Chapter 18-464: The Third Solstice (1/2)
This time, the Opening of the Sky was going to take place on the border of the Russian Shroudzone.
Most of the high-Level people in the world were already in the vicinity, and Teleports could easily move them back to the combat zones they’d chosen after the Haze was Opened. So, it made logical sense, involved a lot less shuffling around of people, and so was expected and reasonable to put it here.
More to the point, it was going to send a very distracting message about what the enemy was facing.
It would also keep down a lot of the havoc that might be unleashed in Detroit by holding it there, as the tourists come to see the Sky Open wouldn’t present so many tempting targets to fanatical enemies crashing the Ritual.
Oh, there would be a Ritual, but it would be like the ones of old, a hole in the Haze ten miles across, lasting until the morning... nothing like when I headed it up. The accompanying violent fall-out of defiance from knuckleheads and fanatics would be similarly short.
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Since I had made Sorcerer/10, the Class Levels had come, no pauses for Masteries... of which I actually needed some for Warlock advancement, but which didn’t give me the chance for now.
Wizard/6 (15). Although I hadn’t made a big deal about it, other than getting my Valence VIII’s and Burning the Eighth Ring, this is also when I got Spell Perfection, taking my Shards outlay to the next level, basically another ‘free’ doubling of damage, while finishing up Arcane Spirit/5, +5 Kicker damage to all spells for Investing 5 ki.
Ur-Priest/6 (10) gave me more Magic Resistance to Divine Spells; picked Holy Potency as a Feat for ways to combine spells and negative/positive energy, and Fury of the Zealot/3 allowed Aligned Class Features to affect Neutrals.
The final Level of Warshaper/5 improved my morphing speed and flexibility, also allowing me to Wildshape into any Humanoid Form with A Thousand Faces, while Extra Wildshape/2 added another option to the table.
Archmage/5 completed with Bloodline Intensity, allowing me to Cast each of my Bloodline spells once for free each day. Even if I didn’t choose to do so, I could dump the energy into my Pool and use them for other spells, so it was a net gain of 30 spell Levels. The shapeshifting aspect of Wildshape came in with Elemental Theurgy, and I could now Wildshape into an Elemental Form now, almost like a real Druid, and it added Extra Wildshape/3, too.
Hierophant/5 ended with Healing Smite, which inverted my normal maxed-out Healing effects on Good people to do maximum damage against the Undead and Fiends. I didn’t really need it for spells, but I suppose it was the thought that counted. The Feat was Create Reliquary Items, which allowed me to make items sacred to a particular Faith, or for them to serve as Holy Symbols, in effect modifying my other Item Creation Feats. Amusingly enough, I could borrow Faith from any god and make magic items sacred to them...
Fury of the Zealot/4 rounded things out, allowing Aligned Feats and Masteries to oppose Neutrals, such as skills doing Sacred damage and whatnot.
Inquisitor/6 (10) solidified Bonded Mind as my Teamwork Feat, allowing instant thought-communication with anyone in line of sight who had the same Feat. Harry the Foe doubled down on the anathema aspect, giving a +2 Sacred Bonus against any Favored Enemy of mine I was using Bane against... and, well, I didn’t actually have a huge list of those, given how focused my killing had been, but those were the things I was going to be fighting most of the time going forwards, so it was hardly unwelcome.
Fury of the Zealot/5 finished up with wielded Aligned magical items now able to harm Neutrals in my hands, such as the Holy damage from Clavus.
Blighter/6 (10) advanced my base Undead Wildshape to 3/day, and I could now go incorporeal... which was a HUGE benefit, very useful and dangerous. Not that I’d ever use it while under a Shroudcloud, or risk being enslaved by the Shroud, but it was the thought that counted, right?
Plant Form allowed me to Wildshape into plants, and Extra Wildshape/4 helped with that as well. I still couldn’t turn into normal animals with the skill, which was highly amusing to me.
The night of the Solstice, December 21, 2019, Minstrel/6 (10) ticked over. The ability to Suggest with Heartsong kicked in; Expanded Versatility added all Monk Weapons to increase my effective eligibility to Melee Feats when wielding them (instantly popping me to Greater Specialist with Staff, Open Hand, and Attack Spells); the Feat Might of Thunder added +Xd6 Sonic damage Kickers to a spell, X= to its Valence, if I expended a Heartsong use; and Alternate Bardsong/1, Rallying Cry, popped in.
I suppose, all that Warlording that I did, yeppers...
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I was sure that the Shroudlord knew what was going to happen here. Being confined by the Curse didn’t mean Divination magic couldn’t go out and find things out for him, or the Aberrant couldn’t just inform it.
Still, it had to march its forces out from the Shroudzone into the Deadzone to possibly get in range of us, and we were ten miles back, and inside its default deployment ranges for artillery.
It could try to race some Construct cannon-wagons over to get there, but why bother? What could we possibly do?
If it did try something, well, we definitely had the Casters here to stop any bombardment, and the True Seeking artillery crews with Vivic-infused Cannons would make VERY short work of any opposing artillery positions. The enemy hadn’t flown out any Ghost Planes into the Deadzone for weeks now, and we’d been relentlessly hammering their anti-aircraft positions during the day and the night to get rid of them, giving us more air control.
Our planes wouldn’t work once the Shroud came down, so getting all the use out of them was definitely a goal. Air forces from all of North America and Europe were being flown around the Deadzone, looking for targets they could either mark for the infantry, or dispose of themselves with gunfire or air-to-ground missile, rocket, or bomb attacks.