In the culmination of the Blue-Hand elementals plot, Calin of the Children of the Light, Borric the Mercenary, and a disguised Brother Gilbert were summoned to a point near Grantabrugge, where they were set upon and apparently slain by Elementals bearing the mark of the Blue Hand. Borric also managed to find the only ghoul for miles around and be paralysed, again.
They awoke, in the company of Roxie, on another plane of reality. They were each interviewed by one who introduced himself as the Mathemagicians Apprentice, who wanted them to guard his plane from demons for a few days, while he steered it back to the prime material. Borric tried to attack him, but was knocked back by two large elementals, one of Light (nicknamed Twinkles) and one of Fire (nicknamed Sparky). They agreed, in exchange for much power.
Throughout the first day there were regular demon attacks, that the party - along with the various other unfortunates dragged to the pocket plane - repulsed. Amazingly even when apparently 'killed' the blue hands bound their souls to the plane so strongly that they simply reappeared somewhere in the plane shortly afterwards. During the afternoon, however, the Apprentice began having trouble controlling his pocket-plane, and began to draw his power back into himself. The most obvious sign of this was that the blue hands on the foreheads of the party began to fade. This meant that the ties keeping their souls on the plane were disappearing, and that they might truly die. As the hands were nearly faded the party were busy questioning Sparky and Twinkles; Calin was unimpressed by their claims and challenged Sparky to "show me your power!" Her reply, a Disruption spell, killed him. Luckily the blue hands were not yet quite gone and he reappeared.
Sparky and Twinkles approached the party looking for release from their servitude to the Apprentice, and the plane drifted close to the magical nexus that is Atlantis. The plane was boarded (sic) by a party of Vani from Atlantis, who knew trouble when they saw it and were attempting to foil the Apprentice.
Gilbert came up with a plan to slam the pocket plane they were in into the plane of the unliving, destroying both at the possible cost of all their lives. Borric was somewhat unimpressed by this and, not considering Gilbert a competent ritualist, went alone into the plane and called out for the Apprentice. When he finally turned up Borric informed him of the plan and struck a deal - when the pocket plane arrived at the Elemental Plane, Borric would be allowed to keep the power the Apprentice had imbued the party with, and return to Grantabrugge with Gilbert's head.
That evening Gilbert attempted his ritual - which included the plan for the party to travel via Limbo to an 'anchor' Gilbert had planted in the prime material. The Apprentice, forewarned, had moved the anchor to the corner of his plane. Thus, when the ritual was completed, the party ended up still in the pocket plane and the Apprentice lectured them on the futility of attempting to disrupt his plans. As night fell the Vani ascertained via their astromancy that there was a traitor in the party, and warned Borric to watch out for one.
The following morning Calin was killed by the Vani as he did his morning devotions - they didn't trust him and thought he was the traitor they had read about. A little after midday Gilbert tried one last time to destroy the plane, but a forewarned Apprentice stopped him and killed him.
As Borric fended off the last few demons, the Varni and the others attacked the Apprentice, with the aid of the Twinkles and Sparky. The Apprentice called on Borric for aid, and opened his portal to Grantabrugge. Borric then slew the other warriors and mages there, but not the elementals. He grabbed two dead Vani and Gilbert's head, and jumped through the portal just before the Apprentice died at the hands of his minions, and the portal collapsed. He thus ended up with a pair of Vani (which he had stuffed and sold to the Colleges of Magic), Gilbert's head (which he cashed in with the Children of the light for a large bounty), the extra power and skill granted to him by the Apprentice, and Roxie, who he fancied. They ran away to Teutonia and lived happily ever after, in a particularly bloodthirsty and expediant manner.
NPCs included:
ChessyPig as an alchemist (selling blade venom to dodgy types) and then as Angsty Vani (the old astrologer who got them into this mess in the first place and was expected to know what to do, but did get to order the other Vani around and make them go get Brother Gilbert's ritual ingredients)
Pufferfish as Sparky ("Are you obviously female?")
JJ as Twinkles (who masquaraded as Light for the benefit of Calin to try and stop Calin killing Brother Gilbert when his cover identity as (name?) of a recently deceased order of Gallic knight-sages, after Calin called upon his god for advice)
Bryony as Dodgy Stabby Type and Dodgy Stabby Vani ("I think we should kill them all.")
Inquisitor as a member of the Red Guard of Luca, complete with red ribbons tied to his spear and the overpowered Terror miracle (which was subsequently reduced in duration from 24hrs to 5mins)
Apache? as "I am Painted Black And You Can't See Me" (after his first NPC role was stabbed up due to being the only person brave or stupid enough to sleep IC on the night when the Vani tried to stab everyone up, Apache made with the black facepaint and the cryptic notes about killing everyone if we didn't let him kill Brother Gilbert tied to crossbow bolts, which made for the First Ever Useful Use of Talk To Wind and much narging about whether the wind could tell us where the bolt came from or not)
Requiem as a priest of Mallan
NickTaylor as an Aerokin mage
Laura as a Brown mage with much ritualling, whom Gilbert would have done well to have listened to.
MagicalEric? as The Mathemagician's Apprentice
Also starring The Obligitary Johnite, The Norscan Beserkers, several other Varni, and sundry others I've forgotten the identities of...