Mabrack's Castle
WARNING: This update has a little conversational content that might be considered R-rated; please don't read it if you're offended by such things. It's all in good fun.
As our heroes flee into the sky, preparing to assume vaporous form and
wind walk away, Orbius stops and points up and ahead. "Look!" he calls, and the party gives a collective gasp as they see a huge sky castle.
There's a chunk of rock that must be almost a thousand feet long and almost as deep. The top sports a small keep- small in that it looks like it doesn't have too many rooms; but the size of it- clearly, it's for some sort of extra-large sort of individual. Even from here, the party can see a door that looms almost twenty-five feet high. At one corner of the castle is a large square tower; at the far side of the sky island is a peak. And emerging from the peak are a group of humungous birds with riders wrapped in thick robes. They look human-sized, but their features are indiscernable at this point.
"Uh-oh," mutters Sybele.
The rocs spread into a loose wedge, wheeling and turning, surrounding the party while below them the battle of Pesh continues to rage. One of the riders gestures for the adventurers to land on the isle. "What do you think?" Sybele asks worriedly.
"Why not?" Angelfire answers, and shortly the party lands on the stone in the sky. The great birds land, as well, and the riders dismount and remove their scarves. They look just like humans- until their spokesman opens the third eye in his forehead.
"We are the Harthom," he says. "We serve the master of the isle. And who are you?" He glances to the side as a large flare of light briefly illuminates the clouds from below. "And which side of the battle are you on?"
"Neither, really," replies Sybele. "We're just trying to go home and find my daughter!"
"We sort of stumbled into the battle by accident," Sheva adds.
After taking a few moments to ascertain that our heroes bear the isle- and its master- no ill will, the Harthom escort our heroes into the huge stone keep and to the isle's master: a twenty-one foot tall giant with light blue skin and emerald hair. "Ho, friends!" the giant booms, "I am Mabrack of the Isle, and so long as you mean no harm I bid you welcome!"
The party introduces themselves, and soon they've befriended the giant, who has copious amounts of beer ("I could swim in that keg!" Sybele says excitedly) and huge haunches of meat. He gently interrogates them, seeming interested in their worship of Coila and Boccob. Sybele tells him their whole story, and then Mabrack surprises them.
"Marius, eh?" he muses in his loud voice. "I know him... a formidable foe you have there."
The party puts their heads together, and then finally Sheva asks Mabrack, "Do you think you could arrange a peaceful meeting with him for us? We might be able to negotiate our way out of this conflict with him- we're not even sure, frankly, why he's after us."
"He's a reasonable and intelligent man," Mabrack responds. "I may be able to- I am certainly willing to try. But I warn you," he continues, his face darkening, "I will not have you doing battle on my isle! Try it, and you will face my wrath!"
"Of course," Sybele reassures him. "And maybe we can do something for you? Or... perhaps
I could do something for you? I have a voracious cunny."
Surprised, Mabrack blushes for a second, then answers, "I do you think you can handle my enormous manhood."
"I've done a dragon," she smiles sweetly.
"It's her half-dragon love child we're trying to rescue," Sheva adds.
Slut, she thinks.
"Ahem, er, well, I don't think so, thanks," Mabrack says, an awkward grin on his face. "But perhaps there is something you can do for me- I have a pest problem. I raised this island myself, you know- first from the depths of the sea to the surface, then into the sky. Deep within it, in a cave in the interior, is a worm- a nematodean, it's called- that has infested my isle for decades. Now, it doesn't cause me problems, but it
could, and I'd like to be rid of it, eventually. It's pretty low on my list of priorities, but since you're here..." He trails off.
"What can you tell us about this 'nematodean?'" Sheva asks.
"Well, if you aren't careful, you can cut it in half and make it into two of them, so you want to be careful. In fact, I've sent other adventurers in after it a couple of times in the past, to no avail- their treasure may yet remain in the nematodean's lair."
The party feasts and eats, and Mabrack points out that it's almost New Year's Eve. "I'll be partying hard," he grins, "and you're welcome to join me if you're well-behaved."
As the group finishes dinner, Mabrack adds something else: he's travelling to Kseethee, a flying city. "You can buy anything there," he says. "Again, so long as you behave, you're welcome to join me there." Several of our heroes have been there in the past; enthusiastically, they decide that this sounds like a good idea.
"Maybe I can even find a way to get Lester's arm back," Orbius adds.
"Say, where is Lester?" Sybele asks, glancing around. "I haven't seen him since the battle started. For that matter, what happened to Horbin?"
"Lester trumped back to Var," Orbius says. "He broke the
geas that Galador laid on him- and he's unfortunately paying the consequences for it." His face falls. "He got that
geas for me, to bring me back from death."
"Not sure where Horbin went, but I think he escaped the fight too," Zeebo says. "I think he used a
word of recall to flee. I don't know if being a Galadorian priest fighting the Forinthian navy is good for your religious standing."
Our heroes retire from the dining room to discuss their options. They decide to assault the nematodean the next day. "But first," the Eye says, "I'll
commune with Boccob and try to garner a few bits of helpful information."
Next Time: Orbius
communes, Sheva bargains for her imp's return, and a quick trip to Thane Vulker Hammerhead's embassy!
