Ch24 - Battle of the bands

Ch24 -

Knowing Gale would disapprove does not sway me, I seek knowledge forbidden and just. I gave the excuse that I was going to look for clues on Ketheric's weaknesses or something like that. But in actuality, I floated through Balthazar's secret room to find what I need, the dark sigil. A ritual icon for creating a Shadow Lantern, due to my knowledge on rituals, using this for a shadow lantern is easy. I just didn't have the materials needed by myself.

Grabbing the dead pixie and the broken moonlantern, I chanted in abyssal to create the Shadow Lantern. The Shadow Lantern is a good item, but I can make it better. Right now, it summons a shadow, an incorporeal being that uses strength drain. Similar to a chanter's level drain. But If I condense the 60 chanters I have, place it on the sigil with the hag light and the shadow lantern, I'll have something beautiful.

I begun my chant, something like this should take a day at least to complete, but not with Cegilune's blessing. I chanted in common, I aimed my chant towards Milil, god of music. Not too much later, it was done.

[Light of the band leader (Lighter) -

When activated, a blue flame will appear above your head. Sacrificing 50 musical beings to the light will allow you to summon an additional [spectral band member] (Current [Spectral band members]: 1)

Due to the hag light's influence, SBMs will have advantage against plants]

[Spectral band member (SBM)

An incorporeal ghost taking on the form of any musical artist. Proficient in all musical instruments. When playing, those within 60ft must succeed a wisdom saving throw, on failure lose 1d8 strength and 1d4 levels, every 6 seconds. Partially sentient. Immune to sunlight effects. Those that save from the effects take 3d10 damage.

You can summon one at a time, goes up after sacrificing 50 musical beings 10/50]

I looked down at the small golden lighter, it had green vines crawling around it in an endless circle. Picking it up, it felt nearly lightless, odd but interesting. I'll keep it as another card in the sleeve, but now I kind of lost my passage through the shadowlands.

Fortunately, Balthazar had killed lots of pixies, so I had plenty of resources to make a new moonlantern. I even took the excess broken lanterns and pixie remains for future rituals.

Floating back to the group, I told them of how I found a ritual to turn yourself into an apostle of Myrkul in Ketheric's room. Giving them a heads up on the fight to come never hurts. Plus it keeps my use of dark magic hidden from them.

Finally, we entered through the great doors leading to the open aired peak of the tower. We see Dame Aylin pounding into Ketheric like a hammer to a nail, fury plastered on her face.

"It's over Ketheric, for all the evil that you've done, if you won, your wife would despise the man she saw" I went in strong and perhaps a bit harsh.

"You know nothing of what I've done! I have raised and quashed the same armies, I have enslaved those who I see fit just for my wife to open her eyes once more! You speak of sacrifice like you can understand, you know nothing!" He slammed his shield into Dame and charged towards me.

My eyes widened as he breached the gap all too quickly, his sword glows bright yellow and cleaves a part of my chest out, the next second he goes to push it through my stomach.

I shove him back, throwing him 7 feet away. I fly up above him and bring out my lighter, flicking it on, a spectral figure of Keith Richards appears before me in all his youth. Immediately, he starts plucking on his electric guitar and singing a tune.

"I see a red door and I want it painted black,

no colour anymore I want it to turn black."

(Paint it black, by the rolling stones, if you're interested)

The soft opener itself brought about a complete end to the necromites acting as support, they all rose to begin playing drums, bass, harmonica. A little while later, one of the 'true souls' lost grip and fell, followed by a domino effect of the other 6.

I cast as many creative insults at Ketheric and the abomination of a drider, powered by my boosts to vicious mockery. I used [Skeletons] to focus in on Ketheric as well, my party weren't idle either as arrows rained into him, or he was being maimed by Lae'zel.

"ENOUGH!" He pushed everyone back, the music stopped. A large tentacle reached out from the building itself and dragged Ketheric away. I held out my dagger and caught some blood and severed flesh from it fortunately, I never miss an opportunity for materials.

Floating back down, I blow out the lighter and it now has an engraving saying "33/50", it absorbed the new crypt chanters after the fight apparently. Everyone is panting and blooded, shadowheart is going around everyone and casting cure wounds on them.

"I think we should take a rest before going down there, clearly nothing good awaits us" I say, this was the first time I've received damage, I feel wronged by it somehow. As if somehow I'm supposed to never be injured.

"But he might recover, we can't give him the opportunity." Shadowheart rebutted, backed by most people. She stays so confident, and yet I know she has no spell slots.

"When my ghost singer sapped some of his strength away, that was permanent. He will never recover that again, unless I die." It was true, it's why crypt chanters are menaces. An end-game boss within themselves if used right.

"And yet he can still bolster his own defences, a cowards move, tsk!" Lae'zel stated.

"Watch this then" Behind my back I open the lighter, a new figure appears beside me now… Ricky Martin. "Go down there and thin their numbers"

Ricky flew down the hole, it was another 3 minutes before we heard noises coming from the hole, we all climbed around to hear it.

"Upside inside out!

Living the vida loca!"

I just knew it would be that song, I think it's randomised who I get every time.

"Aside from the rather pleasant music, how does this help us?" Gale asked.

"The music is what does it, alone it can kill hundreds. Every being it kills becomes a crypt chanter, and if enough crypt chanters are gathered then I get another musician. So we simply wait." As soon as I said that, hundreds of ethereal monsters flew up with musical instruments of their own into my lighter.

"234/50"

Converting them was simple, but I won't summon them yet. For now we rest. "I don't think his defences will be too good, since there is now just the dregs to pick off. So now can we rest?"

Finally a unanimous agreement occurred, I set up the fire and Jaheira joined us. My wounds were better, sore but better, I desperately need to look into regenerating, or even the aasimar and their immortality. But for now I'll lean my head back and just relax.

****

8 hours later and we were all in fighting condition, I've already stole all the corpses worth taking, just the drider really. We go over to the hole, gale casts feather fall and we all leap in.

Pink flesh lined the walls, green and purple veins lined it. It was a morbid fleshy concoction made real through the whims of the three manipulators. My party falls firther and further, Astarion spinning wildly in the air, Karlach dive bombing, yet everyone else seems accustomed to this and simply experiences it.

Landing on piles of viscera and blood was disturbing and gross honestly, I'm not even sure if I can even use it for my rituals. Blasting away the weird sphincter in our way, a hall of pristine corpses lay before us.

"Told you it would work" I nudge Gale, I didn't even need to see him to know he rolled his eyes.