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
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is LIVE! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
The new "They might be Heros" Story Hour
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="Neverwinter Knight" data-source="post: 430503" data-attributes="member: 596"><p><strong>Twists of Fate</strong></p><p></p><p>The party had left the dungeons of the Temple of Elemental Evil in a hurry. Once outside, they were no longer persued. Since they were still missing their mounts, they decided to camp in the area and search for their mounts the next day. During Ike's night watch, he heard a sound that seemed to come from a tree near him. "Pst, hey, you there." a high-pitched voice whispered to him. "Come here. Hey, pst." "Who's there?" Ike called into the night. "Hey big fellow" was his reply. "Come here, hey." Ike slowly moved towards the voice. As he moved past Kruskar, he kicked him softly. The monk awoke. "Hey, what happend?" Kruskar saw Ike just pointing to the tree in front of them. But the voice was gone and did not come back for the rest of the shift.</p><p></p><p>In the morning Ike told his friends what had happened. Then they spread out in three different groups to find their mounts. They tried their luck to the north of the temple area. After 2 hours of searching they decided to abbandon their search and return to the moathouse. Gwunnilon - the gnome they had rescued from the temple dungeons - decided to explore the upper moathouse ruins, while Ike wanted to drive to Homlet with the tortured sailor and the two girls. The others, being Merlos, Percifona and Kruskar, went downstairs to kill the occasional ghoul.</p><p></p><p>Ike was glad to have another two additional horses and his wagon. His father had been right: You could never have enough stuff. What if something was lost or stolen. He placed the hurt man on the bed on top of the wagon and told the girls to watch the sailor. Maria sat up front with him.</p><p>It was a beautiful day. Here, far enough away from the temple, nature was green, yet also full of other colors. He was watching the road ahead, when something made him shiver. It was like the ghost of a scream the seemed to echo in his mind. Iiiike! He had a bad feeling about this. Without knowing how he knew he turned the wagon around. He had only left the moathouse 5 minutes ago. But he knew...</p><p></p><p></p><p>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------</p><p></p><p></p><p>Kruskar led his two friends through the lower level of the moathouse. He was beginning to hate always having to search around for stray ghouls. Where are those creatures coming from, he thought to himself. They had just descended the stairs and looked into the two store rooms. No ghouls there. Then they walked past the cells and stepped into the torture chamber.</p><p>Just before he was attacked, Kruskar noticed the smell of decaying flesh that seemed to be more heavy this time. From behind the entrance came a hideously bloated purple face to meet him, or rather what was left of it. He also noticed a "Lifeforce" from the other side, but decided to take his chances with this creature, behind which, he could see another ghoul.</p><p>Both the ghast in front of him and the ghoul flanking Kruskar attacked with both claws and their bite, taking him by surprise. They ripped into his flesh and Kruskar could feel the poison of them, although he could resist.</p><p></p><p>Percifona attacked the ghoul with her sword and landed a blow through its heart that would have killed a normal man. But this undead creature's heart had not been beating for a long time, so this great hit was almost wasted. As Merlos attacked the same ghoul with a flaming sphere, Kruskar went to get his revenge on the ghast in front off him. "Die, and stay down", he shouted at the beast as he made his attacks. But the monster was still standing. He sank both claws and his fangs into the brave half-orc. And Kruskar stood still. Too much of the ghoul's poison had entered his veins, he felt so terribly cold. The ghoul in his back grunted with delight as he could make an attack against his helpless opponent. He wouldn't have lasted long, but on her turn, Percifona grabbed the monk and though him back through the entrance. One ghoul went past her and, avoiding the flaming sphere attacked Merlos. When Percifona turned around, she saw that the ghast had turned her way.</p><p></p><p>The next thing she new, two different sensations came to her, the first was that of red hot pain, coming from the wounds that the ghast had inflicted upon her with his claws and the next one was icy cold, as the monster's poison started to work on her as well. She wanted to yell for help, wanted to tell Merlos to save her, but she could not command her mouth to speak. And to her horror, instead of turning to attack Merlos, the ghast remained focused on her, being able to precisely aim his next attacks.</p><p></p><p>Merlos saw that his friend was in trouble. He had to dispose of the ghoul attacking him very quickly. From the corner of his eyes he saw that Kruskar was still lieing helpless on the floor. He focused his thoughts and directed the flaming sphere onto the ghoul. But, ah, this monster was fast. He missed it. Damn.</p><p>He looked to Percifona and watched in horror that the ghast bent over her and took a big bite of her neck. Blut came gushing out of the wound. Merlos' felt an incredible anger build up inside of him. Anger at not being able to do anything for his friends, anger that he didn't have the fighting capability of other Kord believers. And then he knew. He knew how to express his anger, how to channel his energy. And everything went up in a ball of fire.</p><p></p><p></p><p>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------</p><p></p><p></p><p>When Ike steered the wagon back into the moathouse, he saw a badly burned Merlos, being supported by Gwunnilon. Next to them he noticed Kruskar sitting in a corner, mourning over another body: Percifona. Ike ran to them and checked the body, she was dead, for sure. But it was no surprise, somehow he had known.</p><p></p><p>They talked about what to do next. At least the undead had been destroyed by the fireball as well. Kruskar's survival had been a close call. Finally they got up and drove to homlet. They went to the church of St. Cuthbert right away. Brother Calmert told them that he could not make her live again. Only Cannonness Y'dey could do that. But as she was away, they would have to wait.</p><p>"Is there nothing else you can do", Ike asked. "Well, I could preserve her body and even talk to her soul, even though it's on its way to the other world." "Well then, do that." Brother Calmert kneeled before Percifona and called on St. Cuthbert to reach her soul. He acted as a medium between the group and her. Percifona, it seemed wanted to return. If they did not hear from Cannonness Y'dey, they should seek out her master in the southern capital.</p><p></p><p></p><p>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------</p><p></p><p></p><p>They left the church and visited the Inn of the Welcome Wench. Not surprisingly, they found Elmo in his favourite seat. "Hello, my friends, I have already heard about the tragedy. Please accept my condolences." "Thank you Elmo." Ike shook his hand. "Let us drink to our fallen friend Percifona and that she will soon join us again in the world of the living. Well, as soon as that St. Cuthbert chick comes back." Elmo looked interested. "Well, I wouldn't wait for the Cannonness. She hasn't been here in a long time. I can see why they from that church didn't tell you, but there is another possibility for our friend. There are many folks still in Homlet that are of the Old Faith. And we go to the druid for help of that kind."</p><p></p><p></p><p>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------</p><p></p><p></p><p>They stepped into the grove of Jaroo Ashstaff. The old druid was still the kind but powerful man they remembered him to be. Quickly, they explained their plight and the druid offered help. "I could bring her back to life. But - there are risks." It seemed that he could bring back their friend in another body. And he only had limited control over what kind that would be. "But the body's still fresh. That raises the chances of keeping race and gender." The party was not that convinced. "And ", the druid paused, "did I mention that it's free?"</p><p></p><p>So it was settled. The friends brought the body from Calmert - who was obviously displeased - and the druid performed the ritual. Percifona's body glowed and then a beautiful young elven maiden stepped from the grove to greet them. "Hello my friends, and thank you for bringing me back. This is Percifona", she pointed to the dead body on the floor, "and she is dead. I will be...Artemida."</p><p></p><p>And so the heros were reunited and celebrated that night in the inn.</p><p></p><p></p><p>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------</p><p></p><p></p><p>The next day, they went to Lord Burne. In the tavern they had heard that the Great Competition was soon to be held and they needed airborne transportation to Tenkaichi's island. They had also learned that the Red Ribbon Army in the north had been defeated - supposedly by a little boy. Ike couldn't help but to think of his little friend, who had left the party on his little flying cloud.</p><p>After an enoying encounter with Burne's Badgers, the mage revealed to them that he was a passive member of the Blue Griffon Company, a community formed around his and Rufus' old adventuring group. From them he could rent a few griffons to take them to the competition.</p><p></p><p>That settled, the company set off to retrieve their mounts. After another search, Maria spotted a trail to a familiar-looking clearing in the forest. This was the place where the tunnel from the tower had led them. And there was smoke coming out of the chimney. As they approached the house from two sides, they were attacked by archers with poisoned arrows. Ike's strength was drained but they quickly killed the gnolls guarding that house.</p><p>Great was Ike's grief, when he saw that the beasts had slaughtered his favoured horse: Big Bertha. She had become the gnoll's dinner.</p><p></p><p>Wanting revenge on the temple, Ike led the group onto the area where they found the small side doors repaired. After smashing them open, they found the upper level as empty as they remembered it. Or so they thought.</p><p>The party was attacked by two enormous brutes, the likes of which they had never seen before. They seemed to heal much of the damage dealt to them. Still, the party was winning, until one grabbed Kruskar with both arms, pinned him and sank his sharp teeth into him. One more attack by the troll and Kruskar would have been dead. Just then they heard an evil laughter. Gwunnilon was still laughing as he sank his sword into the helpless Kruskar. The monk's lights went out. Confused the troll dropped the body and went to attack Maria.</p><p></p><p>By then the battle was almost over. The two monsters were almost beaten and Merlos made sure they didn't regenerate too much with fire magic. Finally they killed them. Ike advanced on Gwunnilon, who was kneeling beside Krusar's body with a potion in his hand. "You traitor, you killed him", Ike shouted. "No, Ike, I just pretended to to save his life." The gnome made Kruskar swallow the potion - and Kruskar began to move again. His eyes flew open. "What... what happened? Gwunnilon, no..." "Relax, big fellow", the gnome reassured him. "If he had hit you again, you would really be dead now. I just tricked the brute to save your life, as you have saved mine. I'd say we're even."</p><p></p><p>The were victorious again, but badly beaten. They decided to return to Homlet and wait for their Griffons to arrive.</p><p></p><p><em>to be continued... </em></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Neverwinter Knight, post: 430503, member: 596"] [B]Twists of Fate[/B] The party had left the dungeons of the Temple of Elemental Evil in a hurry. Once outside, they were no longer persued. Since they were still missing their mounts, they decided to camp in the area and search for their mounts the next day. During Ike's night watch, he heard a sound that seemed to come from a tree near him. "Pst, hey, you there." a high-pitched voice whispered to him. "Come here. Hey, pst." "Who's there?" Ike called into the night. "Hey big fellow" was his reply. "Come here, hey." Ike slowly moved towards the voice. As he moved past Kruskar, he kicked him softly. The monk awoke. "Hey, what happend?" Kruskar saw Ike just pointing to the tree in front of them. But the voice was gone and did not come back for the rest of the shift. In the morning Ike told his friends what had happened. Then they spread out in three different groups to find their mounts. They tried their luck to the north of the temple area. After 2 hours of searching they decided to abbandon their search and return to the moathouse. Gwunnilon - the gnome they had rescued from the temple dungeons - decided to explore the upper moathouse ruins, while Ike wanted to drive to Homlet with the tortured sailor and the two girls. The others, being Merlos, Percifona and Kruskar, went downstairs to kill the occasional ghoul. Ike was glad to have another two additional horses and his wagon. His father had been right: You could never have enough stuff. What if something was lost or stolen. He placed the hurt man on the bed on top of the wagon and told the girls to watch the sailor. Maria sat up front with him. It was a beautiful day. Here, far enough away from the temple, nature was green, yet also full of other colors. He was watching the road ahead, when something made him shiver. It was like the ghost of a scream the seemed to echo in his mind. Iiiike! He had a bad feeling about this. Without knowing how he knew he turned the wagon around. He had only left the moathouse 5 minutes ago. But he knew... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kruskar led his two friends through the lower level of the moathouse. He was beginning to hate always having to search around for stray ghouls. Where are those creatures coming from, he thought to himself. They had just descended the stairs and looked into the two store rooms. No ghouls there. Then they walked past the cells and stepped into the torture chamber. Just before he was attacked, Kruskar noticed the smell of decaying flesh that seemed to be more heavy this time. From behind the entrance came a hideously bloated purple face to meet him, or rather what was left of it. He also noticed a "Lifeforce" from the other side, but decided to take his chances with this creature, behind which, he could see another ghoul. Both the ghast in front of him and the ghoul flanking Kruskar attacked with both claws and their bite, taking him by surprise. They ripped into his flesh and Kruskar could feel the poison of them, although he could resist. Percifona attacked the ghoul with her sword and landed a blow through its heart that would have killed a normal man. But this undead creature's heart had not been beating for a long time, so this great hit was almost wasted. As Merlos attacked the same ghoul with a flaming sphere, Kruskar went to get his revenge on the ghast in front off him. "Die, and stay down", he shouted at the beast as he made his attacks. But the monster was still standing. He sank both claws and his fangs into the brave half-orc. And Kruskar stood still. Too much of the ghoul's poison had entered his veins, he felt so terribly cold. The ghoul in his back grunted with delight as he could make an attack against his helpless opponent. He wouldn't have lasted long, but on her turn, Percifona grabbed the monk and though him back through the entrance. One ghoul went past her and, avoiding the flaming sphere attacked Merlos. When Percifona turned around, she saw that the ghast had turned her way. The next thing she new, two different sensations came to her, the first was that of red hot pain, coming from the wounds that the ghast had inflicted upon her with his claws and the next one was icy cold, as the monster's poison started to work on her as well. She wanted to yell for help, wanted to tell Merlos to save her, but she could not command her mouth to speak. And to her horror, instead of turning to attack Merlos, the ghast remained focused on her, being able to precisely aim his next attacks. Merlos saw that his friend was in trouble. He had to dispose of the ghoul attacking him very quickly. From the corner of his eyes he saw that Kruskar was still lieing helpless on the floor. He focused his thoughts and directed the flaming sphere onto the ghoul. But, ah, this monster was fast. He missed it. Damn. He looked to Percifona and watched in horror that the ghast bent over her and took a big bite of her neck. Blut came gushing out of the wound. Merlos' felt an incredible anger build up inside of him. Anger at not being able to do anything for his friends, anger that he didn't have the fighting capability of other Kord believers. And then he knew. He knew how to express his anger, how to channel his energy. And everything went up in a ball of fire. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- When Ike steered the wagon back into the moathouse, he saw a badly burned Merlos, being supported by Gwunnilon. Next to them he noticed Kruskar sitting in a corner, mourning over another body: Percifona. Ike ran to them and checked the body, she was dead, for sure. But it was no surprise, somehow he had known. They talked about what to do next. At least the undead had been destroyed by the fireball as well. Kruskar's survival had been a close call. Finally they got up and drove to homlet. They went to the church of St. Cuthbert right away. Brother Calmert told them that he could not make her live again. Only Cannonness Y'dey could do that. But as she was away, they would have to wait. "Is there nothing else you can do", Ike asked. "Well, I could preserve her body and even talk to her soul, even though it's on its way to the other world." "Well then, do that." Brother Calmert kneeled before Percifona and called on St. Cuthbert to reach her soul. He acted as a medium between the group and her. Percifona, it seemed wanted to return. If they did not hear from Cannonness Y'dey, they should seek out her master in the southern capital. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- They left the church and visited the Inn of the Welcome Wench. Not surprisingly, they found Elmo in his favourite seat. "Hello, my friends, I have already heard about the tragedy. Please accept my condolences." "Thank you Elmo." Ike shook his hand. "Let us drink to our fallen friend Percifona and that she will soon join us again in the world of the living. Well, as soon as that St. Cuthbert chick comes back." Elmo looked interested. "Well, I wouldn't wait for the Cannonness. She hasn't been here in a long time. I can see why they from that church didn't tell you, but there is another possibility for our friend. There are many folks still in Homlet that are of the Old Faith. And we go to the druid for help of that kind." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- They stepped into the grove of Jaroo Ashstaff. The old druid was still the kind but powerful man they remembered him to be. Quickly, they explained their plight and the druid offered help. "I could bring her back to life. But - there are risks." It seemed that he could bring back their friend in another body. And he only had limited control over what kind that would be. "But the body's still fresh. That raises the chances of keeping race and gender." The party was not that convinced. "And ", the druid paused, "did I mention that it's free?" So it was settled. The friends brought the body from Calmert - who was obviously displeased - and the druid performed the ritual. Percifona's body glowed and then a beautiful young elven maiden stepped from the grove to greet them. "Hello my friends, and thank you for bringing me back. This is Percifona", she pointed to the dead body on the floor, "and she is dead. I will be...Artemida." And so the heros were reunited and celebrated that night in the inn. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The next day, they went to Lord Burne. In the tavern they had heard that the Great Competition was soon to be held and they needed airborne transportation to Tenkaichi's island. They had also learned that the Red Ribbon Army in the north had been defeated - supposedly by a little boy. Ike couldn't help but to think of his little friend, who had left the party on his little flying cloud. After an enoying encounter with Burne's Badgers, the mage revealed to them that he was a passive member of the Blue Griffon Company, a community formed around his and Rufus' old adventuring group. From them he could rent a few griffons to take them to the competition. That settled, the company set off to retrieve their mounts. After another search, Maria spotted a trail to a familiar-looking clearing in the forest. This was the place where the tunnel from the tower had led them. And there was smoke coming out of the chimney. As they approached the house from two sides, they were attacked by archers with poisoned arrows. Ike's strength was drained but they quickly killed the gnolls guarding that house. Great was Ike's grief, when he saw that the beasts had slaughtered his favoured horse: Big Bertha. She had become the gnoll's dinner. Wanting revenge on the temple, Ike led the group onto the area where they found the small side doors repaired. After smashing them open, they found the upper level as empty as they remembered it. Or so they thought. The party was attacked by two enormous brutes, the likes of which they had never seen before. They seemed to heal much of the damage dealt to them. Still, the party was winning, until one grabbed Kruskar with both arms, pinned him and sank his sharp teeth into him. One more attack by the troll and Kruskar would have been dead. Just then they heard an evil laughter. Gwunnilon was still laughing as he sank his sword into the helpless Kruskar. The monk's lights went out. Confused the troll dropped the body and went to attack Maria. By then the battle was almost over. The two monsters were almost beaten and Merlos made sure they didn't regenerate too much with fire magic. Finally they killed them. Ike advanced on Gwunnilon, who was kneeling beside Krusar's body with a potion in his hand. "You traitor, you killed him", Ike shouted. "No, Ike, I just pretended to to save his life." The gnome made Kruskar swallow the potion - and Kruskar began to move again. His eyes flew open. "What... what happened? Gwunnilon, no..." "Relax, big fellow", the gnome reassured him. "If he had hit you again, you would really be dead now. I just tricked the brute to save your life, as you have saved mine. I'd say we're even." The were victorious again, but badly beaten. They decided to return to Homlet and wait for their Griffons to arrive. [i]to be continued... [/i] [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
The new "They might be Heros" Story Hour
Top