A23

The Tower

The party (Dominic, Fick, Ignatius, Jack, and Nemo with Drusila and Yarol) after finding themselves in a strange ruined city began to explore. They tucked the surviving leader of the chaos assassins into a bag of holding and set off. They soon found a well-maintained door leading to the basement of collapsed tenement. After Jack picked the lock, they entered a bar peppered with suspicious customers.
     The bar was tended by an elderly teifling who after telling them to knock, informed them that they were in a city called the Edge. The Edge was a wandering city that moved to places of great conflict, such as the Great War or the Blood War. After hearing that vampires roamed the streets at night they decided to wait until the next day to find a way out. While there they brought a sward from a weapons merchant and found out that a fiendish general frequented the bar.
     The next day, they traveled to the Yggdrasil Building, which contained many portals to other worlds. Then suddenly a band of thri-kreen ambushed the party. These insectoid warriors fought fiercely but all were destroyed by the party�s superior combat ability. The survivor was charmed and took point for the party.
     Then they decided to question their captive. After being easily charmed into answering their questions, he suddenly seemed to shift personalities. This new persona was much more in control and seemed only interested in how the party survived the destruction of a demiplane. After somehow reaching a conclusion he dissolved his minion into a puddle. The thri-kreen, Jar, thought he tasted good.
     Once at the Yggdrasil Building they began to investigate. The mysterious tower lay in the center of town and was a cylindrical structure stretching almost 1,200 feet into the sky. It was rumored that the creator of the Edge dwells there and that the levels of the building do not follow the laws of time and space. Their minion Jar also said that horrible monsters dwell within. The first level consisted of a large hall, elaborately decorated with steel and copper baroque designs, and empty offices. At the end of the hall was a metal doorway to an elevator.
     Strangely the second and third floors elevator shafts led straight down to the basement and a shattered car. On the first floor, Jack, Dominic, and Yarol decided to risk it and took the elevator. When the doors opened again they were gone. The party panicking used Nemo�s bracelet of friends to summon Jack back. Meanwhile down below, Dominic and Yarol worriedly wandered through the subbasement when a three-headed hellhound bounded down the corridor. As they ran for the elevator, the rest of the party squashed like sardines took the elevator down. A battle broke out with 4 of the creatures pinning the party into the now unmoving elevator. Jar was torn apart before Jack, Nemo, and Fick were able to slice the beasts to shreds.
     Moving through the dark and dirty series of halls and abandoned storage space illuminated by a few flickering florescent lights, the party made its way to the stairs. The stairway was dangerously blocked up and only the door 40 feet up was accessible. After some discussion, they headed up and sent Fick to investigate the blood stained halls lit by eerie green energy arcing through the spots where the lights were. Fick quickly hurried back when a ghost passed right through him. Sent back, he found several ogre magi tormenting the spirits.
     The party put together a deadly plan. Sending Jack, Fick and Nemo forward invisible, they lay in wait for the initial strike. The ogre magi were cut down in seconds with no chance to react. Even the second wave was easily decimated. As the chased after the survivor, they ran into a nasty trap as dozens of blades cut through a narrow hall. Using a crawl space, the party got around it, while Fick simply pushed through the bars. They quickly went up a spiraling set of stairs and landings before finding themselves on the next level, their enemy gone.
     The first room they entered was dominated by a massive design in the floor surrounding a skeletal figure in robes. The lich as they soon learned had been trapped here for centuries. After some bargaining and pleading, the party stepped over the circle freeing him onto the world. From this the party gained wealth and Fauthir, an intelligent great sword of moderate power. This was claimed by Nemo (who was the one who freed the Lich after all).
     Beyond the lich�s room was another tortured soul. Guarded by three angelic figures, was a half-elven priest in black clothing. He was once Zio, a powerful priest who attempted to destroy civilization through out the world in an attempt to save all life from a vengeful goddess.       This man turned out to be from the same world as Fick, a world ruined by the suicide of its sole deity. But in the end the party sided with the angels and left him behind.
The next level led to a subway station with stairs continuing upward. A clock and schedule on the wall stated that the next train was due in 15 minutes. At the scheduled time, an antique train stopped at the station and a skeletal figure in black waves them to enter. Wary of the train and its enigmatic conductor, the party chose to take the stairs to the next level.
      This level consisted of normal if abandoned offices. Strangely this level had windows, looking over a cityscape. At the elevator, a plate mailed figure waited. Erdra, paladin of Wee Jas, goddess of death, guarded the gateway to the final level and would only let someone pass if she was defeated in single combat. She was a mighty heroine who once sacrificed her life to save the party� world from evil along with the Dark Master. In a powerful battle, Nemo was able to defeat her and the party was able to pass on.
     The final level was the Hall of Heroes, a large hall filled with feasting warriors, rogues, and spellcasters. These adventurers were all once great heroes, immortalized by their deeds. After hanging out a while the party took a powerful portal home. All arrived intact except for the modrones (whisked away to Mechanus) and Old Tom (who presumably went to somewhere safe.