Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
Correl: An Element of Origin
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="MarauderX" data-source="post: 2115827" data-attributes="member: 9990"><p><u><strong><span style="font-size: 15px">Session 30: Ancient Discoveries </span></strong></u></p><p></p><p>The air was quiet for an instant, and in that instant the group became self aware of their own mortality. The clearing next to the jungle was soaked with blood of the fallen cat-folk and duergar. The area was littered with the fallen, and their weapons gleamed in the beams of the dim afternoon sun. </p><p></p><p>Grimnyr broke the silence as he slashed upward at the duergar hovering over him. His blow landed solidly against the dark dwarf. The dwarf staggered his way over to receive healing by the nearest enlarged vocal duergar. Grimnyr passed out on the ground, his mouth still clenched in grim determination. </p><p></p><p>Thovaas went into motion and struck the duergar sergeant in front of him with a smiting blow. The shock of the strike woke everyone around him as his sword bit deeply beyond the dark-skinned dwarf’s armor. The duergar sergeant grunted and dropped to his knees as the life poured out of him, a foreshadowing of what was to come. Quentin saw an opening on another and lunged forward to stab the duergar before stepping back to form a solid line with Thovaas. </p><p></p><p>Alex tumbled his way over to the fallen Grimnyr, pulling out his water skin with the magic water from the Tower of Chautauqua. The cat-folk that had maneuvered themselves behind Jerrin suddenly split up to prevent the duergar from advancing around the party to get to them. One of the cat-folk touched the enlarged, ape-shaped Jerrin and a healing wave surged over him. Another touched Thovaas on his back and the same happened. The other two went to either side of the battle in hopes to hide in the jungle and flank the duergar. </p><p></p><p>The duergar struck out at Jerrin and his wolfhound, Tempest. Several of their axes drew blood as they slid around them in hopes to flank the large Jerrin. Two of the vocal duergar strode forward to blast Quentin, Thovaas and the cat-folk behind them with deafening shouts. They were also pursued by two of the duergar foot soldiers that struck out at them, and Quentin and Thovaas responded with attacks of their own. </p><p></p><p>Alex rushed to pry Grimnyr’s mouth open and dump a pint of the water down his throat. His eyes snapped open long enough for him to see Alex over him now. Grimnyr smiled and relaxed as his body let go of the fury it had had moments before and went limp again. Alex shouted his name trying to wake him, and then poured another pint of the water into his fallen comrade’s mouth. </p><p></p><p>Meanwhile, the battle raged around them. Jerrin picked up one of the injured duergar and ripped his chest wide open, painting a dark red splash across the lush grasses. With another he tore the arm from it after securing it in his gory mouth. </p><p></p><p>Thovaas stood fast as Quentin dove through the gap between the two enlarged vocal duergar. Thovaas slashed one powerfully and Quentin took advantage and pierced it in the throat. It slumped into a jungle tree and was still. The other attacked Thovaas and as he did, Quentin managed to pierce through their powerful armor as he grabbed it by the shoulder and felt it convulse as he twisted and stirred his blade between its vertebrae. It slumped forward and Quentin pulled out his blade and jumped to the side of another as it swung at him. </p><p></p><p>Tempest harried one of the duergar soldiers with his bite, and finally ripped the bowels out of it as it yelled out in pain. Jerrin slammed his large fist against another and bones could be heard snapping from the bludgeoning. The other vocal duergar behind him could be heard gasping for its final breaths, its massive lungs pierced with multiple arrows. </p><p></p><p>After Alex had played medic he made his way behind one of the duergar that had stuck Jerrin and attacked. Grimnyr stood up and gripped his axe. Though he was winded, he still walked toward the nearest duergar and swung his axe. </p><p></p><p>Soon there was only one lone duergar left. He was facing off against Thovaas and Grimnyr, and he decided with a vengeful scream that he would fight to the end. Thovaas struck him again then Jerrin’s massive form lumbered over to let both arms fall like trees onto its head. The skull could be heard cracking at its head dropped to be even with its shoulders. </p><p></p><p></p><p>The group surveyed the damage, and Thovaas re-scanned the cat-folk to see if they could be determined to be evil in the least. Seeing no deception, he sheathed his sword, but only partly as he scanned the fallen for magically enhanced items. He was taken aback when every one of the bodies in the field glowed with magical armor, and each of their weapons shown with an aura of enhancement. After seeing Thovaas’s face, Alex quickly went to work collecting the armor and checking the dead for treasure. </p><p></p><p>Quentin was about to join them, but suddenly he heard Jerrin and the cat-folk talking in elven and decided that perhaps he should help. They began speaking to Quentin directly, saying that they were glad to have his help along with that of his servants. Their accent when speaking many of the elven words was unique, as if they wanted to enunciate each word perfectly. Already Jerrin had asked them who they were, and they seemed just as curious about the party. Quentin corrected them about the other party members’ status, saying that all in the party was equals and their eyes blinked several times in apparent astonishment.</p><p></p><p>The cat-folk referred to themselves as Litorians. Their leader, Felvonni, inspected Quentin closely and remarked that the elves had changed much since she last saw them. Quentin told her that he was half-elven, that his father was human and his mother elven and had died in child birth. The Litorians snickered at first then were strangely fascinated with the concept. </p><p></p><p>Felvonni explained that their expedition was on their way to meet two Rakshasa that had spoken to them in dreams. The large group had been attacked by an army of duergar, who was once their slaves. The Litorians used their escorts to fend them off while they escaped, but the remnants of the army pursued them across the valley. They were hoping to escape into the jungle as they had in the past, but the duergar had cut them off and surrounded them just as the party showed up. </p><p></p><p>Alex uncovered small sacks of gems and it started to dawn on him and Grimnyr that the duergar had been trying to travel light even though they had worn chain shirts and scale mail. But when they began stacking it, they realized how light it was. Grimnyr inspected the scale mail and determined that though it was similar to many dwarven makes; it was of no shape of any clan that he had seen. </p><p></p><p>Jerrin and Quentin did their best smooth talking, landing casual compliments in order to earn their trust. It was clear the Litorians owed them their lives, and graciously complimented the party in turn. The Litorians asked if the party had seen the Rakshasa, to which they replied they had not. They complimented Jerrin for being brethren of the wild, and asked about their journey there. Quickly they began to pick up several of the words in common that Thovaas, Grimnyr and Alex had said in the infrequent silences of their conversation. </p><p></p><p>Quentin and Jerrin asked and listened as Felvonni told them about the Litorians retreating to this hidden valley toward the end of the Great War. Seeing both of them shaking their heads, she explained that the Litorians went there to avoid being attacked by elders or other slave races. They took with them two slave races; the duergar to build their homes and tend their farms, and the canids to raise and tend their cattle as well as scout their lands. Pitting the two slave races against one another, the Litorians kept a balance between them for fifteen hundred years, having each vie for Litorian favor. </p><p></p><p>Eventually the duergar learned to hide their actual numbers deep within unmapped caves, and were secretive to even the Litorians. The duergar descended deeper into vile means to achieve what they wished. They began a war of attrition against the canids, wiping out the young of entire villages at a time. It became harder and harder to breed enough of them to match the duergar, and then the balance was undone. The canids were hunted to extinction. </p><p></p><p>Following this the Litorians were able to keep the duergar in check with a relative peace over the next five hundred years. Then the duergar were granted powers by a strange 6-faced god and were no longer afraid of the Litorians. They made threats and started to reject any authority the Litorians tried to maintain. Suddenly war broke out and the duergar made weapons of war to try to match the magical capacity of the Litorians. The Litorians, who had once roamed the valley freely, now were forced to retreat behind the stone battlements the duergar had labored to create. </p><p></p><p>The war has been ongoing for over five hundred years, and in that time the duergar have been steadily increasing their numbers while being able to exploit the knowledge of their own constructions. The Litorians have been on a steady retreat, and the thought of impending doom has given birth to three factions within the Litorians as to how to ensure their survival. </p><p></p><p>Felvonni says that she is one of the Greenbonds, one of the three Litorian factions. The faction is dedicated to finding a peaceful resolution and is open to guidance from the spirits of the world. They also appreciated help from outside sources, as they recognize the duergar for the fiends they have become. </p><p></p><p>The group gathered the equipment they had collected and hid it within the jungle, including the gear Thovaas’s mount had been carrying. They planned to come back for it, but the Litorians told them that the duergar had likely used their vocal communications to relay their position. The group set out to reach a nearby outpost the Litorians told them about, and they were on their way before long. </p><p></p><p>Talking along the way, the Felvonni asked about the elves and the outside world. Quentin and Jerrin told her about the new prince that had ascended to the throne in the forest of Elarith. She had raised an eyebrow with interest and Quentin asked what she knew of the elves of old and the Great War. </p><p></p><p>Felvonni said it all started with the elves. They had seen the powers that the humans had been granted, and most had sided with their creations, for better or worse. Most thought it was their foolish pride in their own work that had made them so attached to the humans, but they were willing to fight the gods. For this they were stricken from the skies, their wings ripped from the backs of all that had sympathized with the humans. </p><p></p><p>The elves that did not side with the humans were also banished from the skies. They were doomed to spend their days below the earth, never to soar under the sun again. One race was more pleased with this result than any other – the dragons. </p><p></p><p>The great serpents were now rulers of the realms over the ground. They used their own slaves to wage this war, breeding larger, nastier creatures to fill the ranks of their armies. Orcs made up the vast majority as they were quick to reproduce. Ogre captains led death squads to decimate the humans in their homes, and they rode large foul beasts with many horns. Goblin sappers made ruin of dwarven fortifications and foiled Halfling traps. </p><p></p><p>But even the reptile lords were divided in their interests. </p><p></p><p>The division was split as scholarly dragons sought to find the root of the cause, to find enlightened humans and test them for their worthiness. Eventually the scholar dragons found the slave races to be of noble quality, and that they should share this world with them. Others would never give up their newfound power of the skies, and the line was drawn between their race as well. </p><p></p><p>We were set in our ways, as we had become lazy and complacent. We were content to live as we had, having the slave races fill the duties they had been assigned by our design. We Litorians had developed the canids and duergar to assist us with mining and herding long before the Great War started. We tried to remain neutral, to settle matters by way of judicious decision after much thought. It was our eastern cousins, the Rakshasa, who dragged us away from center. </p><p></p><p>The Rakshasa had ruled that the old laws of war no longer applied to the slave races, as they were creations that they owned, and were to live and die at their whim. They employed diseases, manipulation and treachery that had not been seen in a very long time. The Rakshasa made the convincing argument that no matter how they tried the slave races were doomed to extinction if they wished. The Litorians joined them, if only half-heartedly, in an effort to quell the rebellion and let the elves descend to join them. </p><p></p><p>Then the gods had their say. The humans, Halflings, dwarves and other folk were granted powers from these new gods. The tide turned, and the slaves won battle after battle with the aid of the crippled elves and the dragon scholars. So we created a home to retreat to, bringing the savanna and jungle from the south with us. We Litorians populated it with many of our familiar cattle-like creatures, and set about worshipping the gods as we always had. Only they seemed to stop listening as intently, and it was clear to us then that we had been abandoned by most of them. </p><p></p><p>The grey god of death, Incabulos, was one of those to remain, and it is to one of their operating temples that Felvonni led the group toward. Felvonni explained that the Litorians, now that they were under threat of extinct themselves, had divided opinions on how to ensure their own survival. From it came the three factions, and Felvonni led a large group of the Greenbonds to try to meet with the Rakshasa to deal with the duergar threat, or in the least, provide another home in which to settle. </p><p></p><p>Felvonni warned that although they were headed to a Litorian outpost, the inhabitants were of the Incabulos faction. The last faction was of those that thought they should seek out Thermoleth and bring her to help. The party recognized the name Thermoleth, and Grimnyr explained that the only place he had heard of it was that the black-peaked mountain they had passed was called Thermoleth. When they arrived at the outpost they saw what looked like catapults on top of thick stone walls. The tall walls had several smears of soot where the fires of war had scarred them. </p><p></p><p>The party was greeted lukewarmly, and the thirty Litorian inhabitants scanned over the group snootily with their eyes. All were devotees of Incabulos and wore black, grey, red and white to signify their status. Their leader stopped to greet them with two followers behind him. Nodding, they greeted the party with a glance and spoke with Felvonni in the strange Litorian tongue. </p><p></p><p>Felvonni replied in elven for the benefit of Quentin and Jerrin. She introduced them as equals to one another, and explained Quentin’s half-elven heritage to him. Then she explained that they had helped defeat an army of duergar that had harried them across the valley. She introduced the Litorian as Mezimi, high priest of Incabulos and leader of the outpost. </p><p></p><p>Jerrin then mentioned that they had come upon the Greenbond Litorians as they were venturing to the gate they had come through to meet the Rakshasa. From that Felvonni gave Jerrin a stunned look while Mezimi smiled crookedly. Mezimi then replied that he understood the need to meet the Rakshasa, and such an ally would certainly help with repressing the duergar. With that he glided away, expecting them all to follow him to the main stone temple at the center of the outpost. </p><p></p><p>The group walked in tentatively. They saw the broken-arch vaulting thirty feet above them, and scanned the dark grey stone that had various relief carvings painted with white and deep shades of red. In front of them was a ring of seven worshipping Litorians that surrounded a square stone slab that was raised a foot or so from the floor. It was stained red with blood from use, and piled in the center were corpses and bones. The chanting figures were led by another high priest of Incabulos. </p><p></p><p>Behind this two channels carved into the floor led past three metallic creatures that stood unmoving on ten-foot square raised tiles. Beyond them the channels, filled with a red substance that looked like blood, ended in churning blackness. Above these two swirling masses the blackness changed to a greenish, and two stunning figures could be seen trapped within. What was between them made most of the party gasp. </p><p></p><p>A Rakshasa stood on the middle raised tile, blue light shimmering around it from below. Female, the Rakshasa had her strange palms turned outwards, and from them a greenish blue light extended to envelope the angelic beings. The Rakshasa looked strained, as if it was taking all of her effort to maintain what she was doing while the chanters in the foreground raised the pitch of the throng. </p><p></p><p>Jerrin pulled out the wand of curing and tapped Tempest, who sat by him whining with concern. Then he tapped himself several times as Mezimi blathered on about how a Rakshasa indeed makes an almost perfect ally. Quentin stepped to his side just as Grimnyr spotted something stirring on the red slab. Grimnyr wasted no time, and plucked one of the orange spheres from the belt around his waist and threw it in the middle of the room. It exploded, blasting six Litorian onlookers into the wall behind them and incinerating two of the priests. </p><p></p><p>Quentin slashed through Mezimi’s thick black robes as he tried to strike him, and Jerrin mounted Tempest and streaked across the room toward one of the entrapped figures. Alex leapt into action, streaking to the nearest priest and lodging his blade into the Litorian’s back deep enough to make him fall. Thovaas strode up to Mezimi, who swirled around in time to meet his blade. Quentin saw that the Litorian was still stammering from surprise and his rapier ended his days. Just after Jerrin ran across the room, Grimnyr hurled another of the orange spheres, this time striking the other side and leveling the other Litorian priests surrounding the red slab. </p><p></p><p>Suddenly the group saw the wide metal figures move toward them with thundering steps that echoed about the great hall. Quentin dropped another of the priests as the skeleton they had summoned stood and wielded a scimitar against him. Alex tossed a tangle-foot bag and the glob inside quickly hardened around the skeleton’s feet. The Greenbond Litorians fired arrows at one of the priests and then at the immobile skeleton as they moved in tandem with one another. The Litorian onlookers dashed for cover after the two fiery explosions and they huddled in a corner. </p><p></p><p>Jerrin dug his small hands into the green goop and the radiant green light from the Rakshasa suddenly ceased. Jerrin looked over his shoulder to see the female Rakshasa had dropped to one knee, and then she looked up and made several motions with her awkward-looking hand. Across the room one of the jade statues stepped forward as centuries of dust stirred. Jerrin asked if she was alright in elven, and she replied that she was. They exchanged names, she called herself Arilthar, before she wiped her brow and stood. </p><p></p><p>The metal statues lumbered forward and one of them struck Quentin heavily. Another slammed Thovaas with its metal fist. Quentin, feeling the bruise that was sure to form, backed away from the metal monster. Thovaas stood toe-to-toe with his and he hit the thing with his longsword as hard as he could. His blade struck it heavily in the side twice, and with the second blow the blade remained lodged in it. Thovaas watched as its strange metal flesh wrapped around the blade while he tugged on it before deciding to let go. </p><p></p><p>Grimnyr and Alex made their way to assist Thovaas, and together they worked against the metal construct. Jerrin tapped his wand of healing on the head of the beautiful winged creature trapped in the green goo, and it stirred slightly. He reached up and tried to pull her free, and in an instant he was enraptured with her stunning magnificence. Quentin made his way around the metal statues and came alongside Jerrin to assist in freeing the being within the gel. </p><p></p><p>Grimnyr lost his temper after the metal statue slugged him in the chest, and he swung his sword into it with all his might. It stuck, but he pulled it free after tugging on it several times. Again he swung, and again it stuck before he pulled it free. The next time his blow landed heavily on its shoulder, and this time his sword stayed wedged in its flesh. Alex also stabbed it with his rapier and when it pierced its flesh he felt the tip stick. He pulled and pulled, and the weapon was slowly consumed by the metal monster. As he saw his favorite weapon disappear he noticed that the wounds that it had sustained were closing. </p><p></p><p>Jerrin saw that Quentin had attracted one of the metal constructs and he summoned an ape to help deal with it. He also enhanced the ape’s claws with magic, and it struck the metal figure heavily several times just as it struck the ape. </p><p></p><p>Thovaas pulled a duergar axe from his belt and used it to strike the metal beast, and hit several times before it stuck and was swallowed into the thing. Two jade statues engaged the third metal figure and they traded many blows before the metal monster seemed to simply seize up and fall over. Another of the jade statues came to the protection of the Rakshasa. The last assisted Thovaas, Alex and Grimnyr with their metal figure. </p><p></p><p>Jerrin’s summoned ape beat against the metal construct but was slammed roughly again and disappeared. The jade statue that was near Arilthar the Rakshasa stepped forward to strike it several times before it froze in place after a hard blow. The huddling Litorians, threatened by Quentin to help him or die, scurried toward the entrance in a pile. One of the jade statues spun and lopped the head from a Litorian, and Quentin pulled his bow and shot another. Not seeing it drop, he gave chase and brought it down with another arrow. The remaining shed their robes and dropped to the ground, huddling in fear for their lives. Their cries were in Litorian and they seemed to be cowing to Felvonni as she notched another arrow. </p><p></p><p>Grimnyr finally felled the last of the metal constructs and Alex kicked at it, hoping to retrieve his rapier, but had no luck. Quentin returned to where Jerrin was digging at the base of the green gel and her angelic body slid free. Quentin gripped her by the shoulders and instantly felt a wave of pure joy sweep his body. A smile sprang to his face as he and Jerrin helped her to carefully stand. After she was stable she leaned on the proud Jerrin as Quentin, his chest puffed, crossed to free her twin on the opposite side. Thovaas, ever wary of danger, detected nothing vile about either of the angelic women. </p><p></p><p>Arilthar stepped around the group with the four jade statues surrounding her for protection. She nodded at Jerrin and said in common so the Litorians could not understand. Sneering, she focused on the party as they showed little surprise at her stripped fur, and she realized this was not the first Rakshasa they had seen. She said that the next time that they shall meet they will no longer be allies, but will welcome the day that she can snuff the life out of the halfling, choke the knight of Heironeous to death, and flay the flesh from the cunning sneak. Arilthar moved to leave with the jade statues flanking her, and Jerrin bid her a less-than-fond farewell. The Greenbond Litorians, guarding the few remaining Litorian priests that had surrendered, asked Quentin what had been said. </p><p></p><p>In a few words, Quentin summed it up as a misunderstanding, that the group had had poor experiences with Rakshasa in the past. Felvonni shrugged and also let Arilthar disappear without pursuit, saying that now that the party was here there would be no need of her. Glancing sidelong at one another, Quentin and Jerrin cleared their throats and mentioned it might be difficult if their comrades lacked the proper tools of war. Felvonni said something to one of the other Litorians, then responded saying that the outpost still maintained a decent armory and that they were welcome to take whatever they wished.</p><p></p><p>The group tentatively exited, and outside the dozen remaining Incabulos devotees stepped back from them. Felvonni motioned to them, and at once they removed their robes and held their paws outward to them in a sign of submission. Felvonni told the group in elven that they would likely need the priests as they could use the extra numbers if the duergar assaulted the outpost. Felvonni herded the cat-folk into the temple and explained what had happened. </p><p></p><p>Alex searched thoroughly over the bodies of the charred Litorians before moving on to investigate the head priest leading the ceremony and Mezimi. He found that Mezimi had a staff with a green glass sphere on the end, and the black wood was very cold to the touch. The skeletons on the red slab had a collection of chipped scimitars and axes, none of which seemed to be of much value. Taking a look at the metal statues once more he wondered if they could be dismembered for shipping, as the dwarves would likely pay a hefty price for even one of their arms. </p><p></p><p>Felvonni took the group to the outpost armory at their request. Inside they were astonished to see an array of weapons gleaming as they were displayed on specialy made supports to show them in the best light. Many of them had etchings on them with strange symbols, and upon inspection they were neither arcane nor divine in nature. In the center of the room a work table sat unused, and in the center of it a gem was mounted. The group was told to to choose a weapon and touch gem to feel the abilities of each. Nodding, the group poised to investigate the array of weapons presented to them.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="MarauderX, post: 2115827, member: 9990"] [U][B][SIZE=4]Session 30: Ancient Discoveries [/SIZE][/B][/U] The air was quiet for an instant, and in that instant the group became self aware of their own mortality. The clearing next to the jungle was soaked with blood of the fallen cat-folk and duergar. The area was littered with the fallen, and their weapons gleamed in the beams of the dim afternoon sun. Grimnyr broke the silence as he slashed upward at the duergar hovering over him. His blow landed solidly against the dark dwarf. The dwarf staggered his way over to receive healing by the nearest enlarged vocal duergar. Grimnyr passed out on the ground, his mouth still clenched in grim determination. Thovaas went into motion and struck the duergar sergeant in front of him with a smiting blow. The shock of the strike woke everyone around him as his sword bit deeply beyond the dark-skinned dwarf’s armor. The duergar sergeant grunted and dropped to his knees as the life poured out of him, a foreshadowing of what was to come. Quentin saw an opening on another and lunged forward to stab the duergar before stepping back to form a solid line with Thovaas. Alex tumbled his way over to the fallen Grimnyr, pulling out his water skin with the magic water from the Tower of Chautauqua. The cat-folk that had maneuvered themselves behind Jerrin suddenly split up to prevent the duergar from advancing around the party to get to them. One of the cat-folk touched the enlarged, ape-shaped Jerrin and a healing wave surged over him. Another touched Thovaas on his back and the same happened. The other two went to either side of the battle in hopes to hide in the jungle and flank the duergar. The duergar struck out at Jerrin and his wolfhound, Tempest. Several of their axes drew blood as they slid around them in hopes to flank the large Jerrin. Two of the vocal duergar strode forward to blast Quentin, Thovaas and the cat-folk behind them with deafening shouts. They were also pursued by two of the duergar foot soldiers that struck out at them, and Quentin and Thovaas responded with attacks of their own. Alex rushed to pry Grimnyr’s mouth open and dump a pint of the water down his throat. His eyes snapped open long enough for him to see Alex over him now. Grimnyr smiled and relaxed as his body let go of the fury it had had moments before and went limp again. Alex shouted his name trying to wake him, and then poured another pint of the water into his fallen comrade’s mouth. Meanwhile, the battle raged around them. Jerrin picked up one of the injured duergar and ripped his chest wide open, painting a dark red splash across the lush grasses. With another he tore the arm from it after securing it in his gory mouth. Thovaas stood fast as Quentin dove through the gap between the two enlarged vocal duergar. Thovaas slashed one powerfully and Quentin took advantage and pierced it in the throat. It slumped into a jungle tree and was still. The other attacked Thovaas and as he did, Quentin managed to pierce through their powerful armor as he grabbed it by the shoulder and felt it convulse as he twisted and stirred his blade between its vertebrae. It slumped forward and Quentin pulled out his blade and jumped to the side of another as it swung at him. Tempest harried one of the duergar soldiers with his bite, and finally ripped the bowels out of it as it yelled out in pain. Jerrin slammed his large fist against another and bones could be heard snapping from the bludgeoning. The other vocal duergar behind him could be heard gasping for its final breaths, its massive lungs pierced with multiple arrows. After Alex had played medic he made his way behind one of the duergar that had stuck Jerrin and attacked. Grimnyr stood up and gripped his axe. Though he was winded, he still walked toward the nearest duergar and swung his axe. Soon there was only one lone duergar left. He was facing off against Thovaas and Grimnyr, and he decided with a vengeful scream that he would fight to the end. Thovaas struck him again then Jerrin’s massive form lumbered over to let both arms fall like trees onto its head. The skull could be heard cracking at its head dropped to be even with its shoulders. The group surveyed the damage, and Thovaas re-scanned the cat-folk to see if they could be determined to be evil in the least. Seeing no deception, he sheathed his sword, but only partly as he scanned the fallen for magically enhanced items. He was taken aback when every one of the bodies in the field glowed with magical armor, and each of their weapons shown with an aura of enhancement. After seeing Thovaas’s face, Alex quickly went to work collecting the armor and checking the dead for treasure. Quentin was about to join them, but suddenly he heard Jerrin and the cat-folk talking in elven and decided that perhaps he should help. They began speaking to Quentin directly, saying that they were glad to have his help along with that of his servants. Their accent when speaking many of the elven words was unique, as if they wanted to enunciate each word perfectly. Already Jerrin had asked them who they were, and they seemed just as curious about the party. Quentin corrected them about the other party members’ status, saying that all in the party was equals and their eyes blinked several times in apparent astonishment. The cat-folk referred to themselves as Litorians. Their leader, Felvonni, inspected Quentin closely and remarked that the elves had changed much since she last saw them. Quentin told her that he was half-elven, that his father was human and his mother elven and had died in child birth. The Litorians snickered at first then were strangely fascinated with the concept. Felvonni explained that their expedition was on their way to meet two Rakshasa that had spoken to them in dreams. The large group had been attacked by an army of duergar, who was once their slaves. The Litorians used their escorts to fend them off while they escaped, but the remnants of the army pursued them across the valley. They were hoping to escape into the jungle as they had in the past, but the duergar had cut them off and surrounded them just as the party showed up. Alex uncovered small sacks of gems and it started to dawn on him and Grimnyr that the duergar had been trying to travel light even though they had worn chain shirts and scale mail. But when they began stacking it, they realized how light it was. Grimnyr inspected the scale mail and determined that though it was similar to many dwarven makes; it was of no shape of any clan that he had seen. Jerrin and Quentin did their best smooth talking, landing casual compliments in order to earn their trust. It was clear the Litorians owed them their lives, and graciously complimented the party in turn. The Litorians asked if the party had seen the Rakshasa, to which they replied they had not. They complimented Jerrin for being brethren of the wild, and asked about their journey there. Quickly they began to pick up several of the words in common that Thovaas, Grimnyr and Alex had said in the infrequent silences of their conversation. Quentin and Jerrin asked and listened as Felvonni told them about the Litorians retreating to this hidden valley toward the end of the Great War. Seeing both of them shaking their heads, she explained that the Litorians went there to avoid being attacked by elders or other slave races. They took with them two slave races; the duergar to build their homes and tend their farms, and the canids to raise and tend their cattle as well as scout their lands. Pitting the two slave races against one another, the Litorians kept a balance between them for fifteen hundred years, having each vie for Litorian favor. Eventually the duergar learned to hide their actual numbers deep within unmapped caves, and were secretive to even the Litorians. The duergar descended deeper into vile means to achieve what they wished. They began a war of attrition against the canids, wiping out the young of entire villages at a time. It became harder and harder to breed enough of them to match the duergar, and then the balance was undone. The canids were hunted to extinction. Following this the Litorians were able to keep the duergar in check with a relative peace over the next five hundred years. Then the duergar were granted powers by a strange 6-faced god and were no longer afraid of the Litorians. They made threats and started to reject any authority the Litorians tried to maintain. Suddenly war broke out and the duergar made weapons of war to try to match the magical capacity of the Litorians. The Litorians, who had once roamed the valley freely, now were forced to retreat behind the stone battlements the duergar had labored to create. The war has been ongoing for over five hundred years, and in that time the duergar have been steadily increasing their numbers while being able to exploit the knowledge of their own constructions. The Litorians have been on a steady retreat, and the thought of impending doom has given birth to three factions within the Litorians as to how to ensure their survival. Felvonni says that she is one of the Greenbonds, one of the three Litorian factions. The faction is dedicated to finding a peaceful resolution and is open to guidance from the spirits of the world. They also appreciated help from outside sources, as they recognize the duergar for the fiends they have become. The group gathered the equipment they had collected and hid it within the jungle, including the gear Thovaas’s mount had been carrying. They planned to come back for it, but the Litorians told them that the duergar had likely used their vocal communications to relay their position. The group set out to reach a nearby outpost the Litorians told them about, and they were on their way before long. Talking along the way, the Felvonni asked about the elves and the outside world. Quentin and Jerrin told her about the new prince that had ascended to the throne in the forest of Elarith. She had raised an eyebrow with interest and Quentin asked what she knew of the elves of old and the Great War. Felvonni said it all started with the elves. They had seen the powers that the humans had been granted, and most had sided with their creations, for better or worse. Most thought it was their foolish pride in their own work that had made them so attached to the humans, but they were willing to fight the gods. For this they were stricken from the skies, their wings ripped from the backs of all that had sympathized with the humans. The elves that did not side with the humans were also banished from the skies. They were doomed to spend their days below the earth, never to soar under the sun again. One race was more pleased with this result than any other – the dragons. The great serpents were now rulers of the realms over the ground. They used their own slaves to wage this war, breeding larger, nastier creatures to fill the ranks of their armies. Orcs made up the vast majority as they were quick to reproduce. Ogre captains led death squads to decimate the humans in their homes, and they rode large foul beasts with many horns. Goblin sappers made ruin of dwarven fortifications and foiled Halfling traps. But even the reptile lords were divided in their interests. The division was split as scholarly dragons sought to find the root of the cause, to find enlightened humans and test them for their worthiness. Eventually the scholar dragons found the slave races to be of noble quality, and that they should share this world with them. Others would never give up their newfound power of the skies, and the line was drawn between their race as well. We were set in our ways, as we had become lazy and complacent. We were content to live as we had, having the slave races fill the duties they had been assigned by our design. We Litorians had developed the canids and duergar to assist us with mining and herding long before the Great War started. We tried to remain neutral, to settle matters by way of judicious decision after much thought. It was our eastern cousins, the Rakshasa, who dragged us away from center. The Rakshasa had ruled that the old laws of war no longer applied to the slave races, as they were creations that they owned, and were to live and die at their whim. They employed diseases, manipulation and treachery that had not been seen in a very long time. The Rakshasa made the convincing argument that no matter how they tried the slave races were doomed to extinction if they wished. The Litorians joined them, if only half-heartedly, in an effort to quell the rebellion and let the elves descend to join them. Then the gods had their say. The humans, Halflings, dwarves and other folk were granted powers from these new gods. The tide turned, and the slaves won battle after battle with the aid of the crippled elves and the dragon scholars. So we created a home to retreat to, bringing the savanna and jungle from the south with us. We Litorians populated it with many of our familiar cattle-like creatures, and set about worshipping the gods as we always had. Only they seemed to stop listening as intently, and it was clear to us then that we had been abandoned by most of them. The grey god of death, Incabulos, was one of those to remain, and it is to one of their operating temples that Felvonni led the group toward. Felvonni explained that the Litorians, now that they were under threat of extinct themselves, had divided opinions on how to ensure their own survival. From it came the three factions, and Felvonni led a large group of the Greenbonds to try to meet with the Rakshasa to deal with the duergar threat, or in the least, provide another home in which to settle. Felvonni warned that although they were headed to a Litorian outpost, the inhabitants were of the Incabulos faction. The last faction was of those that thought they should seek out Thermoleth and bring her to help. The party recognized the name Thermoleth, and Grimnyr explained that the only place he had heard of it was that the black-peaked mountain they had passed was called Thermoleth. When they arrived at the outpost they saw what looked like catapults on top of thick stone walls. The tall walls had several smears of soot where the fires of war had scarred them. The party was greeted lukewarmly, and the thirty Litorian inhabitants scanned over the group snootily with their eyes. All were devotees of Incabulos and wore black, grey, red and white to signify their status. Their leader stopped to greet them with two followers behind him. Nodding, they greeted the party with a glance and spoke with Felvonni in the strange Litorian tongue. Felvonni replied in elven for the benefit of Quentin and Jerrin. She introduced them as equals to one another, and explained Quentin’s half-elven heritage to him. Then she explained that they had helped defeat an army of duergar that had harried them across the valley. She introduced the Litorian as Mezimi, high priest of Incabulos and leader of the outpost. Jerrin then mentioned that they had come upon the Greenbond Litorians as they were venturing to the gate they had come through to meet the Rakshasa. From that Felvonni gave Jerrin a stunned look while Mezimi smiled crookedly. Mezimi then replied that he understood the need to meet the Rakshasa, and such an ally would certainly help with repressing the duergar. With that he glided away, expecting them all to follow him to the main stone temple at the center of the outpost. The group walked in tentatively. They saw the broken-arch vaulting thirty feet above them, and scanned the dark grey stone that had various relief carvings painted with white and deep shades of red. In front of them was a ring of seven worshipping Litorians that surrounded a square stone slab that was raised a foot or so from the floor. It was stained red with blood from use, and piled in the center were corpses and bones. The chanting figures were led by another high priest of Incabulos. Behind this two channels carved into the floor led past three metallic creatures that stood unmoving on ten-foot square raised tiles. Beyond them the channels, filled with a red substance that looked like blood, ended in churning blackness. Above these two swirling masses the blackness changed to a greenish, and two stunning figures could be seen trapped within. What was between them made most of the party gasp. A Rakshasa stood on the middle raised tile, blue light shimmering around it from below. Female, the Rakshasa had her strange palms turned outwards, and from them a greenish blue light extended to envelope the angelic beings. The Rakshasa looked strained, as if it was taking all of her effort to maintain what she was doing while the chanters in the foreground raised the pitch of the throng. Jerrin pulled out the wand of curing and tapped Tempest, who sat by him whining with concern. Then he tapped himself several times as Mezimi blathered on about how a Rakshasa indeed makes an almost perfect ally. Quentin stepped to his side just as Grimnyr spotted something stirring on the red slab. Grimnyr wasted no time, and plucked one of the orange spheres from the belt around his waist and threw it in the middle of the room. It exploded, blasting six Litorian onlookers into the wall behind them and incinerating two of the priests. Quentin slashed through Mezimi’s thick black robes as he tried to strike him, and Jerrin mounted Tempest and streaked across the room toward one of the entrapped figures. Alex leapt into action, streaking to the nearest priest and lodging his blade into the Litorian’s back deep enough to make him fall. Thovaas strode up to Mezimi, who swirled around in time to meet his blade. Quentin saw that the Litorian was still stammering from surprise and his rapier ended his days. Just after Jerrin ran across the room, Grimnyr hurled another of the orange spheres, this time striking the other side and leveling the other Litorian priests surrounding the red slab. Suddenly the group saw the wide metal figures move toward them with thundering steps that echoed about the great hall. Quentin dropped another of the priests as the skeleton they had summoned stood and wielded a scimitar against him. Alex tossed a tangle-foot bag and the glob inside quickly hardened around the skeleton’s feet. The Greenbond Litorians fired arrows at one of the priests and then at the immobile skeleton as they moved in tandem with one another. The Litorian onlookers dashed for cover after the two fiery explosions and they huddled in a corner. Jerrin dug his small hands into the green goop and the radiant green light from the Rakshasa suddenly ceased. Jerrin looked over his shoulder to see the female Rakshasa had dropped to one knee, and then she looked up and made several motions with her awkward-looking hand. Across the room one of the jade statues stepped forward as centuries of dust stirred. Jerrin asked if she was alright in elven, and she replied that she was. They exchanged names, she called herself Arilthar, before she wiped her brow and stood. The metal statues lumbered forward and one of them struck Quentin heavily. Another slammed Thovaas with its metal fist. Quentin, feeling the bruise that was sure to form, backed away from the metal monster. Thovaas stood toe-to-toe with his and he hit the thing with his longsword as hard as he could. His blade struck it heavily in the side twice, and with the second blow the blade remained lodged in it. Thovaas watched as its strange metal flesh wrapped around the blade while he tugged on it before deciding to let go. Grimnyr and Alex made their way to assist Thovaas, and together they worked against the metal construct. Jerrin tapped his wand of healing on the head of the beautiful winged creature trapped in the green goo, and it stirred slightly. He reached up and tried to pull her free, and in an instant he was enraptured with her stunning magnificence. Quentin made his way around the metal statues and came alongside Jerrin to assist in freeing the being within the gel. Grimnyr lost his temper after the metal statue slugged him in the chest, and he swung his sword into it with all his might. It stuck, but he pulled it free after tugging on it several times. Again he swung, and again it stuck before he pulled it free. The next time his blow landed heavily on its shoulder, and this time his sword stayed wedged in its flesh. Alex also stabbed it with his rapier and when it pierced its flesh he felt the tip stick. He pulled and pulled, and the weapon was slowly consumed by the metal monster. As he saw his favorite weapon disappear he noticed that the wounds that it had sustained were closing. Jerrin saw that Quentin had attracted one of the metal constructs and he summoned an ape to help deal with it. He also enhanced the ape’s claws with magic, and it struck the metal figure heavily several times just as it struck the ape. Thovaas pulled a duergar axe from his belt and used it to strike the metal beast, and hit several times before it stuck and was swallowed into the thing. Two jade statues engaged the third metal figure and they traded many blows before the metal monster seemed to simply seize up and fall over. Another of the jade statues came to the protection of the Rakshasa. The last assisted Thovaas, Alex and Grimnyr with their metal figure. Jerrin’s summoned ape beat against the metal construct but was slammed roughly again and disappeared. The jade statue that was near Arilthar the Rakshasa stepped forward to strike it several times before it froze in place after a hard blow. The huddling Litorians, threatened by Quentin to help him or die, scurried toward the entrance in a pile. One of the jade statues spun and lopped the head from a Litorian, and Quentin pulled his bow and shot another. Not seeing it drop, he gave chase and brought it down with another arrow. The remaining shed their robes and dropped to the ground, huddling in fear for their lives. Their cries were in Litorian and they seemed to be cowing to Felvonni as she notched another arrow. Grimnyr finally felled the last of the metal constructs and Alex kicked at it, hoping to retrieve his rapier, but had no luck. Quentin returned to where Jerrin was digging at the base of the green gel and her angelic body slid free. Quentin gripped her by the shoulders and instantly felt a wave of pure joy sweep his body. A smile sprang to his face as he and Jerrin helped her to carefully stand. After she was stable she leaned on the proud Jerrin as Quentin, his chest puffed, crossed to free her twin on the opposite side. Thovaas, ever wary of danger, detected nothing vile about either of the angelic women. Arilthar stepped around the group with the four jade statues surrounding her for protection. She nodded at Jerrin and said in common so the Litorians could not understand. Sneering, she focused on the party as they showed little surprise at her stripped fur, and she realized this was not the first Rakshasa they had seen. She said that the next time that they shall meet they will no longer be allies, but will welcome the day that she can snuff the life out of the halfling, choke the knight of Heironeous to death, and flay the flesh from the cunning sneak. Arilthar moved to leave with the jade statues flanking her, and Jerrin bid her a less-than-fond farewell. The Greenbond Litorians, guarding the few remaining Litorian priests that had surrendered, asked Quentin what had been said. In a few words, Quentin summed it up as a misunderstanding, that the group had had poor experiences with Rakshasa in the past. Felvonni shrugged and also let Arilthar disappear without pursuit, saying that now that the party was here there would be no need of her. Glancing sidelong at one another, Quentin and Jerrin cleared their throats and mentioned it might be difficult if their comrades lacked the proper tools of war. Felvonni said something to one of the other Litorians, then responded saying that the outpost still maintained a decent armory and that they were welcome to take whatever they wished. The group tentatively exited, and outside the dozen remaining Incabulos devotees stepped back from them. Felvonni motioned to them, and at once they removed their robes and held their paws outward to them in a sign of submission. Felvonni told the group in elven that they would likely need the priests as they could use the extra numbers if the duergar assaulted the outpost. Felvonni herded the cat-folk into the temple and explained what had happened. Alex searched thoroughly over the bodies of the charred Litorians before moving on to investigate the head priest leading the ceremony and Mezimi. He found that Mezimi had a staff with a green glass sphere on the end, and the black wood was very cold to the touch. The skeletons on the red slab had a collection of chipped scimitars and axes, none of which seemed to be of much value. Taking a look at the metal statues once more he wondered if they could be dismembered for shipping, as the dwarves would likely pay a hefty price for even one of their arms. Felvonni took the group to the outpost armory at their request. Inside they were astonished to see an array of weapons gleaming as they were displayed on specialy made supports to show them in the best light. Many of them had etchings on them with strange symbols, and upon inspection they were neither arcane nor divine in nature. In the center of the room a work table sat unused, and in the center of it a gem was mounted. The group was told to to choose a weapon and touch gem to feel the abilities of each. Nodding, the group poised to investigate the array of weapons presented to them. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
Correl: An Element of Origin
Top