A:EftP - [Spoilers] "Emperor Hawthorne, you are guilty of treason!"

[Endarire]

"Emperor Hawthorne, you are guilty of treason! By assuming the office of emperor, you pledged your loyalty to your people, but your corruption and your madness made you desert your love of your people for the love of yourself!

 

"In the name of Avernum, and all that you are not, I wish I could charge you with a century of torment for every life that you have ruined, but that judgment is not mine to give. Your madness shall never understand the mercy of the judgment I pronounce upon you, upon Avernum, and upon the world above. I hereby sentence you to die- not by my hand, but by the hand of the one I worship.

 

"Emperor Hawthorne, your time has come!"

 

And so the madman fell, cackling and oblivious to the Divine Retribution spell cast upon him. His assailants, dressed in bright colors, hustled to the portal to avoid the remaining guards. Anywhere was better than here. Each took a deep breath, their last of the ornate and fresh air, and stepped through.

 

And so they returned to Avernum, through the door that took them to the Royal Spire. Erika was pleased to usher them back. They lived with the tremendous victory that they, with the help of Avernum, had overthrown the tormentous chains of their oppressors and the figurehead which symbolized and epitomized their hate. The people of Avernum would hail them as heroes, even if King Micah may die of shock once he heard the news.

 

So they headed quickly back to Erika's Tower. She greeted them with the warmest welcome she had ever given them, and the warmest welcome they had received since entering Avernum. Beyond the pleasantries and the wonderful news of Emperor Hawthorne's death, Erika's face quickly turned from joy and admiration to cunning and contemplation.

 

"This is only the beginning," Erika said. "The Empire will never let this assault go unanswered. Soon, they will come here. Soon, there will be war." Her eyes narrowed at her audience. Erika knew that they knew, and they knew that Erika knew that everything that had led up to this point had been for something, even if those who heard about it never understood it, nor appreciated it.

 

As the four heroes went to sleep in Erika's guest room, dreaming victorious dreams, they remembered the feelings of dread and loneliness that filled them when they entered Avernum, and the feelings of urgency and uncertainty upon entering the Royal Spire. Day after day of slaughter and toil had proven to them that there was enough wealth and power in all of Avernum- and boy, how they had searched!- to challenge the world above. Now, they could rest in reward from every ache and every trial... for a little while. And then, they knew in the back of their minds, much of the surface world would have to die as well for tyranny to end and freedom to reign. But that would be another day.

 

Today, the torment had been worth it.

 

(And thus ends my tale of Avernum: Escape from the Pit, where Emperor Hawthorne died to a Smite/Divine Retribution combo. And yes, I played on Torment, but only the final leg leading up to the Royal Spire, as well as all of the Royal Spire. I played the rest of the game on Hard. And Torment is aptly named.

 

My party had 2 'Paladins' (dual wielding Fighters with 8 Priest Spells for Mass Healing), a Cleric, and a Wizard. For the game's last 20% or so, Adrenaline Rush for extra AP was downright necessary. I'm glad I got it for everyone!

 

Many thanks to:

 

-Slartifer for his build guide. I'd be screwed otherwise!

-Whoever wrote the guide for the Level 3 Spellbook Locations. That helped!

-Whoever wrote the guide for how many of which items I should hold onto. Yay!

-Mike Middleton and Silver Harloe for their game maps. Woohoo!

-Denizens of Spiderweb's boards for answering misc. questions. Danke, everyone!)

[The Reverend]

Nicely done - Hawthorne had it coming.

[Aran]

Quite well-written, but since when was Hawthorne insane? I admit to having played only E:EFTP and A1, but I recall that he was brilliant and totally ruthless.

[Davies]

He's pretty clearly described as insane throughout the fight and its finale in A:EftP. Garzahd even refers to him as the madness that directs the Empire -- although he's not exactly all that well-balanced himself.