Habololy Forum

Chase pipes in..."Deities, Protectors, and Mighty Powers of the Realms, please allow me to explain the adventure we've endured to get to this point.  Perhaps my story will provide some small measure of joy in this most dire of circumstances"  At this time, I'll put on a bardic performance to fill them in with all details from the beginning of our group assembly to landing here in this place.  I call it "From the Theater of the Mind to the Prison of the Gods."

Perform Check: 1d20 (16) +37 (ranks + buffs) = 53

If we're able to cast while he's speaking to us, Chase will quicken a Good Hope then cast Snowsong.

Everyone gets:
+6 attack
+4 AC
+4 CHA
+2 all saves, ability checks, skill checks
+2 damage
+1d6 cold damage on all melee attacks
Fast Healing 1
Cold Resistance 15

Chase Initiative = 18

Hive of Sigil

Being a highly educated and brilliant Drow, as well as spending his "retirement" years studying lore, history, and mythology, Chase looks at Asinjin and Parker and blurts out...

"Wait...Sigil...as in the center of the Multiverse?  You mean that Sigil?  Fascinating...Perhaps we can calibrate the portal key we acquired to open a door to Habololy."

I shapechange into the Cornugan.

I wait for Asinjin to make a move before doing anything, but I ready an action to cast the following spell upon the giant:

Spell Theft
(Complete Scoundrel)

Abjuration
Level: Bard 4, Hexblade 4, Sorcerer 5, Wizard 5,
Components: V, S,
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Target: One creature
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No

Winding your magical grip around the dweomers that augment your opponent, you rip them away and feel their energy rise around you.
You attempt to steal an opponent's beneficial spell effects for yourself.
Upon casting this spell, you instantly discern all spells currently affecting the target (including their effects).
For each spell so discerned, you can make a dispel check (1d20 + your caster level, maximum +15) against a DC of 11 + the spell's caster level.
If the check succeeds, you gain the effect of the spell for the remainder of its duration, as if it had been cast on you instead of the original target, and the opponent loses that effect.
Only spells capable of being dispelled can be affected by spell theft.
In addition, if you are not a legal target of the spell to be stolen, your dispel check automatically fails.
For example, if you cast spell theft on a dire bear affected by bull's strength and animal growth, you could steal only the effect of the first spell unless you were also of the animal type.

RECAP

The group freed and refreshed all the slaves, then decided to send them as far away as possible from the enemy camp. Among the group were the favored slave, Daane, and the Gaurdinials. Asinjin scryed the Shackle King, Knight of Chains, and the Ultralith to see what they were up to. Those who fought us earlier were getting healed and the others were barking orders at their subordinates.

We were discussing strategy and decided to send the phantom steeds off to the enemy encampment, complete with illusory riders, as a decoy. During our planning, the minds of Shaar and Vega were overtaken by the Ultralith's vast psionic power. It used their bodies as vessels to speak with us and issue an ultimatum. The demand was that we give them back their precious slave and, in return, they'd let the rest of the slaves live. We argued that they'd simply find new slaves and kill them off, so there was no point in agreeing with their demands. The Ultralith and all the others already knew of our plans and we were unable to deceive them in any way. They threatened to feed all the slaves to hungry monsters, so ultimately, we decided to face them head on in the gladiator arena. 

We buffed ourselves as best we could with flight, protections, and enlarge person on Shaar, then Parker teleported us in the air above the arena floor. Asinjin shapechanged into a 50 ft. tall Treant and proceeded to cover the entire arena with Dolores Motes. The motes protected the slaves encircled by creatures, then the rest of us began to assault the leaders with magic, bullets, and bows. Shaar waded into battle to defend the slaves, Gnicodemus set up a crow's nest somewhere and sniped the Ultralith, and the rest of us held our own throughout the battle. The assembled bad guys were all protected by an anti-magic field, so they were stationary while ordering all the minions in the stands to rush the field and attack us. The motes prevented many of them from approaching, and those that tried were cut down brutally by Shaar. After the initial wave, most didn't dare to approach after witnessing her wholesale slaughter of the fiends. 

In the meantime, Vega attempted to free Dovan from the shackles, but the Ultralith dominated him before he could reach them. Once Shaar cleared a path, Vega was able to free himself from the domination. Not sure if it was by his Investigator skills or Asinjin's magic, but nevertheless, he was able to sucessfully free all the slaves by unlocking the power of the key to mass release all of them at once. This infuriated the fiends and they upped their assault. The Ultralith released mighty waves of psionic power against us and manifested psionic horrors to assault us. We fought them off and slowly made progress against those in the anti-magic field. Because Parker and Asinjin were mind blanked, the Ultralith couldn't affect them.

The battle raged on while the freed slaves scattered to escape the arena when one of the Guardinials teleported into the arena to tell us they were under assault by the Loth lieutenant and his soldiers. We took that opportunity to gather Dovan and the rest of the group. We flew up and out of the magic barrier of the arena, then Asinjin teleported us to where the slaves were. We battled the Loth's and butchered them handily. Several slaves died in the attack as well as a handful of the Guardinial's, but Daane and the favored slave survived.

Once again, Vega's mundane prowess proved useful as he figured out a way to unlock the key's ability to open the portal on the other side of the tracks. Asinjin stepped through first since he has a contingency up that would bring him back to us in the event things on the other side were really bad. Once he made it though successfully, we brought all the slaves and the rest of the group through and Vega sealed the portal behind us.

We stepped through to a giant warehouse with a nasty odor, but weren't assaulted upon arrival or met by any creatures. We left off with all of us getting our bearings in this new location.   

After Syionese dispatches the last of the ‘Loths, you are left with 180 slaves of various races. They are all in very poor health and you can only wonder what fate would have awaited them at the end of this journey.

The woman is in better health. She looks at peace while she is unconscious.

The key is nearly a foot long and weighs less than it should. It is made of a crystal that is grey tinted but clear.

Chase helps gather the slaves, including Daane and the favored slave, into a clustered huddle.  Once in position, he casts "Refreshment" on all of them.  If more than one is needed, so be it.

https://dndtools.org/spells/book-of-exalted-deeds--52/refreshment--30/

Refreshment
(Book of Exalted Deeds)

Conjuration (Healing) [Good]
Level: Apostle of Peace 3, Bard 3, Cleric 3, Vassal of Bahamut 3, Endurance 3,
Components: V, S,
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: 20 ft.
Target: 20-ft.-radius burst centered on you
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Will negates (harmless)
Spell Resistance: Yes (harmless)

Refreshment channels celestial energy to remove all nonlethal damage the targets have taken, including damage from environmental conditions, starvation and thirst, and related effects as well as damage dealt by nonlethal attacks.