Rappan Athuk: Ravage of The Unusual Heroes!

[Ziona]

The Battle Rages On

Haley saw the spear as it skewered her half-elven companion, ripping his life from him. Her deafening roar was a cry of anger and sadness. The tiger attacked Grumstorg with two sharp claw attacks and a vicious bite, but The Chosen of Gruumsh ignored the feisty feline and moved on to his next victim.

“Yer filthy beast! I’ll have yer head!” shouted Varr.

The dwarf charged at Grumstorg with Frostbite ready to swing. The axe came down and chopped into the orc’s hide.

Still raging and anxious for battle, Drizzt ran up along side Varr and sliced into Grumstorg with his bloodied scimitars. The massive orc just bellowed at his assailants.

“You will fall to the power of Gruumsh!!”

Standing beside the fallen bodies of Arden and Dent, Gnettles cast Improved Invisibility on himself, then began casting upon Grumstorg. The gnome was not pleased to feel the slight stinging ache in his fingers as his spell fizzled.

Meanwhile, Inmir and Fynder still faced off at the other side of the room. Anger and frustration fueled the foes, who seemed to be unable to hurt each other. However, Lia, standing nearby, reached into her bag and pulled forth an orange ball of fur. As the fluffy tuft hit the ground at Fynder’s feet, a tiger sprang forth growing from the mass of fur.

At the same time, Ziona’s Mother Megara was busy casting at the orcs who had slain Avangel. In an instant, flames poured down upon the barbarian and cleric in the shape of a red-hot cylinder. The barbarian roared and cursed in the orcish tongue, but the heat was too much for the cleric. The orc collapsed to the ground in a smoldering heap.

The (now raging) barbarian ran from the flames and charged at Inmir. With a roar born of pain, the orc hacked into the forsaker. Inmir grimaced but knew he could withstand the pain.

Lia ran to aid Inmir, nunchaku spinning wildly. Her weapons collided with the frothing face of the orc, causing it’s eyes to roll back into it’s head as it fell to lifelessly to the ground.

By this time, Fynder had finished off the tiger Lia had thrown at him, and turned to cleave into her! Realizing that she was not going to go down as easily as the tiger had, Fynder withdrew and began moving towards the battle with Grumstorg, which seemed to be turning into a blood bath.

Grumstorg turned his eye on Varr and speared the dwarf twice. Blood spurted from Varr’s mouth as he fell to his knees and dropped Frostbite. With a final motion, Grumstorg skewered the dwarf through the neck, then pulled up with such force that Varr’s head ripped from his shoulders. Blood splattered onto the face of the shocked Zellian, who Grumstorg turned and cleaved into. The dark elf took the hit and stumbled backwards, not knowing what was his blood and what was Varr’s.

Further away from the carnage in the middle of the room, Ziona made her way to the fallen celestial elf. She knelt down beside him and pulled forth a rod. Clasping her Holy Symbol for support, she pointed the rod at Avangel and called out “Resurrection!”

The winged elf became flush, and his golden eyes slammed open. He seemed to know he was still in danger, but was obviously confused.

“The battle rages on,” Ziona explained to him. “You have been restored to life, my friend, but you may feel somewhat weaker than you had before.”

“Yes, I understand, milady,” said Avangel getting up. He reached over and grabbed First Light, then cried, “We must return to the battle!”

The paladin spread his wings and flew towards his companions, but was horrified to see how many of them had been slain.

Would they live to defeat such a foe?


The Adventure Continues…

 

[Breakstone]

Yay Ziona!

Poor Varr... but I see I'm not the only one who makes PC deaths as gruesome as possible!

 

[Celtavian]

Re

Grumstrong seems just a little tough. Where is Lox and Traps why all this is going on?

 

[Horacio]

Wow, Ziona, what a bloody battle, each round seems blodier than the round before...

Wonderful, as always

 

[Ziona]

Re: Re

Grumstrong seems just a little tough. Where is Lox and Traps why all this is going on?

Yeah, Grumstorg is tough. He's epic level, and has epic level feats that allow him to do some crazy stuff.

As for Lox and Traps, they will be in the next installment. They're halflings, so you know they're up to something...

 

[Xaltar]

Re: Re

Grumstrong seems just a little tough. Where is Lox and Traps why all this is going on?

Well I did have like 10 players that night... I needed to make it tough!

Poor Varr... but I see I'm not the only one who makes PC deaths as gruesome as possible!

Just wait until you see the next character death!


It's fun to hear people gasp.

 

[Thorntangle]

Re: Re: Re

Just wait until you see the next character death!

Jeez, does anyone survive? I hope you at least had the courtesy to massacre all the visiting guest players.

 

[Xaltar]

Re: Re: Re: Re

Jeez, does anyone survive? I hope you at least had the courtesy to massacre all the visiting guest players.

Well, I do my best! Aarack is down, and so is Lox's re-visiting character Varr.

 

[Horacio]

Re: Re: Re: Re

Jeez, does anyone survive? I hope you at least had the courtesy to massacre all the visiting guest players.

I hope he had the courtesy to massacre Drizzt. Please...

 

[Ziona]

Gruumsh Has Come For You

“ROUNDY!”

Doc Midnight shouted a gleeful greeting as Traps Lumley approached him with lockpicks in hand.

“I knew you’d come and free me from these binds, lil’ buddy!”

Traps looked at Doc and shrugged, thinking perhaps the duelist mistook him for his brother, Lox.

“I’m Traps Lumley,” he said with a grin. “I’ll have you free in just a moment…I’m afraid my brother is better with the picks than I.”

“Brother? Have you been in the pickle pot again, Roundy? Hurry up and get me outta here,” said Doc. “We’ve got a battle to win, buddy!”

Traps fidgeted with the lockpicks a moment longer, then heard the familiar click as the lock was opened. Before he could say a word, Doc jumped to his feet and saw his beloved rapier on the floor beside the table he had been chained to. With one swift motion, Doc slid his foot beneath the rapier and bounced it into the air. As he snatched it up and began running towards Grumstorg, Traps heard him shout.

“Thanks, old pal!”

Traps looked at him with a furrowed brow and smirk.

“Crazy humans.”

Meanwhile, Lox Lumley was standing among his fallen companions, undetected by Grumstorg. The invisible halfling reached into his breast pocket and pulled out the gift that had been passed down to him from his dear friend Nuttin. Taking a deep breath, Lox pointed the object forward and shouted…

“ROD OF WONDER!”

Suddenly, Lox became visible. He waited for a ball of fire or a bolt of lightening to shoot forth from the rod and strike down their foe, but nothing happened.

“Aw, c’mon!” he shouted. He shook the rod in frustration. “I really need you do something splendid, now, you silly rod!”

Lox stopped assaulting the rod when he saw Doc running bravely into the melee.

“Hey Doc, you’re okay!”

The duelist didn’t notice “Roundy” however. At that moment, he was shouting crazily at Grumstorg.

“Make a mess of my friends, will you? I’ll not stand for that!”

Doc moved in and swiped twice at Grumstorg but did not feel the satisfying slice he was hoping for.

“Gruumsh will take you, too!” bellowed the orc.

Seeing that Fynder was preoccupied with another animal from Lia’s magical bag, Inmir turned his attention on Grumstorg. He had grown tired of hearing the orc’s threats, and he knew that the spear the beast carried must be magical. How satisfying it would be to crush it! Inmir charged Grumstorg with his double-bladed longsword. The whirling blades struck the massive orc twice, drawing dark, sticky blood. Grumstorg just laughed wickedly.

The hidden passageway that Drizzt had come through suddenly sprang to life. Three fungus men came running through it, stumbling over the dead orcs that lay in their path. They entered the room and frantically fought to push the secret door shut. It seemed something was following closely behind them.

Hovering invisibly above them, Gnettles looked down upon their enemy. Again he felt the slight pangs of disappointment as his spell fizzed against the evil orc. Calming himself, the gnome recited the words to his spell and let the magic flow through his fingertips. As he did, Magic Missiles shot forward, striking Grumstorg.

Below him, Drizzt dove in for another attack, but found his foe had anticipated his move. Still enraged, the drow hardly felt the spear pierce into his stomach. He swung again at Grumstorg, but his efforts were too little. The Chosen of Gruumsh ripped the spear back out of the dark elf’s gut, then launched another attack. The drow felt the spear tear into his flesh this time as he was sent sprawling to the ground. As he lay in an ever-growing puddle of his own blood, he reached for the onyx feline figurine in his pocket. But before his fingers could feel it’s cool, smooth surface, he gasped a final time. Blood tricked from his mouth and ran down his ebony cheek. Drizzt Do’Urden was dead.

Grumstorg was far from being finished, however. Once Drizzt was out of the way, he turned and cleaved into Inmir, sending him into unconsciousness. Next, it was Spiderfang who took the spear to the forearm.

By this time, Ziona had reached Zellian and cast Heal upon him.

“Eilistraee guide us,” he said clasping his daughter’s hand.

Ziona watched as her father sprang back into battle, longsword in hand. He sliced at Grumstorg’s back, then leapt back out of reach.

“Run, weakling, run!” growled Grumstorg. “Gruumsh will take you no matter where you are!”

Avangel soared above the chaos and began to pray to Lathander. A soft glow surrounded him as he Blessed the group. The companions found courage where it had been waning, and felt somewhat renewed in their effort to defeat the evil before them.

“For Justice!” shouted Doc.

Both he and Spiderfang began their assault on the orc. Doc lashed at Grumstorg with his rapier while Tansooth cracked him across the chest with his quarterstaff.

The Chosen of Gruumsh looked above him and saw The Chosen of Lathander.

“I HATE elves!” he bellowed.

Back at the entrance of the room, Rossal sat with the body of his departed friend, Glindil. The injured pseudodragon was greatly saddened by the loss of the faerie dragon, but knew he had to help Ziona and her companions. He looked around and saw how many of them had lost their lives. He saw the look of sadness and tragedy on Ziona’s face, and he began to cast. His tiny dragon fingers burned red as Magic Missiles rocketed forth and struck Grumstorg. It wasn’t much, he knew, but he would do what he could to contribute to the defeat of such an evil foe.

A short distance from Rossal was where Lox stood holding the Rod.

“Please, please, please work this time,” he mumbled.

Lox pointed the Rod at Grumstorg and licked his lips. He bit his lip a moment, then took another deep breath.

“Here goes…ROD OF WONDER!!”

This time, the Rod did something Lox had never seen. Not only was it splendid, it was enormous! Directly in front of Grumstorg appeared an angry elephant with giant tusks and a violently loud, trumpeting wail. Shocked beyond belief, Grumstorg nearly stumbled backwards. But the orc caught himself and held his spear high, calling out, “Your magic tricks do not intimidate The Chosen of Gruumsh!”

The elephant didn’t seem to care who Grumstorg was. It attempted to gore and trample the orc, but was in such a frenzy at being surrounded, it managed to miss him.

Delighted beyond belief, Lox giggled at the sight of an elephant suddenly appearing. Traps stepped up beside him and slapped his knee in amusement. The brothers were lost in such a haze of giggling and laughter that one might think they had been cast upon.

Meanwhile, Lia and her brown bear were still working on Fynder Banechild. It seemed that he was finally wearing down under the brute force of Lia’s nunchaku and the rage of an angry bear. He sliced at the bear without much effort, then turned to flee from the Spiderfang apprentice, but did not make it far before she claimed his life.

Spiderfang himself was still in melee with Grumstorg, alongside Doc Midnight. Not far from them stood Zellian, who sprang back into the fray and started attacking Grumstorg again.

“Ah…Gruumsh has come for you!”

As Zellian lunged toward his enemy, Grumstorg thrust his spear into the drow’s chest. From across the room Megara screamed. She watched as Grumstorg ripped the spear back and tore a hole through Zellian’s upper torso, exposing vital organs. The drow's heart bounded across the room in a gruesome arc as Grumstorg swung his spear at his next victim.

Ziona, who was using the Rod of Resurrection on Dent, looked up when she heard her mother scream. She saw the blood and gore as Zellian slumped to the ground lifeless.

“FATHER!”

Megara sank to her knees, grief overtaking her, while Ziona cried out.

“Gruumsh will come for you all!”

Grumstorg turned and chopped down Spiderfang, knocking him across the room like a discarded toy. Next, he turned and cleaved into the elephant, who trumpeted out in pain. The pachyderm reared up on it’s hind legs and came crashing down beside Grumstorg, which nearly caused him to drop his spear. Doc took the opportunity to slash at the orc, while the elephant slammed him forward. From afar, Rossal cast Magic Missile which seared the orc’s flesh.

As Grumstorg regained his footing, he turned to face Doc Midnight. Thinking that the duelist would be his next victim, the orc raised his spear high, ready to gouge the life from another worthless being. But Doc moved swiftly, lashing into Grumstorg’s belly deep enough for a splash of gore to spill about. The Chosen of Gruumsh dropped his giant spear and grasped at the gash in his gut. Those left living held their breath as the evil beast tottered back then slumped forward and fell to the ground.

Everyone stood motionless and quiet. Silence seemed to engulf them as they stood stunned over their victory and their losses.

Dent stood up from the spot where Ziona had restored his life. The ranger looked down at Haley, then grabbed his axe from the ground where it fell. Wordlessly, the half-elf strode over to the corpse of Grumstorg and lobbed his head from his shoulders.

The Chosen of Gruumsh was dead.


The Adventure Continues…