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
Wulf's Collected Story Hour -- FINAL UPDATE 12/25
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="Wulf Ratbane" data-source="post: 252550" data-attributes="member: 94"><p><strong>LORD OF THE IRON FORTRESS-- Part III</strong></p><p></p><p>Stopping only briefly to loot the fallen priestess, they returned to Rigus to lick their wounds. Once they were safely back in the Twin Stars inn, they took a closer look at the loot. </p><p></p><p>A chain shirt, a buckler, some potions. Alliane identified a scroll of <em>heal</em> that Wulf discreetly tucked into his belt. <em>See if I can’t figure that out later…</em></p><p></p><p>No one noticed. Alliane had already moved on to the drow’s wand. “<em>Bull’s Strength</em>,” she announced. “And plenty of charges. That will come in handy.”</p><p></p><p>Wulf nodded as he cinched up the buckler and strapped it across his left forearm. “Not the sort o’ thing I’d waste time and money makin’ myself, but a nice little bonus.” He flexed his buckler arm once or twice and did some practice draws from the wide band of daggers across his chest. </p><p></p><p>“I guess we probably want to sell this,” said Karak. He was turning the drow’s light mace over and over in his hands. The top of the mace was rather unsubtly tipped with the multi-pointed star of chaos.</p><p></p><p>“Like hell we do,” said Wulf, snatching the mace away and looping it through his belt alongside his growing collection of oddball weapons. “I reckon that’ll be handy out here in lawful-lawful land.”</p><p></p><p>*****</p><p></p><p>The following day they risked their luck at the gate again. Moving through the bone portal they arrived in Acheron, care of the Battlecube once more.</p><p></p><p>“Well,” said Wulf. “Guess we try to teleport from here to the Lost Cube, right?”</p><p></p><p>“Sight unseen?” Keldas was alternately looking down at Verachus’ crystal, then scanning the grey skies of Acheron for Imperagon’s cube. They could see other cubes flying through the void, but it was impossible to tell them apart. What’s more, there wasn’t any good way to gauge distances: what could appear to be a large cube many miles away could in fact be a small cube fairly close.</p><p></p><p>Wulf shrugged. “Yer got a better idea? I’m game.”</p><p></p><p>“Come on,” said Shorty, “What’s the worst that can happen?”</p><p></p><p>*****</p><p></p><p>Their first attempt was wildly off. </p><p></p><p>They found themselves standing on the featureless flat plane of a floating cube-- not <em>their</em> cube, of course, not the one they were looking for, but a cube that had apparently been selected as a battleground by warring factions.</p><p></p><p>A boulder skidded past them, striking sparks off the iron. “Giants!” yelled Wulf.</p><p></p><p>The party had arrived in the midst of a battle-- actually, physically, between fire giants on the one side and frost giants on the other. Shorty immediately began casting, thinking he’d blow a few giants to smithereens without being particularly fussy about which side he chipped in on. </p><p></p><p>Wulf stayed his arm. “We need to get out of here… NOW.”</p><p></p><p>“You don’t think we can take them?”</p><p></p><p>Wulf looked around. The battle was in full pitch, with dozens of giants on either side. “Trust me on this.”</p><p></p><p>They teleported again, trying once more for Imperagon’s so-called Lost Cube.</p><p></p><p>*****</p><p></p><p>Keldas sat uncomfortably on Shorty’s small flying carpet and bent to peer around Alliane, who herself was seated uncomfortably between her cousin’s legs. Behind her on the 5’x9’ carpet was Loyal, and he had Shorty in his lap.</p><p></p><p>All in all, it was a little too chummy for Wulf’s tastes-- sittin’ lapsies with the cohorts. He was grateful for the <em>wings of flying</em> he’d inherited from the peck. Karak hovered nearby on his own set of wings and waited for Keldas to give the word.</p><p></p><p>“Well,” he said. “That’s the right cube. I’d say it’s about a 100 miles out. Shall we?”</p><p></p><p>The party flew ahead through the featureless sky of Acheron, and the Lost Cube loomed slowly larger. They had covered about half the distance when Keldas suddenly shouted a warning. “There’s something…”</p><p></p><p>“Over there…” Wulf finished for him.</p><p></p><p>Before they could truly register the threat, a pair of spectres materialized around Karak and drained a good chunk of his life-force. </p><p></p><p>Wulf drew his bone-handled dagger-- the one he’d picked up in Nightfang Spire, the dread bane of ghostly creatures . “I hope yer still got that bastard sword I gave yer, assmar…”</p><p></p><p>“I have it! I have it!” the paladin swore. </p><p></p><p>Unfortunately, their weapons would be of little use to them. Materializing out of the mists came two dark, winged horrors, the likes of which none of them had ever seen. The creatures chuckled to themselves as the party’s surprise and horror turned to full-fledged magical <em>confusion</em>. Wulf stood dumb-struck for several precious moments, looking back and forth between the dark horrors and Karak, unsure of who to attack. Something deep inside him hoped the paladin would stray within reach of his blade, and he chuckled to himself, echoing the mad laughter of the dark horrors.</p><p></p><p>Wulf watched as Keldas, Loyal, and Shorty succumbed to the confusion as well. Alliane leapt off Shorty’s carpet and hovered in the air beside it. You couldn’t really “fall” in Acheron, but neither was she able to move. She bailed out just in time as Shorty, in command of the carpet, decided to wander away. The spectres moved in to Alliane and began draining her lifeforce as well.</p><p></p><p>More importantly, they drained away memory of certain key spells, not the least of which was her <em>plane shift</em>. </p><p></p><p>The carpet sailed off with Loyal, Keldas, and Shorty on board, and the dark horrors followed. Leaving the spectres behind to deal with Wulf, Alliane, and Karak, the creatures flew alonside the carpet, swiping at Loyal from time to time with wicked talons. Their laughter increased in intensity as the entire party of seasoned adventurers was completely incapacitated by their <em>confusion</em> ability.</p><p></p><p>In a dim corner of Wulf’s mind he registered all this. Frankly he couldn’t believe that Keldas and Shorty both had lacked the will to resist the effect, yet he could still see them out there, sailing away into the distant skies of Acheron. Loyal sat on the carpet, eyes blank, doing nothing even as the dark horrors shredded him bit by bit. </p><p></p><p>Eventually Loyal had enough. He stood and drew his bow, nocked an arrow, and fired. </p><p></p><p>At Keldas. </p><p></p><p><em>We are so dead,</em> thought Wulf. Still he sat dumbfounded. His hands itched to attack something. Anything. Just let the paladin get a little closer…</p><p></p><p>Karak did just that. Grabbing Alliane by the scruff of her neck, he dragged her over to Wulf. Then he grabbed Wulf and unceremoniously teleported the three of them the hell out of dodge.</p><p></p><p>While half the party cooled their heels and counted their blessings back at the gate to Acheron, things got worse for Keldas, Shorty, and Loyal. Before Keldas made up his mind to attack Loyal, the elf archer finally pitched face-first onto the carpet, bleeding out from the wounds of the winged horrors. They’d fled for nearly a full minute, and though they easily outpaced the spectres, the horrors had kept up with them, occasionally unleashing “bursts” of confusion on their hapless prey. By the time Shorty had finally had enough of wandering away aimlessly, he was “re-confused”—and, unfortunately, clearly pissed.</p><p></p><p>Loyal lay dying on the carpet before him and Shorty lashed out at the nearest enemy: Keldas. </p><p></p><p>Firing up a <em>brutal seething surge</em>, the little peck’s hand shot out and grabbed Keldas in the most uncomfortable of places. Massive energies pulsed through the link, and had it not been for Keldas’ <em>energy buffer</em>, he’d have easily been slain by this single spell. </p><p></p><p>Keldas’ thrice-addled mind concocted an appropriate response:</p><p></p><p>He fired a <em>disintegrate</em> ray into Shorty’s face.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Wulf Ratbane, post: 252550, member: 94"] [b]LORD OF THE IRON FORTRESS-- Part III[/b] Stopping only briefly to loot the fallen priestess, they returned to Rigus to lick their wounds. Once they were safely back in the Twin Stars inn, they took a closer look at the loot. A chain shirt, a buckler, some potions. Alliane identified a scroll of [I]heal[/I] that Wulf discreetly tucked into his belt. [I]See if I can’t figure that out later…[/I] No one noticed. Alliane had already moved on to the drow’s wand. “[I]Bull’s Strength[/I],” she announced. “And plenty of charges. That will come in handy.” Wulf nodded as he cinched up the buckler and strapped it across his left forearm. “Not the sort o’ thing I’d waste time and money makin’ myself, but a nice little bonus.” He flexed his buckler arm once or twice and did some practice draws from the wide band of daggers across his chest. “I guess we probably want to sell this,” said Karak. He was turning the drow’s light mace over and over in his hands. The top of the mace was rather unsubtly tipped with the multi-pointed star of chaos. “Like hell we do,” said Wulf, snatching the mace away and looping it through his belt alongside his growing collection of oddball weapons. “I reckon that’ll be handy out here in lawful-lawful land.” ***** The following day they risked their luck at the gate again. Moving through the bone portal they arrived in Acheron, care of the Battlecube once more. “Well,” said Wulf. “Guess we try to teleport from here to the Lost Cube, right?” “Sight unseen?” Keldas was alternately looking down at Verachus’ crystal, then scanning the grey skies of Acheron for Imperagon’s cube. They could see other cubes flying through the void, but it was impossible to tell them apart. What’s more, there wasn’t any good way to gauge distances: what could appear to be a large cube many miles away could in fact be a small cube fairly close. Wulf shrugged. “Yer got a better idea? I’m game.” “Come on,” said Shorty, “What’s the worst that can happen?” ***** Their first attempt was wildly off. They found themselves standing on the featureless flat plane of a floating cube-- not [I]their[/I] cube, of course, not the one they were looking for, but a cube that had apparently been selected as a battleground by warring factions. A boulder skidded past them, striking sparks off the iron. “Giants!” yelled Wulf. The party had arrived in the midst of a battle-- actually, physically, between fire giants on the one side and frost giants on the other. Shorty immediately began casting, thinking he’d blow a few giants to smithereens without being particularly fussy about which side he chipped in on. Wulf stayed his arm. “We need to get out of here… NOW.” “You don’t think we can take them?” Wulf looked around. The battle was in full pitch, with dozens of giants on either side. “Trust me on this.” They teleported again, trying once more for Imperagon’s so-called Lost Cube. ***** Keldas sat uncomfortably on Shorty’s small flying carpet and bent to peer around Alliane, who herself was seated uncomfortably between her cousin’s legs. Behind her on the 5’x9’ carpet was Loyal, and he had Shorty in his lap. All in all, it was a little too chummy for Wulf’s tastes-- sittin’ lapsies with the cohorts. He was grateful for the [I]wings of flying[/I] he’d inherited from the peck. Karak hovered nearby on his own set of wings and waited for Keldas to give the word. “Well,” he said. “That’s the right cube. I’d say it’s about a 100 miles out. Shall we?” The party flew ahead through the featureless sky of Acheron, and the Lost Cube loomed slowly larger. They had covered about half the distance when Keldas suddenly shouted a warning. “There’s something…” “Over there…” Wulf finished for him. Before they could truly register the threat, a pair of spectres materialized around Karak and drained a good chunk of his life-force. Wulf drew his bone-handled dagger-- the one he’d picked up in Nightfang Spire, the dread bane of ghostly creatures . “I hope yer still got that bastard sword I gave yer, assmar…” “I have it! I have it!” the paladin swore. Unfortunately, their weapons would be of little use to them. Materializing out of the mists came two dark, winged horrors, the likes of which none of them had ever seen. The creatures chuckled to themselves as the party’s surprise and horror turned to full-fledged magical [I]confusion[/I]. Wulf stood dumb-struck for several precious moments, looking back and forth between the dark horrors and Karak, unsure of who to attack. Something deep inside him hoped the paladin would stray within reach of his blade, and he chuckled to himself, echoing the mad laughter of the dark horrors. Wulf watched as Keldas, Loyal, and Shorty succumbed to the confusion as well. Alliane leapt off Shorty’s carpet and hovered in the air beside it. You couldn’t really “fall” in Acheron, but neither was she able to move. She bailed out just in time as Shorty, in command of the carpet, decided to wander away. The spectres moved in to Alliane and began draining her lifeforce as well. More importantly, they drained away memory of certain key spells, not the least of which was her [I]plane shift[/I]. The carpet sailed off with Loyal, Keldas, and Shorty on board, and the dark horrors followed. Leaving the spectres behind to deal with Wulf, Alliane, and Karak, the creatures flew alonside the carpet, swiping at Loyal from time to time with wicked talons. Their laughter increased in intensity as the entire party of seasoned adventurers was completely incapacitated by their [I]confusion[/I] ability. In a dim corner of Wulf’s mind he registered all this. Frankly he couldn’t believe that Keldas and Shorty both had lacked the will to resist the effect, yet he could still see them out there, sailing away into the distant skies of Acheron. Loyal sat on the carpet, eyes blank, doing nothing even as the dark horrors shredded him bit by bit. Eventually Loyal had enough. He stood and drew his bow, nocked an arrow, and fired. At Keldas. [I]We are so dead,[/I] thought Wulf. Still he sat dumbfounded. His hands itched to attack something. Anything. Just let the paladin get a little closer… Karak did just that. Grabbing Alliane by the scruff of her neck, he dragged her over to Wulf. Then he grabbed Wulf and unceremoniously teleported the three of them the hell out of dodge. While half the party cooled their heels and counted their blessings back at the gate to Acheron, things got worse for Keldas, Shorty, and Loyal. Before Keldas made up his mind to attack Loyal, the elf archer finally pitched face-first onto the carpet, bleeding out from the wounds of the winged horrors. They’d fled for nearly a full minute, and though they easily outpaced the spectres, the horrors had kept up with them, occasionally unleashing “bursts” of confusion on their hapless prey. By the time Shorty had finally had enough of wandering away aimlessly, he was “re-confused”—and, unfortunately, clearly pissed. Loyal lay dying on the carpet before him and Shorty lashed out at the nearest enemy: Keldas. Firing up a [I]brutal seething surge[/I], the little peck’s hand shot out and grabbed Keldas in the most uncomfortable of places. Massive energies pulsed through the link, and had it not been for Keldas’ [I]energy buffer[/I], he’d have easily been slain by this single spell. Keldas’ thrice-addled mind concocted an appropriate response: He fired a [I]disintegrate[/I] ray into Shorty’s face. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
Wulf's Collected Story Hour -- FINAL UPDATE 12/25
Top