EN Story telling

[Silver Moon]

Elsewhere (again)

The Morgarth was becoming more and more impatient. The encounter with the paladin the previous month had come back to haunt him once again. That foolish mortal had the audacity to physically attack the great Morgarth. Naturally, the paladin paid the ultimate price for that transgression. Captured, tortured, and then forced to match as Morgarth's minions slew the man's family and the entire populace of the paladin's home village, before Morgarth himself delivered the deathblow. But it was not enough. The wound that was inflicted by the paladin's holy sword would not heal! Every day more life seeped from the body of the current host, a fact that Morgarth dared not share with his followers, lest one of them might decide to take advantage of it's master's misfortune.

The mortal body of Lord Veringtor had served him well for the past decade. The Morgarth had used the Lord's fortune and position to his advantage, making the Lord's Castle his base, to spread the objectives of his Liege throughout the world. And the imbecilic people of this world never even suspected. Even those who were aware of the Morgarth still mistakenly believed him demon rather than devil-spawn! And the only ones to ever become suspicious of the changes in the personality and priorities of Lord Verington were his three children. The daughter Vertitalla was the easiest to be rid of, marrying her off to the Emperor of a far away land. The youngest son, Veringterix, had also been easy to manipulate, sending him off on a continuous series of fool's errands. Only the eldest son, the paladin Veringtorlux, came close to finding out the truth before being dispatched by Morgarth's most trusted lieutenant, the lesser devil known as Delgroth.

Yes, this had been a good host body. The Morgarth reflected back upon the various host bodies he had since his Liege, Asmodeus, the Overlord of Hell, first sent him to this world. Many of the most powerful warlords, high priests and arch-wizards had had the fortune of being chosen to share in the existence of The Morgarth. Even the great Arch-Mage Mordenkainen himself served as a host body not very long ago, before the forced separation by the meddling Demigod Finder Wyvernspur.*

The Morgarth hoped that his minions would find a worthy replacement soon, thinking "Perhaps a King this time, or better yet, another ranking High Priest of a lawful good religion, to corrupt it from the top and bring pain and disillusionment to all of the man's followers. Well, who ever they find, it had best be soon. This body will only last for another week or two."


*As detailed in Silver Moon's Story Hour titled "Chinese Take-out".

 

[Steverooo]

Flumph!

Looked, couldn't find "Chinese Take-Out"...

 

[Silver Moon]

Re: Flumph!

Looked, couldn't find "Chinese Take-Out"...

http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=28642

It's a bit long, but a fun read.

 

[Steverooo]

Contribute!

Flumph!

 

[ejja_1]

onward and downward

Celina opened his backpack and put his bow inside, it magically seemed to disappear inside. He then pulled out a crossbow with a strange handle on it's base, it looked like a crank to a meat grinder. When done he pulled what looked like a bunch of bolts that had been secured together between two small wooden slats, and slapped them into a slot at the top. That done he pulled back a little wooden rod with a loud "click", and then checked the blade on his hip and made sure it would draw cleanly.
Rix watched as Celina went through his small regimine, he had seen it a couple times before when they had been dungeon delving. Drakhar ignored them completely, lost in his own thoughts. Celina looked to Bri when he was done.
"So friend druidess, what form will you take for yon dungeon? I have clothes that would fit human or elf if you have need."

 

[Silver Moon]

As they set up camp for the night Drakhar pondered about what had transpired that day. "Rix always has kept to himself, but his current period of silence is a bit much. He had spoken a mere dozen words since lunch, and only in response to comments from others. It had to have something to do with that dagger we found.

Drakhar remembered Rix's initial comment of "No, it can't be". But when asked what he meant, he made a lame excuse about being surprised to see that specific type of dagger. He said he had seen the type before, that it was a paladin's dagger with added force against evil. "Bull," Drakhar thought, "It was that symbol that spooked him."

Finn had cast a Speak with Dead spell on the body, discovering that the fallen knight was named Veringtorlux, and that he was slain by a being named Delgroth. Further questioning revealed that Delgroth worked for Morgarth. The final question that Finn was able to ask was 'Where can we find Morgarth', and the knight replied with "He has overcome my father." What was that supposed to mean? That was hardly a location. We need more!" But Finn's spell was over, so no more could be asked. They had given the paladin a proper burial and moved on.

Drakhar headed over to where Brieanna had sat down, going through her evening ritual of feeding her creatures. Drakhar gave her an uncharacteristic smile, and pointing towards the eagle comments "He looks much stronger. Ready to fly yet?" "Another day or two," she answered, "No reason to rush it." When the dwarf was close enough to the centaur to speak without being heard by the others he shared with her his suspicions that Rix was holding out on them. She replies "I agree. His face showed a shocked look the knight said Morgarth was with his father. We've been patient enough, I want some answers."

Brieanna headed over to where Celina has begun a cooking fire, and called for the party to gather. She looked directly at the rogue, and spoke "Rix, I can respect your desire for privacy with personal matters, but I suspect that your reaction to our finding the knight earlier today concerns all of us. If you know more than you have told us thus far, please share it with us." Her words were spoken in a firm voice, and her glare at him never wavered.

After a long pause that seemed to some like an eternity he finally spoke. "My full name in not Rix, it is Veringterix." He holds the dagger out, stating "This is my family crest. The knight Veringtorlux was my brother." Finn is the first to break the silence that follows, stating "And Morgarth…." Rix answers "My father's personality changed many years ago. My brother thought that he was possessed by an evil being. I never believed it.…until now." Finn states "So if we find your father…" "We find Morgarth" Rix replies.

Another pause follows, and then Celina states "The prophecy was correct. The verse from the dwarven ballad stated 'A stealthy master of much art, helps take obstacles apart, And is the key that ope's the way'…Rix, you've just provided us with the key to our quest."

 

[Silver Moon]

Meanwhile, some 200 miles away.....

Kari was tired. It had been a long life. To her it seemed far longer than it had actually been. She still had not reached forty years of age, although from her physical appearance one would guess far older. "Give me that Pointy-ears" yelled the half-orcan child. "I saw it first, Snout-nose" the half-elvan boy yelled back. "Children, behave!" Kari screamed at the boys. Both children came immediately to attention, and then stated in unison "We are behaving mother, we're behaving badly." "Enough! You boys will be the death of me yet," the woman replied. She then instructed them "Put the saddlebags on the mule, we must be going."

"Why are we always in such a hurry?" the half-elvan boy asked. She patted him on his head, and stated "You've heard the story often enough Artiniel, we must fulfill your father's destiny. He trusted us with the Crimson Orb, and we must bring it to the one of the prophesy." "His father! That's all you ever talk about!" the half-orc protested. "My father was a god, your father was just an ugly fighter" Artiniel stated. Kari corrected him, "No Art, he was not a god, he just lives with them. And we owe our very lives to Grod's father, so do not be teasing your brother about him." "Half-brother!" Artiniel protests. "Enough," Kari admonishes the boys, "We do not wish to draw attention to ourselves by your yelling. We had better get going. According to the stars we are almost to the time of reckoning." "Reckon-what?" Grod asks. "Never mind, just come along," the woman replied.

 

[Silver Moon]

Phrentharr was not overly fond of people. Thankfully, life in the clouds precluded most contact with humanity. Occasionally the pegasus riding Cloudriders would venture over for a visit if their cloud city happened to have drifted into the same area as Phrentharr's cloud island, but other than that he tended to avoid mankind whenever he could.

This was not unusual for one of the Draco Cumulus Welkin race, known to the common men as the Cloud Dragons. His race was among the largest, most powerful and most intelligent of all dragonkind. Phrentharr liked to thank that avoiding of mankind was due to the superior intelligence, but deep down he knew it was partially due to cowardice. His one attempt to help mankind, almost two centuries ago, nearly brought about his own demise.

Phrentharr was not certain what had compelled him that day to try to save the human city from the devil and its minions, but it was a wasted effort. At the time he was little more than a young adult, and lacked the power to take on such a foe. He was lucky to have survived, far luckier than most of the residents of the city below. Decades had then passed, and whenever Phrentharr sensed that his cloud island was nearing the devil's current location the cloud dragon used his powers to divert the island away. He rationalized those actions for well over a century. But he could do so no longer. His powers began to peak, with a full arsenal of spells and the natural ability to manipulate weather. "I have stayed away long enough" the solitary creature resolved. "The next time I sense the devil's presence again I will act."


**off-topic**

Going offline for a while. Please pick up the story....

 

[Steverooo]

Flumph-bump!...

...to an apparently-dead tale...

 

[Silver Moon]

Bummer, I was enjoying this thread. I'll ask a moderator to move it over to the "Story Hour" forum, which has a different readership and stays longer on the first post page. Hopefully a few new contributors will join in.