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The Fall of Civilization
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<blockquote data-quote="the Jester" data-source="post: 4759272" data-attributes="member: 1210"><p>The summer sky is bleached a pale color, barely blue at all, as the heroes clamber up to the top of the great monument that marks the entry into Grandfather’s tomb and the dungeon surrounding it. With a grunt, Kratos continues his climb, attaining the top of the gorge a moment later. He ties a rope off and throws it over the edge for his companions, who clamber up to join him.</p><p></p><p>“Nice view,” comments Hkatha.</p><p></p><p>Indeed: the slash that is the Black Gorge winds away below them, and the mountains in the distance stand in glorious contrast to it. The proud walls of Fandelose, soot-stained and half-hidden by the dust raised by travelers and merchants, stand firm against the outside world, at least for the moment. </p><p></p><p>Yet, opposite Fandelose, far from the mountains, trails of smoke rise into the air. </p><p></p><p><em>Those are cities,</em> thinks Kratos. <em>People are dying even now, while we’re out of Fandelose for political reasons. General Argos is a fool to accommodate the Council on this- there is no time for debate. Every hour wasted means more lives lost.</em></p><p></p><p>Vann-La, meanwhile, is scanning the gorge below with her sharp elven eyes, looking for any clues to the location of the Cathedral of War that the party is seeking for the general. “I can see a bunch of caves,” she reports unhappily, “but there is no way to tell how deep any of them are from here...”</p><p></p><p>“Oi, there are a couple miles of gorge. That could be a lot of tunnels,” Cook laments.</p><p></p><p>“True,” nods Heimall, “but until we get a summons back from the general, we can’t return to the city, so we might as well do <em>something.</em>”</p><p></p><p>“Hey, there are some orcs down there,” Vann-La says. “Remember what the dwarves told us? They sometimes trade with them. Maybe we could go talk to them. They might know something about this cathedral that we’re looking for.”</p><p></p><p>Kratos shakes his head. “Talking to orcs...”</p><p></p><p>***</p><p></p><p>The party descends and troops over to the orcs. Kratos keeps grumbling about the idea, but the orcs are neither immediately hostile nor particularly savage. For orcs, they seem quite civilized. </p><p></p><p>The party queries them about the Cathedral of War, but they claim to know nothing. “Have you asked the dwarves?” one of the orcs asks. “They might know something.”</p><p></p><p>“We, uh, were just on our way there,” Iggy lies. </p><p></p><p>The orcs discuss mining with our heroes, warning them to avoid dwarven claims. Sometimes, the orcs claim, dwarves will go mad with jealousy over their mining claims, greeting strangers with hostility- or even violence. They also mention a local “megadungeon” to the party: Marble Hall. “It’s got at least six levels, and there are multiple stairways that lead down into it,” the orcish spokesman says. </p><p></p><p>“What lives there?” asks Hkatha.</p><p></p><p>The orc shrugs. “Who knows? Things come, things go. Sometimes orcs or dwarves will make a short stay in there, but it’s often more dangerous things from further down that come up to live.”</p><p></p><p>Could this be the location that they are seeking? Our heroes get directions and set forth to find out. They march towards the hall, but before they reach the part of the gorge containing in, they encounter a trio of dwarves. </p><p></p><p>“Why don’t we ask the dwarves, anyway?” Hkatha suggests.</p><p></p><p>“General Argos warned us that they might interfere,” Vann-La points out. “He said that the dwarves guard it for a time of great need.”</p><p></p><p>“This ought to qualify,” Torinn says wryly.</p><p></p><p>“And what are these three going to do? If they mess with us, we can slay them,” Hkatha adds. </p><p></p><p>After a moment of debate, the party decides to broach the subject. However, these dwarves do not admit to knowing anything about any cathedral in the gorge. “Maybe one of our sages, or the thane, might know something,” one of them suggests.</p><p></p><p>When the party declares that they intend to go to the Marble Halls, the eldest of the three dwarven prospectors warns them off of it. “It’s dangerous in there,” he says, his voice like sandpaper. “In m’youth, I went in a time or two. Lost some friends, all I gained for my trouble was a few dozen gold and some deep scars.”</p><p></p><p>The party debates again, moving off to the side for privacy. “Maybe it’s time to risk reaching out to the dwarves about the cathedral,” muses Heimall.</p><p></p><p>“I don’t have much of a horse in this race, but that sounds like a good approach to me,” Loridell agrees. </p><p></p><p>“It’s risky, though. What if we alienate them? I bet General Argos will need them in the coming weeks.” Vann-La sighs.</p><p></p><p>Sta’Ligir frowns. “Well, the Black Gorge is huge, and it’s riddled with caves- and we can see that without actually doing any searching. We could probably search for a century without exploring everything down here. We need a lead.”</p><p></p><p>“We need to go back to the city,” Kratos mutters. </p><p></p><p>“He’s right, we do,” Hkatha says. “But we <em>also</em> need to find this cathedral. We’ll never do it without more information. I think Heimall’s also right- we need to talk to the dwarves. If they hinder us, so be it- we might not be able to find this cathedral. But they might be our only clue. Several of the murals in that trap-filled warren showed Grandfather with dwarves, too.”</p><p></p><p>“That’s true,” Loridell agrees, surprised. “I hadn’t really noticed at the time.”</p><p></p><p>“What if they try to stop us from getting to the cathedral, though?” Torinn’s tone is grim. “We are probably going to need them for the war effort.”</p><p></p><p>Heimall sighs. “I know, and I know it’s a risky move. But otherwise, we could spend months searching around without any result. We’ve already proven ourselves to be friends of the dwarves- we returned their lost payment, after all- and the thane seems to like and respect us.”</p><p></p><p>Cook speaks up again, his voice grave. “It is not hard to convince a dwarf to like you, but to <em>trust</em> you? That another thing.”</p><p></p><p>“Let’s look at it another way,” Hkatah says. “Do we have any other ideas?”</p><p></p><p>***</p><p></p><p>The party is greeted warmly upon their return to the dwarven operation, and once more they are shown in to Thane Firestone, who bellows for ale and immediately starts getting them drunk. </p><p></p><p>Our heroes are cautious about the subject they are broaching, but after draining a few mugs, they realize that they must broach it one way or another, or else the subject will never come up. So, finally, Heimall shrugs his shoulders mentally and then declares, “My lord, we must beg your aid with something.”</p><p></p><p>Thane Firestone strokes his beard. “Speak on, then,” he says, taking another sip of his fine dwarven beverage. </p><p></p><p>Heimall takes a pull to enhance his courage before he speaks again. “As you know, the Six-Fingered Hand is attacking the Empire in full force. Our group has come from an area that has already been overrun- the Eastern Provinces across the mountains. We have seen the threat with our own eyes, and we came to Fandelose to bring a warning. Everything we have seen convinces us that the threat is real, immense and imminent. When we came to Fandelose, General Argos was imprisoned because of the actions of a traitor. There is no time to waste, and we need every advantage we can gain.</p><p></p><p>“I know that this may be a touchy subject to raise, and I apologize if we give any offense- but I believe that there is something that can help in the defense of Fandelose, and that you may be able to help us track it down. There are secret weapons kept in a place called the Cathedral of War, and we must find them.”</p><p></p><p>Thane Firestone raises an eyebrow. He takes a deep drink. Then he grunts, and finally, he speaks. “You have shown yourselves to be true friends of the dwarves, and your words ring true. We know that the Hand is closing in on your city- and on us.” His eyes are distant. “We guard the Cathedral of War in trust for our alliance with your city. The Cathedral is to be called upon only in the gravest of circumstances, when your city is at risk of extinction.”</p><p></p><p>“This is such a time,” states Vann-La.</p><p></p><p>“So you say,” the thane replies, “and I believe you. I will help you as best I can.” He gestures, and his lackeys refill his empty cup with more chilled dwarven ale. Firestone takes another long draught and smacks his lips. “Drink up!” he insists, and our heroes do. A hard look comes into the dwarf’s eyes. “Aye, and you prove yourselves again, drinking with me like this. Just as you proved yourselves by returning our payment to us, and by showing us to our dead, as was only right. Fear not. When the time comes, my folk will be there to aid in the defense of Fandelose. We will make the Six-Fingered Hand pay for their audacity in striking at us.” His voice is gradually rising, booming through his audience chamber. “We do indeed guard the Cathedral of War, but its location is lost. It is somewhere in our waterworks, but more than that, I do not know.” He gestures to another lackey. “Fetch Captain Nordek Stoneweight. He will escort our friends to the waterworks, and render all assistance to them in their mission to find the Cathedral of War.”</p><p></p><p>The lackey nods and hurries off.</p><p></p><p>***</p><p></p><p>Captain Stoneweight leads the party into the dwarven waterworks- a series of massive pipes, canals and channels. Some of the pipes are so large that the group walks three abreast atop them. They search, and search and search, for almost a full day. They have a few clues, but very few. Torinn declares that the Cathedral of War is probably of religious significance- “it’s a cathedral, after all,” he points out. As they wander through the waterworks, Stoneweight realizes that there seems to be an empty space that they have skirted from several directions, and the party decides to make a more intensive search in the pipes and tunnels surrounding that space. </p><p></p><p>Finally, thanks to Vann-La’s sharp Kree eyes, they find a cleverly concealed, dwarf-wrought secret door. The entryway is in a loud portion of the waterworks, where several large tributary tunnels pour together in a larger one, which also serves to generate some of the dwarfworks’ power via a massive water wheel.</p><p></p><p>“Good luck,” says Captain Stoneweight. “This is as far as I go.”</p><p></p><p>“Thank you for your help, Captain,” Heimall nods as Stoneweight withdraws. </p><p></p><p>The party heads through. The secret door leads down a narrow, dank hallway before it opens up into the grandeur of the Cathedral. The giant chamber is well lit by glowing stones set all over the ceiling. A mass of metal and wood soldiers dominates the room, standing in unmoving ranks. The walls have great mosaic scenes of terrible war and destruction, with human and dwarf alike fighting a terrible force of undead and demonic figures. It is clear that they are losing on three of the walls, but the fourth wall is different. It is on the far side of the room, behind a great statue of Grandfather that stands almost 20’ high, with his arms crossed before his chest, one hand open with the fingers curled and the other balled into a fist. His statue is flanked by 12’ tall statues of dwarves. The wall behind him depicts the dwarves and humans finally overcoming their enemies with the aid of the metal and wood warriors that stand, motionless, in the room. Vann-La spies an inscription reading, “Peace After War” on the base of Grandfather’s statue. </p><p></p><p>“Now what?” asks Hkatha.</p><p></p><p>“Peace after war,” muses Vann-La. “I wonder if-“</p><p></p><p>The dwarven statues animate. </p><p></p><p><em><strong>Next Time:</strong></em> In the Cathedral of War!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="the Jester, post: 4759272, member: 1210"] The summer sky is bleached a pale color, barely blue at all, as the heroes clamber up to the top of the great monument that marks the entry into Grandfather’s tomb and the dungeon surrounding it. With a grunt, Kratos continues his climb, attaining the top of the gorge a moment later. He ties a rope off and throws it over the edge for his companions, who clamber up to join him. “Nice view,” comments Hkatha. Indeed: the slash that is the Black Gorge winds away below them, and the mountains in the distance stand in glorious contrast to it. The proud walls of Fandelose, soot-stained and half-hidden by the dust raised by travelers and merchants, stand firm against the outside world, at least for the moment. Yet, opposite Fandelose, far from the mountains, trails of smoke rise into the air. [i]Those are cities,[/i] thinks Kratos. [i]People are dying even now, while we’re out of Fandelose for political reasons. General Argos is a fool to accommodate the Council on this- there is no time for debate. Every hour wasted means more lives lost.[/i] Vann-La, meanwhile, is scanning the gorge below with her sharp elven eyes, looking for any clues to the location of the Cathedral of War that the party is seeking for the general. “I can see a bunch of caves,” she reports unhappily, “but there is no way to tell how deep any of them are from here...” “Oi, there are a couple miles of gorge. That could be a lot of tunnels,” Cook laments. “True,” nods Heimall, “but until we get a summons back from the general, we can’t return to the city, so we might as well do [i]something.[/i]” “Hey, there are some orcs down there,” Vann-La says. “Remember what the dwarves told us? They sometimes trade with them. Maybe we could go talk to them. They might know something about this cathedral that we’re looking for.” Kratos shakes his head. “Talking to orcs...” *** The party descends and troops over to the orcs. Kratos keeps grumbling about the idea, but the orcs are neither immediately hostile nor particularly savage. For orcs, they seem quite civilized. The party queries them about the Cathedral of War, but they claim to know nothing. “Have you asked the dwarves?” one of the orcs asks. “They might know something.” “We, uh, were just on our way there,” Iggy lies. The orcs discuss mining with our heroes, warning them to avoid dwarven claims. Sometimes, the orcs claim, dwarves will go mad with jealousy over their mining claims, greeting strangers with hostility- or even violence. They also mention a local “megadungeon” to the party: Marble Hall. “It’s got at least six levels, and there are multiple stairways that lead down into it,” the orcish spokesman says. “What lives there?” asks Hkatha. The orc shrugs. “Who knows? Things come, things go. Sometimes orcs or dwarves will make a short stay in there, but it’s often more dangerous things from further down that come up to live.” Could this be the location that they are seeking? Our heroes get directions and set forth to find out. They march towards the hall, but before they reach the part of the gorge containing in, they encounter a trio of dwarves. “Why don’t we ask the dwarves, anyway?” Hkatha suggests. “General Argos warned us that they might interfere,” Vann-La points out. “He said that the dwarves guard it for a time of great need.” “This ought to qualify,” Torinn says wryly. “And what are these three going to do? If they mess with us, we can slay them,” Hkatha adds. After a moment of debate, the party decides to broach the subject. However, these dwarves do not admit to knowing anything about any cathedral in the gorge. “Maybe one of our sages, or the thane, might know something,” one of them suggests. When the party declares that they intend to go to the Marble Halls, the eldest of the three dwarven prospectors warns them off of it. “It’s dangerous in there,” he says, his voice like sandpaper. “In m’youth, I went in a time or two. Lost some friends, all I gained for my trouble was a few dozen gold and some deep scars.” The party debates again, moving off to the side for privacy. “Maybe it’s time to risk reaching out to the dwarves about the cathedral,” muses Heimall. “I don’t have much of a horse in this race, but that sounds like a good approach to me,” Loridell agrees. “It’s risky, though. What if we alienate them? I bet General Argos will need them in the coming weeks.” Vann-La sighs. Sta’Ligir frowns. “Well, the Black Gorge is huge, and it’s riddled with caves- and we can see that without actually doing any searching. We could probably search for a century without exploring everything down here. We need a lead.” “We need to go back to the city,” Kratos mutters. “He’s right, we do,” Hkatha says. “But we [i]also[/i] need to find this cathedral. We’ll never do it without more information. I think Heimall’s also right- we need to talk to the dwarves. If they hinder us, so be it- we might not be able to find this cathedral. But they might be our only clue. Several of the murals in that trap-filled warren showed Grandfather with dwarves, too.” “That’s true,” Loridell agrees, surprised. “I hadn’t really noticed at the time.” “What if they try to stop us from getting to the cathedral, though?” Torinn’s tone is grim. “We are probably going to need them for the war effort.” Heimall sighs. “I know, and I know it’s a risky move. But otherwise, we could spend months searching around without any result. We’ve already proven ourselves to be friends of the dwarves- we returned their lost payment, after all- and the thane seems to like and respect us.” Cook speaks up again, his voice grave. “It is not hard to convince a dwarf to like you, but to [i]trust[/i] you? That another thing.” “Let’s look at it another way,” Hkatah says. “Do we have any other ideas?” *** The party is greeted warmly upon their return to the dwarven operation, and once more they are shown in to Thane Firestone, who bellows for ale and immediately starts getting them drunk. Our heroes are cautious about the subject they are broaching, but after draining a few mugs, they realize that they must broach it one way or another, or else the subject will never come up. So, finally, Heimall shrugs his shoulders mentally and then declares, “My lord, we must beg your aid with something.” Thane Firestone strokes his beard. “Speak on, then,” he says, taking another sip of his fine dwarven beverage. Heimall takes a pull to enhance his courage before he speaks again. “As you know, the Six-Fingered Hand is attacking the Empire in full force. Our group has come from an area that has already been overrun- the Eastern Provinces across the mountains. We have seen the threat with our own eyes, and we came to Fandelose to bring a warning. Everything we have seen convinces us that the threat is real, immense and imminent. When we came to Fandelose, General Argos was imprisoned because of the actions of a traitor. There is no time to waste, and we need every advantage we can gain. “I know that this may be a touchy subject to raise, and I apologize if we give any offense- but I believe that there is something that can help in the defense of Fandelose, and that you may be able to help us track it down. There are secret weapons kept in a place called the Cathedral of War, and we must find them.” Thane Firestone raises an eyebrow. He takes a deep drink. Then he grunts, and finally, he speaks. “You have shown yourselves to be true friends of the dwarves, and your words ring true. We know that the Hand is closing in on your city- and on us.” His eyes are distant. “We guard the Cathedral of War in trust for our alliance with your city. The Cathedral is to be called upon only in the gravest of circumstances, when your city is at risk of extinction.” “This is such a time,” states Vann-La. “So you say,” the thane replies, “and I believe you. I will help you as best I can.” He gestures, and his lackeys refill his empty cup with more chilled dwarven ale. Firestone takes another long draught and smacks his lips. “Drink up!” he insists, and our heroes do. A hard look comes into the dwarf’s eyes. “Aye, and you prove yourselves again, drinking with me like this. Just as you proved yourselves by returning our payment to us, and by showing us to our dead, as was only right. Fear not. When the time comes, my folk will be there to aid in the defense of Fandelose. We will make the Six-Fingered Hand pay for their audacity in striking at us.” His voice is gradually rising, booming through his audience chamber. “We do indeed guard the Cathedral of War, but its location is lost. It is somewhere in our waterworks, but more than that, I do not know.” He gestures to another lackey. “Fetch Captain Nordek Stoneweight. He will escort our friends to the waterworks, and render all assistance to them in their mission to find the Cathedral of War.” The lackey nods and hurries off. *** Captain Stoneweight leads the party into the dwarven waterworks- a series of massive pipes, canals and channels. Some of the pipes are so large that the group walks three abreast atop them. They search, and search and search, for almost a full day. They have a few clues, but very few. Torinn declares that the Cathedral of War is probably of religious significance- “it’s a cathedral, after all,” he points out. As they wander through the waterworks, Stoneweight realizes that there seems to be an empty space that they have skirted from several directions, and the party decides to make a more intensive search in the pipes and tunnels surrounding that space. Finally, thanks to Vann-La’s sharp Kree eyes, they find a cleverly concealed, dwarf-wrought secret door. The entryway is in a loud portion of the waterworks, where several large tributary tunnels pour together in a larger one, which also serves to generate some of the dwarfworks’ power via a massive water wheel. “Good luck,” says Captain Stoneweight. “This is as far as I go.” “Thank you for your help, Captain,” Heimall nods as Stoneweight withdraws. The party heads through. The secret door leads down a narrow, dank hallway before it opens up into the grandeur of the Cathedral. The giant chamber is well lit by glowing stones set all over the ceiling. A mass of metal and wood soldiers dominates the room, standing in unmoving ranks. The walls have great mosaic scenes of terrible war and destruction, with human and dwarf alike fighting a terrible force of undead and demonic figures. It is clear that they are losing on three of the walls, but the fourth wall is different. It is on the far side of the room, behind a great statue of Grandfather that stands almost 20’ high, with his arms crossed before his chest, one hand open with the fingers curled and the other balled into a fist. His statue is flanked by 12’ tall statues of dwarves. The wall behind him depicts the dwarves and humans finally overcoming their enemies with the aid of the metal and wood warriors that stand, motionless, in the room. Vann-La spies an inscription reading, “Peace After War” on the base of Grandfather’s statue. “Now what?” asks Hkatha. “Peace after war,” muses Vann-La. “I wonder if-“ The dwarven statues animate. [i][b]Next Time:[/b][/i][b][/b] In the Cathedral of War! [/QUOTE]
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