Into the Icy Darkness: The Great Demon War

[Emperor Valerian]

Leaving the Camp... and an Unusual Man...

As they began leaving the camp only a few hours later, Siabrey knew only one thing about the tall sergeant Anias.

She didn’t like him.

“Luke!” she hissed to her love, “I can’t believe we’re letting him go along with! He’s rude, he’s crass, he threatened me and the others...” her harsh whisper snarled.

I think he’s a cad, she heard her sword chime in her head.

“Love, I still maintain he is a misguided bodyguard... very determined, very obstinate...” Luke whispered back, causing Siabrey to give a final sigh of annoyance.

He might be a bodyguard, as you say... he might be an agent of your mother’s! I know one thing for certain... if he tries to harm you, or anyone else in the party, I won’t hesitate to place Kelir’s swordpoint through his neck!

Anias, for his part, listened partially to the conversation, focusing most of his attentions on the people around... the way the looked, the way they carried themselves. The way their eyes met his. All so far had only held looks of shock or amusement at the sergeant’s great height.

From the quiet exchange between Luke and Siabrey, he gleaned valuable information. He truly did not care what they thought of him, that was inconsequential. From the way this Siabrey carried herself, especially around Lucius, it was now clearly apparent the two were close. In many ways, that decreased the threat he saw from her.. but in some ways, it also increased it. True, it lowered chances she was an agent of evil out to seduce and kill him... but even lover’s spats could be dangerous.

As for the others, he’d made estimates of them as well. The Orion fellow had bounded ahead too fast for him to form a truly coherent opinion... he said he was going to scout ahead. He noted with interest the fellow carried no weapons... rather odd... perhaps a monk?

Another couple was also clearly present... the two referred to as Shaun and Elenya. Shaun carried a thin, fancy looking rose colored sword by his side... a blade Anias dismissed as useless. The man also continually tried to make humor... some the others found funny, some they did not. For his part, Anias found it an annoying distraction.

The one called Elenya seemed to be much of the same mold... filled with mirth, and constant chatter, mostly to Shaun. She crackled with magical energy, and carried no weapons... a mage of some kind. However, Anias feared her chatter might prove distracting... covering up the sounds of danger.

Then there was the one called Quin. He too was unnervingly chattersome... asking questions of Anias that the sergeant preferred to keep quiet. “Where ‘ya from?” got old after its fifth asking, as did, “find any women that tall?”

There was also the large beast they called Grumki. Anias reasoned initially that the brute must be a fighter of some kind, but quickly ascertained he was really a cleric... of the ever waffling Kord. While Anias respected the deity for the strength he had... he did not respect the deity’s weak character when picking sides between good or evil. Grumki bore watching... in case he was just as shifty.

The one called Tess was intriguing to Anias. There seemed to be a great respect for her, even though she carried only a ceremonial dagger and wore subdued dresses around. Anias had noticed the dress hadn’t hung properly, and by now had settled that it was some kind of armor. Yet reason would suggest instead of changing one’s armor into a gaudy dress, one would select regular traveller’s tunic and trousers. Additionally, she always had her harp by her side... and it crackled with musical energy. Perhaps it in and of itself was a weapon.

Finally, there was Anias’ opinion of his charge himself. Lucius, it was already apparent, was headstrong... which was unfortunate. Anias reasoned that this would cause him to remind the boy constantly to take precautions... the lad proceeded as if he either didn’t know what was truly after him, or that he had more arrogant confidence in his friends than Anias would have in a solar... taking the pomposity that Anias viewed solars as, anyway...

As he was reviewing his reaction plans in his head yet again, suddenly the woman named Siabrey darted off towards the left, towards a crimson tent. Lucius was close behind, and Anias almost sighed, resigning himself to having to rein in his charge again. He started walking after then.

“Lucius!” he barked. “Come with. We don’t have time for dawdling!”

“We have enough time for me to visit my injured mother!” the one called Siabrey spat back, and Anias growled as Lucius looked directly at him, and followed her inside the tent. Finally realizing it would be a losing battle, he walked inside the tent as well.

The one called Siabrey was saying greetings to a middle aged woman with multi-colored hair, who also appeared to be injured. Bandages covered her shoulder... another mixed observation. Someone truly injured in that way would have only one combat ready arm... but it could be a ruse... Anias decided to be safe.

“Lucius, step away from the woman,” he said quietly, professionally. He then motioned for her to stand up, even as the one called Siabrey began to shout at him. He turned to look into her furious eyes.

“That’s my mother! His mother-in-law! No reason to treat her like she’s a frickin’ orc!”

“After I check her over, you may talk to her,” Anias said calmly. If she struck him, he’d ignore it... unless the damage she threatened might harm him... and his ability to safeguard his charge. “Madame? Please raise your arms, so that I might check for weapons.”


“The utter nerve!” Siabrey spat, only to see Stodiana give a grin and raise her arms.

“So... Luke and Siabrey... you went and got yourselves a real professional bodyguard?” she grinned as he finished his check and she lowered her arms.

“No. He found us. I’d prefer he went away, but he insists on staying, and Luke won’t order him off,” Siabrey complained viciously. She hoped to get a reaction out of Anias with the comment, but the tall man merely walked to a position off to the side... a place she noted was barely ten feet from Lucius, and stood, hand on sword hilt, eyes looking about calmly.

“He’s so damn paranoid,” Siabrey said as she and Stodiana began to walk outside, Luke close behind. With concern she looked at her mother’s bandaged shoulder. The gauzes were clearly fresh; there were no stains from blood on them.

“Are you going to be alright, mom?” Siabrey asked her with concern as they came outside, and Stodiana looked at the small menagerie the group was heading north with.

“Oh, I’ll be fine dear,” Stodiana smiled reassuringly. “I’m in line tomorrow to get some healing magic, after the Baron Valdemar. Until then, these bandages are holding up fine... its partially healed on its own, even.” When she smiled, Siabrey noted with concern the wrinkle lines that came from her mother’s mouth... and realized how old she was getting.

I wish you weren’t here mom... You’re 43... you aren’t going to bounce back from an injury as fast as I would...

Siabrey’s focus on her mother was broken as a pair of large hands grabbed and moved her aside, as Anias began walking forward quickly, towards a man just entering the camp. She couldn’t see the sergeants eyes blaze as a detect evil launched from his being at the man, nor could she see the flaming red results in Anias’ eyes. What she did see was his black blade suddenly flash into the air, as he barked for the other three guardsmen to surround the man.

The man in question, clad in the simple scale armor of a soldier, froze in his tracks, and then began backing out of the camp as Anias bore down on him. As he turned to run, Anias leveled his sword, and three quick flashes of energy lanced from the blade, hitting the man in the back, striking him down.

“What the hell!?” Siabrey shouted, running up towards the fallen man, as Anias barked orders for him to be searched.

“You... j..just murdered someone in cold blood!?” Tess began to cry in fury, until Anias merely held up his hand.

“Examine this man’s possessions. Then tell me truly whether he died in cold blood, or was caught red handed.” The thin giant of a sergeant then knelt, and rifled through the man’s pockets for several moments with a few pauses. Finally, he set four items out before the party... two letters, a small wooden idol, and a dagger.

“The first... two letters. One to his family... telling them of how he has joined a group of religious converts.... look closely at the ceremonies he describes however.” Anias pointed out the relevant sections. “Here... this rite here... relations with that many people at once is only part of a few cults... and coupled with the vaguely mentioned sacrifice...”

“So, he could be from Sune?” Shaun mentioned quietly, taking the letter himself. Anias shook his head, and pulled out the next letter.

“This is from his family. They are concerned by the fact that he doesn’t write, and that other soldiers from his village are reporting he doesn’t report often... if at all. Read the description the soldiers gave his family.”

”My dear, they say when you do come back to camp, your eyes are wild... to the whites, and your skin is red, as if you have a high fever. My child, if you are sick, PLEASE take yourself to the healers for treatment. Your mother is worried...” Siabrey and Tess read... and both gasped.

“That’s the way Luke looked when he was under the evil influence...” Siabrey said quietly. Anias looked at Luke oddly, but nodded at the general gist.

“If you don’t believe me... look at this idol I found in his pocket.” Anias held up a small statuette, barely as tall as Siabrey’s thumb, made of ivory. It clearly looked exactly like the statuettes of the Countess the party had destroyed so long ago.

“Finally,” Anias pointed to the knife, “do not touch this. It is coated with poison,” the sergeant pointed. Siabrey looked extremely closely, and saw the blade merely looked shiny. Tess hummed a note, and gave a sigh, nodding that it was true.

“I don’t know what his intentions were,” Anias said, standing up, “but I can assume from the poisoned knife, they were clearly not honorable or safe.” The sergeant, now at his full height, glanced back over the camp, and gave a snort. “I don’t think it’s wise for us to remain here longer than needed. We should leave immediately.”

Siabrey turned back to Stodiana, who had watched the entire proceeding with shock, and then interest. The older woman smiled.

“Go on. I’ll be fine... back in the saddle tomorrow night, they say!” she laughed. “And Siabrey... listen to your bodyguard... from what I’ve seen, he knows his stuff it sounds like.”

Hmm.. I have to say goodbye to the pretty looking black katana. Siabrey... promise me that when I get reforged next, you’ll make my blade some unique color like that? Kelir asked in her head. She ignored him.



A few minutes and goodbyes later, the party was mounted, and travelling northwards through the Illyant Forest, with Irulas less than five days away.

“Dude,” Shaun said, riding alongside the tall sergeant, whose feet nearly scrapped the ground even while he was on his mount. “That was amazing back there... you figuring out that guy was bad by a glance and all. How did you do it?”

“Magic, silly,” Elenya smiled at Shaun, playfully batting him in the back of the head. “Are you a sorcerer or wizard, friend Anias?”

“Neither,” Anias said quietly, barely noticing the question. “I am merely what I am. Please do not interrupt my work with needless questions again.”

A man with a poisoned knife coming into the camp of the army Lucius commanded... obvious there is no way to tell who he was targeting, but it would be a safe guess that Lucius was on his short list. I must be even more vigilant. My mission, and Lucius’ life, depend on it, Anias thought, as his eyes kept sweeping the forest for movement.

 

[Emperor Valerian]

Emerald

The party’s journey into the woods continued uneventfully the rest of the day. Anias found himself annoyed by Shaun’s constant quips, while Luke found himself annoyed by Anias’ overzealous protections. It was only after great strain (and careful explanation that as a sorcerer he needed sleep, and that sleeping in his armor would not help that) that Luke managed to get the sergeant to let him sleep without the armor.

The next morning dawned bright and cool. Shaun was surprisingly among the first up, and he watched as Siabrey arose rather grouchily from her bedroll, separate from Luke’s at Anias’ insistence. Shaun wasn’t sure... but the sergeant had been awake when the rogue had taken second watch... stayed awake through the watch, and was awake now.

When the heck did he sleep? Shaun’s morning mind wondered, before shaking his head and assuming the sergeant woke early for second watch and went to sleep after Shaun had laid down. Nonetheless... the man had strange features. Shaun suspected fey, and decided to bluntly ask.

“Anias? If I may be so bold... I’ve taken note of your body... your...um... what was the word... aha! Physiology!” Shaun beamed at producing the long word, and sputtered more. “Are you of fey descent?” I assure, its actually something to be quite proud...”

“Do you really want to know what my ancestry is? Would that make you and the others trust me more?” Anias asked quietly. It’s clearly apparent that Lucius trusts them more than me. Perhaps in this instance, I need to let go of my cover... if only to protect him better.

“Yes,” Siabrey, busy setting eggs into a skillet above the fire, spoke loudly.

“Fine then. I am an asura.”

“A what?” Siabrey looked up, confused.

“An angel... for lack of a simpler explanation. I was sent by Hieroneous to deliver to Lucius said armor... and provide him with protection.” Siabrey, Tess, Shaun and Orion were agape.

“You do not believe me,” Anias smiled simply. “Fine... then don’t believe who I say I am, but believe when I say that I will guard Lucius more closely than any one of you can. And that he will be safe under my watch.”



Confused, Shaun decided to turn his attention back to what he did understand... food. “Mmm... Siabrey... what are you cooking... or should I say... what will I have to remove extra sprices from?” Shaun sauntered over towards the fire, licking his lips at the smell of eggs, and pieces of ham.

“No ham for you then,” Siabrey said matter of factly, but when she looked up at him, Shaun read the mirth in her eyes. She read his eyes as well, and added, with a grin, “No! No Ham and eggs for you! You mocked my cooking!”

“Well, dearie, your cooking des need a little work at times,” a tired Elenya added before yawning. “Though I think you’re competent enough to not mess up ham and eggs,” she added with a smile, causing Siabrey to threaten her with food stoppage as well.

After a few minutes, the smell of food had awakened everyone else that was asleep. As Grumki and Quin both piled massive portions on to their wooden plates, Siabrey set about making Luke a plate. He was still nustled in blankets, clearly struggling between choosing food, or more sleep.

“Here you go, love,” Siabrey set the plate down, only to see a large, long head stick itself between him and his food. “Oh... let me guess... you need to check the food his wife fixed for him,” Siabrey groaned.

“No harm,” Anias said quietly, looking at the food for a few seconds, before nodding his head. “Its ok.”

“Please don’t tell me you’ll be doing this all the time,” Siabrey groaned. “That’s annoying...even if you are an angel.”


A few hours later, Anias looked at his charge and the man’s wife. She’d been quite upset earlier in the morning when Anias had checked her food. He trusted the woman enough to not assume she’d intentionally poison him... but his instincts made him want to test in case the food had been contaminated, or spoiled. A sick charge would be a slow moving target for a true assassin.

He continued his glances about the woods, riding barely away from Lucius’ side, when he felt something... something stir... deep and powerful, in the forest ahead. He held up his hand, and reined everyone up, as he looked around quickly, as the feeling of dread rose... higher and higher.

There was an evil... coming closer, becoming more and more powerful in his sight.

“Get off the road,” he hissed quietly. The party looked at him in confusion, until they saw his eyes... deep, black, and full of worry. “Go, now!” he pushed at Luke, until the man spurred his horse off to the side of the woods. Once everyone was inside, Anias motioned for dead silence, as his feeling a dread rose.

He could now literally feel the evil shuddering, down into his angelic bones. An evil presence, extremely powerful even when measured against those he’d experienced in his long life, was drawing closer. Is it the Countess? One of her demons? A devil? What? his mind wondered, as he carefully and silently slid “Nightblade” from its scabbard.


Siabrey could tell from the sergeant’s eyes that something was dreadfully wrong... and for the first time, she started really thinking about what he claimed to be. An angel... which would explain how he could tell that fellow yesterday was up to no good by just looking at him...

Which means right now...

Kelir silently came from his scabbard as well, as Siabrey whispered quietly to the others, “prepare for battle... our sergeant friend smells something’s up.” Quietly, a bastard sword, longbow, harp, longsword, spellbook and warhammer were produced and readied.

At that moment, the party jumped, as the trees across the road, perhaps some two hundred yards away, parted. A long, elegant neck, light green and scaly even from this distance, rose swiftly and gracefully through the gap until it towered some 70 feet above the surrounding trees. At the top set a unique crown, a massive head, boned, ridged, horny, with titanic yellow eyes and numerous off color teeth. At the bottom, the neck spread out into massive musclar shoulders and haunches, which broadened until the bulk of the creature was obscured by the forest itself. The stench of chlorine assaulted the party’s noses, as a voice boomed inside of their heads.

”Who are you? Why do you travel through my forest... without a toll?”

DRAGON! everyone’s mind screamed, and all began to shake in their boots... all save Anias.

Should I launch an attack... or wait to see what this vile vermin has to say? Anias thought, trying to decide. Finally, he decided to only attack if the creature became overtly hostile... it rank of evil, but he hadn’t been sent here to hunt green dragons... he’d been sent to protect Lucius.

“Sir... Dragon,” Tess managed to sputter eventually. “We meant you or your lands no harm. We are mere travelers, heading towards Irulas.” Whatever you do Tess... don’t let him know about the rod or idol!

”Travelers you say?” the voice continued. Now that their surprise was waning, the party had time to realize that the voice was high, scratchy... a bare whisper almost. ”If that were true, surely you have heard of the problems plaguing my forest...”

“Orcs, Gnolls, and the like?” Shaun quickly offered, and a deep draconic growl of thought echoed in their heads.

”Mmm... yes. Those are annoying... they harass the loggers who pay me rights to stay here,” the dragon rumbled. The rumble was massive... as it was clearly apparent he was easily as large or larger than Xanadu even. ”That... and the undead ones...”

“Undead ones?” Anias asked. The idea of violators of the laws of life and death crawling in this forest, on top of this mammoth evil, made his angelic skin crawl.

”Yes... angel one...” the raspy voice of the dragon came into their heads. ”They terrorize my loggers... they come, kill some, and take them back to be more... soon there will be a small army of them I imagine... as I am too busy chasing out these orcs...”

Lucius should not be traveling in this forest! Anias’ mind snapped. We should turn around, and go around the forest... bypassing these problems entirely!

”Anyways... to the point at hand. I control this forest, yet I have seen no toll from you. Whatever shall I do with you all?”

“Where are these undead?” Siabrey asked, an idea forming in her mind. Perhaps we can get through this forest fine... maybe... “Tess!” she then hissed, “What do you know about dragons like this?”

“Um... greens are said to be power hungry... but instead of wanton destruction or sheer terror, they enjoy domination and control. They enjoy power for itself, not for its abilities to terrorize, damage or destroy.”

”The undead are to the north... perhaps two days. Sometimes they raid along this road even...”

“So... maybe we can reason with him,” Shaun offered. “Offer to take care of the undead in return to him giving us safe passage? I believe the phrase is, ‘If he scratches our back, we don’t stab him in the back.’”

“No, its ‘if we scratch his back, he’ll scratch ours,’” Tess rolled her eyes. “If its to the north, then its right along our path anyways. We can do this as we go by.”

“You are going to negotiate with an evil like that?!” Anias finally spoke, livid. “And put Lucius in danger for safe passage through the forest!? Are you mad!? Do you care for Lucius at all!?” The sergeant’s eyes were fairly blazing almost red.

“Yes, we are,” Siabrey turned to face him direction, her eyes at about his chest level. “Why? Because if we go around, one... it will take to long... and two... outside of hte forest are, you heard it... orcs! And whose army has lots and lots of orcs! His mothers! No... we cut through the forest!” she crossed her arms, and dared the angel to say anything.

“Fine!” Anias grumbled after a few seconds indecision. “We work with that dragon,” he shuddered, skin crawling at the concept, “on the condition that Lord Lucius be kept from combat if at all possible, and we don’t cause that thing to gain more power than it has.”

“I’m a child now? I can’t go to the...” Luke started to complain, and it was Siabrey’s turn to hold up and hand for him to stop. She nodded her head in agreement with Anias, just as the dragon’s voice came into their heads again.

”I hear you chittering. I can’t understand you, but I can warn you that battle plans against me are going to be useless...”

“We do not discuss battleplans, sir... dragon. If I may ask, what is your name?” Tess said coolly and diplomatically.

”None know my name... none shall. They simply call me Emerald.”

“Very well Emerald. We propose a simple solution. In return for passage through your forest for the next few weeks, we will take care of the undead for you. Fair?” Tess offered.

A draconic snicker echoed through the air. ”Very brave offer... and very foolish I might add. I shall take you up on it... if you can kill the undead and the creature that is creating them... then truly you have earned the priviledge of such travel through my forest!”

“We thank you, great Emerald,” Tess bowed. “If you could tell us where the loggers you refer to are... or where exactly the most recent attack happened, it could expedite our search immensely.”

”About two days north, in human terms, there was an attack yesterday. The loggers that survived might still be in the area. I would advise searching there.”

“Thank you Emerald,” Siabrey said, finding it hard to resist grinning at the contorted face of Anias.

”And now that this deal has been made, I shall head off to watch for more orcs. Beware, however... should you fail to keep the end of your bargain, my anger runs long and deep, and my reach extends far beyond even this Valley...” Either to add effect or to prepare for flying, Emerald opened up his massive wings... easily 200 feet across, blotting out the sun around the party. As they watched in shock, the dragon began bounding through the trees, seemingly towards them. As his massive form reached the edge of the road, he leapt upward, and seemed to hover just over the party’s heads.

Until a storm of dust and leaves rose skyward, swirling around as his first massive downbeat took him gracefully into the air.

"We've fought demons, giant evil frog things, and ghouls... what's another undead to us?" Shaun mused as the party got back on the road and headed to the north.

 

[Emperor Valerian]

Overprotective Anias... and Underprotected Undead

“I cannot believe you all wantonly offered to fight undead to help an evil dragon!” Anias still fumed that night. “You’ve made my job so much harder, and put Lucius’ life in peril!”

“My life has been in peril the last three months... you’ll get used to it,” Luke replied dryly, munching on a tough piece of sandhog rib. Even after three weeks, it still tasted delicious, he had to admit. “Bethides,” he said through the meat, “we’b be helpeth thom innocenth loggeth.”

Siabrey, for her part, merely rolled her eyes. She had grown accustomed to merely ignoring the grumpy angel, and now just tuned him out as she began talking quietly to Luke.

“We should set double watches,” Tess thought aloud. “I’m guessing the nasties that are doing these attacks aren’t staying in just one place.” She snapped her hand back as a string she was tuning came out unexpectedly.

“Tess... how about you get Alex to fix that?” Shaun whispered silently at her, his body tensed to dodge the resulting blow. He failed to guess that Elenya would be the one to administer the rib poke, and his muffled yelp caused the angel to growl again.

“Silence!” Anias rumbled. “Half of the Abyss can probably hear that racket!” Shaun and Elenya stopped their wrestling, and looked at Anias with downcast faces.

“Oh, its not like we can’t survive that, or anything else that gets thrown at us,” Quin said quietly. “I mean... I’ve been dead! Its not too bad... especially considering I came back...”


Anias’ annoyance continued well into the next day, with no distraction until mid-afternoon, when far ahead, the angel spotted something odd.

Two men, haggard and breathless, running down the side of the road. Save their run seemed to be more of a weary jog, as if their broken bodies did not have the strength to run anymore. Their eyes bespoke fear... and once they saw the party... hope.

“Help! Help! For the love of Fharlangn, help us!” they cried as the party galloped up in approach. As the party reined up beside them, the two stopped, breathless.

“What’s wrong? Can we help?” Luke offered quickly. The two men, scarcely caring whether they’d been stopped by a Prince or by a Poobah, breathlessly told their tale.

Their logging cart last night had pushed into the evening, past dusk... they were behind schedule, and needed to make up for lost time. Shortly after sunset, they were attacked by “strange people,” who looked like people but smelled of death. The people dragged one of their friends from the cart, as it careened off the road, into the bushes, before flipping over. Another of their group was crushed under the cart. For their part, they ran, as fast as they could... and they’d been running for hours since, towards the south.

The party advised them to keep going, and that they’d search the cart and try to ferret out those who did this. The men went their way, still frightened.

The party continued north, now wary. It was only an hour or two later, in the late afternoon, when they saw strange tracks in the road.

Cart tracks... that lead off into the woods, Ania’s eyes followed the deep ruts in the dirt road that suddenly curved into a now flattened lilac bush, and off into the undergrowth.

“Whatever that was, it was carrying something heavy,” Tess mused. “Look how deep those ruts are.” Only carts carrying bulk goods are weighed down like that... things people wouldn’t bother wanting to steal in normal conditions... coal, iron...

...wood...

“I bet those are the tracks of the not so fortunate the loggers talked about,” Tess said as she dismounted. “If we dismount, we can follow the tracks better, in case they hit some rockier places.”

“Woah... what are you now? Tesseron the ranger?” Quin asked with a grin. “Your talents never cease to amaze me, sis.”

“A bard hears, and thus learns, many many things,” Tess smiled back.

The party followed the tracks for some while... eventually ending up several hundred feet into the woods, when the spotted the form of a cart, turned on its side. Its cargo of logs had been spilled.

“Ew,” Elenya recoiled from a bush as they approached, and the party saw the first body. It was of a young man... his throat had been ripped out, and his skin was a pale pale white, as if all the blood had been drained from his body.

“What does such things?” Siabrey asked quietly, looking closely at the neck wound. While she couldn’t say what did it, she definitely could say it wasn’t caused by a man-made weapon she knew of.

“A vampire... or vampire spawn,” Anias said softly. He could see the itinerant trace whisps of evil on the bodies... residue from when something truly blasphemous touched them. He’d seen this kind of damage... long long before... and calmly thought that such was below his new station.

“V..vampires?” Quin said worriedly, and Anias stooped down, looking at the wounds yet again.

“No... decidedly vampire spawn. This is too brutish for a real vampire. Look... the neck was almost removed... probably after the blood was sucked out. These aren’t true vampires thankfully.”

“What’s the difference?” Quin said quietly, his voice genuinely frightened. “I mean... I’ve seen demons... I’ve seen ghouls... but vampires?”

“Vampire spawn usually what happens when a vampire bites a victim, but doesn’t elect to kill them. They are usually servants to their lord... though there are exceptions to this...” Anias rose again, wiping his hands clean after touching the corpse. “I think this would be one... most vampires... at least from what I know, like urban areas... more targets. It would be slim pickings here in these woods...”

“How do you know so much about this?” Siabrey asked curiously. He sure can spout off monsters as if he knew them from the back of his hand...

“Namely because I’m several millenia old... and I have encountered many many things during my service to the cause of right and justice,” Anias said matter of factly. “Look,” he pointed towards the pile, “there’s the other body they talked about... his hands coming out of the logs.”

Sure enough, the party quickly found after shifting only a few logs the remains of a crushed logger, killed by the very trees he’d undoubtedly helped forest only hours before. Rather pointedly, Grumki stated that the two bodies needed to be consecrated and buried, to prevent them from becoming abominations themselves.

As this grisly work was being done by Grumki, Quin, and Shaun, Luke, Tess, and Anias scoured around the upended cart, looking for tracks. After searching for a half hour, they finally came up with three tracks... all of which led away from the cart roughly to the north east...further from the road.

“They went that way,” Tess pointed towards the tracks. “Though its getting dark now,” she observed from the rising gloom in the sky. “We should probably make camp... I know its creepy sleeping by some graves, but at the least there’s ready firewood here, and a small clearing with good fields of view.”

“Umhm,” Anias nodded in agreement. “Though I shan’t sleep tonight... I’ll take all watches, so you may rest.”

“Um... don’t angels have to... oh,” Shaun stopped his question as he realized he’d already answered it.


After setting up camp and fixing some dinner, the party members began to lay out their bedrolls, and plan for rest. Anias had said that his three other guardsmen would rotate watch as well... so there would always be two awake.

Before Luke could get his bedroll set up, Anias pulled him aside, and looked down into the young man’s eyes.

“Luke. You will do two things for me tonight,” Anias said simply. There was no reason to ask, no reason to be polite. His charge was his responsibility, and his charge would do what was needed to make sure he was protected. “One, you will sleep close to the log where I will watch from. Two, you will wear your armor tonight while you rest.”

“Anias,” Luke said in exasperation. “I already told you... I CAN’T sleep in my armor! It bunches, it hurts my back... and I need to sleep to be able to cast spells!” His complaint had evidently been loud enough that it attracted Siabrey’s attention, and the fighter came over quickly to reinforce her husband.

“Lucius... I would rather you be alive and unable to cast spells than be a dead spellcaster,” Anias said bluntly, till Siabrey interrupted.

“Anias... he uses those spells to help defend himself as much as he uses his armor!” She looked the taller man in the eye, and gave a sigh. “Look, I know you’re trying to protect him, believe me, I understand it can be hard... but this is one case where he’s right. Now, if it makes you feel better, I’ll just sleep on top of him.” Siabrey didn’t have to look at Luke to know he had a surprised look on his face at that moment. “That way, if someone swings at him, it’ll hit ‘expendable me’ first.”

“Mmmm,” Anias’ voice rumbled in thought. “Not nearly as effective as real armor... but if you agree to it, I suppose you might stop a blade long enough for me to react and take down the assailant.” Siabrey also didn’t have to look at Luke to know he got an enraged look when Anias said that.

After the angel nodded, and walked back to where he was to be sitting all night, Siabrey turned to Luke, and saw the look in his eye.

“If someone tried to get you,” she said softly, “they’d find my sword in them before his... don’t worry about me,” she grinned. “Now... Luke... go to bed, so your armor can protect you,” her grin turned into a devilish smile.

“Um... you know we really can’t do much... I mean... the angel will be only ten feet away at most... and the others...” Luke stammered, causing Siabrey to laugh.

“No, silly! I meant actually sleep on you. As in resting. Entering dreamworld. No physical activity needed,” she chuckled. Her snickering grew bigger when she saw a mixture of relief and sorrow in Luke’s eyes.... the proper part of him relieved... while the 17 year old in him... Siabrey gave a sad smile... it would be unhappy tonight.



“Mmph,” Siabrey sleepily raised her head after feeling something bump her side. It had taken her a second... her body had protested, momentarily not letting her lift her head from the pillow of Luke’s chest. Her bearly eyes caught the mailed boot of Anias only inches from her left side, and she looked up.

“Four... fifty feet thataway,” the angel hissed, never looking down at her.

Within seconds, Siabrey was to her feet, Kelir in her hands. Her movement woke Luke, who then helped her don her armor. Looking around, the other party members also were finishing preparations, as the shapes Anias had seen slowly, tenatively grew closer.

Four of them... man sized... with huge, yellow orbs for eyes...

 

[K_S_Snyder]

Busy weekend - long read - GOOD STUFF!

"Luke is... that makes me... I... he... ugh..." - heh. funny quote.

 

[Emperor Valerian]

Yeah... things for them get a little worse. Why? Because, as my players say, "Will's a bastard! "

I was hurrying to get this adventure typed up, as later this week I'm going to be working on research papers for a pesky thing called classes. So at the least, I wanted to get to the end of this adventure before then... because while lots happened in this one... the next one was a defining moment for several of the characters. It'll be a fun break from work to type those up.

 

[Emperor Valerian]

Clash with the Undead

“Vampire Spawn?” Shaun asked quietly, and Anias nodded.

“Luicus.. stay behind me,” the sergeant said quietly. His order was coupled with a grab and a pull, forcing Luke to comply. “They’re scouting... lurking... counting our numbers,” Anias hissed.

As the party watched, on edge, the four forms did slink around the edges of the fire. As they drew closer, the party could see they looked like normal loggers... clad in aprons that were a dull yellow from sawdust, their skin flesh normal in color. Their eyes, however, belied that something was wrong with them.

They were feral.... a bright, frightening gold, like that of a cat. And they stared between party members.

“Will they go away?” Siabrey asked quietly. I know nothing of fighting vampires... here, you are the expert Anias...

“No... they will attack eventually,” Anias said quietly, before he starting murmuring quiet chants.

“Alright... settles the question for me,” she said, just before an arrow flew from her bow, striking the closest creature in the neck. It gave a howl of pain, and then vanished... as did the one next to it. The two further away started running for the party, with two more now distantly visible in the rear. As Anias finished his chants, the air in front of Luke seemed to shimmer slightly, as a magic circle against evil spell cast by the angel took effect.

Shaun’s arrow was the next quickest, striking one of the second pair as they leapt out of some bushes thirty feet from the party. His arrow slammed into the chest of one, causing it to reel. After stumbling, it shook its self off, and merely continued with his attack.

Grumki was the next to act. Calling upon the holy power of Kord, Grumk asked for heaven’s fire to rain down on the two closest spawn he could see. A bright light flashed from above, and as the two spawn looked up to see what it was, a column of fire thundered down with a roar, immolating all around it. Two piles of ashes were left where the spawn once stood.

As yet two more spawn came into view in the distance, the air close to the party seemed to shimmer, as the closest spawn reappeared in their faces... one complete with the arrow Siabrey put in its throat. They lashed out.

One attempted to hit Tess, but his blow flew wide as the bard artfully ducked out of the way. In a single fluid motion, Fa’rallan was in her hand, and she lashed upward, towards the undead creature’s throat. Despite her lack of strength, the blow was mighty, and as a resounding “ZAP!” echoed in the forest, the spawn collapsed, its throat and jaw shattered open, sparks arcing from the wound.

The other lunged towards Shaun, who also deftly dodged its swings. Before he could drop his bow and draw his rapier, however, three blasts of white energy slammed into the creature’s head. As the beast fell, Shaun had a moment to glance back, and see Anias lowering its Nightblade... magical power still crackling at its tip.

The other four spawn, seeing the seeming ease with which their fellow undead were dispatched, turned, and began to run.

“After them!” Anias shouted, grabbing Luke’s arm and pulling him with. I cannot move more than ten feet from him, so he will have to come with. The rest of the party sped out as well, dashing through the thickets after their foe.

The chase lasted a few minutes, with the beasts dashing towards the northeast, along the same paths the party had noticed earlier in the day. Finally, the four spawn halted in the middle of a clearing, near a massive piece of newly disturbed ground.

“Its their burial site!” Anias shouted as the party burst through the thickets, “If we consecrate this, they are completely destroyed forever!” Almost immediately both he and Grumki had their hands on holy symbols.

Until the ground itself started to shake.

The mass of disturbed dirt began to shake and shudder, rising ever quicker in a mound, that soon exploded into a beast of nightmares.

It was fully 20 feet tall at the shoulders, shoulders who had large, waving numbs of rotting flesh hanging from them. The party’s torches revealed it to have a massive body, whose skin was mottled a sickly gren and black. Horrific yellow and red colored sores, seemingly filled to the brim with pus, covered its entire length. Its head was massive, with rows of vicious teeth, the skin off of it hanging, as if it was rotting. From seeming within the creature, a distant, mournful buzzing, as if by hundreds of flies, seemed to eeriely crawl across the night landscape.

“What in Pelor’s name?” Elenya froze, fear seizing her face.

Anias himself was even baffled. In his travels, he had not seen anything as loathsome as this... putrid creature. Even as he watched in shock, it roared, and began to storm towards the party...


Shaun and Siabrey both launched arrows at the beast, and watched in horror as the arrows struck, but seemed to be pushed out by the beast’s very skin (DR 20/+2). Anias motioned for his three guardsmen to charge the beast, while he said some incantations over himself... causing a terrible change.

His armor seemed to change shape... to meld, as his body shifted. Numbs sprouted from the middle of his back, and grew, more and more, as his red hair lengthed, and been shifting between shades of red and orange, as if flaming.

His feet seemed to fuse, and reemerge as three claws, with massive black talons. His hands did the same, as his skin shifted from pale flesh to an icy, terrible blue. As the rapidly forming wings on his back burst into flames, his eyes glowed a feral red; he was now in his true form, and with a flap of his wings, he was aloft, hovering closely above Luke.

The party had scarcely time to notice their comrade’s change, as the massive beast hurled itself into their midst. Its claws caught one of the guardsmen, and to the party’s horror, literally shredded the man in two. A vicious bite crushed part of Shaun’s shoulder, inflicting a horrific poison that left him emaciated (4 Str damage).

The beasts two shoulder numbs then grew into massive, 20 foot long tentacles, which lashed out at the two other guardsmen who harassed its flank. They were driven back by the flailings, their faces and chests scarred.

Tess let loose with a frightening shriek, determined to launch sonic fury at the beast, only to see her three darts seem to shrink before they hit the beast. They hit, strong and true, but the massive creature shrugged off the damage.

Grumki once again called upon Kord on high, and another column of fire from heaven swept down, slamming into the rear of the beast. The beasts’ haunches definitively looked scorched, but it continued to press its assault.

The four vampire spawn in the meantime were not idle either, rushing forward into the fray, their bloody lips gleaming at the trap they’d led the party into. For one, the gleam ended when Siabrey put a sword through his skull, for another, it ended as Luke sent a fireball at the group, aiming so it would just hit their massive overlord (or pet, no one was sure) as well.

The beast continued its assault, this time squeezing its ribcage. From deep, sickly holes in its rotting skin burst forth a swarm of massive, angry locusts, red as blood, who quickly sped towards Luke, stinging and biting him. The boy stumbled back, batting furiously as the fiendish beasts shredded his skin, and tried to suck out his soul (gained one temporary negative level).

The beast also bit hard again into Shaun, crushing several ribs of the rogue as he fought bravely to keep the beast from Elenya. Shaun stumbled away from the combat towards Grumki, the ground rapidly becoming covered with his blood as he slinked.

The beasts claws slashed towards Siabrey, who now was charging at it, Kelir raised above her head. While its claws missed, its tentacles did not, and quickly she found herself wrapped up in their rotting, putrid forms, and it began to slap and squeeze her. The sharp end of one tentacle tried to grab her face and rip off her cheek, but she managed to avoid the blow (attempted to inflict Cha damage, she passed fort save). The beast was about to do more damage to her when a blast of lightning from Elenya slammed into its side, causing it to shudder.

Anias, seeing the locusts assault Luke, abandoned his planned attack on the massive beast and instead flew directly into the midst of the locust, flapping his wings furiously. The heat from the flames dropped many of the fiendish insects, and drove the others away from his charge.

Quin, by this point, had joined the other guardsmen desperately hacking at the beasts side... but their weapons were not powerful enough, and it seemed every cut they made suddenly healed on its own (fast healing 8, in addition to the DR).

Tess, seeing the horrors that were afflicting her friends, decided to help as best she could, and with another shriek, sent sonic darts towards the remaining spawn, resending them towards the afterlife. Grumki, in the meantime, began to administer healing for Shaun, bringing the badly injured rogue back from the brink.

Lucius, now free of the mass of locusts that had been buzzing around him, saw the beast hefting Siabrey up in the air, and charged, Ik Mataar high above his head. Several furious blows later, and the beast looked worse off than before.

For all the damage the party had done, the creature still continued its assault. This time, it clawed at Lucius, raking at his breastplate and managing to sink several claws into his shoulder and neck. Luke managed to resist the vile effects of its poison, as the creature then bit Tess... hard in the stomach. The bard gave a sharp gasp, but avoided the poison in the creature’s rotting jaws as well.

The creature’s tentacles continued squeezing Siabrey, one again trying to rip off her flesh. One again, she squirmed and wiggled enough that she avoided most of the damage, though she felt her strength starting to wane as her ribs creaked dangerously. (once again, passed her fort save)

Anias now found himself in the middle of a swarm of fiendish bloodlocusts, and continued to furiously beat his wings after realizing that the creatures were really too small for him to hit with his sword. When he was able to, he fired magical energy at the massive beast, still not realizing that his charge was now on the front lines, directly in the beasts’ path.

Grumki now grew tired of this nonsense, and decided that the situation called for nothing less than the Strength of Kord. Raising up his warhammer in a battlecry, the half orc thundered forward. As the beast raised its head from biting Tess, Grumki landed a frightening blow, shattering the front half of the creature’s head. The beast, riddled with sword thrusts, lightning burns, fireball burns, arrows, and the like, finally keeled over to the ground... quite dead dead.

Anias, about the same time, gave a final burst of his wings, and the last of the locusts crackled and fell to the ground. None had been able to harm him. As he spun around to charge back against the beast, he stopped in midair, watching in surprise as the party began to pull themselves and the survivors away from the mess.


“Boy,” Anias gave Luke a not-so-gentle smack on the back of the head, “I told you to stay in the rear!” The party by now was back at the camp they had left before. A scour by the less injured of the area had shown that all the tracks made by vampire spawn had led back to that very place where the beast had arisen.

“My wife, for your information, was being shredded at by that... thing! I’m not about to stand aside and let her be mauled if there’s anything I can do about it!” Lucius spat back, before wincing as Siabrey put some salve into one of his shoulder cuts. Luke, per his custom, had demanded to be one of the last healed, and Grumki had spent his healing magic for the night.

“Luke... you really shouldn’t have done that,” Siabrey said, causing him to take a painful double take. “You don’t have to protect me. I’d almost wiggled my way out,” Siabrey lied. Luke... don’t go off being reckless... that’s my job! I am the reckless one! I’ve been fighting all my life... I know how to take hits...

And I can’t imagine life without you.

“Listen to your wife, Luke,” Anias said, using the party’s nickname for him for the first time, “she has some wisdom.”

“Thank you, kind angel,” Siabrey grinned triumphantly. “Sometimes, its hard to put some sense into that boy’s head!”


(DM’s Notes:

The massive monster at the end was the hullathoin, found in the Fiend Folio. Very large undead beast that can command other undead baddies around it. It contains large swarms of fiendish locusts it can release, as well as spreading acid all over by breaking open the blisters all over its body.

Extremely ugly, extremely nasty beasty.)

 

[Emperor Valerian]

Returning to Irulas... and Ill News

The next morning, Grumki quickly healed Luke of the rest of his injuries, and a brief ceremony was held to bury the fallen guardsman. After some final respects the party was quickly off. For two days they rode through the forest, until the trees started to thin... and then they caught a familiar smell in the air.

“This place stinks,” Shaun said unnecessarily, as Tess and Siabrey finally placed the stench...

...chlorine.

“Um... I think Emerald is back,” Siabrey said quietly. There was more than a slight tinge of nervousness in her voice.

“Um... he shouldn’t be hard to see... I mean, its hard to miss a towering head thats bigger than any of the battlement towers in Irulas,” Tess added in a hushed tone.

The party travelled onward, slower now, expecting a massive shadow to glide overhead, and a voice to come in their heads saying there were more undead, and that the problem had not been solved. Instead, to their surprise, no such thing happened. Indeed, they saw nary a creature in the area. Distantly, up ahead along the road, they saw a small gnome ambling along quietly.

“Friend!” Shaun called, “I’d advice you to not go further unless you have a toll ready for the owner of these woods!” The gnome stopped his walk, and laughed.

“I happen to be on good terms with the owner... thank you for your advice... and for ridding the woods of the undead hullathoin,” the gnome smiled. It was only then the party realized that the stench of chlorine from the gnome was overpowering, and that his eyes had a green tint to them.

“Um... you’re more than welcome... Emerald,” Tess stumbled out quickly. The gnome chuckled again.

“You are a useful lot. I could use some troubleshooters like you,” the gnome said, his eyes glinting. “They pay would be excellent... as would accommodations I might say.” A gnomish eyebrow raised.

“No, Emerald,” Anias said somewhat huffily. “I am afraid we are on important business, and at this juncture we are disinclined to take your offer.”

“So, the angel one speaks for you all?” the gnome asked. When the party nodded, he gave a tiny, gnome grumble. “Very well then. There is at least one problem out of my hair. You are free to continue your travel.” Emerald then placed a pipe into his mouth, and continued walking along the road. As the party cantered away, the ground around them went dark, as Emerald the dragon soared overhead, banking gracefully towards the southwest, and then disappearing in the distance.



The party, upon arriving in Irulas, immediately went to the Governor’s Palace to turn over the items to the Court Mages. When they arrived, the found themselves shuffled through endless corridors, until finally they found themselves in a hallway... with doors clustered on each side. There they stood, and waited for some fifteen minutes as mages sauntered by on their own business. Annoyed, Siabrey finally grabbed one.

“Sir,” she said, by this point not feeling like being polite at all, “Inform Aeron and the High Court Mage that Siabrey Sipner as arrived with the artifacts he seeks.” The man, young and clean shaven, yanked his arm away from her, a proudly shuffled his robes back into position.

“Madam, you are in no position to order me around. My name is Fandrilos, and I’m...”

“...an unemployed mage once the Crown Princess, me, tosses your ass out onto the street!” Siabrey snarled. Going to treat me like a bar room wench only here for your drinks and pleasure! I’ll pull out the stops... I will do it!

The young man jumped, his eyes very wide. He dashed off, and rather quickly the same group of mages that had assembled over a week prior to decide what the miniature was, now rushed in to gather it. Siabrey told them how the party had found it, of the loss of Lady Keshalya, the mongrels, and the like. The mages quickly and hurriedly bowed, thanking her, before leaving.

“Ahem! You are not dismissed sir!” she called, pointing out one bespectacled man. Uneasily, Aeron walked towards where the party stood.

“This man, is a pompous jackass,” Lucius whispered to Anias. “He deserves nothing but contempt. He is prideful, and speaks nothing but rubbish. Would you kindly like to help me... um... show him the error of his ways?”

Anias looked at his charge, and shrugged. Why not? Pride is definitely a sin... and if I can help them get this sinner to change his ways... “How can I assist?”

Luke motioned towards Grumki. “Loom. Just like the half orc... except let your eyes do the whole flaming red thing they did a few nights ago.”

As the party began to purposefully look intimidating, Siabrey walked forward, a sneer on her lips. “Hello, Aeron,” she snarled, looking level at the now shaking man. She proffed up her hand... which he quickly and nervously kissed.

“About a week ago, you sincerely annoyed me but being an arrogant, proud, stuck up fool... shooting spells at my friends. What was your threat to me then?” she bared her teeth in a grin. By god, this fool needs to be put in his place... and I’m going to enjoy doing it!

“T... Tha... I apologize, Your Highness!” Aeron burbled.

“I believe you owe him an apology more than me,” she motioned towards Grumki, who casually patted his warhammer on the palm of his free hand. “After all, he is the one whose weapon you interfered with, and he is the one you rudely silenced!”

“THE STRENGTH OF KORD REQUIRES LOUD SHOUTS!” Grumki roared with perfect timing... and the smell of urine immediately assaulted Siabrey’s nose.

Ewwwww, she shuddered inwardly as she looked down at the spreading stain on Aeron’s robes.

“Go... get out of my sight! You aren’t worth lecturing,” she growled, and the wizard, embarrassed and frightened, dashed off with a whimper.


Later that day, the party decided, rather unanimously, that the palace without Alexander around was decidedly boring. Considering their close brush with death, the general consensus was for a wild night on the town... a consensus that Anias rapidly and repeatedly objected to. Finally, it was decided. Everyone would go to one of the more upscale inns... in disguise... and have their fun there.

Anias of course huffed and complained when Luke refused to take the soulfire armor, but had to grudgingly agree that such protection would have provoked attention... and had a higher chance of leading to some kind of assault. Instead, Luke would go clad in simple traveler’s clothes. The angel felt a little better when the young man’s wife insisted she was bringing her armor though.

The night began normally... a round was ordered for everyone, and Tess began to softly play some of her new music, to not arouse as much attention. Rather quickly, however, things descended downhill.

“I’m going to get some ale... you want any?” Lucius asked Siabrey.

Normally, I won’t touch anything when he drinks... but considering how close things came a couple days ago... why not? she thought, nodding to head up with him.


“Good Anias. One thing that you and your kind do not understand about Kord,” Grumki rumbled as the Prince and Princess walked by, “is that the Strength of Kord is made of many things. Not just physical strength; Emotional strength... the strength of love, for example,” the orc paused to chug down a mug of ale. “Or the Strength of Will... the power to carry on despite loss. THAT... my man, is where Kord beats out Hieroneous, who focuses entirely too much on adhering only to certain lines.” Normally Grumki avoided theological debates, but Anias’ quip a few minutes before that Kord was wishy-washy had lured him in.

“Ah... if Hieroneous is so limited, how is it that I can, even after all these years, drink any mortal down under the table?” Anias said. “You confuse the lines set for paladins and those set for the average worshipper... or, indeed, the lines set for some of his... less disciplined celestial servants.” The entire time he talked, Anias’ eyes still followed Luke up to the counter, and watched as the young man and Siabrey sat down.


“So, whaddaya want?” Luke grinned at Siabrey. “I’m having a dwarven ale,” he said with a smirk. Her face darkened... she knew what he was implying.

“So you don’t think I can hold a dwarven ale?” she raised an eyebrow in answer. “Ask Shaun what happened in Mephys.”

“I saw, what happened in Mephys... and you couldn’t hold your dwarven ale!” Luke laughed, causing Siabrey’s face to harden. With a smile icy with determination, she turned to the bartender.

“Two dwarven ale steins, sir,” she gave Luke a look of challenge.


“Two more steins, please,” Anias said a few minutes later, glancing down at the three steins already empty in front of him. This Kord fellow is intelligent... he’s lured me into a theological argument that he might just win... Grumki for his part downed another stein, with a grin, as Anias felt the world shift ever so slightly.

“Dear Anias, you are becoming tipsy already... ‘tis a shame,” Grumki said in mock sympathy.

“Listen, Kordling!” Anias pointed a finger at Grumki. “This isn’t over yet!” The angel grumpily grabbed his new stein and downed it. “Hieroneous can keep up with Kord any day!”


“Thats... one... three... four... six! Six I’ve downed!” Luke slurred a half hour later. Amazingly, none of the clientele were paying anyone in the party any attention at all... there was too much focus on talk of a new Imperial cabinet position opening up, and various nobles were arguing over who should get it.

“No... no no no,” Siabrey slurred back, equally as drunk. “I’ve had six... you had just two!” she waved two fingers around, almost falling off of her stool doing so. Luke leaned to catch her, and almost fell himself.

“Hmmm,” he started giggling, “you can’t focus your eyes! Look look!” he giggled, and she tried to slap his hand to make him stop. She slapped only air.

“I think,” he raised a hand, and ended up pointing at one of the fine pictures on the wall, “that this contest is a draw. But...” he slurred. “I know another contest I can win easily... now that you’re drunk!”

“Wassat?” she slurred, as he cautiously slipped off the stool and grabbed her had, pulling her towards the stairs. He tossed ten gold coins at the bartender... they landed a few feet from the man.

“One room!” Luke called, and Siabrey giggled as she realized what he had in mind.


“Hieroneous surely can’t be pleased if his free-minded servant is laying on the floor like that,” Grumki gave a slurred chuckle.. The half orc was careful not to move, however... his world was spinning greatly as well.

Augh... its all spinning Anias thought to himself as he lay under the table. Down here he could see another noble the next table over, his face mushed against the floor, fast asleep. His eyes picked up movement, and with a squint, he saw Luke stumbling up the stairs with Siabrey in tow.

I’d... I’d better follow... his confused mind said... and from somewhere, he managed to remember his spells. He took out his prayer beads, and uttered a silent call for healing, to purge the poisons from his mind. A few seconds later, he rose from under the table, causing Grumki to gawk.

“Do not worry, my tusked friend,” Anias said, patting Grumki on the shoulder, “you won that debate, fair and square... but next time...” Anias left the promise hanging, as he walked towards the stairs himself.

By the time he reached the top, it wasn’t hard to figure out which room they were in... he had to just follow the drunken giggles and the occasional sound of something like a human head hitting a headboard, usually followed by an “ow!” Just outside of their door, he uttered another spell to himself, and promptly shrank down to the form of a fly. Scuttling under the door, he found a position on the wall, keeping his eyes focused on the window and door... the two possible entries. As much as he’d feuded with the woman fighter, he was sure she wouldn’t harm Luke.

Its amazing he thought to himself as the noise of their fun grew, and another “ow!” came from the bed, In my many millenia... some things about human’s haven’t changed...


It was much later that night, when Shaun and Elenya, nustled asleep in their beds, were awakened by an urgent knocking on their door.

“Wha?” Shaun had time to say, before the door came crashing down, and two men, their tunics in the gloom looking to be those of Imperial guardsmen, burst into the room.

“M’lord Shaun? M’lady Elenya! We need you to come with us, right now!”

“What for?” Shaun asked quietly, as he rose and had his clothing and the like handed to him.

Similar awakenings were repeated in the rooms of Tess, Grumki, and Orion.



Siabrey had just settled into a third pleasant dream when the same crashing noise woke her up. Unlike the others, she had a hangover... and was devoid of clothes of any kind when the guardsmen burst in.

“What the hell is going on?!” she barked, furious that people seeming to be clad in the Imperial colors could be so rude. The nerve! Breaking into MY room! She felt the sleeping Luke awaken beside her when the guardsmen walked over to the bed, and began hauling her out of it.

“I am sorry Your Majesty,” one said as he pulled Luke out of bed as well, “we must hurry, for your safety and Her Majesty’s” he gestured over towards Siabrey.

“What the... I’m not a Majesty,” Siabrey said grumpily, clutching some blankets around her form as she was hustled out of the tavern. Outside, she saw what looked to be a full company of a hundred guardsmen drawn up, surrounding her friends. She and Luke were also ushered into the middle, and the guards started a rapid walk towards the cliffs marking the landward end of the city.

“What the hell is going on!?” she finally barked, relieved that the one item she’d grabbed had been Kelir. As she watched, the guardsmen handed others their weapons as well, which set her mind at ease... it likely wasn’t a kidnapping of any kind if they were returning the group’s weapons and spellbooks.

“Your Majesty. We recieved word from the camps at Illyant. We are taking you, His Majesty, and your compatriots to the catacombs for safety, until we know for sure what happened,” one of the men, clad in better armor than the rest said.

“Wha... what happened in Illyant?” Elenya pressed. Did the Countess attack? Did Alexander go nuts? Are we in trouble?

“The Emperor has been assassinated,” the man replied. “Until we know what happened, the Emperor and Empress must be protected!”

==========================================================

Cue ominous music... (I’m a rat eating bastard :-D)

 

[Emperor Valerian]

From here.. the pace of the updates is going to slow some. Drag n fly is going to do some more of the writing, while I focus on writing icky papers on foreign policy :\

 

[K_S_Snyder]

Oh... you ARE a rat bastard! You killed Alexander!?

that sucks. He was a nice guy.

Then again, you killed off Dingalas as well - another nice guy. Harsh... I like.

 

[Isida Kep'Tukari]

Well, some people said that Alexander was dead. This situation led to a near-lynching of the DM at a later date. But it was all in good fun.

~Tesseron the Harper