Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Droid101" data-source="post: 1791765" data-attributes="member: 942">“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 CrabRing of ImmunityThe WardsFloatersSpell StoneHorn of BlastingCloak of the GhostThe VanisherThe Jeweled Helm of KregBlade of NeverinthTechnicolor DreamcoatTitan’s FlangeJhavnin’s StoneGlowing StoneEltharion 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.OathbowLuckbladeSword of KasHall of the Corpse KingThe SunThe MoonHall of Salménmalón the LearnédHall of VelkvirHellcastMurasamé“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 IuzBooks 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 MoonWhen 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!</blockquote>

Verification