Droid101's Story Hour, "Of Gods and Devils" Updated 10/12!

[Droid101]

Dendybar went over the last week’s events over and over in his head. Showing up at the castle, disguised as the king. Taking control. Getting everyone out of the castle that he could. Doubling the cities guard watch. Lessening, and finally barring all trade. Closing off entrance/exit to the castle town completely. And all to “help” the people stay safe from the “Dark Tides.” Hah.

It was almost too easy. With him in power, and with Adlai, the only knight at the castle, controlled mentally by Xyxtactil, it would only be a matter of weeks before he could fully bring the Black Hand, his own guild from the north into the city of Brunswick. By the time he gets caught or forced out of the castle, the Black Hand will already be firmly rooted in the city. Everything was falling into place.

And those Heroes… damn them. Everything he’d done to set them up for a fall over the past few days. Drugging and killing a guard in the castle, using a great glowing falchion. Implication: Bink. Staging a jail-break from the castle prison. Leaving behind a sickle and a scimitar. Implication: Eltharion.

And finally, to implicate Ogrim, he’d need to do one last thing. Dendybar cast alter self and turned himself into a good likeness of a Brunswick guard captain, and headed to the bar with a small regiment…

…………..

The Heroes, Bink, Eltharion, Ogrim, Damaré, Senman and Misani, remain in Brunswick. After a few days, the king made a proclamation, reducing trade. He then closed off the city completely, to protect his people from the Dark Tides. The Heroes were invited to attend the queen’s funeral, and so they went. But the king didn’t.

“Why do you think the king missed his own wife’s funeral? He must be just that busy, with Dendybar and that dark elf around, along with the Dark Tides and everything else,” Eltharion says.

“I think there’s more to it than that. I think I’m going to take a look around the castle tonight,” Bink states. The Heroes part ways for the day. Ogrim goes to the bar that evening.

He orders drinks and keeps quiet. Another table holds a bunch of the king’s guard, getting a little rowdy. The guard captain stands and staggers toward Ogrim.

“We don’t like your kind here…” the guard captain says, giving him a menacing look. “Take your short dwarven ass elsewhere.”

Ogrim’s brow furrowed, he stood and puffed his chest into the guard captain.

“Ye got anything else ye want to be sayin’?” Ogrim says.

“Yeah, but I gotta take you out side to do so,” the guard captain staggers slightly, pointing outside. The rest of the guards go outside and form a semi-circle. Ogrim follows the drunk guard captain. Ogrim takes off his gauntlets and places his axe and shield on the ground.

The guard captain comes in fast, fists swinging. He moves much faster than Ogrim expected; a fist landing cleanly on his jaw. He shrugs it off and offers a low combination (what else could a dwarf do?) to the guard captain’s stomach, drawing an elongated breath and finally a gasp from the guard on the last hit. The guard punches at Ogrim again, but Ogrim blocks it, then clocks the guard in the chin with an uppercut. The guard captain staggers back, and he draws his sword.

The guards forming the semi-circle go from rowdy to uneasy, as they watch their captain draw a blade during an unarmed fight.

The captain slashes at Ogrim, grazing his shoulder and drawing a grunt from the stout dwarf. He sets his feet and enters the dwarven defensive stance, and slugs the guard two more times, drawing a cut to his forearm as he does so. The wind gets knocked from the guard captain again, who staggers back from the powerful blow. The guard spins and slashes again, cutting Ogrim across the flank. Ogrim grits his teeth and slams the guard in the face with his fists twice, cleanly knocking him out. He gives the guard captain a kick for good measure, and looks to the rest of the guards.

“Any of ye want a piece?” Ogrim asks bluntly.

“No… and thanks for… putting him down softly…” the guards look dejected as they begin to carry their captain back to the castle.

………

Eltharion decided to take a stroll around the city. He approached the great fountain at the center of the city. He saw a figure standing by it…

…Dendybar! Couldn’t mistake that wide-brimmed black hat. Eltharion started to sprint at him, but Dendybar turned and ran. The chase was on.

They sprinted back and forth between buildings, alleyways, and courtyards. Eventually, Dendybar got to a wall and climbed up over it. Eltharion was quick to follow.

They were in the yard of a very large mansion. Dendybar ran into the guest house. Eltharion followed. Once inside, he was met by four half-orcs standing in what looked like a small office. No sign of Dendybar.

“You ‘ave a problem, mate?” one of them asked.

“No, did someone come running through here?” Eltharion asked back.

“Maybe. What do you want?” the half-orc sneered.

“I want to kill Dendybar Retari. That’s what,” Eltharion was serious.

“Who?” the half-orc asked. A hatch opened up in the floor. The man wearing black hopped out, but from this close, Eltharion could plainly see that it wasn’t Dendybar.

“Oh… oops. Sorry about that…” Eltharion said.

“It’s okay. The name’s Donald McGraw. Like the hat? Stole it from Dendybar Retari himself,” Donald said.

“Really? When? Did you see him?” Eltharion needed information.

“Well, actually, I didn’t see him at all. He left it behind when he was at a restaurant. About a week ago,” Donald replied.

“Damn… well, thanks anyway,” Eltharion says. “Wait, do you happen to know why Dendybar is here in Brunswick?”

“As a matter of fact I do. My boss, Pignose Jack runs this city’s, well, not-so-fuzzy underbelly. Any dirty dealings going on, we know about it. Y’see, we think that he’s trying to get his little guild established in Brunswick. Damned if we’re gonna let that happen,” Donald explains.

“Interesting. Well, I’m Eltharion Ulthuan. If you get any more info, would you contact me?” Eltharion asks.

“Certainly, as long as you do the same for me,” Donald replies. They share a hearty handshake and Eltharion goes back to the inn. A group of guards approaches him.

“Eltharion? Come with us, we need to ask you a few questions,” one of the guards says.

“Fine,” Eltharion complies, and they lead him to the castle. They take him into the jailroom, where a guard captain sits behind a desk.

“I’m the Dungeon Master, I preside over the jail and general city security. You’re Eltharion?” the man asks.

“Yes, what do you need to know?” Eltharion responds.

“I’ll ask you in the morning,” he takes a key and unlocks a nearby cell. The other guards push Eltharion in. The Dungeon Master sits back down.

“Why are you putting me in jail…?” Eltharion asks, calmly.

“We have reason to believe you have committed a crime,” the Dungeon Master responds.

Eltharion sits back, thinking. He looks to the cell next to him, and sees a familiar face.

“Grug? Flick? Is that you?” Eltharion asks.

“Yeah! Hey! How you been?” Flick the halfling barbarian responds. The Heroes ran into Grug the half-orc and Flick the halfing when they visited Canticus for the first time.

“Been better, actually,” Eltharion stated, still thinking.

“We got caught starting a fight… you know how it is,” Flick says. Eltharion isn’t listening. “Hey man, you okay?”

Eltharion morphs into a cheetah and sprints out of the jail.

“Stop him!” the Dungeon Master yells, but Eltharion is long gone, back to the inn.

……….

Bink waits for night time, and decides to do some investigating. He invisibly flies to the castle, landing on the roof of the main building. There is a small door that leads into the tower from the roof, and he knocks it open, entering quietly.

He follows the spiral staircase up to Wallace Brunswick’s personal office. Maybe there’s some papers or something…

At the top, the door to the office is open, but just a crack. Bink carefully pushes it open as though the wind blew it, and takes a quiet step inside. The king is behind his desk, writing something down.

“Just turn around and leave,” the king states, not even looking up from his paperwork. Bink complies, stepping back out of the room silently, going down the stairs and flying back to his inn room.

The next morning, Bink, Eltharion, and Ogrim met up in the lobby of their inn.

“Something is definitely wrong. I went to the castle yesterday and went to the king’s study while invisible. He didn’t even look up and told me to get out. No questioning, nothing. Just didn’t seem like him,” Bink states.

“Yeah, and I got arrested last night…” Eltharion says.

“What?” Ogrim asks.

“I’ll explain later. Must be a mistake,” Eltharion clarifies.

“Strange. Where’s Misani and the others?” Eltharion asks. Bink shrugs.

“Well, I think it’s time we demand to talk to Adlai. We need to know what’s going on with the king,” Bink says, and they exit the inn. Approaching them is, what looks like, 20 guards. The Dungeon Master is leading them, and he unrolls a scroll and begins to read as they stop about 15 feet away from the Heroes.

“Raise your hands into the air and do not move, you are all under arrest,” the Dungeon Master says.

“Arrest for what? We didn’t do nothin’,” Ogrim responds.

“The statement of charges, not necessarily in order of importance, are as follows: Murder, first degree. Illegal worship of Iyachtu Xvim. Resisting arrest. Illegal use of controlled substances. Assault on the king’s guard. Breaking and entering….”

The Heroes stop listening.

“What the heck is he talking about? Did we do those things?” Eltharion asks. Everyone else shakes their head, equally confused.

“…Illegal entry into Castle Brunswick. Badgering of the king’s officials…”

“Something is definitely wrong. These must not be really the king’s guard. It’s a trap. Let’s take them out…” Bink says, drawing a grin and a nod from everyone.

“Trespassing. Unlawful escape from…” the Dungeon Master doesn’t get to finish. The Heroes burst into action.

Will they fight off all the city guard? How deep are Dendybar’s machinations? Find out next time!

 

[the Jester]

I love it!

My favorite things are the fast pacing and the total cluelessness of the group to the complexities of the things going on around them.

 

[Droid101]

I love it!

My favorite things are the fast pacing and the total cluelessness of the group to the complexities of the things going on around them.

Thanks for the approval! Means a lot, coming from you.

Anyway, part of the reason it's so fast paced is because I don't have very good notes on what happened. The further along I get, the more detail there is, as you might notice.

But thanks for reading! More to come!

 

[Droid101]

Ogrim readies his Orc-Killer axe and shield and charges the Dungeon Master. Eltharion runs an arc around and engages one of the other 19 guards from the side, drawing his sylvan and flaming scimitars. Bink casts haste and fly, and takes to the air.

The Dungeon Master is wearing full plate and has a glowing blade, that he draws hastily. Fifteen of the other guards are wearing heavy chain, and have longswords as well. The last four have crossbows, and they fire at each of the Heroes. Eltharion ducks and dodges out of the way, Bink takes a bolt to the leg, and two bolts bounce off Ogrim’s shield. Bink grimaces, but continues his flight.

The guards surround both Eltharion and Ogrim, and the Dungeon Master backs off, barking out orders. Some well placed strikes hit Eltharion from a few angles. Ogrim’s armor absorbs all the hits to him.

“Moradin be with me!” Ogrim sets himself into the ancient dwarven defensive stance, leveling his shoulders and shield. He swings his axe, striking a guard twice, knocking him to the ground. He doesn’t get up. Eltharion spins and weaves in between all the guards, trying to dodge and strike at the same time. He lands four good cuts to one guard, who drops. Bink flies down and casts lightning bolt at two of the crossbowmen and the Dungeon Master. The crossbowmen go down in a burnt, smoking mess. The Dungeon Master grimaces, yelling out to his men. Bink flies over Eltharion, getting ready to cast another spell.

Eltharion takes another few stabs from the surrounding guards. He’s bleeding from a dozen small wounds, but he doesn’t back down. Ogrim is able to evade every single blade from the guards, and strikes out, taking down another one. Eltharion’s expert blade strikes fell a guard on him. Bink casts haste on Eltharion and flies back near the Dungeon Master, upon whom he casts another lightning bolt, lining him up with the last two crossbowmen. The Dungeon Masters hair smokes and body is burned badly, but he stays standing. The crossbowmen fall in a heap.

“Send the mages! We need support!” the Dungeon Master looks like he’s talking into a ring. He stays back, away from Eltharion and Ogrim, who are still surrounded by six and five guards, respectively.

Eltharion takes a few more hits, and staggers. He is weakened by a stab to his ribcage, but stays standing. He lands another powerful combination of blows, and another guard falls. He tries to maneuver himself to cast a spell, and successfully casts cure moderate wounds defensively, healing some of his damage.

The guards on Ogrim take a different approach, as they begin to try to all grab onto him. He squirms out of their grasp, landing a few good axe hits in the process. Another guard drops.

Bink flies over to Eltharion, and casts cure moderate wounds as well, healing Eltharion a little more. Bink flies over to Ogrim, getting ready to cast a spell on him.

Over the top of the buildings, Bink sees six figures flying at them. Three of them land on top of a building on either side of the street, looking down at the battlefield.

“Heads up! There’s wizards!” Bink yells, pointing.

They all begin muttering arcane spells. Two walls of ice pop up on either side of Ogrim and Eltharion, trapping them inside with the guards. The Dungeon Master is left on the outside, where he is still calling out orders. Eltharion feels the pull of magic on him, as do Ogrim and Bink. All of them are able to resist, however, and keep on fighting.

Eltharion, backed against a wall of a building, slashes out six times, scoring hit after hit, and taking down two guards. He takes a few hits in return. Ogrim doesn’t fare so well. Finally, a couple of the guards grab onto him and try to hold him in place. He does his best to fight free, but stays entangled by a mass of arms.

Bink flies up to the roof.

“You’re all lined up… perfect,” Bink chuckles, releasing yet another lightning bolt at three of the wizards. All of them, caught by surprise, fall off the building as they try to dodge. Each of them a smoking and burnt corpse.

The wizards on the other roof take heed, changing their formation as to not be set up for that again. They all fire magic missiles; a volley of nine come streaking in and slam into Bink. He winces at the pain and his altitude sags slightly as he concentrates to stay conscious.

Eltharion’s sylvan scimitar cleaves through another two guards, and with that opening, he uses his slippers of spider climb to climb up the wall behind him. He gets to the top and charges straight at one of the wizards.

Ogrim struggles to break free of the five guards, but they hold on tight, not letting him bring his axe to bear.

Bink spots the Dungeon Master running off into an alleyway.

“I’m going after him!” Bink yells. He casts cure moderate wounds on himself and flies after the Dungeon Master. He catches up pretty quickly.

Eltharion dices up one of the wizards in short order; three fast blades across the chest of the flailing wizard sends him down. He stalks toward another. Both take to the air and start flying away.

“Good riddance!” Eltharion starts to climb back down the wall to help Ogrim. Ogrim finally pushes himself free, but is still quite surrounded.

Bink casts an acid arrow down at the Dungeon Master. It strikes him in the back and he collapses, writing in burning agony, the acid melting through his armor, skin, flesh and bone. Bink flies back to the battlefield.

“Can you get him out?” Eltharion yells up to Bink as he sees him approach.

“I’ll try…” Bink flies down and casts fly on Ogrim, who takes to the air. Several guards try to grab his legs, but he just kicks them off easily. They both pick up Eltharion and fly toward castle Brunswick.

“Adlai had better have a pretty good explaination for all this,” Bink says. Everyone nods as they approach the castle.

Will Adlai have a pretty good explaination for this? Will it be an ‘Okay’ explaination? Where did Senman, Misani and Damaré run off to? This and more, next update.

 

[Droid101]

“Hey, when did you learn how to heal?” Eltharion asked Bink as they flew toward castle Brunswick.

“I am a master of the arcane arts, I can…” Bink started.

“Arcane isn’t healing! Where did you learn how to heal?” Eltharion asked again.

“Don’t worry about it. Just know that I’ve got us covered,” Bink replies.

“Good to know.”

Ogrim and Bink, carrying Eltharion, fly over the inner castle walls and approach the castle doors. Two guards come running at them from the wall.

“Hey! You can’t do that! W… wait a minute, you’re that group of criminals, aren’t you?” the guard stammers.

“And we just obliterated the squad that came looking for us, including the Dungeon Master. Still want to stop us? We need to talk to Adlai. We promise not to hurt him,” Bink explains.

“Unless he tries something…” Eltharion adds.

“Open the door!” the guard calls out, and the large doors swing open slowly. Adlai approaches them from the main hall.

“What in the world is going on? I heard you all were going to be arrested,” Adlai says.

“Yeah, and we want to know who set it up,” Bink responds adamantly.

“Well, generally, unless it is an assassination attempt on the king, then it is handled by the Dungeon Master and the other guards and guard captains. The king and the knights don’t get involved unless it’s really serious. So I was unaware. I hear the Dungeon Master has been investigating crimes for days that you all have committed,” Adlai is flabbergasted.

“We didn’t do any of them!” Eltharion exclaims.

“I don’t know what you all did, but the Dungeon Master already apprehended Damaré, Senman and Misani. They are being kept in the Oubliette. Come with me, we should go talk to them,” and Adlai leads them to the jailroom.

………

Xyxtactil; his alien mind prying into Adlai’s. He easily maneuvers around any mental defense Adlai tries to put up, digging his psionic talons in deep. Invisible and silent, Xyxtactil the mind-flayer sits in the corner of the room, dictating all of Adlai’s movements as though a marionette.

They’re going to the Oubliette now. Be ready. Xyxtactil’s mind reaches out to Dendybar and Kev’Zen.

……….

“What is the Oubliette?” Bink asks.

“It’s a place where we keep the most powerful criminals we capture,” Adlai explains, as they walk to the end of the hall in the small jailroom. Adlai presses a block on the stone wall, and the wall slides open, revealing a staircase leading down. The room is 80 feet in diameter; the staircase spirals down along the wall almost 100 feet down, when they reach the bottom. It is dark and damp, eight iron doors surround them. One of them has been sealed off by several large stones.

“What’s in that room?” Eltharion asks about the cell blocked off by the rocks.

“Something… terrible happened in that cell. We sealed it off shortly after,” Adlai explains. “This way.”

He leads them to another one of the iron doors, produces a key, and opens it. It swings in with a loud rusty creak. A long, dank, 20 by 30 chamber is revealed. Manacles attached to the wall hold Senman, Misani, and Damaré stationary. They are all battered and bruised.

“Oh, am I glad to see you…” Damaré stirs slightly. “Guys, we’ve been framed.”

“Yes we know, we’re getting you out of here,” Bink says, shooting a glance at Adlai. Adlai shakes his head slowly.

“I’d like to stop you all, but it does seem a bit odd that you would want to help us destroy the threat of giants, and then flip flop over to being common criminals… wha, what the!” Adlai is startled by a form running into the cell from behind them.

Dendybar charges in, stabbing Ogrim viciously with his dagger, jamming it deep into his shoulder.

“By Moradin!” Ogrim grunts loudly at the pain, his arm going numb. Eltharion quickly cuts the chains from Damaré. Bink fires a volley of magic missiles into Dendybar.

Ogrim draws his Orc-Killer and shield. Adlai pulls out his longsword and backs off a step.

Just then, another form materializes in the room. The dark elf, Kev’Zen, appears, with a glowing dagger in hand. Eltharion whips around and slashes into the dark elf five times, connecting with a solid hit twice. The dark elf groans slightly, but stays on the defensive.

In good position, Ogrim stebs back from Dendybar and flanks the dark elf. Damaré similarly moves in, and they have the dark elf surrounded. Ogrim pounds into him, connecting on three solid axe strikes. Damaré slaps him with his chains. The dark elf’s vision blurs as the pain mounts, and the blood seeps into his vision. He concentrates, while keeping his defenses up. His eyes gloss over silver and a flash of rainbow light surrounds him, and he vanishes.

Adlai, at that moment, begins an arcane casting. Bink recognizes the spell.

“Adlai, what are you doing!!” Bink yells, as the fireball goes off, enveloping everyone.

Well, almost everyone. Dendybar, with unearthly speed and agility, flattens himself to the ground and evades the flame completely. Eltharion, Damaré, Ogrim and Bink dodge somewhat, only singing slightly. Adlai stays put, the flames engulfing him entirely. He is badly burned.

Senman and Misani, however, are still manacled to the wall, and are unable to dodge at all. The flames burn into their flesh. They are covered with third degree burns and both fall lifeless to the ground; their bodies filling the room with smoke.

With everyone coughing and putting out flames, Dendybar decides to retreat. He runs out of the room and on up the stairs. The Heroes do not follow. Eltharion tackles Adlai and holds him down.

“What is wrong with you! Do you realize what you just did!” Eltharion yells at him, slapping him in the face.

“Ouch, hey, stop... what… what happened? Oh no… no no no, that wasn’t me… I, I couldn’t. I didn’t… it wasn’t me…” Adlai fumbles for words. “You know that it wasn’t me… it, it wasn’t…”

“It’s okay Adlai…” Eltharion shakes his head.

“Tell that to Senman and Misani…” Bink checks their vital signs; or lack thereof.

“I could feel his tentacles in my mind. What a horrible creature,” Adlai says, defeated.

“Look, you didn’t do it, so stop beating yourself up,” Eltharion puts bluntly, and gets up.

The Heroes carry the bodies of Senman and Misani up the stairs. They give them over to the castle’s coroner and gather in the meeting hall for a few minutes before going back to their inn.

“So, do you think that whatever was controlling you was also controlling the Dungeon Master, or possibly even the king?” Bink asks Adlai.

“I have no idea. How could it control all three of us at once?” Adlai asks incredulously. “That would be some kind of power… Plus, the king is a deific being. I don’t think that mundane magic or mind powers could affect him at all.”

“Maybe just the Dungeon Master?” Eltharion reasons.

“I have no idea. This is so strange, why would somebody do this…” Adlai starts. A messenger comes running up to their table.

“Urgent news, a runner just arrived from the Tormyr forest. It seems that the king and his knights will be staying for another few weeks. They’ve got a read on the undead wizard and the dragon down there. But, that doesn’t make sense sir, as the king returned home already,” the messenger hands Adlai the missive, bows, and goes back to his business. Adlai looks the note over.

“It’s official; king’s seal and everything. Then… who is the guy up in the king’s study right now…?” Adlai asks, in complete horror.

“Uh oh…”

Will this busy day never end? Are Dendybar’s plans ruined? Will the Heroes ever kill that guy? All these questions and more, will be answered (or raised) next time!

 

[Droid101]

Adlai got the message out to every soldier in and around the caslte. The king was an imposter. He should be considered very dangerous. The Heroes scoured the place, looking everywhere, but could not find the king, the dark elf, or Dendybar.

“Looks like the castle is pretty secure, let’s keep it this way,” Adlai stated. Everyone agreed.

“Let’s make a list of everything we have pending to do, shall we?” Bink says. He starts writing things down, holds up the list, and reads.

“There’s the undead wizard and that green dragon, Drelhor… whatever, down south in the forest. There is the island of the giants, where Grog, Jezda, The Necromancer and Trek-Donal are. There is that ‘Tovag Baragu’ temple thing we heard about. We could head back up north and deal with those thieves and drow in that one city. There are those dark elves from that rogue house that attacked us near the dwarven stronghold. We could check out the old Xvim temple under Canticus, and make sure it’s totally destroyed. We’ve got Dendybar and his drow friend somewhere in Brunswick. And of course, I still have to find this book for my… sponsor,” Bink takes a deep breath.

“Sponsor?” Eltharion asks.

“Yes, you remember that devil eryines? Her name is Indiffines the Wretched. She granted me the secrets and the power of Eldritch Mastery. I promised to return her a certain book of great power. Supposedly it belongs to a great lich named Velkvir. That’s all I know so far,” Bink responds.

“There’s also those orcs from the southern forest. I heard from me people that they be gatherin’ many tribes together,” Ogrim adds.

“Wait, did you say Velkvir?” Adlai puts in, after having a bit of an epiphany.

“Yes, why?” Bink sasys cuiously.

“I think I know where his lair is. To the far west, off the coast, there is a small island. It is said to be covered with ghosts and spirits and the like. He resides in an old abandoned castle,” Adlai explains.

“Well, we have some choices then. Everybody, sit down and think about what you want to do, and we’ll meet up again. I have just gained the ability to teleport, so we can pretty much get to wherever we need to,” Bink says. Everyone nods and heads to their room in the castle.

The next day a funeral is held for Senman and Misani; they are buried in the castle courtyard’s small graveyard, around the back.

“They were good friends,” Bink says simply.

“All Misani knew of the future was pain and death… that’s pretty sad,” Eltharion states quietly.

The Heroes take a day to mourn and think about their best course of action. They meet again the following morning.

“Okay, any suggestions?” Bink asks, as Eltharion, Damaré, Ogrim and Adlai arrive.

“Whatever we do, I think we need to scry Grog and those guys, and bring them back here to help us. We will be less effective separated,” Eltharion reasons.

“True enough. What sounds the most promising?” Bink asks.

“I have some more news. I sent a message to king Wallace via magic, and he responded. He said that the undead wizard’s name is Velkvir,” Adlai states.

“Well, that’s pretty convenient. We know where he lives, and he’s not even home,” Bink’s eyes brighten.

“We could sneak into his lair while he’s down in the forest to the south,” Eltharion puts in.

“Let’s do some research on him first. Everybody head to the library, Adlai and I are going to go scry for Grog and the others. Meet up in an hour,” Bink says, and everyone breaks.

Ogrim, Eltharion and Damaré head to the castle library and look around. Bink and Adlai head up to the laboratory and get Adlai’s mirror.

“Here goes,” Adlai says, casting his scrying spell. An image slowly shows up in the mirror. Looks like Grog, Jezda, and some unknown and very large armored man are sitting in a jail cell. No sign of The Necromancer or Trek-Donal.

“Okay, that’s good enough, I think I can teleport there,” Bink says. Eltharion shows up in an hour.

“Where are Ogrim and Damaré?” Bink asks.

“They’re still researching. So what did you find?” Eltharion asks.

“Found Grog and the skinny orc. Let’s go get them back,” Bink holds onto Eltharion’s arm and casts teleport; their vision fades to the ethereal plane, and just as instantly back into the prime. They are in a small jail cell.

Bink gets punched in the face, hard. A gauntleted hand flies in from the very tall, very muscular blonde haired man.

“No! He’s my friend!” Grog yells out, jumping between Bink and the man.

“Ha, ha, ha… your friend! I’m sorry about that,” the man chortles.

“Yeah, right. We’re here to rescue our friends,” Bink says, rubbing his jaw.

“Mind taking me along with you? I’m looking to get back to the Adventurer’s Guildhall,” the man says.

“Sure thing, but hold on,” Bink pauses, then punches the man in the face, returning the favor.

The large man merely laughs again, extending his hand.

“Name’s Blaze, Blaze Brague. Nice to meet you,” Blaze says.

“Bink. This is Eltharion,” Bink says, his hand a little sore from hitting Blaze’s almost iron jaw.

“You think we could break out of here and get our weapons back, first?” Blaze says, pointing out of the cell.

“Sure, what’s out there?” Bink asks.

“Hobgoblins. Giants a bit further out. I think our stuff is being kept in that closet across the way,” Blaze says. Jezda, the skinny orc, stands and readies himself. Bink gets ready to blast the iron bars of the cell open. Eltharion readies his sylvan and flaming scimitars. Blaze squeezes his holy symbol of Tempus. Grog’s eyes glaze over red and bloodshot. He was angry.

Should the Heroes have any trouble escaping? Who is the Blaze guy? Where are The Necromancer and Trek? This and more, next update!

 

[the Jester]

Do I hear the sound of a new pc?

 

[Droid101]

Do I hear the sound of a new pc?

Ha, well, I'm going to keep which characters are PCs and which are NPCs under wraps for a little longer. But soon, soon you shall know all.

 

[Droid101]

“TEMPUS!!” Blaze yells out and grabs onto the iron bars. His armor squeals and creaks as his already muscular form grows even stronger. He swells up and rips the barred door off its hinges, tossing it out into the hallway. Two armed hobgoblins come running, shouting orders and obsceneties.

Grog charges, diving low at one of them, taking out its legs and knocking it to the ground. Eltharion runs out, spins, and slashes his flaming scimitar into the other one, drawing a line of blood and seared flesh. Two more hobgoblins run out from down the hall, and they are met with a clothesline-forearm from Jezda. Blaze charges at one of them and slams a fist into its face, sending it flying back at least five feet from the powerful blow, knocking it into the wall and spiraling into unconsciousness.

Bink fires a volley of magic missiles, taking out another one. Eltharion finishes up the remaining ones, and soon everything is quiet. They drag the bodies into their cell, and Blaze puts the iron barred door back up, leaning it in place.

“Well, you didn’t really need us after all, did you?” Bink asks.

“Sure, we could get out of the cage. But what then? Run upstairs and deal with 40 giants? Not likely,” Blaze explains. Bink nods in agreement.

“Wait, let’s not leave yet, we can kill some giants, then escape,” Eltharion says as Grog, Jezda and Blaze get their weapons from the storage closet nearby. Blaze hefts a mighty battle axe. Jezda gets his greatsword and halberd. Grog finds his finely crafted katana.

“Yeah, we should help as much as we can before heading back. I’ve got a bunch of spells ready to go…” Bink adds.

“Do you know where The Necromancer and Trek are?” Eltharion asks Grog and Jezda.

“They’re not here. We were captured and then separated. I overheard them say that the ‘humans’ were going to be taken to a different location for questioning,” Grog explains.

“Dammit… well, we’ll kill some giants, then head back and have Adlai scry for them,” Eltharion says. He begins to lead them out into the hallway.

The passage is very tall once they get out of the jail. Several different paths are before them, but they don’t have time to make a decision. They hear a low whistle coming from a pile of rubble. Eltharion approaches.

“Hello?” Eltharion looks around the pile, and an orc steps out from behind a rock. Eltharion’s blades go up instinctively, but the orc shows his bare hands.

“Peace, elf, come this way,” the orc leads them behind the rock and into a small crawl space. Blaze has trouble fitting, but squeezes his armor through (with ample scratching and squealing). They emerge in a very rough underground area. Natural cave works, stalactites and stalagmites. Many orcs litter this area, sharpening weapons, sleeping, caring for young, and a myriad of other activities.

“Woah, what are all of you doing here, living in a giant stronghold?” Blaze asks, bewildered.

“We have taken up refuge here, fighting the good fight against those damned giants,” the orc responds. His chain armor is torn and old.

“Wow, there is a whole tunnel complex here,” Eltharion looks past the orcs to the tunnels beyond.

“Yes, underground river, strange haunted temple, unexplored tunnels…” the orc starts.

“You said, ‘haunted temple,’ right? Where is it?” Eltharion asks, a look of glee on his face.

“I can show you where it is, but we never go in there,” the orc says, pointing off to one of the tunnels.

“I’ll be right back, you guys talk to orcs and find out where we can attack some giants,” Eltharion says as he jogs off toward the haunted temple.

“Is he always like that?” Blaze asks.

“Yeah, he’s like, greedy to see what he can find, but he never really wants to keep any of it. A little strange,” Grog says.

“He’d make a good thief,” Jezda adds.

Eltharion trails down the tunnel and sees a pile of rubble dead end, and to the right of it a small passage. Right away he can feel negative energy pouring out of the hallway. He grits his teeth and heads inside. Strange carvings line the walls, and a small altar is in the center of the room. Atop it is a small bag, covered in dust.

“Hey, what are you doing?” Blaze’s voice came from behind Eltharion as he opened up the small sack. He produced a shiny black scarab.

“Wow, take a look at this thing,” just as he finishes saying that, the scarab animates; hopping out of his hand and burrowing straight into his chest, too quickly for him to react. After a gurgle and a spray of blood, Eltharion lay dead; his heart eaten out entirely.

“By Tempus…” Blaze approached Eltharion. He picked up his body and carried him back to the orc camp. He set the body down and began to pray. Fifteen minutes later he cast raise dead and brought Eltharion back. After digging out the scarab and putting it into a wooden jar, of course.

“Wh, what happened?” Eltharion asked, his chest throbbing in pain.

“That thing you picked up just chewed you up,” Blaze cast cure serious wounds and Eltharion felt much better. Blaze held up the jar with the scarab in it, shaking it around.

“Hm, I’ll hold onto that, just in case we run across someone we don’t like,” Eltharion put the jar into his bags.

“All right already, are we going to kill some giants or what?” Bink asks, getting impatient.

“Go down back the way you came, and there are some giants working the passage. You should be able to hear them from the hallway,” the orc explains. “We wish you well.”

“Thanks,” Bink says, and the five of them head back out into the hallway.

Grog grips his oversized katana, looking around tentatively. Eltharion sneaks from wall to wall, though, his flaming scimitar keeps him from being able to hide. Jezda follow and Blaze does too. Bink strolls out unconcerned. They round the corner and see three 18 foot tall men with grey skin, sitting around in a circle, playing cards of some kind. The giants don’t notice the Heroes. The Heroes take advantage.

Grog flies into a furious rage; spittle flying and eyes bloodshot; into one of the giants. He slams his katana into the giant’s back, drawing a loud yell. Jezda similarly charges in, swinging his greatsword with a masterful stroke, and slices into the same giant. Eltharion runs in as well, slashing the giant with his sylvan scimitar. Blaze comes in last, charging a different giant. He swells up; his armor squeaking and squealing.

“TEMPUS!!” Blaze’s axe crashes into the giant with an thundering snap. It must have broken two or three of the giant’s ribs, and the giant collapsed, his heavy breathing slowing as the blood poured from the very mortal wound.

Bink’s, and everyone else’s, eyes went wide at the power behind this man’s axe. He regained his composure, cast haste and then shot a lightning bolt at the already injured giant. It scorched him, though he was able to duck out of the way somewhat.

Two of the giants stood up. The one next to Eltharion, Grog and Jezda withdrew a few feet, setting himself. The other one lashed out with a stone club, striking Grog on the head. Grog saw stars, but the rage in his eyes was enough to overcome them. The giant on the ground, one hand clutching the terrible wound, kicked Blaze in the chest, knocking the wind out of him.

Blaze chopped down two more times, hacking into the giant’s stomach and then neck, practically severing its head. Eltharion charged at the remaining two, and took two club-hits for his trouble. He was staggered severely, and barely got up to the giant to swing his sword.

Grog and Jezda faced similar hits as they charged, both taking rough club hits before striking the injured giant.

Bink flew into position and fired off two lightning bolts in a way to hit both of them with each. They both dodged well enough, and were still standing after substantial burns.

Blaze charged in, and took two devastating club hits. One to his chest knocked the wind out of him again, and the other to the head knocked him unconscious.

Both giants moved back away from the Heroes, staying side by side.

Grog ran in again, taking another two hits. He was barely able to stay standing; only the adrenaline from his rage pumping the blood through his veins. He jumped and with an overhead slash, cut the injured giant down, spilling its entrails all over Grog. He didn’t seem to care.

Eltharion and Jezda charged the last giant, slashing it violently. Both of them dodged the club hits, and both of them scored deep slashes against the thing’s legs. Bink finished it off with ten magic missiles. Eltharion and Bink healed Grog and Blaze respectively, making sure they were both okay.

“Okay, gather around,” Bink took out his staff of size alteration and shrunk everyone in the party, so that he could teleport them all more easily. In a flash, they were back in castle Brunswick’s laboratory.

Off to the lich’s lair! If he is a magic item collector, how many magic items does he have? How much can the Heroes plunder? This and more, next time!

 

[Droid101]

“So you can’t find them?” Bink asks Adlai nervously.

“No, damn. Something is blocking scrying from Trek and The Necromancer,” Adlai replies, defeated.

“Well, they can take care of themselves. I think,” Bink says. “We’re going to head out to Velkvir’s domain now.”

“Good luck,” Adlai states.

Bink heads back down stairs to the main hall. Blaze, Grog, Jezda, Damaré, Eltharion and Ogrim are waiting.

“All right, I’m going to teleport to Velkvir’s lair with Ogrim, Grog and Eltharion. Need the least weight possible so I won’t have to shrink everyone to get back, in case we get in a bind,” Bink explains. “We’ll go in, get as much info on Velkvir we can…”

“Don’t you mean, steal as many of his magic items as we can?” Eltharion puts in.

Bink and Adlai’s studies have shown Velkvir to be a magic item collector. With him down in the southern forest with the green dragon, the Heroes hope to ransack his home.

“Well, I only need one magic item,” Bink was referring to the book that Indiffines the Wretched, the evil eryines, had commissioned him to retrieve. “After Ogrim, Grog, Eltharion and I return, we’ll all go to the southern forest and help the king kill Velkvir and that dragon.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Ogrim states.

“What about you?” Eltharion asks Blaze.

“Well, I’d be glad to go kill an undead wizard. They’re the worst of the lot,” Blaze responds.

“Why were you over in that jail in the giant’s stronghold?” Bink asks.

“My brother, Blaine, and I, went over there to try to stop the giants. They’re going to be building a bridge to the mainland, and I couldn’t let that happen,” Blaze started. “So, we found out where one of their strongholds was, and we went in. We split up, to cover more ground, and I found myself surrounded by giants. They threw me in jail until they could have me taken to their other locations, they said. Then, you guys showed up.”

“Do you know what happened to your brother?” Eltharion asks.

“No, and we said, that if for whatever reason we got separated, that we’d eventually meet up at the Adventurer’s Guildhall,” Blaze says. “I know my brother can take care of himself, so I’ll just head to the Guildhall sooner or later, and see if I can meet up with him. Until then, I’d love the chance to do some damage to that undead wizard.”

“Then you’re in,” Eltharion states proudly. “How about you guys? What happened?”

“Well, me, Jezda, Trek and The Necromancer got put in front of the big wooden building,” Grog started. “We snuck in and checked out the place. After a while, there were just too many giants. We got caught. The Necromancer and Trek were taken somewhere else, cause they were humans. They might have information. Me an’ Jezda were just greenskins. Didn’t know nothing...” Grog paused.

“They took Grog out and kicked him around for a while each day. Playing some game, trying to kick him between some trees… They liked him because he could take so many kicks and keep getting back up.” Jezda put in.

“I’ll kill them… next time I see giants… I’ll kill them…” Grog mumbles.

“Well, okay, I think that’s enough reminiscing. Let’s get going,” Bink prepares his teleportation spell. Thinking about the illustrations and descriptions he had memorized over the last few days, he cast teleport. Reality slipped out of view, and then snapped back in. Ogrim, Grog, Eltharion and Bink were standing in a barren wasteland. Off in the distance they could see a dilapidated castle of some kind.

The air was cold, dead. An uneasy feeling washed over them. This place wasn’t right.

“Do you feel that? It’s like cold fingers…” Eltharion starts.

“Nothing has been alive out here for centuries. Deadlands,” Bink states, looking around. They start walking toward the ruined building.

They reach it. It is a two story building. Looks like a modest keep, or at least was one. Now it’s beyond disrepair. Sections of the wall are missing. Hinges are irrevocably rusted. Wood is rotting and brittle.

“Let’s take a look around,” Bink says, entering the half-open decayed front doorway.

“Stay here, I’ll search around,” Eltharion says, sneaking forward, staying hidden. Bink, Ogrim and Grog follow, despite Eltharion’s plea.

They search the two floors. On the first, they find a throne room, kitchen, and dining area. The second floor has an open-ceiling area and many rooms. The rooms have beds, desks, vanities, but are all dusty, broken, and unusable. Stairs lead to the roof where one can look down onto the open air-garden in the center of the second floor. All the plants are long dead, of course. No organic matter is left.

“This place is empty. No magic item collection. No nothing,” Eltharion states.

“Maybe he moved everything when he left for the forest,” Bink says.

“Maybe ye aint lookin hard enough, elf,” Ogrim adds.

“I’ll search again,” Eltharion goes back to the entrance, examining the ground for tracks or traces. “I think I got something…”

He follows what he thinks are traces of old footprints around the first floor. They lead into the kitchen and stop right in front of the large iron stove.

Eltharion scratches his head.

“The tracks end. You think maybe he came here, then teleports? Or something?” Eltharion is perplexed. The Heroes sit and ponder for a while.

After a few minutes of thinking, Ogrim gruffly stands and pushes the stove out of the way. A passage opens, revealing a staircase leading down.

“Let’s get goin’,” Ogrim grunts, heading down the stairs first.

Eltharion and Bink shrug, and Grog follows closely after. The stairs decend quickly, and soon they are in a small hallway. Every few feet there is a divet in the wall with a small candle burning. All of the candles are almost completely melted away. The passage stinks of rotting flesh.

“That’s disgusting, Grog,” Bink says.

“Not me!” Grog states, holding his nose.

The passage splits off, continuing straight, or hooking back to the right. They turn right and soon reach a spiraling staircase, leading down. They go, cautiously, and weapons drawn.

At the bottom, the passage is ten feet wide and 12 feet tall. Two huge golden inscribed doors stand in front of them. The inscription reads:

Velkvir, Salménmalón the Learnéd, Iuz the Corpse King hold vestry within these halls. Power beyond comprehension lays here.​

And underneath, a smaller inscription:

Fools and heroes alike have fallen to the endless grip of time and space. Thousands have tried before and failed. Thousands shall try and fail again. Knowledge is power. Power is true living. This is all you need to know.​

A flash of magic washes over the Heroes after they read the writing, however, none of them succumb to the symbol’s effects.

“What was that?” Grog asks.

“Magic. Don’t worry, we’re okay,” Bink puts a hand on the door, and it slides open easily.

The hallway beyond was obviously lavishly decorated, but recently ransacked. Several doors are on each side of the hall. There are several pedestals lining the hallway as well. All have plaques with inscriptions. The Heroes investigate.

Two items are setting on pedestals. One has an elaborately embroidered robe. It has bright and vibrant rainbow colors. The plaque says “Technicolor Dreamcoat.” Bink picks it up. The other item is a small purple stone. The plaque says “Spell Stone.” Bink picks that up as well.

“Hey, watch it… traps,” Ogrim states. They read each the rest of the plaques; they all have no items atop the pedestals.

Amulet of the Crab
Ring of Immunity
The Wards
Floaters
Spell Stone
Horn of Blasting
Cloak of the Ghost
The Vanisher
The Jeweled Helm of Kreg
Blade of Neverinth
Technicolor Dreamcoat
Titan’s Flange
Jhavnin’s Stone
Glowing Stone

Eltharion finds a piece of paper on the ground, and he reads it aloud:

Korbadur,
The storming of Tovag Baragu has all but come to fruition. Gather your best men and their best men. We set out in one day.

Once you have secured your troops, meet in the treasure chamber. You and your men will arm with Velkvir’s collection and we will set out.

Be sure to stop off on the way to get the celebration supplies; alcohol, food, and whatever else to keep your men motivated and happy.

The temple will be heavily guarded, so be prepared. Once we find Vecna and the Dwemors he’s unknowingly in possession of, I shall kill him, claim them, and ascend to true God-hood.

You and all your surviving men will be rewarded with gold and power beyond your wildest imaginations. Korbadur, act with haste.

-the Corpse King
Iuz

“Looks like we were late,” Eltharion says, after he reads the letter.

“They already took everything… Damn, I wonder if the book is gone too…” Bink says. “Let’s check out the rooms.”

Each door has an inscription over it.

Oathbow
Luckblade
Sword of Kas
Hall of the Corpse King
The Sun
The Moon
Hall of Salménmalón the Learnéd
Hall of Velkvir
Hellcast
Murasamé

“Well, let’s start on this end and work our way to the other,” Bink says. Ogrim pushes open the first door. Inside is a very small room, with a pedestal, and another plaque.

Oathbow: A great elven warrior wizard crafted this powerful weapon to seek vengeance on all of his enemies. Overestimating his own power, he challenged the Corpse King Iuz for past persecution of elves, and fell in glorious battle.

The pedestal is empty. The party moves on to the next room.

Luckblade: This blade didn’t bestow as much luck as its past weilders would have hoped for.

The pedestal is empty. At the side of the room, another plaque hangs on a wall.

Hammer of Thunderbolts: Liberated from the mediocre hero Donovan Grumoile in the year of 688.

There is nothing hanging from the peg. The Heroes move on to the next room.

“Man, I wonder why they left this robe,” Bink says, having donned the rainbow-colored robe.

“Well… look at it…” Eltharion muses.

Sword of Kas: It is said that this blade can cut down the false-God Vecna. Forged by Vecna himself and given to his greatest general Kas, he was betrayed by Kas and the blade.

The pedestal is empty. They move on. The next room is much larger than the single-item rooms.

Hall of the Corpse King Iuz

Books line every wall except where the back wall is, behind a desk and chair. Bink’s eyes shift into the magical spectrum and he sees twelve books radiating magic. The Heroes pile them into a large sack. They read a little about Iuz, and head out to the next room.

The Moon

When they open the door to this room, everything inside is pitch black, except for a pedestal about fifty feet away. It is emitting a faint green glow, and a scimitar is floating above it. The Heroes approach cautiously.

“Why would they take everything else, but leave this nice looking scimitar…” Eltharion’s question is answered before anyone else can say anything. The door behind them fades out of view, and all of a sudden, behind them, there is another pedestal with a golden-glowing sickle floating atop it. The Sun room had merged with The Moon room. It was one long pitch black hallway. And they could feel the chill setting in. Something cold, too cold. Something evil. Something unnatural. A huge, 20 foot tall pitch-black humanoid figure falls from above them, landing in their midst. The light from Eltharion’s flaming scimitar reveals the dark pools of negative energy that are its eyes.

Can the Heroes find a way out of this one? Is greed worth it? How good are The Sun and The Moon? Find out all this, and more, next time!