The Drow War Book Two. The Dying Of - RoseRed

The plane does not extend beyond the boundaries of this
hallway. Even if the Player Characters try to persuade
them that they could leave, the titanic figures take no
notice. As they are deities, the Player Characters cannot
harm them at all.
15. The Imprisoned Archangel
The gateway opens onto a horrific scene. You stand
in a cathedral-like chamber at the top of a broad shaft
of stone blocks many hundreds of feet across. Empty
windows in the walls look out over a scene of total
devastation, with a boiling red sky raging above a
parched landscape.
Hanging from cruel iron hooks in the centre of the
shaft is a beautiful male figure, the size of a titan, with
bloodied swanlike wings. His skin is golden and his
eyes pale blue. Turning his gaze to you, he gasps like
the roaring of a furnace. ‘The heroes! The heroes are
come! Surely it is the fated hour at last! Free me and
we will begin the Last War!’
If the Player Characters do attempt to free the creature,
they find that their efforts are fruitless. It is imprisoned
by a form of binding so strong that only a deity could
have placed it.
If the Player Characters ask it who it is, it is momentarily
confused, as if it expects them to know already: ‘I am
Adrastael, the head of the comet that shall awaken the
world to war!’
The archangel is awaiting the fulfilment of a prophecy
and naturally believes that the Player Characters are
those who are destined to release it, since no other
creature has ever before come to this place. The more
futile attempts the Player Characters make to set it free,
the more it realises that they are the wrong heroes.
Eventually it cries aloud:
‘Alas! You are not those who are destined to free me!
Where is Alliolyle with his trident? Where is Sudanha,
bearer of the Cup of Violent Mercy? Alas! Most bitterly
cruel the deception!’
The Player Characters can gain nothing of use from this
unfortunate creature, nor can they harm it. Its tears do
have magical properties, however; any non-evil creature
coming into contact with them is healed of 4d8+4 points
of damage.
16. The Web of the Stars
Beyond the gateway is a stunning scene: a network of
metallic walkways and balconies hanging against a
black void. There seems to be no end to it. Paths of
shining metal fan out from the platform where you stand,
leading to nodes where machines stand behind railings.
These machines resemble low tables with flywheels
mounted on them and glass bell jars in the centre.
Floating in each bell jar is a living brain made from
translucent blue gel. You see the shapes of mechanical
spider-like beings pacing to and fro along the balconies,
attending to the machines and then moving on. One
such being is hastily approaching you.
This is the plane of Coax, where the planespiders dwell
(see page 139). One of them has detected the breach and
is hastening to repair it. It believes the Player Characters
to be an ‘anomaly’, as they do not belong here. If the
Player Characters prove themselves to be intelligent, it
converses with them for a while before insisting that
they return to their plane, asking that they do not disrupt
any more webbing. It explains the arrangement between
Bastirak and the resident planespider and can describe
where the entrance to Noctulos is located, if the Player
Characters have not found it already.
Hostility towards the planespiders is a completely
suicidal move. There are so many of them here that the
Player Characters cannot hope to prevail against them.
17. The Council of Trees
The space beyond the gateway is a lush forest of oak
trees where the air smells clean and the noises of birds
sound clearly from close by. You have stepped into a
clearing. Shafts of honey-coloured light slant down
through the leaves. There is a feeling of profound peace
and safety; but you also have a strong sense of being
watched.
This is a neutrally-aligned plane where plant life forms
are dominant. The Player Characters have unwittingly
stepped into the centre of a group of six elder tree lords,
who are observing them before deciding what to do. If
the Player Characters do not treat the forest with respect,
the tree lords call for its guardians – an unlimited
number of treants, who herd the Player Characters back
to the gateway. If they are cautious and respectful, or if
they address the trees directly, the trees speak to them.
The trees know who they are and the nature of the crisis
they face. Their power allows them to scry other planes
and observe the fates of the forests there. They have
this to say about the world of Ashfar:
Ibon Presno Gonzalez (order #73006) 8
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