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

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="JollyDoc" data-source="post: 4065316" data-attributes="member: 9546">AN EVENING WITH THE WITCH QUEENMandi recognized Charon, the ferryman of the dead, immediately, and she also knew that his presence here did not bode well.  As soon as he reached the shore of the new lake, some thirty feet from the Legionnaires, he spoke.  Though his voice was only a whisper, it was clearly audible over the gurgling water.“What have you done to my river?”Mandi was momentarily taken aback.“Your pardon, Lord Charon,” she stammered, “but this was not our doing.  In fact, the touch of your river’s waters has robbed us of the knowledge of how we even came to be here.  I can tell you, however, that it was our intention to come here to free Shami-Amourae, which we have done, so that she could aid us in our quest to stop the Prince of Demon’s mad quest to unify his dual natures at the expense of our home world.  I believe the disruption of the River Styx is in fact Demogorgon’s doing in an attempt to stop us from speaking with the Lady of Delights.”Charon pondered this for a moment, then nodded.“I seriously doubt mortals such as yourselves would have the power to accomplish such a thing, and yet you still owe me an apology, for if you had never attempted to release Shami-Amourae in the first place, none of this would have happened.”Mandi took this in, then looked at each of her companions in turn, nodding imperceptibly.“We accept that responsibility,” she answered, “and we do indeed offer our most sincere apologies.”“Apology accepted,” Charon replied.  “Now, if you wish, you may all come aboard and I will take you from this place so that we may speak further.”For the second time in a matter of minutes, Mandi was shocked momentarily speechless.  A boat ride?  With Charon?  On the River Styx?“Umm…certainly, and thank you,” she answered.  “May I ask a small boon of you first?”The ferryman nodded slightly.“Can you tell us how we might regain our memories?”“Heal yourselves,” Charon replied, then waited patiently as they boarded his skiff.  As soon as they were ready, he turned to face the rift in the sky above and, with a wave of his staff, the flow of the stygian waters reversed.  Very quickly, the boat was swept up and through the fissure, which closed behind them.________________________________________________________________As it turned out, Charon was correct.  Once Daelric had woven his most powerful healing spell about each of them in turn, they found their amnesia was gone, their memories of the past eight hours coming back to them in a flood.  As soon as she was able, Mandi sent her thoughts out across the planes, questing for Sepoto.‘Sepoto, if you can hear me, tell me your location.’The reply was immediate, if somewhat slurred.‘Icewind Dale…Ten Towns…a bar…’Mandi knew that she would be able to retrieve the goliath, but the effects of the banishment would prevent his return to the lower planes for twenty-four hours.  His recovery would have to wait.Without preamble, Charon began to speak.“We are both Demogorgon’s enemies,” he began.  “If you would seek to oppose him, the parting words of the Lady of Debased Eros are wise.  You must recruit an army of his enemies.  The Prince of Demons has thousands of them, but only a few are capable of mounting a force to truly threaten him.  Assaulting Demogorgon alone, no matter how powerful you think you are, is suicide.  I should know.  I’ve taken enough of those fools to their rewards over the span of the mortal stain.”  He paused as he shifted his boathook form one hand to the other.  As he did, the shores shifted and wavered as the Styx passed from one lower realm to the next.“You need distractions and allies,” he continued.  “I know of some of his enemies…the Dark Prince, the Lord of Undeath, the Prince of Vermin, the Court of Stars.  Yet I know not which ones would make good allies, nor how one might secure their aid.  And again, the Lady’s words are wise, for there is one who does possess the information you seek.  As it happens, I know of the Witch Queen Iggwilv.  Few know where she lives these days, but I am one of these few.  I can take you to her home, but your negotiations with her are your own to forge.  Will you accompany me?”The cloaked figure stood perfectly still, awaiting an answer.“Yes, of course,” Mandi answered without hesitation.  “You have done us a great service this day, and we shall not forget it.”Charon did not answer, but instead continued to pole the skiff along the dark, greasy waters.Time passed as the boat moved quickly along, passing through dozens of landscapes of death, despair and ruin, each more depressing than the last.  Finally, after what might have been hours or days, they reached a dull and depressing place.  Mandi recognized it as Niflheim, one of the glooms of the Gray Wastes of Hades.  Ragged tors and cliffs lined one bank of the river, while the other stretched off into an endless swampy moor.  Gray mists writhed and twisted, obscuring the horizon, and the entire realm seemed devoid of color.  As Charon continued to pole along, vision through the fog dropped dramatically to no more than one-hundred feet.  Soon, a dark shape loomed before them, and as the skiff grew closer, it resolved into a welcome but unexpected sight…the Sea Wyvern!  The ship’s confused crew milled about on deck, unharmed but obviously baffled.  The ship itself was docked at a gray wooden pier that protruded from a rocky shore, beyond which a ledge lead up into the unseen mists above, along one of the looming cliff faces.  “You have arrived at your destination,” Charon explained, “and I have brought your vessel for your use.  I grant you permission to ply my river as long as we share the same goals.”As the skiff drew nearer still, Mandi could see that the wyvern figurehead of the ship bore Charon’s mark upon its face…a pair of gold coins affixed to its eyes.  The skiff pulled alongside the caravel, and the Legionnaires debarked to the shouted “Huzzah!” of the crew.  “Iggwilv’s manor awaits at the top of this ledge,” Charon said.  “Tend to your crew first.  They won’t be happy when they realize where they’ve come to, and it would not be well for them to stay long here.  Take care on your approach.  The Witch Queen does not leave her grounds unguarded.  I must take my leave of your for now, but when you have gathered your army and are prepared for the assault, whisper in your ship’s figurehead’s ear and I shall return to aid you one last time.”With that, Charon pushed off the Sea Wyvern’s hull with his pole and in the span of only a few seconds, he faded into the mist and was gone.</blockquote>

Verification