Paths of Legend - Tragedy at Silvergard

[crazy_monkey1956]

Orc Hunting

Aleera leads the group over a small rise and then asks the others to hang back a moment while she leads Valen further ahead, moving stealthily through the sparse undergrowth and loose rubble.

Aleera and Valen vanish around the jagged stone outcroppings. Alaric, Johen, Muzdum and Norali are suddenly aware of a strange white glow...coming from Aohdan's eyes.

A searing white pain erupts behind Aohdan's eyes, accompanied by an image...

A dragon winged serpent with arms and a woman's face framed by scales, mouth adorned with a snake's fangs, dripping poison. It coils around the Dagger possessively.

The voice, the same as before, but distant, as if crossing a great barrier, "The Serpent has been released. The war is beginning. She seeks the Dagger. A terrible price must be paid. But, if we are to defeat her, she must get what she seeks."

Meanwhile, Aleera and Valen make their way through jagged rocks to an overlook that offers a stunning view of a secluded valley. Valen guesses that the valley would take a day, perhaps two, to climb down into along rough terrain, including a couple of areas that would require climbing short distances down slops too steep to walk down.

At the center of the valley is a strange, bee hive domed city-like structure, with creatures flying about it, though they are too far away to make out what they are. Closer, however, are a group of orcs, about a dozen, making their toward the hive-city.

Valen can see that zealous, eager fire in Aleera's eyes, "There, there. Putrid, black hearted defilers. Slayers of children, burners of the sacred Darkwood. There they are. Let us cut them down and exact a terrible vengeance upon them."

A dark tunnel within the mountains

The ghostly woman nods, "Yes, the water is pure, mountain water. There is no danger here."

In answer to William's query, the woman responds, "It is most fortunate that I have found you, then. They have never seen me before and my presence would no doubt frighten them. You see beyond the veil of death, beyond appearances. Yours are the eyes of understanding."

She starts to drift further down the tunnel, "Come. Another day in these dark tunnels and we shall emerge in the chamber of the Silver Arrow, on the Silvergard plateau."

 

[Amaury]

Johen marches with the group in relative silence, sometimes interrompting his walk to check a species of pant or mushroom that he doesn't recognize. As the forest disapears his eyes betrays a certain nervousness in the more open environment.

"My friends, we should look for the tunnel Norali talked of, and not go hunting orcs un-necessarily.. Killing orcs is not our mission. We need to understand what's going on here.. he says in a convinced tone.

"Can we see that tunnel? Where is it and will it lead us to that strange structure?"

Highflyer rests on his shoulder and Johen strokes his legs. He doesn't want it to take his flight.

 

[Jemal]

William nods to the ghostly woman, filling a waterskin and following her. Soon he'd see his friends again.


(OOC: Sry it's short, but not too much to post atm, i could go into some more character development, but I'd rather wait till he meets up with them or something else happens than just go on an internal monologue right now. )

 

[Helfdan]

Valen

The tall ranger shades his eyes as he looks at the city. "Know you anything about yon city, good elfess? If they are to witness us killing orcs, I would like to know if they are friend or foe."

 

[crazy_monkey1956]

OOC: I'll hold off on an update until we hear from Yttermayn. By the way, I accidentally left Muzdum out of the group seeing the centaur's eyes glowing. Sorry, Voda Vosa.

 

[Yttermayn]

Aohdan clutched his head at the sudden agony. The words and images slammed through his mind with all the grace and power of a drunken ogre. He fought the onslaught at first, but finally realized it was a losing battle. He surrendered to it. He let it flow through him, and he found himself mouthing the words. He then added his voice to the Voice, amplifying it, coaxing it, until he no longer felt he could stop them if he wanted to. When he spoke, it was with more than just his own tongue. "THE SERPENT HAS BEEN RELEASED. THE WAR IS BEGINNING. SHE SEEKS THE DAGGER. A TERRIBLE PRICE MUST BE PAID. BUT IF WE ARE TO DEFEAT HER, SHE MUST GET WHAT SHE SEEKS."

OOC: My apologies, I thought I had posted, but I didn't and it got lost in the recent hub-ub of my life.
edit: typo

 

[Arkhandus]

Alaric instinctively steps back for a moment, startled. "What....is that?! Are you....alright, Aodhan....?" he mumbles. He isn't sure what could be making the centaur talk like that or glow that way. Maybe the centaur was some kind of sorcerer or nascent oracle?

 

[Voda Vosa]

"By me grandmomy beard!" the dwarf exclaims, taken by surprise. He instinctively rise his shield, with wide open eyes, staring at any movements of Aohdan

 

[Amaury]

Johen jumps back when Aohdan starts talking strangely. the dagger?? Again? Why is it so important? The serpent released? What's going on?? he thinks nervously.

"My friend, my friend, take it easy.. what's happening to you?.." he enquires.

He says then to all: "Let's get some cover here! I don't like these flying creatures overthere.. they could spot us.."
He starts walking towards some cover, trying to get the rest of the group to follow him.

Then he says: "Well, my Dagger certainly seems to interest a few parties.. We were attacked because of it.. Now this happens to Aohdan.. I promise, I do not understand what it is apart from being my Master's murdering weapon.."

 

[crazy_monkey1956]

OOC: Surprise update! Mainly to bump our thread up a bit and everyone has posted, so on we go.

Valen and Aleera

Aleera answers the ranger, "I don't know what they are and I don't care. Swift and merciless destruction to the orcs is all that matters."

She begins readying her weapons, that fierce, vengeful look still in her eyes.

Valen notes a small group of the flyers breaking away from the hive and heading toward the orc troop.

Johen, Muzdum, Aohdan, Alaric, and Norali

The strange vision passes and Aohdan finds the others staring at him. The others notice the glow fade from the centaur's eyes.

Norali seems nervous and mouths a word, a name...

Azilyk

William

A day of damp, enclosing darkness passes. The spirit-woman keeps a steady pace and William finds himself utterly lost in the underground tunnels.

Finally, a speck of light shines ahead. The tunnel opens into a grand cavern, wooden supports keeping the roof up, magical illumination emanating from the walls at regular intervals. A huge platform adorns the center of the cavern, made of stone, with various ropes coiled near stout poles. It looks as though the platform is meant to tether something down...something the size of a sailing ship. At the rear end of the cavern is a set of worked stone doors, utterly massive in size, a complicated pulley system attached meant to pull them open, though it appears not to have been used in over a decade. At the other end of the cavern are two raised stone platforms, smaller than the central one but still large enough to hold as many as ten people. Above each platform is another stone door, these worked into the ceiling, though there appears to be no mechanism to open them, at least none visible. The entire place holds the dust of many years. William senses that his are the first living eyes to view this place in a long time.

Corath

Jolly pours himself another cup of tea as he considers his next words.

"I've told you as much as I care to about your history which, in truth, is as much as I know. There are other things I must attend to, and, of course, things for you to attend to as well. Momentous things are happening. Of greater significance than even the Shadow War. You will play an important role in these things. But, in the meantime, your former companions need you. As I recall, you made a vow to protect one of them. That, and my beloved niece, Norali, is with them."

Jolly is about to pour a second cup, apparently for Corath, then thinks better of it, shaking his head in amusement. "Well, what are you waiting for. Get going. Lots of ground to cover and little enough time for it. Oh, before you go..."

He pulls a slender pole, a staff of sorts, though sized for a halfling, from a nearby wardrobe, "Give this to the alchemist, if you would please. Utterly useless to him as a weapon, I'm afraid...well, unless he happens to know the reduce person spell, but he should find it useful nonetheless. Well, useful in regards to you at least. He'll know what to do with it." He smiles and winks at Corath as he hands it over. "Tell him to save the last ten charges until you're ready for them."

Jolly abruptly turns and sips at his tea while looking through a small diary entitled, Sun and Shadows Triumph Over Darkness. "Off with you then."

[sblock=What Corath learned from Jolly]Corath was one of the orginal nimblewright's created in Thay to act as icognito bodyguards to Enchanter's Circle spies in Azgund. The nimblewright's were specifically designed to "outduel the duelists." Corath was assigned to guard a Thayvian of the Enchanter's Circle who had insinuated himself into the court of Lady Dawn de Guare just prior to the Shadow War, working his way up to become her seneschal. The ruse was finally revealed when the spy and Corath were ordered to assassinate Aluan Velestri and Damaera Silverbrook at their second wedding ceremony. The nimblewright that Corath was toppled a guard tower on top of most of the participants (the spy had overseen the building of the guard tower and had it constructed so as to topple when a specific stone was removed). Corath was buried and ceased functioning. Jolly explained that he infused her with new life, though how he did that was something he chose not to reveal. The elemental spirit that had originally animated her was replaced with something more...an independent, free-willed spirit. As to who that spirit is, Jolly was cryptic, saying only that it is, "Corath, isn't that all that matters?"[/sblock]