"While tempting, we have more important matters than enemies who flee into obscurity, rather than trying to take parting shots or hostages with them."

  The crossbow misses the first shot, and readjusts itself upon it's floating sigil to land two bolts into the Admiral.  That itself is not of particular note, however the Punishing eye channels the dissapointed looks of Timothius through it's lens upon it's enemy, dealing Double Disappointment Damage™

Boss: 69 HP left.

Raichel slams her palm into Kada'ne, dealing the knockout blow. Well OK, her and the eyeball deal the knockout blow together. She'd highfive the eye, but it doesn't have hands. So instead, she rushes north and zaps the fleeing shipmaster. "Timothius, do me a favor and bind up Kada'ne? Thanks!"

---

Five Storms v Kada'ne. Hit(34)!
 dmg: 57 + 28 eyeball damage
Lightning Daggers v Shipmaster. Hit(32)!
 dmg: 47

Kada'ne HP: 69 - 57 - 28 = -16 or KO
Shipmaster HP: 68 - 47 = 21

Zap!  Mits takes out the cutter and the shipmaster.  May finishes off the warmaster with an elbow drop!

"Kyle if you would please open up a portal to our world."

She helps with binding up the Admiral.  And loots his key.

  Kyle starts up the scroll usage.  "Check the admiral before we go, so we don't have to come back because they forgot it on their flagship."

  'Oh no he left his magical plot key in his other pants' would be such an embarrassing reason to fail this trip.

Timothius decides against embarrassing Kada'ne since the guy was such a sport. And on top of that, the guy... Timothius decides to wait until the group ports out of there.

May sets fire to the airships. "Hate to see these go to waste, but... I don't want the gith to get any further use out of them either."

Once they are, in fact, out of there and back in the prime material, Timothius says, "Kada'ne was missing us on purpose towards the end there. I don't know why, but I intend to find out."

Nothing gets past Tim's insight these days. Somewhere, Emerald is giving a thumbs-up to massive insight scores.

TurninG The Tide
If the party had a relatively easy time with the previous encounters, feel free to add a denouement combat
challenge taking out the last pockets of githyanki
resistance. Otherwise, as the PCs descend in Iliyoru,
they can see that the heroes of the Hundred have won
the day on the ground below.

The forces of Garaitha’s Anvil have been routed—the heroes
of the world victorious. The bodies of githyanki and giants
are spread across the shipyard by the hundreds, as are the
throngs of prisoners being held under tight watch by the
Freeriders and others. The damaged Iliyoru lands noisily
in an open space close to the dock where it was originally
moored, all eyes on you as you disembark. And as one, the
heroes of the Hundred salute, five-score weapons raised to the
white sky as a shout of triumph echoes from the gray stones.

The casualties on the Coalition’s side are thankfully
few. (And healed by now.) While the PCs bask in the well-deserved glow of
victory, the surviving githyanki can be held within
the docks while arrangements are made for them
to be moved. Having scried the battle, Bejam and
Amyria arrive by portal to debrief the PCs and take
possession of Kada’ne’s crystal key and the admiral
himself (assuming he or his corpse survived the final
fight).

Mits wiggles the crystal key and hands it over.  She nods to Timothius.  "Noticed that too."

She faces the Hundred heroes and gives them a salute.

"We did it!  We got the key!  And the Admiral!  We'll be questioning him and unlocking the secrets of the Well!  Thank you for your support!"

  "Thank you all for not dying."  ...Look, Kyle switched out his Arcane Mutterins utility for that magic bridge, okay.

May and Raichel salute back, no hesitation. Timothius copies his sister's actions out of habit and slowly smiles as his mind catches up to his actions.

May unsheathes a sword and thrusts it in the air, letting out a primal yell. "VICTORY!"

Raichel says, "I don't know how much time we have right now.... probably not much since we've got an interrogation to perform, but I would love to share tales with all of you some time!"

Once the group is ready to move on to said interrogation, kittens+weredrake move with the group to do so.

When the group has the prisoner tied to a chair, he is awakened.  Bejam focuses on working with the key elsewhere, but Amyria is present.  Mits gets her caught up.

"The Admiral lived up to his 'cowardly' reputation at first, doing everything he could to escape.  But when May and Rai trapped him, he fought back...  For about 6 seconds.  Surprisingly, he was giving compliments rather than the expected insults and boasts.  Then Timothius used his power to prevent the admiral from violence.  So he ordered his troops to withdraw.

"That's when things got weirder.  He pulled the trick the giants did.  He deliberately missed his attacks."

Amyria nods.  Then looks to the Admiral.  "Explain."

Kada’ne answers, "I do not hold against you the harm you did me.  I apologize for the small harm I did you.  I had hoped it would be reported how I valiantly went down fighting the legendary Heroes of the Prime Material.  It would be a little easier for me to assist you in your efforts against our mutual enemies - Tiamat and Zech'r'r.  One has to keep up appearances when secretly planning on aiding the enemies of the usurper."

Mits ohs and looks to Timo.  "He looks to be telling the truth to me."
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:40, Tue 23 Feb 2016.

  "I'll be honest, the main reason I do not immediately believe you is because something that convenient happening to us is more outlandish than anything we have dealt with thus far."

"Not entirely." Timothius reminds, "The temple we found that led to the World Gate in the first place was populated by githyanki who oppose Zetch'r'r. So this isn't even the first time we have bumped into a githyanki who sees Zetchy as a common enemy. That he is one of the top guys, though... is big."

May is admiring Kada'ne's weapons. Raichel is locking eyes with Kada'ne, looking hopeful.

Timothius looks to Kada'ne. "Does this mean you can never go back?"

The Admiral nods.  "I didn't expect you to believe me just on my say-so.  So I made sure I would have the crystal key in my possession when I heard of your incursion into the Anvil.  I was careful to keep it from falling into the water when I was tossed overboard.  Now that you have it, I can tell you a few magical commands and passwords that should save you some valuable time.

"If you need more convincing, I had reason to believe your mages would send your entire group to the dock due to the difficulties of teleporting directly to my ship even with the Well of World's power, so I gave orders to have regular deliveries of ammo to my ship so that the doors would be opened for you.  I ordered the warehouse cleared of it's patrol to 'bolster the defenses in the northern loading zone' where they would be unable to alert the guard within the dock gate or the slaves in the foundry and loading zone.  And I gave orders to the crew of the second ship to build a barricade to 'slow your advance' rather than have them break the moorings to hurry our escape into the portal vortex.  And of course there was the time wasted trying to salvage my damaged flagship 'because it is too important to be allowed to fall into enemy hands.'  Even so, I'm impressed you did as well as you did.  Even with the conveniences I allowed for, I was expecting my damaged flagship to have broken free and for you to have to catch up to my ship in the faster ship, so I ordered the whitewing riders to spread out and 'search for the most powerful invaders.'"

"What whitewing riders?" Mits asks.

"Precisely.  But that was the best I could do without looking too obvious to anyone hearing reports of our battle.  Better to be believed a coward and a fool than a traitor should you all have failed."

To Timothius he answers, "I believe I could possibly return and live, but I'm not sure just how useful I would be to you if I did.  At best, I would be demoted, disgraced, and ridiculed.  I would be expected to vow revenge and spend all my waking hours trying to find some way to kill you, so I would look suspicious doing anything else.  I think it better if I remain your prisoner until I can vouch for you when you make contact with the resistance.  While I am certainly not the only one who is against 'Zechy' and his mad 'crusade,' no one dares be open about it.  His pact with Tiamat earned quite a few dragon allies.  Well...  so far as dragons can be called allies.  I have no doubt that Tiamat would see my entire race dead to achieve her own twisted goals.  So I'm sure you can understand just how important it is to me to help you.  This is a matter of life or death for my people."
This message was last edited by the player at 07:43, Tue 23 Feb 2016.

  Yeah, okay.  This guy is giving too many examples of common sense regarding evil god worship to be full on lying, probably.

  "Just what was it about your previous leader that kept the invasions to a slower pace than now?  Simply doing it on their own leisure rather than driven to by their backing diety?"

During Kada'ne's list of things he did that match up, Raichel nods along.

Timothius supports Kyle's question. " 'Why the change' is a good question. Does anyone know? And... well... did you believe we would kill you? Or has our reputation of trying to take our enemies alive still not reached those who hear about us?"

By now, May has layed out a bunch of her own weapons along with Kada'ne's in some kind of OCD pattern like a weapons' shop.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:03, Tue 23 Feb 2016.

"At first I wasn't sure," Kada’ne answers Timothius, "Reports of your mercy and brutality are mixed.  But what I did know is that you are effective.  I would be sorely disappointed in you if you hadn't yet figured out that I would be more useful to you alive than dead.  That you struck the Anvil so soon after taking the Well further enforced my confidence in you.  And making a beeline for my ship was the final clue I needed to trust in your intelligence."

"Our brutality?" Mits asks, "I'd be interested to know to what you refer."

"Some say you melt your enemies.  Some say you shatter minds.  The lightning, explosions, and ice I saw for myself.  I even heard that you bite your foes merely for the taste of flesh and blood.

"As for why the lunacy of Zech'r'r, I can only surmise that it was greed and arrogance that convinced him to make himself and my people a tool of Tiamat.  After the ancient hero named Gith freed our people from the horrific slavery of the Mind Flayer Empire, she began our crusade to rid the planes of the remaining Illithid.  Vlaakith, like those before her, remained focused on our cause.  These monsters that would turn all of creation into an endless nightmare now dwell in the deep, dark places of your world and others.  Unfortunately, sometimes our efforts to hunt those monsters down are hampered by those on the surface, and diplomacy rarely helps.  So oft times it becomes necessary to defeat a surface stronghold or two in order to clear the way to a Mindflayer hideout.  So although my people were created for war, conquering your world was never the goal.  At best it would be a distraction that would be a waste of valuable time and resources needed to fight the Illithid.  But me and many others think it suicide to pick a fight with an entire plane when our ancient enemy is so powerful that even alliances with powers that survived the Dawn Wars was not enough to defeat them."
This message was last edited by the player at 04:40, Wed 24 Feb 2016.

  Look, at least when it's trolls it was TOTALLY justified.

  It was totally petty to skeletonize those archer minions, but even Timothius would probably have to pause a moment before feeling bad for the 'Vs will daze on hit' brigade.  (Not Kyle's fault that when the frozen ones thawed out, turned out they would botch their swim checks).

  "I am somehow imagining some day in years gone by, where a frustrated Gith commander finally gets sick of having to convince worlds 'no really, you have brain eating octopus people living under you' and things just went continuously soul powered boats out of hand from there."
This message was last edited by the player at 05:56, Wed 24 Feb 2016.

Raichel says, "If it means our enemies fear us enough to stop trying to kill us, I don't care if our enemy's perception of us is that we wear clown suits while juggling body parts... but all the things you said are true except the last one. May bites people to hurt them, not just to taste their blood."

Timothius glances at Kyle, then back to Kada'ne. "Thank you for your answers. Who is more brutal or holy isn't really the issue here anyway, but we were certainly curious. Your assistance in helping the Prime Material survive is certainly appreciated. Mind Flayers are everyone's enemies and we will gladly rid our world of their influence when possible. If you do help with the key, you will be the single most useful enemy-turned-to-our-side we have ever faced. In the meantime, do you have any suggestions on how to find and take out Zetch'r'r beyond what we already know?"

Dazed? Timothius would sooner be stunned 5 encounters in a row than kill. But given the urgency of getting to Kada'ne, the prime material at stake, and the fact those archers were of COURSE critting so they were guaranteed to hit, meant that Timothius overlooked the deaths. Doesn't mean he has to be happy about it. But his being unhappy about things doesn't mean he will say Kyle was wrong to do so either.

At this point, May is rolling slowly around in the weapons while humming contently.

The Admiral nods.  "And you have my thanks for listening.  It is comforting to think that my capture will help save my people.  My recommendation is to make an alliance with the Resistance forces and plan from there.  They will have the latest information on Zech'r'r's movements and weaknesses, and with a little convincing, may even agree to a coordinated attack.  Trust is not so easily given by my kind, you see.  Even among the desperate.  But I will be shocked if they do not eventually come to understand the necessity of teaming with you."

Bejam lets go of his desire to crack the code himself in favor of expedience.  "So what were those code words?"

Kada'ne begins answers Bejam's inquiries.
Bejam then returns to the Well of Worlds,
where he and Haryssus are successful in bringing the
site under Coalition control.

Amyria faces the group.  "You have my thanks as well.  Once again you make 'a fight we cannot possibly win' a reality."

Mits nods and thumbs-ups with a smile.  "That's what us heroes do!"

To the group she asks, "So we gunna visit May's folks or Kyle's for our next mini-vacation till we're needed again?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:40, Wed 24 Feb 2016.

  "I would much rather wait until, eventually, this whole sorry situation is dealt with to the end before making a social visit to home."  He won't fault his friends for reconnecting with their families sooner, but Kyle knows he would agree with his still nameless father that he can take a family break when the job is finished.

Raichel and Timothius blush and slide their feet bashfully at Amyria's praise. May grins at Amyria and says, "We had help. And we barely managed. But thanks!" Nothing like timed missions to humble even the most powerful heroes.

May looks at Mittens and says, "We have another mini-vacation already? Yeesh. Didn't expect that. Well I would at least like to point out to the coalition that our idea not only succeeded, but just saved our world. Again. But along the lines of what Kyle said, are we sure we aren't needed this very moment? Is there nothing we can do just yet?"

Timothius looks at Kyle. "If you wait until our problems are over, you will never see your family again. We'll be lucky if this mess ends within our grandchildren's lifetimes. Just sayin'."

Raichel looks over to Timothius and says, "At the rate we're growing in power, I expect to be punching Tiamat in the face before our 18th birthday."

Timothius says, "Even if that is true, I stand by what I said. The gods have been unable to stop calamities like this one, what makes any of us think we'll do any better? We will make a difference and save the world and what we do matters a lot, but I don't believe this mess will go away in 100 years, let alone 2."
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:52, Thu 25 Feb 2016.

"May's family it is, then!  And sure, sticking around to gloat sounds good to me.  I'm sure there's kittens to rescue out of trees, but I'll wager there's nothing right now that needs our level of power to deal with."

  "I appreciate the concern, Timothius.  But even I have to hold optimism somewhere, don't I."

  Kyle is expecting meeting May's parents to go well, unless she was actually raised by wild drakes in which case absolute terror.

Timothius says, "No problem, Kyle. I don't mind you keeping some optimism."

He looks at Mittens. "We sure gloating is a good idea? Probably best we just send a letter or let the hundred tell about it. Then she can't retort to us directly and we won't be tempted to do stupid things in the heat of the moment. And when we get back from vacation, she will know we are backed by everyone but her and think twice about what she has to say. Besides... it'll give us time to think about what we might wanna say if she keeps going on about our selfish motives."

May says, "OK, OK. I'm fine with letting it be for now. We'll get to see her again when we return. And if she dies in our absence, we'll just resurrect her and she'll realize she literally owes us her life." Oh no! She could die before we have a chance to gloat! Wait. Something's wrong about that statement. Ah yes. We can resurrect her. XD

Raichel just nods. "So hey, guys! What did you think of my new technique?! I developed it specifically for all these annoying baddies that keep finding new ways to run away!"

Mits cheers, "Love it!  Also, yay optimism!  And being spared having to sit through another Coalition meeting.  Let's go!"

Mits is eager to chill with May's family.

  "Use a sending message, or any other instant delivery method so waiting at her destination is being informed we finished the job before she could even complete her trip.  It would get the point across to most, though likely not her.  Let's to it anyways."

  Kyle would be more surprised if she was still here, instead of already on her way home as huffy as an Elf lets themselves look.

  He looks to Raichel, "It is the sort of thing that will make life much easier, yes."