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Droid101's Story Hour, "Of Gods and Devils" Updated 10/12!
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<blockquote data-quote="Droid101" data-source="post: 1735613" data-attributes="member: 942"><p>“So, the supposedly strict and edict-following Xvim is encouraging chaos?” Eltharion asks comtemplatively.</p><p></p><p>“Doesn’t seem right. Maybe the cultists are just whacky.” Bink reasons. “But with that devil involved, I would have to assume that there is some kind of order…”</p><p></p><p>“Who cares. Go check on Johnathan and Drek, will you?” Ogrim motions to Grog, who furrows a brow and walks across the hall of the inn to Drek and Johnathan’s room, which they finally tracked down. Grog comes back with a slightly pale look.</p><p></p><p>“I think Drek is gone. Johnathan doesn’t seem to far behind,” Grog looks squeamish.</p><p></p><p>“Xvim will pay. Him, and his cultists. We’ll make them pay,” Ogrim’s statement brings a nod from all the others.</p><p></p><p>They rest for the remainder of the evening. In the morning, checking on Drek and Johnathan brings a new set of turned stomachs from the group. They find directions to the morgue and let them know of a couple of bodies that need to be picked up. They pick up some supplies and weapons. Bink picks up a falchion he had commissioned to be made before he met the others. The blade was made of crackling white energy. Eltharion got a new set of weapons; a scimitar and a sickle. The party passes through the walled-off richer area to get to the northern exit of the city. A light drizzle fills the air; one that hasn’t really stopped since they visited Canticus. And so they’ll visit it again, as the northern road leads directly through Canticus, and beyond to the smallish trade towns of Gelvain and Tomaru.</p><p></p><p>They pass through Canticus, more of the buildings have collapsed. This time they see no signs of anyone. They take refuge in one of the buildings and rest for the evening.</p><p></p><p>“If the town was full of Xvim cultists, why would they all vanish?” Eltharion asks.</p><p></p><p>“Good question. Zhentil didn’t mention anything about personal sacrifice. He didn’t mention having to do <em>anything</em>, really.” Bink responds.</p><p></p><p>“Time to sleep, chatterboxes,” Ogrim was always to the point. He took a last bite of salted pork, a swig of water and drifted to sleep; snoring loudly of course.</p><p></p><p>In the morning, it was still drizzling as they set out on the northern road out of town.</p><p></p><p>“Is this damn rain ever gonna stop?” Ogrim asked.</p><p></p><p>They continued north, and gradually the rain did die down a bit. It was merely overcast by mid day. Up ahead, they saw something strange. Two covered wagons stopped in the middle of the road, and four large hulking figures striking them. They all dismounted and ran forward, seeing the figures to be about 10 feet tall. Two of them had much of their flesh left, but clearly rotted and obviously undead. The other four were devoid of all flesh, skeletons only remaining. After a quick and dirty fight (Grog’s axe is clearly falling apart from the burns) they stood victorious. Seems like all the people who owned the wagons had already run off, and from Eltharion’s estimations, toward the town to the north, Gelvain. The horses were also gone. </p><p></p><p>The party wasted no time. Eltharion began to back track the steps of the large undead, leading to the east, off the road. They followed immediately on their mounts. After about an hour’s ride, they reached a small hill with a rocky outcropping. A bit of searching revealed a small cave. They dismounted and entered. A twenty foot wide passage smelled of death, decay, and rotting flesh.</p><p></p><p>“Pleasant,” Ogrim noted.</p><p></p><p>The passage turned and opened into a large chamber, almost 100 feet long. A hole in the ceiling provided some (but not too much) light to the chamber. Standing directly under the hole was a man, about six feet tall, pale with black dreadlocks. His robes were flowing and his staff had a skull atop it with two glowing rubies as eyes. Almost immediately, this man began to slowly chant and wave his staff, and looking back at the floor, the Heroes noted a few corpses slowly stirring. They burst into action.</p><p></p><p>“Ogrim, get the mage, he’s summoning something!” Bink exclaimed as he worded his own spell, granting him the ability to climb the walls like a spider. Eltharion charged toward a human-sized zombie that had gotten up near him, and sliced it with scimitar/sickle combination. The slashes were both deep hits, but the zombie didn’t fall. Ogrim charged the wizard, who was raised up on a 15 foot high edge in the cavern, which would need to be climbed. He started, but made slow progress, his heavy chain armor slowing him down considerably.</p><p></p><p>The spell was completed, and a blobby mass of flesh appeared right next to Bink, and it immediately lashed out with a fleshy appendage. The blow landed soundly, and Bink winced at the bruise.</p><p></p><p>A larger, much, much larger zombie began to get up. At least 18 feet tall, this thing was massive. Grog took that as his cue; his eyes glazed over red and bloodshot, his muscles bulged and a light froth began to stream from his mouth. He raised his battleaxe and charged the giant zombie. A solid hit landed on the thing’s knee, but not serious enough to fell it.</p><p></p><p>“You disgusting…” Bink finished his sentence with a slash from his falchion of pure energy. The blade cut easily into the blob, but it remained standing (blobbing?). The dreadlocked wizard began to cast the same spell, this time his eyes were settling over toward Eltharion. Ogrim continued up the small cliff. The giant zombie pummeled Grog, who hardly noticed, laying in hit after hit on the things legs, tearing the rotting flesh from the bones; and cracking those! The stout creature remained standing.</p><p></p><p>Another slash from Bink’s brilliant blade sent the fleshy creature out of existence. Almost simultaneously, a reddish human-torso, snake bodied creature appeared next to Eltharion, who had just finished off the zombie standing next to him. His gaze turned to the thing, which slashed violently and cut Eltharion on the arm.</p><p></p><p>Ogrim reached the top and charged. His axe blade was coming down at the wizard’s head, and a look of glee mounted on Ogrim’s lips. It passed right through, the image of the wizard shifting slightly.</p><p></p><p>“Damn wizards!”</p><p></p><p>“Damn <em>you</em>…” the spellcaster said, as he cast a new spell; his finger surrounded by dark, evil, necromantic energies. He touched Ogrim who felt as if his life force was being sucked from his body. The mage seemed to grow in strength. Not good.</p><p></p><p>Bink climbed a nearby wall and fired a few magic missiles into the salamander, and Eltharion finished it off with two expert cuts, one across the neck and one stab into the stomach. The creature vanished. Grog was bruised and battered all over, and the giant zombie’s legs were practically bare, when it finally stumbled and fell. Grog had to jump out of the way to avoid being smashed. His eyes had faded from their red color and he was panting heavily. He pushed on, however, climbing the wall and running toward the wizard. </p><p></p><p>After two green missiles slammed into him, an axe from the dwarf finally landing a hit on his displaced form, and an angry looking goblin with a burnt axe charging, the wizard felt as if he had enough. While still dodging, he cast yet another spell, and flew directly up out of the hole and out of the fight. The day was won…</p><p></p><p>Grog collapsed, dead tired. Ogrim tended to his own wounds while Eltharion used his nature-granted powers and healed Grog. Toward the back of the cavern, after a little inspection, was a pouch, an amulet, and a long wooden case. Under a bed in the corner were two books.</p><p></p><p>“Oh baby…” Bink picked up the books and leafed through them hastily. “Man, this is great. Now I can write some of my spells down.”</p><p></p><p>“I thought sorcerers manifested their powers without spellbooks,” Eltharion questioned.</p><p></p><p>“Yeah yeah. I’m keeping them anyway.” Bink responded. He wiggled his fingers and cast a spell. “Looks like the amulet is magical. Nice. I’ll carry it.”</p><p></p><p>“Now let’s not get carried away, none of this stuff has been given to anyone yet. Let’s just figure out…” Ogrim is stopped, mid-sentence.</p><p></p><p>“This is great…” Grog says slowly; he had already opened the wooden case. Inside was a beautifully crafted katana, with a silk laden hilt and tie, to keep attached to the wrist. Grog picked it up immediately and began to swing it, a bit clumsily due to his smaller size. “Perfect replacement.” He threw his axe down and attached the katana sheath to his back.</p><p></p><p>“I guess something has been claimed,” Eltharion observed. “Let’s get to Gelvain.” </p><p></p><p>The pouch had 100 platinum pieces, and they found two potions as well. They gathered everything, left the cave, mounted, and rode back to the trail. They followed it for the rest of the day, reaching the small town of Gelvain before nightfall. It was much smaller than Canticus; yet another stop for traders, it seemed. They headed for the inn/tavern, which was quite busy. “The Bruised Bullywug” was the name. They opted not to drink. They got rooms and went to sleep. A hard day’s night…</p><p></p><p>Was the dreadlock mage a Xvim member? Why did he forget his spellbooks? Will Grog learn the way of the samurai? This and more… next time!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Droid101, post: 1735613, member: 942"] “So, the supposedly strict and edict-following Xvim is encouraging chaos?” Eltharion asks comtemplatively. “Doesn’t seem right. Maybe the cultists are just whacky.” Bink reasons. “But with that devil involved, I would have to assume that there is some kind of order…” “Who cares. Go check on Johnathan and Drek, will you?” Ogrim motions to Grog, who furrows a brow and walks across the hall of the inn to Drek and Johnathan’s room, which they finally tracked down. Grog comes back with a slightly pale look. “I think Drek is gone. Johnathan doesn’t seem to far behind,” Grog looks squeamish. “Xvim will pay. Him, and his cultists. We’ll make them pay,” Ogrim’s statement brings a nod from all the others. They rest for the remainder of the evening. In the morning, checking on Drek and Johnathan brings a new set of turned stomachs from the group. They find directions to the morgue and let them know of a couple of bodies that need to be picked up. They pick up some supplies and weapons. Bink picks up a falchion he had commissioned to be made before he met the others. The blade was made of crackling white energy. Eltharion got a new set of weapons; a scimitar and a sickle. The party passes through the walled-off richer area to get to the northern exit of the city. A light drizzle fills the air; one that hasn’t really stopped since they visited Canticus. And so they’ll visit it again, as the northern road leads directly through Canticus, and beyond to the smallish trade towns of Gelvain and Tomaru. They pass through Canticus, more of the buildings have collapsed. This time they see no signs of anyone. They take refuge in one of the buildings and rest for the evening. “If the town was full of Xvim cultists, why would they all vanish?” Eltharion asks. “Good question. Zhentil didn’t mention anything about personal sacrifice. He didn’t mention having to do [I]anything[/I], really.” Bink responds. “Time to sleep, chatterboxes,” Ogrim was always to the point. He took a last bite of salted pork, a swig of water and drifted to sleep; snoring loudly of course. In the morning, it was still drizzling as they set out on the northern road out of town. “Is this damn rain ever gonna stop?” Ogrim asked. They continued north, and gradually the rain did die down a bit. It was merely overcast by mid day. Up ahead, they saw something strange. Two covered wagons stopped in the middle of the road, and four large hulking figures striking them. They all dismounted and ran forward, seeing the figures to be about 10 feet tall. Two of them had much of their flesh left, but clearly rotted and obviously undead. The other four were devoid of all flesh, skeletons only remaining. After a quick and dirty fight (Grog’s axe is clearly falling apart from the burns) they stood victorious. Seems like all the people who owned the wagons had already run off, and from Eltharion’s estimations, toward the town to the north, Gelvain. The horses were also gone. The party wasted no time. Eltharion began to back track the steps of the large undead, leading to the east, off the road. They followed immediately on their mounts. After about an hour’s ride, they reached a small hill with a rocky outcropping. A bit of searching revealed a small cave. They dismounted and entered. A twenty foot wide passage smelled of death, decay, and rotting flesh. “Pleasant,” Ogrim noted. The passage turned and opened into a large chamber, almost 100 feet long. A hole in the ceiling provided some (but not too much) light to the chamber. Standing directly under the hole was a man, about six feet tall, pale with black dreadlocks. His robes were flowing and his staff had a skull atop it with two glowing rubies as eyes. Almost immediately, this man began to slowly chant and wave his staff, and looking back at the floor, the Heroes noted a few corpses slowly stirring. They burst into action. “Ogrim, get the mage, he’s summoning something!” Bink exclaimed as he worded his own spell, granting him the ability to climb the walls like a spider. Eltharion charged toward a human-sized zombie that had gotten up near him, and sliced it with scimitar/sickle combination. The slashes were both deep hits, but the zombie didn’t fall. Ogrim charged the wizard, who was raised up on a 15 foot high edge in the cavern, which would need to be climbed. He started, but made slow progress, his heavy chain armor slowing him down considerably. The spell was completed, and a blobby mass of flesh appeared right next to Bink, and it immediately lashed out with a fleshy appendage. The blow landed soundly, and Bink winced at the bruise. A larger, much, much larger zombie began to get up. At least 18 feet tall, this thing was massive. Grog took that as his cue; his eyes glazed over red and bloodshot, his muscles bulged and a light froth began to stream from his mouth. He raised his battleaxe and charged the giant zombie. A solid hit landed on the thing’s knee, but not serious enough to fell it. “You disgusting…” Bink finished his sentence with a slash from his falchion of pure energy. The blade cut easily into the blob, but it remained standing (blobbing?). The dreadlocked wizard began to cast the same spell, this time his eyes were settling over toward Eltharion. Ogrim continued up the small cliff. The giant zombie pummeled Grog, who hardly noticed, laying in hit after hit on the things legs, tearing the rotting flesh from the bones; and cracking those! The stout creature remained standing. Another slash from Bink’s brilliant blade sent the fleshy creature out of existence. Almost simultaneously, a reddish human-torso, snake bodied creature appeared next to Eltharion, who had just finished off the zombie standing next to him. His gaze turned to the thing, which slashed violently and cut Eltharion on the arm. Ogrim reached the top and charged. His axe blade was coming down at the wizard’s head, and a look of glee mounted on Ogrim’s lips. It passed right through, the image of the wizard shifting slightly. “Damn wizards!” “Damn [I]you[/I]…” the spellcaster said, as he cast a new spell; his finger surrounded by dark, evil, necromantic energies. He touched Ogrim who felt as if his life force was being sucked from his body. The mage seemed to grow in strength. Not good. Bink climbed a nearby wall and fired a few magic missiles into the salamander, and Eltharion finished it off with two expert cuts, one across the neck and one stab into the stomach. The creature vanished. Grog was bruised and battered all over, and the giant zombie’s legs were practically bare, when it finally stumbled and fell. Grog had to jump out of the way to avoid being smashed. His eyes had faded from their red color and he was panting heavily. He pushed on, however, climbing the wall and running toward the wizard. After two green missiles slammed into him, an axe from the dwarf finally landing a hit on his displaced form, and an angry looking goblin with a burnt axe charging, the wizard felt as if he had enough. While still dodging, he cast yet another spell, and flew directly up out of the hole and out of the fight. The day was won… Grog collapsed, dead tired. Ogrim tended to his own wounds while Eltharion used his nature-granted powers and healed Grog. Toward the back of the cavern, after a little inspection, was a pouch, an amulet, and a long wooden case. Under a bed in the corner were two books. “Oh baby…” Bink picked up the books and leafed through them hastily. “Man, this is great. Now I can write some of my spells down.” “I thought sorcerers manifested their powers without spellbooks,” Eltharion questioned. “Yeah yeah. I’m keeping them anyway.” Bink responded. He wiggled his fingers and cast a spell. “Looks like the amulet is magical. Nice. I’ll carry it.” “Now let’s not get carried away, none of this stuff has been given to anyone yet. Let’s just figure out…” Ogrim is stopped, mid-sentence. “This is great…” Grog says slowly; he had already opened the wooden case. Inside was a beautifully crafted katana, with a silk laden hilt and tie, to keep attached to the wrist. Grog picked it up immediately and began to swing it, a bit clumsily due to his smaller size. “Perfect replacement.” He threw his axe down and attached the katana sheath to his back. “I guess something has been claimed,” Eltharion observed. “Let’s get to Gelvain.” The pouch had 100 platinum pieces, and they found two potions as well. They gathered everything, left the cave, mounted, and rode back to the trail. They followed it for the rest of the day, reaching the small town of Gelvain before nightfall. It was much smaller than Canticus; yet another stop for traders, it seemed. They headed for the inn/tavern, which was quite busy. “The Bruised Bullywug” was the name. They opted not to drink. They got rooms and went to sleep. A hard day’s night… Was the dreadlock mage a Xvim member? Why did he forget his spellbooks? Will Grog learn the way of the samurai? This and more… next time! [/QUOTE]
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Droid101's Story Hour, "Of Gods and Devils" Updated 10/12!
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