrace of nothingness." Vendari takes a deep breath and sighs.

"Do you hear that Thanes? Do you hear it calling? Such a sound…. But that will happen soon enough, for now, let me show you, let me show you His despair.”
He holds his arm aloft and begins to chant

“Fire his heart, Water his blood, Air his breath, Earth his frame, Dark his despair, Light his hope.”

“Come forth, Avatar of Despair. I call you forth from the realm of darkness and bind you to work Kek’s will upon this world. Come forth!”
A low, deep rumbling shudders the Markaz, dust begins to fall, and then, a crack, and another, and another. Lines begin to run all along the diamond ceiling of the chamber until finally, with a tremendous shattering sound it explodes into a million pieces, raining shards of gems down.
Where once it stood, now sits an upturned pool of shifting shadow, from which billows a tremendous ball of smoke that crashes into the remnants of the fountain below. Then, slowly, standing up from this darkness, a huge bipedal figure, plumes of smoke emanating from its skin. Unpleasantly tall, uncomfortably gaunt, pitch black from the bottom of its cloven feet to the tips of its pointed horns. A Nightwalker, pulled from the depths of the plane of negative energy.
In the chaos, a veteran soldier breaks free from the conflict with the Slaad and makes a charge at Vendari, but as he does so the Nightwalker reaches out a hand towards them and they fall to the floor dead.
The sounds of screaming and commotion nearby drags your attention away from the terrifying vision below. From the pool of shadow, pouring out in unstoppable numbers, and attacking everything in their path, all manner of shadow creatures descend upon Barada.
In your mind, you hear the soft, defeated, voice of Jeramyn, “we… we have to go.”

• Vendari is in Barada and he steals the Ring of Obfuscation from Serap.
• Serap for his part manages to dislodge the covering at the top of the Markaz, which fills the chamber with moonlight that reveals that several soldiers/guards and Vendari are shapeshifters. While most are slaad, Vendari looks like nothing the Thanes have ever seen. Pale and with a body covered in hard chitin.
• Vendari injures Serap so that he will bleed out slowly and uses the Ring of Obfuscation to summon a Nightwalker, which he calls forth from the Shams al-Oloq and dubs "the Avatar of Despair."
• Where the Nightwalker was summoned, a shadowy portal has developed and all manner of shadow creatures spew forth, descending upon Barada and mercilessly setting upon the townsfolk.
• The Thanes are forced to flee, rushing past scenes of devastation in the city. They make it outside in time to watch the stars blinking out of existence in the night's sky.
• The Thanes secure their supplies and head out into the desert, stopping some hours later to make camp.
• Shortly before they rest, Margarita returns one last time and drops Serap's finger, set with a ring of mind shielding at Gamble's feet, she then disappears into the ether. Jearmyn too leaves, but not before gifting the party a blessing for treating him well.
• Gamble and Petryan fight over who should wear the ring but ulitmately Gamble claims it. She discovers that it holds the sould of an incredibly distraught and apologetic Serap Ustasi, who offers to do whatever he can to help them in their quest.