Angelena is the only reason anyone can tell when it's dawn, or where the sun is hidden behind the ashen sky. Copious buffs are applied to the party, and they warp to the Heart of the Hold Fire. It's still inside a supernaturally active volcano, but unfortunately for me they remembered their
energy resistance. The island has also stopped drifting, as Sona and Puck notice a thin pillar/wall of force pinning the island beneath the gleaming portal. Floating up, the party passes through the gate.
They cross over into a
grand hall. Every inch gleams gold, but the scope and scale is so epic that it manages to avoid seeming gaudy. In front of the party is a gigantic window that seems to offer a view into space. An endless black void dotted with stars, and below the world of Artaith, completely coated with grey now. To the right the hall stretches towards a set of grand stairs curving down and around, and to the left are hundreds of broad steps leading up. At the top (hundreds of feet away) the party can see just the top of a gigantic throne, but it's obscured and blocked by a shifting wall of multi-hued flame. As the party looks around at Adremmelach's Throne Room, a booming voice calls out.
"Hail, pilgrims. Hail, champions. Hail, children of Fire." What are obviously angels emerge and fade into view around the party. Two armored and winged knights, seemingly carved from stone (and looked like statues originally) step forth, two graceful figures carrying long silver horns float down, and two more impressive figures walk down from the top of the stairs. One is a multi-winged giant seemingly shaped from gleaming blue flame, light curling and wisping off the wings like smoke. The second is a six-winged giant with brassy skin that shines with glowing runes. The wings are dotted with numerous eyes, and a flaming sword floats in mid-air alongside the figure.
Angelena drops to a knee and offers her greetings to who she guesses to be Adremmelach. The Solar chuckles and gently corrects her, and then Angelena makes her Knowledge (religion) check. Two trumpet archons, two Gate archons, an Empyrean angel, and a Solar angel. What must be some of the greatest servants of Adremmelach praise the party for fulfilling their destiny, and gathering all four Primal Sparks.
"The Hearth of the World lies down those stairs. Quickly, stoke the flames and reignite them!" Here's where the mood goes sour. Sona and Puck make scoffing sacrilegious noises, and even Angelena doesn't move at the angel's statement. They try to explain their alternative plan...but there's a couple sticking points.
1)trying to convince creatures of unbending law and goodness to break the rules is difficult at best
2)most of the party is much much better at murdering things than talking and persuading others with words
Sona's pride offends the Angels, a couple of Puck's muttered comments nearly provoke violence (calling them "doormen" is a particular one, as is starting to wander up the stairs without permission), and Spotter's doubt also rankles. However, Angelena (and Sona once she resists the cheeky comments) do manage to actually cause the angels to pause. The knowledge the party possesses, their determination that there has to be a better way than simply restarting the cycle yet again, their confidence in opposing a goddess are huge. But the Solar shakes his head and waves a hand, changing the window to show what lies outside the throne room.
Endless, savage war, raging between countless daemons and angelic warriors. Every inch is coated with blood, every step is clashing blades and claws. It's unending massacre, and the Solar states that it will not end until the cycle has reset. Maybe with the next cycle the daemons will be weakened enough to be pushed back.
Here's where Puck slams his jar of dirt/dust down, and offhandedly mentions how they killed the Beast. You know, the greatest of the Daemons. No big deal.
All these things together allow the party to make a group Diplomacy check. It' a good roll, but Angelena knocks it out of the park by swearing that if the Pilgrims fail in their attempt, she will return and reignite the Hearth of the World, no matter what. The Empyrean Angel looks sad at that, warning that there are serious consequences of such actions. Sharing the strain of
Linking the Fireigniting the Hearth amongst multiple people is difficult, but survivable. If Angelena's companions are unable to return to the Hearth with her (Empyrean angel being a little pessimistic here), igniting the Hearth by herself will consume Angelena. Utterly and permanently.
Even so, the party agrees. The angels look conflicted, but they agree to give the heroes a chance. When the party describes the hidden connection to Zophiel's prison that's supposed to be here, the angels don't know anything about it. But such a thing would be at or by Adremmelach's throne. The angels cannot aid the party in reaching the throne though. All they can do is not hinder them.
So the party ascends the sprawling and colossal stairway, stopping in front of the rainbow-colored flames. A spellcraft check recognizes it as a
Prismatic Wall. Angelena and Sona confer back and forth. They have some of the spells needed to break the wall, but not all of them. They'd need to use at least one or two
Limited wishes / Miracles, and burn another 5 spell slots on top of that. Sona offers her alternative, and pulls out the final of the BIIGG scrolls she had managed to purchase/find: A scroll of
Disjunction. It's definitely a big gun, but it is the fastest option to bypass the wall. After a bit more debate, it's agreed to use the
Disjunction. Everyone shuffles back out of range, and Sona makes her caster level check to get the spell off.
Speaking a single discordant word, it tears through the Prismatic Wall. The flames freeze, and shatter in a rain of stained-glass chunks before melting away in wisps of color. Sona can feel the glares of the angels on her back for using what's essentially a magic EMP tied to a club, but it works. Before them is a titan-sized Golden Throne, the throne of Adremmelach.
I'm pretty impressed with the party at this point for actually managing to convince the angels. I'd played them as quite difficult to persuade, and not particularly tolerant of uppity mortals. So the party pulled off quite the diplomatic coup.
And then Puck gleefully climbs up into the Throne.
The Solar bellows in indignation and seizes his flaming sword, but the trumpet archons + the rest of the party manage to avert combat, Puck quickly climbing off the deity's throne after most of the group yelled at him. After that bit of arguing and shenanigans is over, the party walks around the throne, looking for a hidden door or something like that. Puck notices it the same time Spotter walks into it: there's a giant mechanism behind the throne, a large lever connecting to a bunch of gears. The invisibility fades as Spotter touches it, and after checking that everyone is ready, Spotter flies up and pushes against the lever HARD.
And pushes.
And pushes.
It refuses to budge, and then Spotter notices that the gears are actually fused and melted together, as if from some great heat. They're certainly not moving in the state they're currently in. As the party plots and plans how to fix them, Angelena feels the Lantern at her side shake and rattle. Acting on instinct, she holds the Lantern out towards the gears. A mote of light leaps from the Lantern to land amongst the gears. With a roar and a squeal, the gears immediately go red-hot, but more importantly the gears separate.
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" The Empyrean angel is stopped by the Prismatic Wall snapping back to Life, and he stares in despair at Angelena.
PRIMAL SPARKS REMAINING: 3
The lever moves easily now, so Spotter gives it a heave. With a heavy THUNK, the throne (and the floor around it) flips and rotates slowly. The party is all still flying, but a force also holds them to the ground as the throne inverts. Now upside down, the party can see "down" the underside of the stairs. It's a narrow tunnel rather than the grand hall above, but there's something at the end of the
stairs. Walking "down" (technically up but they're upside down oh I've gone crosseyed), the party finds themselves stopped by a wall of black glass. Beyond the glass is a barren grey landscape, almost entirely featureless, and above it nothing but darkness. Puck touches the glass, and it goes all
Stargate-ripple on him: it's a portal.