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JollyDoc's Way Of The Wicked
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<blockquote data-quote="JollyDoc" data-source="post: 7290921" data-attributes="member: 9546"><p>15 Desnus, 4718 - The Devil My Only Master</p><p></p><p>The Nessian Knot turned to leave the summoning chamber, their mission complete. No sooner had they reentered the chamber where they’d fought Brijit, however, than three bright flashes of light signaled the arrival of more enemies. Three large figures emerged from the light, humanoid, though mostly hidden behind plates of elaborate golden armor, the spaces in between revealing flesh of black stone.</p><p>“You,” the trio intoned in unison, each of them pointing a large finger at Tardaesha, Kelvin and Dakota respectively, “have been judged and found guilty of the crime of undeath. Such as you cannot be suffered to exist.”</p><p></p><p>Before the companions could respond, the three juggernauts each raised a wall of flames from out of thin air, separating the three vampires from one another. Jeratheon, who remained by Tardaesha’s side, stretched open his mouth and belched corrosive liquid at the creature that was trapped behind the wall with them. With a speed belying its size and bulk, the creature pinwheeled aside, avoiding the caustic blast entirely. Meanwhile, behind one of the adjacent walls, Kelvin recognized the beings for exactly what they were: marut inevitables, living machines whose sole purpose was to seek out and destroy agents of chaos wherever they could. Kelvin knew he didn’t want to face one of them all alone, so he quickly cast a spell and teleported beyond his wall. Unfortunately, his foe was capable of the same magic, and reappeared right next to him.</p><p></p><p>Tardaesha closed the distance between herself and the marut. As she drew near, however, the inevitable swung one huge fist, and when it connected, there was a tremendous thunderclap which left Tardaesha’s ears ringing. She reached out a hand and touched the marut, leaving a dark blemish of corruption on its hide. It slammed its fist into her again, but as she reeled from the blow, she saw Katarina emerge from the shadows behind the marut and drive her dagger into its lower back. When it turned to face its new assailant, Tardaesha rushed in again and layed her glowing black hands upon it. </p><p></p><p>As the marut trudged towards him, Kelvin threw out his hand and hurled a snaking tendril of flames in its path. Though the fire scorched and burned its body, the creature still came. It backhanded the wizard once, knocking him from his feet. It loomed over him and prepared to drive its fist through his chest, but a split second before the blow landed, Kelvin conjured a sphere of force around himself. </p><p></p><p>Dakota and Tardaesha battled on against their own oppressors, aided by Grumblejack and Katarina respectively. They managed to hold their own, but for every minor wound they inflicted on the maruts, the inevitables gave it back in spades. When Lemmy finally managed to burrow under the walls of flame and emerged to assist Dakota, the marut stood over him, glowering. </p><p>“Stand aside, mortal,” it rumbled. “Our grievance is not with you, but if you stand in the path of justice, you will meet the same fate as the cheaters of death.”</p><p>“Cheat this!” Lemmy countered with his usual eloquence, hurling shards of stone and metal into the marut’s face. </p><p></p><p>Kelvin had no illusions that, given time, the marut could pummel its way through his little force bubble. He had no intention of giving it that much time. He cast another spell and teleported out of his shelter, reappearing behind Jeratheon. The dragon would be a bit more formidable as a shield. Jeratheon turned his head briefly to scowl at the cowering wizard, then looked back to his mistress and unleashed his acid breath on her foe. That marut took the brunt of the blast but was not daunted. It reached towards Tardaesha and grasped her by the arm. Tardaesha felt reality warp and shift. She felt as if she were being pulled through the eye of a needle. She closed her eyes and concentrated, focusing her will. It was like she was being torn in half for an interminable moment, and then the sensation passed. She opened her eyes again and the marut was gone. </p><p>“What happened?” she asked.</p><p>“It plane-shifted,” Kelvin peeked from behind Jeratheon’s rump. “Tried to take you with it. That would not have ended well for you. Oh!”</p><p>Kelvin leaped in surprise as the marut he thought he’d left behind suddenly appeared beside him. He scrambled backwards, casting desperately as he tried to escape. Shadows swirled around him and coalesced into vaguely humanoid, yet subtly demonic forms...four of them.</p><p>“Kill it!” Kelvin commanded, pointing towards the marut.</p><p>Then he quickly encased himself in another force sphere.</p><p></p><p>Dakota continued to pepper her tormentor with arrows while Roger harried it from closer to hand. Grumblejack joined him, and together they were able to keep it at bay from the archer. As it was forced back, Katarina suddenly stepped into view behind it and drove her knife into its back with both hands. It collapsed to its knees, and as it toppled over, Roger swept its head from its shoulders. </p><p></p><p>Only one inevitable remained. The companions and their cohorts closed in on it, surrounding it on all sides. Dakota snapped off an arrow, but the marut backhanded her for her effort. Jeratheon breathed liquid death while Grumblejack charged in from the flank. The marut took the blows silently. Methodically, it conjured electricity out of thin air and sent it arcing in chains among its foes. The pain seemed to madden Jeratheon. He lunged forward and clamped his jaws around one of the marut’s log-sized arms. As it turned to hammer at the dragon with its free fist, Dakota put an arrow through the side of its neck. It stumbled and fell to one knee, and then Kelvin’s shadow demons swarmed over it. It disappeared beneath the mound of tearing claws and ripping fangs.</p><p></p><p>____________________________________________________________________</p><p></p><p>As the others made their escape from the Adarium, Katarina volunteered to discover what had transpired from Chargammon’s gambit. Sticking to the shadows, she made her way back into the upper levels of the keep. What she found when she arrived was utter chaos. Knights and servants dashed about in turmoil, uncertain as to what exactly they should be doing. Where possible, they lent aid to survivors, though there were precious few of those. The entire roof of the upper level had been ripped off, and rubble and debris was strewn from one end to the other, along with the bodies of Bellinda’s dwarven honor guard. The remains of the guardian golem lay scattered outside her chamber, but none of this held Kat’s attention for long. No, what truly gave her pause and caused her breath to catch in her throat was the sight of the blasted and torn corpse of the mighty black dragon. What power could have done such a thing? Searching quickly through the rubble of the princess’ room, she found no sign of the girl’s body. Even more troubling. Shaking her head, Kat melted back into the darkness and left the palace, eager to catch up to her companions and tell them of what had transpired.</p><p></p><p>__________________________________________________________</p><p></p><p>“So was our mission a success or a failure?” Dakota asked. </p><p>The companions of the Ninth Knot sat huddled in the room they rented in the squalid inn located in Matharyn’s seedier dock quarter.</p><p>“We were sent to kill the king,” Kelvin said. “The king is dead. The fate of his daughter is not our concern.”</p><p>“Then why hasn’t Thorn or Tiadora contacted us?” Roger asked.</p><p>No one answered. Dessiter’s warning hung unspoken in the air.</p><p>“So what now?” Tardaesha asked.</p><p>Again no one immediately replied, but then Lemmy spoke up.</p><p>“Well, I don’t know how the rest of your feel about it, but seems to me there’s currently an unguarded dragon horde back on Chargammon’s island. Ain’t like we got anything better to do.”</p><p>The dwarf’s logic was sound.</p><p></p><p>______________________________________________________________</p><p></p><p>The following evening Kelvin gathered his companions about him and cast the spell of teleportation that would transport them directly to Chargammon’s grotto. Jeratheon was too large to accompany them, but due to the bond between Tardaesha and himself, his mistress vowed to summon him to her side as soon as they arrived. As it turned out, she was a bit delayed.</p><p></p><p>When the Knot appeared in the vast cavern, the first thing that was immediately apparent was that it was not, as they had assumed, unoccupied. There was no dragon present, but something far worse...a dragon slayer. None other than Sir Richard Havelyn stood overlooking the dark pool in the center of the chamber. Beside him stood a man clad in the vestments of an Iomedaen priest, and another older man in dark robes. Scattered around the cave were at least a dozen knights of the Alerion, all armed and armored for battle. For a long moment, the two factions stood staring at each other in silence. It was Sir Richard who broke the stand off.</p><p>“You’ve taken almost everything from this country,” he said quietly. “Is it not enough? What more do you want?”</p><p>“Everything,” Tardaesha shrugged. “We want everything that was taken from and denied our family, and then we want the interest on what is owed. We will bring Talingarde to its knees, and only then will we finally declare justice served. For now, however, your country still has some bleeding to do.”</p><p></p><p>There was no need for, nor no point in further conversation. At a gesture from Sir Richard, his knights began to close in on the Knot. Kelvin didn’t wait for them. He first conjured a huge, disembodied fist which he sent charging towards the wizard to the right of the paladin. The fist struck the mage full on and left him reeling. Kelvin followed this by hurling a fireball into the midst of Sir Richard and his immediate retinue.</p><p>“Kill the wizard!” Sir Richard shouted to his men.</p><p> The approaching knights quickly sheathed their swords and unlimbered their bows. They loosed a deadly volley directly at Kelvin and their arrows struck true against the unarmored mage. Unfortunately, the skin of a vampire was as hard as stone, and the arrows simply bounced harmlessly off. </p><p></p><p>Tardaesha snapped her fingers as she suddenly remembered something.</p><p>“Jeratheon,” she said. “I completely forgot I promised him a bit of fun.”</p><p>She snapped again and the massive form of the black dragon suddenly appeared by her side.</p><p>“There he is,” Tardaesha said, pointing towards Sir Richard. “There’s the man who participated in your father’s demise.”</p><p>Jeratheon smiled.</p><p>“I’m not sure if I should thank him or eat him,” he grumbled. “Maybe I’ll do both.”</p><p>He opened his mouth and spewed acid at Sir Richard and one of his knights at the same time that the paladin’s priest called down a storm of fire from the heavens upon all of the Knot. He smiled triumphantly as he saw the blisters and burns on the hides of the devil-worshippers, but his expression turned to one of shocked bewilderment and pain when Dakota put four arrows into his chest. He slumped to one side and then tumbled into the water of the grotto. </p><p></p><p>As Kelvin conjured a wall of flames to separate the knights from their commander, Lemmy pulled flaming rocks from the earth and hurled them at Sir Richard’s face. The knights, never hesitating, charged through the firewall, only to stumble into another fiery explosion when Kelvin loosed a fireball upon them. Still, the holy warriors did not succumb. They closed rapidly towards Lemmy and Tardaesha. Roger moved to intercept them, but only managed a glancing blow at one as he ran past the anti-paladin. Shrugging, Roger turned his attention towards Sir Richard. He had full faith in his allies’ ability to defend themselves, a faith that was born out a moment later when first Tardaesha, and then Grumblejack each put a knight to the sword. Roger reached Sir Richard a moment later, and their blades clashed in hell and holy fire. Both reeled backwards in the aftermath then paused to catch their breath as they circled each other warily. Sir Richard abruptly pitched forward as Dakota shot him twice in the back. Instantly, the paladin layed hands upon himself and closed the worst of the spurting wounds. Still, his breathing was shallow and raspy. He was on his last legs. Dakota drew her bowstring again and prepared to put him out of his misery.</p><p></p><p>“Wait!” came a voice from behind the combatants.</p><p>Both camps turned at once towards the new distraction and witnessed Dessiter the contract devil emerge from the deep shadows of the grotto.</p><p>“Spare him, at least for a moment,” he said, smiling at Dakota.</p><p>He turned and approached the broken and defeated paladin.</p><p>“Richard,” he said with a sad shake of his head. “It seems my associates are about to slay you. And who can blame them after all you've done to thwart their noble aspirations? My name is Dessiter and I have been empowered by my master to extend you an offer.”</p><p>“Never,” whispered the paladin with a ragged breath.</p><p>“Never is a long time, dear Richard,” Dessiter tsked. “You have failed at your mission. Talingarde stands on the brink of disaster. Would you see your nation delivered into the hands of monsters? You can still save your people, Richard, you just have to let go of your pride. Iomedae has abandoned Talingarde and abandoned you. Tell me, if She were truly so powerful, would you lie here helpless before my associates? You've followed a false god, dear Richard. But you're in luck. My master is impressed by your skill in battle. He's impressed by your doggedness and determination. He's impressed by you, Richard. It's just that ... you're working for the wrong side. You're working for a side that has already forsaken you. Tell me Richard, will you die here in this festering swamp like a dog or will you rise once more? Will you accept our generous offer and swear allegiance to a new master? I'm afraid this is a one time offer, Richard. And judging from the look on my friends' faces, I'd say that time is quickly running out...” </p><p>The members of the Knot looked at one another meaningfully. </p><p>“If I were you, I’d take him up on his offer,” Tardaesha said with her most winning smile. “Consider the lives of your remaining men. I can assure you that if we are forced to kill you, we will deal with them next, and we will not be so merciful. In fact...,” she grinned broadly, showing her fangs, “we could use a few more undead thralls among our minions.”</p><p>Richard’s face visibly blanched. </p><p>“Well, what’s it to be?” Dessiter leaned over the paladin.</p><p>“Iomedae, why hast thou forsaken me?” Sir Richard cried to the wind.</p><p>There was a rumble deep in the earth. Everyone around the battle site could feel a dark wind moving amongst them. And then Sir Richard fell unconscious. His aura was visibly changed. He was a paladin no longer. He had fallen.</p><p>“Gods in Hell,” Dessiter chuckled, “I never get tired of seeing that. He'll wake up soon enough and when he does, my Master would like a few words with the poor darling. It seems he's ours. I'm going to take him away, get him cleaned up and ready. I'll return him to you in due course. You might want to decide by then what you're going to do with your own fallen paladin.” </p><p>Dessiter smiled, perhaps the single most evil smile any of them have ever witnessed.</p><p>“Whatever it is, I hope its something really special. By the way, give my regards to my sister.”</p><p>He lifted Richard effortlessly in his arms and vanished in a flash of brimstone.</p><p></p><p>“Well that was interesting,” Dakota said.</p><p>She turned slowly back to Richard’s remaining knights.</p><p>“Now then,” she smiled, “what shall we do with you...?”</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="JollyDoc, post: 7290921, member: 9546"] 15 Desnus, 4718 - The Devil My Only Master The Nessian Knot turned to leave the summoning chamber, their mission complete. No sooner had they reentered the chamber where they’d fought Brijit, however, than three bright flashes of light signaled the arrival of more enemies. Three large figures emerged from the light, humanoid, though mostly hidden behind plates of elaborate golden armor, the spaces in between revealing flesh of black stone. “You,” the trio intoned in unison, each of them pointing a large finger at Tardaesha, Kelvin and Dakota respectively, “have been judged and found guilty of the crime of undeath. Such as you cannot be suffered to exist.” Before the companions could respond, the three juggernauts each raised a wall of flames from out of thin air, separating the three vampires from one another. Jeratheon, who remained by Tardaesha’s side, stretched open his mouth and belched corrosive liquid at the creature that was trapped behind the wall with them. With a speed belying its size and bulk, the creature pinwheeled aside, avoiding the caustic blast entirely. Meanwhile, behind one of the adjacent walls, Kelvin recognized the beings for exactly what they were: marut inevitables, living machines whose sole purpose was to seek out and destroy agents of chaos wherever they could. Kelvin knew he didn’t want to face one of them all alone, so he quickly cast a spell and teleported beyond his wall. Unfortunately, his foe was capable of the same magic, and reappeared right next to him. Tardaesha closed the distance between herself and the marut. As she drew near, however, the inevitable swung one huge fist, and when it connected, there was a tremendous thunderclap which left Tardaesha’s ears ringing. She reached out a hand and touched the marut, leaving a dark blemish of corruption on its hide. It slammed its fist into her again, but as she reeled from the blow, she saw Katarina emerge from the shadows behind the marut and drive her dagger into its lower back. When it turned to face its new assailant, Tardaesha rushed in again and layed her glowing black hands upon it. As the marut trudged towards him, Kelvin threw out his hand and hurled a snaking tendril of flames in its path. Though the fire scorched and burned its body, the creature still came. It backhanded the wizard once, knocking him from his feet. It loomed over him and prepared to drive its fist through his chest, but a split second before the blow landed, Kelvin conjured a sphere of force around himself. Dakota and Tardaesha battled on against their own oppressors, aided by Grumblejack and Katarina respectively. They managed to hold their own, but for every minor wound they inflicted on the maruts, the inevitables gave it back in spades. When Lemmy finally managed to burrow under the walls of flame and emerged to assist Dakota, the marut stood over him, glowering. “Stand aside, mortal,” it rumbled. “Our grievance is not with you, but if you stand in the path of justice, you will meet the same fate as the cheaters of death.” “Cheat this!” Lemmy countered with his usual eloquence, hurling shards of stone and metal into the marut’s face. Kelvin had no illusions that, given time, the marut could pummel its way through his little force bubble. He had no intention of giving it that much time. He cast another spell and teleported out of his shelter, reappearing behind Jeratheon. The dragon would be a bit more formidable as a shield. Jeratheon turned his head briefly to scowl at the cowering wizard, then looked back to his mistress and unleashed his acid breath on her foe. That marut took the brunt of the blast but was not daunted. It reached towards Tardaesha and grasped her by the arm. Tardaesha felt reality warp and shift. She felt as if she were being pulled through the eye of a needle. She closed her eyes and concentrated, focusing her will. It was like she was being torn in half for an interminable moment, and then the sensation passed. She opened her eyes again and the marut was gone. “What happened?” she asked. “It plane-shifted,” Kelvin peeked from behind Jeratheon’s rump. “Tried to take you with it. That would not have ended well for you. Oh!” Kelvin leaped in surprise as the marut he thought he’d left behind suddenly appeared beside him. He scrambled backwards, casting desperately as he tried to escape. Shadows swirled around him and coalesced into vaguely humanoid, yet subtly demonic forms...four of them. “Kill it!” Kelvin commanded, pointing towards the marut. Then he quickly encased himself in another force sphere. Dakota continued to pepper her tormentor with arrows while Roger harried it from closer to hand. Grumblejack joined him, and together they were able to keep it at bay from the archer. As it was forced back, Katarina suddenly stepped into view behind it and drove her knife into its back with both hands. It collapsed to its knees, and as it toppled over, Roger swept its head from its shoulders. Only one inevitable remained. The companions and their cohorts closed in on it, surrounding it on all sides. Dakota snapped off an arrow, but the marut backhanded her for her effort. Jeratheon breathed liquid death while Grumblejack charged in from the flank. The marut took the blows silently. Methodically, it conjured electricity out of thin air and sent it arcing in chains among its foes. The pain seemed to madden Jeratheon. He lunged forward and clamped his jaws around one of the marut’s log-sized arms. As it turned to hammer at the dragon with its free fist, Dakota put an arrow through the side of its neck. It stumbled and fell to one knee, and then Kelvin’s shadow demons swarmed over it. It disappeared beneath the mound of tearing claws and ripping fangs. ____________________________________________________________________ As the others made their escape from the Adarium, Katarina volunteered to discover what had transpired from Chargammon’s gambit. Sticking to the shadows, she made her way back into the upper levels of the keep. What she found when she arrived was utter chaos. Knights and servants dashed about in turmoil, uncertain as to what exactly they should be doing. Where possible, they lent aid to survivors, though there were precious few of those. The entire roof of the upper level had been ripped off, and rubble and debris was strewn from one end to the other, along with the bodies of Bellinda’s dwarven honor guard. The remains of the guardian golem lay scattered outside her chamber, but none of this held Kat’s attention for long. No, what truly gave her pause and caused her breath to catch in her throat was the sight of the blasted and torn corpse of the mighty black dragon. What power could have done such a thing? Searching quickly through the rubble of the princess’ room, she found no sign of the girl’s body. Even more troubling. Shaking her head, Kat melted back into the darkness and left the palace, eager to catch up to her companions and tell them of what had transpired. __________________________________________________________ “So was our mission a success or a failure?” Dakota asked. The companions of the Ninth Knot sat huddled in the room they rented in the squalid inn located in Matharyn’s seedier dock quarter. “We were sent to kill the king,” Kelvin said. “The king is dead. The fate of his daughter is not our concern.” “Then why hasn’t Thorn or Tiadora contacted us?” Roger asked. No one answered. Dessiter’s warning hung unspoken in the air. “So what now?” Tardaesha asked. Again no one immediately replied, but then Lemmy spoke up. “Well, I don’t know how the rest of your feel about it, but seems to me there’s currently an unguarded dragon horde back on Chargammon’s island. Ain’t like we got anything better to do.” The dwarf’s logic was sound. ______________________________________________________________ The following evening Kelvin gathered his companions about him and cast the spell of teleportation that would transport them directly to Chargammon’s grotto. Jeratheon was too large to accompany them, but due to the bond between Tardaesha and himself, his mistress vowed to summon him to her side as soon as they arrived. As it turned out, she was a bit delayed. When the Knot appeared in the vast cavern, the first thing that was immediately apparent was that it was not, as they had assumed, unoccupied. There was no dragon present, but something far worse...a dragon slayer. None other than Sir Richard Havelyn stood overlooking the dark pool in the center of the chamber. Beside him stood a man clad in the vestments of an Iomedaen priest, and another older man in dark robes. Scattered around the cave were at least a dozen knights of the Alerion, all armed and armored for battle. For a long moment, the two factions stood staring at each other in silence. It was Sir Richard who broke the stand off. “You’ve taken almost everything from this country,” he said quietly. “Is it not enough? What more do you want?” “Everything,” Tardaesha shrugged. “We want everything that was taken from and denied our family, and then we want the interest on what is owed. We will bring Talingarde to its knees, and only then will we finally declare justice served. For now, however, your country still has some bleeding to do.” There was no need for, nor no point in further conversation. At a gesture from Sir Richard, his knights began to close in on the Knot. Kelvin didn’t wait for them. He first conjured a huge, disembodied fist which he sent charging towards the wizard to the right of the paladin. The fist struck the mage full on and left him reeling. Kelvin followed this by hurling a fireball into the midst of Sir Richard and his immediate retinue. “Kill the wizard!” Sir Richard shouted to his men. The approaching knights quickly sheathed their swords and unlimbered their bows. They loosed a deadly volley directly at Kelvin and their arrows struck true against the unarmored mage. Unfortunately, the skin of a vampire was as hard as stone, and the arrows simply bounced harmlessly off. Tardaesha snapped her fingers as she suddenly remembered something. “Jeratheon,” she said. “I completely forgot I promised him a bit of fun.” She snapped again and the massive form of the black dragon suddenly appeared by her side. “There he is,” Tardaesha said, pointing towards Sir Richard. “There’s the man who participated in your father’s demise.” Jeratheon smiled. “I’m not sure if I should thank him or eat him,” he grumbled. “Maybe I’ll do both.” He opened his mouth and spewed acid at Sir Richard and one of his knights at the same time that the paladin’s priest called down a storm of fire from the heavens upon all of the Knot. He smiled triumphantly as he saw the blisters and burns on the hides of the devil-worshippers, but his expression turned to one of shocked bewilderment and pain when Dakota put four arrows into his chest. He slumped to one side and then tumbled into the water of the grotto. As Kelvin conjured a wall of flames to separate the knights from their commander, Lemmy pulled flaming rocks from the earth and hurled them at Sir Richard’s face. The knights, never hesitating, charged through the firewall, only to stumble into another fiery explosion when Kelvin loosed a fireball upon them. Still, the holy warriors did not succumb. They closed rapidly towards Lemmy and Tardaesha. Roger moved to intercept them, but only managed a glancing blow at one as he ran past the anti-paladin. Shrugging, Roger turned his attention towards Sir Richard. He had full faith in his allies’ ability to defend themselves, a faith that was born out a moment later when first Tardaesha, and then Grumblejack each put a knight to the sword. Roger reached Sir Richard a moment later, and their blades clashed in hell and holy fire. Both reeled backwards in the aftermath then paused to catch their breath as they circled each other warily. Sir Richard abruptly pitched forward as Dakota shot him twice in the back. Instantly, the paladin layed hands upon himself and closed the worst of the spurting wounds. Still, his breathing was shallow and raspy. He was on his last legs. Dakota drew her bowstring again and prepared to put him out of his misery. “Wait!” came a voice from behind the combatants. Both camps turned at once towards the new distraction and witnessed Dessiter the contract devil emerge from the deep shadows of the grotto. “Spare him, at least for a moment,” he said, smiling at Dakota. He turned and approached the broken and defeated paladin. “Richard,” he said with a sad shake of his head. “It seems my associates are about to slay you. And who can blame them after all you've done to thwart their noble aspirations? My name is Dessiter and I have been empowered by my master to extend you an offer.” “Never,” whispered the paladin with a ragged breath. “Never is a long time, dear Richard,” Dessiter tsked. “You have failed at your mission. Talingarde stands on the brink of disaster. Would you see your nation delivered into the hands of monsters? You can still save your people, Richard, you just have to let go of your pride. Iomedae has abandoned Talingarde and abandoned you. Tell me, if She were truly so powerful, would you lie here helpless before my associates? You've followed a false god, dear Richard. But you're in luck. My master is impressed by your skill in battle. He's impressed by your doggedness and determination. He's impressed by you, Richard. It's just that ... you're working for the wrong side. You're working for a side that has already forsaken you. Tell me Richard, will you die here in this festering swamp like a dog or will you rise once more? Will you accept our generous offer and swear allegiance to a new master? I'm afraid this is a one time offer, Richard. And judging from the look on my friends' faces, I'd say that time is quickly running out...” The members of the Knot looked at one another meaningfully. “If I were you, I’d take him up on his offer,” Tardaesha said with her most winning smile. “Consider the lives of your remaining men. I can assure you that if we are forced to kill you, we will deal with them next, and we will not be so merciful. In fact...,” she grinned broadly, showing her fangs, “we could use a few more undead thralls among our minions.” Richard’s face visibly blanched. “Well, what’s it to be?” Dessiter leaned over the paladin. “Iomedae, why hast thou forsaken me?” Sir Richard cried to the wind. There was a rumble deep in the earth. Everyone around the battle site could feel a dark wind moving amongst them. And then Sir Richard fell unconscious. His aura was visibly changed. He was a paladin no longer. He had fallen. “Gods in Hell,” Dessiter chuckled, “I never get tired of seeing that. He'll wake up soon enough and when he does, my Master would like a few words with the poor darling. It seems he's ours. I'm going to take him away, get him cleaned up and ready. I'll return him to you in due course. You might want to decide by then what you're going to do with your own fallen paladin.” Dessiter smiled, perhaps the single most evil smile any of them have ever witnessed. “Whatever it is, I hope its something really special. By the way, give my regards to my sister.” He lifted Richard effortlessly in his arms and vanished in a flash of brimstone. “Well that was interesting,” Dakota said. She turned slowly back to Richard’s remaining knights. “Now then,” she smiled, “what shall we do with you...?” [/QUOTE]
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