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
The Unusual Heroes: Journal Of A Half-Drow
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="Ziona" data-source="post: 97784" data-attributes="member: 484"><p>The heroes traveled in the quiet darkness for quite sometime. They hardly noticed the ground sloping downward as they went. As they continued their descent deeper underground, Ziona and Rossal, (who were bringing up the rear), were attacked.</p><p></p><p>The creature, a large cat-like beast with tentacles, was after the Psudodragon. Rossal, being an agile creature, easily dodged the monsters attacks.</p><p></p><p>Doc and Aarack were the first two to attack the creature known as a Displacer Beast. Doc managed to score a hit on the monster, but Aarack swung his sword and missed. It seemed that Beast moved quickly into another position before his sword could hit.</p><p></p><p>Solstar's silky words erupted in a Charm Monster spell. The Displacer Beast seemed to consider Solstar a friend, but continued it's attacks on the others. It reached out to attack Doc, but missed.</p><p></p><p>Aarack attempted another attack, but the image of the beast continued to blur and shift out of his reach. Doc, Ziona, and even Rossal were having the same trouble. </p><p></p><p>Varr, his short legs and heavy armor keeping him from running into the melee faster, cursed at the monster in Dwarven.</p><p></p><p>Finally, after the beast was surrounded, Aarack delivered the final, crushing blow. Varr could be heard grumbling as he arrived too late to join the fight.</p><p></p><p>The companions dusted themselves off after the attack and continued on. Upon entering the next room, they found themselves surrounded by Drow and Kobolds. Instantly the party was engulfed by <em>Darkness.</em> </p><p></p><p>Varr reacted immediately, still fuming from missing out on the last battle. He attacked the Drow that was directly in front of him before the darkness came. He felt thrilled when Frostbite, his trusty axe, cut into his foe.</p><p></p><p>Rossal blindly attacked the Drow that was near him, but his poisonous tail found no purchase. </p><p></p><p>Ziona, calling upon her Divine powers, cast <em>Daylight</em> just then, and negated the blinding <em>Darkness.</em> From there, the melee continued on a more even playing field, allowing Doc, Aarack, and Varr to hack away at their enemies, while Solstar magically attacked.</p><p></p><p>Suddenly, a ball of acid fell in the vicinity of the party, dealing some minor damage to several of the heroes. However, Solstar singled out the wizard of the group, and attempted a <em>Polymorph Other</em> spell on the magic-using Drow, without success.</p><p></p><p><em>Darkness</em> fell over the party again, causing Rossal and Aarack to miss their targets. Aarack was not satisfied with the swipe, however, and swung a second time, killing his opponent with his Drow Bane sword.</p><p></p><p>Varr continued his vicious attacks, despite his blindness in the magical darkness. He heard the cry of death in the foe he struck, and continued to cleave...right into Aarack! Aarack let out an angry wail as he felt the axe chop into him, but did not altogether realize it was his ally who was trying to cut him down like a tree.</p><p></p><p>Ziona spoke the whispery words of her divine spell and cast <em>Moonblade</em> allowing her to see a very short distance in front of her. She swung and hit the female Drow blocking her way, and understood the Underdark words for "traitor" and "excrement" as the enemies dying words spat out.</p><p></p><p>Doc, Aarack, and Varr continued attacking in the midst of the <em>Darkness</em> spell. Solstar felt the wall and decided to follow it until he reached the normal blackness of the Underdark, but he ran into Doc first.</p><p></p><p>Although separated for the most part, each party member could hear the poisonous crossbow bolts being fired in waves. </p><p></p><p>Varr, feeling the presence of a foe in his area attacked, and cut into Aarack for a second time! Aarack, this time recognizing Varr by the sound of his armor and the sheer force of his blows, cried out again, shouting angrily at Varr. But Varr, raging like the angry Barbarian he is, continued to hack at the enemy...in this case, Aarack.</p><p></p><p>Finally the heroes made their way out of the blackness and regrouped. Ziona saw Aarack sliced and bloodied and rushed to his aid.</p><p></p><p>"Don't <strong>touch</strong> me," he spat.</p><p></p><p>"Don't be foolish. You're badly hurt." Ziona felt the same hatred in Aarack's tone as the female Drow had shown her before she died.</p><p></p><p>"Only because of your imbecile friend, the Dwarf! He hit me at least four times, thinking me a filthy Drow!"</p><p></p><p>Varr, wiping away the froth that was pouring into his beard, just shrugged. The others looked on, shocked by Aarack's disgust. Ziona sighed.</p><p></p><p>"At least allow me to use my wand to heal your wounds. You will surely die here in the Underdark if you sustain further injury without being healed," she protested.</p><p></p><p>Aarack turned his back on her smugly.</p><p></p><p>"Now listen here," Doc started. "Ziona is far removed from the vermin that crawls throughout the Underdark. She is not evil, she is a lady, and I will not allow you to treat her so horribly. If you plan to carry on with us, you'll have to be healed."</p><p></p><p>Aarack turned and faced Ziona.</p><p></p><p>"I will not accept healing from your Drow Goddess. If this wand is in any way connected with your deity, I'll have nothing to do with it."</p><p></p><p>"It does not..." Ziona quietly replied.</p><p></p><p>"Fine. Do it and let's carry on," Aarack snapped.</p><p></p><p>Ziona took a deep breath, controlling her anger and confusion. She knew this could be the first step towards mending whatever pain Aarack had suffered from the hands of a Drow. She used the wand to heal his wounds, and turned to put the wand in her pack when Aarack threw two gold at her feet.</p><p></p><p>"I'll <em>NOT</em> accept payment!" she boomed.</p><p></p><p>"I'll not accept your charity, Drow."</p><p></p><p>Ziona's grayish skin burned red at the insult.</p><p></p><p>"Keep your gold, Ranger. I am a Priestess through the blessing of my Goddess, charged with the mission of promoting harmony and peace between the races. If you judge me without understanding me, so be it, but I'll not be insulted by your ignorance!"</p><p></p><p>With that, Ziona turned to the rest of her companions to see who needed healing, leaving the gold on the floor of the cavern.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Once the awkwardness of the situation had passed, Solstar asked Ziona about her father's map. She took it from her pack and Doc joined them in studying it. They decided it would be best to backtrack and head down a side passage to rest.</p><p></p><p>When they arrived at an area they thought was more safe than the main corridor, they decided upon watches. It went without saying that Ziona and Aarack would not share a watch. After the watch order was decided, the parts of the group slept while the watches began.</p><p></p><p>Later, during Aarack's watch, a handful of Drow happened upon the party. Aarack awakened the party, and Solstar, being the first one up and having rested well, cast <em>Fireball</em> on the attacking drow. He smiled, showing off his glimmering white teeth, and took his place for the next watch.</p><p></p><p>Hours later, the watches were over, and the party continued to travel deeper into the Underdark. By this time, Solstar had to cast <em>Darkvision</em> again, and after a few silky sounding words, the heroes could see in the dark again.</p><p></p><p>After a short while of traveling, the companions began hearing an odd sort of clicking noise. As they rounded the corner, they came to see two large, beetle-looking beasts hovering over a woman.</p><p></p><p>Ziona recognized the monsters as Hook Horrors. Aarack, also recognizing their enemy, shouted to the party to attack near the neck of the beasts.</p><p></p><p>As the party attacked one Hook Horror, Solstar polymorphed the other into a snail and put it in his pocket for future use. Having quickly disposed of the enemies, Doc and Ziona approached the woman.</p><p></p><p>Doc, reaching out and smiling, helped the woman up.</p><p></p><p>"I'm Cleo," she said in a breathy voice.</p><p></p><p>"Greeting, Milady," Doc bowed. "I am Doc Midnight, here to aid you if I may. Are you okay? Do you need assistance?"</p><p></p><p>"She's fine," interrupted Aarack. "If she wasn't hurt by Hook Horrors, and she's running about the Underdark alone, then she's fine."</p><p></p><p>Doc, ignoring Aarack's comments asked, "Do you have a weapon to protect yourself with, Milady?"</p><p></p><p>"How did you come to this place?" asked Solstar.</p><p></p><p>Cleo turned, and upon seeing the dashingly handsome face of Solstar began walking away from Doc.</p><p></p><p>"Oh, I...I was taken prisoner by the awful Drow," she pouted.</p><p></p><p>"Did the Drow have any other prisoners?" asked Ziona, interested in news of her father.</p><p></p><p>Cleo saw Ziona and took a step back.</p><p></p><p>"It's okay," said Doc, working his way back to Cleo. "Ziona is only Half-Drow. She's on our side."</p><p></p><p>"Yes, but who’s side is Cleo on,” questioned Aarack.</p><p></p><p>“You do not trust me?” </p><p></p><p>“There are few I do trust,” Aarack said, shooting a look at Ziona.</p><p></p><p>“Was there a male Drow among the other prisoners, Cleo?” questioned Ziona.</p><p></p><p>“Oh yes. The lame Drow. He tried to tell me they were taking us into their city, but they whipped him for speaking to me. He seemed different from the others somehow,” replied Cleo.</p><p></p><p>“How did you manage to escape?” asked Solstar.</p><p>“Yes, how <strong>did</strong> you escape?” asked Doc, grasping her hand and turning her from Solstar.</p><p></p><p>Solstar, suspecting Cleo of something tried casting <em>Charm Monster</em> on her. She spun around angrily to face him, cheeks burning red.</p><p></p><p>“Why do you cast upon me?” she shouted.</p><p>Ziona stepped between the two and came up with a fib. </p><p>“He was only trying to cast an armor spell on you for your protection. He has done the same for others.”</p><p></p><p>“Well, he should have asked my permission first,” snapped Cleo.</p><p>“Yes, you should always ask a Lady’s permission first,” replied Doc.</p><p></p><p>Ziona turned to face Doc with a surprised look upon her face. Doc hardly noticed, his eyes following Cleo. </p><p></p><p>Doc pulled Cleo aside and gave her some armor to wear, and his finely crafted dagger that Ziona had cast <em>Continual Flame</em> on. Solstar, not trusting Cleo anymore than the rest of the party, (with the exception of Doc), offered to make her invisible so she could go back to the surface without being seen.</p><p></p><p>“Oh, that’s okay. I’d rather stay here with all of you…” she replied, her gaze lingering on Doc.</p><p></p><p>So it was decided that Cleo would travel with the group, though no one (except Doc) was very happy about it.</p><p></p><p><em>MORE TO COME…</em></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Ziona, post: 97784, member: 484"] The heroes traveled in the quiet darkness for quite sometime. They hardly noticed the ground sloping downward as they went. As they continued their descent deeper underground, Ziona and Rossal, (who were bringing up the rear), were attacked. The creature, a large cat-like beast with tentacles, was after the Psudodragon. Rossal, being an agile creature, easily dodged the monsters attacks. Doc and Aarack were the first two to attack the creature known as a Displacer Beast. Doc managed to score a hit on the monster, but Aarack swung his sword and missed. It seemed that Beast moved quickly into another position before his sword could hit. Solstar's silky words erupted in a Charm Monster spell. The Displacer Beast seemed to consider Solstar a friend, but continued it's attacks on the others. It reached out to attack Doc, but missed. Aarack attempted another attack, but the image of the beast continued to blur and shift out of his reach. Doc, Ziona, and even Rossal were having the same trouble. Varr, his short legs and heavy armor keeping him from running into the melee faster, cursed at the monster in Dwarven. Finally, after the beast was surrounded, Aarack delivered the final, crushing blow. Varr could be heard grumbling as he arrived too late to join the fight. The companions dusted themselves off after the attack and continued on. Upon entering the next room, they found themselves surrounded by Drow and Kobolds. Instantly the party was engulfed by [I]Darkness.[/I] Varr reacted immediately, still fuming from missing out on the last battle. He attacked the Drow that was directly in front of him before the darkness came. He felt thrilled when Frostbite, his trusty axe, cut into his foe. Rossal blindly attacked the Drow that was near him, but his poisonous tail found no purchase. Ziona, calling upon her Divine powers, cast [I]Daylight[/I] just then, and negated the blinding [I]Darkness.[/I] From there, the melee continued on a more even playing field, allowing Doc, Aarack, and Varr to hack away at their enemies, while Solstar magically attacked. Suddenly, a ball of acid fell in the vicinity of the party, dealing some minor damage to several of the heroes. However, Solstar singled out the wizard of the group, and attempted a [I]Polymorph Other[/I] spell on the magic-using Drow, without success. [I]Darkness[/I] fell over the party again, causing Rossal and Aarack to miss their targets. Aarack was not satisfied with the swipe, however, and swung a second time, killing his opponent with his Drow Bane sword. Varr continued his vicious attacks, despite his blindness in the magical darkness. He heard the cry of death in the foe he struck, and continued to cleave...right into Aarack! Aarack let out an angry wail as he felt the axe chop into him, but did not altogether realize it was his ally who was trying to cut him down like a tree. Ziona spoke the whispery words of her divine spell and cast [I]Moonblade[/I] allowing her to see a very short distance in front of her. She swung and hit the female Drow blocking her way, and understood the Underdark words for "traitor" and "excrement" as the enemies dying words spat out. Doc, Aarack, and Varr continued attacking in the midst of the [I]Darkness[/I] spell. Solstar felt the wall and decided to follow it until he reached the normal blackness of the Underdark, but he ran into Doc first. Although separated for the most part, each party member could hear the poisonous crossbow bolts being fired in waves. Varr, feeling the presence of a foe in his area attacked, and cut into Aarack for a second time! Aarack, this time recognizing Varr by the sound of his armor and the sheer force of his blows, cried out again, shouting angrily at Varr. But Varr, raging like the angry Barbarian he is, continued to hack at the enemy...in this case, Aarack. Finally the heroes made their way out of the blackness and regrouped. Ziona saw Aarack sliced and bloodied and rushed to his aid. "Don't [B]touch[/B] me," he spat. "Don't be foolish. You're badly hurt." Ziona felt the same hatred in Aarack's tone as the female Drow had shown her before she died. "Only because of your imbecile friend, the Dwarf! He hit me at least four times, thinking me a filthy Drow!" Varr, wiping away the froth that was pouring into his beard, just shrugged. The others looked on, shocked by Aarack's disgust. Ziona sighed. "At least allow me to use my wand to heal your wounds. You will surely die here in the Underdark if you sustain further injury without being healed," she protested. Aarack turned his back on her smugly. "Now listen here," Doc started. "Ziona is far removed from the vermin that crawls throughout the Underdark. She is not evil, she is a lady, and I will not allow you to treat her so horribly. If you plan to carry on with us, you'll have to be healed." Aarack turned and faced Ziona. "I will not accept healing from your Drow Goddess. If this wand is in any way connected with your deity, I'll have nothing to do with it." "It does not..." Ziona quietly replied. "Fine. Do it and let's carry on," Aarack snapped. Ziona took a deep breath, controlling her anger and confusion. She knew this could be the first step towards mending whatever pain Aarack had suffered from the hands of a Drow. She used the wand to heal his wounds, and turned to put the wand in her pack when Aarack threw two gold at her feet. "I'll [I]NOT[/I] accept payment!" she boomed. "I'll not accept your charity, Drow." Ziona's grayish skin burned red at the insult. "Keep your gold, Ranger. I am a Priestess through the blessing of my Goddess, charged with the mission of promoting harmony and peace between the races. If you judge me without understanding me, so be it, but I'll not be insulted by your ignorance!" With that, Ziona turned to the rest of her companions to see who needed healing, leaving the gold on the floor of the cavern. Once the awkwardness of the situation had passed, Solstar asked Ziona about her father's map. She took it from her pack and Doc joined them in studying it. They decided it would be best to backtrack and head down a side passage to rest. When they arrived at an area they thought was more safe than the main corridor, they decided upon watches. It went without saying that Ziona and Aarack would not share a watch. After the watch order was decided, the parts of the group slept while the watches began. Later, during Aarack's watch, a handful of Drow happened upon the party. Aarack awakened the party, and Solstar, being the first one up and having rested well, cast [I]Fireball[/I] on the attacking drow. He smiled, showing off his glimmering white teeth, and took his place for the next watch. Hours later, the watches were over, and the party continued to travel deeper into the Underdark. By this time, Solstar had to cast [I]Darkvision[/I] again, and after a few silky sounding words, the heroes could see in the dark again. After a short while of traveling, the companions began hearing an odd sort of clicking noise. As they rounded the corner, they came to see two large, beetle-looking beasts hovering over a woman. Ziona recognized the monsters as Hook Horrors. Aarack, also recognizing their enemy, shouted to the party to attack near the neck of the beasts. As the party attacked one Hook Horror, Solstar polymorphed the other into a snail and put it in his pocket for future use. Having quickly disposed of the enemies, Doc and Ziona approached the woman. Doc, reaching out and smiling, helped the woman up. "I'm Cleo," she said in a breathy voice. "Greeting, Milady," Doc bowed. "I am Doc Midnight, here to aid you if I may. Are you okay? Do you need assistance?" "She's fine," interrupted Aarack. "If she wasn't hurt by Hook Horrors, and she's running about the Underdark alone, then she's fine." Doc, ignoring Aarack's comments asked, "Do you have a weapon to protect yourself with, Milady?" "How did you come to this place?" asked Solstar. Cleo turned, and upon seeing the dashingly handsome face of Solstar began walking away from Doc. "Oh, I...I was taken prisoner by the awful Drow," she pouted. "Did the Drow have any other prisoners?" asked Ziona, interested in news of her father. Cleo saw Ziona and took a step back. "It's okay," said Doc, working his way back to Cleo. "Ziona is only Half-Drow. She's on our side." "Yes, but who’s side is Cleo on,” questioned Aarack. “You do not trust me?” “There are few I do trust,” Aarack said, shooting a look at Ziona. “Was there a male Drow among the other prisoners, Cleo?” questioned Ziona. “Oh yes. The lame Drow. He tried to tell me they were taking us into their city, but they whipped him for speaking to me. He seemed different from the others somehow,” replied Cleo. “How did you manage to escape?” asked Solstar. “Yes, how [b]did[/b] you escape?” asked Doc, grasping her hand and turning her from Solstar. Solstar, suspecting Cleo of something tried casting [I]Charm Monster[/I] on her. She spun around angrily to face him, cheeks burning red. “Why do you cast upon me?” she shouted. Ziona stepped between the two and came up with a fib. “He was only trying to cast an armor spell on you for your protection. He has done the same for others.” “Well, he should have asked my permission first,” snapped Cleo. “Yes, you should always ask a Lady’s permission first,” replied Doc. Ziona turned to face Doc with a surprised look upon her face. Doc hardly noticed, his eyes following Cleo. Doc pulled Cleo aside and gave her some armor to wear, and his finely crafted dagger that Ziona had cast [I]Continual Flame[/I] on. Solstar, not trusting Cleo anymore than the rest of the party, (with the exception of Doc), offered to make her invisible so she could go back to the surface without being seen. “Oh, that’s okay. I’d rather stay here with all of you…” she replied, her gaze lingering on Doc. So it was decided that Cleo would travel with the group, though no one (except Doc) was very happy about it. [I]MORE TO COME…[/I] [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
The Unusual Heroes: Journal Of A Half-Drow
Top