In the Maw Below, Ifan Talro’a shed his humanoid skin, became a giant serpent abomination and killed Takhesis and Taenae. At the moment of their deaths a shockwave passed through the whole party, who shared a dream of the fall of Skyfang Keep. The patrons of the two returned them to life, and they slaughtered Talro’a and his reinforcements before they collapsed. Vogal, Vonara, Glade and Inete went down into the Maw and found them, and Glade turned himself and Takhesis into giant apes, who broke a path back to the surface.
Recap
The abomination revealed
It is the afternoon of the twenty-fifth of Flamerule, 1492 DR. On the surface, Vogal has just won his duel against Tharn Bloodfist. Taenae and Takhesis are deep within the Maw Below, confronting Ifan Talro’a to stop the ritual on Adani.
Takhesis slays the last of the cultists guarding the ritual. Upon his minions’ failure, Ifan Talro’a sheds his humanoid skin. He transforms into a giant serpent abomination crowned with black fire.
Talro’a unleashes a blast of psychic energy from his eyes, which nearly flattens Iggy and Kivuli, the animals lent by Alice. Before they can be killed, Alice’s recall magic activates and whisks the animals to safety.
The fall
Taenae and Takhesis fight valiantly and trade blows with the abomination. Takhesis manages to lop off one of Talro’a’s arms, which leaks acidic blood. Despite the harm they do, the two are overwhelmed.
Takhesis dies first, impaled through the heart by a conjured bone spike. Taenae dies moments later, assassinated by a hidden Yuan-ti blade while she is distracted by Takhesis’s fall.
The vision
At the moment of death a psychic shockwave ripples through the entire party, including those at the Colosseum.
The party is pulled into a shared dream of Takhesis’s past. They witness the fall of an Aasimar settlement, Skyfang Keep. They see the skies burn and the walls crumble under an assault led by Ras Nsi and his Yuan-ti army. Each of them lives the death of one of his family, as told under The Calva Dead. The vision gives the context of Takhesis’s hatred and of the origin of the “Calva” name.
The return
The two do not stay dead. Their patrons intervene and demand further service.
Takhesis feels a metallic hand silence his final thoughts. Geometric voids replace the world. His patron is Acererak, the Architect, who commands him: “You have forgotten who you are, Takhesis. Observe and obey.” He awakes enveloped in cold, calculating energy, his emotions suppressed in favor of lethal efficiency. His return from death leaves him with a minor gift of precognition.
A shadow falls over Taenae, accompanied by a deep growl. This is the divine presence of Chakuna, the Hunter, shielding Taenae from death. Chakuna tells her: “You return to me once more, little cat. You are mine now. We hunt… forever.” Taenae is shifted into a cosmic monstrosity, a Queen Displacer Beast. The command placed upon her is simple: “Restore the Balance.”
The slaughter and the rescue
With god-like fury the two slaughter Talro’a and the waves of Yuan-ti reinforcements that attempt to reclaim Adani. The surge of power leaves them completely exhausted. They collapse amid the carnage as Adani slowly bleeds out on the altar.
Vogal, Vonara, Glade and Inete, having felt the death tremor, rush to the warehouse and descend into the Maw. They find the two alive but broken.
Glade casts polymorph and turns himself and the revived Takhesis into giant apes. The two apes smash through the stone guardians and rubble and make a path back to the surface. On the way out Glade, still an ape, pockets another stone golem core.
The party reunites on the surface of Port Nyanzaru. They are battered and traumatized, and they are carrying a dying Aasimar. They have killed a Merchant Prince.
Aftermath
- Ifan Talro’a was dead, killed by Taenae and Takhesis after their return to life.
- Adani was in critical condition. She was bleeding out and needed immediate stabilization.
- Alice’s animals had returned to her safely.
- Glade held a second stone golem core.
- Taenae and Takhesis carried the memory of dying.
Appendix
Present
Taenae · Vogal · Takhesis Calva · Vonara · Glade · Inete. Iggy and Kivuli, two of Alice’s animals, were present as companions until her magic recalled them.
References
People: Tharn Bloodfist · Ifan Talro’a · Adani · Alice · Ras Nsi · Acererak · Chakuna
Places: Maw Below · Grand Colosseum · Skyfang Keep · Yuan-ti Warehouse · Port Nyanzaru
Other: Yuan-ti · Merchant Princes