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Wulf's Collected Story Hour -- FINAL UPDATE 12/25
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<blockquote data-quote="Wulf Ratbane" data-source="post: 951" data-attributes="member: 94"><p><strong>THE HEART OF NIGHTFANG SPIRE (Part I)</strong></p><p></p><p><em>Let darkness and the shadow of death stain it;</em></p><p><em> let a cloud dwell upon it; </em></p><p><em>let the blackness of the day terrify it. </em></p><p></p><p>For the first time in a long time, and the last time for a long time, Wulf slept easy.</p><p></p><p>Wulf, Halma, Keldas, and Alliane had returned to the Forge of Fury, and the halfling-- well, the halfing's black soul no doubt shared the same fate as Dyson, Tully, and the Cuckoo. The Old Man had welcomed them back, and the halfling's fate was quickly and almost casually swept aside. Such validation from Moradin's mortal representative was a welcome-- if unnecessary-- compliment to Wulf's growing wisdom and leadership.</p><p></p><p>Wulf was even more pleased to find his generous contribution well spent. The Old Man had recruited scores of dwarves back to the forges-- warriors and smiths alike. Even Keldas was happy to throw himself into the revitalization of the Forge, taking on several dwarven wizards as apprentices. Keldas' skill with magic combined with the expertise of even the fledling artificers boosted their armaments considerably. Wulf and Halma's chain shirts, and most especially Halma's greatsword, were re-forged to several times their previous strength and sharpness. </p><p></p><p>Most pleasing of all, they split up the peck's goods with nary a word of protest. Wulf laid claim to his little magic daggers, Keldas took his <em>Ring of Dexterity</em>, and they passed around his <em>Wings of Flying</em> like a drunken cousin at a halfling wedding.</p><p></p><p>Thus it was with some disappointment that Wulf woke at last from that peaceful sleep onto a grey and dreary winter day of ill portent: The Old Man had summoned them for a new "quest."</p><p></p><p>Both incoming and outgoing trade had been disrupted recently by attacks, and he wanted Wulf to put a stop to it. <em>So far, so good.</em> Unfortunately, word had gotten back that the perpetrator was a white dragon named Calcryx; one glance at Keldas' guilty face and Wulf correctly surmised that Calcryx was the hatchling they'd unleashed beneath the Sunless Citadel, before they'd rescued him from the goblins. </p><p></p><p>The thought of tangling with another dragon-- aye, even a white, even a hatchling, at that-- didn't sit well with Wulf, and things didn't get any better when the Old Man introduced their new traveling companions: Dorn Ironshield, a dwarven priest whose double-handed <em>holy</em> great-axe belied his name; and Karak, a golden-haired, violet-eyed outsider-- an aasimar, and a paladin, to boot. </p><p></p><p><em>A priest and a paladin. </em></p><p></p><p>Moradin's judgement had come down at last. </p><p></p><p>-------------------------</p><p></p><p>They set off in the direction of the last attack. Wulf and Halma traded turns with the peck's <em>Wings of Flying</em>, scouting ahead. Eventually, as the trees fell away and the winter landscape took hold, they spotted a deep canyon, with a single towering black spire jutting up in the center.</p><p></p><p>"All she's missin' is a sign that says, "Evil: This Way."</p><p></p><p>The tower's location in the center of the valley, in such a position that the sunlight rarely, if ever, fell across her battlements, should have been a warning to them. </p><p></p><p>Alas, they didn't turn back.</p><p></p><p>The tower seemed empty, but Wulf volunteered to scout ahead while the party stood close at hand. The tower was huge, at least 140 feet tall and 60 feet across the base. Still, Wulf could find no doors or windows; there was, however, a small vine covered shack attached to the side of the tower. There was a door inside, perhaps. Still cautious, Wulf pulled his <em>shadow cloak</em> tighter and crept up to the shack, so stealthily, so silently...</p><p></p><p>As he approached the cracked and rotten door, Wulf strained his ears. He heard... music. Faint, but nevertheless there it was. Faint music emanating from a shack jutting from the base of a creepy tower in the middle of a desolate valley in the midst of winter could only mean one thing to Wulf: there was a grand struggle of Will in his near future.</p><p></p><p>Did he falter? No!</p><p></p><p>Did he retreat? No!</p><p></p><p>Did he beckon his companions to come closer and back him up? Hell no!</p><p></p><p>He opened the door, took one superbly stealthy step inside, and, like clockwork, promptly failed that struggle of will. He just had time to cry out before he unstealthily fell asleep and dropped like a sack onto the floor of the shack.</p><p></p><p>He could drink the contents of a mummy's chamber pot and not feel ill. He could dodge the strike of an angry serpent with nary a scratch. But give the man a test of will and the best he could do was yell out, "Ach, lads, I'm f-----" and hope they arrived in time to bail him out.</p><p></p><p>As they did, of course. Halma, with his natural speed enhanced by his boots, was the first on the scene-- though the best he could do was to fall asleep across Wulf's already prone form. A creature dropped stealthily from the shadows on the ceiling and began to slowly feast on the life-force of the two warriors. </p><p></p><p>Keldas was the next to arrive, though when he spotted the creature crouched over his comrades, he realized there was little he could do against vampire spawn. The creature stood and pointed at Keldas, saying, "I remember you..." </p><p></p><p>Unfortunately, no more information was forthcoming. Dorn and Karak burst onto the scene, and between Dorn's holy axe and Karak's eagerness to smite all things evil, the creature was soon dispersed into a cloud of mist. They watched as it seeped through a crack into the tower. </p><p></p><p>There was another victim in the shack, and a recent one at that. Never ones to waste time on the dead, they pried the bastard sword from its grip and moved on.</p><p></p><p>-------------------------</p><p></p><p>They decided next to assault the tower from the top. </p><p></p><p>"Aye, go to the top, an' just work our way down. Get 'em all that way."</p><p></p><p>Halma grabbed Dorn and flew to the top of the tower. A pair of wings sprouted from Karak's back and Wulf was not so much surprised to see wings on the aasimar as to recognize that they were not real-- just another pair of <em>Wings of Flying</em>. </p><p></p><p>Wulf took one look at the cumbersome twenty-foot wingspan and chuckled, remembering the halfling. "Nice wings, ass-mar. Why do these idiots keep investing in bargain-basement goods?"</p><p></p><p>Wulf and Alliane waited at the base of the tower with Keldas, who cast <em>Spider Climb</em> on Halma's little bear cub. Cute. Wulf watched the little ball of fur climbing happily up the side of the tower when the dragon struck.</p><p></p><p>Calcryx came out of nowhere, breathing at the group at the base of the tower. Wulf dodged the blast of cold with ease and hoped that Keldas and Alliane fared as well. <em>Taranak</em> leapt to his hand and he spoke the words to set it ablaze, taking up a wide stance in front of Keldas. </p><p></p><p>"Come on, then!"</p><p></p><p>Wulf heard Keldas and his cousin casting spells behind him, and the cool, calm touch of elven hands on his shoulders. He could <em>Fly.</em> And Alliane had cast <em>Resist Elements</em>.</p><p></p><p>"You're all set. Go get him, Wulf."</p><p></p><p>Wulf gripped his battle axe in both hands and flew straight into the dragon, cutting a deep gash across its belly. It was only when Calcryx hovered back in the air, bringing all four claws up in defense, that Wulf realized he'd made a tactical error. He'd have been far better off to let the dragon come to him, into two axes instead of one; when he was ready for a full attack instead of a single stroke.</p><p></p><p>Unfortunately there was no time for retreat. Wulf heard a tremendous thunderclap and felt the electricity in the air. <em>Something</em> had called down a blast directly onto the top of the tower, completely enveloping Halma, Dorn, and Karak. The creature-- a huge monster that seemed all brain, beak, and tentacle, like a huge grell, only worse-- slowly levitated up from just inside the crumbled top of the tower. Its tentacles lashed out, enveloping Halma and Karak and lifting them even higher into the air. Dorn, the only one of the three who could not fly, thanked Haela Brightaxe for his luck and started casting. </p><p></p><p><em>Flame Strike</em>.</p><p></p><p>Halma and Karak struggled to break free.</p><p></p><p>Another <em>Flame Strike</em>.</p><p></p><p>Wulf could hardly believe his eyes. He'd never seen destructive power like that-- at least, never from anything other than the receiving end. This priest was no pasty elven wizard! Here was a power to be reckoned with!</p><p></p><p><strong><em>Another Flame Strike!</em></strong></p><p></p><p>Karak managed to twist free, but Halma disappeared as he fell with the crumpled monster onto the tower below. </p><p></p><p>Wulf knew his friend would be all right, and he didn't have time to worry about him anyway. Calcryx's claws scraped against his newly forged chain shirt, and though most of the damage was deflected, Wulf felt a claw scrape against him. The chill that sapped his bones wasn't simply cold-- it was the bitter cold of undeath. </p><p></p><p>Calcryx was vampire spawn.</p><p></p><p>"Ach, right, that's about enough o' that, then."</p><p></p><p>Wulf drew his hand axe and unleashed a flurry of blows into the dragon's hide. It was mere seconds until the dragon was dispersed into a cloud of mist that floated back to the tower. </p><p></p><p>The party quickly ascended the tower in pursuit. The cloud coalesced under the lee edge of the tower, in a spot that Wulf reckoned would be hidden in shadow at all times. Halma slashed his greatsword into the beast's body over and over, but each time, the wounds closed immediately. </p><p></p><p>Wulf looked around for anyone who knew how to finish off a vampire.</p><p></p><p><em>Permanently. </em></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Wulf Ratbane, post: 951, member: 94"] [b]THE HEART OF NIGHTFANG SPIRE (Part I)[/b] [i]Let darkness and the shadow of death stain it; let a cloud dwell upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify it. [/i] For the first time in a long time, and the last time for a long time, Wulf slept easy. Wulf, Halma, Keldas, and Alliane had returned to the Forge of Fury, and the halfling-- well, the halfing's black soul no doubt shared the same fate as Dyson, Tully, and the Cuckoo. The Old Man had welcomed them back, and the halfling's fate was quickly and almost casually swept aside. Such validation from Moradin's mortal representative was a welcome-- if unnecessary-- compliment to Wulf's growing wisdom and leadership. Wulf was even more pleased to find his generous contribution well spent. The Old Man had recruited scores of dwarves back to the forges-- warriors and smiths alike. Even Keldas was happy to throw himself into the revitalization of the Forge, taking on several dwarven wizards as apprentices. Keldas' skill with magic combined with the expertise of even the fledling artificers boosted their armaments considerably. Wulf and Halma's chain shirts, and most especially Halma's greatsword, were re-forged to several times their previous strength and sharpness. Most pleasing of all, they split up the peck's goods with nary a word of protest. Wulf laid claim to his little magic daggers, Keldas took his [i]Ring of Dexterity[/i], and they passed around his [i]Wings of Flying[/i] like a drunken cousin at a halfling wedding. Thus it was with some disappointment that Wulf woke at last from that peaceful sleep onto a grey and dreary winter day of ill portent: The Old Man had summoned them for a new "quest." Both incoming and outgoing trade had been disrupted recently by attacks, and he wanted Wulf to put a stop to it. [i]So far, so good.[/i] Unfortunately, word had gotten back that the perpetrator was a white dragon named Calcryx; one glance at Keldas' guilty face and Wulf correctly surmised that Calcryx was the hatchling they'd unleashed beneath the Sunless Citadel, before they'd rescued him from the goblins. The thought of tangling with another dragon-- aye, even a white, even a hatchling, at that-- didn't sit well with Wulf, and things didn't get any better when the Old Man introduced their new traveling companions: Dorn Ironshield, a dwarven priest whose double-handed [i]holy[/i] great-axe belied his name; and Karak, a golden-haired, violet-eyed outsider-- an aasimar, and a paladin, to boot. [i]A priest and a paladin. [/i] Moradin's judgement had come down at last. ------------------------- They set off in the direction of the last attack. Wulf and Halma traded turns with the peck's [i]Wings of Flying[/i], scouting ahead. Eventually, as the trees fell away and the winter landscape took hold, they spotted a deep canyon, with a single towering black spire jutting up in the center. "All she's missin' is a sign that says, "Evil: This Way." The tower's location in the center of the valley, in such a position that the sunlight rarely, if ever, fell across her battlements, should have been a warning to them. Alas, they didn't turn back. The tower seemed empty, but Wulf volunteered to scout ahead while the party stood close at hand. The tower was huge, at least 140 feet tall and 60 feet across the base. Still, Wulf could find no doors or windows; there was, however, a small vine covered shack attached to the side of the tower. There was a door inside, perhaps. Still cautious, Wulf pulled his [i]shadow cloak[/i] tighter and crept up to the shack, so stealthily, so silently... As he approached the cracked and rotten door, Wulf strained his ears. He heard... music. Faint, but nevertheless there it was. Faint music emanating from a shack jutting from the base of a creepy tower in the middle of a desolate valley in the midst of winter could only mean one thing to Wulf: there was a grand struggle of Will in his near future. Did he falter? No! Did he retreat? No! Did he beckon his companions to come closer and back him up? Hell no! He opened the door, took one superbly stealthy step inside, and, like clockwork, promptly failed that struggle of will. He just had time to cry out before he unstealthily fell asleep and dropped like a sack onto the floor of the shack. He could drink the contents of a mummy's chamber pot and not feel ill. He could dodge the strike of an angry serpent with nary a scratch. But give the man a test of will and the best he could do was yell out, "Ach, lads, I'm f-----" and hope they arrived in time to bail him out. As they did, of course. Halma, with his natural speed enhanced by his boots, was the first on the scene-- though the best he could do was to fall asleep across Wulf's already prone form. A creature dropped stealthily from the shadows on the ceiling and began to slowly feast on the life-force of the two warriors. Keldas was the next to arrive, though when he spotted the creature crouched over his comrades, he realized there was little he could do against vampire spawn. The creature stood and pointed at Keldas, saying, "I remember you..." Unfortunately, no more information was forthcoming. Dorn and Karak burst onto the scene, and between Dorn's holy axe and Karak's eagerness to smite all things evil, the creature was soon dispersed into a cloud of mist. They watched as it seeped through a crack into the tower. There was another victim in the shack, and a recent one at that. Never ones to waste time on the dead, they pried the bastard sword from its grip and moved on. ------------------------- They decided next to assault the tower from the top. "Aye, go to the top, an' just work our way down. Get 'em all that way." Halma grabbed Dorn and flew to the top of the tower. A pair of wings sprouted from Karak's back and Wulf was not so much surprised to see wings on the aasimar as to recognize that they were not real-- just another pair of [i]Wings of Flying[/i]. Wulf took one look at the cumbersome twenty-foot wingspan and chuckled, remembering the halfling. "Nice wings, ass-mar. Why do these idiots keep investing in bargain-basement goods?" Wulf and Alliane waited at the base of the tower with Keldas, who cast [i]Spider Climb[/i] on Halma's little bear cub. Cute. Wulf watched the little ball of fur climbing happily up the side of the tower when the dragon struck. Calcryx came out of nowhere, breathing at the group at the base of the tower. Wulf dodged the blast of cold with ease and hoped that Keldas and Alliane fared as well. [i]Taranak[/i] leapt to his hand and he spoke the words to set it ablaze, taking up a wide stance in front of Keldas. "Come on, then!" Wulf heard Keldas and his cousin casting spells behind him, and the cool, calm touch of elven hands on his shoulders. He could [i]Fly.[/i] And Alliane had cast [i]Resist Elements[/i]. "You're all set. Go get him, Wulf." Wulf gripped his battle axe in both hands and flew straight into the dragon, cutting a deep gash across its belly. It was only when Calcryx hovered back in the air, bringing all four claws up in defense, that Wulf realized he'd made a tactical error. He'd have been far better off to let the dragon come to him, into two axes instead of one; when he was ready for a full attack instead of a single stroke. Unfortunately there was no time for retreat. Wulf heard a tremendous thunderclap and felt the electricity in the air. [i]Something[/i] had called down a blast directly onto the top of the tower, completely enveloping Halma, Dorn, and Karak. The creature-- a huge monster that seemed all brain, beak, and tentacle, like a huge grell, only worse-- slowly levitated up from just inside the crumbled top of the tower. Its tentacles lashed out, enveloping Halma and Karak and lifting them even higher into the air. Dorn, the only one of the three who could not fly, thanked Haela Brightaxe for his luck and started casting. [i]Flame Strike[/i]. Halma and Karak struggled to break free. Another [i]Flame Strike[/i]. Wulf could hardly believe his eyes. He'd never seen destructive power like that-- at least, never from anything other than the receiving end. This priest was no pasty elven wizard! Here was a power to be reckoned with! [b][i]Another Flame Strike![/i][/b] Karak managed to twist free, but Halma disappeared as he fell with the crumpled monster onto the tower below. Wulf knew his friend would be all right, and he didn't have time to worry about him anyway. Calcryx's claws scraped against his newly forged chain shirt, and though most of the damage was deflected, Wulf felt a claw scrape against him. The chill that sapped his bones wasn't simply cold-- it was the bitter cold of undeath. Calcryx was vampire spawn. "Ach, right, that's about enough o' that, then." Wulf drew his hand axe and unleashed a flurry of blows into the dragon's hide. It was mere seconds until the dragon was dispersed into a cloud of mist that floated back to the tower. The party quickly ascended the tower in pursuit. The cloud coalesced under the lee edge of the tower, in a spot that Wulf reckoned would be hidden in shadow at all times. Halma slashed his greatsword into the beast's body over and over, but each time, the wounds closed immediately. Wulf looked around for anyone who knew how to finish off a vampire. [i]Permanently. [/i] [/QUOTE]
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