JoeGKushner
First Post
Being a Hu-Charad is a lot of responsibility. While others call us the Stewards or more simply, the giants, we are the overseers of the land and we try to insure that all things are done for the good of the people.
In this instance, I was on the road with Kelvyn, a robust Akashic who I've known for years. He was a strange skill master who felt that his brotherhood were often too concerned about things that didn't matter and that the true use of skill was to insure that future generations could learn from previous wars and augment their knowledge in order to secure their future. If more humans thought like him, perhaps the giants wouldn't be needed?
My other companion, Rugar, was a sibeccai, a strange one that championed the cause of death. I didn't know him long, but his loyalty to the group, at this point at least, was unquestionable. His respect for my status and his interest in Kelvyn's knowledge, apparently kept us safe from being caught up in his cause.
Still, from what little I do know of him, I suspect that it's because his village was wiped out by the undead, rather than a need to extinguish life, that he champions death. With his pitch black skin and bastard sword, he almost looked like some ancient snarling god of death. In some ways I was glad that he didn't defer to me as other sibeccai tend to. It showed that he wasn't a standard member of that race. On the other hand, it was strange at the same time. I was used to a certain respect from them.
We entered Lothis, a small town on a day like any other. I was curious to see how a small town without a steward would be. I was surprised by the amount of order kept in the town. Were my people really needed still? We heard of a famous pub, the Liar's Club, but I had no interest in that place. Instead, I spent most of my time honing my blade, sharpening my skills. Kelvyn on the other hand, often went there to see if there were any clues or leads for a merry band of adventurers to follow. The sibecai was bored, wishing to end the lives of the undead, wishing to taste battle once again.
That opportunity didn't take long to come. As I practiced with my greatsword, I heard the calls of a lad looking for heroes to help Ebonring Keep. This was the opportunity Kelvyn was looking for as we were now allowed into the Liar's Club,for a free drink no less, to swear oath that we would seek out the Keep and assist them in whatever way we could. I was more interested in Iriana Truthspeaker and what she needed. My patience for small things were never great.
The Liar's Club itself wasn't what I expected. They told stories and seemed to be in good spirits at all times. Patrons sat eating and drinking with hardly a look around, completely comfortable, as if they were at home. At the club, we meet two others, Krace, a practitioner of sword and spell, and Jolan, a magister, older than anyone else in the group, apparently a librarian who came late in life to his calling. The drinks were poured by none other than Bean Silvertongue, a storyteller famous in these parts, a person that Kelvyn took great pains to introduce himself to.
I didn't know if he was trying to seduce her or steal through her mind. It would've been humorous to see that small faen take down Kelvyn. He's skills at war were not quite there yet.
While we gathered provisions, Krace and Jolan told me of an encounter they had with some thugs in the city who were attempting to steal an item from a child. Being of sound spell and staff, they took care of the attackers. We worked our way through the markeplace and the Mith & Mith Mercantile warehouse, gathering what we needed but always short on funds for the truly superior equipment.
Several of the shop keepers were very quick to speak with us of various happenings in the city and my comrades also thought to stay for a day or two but here's where being a giant paid as I was able to convince them that we'd spent enough time on the city and that the Keep would not wait forever for us.
The road. Ah yes, the road. Here, I was surprised by how my people had failed to keep the road safe. Not only did we encounter wild dogs, but rhodins, and bandits. I was shocked to see so many of the rhodin. These creatures were humanoids, but were of the blood of beasts. They were once powerful but now, like much evil in the line, on the decline.We were fortunate that we were able to capture one of the bandits alive and discover some other power in the area gathering bandits and rogues to his banner.
With all of that blood, we still felt the call of the road. Ebonring Keep didn't greet us alone though. On the way we encountered a strange little being, one Lecursi, a small reptillian humanoid who posed no threat to us. He was barely armed and I gave him one of the short spears that we had retrieved from the dead.
We were unlucky in that Devil Dogs, foul things crafted long ago, still roamed freely. Our sibeccai compaion was foolish and allowed them to get near the camp. He claimed that he felt a great empathy for them since his own people were once beast. What he didn't realize was that this was a hunting group and they almost made short work of our group during his watch.
It was fortuante that I given Lecursi that spear. He helped to us alive during the night attack. The small one didn't enter the keep with us, but traveled onwards while we entered. He claimed that there was much in the Floating Forest that he needed to discover on his own.
Our getting to the keep almost involved some spilt blood in and of itself. A female litorian with a full scout party approached us without fear or hesitation, but hostile words and assumptions on our part almost wound up getting us killed. Fortunately, Yaren, the litorian who lead this pack, was very understanding, even though she looked like she wanted to wipe us out.
The people of the keep were glad to see us, but not overly so. We wandered about until told of our quest, the recovery of the item, the Ebonring itself. It seemed a simple enough matter. The keep was held by the rhodin and taken back by these stelward warriors but somehow, a large number of the goat men had escaped and taken the ring with them.
We settled down for dinner that night but there were problems. We were fortunate to be warned, well, I should say some of us, were fortunate to be warned that the cook was a little too fond of experimentation. Many of my comrades fell ill that night, but a few of us avoided the spiced stew. Settling down for the night, we discovered in the morning that one of our comrades was gone, apparently kidnapped by some ghost in the main hall. We saved him and provided a proper burial for those remains.
Strangely enough, it looked like he was beaten about the face with some heavy object. Speaking with a few people, I learned that he complemented the cook on his food and that the cook took insult from it for some reason and soundly beat Krace down.
Now all we have to do is insure that we can find the ring.
WEEK TWO:
After Krace's capture, we made a search of the entire building. We found some evidence of another exit behind the keep's storage area. It took a long time to clear out and a lot of the goods there were rotten anyway, but we finally managed to clean it out and found the trapdoor leading down and out.
As we did this, the scouting party returned. The litorians were smug in their ability to find the exits used by the goat men and apparently, they had found something but didn't investigate the caves. I thought that the trapdoor would lead us out that way but was determined to verify that was indeed the truth.
Krace decided that he would stay at the Keep in case of attack. I really thought that he just wanted to stay behind and make sure that there were no plots against us. He still rubbed his face from where the cook had beaten him soundly with a heavy frying pan. I'm surprised that Krace hadn't run him through.
The bars were dug into the wall and were old and rusted. I went down first to test them. With my heavy weight, I figured it'd be a good test of their strength. Of course, my war advisor thought that I should go last so that the rest of them wouldn't be put out if the pipes did break but he should've said something before I went down.
It was dark and I yelled up for them to light a lantern. They were concerned about my safety. While I couldn't see, my greatsword's keen edge gleamed with enough light that I felt comfortable down here. They had the lantern ready and lowered it. The place stank but didn't seem any different than any other network of caves I'd read about.
I was surprised to note that in Krace's place, a litorian joined our group, one Charon. His fur was darker than most of his race's and I couldn't quite tell the hue of it but Jovan, our magister told me that he suspected that this wasn't a standard scout, but a greenbond. I shrugged my shoulders at that news. He didn't fight and while he'd be useful, I'd still have to protect him. His unarmored body would make a sweet spot for those things which lurked in such dark caverns.
I lead the group forward while the greenbond brought up the read. Behind me, the magister carried the lantern, shining down the passages that twisted and turned in the dark earth. The smell intensified and we heard laughter but it wasn't from any human mouth that we heard it. No, I recognized this laughter, that of the foul rhodin.
They saw the lantern's light and I knew what was first. The shot spears would be hurled and they'd break out their axes. I charged forward, trying to keep my blade in front of me like a shield. Behind me I heard the others moving and arranging themselves like fools instead of just charging straight ahead.
I staggered as one of the spears struck a sound blow against my shoulder but returned the favor by cracking open the first rhodin's skull with a two handed overhead slash. Behind me the Champion of Death moved forward with a speed that astonished me. He slew first one, cutting it's head straight down the center, then a second by stabbing it through the arm into it's body and then struck his blade deep into and through a third. The others and even myself at that point were merely getting in his way. I don't know if it was something he had against these creatures or if he was trying to make up for earlier mistakes but his fighting here earned him my respect.
After we cleaned up, we moved forward, going once again into tight corridors and passages where we could only move one abreast. The passageway opened up again into a larger room and the magister made the mistake of lifting the lamp upwards where bats slept until the light hit them. The bats swarmed about us, blinding us and biting us.
I did what every giant does when faced with obstacles. I pushed forward. Within minutes I found the opposite end of the passage, covering my face with my hands and just moving forward. Behind me, I heard Jovan screaming as the bats continued to bite him even as I heard others yelling and trying to drag him out of the room. My akashic battle mentor swung his torch to and fro but didn't seem to be having any luck smashing the bats away and the champions of death didn't fare too well either.
I began calling out to them, giving them a guide to move out. I saw the bullseye lantern drop and sputter out as the bites overcame the magister and I saw the dark shape of the champion bend over and once again, prove his wroth as he dragged the magister out.
When we exited that chamber, the greenbond noted that this was indeed the cave they had noticed on their patrols.
Heading back to the keep, we noticed that the champion of death, Rugar, wasn't doing well. His wounds were puffy and his joins swollen. Perhaps fighting in those dark caves brought him some disease? The healers at the keep verified this and started to work on a cure. It looked like it would take him at least the better part of a week to recover.
I decide that we would head out and recover some items we buried when we interrupted the fight between the rhodin and bandits. It would take time but we needed the funds. Things weren't cheap here and none of us were heavily armed or armored. If not for the short spears of the rhodin, I wouldn't have even have that as a 'proper' ranged weapon.
We left Rugar behind and brought the greenbond with us. I thought it better to see the scout's abilities for more than a single encounter and his healing ability would continue to prove useful. Our trip north was interrupted on the way out by a pair of giant bees but I made short work of them. On the way back, the insect world attacked us again, this time in the form of giant beetles.
I readied my blade as they attacked and split the first one down the middle. The next one moved up and I pinned it with my black boot. The magister and greenbond didn't fare as well, as I knew they wouldn't. They weren't armored heavily enough. Kelvyn however, managed to hold his own, his heavy warhammer smashing down, cracking the hard shell.
When we returned to the keep, our patron waited for us outside. She was visibly agitated. “You swore oath that you would recover the Ebonring.” Her tone was cool and very calculated.
Her bringing up to me the importance of an oath was foolish. If not for my people, she'd still be a slave, not a powerful magister. But what really bothered me were other factors that she apparently didn't take into consideration.
Through clenched teeth, I managed to say, in what I thought was an even voice. “Understand that we have limited funds and equipment. We've nearly been killed several times while on the road. You sit here in the keep and do study. You're place in this keep is one of importance but you're safe to do what you need. We have received no funding, equipment or utility from you and yours outside of a place to rest and regain our health.”
She looked like she was going to say something but I continued. “Our comrade Rugar even now is recovering for his own wounds. Even though we left the keep, we wouldn't be searching for the Ebonring without him. We need his strength in this matter. Do not take tone with a Hu-Charad, especially one whose spent his life in the ways of war. Keep to your books magister and have the money ready for when we finish.”
This didn't please her at all but I'd spoken my peace and walked away from her. Behind me, I could hear Kelvyn trying to patch things over. He wouldn't glower and use his height to intimidate her but damn that woman and her impatience. What mattered a few days when our lives were actively on the line? We weren't castle guards sitting safe and secure and their failure to arm us made us take things into our own hands.
I quickly bought a suit of heavy brigadine and made plans for our next outing. I spoke with Rugar who seemed to regret missing the opportunity to turn his blade against more foes in the wild. This indicated that he was ready to go.
We traveled to the Floating Forest. Massive trees in a formation that is difficult to explain to anyone who hasn't seen it. The trees were of such mass and girth that they humbled me. It almost looked like islands of earth floated above us, carried on the massive branches of the trees themselves.
We continued to move through the woods and kept our senses fully alert. This wasn't really needed however as the group of rhodin that approached us was loud and boisterous with anger burning their senses. We stood on opposite sides of a path and when they moved forward, we launched ourselves at them.
I overestimated my charge and missed but Rugar struck true. Kelvyn's short bow shot out and injured one, while the trusty spells of the greenbond and magister flew into the enemy rhodin, missing them. This wasn't a good sign. Especially as I looked at the sheer number of them.
It didn't matter. I was Hu-Charad and would prevail.
I don't know all of what happened during the fight but as I've always known, the warriors lead the way in victory. The greenbond and magister were both almost killed, even Rugar was badly injured, but Kelvyn, clad in his brigadine and myself, glad in my heavy armor, managed to come through it almost uninjured. More importantly, we even had a prisoner.
It took us a while to devise a way to speak with him and I wasn't really satisfied with the way that Kelvyn felt that he understood all of what the rhodin symbolized in the dirt as far as direction went. We made our way back to the keep with our prisoner, I was hoping that someone there would be able to interrogate him.
As we approached, it looked like the ruler of the keep had found herself another group of adventurers.
This was going to be interesting.
WEEK THREE
As we moved up the hill to see what this new group would offer that we didn’t, one of the scouts approached us. “The colonel wishes to see you.”
“I do not trust those fools that the Magister is speaking with. They seem even more fresh and foolish than you.” I knew the real reason. The colonel didn’t trust that other group because they didn’t have a giant in it. Well, I couldn’t fault his logic.
“We need more results. We need you to hurry. We need you to finish this.” He walked for a bit, my and my party behind me slowly following. “With that in mind, you’ll be provided with horses to hasten your travels. Take care with them but don’t endanger your own lives over them.”
By the time we returned to Iriana with our prisoner in tow, the others were not around. I wouldn’t broach the subject. If she wanted to play games, or more likely, get results, we would see who was better. “We’ve brought you a prisoner.” It was a simple statement, one I hoped didn’t annoy her more than my earlier outburst.
She looked at the creature and cast some sort of spell upon it. The veins bulged on the creatures forehead and a thin of sweat formed as it sought to resist the strength of Iriana’s power. It spoke in it’s crude language and the magister understood what it said. She pulled forth a map, handed it to Kelvyn and with a wave of her hand, told us that the area we must now travel to was marked.
We traveled through the woods and came upon a hill. It was almost like a huge emerald, so covered in fresh green grass was it. Stone markers with runes scribed upon them surrounded the hill and Kelvyn stopped for a moment, and I wondered if he was accessing the memory pool. “Knowledge.” He said simply and walked into the stone circle.
“Some of these are runes of rest. They’ll make it easier to recover from our travels. These others, I don’t know. They’re beyond the pool, or at least, beyond my ability to access it.” He read some more over the stone but was unable to determine what some of it meant.
The litorian greenbond moved up to one of them. “It’s a Faen Poem.”
Our slumber was disturbed that night, and several others, by some noisy creature. The first time we didn’t see it, we all gathered our arms and armor, ready to sell our lives dearly in the middle of the night. When Charon explained what it was, I shrugged my shoulders and went back to sleep. Let the intelligent people worry about the breeding habits and other trivial information that beset their mind with such unimportant questions. My responsibility was to insure that the group survived.
One time we spotted a fallen tree bleeding sap. The magister and akashik muttered something about healing properties when properly treated and the greenbond, Charon walked up the hill. The greenbond almost feel back and started flailing his arms. Bugs covered him from head to toe, some type of mite I think. He rolled down the hill, trying to dislodge the creatures about him. The akashik grabbed a blanket and began to beat the bugs off him as if he were putting out a fire. “An amusing tale for the memory pool.” I thought I heard him mutter.
Jolan went up next and while the creatures swarmed over him, he remained calm and unaffected, taking the time to fill several vials with the sap. If we didn’t have the litorian with us, I wouldn’t think it wise as the rest of us were like children in the wilderness. Survival, without food or water, would be difficult. The feline humanoid though, took care of most of us needs so I wasn’t too worried.
We continued on our way. A small series of hills loomed before us. A cave entrance was guarded by two of the ram headed rhodin. We charged them. As I rushed forward, I pulled forth one of the short spears and hurled. At the range, my strength was enough to launch the missile but my physical prowess weren’t enough to guide it true. It clattered uselessly to the side.
One of them sounded a horn, and dove behind a boulder. The other did the same thing, reading himself for us. Behind me, I heard one of my comrades cry out. Were we being attacked from both sides? Turning behind, it looked like Kelvyn accidentally shot the greenbond with his short bow. Fortunately, it wasn’t a fatal wound. The magister ran up behind me, thinking to use me as cover.
Clever.
I continued to charge forth waiting for one of them to look over the rock. My chance came and this time, I was close enough to strike the creature with my hurled weapon. The sibeccai didn’t bother with his crossbow, instead just running all out to get to the creatures. That was a mistake.
From the cave mouth, more of the creatures emerged. Three charged him directly, one rushed to the boulder where the dead rhodin lay, two more ran towards where the other rhodin hid.
They would all die.
The magister chanted something and his hand crackled with energy. He rushed forward and touched one of the creatures surrounding the sibeccai. The sibecai, champion of death that he was, didn’t look like he needed help at first, biting and slashing away with his bastard sword.
I was wrong of course. Two more of the foul things emerged, their battle axes sinking deep into his flesh. I pulled forth my greatsword, finally in reach of the creatures and plunged it through the closest one. “Stand strong champion!” I shouted.
We stood back to back for long moments while the battled swirled about us. I don’t know what the others were doing, but the magister tried to account for himself at our side with his staff one or twice before realizing that the three behind the rocky outcropping were ganging up on my battle advisor.
Then more of the humanoids emerged. It was almost like a bad dream. I threw my last short spear at the three cowards who hadn’t stuck there heads up for more than an instant to blindly throw their own short spears that clattered about us.
The rhodin struck my comrade again and his eyes narrowed even as the blood seeped from between his fingers. “You’ll find that death often has a horrid bite.” His whispered to the creature and lunged forward with a final burst of strength, snapping his jaws shut on the creatures throat with such force that I heard the neck snap.
The litorian, Charon, stood over the jackal headed champion. “Go, I’ll heal him.” He pointed a clawed finger at the battle takking place behind the rocks.
I raced as fast as I could but being a giant in heavy armor wasn’t something conductive to speed. By the time I reached Kevlyn, he was badly injured. The creatures used both horns and axes in an attempt to pry him out of his armor. I shouted a challenge to them in my native tongue, trying to draw their attention away from my battered comrade but the creatures seemed intent on killing him.
I charged forward again, plunging my blade into the side of one, killing it instantly. The one directly behind it, I thought it smiled, as if in anticipation of a true challenge. To hell with him I thought as I slashed him across the back. The wound was horrible but it didn’t die. Instead, it smashed Kevlyn down and turned to face me again.
A mistake on it’s part as the magister struck him with his staff soundly. It howled in anger and tried to smash me with it’s axe, which I blocked with my blade. It’s strength was great and I could see how it’s own vitality kept alive despite the wounds that would kill a lesser beast.
I stepped back and swung my sword like a club, hitting the creature soundly in the midsection, almost bisecting it. It coughed up blood, dropped it’s weapon, and attempted to reach for me. It didn’t make it.
The magister moved back, as one of the creatures still lived. It raised it’s axe to behead the spellcaster and I shouted out a challenge again. This one, seeing what I had done to it’s other comrades, looked eagerly upon me and charged forward with such speed that I was caught unaware and it’s axe bit into my heavy armor.
Thankfully, we giants are masters of the armor craft and my armor didn’t shatter. Instead, it felt like one of my elders had smashed me with a powerful blow. I returned the favor, ending the creature’s life with a single stroke.
The greenbond moved about, using salves and bandages to insure that those downed didn’t die. He used the last of his healing spells on the champion of death who looked about, perhaps almost disappointed that he didn’t join his cause. On the ground, my friend and advisor lay still, pale and near death.
The cave however, would not wait. “Rugar, stay with him and start moving the bodies away from camp. Insure that none of them are alive to cause any more trouble.”
The cave was wide and inside, we heard moaning. The cries of the dead and dying. All about us were sick and injured rhodin women and children. They didn’t bother to move or attempt to attack us. A chained litorian, one of the scouts that left the keep weeks ago, called out to us. His leg was bent at an odd angle and he had pitiful written on his face. “You must return me to the keep at once. I have information for the lady and must not be held here a minute longer.”
I didn’t quite sneer at him but was amazed at his audacity. “Hurry man, I’ve been here for three weeks, a prisoner of these damned things. Their hunting party must surely be getting ready to return any minute now.”
I picked up the chain from the ground. I may not have been the tallest giant my race ever spawned, but for my size, I was strong. A few moments latter, I was flushed and tired, but the chain broke.
I looked about. The rhodin didn’t move but merely awaited the inevitable. They were without protectors now, but they had children. If those children grew up, they might attempt to retake the keep. I knew that I could go outside and tell Rugar to finish off these pitiful creatures, but as the leader, that was my job. That was my burden.
I picked up the greatsword and walked towards one of the monsters.
“Don’t do it Ko-Lathis. Don’t stoop to their level. They’re not combatants. They’re nothing. They’re innocents.” The magister, his hand crackling with that same power I saw him slay one of the creatures earlier with, rose and stood between me and the creature destined to die under my blade.
“I appreciate your concerns but tell me one thing. Will you stay with them and insure that they never taste human flesh again? That they never raise their war banners against my people or yours? Will your devote your life to this cause? It’s a yes or no answer.” I looked him straight in the eye and while he didn’t flinch, he hesitated a second.
“We have no idea what they’ll become. They may look back on this and think of humans with kindness.”
“You’re wrong.” Was all I said as I went to move past him and start the butchery.
One doesn’t walk the battlefields without learning how to notice subtle things. The change in the magister’s stance said that Jolan would now fight to defend his ideals. Poor idealist.
He lunched forward with his hand. I sidestepped his clumsy attack. “Don’t do it.” I told him. “Accept my authority in this manner.”
He raised his hand again, like a living weapon.
I turned my blade to its flat side and smacked him upside the head. He hit the ground like a sack of potatoes.
I turned to face Charon. “Would you attack me to save their lives?” Was I completely wrong here? Did they not see the future menace that these creatures posed?
“I do not agree with you giant but the lady at the keep grows impatient. These are probably the same rhodins who kept the keep all those years. I do not strand against you, but I don’t approve.”
Then the slaughter commenced. It was bloody work but it didn’t take as long as I thought it would. When I finished, I stood in front of the scout litorian, the former prisoner.
“You said that you have information for Yaren and Iriana. You’ll tell it to me.” I noticed that some of the blood had pooled on my fingers and flicked it at the litorian’s feet, growling as I did so.
“No, only Iriana can be told this.”
My head swam. This fool didn’t understand that Iriana was our employer. Perhaps he didn’t trust us. Perhaps he feared for his life. I hoped that my slaughter of these creatures would intimidate him but now, he feared for his life, but didn’t fear me enough to tell me what I wanted to know.
“Charon, get this madman away from me. You must help me return to the keep.”
They exchanged words for a few moments while my anger grew. Apparently, Charon wasn’t pleased with what the scout said either. He eventually walked up to me. “As I said before, do what you will. He doesn’t understand Iriana’s impatience or our inability to take him directly to the keep.”
I walked outside. “Rugar. Interrogate the man inside. Inform him of who you are and what you do. If he fails to comply, do what you feel best.”
Soon, the scout, whose name was Gersted, was singing. A champion of death, even one untrained in the arts of intimidation, was a terrible specter, especially when he held the freshly severed head of a large rhodin. Apparently we had to go further to seek the ring. More travels. I was not pleased. This whole affair were turning into a more longer, much bloodier affair than I wanted.
The magister awoke a few hours latter. Jolan looked at me with intense hatred burning in his eyes but made no move towards me. Had I made a mistake in not killing him? Would this now haunt me?
The following morning, I asked simply. “Is this something that you can live with?”
Jolan’s answer was a flat no. “I’m leaving. I’m returning to the keep and taking Gersted with me.” There was a challenge in that voice, one backed by steel, but I wasn’t going to murder him. He was, if only for a little while, my comrade. He tried to convince Kelvyn of my evil, my terrible actions and get him to go with us.
To my surprise, Kelvyn thought that it was indeed wrong to slaughter them but also saw my point that just because they weren’t a danger now, was no promise that they would remain that way and like the greenbond, took a neutral stance.
I extended my hand towards Jolan and he spat at my feet. “I don’t shake hands with murderers.”
“Then the next time I see you, do I have to assume that you’ve come for justice?” My hand clenched itself into a fist at my side.
“No, I’ll leave murder and it’s glories to you giant.” With that, he rode out of the camp.
My first true test, recovering the Ebonring, wasn’t going well. Kraze remained at the keep, the magister leaving in disgust and my own comrades doubting my wisdom. The sad thing was, perhaps they were right. I was much better as a soldier than a leader. I knew how to do one thing and did that thing well. The morality escaped me. I only hoped that it wouldn’t interfere with our mission.
NEW UPDATE
As I watched Jolan and the wounded litorian leave, I knew that my group would have to act fast. There might not be as much forgiveness in Iriana's heart if we didn't return with that ring soon.
With no time to waste, we headed off in the direction we believed the ring to be. The traveling wasn't easy with me and my comrades heavily armed and armored but with the greenbond's help, we managed to avoid the worst of the natural hazards and didn't have to dig too deeply into our iron rations. It's too bad that in addition to finding the food that the litorian couldn't cook it. Ah well, I couldn't expect Charon to do too much. After all, he wasn't really a member of our party. Still, it was nice to have someone competent in the wilderness with us.
One one morning, as we prepeared to leave for camp, we encountered a group of adventurers or at least, I assume adventurers. Their leader, a human with fiery red hair and a rakish smile, moved up into our encampment twirling about a greatsword as if it were a child's toy. “I am one who hates the rhodin and their thrice-damned allies!” He boldly proclaimed.
Whatever element of surprise he may have had was lost as my own sword was out at this point. My anger began to boil over. Here I was killing rhodin by the dozens and this fool claimed I was their ally? This human? Why did his people not all have this brave hundreds of years ago? I explained to him that we actually hailed from Ebonring Keep and were on a mission for the Magister who now ruled it.
“All who come from the keep are allies of the rhodin.” I was about to say more but didn't need to. A snarl from Rugar, our jackal headed champion of death, drew the attention of the speaker from me. “Does this look like something a friend would do?” He chuckled as he held up one of the largest rhodin skull's that he'd taken as a grisly trophy. The man's perky demeanor instantly fled and he grew silent. “I have misjudged you I see. Farewell.”
The funny part is I kept thing that these fools thought that we were supposed to be afraid of them. With my battle advisor and champion of death to back my play, I don't think that the human realized how close he came to committing suicide by attacking us.
We continued our travels but felt that something was watching us. The greenbond seemed unconcerned though so I gave it no thought but when the champion of death started sniffing the air and Kelyvn slowed down and started to look about with narrowed eyes, I knew something was up.
That's when the tree attacked. Well, not actually the tree but something dropped from above, the same color as the tree with horns, claws and sharp teeth. Kelvyn managed to leap back, taking only a minor gash in his shoulder. By the time I charged the thing, it was already in the sky again where my comrades hurled spear and shot bolts at it. It ducked behind the tree and we tried to keep our eyes on it but failed to do so as the thing leapt down again upon my war advisor. Poor akashic. He wasn't meant for such combat.
The thing wasn't as lucky this time though as I managed to land a solid blow, followed by my sibecai comrade, killing the thing. “This is a dire omen if even the green turns against us.” The litorian whispered. I agreed with him. It seemed that every day this journey became more and more trouble.
That night would prove me correct. As I sat on watch with the greenbond, small spiders attacked. I laughed at first as the things weren't able to pierce my armor, but the litorian, and my sleeping comrades weren't as lucky. The venom in the spider's bites began to take their toll with the champion of death struggling to swing his sword and the greendbond almost collapsing due to strength loss. Only I, with my heavy armor, managed to avoid most of the bites. We managed to clean up the spiders and move our camp and as we did so, the first thing out of the Champion of Death's mouth was, “And let us never speak of the spiders again.”
The next morning, most of our comrades were still weak but we went back to make sure that there would be no more spider attacks. Perhaps that was a mistake as a giant spider, concealed in the trees above, dropped on us. This wasn't the same type of scenario though. Half our group wasn't asleep and unarmored. We made quick work of the create and searched it's lair, finding a few gold and a heavy gold idol that resembled a loresong faen dancing without shoes on a tabletop.
We continued on the road and had the good fortune to encounter a young verrik lady named Anyanca. We shared food and campfire with the litorian managing to find enough food for all of us. She claimed to be a witch studying the Floating Forest and had lived in the area for a few years, currently hunting down plants and herbs before losing track of time. We shared some of our own stories and made her feel at home.
It was a good thing we did as in the morning, she provided us with some healing and some hazelnuts that she claims would help us when we were pressed hard. A good change of luck from the way things had been going so far.
As we neared the edge of the forest, we saw a small hillock. A large stone was set before it and as we drew closer, we recognized it as a burial mound, one large enough for a giant with the stone acting as a grave marker. Writing was carved upon it in four languages, I recognized the Common and Giant and my comrades informed me that the others were Faen and Verrik. The text read, “Here lies the body of Ji-Condur, beloved of all free peoples. Warrior, leader, scholar, hero of the war against the dramojh, and the builder of Ebonring Keep. A giant among giants, he came closer to blending the Wardance with the Caretaker than perhaps any other ever will. We are lessened by his passing.”
Ah, here was one of my people. One of the legends of my people even. I nodded solemnly towards the marker, hoping that the reverence I felt would be felt by Ji-Condur himself. My moment of peace was not to last as I heard another walking down the road, a heavily armed and armored someone, a large someone walking down the road. It was the distant straing of a song being sung badly in a deep bass voice and the one singing it was a gaint of a man with pale green skin and pointed eiaths with no hair.
His armor, a breastplace and his huge sword at his side, indicated that he was a warrior of no small skill. Especially the sword as it was larger than my own blade and was dire on top of that. He slung a pick in a slow motion as he moved. As he drew closer, he looked us up and down, “Do yeh fear the chorrim?”
“Why fear what isn't fearsome?” I returned. To this he merely shrugged his shoulders and began walking towards the grave.
“What goes on here?”
“I've come to put right a wrong. Folks be thinkin' this Ji-Condur was some king of hero or other. I'll hear it no more. He was a right bastard like all his folk.” His gaze settled heavily on me and my hands clenched the hilt of my greatsword until I felt the knuckles threaten to tear. “I'll let 'em all know today what ol' Merek thinks of 'em.” He hefted the pick and pointed at the mount. “Any of yeah got a problem with that?”
“Your opinions are yours to express freely. A gift that the giants gave the land when we liberated it from the dramojh. You're right to dig up this mount however, is not and must be earned.”
Well, perhaps that was a mistake. He charged me dropped the pick and pulling out the sword. Gods, he was a huge bastard! The sword crushed down on me and I felt the world spin. I knew that I hadn't pulled my own blade up in time to block the sword. I couldn't see, couldn't breath. It was as if a thousand hands crushed my chest and prevented me from breathing. Then relief came over me as the greenbond laid a soothing hand on my shoulder. “Strike him down giant or we will all die!” he snarled through fangs.
And I did. I struck him but was still so stunned from the dire huge greatsword cutting into my flesh, that I failed to do anything other than move him back a step or two. What happened next was amazing. Perhaps inspired by seeing a giant, one of those who gave his race sentience, or perhaps some dark whisper of death itself drove him, but Rugar launched himself forward with a vengeance. He plunged the bastard sword two handed into the chorrim's leg and through it and pulled the blade down, cracking the leg open like a chicken bone.
The chorrim's eyes rolled up in his head and he died. Thus would perish all of those who sought to taint the giant's legacy to the land and personally, all those who continued to delay us in getting the ring.
The greenbond spent the last of his magic's healing me, and we continued on, towards the mountains to seek out some trees that grew a mile high.
NEW WEEK
The danger of the journey continued to weigh heavily on my mind. Did my forefathers liberate the land only to have wandering beasts kill all those brave enough to walk the roads? Perhaps I would have to dedicate my life to making sure that the roads themselves remained free? I knew that my own skills continued to grow.
It was a strange thing coming so close to death only to be revived time and time again by magic. I also knew that despite the great benefits I reaped with spellcasters fighting alongside me, that it was nothing I was personally interested in. It was something to plan for, something to take note of, but not something I wished to master. No, my greatsword called out to me, and I felt as if I had achieved a new level of proficiency with the blade, my strikes more accurate, my blows more telling.
But would that be enough? As I looked about at my other three comrades, they all seemed to be changing as well. My akashic comrade perhaps the most. I'd started to show him the proper way to swing a sword, the proper way to take a blow, to roll with the force. He was actually a little scary in his intent to deliver upon the world a war master whose skills were only equaled by his battle prowess.
As we continued to the Iber Mountains, we could see them ahead. Their color running from stone gray juts of lifeless rock to golden stretcheso f wild grass with rich drark brown sections with patches of green where the bushes were denser and the grass healthier by the river itself.
My litorian comrade suspected that the largest dark brown and green patches were where we would find trees a mile high, perhaps two days travel from where we were. Gods, I hoped that he was right. I grew weary of the road and the cooking. I grew frustrated at not having a place to bathe at my convenience, having to rely on the greenbond Charon to find fresh water for us. While I enjoyed the challenges that the open road brought, I hated the circumstances that I found myself in.
Still, I had swore oath to find this ring and I would do it.
As we marched on, we heard the ring of hoof beats. Looking, we saw a long ride over a hill, not even two hundred feat away form us. From where he stood, it was easy to make out that he appeared to be a traveler, not some raving bandit. I hoped that he was skilled with that weapon he carried as the roads proved incredibly dangerous these days.
He raised a hand, calling out to us. “Hail travelers. I am Liam of De-Shamod. Have you a moment to talk?”
Kelvyn always had a moment to talk. That's what he did. Although lately, perhaps he spoke with steel instead. He waved the man over.
“Ah, greeting. As I said, I'm Liam Ulikksson of De-Shamod. A scholar by calling and a mediator by trade. I'm going to Ebonring Keep on business or hope to anyway. Do you know of any happenings in the area? How about the coalition's assulat? Were they successful?”
Kelvyn began to regale the man with tales, some probably made up there right on the spot. Truly he belonged to the Liar's Club if for nothing else than his convincing ability to weave a tale. He then began to weave our own encounters, leaving out our part of looking for the Ebonring, painting us as wandering mercenaries clearing the road for gold.
“Such trails you've overcome. I'm impressed by your abilities if even half your tales are true.” That's when it struck me. Kelvyn spoke so easily with the man because he was a fellow akashic. After my battle advisor finished speaking, Liam told his tale.
“I'm here for a consortium of ladies and gentlemen who believe that Ebonring Keep has failed in its task of keeping the Ebonring itself safe. The conquering of the keep by rhodin is proof. The consortium is certain that the rhodin couldn't have found all the secrets of the keep, but the next masters might. Since the ring can't be protected, it must be destroyed. I'm going to keep in order to persuade those in power to agree with my emplo9yers and discuss the destruction of the ring.”
Well, he certainly kept nothing back. If such was his mission, I mentally wished him good luck. I had no intention of telling him that in my opinion, the ring wouldn't be given over. That magister who ruled there now had too much a liking not only for power, but for control.
“Ah, I see you shaking your heads amongst yourself. Do you think my mission impossible? Well, the problem is that the Ebonring is too dangerous a power to exist. The giants should've destroyed it a long time ago. Because they are a noble and kind race,” he looked my way, “they assumed that all who held it would be of the same nature.” He shook his head sadly. “Alas, that is not so.
“The ring can be used for good, but with limits to its power. The giants didn't destroy it precisely because of this. The Ebonring must be destroyed least true evil gain it again and turn it's malevolent powers against the land, undoing all that the noble giants have brought with them.”
It was a pleasant encounter for once. But as the day wore on, and the next day arrived, I knew it wouldn't last. The litorian, who scouted ahead often for food and water, came to us. “Rhodin. A group of eight, coming down the road.”
I looked at our surroundings. The hills would provide us with brief cover and I knew that we would ambush and kill them. And despite their superior numbers, despite the lack of the magister, it was so. The champion of death, Rugar, took great pleasure in rending the creatures apart with sword and fang while the akashic took great pride in his greater combat abilities, using his warhammer to deadly effect. Me? I merely waded into the thick of them, using my greater bond with the sword to deal fatal damage.
Of more interest and importance than that encounter, was our encoutner with the stone of Faran Oldrun. A massive rock, gray, rectangular in shape about fifteen feet tall by five feet wide covered in runes and writing caught out attention. With it's size, how could it not? After a few moments, my battle advisor read the writing.
“My name is Faran Oldrun
And I know my death is near.
I would share my treasure
With one who has no fear.
If you are such a heroes
Touch these words that I do write
And call out “I challenge!
I possess the will and might!”
If you are truly worthy,
My treasure you may take.
But if you are a coward
Your life you will forsake.”
Such a challenge could not go unheeded. I spoke the words and the runes came alive with a red malignant glow. They began to dance in front of my eyes, looking like worms and the glow spread over myself and the rock entire. A feeling of dread built up in me, something I couldn't swing my sword at, something I couldn't fight. I felt terror began to drag at my heart. Was I truly a coward?
A surge of energy sent me back, almost falling over myself in my haste. My eyes began to ear and my blood boiled even as sweat dripped down my face. But I didn't have time to think of that fear as a dog over four feet at the shoulder with blood red fur looked at me with pure evil in it's glowing red eyes.
I would redeem myself through combat, even though my fingers slipped and I felt shaken. “Stay back comrades! I must confront this alone!” And they did. They stepped back and out of the way as I charged.
Then the thing opened it's mouth and fire burst forth. I wasn't too badly burned and the pain helped me focus past the fear. Rugar, who stood behind me, wasn't so lucky, crying out in pain as the flame surprised him. I struck the beast soundly on the skull, almost splitting it's head apart like a ripe melon. The thing lunged forward but my armor saved me. With a counter swing, I cut the creature's stomach open and it died. “I have the will!” I cried, but couldn't shake that feeling of dread.
Rugar, perhaps upset that he'd been burnt by my foe, decided to take the test next. I couldn't tell what happened in his mind, but physically, he looked like I must have, shaken. And once again, one of those strength hounds with fire breath leapt forward with it's flaming attack, hitting me as the bystander this time. It took Rugar a while, it seemed as if the Champion of Death wasn't up to the challenge but finally, after much back and forth, he overcame the thing.
When Kelvyn stood up to touch the rock, I wondered if he would want our help? His new training notwithstanding, perhaps he wouldn't be able to finish the creature? But no, he didn't have that problem. When the red glow enveloped him and faded, a sack stood before him filled with platinum coins.
“Well done my friend.” I had to grit my teeth at his success. I was very proud of him but at the same time, jealous. Well, perhaps it wasn't something that could be helped but apparently, willpower does have it's place.
With that over, we continued on our way to the keep.
In this instance, I was on the road with Kelvyn, a robust Akashic who I've known for years. He was a strange skill master who felt that his brotherhood were often too concerned about things that didn't matter and that the true use of skill was to insure that future generations could learn from previous wars and augment their knowledge in order to secure their future. If more humans thought like him, perhaps the giants wouldn't be needed?
My other companion, Rugar, was a sibeccai, a strange one that championed the cause of death. I didn't know him long, but his loyalty to the group, at this point at least, was unquestionable. His respect for my status and his interest in Kelvyn's knowledge, apparently kept us safe from being caught up in his cause.
Still, from what little I do know of him, I suspect that it's because his village was wiped out by the undead, rather than a need to extinguish life, that he champions death. With his pitch black skin and bastard sword, he almost looked like some ancient snarling god of death. In some ways I was glad that he didn't defer to me as other sibeccai tend to. It showed that he wasn't a standard member of that race. On the other hand, it was strange at the same time. I was used to a certain respect from them.
We entered Lothis, a small town on a day like any other. I was curious to see how a small town without a steward would be. I was surprised by the amount of order kept in the town. Were my people really needed still? We heard of a famous pub, the Liar's Club, but I had no interest in that place. Instead, I spent most of my time honing my blade, sharpening my skills. Kelvyn on the other hand, often went there to see if there were any clues or leads for a merry band of adventurers to follow. The sibecai was bored, wishing to end the lives of the undead, wishing to taste battle once again.
That opportunity didn't take long to come. As I practiced with my greatsword, I heard the calls of a lad looking for heroes to help Ebonring Keep. This was the opportunity Kelvyn was looking for as we were now allowed into the Liar's Club,for a free drink no less, to swear oath that we would seek out the Keep and assist them in whatever way we could. I was more interested in Iriana Truthspeaker and what she needed. My patience for small things were never great.
The Liar's Club itself wasn't what I expected. They told stories and seemed to be in good spirits at all times. Patrons sat eating and drinking with hardly a look around, completely comfortable, as if they were at home. At the club, we meet two others, Krace, a practitioner of sword and spell, and Jolan, a magister, older than anyone else in the group, apparently a librarian who came late in life to his calling. The drinks were poured by none other than Bean Silvertongue, a storyteller famous in these parts, a person that Kelvyn took great pains to introduce himself to.
I didn't know if he was trying to seduce her or steal through her mind. It would've been humorous to see that small faen take down Kelvyn. He's skills at war were not quite there yet.
While we gathered provisions, Krace and Jolan told me of an encounter they had with some thugs in the city who were attempting to steal an item from a child. Being of sound spell and staff, they took care of the attackers. We worked our way through the markeplace and the Mith & Mith Mercantile warehouse, gathering what we needed but always short on funds for the truly superior equipment.
Several of the shop keepers were very quick to speak with us of various happenings in the city and my comrades also thought to stay for a day or two but here's where being a giant paid as I was able to convince them that we'd spent enough time on the city and that the Keep would not wait forever for us.
The road. Ah yes, the road. Here, I was surprised by how my people had failed to keep the road safe. Not only did we encounter wild dogs, but rhodins, and bandits. I was shocked to see so many of the rhodin. These creatures were humanoids, but were of the blood of beasts. They were once powerful but now, like much evil in the line, on the decline.We were fortunate that we were able to capture one of the bandits alive and discover some other power in the area gathering bandits and rogues to his banner.
With all of that blood, we still felt the call of the road. Ebonring Keep didn't greet us alone though. On the way we encountered a strange little being, one Lecursi, a small reptillian humanoid who posed no threat to us. He was barely armed and I gave him one of the short spears that we had retrieved from the dead.
We were unlucky in that Devil Dogs, foul things crafted long ago, still roamed freely. Our sibeccai compaion was foolish and allowed them to get near the camp. He claimed that he felt a great empathy for them since his own people were once beast. What he didn't realize was that this was a hunting group and they almost made short work of our group during his watch.
It was fortuante that I given Lecursi that spear. He helped to us alive during the night attack. The small one didn't enter the keep with us, but traveled onwards while we entered. He claimed that there was much in the Floating Forest that he needed to discover on his own.
Our getting to the keep almost involved some spilt blood in and of itself. A female litorian with a full scout party approached us without fear or hesitation, but hostile words and assumptions on our part almost wound up getting us killed. Fortunately, Yaren, the litorian who lead this pack, was very understanding, even though she looked like she wanted to wipe us out.
The people of the keep were glad to see us, but not overly so. We wandered about until told of our quest, the recovery of the item, the Ebonring itself. It seemed a simple enough matter. The keep was held by the rhodin and taken back by these stelward warriors but somehow, a large number of the goat men had escaped and taken the ring with them.
We settled down for dinner that night but there were problems. We were fortunate to be warned, well, I should say some of us, were fortunate to be warned that the cook was a little too fond of experimentation. Many of my comrades fell ill that night, but a few of us avoided the spiced stew. Settling down for the night, we discovered in the morning that one of our comrades was gone, apparently kidnapped by some ghost in the main hall. We saved him and provided a proper burial for those remains.
Strangely enough, it looked like he was beaten about the face with some heavy object. Speaking with a few people, I learned that he complemented the cook on his food and that the cook took insult from it for some reason and soundly beat Krace down.
Now all we have to do is insure that we can find the ring.
WEEK TWO:
After Krace's capture, we made a search of the entire building. We found some evidence of another exit behind the keep's storage area. It took a long time to clear out and a lot of the goods there were rotten anyway, but we finally managed to clean it out and found the trapdoor leading down and out.
As we did this, the scouting party returned. The litorians were smug in their ability to find the exits used by the goat men and apparently, they had found something but didn't investigate the caves. I thought that the trapdoor would lead us out that way but was determined to verify that was indeed the truth.
Krace decided that he would stay at the Keep in case of attack. I really thought that he just wanted to stay behind and make sure that there were no plots against us. He still rubbed his face from where the cook had beaten him soundly with a heavy frying pan. I'm surprised that Krace hadn't run him through.
The bars were dug into the wall and were old and rusted. I went down first to test them. With my heavy weight, I figured it'd be a good test of their strength. Of course, my war advisor thought that I should go last so that the rest of them wouldn't be put out if the pipes did break but he should've said something before I went down.
It was dark and I yelled up for them to light a lantern. They were concerned about my safety. While I couldn't see, my greatsword's keen edge gleamed with enough light that I felt comfortable down here. They had the lantern ready and lowered it. The place stank but didn't seem any different than any other network of caves I'd read about.
I was surprised to note that in Krace's place, a litorian joined our group, one Charon. His fur was darker than most of his race's and I couldn't quite tell the hue of it but Jovan, our magister told me that he suspected that this wasn't a standard scout, but a greenbond. I shrugged my shoulders at that news. He didn't fight and while he'd be useful, I'd still have to protect him. His unarmored body would make a sweet spot for those things which lurked in such dark caverns.
I lead the group forward while the greenbond brought up the read. Behind me, the magister carried the lantern, shining down the passages that twisted and turned in the dark earth. The smell intensified and we heard laughter but it wasn't from any human mouth that we heard it. No, I recognized this laughter, that of the foul rhodin.
They saw the lantern's light and I knew what was first. The shot spears would be hurled and they'd break out their axes. I charged forward, trying to keep my blade in front of me like a shield. Behind me I heard the others moving and arranging themselves like fools instead of just charging straight ahead.
I staggered as one of the spears struck a sound blow against my shoulder but returned the favor by cracking open the first rhodin's skull with a two handed overhead slash. Behind me the Champion of Death moved forward with a speed that astonished me. He slew first one, cutting it's head straight down the center, then a second by stabbing it through the arm into it's body and then struck his blade deep into and through a third. The others and even myself at that point were merely getting in his way. I don't know if it was something he had against these creatures or if he was trying to make up for earlier mistakes but his fighting here earned him my respect.
After we cleaned up, we moved forward, going once again into tight corridors and passages where we could only move one abreast. The passageway opened up again into a larger room and the magister made the mistake of lifting the lamp upwards where bats slept until the light hit them. The bats swarmed about us, blinding us and biting us.
I did what every giant does when faced with obstacles. I pushed forward. Within minutes I found the opposite end of the passage, covering my face with my hands and just moving forward. Behind me, I heard Jovan screaming as the bats continued to bite him even as I heard others yelling and trying to drag him out of the room. My akashic battle mentor swung his torch to and fro but didn't seem to be having any luck smashing the bats away and the champions of death didn't fare too well either.
I began calling out to them, giving them a guide to move out. I saw the bullseye lantern drop and sputter out as the bites overcame the magister and I saw the dark shape of the champion bend over and once again, prove his wroth as he dragged the magister out.
When we exited that chamber, the greenbond noted that this was indeed the cave they had noticed on their patrols.
Heading back to the keep, we noticed that the champion of death, Rugar, wasn't doing well. His wounds were puffy and his joins swollen. Perhaps fighting in those dark caves brought him some disease? The healers at the keep verified this and started to work on a cure. It looked like it would take him at least the better part of a week to recover.
I decide that we would head out and recover some items we buried when we interrupted the fight between the rhodin and bandits. It would take time but we needed the funds. Things weren't cheap here and none of us were heavily armed or armored. If not for the short spears of the rhodin, I wouldn't have even have that as a 'proper' ranged weapon.
We left Rugar behind and brought the greenbond with us. I thought it better to see the scout's abilities for more than a single encounter and his healing ability would continue to prove useful. Our trip north was interrupted on the way out by a pair of giant bees but I made short work of them. On the way back, the insect world attacked us again, this time in the form of giant beetles.
I readied my blade as they attacked and split the first one down the middle. The next one moved up and I pinned it with my black boot. The magister and greenbond didn't fare as well, as I knew they wouldn't. They weren't armored heavily enough. Kelvyn however, managed to hold his own, his heavy warhammer smashing down, cracking the hard shell.
When we returned to the keep, our patron waited for us outside. She was visibly agitated. “You swore oath that you would recover the Ebonring.” Her tone was cool and very calculated.
Her bringing up to me the importance of an oath was foolish. If not for my people, she'd still be a slave, not a powerful magister. But what really bothered me were other factors that she apparently didn't take into consideration.
Through clenched teeth, I managed to say, in what I thought was an even voice. “Understand that we have limited funds and equipment. We've nearly been killed several times while on the road. You sit here in the keep and do study. You're place in this keep is one of importance but you're safe to do what you need. We have received no funding, equipment or utility from you and yours outside of a place to rest and regain our health.”
She looked like she was going to say something but I continued. “Our comrade Rugar even now is recovering for his own wounds. Even though we left the keep, we wouldn't be searching for the Ebonring without him. We need his strength in this matter. Do not take tone with a Hu-Charad, especially one whose spent his life in the ways of war. Keep to your books magister and have the money ready for when we finish.”
This didn't please her at all but I'd spoken my peace and walked away from her. Behind me, I could hear Kelvyn trying to patch things over. He wouldn't glower and use his height to intimidate her but damn that woman and her impatience. What mattered a few days when our lives were actively on the line? We weren't castle guards sitting safe and secure and their failure to arm us made us take things into our own hands.
I quickly bought a suit of heavy brigadine and made plans for our next outing. I spoke with Rugar who seemed to regret missing the opportunity to turn his blade against more foes in the wild. This indicated that he was ready to go.
We traveled to the Floating Forest. Massive trees in a formation that is difficult to explain to anyone who hasn't seen it. The trees were of such mass and girth that they humbled me. It almost looked like islands of earth floated above us, carried on the massive branches of the trees themselves.
We continued to move through the woods and kept our senses fully alert. This wasn't really needed however as the group of rhodin that approached us was loud and boisterous with anger burning their senses. We stood on opposite sides of a path and when they moved forward, we launched ourselves at them.
I overestimated my charge and missed but Rugar struck true. Kelvyn's short bow shot out and injured one, while the trusty spells of the greenbond and magister flew into the enemy rhodin, missing them. This wasn't a good sign. Especially as I looked at the sheer number of them.
It didn't matter. I was Hu-Charad and would prevail.
I don't know all of what happened during the fight but as I've always known, the warriors lead the way in victory. The greenbond and magister were both almost killed, even Rugar was badly injured, but Kelvyn, clad in his brigadine and myself, glad in my heavy armor, managed to come through it almost uninjured. More importantly, we even had a prisoner.
It took us a while to devise a way to speak with him and I wasn't really satisfied with the way that Kelvyn felt that he understood all of what the rhodin symbolized in the dirt as far as direction went. We made our way back to the keep with our prisoner, I was hoping that someone there would be able to interrogate him.
As we approached, it looked like the ruler of the keep had found herself another group of adventurers.
This was going to be interesting.
WEEK THREE
As we moved up the hill to see what this new group would offer that we didn’t, one of the scouts approached us. “The colonel wishes to see you.”
“I do not trust those fools that the Magister is speaking with. They seem even more fresh and foolish than you.” I knew the real reason. The colonel didn’t trust that other group because they didn’t have a giant in it. Well, I couldn’t fault his logic.
“We need more results. We need you to hurry. We need you to finish this.” He walked for a bit, my and my party behind me slowly following. “With that in mind, you’ll be provided with horses to hasten your travels. Take care with them but don’t endanger your own lives over them.”
By the time we returned to Iriana with our prisoner in tow, the others were not around. I wouldn’t broach the subject. If she wanted to play games, or more likely, get results, we would see who was better. “We’ve brought you a prisoner.” It was a simple statement, one I hoped didn’t annoy her more than my earlier outburst.
She looked at the creature and cast some sort of spell upon it. The veins bulged on the creatures forehead and a thin of sweat formed as it sought to resist the strength of Iriana’s power. It spoke in it’s crude language and the magister understood what it said. She pulled forth a map, handed it to Kelvyn and with a wave of her hand, told us that the area we must now travel to was marked.
We traveled through the woods and came upon a hill. It was almost like a huge emerald, so covered in fresh green grass was it. Stone markers with runes scribed upon them surrounded the hill and Kelvyn stopped for a moment, and I wondered if he was accessing the memory pool. “Knowledge.” He said simply and walked into the stone circle.
“Some of these are runes of rest. They’ll make it easier to recover from our travels. These others, I don’t know. They’re beyond the pool, or at least, beyond my ability to access it.” He read some more over the stone but was unable to determine what some of it meant.
The litorian greenbond moved up to one of them. “It’s a Faen Poem.”
Our slumber was disturbed that night, and several others, by some noisy creature. The first time we didn’t see it, we all gathered our arms and armor, ready to sell our lives dearly in the middle of the night. When Charon explained what it was, I shrugged my shoulders and went back to sleep. Let the intelligent people worry about the breeding habits and other trivial information that beset their mind with such unimportant questions. My responsibility was to insure that the group survived.
One time we spotted a fallen tree bleeding sap. The magister and akashik muttered something about healing properties when properly treated and the greenbond, Charon walked up the hill. The greenbond almost feel back and started flailing his arms. Bugs covered him from head to toe, some type of mite I think. He rolled down the hill, trying to dislodge the creatures about him. The akashik grabbed a blanket and began to beat the bugs off him as if he were putting out a fire. “An amusing tale for the memory pool.” I thought I heard him mutter.
Jolan went up next and while the creatures swarmed over him, he remained calm and unaffected, taking the time to fill several vials with the sap. If we didn’t have the litorian with us, I wouldn’t think it wise as the rest of us were like children in the wilderness. Survival, without food or water, would be difficult. The feline humanoid though, took care of most of us needs so I wasn’t too worried.
We continued on our way. A small series of hills loomed before us. A cave entrance was guarded by two of the ram headed rhodin. We charged them. As I rushed forward, I pulled forth one of the short spears and hurled. At the range, my strength was enough to launch the missile but my physical prowess weren’t enough to guide it true. It clattered uselessly to the side.
One of them sounded a horn, and dove behind a boulder. The other did the same thing, reading himself for us. Behind me, I heard one of my comrades cry out. Were we being attacked from both sides? Turning behind, it looked like Kelvyn accidentally shot the greenbond with his short bow. Fortunately, it wasn’t a fatal wound. The magister ran up behind me, thinking to use me as cover.
Clever.
I continued to charge forth waiting for one of them to look over the rock. My chance came and this time, I was close enough to strike the creature with my hurled weapon. The sibeccai didn’t bother with his crossbow, instead just running all out to get to the creatures. That was a mistake.
From the cave mouth, more of the creatures emerged. Three charged him directly, one rushed to the boulder where the dead rhodin lay, two more ran towards where the other rhodin hid.
They would all die.
The magister chanted something and his hand crackled with energy. He rushed forward and touched one of the creatures surrounding the sibeccai. The sibecai, champion of death that he was, didn’t look like he needed help at first, biting and slashing away with his bastard sword.
I was wrong of course. Two more of the foul things emerged, their battle axes sinking deep into his flesh. I pulled forth my greatsword, finally in reach of the creatures and plunged it through the closest one. “Stand strong champion!” I shouted.
We stood back to back for long moments while the battled swirled about us. I don’t know what the others were doing, but the magister tried to account for himself at our side with his staff one or twice before realizing that the three behind the rocky outcropping were ganging up on my battle advisor.
Then more of the humanoids emerged. It was almost like a bad dream. I threw my last short spear at the three cowards who hadn’t stuck there heads up for more than an instant to blindly throw their own short spears that clattered about us.
The rhodin struck my comrade again and his eyes narrowed even as the blood seeped from between his fingers. “You’ll find that death often has a horrid bite.” His whispered to the creature and lunged forward with a final burst of strength, snapping his jaws shut on the creatures throat with such force that I heard the neck snap.
The litorian, Charon, stood over the jackal headed champion. “Go, I’ll heal him.” He pointed a clawed finger at the battle takking place behind the rocks.
I raced as fast as I could but being a giant in heavy armor wasn’t something conductive to speed. By the time I reached Kevlyn, he was badly injured. The creatures used both horns and axes in an attempt to pry him out of his armor. I shouted a challenge to them in my native tongue, trying to draw their attention away from my battered comrade but the creatures seemed intent on killing him.
I charged forward again, plunging my blade into the side of one, killing it instantly. The one directly behind it, I thought it smiled, as if in anticipation of a true challenge. To hell with him I thought as I slashed him across the back. The wound was horrible but it didn’t die. Instead, it smashed Kevlyn down and turned to face me again.
A mistake on it’s part as the magister struck him with his staff soundly. It howled in anger and tried to smash me with it’s axe, which I blocked with my blade. It’s strength was great and I could see how it’s own vitality kept alive despite the wounds that would kill a lesser beast.
I stepped back and swung my sword like a club, hitting the creature soundly in the midsection, almost bisecting it. It coughed up blood, dropped it’s weapon, and attempted to reach for me. It didn’t make it.
The magister moved back, as one of the creatures still lived. It raised it’s axe to behead the spellcaster and I shouted out a challenge again. This one, seeing what I had done to it’s other comrades, looked eagerly upon me and charged forward with such speed that I was caught unaware and it’s axe bit into my heavy armor.
Thankfully, we giants are masters of the armor craft and my armor didn’t shatter. Instead, it felt like one of my elders had smashed me with a powerful blow. I returned the favor, ending the creature’s life with a single stroke.
The greenbond moved about, using salves and bandages to insure that those downed didn’t die. He used the last of his healing spells on the champion of death who looked about, perhaps almost disappointed that he didn’t join his cause. On the ground, my friend and advisor lay still, pale and near death.
The cave however, would not wait. “Rugar, stay with him and start moving the bodies away from camp. Insure that none of them are alive to cause any more trouble.”
The cave was wide and inside, we heard moaning. The cries of the dead and dying. All about us were sick and injured rhodin women and children. They didn’t bother to move or attempt to attack us. A chained litorian, one of the scouts that left the keep weeks ago, called out to us. His leg was bent at an odd angle and he had pitiful written on his face. “You must return me to the keep at once. I have information for the lady and must not be held here a minute longer.”
I didn’t quite sneer at him but was amazed at his audacity. “Hurry man, I’ve been here for three weeks, a prisoner of these damned things. Their hunting party must surely be getting ready to return any minute now.”
I picked up the chain from the ground. I may not have been the tallest giant my race ever spawned, but for my size, I was strong. A few moments latter, I was flushed and tired, but the chain broke.
I looked about. The rhodin didn’t move but merely awaited the inevitable. They were without protectors now, but they had children. If those children grew up, they might attempt to retake the keep. I knew that I could go outside and tell Rugar to finish off these pitiful creatures, but as the leader, that was my job. That was my burden.
I picked up the greatsword and walked towards one of the monsters.
“Don’t do it Ko-Lathis. Don’t stoop to their level. They’re not combatants. They’re nothing. They’re innocents.” The magister, his hand crackling with that same power I saw him slay one of the creatures earlier with, rose and stood between me and the creature destined to die under my blade.
“I appreciate your concerns but tell me one thing. Will you stay with them and insure that they never taste human flesh again? That they never raise their war banners against my people or yours? Will your devote your life to this cause? It’s a yes or no answer.” I looked him straight in the eye and while he didn’t flinch, he hesitated a second.
“We have no idea what they’ll become. They may look back on this and think of humans with kindness.”
“You’re wrong.” Was all I said as I went to move past him and start the butchery.
One doesn’t walk the battlefields without learning how to notice subtle things. The change in the magister’s stance said that Jolan would now fight to defend his ideals. Poor idealist.
He lunched forward with his hand. I sidestepped his clumsy attack. “Don’t do it.” I told him. “Accept my authority in this manner.”
He raised his hand again, like a living weapon.
I turned my blade to its flat side and smacked him upside the head. He hit the ground like a sack of potatoes.
I turned to face Charon. “Would you attack me to save their lives?” Was I completely wrong here? Did they not see the future menace that these creatures posed?
“I do not agree with you giant but the lady at the keep grows impatient. These are probably the same rhodins who kept the keep all those years. I do not strand against you, but I don’t approve.”
Then the slaughter commenced. It was bloody work but it didn’t take as long as I thought it would. When I finished, I stood in front of the scout litorian, the former prisoner.
“You said that you have information for Yaren and Iriana. You’ll tell it to me.” I noticed that some of the blood had pooled on my fingers and flicked it at the litorian’s feet, growling as I did so.
“No, only Iriana can be told this.”
My head swam. This fool didn’t understand that Iriana was our employer. Perhaps he didn’t trust us. Perhaps he feared for his life. I hoped that my slaughter of these creatures would intimidate him but now, he feared for his life, but didn’t fear me enough to tell me what I wanted to know.
“Charon, get this madman away from me. You must help me return to the keep.”
They exchanged words for a few moments while my anger grew. Apparently, Charon wasn’t pleased with what the scout said either. He eventually walked up to me. “As I said before, do what you will. He doesn’t understand Iriana’s impatience or our inability to take him directly to the keep.”
I walked outside. “Rugar. Interrogate the man inside. Inform him of who you are and what you do. If he fails to comply, do what you feel best.”
Soon, the scout, whose name was Gersted, was singing. A champion of death, even one untrained in the arts of intimidation, was a terrible specter, especially when he held the freshly severed head of a large rhodin. Apparently we had to go further to seek the ring. More travels. I was not pleased. This whole affair were turning into a more longer, much bloodier affair than I wanted.
The magister awoke a few hours latter. Jolan looked at me with intense hatred burning in his eyes but made no move towards me. Had I made a mistake in not killing him? Would this now haunt me?
The following morning, I asked simply. “Is this something that you can live with?”
Jolan’s answer was a flat no. “I’m leaving. I’m returning to the keep and taking Gersted with me.” There was a challenge in that voice, one backed by steel, but I wasn’t going to murder him. He was, if only for a little while, my comrade. He tried to convince Kelvyn of my evil, my terrible actions and get him to go with us.
To my surprise, Kelvyn thought that it was indeed wrong to slaughter them but also saw my point that just because they weren’t a danger now, was no promise that they would remain that way and like the greenbond, took a neutral stance.
I extended my hand towards Jolan and he spat at my feet. “I don’t shake hands with murderers.”
“Then the next time I see you, do I have to assume that you’ve come for justice?” My hand clenched itself into a fist at my side.
“No, I’ll leave murder and it’s glories to you giant.” With that, he rode out of the camp.
My first true test, recovering the Ebonring, wasn’t going well. Kraze remained at the keep, the magister leaving in disgust and my own comrades doubting my wisdom. The sad thing was, perhaps they were right. I was much better as a soldier than a leader. I knew how to do one thing and did that thing well. The morality escaped me. I only hoped that it wouldn’t interfere with our mission.
NEW UPDATE
As I watched Jolan and the wounded litorian leave, I knew that my group would have to act fast. There might not be as much forgiveness in Iriana's heart if we didn't return with that ring soon.
With no time to waste, we headed off in the direction we believed the ring to be. The traveling wasn't easy with me and my comrades heavily armed and armored but with the greenbond's help, we managed to avoid the worst of the natural hazards and didn't have to dig too deeply into our iron rations. It's too bad that in addition to finding the food that the litorian couldn't cook it. Ah well, I couldn't expect Charon to do too much. After all, he wasn't really a member of our party. Still, it was nice to have someone competent in the wilderness with us.
One one morning, as we prepeared to leave for camp, we encountered a group of adventurers or at least, I assume adventurers. Their leader, a human with fiery red hair and a rakish smile, moved up into our encampment twirling about a greatsword as if it were a child's toy. “I am one who hates the rhodin and their thrice-damned allies!” He boldly proclaimed.
Whatever element of surprise he may have had was lost as my own sword was out at this point. My anger began to boil over. Here I was killing rhodin by the dozens and this fool claimed I was their ally? This human? Why did his people not all have this brave hundreds of years ago? I explained to him that we actually hailed from Ebonring Keep and were on a mission for the Magister who now ruled it.
“All who come from the keep are allies of the rhodin.” I was about to say more but didn't need to. A snarl from Rugar, our jackal headed champion of death, drew the attention of the speaker from me. “Does this look like something a friend would do?” He chuckled as he held up one of the largest rhodin skull's that he'd taken as a grisly trophy. The man's perky demeanor instantly fled and he grew silent. “I have misjudged you I see. Farewell.”
The funny part is I kept thing that these fools thought that we were supposed to be afraid of them. With my battle advisor and champion of death to back my play, I don't think that the human realized how close he came to committing suicide by attacking us.
We continued our travels but felt that something was watching us. The greenbond seemed unconcerned though so I gave it no thought but when the champion of death started sniffing the air and Kelyvn slowed down and started to look about with narrowed eyes, I knew something was up.
That's when the tree attacked. Well, not actually the tree but something dropped from above, the same color as the tree with horns, claws and sharp teeth. Kelvyn managed to leap back, taking only a minor gash in his shoulder. By the time I charged the thing, it was already in the sky again where my comrades hurled spear and shot bolts at it. It ducked behind the tree and we tried to keep our eyes on it but failed to do so as the thing leapt down again upon my war advisor. Poor akashic. He wasn't meant for such combat.
The thing wasn't as lucky this time though as I managed to land a solid blow, followed by my sibecai comrade, killing the thing. “This is a dire omen if even the green turns against us.” The litorian whispered. I agreed with him. It seemed that every day this journey became more and more trouble.
That night would prove me correct. As I sat on watch with the greenbond, small spiders attacked. I laughed at first as the things weren't able to pierce my armor, but the litorian, and my sleeping comrades weren't as lucky. The venom in the spider's bites began to take their toll with the champion of death struggling to swing his sword and the greendbond almost collapsing due to strength loss. Only I, with my heavy armor, managed to avoid most of the bites. We managed to clean up the spiders and move our camp and as we did so, the first thing out of the Champion of Death's mouth was, “And let us never speak of the spiders again.”
The next morning, most of our comrades were still weak but we went back to make sure that there would be no more spider attacks. Perhaps that was a mistake as a giant spider, concealed in the trees above, dropped on us. This wasn't the same type of scenario though. Half our group wasn't asleep and unarmored. We made quick work of the create and searched it's lair, finding a few gold and a heavy gold idol that resembled a loresong faen dancing without shoes on a tabletop.
We continued on the road and had the good fortune to encounter a young verrik lady named Anyanca. We shared food and campfire with the litorian managing to find enough food for all of us. She claimed to be a witch studying the Floating Forest and had lived in the area for a few years, currently hunting down plants and herbs before losing track of time. We shared some of our own stories and made her feel at home.
It was a good thing we did as in the morning, she provided us with some healing and some hazelnuts that she claims would help us when we were pressed hard. A good change of luck from the way things had been going so far.
As we neared the edge of the forest, we saw a small hillock. A large stone was set before it and as we drew closer, we recognized it as a burial mound, one large enough for a giant with the stone acting as a grave marker. Writing was carved upon it in four languages, I recognized the Common and Giant and my comrades informed me that the others were Faen and Verrik. The text read, “Here lies the body of Ji-Condur, beloved of all free peoples. Warrior, leader, scholar, hero of the war against the dramojh, and the builder of Ebonring Keep. A giant among giants, he came closer to blending the Wardance with the Caretaker than perhaps any other ever will. We are lessened by his passing.”
Ah, here was one of my people. One of the legends of my people even. I nodded solemnly towards the marker, hoping that the reverence I felt would be felt by Ji-Condur himself. My moment of peace was not to last as I heard another walking down the road, a heavily armed and armored someone, a large someone walking down the road. It was the distant straing of a song being sung badly in a deep bass voice and the one singing it was a gaint of a man with pale green skin and pointed eiaths with no hair.
His armor, a breastplace and his huge sword at his side, indicated that he was a warrior of no small skill. Especially the sword as it was larger than my own blade and was dire on top of that. He slung a pick in a slow motion as he moved. As he drew closer, he looked us up and down, “Do yeh fear the chorrim?”
“Why fear what isn't fearsome?” I returned. To this he merely shrugged his shoulders and began walking towards the grave.
“What goes on here?”
“I've come to put right a wrong. Folks be thinkin' this Ji-Condur was some king of hero or other. I'll hear it no more. He was a right bastard like all his folk.” His gaze settled heavily on me and my hands clenched the hilt of my greatsword until I felt the knuckles threaten to tear. “I'll let 'em all know today what ol' Merek thinks of 'em.” He hefted the pick and pointed at the mount. “Any of yeah got a problem with that?”
“Your opinions are yours to express freely. A gift that the giants gave the land when we liberated it from the dramojh. You're right to dig up this mount however, is not and must be earned.”
Well, perhaps that was a mistake. He charged me dropped the pick and pulling out the sword. Gods, he was a huge bastard! The sword crushed down on me and I felt the world spin. I knew that I hadn't pulled my own blade up in time to block the sword. I couldn't see, couldn't breath. It was as if a thousand hands crushed my chest and prevented me from breathing. Then relief came over me as the greenbond laid a soothing hand on my shoulder. “Strike him down giant or we will all die!” he snarled through fangs.
And I did. I struck him but was still so stunned from the dire huge greatsword cutting into my flesh, that I failed to do anything other than move him back a step or two. What happened next was amazing. Perhaps inspired by seeing a giant, one of those who gave his race sentience, or perhaps some dark whisper of death itself drove him, but Rugar launched himself forward with a vengeance. He plunged the bastard sword two handed into the chorrim's leg and through it and pulled the blade down, cracking the leg open like a chicken bone.
The chorrim's eyes rolled up in his head and he died. Thus would perish all of those who sought to taint the giant's legacy to the land and personally, all those who continued to delay us in getting the ring.
The greenbond spent the last of his magic's healing me, and we continued on, towards the mountains to seek out some trees that grew a mile high.
NEW WEEK
The danger of the journey continued to weigh heavily on my mind. Did my forefathers liberate the land only to have wandering beasts kill all those brave enough to walk the roads? Perhaps I would have to dedicate my life to making sure that the roads themselves remained free? I knew that my own skills continued to grow.
It was a strange thing coming so close to death only to be revived time and time again by magic. I also knew that despite the great benefits I reaped with spellcasters fighting alongside me, that it was nothing I was personally interested in. It was something to plan for, something to take note of, but not something I wished to master. No, my greatsword called out to me, and I felt as if I had achieved a new level of proficiency with the blade, my strikes more accurate, my blows more telling.
But would that be enough? As I looked about at my other three comrades, they all seemed to be changing as well. My akashic comrade perhaps the most. I'd started to show him the proper way to swing a sword, the proper way to take a blow, to roll with the force. He was actually a little scary in his intent to deliver upon the world a war master whose skills were only equaled by his battle prowess.
As we continued to the Iber Mountains, we could see them ahead. Their color running from stone gray juts of lifeless rock to golden stretcheso f wild grass with rich drark brown sections with patches of green where the bushes were denser and the grass healthier by the river itself.
My litorian comrade suspected that the largest dark brown and green patches were where we would find trees a mile high, perhaps two days travel from where we were. Gods, I hoped that he was right. I grew weary of the road and the cooking. I grew frustrated at not having a place to bathe at my convenience, having to rely on the greenbond Charon to find fresh water for us. While I enjoyed the challenges that the open road brought, I hated the circumstances that I found myself in.
Still, I had swore oath to find this ring and I would do it.
As we marched on, we heard the ring of hoof beats. Looking, we saw a long ride over a hill, not even two hundred feat away form us. From where he stood, it was easy to make out that he appeared to be a traveler, not some raving bandit. I hoped that he was skilled with that weapon he carried as the roads proved incredibly dangerous these days.
He raised a hand, calling out to us. “Hail travelers. I am Liam of De-Shamod. Have you a moment to talk?”
Kelvyn always had a moment to talk. That's what he did. Although lately, perhaps he spoke with steel instead. He waved the man over.
“Ah, greeting. As I said, I'm Liam Ulikksson of De-Shamod. A scholar by calling and a mediator by trade. I'm going to Ebonring Keep on business or hope to anyway. Do you know of any happenings in the area? How about the coalition's assulat? Were they successful?”
Kelvyn began to regale the man with tales, some probably made up there right on the spot. Truly he belonged to the Liar's Club if for nothing else than his convincing ability to weave a tale. He then began to weave our own encounters, leaving out our part of looking for the Ebonring, painting us as wandering mercenaries clearing the road for gold.
“Such trails you've overcome. I'm impressed by your abilities if even half your tales are true.” That's when it struck me. Kelvyn spoke so easily with the man because he was a fellow akashic. After my battle advisor finished speaking, Liam told his tale.
“I'm here for a consortium of ladies and gentlemen who believe that Ebonring Keep has failed in its task of keeping the Ebonring itself safe. The conquering of the keep by rhodin is proof. The consortium is certain that the rhodin couldn't have found all the secrets of the keep, but the next masters might. Since the ring can't be protected, it must be destroyed. I'm going to keep in order to persuade those in power to agree with my emplo9yers and discuss the destruction of the ring.”
Well, he certainly kept nothing back. If such was his mission, I mentally wished him good luck. I had no intention of telling him that in my opinion, the ring wouldn't be given over. That magister who ruled there now had too much a liking not only for power, but for control.
“Ah, I see you shaking your heads amongst yourself. Do you think my mission impossible? Well, the problem is that the Ebonring is too dangerous a power to exist. The giants should've destroyed it a long time ago. Because they are a noble and kind race,” he looked my way, “they assumed that all who held it would be of the same nature.” He shook his head sadly. “Alas, that is not so.
“The ring can be used for good, but with limits to its power. The giants didn't destroy it precisely because of this. The Ebonring must be destroyed least true evil gain it again and turn it's malevolent powers against the land, undoing all that the noble giants have brought with them.”
It was a pleasant encounter for once. But as the day wore on, and the next day arrived, I knew it wouldn't last. The litorian, who scouted ahead often for food and water, came to us. “Rhodin. A group of eight, coming down the road.”
I looked at our surroundings. The hills would provide us with brief cover and I knew that we would ambush and kill them. And despite their superior numbers, despite the lack of the magister, it was so. The champion of death, Rugar, took great pleasure in rending the creatures apart with sword and fang while the akashic took great pride in his greater combat abilities, using his warhammer to deadly effect. Me? I merely waded into the thick of them, using my greater bond with the sword to deal fatal damage.
Of more interest and importance than that encounter, was our encoutner with the stone of Faran Oldrun. A massive rock, gray, rectangular in shape about fifteen feet tall by five feet wide covered in runes and writing caught out attention. With it's size, how could it not? After a few moments, my battle advisor read the writing.
“My name is Faran Oldrun
And I know my death is near.
I would share my treasure
With one who has no fear.
If you are such a heroes
Touch these words that I do write
And call out “I challenge!
I possess the will and might!”
If you are truly worthy,
My treasure you may take.
But if you are a coward
Your life you will forsake.”
Such a challenge could not go unheeded. I spoke the words and the runes came alive with a red malignant glow. They began to dance in front of my eyes, looking like worms and the glow spread over myself and the rock entire. A feeling of dread built up in me, something I couldn't swing my sword at, something I couldn't fight. I felt terror began to drag at my heart. Was I truly a coward?
A surge of energy sent me back, almost falling over myself in my haste. My eyes began to ear and my blood boiled even as sweat dripped down my face. But I didn't have time to think of that fear as a dog over four feet at the shoulder with blood red fur looked at me with pure evil in it's glowing red eyes.
I would redeem myself through combat, even though my fingers slipped and I felt shaken. “Stay back comrades! I must confront this alone!” And they did. They stepped back and out of the way as I charged.
Then the thing opened it's mouth and fire burst forth. I wasn't too badly burned and the pain helped me focus past the fear. Rugar, who stood behind me, wasn't so lucky, crying out in pain as the flame surprised him. I struck the beast soundly on the skull, almost splitting it's head apart like a ripe melon. The thing lunged forward but my armor saved me. With a counter swing, I cut the creature's stomach open and it died. “I have the will!” I cried, but couldn't shake that feeling of dread.
Rugar, perhaps upset that he'd been burnt by my foe, decided to take the test next. I couldn't tell what happened in his mind, but physically, he looked like I must have, shaken. And once again, one of those strength hounds with fire breath leapt forward with it's flaming attack, hitting me as the bystander this time. It took Rugar a while, it seemed as if the Champion of Death wasn't up to the challenge but finally, after much back and forth, he overcame the thing.
When Kelvyn stood up to touch the rock, I wondered if he would want our help? His new training notwithstanding, perhaps he wouldn't be able to finish the creature? But no, he didn't have that problem. When the red glow enveloped him and faded, a sack stood before him filled with platinum coins.
“Well done my friend.” I had to grit my teeth at his success. I was very proud of him but at the same time, jealous. Well, perhaps it wasn't something that could be helped but apparently, willpower does have it's place.
With that over, we continued on our way to the keep.
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