Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
"Murder, Lies and Civic Duty."
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Kidjake" data-source="post: 6755692" data-attributes="member: 6776876"><p>We pick up where we left off. Everyone's voted to rest the night before going into Eastbank and facing the horde.</p><p></p><p>Come morning, Kavos wakes early so that he can pray for spells before Eadric prepares his extracts for the day. Once he's done, he prepares a place in his basement and casts Summon Lesser Planar Ally to ask his patron Asmodeus for an imp to aid him in his mission.</p><p></p><p>No sooner does he cease the ritual that a gravelly voice calls out "You got work fer me boss?"</p><p></p><p>Kavos turns around to see a 2ft humanoid with dark red skin and leathery wings perched on a nearby chair's arm.</p><p></p><p>Dragging out a set of the Duke's armor, Kavos nods. "Men are coming to kill me. They will probably be dressed in this. I need you to find them and report back their movements and numbers."</p><p></p><p>The imp slowly nods. "I can do that boss. Yeah, I can do that. Might take a while though boss, and as you know...nothing's free."</p><p></p><p>"What's your price.?" Kavos asks.</p><p></p><p>"1,500 gold pieces. I'm a busy imp after all and I'm doing you a favor here." the imp says.</p><p></p><p>Kavos nods. "Done. I'll take it from the treasury." and leaves to gather the devil's fee; upon returning he drops a sack of coins in front of the imp who extends his hand. No sooner does Kavos shake it than the sack and coins disappear in a flash of fire and smoke, leaving behind a smell like rotting eggs.</p><p></p><p>"Good doing business with you boss. I'll let you know what I find." the imp says with a wink, launching himself into the air and disappearing from sight.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>That business being taken care of, Kavos returns upstairs to find Eadric finishing up his extracts and Jonathan Lark fitting a large wagon with a pair of ponies outside. Within an hour, all three of them are loaded onto the wagon.</p><p></p><p>Kavos has Lark head downriver before leaving, using a lie about a vision of Pelor sending them aid and recovers his 'Drowned Legion' of eight waterlogged zombies. He explains that help comes in many forms and that these men were once citizens of Eastbank, who drowned escaping the ghoul horde. It all sounds very mystical and Lark buys it without much probing. After loading the zombies into the wagon and covering them up, they head onwards to Eastbank.</p><p></p><p>On the way, Eadric removes his trusty chessboard from his sack and grins. "I believe you still owe me a game."</p><p></p><p>"The agreement was that it would be at a time and place of my choosing." Kavos reminds the little kobold.</p><p></p><p>"Yes...but then you said we would do it today." Eadric lies.</p><p></p><p>"I...don't remember that." Kavos says with a frown, but realizing even the best of us slip now and then. "Very well, I'm nothing if not a man of my word."</p><p></p><p>The two of them go back and forth but Eadric handily defeats Kavos in a complete upset of their previous game. (He just discovered the Investigator's Inspiration and blew all of it on the game.)</p><p></p><p>"Looks like I'm deputy mayor." Eadric says with a fake smile, extending his hand.</p><p></p><p>"Indeed it does." Kavos says with a fake smile of his own, shaking the kobold's hand.</p><p></p><p>The game took up a bit of time, but the ride is long and they decide to compare notes on the overall situation. The conversation drifts towards the Duke himself and what they know of him. </p><p></p><p>Most know that the Duke is a powerful cleric of Fharlanghn, the god of roads and travel and that him and his four comrades were responsible for overthrowing the Iron King some forty years ago and that they divided up Gallorea between themselves. As ringleader, the Duke took the Centrlal province as his and the nation's historic capitol as the seat of his power.</p><p></p><p>Kavos reveals that what most don't know however, is that nobody outside the Duke's personal staff has heard from him in nearly twenty years; he never makes public appearances anymore, under ANY circumstances. Neither of them really knows what to do with this information yet, but they agree that it's important to have all their cards laid out.</p><p></p><p>Finally, the silent remains of Eastbank come into view and Lark reigns in the horses to slow their approach. "The ghouls are too busy rooting around to pay attention to the road, but once we get in there we need to work fast."</p><p></p><p>Everyone agrees and as they begin crossing the bridge into town Kavos unloads his zombies to act as a wall of flesh between them and any ghouls that might be in the area. They advance slowly and take in the ruined city. The docks of Eastbank are a complete mess, the few ships still in working order are pinned in by the ones that have been burned or sunk; river travel is impossible now.</p><p></p><p>On the docks however is a sizable warehouse, Eadric carefully scales the side of the building and tears at the roofing until he can peel a big enough section back to slide inside. The inside is pitch black, but Eadric is used to such conditions and it doesn't even slow him down. He finds a good deal of lumber piled up around the warehouse and a considerable number of crates which he doesn't bother checking. He also finds the remains of a pair of dockhands who decided to take their own lives rather than wait for the ghouls; they shared a shortsword and plunged it into each of their chests.</p><p></p><p>Eadric silently searches the inside of the warehouse to make sure there are no surprises and then unlocks the doors leading in and steps out into the street to find a trio of ghouls barely being held back by Kavos's wall of zombies.</p><p></p><p>Eadric charges without a second though; leaps onto the back of a zombie and springboards himself over the horde to deliver a spinning kick that lays a ghouls' snaps a ghouls neck and drops him outright. Kavos channels negative energy, seizing control of the other two and an as yet unseen ghoul charges Eadric from its place in cover, but is put down by a pair of arrows from Lark before it manages to reach the kobold.</p><p></p><p>They take stock of themselves and except for a dead zombie everything seems to be in order. Kavos heals the remaining up as Lark surveys the warehouse.</p><p></p><p>"I'm sure something heard all this commotion." Lark says, returning from the warehouse and glancing around. "We need to work fast. You two press in and see if you can find anything on Rambalt's list, I'll load up what I've got here."</p><p></p><p>Kavos agrees and hits the ranger and himself with a Hide From Undead before he and Eadric continue onwards. They take it slow and pass by several ruined homes before finally coming to a fork. To the north lies Bryce's old offices and many of the guild fronts, to the south lies Eastbank's largest Inn/Tavern and the general market square. </p><p></p><p>They strain their ears and from the south comes the sound of animalistic growls and...music? The strum of a guitar can be barely made out over the din of gathering ghouls. To the north sounds like steel striking steel.</p><p></p><p>Eadric volunteers to check out the south and slips off before Kavos can say anything; Kavos takes this opportunity to explore the north and stops in his tracks as he rounds the bend. The Duke's standards fly everywhere and barbed wire fencing has been erected to cordone off the northern square from the rest of town; dozens of ghouls have been hung on the buildings here as a warning to others. He quickly slips back the way he came to wait for Eadric.</p><p></p><p>As Eadric creeps to the south the sound of a guitar being tuned grows louder but so too does the sound of roaring ghouls. He sticks to the shadows and finally emerges from an alley to see more than fifty ghouls throwing themselves against a dwarven shield wall protecting the front of the tavern, and a strangely relaxed dwarf in scalemail sitting on a wagon stuffed with provisions and picking at his guitar. The dwarven soldiers are dressed in fine stoneplate, they wield tower shields and axes.</p><p></p><p>Eadric inches forward to get a better look at them and notices something alarming, each of them sports a nasty brand on his right cheek which marks them as Outlaws, among dwarves they're considered the worst of the worst.</p><p></p><p>"Can't you do something USEFUL?!" one of the warriors shouts over his shoulder at the dwarf with the guitar.</p><p></p><p>Eadric pulls back from the group and returns to Kavos, reporting what he's found.</p><p></p><p>"Survivors?" Kavos asks incredulously. "Actual people, that are alive? We obviously must aid them."</p><p></p><p>"....really?" Eadric asks.</p><p></p><p>Ignoring the kobold, Kavos arranges the zombies and ghouls ahead of him as a wedge and quickly advances the direction Eadric came from; the kobold tags along despite his misgivings.</p><p></p><p>As they approach the battle the guitar's sound is much more deliberate with an obvious tune taking shape, a deep baritone rises to join it; easily piercing the sound of the ghouls:</p><p>"Before we left, a wise man said</p><p>Today's the day you die.</p><p>The Stars are right, the time is now</p><p>Why would a wise man lie?"</p><p></p><p>The dwarf with the guitar sings with a smug smile. His men begin growing red in the face and more than one shout for him to shut the hell up or help them out. The bard notices Kavos and Eadric's advance and nods in their direction by way of greeting before belting out another verse:</p><p></p><p>"Your wife moves on, your child forgets</p><p>That you were ever here.</p><p>The day is lost, our lives are spent</p><p>But noone's left to care."</p><p></p><p>The men are gritting their teeth so hard by this point that their breath is whistling in and out of them and with a look of obvious rage at the inciteful lyrics swing their axes as one, splitting an entire line of ghouls open with a single blow; yet more rush in to fill the hole.</p><p></p><p>Eadric downs an extract and spits a glob of adhesive onto one of the ghouls, holding him fast. Kavos slams the undead under his control into the flank of the ghouls and the zombies manage to drag one down to its death; Kavos then moves closer to the shield wall. </p><p></p><p>Most of the ghouls surge against the dwarves, wanting fresh meat; but a handful press back against Kavos's mini-horde; killing one of his ghouls and a zombie in their first attack. One of the dwarves is clawed at though his massive armor and fails his fort save, he goes down to paralysis and the rest shift to cover him.</p><p></p><p>"Now tell me boys, do you concede</p><p>That fate can be foretold?</p><p>Or tell me boys, do you believe</p><p>That life is for the BOLD?"</p><p></p><p>As the dwarf sings, his allies appear to lose themselves in song; they begin snarling like wild animals and howling defiantly at the horde. 'Something' begins fluctuating violently around them and the ground itself begins showing signs of being clawed at by some invisible attacker.</p><p></p><p>"A hundred men, or more have died,</p><p>They claim that so will you.</p><p>And once these bastards take our lives,</p><p>They'll take our families too."</p><p></p><p>Two of the dwarves stagger beneath the sheer weight of the ghouls bearing down on them, but the rest lash out with savage swings which separate ghouls from the limbs and emboldened by their growing rage they take a step forward to press the attack.</p><p></p><p>Eadric charges forward and lands a kick directly into a ghoul's chest, collapsing ribs and knocking the creature down. Kavos's horde presses forward, drawing two more ghouls to their death as Kavos himself slips behind the shieldwall as the bard beckons him to hide in the wagon with him. Kavos channels negative energy again and seizes control of two more ghouls, sending them against the rest of their kind.</p><p></p><p>The ghoul horde scratches uselessly against the dwarven shieldwall but another of Kavos's traitor ghouls goes down and Eadric sidesteps a handful of attacks easily.</p><p></p><p>"Your arm is weak, your feet are lead</p><p>I doubt you're even trying.</p><p>The battle's lost, and we're long dead</p><p>Can't you hear your mother crying?"</p><p></p><p>The bard continues, one of the dwarves swell in his armor; muscles bulging obscenely as he cleaves through two ghouls with a single swipe.</p><p></p><p>"Now tell me boys, do you concede</p><p>That fate can be foretold?</p><p>Or tell me boys, do you believe</p><p>That life is for the BOLD?"</p><p></p><p>The dwarves butcher another round of ghouls and continue their advance against the rapidly dwindling opposition. Eadric down's an Animal Aspect extract and his arms lengthen, becoming more like a gorillas. The kobold leaps onto a ghoul and wrenches the creature's head, snapping its neck instantly.</p><p></p><p>Kavos urges his minions to press harder and with a few lucky rolls they absolutely obliterate the ghouls standing before them. The dwarves surge to meet them and only a single ghoul manages to slip away from their pinser maneuver and flee further into the city.</p><p></p><p>The dwarf with the guitar leaps off the back of the wagon to face his snarling allies; his guitar strumming becomes much softer and his song becomes slower: </p><p></p><p>"The battle now is over,</p><p>Our lives are not forfeit!</p><p>Which leaves me with a simple thought:.."</p><p></p><p>He says, letting the note hang in the air before finishing with a shout:</p><p></p><p>"Wisemen don't know sh*t!"</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>And just like that the spell is broken and the song is over. A couple of dwarves snort derisively, one mentions that if he doesn't start pulling his weight they're doing to leave his ass; and pretty much to a man they collapse where they're standing to catch their breath.</p><p></p><p>The soldiers take their helmets off to let the breeze hit their face and Eadric points out their markings, each is a dwarven rune. On the bard's face is one whic labels him Deserter. The others are labeled as Adulterer, Murderer, Thief, Blasphemer, Liar and Coward.</p><p></p><p>Eadric and Kavos exchange glances but Kavos is still in a diplomatic mood and asks how long they've been here and if there's any news of survivors.</p><p></p><p></p><p>The bard/deserter says "We've been trapped in the pub since the world went to hell, though we've been trapped in this godsforsaken town a bit longer."</p><p></p><p>Kavos looks at them suspiciously. "You've been in this tavern...for a month?"</p><p></p><p>Eadric slips behind the distracted bard and manages to slide his coin purse off his person. Looking inside, the kobold is disappointed to find that it's empty, save for a list of 30 dwarven names with six crossed off. Realizing he's probably holding the titlist of a group of Outlaws, he quickly drops the coin purse into the wagon where the dwarf will find it.</p><p></p><p>"Has it been that long?" the dwarf asks surprised. "We've...ah...we've been drunk for most of it. We didn't realize. When everything went belly up we boarded up the doors and tried to wait it out; not much to do in a tavern but play cards and drink and none of us had a set of cards on us."</p><p></p><p></p><p>"What's this then?" Kavos asks, motioning towards the wagon.</p><p></p><p>"Food ran out about two days ago. This morning we found that we're down to our last six kegs; so we kicked in a few doors and resupplied. Must've woke the neighbors."</p><p></p><p>"Were any others so lucky?" Kavos asks.</p><p></p><p>"Hard to say." the Deserter says with a shrug. "Only place we've been is that house over there," he says, motioning towards a stately town house a little ways in the distance. "Certainly weren't nobody there." he says, leaning against the wagon and absently strumming his guitar.</p><p></p><p>"How about you?" the bard asks. "Where've you been holding up?"</p><p></p><p>Kavos glances around. "I'm the mayor of Westbank; we came to gather supplies to fortify against the undead."</p><p></p><p>The bard's eyebrow raises. "No offense, but Westbank must be pretty much sh*t if this is your plan B. I imagine most anything worse taken was snatched up by that bootlicker Bryce. What are you looking for?"</p><p></p><p>"Quite." Kavos responds dismissively, deciding he likes the man less and less with each word he speaks. "Lumber, steel, leather....whatever we can find."</p><p></p><p>The bard nods and calls out to one of the dwarves, Eadric notices that he calls him by the dwarven word for Adulterer. "Hey Adulterer, weren't you guys hired on by some rich fella to knock out some walls in his mansion?"</p><p></p><p>The dwarf nods, still catching his breath from the unnatural rage that coursed through him. "Never got around to putting it back togther though. Pretty sure he got ate first."</p><p></p><p>"How's the food situation in Westbank?" the bard asks.</p><p></p><p>"We're getting by. By no means will we be holding a feat any time soon, but we're stable." Kavos responds.</p><p></p><p>"How about a trade?" the bard asks, strumming his guitar with no particular tune. "You give us somewhere to hole up and 2 squares a day and we go 'shopping' for you. We've worked here a few months now, we know this town like the back of our hands."</p><p></p><p>Kavos and Eadric quickly confer with each other and Kavos says "You're branded criminals; we obviously cannot allow you residence in our town proper; but I can see that your group is given a farm on the outskirt."</p><p></p><p>The dwarf marked Adulterer leaps to his feet. "Crimes? I'll tell you something about-"</p><p></p><p>Adulterer is cut off by the bard who says "A fair arrangement. Far fairer a shake than our own ever gave us."</p><p></p><p>"There are conditions." Kavos states.</p><p></p><p>"Always." the Deserter replies.</p><p></p><p>"Should you enter the town for any reason, you MUST be unarmed. This especially applies to when you are delivering materials." Kavos says. </p><p></p><p>The bard laughs. "If you insist. You know, we're not axe crazy despite what our kin's propoganda would have you believe. In fact I'd wager that most of the dwarves you've ever encountered have been Outlaws; they've just found a way to hide the mark."</p><p></p><p>Laying down his guitar the bard says "I mean, there's only two kinds of dwarves topside. Outlaws and Bootlickers." with a laugh he adds "Which of course means that there's one more kind of dwarf topside than down below."</p><p></p><p>"Be that as it may. Do we have a deal?" Kavos insists.</p><p></p><p>"Your town." the Deserter says with a shrug.</p><p></p><p>"One more thing." Eadric says. "We'll need one of your men to accompany us now, he'll serve as an emissary between our groups."</p><p></p><p>They ask for volunteers and with a sigh, the dwarf marked Thief raises his hand. With that settled the remaining six dwarves take Kavos's shopping list and press into the town to earn their keep.</p><p></p><p>Kavos has Eadric and the Thief enter the tavern with him and he tells Eadric about the Duke's standards in the north section of town. Eadric takes the hint and sneaks off to investigate. </p><p></p><p>Eadric slips behind the Duke's lines easily enough and what he sees stops him in his tracks. More than sixty soldiers are in the cordoned off courtyard running drills against makeshift training dummies under the instruction of a balding, stern faced man with white hair and a thick mustache that the men refer to as Captain, while yet more soldiers flit from building to building like ants in a hive.</p><p></p><p>Downing an Invisibility extract just to be safe, Eadric slips closer to the captain and tries to get a sense of what's going on here. His conversations are short and terse, but Eadric gathers that they're still in touch with command and the duchy has hired a mercenary group to come and provide them support.</p><p></p><p>Eadric decides that he's heard enough and slips back, reporting his findings to Kavos who seems disturbed. He has Eadric and the Thief watch the door and performs the necessary prayers to cast a Sending spell; sending this message to the unicorn: </p><p></p><p>"The Dukes forces are in Eastbank. They are sending for reinforcements, arriving soon. Be prepared for battle." </p><p></p><p>"We will crush the trespassers if they venture into our lands. Keep us apprised should you stumble upon any more information pertaining to our alliance." the unicorn responds in turn, ending the spell.</p><p></p><p>They butcher the remaining ghouls under Kavos's control and meet back up with Lark just outside of town; he's loaded the wagon down to the point where there's barely enough room for Eadric to sit in the back; but the Thief is strong and manages to hold himself in place depite the bumpy road, and Kavos takes a seat next to Lark.</p><p></p><p>The ride back is quiet as they're each exhausted.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>The town is absolutely clamoring by the time they arrive in Westbank. Apparently Adrian spun a tale about receiving a vision from Pelor absolving Longarm of his crimes and placing the blame on wicked agents of the Duke. According to his vision, they were to exhume Longarm's body and when they did they found the half-orc waiting for them alive and well.</p><p></p><p>Kavos feigns amazement. "Truly a miracle. Praise Pelor."</p><p></p><p>Most people in town don't even notice the dwarf which Kavos brings back to his home, being too preoccupied with yet another miracle being visited on them. Lark gets the help of the deputies in unloading their scavenged materials while Eadric, Kavos and the Thief retire to sleep in Kavos's home.</p><p></p><p>Morning comes around and Kavos recovers his spells; including Discern Lies for use on the Thief. He discovers the dwarf sitting with Eadric in his kitchen, playing chess against his will. Surprisingly, the dwarf dominates the genius kobold; soundly defeating him despite the half hearted nature of his playing. (We just rolled a series of Intelligence checks to represent a game and despite the fact the dwarf has literally half Eadric's Int he kept rolling ridiculously higher.)</p><p></p><p>"So you guys are playing chess?" Kavos asks, assuming the kobold would have had his fill by now.</p><p></p><p>The dwarf shrugs. "Not my game." he says, taking one of Eadric's bishops. The kobold makes his move and the dwarf says "Doesn't seem to be his either." as he takes another.</p><p></p><p>Casting Discern Lies, Kavos asks "So how did you guys survive a month in the tavern again?"</p><p></p><p>"We locked the doors." the Thief says, sitting back in his chair. "Sizable place, if we'd been a little smarter we could have survived there two months." he says almost bitterly.</p><p></p><p>Kavos shakes his head. "What in the world did you survive on?"</p><p></p><p>"Meat, bread, cheese...mostly beer. It was a fancy place, used to serve a decent dinner before everything went to hell." the dwarf says with a shrug</p><p></p><p>"Were there any other survivors you happened to run into?" Kavos asks.</p><p></p><p>Thief sighs and runs a hand through his hair. "Not that survived." he says. "We had 12 men yesterday morning..." he says, letting the implication hang in the air. "Most expensive sacks of corn I ever seen."</p><p></p><p>"What happened?" Kavos says sympathetically, leaning in.</p><p></p><p>"Same thing happened to everyone else in Eastbank." the Thief says. "When we opened the doors, we invited trouble."</p><p></p><p>In the most abruptly unsympathetic way possible, Kavos changes the topic clearly disappointed in his answer, "You're branded as the Thief. Why?"</p><p></p><p>The Thief laughs at the unexpected change of topic. "I had the gaul to demand my wage. I had a contract with a merchant, busted my ass two years guarding him. When the term came due, he said that my work was unsatisfactory and he didn't owe me anything."</p><p></p><p>The dwarf sets his jaw in anger and grinds his teeth. "I sure as hell didn't watch his fat ass for the fun of it; so I rearranged his nose and took what he owed me out of his pocket... It was LITERALLY pocket change for that son of a bitch. When he took the case to the judges, well...who do you think they sided with? The wealthy merchant or the copperless grunt? He was the victim. I was the Thief."</p><p></p><p>Kavos raises an eyebrow towards Eadric. According to his spell, the dwarf is telling the truth. "Do you have a real name? Kavos asks.</p><p></p><p>"I did." the Thief replies. "They called me Astur; but by tradition that name was stripped from me. To use it among dwarves is an offense likely to incite murder."</p><p></p><p>"Well welcome to Westbank, Astur." Kavos says, shaking the dwarf's hand firmly. "I wanted to make sure you knew the lay of the land so you wouldn't get lost delivering supplies."</p><p></p><p>The dwarf nods. "I'll make contact with the Deserter and the rest. We should have our first delivery by tomorrow morning."</p><p></p><p>Kavos smiles and pats the Thief on the back. "Be careful, alright? You'll find your weapon with Lark."</p><p></p><p>The Thief takes his leave without saying anything else.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Eadric excuses himself to go check on his dragon and Kavos settles in to contact his other allies. Casting another Sending he sends word to the Locathah: "Danger is near, forces will arrive soon. Be in touch, war is imminent."</p><p></p><p>The chieftain replies back: "We will do what we can. Your plague has found its way to our halls. The Asch'al have risen against us all."</p><p></p><p>Kavos sighs and rests his head in his hand. "Gandil..."</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Eadric approaches Ro'Than'Dur in the stable and finds the beasts wings and legs bound and its mouth heavily muzzled to prevent escape.</p><p></p><p>Seeing the once mighty dragon in such a predicament, Eadric removes the muzzle and receives a snarl for his efforts.</p><p></p><p>"Speak if you have something to say Rothan. I wish for us to be partners, not enemies." the kobold offers.</p><p></p><p>"Then unbind my wings." the dragon says.</p><p></p><p>Shaking his head, Eadric replies "You've tricked me before Rothan, why would I believe you now?"</p><p></p><p>With a falsely innocent shrug, Ro'Than'dur says "What are the odds that I would trick you a second time?"</p><p></p><p>"I've had a spell placed upon me that allows me to read your mind dragon." Eadric lies. "I can see through your deception."</p><p></p><p>"Oh?" Ro'than'Dur asks, amusement in his voice. "Then what am I thinking now?"</p><p></p><p>Slapping the muzzle back onto the dragon, Eadric says "It doesn't matter. You'll lose such functions soon enough. I've grown tired of this game, I intend to end it."</p><p></p><p>The dragon growls through its muzzle and Eadric heads to Rambalt's. Now I think I might've left out last write up that Rambalt had half jokingly told Eadric that the only way keep control of the dragon would be to basically lobotomize it so it wouldn't care what happens anymore and Eadric had been violently opposed to such a procedure.</p><p></p><p>Now however, his patience is up and he asks Rambalt to carry through with the procedure. Rambalt warns that it will leave Ro'Than'Dur docile and explains that he won't make a move he isn't instructed to; he also points out that he'll take whatever move ANYONE instructs him to. Eadric is obviously less thrilled with the idea of riding a dragon that can be ordered to buck him off any time he rides into battle.</p><p></p><p>He quickly abandons that plan, and discusses options with Kavos who's all for turning Ro'Than'Dur into a zombie and being done with it. But the fact that it would take up most of Kavos's Animate Dead slots, wouldn't have a breath weapon AND would still be a mindless husk has Eadric abandon that plan.</p><p></p><p>Instead he borrows Rambalt's library and spends the next few days searching for an answer himself.</p><p></p><p>He finds one, or at least he thinks he does. A spell of binding. He shows it to Rambalt and the mage agrees that it would definitely make the dragon more agreeable, but warns that it has a number of side effects. </p><p></p><p>Eadric (literally) says "I don't want to hear anymore about this ritual until it's completed Rambalt, now can you do it?" ((He also admits that he doesn't think he plays a very good 'smart' character because of decisions like this.))</p><p></p><p>Rambalt says that he could, but that it's powerful blood magic. Eadric repeats that he doesn't care about the jibba jabba, he wants a dragon! Rambalt sighs and tells the kobold to meet him in the stable.</p><p></p><p></p><p>In short order Eadric is strapped into a chair next to Ro'Than'Dur (for his own protection) and Rambalt sketches a strange series of runes into the ground around them. He then draws an 8 inch blade and slits the dragon's throat, sending a spray of blood onto the ground as he begins his chanting. Eadric starts to ask about the side effects after all, when Rambalt does the same to him and the kobold's voice becomes a loud gurgle.</p><p></p><p>Rambalt intermingles blood with blood and begins jamming tube into each of their wounds which lead to the other, his chanting grows louder and Eadric passes out from blood loss; Rambalt continues the ritual, knowing that if he stops to heal the dying kobold they'll have to start over.</p><p></p><p>Eadric has to make several more Fortitude saves to avoid outright dying from the trauma but neither he or the dragon is aware of what's going on anymore while they do; they're both out cold.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Meanwhile, Kavos is alone in his home; praying for guidance when he hears a familiar gravelly voice "You expecting an army boss?" the imp asks, perched on his headboard.</p><p></p><p>"I expect your findings." Kavos replies.</p><p></p><p>"I searched the road like you wanted boss. Flew all day and night, there ain't no soldiers around here." The imp says.</p><p></p><p>Kavos raises himself so that he can sit on his bed. "So then it's clear?"</p><p></p><p>"Well...not exactly boss." the imp replies. "I didn't see any groups, but I did see a guy."</p><p></p><p>"What's so alarming about that?" Kavos asks.</p><p></p><p>"He saw ME." the imp answers, flashing invisible and appearing somewhere else for who. "Looked right at me and smiled."</p><p></p><p>Kavos doesn't respond for a moment, thinking. "What was he doing?"</p><p></p><p>"Coming this way boss. Didn't seem to be in much of a hurry; might be a week before he gets here." the imp explains.</p><p></p><p>"Anything else odd?" Kavos asks.</p><p></p><p>"Had a tattoo right here, and here." the imp says, indicating his forearms. "Looked like this" he says, scratching an 8 onto the headboard.</p><p></p><p>Kavos tries to make sense of this and finally says "Thank you. If I want to call upon your services again, what name should I use?"</p><p></p><p>"Hezrael." the imp says. "Careful boss. He looks like a killer."</p><p></p><p>And with that, disappears in a puff of flame and smoke.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>It's early in the morning, the sun is just about to peak it's face above the treeline and Eadric opens his eyes feebly. He feels stiff and cold, much like one might expect to feel after having his blood drained for some obscure ritual.</p><p></p><p>He tries to stand, but his body feels heavy. It's not until he drags himself to his feet that he notices it isn't just a feeling, his clothes are tigther than they once were and he feels knots of muscle that weren't there when he passed out. Looking down at his once familiar hands, he sees thick green scales covering his arms.</p><p></p><p>Glancing over at Ro'Than'Dur he notices that the entire floor of the stable is stained with their blood and its only by the faint breathing of the dragon that he can even be sure its alive. Rambalt has a staff in hand, channeling healing energy into the beast.</p><p></p><p>"I see you both came through all right." Rambalt says as the dragon begins to stir as well. The mage takes a few steps back and says "There are a few things you should know about the procedure..."</p><p></p><p>Eadric ignores him and removes Ro'Than'Dur's muzzle. "How do you feel friend?" the kobold asks excitedly. </p><p></p><p>As the dragon comes to a look of absolute rage fills its face and it lunges forward, sinking its dagger-like teeth painfully into Eadric's shoulder and they BOTH shout in pain; blood flowing from the dragon's shoulder as well as Eadric's.</p><p></p><p>The kobold yelps and in response drives his fist into the dragon's face using every ounce of his power. The dragon's nose busts and blood flows freely, however Eadric too grasps his face as blood flows from his now broken nose.</p><p></p><p>"What did you do to me?" both of them shout at Rambalt.</p><p></p><p>Rambalt stammers and finds that his back is against the stable wall. "I...ah... Well you can't change a dragon's thought process without losing what makes it a dragon." he explains. "But you CAN use its personality against it. Dragons care about nothing more than self preservation. If you die, he dies; if he dies, you die. So now..."</p><p></p><p>"He cares what happens to me..." Eadric finishes. The dragon groans irritably.</p><p></p><p>"Unbind me then kobold." the dragon says sulking. "I have nowhere left to go."</p><p></p><p>Eadric does so and just barely leaps onto Ro'Than'Dur's back before the beast's wings flare out and it takes to the sky to stretch out, soaring up so high that they touch the clouds. The wind is brutal however and as Eadric jockeys for position he's ripped from his mount's back and tossed to the ground below.</p><p></p><p>Just before impact the dragon manages to snatch the kobold once more and circles lazily before landing beneath a string of trees on Westbank's south side and depositing the kobold roughly amid the leaves and brambles. </p><p></p><p>Despite the multiple near death experiences, Eadric is giddy. He'd thought he was above this; that he'd conquered his illogical kobold reverence for these flying lizards but...here he is. His own dragon. </p><p></p><p>Thinking about his people bowing and wallowing in the dirt... He decides it feels good to be a god.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Kidjake, post: 6755692, member: 6776876"] We pick up where we left off. Everyone's voted to rest the night before going into Eastbank and facing the horde. Come morning, Kavos wakes early so that he can pray for spells before Eadric prepares his extracts for the day. Once he's done, he prepares a place in his basement and casts Summon Lesser Planar Ally to ask his patron Asmodeus for an imp to aid him in his mission. No sooner does he cease the ritual that a gravelly voice calls out "You got work fer me boss?" Kavos turns around to see a 2ft humanoid with dark red skin and leathery wings perched on a nearby chair's arm. Dragging out a set of the Duke's armor, Kavos nods. "Men are coming to kill me. They will probably be dressed in this. I need you to find them and report back their movements and numbers." The imp slowly nods. "I can do that boss. Yeah, I can do that. Might take a while though boss, and as you know...nothing's free." "What's your price.?" Kavos asks. "1,500 gold pieces. I'm a busy imp after all and I'm doing you a favor here." the imp says. Kavos nods. "Done. I'll take it from the treasury." and leaves to gather the devil's fee; upon returning he drops a sack of coins in front of the imp who extends his hand. No sooner does Kavos shake it than the sack and coins disappear in a flash of fire and smoke, leaving behind a smell like rotting eggs. "Good doing business with you boss. I'll let you know what I find." the imp says with a wink, launching himself into the air and disappearing from sight. That business being taken care of, Kavos returns upstairs to find Eadric finishing up his extracts and Jonathan Lark fitting a large wagon with a pair of ponies outside. Within an hour, all three of them are loaded onto the wagon. Kavos has Lark head downriver before leaving, using a lie about a vision of Pelor sending them aid and recovers his 'Drowned Legion' of eight waterlogged zombies. He explains that help comes in many forms and that these men were once citizens of Eastbank, who drowned escaping the ghoul horde. It all sounds very mystical and Lark buys it without much probing. After loading the zombies into the wagon and covering them up, they head onwards to Eastbank. On the way, Eadric removes his trusty chessboard from his sack and grins. "I believe you still owe me a game." "The agreement was that it would be at a time and place of my choosing." Kavos reminds the little kobold. "Yes...but then you said we would do it today." Eadric lies. "I...don't remember that." Kavos says with a frown, but realizing even the best of us slip now and then. "Very well, I'm nothing if not a man of my word." The two of them go back and forth but Eadric handily defeats Kavos in a complete upset of their previous game. (He just discovered the Investigator's Inspiration and blew all of it on the game.) "Looks like I'm deputy mayor." Eadric says with a fake smile, extending his hand. "Indeed it does." Kavos says with a fake smile of his own, shaking the kobold's hand. The game took up a bit of time, but the ride is long and they decide to compare notes on the overall situation. The conversation drifts towards the Duke himself and what they know of him. Most know that the Duke is a powerful cleric of Fharlanghn, the god of roads and travel and that him and his four comrades were responsible for overthrowing the Iron King some forty years ago and that they divided up Gallorea between themselves. As ringleader, the Duke took the Centrlal province as his and the nation's historic capitol as the seat of his power. Kavos reveals that what most don't know however, is that nobody outside the Duke's personal staff has heard from him in nearly twenty years; he never makes public appearances anymore, under ANY circumstances. Neither of them really knows what to do with this information yet, but they agree that it's important to have all their cards laid out. Finally, the silent remains of Eastbank come into view and Lark reigns in the horses to slow their approach. "The ghouls are too busy rooting around to pay attention to the road, but once we get in there we need to work fast." Everyone agrees and as they begin crossing the bridge into town Kavos unloads his zombies to act as a wall of flesh between them and any ghouls that might be in the area. They advance slowly and take in the ruined city. The docks of Eastbank are a complete mess, the few ships still in working order are pinned in by the ones that have been burned or sunk; river travel is impossible now. On the docks however is a sizable warehouse, Eadric carefully scales the side of the building and tears at the roofing until he can peel a big enough section back to slide inside. The inside is pitch black, but Eadric is used to such conditions and it doesn't even slow him down. He finds a good deal of lumber piled up around the warehouse and a considerable number of crates which he doesn't bother checking. He also finds the remains of a pair of dockhands who decided to take their own lives rather than wait for the ghouls; they shared a shortsword and plunged it into each of their chests. Eadric silently searches the inside of the warehouse to make sure there are no surprises and then unlocks the doors leading in and steps out into the street to find a trio of ghouls barely being held back by Kavos's wall of zombies. Eadric charges without a second though; leaps onto the back of a zombie and springboards himself over the horde to deliver a spinning kick that lays a ghouls' snaps a ghouls neck and drops him outright. Kavos channels negative energy, seizing control of the other two and an as yet unseen ghoul charges Eadric from its place in cover, but is put down by a pair of arrows from Lark before it manages to reach the kobold. They take stock of themselves and except for a dead zombie everything seems to be in order. Kavos heals the remaining up as Lark surveys the warehouse. "I'm sure something heard all this commotion." Lark says, returning from the warehouse and glancing around. "We need to work fast. You two press in and see if you can find anything on Rambalt's list, I'll load up what I've got here." Kavos agrees and hits the ranger and himself with a Hide From Undead before he and Eadric continue onwards. They take it slow and pass by several ruined homes before finally coming to a fork. To the north lies Bryce's old offices and many of the guild fronts, to the south lies Eastbank's largest Inn/Tavern and the general market square. They strain their ears and from the south comes the sound of animalistic growls and...music? The strum of a guitar can be barely made out over the din of gathering ghouls. To the north sounds like steel striking steel. Eadric volunteers to check out the south and slips off before Kavos can say anything; Kavos takes this opportunity to explore the north and stops in his tracks as he rounds the bend. The Duke's standards fly everywhere and barbed wire fencing has been erected to cordone off the northern square from the rest of town; dozens of ghouls have been hung on the buildings here as a warning to others. He quickly slips back the way he came to wait for Eadric. As Eadric creeps to the south the sound of a guitar being tuned grows louder but so too does the sound of roaring ghouls. He sticks to the shadows and finally emerges from an alley to see more than fifty ghouls throwing themselves against a dwarven shield wall protecting the front of the tavern, and a strangely relaxed dwarf in scalemail sitting on a wagon stuffed with provisions and picking at his guitar. The dwarven soldiers are dressed in fine stoneplate, they wield tower shields and axes. Eadric inches forward to get a better look at them and notices something alarming, each of them sports a nasty brand on his right cheek which marks them as Outlaws, among dwarves they're considered the worst of the worst. "Can't you do something USEFUL?!" one of the warriors shouts over his shoulder at the dwarf with the guitar. Eadric pulls back from the group and returns to Kavos, reporting what he's found. "Survivors?" Kavos asks incredulously. "Actual people, that are alive? We obviously must aid them." "....really?" Eadric asks. Ignoring the kobold, Kavos arranges the zombies and ghouls ahead of him as a wedge and quickly advances the direction Eadric came from; the kobold tags along despite his misgivings. As they approach the battle the guitar's sound is much more deliberate with an obvious tune taking shape, a deep baritone rises to join it; easily piercing the sound of the ghouls: "Before we left, a wise man said Today's the day you die. The Stars are right, the time is now Why would a wise man lie?" The dwarf with the guitar sings with a smug smile. His men begin growing red in the face and more than one shout for him to shut the hell up or help them out. The bard notices Kavos and Eadric's advance and nods in their direction by way of greeting before belting out another verse: "Your wife moves on, your child forgets That you were ever here. The day is lost, our lives are spent But noone's left to care." The men are gritting their teeth so hard by this point that their breath is whistling in and out of them and with a look of obvious rage at the inciteful lyrics swing their axes as one, splitting an entire line of ghouls open with a single blow; yet more rush in to fill the hole. Eadric downs an extract and spits a glob of adhesive onto one of the ghouls, holding him fast. Kavos slams the undead under his control into the flank of the ghouls and the zombies manage to drag one down to its death; Kavos then moves closer to the shield wall. Most of the ghouls surge against the dwarves, wanting fresh meat; but a handful press back against Kavos's mini-horde; killing one of his ghouls and a zombie in their first attack. One of the dwarves is clawed at though his massive armor and fails his fort save, he goes down to paralysis and the rest shift to cover him. "Now tell me boys, do you concede That fate can be foretold? Or tell me boys, do you believe That life is for the BOLD?" As the dwarf sings, his allies appear to lose themselves in song; they begin snarling like wild animals and howling defiantly at the horde. 'Something' begins fluctuating violently around them and the ground itself begins showing signs of being clawed at by some invisible attacker. "A hundred men, or more have died, They claim that so will you. And once these bastards take our lives, They'll take our families too." Two of the dwarves stagger beneath the sheer weight of the ghouls bearing down on them, but the rest lash out with savage swings which separate ghouls from the limbs and emboldened by their growing rage they take a step forward to press the attack. Eadric charges forward and lands a kick directly into a ghoul's chest, collapsing ribs and knocking the creature down. Kavos's horde presses forward, drawing two more ghouls to their death as Kavos himself slips behind the shieldwall as the bard beckons him to hide in the wagon with him. Kavos channels negative energy again and seizes control of two more ghouls, sending them against the rest of their kind. The ghoul horde scratches uselessly against the dwarven shieldwall but another of Kavos's traitor ghouls goes down and Eadric sidesteps a handful of attacks easily. "Your arm is weak, your feet are lead I doubt you're even trying. The battle's lost, and we're long dead Can't you hear your mother crying?" The bard continues, one of the dwarves swell in his armor; muscles bulging obscenely as he cleaves through two ghouls with a single swipe. "Now tell me boys, do you concede That fate can be foretold? Or tell me boys, do you believe That life is for the BOLD?" The dwarves butcher another round of ghouls and continue their advance against the rapidly dwindling opposition. Eadric down's an Animal Aspect extract and his arms lengthen, becoming more like a gorillas. The kobold leaps onto a ghoul and wrenches the creature's head, snapping its neck instantly. Kavos urges his minions to press harder and with a few lucky rolls they absolutely obliterate the ghouls standing before them. The dwarves surge to meet them and only a single ghoul manages to slip away from their pinser maneuver and flee further into the city. The dwarf with the guitar leaps off the back of the wagon to face his snarling allies; his guitar strumming becomes much softer and his song becomes slower: "The battle now is over, Our lives are not forfeit! Which leaves me with a simple thought:.." He says, letting the note hang in the air before finishing with a shout: "Wisemen don't know sh*t!" And just like that the spell is broken and the song is over. A couple of dwarves snort derisively, one mentions that if he doesn't start pulling his weight they're doing to leave his ass; and pretty much to a man they collapse where they're standing to catch their breath. The soldiers take their helmets off to let the breeze hit their face and Eadric points out their markings, each is a dwarven rune. On the bard's face is one whic labels him Deserter. The others are labeled as Adulterer, Murderer, Thief, Blasphemer, Liar and Coward. Eadric and Kavos exchange glances but Kavos is still in a diplomatic mood and asks how long they've been here and if there's any news of survivors. The bard/deserter says "We've been trapped in the pub since the world went to hell, though we've been trapped in this godsforsaken town a bit longer." Kavos looks at them suspiciously. "You've been in this tavern...for a month?" Eadric slips behind the distracted bard and manages to slide his coin purse off his person. Looking inside, the kobold is disappointed to find that it's empty, save for a list of 30 dwarven names with six crossed off. Realizing he's probably holding the titlist of a group of Outlaws, he quickly drops the coin purse into the wagon where the dwarf will find it. "Has it been that long?" the dwarf asks surprised. "We've...ah...we've been drunk for most of it. We didn't realize. When everything went belly up we boarded up the doors and tried to wait it out; not much to do in a tavern but play cards and drink and none of us had a set of cards on us." "What's this then?" Kavos asks, motioning towards the wagon. "Food ran out about two days ago. This morning we found that we're down to our last six kegs; so we kicked in a few doors and resupplied. Must've woke the neighbors." "Were any others so lucky?" Kavos asks. "Hard to say." the Deserter says with a shrug. "Only place we've been is that house over there," he says, motioning towards a stately town house a little ways in the distance. "Certainly weren't nobody there." he says, leaning against the wagon and absently strumming his guitar. "How about you?" the bard asks. "Where've you been holding up?" Kavos glances around. "I'm the mayor of Westbank; we came to gather supplies to fortify against the undead." The bard's eyebrow raises. "No offense, but Westbank must be pretty much sh*t if this is your plan B. I imagine most anything worse taken was snatched up by that bootlicker Bryce. What are you looking for?" "Quite." Kavos responds dismissively, deciding he likes the man less and less with each word he speaks. "Lumber, steel, leather....whatever we can find." The bard nods and calls out to one of the dwarves, Eadric notices that he calls him by the dwarven word for Adulterer. "Hey Adulterer, weren't you guys hired on by some rich fella to knock out some walls in his mansion?" The dwarf nods, still catching his breath from the unnatural rage that coursed through him. "Never got around to putting it back togther though. Pretty sure he got ate first." "How's the food situation in Westbank?" the bard asks. "We're getting by. By no means will we be holding a feat any time soon, but we're stable." Kavos responds. "How about a trade?" the bard asks, strumming his guitar with no particular tune. "You give us somewhere to hole up and 2 squares a day and we go 'shopping' for you. We've worked here a few months now, we know this town like the back of our hands." Kavos and Eadric quickly confer with each other and Kavos says "You're branded criminals; we obviously cannot allow you residence in our town proper; but I can see that your group is given a farm on the outskirt." The dwarf marked Adulterer leaps to his feet. "Crimes? I'll tell you something about-" Adulterer is cut off by the bard who says "A fair arrangement. Far fairer a shake than our own ever gave us." "There are conditions." Kavos states. "Always." the Deserter replies. "Should you enter the town for any reason, you MUST be unarmed. This especially applies to when you are delivering materials." Kavos says. The bard laughs. "If you insist. You know, we're not axe crazy despite what our kin's propoganda would have you believe. In fact I'd wager that most of the dwarves you've ever encountered have been Outlaws; they've just found a way to hide the mark." Laying down his guitar the bard says "I mean, there's only two kinds of dwarves topside. Outlaws and Bootlickers." with a laugh he adds "Which of course means that there's one more kind of dwarf topside than down below." "Be that as it may. Do we have a deal?" Kavos insists. "Your town." the Deserter says with a shrug. "One more thing." Eadric says. "We'll need one of your men to accompany us now, he'll serve as an emissary between our groups." They ask for volunteers and with a sigh, the dwarf marked Thief raises his hand. With that settled the remaining six dwarves take Kavos's shopping list and press into the town to earn their keep. Kavos has Eadric and the Thief enter the tavern with him and he tells Eadric about the Duke's standards in the north section of town. Eadric takes the hint and sneaks off to investigate. Eadric slips behind the Duke's lines easily enough and what he sees stops him in his tracks. More than sixty soldiers are in the cordoned off courtyard running drills against makeshift training dummies under the instruction of a balding, stern faced man with white hair and a thick mustache that the men refer to as Captain, while yet more soldiers flit from building to building like ants in a hive. Downing an Invisibility extract just to be safe, Eadric slips closer to the captain and tries to get a sense of what's going on here. His conversations are short and terse, but Eadric gathers that they're still in touch with command and the duchy has hired a mercenary group to come and provide them support. Eadric decides that he's heard enough and slips back, reporting his findings to Kavos who seems disturbed. He has Eadric and the Thief watch the door and performs the necessary prayers to cast a Sending spell; sending this message to the unicorn: "The Dukes forces are in Eastbank. They are sending for reinforcements, arriving soon. Be prepared for battle." "We will crush the trespassers if they venture into our lands. Keep us apprised should you stumble upon any more information pertaining to our alliance." the unicorn responds in turn, ending the spell. They butcher the remaining ghouls under Kavos's control and meet back up with Lark just outside of town; he's loaded the wagon down to the point where there's barely enough room for Eadric to sit in the back; but the Thief is strong and manages to hold himself in place depite the bumpy road, and Kavos takes a seat next to Lark. The ride back is quiet as they're each exhausted. The town is absolutely clamoring by the time they arrive in Westbank. Apparently Adrian spun a tale about receiving a vision from Pelor absolving Longarm of his crimes and placing the blame on wicked agents of the Duke. According to his vision, they were to exhume Longarm's body and when they did they found the half-orc waiting for them alive and well. Kavos feigns amazement. "Truly a miracle. Praise Pelor." Most people in town don't even notice the dwarf which Kavos brings back to his home, being too preoccupied with yet another miracle being visited on them. Lark gets the help of the deputies in unloading their scavenged materials while Eadric, Kavos and the Thief retire to sleep in Kavos's home. Morning comes around and Kavos recovers his spells; including Discern Lies for use on the Thief. He discovers the dwarf sitting with Eadric in his kitchen, playing chess against his will. Surprisingly, the dwarf dominates the genius kobold; soundly defeating him despite the half hearted nature of his playing. (We just rolled a series of Intelligence checks to represent a game and despite the fact the dwarf has literally half Eadric's Int he kept rolling ridiculously higher.) "So you guys are playing chess?" Kavos asks, assuming the kobold would have had his fill by now. The dwarf shrugs. "Not my game." he says, taking one of Eadric's bishops. The kobold makes his move and the dwarf says "Doesn't seem to be his either." as he takes another. Casting Discern Lies, Kavos asks "So how did you guys survive a month in the tavern again?" "We locked the doors." the Thief says, sitting back in his chair. "Sizable place, if we'd been a little smarter we could have survived there two months." he says almost bitterly. Kavos shakes his head. "What in the world did you survive on?" "Meat, bread, cheese...mostly beer. It was a fancy place, used to serve a decent dinner before everything went to hell." the dwarf says with a shrug "Were there any other survivors you happened to run into?" Kavos asks. Thief sighs and runs a hand through his hair. "Not that survived." he says. "We had 12 men yesterday morning..." he says, letting the implication hang in the air. "Most expensive sacks of corn I ever seen." "What happened?" Kavos says sympathetically, leaning in. "Same thing happened to everyone else in Eastbank." the Thief says. "When we opened the doors, we invited trouble." In the most abruptly unsympathetic way possible, Kavos changes the topic clearly disappointed in his answer, "You're branded as the Thief. Why?" The Thief laughs at the unexpected change of topic. "I had the gaul to demand my wage. I had a contract with a merchant, busted my ass two years guarding him. When the term came due, he said that my work was unsatisfactory and he didn't owe me anything." The dwarf sets his jaw in anger and grinds his teeth. "I sure as hell didn't watch his fat ass for the fun of it; so I rearranged his nose and took what he owed me out of his pocket... It was LITERALLY pocket change for that son of a bitch. When he took the case to the judges, well...who do you think they sided with? The wealthy merchant or the copperless grunt? He was the victim. I was the Thief." Kavos raises an eyebrow towards Eadric. According to his spell, the dwarf is telling the truth. "Do you have a real name? Kavos asks. "I did." the Thief replies. "They called me Astur; but by tradition that name was stripped from me. To use it among dwarves is an offense likely to incite murder." "Well welcome to Westbank, Astur." Kavos says, shaking the dwarf's hand firmly. "I wanted to make sure you knew the lay of the land so you wouldn't get lost delivering supplies." The dwarf nods. "I'll make contact with the Deserter and the rest. We should have our first delivery by tomorrow morning." Kavos smiles and pats the Thief on the back. "Be careful, alright? You'll find your weapon with Lark." The Thief takes his leave without saying anything else. Eadric excuses himself to go check on his dragon and Kavos settles in to contact his other allies. Casting another Sending he sends word to the Locathah: "Danger is near, forces will arrive soon. Be in touch, war is imminent." The chieftain replies back: "We will do what we can. Your plague has found its way to our halls. The Asch'al have risen against us all." Kavos sighs and rests his head in his hand. "Gandil..." Eadric approaches Ro'Than'Dur in the stable and finds the beasts wings and legs bound and its mouth heavily muzzled to prevent escape. Seeing the once mighty dragon in such a predicament, Eadric removes the muzzle and receives a snarl for his efforts. "Speak if you have something to say Rothan. I wish for us to be partners, not enemies." the kobold offers. "Then unbind my wings." the dragon says. Shaking his head, Eadric replies "You've tricked me before Rothan, why would I believe you now?" With a falsely innocent shrug, Ro'Than'dur says "What are the odds that I would trick you a second time?" "I've had a spell placed upon me that allows me to read your mind dragon." Eadric lies. "I can see through your deception." "Oh?" Ro'than'Dur asks, amusement in his voice. "Then what am I thinking now?" Slapping the muzzle back onto the dragon, Eadric says "It doesn't matter. You'll lose such functions soon enough. I've grown tired of this game, I intend to end it." The dragon growls through its muzzle and Eadric heads to Rambalt's. Now I think I might've left out last write up that Rambalt had half jokingly told Eadric that the only way keep control of the dragon would be to basically lobotomize it so it wouldn't care what happens anymore and Eadric had been violently opposed to such a procedure. Now however, his patience is up and he asks Rambalt to carry through with the procedure. Rambalt warns that it will leave Ro'Than'Dur docile and explains that he won't make a move he isn't instructed to; he also points out that he'll take whatever move ANYONE instructs him to. Eadric is obviously less thrilled with the idea of riding a dragon that can be ordered to buck him off any time he rides into battle. He quickly abandons that plan, and discusses options with Kavos who's all for turning Ro'Than'Dur into a zombie and being done with it. But the fact that it would take up most of Kavos's Animate Dead slots, wouldn't have a breath weapon AND would still be a mindless husk has Eadric abandon that plan. Instead he borrows Rambalt's library and spends the next few days searching for an answer himself. He finds one, or at least he thinks he does. A spell of binding. He shows it to Rambalt and the mage agrees that it would definitely make the dragon more agreeable, but warns that it has a number of side effects. Eadric (literally) says "I don't want to hear anymore about this ritual until it's completed Rambalt, now can you do it?" ((He also admits that he doesn't think he plays a very good 'smart' character because of decisions like this.)) Rambalt says that he could, but that it's powerful blood magic. Eadric repeats that he doesn't care about the jibba jabba, he wants a dragon! Rambalt sighs and tells the kobold to meet him in the stable. In short order Eadric is strapped into a chair next to Ro'Than'Dur (for his own protection) and Rambalt sketches a strange series of runes into the ground around them. He then draws an 8 inch blade and slits the dragon's throat, sending a spray of blood onto the ground as he begins his chanting. Eadric starts to ask about the side effects after all, when Rambalt does the same to him and the kobold's voice becomes a loud gurgle. Rambalt intermingles blood with blood and begins jamming tube into each of their wounds which lead to the other, his chanting grows louder and Eadric passes out from blood loss; Rambalt continues the ritual, knowing that if he stops to heal the dying kobold they'll have to start over. Eadric has to make several more Fortitude saves to avoid outright dying from the trauma but neither he or the dragon is aware of what's going on anymore while they do; they're both out cold. Meanwhile, Kavos is alone in his home; praying for guidance when he hears a familiar gravelly voice "You expecting an army boss?" the imp asks, perched on his headboard. "I expect your findings." Kavos replies. "I searched the road like you wanted boss. Flew all day and night, there ain't no soldiers around here." The imp says. Kavos raises himself so that he can sit on his bed. "So then it's clear?" "Well...not exactly boss." the imp replies. "I didn't see any groups, but I did see a guy." "What's so alarming about that?" Kavos asks. "He saw ME." the imp answers, flashing invisible and appearing somewhere else for who. "Looked right at me and smiled." Kavos doesn't respond for a moment, thinking. "What was he doing?" "Coming this way boss. Didn't seem to be in much of a hurry; might be a week before he gets here." the imp explains. "Anything else odd?" Kavos asks. "Had a tattoo right here, and here." the imp says, indicating his forearms. "Looked like this" he says, scratching an 8 onto the headboard. Kavos tries to make sense of this and finally says "Thank you. If I want to call upon your services again, what name should I use?" "Hezrael." the imp says. "Careful boss. He looks like a killer." And with that, disappears in a puff of flame and smoke. It's early in the morning, the sun is just about to peak it's face above the treeline and Eadric opens his eyes feebly. He feels stiff and cold, much like one might expect to feel after having his blood drained for some obscure ritual. He tries to stand, but his body feels heavy. It's not until he drags himself to his feet that he notices it isn't just a feeling, his clothes are tigther than they once were and he feels knots of muscle that weren't there when he passed out. Looking down at his once familiar hands, he sees thick green scales covering his arms. Glancing over at Ro'Than'Dur he notices that the entire floor of the stable is stained with their blood and its only by the faint breathing of the dragon that he can even be sure its alive. Rambalt has a staff in hand, channeling healing energy into the beast. "I see you both came through all right." Rambalt says as the dragon begins to stir as well. The mage takes a few steps back and says "There are a few things you should know about the procedure..." Eadric ignores him and removes Ro'Than'Dur's muzzle. "How do you feel friend?" the kobold asks excitedly. As the dragon comes to a look of absolute rage fills its face and it lunges forward, sinking its dagger-like teeth painfully into Eadric's shoulder and they BOTH shout in pain; blood flowing from the dragon's shoulder as well as Eadric's. The kobold yelps and in response drives his fist into the dragon's face using every ounce of his power. The dragon's nose busts and blood flows freely, however Eadric too grasps his face as blood flows from his now broken nose. "What did you do to me?" both of them shout at Rambalt. Rambalt stammers and finds that his back is against the stable wall. "I...ah... Well you can't change a dragon's thought process without losing what makes it a dragon." he explains. "But you CAN use its personality against it. Dragons care about nothing more than self preservation. If you die, he dies; if he dies, you die. So now..." "He cares what happens to me..." Eadric finishes. The dragon groans irritably. "Unbind me then kobold." the dragon says sulking. "I have nowhere left to go." Eadric does so and just barely leaps onto Ro'Than'Dur's back before the beast's wings flare out and it takes to the sky to stretch out, soaring up so high that they touch the clouds. The wind is brutal however and as Eadric jockeys for position he's ripped from his mount's back and tossed to the ground below. Just before impact the dragon manages to snatch the kobold once more and circles lazily before landing beneath a string of trees on Westbank's south side and depositing the kobold roughly amid the leaves and brambles. Despite the multiple near death experiences, Eadric is giddy. He'd thought he was above this; that he'd conquered his illogical kobold reverence for these flying lizards but...here he is. His own dragon. Thinking about his people bowing and wallowing in the dirt... He decides it feels good to be a god. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
"Murder, Lies and Civic Duty."
Top