Watch the episode live on Twitch and YouTube at 7pm PST. Restreams on Twitch at midnight and the next day at 9am PST

Runtime Break start
6h 30m 1h 51m

Episode 101: Downfall: Part Three

For those coming back, the gods have not only infiltrated the city of Aeor, but have infiltrated Exandria itself. A plan decades in the making while Exandria remained choked under ash and beset by monstrous hordes of the armies of the gods both Prime and Betrayer alike.
A plan was hatched to bypass the magical wards of the mighty city of Aeor; for the gods to take mortal form to pass those boundaries that only mortals could pass.
Having arrived in Aeor disguised as humble ground-dwelling mortals bringing food. Probably the last thing tethering Aeor to terrestrial Exandria. The gods and their companions discovered that they would need to work quickly, that the Factorum Malleus was all but operational.
Moving swiftly, our divine protagonists (we have to wait to find out if the word ‘heroes’ is appropriate or not) discovered the Archmage Cassida Preven who was working on the Factorum Malleus. Part of a secret society of Aeorian archmages dedicated to helping the Prime Deities win the Calamity. After all this is a war between gods isn’t it? Or are they not so much enemies as family?
We also discovered the Obtenebrator Engine and beneath it The Scribe (an Aeormaton tasked with operating the massive obfuscation that is hiding the city from divine sight, but also in the event of an emergency, broadcast the schematics of the Factorum Malleus across Exandria; an insurance policy should the gods somehow bypass Aeor’s defenses). It took less than six seconds for you to dispatch them.
We return now to an extra-dimensional holding chamber (a “back room” if you will) of the Ars Elysia (the hidden speakeasy/society of beauty/nightclub run by SILAHA aka The Arch Heart). Within this realm, you now appear:

  • The six of you
  • Cassida Preven (one of the archmages who crafted the Factorum Malleus)
  • Your sister and companion Arcadia (also masquerading as an Aeorian archmage; one of the two deities to have spent some time in Aeor.
  • Zaharzht, Father Milo Caust, and Tishar

All of you dwell now under scintillating silver light forming an ovoid sphere with elongated twinkling silver strands in all directions. You do not stand on the floor so much as you hover in suspended space here in the middle. Though it is clean and scintillating and extra-dimensional, perhaps you can smell that not very long ago, a celestial died here.
You have removed the Obtenebrator Engine and thus the gods can see Aeor. You have removed the Eravox Protocol and thus their insurance policy to disseminate this knowledge has faded. In that engine room you heard winds kick up outside; omens of things to come. All that remains is the destruction of the Latimus Princeps that force keeping the gods physically away and keeping you definitively mortal. That Latimus Princeps has been integrated to and built within the weapon itself.
You have one task remaining, but can you agree on what that task is? As we enter this chamber and Cassida (standing by Trist’s side) looks as Zaharzht coughing blood. Tishar goes and flanks Cassida on the other side and puts her chin close to Cassida’s shoulder and sniffs,

Tishar:”Mortal. Funny.”
Cassida looks to all of you now gathered here after the flash of combat and feels the power radiating off of all of you (who have just unmade decades of arcane work in a matter of seconds),
Cassida:“Who is everyone here? Are you…?”
Tishar reaches up a hand and puts it on Cassida’s back.
Tishar:“This person is supposed to be here? Or they leave?”
Tishar grabs the hair on the back of her (Cassida) head. Trist takes Cassida’s hand and looks at Tishar.
Trist:”She’s with me. Please take your hand away.”


Previous Episode: “Downfall: Part Two”

Artwork by KuyaSerge

  • UltragrampsOPM
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    1
    ·
    1 month ago

    All in all Ayden’s build is an incredibly hard to target tanky support character who can move through the battlefield protecting his allies and being an absolute nightmare for enemy spellcasters. The only thing I really didn’t fully consider was just how much damage he would take from Warding Bond which totally bypasses all those wonderfully crafted defenses. As crazy as it is, I think we barely got to scratch the surface of Aydens full potential and it’s probably good those mages decided to cast spells at everyone else because Ayden was going to be a tough character for a spell caster to crack. The Commanding Rally did get to shine allowing characters who specialized in weapon attacks to get a little extra out of those 20 level commitments. Ayden’s build was crafted to keep his siblings alive and let them shine as bright as possible together. I’m very proud of him!

    If you read all this then you’re as nerdy as me and deserve a reward!