Adak the Defiler

General Summary

Even with proper protection, the heat here is oppressive, overwhelming, otherworldly. The fire rages eternally, engulfing but not consuming all it touches. The air, thin and choked with smoke, ripples with the intense heat, and through the haze, you discover the charred landscape veined with molten rivers. In fact, even the ground beneath your feet seems to shift like a slow-moving lava flow. Everything—from the blistering air to the red-hot stone radiates heat.
Aeson then realizes that this is not the elemental plane of fire… this is a far more sinister place… this is hell.
Far off into the distance atop a pillared tower you see the tyrant of these lands; Adak the Defiler.
Curving horns crest the massive draconic head. The towering creature, reptilian in its movements, has scales of flaming, ruby red. Its nostrils flare, then issue a gout of steam as it exhales. Teeth, bone-white, flash as a low growl emanates from the beast, accompanied by a red-hot glow in its throat. Fear grips you as you fully reckon its size, its otherworldly presence.
The wyrm calls out to the party, “Foolish whelps, you have stumbled in to world in which there is no retreat… a tale with no ending… You have entered the Crushing Lands of Malbolge, my empire and where you will meet your end.”
The dragon’s wrath proves no less terrifying for being distant. His snarls and growls shake the world about you, as encompassing and elemental as a hurricane. They echo so much in your head you momentarily forget which way to turn. It seems as if the dragon will be there no matter which way you go. You look over your shoulder and see the portal you previously walked through is now nothing but an empty archway.

Duke Zalto

Hearing the booming voice, Zephyr who is currently chained to a wall comes to. He looks up to his right and see his his captor, Duke Zalto standing overhead. He looks left and see's his friends across the way. A wave of relief washes over him momentarily before hearing his father's voice call out, “Brynn Galanodel, you are Naivara’s Champion… You possess the strength of the Titans… RISE UP MY SON!” He looks straight ahead with squinted eyes against the oppressive heat and see's his father, Gajarum, Loremaster of the Hunt bound in chains writhed in flame hovering above a pool of lava...

Adak Fight

Crushing Lands of Malbolge

• Aeson: Sprints to Gajarum, a djinn, and starts hacking the chains holding him in place
• Olga: Charges towards Zephyr
• Willow: summons a water elemental near the Giant and transforms into a water elemental herself and heads towards the Djinn
• Pye: sends YibYub after Olga and springs into action himself towards Olga after giving Olga some inspiration
• Adak: Fires off some Frightful Presence, petrifying everyone except Olga
• Zephyr: Breaks free from his chains and heads toward his captor, Duke Zalto, who bares a scar across his neck from their previous encounter on the Prime Material Plane.
• Aeson, destroys the chains and gets into a Primordial/infernal conversation with an Efreet
• Lair: fires off a volcano near the Djinn and then spawns a fire elemental
• Olga: Rams a snail and releases some haste benefitting both the summoned elemental and herself next round
• Aeson fires off some haste and starts hacking away at the efreeti and the fire elemental
• Pye lodges a Hairball at Adak, eating one of his legendary resistances
• Olga: grabs some haste and flies off toward the dragon hacking and slashing
• Zephyr and the fire giant start going Hammer to Hammer against each other
• Adak: seeing the nice lineup fires off a breath weapon, toasting YibYub, Pye, Aeson, Olga, Willow and the Djinn. The Djinn captures him in a whirlwind, loosing another legendary resistance
• Pye lodges another Hairball at Adak, eating his third legendary resistance. An invisible mage lodges an inflammation at Pye, nearly taking him out, but the kitty resisted.
• Zephyr unleashes fury on the Giant and sends him back to Hell again
• Adak: drops to the ground between Aeson and Pye and takes out the kitty cat; Aeson gets another round of attacks in before he also falls.
• Olga leaps over the rocky embankment and slashes the hell out of Adak
• Willow attempts to throw a mass cure wounds but is counterspelled by the invisible mage
• Adak unleashes on Olga who manages to resist most of the attacks by diving into a crevasse in the ground and then marshall’s her fury against him launching herself out of the rock and splitting Adak’s head in two.
• The mage escaped during the battle and Willow was able to heal everyone back up so they could investigate the chamber.
• Zephyr investigated the heart under Adak’s throne and recognized this as an ancient red dragon heart and began to bathe himself ritually in the blood.
• Pye polymorphed into a Giant Eagle and grabbed Olga and flew to the top of the throne. Pye discovered an extradimensional portal into a huge dragon hoard.

Valajantar

Suddenly it struck everyone that they were currently stranded on this layer of the nine hells with no way to return. Adak's lair was slowly crumbling and if they did not escape soon, they would certainly perish. With no other option, Pye reached out to his patron, Valantajar, through the connection they maintained and Val responded with an offer for the group, a deal, a favor they would owe for getting them back to the Prime Material Plane in addition to the treasure horde Adak left behind.
With no other choice, the party reluctantly agreed and were teleported back safely to the shores of Nyanzaru.

Report Date

09 Aug 2022