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Consequences of the Quill (Restored 5/13/06)
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<blockquote data-quote="LordVyreth" data-source="post: 2722946" data-attributes="member: 9626"><p><strong>Tying Up Loose Ends: The Final Crisis</strong></p><p></p><p>“Tal!” an excited Danae yelled. “You made it! We were worried you would have stayed in the afterlife!”</p><p></p><p>Though he barely recovered from his return to the life, not to mention his new form, Tal managed a smile. “And miss out on seeing our adventure’s end? Never. Besides, I learned something in Facetous’ realm that could help you.” As he said it, though, Tal began to struggle. He still remembered his time away from his body, but it was getting vague as if he just woke up after having a vivid dream. “It was something that could…endanger us and the city. And I think it involved an old enemy of ours. It was definitely somebody or a group of people hostile to us.”</p><p></p><p>Tiana frowned. “Are you sure it wasn’t just Bas?”</p><p></p><p>“I don’t think so, but…maybe,” Tal conceded. </p><p></p><p>After Tal’s triumphant reunion with the party, preparations for the final battle began once again. Even so, things just felt different. There were the usual results of a great victory, from the parades and commendations from the Staels to another shopping spree at Union, but the feeling of optimism and hope outlasted the normal thrill of victory. It was obvious what had changed: the moons, the greatest daily threat to the citizens of Methosilang and surface life in general and a constant symbol of the power and oppression of the Puppet and the Head That Rules the Claw, were destroyed. Dawn, true dawn, had come, and soon the plants and animals would begin to adapt to life on the surface again. One day, even the Long Waste might be fertile. It was ironic that all of this was done in the name and by the hand of their greatest enemy, but they couldn’t deny that her actions had a benefit to all of them.</p><p></p><p>Even so, as the party assisted Methosilang in its final preparations for war, the party noticed some unsettling things. There was the war itself of course, and all the deaths and destruction it entailed, but that wasn’t unusual. Far more disturbing were subtle signs that the desperate unity between the many races that made Methosilang possible was starting to fray. The typically surface dwelling races like humans and elves were understandably eager to form new communities where the sunlight would be far more frequent, but often their plans for the future were sprinkled with comments like “I can’t wait to finally get some distance from the drow,” and, “What role should the half-orcs form in our community?” Already, some of the noble houses were squabbling over which ones would get what lands, and all of them were pondering how their new colonies would be influenced by Methosilang. Some were even considering having no direct relation to Methosilang, and though no one would dare suggest it openly, there were even signs that these potential new kingdoms would have plans for Delaspie and Methosilang that weren’t peaceful.</p><p></p><p>Despite all this, the plans for war were more or less secure and went according to plans. The days turned into weeks, and soon only seven days stood between the party and what could be their final battle together. But Bas had been making plans for those weeks as well, and she had one last plan to achieve victory without the need for open warfare…</p><p></p><p>It was evening, and a real evening as it always could be from now on, when the party again received an urgent message to return home from their excursions on this plane and elsewhere. The situation they returned to was a panic almost as bad as the one they witnessed when the moons were about to fall. In some ways, it was worse because of the optimism and relief following the moons’ destructions contrasted with the fear. </p><p></p><p>“What’s wrong?" Danae began to ask, but as she did, Tal finally remembered that this scene was foretold to him in the afterlife. He quickly led the party to the surface and then turned and pointed to the west. As the party turned, all could see the threat. It was a danger far smaller than a moon, but no less deadly. </p><p></p><p>“Is that…Fierypyre?” a shocked Robin asked.</p><p></p><p>“Yes,” Tal sadly replied. Indeed, the entire capital of the orc empire, built inside the miles-long hollow shell of a dragon construct, was slowly but steadily flying straight at Methosilang!</p><p></p><p>“But that’s crazy! Fierypyre is incapable of moving for more than a few hours. Just the act of getting up would ruin half the city, and the entire body is tearing itself apart. The Head That Rules the Claw is purposefully destroying his entire empire just to attack us!” Danae stammered.</p><p></p><p>“He’s not the one responsible for this. Somehow, Bas has taken control of Fierypyre,” Bath said, as she suddenly realized the full extent of what was happening.</p><p></p><p>“I know about this,” Tal insisted. “The dragons, including Fierypyre, don’t follow The Head That Rules the Claw willingly! Somehow, he managed to enslave Fierypyre using some sort of magical artifact, and then used the dragon to force other dragons to swear their allegiance to him, thus binding them to the artifact as well. If Bas was able to gain access to that artifact, she could control Fierypyre and potentially the entire dragon army as well! Though if she’s just sending Fierypyre at us like this, I suspect she doesn’t plan on keeping control for long, or she just doesn’t think she could.”</p><p></p><p>“But if we destroyed that artifact, we’d not only stop Fierypyre’s attack, we could put an end to the orc empire’s greatest source of power!” Robin excitedly added.</p><p></p><p>Tonaca gravely noted, “Well, that’s not just idle speculation at this point. If we can’t find this artifact and destroy it or at least keep it out of Bas’ control, Methosilang is doomed. There’s not even enough time to evacuate it!”</p><p></p><p>“Well, finding it won’t be a problem,” Tal explained. “It not only is used to control Fierypyre and the others, it serves as Fierypyre’s life force. It is the mystical heart of the beast, so we can locate it where a dragon’s heart can normally be found.”</p><p></p><p>After just a few minutes of preparation, the party was ready for battle, and they quickly teleported to the top of Fierypyre’s head. They had made the usual preparations to enter the city in disguise, but as soon as they entered, it was apparent that it wasn’t necessary. Much of the city was deserted or in chaos, and the few combatants they saw were busy maintaining order. As they neared the center of the city where the heart was kept, however, the signs of combat were more frequent. There were the occasional bodies of Bas cultists and ashes that were likely the remains of Bas’ outsider minions, but they were far outnumbered by dead humanoid and giant guards. Surprisingly, there were few dragons among the bodies. What was wore horrifying were the state of some of the bodies. Most of the giants and humanoids were killed by the standard wounds of battle, but some of the humanoids, and nearly all the orcs, were completely brutalized. Whoever was leading this fight, he clearly had some kind of hatred of orcs. </p><p></p><p>As the party traveled into the building that physically contained the heart, the casualties were more numerous, but the ratio of bodies from city’s defenders compared to the Bas forces only increased. As they neared the building’s center, the party was lucky enough to find a survivor of the massacre: a wounded kobold. It initially was afraid of the party, but some healing and diplomacy from Tal (whose dragon nature was calming to the reptilian creature,) it tried to explain what happened.</p><p></p><p>“The attacker overwhelmed us! We stood no chance!” It chirped out.</p><p></p><p>“Where are the city’s dragon defenders? Did the invaders kill them all?” Tal asked.</p><p></p><p>“No, they’re not even here. Right before the attack, we learned of a strange and massive dragon was attacking our farms. It somehow ignored the call of Fierypyre and Ka’Dry’Log, and it breathed invisible death.”</p><p></p><p>Tal looked to the party and shared a grim but knowing nod. This was almost certainly the force dragon that Bas has requested frequent aid from in exchange for her children.</p><p></p><p>“What of your master, the Head That Rules the Claw?” Robin asked.</p><p></p><p>“Ka’Dry’Log was on his way to assist the fight when we were attacked. He might be here soon, but I don’t know if we have that time…”</p><p></p><p>“What kinds of creatures are in this attack?”</p><p></p><p>“There are Bas cultists and fiends of all kinds, but the leaders of the attack are the most dangerous. I was lucky they didn’t get to me, or I certainly would be dead. There are two leaders. The first looks like a half-dragon, much like you, but its body glowed with a blinding light. When it attacked, living snakes of energy burst out of its skin to strike at us. The other was even worse. He was of fiendish blood, but he also had ancestry of a mortal elf. He wore a strange mask, like a clown or jester, and he rode on a demonic dragon. He didn’t just want to kill us, or at least kill our orc masters. He killed them with such hatred and ferocity; I know he wanted them to suffer as they died.”</p><p></p><p>The party let the kobold flee as they continued their journey. As they neared the center, a few bands of lesser demons and cultists were guarding the path, but none posed a threat to the party at this point. The heroes showed little concern for them either, for the leaders sounded like they were far more worthy of their attention. Neither sounded specifically like anyone they knew, but both were vaguely familiar.</p><p></p><p>At last, the party came to artifact’s chamber at the very heart of Fierypyre. At the far corner of the room, on a raised dais, was the Slave Circlet. Once worn by Fierypyre when it was still a mortal dragon, it had since been embedded in a massive and magical diamond. It normally was bathed in a pillar of light located on an altar at the center of the dais, but it now was held by the masked figure the kobold warned the party about. Between him and the party was a massive red dragon. It was likely a great wyrm; the largest and oldest age a dragon can normally reach. However, it was now cowering on the floor, apparently forced from retaliating against the invaders now that the jester held the Circlet. In the corner, the second leader of the enemies was resting and apparently healing its wounds. When they saw him, Robin and Tal gasped, for they recognized their enemy. “Grockith!” they shouted.</p><p></p><p>Tal was the first to recover and ask some further questions. “But how? The last time we saw you, you were in a coma. TIE told us your very soul was gone!”</p><p></p><p>Grockith merely stood glaring at the party, but the jester responded. “I’m afraid our mutual friend here is long past the point of communication. I, however, can answer your question. Apparently Grockith was so full of rage at what his world had become during his endless sleep that neither his body nor his oath as a paladin could hold him to this world. However, his enraged soul, trapped between two times, was found by a being who, like TIE, was not from our dimension. It let him turn his rage and hatred into a weapon and his cast-off body into an invincible font of endless power. But he was still just a living weapon with no motivation or direction before my goddess found him. She just needed to wait for the right time to use this weapon. But I’m disappointed you recognized him, but not me. I was so looking forward to meeting my friends.”</p><p></p><p>The shock of meeting an old friend as an enemy was quickly sundered by these words. “Who are you, then?” Tal asked with a hint of disbelief. “I can think of very few friends who would willingly work with Bas. Why are you doing this? What are you doing here, exactly?”</p><p></p><p>The jester took off his mask and smiled. There, reborn as a half-fiend, was Rudyard. “Oh, I’m just hunting orcs.”</p><p></p><p>OOC Notes: The idea for bringing back Rudyard actually came to me from writing these old story hours. The final resolution of the dragon issue, however, was more necessary. Though the war against the undead largely removed the orcs as an actual empire, they still commanded a number of dragons and the Fierypyre as a weapon remained a possibility that someone was bound to exploit. Besides, it ties up the power of the two initial empires and the party’s plans to get help from Dragovigis nicely.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="LordVyreth, post: 2722946, member: 9626"] [b]Tying Up Loose Ends: The Final Crisis[/b] “Tal!” an excited Danae yelled. “You made it! We were worried you would have stayed in the afterlife!” Though he barely recovered from his return to the life, not to mention his new form, Tal managed a smile. “And miss out on seeing our adventure’s end? Never. Besides, I learned something in Facetous’ realm that could help you.” As he said it, though, Tal began to struggle. He still remembered his time away from his body, but it was getting vague as if he just woke up after having a vivid dream. “It was something that could…endanger us and the city. And I think it involved an old enemy of ours. It was definitely somebody or a group of people hostile to us.” Tiana frowned. “Are you sure it wasn’t just Bas?” “I don’t think so, but…maybe,” Tal conceded. After Tal’s triumphant reunion with the party, preparations for the final battle began once again. Even so, things just felt different. There were the usual results of a great victory, from the parades and commendations from the Staels to another shopping spree at Union, but the feeling of optimism and hope outlasted the normal thrill of victory. It was obvious what had changed: the moons, the greatest daily threat to the citizens of Methosilang and surface life in general and a constant symbol of the power and oppression of the Puppet and the Head That Rules the Claw, were destroyed. Dawn, true dawn, had come, and soon the plants and animals would begin to adapt to life on the surface again. One day, even the Long Waste might be fertile. It was ironic that all of this was done in the name and by the hand of their greatest enemy, but they couldn’t deny that her actions had a benefit to all of them. Even so, as the party assisted Methosilang in its final preparations for war, the party noticed some unsettling things. There was the war itself of course, and all the deaths and destruction it entailed, but that wasn’t unusual. Far more disturbing were subtle signs that the desperate unity between the many races that made Methosilang possible was starting to fray. The typically surface dwelling races like humans and elves were understandably eager to form new communities where the sunlight would be far more frequent, but often their plans for the future were sprinkled with comments like “I can’t wait to finally get some distance from the drow,” and, “What role should the half-orcs form in our community?” Already, some of the noble houses were squabbling over which ones would get what lands, and all of them were pondering how their new colonies would be influenced by Methosilang. Some were even considering having no direct relation to Methosilang, and though no one would dare suggest it openly, there were even signs that these potential new kingdoms would have plans for Delaspie and Methosilang that weren’t peaceful. Despite all this, the plans for war were more or less secure and went according to plans. The days turned into weeks, and soon only seven days stood between the party and what could be their final battle together. But Bas had been making plans for those weeks as well, and she had one last plan to achieve victory without the need for open warfare… It was evening, and a real evening as it always could be from now on, when the party again received an urgent message to return home from their excursions on this plane and elsewhere. The situation they returned to was a panic almost as bad as the one they witnessed when the moons were about to fall. In some ways, it was worse because of the optimism and relief following the moons’ destructions contrasted with the fear. “What’s wrong?" Danae began to ask, but as she did, Tal finally remembered that this scene was foretold to him in the afterlife. He quickly led the party to the surface and then turned and pointed to the west. As the party turned, all could see the threat. It was a danger far smaller than a moon, but no less deadly. “Is that…Fierypyre?” a shocked Robin asked. “Yes,” Tal sadly replied. Indeed, the entire capital of the orc empire, built inside the miles-long hollow shell of a dragon construct, was slowly but steadily flying straight at Methosilang! “But that’s crazy! Fierypyre is incapable of moving for more than a few hours. Just the act of getting up would ruin half the city, and the entire body is tearing itself apart. The Head That Rules the Claw is purposefully destroying his entire empire just to attack us!” Danae stammered. “He’s not the one responsible for this. Somehow, Bas has taken control of Fierypyre,” Bath said, as she suddenly realized the full extent of what was happening. “I know about this,” Tal insisted. “The dragons, including Fierypyre, don’t follow The Head That Rules the Claw willingly! Somehow, he managed to enslave Fierypyre using some sort of magical artifact, and then used the dragon to force other dragons to swear their allegiance to him, thus binding them to the artifact as well. If Bas was able to gain access to that artifact, she could control Fierypyre and potentially the entire dragon army as well! Though if she’s just sending Fierypyre at us like this, I suspect she doesn’t plan on keeping control for long, or she just doesn’t think she could.” “But if we destroyed that artifact, we’d not only stop Fierypyre’s attack, we could put an end to the orc empire’s greatest source of power!” Robin excitedly added. Tonaca gravely noted, “Well, that’s not just idle speculation at this point. If we can’t find this artifact and destroy it or at least keep it out of Bas’ control, Methosilang is doomed. There’s not even enough time to evacuate it!” “Well, finding it won’t be a problem,” Tal explained. “It not only is used to control Fierypyre and the others, it serves as Fierypyre’s life force. It is the mystical heart of the beast, so we can locate it where a dragon’s heart can normally be found.” After just a few minutes of preparation, the party was ready for battle, and they quickly teleported to the top of Fierypyre’s head. They had made the usual preparations to enter the city in disguise, but as soon as they entered, it was apparent that it wasn’t necessary. Much of the city was deserted or in chaos, and the few combatants they saw were busy maintaining order. As they neared the center of the city where the heart was kept, however, the signs of combat were more frequent. There were the occasional bodies of Bas cultists and ashes that were likely the remains of Bas’ outsider minions, but they were far outnumbered by dead humanoid and giant guards. Surprisingly, there were few dragons among the bodies. What was wore horrifying were the state of some of the bodies. Most of the giants and humanoids were killed by the standard wounds of battle, but some of the humanoids, and nearly all the orcs, were completely brutalized. Whoever was leading this fight, he clearly had some kind of hatred of orcs. As the party traveled into the building that physically contained the heart, the casualties were more numerous, but the ratio of bodies from city’s defenders compared to the Bas forces only increased. As they neared the building’s center, the party was lucky enough to find a survivor of the massacre: a wounded kobold. It initially was afraid of the party, but some healing and diplomacy from Tal (whose dragon nature was calming to the reptilian creature,) it tried to explain what happened. “The attacker overwhelmed us! We stood no chance!” It chirped out. “Where are the city’s dragon defenders? Did the invaders kill them all?” Tal asked. “No, they’re not even here. Right before the attack, we learned of a strange and massive dragon was attacking our farms. It somehow ignored the call of Fierypyre and Ka’Dry’Log, and it breathed invisible death.” Tal looked to the party and shared a grim but knowing nod. This was almost certainly the force dragon that Bas has requested frequent aid from in exchange for her children. “What of your master, the Head That Rules the Claw?” Robin asked. “Ka’Dry’Log was on his way to assist the fight when we were attacked. He might be here soon, but I don’t know if we have that time…” “What kinds of creatures are in this attack?” “There are Bas cultists and fiends of all kinds, but the leaders of the attack are the most dangerous. I was lucky they didn’t get to me, or I certainly would be dead. There are two leaders. The first looks like a half-dragon, much like you, but its body glowed with a blinding light. When it attacked, living snakes of energy burst out of its skin to strike at us. The other was even worse. He was of fiendish blood, but he also had ancestry of a mortal elf. He wore a strange mask, like a clown or jester, and he rode on a demonic dragon. He didn’t just want to kill us, or at least kill our orc masters. He killed them with such hatred and ferocity; I know he wanted them to suffer as they died.” The party let the kobold flee as they continued their journey. As they neared the center, a few bands of lesser demons and cultists were guarding the path, but none posed a threat to the party at this point. The heroes showed little concern for them either, for the leaders sounded like they were far more worthy of their attention. Neither sounded specifically like anyone they knew, but both were vaguely familiar. At last, the party came to artifact’s chamber at the very heart of Fierypyre. At the far corner of the room, on a raised dais, was the Slave Circlet. Once worn by Fierypyre when it was still a mortal dragon, it had since been embedded in a massive and magical diamond. It normally was bathed in a pillar of light located on an altar at the center of the dais, but it now was held by the masked figure the kobold warned the party about. Between him and the party was a massive red dragon. It was likely a great wyrm; the largest and oldest age a dragon can normally reach. However, it was now cowering on the floor, apparently forced from retaliating against the invaders now that the jester held the Circlet. In the corner, the second leader of the enemies was resting and apparently healing its wounds. When they saw him, Robin and Tal gasped, for they recognized their enemy. “Grockith!” they shouted. Tal was the first to recover and ask some further questions. “But how? The last time we saw you, you were in a coma. TIE told us your very soul was gone!” Grockith merely stood glaring at the party, but the jester responded. “I’m afraid our mutual friend here is long past the point of communication. I, however, can answer your question. Apparently Grockith was so full of rage at what his world had become during his endless sleep that neither his body nor his oath as a paladin could hold him to this world. However, his enraged soul, trapped between two times, was found by a being who, like TIE, was not from our dimension. It let him turn his rage and hatred into a weapon and his cast-off body into an invincible font of endless power. But he was still just a living weapon with no motivation or direction before my goddess found him. She just needed to wait for the right time to use this weapon. But I’m disappointed you recognized him, but not me. I was so looking forward to meeting my friends.” The shock of meeting an old friend as an enemy was quickly sundered by these words. “Who are you, then?” Tal asked with a hint of disbelief. “I can think of very few friends who would willingly work with Bas. Why are you doing this? What are you doing here, exactly?” The jester took off his mask and smiled. There, reborn as a half-fiend, was Rudyard. “Oh, I’m just hunting orcs.” OOC Notes: The idea for bringing back Rudyard actually came to me from writing these old story hours. The final resolution of the dragon issue, however, was more necessary. Though the war against the undead largely removed the orcs as an actual empire, they still commanded a number of dragons and the Fierypyre as a weapon remained a possibility that someone was bound to exploit. Besides, it ties up the power of the two initial empires and the party’s plans to get help from Dragovigis nicely. [/QUOTE]
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