the Jester
Legend
Yeah! You made 'em split up! 
![:]](http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/devious.png "Devious :]")
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Droid101's Story Hour, "Of Gods and Devils" Updated 10/12!
- Thread starter Droid101
- Start date
Droid101
First Post
Ogrim, Eltharion and Viknen flew to the east. Explosions coming from the city behind them could be heard at irregular intervals. The rain soaked them thoroughly.
“So what we gonna be doin’ to da big giant ting, eh?” Viknen asks while his staff’s skulls clacked together quietly.
“We’re going to kill it. Just support Ogrim and I however you can. Don’t get yourself killed,” Eltharion says.
They flew out beyond the city walls for about a minute when a huge shape could be seen looming before them. A fifty foot tall giant man. He was bending down and picking something up… a kobold. He reached way back, and threw it with all his might. The kobold went flying through the air and out of their sight. About fifty more kobolds were gathered around the feet of the huge man.
Eltharion flew in at the thing’s knees, slashing out and cutting it across the knee cap. The giant reacted as one would to a mosquito bite; a swipe with the back of his hand. The huge hand sent Eltharion flying backwards, but he was able to right himself in the air.
Ogrim flew in at the thing’s stomach, jamming his axe into it. The giant grabbed Ogrim and threw him at Eltharion. They collided in mid air, sending the air out of both of them. The kobolds on the ground began to jump up and down and cheer. Small packs could be seen attached all over the kobolds… explosives most likely.
“They have explosives on them! Try to get the giant to step on them or something!” Eltharion exclaims.
“Right away mon,” Viknen flies up to eye level with the enormous giant. Viknen’s blue eyes become almost crystalline; like a beautiful faceted sapphire, each one glinting almost hypnotically. The flash of blue energy has the giant swaying, and finally his eye roll back in his head, and he falls to the earth – hard.
He lands on about ten kobolds, five of whom have their packs discharge and explode. The flames lick over the giant and most of the other kobolds, whose packs similarly light and explode. The chain reaction of fire and noise creates quite a sight indeed. The explosions kill all of the kobolds, but merely wake the giant up from his gaze-induced slumber. He staggers to his feet as Eltharion and Ogrim fly in from different sides, cutting into both his arms simultaneously.
The giant howls out as they both pierce his funny bones on each of his elbows. He swings out at both of them, but only offers them glancing blows, both of which are able to shrug them off and continue fighting.
Both of them fly slowly up his arms while slicing, slashing, cutting, stabbing and gouging at the giant. They take a couple of more powerful hits from the giant, and are finally both flying near his neck and face. Ogrim cuts into the giant’s spine on its neck, and Eltharion dives his Sun-sickle and Moon-scimitar into both of the giant’s eyes. One last long howl of pain, and the giant falls to its knees, clutching its face. It falls the rest of the way and connects with the ground, creating a virtual earthquake from its enormous size.
Eltharion and Ogrim survey their bruises. Viknen comes over and heals them both as best he can, his skull topped staff clacking as he swings it to invoke his spells.
Eltharion hears something in his head…
Send one to castle if you can spare. Discussing contingency plans.
“Adlai wants one of us to meet up at the castle to discuss plans,” Eltharion says.
“Let’s all go, we’ve done our part here,” Ogrim states.
They fly back. After about ten minutes they get back to the roof of the castle, and see The Necromancer there with Adlai.
“What’s going on?” Eltharion asks.
“We’re going to go check to see if the dark elves neutralized the portal to Sigil in the Oubliette. We need to make sure we have a contingency plan in case things go sour,” Adlai says.
“Can’t we just teleport?” Eltharion asks.
“No, the dark elves have put up a massive dimensional anchoring spell, preventing any planar travel. That’s why the portal becomes vital in case we can’t escape. Let’s go check it out,” Adlai says.
“I’m going back to find Blaze and Blaine, they’ll need me if those demons are still chasing them,” The Necromancer says.
“Okay, keep them busy!” Adlai says, and The Necromancer flies off.
Adlai, Eltharion, Ogrim, and Viknen start toward the jail, head through the secret passage, then go down into the Oubliette.
“What happened to Grog and Bloodthorne?” Eltharion asks.
“I sent them a message just like to you, but they never came,” Adlai says. “I fear the worst…”
“They’re tough, they’ll be fine,” Eltharion says.
Just as they reach the boarded off cell in the Oubliette, a stone next to the cell comes loose and falls to the floor. A form steps through, and stops abruptly.
Dendybar.
“Uh oh…” Dendybar says slowly. A form steps out with him. A half-man, half-demon with a golden left eye and hand, and golden right arm and right leg. The demon that Vecna raised so many times…
Eltharion instantly pulls out the futuristic laser gun that sent Dendybar to the faraway plane, and pulls the trigger…
…but nothing comes out.
“Wait, wait… now look, we can fight now…” Dendybar’s reasoning is stopped, as Ely Cromlich, the half demon, steps in front of him at the same time as Eltharion attempts to rush forward. Adlai and Ogrim hold onto Eltharion, not allowing him to charge.
“Wait! Look, we can fight now, and maybe we’d win, maybe you’d win, but for sure, both sides would be severely weakened and probably unable to escape the battle up above,” Dendybar reasons calmly. A flicker and two forms can be seen floating above Adlai and Ogrim. One is the dark elf with spiked out hair that they’ve faced so many times before. The other is a dark cloaked creature with tentacles writhing from beneath its hood.
“It is four on four. Maybe two would survive. That won’t help us escape those damned elves out there. We need to call a truce…” Dendybar says with a slight hesitation.
Eltharion is still trying to escape Ogrim and Adlai’s grasp to attack them, but finally stops.
“I don’t have to like it,” Eltharion says to Ogrim and Adlai, not even glancing to Dendybar.
“Let’s go then…” Ely says as he takes to the air, flying up the cylindrical Oubliette chamber. Xyxtactil the illithid and Kev’Zen the dark elf both start flying up, vanishing in the process. Dendybar flies up the stairs as well, casting an invisibility spell as he does, vanishing as well.
“Let’s be on da safe side…” Viknen says as he casts a quick see invisibility on Ogrim and Eltharion.
Adlai checks the portal.
“It’s not working. Damn! Okay, I’ll make sure the citizens are ready to flee, then. You guys get going and see if we can turn them back,” Adlai says.
Eltharion, Ogrim and Viknen fly out of the Oubliette and out of the castle. They follow Dendybar, Xyxtactil, Kev’Zen and Ely out to the castle rooftop.
“We’re going northeast. The leaders and the giant carrying the spire of darkness is that way,” Ogrim says.
“Kill or be killed,” Ely says. “After this battle, we are enemies again.”
“Fine,” Ogrim grunts. The group of seven starts flying out to the northeast. Out towards destiny.
How will they fare fighting alongside their mortal enemies? Can you smell a betrayal? What about Grog and Bloodthorne?? Find out next time!!!
“So what we gonna be doin’ to da big giant ting, eh?” Viknen asks while his staff’s skulls clacked together quietly.
“We’re going to kill it. Just support Ogrim and I however you can. Don’t get yourself killed,” Eltharion says.
They flew out beyond the city walls for about a minute when a huge shape could be seen looming before them. A fifty foot tall giant man. He was bending down and picking something up… a kobold. He reached way back, and threw it with all his might. The kobold went flying through the air and out of their sight. About fifty more kobolds were gathered around the feet of the huge man.
Eltharion flew in at the thing’s knees, slashing out and cutting it across the knee cap. The giant reacted as one would to a mosquito bite; a swipe with the back of his hand. The huge hand sent Eltharion flying backwards, but he was able to right himself in the air.
Ogrim flew in at the thing’s stomach, jamming his axe into it. The giant grabbed Ogrim and threw him at Eltharion. They collided in mid air, sending the air out of both of them. The kobolds on the ground began to jump up and down and cheer. Small packs could be seen attached all over the kobolds… explosives most likely.
“They have explosives on them! Try to get the giant to step on them or something!” Eltharion exclaims.
“Right away mon,” Viknen flies up to eye level with the enormous giant. Viknen’s blue eyes become almost crystalline; like a beautiful faceted sapphire, each one glinting almost hypnotically. The flash of blue energy has the giant swaying, and finally his eye roll back in his head, and he falls to the earth – hard.
He lands on about ten kobolds, five of whom have their packs discharge and explode. The flames lick over the giant and most of the other kobolds, whose packs similarly light and explode. The chain reaction of fire and noise creates quite a sight indeed. The explosions kill all of the kobolds, but merely wake the giant up from his gaze-induced slumber. He staggers to his feet as Eltharion and Ogrim fly in from different sides, cutting into both his arms simultaneously.
The giant howls out as they both pierce his funny bones on each of his elbows. He swings out at both of them, but only offers them glancing blows, both of which are able to shrug them off and continue fighting.
Both of them fly slowly up his arms while slicing, slashing, cutting, stabbing and gouging at the giant. They take a couple of more powerful hits from the giant, and are finally both flying near his neck and face. Ogrim cuts into the giant’s spine on its neck, and Eltharion dives his Sun-sickle and Moon-scimitar into both of the giant’s eyes. One last long howl of pain, and the giant falls to its knees, clutching its face. It falls the rest of the way and connects with the ground, creating a virtual earthquake from its enormous size.
Eltharion and Ogrim survey their bruises. Viknen comes over and heals them both as best he can, his skull topped staff clacking as he swings it to invoke his spells.
Eltharion hears something in his head…
Send one to castle if you can spare. Discussing contingency plans.
“Adlai wants one of us to meet up at the castle to discuss plans,” Eltharion says.
“Let’s all go, we’ve done our part here,” Ogrim states.
They fly back. After about ten minutes they get back to the roof of the castle, and see The Necromancer there with Adlai.
“What’s going on?” Eltharion asks.
“We’re going to go check to see if the dark elves neutralized the portal to Sigil in the Oubliette. We need to make sure we have a contingency plan in case things go sour,” Adlai says.
“Can’t we just teleport?” Eltharion asks.
“No, the dark elves have put up a massive dimensional anchoring spell, preventing any planar travel. That’s why the portal becomes vital in case we can’t escape. Let’s go check it out,” Adlai says.
“I’m going back to find Blaze and Blaine, they’ll need me if those demons are still chasing them,” The Necromancer says.
“Okay, keep them busy!” Adlai says, and The Necromancer flies off.
Adlai, Eltharion, Ogrim, and Viknen start toward the jail, head through the secret passage, then go down into the Oubliette.
“What happened to Grog and Bloodthorne?” Eltharion asks.
“I sent them a message just like to you, but they never came,” Adlai says. “I fear the worst…”
“They’re tough, they’ll be fine,” Eltharion says.
Just as they reach the boarded off cell in the Oubliette, a stone next to the cell comes loose and falls to the floor. A form steps through, and stops abruptly.
Dendybar.
“Uh oh…” Dendybar says slowly. A form steps out with him. A half-man, half-demon with a golden left eye and hand, and golden right arm and right leg. The demon that Vecna raised so many times…
Eltharion instantly pulls out the futuristic laser gun that sent Dendybar to the faraway plane, and pulls the trigger…
…but nothing comes out.
“Wait, wait… now look, we can fight now…” Dendybar’s reasoning is stopped, as Ely Cromlich, the half demon, steps in front of him at the same time as Eltharion attempts to rush forward. Adlai and Ogrim hold onto Eltharion, not allowing him to charge.
“Wait! Look, we can fight now, and maybe we’d win, maybe you’d win, but for sure, both sides would be severely weakened and probably unable to escape the battle up above,” Dendybar reasons calmly. A flicker and two forms can be seen floating above Adlai and Ogrim. One is the dark elf with spiked out hair that they’ve faced so many times before. The other is a dark cloaked creature with tentacles writhing from beneath its hood.
“It is four on four. Maybe two would survive. That won’t help us escape those damned elves out there. We need to call a truce…” Dendybar says with a slight hesitation.
Eltharion is still trying to escape Ogrim and Adlai’s grasp to attack them, but finally stops.
“I don’t have to like it,” Eltharion says to Ogrim and Adlai, not even glancing to Dendybar.
“Let’s go then…” Ely says as he takes to the air, flying up the cylindrical Oubliette chamber. Xyxtactil the illithid and Kev’Zen the dark elf both start flying up, vanishing in the process. Dendybar flies up the stairs as well, casting an invisibility spell as he does, vanishing as well.
“Let’s be on da safe side…” Viknen says as he casts a quick see invisibility on Ogrim and Eltharion.
Adlai checks the portal.
“It’s not working. Damn! Okay, I’ll make sure the citizens are ready to flee, then. You guys get going and see if we can turn them back,” Adlai says.
Eltharion, Ogrim and Viknen fly out of the Oubliette and out of the castle. They follow Dendybar, Xyxtactil, Kev’Zen and Ely out to the castle rooftop.
“We’re going northeast. The leaders and the giant carrying the spire of darkness is that way,” Ogrim says.
“Kill or be killed,” Ely says. “After this battle, we are enemies again.”
“Fine,” Ogrim grunts. The group of seven starts flying out to the northeast. Out towards destiny.
How will they fare fighting alongside their mortal enemies? Can you smell a betrayal? What about Grog and Bloodthorne?? Find out next time!!!
Last edited:
Hairy Minotaur
Explorer
Excellent, excellent update.
Droid101
First Post
Thank you, thank you.Hairy Minotaur said:Excellent, excellent update.
And if anybody is wondering (I'm sure someone cares) that was Dendybar, Xyxtactil, Kev'Zen and Ely's lair. Yes, their lair was behind the portal to Sigil in Castle Brunswick. Yes, because nobody would ever look behind the portal, thinking the cell to be abandoned. Yes, it was dastardly, but it's over now, so don't worry about it.
Droid101
First Post
The rain pelted their faces as they quickly flew out northeast over the city and into the fields. The area immediately surrounding them was brightened up by the light from Eltharion’s Sun-sickle.
Eltharion, Ogrim and Viknen flew a little bit behind Ely, Dendybar, Xyxtactil and Kev’Zen.
“Kev’Zen, Xyx, you two get out of here to our secondary base. Ely and I will stay here and do some damage,” Dendybar says. Kev’Zen and Xyxtactil start flying directly north.
“Try to make yourselves useful,” Ely says back to the Heroes, his leathery wings pumping hard and fast.
“Same to you,” Eltharion grits his teeth as they fly on.
They were flying about 50 feet off the ground. Below them they could see goblin stragglers running toward the castle. They seemed bigger than normal…
“Don’t worry about them, we’re after the leaders…” Ogrim says as they continue their flight.
Two blasts of electricity came from either side of them. The bolts cut through both Eltharion and Ogrim. They were able to dodge out of the way of the first, taking only minor burns. Ogrim dodged the second, and the second one fizzled out once it came in contact with Eltharion.
Two dark elves wearing dark cloaks could be seen flying on either side of them. Another one appeared out in front, closer to Ely and Dendybar, blasting them with lightning.
“Looks like our cover is blown, let’s do this,” Eltharion says as he flies at one of the wizards. He slashes him across the chest, drawing a line of blood and a cry of pain from the elf.
Ogrim flies out at the other one, hacking down with his Orc-Killer axe. It blasts through the dark elf’s collar bone and deep into his chest plate. The elf dies immediately, and falls down to the earth below.
Dendybar, being invisible already, leisurely flies around the back of the last dark elf wizard. He reaches around and positions his dagger in front of the elf’s neck, and slashes it violently. Blood sprays out at every angle, and Ely laughs as the elf falls to the earth without a sound.
“Keep your eye on them…” Ogrim says to Viknen.
The dark elf on Eltharion flew back and let out five magical missiles. Each one fizzled out as it connected with Eltharion, who was unharmed. Eltharion closed in and let out a lethal seven hit combination, cutting and slashing the dark elf to ribbons, and his body fell to the ground below.
“Let’s go, I can see the orc troops,” Ely says, pointing down to the ground with his golden right arm. He pulls out his long Ashblade, and it sprays ash all around as he does so.
Sure enough, the well-armored orc battalion could be seen up ahead. They seemed very well organized, but were stationary at the moment.
“Stay behind us, we don’t want you getting hurt,” Eltharion says to Viknen as he and Ogrim fly down to the ground. Ely and Dendybar join them. The orcs spot Ogrim, Eltharion and Ely, as they aren’t invisible.
“Let them come to us…” Ely says, swinging his blade around, creating a cloud of ash.
Ogrim and Eltharion get into defensive stances. Dendybar readies his longsword and dagger, staying quiet.
The orcs let out a loud roar and charge. There must be at least five hundred of them. They are all wearing heavy plate armor with shields and longswords. The Heroes (and villains) are standing ten feet apart, creating a defensive line.
Ely lowers his blazing red eyes to the orcs as they approach. With a mere thought, he lets out a devastating horrid wilting spell, which obliterates about thirty of the orcs instantly; the moisture in their bodies evaporates leaving them as dried out husks of skin in metal armor. The orcs don’t stop their charge, and they slam into the party.
They try to file around them, but are stopped dead. Literally.
Ogrim slams his axe into the first one that reaches him, cleaving through three others, killing all four instantly.
Eltharion enters a lethal dance as the orcs approach him. He cuts down three of them, each one taking two well-placed cuts from his Sun-sickle and Moon-scimitar.
Dendybar devastates the orcs as well, spinning in their midst unseen, he slashes six throats out. The sight must be terrible to the other orcs, seeing the necks of their comrades being ripped out by an invisible force.
Ely swings his blade with exceptional strength and skill as well, cleaving through three and cutting down two more with a second swipe.
The orcs continue to file in, being summarily cut down. From behind them, some thunderous footfalls could be heard.
Four 20 foot tall storm giants wade into the ranks of the orcs and approach the party.
Viknen takes this as his queue.
“Close your eyes mon!” he calls down to Ogrim and Eltharion, and his eyes once again turn into clear blue sapphires. With a flash of blue light, one of the giants falls down asleep, toppling several orcs.
The storm giants are as well armored as the orcs. Shiny plate mail and huge two-handed greatswords. They continue their charge until they reach the party.
One of them hacks into Eltharion, knocking the wind out of him and opening a large cut along his arm.
One slashes into Ely, drawing a deep wound as well. The last one stabs into Ogrim, jabbing into his stomach. Ogrim grunts in pain.
From behind the giants, three armored drow females could be seen. Each one carrying a writhing snake flail and heavy shield.
Ogrim, Eltharion, Ely and Dendybar strike back against the giants. They score a few hits, but the sheer size of the giants keeps them standing and fighting at almost full strength. The dark elf priestesses then heal the giants after the onslaught.
“We can’t win this, time for a tactical retreat,” Ogrim calls out, and the other nod. “Meet up at Baron!”
Ogrim and Eltharion fly up out of the giant’s reach, but then two of the priestesses fly at them, meeting them in mid air. They have out their snake flails and shields.
“Not so fast!” one of the female dark elves calls out in Undercommon.
One of them lashes out their flail, but Ogrim blocks it with his shield. The other one’s flail bites into Eltharion, and he grits his teeth from the burning poison.
“Bitch,” Eltharion slashes into her, scoring six lightning-fast hits, sliding his blade under her adamantium armor. She keels over in pain, holding onto her stomach.
Ogrim slams his axe into the priestess on him. It cuts into her flank hard, and she is thrown back from the impact.
The castle is lost. Retreat to Baron. The message enters their heads like a hammer. Eltharion, Ogrim and Viknen’s stomachs drop simultaneously.
Down below, they could see Dendybar and Ely finish off one of the giants and start flying off in different directions. Viknen flies up behind Eltharion and heals him. They also see two dark elf wizards fly up to the giants and cast fly on them.
“Okay, now it’s really time to go,” Ogrim says.
“Let’s split so they can’t follow,” Eltharion says. He spins his blade and slashes one last time at the priestess, cutting her across the neck and killing her. Her body falls to the ground, connecting with an orc soldier below.
Ogrim flies west and Viknen north. They speed off and don’t seem to be followed. Ogrim heads back to the city to get a horse, since he felt the fly spell would be ending soon. After about 15 minutes, he reaches the castle, and enters the stable.
The city below as he flew was devastated. The two sections of wall that were removed were teeming with goblins. Much of the city was burning, and there were dark figures, goblins, and insane looking kobolds everywhere.
Ogrim mounted the horse and rode as fast as he could toward the secret exit Adlai told them about. He reaches it without incidence, and begins the ride south.
………….
Eltharion finishes off the priestess and starts to fly away as the other one approaches him. He flies back to the castle, seeing the same thing Ogrim did; mass destruction and devastation. He gets his horse from the stable and begins to ride south, out of the city. As he approaches the city wall, a two goblins come stumbling out of a building nearby with loot. They drop it and pull out shortswords.
Eltharion slashes one with his scimitar and overruns the other as he passes them by. He reaches the castle wall and the secret exit. He rides over the invisible bridge, across the moat, and begins the ride south to the beach. After about an hour he reaches the beach, and meets up with some Brunswick civilians and soldiers walking along the beach to the east.
“How goes it?” Eltharion asks.
“We got as many people out as we could. I don’t think the dark elves are following,” the guard responds.
Eltharion keeps riding past them, and finally catches up to Ogrim, who is riding alongside some civilians.
The castle is lost. The dark elves have won. Is the Dark Tide going to consume the world? And what happened to Bloodthorne and Grog??
Eltharion, Ogrim and Viknen flew a little bit behind Ely, Dendybar, Xyxtactil and Kev’Zen.
“Kev’Zen, Xyx, you two get out of here to our secondary base. Ely and I will stay here and do some damage,” Dendybar says. Kev’Zen and Xyxtactil start flying directly north.
“Try to make yourselves useful,” Ely says back to the Heroes, his leathery wings pumping hard and fast.
“Same to you,” Eltharion grits his teeth as they fly on.
They were flying about 50 feet off the ground. Below them they could see goblin stragglers running toward the castle. They seemed bigger than normal…
“Don’t worry about them, we’re after the leaders…” Ogrim says as they continue their flight.
Two blasts of electricity came from either side of them. The bolts cut through both Eltharion and Ogrim. They were able to dodge out of the way of the first, taking only minor burns. Ogrim dodged the second, and the second one fizzled out once it came in contact with Eltharion.
Two dark elves wearing dark cloaks could be seen flying on either side of them. Another one appeared out in front, closer to Ely and Dendybar, blasting them with lightning.
“Looks like our cover is blown, let’s do this,” Eltharion says as he flies at one of the wizards. He slashes him across the chest, drawing a line of blood and a cry of pain from the elf.
Ogrim flies out at the other one, hacking down with his Orc-Killer axe. It blasts through the dark elf’s collar bone and deep into his chest plate. The elf dies immediately, and falls down to the earth below.
Dendybar, being invisible already, leisurely flies around the back of the last dark elf wizard. He reaches around and positions his dagger in front of the elf’s neck, and slashes it violently. Blood sprays out at every angle, and Ely laughs as the elf falls to the earth without a sound.
“Keep your eye on them…” Ogrim says to Viknen.
The dark elf on Eltharion flew back and let out five magical missiles. Each one fizzled out as it connected with Eltharion, who was unharmed. Eltharion closed in and let out a lethal seven hit combination, cutting and slashing the dark elf to ribbons, and his body fell to the ground below.
“Let’s go, I can see the orc troops,” Ely says, pointing down to the ground with his golden right arm. He pulls out his long Ashblade, and it sprays ash all around as he does so.
Sure enough, the well-armored orc battalion could be seen up ahead. They seemed very well organized, but were stationary at the moment.
“Stay behind us, we don’t want you getting hurt,” Eltharion says to Viknen as he and Ogrim fly down to the ground. Ely and Dendybar join them. The orcs spot Ogrim, Eltharion and Ely, as they aren’t invisible.
“Let them come to us…” Ely says, swinging his blade around, creating a cloud of ash.
Ogrim and Eltharion get into defensive stances. Dendybar readies his longsword and dagger, staying quiet.
The orcs let out a loud roar and charge. There must be at least five hundred of them. They are all wearing heavy plate armor with shields and longswords. The Heroes (and villains) are standing ten feet apart, creating a defensive line.
Ely lowers his blazing red eyes to the orcs as they approach. With a mere thought, he lets out a devastating horrid wilting spell, which obliterates about thirty of the orcs instantly; the moisture in their bodies evaporates leaving them as dried out husks of skin in metal armor. The orcs don’t stop their charge, and they slam into the party.
They try to file around them, but are stopped dead. Literally.
Ogrim slams his axe into the first one that reaches him, cleaving through three others, killing all four instantly.
Eltharion enters a lethal dance as the orcs approach him. He cuts down three of them, each one taking two well-placed cuts from his Sun-sickle and Moon-scimitar.
Dendybar devastates the orcs as well, spinning in their midst unseen, he slashes six throats out. The sight must be terrible to the other orcs, seeing the necks of their comrades being ripped out by an invisible force.
Ely swings his blade with exceptional strength and skill as well, cleaving through three and cutting down two more with a second swipe.
The orcs continue to file in, being summarily cut down. From behind them, some thunderous footfalls could be heard.
Four 20 foot tall storm giants wade into the ranks of the orcs and approach the party.
Viknen takes this as his queue.
“Close your eyes mon!” he calls down to Ogrim and Eltharion, and his eyes once again turn into clear blue sapphires. With a flash of blue light, one of the giants falls down asleep, toppling several orcs.
The storm giants are as well armored as the orcs. Shiny plate mail and huge two-handed greatswords. They continue their charge until they reach the party.
One of them hacks into Eltharion, knocking the wind out of him and opening a large cut along his arm.
One slashes into Ely, drawing a deep wound as well. The last one stabs into Ogrim, jabbing into his stomach. Ogrim grunts in pain.
From behind the giants, three armored drow females could be seen. Each one carrying a writhing snake flail and heavy shield.
Ogrim, Eltharion, Ely and Dendybar strike back against the giants. They score a few hits, but the sheer size of the giants keeps them standing and fighting at almost full strength. The dark elf priestesses then heal the giants after the onslaught.
“We can’t win this, time for a tactical retreat,” Ogrim calls out, and the other nod. “Meet up at Baron!”
Ogrim and Eltharion fly up out of the giant’s reach, but then two of the priestesses fly at them, meeting them in mid air. They have out their snake flails and shields.
“Not so fast!” one of the female dark elves calls out in Undercommon.
One of them lashes out their flail, but Ogrim blocks it with his shield. The other one’s flail bites into Eltharion, and he grits his teeth from the burning poison.
“Bitch,” Eltharion slashes into her, scoring six lightning-fast hits, sliding his blade under her adamantium armor. She keels over in pain, holding onto her stomach.
Ogrim slams his axe into the priestess on him. It cuts into her flank hard, and she is thrown back from the impact.
The castle is lost. Retreat to Baron. The message enters their heads like a hammer. Eltharion, Ogrim and Viknen’s stomachs drop simultaneously.
Down below, they could see Dendybar and Ely finish off one of the giants and start flying off in different directions. Viknen flies up behind Eltharion and heals him. They also see two dark elf wizards fly up to the giants and cast fly on them.
“Okay, now it’s really time to go,” Ogrim says.
“Let’s split so they can’t follow,” Eltharion says. He spins his blade and slashes one last time at the priestess, cutting her across the neck and killing her. Her body falls to the ground, connecting with an orc soldier below.
Ogrim flies west and Viknen north. They speed off and don’t seem to be followed. Ogrim heads back to the city to get a horse, since he felt the fly spell would be ending soon. After about 15 minutes, he reaches the castle, and enters the stable.
The city below as he flew was devastated. The two sections of wall that were removed were teeming with goblins. Much of the city was burning, and there were dark figures, goblins, and insane looking kobolds everywhere.
Ogrim mounted the horse and rode as fast as he could toward the secret exit Adlai told them about. He reaches it without incidence, and begins the ride south.
………….
Eltharion finishes off the priestess and starts to fly away as the other one approaches him. He flies back to the castle, seeing the same thing Ogrim did; mass destruction and devastation. He gets his horse from the stable and begins to ride south, out of the city. As he approaches the city wall, a two goblins come stumbling out of a building nearby with loot. They drop it and pull out shortswords.
Eltharion slashes one with his scimitar and overruns the other as he passes them by. He reaches the castle wall and the secret exit. He rides over the invisible bridge, across the moat, and begins the ride south to the beach. After about an hour he reaches the beach, and meets up with some Brunswick civilians and soldiers walking along the beach to the east.
“How goes it?” Eltharion asks.
“We got as many people out as we could. I don’t think the dark elves are following,” the guard responds.
Eltharion keeps riding past them, and finally catches up to Ogrim, who is riding alongside some civilians.
The castle is lost. The dark elves have won. Is the Dark Tide going to consume the world? And what happened to Bloodthorne and Grog??
Droid101
First Post
Bloodthorne flies out over the city and toward the direction that the huge stones are pelting the walls from. After a while of flying through the rain, Grog pipes up.
“How much farther!” Grog says.
“Can’t be too much… ah, there they are…” Bloodthorne says while carrying Grog through the air.
They could very faintly see a troupe of six 20 foot tall, bluish skinned storm giants standing in a row. Each of them had a closed full metal helm with matching full plate armor, and huge greatswords. They all had piles of large stones surrounding them to siege the castle with.
“You go in left, I go in right. Distract them from throwing if you possibly can,” Bloodthorne sets Grog down, who starts running around to the left. Bloodthorne flies low around to the right.
Soon, Grog is out of Bloodthorne’s sight. The six giants standing in a row continue to throw rocks, not noticing Bloodthorne at all.
“Beautiful…” Bloodthorne says as he rubs his hands together. He pulls out his two razor-sharp longswords and flies up behind the giant. In one swift motion, he flies around to the front of the giant and slips his sword into the slit on the giant’s full helm. The giant calls out in pain, swiping his hand out blindly, and the other hand goes to his face and pulls off his helmet. Blood is pouring out of his left eye, and he falls to one knee.
Bloodthorne chuckles and casually flies down and stabs his blades repeatedly into the back of the giant’s neck. The giant groans and collapses.
“Hey! Get him!!” One of the other giant calls out, pointing to Bloodthorne. Just then, another yell erupts from the other side of the line, a little too far for Bloodthorne to see, but he can assume.
“No wait, get him!” The giants start to turn their attention away from Bloodthorne. One of them doesn’t, however; he throws a rock and hits Bloodthorne in the stomach. Bloodthorne shakes it off and chuckles again.
“Don’t be goin’ after me little friend, I’m the one you want,” Bloodthorne uses his longswords as a huge pair of scissors, and cuts off the giant’s head he’s standing over. He then picks up the head and flies up over the other giants. He uses a foot at the base of the severed head and sort of animates it, doing a shoddy ventriloquist act.
“Look, I’m a big ugly giant too stupid to live,” Bloodthorne chuckles again.
“Help me with this one!” the giant who threw the rock at Bloodthorne gets another one’s attention, and they both throw a rock at him. He dodges out of the way deftly, flying back a bit to make it a harder shot. The giants don’t follow.
“You two, keep throwing. You go after that goblin!” a giant is giving out orders to the others.
“That won’t do at all…” Bloodthorne uses his sword to cut the top off the head of the giant’s head he’s holding, and reveal its brain. He then starts to shove the grey matter into his mouth. “Mmmm, giant brain is sooo tasty! Don’t you all want a taste?”
This sends the three giants who were organizing to continue sieging the castle into a rage-filled frenzy.
“PUT THAT DOWN YOU FILTHY HUMAN!!!!” the lead giant calls out as loud and angrily as he can, and starts running toward Bloodthorne. The other two follow behind him.
Bloodthorne calmly flies backward, easily keeping pace so as to stay a bit ahead of the giants. He keeps eating the brain and laughing.
“Oh lord it tastes so good, really hits the spot. Won’t you ‘ave some?” One of the giants was about to turn back to his post, but then Bloodthorne threw some of the brains down at them, hitting one of them in the face.
“Don’t let him get away!” the giant calls out, wiping the brains out of his eye. Another of the giants takes out his greatsword and throws it at Bloodthorne, but it flies wide. All three of them are yelling and screaming in rage.
Bloodthorne keeps flying backwards, and sees a couple of smaller forms fly up from the sides of the giants. The forms touch two of the giants, who then take to the air and gain on him quickly. Bloodthorne starts to fly straight up at full speed.
“Can you keep up?” Bloodthorne calls down. They fly up for 5 minutes, and the air starts to become very cold.
“We gotta turn back…” one of the giants says. Bloodthorne takes that as his queue, and punches himself in the stomach, sending all the stored up brains out of his mouth and all over the giant reluctant to follow. Needless to say, he decided to press on, albeit with a few more curses thrown at Bloodthorne.
Bloodthorne chucks the head at them finally, losing the weight so he could fly faster. Both giants keep flying, still enraged by the disrespectful actions of Bloodthorne.
Minutes pass. The air grows colder and thinner. The giants gasp their breaths. Bloodthorne, being Curst and undead, keeps flying. Icicles start to form on his and the giants’ extremities.
“I can go all night boys,” Bloodthorne says. A flash of blue light is seen below, and one of the giants begins to fall. Another flash, and the other giant falls from the sky. Bloodthorne stops flying up, and comes to a stop in mid-air. A smaller form is flying up at him.
Viknen.
“ ‘ello chap, thanks for the ‘elp,” Bloodthorne says.
“Let’s be flyin’ back down now den, it be cold up hea,” Viknen responds, his old bones chattering. They start flying back down.
“What’d you do to our friends there?” Bloodthorne asks.
“De black magics be puttin’ dem to sleep!” Viknen replies. “Everbody else be fleein’ to da Baron town. We gotta be goin’ dere too.”
“So the castle is lost… a pity,” Bloodthorne says. They fly north away from the battle, then curve around west, then south, to head to the southern peninsula of Baron.
After Viknen’s flight spell ends, Bloodthorne picks him up on his back and flies the rest of the way. The soft rain a quiet chorus.
So… really… where is Grog? What’s next? Find out about juiced up kobolds, genetically engineered goblins, and other such goodness next time!
“How much farther!” Grog says.
“Can’t be too much… ah, there they are…” Bloodthorne says while carrying Grog through the air.
They could very faintly see a troupe of six 20 foot tall, bluish skinned storm giants standing in a row. Each of them had a closed full metal helm with matching full plate armor, and huge greatswords. They all had piles of large stones surrounding them to siege the castle with.
“You go in left, I go in right. Distract them from throwing if you possibly can,” Bloodthorne sets Grog down, who starts running around to the left. Bloodthorne flies low around to the right.
Soon, Grog is out of Bloodthorne’s sight. The six giants standing in a row continue to throw rocks, not noticing Bloodthorne at all.
“Beautiful…” Bloodthorne says as he rubs his hands together. He pulls out his two razor-sharp longswords and flies up behind the giant. In one swift motion, he flies around to the front of the giant and slips his sword into the slit on the giant’s full helm. The giant calls out in pain, swiping his hand out blindly, and the other hand goes to his face and pulls off his helmet. Blood is pouring out of his left eye, and he falls to one knee.
Bloodthorne chuckles and casually flies down and stabs his blades repeatedly into the back of the giant’s neck. The giant groans and collapses.
“Hey! Get him!!” One of the other giant calls out, pointing to Bloodthorne. Just then, another yell erupts from the other side of the line, a little too far for Bloodthorne to see, but he can assume.
“No wait, get him!” The giants start to turn their attention away from Bloodthorne. One of them doesn’t, however; he throws a rock and hits Bloodthorne in the stomach. Bloodthorne shakes it off and chuckles again.
“Don’t be goin’ after me little friend, I’m the one you want,” Bloodthorne uses his longswords as a huge pair of scissors, and cuts off the giant’s head he’s standing over. He then picks up the head and flies up over the other giants. He uses a foot at the base of the severed head and sort of animates it, doing a shoddy ventriloquist act.
“Look, I’m a big ugly giant too stupid to live,” Bloodthorne chuckles again.
“Help me with this one!” the giant who threw the rock at Bloodthorne gets another one’s attention, and they both throw a rock at him. He dodges out of the way deftly, flying back a bit to make it a harder shot. The giants don’t follow.
“You two, keep throwing. You go after that goblin!” a giant is giving out orders to the others.
“That won’t do at all…” Bloodthorne uses his sword to cut the top off the head of the giant’s head he’s holding, and reveal its brain. He then starts to shove the grey matter into his mouth. “Mmmm, giant brain is sooo tasty! Don’t you all want a taste?”
This sends the three giants who were organizing to continue sieging the castle into a rage-filled frenzy.
“PUT THAT DOWN YOU FILTHY HUMAN!!!!” the lead giant calls out as loud and angrily as he can, and starts running toward Bloodthorne. The other two follow behind him.
Bloodthorne calmly flies backward, easily keeping pace so as to stay a bit ahead of the giants. He keeps eating the brain and laughing.
“Oh lord it tastes so good, really hits the spot. Won’t you ‘ave some?” One of the giants was about to turn back to his post, but then Bloodthorne threw some of the brains down at them, hitting one of them in the face.
“Don’t let him get away!” the giant calls out, wiping the brains out of his eye. Another of the giants takes out his greatsword and throws it at Bloodthorne, but it flies wide. All three of them are yelling and screaming in rage.
Bloodthorne keeps flying backwards, and sees a couple of smaller forms fly up from the sides of the giants. The forms touch two of the giants, who then take to the air and gain on him quickly. Bloodthorne starts to fly straight up at full speed.
“Can you keep up?” Bloodthorne calls down. They fly up for 5 minutes, and the air starts to become very cold.
“We gotta turn back…” one of the giants says. Bloodthorne takes that as his queue, and punches himself in the stomach, sending all the stored up brains out of his mouth and all over the giant reluctant to follow. Needless to say, he decided to press on, albeit with a few more curses thrown at Bloodthorne.
Bloodthorne chucks the head at them finally, losing the weight so he could fly faster. Both giants keep flying, still enraged by the disrespectful actions of Bloodthorne.
Minutes pass. The air grows colder and thinner. The giants gasp their breaths. Bloodthorne, being Curst and undead, keeps flying. Icicles start to form on his and the giants’ extremities.
“I can go all night boys,” Bloodthorne says. A flash of blue light is seen below, and one of the giants begins to fall. Another flash, and the other giant falls from the sky. Bloodthorne stops flying up, and comes to a stop in mid-air. A smaller form is flying up at him.
Viknen.
“ ‘ello chap, thanks for the ‘elp,” Bloodthorne says.
“Let’s be flyin’ back down now den, it be cold up hea,” Viknen responds, his old bones chattering. They start flying back down.
“What’d you do to our friends there?” Bloodthorne asks.
“De black magics be puttin’ dem to sleep!” Viknen replies. “Everbody else be fleein’ to da Baron town. We gotta be goin’ dere too.”
“So the castle is lost… a pity,” Bloodthorne says. They fly north away from the battle, then curve around west, then south, to head to the southern peninsula of Baron.
After Viknen’s flight spell ends, Bloodthorne picks him up on his back and flies the rest of the way. The soft rain a quiet chorus.
So… really… where is Grog? What’s next? Find out about juiced up kobolds, genetically engineered goblins, and other such goodness next time!
Droid101
First Post
Good news!
Sorry for the lack of daily posts as I used to do, been busy at work.
But anyway, to the good news. I just finished my campaign!
After three years (we started when 3rd edition came out) and we're finally done. From 1st level to 21st level!! Yowza!
Just started my next campaign with the same players, too. Takes place in the same world, but 100 years later. Oooohhhh... just think about the possibilities....
And, I'd like to announce my contest. When I get near the end of my campaign in this story hour, I'm going to have a contest to see who can guess, with all certainty, which characters are PCs and which are NPCs. I'll give various prizes if you get the closest out of all the guessers (I should imagine there will be like, three). I'll give you a custom title or search function or whatever. I'll decide on that later.
I'll post the characters who were/are with the party for various stretches below at this point. Remember, I'm not holding the contest until later, so do your homework and read up now!!
Characters:
Eltharion Ulthuan - Elf Ranger / Druid / Ancestral Avenger.
Ogrim Oakenshield - Dwarf Fighter / Cleric of Moradin / Dwarven Defender / Templar.
Bink the Sorcerer - Human Sorcerer / Wizard / Eldritch Master.
Grog of Grumbar - Goblin Barbarian.
Bloodthorne - Curst Human Rogue / Urostifter.
Blaze Brague - Human Cleric / Mighty Contender of Tempus.
The Necromancer - Human Wizard (Necromancer).
Viknen Shadowdweller - Gnoll Adept / Hexer.
Balophan - Centaur Ranger.
Damaré - Human Fighter.
Senman - Human Fighter.
Jezda - Orc Fighter.
Trek-Donal - Human Monk / Zerth Cenobite.
Misani - Yuan-ti Tainted Human Psion (Egoist).
Sorry for the lack of daily posts as I used to do, been busy at work.
But anyway, to the good news. I just finished my campaign!
After three years (we started when 3rd edition came out) and we're finally done. From 1st level to 21st level!! Yowza!
Just started my next campaign with the same players, too. Takes place in the same world, but 100 years later. Oooohhhh... just think about the possibilities....
And, I'd like to announce my contest. When I get near the end of my campaign in this story hour, I'm going to have a contest to see who can guess, with all certainty, which characters are PCs and which are NPCs. I'll give various prizes if you get the closest out of all the guessers (I should imagine there will be like, three). I'll give you a custom title or search function or whatever. I'll decide on that later.
I'll post the characters who were/are with the party for various stretches below at this point. Remember, I'm not holding the contest until later, so do your homework and read up now!!
Characters:
Eltharion Ulthuan - Elf Ranger / Druid / Ancestral Avenger.
Ogrim Oakenshield - Dwarf Fighter / Cleric of Moradin / Dwarven Defender / Templar.
Bink the Sorcerer - Human Sorcerer / Wizard / Eldritch Master.
Grog of Grumbar - Goblin Barbarian.
Bloodthorne - Curst Human Rogue / Urostifter.
Blaze Brague - Human Cleric / Mighty Contender of Tempus.
The Necromancer - Human Wizard (Necromancer).
Viknen Shadowdweller - Gnoll Adept / Hexer.
Balophan - Centaur Ranger.
Damaré - Human Fighter.
Senman - Human Fighter.
Jezda - Orc Fighter.
Trek-Donal - Human Monk / Zerth Cenobite.
Misani - Yuan-ti Tainted Human Psion (Egoist).
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Droid101
First Post
Interlude the Fifth…
Kain, Drax and Faelean creep out of the cavern. Faelean wears the bright yellow stone he acquired from the chest. Drax’s acute lizardman senses alert him to a new danger.
“What is it?” Faelean asks.
“Something is cullllllllllll” a blade bursts out of Drax’s stomach from behind. Kain was running him through.
“No! Kain what are you doing!!” Faelean quickly tries to cast a spell to hold Kain in place. Kain’s wood-elf eyes were completely empty. Blank. He pulls out his blade and stalks toward Faelean. His frail grey-elven form was up against a wall with nowhere to run.
“I’ll be taking that stone…” Kain lowered his blade to Faelean’s neck and sneered.
The blade fell out of his grasp and clanged on the ground loudly.
“Not if I can help it…” Drax was up. His insides slowly draining out of the huge wound in his stomach. His clawed hands were around Kain’s neck, squeezing tightly. A snap and Kain was dead.
“Drax…” Faelean says softly.
“I’ll be fine,” he slumps to the ground, holding his stomach…
Kain, Drax and Faelean creep out of the cavern. Faelean wears the bright yellow stone he acquired from the chest. Drax’s acute lizardman senses alert him to a new danger.
“What is it?” Faelean asks.
“Something is cullllllllllll” a blade bursts out of Drax’s stomach from behind. Kain was running him through.
“No! Kain what are you doing!!” Faelean quickly tries to cast a spell to hold Kain in place. Kain’s wood-elf eyes were completely empty. Blank. He pulls out his blade and stalks toward Faelean. His frail grey-elven form was up against a wall with nowhere to run.
“I’ll be taking that stone…” Kain lowered his blade to Faelean’s neck and sneered.
The blade fell out of his grasp and clanged on the ground loudly.
“Not if I can help it…” Drax was up. His insides slowly draining out of the huge wound in his stomach. His clawed hands were around Kain’s neck, squeezing tightly. A snap and Kain was dead.
“Drax…” Faelean says softly.
“I’ll be fine,” he slumps to the ground, holding his stomach…
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Droid101
First Post
“Thanks for coming,” Adlai starts, looking around the room at everyone. Ogrim Oakenshield, Eltharion Ulthuan, Bloodthorne, Viknen Shadowdweller, and Felix Stromdak are sitting around a table. “I know this has been a trying week for everyone, and I’m just glad to see that you all made it here.
“You fought well. No, we couldn’t hold the castle, but we did the best we could.”
“What is the king going to think once we get him out of that gem?” Eltharion jokes.
“He’ll be less than pleased, I imagine…” Adlai grumbles. “Anyway, the King of Baron has been kind enough to allow the refugees from Brunswick to stay inside the walls of his kingdom along with the dwarves. Just so long as we all help when the time comes to defend his kingdom from the dark elves.”
“We’ll do whatever we must,” Ogrim states.
“And so will we,” a voice comes from the door. His brown hair is pulled back into a pony-tail, and he has a vest with a bunch of small empty pockets on it. “As soon as someone gives me my throwing knives back.”
“Senman!!” Eltharion hops up and runs over, giving his old friend a hug. “Haven’t seen you in ages! What happened?”
Misani walks in behind him, her snake-tattoo wrapped around her body, and her eyes weary.
“Misani too! What is this, bring the dead back to life day?” Adlai asks.
“Actually, yes. The High Priest at Castle Brunswick saw that his castle was falling, so he decided to help as many people as he could escape. He felt that we could help, as we were adventurers and such, so he raised us from the dead,” Senman explains.
“That’s great news. I’m sure you’ll be able to help us greatly in the coming days,” Eltharion says.
“Anyway, if you two would like to have a seat, I could continue,” Adlai says. “Now then, in the past couple of days, we’ve been quite busy. I’ve been researching the prophecies, and I’ve found a few revelations that I’d like to share.
“Firstly, the Dark Tides aren’t the dark elves. I figured out what’s going to happen. The prophecies say that two portals will open on our continent. One portal to Hell, and one to the Abyss.
“You see where this is going. The Blood War will continue as it has for centuries, but our continent will be a battleground for it. The lands will be destroyed as the demons and devils clash.”
“This is not good,” Eltharion says. “Is there any way to stop it?”
“That’s the good news. In my translations, I’ve come across a possible solution. You know the stone that King Brunswick got stuck inside?” Adlai asks.
“Of course,” Eltharion says.
“Well, it seems there are six stones in total. One good stone, that’s Brunswick. One evil, one fire, lighning, earth, and ice. These six stones must be brought together. Once they are brought together, the people or entities trapped within will be released, and the portals to Hell and the Abyss will close off forever.” Adlai explains.
“Sounds easy enough, we already know where one of the stones is,” Eltharion says. “Damaré has it.”
“And he went off with Jezda to the giant’s stronghold…” Ogrim reminds everyone.
“That’s okay, we can scry or send him a message to get him to come back. I already had the King of Baron send out a missive all across the continent to request that the stones be brought to Baron should anyone find them. All we can do now is wait,” Adlai says.
“All right, let’s get a drink,” Ogrim says.
“Well hold on, I have more news to report,” Adlai continues. “Not only have I been tirelessly translating ancient prophecies, I have also been doing research on our enemies.
“We captured a few of the goblins and kobolds, to see what we are dealing with, and let me tell you, it’s much worse than you might be thinking. In the kobold’s bloodstream, we found some kind of substance. We gave this substance to some rats and rabbits to see how they would react, and they went into a frenzy. We cut into the animals, and they would not die. Finally, after most of their blood had pumped out of their open wounds, they died.
“This substance is allowing the kobolds to survive being thrown by that huge giant. It probably makes them think they can survive when they pull on the cord on their explosive pack, as well. We’ve analyzed these explosives as well. Tightly packed black power with a hint of magic. Makes for some big fireworks.
“The goblins, on the other hand, have been altered in a different way. Their skulls are twice as thick as normal, as are their ribcages. They have been magically mutated into, well, super-goblins, for lack of a better word.”
“Drugged kobolds and super-goblins… Great,” Eltharion says.
“As of today, the dark elves have not moved from Castle Brunswick, but we’ll be keeping tabs on them, and we’ll let you know when we need you,” Adlai finishes. “You may all go.”
It had been three days since the Battle for Brunswick. Grog, The Necromancer, Blaze, and Blaine never arrived at Baron.
“Do you think they made it out okay?” Eltharion asks Ogrim.
“They can take care of themselves,” Ogrim responds.
“Last I saw, Grog was runnin’ from the giants,” Bloodthorne says.
“We be seein’ our friends again soon, don’t you be worryin’,” Viknen says. They walk to the Hippocampus, a popular tavern they frequent in Baron.
“A beer, would you mate?” Bloodthorne asks the barkeep from underneath his cowl. He drinks it gingerly.
“You can’t taste or feel it. Why are you drinking?” Eltharion asks.
“ ‘abit,” Bloodthorne leaves it at that.
The next few days are spend resting and relaxing. Relating stories of Vecna, iron fortresses, alternate planes and whatnot to Senman and Misani, who missed out.
Eltharion and Ogrim found themselves at the Hippocampus once again, enjoying a drink.
“Have ye heard? The Prophet comes! He walks the land, spreading the good word about how we’re going to be turning back the dark elves. How we’ll be stopping some demons! I aint even know demons was our trouble!” a raving drunk babbles.
“The Prophet? Explain yourself,” Eltharion interrogates.
“I jus’ did! He’s tellin’ everyone that everything is gonna be workin’ out. He’s got long white hair and people line up for miles to see him and hear his soothing words,” the drunk relates.
“I think I’d like to meet this Prophet,” Ogrim says.
“Ye’ll get yer chance. He’s comin’ through Baron, I hear,” the drunk says.
“Good, I’ll be waiting,” Ogrim and Eltharion look at each other skeptically.
“A fake?” Eltharion asks Ogrim.
“Most likely,” Ogrim responds.
“How does he know about the demons?” Eltharion asks again.
“We’ll find out…” Ogrim takes another swig.
A week passes. Tales of the Prophet grow louder and more common. Many visitors from other cities arrive. The kingdom is busier and more crowded than ever.
“Okay, a few adventurers have arrived from around the land. They have answered King Baron’s call. A few of them even posses the stones. Soon, we’ll have all six,” Adlai says. “King Baron will be holding a meeting tonight for all adventurers who are willing to fight for Baron. Sort of a game-plan meeting. I assume you’ll all be there.”
“Of course,” Eltharion says.
“Wouldn’t miss it…” Bloodthorne chuckles.
That night, the Heroes attend the meeting. Viknen, Bloodthorne, Eltharion, Ogrim, Senman, Misani, Adlai, and Felix are there, along with all kinds of other adventurers from all other areas. Orcs, humans, elves, everything. Damaré walks in as well…
“Damaré! It’s been a while!” Eltharion gives his friend a hearty handshake. He sits down with them.
“Well, let me tell you what happened. Jezda and I set off toward the giants in the far east. We reached the eastern shore of the continent, and we saw a nearly-completed bridge there. It went across the entire ravine to the island of the giants. The patrols were too difficult to get passed, and I just received a missive from Adlai to return, so I came back. Jezda stayed, however. He said he was going to try to join the giant’s army, move up in the ranks, and hope he’d be given access to prisoners, to find Trek-Donal. I have no idea what has happened to him since. I hope he’s okay,” Damaré explains.
“Who are they?” Eltharion points at eight men cloaked in different color robes.
“Those are the royal wizards. They are Baron’s own conclave of powerful magic-users. Each one is a specialist in a different school of magic,” Adlai says.
“I’ve heard of them,” Eltharion responds.
A tall lizard man creature bursts in the door. His green scales are scarred and cut all over. He is half-carrying, half-dragging a small grey-elf with a stone around his neck. They sit down at a table.
The King of Baron stands and raises up his hands. He is a strong man, six feet tall with dark hair. He wears an ornate crown. He couldn’t be much older than 35.
“I’m glad to see you’ve all arrived safely. I want to thank you all for coming on such short notice.
“These are dark times we live in. Dark elves have taken over two cities already. The dwarven stronghold, and Castle Brunswick.” The king starts. Murmers wash over the attendees.
“But not to fear. Baron is the stone wall they shall break against. With the combined power of Brunswick, the dwarves, and all the most powerful adventurers in the land, we will hold them back and destroy them. Let me show you how…”
The king steps back, and three servants push forward a large cart with a cloth over it. The king pulls off the cloth and a huge grayish sphere is sitting on the cart.
“With the help of Adlai, we have developed these anti-magic spheres,” King Baron pulls out a small grey sphere. “One this small, when broken, will create a small area, maybe ten feet, of anti magic. No magic spells will function in that area. This large one, however, will cover the entire kingdom in anti-magic. This is our ace-in-the-hole. When they are preparing their summonings and other spells, we will engulf them in anti-magic, and take them out.
“However, we know that this will render some of your services unnecessary. You are welcome to stay in the confines of my country as long as you wish, or you may leave before the battle has started. It is up to you.
“Now, the main reason I have summoned you, is to find the six stones of power. These stones, when joined, will stop the opening of the portals that will lead to the Blood War pouring over into our world. We have here in this room five of the six stones. The only one that is missing is the stone of evil. Please, you are all welcome to stay here in the Baron Capital City until we have all six stones together.
“As for the dark elves themselves. We have learned many of their secrets. They mutate and alter their number to be more powerful, unnaturally. They use drugs and other mind-altering substances to fight on against overwhelming odds. They use magic and slave races to do their bidding. Which is why I wish to set an example for my people and make sure these things do not pollute our society.
“Drugs are hereby illegal. As is slavery and magic.”
The gasps go up around the room. One of the eight royal wizards stands.
“You presume to tell me that my ancient craft is illegal?” the white-robed wizard states.
“Yes. You are all relieved of your positions. We have no more need for you here in Baron,” the king says calmly, coolly.
“And we have no more need of you…” the wizard sneers. Each of them stands, and they vanish in a burst of teleportation magic.
“Thank you for coming, please enjoy the food,” the king finishes, and walks off with his royal guardsmen.
“No magic. That’s rough,” Eltharion says.
People start to mingle around the room. Eltharion and Ogrim decide to go see the keeprs of the stones.
They meet a frail woman with a half-orc, a wood elf, and a human. She is bearing the stone of fire.
“I am Melissa Moorgrane, very pleased to meet you. I found this stone a while back, and a shaman once told me that I would have to be its keeper and protector. And so I brought it here.”
“Nice to meet you,” Eltharion and Ogrim move on. They encounter a very tall, blonde human wearing plate armor and carrying an ornate blood-red sword.
“I am Donovan Grumoile. I found this earth stone a while back and have been holding onto it.”
“I’ve heard your name before…” Eltharion couldn’t quite put his finger on it.
“I’m one of the founders of the Adventurer’s Guildhall. Perhaps you saw my name there,” Donovan responds.
“That must be it,” Eltharion says. They move on. They meet a halfling traveling with an elf female, a human female, and another human male.
“My name’s Twigger. My friends have protected me while I’ve been carrying this darned ice stone.”
“Nice to meet you,” and they move on. The final stone, a bright yellow stone, is worn by a grey elf accompanied by a lizardman.
“The name’s Faelean,” the grey elf pipes up after a push in the back from his lizardman companion. “And this is Drax. He helped me recover the stone.”
The lizardman nods. Eltharion and Ogrim nod back.
“Hope you guys enjoy your time in Baron,” Eltharion and Ogrim go back to their seats.
“Damn, we have five of the stones, where’s the evil stone?” Eltharion asks Adlai as they get back to their table.
“I was hoping it wouldn’t come to this. The only one who knows the prophecies better than me is…” Adlai starts.
“Who??” Eltharion asks impatiently.
“Enzonito.”
Enzonito. A name they hadn’t thought of in a long time.
………
(Queue Flashback)
Before anyone else could manage to act, Enzonito took two long paces and leaped at Gryrtag. Holding onto his small green glowing serpentine amulet with one hand, he reached out and touched Gryrtag with his other. Both vanished as the space and time around them fluctuated.
………
“We haven’t seen him since he banished that devil when we were fighting against Iyachtu Xvim,” Eltharion says.
“Hey, that’s when we became friends,” Damaré adds, chuckling.
“Well, uh, yeah, exactly,” Senman says with a smirk at Eltharion and Ogrim. They nod, understanding the joke.
“So he’s the only one who knows? Time to scry him then,” Eltharion says to Adlai.
“I sure hope he’s all right…” Adlai says with hesitance.
Is Enzonito still alive? Will the Heroes recover the final stone? Can the Dark Tides really be stopped? Who the heck is the Prophet??? Find out some answers, next update!!
“You fought well. No, we couldn’t hold the castle, but we did the best we could.”
“What is the king going to think once we get him out of that gem?” Eltharion jokes.
“He’ll be less than pleased, I imagine…” Adlai grumbles. “Anyway, the King of Baron has been kind enough to allow the refugees from Brunswick to stay inside the walls of his kingdom along with the dwarves. Just so long as we all help when the time comes to defend his kingdom from the dark elves.”
“We’ll do whatever we must,” Ogrim states.
“And so will we,” a voice comes from the door. His brown hair is pulled back into a pony-tail, and he has a vest with a bunch of small empty pockets on it. “As soon as someone gives me my throwing knives back.”
“Senman!!” Eltharion hops up and runs over, giving his old friend a hug. “Haven’t seen you in ages! What happened?”
Misani walks in behind him, her snake-tattoo wrapped around her body, and her eyes weary.
“Misani too! What is this, bring the dead back to life day?” Adlai asks.
“Actually, yes. The High Priest at Castle Brunswick saw that his castle was falling, so he decided to help as many people as he could escape. He felt that we could help, as we were adventurers and such, so he raised us from the dead,” Senman explains.
“That’s great news. I’m sure you’ll be able to help us greatly in the coming days,” Eltharion says.
“Anyway, if you two would like to have a seat, I could continue,” Adlai says. “Now then, in the past couple of days, we’ve been quite busy. I’ve been researching the prophecies, and I’ve found a few revelations that I’d like to share.
“Firstly, the Dark Tides aren’t the dark elves. I figured out what’s going to happen. The prophecies say that two portals will open on our continent. One portal to Hell, and one to the Abyss.
“You see where this is going. The Blood War will continue as it has for centuries, but our continent will be a battleground for it. The lands will be destroyed as the demons and devils clash.”
“This is not good,” Eltharion says. “Is there any way to stop it?”
“That’s the good news. In my translations, I’ve come across a possible solution. You know the stone that King Brunswick got stuck inside?” Adlai asks.
“Of course,” Eltharion says.
“Well, it seems there are six stones in total. One good stone, that’s Brunswick. One evil, one fire, lighning, earth, and ice. These six stones must be brought together. Once they are brought together, the people or entities trapped within will be released, and the portals to Hell and the Abyss will close off forever.” Adlai explains.
“Sounds easy enough, we already know where one of the stones is,” Eltharion says. “Damaré has it.”
“And he went off with Jezda to the giant’s stronghold…” Ogrim reminds everyone.
“That’s okay, we can scry or send him a message to get him to come back. I already had the King of Baron send out a missive all across the continent to request that the stones be brought to Baron should anyone find them. All we can do now is wait,” Adlai says.
“All right, let’s get a drink,” Ogrim says.
“Well hold on, I have more news to report,” Adlai continues. “Not only have I been tirelessly translating ancient prophecies, I have also been doing research on our enemies.
“We captured a few of the goblins and kobolds, to see what we are dealing with, and let me tell you, it’s much worse than you might be thinking. In the kobold’s bloodstream, we found some kind of substance. We gave this substance to some rats and rabbits to see how they would react, and they went into a frenzy. We cut into the animals, and they would not die. Finally, after most of their blood had pumped out of their open wounds, they died.
“This substance is allowing the kobolds to survive being thrown by that huge giant. It probably makes them think they can survive when they pull on the cord on their explosive pack, as well. We’ve analyzed these explosives as well. Tightly packed black power with a hint of magic. Makes for some big fireworks.
“The goblins, on the other hand, have been altered in a different way. Their skulls are twice as thick as normal, as are their ribcages. They have been magically mutated into, well, super-goblins, for lack of a better word.”
“Drugged kobolds and super-goblins… Great,” Eltharion says.
“As of today, the dark elves have not moved from Castle Brunswick, but we’ll be keeping tabs on them, and we’ll let you know when we need you,” Adlai finishes. “You may all go.”
It had been three days since the Battle for Brunswick. Grog, The Necromancer, Blaze, and Blaine never arrived at Baron.
“Do you think they made it out okay?” Eltharion asks Ogrim.
“They can take care of themselves,” Ogrim responds.
“Last I saw, Grog was runnin’ from the giants,” Bloodthorne says.
“We be seein’ our friends again soon, don’t you be worryin’,” Viknen says. They walk to the Hippocampus, a popular tavern they frequent in Baron.
“A beer, would you mate?” Bloodthorne asks the barkeep from underneath his cowl. He drinks it gingerly.
“You can’t taste or feel it. Why are you drinking?” Eltharion asks.
“ ‘abit,” Bloodthorne leaves it at that.
The next few days are spend resting and relaxing. Relating stories of Vecna, iron fortresses, alternate planes and whatnot to Senman and Misani, who missed out.
Eltharion and Ogrim found themselves at the Hippocampus once again, enjoying a drink.
“Have ye heard? The Prophet comes! He walks the land, spreading the good word about how we’re going to be turning back the dark elves. How we’ll be stopping some demons! I aint even know demons was our trouble!” a raving drunk babbles.
“The Prophet? Explain yourself,” Eltharion interrogates.
“I jus’ did! He’s tellin’ everyone that everything is gonna be workin’ out. He’s got long white hair and people line up for miles to see him and hear his soothing words,” the drunk relates.
“I think I’d like to meet this Prophet,” Ogrim says.
“Ye’ll get yer chance. He’s comin’ through Baron, I hear,” the drunk says.
“Good, I’ll be waiting,” Ogrim and Eltharion look at each other skeptically.
“A fake?” Eltharion asks Ogrim.
“Most likely,” Ogrim responds.
“How does he know about the demons?” Eltharion asks again.
“We’ll find out…” Ogrim takes another swig.
A week passes. Tales of the Prophet grow louder and more common. Many visitors from other cities arrive. The kingdom is busier and more crowded than ever.
“Okay, a few adventurers have arrived from around the land. They have answered King Baron’s call. A few of them even posses the stones. Soon, we’ll have all six,” Adlai says. “King Baron will be holding a meeting tonight for all adventurers who are willing to fight for Baron. Sort of a game-plan meeting. I assume you’ll all be there.”
“Of course,” Eltharion says.
“Wouldn’t miss it…” Bloodthorne chuckles.
That night, the Heroes attend the meeting. Viknen, Bloodthorne, Eltharion, Ogrim, Senman, Misani, Adlai, and Felix are there, along with all kinds of other adventurers from all other areas. Orcs, humans, elves, everything. Damaré walks in as well…
“Damaré! It’s been a while!” Eltharion gives his friend a hearty handshake. He sits down with them.
“Well, let me tell you what happened. Jezda and I set off toward the giants in the far east. We reached the eastern shore of the continent, and we saw a nearly-completed bridge there. It went across the entire ravine to the island of the giants. The patrols were too difficult to get passed, and I just received a missive from Adlai to return, so I came back. Jezda stayed, however. He said he was going to try to join the giant’s army, move up in the ranks, and hope he’d be given access to prisoners, to find Trek-Donal. I have no idea what has happened to him since. I hope he’s okay,” Damaré explains.
“Who are they?” Eltharion points at eight men cloaked in different color robes.
“Those are the royal wizards. They are Baron’s own conclave of powerful magic-users. Each one is a specialist in a different school of magic,” Adlai says.
“I’ve heard of them,” Eltharion responds.
A tall lizard man creature bursts in the door. His green scales are scarred and cut all over. He is half-carrying, half-dragging a small grey-elf with a stone around his neck. They sit down at a table.
The King of Baron stands and raises up his hands. He is a strong man, six feet tall with dark hair. He wears an ornate crown. He couldn’t be much older than 35.
“I’m glad to see you’ve all arrived safely. I want to thank you all for coming on such short notice.
“These are dark times we live in. Dark elves have taken over two cities already. The dwarven stronghold, and Castle Brunswick.” The king starts. Murmers wash over the attendees.
“But not to fear. Baron is the stone wall they shall break against. With the combined power of Brunswick, the dwarves, and all the most powerful adventurers in the land, we will hold them back and destroy them. Let me show you how…”
The king steps back, and three servants push forward a large cart with a cloth over it. The king pulls off the cloth and a huge grayish sphere is sitting on the cart.
“With the help of Adlai, we have developed these anti-magic spheres,” King Baron pulls out a small grey sphere. “One this small, when broken, will create a small area, maybe ten feet, of anti magic. No magic spells will function in that area. This large one, however, will cover the entire kingdom in anti-magic. This is our ace-in-the-hole. When they are preparing their summonings and other spells, we will engulf them in anti-magic, and take them out.
“However, we know that this will render some of your services unnecessary. You are welcome to stay in the confines of my country as long as you wish, or you may leave before the battle has started. It is up to you.
“Now, the main reason I have summoned you, is to find the six stones of power. These stones, when joined, will stop the opening of the portals that will lead to the Blood War pouring over into our world. We have here in this room five of the six stones. The only one that is missing is the stone of evil. Please, you are all welcome to stay here in the Baron Capital City until we have all six stones together.
“As for the dark elves themselves. We have learned many of their secrets. They mutate and alter their number to be more powerful, unnaturally. They use drugs and other mind-altering substances to fight on against overwhelming odds. They use magic and slave races to do their bidding. Which is why I wish to set an example for my people and make sure these things do not pollute our society.
“Drugs are hereby illegal. As is slavery and magic.”
The gasps go up around the room. One of the eight royal wizards stands.
“You presume to tell me that my ancient craft is illegal?” the white-robed wizard states.
“Yes. You are all relieved of your positions. We have no more need for you here in Baron,” the king says calmly, coolly.
“And we have no more need of you…” the wizard sneers. Each of them stands, and they vanish in a burst of teleportation magic.
“Thank you for coming, please enjoy the food,” the king finishes, and walks off with his royal guardsmen.
“No magic. That’s rough,” Eltharion says.
People start to mingle around the room. Eltharion and Ogrim decide to go see the keeprs of the stones.
They meet a frail woman with a half-orc, a wood elf, and a human. She is bearing the stone of fire.
“I am Melissa Moorgrane, very pleased to meet you. I found this stone a while back, and a shaman once told me that I would have to be its keeper and protector. And so I brought it here.”
“Nice to meet you,” Eltharion and Ogrim move on. They encounter a very tall, blonde human wearing plate armor and carrying an ornate blood-red sword.
“I am Donovan Grumoile. I found this earth stone a while back and have been holding onto it.”
“I’ve heard your name before…” Eltharion couldn’t quite put his finger on it.
“I’m one of the founders of the Adventurer’s Guildhall. Perhaps you saw my name there,” Donovan responds.
“That must be it,” Eltharion says. They move on. They meet a halfling traveling with an elf female, a human female, and another human male.
“My name’s Twigger. My friends have protected me while I’ve been carrying this darned ice stone.”
“Nice to meet you,” and they move on. The final stone, a bright yellow stone, is worn by a grey elf accompanied by a lizardman.
“The name’s Faelean,” the grey elf pipes up after a push in the back from his lizardman companion. “And this is Drax. He helped me recover the stone.”
The lizardman nods. Eltharion and Ogrim nod back.
“Hope you guys enjoy your time in Baron,” Eltharion and Ogrim go back to their seats.
“Damn, we have five of the stones, where’s the evil stone?” Eltharion asks Adlai as they get back to their table.
“I was hoping it wouldn’t come to this. The only one who knows the prophecies better than me is…” Adlai starts.
“Who??” Eltharion asks impatiently.
“Enzonito.”
Enzonito. A name they hadn’t thought of in a long time.
………
(Queue Flashback)
Before anyone else could manage to act, Enzonito took two long paces and leaped at Gryrtag. Holding onto his small green glowing serpentine amulet with one hand, he reached out and touched Gryrtag with his other. Both vanished as the space and time around them fluctuated.
………
“We haven’t seen him since he banished that devil when we were fighting against Iyachtu Xvim,” Eltharion says.
“Hey, that’s when we became friends,” Damaré adds, chuckling.
“Well, uh, yeah, exactly,” Senman says with a smirk at Eltharion and Ogrim. They nod, understanding the joke.
“So he’s the only one who knows? Time to scry him then,” Eltharion says to Adlai.
“I sure hope he’s all right…” Adlai says with hesitance.
Is Enzonito still alive? Will the Heroes recover the final stone? Can the Dark Tides really be stopped? Who the heck is the Prophet??? Find out some answers, next update!!
