Episode 28, "Stemming The Tide"

In the campaign finale, the heroes--accompanied by a small regiment of Iron Gate troops bolstered by the Red Hand (and Slabtown), the mages guild, the Lehren militia and a couple treants courtesy of Elmsea--fortify the canyon entrance to Quanlo. With the mages up high along the cliff face and the troops down below, the lot steels themselves against the onslaught crossbows readied.

As the wave of undead rolls in, the troops manage to cut down quite a few zombies and skeletons before the helmed horrors and blighted ogres arrive. Vyreth and Doc combine forces to hold court with their respective Gods, and they come to the conclusion that meddling in mortal affairs in this case is indeed warranted. The treants arrive and begin hucking boulders down upon the invading army, but the Gods have a better idea. Guided by the hand of fate, the boulders take on an almost comet-like golden sheen and magically redirect straight towards the oncoming dragon.

Despite the terrible odds, the defenders hold their ground; mages raining lightning and fire down upon the legions of undead. The battle rages all night long amidst a violent thunderstorm until Dralek closes in to strafe the entire ground force with his necrotic breath. Seeing the opportunity, the Quanlo mages ready cone of cold and await his arrival while the remaining troops stand ready with their crossbows.

In one attack, Dralek manages to decimate the ground troops by nearly a third and strips the life from Doc who got caught in the blast. The mages get ready to cast their spells when Talos banishes the foul beast to another plane... temporarily.

The defenders use the momentary opportunity to clean up the remaining undead forces before collectively setting their sights on the re-entry point. Sure enough, a portal pops open right where Dralek had been and the monster comes barreling through right into the oncoming fire of an army. The cold blast seizes up one of Dralek's wings and a volley of crossbow bolts embed themselves into his stomach like a pincushion, sending him careening down into the canyon cliff face.

Dralek struggles to get back on his feet but Doc, freshly revived and inspired by Apollo, charges the beast and cleaves its skull with his new Dragonslayer glaive. The dragon collapses to the ground as the remaining troops give a loud cheer. As the sun begins to rise, it illuminates the vast number of corpses littering the canyon entrance clear out past the trade road. The heroes breathe a sigh of relief and begin thinking about their new homes in Quanlo when Talos suffers a debilitating and horrific vision courtesy of Quar-Jezz't--the aboleth who has come to take payment for Talos' failure to follow through on a promise. The heroes gather around Talos trying to determine his state of well-being when he mutters a phrase in some ancient dialect: "...into the depths."

Left to sort out Talos' words and condition, the heroes begin the long, muddy walk back to Quanlo. Dralek is no more, and the realm has been saved from almost certain disaster.

- The End -