-
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!
Droid101's Story Hour, "Of Gods and Devils" Updated 10/12!
- Thread starter Droid101
- Start date
Droid101
First Post
“You’re quite welcome. Quick, come inside before anybody sees us,” Senman replies, his face not angry, mean, or otherwise hostile. They follow him into the Quiet Chimera. They get a table in the corner.
“You had better keep a low profile while here in town. There’s quite a lot going on that you might get swept up in,” Senman started. “Excuse me, I’m Senman, by the way. From the look of it, you’ve heard of me.”
“Yes, we have. And why, exactly, is it that you’re not killing us right now?” Bink asked, matter-of-factly.
“Well, let me explain. First off, we, as in the four generals; Damaré, The Necromancer, Trek-Donal and myself, don’t care about Xvim ascending. We don’t care about the rules of his order. We don’t care about the cult. We care about the money. You follow me?” Senman explains.
“I think so.” Bink responds.
“Not money exactly. He pays us in magical gear and power, essentially. Problem is, when he ascends, I have a nagging feeling that he’s going to want the items back, since he needs a ton of items to power this ascension.” Senman goes on.
“Yeah, we’ve heard that much,” Eltharion says.
“So, I don’t know, no real reason to care too much about what he wants, just as long as we stay in line. He recently gave the order to kill you four. The message exactly was ‘If you run into the human, elf, dwarf and goblin, do away with them as quickly as possible.’ So you’ve obviously gotten his attention.”
“Wonderful,” the party groans.
“But don’t worry, I’ll just say I never ran into you. Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, politics. Like I said, you’ll want to keep yourself out of plain view if at all possible. Once it gets on that some newcomers have arrived in town, things will get bad.” Senman states.
“What about those thugs we killed outside? Isn’t that going to draw attention?” Bink asks.
“Most definitely. Those men belonged to the merchant guild House Helfrieg. There are four other main guilds as well. The Shendal Merchants, House Sheyrya, House Mestlani, and Condral. Interchanging alliances and such… I don’t want to go into it. There’s a few guilds of rogues as well. The Black Hand is led by Dendybar Retari. He’s probably the most skilled assassin on the continent of Aldor-Valencia. The Jezzaili are a group of rat-men, called Skaven, that live in the sewers. They are purveyors of information. The newest is the group called Grendle. Nobody has ever seen their leader. Very mysterious. All the members of this group seem to be of different monstrous races. Minotaurs, orcs, and the like. They have taken a particular interest in the leader of the Shendal Merchants. Still don’t know why, however. The Grendle members are seen around the graveyard a lot, for some reason.” Senman pauses, taking a long breath.
“That’s… quite a bit of information. Why are you helping us?” Bink asks.
“Why not? I’ve got connections, and you look like you need help.” Senman replied.
“But we’re trying to stop your leader from ascending,” Ogrim interjects.
“True, but like I said, I hold no ties to him. If you succeed, so be it. I’ll move on, all the richer. I can’t tell you to not defend yourselves, but try not to kill the other three guys, if possible? They’re my friends. I understand if you have no choice, however.”
“Great… morality.” Bink rolls his eyes.
“Last couple of tidbits before I have to go. The devil that was summoned through that White character, his name is Gryrtag, in case you want to look into him. The leader of the Jezzaili, the rat-people, his name is Flitz. One last thing, magic is illegal here. I’m surprised nobody showed up when you threw that magic acid arrow. Whenever you’re outside, refrain from spellcasting, or you might get picked up. Some wizard group, the Shrouded Wizards, constantly watches the town through scrying devices. If you cast a spell, they’ll show up and detain you. Be careful!” Senman gets up, nods, and heads out.
The Heroes sit for a moment, not really in thought, but almost exhausted from all the information they’ve just received.
“Drink please,” Grog asks a nearby barmaid. After Bink properly asks for drinks for everyone, they get a round and ponder.
“What’s our best course of action, you think?” Bink asks the group.
“Grendle sounds interesting, I wonder if they want Xvim dead.” Eltharion reasons.
“Sounds like they’re interested in the leader of the Shendal Merchants for some reason.” Bink replies.
“Distractions… we should just search for Xvim and this, Gryrtag devil.” Ogrim states.
“When are we gonna run into the last general, Trek?” Grog asks.
“True, we need to be on our guard.” Bink responds. “Hey, I’ve got a good idea, let’s try to get in touch with Flitz, the leader of the Jezzaili. If they live in the sewers, then they’re probably pretty good at keeping a low profile. Maybe they can house us while we’re here?”
“Wow, that’s a great idea. Good thinking Bink,” Eltharion pats him on the back.
“Sewers… not quite far enough underground for my liking. A bit smelly too.” Ogrim shakes his head.
“All right, let’s get going. We’ll find a sewer access, and go down, see what we can find.” Bink says. They finish their drinks, stand, and go outside. The bodies are still there, with a small crowd having since gathered to look at them. The Heroes slip out and into a nearby alley to avoid questioning…
…bad move. At the other end of the alley, a man comes sprinting at them before they can react. He’s running fast, too fast, and slams Ogrim squarely in the face before they can even react. Ogrim feels his nose crackle as the fist comes in again and again, slamming him in the side of the head, and finally a spinning kick to the gut. The man was medium height and build, but with black hair standing straight up, almost six inches long.
Grog pulls his katana and rushes the man, slicing into him hard, drawing a spray of blood from the flank. The man grimaces hard at the deep wound, looking around. Ogrim readies his weapons and strikes, missing due to a well placed parry. Bink fires a few magic missiles which all strike home, and Eltharion maneuvers into position. The man looks around, things having turned sour fast, and leaps up on top of the adjacent building – a good 15 feet straight up! Eltharion and Grog are quick to climb after him. Ogrim calls the power of Moradin and heals his broken nose, while Bink feels a hand on his shoulder.
A red robed man, his face concealed by a dark hood, is standing behind him.
“Spellcasting is illegal here in Tomaru. Are you aware?” the hooded man asks.
“Oh, uh, I’m new here, I didn’t know,” Bink lies.
“Consider this your warning. If you are caught spellcasting again, you will be brought on charges, and your components confiscated. Do I make myself clear?”
“Perfectly.” Bink manages, as the red robed man disappears from view.
On the roof, things aren’t faring well at all. The man is almost out of sight, jumping from building to building at lightning quick speed, by the time Grog and Eltharion are atop the first building. They climb down slowly.
“That must have been Trek-Donal. Spiky black hair, fits the description.” Bink says.
“Who cares, let’s get underground already.” Eltharion demands, and they search a few alleys for a sewer access. They finally find one, and climb down.
It is pitch black down there, but a light spell from Bink quickly changes that.
“Isn’t that illegal?” Ogrim asks.
“They can’t see underground… I hope.” Bink responds reluctantly.
The party looks down the tunnel, but doesn’t see anything. After about 30 seconds, they hear footsteps running toward them…
Is it a skaven, or something worse? Is Bink going to prison? Why is Senman such a nice guy? Do the sewers smell worse than Grog’s breath? This and more… next update!
“You had better keep a low profile while here in town. There’s quite a lot going on that you might get swept up in,” Senman started. “Excuse me, I’m Senman, by the way. From the look of it, you’ve heard of me.”
“Yes, we have. And why, exactly, is it that you’re not killing us right now?” Bink asked, matter-of-factly.
“Well, let me explain. First off, we, as in the four generals; Damaré, The Necromancer, Trek-Donal and myself, don’t care about Xvim ascending. We don’t care about the rules of his order. We don’t care about the cult. We care about the money. You follow me?” Senman explains.
“I think so.” Bink responds.
“Not money exactly. He pays us in magical gear and power, essentially. Problem is, when he ascends, I have a nagging feeling that he’s going to want the items back, since he needs a ton of items to power this ascension.” Senman goes on.
“Yeah, we’ve heard that much,” Eltharion says.
“So, I don’t know, no real reason to care too much about what he wants, just as long as we stay in line. He recently gave the order to kill you four. The message exactly was ‘If you run into the human, elf, dwarf and goblin, do away with them as quickly as possible.’ So you’ve obviously gotten his attention.”
“Wonderful,” the party groans.
“But don’t worry, I’ll just say I never ran into you. Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, politics. Like I said, you’ll want to keep yourself out of plain view if at all possible. Once it gets on that some newcomers have arrived in town, things will get bad.” Senman states.
“What about those thugs we killed outside? Isn’t that going to draw attention?” Bink asks.
“Most definitely. Those men belonged to the merchant guild House Helfrieg. There are four other main guilds as well. The Shendal Merchants, House Sheyrya, House Mestlani, and Condral. Interchanging alliances and such… I don’t want to go into it. There’s a few guilds of rogues as well. The Black Hand is led by Dendybar Retari. He’s probably the most skilled assassin on the continent of Aldor-Valencia. The Jezzaili are a group of rat-men, called Skaven, that live in the sewers. They are purveyors of information. The newest is the group called Grendle. Nobody has ever seen their leader. Very mysterious. All the members of this group seem to be of different monstrous races. Minotaurs, orcs, and the like. They have taken a particular interest in the leader of the Shendal Merchants. Still don’t know why, however. The Grendle members are seen around the graveyard a lot, for some reason.” Senman pauses, taking a long breath.
“That’s… quite a bit of information. Why are you helping us?” Bink asks.
“Why not? I’ve got connections, and you look like you need help.” Senman replied.
“But we’re trying to stop your leader from ascending,” Ogrim interjects.
“True, but like I said, I hold no ties to him. If you succeed, so be it. I’ll move on, all the richer. I can’t tell you to not defend yourselves, but try not to kill the other three guys, if possible? They’re my friends. I understand if you have no choice, however.”
“Great… morality.” Bink rolls his eyes.
“Last couple of tidbits before I have to go. The devil that was summoned through that White character, his name is Gryrtag, in case you want to look into him. The leader of the Jezzaili, the rat-people, his name is Flitz. One last thing, magic is illegal here. I’m surprised nobody showed up when you threw that magic acid arrow. Whenever you’re outside, refrain from spellcasting, or you might get picked up. Some wizard group, the Shrouded Wizards, constantly watches the town through scrying devices. If you cast a spell, they’ll show up and detain you. Be careful!” Senman gets up, nods, and heads out.
The Heroes sit for a moment, not really in thought, but almost exhausted from all the information they’ve just received.
“Drink please,” Grog asks a nearby barmaid. After Bink properly asks for drinks for everyone, they get a round and ponder.
“What’s our best course of action, you think?” Bink asks the group.
“Grendle sounds interesting, I wonder if they want Xvim dead.” Eltharion reasons.
“Sounds like they’re interested in the leader of the Shendal Merchants for some reason.” Bink replies.
“Distractions… we should just search for Xvim and this, Gryrtag devil.” Ogrim states.
“When are we gonna run into the last general, Trek?” Grog asks.
“True, we need to be on our guard.” Bink responds. “Hey, I’ve got a good idea, let’s try to get in touch with Flitz, the leader of the Jezzaili. If they live in the sewers, then they’re probably pretty good at keeping a low profile. Maybe they can house us while we’re here?”
“Wow, that’s a great idea. Good thinking Bink,” Eltharion pats him on the back.
“Sewers… not quite far enough underground for my liking. A bit smelly too.” Ogrim shakes his head.
“All right, let’s get going. We’ll find a sewer access, and go down, see what we can find.” Bink says. They finish their drinks, stand, and go outside. The bodies are still there, with a small crowd having since gathered to look at them. The Heroes slip out and into a nearby alley to avoid questioning…
…bad move. At the other end of the alley, a man comes sprinting at them before they can react. He’s running fast, too fast, and slams Ogrim squarely in the face before they can even react. Ogrim feels his nose crackle as the fist comes in again and again, slamming him in the side of the head, and finally a spinning kick to the gut. The man was medium height and build, but with black hair standing straight up, almost six inches long.
Grog pulls his katana and rushes the man, slicing into him hard, drawing a spray of blood from the flank. The man grimaces hard at the deep wound, looking around. Ogrim readies his weapons and strikes, missing due to a well placed parry. Bink fires a few magic missiles which all strike home, and Eltharion maneuvers into position. The man looks around, things having turned sour fast, and leaps up on top of the adjacent building – a good 15 feet straight up! Eltharion and Grog are quick to climb after him. Ogrim calls the power of Moradin and heals his broken nose, while Bink feels a hand on his shoulder.
A red robed man, his face concealed by a dark hood, is standing behind him.
“Spellcasting is illegal here in Tomaru. Are you aware?” the hooded man asks.
“Oh, uh, I’m new here, I didn’t know,” Bink lies.
“Consider this your warning. If you are caught spellcasting again, you will be brought on charges, and your components confiscated. Do I make myself clear?”
“Perfectly.” Bink manages, as the red robed man disappears from view.
On the roof, things aren’t faring well at all. The man is almost out of sight, jumping from building to building at lightning quick speed, by the time Grog and Eltharion are atop the first building. They climb down slowly.
“That must have been Trek-Donal. Spiky black hair, fits the description.” Bink says.
“Who cares, let’s get underground already.” Eltharion demands, and they search a few alleys for a sewer access. They finally find one, and climb down.
It is pitch black down there, but a light spell from Bink quickly changes that.
“Isn’t that illegal?” Ogrim asks.
“They can’t see underground… I hope.” Bink responds reluctantly.
The party looks down the tunnel, but doesn’t see anything. After about 30 seconds, they hear footsteps running toward them…
Is it a skaven, or something worse? Is Bink going to prison? Why is Senman such a nice guy? Do the sewers smell worse than Grog’s breath? This and more… next update!
Last edited:
Droid101
First Post
Out of the darkness comes a five foot tall rat, or man, or rat man? It’s a skaven; the party lowers their weapons and nerves as they see it approach unarmed and apparently not hostile.
“Ho there, you know you enter the realm of the Jezzaili?” the rat man talked, a squeaking to his voice. His clothing slightly tattered.
“Yes, we have come for council, and possibly refuge.” Bink responds. This gets a discerning look from the rat. He motions.
“Come this way, you shall meet Flitz, our leader.” The rat begins to run down the tunnel, the Heroes keeping pace behind him. After a few twists and turns, and a few gags from Eltharion, they reach a hole in the wall. Bink and Eltharion have to duck slightly to enter, and they are led to a small room, with other passageways leading out. There is a desk and another skaven sitting behind it. He looks much older than the one leading them.
“Welcome allies. I am Flitz. You are new to town?” the slightly aged rat asks.
“Yes, we come seeking information and refuge. We have reasons to believe that people are out to get us, and would like to be safe in our stay here in town.” Bink explains.
“And what information do you seek?” Flitz asks.
“Anything about Xvim.” Bink states.
“And Grendle!” Eltharion adds.
“And any other important goings on of the city…” Ogrim grunts.
Flitz nods. “In exchange for offering you respite in my tunnels and the information you have requested, you will have to perform a task for my clan.”
“What is this task?” Bink asks.
“You will be presented with a task when the time and necessity is right. You have free access to anything in the tunnels until then. May the Horned Rat disease your enemies…” Flitz gets up and heads into one of the offshoot passageways.
The Heroes are led to an extra room by the other Skaven. It’s moderately sized, but bare. They leave some of their things and head back to the surface. They stay cloaked and go to the Quiet Chimera, to maybe find some more information. As they enter, they see some man come running down the stairs, and bolting for the door. He’s holding his chin, as if he just got punched or something. He has a black hat, cloak, and goatee. He pushes past the Heroes and leaves.
“Rude…” Eltharion mouths. The bar/inn owner looks a bit confused, and heads on upstairs. The party follows. Upstairs there is a bit of blood on the floor, and one of the doors to a room is open. Inside is a dead body… recently killed. The pool of blood on the floor is already huge.
“Oh man, assassination.” Bink says. The barkeeper runs out to get the guards. The Heroes do a little investigation. On closer inspection, the body isn’t human. It’s a Mul; a rare cross-breed of human and dwarf. More muscular and stout than a normal human, completely devoid of hair, and incapable of producing it’s own offspring. Most die in their human or dwarven mother’s womb due to their odd size. He has one stab in his gut, fairly deep. In his back is another stab, not as deep, but it is evident that the blade was twisted.
“Look how he twisted it… this was definitely revenge.” Bink surmised. They looked at his hand, and there was some blood and some little black hairs, like stubble having been pulled off someone’s face.
“Looks like this mystery was solved, so let’s go get the man in black.” Ogrim states.
“This isn’t our business, let the guards take care of him.” Eltharion reasons.
The party heads downstairs and approaches the barkeep.
“Who was that man in black, was he staying here?” Bink asked.
“Oh no, he lives here in town. His name is Dendybar Retari. Quite a dangerous fellow.”
The Heroes went pale.
“Um, isn’t he the one that Senman said was the most powerful assassin on the continent?” Eltharion blurted.
“Let’s let the city guards deal with this one.” Bink adds.
“Agreed.”
“So… the graveyard then?” Bink asks, as if there was only one answer.
“I guess so.” Eltharion answered. They headed out of the inn and toward the graveyard, as instructed by the barkeep. They looked back and saw guards start swarming the building.
“Got out just in time.” Ogrim states.
They travel to the graveyard. Seems a little dark due to the cloud cover, but not very spooky by any means. They go inside the gate and walk around the place staying along the fence. When they reach the end opposite the entrance, they look around a little.
“I don’t see any Grendle members here. Did Senman say when they met out here?” Eltharion asks.
“I don’t believe so.” Ogrim replies.
“What a waste of time…” Bink states.
While they’re debating what to do next, a raven circles over them, unnoticed. It swoops in and pecks Bink in the ear.
“Hey you bastard!” Bink feels nauseous and begins to emit an outlandishly bad odor. He sits down on the ground. The raven flies away.
“Eck… we can’t go back into town until that wears off…” Eltharion holds back a laugh.
Grog doesn’t.
“Shut up.” Bink sits, rage in his eyes. After the spell wears off, they head back into town. They’re called off into an alley by a slightly squeaking voice.
“Come here.”
“Who is it?”
“Jezzaili.”
The party approaches, and sees a skaven, who gives them a piece of paper, then retreats back into the shadows of the alley. The party unrolls the paper and reads it.
“Well, I guess we’re going back.” Bink stated. They follow the way the rat man came from down the alley, and found an opening to the sewer. They climbed down. Once again, after a minute, a skaven comes running up to them and leads them back to the hideout. Flitz is sitting behind the desk.
“Thank you for returning with such haste. The favor I wish to ask of you is this: kill Drolf Gritz, leader of the Shendal Merchants.”
Will the Heroes stoop to assassination? What happens if they say no? Will Bink find a new friend? This and more compelling story, next time…
“Ho there, you know you enter the realm of the Jezzaili?” the rat man talked, a squeaking to his voice. His clothing slightly tattered.
“Yes, we have come for council, and possibly refuge.” Bink responds. This gets a discerning look from the rat. He motions.
“Come this way, you shall meet Flitz, our leader.” The rat begins to run down the tunnel, the Heroes keeping pace behind him. After a few twists and turns, and a few gags from Eltharion, they reach a hole in the wall. Bink and Eltharion have to duck slightly to enter, and they are led to a small room, with other passageways leading out. There is a desk and another skaven sitting behind it. He looks much older than the one leading them.
“Welcome allies. I am Flitz. You are new to town?” the slightly aged rat asks.
“Yes, we come seeking information and refuge. We have reasons to believe that people are out to get us, and would like to be safe in our stay here in town.” Bink explains.
“And what information do you seek?” Flitz asks.
“Anything about Xvim.” Bink states.
“And Grendle!” Eltharion adds.
“And any other important goings on of the city…” Ogrim grunts.
Flitz nods. “In exchange for offering you respite in my tunnels and the information you have requested, you will have to perform a task for my clan.”
“What is this task?” Bink asks.
“You will be presented with a task when the time and necessity is right. You have free access to anything in the tunnels until then. May the Horned Rat disease your enemies…” Flitz gets up and heads into one of the offshoot passageways.
The Heroes are led to an extra room by the other Skaven. It’s moderately sized, but bare. They leave some of their things and head back to the surface. They stay cloaked and go to the Quiet Chimera, to maybe find some more information. As they enter, they see some man come running down the stairs, and bolting for the door. He’s holding his chin, as if he just got punched or something. He has a black hat, cloak, and goatee. He pushes past the Heroes and leaves.
“Rude…” Eltharion mouths. The bar/inn owner looks a bit confused, and heads on upstairs. The party follows. Upstairs there is a bit of blood on the floor, and one of the doors to a room is open. Inside is a dead body… recently killed. The pool of blood on the floor is already huge.
“Oh man, assassination.” Bink says. The barkeeper runs out to get the guards. The Heroes do a little investigation. On closer inspection, the body isn’t human. It’s a Mul; a rare cross-breed of human and dwarf. More muscular and stout than a normal human, completely devoid of hair, and incapable of producing it’s own offspring. Most die in their human or dwarven mother’s womb due to their odd size. He has one stab in his gut, fairly deep. In his back is another stab, not as deep, but it is evident that the blade was twisted.
“Look how he twisted it… this was definitely revenge.” Bink surmised. They looked at his hand, and there was some blood and some little black hairs, like stubble having been pulled off someone’s face.
“Looks like this mystery was solved, so let’s go get the man in black.” Ogrim states.
“This isn’t our business, let the guards take care of him.” Eltharion reasons.
The party heads downstairs and approaches the barkeep.
“Who was that man in black, was he staying here?” Bink asked.
“Oh no, he lives here in town. His name is Dendybar Retari. Quite a dangerous fellow.”
The Heroes went pale.
“Um, isn’t he the one that Senman said was the most powerful assassin on the continent?” Eltharion blurted.
“Let’s let the city guards deal with this one.” Bink adds.
“Agreed.”
“So… the graveyard then?” Bink asks, as if there was only one answer.
“I guess so.” Eltharion answered. They headed out of the inn and toward the graveyard, as instructed by the barkeep. They looked back and saw guards start swarming the building.
“Got out just in time.” Ogrim states.
They travel to the graveyard. Seems a little dark due to the cloud cover, but not very spooky by any means. They go inside the gate and walk around the place staying along the fence. When they reach the end opposite the entrance, they look around a little.
“I don’t see any Grendle members here. Did Senman say when they met out here?” Eltharion asks.
“I don’t believe so.” Ogrim replies.
“What a waste of time…” Bink states.
While they’re debating what to do next, a raven circles over them, unnoticed. It swoops in and pecks Bink in the ear.
“Hey you bastard!” Bink feels nauseous and begins to emit an outlandishly bad odor. He sits down on the ground. The raven flies away.
“Eck… we can’t go back into town until that wears off…” Eltharion holds back a laugh.
Grog doesn’t.
“Shut up.” Bink sits, rage in his eyes. After the spell wears off, they head back into town. They’re called off into an alley by a slightly squeaking voice.
“Come here.”
“Who is it?”
“Jezzaili.”
The party approaches, and sees a skaven, who gives them a piece of paper, then retreats back into the shadows of the alley. The party unrolls the paper and reads it.
Please return to your hideout. I am ready to call in a favor for the Jezzaili.
-Flitz
-Flitz
“Well, I guess we’re going back.” Bink stated. They follow the way the rat man came from down the alley, and found an opening to the sewer. They climbed down. Once again, after a minute, a skaven comes running up to them and leads them back to the hideout. Flitz is sitting behind the desk.
“Thank you for returning with such haste. The favor I wish to ask of you is this: kill Drolf Gritz, leader of the Shendal Merchants.”
Will the Heroes stoop to assassination? What happens if they say no? Will Bink find a new friend? This and more compelling story, next time…
Last edited:
Droid101
First Post
“You want us to kill some guy we don’t even know?” Bink asks incredulously.
“I don’t know about this…” Ogrim states.
“No, you don’t know him. But let me assure you, he is an evil man. He backstabs members of his own merchant clan to further his own greed. You would be ridding the world of rubbish.” Flitz explains.
“Hm. If we refuse?” Bink questions.
“Then we will have no choice but to expel you from your refuge here, and inform House Helfrieg and the local Xvim cultists of your whereabouts. As was our bargain.” Flitz didn’t blink.
“Then you leave us no choice. Tell us how to get to the Shendal Merchants’ headquarters.” Bink replies.
Flitz gives them directions to a basement entry from the sewers.
“But first, you must go to the city-wide guild meeting. There are people watching you, so if they see that you are there, then you’ll have an alibi if need be. Go there, then retreat back to the sewers and complete your mission.” Flitz gives them a map of the sewers they’ll use and location of the guild meeting. They rest that night, the guild meeting is the following night.
“I hope we’re doing the right thing,” Eltharion ponders.
“If he’s as bad as Flitz says he is, then we’d probably end up killing him sooner or later anyway.” Bink reasons.
“True enough.” Ogrim ends the conversation.
The following day is spent freshening up and getting some nice clothes for the guild meeting. They start heading over there a little before it’s supposed to start. As they’re rounding a corner, they spot someone dropping off the roof, exit the alley, and walk into the guild meeting. It’s the man in black, Dendybar Retari! He seemed to have dropped something. Bink uses his Mage Hand to retrieve the item from where they were, and it is a piece of paper.
“Hey, you dropped thi…” Grog is gagged by the other Heroes.
Bink unrolls the paper and reads it.
“Yikes. Let’s keep this and show it to Flitz later.” Bink says. They head into the guild meeting, stand in the back with the other onlookers and duck out quickly. The run back to the sewers and follow their map. After about 30 minutes of twisting, smelly tunnels, they reach a grating that they’re supposed to go through. Flitz had told them that there would be reduced security while the guild meeting was going on. The party hoped they were right. They pushed the grate and jumped into the room.
It was sort of a library/laboratory type of room. Bookshelves, a large box (table?) in the middle of the room, and some various vials on stands. Looking at the bookshelf was a grey-haired man that met the description of Drolf Gritz. He spun to face the Heroes as they entered the room, ran to the box and picked up an amulet and yelled.
“Guards! We have intruders!!” Three guards could be heard running down the stairs that seemed to lead into the room. The top of the box in the middle of the room practically burst open, a large, 12 foot tall wood and metal humanoid shape jumped out, interposing itself between Drolf and the Heroes.
“This is reduced security?” Bink asked as he climbed a nearby wall with his Spider Climb spell already active, and fired off a couple of green-glowing energy missiles at Drolf. He winced at the pain. The rest of the Heroes readied their weapons and began to charge, when all chaos broke loose. A tall, skinny, armored orc hopped up out of the sewers from behind them, and began to charge at Drolf too. One of the Shendal guards transformed into a strange grey skinned creature and stabbed another one of them in the back. Grog and Eltharion looked at each other, then to Drolf. They charged in to either side of him, knowing that large guardian couldn’t stop them both.
Everyone felt a ringing in their head; the smell of burning metal filled the air. The final Shendal guard started to approach Drolf menacingly, his eyes glazed over, from the other side, along with the doppelganger. The large guardian made short work of him, however, smashing him into the ground. Drolf stabbed out at the grey-skinned doppelganger with a small knife, scoring a small wound.
The ringing continued, and Grog’s eyes glossed over. He approached Eltharion and struck at his leg with his katana. A deep cut was landed and Eltharion screamed.
“What are you doing! Get Drolf! Get him!” Eltharion tried to trip Grog. No luck.
Ogrim blessed himself and charged the guardian, chopping into it’s leg, leaving a small mark.
The mental ringing continued, and they witnessed Drolf grasping his neck, falling to his knees.
Bink noticed something… when Drolf grasped his neck, he dropped that amulet he picked up from the box… a quick Mage Hand later, and the magical shield guardian was under his control. And what fast work it made of Drolf – two fist slams later and he was a mass of broken bones.
Four more forms came running into the room; three dark elves and a black cloaked man – Dendybar. He saw Drolf lying dead in a heap.
“Looks like my job is done,” with a quick arcane utterance, he disappeared. The three dark elves didn’t. They charged into battle, their longswords gleaming and small shields brandished. Eltharion and Grog were still wrestling on the ground. The shield guardian had by now pounded the grey skinned doppelganger to mush, and turned to the dark elves. Suddenly, the mental ringing was gone. The tall skinny orc and Grog’s eyes returned to normal. The battle didn’t last long after that.
Three drow versus an orc, goblin, elf, dwarf, human, and 12 foot shield guardian. The melee was over in a little over 12 seconds.
“I hate drow…” Eltharion stated.
Everyone was panting and tired. Bink seemed very intrigued by his new toy, and rightfully so. It imparted its functionality to him.
“This thing is going to protect me! All right!”
“What about this guy?” Grog pointed to the skinny orc who had climbed out of the sewers after them. He was merely sitting in the corner, his greatsword sheathed on his back.
“What’s yer story, orc?” Ogrim asked none too politely.
“No time, bring him with us. We’re going back to the hideout.” Eltharion took charge. The orc put up no resistance, just followed them back through the sewers.
“So, now, orc, what’s yer story?” Ogrim reiterated.
“Name’s Jezda. I uh… I joined this guild. They were supposed to be my friends. And they were. But I don’t know why I joined. I didn’t want to. Why would I want to be in a guild? I’m so confused.” Jezda trailed off.
“Grog, what happened in there?” Eltharion asked, looking down at the location of the nasty katana-cut he received.
“I don’t know, something controlled my mind.” Grog replied.
“Great; there are way too many forces at work here. We need to get out of this damn city.” Eltharion stated.
“So orc, your mind was controlled into joining some guild?” Ogrim asked.
“I suppose, well, yes. I mean, some of them were my friends. I think? I’m not sure. What city are we in now?” Jezda was puzzled. His six-foot-ten frame bending down as they walked through the tunnels.
“Well, you can tag along with us until you get in the way.” Bink puts bluntly.
“Okay, I suppose.”
They head back to their hideout. The shield guardian waits outside, too large to fit through the small opening. Inside, on the table is a small pouch. They take it, and find 50 platinum pieces. A fine reward. They get some rest and recuperate.
Are the Heroes too involved in Tomaru politics? Are they next to be assassinated? Are they going to get one creature of every race in their party? All the important issues will be addressed, next update.
“I don’t know about this…” Ogrim states.
“No, you don’t know him. But let me assure you, he is an evil man. He backstabs members of his own merchant clan to further his own greed. You would be ridding the world of rubbish.” Flitz explains.
“Hm. If we refuse?” Bink questions.
“Then we will have no choice but to expel you from your refuge here, and inform House Helfrieg and the local Xvim cultists of your whereabouts. As was our bargain.” Flitz didn’t blink.
“Then you leave us no choice. Tell us how to get to the Shendal Merchants’ headquarters.” Bink replies.
Flitz gives them directions to a basement entry from the sewers.
“But first, you must go to the city-wide guild meeting. There are people watching you, so if they see that you are there, then you’ll have an alibi if need be. Go there, then retreat back to the sewers and complete your mission.” Flitz gives them a map of the sewers they’ll use and location of the guild meeting. They rest that night, the guild meeting is the following night.
“I hope we’re doing the right thing,” Eltharion ponders.
“If he’s as bad as Flitz says he is, then we’d probably end up killing him sooner or later anyway.” Bink reasons.
“True enough.” Ogrim ends the conversation.
The following day is spent freshening up and getting some nice clothes for the guild meeting. They start heading over there a little before it’s supposed to start. As they’re rounding a corner, they spot someone dropping off the roof, exit the alley, and walk into the guild meeting. It’s the man in black, Dendybar Retari! He seemed to have dropped something. Bink uses his Mage Hand to retrieve the item from where they were, and it is a piece of paper.
“Hey, you dropped thi…” Grog is gagged by the other Heroes.
Bink unrolls the paper and reads it.
Assassinations (In order of importance):
Drolf Gritz
Flitz
Madam Sheyrya
Razil
Addendum:
Destroy the four meddlers (goblin, human, elf, dwarf) who just came to town.
Drolf Gritz
Flitz
Madam Sheyrya
Razil
Addendum:
Destroy the four meddlers (goblin, human, elf, dwarf) who just came to town.
“Yikes. Let’s keep this and show it to Flitz later.” Bink says. They head into the guild meeting, stand in the back with the other onlookers and duck out quickly. The run back to the sewers and follow their map. After about 30 minutes of twisting, smelly tunnels, they reach a grating that they’re supposed to go through. Flitz had told them that there would be reduced security while the guild meeting was going on. The party hoped they were right. They pushed the grate and jumped into the room.
It was sort of a library/laboratory type of room. Bookshelves, a large box (table?) in the middle of the room, and some various vials on stands. Looking at the bookshelf was a grey-haired man that met the description of Drolf Gritz. He spun to face the Heroes as they entered the room, ran to the box and picked up an amulet and yelled.
“Guards! We have intruders!!” Three guards could be heard running down the stairs that seemed to lead into the room. The top of the box in the middle of the room practically burst open, a large, 12 foot tall wood and metal humanoid shape jumped out, interposing itself between Drolf and the Heroes.
“This is reduced security?” Bink asked as he climbed a nearby wall with his Spider Climb spell already active, and fired off a couple of green-glowing energy missiles at Drolf. He winced at the pain. The rest of the Heroes readied their weapons and began to charge, when all chaos broke loose. A tall, skinny, armored orc hopped up out of the sewers from behind them, and began to charge at Drolf too. One of the Shendal guards transformed into a strange grey skinned creature and stabbed another one of them in the back. Grog and Eltharion looked at each other, then to Drolf. They charged in to either side of him, knowing that large guardian couldn’t stop them both.
Everyone felt a ringing in their head; the smell of burning metal filled the air. The final Shendal guard started to approach Drolf menacingly, his eyes glazed over, from the other side, along with the doppelganger. The large guardian made short work of him, however, smashing him into the ground. Drolf stabbed out at the grey-skinned doppelganger with a small knife, scoring a small wound.
The ringing continued, and Grog’s eyes glossed over. He approached Eltharion and struck at his leg with his katana. A deep cut was landed and Eltharion screamed.
“What are you doing! Get Drolf! Get him!” Eltharion tried to trip Grog. No luck.
Ogrim blessed himself and charged the guardian, chopping into it’s leg, leaving a small mark.
The mental ringing continued, and they witnessed Drolf grasping his neck, falling to his knees.
Bink noticed something… when Drolf grasped his neck, he dropped that amulet he picked up from the box… a quick Mage Hand later, and the magical shield guardian was under his control. And what fast work it made of Drolf – two fist slams later and he was a mass of broken bones.
Four more forms came running into the room; three dark elves and a black cloaked man – Dendybar. He saw Drolf lying dead in a heap.
“Looks like my job is done,” with a quick arcane utterance, he disappeared. The three dark elves didn’t. They charged into battle, their longswords gleaming and small shields brandished. Eltharion and Grog were still wrestling on the ground. The shield guardian had by now pounded the grey skinned doppelganger to mush, and turned to the dark elves. Suddenly, the mental ringing was gone. The tall skinny orc and Grog’s eyes returned to normal. The battle didn’t last long after that.
Three drow versus an orc, goblin, elf, dwarf, human, and 12 foot shield guardian. The melee was over in a little over 12 seconds.
“I hate drow…” Eltharion stated.
Everyone was panting and tired. Bink seemed very intrigued by his new toy, and rightfully so. It imparted its functionality to him.
“This thing is going to protect me! All right!”
“What about this guy?” Grog pointed to the skinny orc who had climbed out of the sewers after them. He was merely sitting in the corner, his greatsword sheathed on his back.
“What’s yer story, orc?” Ogrim asked none too politely.
“No time, bring him with us. We’re going back to the hideout.” Eltharion took charge. The orc put up no resistance, just followed them back through the sewers.
“So, now, orc, what’s yer story?” Ogrim reiterated.
“Name’s Jezda. I uh… I joined this guild. They were supposed to be my friends. And they were. But I don’t know why I joined. I didn’t want to. Why would I want to be in a guild? I’m so confused.” Jezda trailed off.
“Grog, what happened in there?” Eltharion asked, looking down at the location of the nasty katana-cut he received.
“I don’t know, something controlled my mind.” Grog replied.
“Great; there are way too many forces at work here. We need to get out of this damn city.” Eltharion stated.
“So orc, your mind was controlled into joining some guild?” Ogrim asked.
“I suppose, well, yes. I mean, some of them were my friends. I think? I’m not sure. What city are we in now?” Jezda was puzzled. His six-foot-ten frame bending down as they walked through the tunnels.
“Well, you can tag along with us until you get in the way.” Bink puts bluntly.
“Okay, I suppose.”
They head back to their hideout. The shield guardian waits outside, too large to fit through the small opening. Inside, on the table is a small pouch. They take it, and find 50 platinum pieces. A fine reward. They get some rest and recuperate.
Are the Heroes too involved in Tomaru politics? Are they next to be assassinated? Are they going to get one creature of every race in their party? All the important issues will be addressed, next update.
Last edited:
Br0kyn Sword
First Post
Dear Gods and Devils
Thanks for consuming my time.
I couldn't stop reading once I started and now I'm behind in doing my work! Well... 
This is a really cool story I wish I could have been part of it's adventure.
Hurry up and post more. HURRY!
Thanks for consuming my time.
I couldn't stop reading once I started and now I'm behind in doing my work! Well... This is a really cool story I wish I could have been part of it's adventure.Hurry up and post more. HURRY!
Droid101
First Post
Haha, you live in Southern California? Then maybe you could be!Br0kyn Sword said:Thanks for consuming my time.
Hurry up and post more. HURRY!
But seriously, I only update when I'm at work, so you'll have to wait until Tuesday. Sorry!
Glad you like it though, it only gets better as it goes!
Droid101
First Post
Flitz enters the Heroes’ room.
“You have called for me?” Flitz asks.
“Yes, we found a note that has your name on it,” Bink hands him the assassination list. Drolf Gritz was dead; Flitz is next in line.
“This is grave news indeed. Who would want me dead? Most groups find my intelligence gathering a Godsend…” Flitz looks disturbed. “At any rate, for your continued refuge, I ask that you passively seek information on who wants me dead. A good start is the local wizard. He casts divinations for money. Take this list to him and he may be able to find out something.”
Flitz gives them directions and they head out immediately. Bink keeps his new amulet, the one that controls the large golem-like shield guardian, very close to himself. On the way, when passing through an alleyway (they really should learn to avoid those…) two forms approach. They are wearing splint armor that is heavily spiked. They carry spiked shields which bear the Xvim symbol, the open hand with the eye, but it has spikes on it. They also carry heavy blades. Their faces are partially hidden by their closed helmets, but they look calm and collected.
“You have stolen certain items that belong to Iyachtu Xvim or his most trusted generals. Please provide us with the spellbooks belonging to The Necromancer.” They remain motionless, weapon and shield drawn.
“Yeah, right, how about you…” Bink doesn’t have a chance to finish, as Jezda jumps out ahead of him, quickly maneuvers between the spiky soldiers, and spins his greatsword in a whirlwind pattern; his body twisting, and he lands a gruesome hit on each soldier. They attack.
Each one lands a shield spike into Jezda, his 6’10” frame bending down in pain, blood pouring from fresh wounds. Grog flies in and stabs one deep in the gut. Ogrim lets out an overhead chop of his Orc-Killer, piercing the armor and impaling into a shoulder. Bink holds his tongue and doesn’t cast any spells, rather, draws his brilliant energy falchion and scores a small hit of his own, bringing one soldier down. Eltharion’s whirling scimitar and sickle end the battle.
“Impressive Jezda,” Eltharion congratulates.
“Just trying to help like you said,” Jezda reasons.
“Keep that up.” Ogrim grunts. “Maybe you’ll be a good example for the other orc-scum.”
“Don’t worry about him, he just doesn’t like orcs too much.” Bink reassures Jezda, and they continue to the wizard after Eltharion heals everyone injured.
Everyone waits outside the small unmarked doorway except Bink.
“Hello?” the inside is dark and many curtains hang, blocking off view of the entire room.
“Why have you come?” a voice from behind a curtain.
“I heard you cast spells for money.” Bink puts blatantly.
“You heard correctly. What spell do you wish cast?”
“I have a piece of paper. I need you to find out everything about it. Who owned it last, who created it, and why, if possible.” Bink tells.
“What do you have to offer me in exchange for this service?”
“I have money…”
“800 gold pieces, and knowledge. Do you have any spells to give? I would merely copy them and return them.”
“Oh sure, I’ve got tons.” Bink produces the Necromancer’s two spellbooks. A cloaked form emerges from the curtains and takes hold of the books, leafing through them slowly. He takes two long steps backward.
“These will do nicely.” The cloaked form throws off his robes, producing a fairly tall, gaunt and pale man with dreadlocks. “Thank you.” A one-syllable arcane utterance, and he is gone.
“You mo… you damned… argh!” Bink storms out. “When we find these generals, I don’t care what we told Senman, we’re killing that Necromancer.”
“What happened?” Ogrim asks.
“The wizard was the Necromancer in disguise. He stole his spellbooks back.” Bink summarizes.
“We’ll get ‘em…” Eltharion plots.
They head back to their underground hidey-hole and await Flitz’s return. When he does, he has news.
“Listen, something has happened that I wish you to check out. I have reason to believe that House Mestlani is the one out to kill me. A while back, the sewer entrance to their compound was sealed off, most likely by magic too powerful for a Trade House to conjure up. Today, my scouts report that the seal is gone, and there is access to the House’s underground entryway. Please take Robert Flyn and check it out.” Flitz steps back and shows the Heroes a man standing behind them; a human wearing animal skins.
“I am Robert. I’ve been working for the past few months gaining the trust of the leader of House Mestlani so I could get close to him to find out who is actually pulling the strings. I’ve figured out that there are close ties between them and the guild of assassins, the Black Hand, which is led by Dendybar Retari. This may be the link.” Robert explains.
“Good to meet you Robert. This is Eltharion, Ogrim, Grog, Jezda, and myself, Bink. Let’s get going.”
Once again, Bink leaves his shield guardian at the hideout as they set out into the sewers. They follow their instructions and find a passage that doesn’t smell so foul as all the others. They go down it. After twenty minutes of cautious approach, they hear some talking up ahead. High-pitched voices speaking…
“Draconic. Sounds like kobolds.” Eltharion states.
They continue forward, and a crossbow bolt flies by them. They waste no more time, and charge. Bink casts light on a rock and tosses it toward the kobolds. They have a defensible position set up, with boulders and other places to hide behind while they fire on their opponents. It does little to stop the Heroes, who easily leap/climb over the rubble and slay the kobolds quickly and cleanly. Bink picks off two who attempt to run away with well placed, greenish energy magic missiles.
“Too easy, keep your guard up.” Eltharion guesses, and they continue down the long corridor, weapons drawn.
The passage begins to slope downward, and up ahead on the side of the passage is a stairwell, leading up to a doorway that is blocked by a large slab of rock. Talking can be heard from the other side, albeit muffled. The talking is in…
“Undercommon. Undercommon? Why would a trade house speak undercommon?” Eltharion asks himself. The talking from behind the rock goes quiet, obviously they heard Eltharion.
“Who, who is there?” a voice is heard from behind the rock. This time, in the common tongue.
“Master? Is that you?” Robert goes up to the rock and asks.
“Yes! Robert! Are you safe?”
“It’s my master from House Mestlani,” Robert tells the Heroes. “I am safe, what’s wrong? Open the door so I can talk to you.”
“No, that’s impossible. The defense mechanism went off and we can’t get it open.” The master replies.
“Why would you need a defense mechanism that doesn’t let anyone out?” Robert asks.
“It’s because…” a slight pause, and some other, very faint voices can be heard in addition to the master’s. Voices in undercommon.
“I smell a rat…” Eltharion states.
“Master, what is it? Who is with you?” Robert asks, urgently.
“Um…” the other voices say some more. “Nobody, it’s just my house guards, trying to help me open the door.”
“Why are you hesitating master, what’s the matter?” Robert asks. Almost a minute long pause, as the faint voices are heard some more.
“You see the passage that leads down? Well… RUN DOWN IT! Dendybar is…” a loud gurgle is heard, blood begins to spill out from underneath the rock slab.
“MASTER, NO!” Robert exclaims, but doesn’t have time to mourn, as he is pulled by Eltharion and the others. They run down the tunnel, away from the surface.
They continue to jog for at least 30 minutes. They are all out of breath when they slow down to a walk. The tunnel has continued to slope downward. The width of the tunnel has remained mostly the same. The walls have become increasingly more rough.
A crossbow bolt clangs into a nearby wall. Bink creates light on a rock and tosses is ahead, but the light is quickly snuffed out by magical darkness. Everyone else charges.
Eltharion and Bink have trouble seeing, but Jezda, Grog and Ogrim don’t. After they get past the magical darkness, they see two elves with black skin running and hiding behind a rock. Grog charges one and separates his body from his head with a perfect slice of his katana. Jezda pounds into the other one, while Ogrim finishes him by severing his leg.
Eltharion spots a third, once Bink gets a new light up. Gritting his teeth he charges, anger leads his strikes as he cuts it down. The lifeless corpse takes a few more stabs from the scimitar before Eltharion rests.
“I hate drow.” Eltharion reminds himself.
They collect the miniature crossbows the dark elves wield and continue down the tunnel. Another 20 minutes pass, and they get to a part of the tunnel that widens into a room. There are a few rocks to rest on, and carved pegs in the walls, with sacks hanging from them. The party takes the sacks, looking through them idly. A necklace, a staff, a wand, and a potion, all radiating magic, according to Bink. The final sack contains three gems and almost 15,000 silver pieces. The party doubles up the sack on that one and they continue downward, carrying everything. Eltharion hears faint footsteps coming from behind them. They drop their bags and charge back. Another two dark elves stop abruptly and draw swords. The battle is quick. One attempted to retreat, but Bink melted away the back of his head with an acid arrow.
They continue down the tunnel, the work of the walls getting more and more rough as they go. Ogrim leads the way, followed by Eltharion, Jezda, Robert, Grog and Bink.
“Where’s Bink?” Grog looks behind him and sees a form holding Bink, a dagger to his throat. The party spins around, about 30 feet away.
“Don’t move, or I’ll kill him, and then all of you.” The man states, Bink stays motionless. “No doubt you’ve heard of me; my name is Dendybar Retari.” The party inches closer and closer.
Eltharion holds in a chuckle. “Nice name buddy…”
This draws a scowl from Dendybar. Eltharion squints, and sees a shape coming up behind Dendybar. He takes this as a cue to charge.
Just as Eltharion charges, Bink pushes Dendybar’s arms away, which are summarily wrapped in a pair of bolas, flung from behind. Eltharion and Robert close in. Robert scores a deep cut on Dendybar’s flank, and Eltharion stabs him in the leg with his sickle. Dendybar lets out a few curses, the last of which being the verbal component for a spell, and he vanishes from view.
From behind Dendybar, Senman and Enzonito come running up. Enzonito gave them advice about the ascension of Xvim before.
“Just in time.” Enzonito states. “Drat, lost a pair of bolas…”
“Hey guys,” Senman states, the party greets him.
“Bad news from Canticus. I suggest we get back there as soon as possible. I came to Tomaru looking for you guys, and luckily I ran into Senman here, who led me straight to you. Had to talk to some rat-people to find you, however.” Enzonito explains.
“Good thing you came,” Bink rubs his neck where the dagger was pressed.
They head to the surface. On the way, Enzonito explains what’s going on.
“Anyway, we’ve found out that Canticus is where Xvim has been hiding out.” Enzo says.
“You mean, that abandoned city that we found Drek and those goblins in?” Eltharion asks.
“Yes, that’s the one. They are in a hideout underneath the church. They have a thing for abandoned churches.”
“We should have known…” Bink adds.
“And I didn’t even have to come out and tell you.” Senman puts.
“Anyway, the storms around Canticus have gotten worse. Two huge tornados are raging across the nearby lands. It rains constantly. The king of Brunswick, Wallace, has amassed a small militia force near Canticus, but they can’t proceed any further. There is an electrical field coming from the place that would kill or incapacitate any normal person who goes through unprotected. That’s why we needed you guys, a small force of elites who could get in. I’d be going with you.” Enzonito pauses for a breath.
“Wow, I guess maybe the ascension is happening soon, then?” Eltharion asks.
“You guessed it.” Senman answers. “I have just received a mental summons from Xvim to return to home base, Canticus. I’ll do my best to keep the other generals off your back. As much as I hate to say it, next time we meet, we’re most likely going to have to fight.”
“We’ll take it easy on you.” Ogrim grunts.
“Thanks. Good luck.” Senman says, as he heads out of the sewers.
Enzonito the Ancient, Grog, Jezda, Bink, Eltharion, Ogrim, Robert and the large shield guardian quickly exit the city to the south. They head back to Canticus. To ascension.
Will the Heroes stop Xvim in time? Will the Generals be too much for them? How good is Enzonito, exactly? Be here, next time.
“You have called for me?” Flitz asks.
“Yes, we found a note that has your name on it,” Bink hands him the assassination list. Drolf Gritz was dead; Flitz is next in line.
“This is grave news indeed. Who would want me dead? Most groups find my intelligence gathering a Godsend…” Flitz looks disturbed. “At any rate, for your continued refuge, I ask that you passively seek information on who wants me dead. A good start is the local wizard. He casts divinations for money. Take this list to him and he may be able to find out something.”
Flitz gives them directions and they head out immediately. Bink keeps his new amulet, the one that controls the large golem-like shield guardian, very close to himself. On the way, when passing through an alleyway (they really should learn to avoid those…) two forms approach. They are wearing splint armor that is heavily spiked. They carry spiked shields which bear the Xvim symbol, the open hand with the eye, but it has spikes on it. They also carry heavy blades. Their faces are partially hidden by their closed helmets, but they look calm and collected.
“You have stolen certain items that belong to Iyachtu Xvim or his most trusted generals. Please provide us with the spellbooks belonging to The Necromancer.” They remain motionless, weapon and shield drawn.
“Yeah, right, how about you…” Bink doesn’t have a chance to finish, as Jezda jumps out ahead of him, quickly maneuvers between the spiky soldiers, and spins his greatsword in a whirlwind pattern; his body twisting, and he lands a gruesome hit on each soldier. They attack.
Each one lands a shield spike into Jezda, his 6’10” frame bending down in pain, blood pouring from fresh wounds. Grog flies in and stabs one deep in the gut. Ogrim lets out an overhead chop of his Orc-Killer, piercing the armor and impaling into a shoulder. Bink holds his tongue and doesn’t cast any spells, rather, draws his brilliant energy falchion and scores a small hit of his own, bringing one soldier down. Eltharion’s whirling scimitar and sickle end the battle.
“Impressive Jezda,” Eltharion congratulates.
“Just trying to help like you said,” Jezda reasons.
“Keep that up.” Ogrim grunts. “Maybe you’ll be a good example for the other orc-scum.”
“Don’t worry about him, he just doesn’t like orcs too much.” Bink reassures Jezda, and they continue to the wizard after Eltharion heals everyone injured.
Everyone waits outside the small unmarked doorway except Bink.
“Hello?” the inside is dark and many curtains hang, blocking off view of the entire room.
“Why have you come?” a voice from behind a curtain.
“I heard you cast spells for money.” Bink puts blatantly.
“You heard correctly. What spell do you wish cast?”
“I have a piece of paper. I need you to find out everything about it. Who owned it last, who created it, and why, if possible.” Bink tells.
“What do you have to offer me in exchange for this service?”
“I have money…”
“800 gold pieces, and knowledge. Do you have any spells to give? I would merely copy them and return them.”
“Oh sure, I’ve got tons.” Bink produces the Necromancer’s two spellbooks. A cloaked form emerges from the curtains and takes hold of the books, leafing through them slowly. He takes two long steps backward.
“These will do nicely.” The cloaked form throws off his robes, producing a fairly tall, gaunt and pale man with dreadlocks. “Thank you.” A one-syllable arcane utterance, and he is gone.
“You mo… you damned… argh!” Bink storms out. “When we find these generals, I don’t care what we told Senman, we’re killing that Necromancer.”
“What happened?” Ogrim asks.
“The wizard was the Necromancer in disguise. He stole his spellbooks back.” Bink summarizes.
“We’ll get ‘em…” Eltharion plots.
They head back to their underground hidey-hole and await Flitz’s return. When he does, he has news.
“Listen, something has happened that I wish you to check out. I have reason to believe that House Mestlani is the one out to kill me. A while back, the sewer entrance to their compound was sealed off, most likely by magic too powerful for a Trade House to conjure up. Today, my scouts report that the seal is gone, and there is access to the House’s underground entryway. Please take Robert Flyn and check it out.” Flitz steps back and shows the Heroes a man standing behind them; a human wearing animal skins.
“I am Robert. I’ve been working for the past few months gaining the trust of the leader of House Mestlani so I could get close to him to find out who is actually pulling the strings. I’ve figured out that there are close ties between them and the guild of assassins, the Black Hand, which is led by Dendybar Retari. This may be the link.” Robert explains.
“Good to meet you Robert. This is Eltharion, Ogrim, Grog, Jezda, and myself, Bink. Let’s get going.”
Once again, Bink leaves his shield guardian at the hideout as they set out into the sewers. They follow their instructions and find a passage that doesn’t smell so foul as all the others. They go down it. After twenty minutes of cautious approach, they hear some talking up ahead. High-pitched voices speaking…
“Draconic. Sounds like kobolds.” Eltharion states.
They continue forward, and a crossbow bolt flies by them. They waste no more time, and charge. Bink casts light on a rock and tosses it toward the kobolds. They have a defensible position set up, with boulders and other places to hide behind while they fire on their opponents. It does little to stop the Heroes, who easily leap/climb over the rubble and slay the kobolds quickly and cleanly. Bink picks off two who attempt to run away with well placed, greenish energy magic missiles.
“Too easy, keep your guard up.” Eltharion guesses, and they continue down the long corridor, weapons drawn.
The passage begins to slope downward, and up ahead on the side of the passage is a stairwell, leading up to a doorway that is blocked by a large slab of rock. Talking can be heard from the other side, albeit muffled. The talking is in…
“Undercommon. Undercommon? Why would a trade house speak undercommon?” Eltharion asks himself. The talking from behind the rock goes quiet, obviously they heard Eltharion.
“Who, who is there?” a voice is heard from behind the rock. This time, in the common tongue.
“Master? Is that you?” Robert goes up to the rock and asks.
“Yes! Robert! Are you safe?”
“It’s my master from House Mestlani,” Robert tells the Heroes. “I am safe, what’s wrong? Open the door so I can talk to you.”
“No, that’s impossible. The defense mechanism went off and we can’t get it open.” The master replies.
“Why would you need a defense mechanism that doesn’t let anyone out?” Robert asks.
“It’s because…” a slight pause, and some other, very faint voices can be heard in addition to the master’s. Voices in undercommon.
“I smell a rat…” Eltharion states.
“Master, what is it? Who is with you?” Robert asks, urgently.
“Um…” the other voices say some more. “Nobody, it’s just my house guards, trying to help me open the door.”
“Why are you hesitating master, what’s the matter?” Robert asks. Almost a minute long pause, as the faint voices are heard some more.
“You see the passage that leads down? Well… RUN DOWN IT! Dendybar is…” a loud gurgle is heard, blood begins to spill out from underneath the rock slab.
“MASTER, NO!” Robert exclaims, but doesn’t have time to mourn, as he is pulled by Eltharion and the others. They run down the tunnel, away from the surface.
They continue to jog for at least 30 minutes. They are all out of breath when they slow down to a walk. The tunnel has continued to slope downward. The width of the tunnel has remained mostly the same. The walls have become increasingly more rough.
A crossbow bolt clangs into a nearby wall. Bink creates light on a rock and tosses is ahead, but the light is quickly snuffed out by magical darkness. Everyone else charges.
Eltharion and Bink have trouble seeing, but Jezda, Grog and Ogrim don’t. After they get past the magical darkness, they see two elves with black skin running and hiding behind a rock. Grog charges one and separates his body from his head with a perfect slice of his katana. Jezda pounds into the other one, while Ogrim finishes him by severing his leg.
Eltharion spots a third, once Bink gets a new light up. Gritting his teeth he charges, anger leads his strikes as he cuts it down. The lifeless corpse takes a few more stabs from the scimitar before Eltharion rests.
“I hate drow.” Eltharion reminds himself.
They collect the miniature crossbows the dark elves wield and continue down the tunnel. Another 20 minutes pass, and they get to a part of the tunnel that widens into a room. There are a few rocks to rest on, and carved pegs in the walls, with sacks hanging from them. The party takes the sacks, looking through them idly. A necklace, a staff, a wand, and a potion, all radiating magic, according to Bink. The final sack contains three gems and almost 15,000 silver pieces. The party doubles up the sack on that one and they continue downward, carrying everything. Eltharion hears faint footsteps coming from behind them. They drop their bags and charge back. Another two dark elves stop abruptly and draw swords. The battle is quick. One attempted to retreat, but Bink melted away the back of his head with an acid arrow.
They continue down the tunnel, the work of the walls getting more and more rough as they go. Ogrim leads the way, followed by Eltharion, Jezda, Robert, Grog and Bink.
“Where’s Bink?” Grog looks behind him and sees a form holding Bink, a dagger to his throat. The party spins around, about 30 feet away.
“Don’t move, or I’ll kill him, and then all of you.” The man states, Bink stays motionless. “No doubt you’ve heard of me; my name is Dendybar Retari.” The party inches closer and closer.
Eltharion holds in a chuckle. “Nice name buddy…”
This draws a scowl from Dendybar. Eltharion squints, and sees a shape coming up behind Dendybar. He takes this as a cue to charge.
Just as Eltharion charges, Bink pushes Dendybar’s arms away, which are summarily wrapped in a pair of bolas, flung from behind. Eltharion and Robert close in. Robert scores a deep cut on Dendybar’s flank, and Eltharion stabs him in the leg with his sickle. Dendybar lets out a few curses, the last of which being the verbal component for a spell, and he vanishes from view.
From behind Dendybar, Senman and Enzonito come running up. Enzonito gave them advice about the ascension of Xvim before.
“Just in time.” Enzonito states. “Drat, lost a pair of bolas…”
“Hey guys,” Senman states, the party greets him.
“Bad news from Canticus. I suggest we get back there as soon as possible. I came to Tomaru looking for you guys, and luckily I ran into Senman here, who led me straight to you. Had to talk to some rat-people to find you, however.” Enzonito explains.
“Good thing you came,” Bink rubs his neck where the dagger was pressed.
They head to the surface. On the way, Enzonito explains what’s going on.
“Anyway, we’ve found out that Canticus is where Xvim has been hiding out.” Enzo says.
“You mean, that abandoned city that we found Drek and those goblins in?” Eltharion asks.
“Yes, that’s the one. They are in a hideout underneath the church. They have a thing for abandoned churches.”
“We should have known…” Bink adds.
“And I didn’t even have to come out and tell you.” Senman puts.
“Anyway, the storms around Canticus have gotten worse. Two huge tornados are raging across the nearby lands. It rains constantly. The king of Brunswick, Wallace, has amassed a small militia force near Canticus, but they can’t proceed any further. There is an electrical field coming from the place that would kill or incapacitate any normal person who goes through unprotected. That’s why we needed you guys, a small force of elites who could get in. I’d be going with you.” Enzonito pauses for a breath.
“Wow, I guess maybe the ascension is happening soon, then?” Eltharion asks.
“You guessed it.” Senman answers. “I have just received a mental summons from Xvim to return to home base, Canticus. I’ll do my best to keep the other generals off your back. As much as I hate to say it, next time we meet, we’re most likely going to have to fight.”
“We’ll take it easy on you.” Ogrim grunts.
“Thanks. Good luck.” Senman says, as he heads out of the sewers.
Enzonito the Ancient, Grog, Jezda, Bink, Eltharion, Ogrim, Robert and the large shield guardian quickly exit the city to the south. They head back to Canticus. To ascension.
Will the Heroes stop Xvim in time? Will the Generals be too much for them? How good is Enzonito, exactly? Be here, next time.
Last edited:
Droid101
First Post
The large party arrives in Gelvain, the trade town north of Canticus. The rain is pretty heavy, and the Heroes are glad to get indoors. They go to the Bruised Bullywug, the tavern they visited before. They all have a few drinks before heading upstairs and to sleep. The thunder and rain make sleeping difficult. Ogrim snores through it.
Groggy eyed and still rather sleepy, everybody slowly emerges from their rooms in the morning. Two familiar figures approach.
Both are wearing the spiked armor and shields, with the altered Xvim symbol. They charge immediately, before the party can ready their weapons, and before most of them are even awake.
Grog and Ogrim take the charge, both dodging deftly while trying to produce weapons. Eltharion comes out of a room from behind them, and closes in. Ogrim readies his Orc-Killer axe and shield. Grog produces his long gleaming katana. Eltharion draws his scimitar and sickle. They all attack. Eltharion takes advantage of his position and slides his scimitar between bands on the spiked splint mail, drawing a trail of blood. His sickle works in with similar ease, jabbing under one of the soldiers’ arms. Ogrim uses less grace than force, and overpowers the same soldier, blasting his axe past his shield and drawing blood from the arm. Grog uses a similar approach. His eyes glaze over red and his muscles bulge. The spittle flies. Grog performs a powerful overhead chop, forgoing accuracy for pure strength. His efforts aren’t wasted, he smashes one of their spiked helmets in, the blood pours over his face and gets into his eyes.
The two soldiers strike back with precision. Leading each other’s attacks, one lands a deep slice on Ogrim’s leg, and the other chops directly into his Orc-Killer, nearly severing the haft of the axe in one swipe. This draws a furrowed brow from Ogrim, who retorts with another two powerful axe chops, weakening the soldier considerably. Eltharion finishes him with two cuts with the scimitar, and his sickle flies out and cuts the other injured soldier in the shoulder. Grog, screaming in rage, once again forgoes all skill for strength, chopping wildly. It connects, crashes through his shield, destroys his armor, and cleaves entirely through his torso. Grog walks back in his room and falls onto his bed; his katana clanging to the floor.
“What are these guys?” Eltharion examines the bodies.
“Must be elite templars of Xvim or something.” Ogrim reasons. The rest of the party has emerged from their rooms and gathered around the dead Xvim soldiers’ bodies.
“Does that goblin use a katana?” Enzonito asks.
“Yeah, don’t ask. Doesn’t he look ridiculous?” Eltharion answers.
“He can use whatever he’s comfortable with.” Bink adds, swinging his falchion defiantly.
Ogrim and Eltharion heal their wounds and everybody heads downstairs to get some breakfast. They get some pork and eggs before heading out into the rain. The storm is so strong that the marketplace has been deserted. Some carts have been abandoned. A couple of youths are seen looting one of them. Across the street they see… Senman and Damaré. Thinking fast, Senman diverts Damaré’s attention away from the party, surreptitiously motioning for the Heroes to get moving away from them. Senman keeps Damaré busy long enough for the party to continue to the stable unnoticed.
The stable is a horrible sight. A huge 15 foot winged form inside, along with a smaller, decaying one, are killing the Heroes’ horses. Trakker is nowhere to be seen. The two forms turn and see the Heroes. The decayed humanoid looks like Zhentil… but… more dead. He opens his mouth to speak, but receives a hard kick to the gullet before he can.
Enzonito flew in at incredible speed, drawing his katana at the same time he delivers the hard kick to Zhentil. Gryrtag, the pit fiend, lowers his face and his eyes set on Bink’s shield guardian. He charges toward it, ripping into it with a claw. The shield guardian fights back, pounding into Gryrtag’s heavily muscled and leather chest. Eltharion and Ogrim charge Zhentil as well, surrounding him and harrying him, not allowing him to get a good spell off. Grog charges in as well.
Zhentil, while effectively evading, mouths a spell. Colored rainbow lights fill the air. Enzonito, Eltharion and Robert find themselves entranced by the colors. Grog and Jezda close in. Ogrim bashes Zhentil with his shield.
Gryrtag unleashes a furious round of attacks, clawing twice, biting and wing-buffeting the shield guardian. Pieces of metal and wood fly off in different directions. Bink stands back and pelts Gryrtag with magic missiles. The guardian fights back, punching Gryrtag in the stomach.
Zhentil then turns, motions a spell and touches Ogrim; his finger covered with strange crackling blue energy, who tries to duck. Ogrim falls to the ground, completely paralyzed. This doesn’t stop Grog and Jezda, who come in from either size and pour it on. Two high horizontal cuts from Jezda, and two low horizontal cuts from Grog leave little room for dodging, and Zhentil’s flesh is peeled from his bones.
Two huge explosions nearby send Jezda to his knees. Two new creatures appear, about 20 feet away. One is a ten foot humanoid with spikes all over its body. The other is a shapely human looking woman, although she has black eyes and large feathery wings. The spiky thing fires a volley into Grog who winces at the many spines sticking into his arms and chest.
The woman, however, merely looks at Bink. She begins to walk toward a building across the street, and Bink follows closely after. They both enter.
Grog disengages Zhentil and charges the spiny devil creature. He lands a powerful blow, but the creature doesn’t seem too affected by it. Jezda lands another hit on Zhentil.
“Enough, let us go…” Zhentil says, as he mouths a final spell and vanishes from view. Gryrtag punches the shield guardian one last time, shattering it completely, before he likewise vanishes. The hypnotic rainbow lights vanish and everybody comes to. Except for Ogrim.
Enzonito flies at the spiky devil and lands two fast chops that level the creature to the ground, its body slowly melting away in a blob of flesh.
“Is he… dead?” Grog asks, peering down at Ogrim’s body.
“No, but he’s paralyzed. I wonder for how long…” Bink responds, in deep thought. He approached them from behind, unnoticed.
“Hey, are you really Bink?” Eltharion asks.
“Yeah it’s me. She showed me a few tricks, that’s all. Nothing to be worried about.” His eyes looked… different. Wiser, perhaps.
The party, without horses, continues south on foot; the one remaining horse carrying Ogrim’s motionless body. Bink grabs a piece of his shield guardian as a memento. And perhaps to rebuild…
Is Ogrim frozen forever? How pretty are those rainbow lights? Does Gryrtag have a thing against constructs? What power does Bink control now? This and more, next update!
Groggy eyed and still rather sleepy, everybody slowly emerges from their rooms in the morning. Two familiar figures approach.
Both are wearing the spiked armor and shields, with the altered Xvim symbol. They charge immediately, before the party can ready their weapons, and before most of them are even awake.
Grog and Ogrim take the charge, both dodging deftly while trying to produce weapons. Eltharion comes out of a room from behind them, and closes in. Ogrim readies his Orc-Killer axe and shield. Grog produces his long gleaming katana. Eltharion draws his scimitar and sickle. They all attack. Eltharion takes advantage of his position and slides his scimitar between bands on the spiked splint mail, drawing a trail of blood. His sickle works in with similar ease, jabbing under one of the soldiers’ arms. Ogrim uses less grace than force, and overpowers the same soldier, blasting his axe past his shield and drawing blood from the arm. Grog uses a similar approach. His eyes glaze over red and his muscles bulge. The spittle flies. Grog performs a powerful overhead chop, forgoing accuracy for pure strength. His efforts aren’t wasted, he smashes one of their spiked helmets in, the blood pours over his face and gets into his eyes.
The two soldiers strike back with precision. Leading each other’s attacks, one lands a deep slice on Ogrim’s leg, and the other chops directly into his Orc-Killer, nearly severing the haft of the axe in one swipe. This draws a furrowed brow from Ogrim, who retorts with another two powerful axe chops, weakening the soldier considerably. Eltharion finishes him with two cuts with the scimitar, and his sickle flies out and cuts the other injured soldier in the shoulder. Grog, screaming in rage, once again forgoes all skill for strength, chopping wildly. It connects, crashes through his shield, destroys his armor, and cleaves entirely through his torso. Grog walks back in his room and falls onto his bed; his katana clanging to the floor.
“What are these guys?” Eltharion examines the bodies.
“Must be elite templars of Xvim or something.” Ogrim reasons. The rest of the party has emerged from their rooms and gathered around the dead Xvim soldiers’ bodies.
“Does that goblin use a katana?” Enzonito asks.
“Yeah, don’t ask. Doesn’t he look ridiculous?” Eltharion answers.
“He can use whatever he’s comfortable with.” Bink adds, swinging his falchion defiantly.
Ogrim and Eltharion heal their wounds and everybody heads downstairs to get some breakfast. They get some pork and eggs before heading out into the rain. The storm is so strong that the marketplace has been deserted. Some carts have been abandoned. A couple of youths are seen looting one of them. Across the street they see… Senman and Damaré. Thinking fast, Senman diverts Damaré’s attention away from the party, surreptitiously motioning for the Heroes to get moving away from them. Senman keeps Damaré busy long enough for the party to continue to the stable unnoticed.
The stable is a horrible sight. A huge 15 foot winged form inside, along with a smaller, decaying one, are killing the Heroes’ horses. Trakker is nowhere to be seen. The two forms turn and see the Heroes. The decayed humanoid looks like Zhentil… but… more dead. He opens his mouth to speak, but receives a hard kick to the gullet before he can.
Enzonito flew in at incredible speed, drawing his katana at the same time he delivers the hard kick to Zhentil. Gryrtag, the pit fiend, lowers his face and his eyes set on Bink’s shield guardian. He charges toward it, ripping into it with a claw. The shield guardian fights back, pounding into Gryrtag’s heavily muscled and leather chest. Eltharion and Ogrim charge Zhentil as well, surrounding him and harrying him, not allowing him to get a good spell off. Grog charges in as well.
Zhentil, while effectively evading, mouths a spell. Colored rainbow lights fill the air. Enzonito, Eltharion and Robert find themselves entranced by the colors. Grog and Jezda close in. Ogrim bashes Zhentil with his shield.
Gryrtag unleashes a furious round of attacks, clawing twice, biting and wing-buffeting the shield guardian. Pieces of metal and wood fly off in different directions. Bink stands back and pelts Gryrtag with magic missiles. The guardian fights back, punching Gryrtag in the stomach.
Zhentil then turns, motions a spell and touches Ogrim; his finger covered with strange crackling blue energy, who tries to duck. Ogrim falls to the ground, completely paralyzed. This doesn’t stop Grog and Jezda, who come in from either size and pour it on. Two high horizontal cuts from Jezda, and two low horizontal cuts from Grog leave little room for dodging, and Zhentil’s flesh is peeled from his bones.
Two huge explosions nearby send Jezda to his knees. Two new creatures appear, about 20 feet away. One is a ten foot humanoid with spikes all over its body. The other is a shapely human looking woman, although she has black eyes and large feathery wings. The spiky thing fires a volley into Grog who winces at the many spines sticking into his arms and chest.
The woman, however, merely looks at Bink. She begins to walk toward a building across the street, and Bink follows closely after. They both enter.
Grog disengages Zhentil and charges the spiny devil creature. He lands a powerful blow, but the creature doesn’t seem too affected by it. Jezda lands another hit on Zhentil.
“Enough, let us go…” Zhentil says, as he mouths a final spell and vanishes from view. Gryrtag punches the shield guardian one last time, shattering it completely, before he likewise vanishes. The hypnotic rainbow lights vanish and everybody comes to. Except for Ogrim.
Enzonito flies at the spiky devil and lands two fast chops that level the creature to the ground, its body slowly melting away in a blob of flesh.
“Is he… dead?” Grog asks, peering down at Ogrim’s body.
“No, but he’s paralyzed. I wonder for how long…” Bink responds, in deep thought. He approached them from behind, unnoticed.
“Hey, are you really Bink?” Eltharion asks.
“Yeah it’s me. She showed me a few tricks, that’s all. Nothing to be worried about.” His eyes looked… different. Wiser, perhaps.
The party, without horses, continues south on foot; the one remaining horse carrying Ogrim’s motionless body. Bink grabs a piece of his shield guardian as a memento. And perhaps to rebuild…
Is Ogrim frozen forever? How pretty are those rainbow lights? Does Gryrtag have a thing against constructs? What power does Bink control now? This and more, next update!
Last edited:
Droid101
First Post
Trakker emerged from the woods nearby, drawing a relieved sigh from Grog as they traveled south along the road to Canticus.
The rain had gotten more heavy, and the winds strong. They knew they were getting close. After about half a day’s travel, a bunch of tents were seen ahead. As they approached, a guard from Brunswick castle approached them.
“The king has been waiting for you all to show up. Come this way.” The guard led them into the midst of the tents to a larger one. Inside, Wallace Brunswick is seen. A tall, stout man, raven hair with a chiseled goatee. He wears brilliant plate armor with no helmet.
“I’m glad Enzo was able to find all of you. We need some assistance getting into the lair of Xvim. The closer you get, the more electrical charge surrounds you. None of my soldiers would be able to make it close enough to get inside. All of my personal knights are busy with other things right now, or else I wouldn’t need any help. Prepare yourself how you see fit, and please, put an end to this mayhem.” Wallace looks concerned.
“We will take care of this problem.” Ogrim puts.
“Can you repair…” Bink starts, holding out his piece of the shield guardian.
“Not now,” Enzonito interrupts.
The party rests for the remainder of the day, and prepares for the next morning. Robert politely excuses himself from them, deciding to return north to Tomaru. The storm only grows worse. Eltharion readies spells to make everyone able to resist the electricity when they make their run for it.
They charge forward through the rain as fast as they can. Enzonito is far faster than everybody, moving at an unearthly pace. The town of Canticus is just rubble now, remains of buildings are all that can be seen. They feel the electrical energy pulsing around them, but run all the faster. Enzonito calls out to them.
“Come here, this is it!” he lifts a large wooden fixture off the ground, a staircase leading straight down underneath it. They all enter, escaping from the rain. The spiral staircase that they go down is rusty, and water is continually dripping from the stone ceiling. Two forms rush at them from down the hallway at the bottom of the stairs. Enzonito makes short work of them.
He spins his perfectly crafted katana above his head, sending out waves of blue energy. The energy passes harmlessly over the Heroes, but burns and otherwise devastates the two spiky-armored guards, who collapse in a heap. Jezda and Bink approach the large ornately carved stone doorway at the end of the moist hallway. An arcane symbol lights up on the door and both of them collapse in pain.
“Agh… it hurts…” Jezda manages. Both climb to their feet slowly, and both have difficulty walking in such excruciating pain. They are helped by the others.
They push open the doors with a little trouble, but manage. Inside the passage breaks off into three separate openings. The party walks straight ahead. The hallway is lit brightly by a bright burning torch near the ceiling. At the end of this hallway is another set of door, these ones iron. They bear the Xvim symbol. The party pushes them open. They wish they hadn’t.
In front of them stands Trek-Donal, Senman, Damaré, and The Necromancer. A calming effect is felt as they enter the room. The four generals stand in front of a large glowing pillar, atop of which is a brilliantly glowing figure, whose features can’t be made out. Floating off to the left, at the same height as the glowing form, is Zhentil. A booming voice can be heard from the glowing figure, as the Heroes all calmly walk in, their eyes slightly glazed over. The door closes behind them.
“Good to see you… all the ones closest to me. Of course Zhentil, my generals, Trek-Donal, Damaré, Senman, and The Necromancer. Gryrtag as well.” The form motions behind the pilar, and Gryrtags huge presence can be seen.
“Ogrim, Eltharion, Jezda, Bink, Grog and Enzonito. All who witness my passing into Godhood must die; so your souls shall become one with my immortality. Zhentil, your power has grown immensely, and your ties close to my own. Join me…” that last part boomed and echoed into infinity. Zhentil’s eyes can be seen narrowed, but then suddenly the sockets widen as crackling energy emanating from the glowing form envelops Zhentil, and he completely disintegrates into nothingness. His possessions fall to the ground below.
Several devil creatures appear randomly in the chamber, which begins to shake, as the magical energy from eight altars flows into the central figure. The Heroes can feel their own life forces being pulled into the pillar.
The four generals look at each other, around at the devils, and then at the Heroes.
“So it begins…”
Which Hero will be the first to taste death? Can six of them fight off a pit fiend and six other devils, along with four powerful generals? Why did Zhentil die, he wasn’t such a bad guy!? Tune in next time!
The rain had gotten more heavy, and the winds strong. They knew they were getting close. After about half a day’s travel, a bunch of tents were seen ahead. As they approached, a guard from Brunswick castle approached them.
“The king has been waiting for you all to show up. Come this way.” The guard led them into the midst of the tents to a larger one. Inside, Wallace Brunswick is seen. A tall, stout man, raven hair with a chiseled goatee. He wears brilliant plate armor with no helmet.
“I’m glad Enzo was able to find all of you. We need some assistance getting into the lair of Xvim. The closer you get, the more electrical charge surrounds you. None of my soldiers would be able to make it close enough to get inside. All of my personal knights are busy with other things right now, or else I wouldn’t need any help. Prepare yourself how you see fit, and please, put an end to this mayhem.” Wallace looks concerned.
“We will take care of this problem.” Ogrim puts.
“Can you repair…” Bink starts, holding out his piece of the shield guardian.
“Not now,” Enzonito interrupts.
The party rests for the remainder of the day, and prepares for the next morning. Robert politely excuses himself from them, deciding to return north to Tomaru. The storm only grows worse. Eltharion readies spells to make everyone able to resist the electricity when they make their run for it.
They charge forward through the rain as fast as they can. Enzonito is far faster than everybody, moving at an unearthly pace. The town of Canticus is just rubble now, remains of buildings are all that can be seen. They feel the electrical energy pulsing around them, but run all the faster. Enzonito calls out to them.
“Come here, this is it!” he lifts a large wooden fixture off the ground, a staircase leading straight down underneath it. They all enter, escaping from the rain. The spiral staircase that they go down is rusty, and water is continually dripping from the stone ceiling. Two forms rush at them from down the hallway at the bottom of the stairs. Enzonito makes short work of them.
He spins his perfectly crafted katana above his head, sending out waves of blue energy. The energy passes harmlessly over the Heroes, but burns and otherwise devastates the two spiky-armored guards, who collapse in a heap. Jezda and Bink approach the large ornately carved stone doorway at the end of the moist hallway. An arcane symbol lights up on the door and both of them collapse in pain.
“Agh… it hurts…” Jezda manages. Both climb to their feet slowly, and both have difficulty walking in such excruciating pain. They are helped by the others.
They push open the doors with a little trouble, but manage. Inside the passage breaks off into three separate openings. The party walks straight ahead. The hallway is lit brightly by a bright burning torch near the ceiling. At the end of this hallway is another set of door, these ones iron. They bear the Xvim symbol. The party pushes them open. They wish they hadn’t.
In front of them stands Trek-Donal, Senman, Damaré, and The Necromancer. A calming effect is felt as they enter the room. The four generals stand in front of a large glowing pillar, atop of which is a brilliantly glowing figure, whose features can’t be made out. Floating off to the left, at the same height as the glowing form, is Zhentil. A booming voice can be heard from the glowing figure, as the Heroes all calmly walk in, their eyes slightly glazed over. The door closes behind them.
“Good to see you… all the ones closest to me. Of course Zhentil, my generals, Trek-Donal, Damaré, Senman, and The Necromancer. Gryrtag as well.” The form motions behind the pilar, and Gryrtags huge presence can be seen.
“Ogrim, Eltharion, Jezda, Bink, Grog and Enzonito. All who witness my passing into Godhood must die; so your souls shall become one with my immortality. Zhentil, your power has grown immensely, and your ties close to my own. Join me…” that last part boomed and echoed into infinity. Zhentil’s eyes can be seen narrowed, but then suddenly the sockets widen as crackling energy emanating from the glowing form envelops Zhentil, and he completely disintegrates into nothingness. His possessions fall to the ground below.
Several devil creatures appear randomly in the chamber, which begins to shake, as the magical energy from eight altars flows into the central figure. The Heroes can feel their own life forces being pulled into the pillar.
The four generals look at each other, around at the devils, and then at the Heroes.
“So it begins…”
Which Hero will be the first to taste death? Can six of them fight off a pit fiend and six other devils, along with four powerful generals? Why did Zhentil die, he wasn’t such a bad guy!? Tune in next time!
Last edited:
Droid101
First Post
“We’re so screwed,” Eltharion admitted, looking around the large chamber to get a bearing before all Hell (literally) broke loose.
The chamber was basically + shaped. The pillar in the center was (presumably) Xvim. There were eight altars, all seven feet tall. Something on top of them was pouring power into the central pillar.
About ten feet in front of the Heroes were the four Xvim generals. Behind the generals, scattered around the chamber, was Gryrtag, the 15 foot tall pit fiend, three blobby masses of flesh with claws, a six foot tall chain devil, and a spiny barbed devil, much like the one they fought the previous day.
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.
“Necro, fly up and target the Hamatula. Trek, you keep it busy. Damaré, match chain with chain. I’ll get the lemures.” Senman spews orders and the generals fly into action. “Help where you can!” he yells to the Heroes.
The Necromancer floats up into the air, firing off a streaking bolt of lightning at the barbed devil. The spell fizzles as it reaches the devil.
“Blast it!” The Necromancer sputters.
Senman launches a volley of twelve small knives, all of them pelting into several of the blobby devils. They all bounce off harmlessly.
“Great…”
Damaré fares better. He approaches the chain devil, whipping his own chain around his body. With a turning somersault the chain flies toward the devil, tripping him up in his own chains and bringing him to the ground with a thud. Trek flies at the barbed devil, landing punch squarely in the thing’s gut, affecting it slightly.
Now, the Heroes react. Bink casts Spider Climb and scuttles up a nearby wall to oversee and pelt devils with magical missiles. Eltharion runs up to the nearest altar, pushing with all his might. It teeters and falls over, the stone cracking and breaking, and a suit of armor, a scroll case, a wand, and a ring go scattering to the ground. Each of them is emitting a blue light that is trailing toward the middle pillar. Eltharion notices that his own magical sickle is trailing light toward Xvim.
Grog charges at the barbed devil, flanking it with Trek, and dealing a deep cut into its flank. His muscles bulge and his eyes become bloodshot. His knuckles turn as white as a goblin’s green knuckles can, gripping his katana so tight.
Jezda runs around the battlefield and positions himself next to the chain devil that was tripped up. He raises his greatsword over his head. Ogrim blesses himself and brings his staff to bear, the one they found in the long underground passage. Bink had identified it as a Staff of Defense.
Damaré’s chain begins to strangle him; the chain devil taking over control of it. This draws an overhead chop of Jezda’s greatsword that cuts the devil deeply. The barbed devil slashes Grog and Trek each once, drawing long scrapes across both of their chests. The blobby devils close in on whoever’s closest, none of them scoring an effective hit, but creating a more chaotic scene.
A large explosion, similar to the one that brought the devils forth in the first place, goes off behind Jezda. An enormous, almost 14 foot wide demonic looking spider appears. Jezda turns, and his eyes widen. The thing rips into him with two large claws and a poisonously salivating bite. All the attacks connect. The claw rip and rend into his chest, tearing his dented plate mail asunder. The bite tears deep into his shoulder, and he can feel the burning poison turn his stomach and weaken him considerably.
Grog yells out, seeing his friend in danger, and charges the demon spider. The barbed devil slashes his leg as he runs, but he doesn’t notice. He draws a bite from the spider as well as he approaches due to the long reach of the creature. He grits his teeth and holds off the poison from taking effect. His katana slams hard into the spider, drawing a gout of brackish blood.
Bink follows suit by launching a volley of magic missiles into it. Eltharion runs to another pedestal, attempting to push it over. It teeters, but does not fall. He grits his teeth and keeps trying.
Trek-Donal throws a volley of punches and kicks into the barbed devil, all with small effectiveness. Senman fends off a couple of blob devils that surrounded him. Ogrim activates a shimmering shield of perfect geometric shapes from the Staff, a Shield of Law. He stashes the staff and brings his axe and shield to bear. He approaches the barbed devil.
The Necromancer throws another bolt of lightning at the barbed devil, this time it sizzles the flesh of the thing, which howls in pain. Jezda grits his teeth, his flesh burning, his armor useless, his muscles weak. He lets out a flurry of furious greatsword swipes. One of them connects, dealing heavy damage to the spider, and another spray of black blood. Damaré struggles to get the chains off himself. The barbed ends cutting up his body terribly.
The blob devils claw into Senman, who takes a few scratches, but nothing too serious. The barbed devil launches a volley of spines into Ogrim, most of which bounce off his glowing magical Shield of Law. The spider demon attacks Grog, both claws tearing into him and ripping off his studded leather armor. Another bite lands in his flank, and he feels the poison take effect. He staggers to a knee, but stands quickly. He hardly notices the pain. He hardly notices anything. His eyes bloodshot, he lets out a scream and swings his katana as hard as he can.
Success! One of the demon spider’s long chitinous legs is severed cleanly, the blood pouring into a rapidly growing pool on the ground. The creature remained standing.
Everyone (except for the devils) felt a churning in their stomachs. The reddish energy coming from each of them began to flow more quickly to the central pillar. The bluish energy from their magic items (and the ones on the altars) began to flow more quickly as well. Several of the items had burned out. Eltharion noticed no more energy was flowing from his sickle.
“My sickle! You bastard!” Eltharion was enraged. He pushed with all his might, knocking over another tall altar. A wand, a longsword, a scimitar, and a rod scattered on the ground. Eltharion picked up the scimitar before moving to the next altar.
Bink fired off some magic missiles at the blobs, killing two of them. Senman continued to fight them off with a shortsword, doing minimal damage. Trek and Ogrim effectively double-teamed the barbed demon, and were getting one or two good hits in. They were whittling it down.
Damaré was still struggling with his chain. Grog and Jezda attacked yet again. Jezda, considerably weakened, was able to connect with a solid strike. Grog, once again with a mighty blow, severed yet another of the huge creature’s legs. It remained standing. It countered with two claws, slashing Grog deeply. He didn’t notice. His wounds were enough to kill any normal man twice, but he kept foaming at the mouth. A bit flew at Jezda who was unable to get out of the way. The poison once again filled his body, and he burning was too much. He could feel his internal organs liquefying. His vision blurred. His balance lost. His world, dark. He collapsed, his greatsword clanging against the finely worked stone. If Grog could possibly be more enraged, that is what he became.
The barbed devil flailed to the last. A spiny fist connected with Trek, drawing some more blood. The last blob scratched Senman lightly. The chain devil continued to control the chains around Damaré from his vantage point on the ground.
Bink climbed down and pushed over a pedestal. This one nearly landed on Damaré, had he not jumped back. Eltharion likewise pushed one over. Two shields, a wand, a greataxe, a chain shirt, a longbow, and another scimitar tumbled off the downed pedestals. Eltharion was quick to pick up the second scimitar.
The Necromancer launched some magic missiles of his own at the barbed devil. Another punch from Trek and a low axe hit from Ogrim sent it back to Hell.
Grog couldn’t see or hear anything other than Jezda falling. His blood red gaze met the spider demon’s many eyes. He flew in with a sharp stab of the katana, ripping the thing’s head segment in half, sending it sprawling to the ground. He turned and overhead chopped the chain devil behind him, slicing its arm and breaking its concentration. Damaré, now freed, chain-whipped the chain devil in the head. It stopped moving.
Loud clanging could be heard from one of the walls of the room. Bink let his eyes shift into the magical spectrum, seeing all sorts of flowing colors and spell-stitched items.
Senman finished off the last blob, and looked to the pillar of light. Everyone could feel their very souls being pulled from their bodies.
“We have to get out of here!” Senman yelled over the tumult of the clanging and magical energy, crashing like waves.
“Get that one, and that, and those, pick up those!” Bink was calling out orders. Ogrim and Eltharion went over and began to retrieve the items he pointed out; items that still had magical properties left. The clanging stopped. An explosion ensued.
Rock and debris went flying from one of the walls. A large hole was opened. Three dwarves were seen emerging, immediately grabbing onto their stomachs, their souls being pulled from their being.
“Silverhammers?” Ogrim recognized them immediately. They had met two of them previously. The Heroes had found their missing wagon.
“Get out of this room! Head back into the tunnel!” Senman yelled, the dwarves were quick to comply. The Necromancer, Trek-Donal, Damaré, Senman, Ogrim, and Bink ran for it. Eltharion was busy healing Grog as his rage of emotions expired. He surely would have fell dead without Eltharion’s spells. The hefted Jezda’s body and ran for it as well.
A large explosion like trumpets blaring into a silent night issued from behind them. The magical/soul energy had ceased flowing from them; none of them falling, as they were a far enough distance away to stop the flow of energy. After a good ten minutes of hustling down the recently carved tunnel, they began to slow. Bink looked around nervously at the four generals.
“So, heh, hope we’re not holding grudges…” Bink said meekly. Everyone was catching their breath at this point, nobody responding right away.
With a slightly snobbish expression, his black dreadlocks swaying slightly, “You helped us out of a tight spot. The way I see it, is that we owe you.” The Necromancer states.
Surprised and slightly amazed, “Wow, anytime!” Eltharion responds.
“Follow us. It’s gonna to be a long trip. We’ve been diggin’ for months. Bribdan here, our resident spellcaster, felt lots of magic comin’ from this here direction,” the dwarf points the way back to Xvim’s temple. “We was diggin’ to find out what it was. Good thing we got there when we did, looks like!”
“Yes, we are at your eternal service,” Ogrim responds.
“Ah, don’t be talkin’ like that. Anyway, a couple days and we should be entering Dardenkidin, our under-mountain stronghold.” The dwarf responds.
“That’s where I’m from. That’s perfect.” Ogrim states.
“Is it possible to go back?” Damaré asks the Necromancer.
“Most likely that room is collapsed. That path is blocked.” The Necromancer answers, matter-of-factly.
“Dwarves, great…” Trek is less than enthusiastic.
The travel is just as the dwarves stated, a good three days of trail rations, dwarven drinking games, and hearty song, and they reach Dardenkidin.
“I don’t think I could take much more of that…” Eltharion states.
“I was already past that point. If I ever see another dwarf, it’ll be too…” Damaré starts, but the defeated look in his eyes speaks volumes. The cavernous entrance to the stronghold has several dwarf guards, and when they enter the expansive, finely crafted halls, dwarves are seen all about, tending to work. “Wonderful…”
They are all taken to a large inn and given rooms. Ogrim goes to visit his family. Bink and the Necromancer sit in front of the large pile of magic items they found. Jezda is brought to the temple of Moradin. With a lot of convincing from Ogrim, and a tale of the battle against the ascending Xvim from Eltharion, the head priest agrees to raise him from the dead, but for a hefty donation. The party agrees, and Jezda’s body is cleansed of poison and raised from the dead.
“Did we… win?” Jezda asks with a weak voice.
“You did it. We won cuz of you.” Grog answers, happy to see his friend.
The Heroes and Generals get settled in before they make any plans for the immediate future. They had won the day.
Heroes and Generals 4-ever? Will they form a Super-Team? What magic items did they procure? What’s next for everyone? This and more, next time.
The chamber was basically + shaped. The pillar in the center was (presumably) Xvim. There were eight altars, all seven feet tall. Something on top of them was pouring power into the central pillar.
About ten feet in front of the Heroes were the four Xvim generals. Behind the generals, scattered around the chamber, was Gryrtag, the 15 foot tall pit fiend, three blobby masses of flesh with claws, a six foot tall chain devil, and a spiny barbed devil, much like the one they fought the previous day.
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.
“Necro, fly up and target the Hamatula. Trek, you keep it busy. Damaré, match chain with chain. I’ll get the lemures.” Senman spews orders and the generals fly into action. “Help where you can!” he yells to the Heroes.
The Necromancer floats up into the air, firing off a streaking bolt of lightning at the barbed devil. The spell fizzles as it reaches the devil.
“Blast it!” The Necromancer sputters.
Senman launches a volley of twelve small knives, all of them pelting into several of the blobby devils. They all bounce off harmlessly.
“Great…”
Damaré fares better. He approaches the chain devil, whipping his own chain around his body. With a turning somersault the chain flies toward the devil, tripping him up in his own chains and bringing him to the ground with a thud. Trek flies at the barbed devil, landing punch squarely in the thing’s gut, affecting it slightly.
Now, the Heroes react. Bink casts Spider Climb and scuttles up a nearby wall to oversee and pelt devils with magical missiles. Eltharion runs up to the nearest altar, pushing with all his might. It teeters and falls over, the stone cracking and breaking, and a suit of armor, a scroll case, a wand, and a ring go scattering to the ground. Each of them is emitting a blue light that is trailing toward the middle pillar. Eltharion notices that his own magical sickle is trailing light toward Xvim.
Grog charges at the barbed devil, flanking it with Trek, and dealing a deep cut into its flank. His muscles bulge and his eyes become bloodshot. His knuckles turn as white as a goblin’s green knuckles can, gripping his katana so tight.
Jezda runs around the battlefield and positions himself next to the chain devil that was tripped up. He raises his greatsword over his head. Ogrim blesses himself and brings his staff to bear, the one they found in the long underground passage. Bink had identified it as a Staff of Defense.
Damaré’s chain begins to strangle him; the chain devil taking over control of it. This draws an overhead chop of Jezda’s greatsword that cuts the devil deeply. The barbed devil slashes Grog and Trek each once, drawing long scrapes across both of their chests. The blobby devils close in on whoever’s closest, none of them scoring an effective hit, but creating a more chaotic scene.
A large explosion, similar to the one that brought the devils forth in the first place, goes off behind Jezda. An enormous, almost 14 foot wide demonic looking spider appears. Jezda turns, and his eyes widen. The thing rips into him with two large claws and a poisonously salivating bite. All the attacks connect. The claw rip and rend into his chest, tearing his dented plate mail asunder. The bite tears deep into his shoulder, and he can feel the burning poison turn his stomach and weaken him considerably.
Grog yells out, seeing his friend in danger, and charges the demon spider. The barbed devil slashes his leg as he runs, but he doesn’t notice. He draws a bite from the spider as well as he approaches due to the long reach of the creature. He grits his teeth and holds off the poison from taking effect. His katana slams hard into the spider, drawing a gout of brackish blood.
Bink follows suit by launching a volley of magic missiles into it. Eltharion runs to another pedestal, attempting to push it over. It teeters, but does not fall. He grits his teeth and keeps trying.
Trek-Donal throws a volley of punches and kicks into the barbed devil, all with small effectiveness. Senman fends off a couple of blob devils that surrounded him. Ogrim activates a shimmering shield of perfect geometric shapes from the Staff, a Shield of Law. He stashes the staff and brings his axe and shield to bear. He approaches the barbed devil.
The Necromancer throws another bolt of lightning at the barbed devil, this time it sizzles the flesh of the thing, which howls in pain. Jezda grits his teeth, his flesh burning, his armor useless, his muscles weak. He lets out a flurry of furious greatsword swipes. One of them connects, dealing heavy damage to the spider, and another spray of black blood. Damaré struggles to get the chains off himself. The barbed ends cutting up his body terribly.
The blob devils claw into Senman, who takes a few scratches, but nothing too serious. The barbed devil launches a volley of spines into Ogrim, most of which bounce off his glowing magical Shield of Law. The spider demon attacks Grog, both claws tearing into him and ripping off his studded leather armor. Another bite lands in his flank, and he feels the poison take effect. He staggers to a knee, but stands quickly. He hardly notices the pain. He hardly notices anything. His eyes bloodshot, he lets out a scream and swings his katana as hard as he can.
Success! One of the demon spider’s long chitinous legs is severed cleanly, the blood pouring into a rapidly growing pool on the ground. The creature remained standing.
Everyone (except for the devils) felt a churning in their stomachs. The reddish energy coming from each of them began to flow more quickly to the central pillar. The bluish energy from their magic items (and the ones on the altars) began to flow more quickly as well. Several of the items had burned out. Eltharion noticed no more energy was flowing from his sickle.
“My sickle! You bastard!” Eltharion was enraged. He pushed with all his might, knocking over another tall altar. A wand, a longsword, a scimitar, and a rod scattered on the ground. Eltharion picked up the scimitar before moving to the next altar.
Bink fired off some magic missiles at the blobs, killing two of them. Senman continued to fight them off with a shortsword, doing minimal damage. Trek and Ogrim effectively double-teamed the barbed demon, and were getting one or two good hits in. They were whittling it down.
Damaré was still struggling with his chain. Grog and Jezda attacked yet again. Jezda, considerably weakened, was able to connect with a solid strike. Grog, once again with a mighty blow, severed yet another of the huge creature’s legs. It remained standing. It countered with two claws, slashing Grog deeply. He didn’t notice. His wounds were enough to kill any normal man twice, but he kept foaming at the mouth. A bit flew at Jezda who was unable to get out of the way. The poison once again filled his body, and he burning was too much. He could feel his internal organs liquefying. His vision blurred. His balance lost. His world, dark. He collapsed, his greatsword clanging against the finely worked stone. If Grog could possibly be more enraged, that is what he became.
The barbed devil flailed to the last. A spiny fist connected with Trek, drawing some more blood. The last blob scratched Senman lightly. The chain devil continued to control the chains around Damaré from his vantage point on the ground.
Bink climbed down and pushed over a pedestal. This one nearly landed on Damaré, had he not jumped back. Eltharion likewise pushed one over. Two shields, a wand, a greataxe, a chain shirt, a longbow, and another scimitar tumbled off the downed pedestals. Eltharion was quick to pick up the second scimitar.
The Necromancer launched some magic missiles of his own at the barbed devil. Another punch from Trek and a low axe hit from Ogrim sent it back to Hell.
Grog couldn’t see or hear anything other than Jezda falling. His blood red gaze met the spider demon’s many eyes. He flew in with a sharp stab of the katana, ripping the thing’s head segment in half, sending it sprawling to the ground. He turned and overhead chopped the chain devil behind him, slicing its arm and breaking its concentration. Damaré, now freed, chain-whipped the chain devil in the head. It stopped moving.
Loud clanging could be heard from one of the walls of the room. Bink let his eyes shift into the magical spectrum, seeing all sorts of flowing colors and spell-stitched items.
Senman finished off the last blob, and looked to the pillar of light. Everyone could feel their very souls being pulled from their bodies.
“We have to get out of here!” Senman yelled over the tumult of the clanging and magical energy, crashing like waves.
“Get that one, and that, and those, pick up those!” Bink was calling out orders. Ogrim and Eltharion went over and began to retrieve the items he pointed out; items that still had magical properties left. The clanging stopped. An explosion ensued.
Rock and debris went flying from one of the walls. A large hole was opened. Three dwarves were seen emerging, immediately grabbing onto their stomachs, their souls being pulled from their being.
“Silverhammers?” Ogrim recognized them immediately. They had met two of them previously. The Heroes had found their missing wagon.
“Get out of this room! Head back into the tunnel!” Senman yelled, the dwarves were quick to comply. The Necromancer, Trek-Donal, Damaré, Senman, Ogrim, and Bink ran for it. Eltharion was busy healing Grog as his rage of emotions expired. He surely would have fell dead without Eltharion’s spells. The hefted Jezda’s body and ran for it as well.
A large explosion like trumpets blaring into a silent night issued from behind them. The magical/soul energy had ceased flowing from them; none of them falling, as they were a far enough distance away to stop the flow of energy. After a good ten minutes of hustling down the recently carved tunnel, they began to slow. Bink looked around nervously at the four generals.
“So, heh, hope we’re not holding grudges…” Bink said meekly. Everyone was catching their breath at this point, nobody responding right away.
With a slightly snobbish expression, his black dreadlocks swaying slightly, “You helped us out of a tight spot. The way I see it, is that we owe you.” The Necromancer states.
Surprised and slightly amazed, “Wow, anytime!” Eltharion responds.
“Follow us. It’s gonna to be a long trip. We’ve been diggin’ for months. Bribdan here, our resident spellcaster, felt lots of magic comin’ from this here direction,” the dwarf points the way back to Xvim’s temple. “We was diggin’ to find out what it was. Good thing we got there when we did, looks like!”
“Yes, we are at your eternal service,” Ogrim responds.
“Ah, don’t be talkin’ like that. Anyway, a couple days and we should be entering Dardenkidin, our under-mountain stronghold.” The dwarf responds.
“That’s where I’m from. That’s perfect.” Ogrim states.
“Is it possible to go back?” Damaré asks the Necromancer.
“Most likely that room is collapsed. That path is blocked.” The Necromancer answers, matter-of-factly.
“Dwarves, great…” Trek is less than enthusiastic.
The travel is just as the dwarves stated, a good three days of trail rations, dwarven drinking games, and hearty song, and they reach Dardenkidin.
“I don’t think I could take much more of that…” Eltharion states.
“I was already past that point. If I ever see another dwarf, it’ll be too…” Damaré starts, but the defeated look in his eyes speaks volumes. The cavernous entrance to the stronghold has several dwarf guards, and when they enter the expansive, finely crafted halls, dwarves are seen all about, tending to work. “Wonderful…”
They are all taken to a large inn and given rooms. Ogrim goes to visit his family. Bink and the Necromancer sit in front of the large pile of magic items they found. Jezda is brought to the temple of Moradin. With a lot of convincing from Ogrim, and a tale of the battle against the ascending Xvim from Eltharion, the head priest agrees to raise him from the dead, but for a hefty donation. The party agrees, and Jezda’s body is cleansed of poison and raised from the dead.
“Did we… win?” Jezda asks with a weak voice.
“You did it. We won cuz of you.” Grog answers, happy to see his friend.
The Heroes and Generals get settled in before they make any plans for the immediate future. They had won the day.
Heroes and Generals 4-ever? Will they form a Super-Team? What magic items did they procure? What’s next for everyone? This and more, next time.
Last edited:
