The Rise of Felskein [Completed]

[Volabit]

I was Suniel's player, but no worries, do what you feel is best because that is what is important. I would describe more about Suniel's past but probably not all that important, better to keep an air of mystery. Just lots of horrific things done by and done to him, we did leave a lot ambigous with him.

I think this next paragraph I typed like 4 times, and just decided to write this run on sentence instead, never sure on how much info to give about our characters and this is a story by Iron Sky not me.

 

[steeldragons]

Well, thanks again, Vol. Will do. And thanks for creating a pretty sweet character...ambiguity and all.

 

[Iron Sky]

I'm with steeldragons on this, elves don't appear to age in general D&D mythos, more internal changes than external - his Suniel is pretty much exactly as I envisioned him.

 

[Iron Sky]

Session 31, Part 8

“So, wait, these locath seem to be saying that we're their rulers too,” Kormak said, turning to Bail.

Bail motioned for the workers to get back to rebuilding the dock they were working on. “So, we own Port and Landspear Lake now?”

“I guess, I don't speak fish that well or they don't speak Common that well, one of the two. Why don't you talk to them?”

Bail sighed and glanced over at the Turtle. “I wish Suniel would finish rebuilding Keeper already. He's much better at this diplomating stuff than I am.”

“Or maybe if Harold was here...” Kormak said with a grin.

Bail gave him a long, flat look then dusted off his hands and went to speak with the locath bobbing in the bay.

“So, the dwarf says that we're your kings now... or something.”

The locath nodded furiously. “Underdakul rule Locath. Underkakul die. Nakral rule Locath. Nakral die. You rule Locath.”

“Well, let's hope we don't continue on in that particular legacy,” Kormak said. “There's a definite pattern there.”

“What do our new rulers ask of us?”

Kormak and Bail stared at each other for a few seconds, then turned back to the locath at the same time.

“I want a pony and a toy ship and-”

“Trade with Port, open up shipping. If there's any of the Freehold settlements out there in the Steamport area, don't harass them. Guide them through storms, help them find their way. Port needs all the help it can get right now.”

The locath nodded rapidly and disappeared under the water.

“I liked my list better, but yours had a certain lordly ring to it. Maybe you're getting the hang of this.”

Bail grunted and turned to see Suniel and Keeper standing behind them.

“I see Keeper is back in one piece,” Bail said with a nod to Suniel.

“Any word from Harold while I was... indisposed?” Suniel said, returning Bail's nod.

“No, he's probably gone back to the Crystal Towers,” Kormak said. “See if he can't let the Ashen Towers steal back what's left of the Skyland.”

“I'll check. Let's head back where there's less distractions,” Suniel said. He pulled out the doorknob, planted it firmly in the air, turned it, pulled, and stepped through the doorway into the near pandemonium of the Black Coach House.

They followed him through the courtyard, through the main doors, and into the Library. Suniel pulled out several books and a handful of strange crystals. A few minutes later, the crystals were laid out in an array on a table, the books sitting open nearby for easy reference.

Suniel waved his hands over the crystals, murmured under his breath for a minute, then stared intently at the table in silence for several seconds. When he spoke again, his lips barely moved and Bail could only barely hear what the wizard was saying.

“What have you gotten into, are you safe?”

Bail and Kormak looked around, as though expecting someone to appear and reply. Keeper just shook his head. “Sending.”

“Oh, sending.” Kormak said with a nod. “That makes total sense then... what?”

Suniel sighed. “Harold hasn't been able to retrieve the True Stone, I think we need to go there to help.”

Bail snorted. “Need to? Aren't there more of them around here that Keeper can find?”

Surprisingly, Keeper nodded in agreement. “With the Omni-Seeking Stone that you brought back from the Fae Wood, I can detect all the True Stones on Felskein.”

“Harold might know where this one is though,” Suniel said. “And, more importantly, he probably knows who or what has it. We go there first.”

There was quiet authority in Suniel's words as he glanced between them.

Bail grumbled, Keeper nodded, and Kormak threw in his own vote of “what the hell.”

“Hold hands with the person next to you,” Suniel said.

“What if I don't have a person, I just have a metal man that thinks he's a-” Kormak was only partially through whatever he was going to say when Suniel closed his eyes, said a word, and they were no longer in the Coach House.

 

[Iron Sky]

Not an update, at least not yet. I'm aiming for a minimum of 1 a week and I'll see if I can get a few more than that in over the next couple weeks.

I do however, have a mini-story hour I'm posting here that you can read in the meantime.

 

[Iron Sky]

Session 31, Part 9

Kormak blinked rapidly, sniffed repeatedly, and sneezed. He wiped his eyes and looked around the small, dusty room they stood in. It looked like the nicest room in an upscale inn but with a couple years of dust on everything.

And Harold in the corner with a bow aimed at them.

“Hi Harold, I see not much has changed,” Kormak said.

Bail growled, reaching for his weapon.

“Stop it everyone,” Suniel said, stepping between them. “Harold, it's us, put your bow away.”

Harold stared at them with wild eyes for several seconds then lowered the bow slowly.

“What's going on here?” Suniel said. “What happened to the Stone, the Skyland?”

“Why are you dressed like some sort of rich man's guard. I remember you with more stuff too,” Kormak added.

“I'm working on recovering everything right now,” Harold growled. “And keep your voices down. There's invisible assassins everywhere, they could be listening right now!”

Kormak blinked at that and looked around. “Invisible assassins stole the Stone, the Skyland, and your stuff?”

“Yes!” Harold hissed. “I've burned down the officer's barracks and have a maid in my pocket that's going to help me bring Hadral down. With you here, I can speed up my plan.”

Bail raised his hands. “Stop. Do we know where the Stone and the Skyland are?”

“I know where my things are, we just have to get the key Hadral has on a necklace around her neck, then use it in a door to go to the extra-dimensional place where she's hidden my weapons and armor.”

Kormak exchanged a worried look with Bail. “Did you get hit in the head at some point?”

“Yes! That's why I need my things, so I can avenge myself on these Black City savages and show them why you don't betray the Crystal Towers!”

“So, we're supposed to help you kill some lady, defeat her army of invisible assassins – with the help of a maid, of course – so that you can get vengeance? Will this help us find the True Stone?” Kormak said.

“Once we've taken out Hadral, we can track down the Skyland and the True Stone. Then we can head to the Red City – they say it's further west and they're at war with the Black City. Maybe they are the allies I need for the Crystal Towers.” Harolds eyes had a mad, fanatical gleam to them that Kormak found disturbing and, by the looks on Bail and Suniel's faces, he wasn't alone in the sentiment.

“Harold, I know the Crystal Towers is important to you, but we're almost out of time. There's reports of Iron Sky attacking all across Felskein and-” Suniel began.

“I don't care about Iron Sky!” Harold shouted. “Without the Crystal Towers, this continent isn't worth saving! Don't you see that? If the Crystal Towers falls, let Iron Sky have it for all I care!”

There was a strained moment of silence.

“Let's at least get out of here where we can plan something out without fear of anyone overhearing us,” Suniel said. “I have a plan to get the True Stones we need, an ancient spell that will help us track down all the others on Felskein. Let's go back to Port, we can always come back here later.”

He nodded to Bail and Kormak as he held his hand out to Bail. Bail took it and Kormak's hand as Suniel reached out and put a hand on Harold's shoulder. Suniel murmured the words to a familiar spell as Harold shouted, “no, my plans here!”

A second later they were back in the Coach House, Suniel's hand outstretched into the open space where Harold should have been.

Suniel shook his head. “Harold slapped my hand off his shoulder at the last second. Looks like we'll have to implement my plan on our own. I just need a day to rest and finish researching the spell.”

“Good riddance,” Bail grumbled.

Kormak realized with a start that he had something appropriate to the situation in his pocket. He pulled out a carving No Tongue had given him a couple days ago that he'd forgotten about since, setting it on the table between them.

The carving was of the three of them standing around a table, holding hands, Suniel's hand outstretched as though reaching for someone that wasn't there.

Just then No Tongue himself walked in and the three of them turned to stare at the goblin.

No Tongue's eyes widened as they looked at him and he grinned as he looked back. “Maaaaasssteeer,” he said in a long sing-song note. He did a little spastic dance, bowed, then turned and walked out of the room.

“We live in interesting times,” Bail said.

Kormak and Suniel nodded their agreement then dispersed to make their preparations.

 

[Iron Sky]

Session 31, Part 10

Harold paced back and forth, waiting for Sarah to return. Suniel and the others had made enough noise that he'd been worried that they'd blown his plans. It had been hours since they had gone and no invisible assassins had attacked, so he figured he probably hadn't been compromised.

It was getting dark outside and Harold was about to go looking for Sarah when the door opened. Harold reached for his weapons but relaxed when he saw it was just Sarah. She smiled at him almost shyly and set a basket full of food on the table, then turned to him, her eyes bright.

“I brought you some food, it was the least I could do. I know you have an important mission here, but... do you think you could take me with you when you leave?”

Harold summoned up a smile. “Of course, of course. First I just need you to- damn!”

Sarah's chest exploded in a fountain of blood as two blades passed through it from behind. A split-second later, Harold stepped up a level, appearing in another suite, but this one containing three surprised palace guards. They leveled their weapons and fired on reflex and Harold just barely dived to the side in time. He scrambled to his feet, pulled the nearest door open and ran out into a long hallway. Shouted orders and heavy footsteps came from all directions.

Three steps further down the hall and a guardsman appeared in the hallway just in front of him. Harold shoved the barrel of the man's rifle aside just as it fired and ran the man through with his stolen blade. As the man crumpled to the floor shouts rang out from down the hall in each direction.

Harold stepped away, ending up standing in a familiar porcelain tub. He shuddered and moved to the door. From the sound of it, several more guards were moving quickly down the hallway outside, doors slamming open as they searched other rooms.

Harold cursed and stepped again, dropping to a knee and reaching out his free hand to stabilize himself on the roof of the factory. Even from the distance, he could see the Palace was swarming with soldiers, but it was guards he couldn't see that really worried him.

I'll have to wait until that dies down to try again, Harold thought. He watched the palace for a few more minutes in disgust, then stepped deeper into the building he was in. Minutes later he was curled up in a dingy closet, squeezed into a corner amidst mops, brooms, toolboxes, and stacks of buckets. From the look of it, it had been a while since anyone else had been there and no one would expect to find Harold there.

He huddled in the dark and brooded, planning vengeance and murder on Hadral and everyone in her employ...

 

[Iron Sky]

Session 31, Part 11

High Druid Anderlan, we have not spoken in many years, but I must know how the homeland fares.

Suniel Au, is that you after all these years? The One Tree fares not well. Two flying islands full of mechanical beings have reached the edge of the forest and are destroying every living thing they find. We do battle, but they are closing on the One Tree. What they plan to do once they reach the tree is unknown, but I fear the worst.

Which is?

That they will destroy the Tree.

Unthinkable.

It is worse than you know. The roots of the One Tree run beneath Endless Sands around the entire world. If it is destroyed, the Grimwythe will be free again...

Hold them as long as you can Anderlan, I have recovered much of my old magic and I may have the strength save Felskein. I trust you still have the Nature Stone?

I do, we will use it tomorrow against the constructs, see if we can slow them.

Whatever you do, keep it safe. And keep Iron Sky from the Wood Henge whatever the cost.

We will do what we can Suniel.

Farewell old friend.

Suniel's eyes opened.

“So, did you take a nap or were you talking to the earth tree?” Kormak said.

“I got through to Anderlan. We don't have much time.”

Bail nodded. “So, you say we can find the rest of the True Stones of Felskein. How?”

"I have relearned an ancient spell of seeking and recovered enough of the power I had before Thessalock stripped it from me to cast it. With the help of Keeper and his Omni Seeking Stone, I have located them all. We have three, the Silver Shard we retrieved from beneath the Crystal Towers, the Purity Stone that Harold took from the Beholder in the Endemore Ruins, and the Waterstone we took from Nakral. High Druid Anderlan has the Nature Stone at the One Tree. If what Velea told us is correct, we need only one more to activate the Crystal Tower's Defenses.”

“And you know where the last one is?”

Suniel nodded.

“Deep within the Ravak Glacier far to the west is the Frozen Diamond. I have located an ice cave within a mile of the Frozen Diamond, we can use the powers of our other Stones to blast our way to it.”

“That makes sense,” Kormak said. “So what do we do with them after that?”

“Then we take them to the henges and activate the Crystal Towers Defenses... and hope that they are everything we pray they are or Iron Sky will overrun Felskein... or even worse.”

“What's worse than Iron Sky overrunning the continent?” Kormak said.

“Remember the reflecting pool on the Skyland?” The others nodded gravely. “Grimwythe is worse – and if what High Druid Anderlan is afraid of comes to pass, Iron Sky will be the lesser of our worries...”

 

[Iron Sky]

Session 31, Part 12

“We'll have to do this quick, I have the feeling that the Undercouncil would try to stop us if they knew what we were about to do. Knowing dragons, they likely still cling to the idea that they can keep Felskein hidden away for themselves,” Bail said.

Kormak stared at him. “Not to sound like Harold or anything, but I thought you were from the Undercouncil. Isn't your mother Gilderalin?”

“She is, but I never said I was a member of the Undercouncil,” Bail said, returning Kormak's gaze flatly.

“You just never bothered to correct us when we assumed you were,” Suniel said, a hint of a smile playing about his lips. “Who exactly do you serve?”

Bail paused for a moment, trying to decide how much to tell them. After several long moments, he sighed. “You might call it the Overcouncil. I serve the Great Silver, the lord of those in exile from the Undercouncil.”

There was a pause as that sank in. “And what is your purpose?” Suniel said, watching Bail intently.

“As I said when I first met you, my goal is to keep an eye on you, to be sure that your succeeded in your mission.”

“We have a mission?” Kormak said, his eyes wide. “Why did no one ever tell me?”

Bail ignored him. “Suniel, when do we go to this Ravak Glacier to retrieve the Frozen Diamond.”

“As soon as you all are ready,” Suniel said softly. “We near the end of things, one way or another, so prepare yourselves.”

“Got everything I need right here,” Kormak said, pulling back his sleeves and flexing the corded muscles of his arms.

“I too carry everything that I require,” Bail said. “Probably best not to tell Meepo I'm leaving lest he worry himself to death.”

“I carry all that I need within,” Keeper said. Bail looked up as the construct stepped to join them at the table. Bail had forgotten he was even there.

Suniel nodded and extended his hand to Keeper. Once they were all touching, he intoned a short burst of spell words and the Couch House Library was gone...

 

[HalfOrc HalfBiscuit]

Just wanted to add my voice to the chorus of praise for this story. I found it a couple of weeks ago and have been gradually reading through. I've really enjoyed it - geat story and great characters.

Keep up the good work!