Emperor Valerian
First Post
The Emperor Returns
“He’s... gone?” Tess asked in a quivering voice. Not Pell... no! He was to kind, to sweet to die like this! He had centuries left in his life!
Grumki gave her a sad nod, as Elenya pulled Tess close as the bard began to shudder with tears.
It was only seconds later when everyone realized there was the massive head of a silver dragon hanging over Pell’s body as well, and sadness, despair and shame radiated into all of their minds.
”I failed you, Pellaron...” Alisandra lowered her head beside the elf’s crumpled form, now genuinely crying. ”I do not deserve the forgiveness you cannot give.”
”Ally... Ally... we saw you get hit, there wasn’t much you could do,” Siabrey said softly, rubbing a hand along Alisandra’s scales. “You tried your best... someone in Celestia thought it best to take him home.” The massive creature only gave a shudder in return, and nuzzled the prone form, as if trying to push life back into his body.
”She is inconsolable,” Xanadu’s voice came into their heads, and as they looked up, the dragon’s fearsome head, his mouth surrounded by the blood of the other great dragon dead behind him. ”I think she needs time to reflect... she grew very close to your friend during those two weeks.”
As Elenya, and even Grumki touched and comforted the female silver, Siabrey reluctantly turned back to the business at hand. She knew Xanadu was part of Alexander’s forces... and as commander, she needed updates. She glanced at Tess, still softly crying over Pell’s crushed form, then tore her emotions away.
“I’m... sorry about turning to business at a time like this, but Xanny... where is Alexander? How goes the fight to the south?”
The large behemoth didn’t turn to her, his huge brassy eyes still watching Alisandra with worry. “It goes well. The army came up from the south, and the Countess’ forces were pinned between your troops and our army. Its now closing in on a slaughter,” he sighed.
Siabrey gave a saddened sigh as well. I would prefer not that much blood was shed... but it is better their blood than our own.
“Is the Emperor alright?” she asked uneasily. The last few days have been hell... I don’t want to be stuck ruling anything... ever.
“He’s fine... leading the troops from the front.” The dragon finally turned from Alisandra, evidently finished with his mental conversation with her. “Ally says she needs some time to properly mourn her fallen friend. There is much death and destruction in this place... it would do the rest of us good to get away... I shall take you to the Emperor.”
It took several minutes to bring Tess away from Pell’s body, her eyes deep red, fear and loss running deep in the orbs. Gently, Siabrey told her that they still had a job to do... to manage the city defenses... there were people still alive that needed their assistance. Elenya gently added that Hieroneous was already taking care of Pell, and it was time for the party to take care of those in the city.
Finally, reluctantly, Tess clambered onto Xanadu’s back with the other party members... Elenya, Harrapias, and Aeron remained behind to watch and talk to the dragon (Elenya and Harrapias talked... Aeron merely waited around). This time, the ride on the great dragon was anything but cheerful. There were no saddles or mounts on him, and the party was forced, rather uneasily, to hang onto his frills. For his part, Xanadu flew low and slow, as close as he could to the rooftops.
As the party reached the southern battlements, Xanadu gracefully avoided the areas that were aflame, and set himself down next to the wall, allowing the party to walk across his neck onto the battlements. From this vanage point, the entire battlefield to the south could be seen.
The bodies of orcs, gnolls, goblins and men all lay broken and battered upon the ground. Spears, swords, and all other manners of implements of destruction lay strewn about as well. The bodies themselves lay amongst the ruins of houses, barns, and shops... the sections of the city that were not fortunate enough to be covered by the outer wall.
In the midst of this charred destruction was a large mass of orcish pikemen, their spears lowered down on all sides, as Imperial lines advanced from the wall towards them from the north. On the far side, the party could pick out a mass of Imperial infantry... the tall man in kingly armor at their front was easy to spot.
“Alexander is there,” Xanadu nodded with his head. “He looks preoccupied though. Here, I’ll help you clamber down,” the dragon added, flying up, crossing the wall, and landing on the other side so the party merely had to walk down his neck and back to get to the ground.
“Xanny,” Orion said, not catching that this was the first time he’d ever referred to the dragon by his nickname, “here.” The monk proffered up a necklace he hadn’t had a chance to use yet, with seven large pieces of amber and rubies on it. “Fireball necklace. Drop it on those orc bastards, and take them out for us. For Alisandra!” The rest of the party nodded firmly at his statement.
Xanadu gave a fierce grin, as vengeance for the harm done to Alisandra danced in his eyes. The dragon rose in the air, high above the battlefield, before dropping the necklace, which flipped and turned, until a massive series of flashes and roars exploded in the midst of the orcish ranks. Before the beasts could respond or run, Xanadu was already screaming downward from on high, the air between him and the orcs flashing white as he blasted many of them into solid ice. A hundred feet above the ground, the dragon pulled up from his dive, but kept his wings folded. A massive crash thundered through the air as his form slammed into the last of the confused and panicked orcs, crushing them.
”That better?” the dragon gave a wicked smile as the last of the orcs dropped their pikes at Alexander’s approach. The Emperor, for his part, saw the party on the other side, and galloped over, jumping off of his horse before it had come to a stop.
“Siabrey! Luke! Tess! All of you!” he gave a loud roaring greeting as he ripped off the fearsome helmet that had hid his face. “A damned fine sight here! A damn splendid piece of generalship!” He gave Tess a slap on the back, causing the bard to wince... an expression that made her saddened face look all the worse. Alexander saw this, and within a second, his jovial face had flooded with concern.
“What is wrong? I see here Siabrey, Luke, Tess, Orion, and Shaun... oh no... nothing happened to the wizard?” his face became very concerned. Tess shook her head sadly.
“Our friend... Pellaron the paladin... he fell,” she looked up at the Emperor, her eyes growing wet again. “He died fighting the red wyrm,” her voice quivered. He died fighting, with an image of ME in his head... she didn’t say aloud.
Alexander, seeing Tess was the most broken over the tragedy, gave her a fatherly hug. “’Tis life... dear Tesseron. Death is as natural as life... and someday, all of us must face it. Pell has moved on, to someplace better,” the Emperor gave her a paternal kiss on the forehead, before holding her out at arms length. “We must continue on... in his name, and the name of all whose blood is on these fields.” Tess sniffed, and gave a nod.
“Majesty,” Siabrey said quietly, “I am afraid there were many petitioners waiting for your return... I told them to be patient... was it the right thing to do?” the fighter asked worriedly. Alexander’s face then changed again as he faced her, to one of appraisal... as he looked her up and down.
“Hmm... you told the bastards to wait... and organized a good defense of the city. By Pelor’s Flaming Nosehairs,” he laughed. “You did a damn fine job indeed!”
“We’ve got this lead army of hers pinned! They’re doomed... all sixty thousand of them! Thats fully one fifth of all the armies she started with, crushed! Thanks to you all!” Alexander beamed. “I might just have to add some military ranks to your noble titles!”
“Um... that’s not necessary Majesty,” Shaun jumped in. I played general today, I don’t want to ever play general again!
“When you’ve done as well as you all have, by Tarantor’s Scaling Justice it needs to be done! Why, we even came within seconds of catching the Countess herself!”
“You didn’t catch her?” Siabrey asked worriedly. Her mind immediately jumped to what had happened to Lucius, and began fearing what would happen if she returned and stole him again... only to find him cleansed of his evil background... She might just kill him then...
“No,” Alexander sighed, “we didn’t. Xanny himself charged right at her position as we broke her rear ranks. She teleported out, but one of our knights knocked from her hand something of interest...” the Emperor’s face broke into a massive grin. “Something long, and black...”
“THE STAFF!?” almost everyone in the party shouted at the same time, and Alexander guffawed and nodded.
“Where is it?” Siabrey asked insistently, after regaining the ability to talk.
“Yonder, a few hundred yards... surrounded by piles of the dead.” Alexander said. “Beware though... it tries to talk inside your head. I’ve instructed my people to guard it from a distance... I was hoping to find you all, as you’ll have a better idea of what to do with the damned thing.”
“We... we need some time to figure that out exactly,” Tess added, with a sniff. “After all, one can’t just run up and pick up a staff that has the essence of a demon lord in it, can you?”
“I dunno,” Alexander shrugged. “I’m not into magic or religion... but I know its not good when something tries to talk to you in your head, hence my orders. I’ve assigned a regiment of the Imperial Guard to watch it until your arrival... I’m letting you clever young folks figure out what exactly to do with it.” He started climbing back onto his horse. Once there, he set his helmet back on and flashed a fierce grin. “As for me, children, I’m going to do what I know most about... namely killing orcs and beasties. A bunch of them are now pinned in the ravine where you once were, they tell me, and someone needs to supervise their eradication!”
“Wing safe, Majesty!” Siabrey called, and Alexander raised an eyebrow.
“Wing what?”
“Good luck is what it means, Majesty,” Tess added in clarification. The Emperor gave a fierce grin in thanks, and spurred his horse towards the eastern parts of the wall... towards the ravine. A massive thunder rose around the party as horses and men all broke into step and rumbled after him.
The party saw one large group of soldiers remaining, all arranged around mounds of dead orcs and demons. Atop the pile rose a single black shaft, glimmering in the moonlight that now broke through the receding clouds. The flash of a massive diamond greeted their eyes... and as they gingerly approached, a voice entered all of their heads.
”Hello, little ones.”
“He’s... gone?” Tess asked in a quivering voice. Not Pell... no! He was to kind, to sweet to die like this! He had centuries left in his life!
Grumki gave her a sad nod, as Elenya pulled Tess close as the bard began to shudder with tears.
It was only seconds later when everyone realized there was the massive head of a silver dragon hanging over Pell’s body as well, and sadness, despair and shame radiated into all of their minds.
”I failed you, Pellaron...” Alisandra lowered her head beside the elf’s crumpled form, now genuinely crying. ”I do not deserve the forgiveness you cannot give.”
”Ally... Ally... we saw you get hit, there wasn’t much you could do,” Siabrey said softly, rubbing a hand along Alisandra’s scales. “You tried your best... someone in Celestia thought it best to take him home.” The massive creature only gave a shudder in return, and nuzzled the prone form, as if trying to push life back into his body.
”She is inconsolable,” Xanadu’s voice came into their heads, and as they looked up, the dragon’s fearsome head, his mouth surrounded by the blood of the other great dragon dead behind him. ”I think she needs time to reflect... she grew very close to your friend during those two weeks.”
As Elenya, and even Grumki touched and comforted the female silver, Siabrey reluctantly turned back to the business at hand. She knew Xanadu was part of Alexander’s forces... and as commander, she needed updates. She glanced at Tess, still softly crying over Pell’s crushed form, then tore her emotions away.
“I’m... sorry about turning to business at a time like this, but Xanny... where is Alexander? How goes the fight to the south?”
The large behemoth didn’t turn to her, his huge brassy eyes still watching Alisandra with worry. “It goes well. The army came up from the south, and the Countess’ forces were pinned between your troops and our army. Its now closing in on a slaughter,” he sighed.
Siabrey gave a saddened sigh as well. I would prefer not that much blood was shed... but it is better their blood than our own.
“Is the Emperor alright?” she asked uneasily. The last few days have been hell... I don’t want to be stuck ruling anything... ever.
“He’s fine... leading the troops from the front.” The dragon finally turned from Alisandra, evidently finished with his mental conversation with her. “Ally says she needs some time to properly mourn her fallen friend. There is much death and destruction in this place... it would do the rest of us good to get away... I shall take you to the Emperor.”
It took several minutes to bring Tess away from Pell’s body, her eyes deep red, fear and loss running deep in the orbs. Gently, Siabrey told her that they still had a job to do... to manage the city defenses... there were people still alive that needed their assistance. Elenya gently added that Hieroneous was already taking care of Pell, and it was time for the party to take care of those in the city.
Finally, reluctantly, Tess clambered onto Xanadu’s back with the other party members... Elenya, Harrapias, and Aeron remained behind to watch and talk to the dragon (Elenya and Harrapias talked... Aeron merely waited around). This time, the ride on the great dragon was anything but cheerful. There were no saddles or mounts on him, and the party was forced, rather uneasily, to hang onto his frills. For his part, Xanadu flew low and slow, as close as he could to the rooftops.
As the party reached the southern battlements, Xanadu gracefully avoided the areas that were aflame, and set himself down next to the wall, allowing the party to walk across his neck onto the battlements. From this vanage point, the entire battlefield to the south could be seen.
The bodies of orcs, gnolls, goblins and men all lay broken and battered upon the ground. Spears, swords, and all other manners of implements of destruction lay strewn about as well. The bodies themselves lay amongst the ruins of houses, barns, and shops... the sections of the city that were not fortunate enough to be covered by the outer wall.
In the midst of this charred destruction was a large mass of orcish pikemen, their spears lowered down on all sides, as Imperial lines advanced from the wall towards them from the north. On the far side, the party could pick out a mass of Imperial infantry... the tall man in kingly armor at their front was easy to spot.
“Alexander is there,” Xanadu nodded with his head. “He looks preoccupied though. Here, I’ll help you clamber down,” the dragon added, flying up, crossing the wall, and landing on the other side so the party merely had to walk down his neck and back to get to the ground.
“Xanny,” Orion said, not catching that this was the first time he’d ever referred to the dragon by his nickname, “here.” The monk proffered up a necklace he hadn’t had a chance to use yet, with seven large pieces of amber and rubies on it. “Fireball necklace. Drop it on those orc bastards, and take them out for us. For Alisandra!” The rest of the party nodded firmly at his statement.
Xanadu gave a fierce grin, as vengeance for the harm done to Alisandra danced in his eyes. The dragon rose in the air, high above the battlefield, before dropping the necklace, which flipped and turned, until a massive series of flashes and roars exploded in the midst of the orcish ranks. Before the beasts could respond or run, Xanadu was already screaming downward from on high, the air between him and the orcs flashing white as he blasted many of them into solid ice. A hundred feet above the ground, the dragon pulled up from his dive, but kept his wings folded. A massive crash thundered through the air as his form slammed into the last of the confused and panicked orcs, crushing them.
”That better?” the dragon gave a wicked smile as the last of the orcs dropped their pikes at Alexander’s approach. The Emperor, for his part, saw the party on the other side, and galloped over, jumping off of his horse before it had come to a stop.
“Siabrey! Luke! Tess! All of you!” he gave a loud roaring greeting as he ripped off the fearsome helmet that had hid his face. “A damned fine sight here! A damn splendid piece of generalship!” He gave Tess a slap on the back, causing the bard to wince... an expression that made her saddened face look all the worse. Alexander saw this, and within a second, his jovial face had flooded with concern.
“What is wrong? I see here Siabrey, Luke, Tess, Orion, and Shaun... oh no... nothing happened to the wizard?” his face became very concerned. Tess shook her head sadly.
“Our friend... Pellaron the paladin... he fell,” she looked up at the Emperor, her eyes growing wet again. “He died fighting the red wyrm,” her voice quivered. He died fighting, with an image of ME in his head... she didn’t say aloud.
Alexander, seeing Tess was the most broken over the tragedy, gave her a fatherly hug. “’Tis life... dear Tesseron. Death is as natural as life... and someday, all of us must face it. Pell has moved on, to someplace better,” the Emperor gave her a paternal kiss on the forehead, before holding her out at arms length. “We must continue on... in his name, and the name of all whose blood is on these fields.” Tess sniffed, and gave a nod.
“Majesty,” Siabrey said quietly, “I am afraid there were many petitioners waiting for your return... I told them to be patient... was it the right thing to do?” the fighter asked worriedly. Alexander’s face then changed again as he faced her, to one of appraisal... as he looked her up and down.
“Hmm... you told the bastards to wait... and organized a good defense of the city. By Pelor’s Flaming Nosehairs,” he laughed. “You did a damn fine job indeed!”
“We’ve got this lead army of hers pinned! They’re doomed... all sixty thousand of them! Thats fully one fifth of all the armies she started with, crushed! Thanks to you all!” Alexander beamed. “I might just have to add some military ranks to your noble titles!”
“Um... that’s not necessary Majesty,” Shaun jumped in. I played general today, I don’t want to ever play general again!
“When you’ve done as well as you all have, by Tarantor’s Scaling Justice it needs to be done! Why, we even came within seconds of catching the Countess herself!”
“You didn’t catch her?” Siabrey asked worriedly. Her mind immediately jumped to what had happened to Lucius, and began fearing what would happen if she returned and stole him again... only to find him cleansed of his evil background... She might just kill him then...
“No,” Alexander sighed, “we didn’t. Xanny himself charged right at her position as we broke her rear ranks. She teleported out, but one of our knights knocked from her hand something of interest...” the Emperor’s face broke into a massive grin. “Something long, and black...”
“THE STAFF!?” almost everyone in the party shouted at the same time, and Alexander guffawed and nodded.
“Where is it?” Siabrey asked insistently, after regaining the ability to talk.
“Yonder, a few hundred yards... surrounded by piles of the dead.” Alexander said. “Beware though... it tries to talk inside your head. I’ve instructed my people to guard it from a distance... I was hoping to find you all, as you’ll have a better idea of what to do with the damned thing.”
“We... we need some time to figure that out exactly,” Tess added, with a sniff. “After all, one can’t just run up and pick up a staff that has the essence of a demon lord in it, can you?”
“I dunno,” Alexander shrugged. “I’m not into magic or religion... but I know its not good when something tries to talk to you in your head, hence my orders. I’ve assigned a regiment of the Imperial Guard to watch it until your arrival... I’m letting you clever young folks figure out what exactly to do with it.” He started climbing back onto his horse. Once there, he set his helmet back on and flashed a fierce grin. “As for me, children, I’m going to do what I know most about... namely killing orcs and beasties. A bunch of them are now pinned in the ravine where you once were, they tell me, and someone needs to supervise their eradication!”
“Wing safe, Majesty!” Siabrey called, and Alexander raised an eyebrow.
“Wing what?”
“Good luck is what it means, Majesty,” Tess added in clarification. The Emperor gave a fierce grin in thanks, and spurred his horse towards the eastern parts of the wall... towards the ravine. A massive thunder rose around the party as horses and men all broke into step and rumbled after him.
The party saw one large group of soldiers remaining, all arranged around mounds of dead orcs and demons. Atop the pile rose a single black shaft, glimmering in the moonlight that now broke through the receding clouds. The flash of a massive diamond greeted their eyes... and as they gingerly approached, a voice entered all of their heads.
”Hello, little ones.”
