The battle plans were drawn and we began to execute them first thing in the morning.

I gathered 374 of the strongest Apprentices in the Gate hub area with Bort, Gab, Rahm, and all of our constructs and used the power of the Coven to cast Communal Resist Energy Fire on Bort and the constructs. Bort then guided the coven, Gab, Rahm, and his golems through the Niswan gate. They were going to pass through to the Plane of Fire using the secret Gate Bort had secured, and I was going to meet them there.

Left with the Covensphere and the Grabber, I used Planeshift followed by two castings of Greater Teleport to move these two massive constructs to the Material Plane, then to the pre-arranged meeting place on the moon. There stood Yarthoon and the Gare Waxwork Linorm. Per last night’s discussion, we joined in a circle and plane shifted once again to the Plane of Fire. The Waxwork Linorm stayed behind, as it was too vulnerable to fire to accompany us. I promised it we would return Yarthoon as soon as possible.

Yarthoon had been briefed (As much as was possible for a creature as unknowable as it was) that Efreeti were BAD, but everyone else was potentially NOT BAD, and only to harm those who were BAD. The Waxwork Linorm assured me that its friend understood this well. Taking a deep breath, I proceeded to use Greater Teleport to drop Yarthoon right in front of the Northern Gatehouse of the Outer Ward of the City of Brass.

The panic was immediate and intense. Yarthoon saw several BAD Efreeti within range and began to fire its eye beams at them. The alarm went up and dozens of the genies were streaming out of nearby buildings, rallying to attack. I didn’t stick around to see the results: This was just the first step.

I returned to where the Covensphere and Grabber had accompanied me to the Plane of Fire and used Greater Teleport twice to move them to the Gate entrance where my cohorts and coven were waiting. Rahm used the Gloves of Dimension Door to load up the Covensphere with Gab and the 374 apprentices, then moved himself inside as well. Bort took a seat at the helm of the Grabber and rallied his constructs around him. We were situated in a safe cavern outside and to the south of the City of Brass, and his mission was to clear the path for as many slaves as possible to rescue. We exchanged a meaningful look before he took off: We would be in touch over the Telepathic Bond, but due to the danger of the mission it was possible we would never see each other again. The Grabber stayed low to the ground and the golems followed on foot.

I directed the Coven to help me cast Communal Resist Energy, and divided the duration up through the whole group. Gab directed their actions and focused their efforts through the Iron Collar of the Unbound Coven while Rahm aided with the casting and helped spot for trouble from the outside of the Covensphere. We took off and went high, headed straight for the center of the City of Brass.

With the whole Coven supporting my casting, my spells now had incredible range and in some cases, unbelievable destructive power. I used Battering Blast on one of the gatehouses that was in Bort’s way, and 79 balls of force issued forth in an instant. The gatehouse was completely flattened in one single shot.

From our elevated position, I was able to see Yarthoon’s rampage. It was slowly smashing its way through the Outer Ward towards the Mage’s Quarter. As we watched its awesome power in awe, it issued forth a huge beam of frozen energy into the air, instantly vaporizing several dozen Efreeti.

The Covensphere circled the city for several minutes, seeking out concentrated areas of military force with no civilians. Using the mathematics of Sacred Geometry, I was able to Maximize the impact of each Battering Blast. Entire barracks and guard towers were wiped away in an instant, clearing the way for Bort’s constructs to mop up the enemy forces and gather up slaves for the return run to the gate. The Grabber was making an especially powerful impact with its 33 arms, moving swiftly through the air and being able to either strike down enemies or break free slaves with mechanical precision. Bort was directing its actions and appeared to be having the time of his life.

Once Bort had broken through the Outer Ward and into the Inner Ward near the Great Bazaar, it was time to change targets. I flew the Covensphere directly towards the center of the city to the Palace of Grand Sultana Ayasellah Mihelar Khalidlah II and blew its roof off with another Maximized Battering Blast. I used the Coven to cast Communal Resist Energy Fire one more time on itself then pulled out one of my Wish diamonds. Channeling the powers of the most arcane of mysteries, I Wished a casting of Spell Resistance on myself, with the Coven supporting this spell. By my calculations, I had graced myself with SR 409 for over 6 hours. I nodded to Gab to take over the Coven and teleported into the wreckage of the palace. Gab proceeded to cover Bort’s constructs, afflicting anyone out of reach of the Grabber with irresistible paranoia, anguish fears of failure, and when needed bolts of lightning.

I cast Fly and glided through the wrecked rooms of the palace, striking down some Efreeti guards with Dragon’s Breath as I went. The battle raged on outside, with Yarthoon’s eye beams lighting the sky periodically. After a little while I made my way to what appeared to be the throne room, where an intimidating Efreeti sat on the throne, surrounded by guards. All the slaves and servants appeared to have fled in the chaos. She scowled at me and said “Dave, I presume?”

I nodded and looked around, at which point she pulled out a small tuning fork. “Looking for this?” She asked. I recognized it immediately as the fork that was attuned to my demiplane. Before she could react, I used the spell I had prepared for this exact situation: Quickened Shatter. The fork exploded in the Sultana’s face, and she shrieked “KILL HIM!!!” to her guards.

The Efreeti guards cast several spells on me while advancing, but none of these magical attacks were able to pierce my Spell Resistance. I dodged and teleported out of the way of their physical attacks, suffering a few scrapes from flaming scimitars but nothing too deadly. I drew my second Wish diamond and used it to transport two travelers: Myself 250 feet above the throne room, and Yarthoon directly in the middle.

Yarthoon reacted as expected: Being surrounded by BAD Efreeti, it let loose its Freezing Mist. The entire area was enveloped in a frozen fog, and I heard the Efreeti inside yell in surprise and pain, searching for a way out of this death trap. Yarthoon roared and struck out at the fleeing enemies, swallowing them whole. I did not see if the Sultana was among those slain, but it seemed impossible for anyone to survive that onslaught.

Bort messaged me over the Telepathic Link that his golems were escorting the last of the freed slaves out of the city back to the Gate. Both of the Book Golems had fallen in battle and everyone was a bit banged up, but otherwise things were going well. Gab was providing air support from the Covensphere, and I joined in flying over the parade of escaping slaves.

The Efreeti who had been defending the city were now focused on Yarthoon, who was continuing to wreck the palace grounds and was starting to move outward towards the Mage’s Quarter. This allowed us to safely get the slaves to the Gate, out of the Plane of Fire, and to Niswan. The Apprentices on the Covensphere quickly unloaded with Rahm’s help and passed through the gate as well.

I pulled out my third Wish diamond and once again wished to Transport Travelers: I wished Yarthoon back to the Moon on the Material Plane, and constructs and my cohorts back to Davetopia. I then cast Mage’s Disjunction on the Plane of Fire / Niswan gate and Planeshifted back to Davetopia myself. Once the apprentices and whatever slaves withed to immigrate to Davetopia had arrived, I used my final Level 9 spell for the day to cast Mage’s Disjunction on the Davetopia / Niswan gate, sealing us in.

The plan had worked, and no one got killed.

Resources: 2,005,356 gp

Organizations/Buildings: Coven Apprentices (814 trained, 11 Rings of Tactical Precision)

Kingdom of Davetopia: Arodus Downtime days for Dave (7/7), Bort (7/7), Gab (7/7), Rahm (7/7), 83 BP, Clearing hex on the Moonscar (2/4 months completed)

Constructing: House, Noble Villa (Completed Rova 1st), 576 Apprentices (0/7 days retrained, retraining materials bought)

XP: 5,822,600: Wizard 19/Stargazer 1

Bort XP: 2,549,999: Alchemist 15/ Daggermark Poisoner 3

Gab XP: 1,299,999: Witch 16

Rahm XP: 613,959: Shaman 14

Followers: 76

Constructs: Golden Guardian (Glitterdust 4/day, self-repairing), 3 Clockwork Servants [Intelligent], Covensphere [Self-repairing](4,000/32,000 Resist fire 15), the Grabber[Self-repair], Waxwork Gare Linorm (Awakened, Int 18, Wis 10, Cha 22).

Inventory: Lute, Traveling Spellbook [Secluded], Charcoal, Bag of Holding Type IV, Spell Components Pouch, Blessed Book, Headband of Vast Intelligence +6 and Protection from Outsiders: Demon, Burner of Visualization [3/day], Mantle of Immortality, Robe of the Archmagi (White), See Invisibility (Permanent), Orange Prism Ioun Stone, Boots of Greater Teleport, Tattoo of +6 Charisma, Ring of Sustenance & Evasion, Iron Collar of the Unbound Coven, Ring of the Ecclesiach, +6 Telescope, Gloves of Dimension Door, Greater Rod of Metamagic (Widen), Belt of Physical Perfection +6, Suzerain Scepter, Amulet of Natural Armor +5 and Wisdom +6, Scrying mirror, Greater Rod of Maximize Spell, Amulet of Sending, 5 Cold Ice Strike [13d6] Cannon supplies, 3 Wish diamonds.

Demiplane: 243942 Cubes (~43.36 lots), Bountiful, day/night cycle, looping edges, Mild Good Alignment, Enhanced Magic (Creation), Positive Energy (Minor), Morphic. Invisibility Alarm on Gate entrances, Truth Booth. Teleportation Circle to the Moonscar in Almas (One-way, up)

Under-the-hood notes: Today’s encounter was a CR Lots More Than 20, but is functionally just a downtime action to gain XP.

A maximized Battering Blast at Dave’s effective caster Level of 397 does 2370 damage.