This week, rather than continuing with the party as they approached the strange, dark tunnel, we zoom back in time 103 years to the very beginning of The Cataclysm, to witness the final battle of the Heroes of the Realm, the legendary heroes who inadvertently allowed the Cataclysm to happen in the process of stopping a band of cultists from summoning Asmodeus to the material plane. In particular, our heroes are holding off an army of demons and devils in order to buy time for the evacuation of civilians from Vassorum, capital of the Empire of Rasturia.
Our heroes (mechanically at 20th level) have been adventuring together for many years. They've saved the world indirectly and directly several times, but even they could not fully avert the coming crisis. Six months ago, the Heroes of the Realm fought off an evil cult's attempt to summon Asmodeus, the chief god of the Nine Hells to the surface of Esoris. They defeated an avatar of the evil god, and averted this plot, but evil continued to fester.
In the shadows, the weakened remnants of the cult sought to carry out a smaller ritual. They gathered their strength, and as the veil between the material plane and the Nine Hells was still weak, they created a permanent portal between the Nine Hells, and Rasturia. Not to be outdone, a cult of demon worshippers on the other side of the massive empire created their own portal to the Abyss, and the Catacylsm was under way. In the ensuing six months, our heroes were incredibly busy. They created the Celestine Pillar, established new holy orders, and did everything in their power to prepare the world to face the fiendish threat.
Now, their time has run out. Armies of angels from the celestial planes stand ready to keep the demons and devils contained, but they do so at the border of Rasturia. Within its borders, there is nothing to be done. The demons and devils have already killed thousands, and the Rasturian army has been routed as it tried to slow down the approaching hordes. Vassorum, the largest and most magically advanced city Esoris has ever seen, is going to be overrun in less than 24 hours.
Our heroes woke up to a beautiful day. Birds chirping, a cloudless sky, and the knowledge that the city they call home is going to be annihilated before the sun rises again.
Izray Vespera, Lady of the Last Light (and a Divine Soul sorcerer) awoke to several members of "the community", a cult that she is the reluctant object of worship for, waiting to greet her. These three worshipers, Astra, Stella, and Aurora were incredibly devoted, and more than a little bit overeager to please their god.
Wren, the Horizon Walker Ranger, meditated and attuned themself to the presence of extraplanar threats. From the West, they felt the approach of a pulsing storm of demonic rage. From the East, they felt the rotten and infectious approach of the demonic incursion.
Kruga, a zealot barbarian, was up slaughtering cows to devote to her god, Gahmera. She did this every day, and there was a butcher waiting nearby to collect and distribute the meat.
Finally, Hadmaerth Lightbringer, the Eye of Pelor (a Hexblade Warlock/Paladin) was (if memory serves), up praying.
The four were each called to a war council as the city made its final preparations for the onslaught. At this council, the Emperor of Rasturia, Numerius Bucculeius let his brave facade slip, and the party saw the blubbering fool that he had become behind closed doors. Though he remained his old, brave, noble self to the public, the stress of the coming Cataclysm had broken him mentally in some way.
The High Mage of Vassorum's Mage's College, High Mage Alexandra reported on the continuing evacuation of the city, and the continued efforts of mages to create defensive wards around the city. Boregan, the head of Rasturia's armies reported that the last of his legions had been eliminated, and that all remaining forces were being prepared to defend the city when the two approaching armies reached Vassorum that night. High-Cleric Resigamar told the party that there was no hope for divine intervention to save the city at this point. Finally, Stephonious Gwendolynicus, the king's attendant, told the party the part they would play during the battle. The Heroes of the Realm would be deployed in an isolated tower to the South of the city to draw away the most powerful devils and demons so that the rest of the city might stand a chance.
That plan explained and all questions dealt with, the party went off to prepare for their deaths. Wren and Kruga were ready to face their fate, Kruga because she had no fear of death, and Wren because the only family they had was the found family of the party. Izray attempted to convince her followers that they could leave and save themselves, but they remained loyal to the end.
Hadmaerth, on the other hand, had quite the goodbye to make. He called his family with the help of a mage to make his goodbyes. His son Beauregard, who is studying to be a lens crafter, mentioned how well his apprenticeship is going, and how excited he was to do some work with Hadmaerth when his father returned to the family. Dorrig, the son who smokes weed, talked about how he had chiseled some runes in his father's honor, and also couldn't wait for Hadmaerth's return.
The boys then handed the call of to Hadmaerth's wife, Maeritha, the only family member who knew what was about to happen. Maeritha had already known that her husband's death was coming, but had held out hope until this moment that he might find a way out. With that hope dashed, she said a tearful goodbye, before dropping a bombshell on Hadmaerth: She was pregnant with a daughter. The two had a brief discussion of possible names, and Maeritha said she wanted to name the daughter after Hadmaerth. Hadmaerth suggested that Maeritha name the daughter Maerith, which she accepted tearfully. They said their final goodbyes, and the party prepared for battle in earnest.
As the sun set, the party was stationed at their tower. The night sky was clear, beautiful, and full of stars. Slowly, clouds of ash began to block out these motes of light. From the West, the cloud of ash pulsated with angry red energy, like an inflamed wound or an ember. From the East, the ash pulsed sickly green like an infection, like rot itself seeping into the world. The clouds met overhead in a storm of roiling energy, and the battle began.
Forming from the ash, a strange elemental took shape near the tower. Named Ataesha, she was the rage and hatred of these two fiendish armies made manifest. Though they were theoretically working together to destroy Vassorum, the moment the city fell these armies would turn on each other, and Ataesha was the fusion of their inherent hatred into a conscious form.
From the West, the Chained Lady appeared. A daughter of Pelor, she was captured and held prisoner in the Nine Hells so long that its evil infected her, meaning she could not return to the heavens without facing destruction. Enraged, she embraced that evil, becoming lord over an army of devils. Now, she marched that army against Vassorum and the Heroes of the Realm.
Finally, from the East, an avatar of the god Orcus appeared. Lord over his own layer of the Abyss, he led his army of Demons to the material plane, and was now ready to destroy the Heroes.
From atop their tower, our heroes faced off against three beings as powerful as gods. And to be honest? They made it look fairly easy. Kruga leapt from the tower, and in only a few turns, she was able to solo Orcus. The rest of the party fought off the other two, learning that the Chained Lady would heal unless they dealt her radiant damage, and that Ataesha was an obnoxious enemy to fight.
As the battle raged, Izray's three followers remained miraculously unharmed by the cataclysmic melee surrounding them. Hadmaerth focused beams of holy light to blast the fiends as they approached, Wren shot devestating magical arrows at the enemies, Izray got into a direct fight against the Chained Lady, and as mentioned, Kruga killed a god mostly unaided.
With the fall of Orcus, it seemed that the battle might turn in the Heroes' favor. Then, things went bad. A five-headed dragon, an aspect of the evil demon goddess Tiamat arrived on the scene, blasting apart the tower that the heroes had been fighting from. The Heroes rallied, killing Ataesha and beginning to damage the Chained Lady, but cracks were starting to show.
The wards protecting the city were weakening, and Wren became the first party member to fully die. Their soul, one of the most powerful mortal souls on the realm, was given a choice between entering a celestial heaven, or defending the material plane from incursion. They chose the latter, briefly bolstering the faltering shield.
The wards could not hold forever, though, and they were eventually overwhelmed. When the shield finally gave out, the party saw the Mage's College disappear completely, as fiends began swarming the city to slaughter any remaining people.
Wren was revived, but the party was now struggling, and realized they were in the endgame. They unleashed their most powerful spells, with Izray calling down a meteor to crush Tiamat, but the battle continued. Kruga was slain, as the Eye of Asmodeus appeared in the sky and used its withering gaze to snuff out her life. With only Hadmaerth still standing, the party seemed done for. However, with luck that showed he was chosen by Pelor, Hadmaerth persevered and was able to revive Izray. In the following seconds, Kruga returned to the battlefield, and the party bought more time for the evacuation to continue.
The Chained Lady was finally struck down by Hadmaerth, leaving the party with only Tiamat to do battle against. The chaos of battle and the Eye of Asmodeus continued to rain havoc upon the party, but they were dead set on killing Tiamat. Eventually, the dragon goddess went down. Momentarily. Just as the party seemed to have won an impossible victory, they saw the angry goddess rise again, and the end of the battle was upon them.
Everyone fought valiantly, sometimes barely alive long enough to fire a shot before the Eye, Tiamat, or a random surge within the surrounding battle brought them down again. Eventually, the avatar of Tiamat looking battered and broken, things took their final turn. Tiamat lashed out, downing every member of the party except for Kruga. Kruga, however, refused to be stopped. With one last turn, she managed to bring down Tiamat for real, turning towards the Eye of Asmodeus to accept her death with pride.
In the aftermath of the climactic battle, many things happened. First and foremost, of ten million people who had sought refuge in Vassorum by the time the battle started 7,525,558 civilians were able to escape the city. This alone was a titanic success for our heroes, but they each had a special fate to meet.
Kruga, of course, was welcomed as a hero by her goddess. She was appointed Ghamera's champion, and the boisterous crowd of Ghamera's followers began a celebration of the many being Kruga had slain in Ghamera's name, and the glorious death she had earned in slaying literal gods in the name of her own goddess.
Wren, when they died for good, committed themself fully to defending the material plane. Though it may not have been clear immediately, their spirit became a barrier, containing the chaos and destruction of the Cataclysm to Rasturia. Weaker demons and devils certainly find ways to escape this ward, but Wren remains an ever-vigilant guardian, doing their best to contain this threat and defend the world that they gave their life for.
Izray was presented with a choice. After her death, the Aasimar felt her soul being pulled towards a divine light, but also felt it bound to the material plane by several smaller, fainter ties. Focusing on these ties, Izray broke her connection to the larger divine light, and found herself floating in a void. She slowly realized that the ties she had chosen were those of her followers on Esoris. An asteroid took place beneath her feet, and Izray found herself no longer just "Lady of the Last Light", but a nascent Goddess of dusk, night, and the ember of hope that burns within mortals even when it seems they are completely surrounded by darkness.
Once again, we turn finally to Hadmaerth. As he died, a failsafe in his armor sent a message to his wife to let her know what had happened. Hadmaerth's soul floated away from his body, and he saw the ruins of Vassorum stretch out beneath him. The city, a gleaming metropolis mere hours earlier, was already unrecognizable. Massive chunks of the city had been ripped apart as mages threw caution to the wind and teleported massive crowds to safety. The Mage's College, which had once dominated a whole section of the city, had disappeared, leaving only a crater. Throughout the city, Hadmaerth saw the last desperate defenses of individual mages, casting wards and working to buy precious seconds for others to escape.
Hadmaerth then found himself floating in front of his wife in their home in First Light. He saw her sob as she understood that he was gone, and watched as she gathered his sons to tell them the truth. His family gathered together and began to mourn him as Hadmaerth's spirit floated towards the artificial sun at the center of the city. His soul finally entered the sun, and he found himself face to face with Pelor. The two had a conversation about the good Hadmaerth had done, the pride Pelor felt, and what it was like to raise a daughter from afar. Pelor thanked Hadmaerth for beating the shit out of the Chained Lady, but promised that little Maerith would turn out better.
With that, the Heroes of the Realm passed from life into legend. Each is remembered even a century after their passing. The thousands of communities that formed from the refugees of Vassorum each passed down stories of these heroes, as did the rest of the world that they had saved so many times.
The worshipers of Izray have flourished in their own places, constructing churches and trying, as their patron once did, to bring hope to the hopeless, and light where it was needed. Maeritha gave birth to a beautiful god-touched baby girl, who she named Maerith after her heroic father. The girl was raised with the stories of her father's great deeds, and wanted nothing more than to live up to the legacy of Hadmaerth Lightbringer, the Eye of Pelor. Kruga has only grown stronger as the champion of Ghamera, waiting for the day that she will march out to kill the fake gods in the name of her lady. And Wren, to this day, continues their eternal vigil. Never tiring, never ceasing. A constant presence defending the Material Plane. When the Aasimar legions begin to falter, Wren is there to steady them and bolster their lines. When a demon-God tries to sneak beneath the mountains, they find a faint presence collapsing their tunnels and forcing them back to the Ash Wastes.
Though the Cataclysm was the greatest failure that the Heroes of the Realm ever experienced, their legacy is not one of shame. Across Esoris, there are today millions of people whose lives would have ended if not for their sacrifice. Without their actions after the portals opened, the Ash Wastes would cover the entire world, and civilization would have crumbled nearly a century ago.
In many ways, the people of Esoris have learned to live with the Cataclysm. But as they continue to rebuild the world that the Cataclysm shattered, the memory of the Heroes of the Realm reverberates throughout the realm. The Cataclysm was their greatest failure, but the fact that the world survived the Catacylsm is a triumph that outshines their failure tenfold.
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