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In the Valus - The Heroes of Marchford (Chapter 14 Continues - 12/24/08)
- Thread starter Funeris
- Start date
Funeris
First Post
Chapter 6 Continued: Return to Castle Llyndofare
Fitz looked the bloodied heroes over. Not much in the way of wounds, just minor scratches. But the poison from these creatures, the scorpiots, was nasty. Funeris had barely fended off the damage. Motega, Calyx and Magnus were not so fortunate. Fitz quickly repaired the battered heroes and set about cooking a mid-morning lunch.
The bandit Toren smiled gleefully beside the food fire. He had stuffed his face all morning on nuts and berries while nodding to the priest’s sermons. The priest had also been kind enough to remove the bonds and allow him to stretch. Not a bad group, he thought. Much better than Galum yelling at him all the time. Even if he did have to endure the priest’s babbling about the Goddess Ceria.
Tobias looked over at Toren, watching the bandit’s eyes flicker back and forth in thought. “So then, has our great priest reformed you yet?”
The bandit absolutely beamed. “Well, he’s doing the best he can. I’m sure a couple more sermons and he’ll have me following his Ceria.” His grin did not diminish as he pocketed another handful of berries.
“And what God do you follow, boy?” The bandits teeth nibbled incessantly on another nut.
Tobias’ eyes skirted toward the ground. “I do not follow any god anymore.”
“What’s that?” Fitz chimed in. “Not even Morduk, Funeris? You did donate to the church in Marchford did you not?”
“Well, yes. My beliefs have changed a bit since then. And I don’t feel like discussing it right now.” Tobias turned away to finish his brunch. “And, my real name is Tobias, Fitz.”
The party sat in silence in the early summer mid-morning until their meals were consumed. Then they returned again to the rear entrance of Castle Llyndofare.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Fitz had again stayed outside the castle walls, to continue preaching to Toren. Motega was slightly annoyed with this turn of events. Definitely, the cleric could have been used inside Llyndofare not outside converting a bandit to Ceria. Had he just eaten the bandit, the healer would be inside with the rest of the Heroes. A silent sigh escaped Motega’s lips. This problem would never occur again, he promised.
The rear courtyard was exactly had the Heroes had left it. Well, almost at any rate. The only difference was the disappearance of the scorpiot that had been slain. In the corpse’s place was a set of tracks left from the body. A trail left from the body being dragged into the unknown courtyard. Motega motioned for silence as he listened for movement. But again, not a sound could be heard over the quiet summer breeze.
Through hoarse whispers, a quick plan was created. Calyx was left beside the double doors to the remaining courtyard. Motega, Tobias and Magnus climbed stairs onto the catwalk that looked into the empty remaining courtyard. Motega’s sharp eyes could see the trail of the corpse slithering into the doorway for one of the storage rooms.
The three on the catwalk readied their weapons and aimed at the doorway. Motega launched a rock backward off the catwalk, signaling Calyx to pin the doors shut with the climbing pitons. As soon as Calyx brought the hammer to bear on the piton and the sound broke the midmorning silence, a scorpiot charged out of the storage room.
Motega and Tobias pegged the beast with their arrows, two apiece before it traversed the distanced to the double doors. The monster clicked in fury and rage as it hit the double doors. Although the shots did not kill the scorpiot, it did give Calyx enough time to wedge four pitons into the door.
As the beast smashed against the door like the sea on the shore, Calyx ran up the stairway to rejoin her companions. Motega and Tobias kept smacking the beast with their arrows. Magnus sat coolly back, watching the storage room, his crossbow aimed at the doorway.
But, Magnus blinked. And during that blink, two events occurred. The first was the unavoidable smashing of the doors by the enraged scorpiot. The second, another scorpiot stepped from the storage room and pelted Motega with a blast of raw, magical energy.
Magnus’ eyes began to reopen as the magical energy engulfed Motega. Then his fingers, out of pure nervous reflex, pulled the trigger. The bolt flew straight and pounded the scorpiot wizard in the chest. The beast squealed and clicked as it ducked back into the room.
Tobias let his bow hit the floor as he moved toward the stairwell to confront the scorpiot that pounded up the stairway. The mage stepped over to Tobias’ prior position and resumed his position watching the door. After a moment’s breath, Motega also stood and trained his bow upon the same archway.
The scorpiot that chased Calyx up the stairs nearly pinned her at the entrance of the catwalk before Tobias was upon the beast with his great sword. The scorp mage made the mistake of stepping out of the storage room to prepare his next spell. It was the last mistake he’d ever make as Magnus’ bolt pierce his chest and Motega’s arrow found a home between it’s eyes. The lifeless carapace collapsed against the framing for the door.
Motega turned his feral eye to the beast Tobias was engaging in combat. Tobias was holding his own, fighting off the poison but not having much luck at connecting. Motega rushed into the battle with his own blade and quickly the scorpiot met his fate at the hands of Motega’s and Tobias’ blades.
The Heroes looked around at each other. No poisoning, just a few scratches this time. They all broke into grins.
Fitz looked the bloodied heroes over. Not much in the way of wounds, just minor scratches. But the poison from these creatures, the scorpiots, was nasty. Funeris had barely fended off the damage. Motega, Calyx and Magnus were not so fortunate. Fitz quickly repaired the battered heroes and set about cooking a mid-morning lunch.
The bandit Toren smiled gleefully beside the food fire. He had stuffed his face all morning on nuts and berries while nodding to the priest’s sermons. The priest had also been kind enough to remove the bonds and allow him to stretch. Not a bad group, he thought. Much better than Galum yelling at him all the time. Even if he did have to endure the priest’s babbling about the Goddess Ceria.
Tobias looked over at Toren, watching the bandit’s eyes flicker back and forth in thought. “So then, has our great priest reformed you yet?”
The bandit absolutely beamed. “Well, he’s doing the best he can. I’m sure a couple more sermons and he’ll have me following his Ceria.” His grin did not diminish as he pocketed another handful of berries.
“And what God do you follow, boy?” The bandits teeth nibbled incessantly on another nut.
Tobias’ eyes skirted toward the ground. “I do not follow any god anymore.”
“What’s that?” Fitz chimed in. “Not even Morduk, Funeris? You did donate to the church in Marchford did you not?”
“Well, yes. My beliefs have changed a bit since then. And I don’t feel like discussing it right now.” Tobias turned away to finish his brunch. “And, my real name is Tobias, Fitz.”
The party sat in silence in the early summer mid-morning until their meals were consumed. Then they returned again to the rear entrance of Castle Llyndofare.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Fitz had again stayed outside the castle walls, to continue preaching to Toren. Motega was slightly annoyed with this turn of events. Definitely, the cleric could have been used inside Llyndofare not outside converting a bandit to Ceria. Had he just eaten the bandit, the healer would be inside with the rest of the Heroes. A silent sigh escaped Motega’s lips. This problem would never occur again, he promised.
The rear courtyard was exactly had the Heroes had left it. Well, almost at any rate. The only difference was the disappearance of the scorpiot that had been slain. In the corpse’s place was a set of tracks left from the body. A trail left from the body being dragged into the unknown courtyard. Motega motioned for silence as he listened for movement. But again, not a sound could be heard over the quiet summer breeze.
Through hoarse whispers, a quick plan was created. Calyx was left beside the double doors to the remaining courtyard. Motega, Tobias and Magnus climbed stairs onto the catwalk that looked into the empty remaining courtyard. Motega’s sharp eyes could see the trail of the corpse slithering into the doorway for one of the storage rooms.
The three on the catwalk readied their weapons and aimed at the doorway. Motega launched a rock backward off the catwalk, signaling Calyx to pin the doors shut with the climbing pitons. As soon as Calyx brought the hammer to bear on the piton and the sound broke the midmorning silence, a scorpiot charged out of the storage room.
Motega and Tobias pegged the beast with their arrows, two apiece before it traversed the distanced to the double doors. The monster clicked in fury and rage as it hit the double doors. Although the shots did not kill the scorpiot, it did give Calyx enough time to wedge four pitons into the door.
As the beast smashed against the door like the sea on the shore, Calyx ran up the stairway to rejoin her companions. Motega and Tobias kept smacking the beast with their arrows. Magnus sat coolly back, watching the storage room, his crossbow aimed at the doorway.
But, Magnus blinked. And during that blink, two events occurred. The first was the unavoidable smashing of the doors by the enraged scorpiot. The second, another scorpiot stepped from the storage room and pelted Motega with a blast of raw, magical energy.
Magnus’ eyes began to reopen as the magical energy engulfed Motega. Then his fingers, out of pure nervous reflex, pulled the trigger. The bolt flew straight and pounded the scorpiot wizard in the chest. The beast squealed and clicked as it ducked back into the room.
Tobias let his bow hit the floor as he moved toward the stairwell to confront the scorpiot that pounded up the stairway. The mage stepped over to Tobias’ prior position and resumed his position watching the door. After a moment’s breath, Motega also stood and trained his bow upon the same archway.
The scorpiot that chased Calyx up the stairs nearly pinned her at the entrance of the catwalk before Tobias was upon the beast with his great sword. The scorp mage made the mistake of stepping out of the storage room to prepare his next spell. It was the last mistake he’d ever make as Magnus’ bolt pierce his chest and Motega’s arrow found a home between it’s eyes. The lifeless carapace collapsed against the framing for the door.
Motega turned his feral eye to the beast Tobias was engaging in combat. Tobias was holding his own, fighting off the poison but not having much luck at connecting. Motega rushed into the battle with his own blade and quickly the scorpiot met his fate at the hands of Motega’s and Tobias’ blades.
The Heroes looked around at each other. No poisoning, just a few scratches this time. They all broke into grins.
Funeris
First Post
Thanks for popping up Mahtave. Always good to have another reader.
Note to All Readers: Not only is that yeti pestering me but I also have a
certain happycat on my back thru email and IM for updates. So, enjoy as this is not just the fruit of Ryan's or my labor but Yeti's and HappyCat's as well.
Note to All Readers: Not only is that yeti pestering me but I also have a
certain happycat on my back thru email and IM for updates. So, enjoy as this is not just the fruit of Ryan's or my labor but Yeti's and HappyCat's as well.
happycat2000
First Post
Great story. I loved every minute of it. Can't wait to hear what happens next.
TheYeti1775
Adventurer
Getting ready to bug him more
Work slowing down.
We are having a game tonight,
maybe I can twist his fingers into typing some more for y'all.
O' and you all mind when he says a few scratches as we all know that Mages only have a d4, and Magnus has no Con bonus. About the time of this story Line Magnus was 3rd Level, with the Valusian Hertige (from Destan's Valus), so he had Toughness (+3HP) for a total of 12HP at the time. A scratch could kill him.
Work slowing down.
We are having a game tonight,
maybe I can twist his fingers into typing some more for y'all.
O' and you all mind when he says a few scratches as we all know that Mages only have a d4, and Magnus has no Con bonus. About the time of this story Line Magnus was 3rd Level, with the Valusian Hertige (from Destan's Valus), so he had Toughness (+3HP) for a total of 12HP at the time. A scratch could kill him.
Funeris
First Post
Chapter 6 Concluded: Return to Castle Llyndofare
Surveying the inner courtyard from their position on the catwalk, it was decided to walk openly into the area would probably be an invitation for attack. With minimal difficulty, the Heroes could scale down the wall and onto the one-story buildings that abutted the walls.
Motega took his usual position as first in the order of Heroes to descend. He slinked quietly along the roofs of the storage rooms to the edge of the structure the scorpiots had attacked from.
Edging toward the door, he checked to make sure the scorpiot mage was still crumpled against the doorframe. His ears detected no sound from the room and so he climbed stealthily to the ground and peered through the doorway.
The only other scorpiot in the room was the one they had slain earlier in the morning. He noted the absence of a stinger as his work. Motega motioned everyone else to come forward. Then he bent down to remove the scorpiot mage’s tail and add it to his collection while waiting for the other Heroes to join him.
The room the scorpiots had issued from was just another storage room. One table had been swept clean and the first dead scorpiot had been laid in a resting position. His arms, if they could truly be called that, crossed upon his chest. Two large rubies were set on top of both of his eyes.
Magnus grabbed the rubies and pocketed them. Then proceeded to ransack the rest of the room, although only rubble and trash were seen. He came upon a jade necklace of scorpiot figures. Examining it, he declared it as non-magical and threw it into the sack that hung loyally from his side.
“Well, there’s not much else here,” he stated. And looked at the rest of the party. “We should probably reinforce the well. If they’re pouring up from the Deeping Delve, the well is their source. If we close it, there will be no more scorpiots.” He flashed a grin before mumbling, “and no more poison.”
The party turned their attention toward the well near the center of the courtyard. Broken chunks of rock and wood littered the area. But nothing covered the hole.
“There has to be someway to seal it off.” Magnus stated.
“Door,” grunted Motega.
“Right. Funeris come with me and help me move the door.” Magnus took off toward the large rear door for Llyndofare. The two headed to the rear door. It still lay upon the poor bandit that had been crushed. With a bunch of heaving and grunting, Magnus and Tobias could not move the door. Motega and Calyx were gathered and the extremely heavy wooden door slid toward the well.
The group paused for breath about fifteen feet before the well. Magnus decided to take the opportunity to see if any more scorpiots were coming up. As he neared the well, his body trembled and he started to shake. He only looked down for a split second before he turned tail. He didn’t stop running until he was nearly out of the courtyard.
Tobias watched all of this and decided to figure out what had happened. He stalked toward the well and peered down it. As he neared, his body tried to shake and tremble in fear. It felt almost as if a cold breeze was blowing out of the well. But he forced himself to peer over the edge and search the darkness with his eyes.
Thirty feet below, the well abruptly ended and a tunnel shot to the north. He couldn’t make out anything in the tunnel because of a lip of rock that protruded from the wall.
Tobias’ ears exploded in cold whispers. The whispers rocked his body and he felt the shaking start to return. The word evil formed in his mind. Hard, dark and definable evil lurked within the well. With his hands covering his ears, he turned to warn his companions.
“Evil…”
Then a dark shadow was upon him; rending his flesh and sapping his strength.
Surveying the inner courtyard from their position on the catwalk, it was decided to walk openly into the area would probably be an invitation for attack. With minimal difficulty, the Heroes could scale down the wall and onto the one-story buildings that abutted the walls.
Motega took his usual position as first in the order of Heroes to descend. He slinked quietly along the roofs of the storage rooms to the edge of the structure the scorpiots had attacked from.
Edging toward the door, he checked to make sure the scorpiot mage was still crumpled against the doorframe. His ears detected no sound from the room and so he climbed stealthily to the ground and peered through the doorway.
The only other scorpiot in the room was the one they had slain earlier in the morning. He noted the absence of a stinger as his work. Motega motioned everyone else to come forward. Then he bent down to remove the scorpiot mage’s tail and add it to his collection while waiting for the other Heroes to join him.
The room the scorpiots had issued from was just another storage room. One table had been swept clean and the first dead scorpiot had been laid in a resting position. His arms, if they could truly be called that, crossed upon his chest. Two large rubies were set on top of both of his eyes.
Magnus grabbed the rubies and pocketed them. Then proceeded to ransack the rest of the room, although only rubble and trash were seen. He came upon a jade necklace of scorpiot figures. Examining it, he declared it as non-magical and threw it into the sack that hung loyally from his side.
“Well, there’s not much else here,” he stated. And looked at the rest of the party. “We should probably reinforce the well. If they’re pouring up from the Deeping Delve, the well is their source. If we close it, there will be no more scorpiots.” He flashed a grin before mumbling, “and no more poison.”
The party turned their attention toward the well near the center of the courtyard. Broken chunks of rock and wood littered the area. But nothing covered the hole.
“There has to be someway to seal it off.” Magnus stated.
“Door,” grunted Motega.
“Right. Funeris come with me and help me move the door.” Magnus took off toward the large rear door for Llyndofare. The two headed to the rear door. It still lay upon the poor bandit that had been crushed. With a bunch of heaving and grunting, Magnus and Tobias could not move the door. Motega and Calyx were gathered and the extremely heavy wooden door slid toward the well.
The group paused for breath about fifteen feet before the well. Magnus decided to take the opportunity to see if any more scorpiots were coming up. As he neared the well, his body trembled and he started to shake. He only looked down for a split second before he turned tail. He didn’t stop running until he was nearly out of the courtyard.
Tobias watched all of this and decided to figure out what had happened. He stalked toward the well and peered down it. As he neared, his body tried to shake and tremble in fear. It felt almost as if a cold breeze was blowing out of the well. But he forced himself to peer over the edge and search the darkness with his eyes.
Thirty feet below, the well abruptly ended and a tunnel shot to the north. He couldn’t make out anything in the tunnel because of a lip of rock that protruded from the wall.
Tobias’ ears exploded in cold whispers. The whispers rocked his body and he felt the shaking start to return. The word evil formed in his mind. Hard, dark and definable evil lurked within the well. With his hands covering his ears, he turned to warn his companions.
“Evil…”
Then a dark shadow was upon him; rending his flesh and sapping his strength.
Last edited:
happycat2000
First Post
Good story. I love how you sort of left it hanging at the end. Keep it up and keep them coming.
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