Chapter 9, Part V: Threads of Death
Written by Nick M.
Vance tried to communicate with Zigorby through his major illusion spell, trying to reach a part inside of her which might still have been human. He presented her with a memory that he gained earlier in the castle of her with her sister Varista and her father Terravox. A part of her humanity seemed to come forward as the illusion unfolded for her like a soft shimmer of a dream. This peace is short-lived; as fast as Zigorby slipped into a this docile state, she then had the evil and malice of the curse reclaim her. She let out a shriek of anger or pain, as the visions seemed to have had some effect on her. She lunged forward to attack.
Her first attack was one of rage rather than calculation, because of this blinded fury the party was able to narrowly avoid her slash attack. She let out a growl of frustration, and an orange mist started to seep from her. Drez put his mark on Zigorby and, in a swift motion, steadied his aim and released a flurry of force-charged bolts on her. Her exoskeleton was a wall of living armor, bouncing the first bolt off as if it were a toy. The second hit a perfectly exposed area on her abdomen. The force damage was like a mini fissure, slightly cracking the outside of her armor.
Nohki, in his spider form, climbed a nearby wall, gaining a better vantage point. Tagg took a second to study Zigorby, learning her weaknesses and resistances. With this knowledge at hand, he stayed hidden from Zigorby's view. Zigorby, noticing Xerxes behind her, turned and slashed at him with her claws.
Vance, saddened he couldn't make a lasting connection with Zigorby, knew there was only one option now. They must fight the demon holding his ancestor captive. He casted mirror image on himself in the hope of staying alive during the fight. Zigorby turned towards Vance and thrusted her stringy weblike hair at him. As graceful as Vance may be, he found himself quickly entangled in a mess of thick, matted, twisted together strands of hair. Xerxes, using the time she is distracted, tried to gain access to an area in the back of the room covered in webbing. He used the powers of the Domain Deities to charge extra damage on his attack. Though he wasn't successful in making his way through all of the webbing, he did make his way enough to see a bookshelf.
Zigorby climbed up into the ceiling, disengaging from the fight. The trail of orange mist seemed to follow her. Drez, with his hunting skills and perception, listened for the unholy arachnid. He could hear scurrying in the ceiling and was able to point in her general direction. Dr. Hoo perched as a sentry, looking out among the tunnels to watch for the incoming attackers.
Nohki heard the voice of Hymark in his mind. He said the people outside were going crazy, and that the Deftdriders were on their way towards the castle. Nohki then illuminated himself in moonlight. He could see tunnels surrounding them. They led in every direction, giving the impression that this was a very high traffic area for Zigorby and her thralls.
Vance, still restrained by coarse strands of hair, attempted to cut his way out with his dagger. It was as if the dagger was as blunt as a rock, and he was unable to get free. He saw Xerxes across the room burn his way through the webbing, and yelled out, "Webs may be thick, and the strands may cling, but pure strength is born from struggle." This gave Xerxes the amount of power he needed to gain access to the bookshelf behind the webbing. He discovered a family photo album, and threw the book to Vance. He also discovered a golden chalice on an altar. Using the identify spell, he discovered it can cast 5 charges of "Heroes' Feast."
Drez used oil and fire to light a corridor of webbing on fire. Dr. Hoo heard skittering from 4 different locations. Nohki, already alerted to the incoming assault, saw Rickon, one of the Deftdriders, coming his way. He cast Starry Whisp, and as it hit Rickon, the man seemed to vanish into a cloud. Tagg, hearing the ruckus, cames to Nohki's aid, but the assailant could not be seen.
Vance, after a short struggle, finally freed himself of Zigorby's weblike hair. He turned through the pages of the album. It had photos that seem to be missing, but there were ones of Terravox, Zigorby, and of Varista. A closer look revealed a note written in the spine of the book. It was a stick figure drawing of the two sisters, and said, "I love you sis, and happy birthday."
Zigorby, attracted to the flame, dropped down from the ceiling. Latching onto Drez with her mandibles, she sunk her fangs into him. Drez took significant pain from this bite but kept his concentration of Hunter's mark, and he rejected the poison she inflicted upon him. Fueled by pain, Drez rolled away, launching three force-charged bolts into Zigorby, breaking away more armor and revealing light inside of her. Tagg, seeing her open, attacked with his maul, damaging the beast. Vance, seeing Tagg open for a retaliatory attack, created an illusion of child Varista holding her golem stuffy between the two. The curse receded for a moment, but the respite was short-lived. Vance then yelled out to Tagg, "You stand taller than the rest, not just in stature, but in spirt!"
Fueled by Vances words, he instinctively dodged the incoming attack, as his reflexes were heightened. Xerxes soothed the pain Drez has taken, bringing him back into the fight for another round.
Nohki saw Rickon appear in the tunnels. Not wanting him to escape, he attacked him with Starry Whisp, causing him to be illuminated. He receded into a hole in the ceiling to conceal himself. After Rickon performed a sneak attack on Tagg, Vance, already looking into that direction, saw the action in play. "You're slower than a blind beggar, and I've seen more grace from a drunken ogre!" Distracted by Vance's words, Nohki was able to drag Rickon out of the tunnel with telekinesis. Rickon, now laying on the ground, was left open for a walloping attack by Tagg, non-lethally removing him from the encounter.
Vance, after a few attempts using his illusions to control Zigorby, decided physical barriers may be necessary. Using the powers of Nihm, he extruded earth between Tagg and Zigorby. She reacted to it, as these are the powers of her mother. With the earthen bars in front of her, she turned to Drez, attacking with her claws. Vance, using his minor image and voice acting, created another illusion of Varista and said, "Ziggy, Ziggy, where is the power source?" Zigorby's humanity showed through, and they heard her soft voice say, "I only wish I knew." She was quickly reclaimed by the curse and let out a loud shriek!
The earth beneath the Platinum Talons bubbled with poison. Before they knew it, they were sliding down a sink hole to a chamber below. Vance, using his powers of Nihm, caught himself and Xerxes. Tagg's trustworthy Brawlmart ring, Drez's raw strength, and Nohki's webs were all used to make a successful landing on the platforms below. Now floating in a sea of poison, the party saw Zigorby rising up. She had a new armor built around her, formed by thousands of tiny arachnids. She said she cannot be bested by us, for she is a GOD!
Now empowered by her massive size and formidable armor, she unleashed countless slam attacks towards the party. "Luck" seemed to be on Drez's side as he evaded her. After her narrow miss, Tagg was able to perform his sentinel attack. Vance cried out for this demon to let Zigorby go and, with fire in his eyes, he cast a large fireball on her. It dealt immense damage to her outer shell. It burned a hole right down to her core. Inside, they could see a face that looked like one of a tormented soul. It let out in anger, "I will consume you all and fulfill my destiny!"
Vance, never having the power to deal that much damage, was inspired, and began to believe in himself, "Maybe, I can be a hero after all." The poison started to drain from beneath the heroes. As they finally sink down to flesh-like ground, the Talons saw Zigorby digging and clawing at this flesh. It quickly became apparent that this was the giant heart of some beast long lost to time. It was what was being used to pump the poison throughout the Underdark, and they realized that the decaying flesh and blood of the beast was what made up the Poison Veil itself. As she started to release her energy, finally re-opening up the portal inside of her and becoming the Astral Nexus, portals surrounding the Talons began to open. One for each Domain Deity, 3 of which were emitting power into her.
Xerxes, unwavering to the unknown, jumped through one of these portals. He found himself in a fiery realm and could hear the beating of an anvil. He heard Kiln speak directly to him. "It is concerning that Zigorby, this Nexus being, has opened these rifts to our realms. You need to stop Nihm's daughter from gaining access to the other gods' realms immediately." He gave Xerxes a blessing and, just as he exited back into the material realm, Zigorby looked to him and used her newly-found power to strip him of his resistance to fire and make him weak to it instead.
Drez shot her with his crossbow, but because she was channeling the power of Nihm, she had increased defenses and lowered the incoming damage from his attacks. Tagg made a leap of faith into the rift to visit Marista. She offered him a blessing and also a "High Five" for his struggle. When Tagg returned to the material realm, Zigorby used the power of Genesis to reduce Tagg and Xerxes thread of life. Vance jumped through the portal to visit Nihm and he begged her to help defeat her daughter who had been taken over by this evil demonic curse. Nihm offered a blessing, but said that it is out of her hands to stop her. It lied with the Platinum Talons now. Vance prayed and was able to shrink down the portal to half its size, and the effects immediately took place on Zigorby, impacting her armor size.
Seeing this new opening, Xerxes attempted a crazy act of faith. He leapt onto Zigorby and force-fed her a potion of Dominate Monster. She may have been dominated for the time being, but not before the powers of Spriggit and Nocturne created a shadow being of her on the battlefield. Xerxes cast Healing Word on the party, and instructed Zigorby to close down the rifts. The Platinum Talons each took turns closing down portals one by one. Zigorby, following Xerxes's directive, closed down her pathway to Nocturne and the shadow dissipated. Something changed about her soon after, as she was able to break free from the bonds of the Dominate Monster effects.
Tagg, unsuspecting of her, found himself between her mandibles, crushed and pierced by her fangs. He had already suffered a significant amount of damage during this battle between good and evil. His conscience started to fade as he slipped away into darkness. After a few moments of that black nothingness, he saw himself floating in front of those very recognizable gates of the gods. Grey was there to meet him. "You have been met with an unfortunate fate, my friend." He offered him one of two options. Option one: he can remain deceased and die a hero, but in turn the powers that he carried from Marista and Nova will unfortunately die with him and will never be granted to another. Option two, he could choose to be revived and keep his powers but one of the domain deities would give up their power to the universe to absorb the cost, effectively removing them from existence.
Tagg, as big-hearted as he was, struggled to make that decision. He was not the sort that could even think of trading his life for another, especially thinking of that life as being a Deity that many people pray to and believe in. As Tagg was deeply saddened by what his options were, Grey offered him comfort by telling him the Gods would wish for him to continue this fight. Still struggling, Tagg told Grey that he could not imagine inflating his self-worth so much he would allow a god to take that burden for him.
Grey then disappeared for a moment, leaving Tagg in the most vulnerable silence of his life. And then Grey returned to the void and rested his hand to Tagg's broad, furry shoulder. "I believe there is a third option, which you may find more amendable. But this option is much more of a gamble than the other two. You can choose to weaken yourself, but the universe will choose in what way that will manifest. The first sacrifice will be of your strongest attribute. The second will be, as we say, a roll of the di."
Tagg decided to sacrifice two of his ability points to save his life, his power, and the life of a god.
Just hanging onto life, Tagg awoke on the battlefield where he fell. He witnessed his friends, The Platinum Talons, fighting as hard as they've ever fought, launching one attack after the other towards Zigorby. He saw her engulfed in a fireball cast by Vance, and then finally, Drez dealt the killing blow. She exploded in a fissure of white light, going supernova.
The Talons then heard a voice saying "Destroy the heart!" Using everything they had left, the Platinum Talons thrusted their weapons into the heart beneath them, destroying the source of the power and ejecting the corrupted Solana essence inside. They were expelled back from the force of the explosion, and all five Talons were thrown upwards. Caught suddenly in a floating bubble, the Talons stood face-to-face with a Zigorby, no longer dominated by the curse cast upon her by the Order of Righteous Conflict