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Message: <blockquote data-quote="JollyDoc" data-source="post: 7100074" data-attributes="member: 9546">10 Abadius, 4718 - 8 Pharast, 4718 - Dies The FireThe Nessian Knot, minus Dorian, returned to the upper level of the cathedral and to the massive wall of flames that sealed off the Holiest of Holies. Katarina, since she was fleetest of foot, took the thigh bone of Saint Angelo and approached the fire. While she was still twenty feet away the heat began to singe her hair and redden her skin. The closer she came, the more intense the heat became. Just before she felt like she might undergo spontaneous combustion, she reached the wall and touched the bone to the fire. Instantly the wall vanished. Beyond the wall lay a great, star-shaped chamber. A final bonfire burned in its center, and before it stood a beautiful gold-skinned angel, a golden morningstar gripped in one hand. He rose to his full height as the Nessians entered the chamber, but he did not speak. A single tear fell from his right eye and rolled down his cheek. He did not cry for those who had fallen in battle against the villains and their horde. Those valiant martyrs had already left the world and beyond this veil of tears they dwelt now forever in paradise. He wept for those who still suffered at the hands of evil. He wept for those deluded into following the way of the wicked. Behind him, the five stained glass windows which surrounded the room suddenly rippled with movement as the knights and saints portrayed within them abruptly stepped out of their frames and onto the floor to flank the mighty Ara Mathra."Well now it's a party!" Lemmy laughed.Kelvin didn't echo the dwarf's mirth. He knew that the angel was not a foe to be trifled with. He had to be put down quickly and decisively. The wizard cast a spell, and the entirety of the chamber was filled with a storm of sleet and freezing, icy rain. Ara Mathra casually raised one hand and the storm vanished just as quickly as it had appeared."I've got this," Grumblejack hissed between clenched teeth.Before Kelvin could warn him, the big ogre lumbered into the room, but no sooner had he crossed the threshold than he doubled over in agony, his body wracked with spasms."There is a forbiddance upon the room," Kelvin said. "We can pass, but we will pay a price."Grumblejack took a clumsy swing at one of the glass golems before retreating back to his comrades, still shaking and twitching. Katarina darted in, clenching her jaw against the terrible pain. She headed for the shadows, but Ara Mathra tracked her every movement. She cursed silently. Ignoring her for the moment, however, Ara Mathra instead raised one clenched fist above his head. Golden light gathered around it and he hurled it towards the door, where it exploded amidst Lemmy, Roger and Grumblejack, knocking them from their feet. Lemmy quickly rolled back to his and sent a stony blast towards one of the glass golems that was closing in on them. Grumblejack stood up as well and charged back into the room, bellowing as he passed through the forbiddance, but then swinging his sword through the golem with such force that the creature shattered into a thousand pieces. Roger followed close on Grumblejack's heels, wincing as he leaped across the forbiddance. As the other stained glass constructs closed rapidly towards him, Kat stepped out of the darkness and slashed at one of them. Roger turned to meet that one just as it swung its oddly flattened sword at him. When the glass blade struck him, it cut deep into his flesh and the wound began to bleed profusely. Roger grimaced and cursed as he backed away, but before the golem could press its attack, Kat appeared again, hacking and stabbing with her dagger like a dervish. The golem fell into shards beneath her assault. Kelvin wasn't about to enter that room. Furthermore, he knew that his spells would be largely useless against the magic resistant golems. Still, there were a few tricks up his sleeves. He spoke the words to a spell which transformed one of his patented fireballs into a ball of exploding ice. When he hurled it amidst the golems, it slowed their movements considerably. He followed this up with a glitterdust charm, releasing a cloud of sparkling debris into the air around the golems and blinding one of them from the sudden burst of light. But then Ara Mathra spoke, and the Word that he uttered carried such power that it struck Lemmy, Roger and Katarina blind, deafening the younger Dannister as well. Lemmy didn't seem bothered by his sudden loss of vision. His link to all things of the earth allowed him to sense the tremors beneath his feet produced by the heavy steps of the glass golems. He pinpointed the nearest one and released a blast in that direction, smiling in satisfaction at the sound of breaking glass. Roger and Grumblejack were not overly troubled either. Both warriors were trained to fight without benefit of all their senses. As they heard the remaining golems moving around them, they both struck out reflexively. Though the creatures managed to score one or two glancing blows, the ogre and anti-paladin were more than a match for them and soon had them both in pieces. Gradually Lemmy's vision returned, and he saw Ara Mathra hovering in the air above him and his comrades. "There ye are!" Lemmy laughed. "Right were I want ye!"He loosed his rock storm, only to see most of the debris bounce harmlessly off the angel's golden hide. Ara Mathra paid him no heed. Instead he turned towards Grumblejack and, just as the ogre was rubbing his eyes clear, struck him with his morningstar. Grumblejack grunted and staggered backwards, but with a snort of resolution, he lunged forward again, slashing at the angel. Roger joined him a moment later, and between the two of them they forced Ara Mathra to give ground. The angel spoke another holy word, but that time Grumblejack's fiendish heritage protected him from the prayer. "In the name of Father Asmodeus," the ogre bellowed, drawing himself up to his full height, "I smite you!"He brought his sword down with both hands upon Ara Mathra, and the angel collapsed to one knee beneath the withering blow. Roger heard the impact and rushed forward, swinging his sword blindly but still managing to land telling blows. Ara Mathra swung his morningstar again, taking Grumblejack full in the belly, but as he started to regain his feet, Lemmy loomed behind him. This time the dwarf changed his rocks and stones to shards of razor-sharp metal and sent them whirring at the angel. Ara Mathra collapsed to the floor, golden blood pouring from him. As the light finally left his eyes and he breathed his last, he spoke once more."It will be the son who brings your doom."________________________________________________________________As Grumblejack extinguished the last of the three sacred flames, Kelvin knelt next to Ara Mathra's body with the chalice of Aurelius Vestromo. He allowed the angel's golden blood to fill the cup almost to the brim before covering it and tucking it into his robes."What are you going to do with that?" Tardaesha asked as she came up behind him."Prince Gaius might have mentioned," Kelvin explained, "that if we should happen to come upon any angelic blood, he would make it worth our while."Tardaesha smiled at the prospect."Never let an opportunity pass you by," she said, clapping her brother on the shoulder. When Kelvin had finished, he pointed one finger at Ara Mathra's corpse and uttered a short spell. A ray of green light sprang from his fingertip, and when it struck the angel's body it turned it instantly into a pile of shimmering dust."No coming back for you," Kelvin smiled. The Knot made its way out of the Cathedral, back through the gardens and ultimately returned to Sanctum. There they found Tiadora waiting for them, standing before two dozen red-eyed, black-feathered, horned hippogriffs."It seems our lord has smiled upon you," she said."He finds the souls of giants sweet," Roger grinned back at her."Well done, my lords," Tiadora replied. "I am pleased and the Cardinal is pleased. He sends his regards."She pulled a small pouch from her skirts and emptied into Roger's hand a king's ransom in sapphires."Alas, that there is still more that needs doing to complete Asmodeus' will," she continued. "With the coming of spring, the Fire-Axe moves his horde against the city of Daveryn. Your army, what remains of it, is needed there.  You are needed there. Our master, Cardinal Thorn instructs you to depart this place and find passage to Daveryn to rendezvous with the army of Sakkarot Fire-Axe.  You may even help personally with the sack of the city if you wish.  Once Daveryn is ashes we will speak again.”"We lost one of ours," Katarina interrupted. "What about Dorian? Can you or Cardinal Thorn return him to us?"Tiadora smiled grimly. "I fear not, dearest," she said. "Your brother signed the Pact of Thorns, as did you all, save for the ogre. By doing so you consigned your souls to Hell upon your death. Dorian is now in the hands of our lord. You should be happy for him. Now, if there's nothing else...,"She vanished. Katarina looked around at her siblings and comrades. "This deal is getting worse all the time," she said miserably. "Dory is gone! Forever!"Grumblejack bowed his head."We can bury him here," he said. "Seems right. Let him rest in victory over the damned Iomedaens.""He's right," Tardaesha laughed. "Dorian would love the irony! We'll lay him to rest in the Cathedral of Iomedae Made Manifest itself, and consecrate it anew in Asmodeus' name!"And that is exactly what they did.____________________________________________________________________It was still six weeks until the spring thaws would allow the remaining forces of the Nessian Knot to leave the Vale of Valtaerna and join up with the Fireaxe in Daveryn. The rank and file bugbears did not mind the respite, as Sanctum and the Vale still had many diversions to offer. The Dannisters, Roger and Grumblejack, after laying Dorian to rest, spent the first few days shoring up defensive lines to insure that no one escaped the Vale to spread word of their deeds there before they were ready. Afterwards, Kelvin spent some time studying the Stygian Mirror they had recovered from the vault of Saint Angelo, and discovered that the bone devils bound within it were called Skaerabus and Skraeth. They could only be freed by breaking the mirror, which Kelvin promised to do if they would agree to serve him as personal advisors for the next one-hundred years. What was one century to such immortal creatures? They agreed and Kelvin had the contract devil Dessiter draw up an ironclad pact.After the first week, when all seemed settled in the Vale, the Nessian Knot, using Kelvin's teleportation magic, returned to Ghastenhall and the tomb of Prince Gaius Vestromo. He had already received word of their victory from his spawn, and he was anxious to take possession of his family chalice. When Kelvin offered it to him filled with the living blood of Ara Mathra the vampire lord did something that was both terrible and strangely beguiling....he smiled. "You have fulfilled your part of the bargain and more," he said as he drank deeply from the cup, his face flushed and suffused with newfound vigor. "Therefore I will now offer you my greatest gift...one I have not given freely in over a century. If you ask it of me I will grant each of you the boon of immortality."The companions glanced at one another, not entirely sure what it was the undead prince was offering. "You mean spend the rest of our lives as one of them skulking, blood-sucking boot-lickers you got running around here?" Lemmy asked."Ahem," Kelvin interrupted. "What my friend means is are you offering us the "opportunity" to become your spawn?""Not at all," Gaius laughed. "I respect you far too much for that. No, what I offer is the true path to eternal life. I will make you my equals, as I see potential in you. With a lifetime of lifetimes, we could accomplish many great things together.""I'm in," Tardaesha said without hesitation. "Well I'll be damned if I'm going to let you live forever and have all the fun without me," Dakota chimed in."Not me!" Lemmy bellowed. "I ain't gonna be no blood-sucker, and I don't even know how I feel about being around blood-suckers in general!""Duly noted," Tardaesha winked at him."I think that I too will remain mortal....for now," Roger said cryptically. Dakota looked at her sisters incredulously."Are you two serious?" she blurted. "You are actually considering becoming vampires? Undead? Why??""Why not, is the question you should be asking yourself," Tardaesha replied. "We have started down a path that may well take more than one lifetime to see to fruition. Father always had aspirations for our family. This way the Dannister name will be assured of carrying on for all eternity.""Yeah, especially since I'm pregnant!" Dakota laughed.It seemed impossible for Katarina's mouth to open any wider, yet her chin almost hit the floor."Oh come now!" Dakota grinned. "Surely you didn't think I was keeping Timeon around just for his skills with a bow? Although he is a straight shooter!"Tardaesha guffawed, Lemmy right along with her. Roger just shook his head."Now, now," Dakota chided the big half-orc. "You had your chance, but you blew it. Now I'm a one-man girl...at least until Timmy dies of old age. We plan on getting married to make it all official before we leave for Daveryn. Can't have a Dannister scion being a bastard.""Unbelievable!" Katarina threw up her hands. "Just when I think I've seen everything from you and Tardaesha, you come up with some new atrocity. Fine. Whatever. I'm still not becoming a vampire. Kelvin, can you talk some sense into them?"She turned to her brother only to find him deep in thought."You know," he said after a moment, "I've always dreamed of having an infinite amount of time to continue my research into the nature of magic. This could be the answer.""I give up," Kat said as she turned towards the door. "The three of you can live happily ever after as far as I'm concerned. Just don't even think about putting coffins anywhere near where I'm sleeping."______________________________________________________________Prince Gaius offered to make the transition a gradual one, over a course of weeks, as it could be an uncomfortable process. The three Dannisters declined. They were eager to embrace the gift and so, on the next full moon, Dakota, Tardaesha and Kelvin Dannister died. The following evening, as Katarina, Lemmy, Grumblejack and Roger stood vigil around their graves in the Ghastenhall cemetery, the rose again. Each of them reveled in their new forms and wasted no time experimenting with turning to mist or into bats or wolves. They cut themselves only to watch the wounds instantly heal, and they summoned the creatures of the night to them. Then, finally, they went out into the darkness to hunt the streets of Ghastenhall for their first meals. Their living companions watched them go with mixed emotions. Assuredly they had become much more powerful, and they would need that power in the coming days if they were to see Thorn's plans come to fruition, but Katarina and the others could not help but wonder at what cost such a victory might be achieved. </blockquote>

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