So let's say Orcus kept the Last Word...

They say in Dungeon magazine that after Orcus has returned from the dead (aided by his follower Quah-Namog), he retained the power to use Last Word but only in its lesser form. (aka he can slay living but not powers and high status outsiders).
Orcus had lost his divine status (actualy he gave up statust as a god, becouse of his goodhood he died in the first place: he just became too fat, decadent and lazy:) )
when he was resurected and he was diminished to the status of Abyssal Lord (or Demon Prince as they call them these days). So with his divinty he has lost power to fully use The Last Word.

At least that is waht it says under his stat block in Dungeon's finale of the adventure path: Savage Tide in wich PCs must ally with various Demon Lords to defeat Demogorgon.

EDIT: Sorry I did not read your question carefuly. :oops:
In the Adventure Dead Gods they offer suggestion what happens in worst case scenario: If Orcus comes back and starts going around killing gods just for fun. Then soon all other gods meet and devise some sort of countermeasure or ward. Shure it will take some time, and in process some gods will die by Orcus. But in the end the Last Word will become usless to Orcus. Why? Becouse it will not work on gods any more.
This is bit cheasy solution to this problem, but it is either that or: Chaotic Evil Wins, The End scenario.

If it is "what if" you want, "what if" you'll get...

1. Athar defeats Orcus: Athar numbers swells in numbers becouse they recruit all the folk who's dieties are killed. Eventulay they gather enough of follovers to belive (or rathrer disbelive) Orcus out of existance. But this will require years to compleate.

Or even better...

2. Birth of Varakhuts and Inevitable Wars: Gods order new type of bodyguards and soilders in the forges of Mechanus -Varakhuts. Varakhuts (and other Inevitables) go aroud the multiverse and destroy Orcus follovers and holdings. Last Word is ineffective against this mechanical beings (becaouse they are not realy alive), so eventualy Orcus will have to leawe his position of power (and thus loose full use of Last Word) or risk death from lack of follovers.

3. Revenge of Illsensine/Modrons: Modrons and Illithids form uneasy aliance in wich modrons scan multiverse for Orcus whereabouts, and when he is finaly found Illsensine use her mental energy gathered from Mazzaconian's death and forces Orcus to forget Last Word.

I'm glad that you like my ideas.
Here is some more of them (it is amazing what can someone think of to pass boring day at job :shock: ):

Hide and Seek: Many gods go into hiding. Some of them become fully mortals and hide in Sigil. Others dissipate their minds and forms into great nebulas of power. Others hide at the base of spire wher they dont posses any powers but Last Word dont have power either. Rilmani welcome gods with open arms (just think of the fawors they will colect later). In this option gods lay down while their minions search for Orcus's weakness, on prime material plane there is crisis of fate becaouse preists slowly (but surely) are loosing their powers.
EDIT: Also idea for hide and seek: playing possum- some gods decide to fake their deaths so that they can plan their moves undisturbed. They go to astral plane and ask the Guardian of Dead Gods to keep them safe while they "play dead".

Ice Trap / Heart of Winter: Norse god Loki has an cunning plan for this situation. He has learned that on the plane of ice there is place called Heart of Winter. That place is so cold that the wery words spoken there freeze in icy lumps. What is even better: words that freeze in such way are lost forever from speakers minds (unless they are mellted). So Loki palns to planeshift his relam to plane of Ice and trick Orcus to say the Last Word. In that way he dissarms Orcus of his main weapon and he gets to keep the Last Word for himself.

Ballance of Powers / March of Palladions:(this one is epic) Gods have reached the solution how they fight Orcus threat: each pantheon gets its own last word. But since the Orcus has destroyed the last written copy of Last Word in the multiverse, solution to this problem is time travel. So plan is this: 16 champions that represent 16 pantheons from 16 planes (but that could be cut down to nine) will march across temporal energy plane back to time before Last Word was destroyed by Orcus. They will travel in Palladion bodies (crafted by Hefestus) to vithstand the ravages of temporal energy and with build in inhibitors that prevent "pilots" from messing with time/space continnum.

This is basicly compleatly new campain that needs work from ground up (16 aligments working together, time travel and gigant "robots"), but it could be fun, I guess.
That is why I like Planescape: every idea no matter how strange, epic, unusual or odd will find home in this seting.
Fantasy taken to the edge and beyond.

Lsdfjkdsf wrote:

Ohhh... nice. Alpha and Omega, Emeth vs. Meth. You have just opened breeding ground for ideas.

1. They cancel them selfs out, every one goes home happily. But that is too plain for plansecape.
2. Multiverse ends in destruction, but new one is created.
3. Orcus and Aoskar (or any other god using first word)are destroyed (along with considerable chunk of plane where are they currently on), but from their essences and planar matter new miniature multiverse is created within the "normal" multiverse. It is familiar, it has prime material plane and outer planes, but the laws under this new multiverese works are somehow different.
Sages soon name this strange creation "4th E universe". :mrgreen:

Heh. Heh. "What ifs" are fun. :mrgreen: