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Saduul Cortez: Lunatic. Mass Murderer. Hero?
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<blockquote data-quote="Ralts Bloodthorne" data-source="post: 3385995" data-attributes="member: 6390"><p>We entered the cave carefully, the monk leading the way, Saduul pulling second rank. The druid had taken some of the entrails from a slain tribesman, poured herbs and powders on it, threw it in the air, and a black skinned, fire wreathed carniverous ape lept from the trees and caught the entrials in its mouth.</p><p></p><p>We had a meat-shield.</p><p></p><p>The cave stank of rotten blood and flesh, and it quickly dropped down. There were obscene runes carved in the rock and smeared with blood and feces. There were skulls sitting atop of gourds that were decorated with beads.</p><p></p><p>This was savagery at its best.</p><p></p><p>The flames on the monk were still bright enough to light the way, and the way was disgusting. Rotting food and excrement from the God-Totem littered the floor. A half-eaten body of a bull-man maiden was tossed in the corner.</p><p></p><p>There was water dripping from somewhere.</p><p></p><p>Luckily, the caves were empty, or usable treasure, artifacts, or anything else.</p><p></p><p>"This isn't right. There should be a ton of gold, silver, and brass icons hidden away somewhere." the fighter said, nervously playing with his sword.</p><p></p><p>"And where is the God-Totem's nest?" asked the Ranger. She bent down and began searching, looking for something, anything.</p><p></p><p>"Here." She called out. It was cleverly hidden, stalagmites and stalagtites making a nearly invisible curtian to hide the entrance. We peered in, and caught a glimpse of savage hell.</p><p></p><p>The limestone and the lime deposits were red with what we assumed to be iron contamination. THere were skeletons warped and twisted into the limestone, and fossils that spoke of twisted, corrupt, and foul creatures.</p><p></p><p>"Hey Saduul, I found you friend." the fighter chuckled, pointing at a monkey with bat wings, a disfigured muzzle full of fangs, and a scorpian tail. It was completely encased in lime, the flesh seared away.</p><p></p><p>"Thanks." I said, kneeling down and carefully chipping it free. What it was, I had no clue, but it would make an excellent undead.</p><p></p><p>The passage wound it's way into the bowels of the earth, and we had to be careful not to slip. At one point a section of thin lime crumbled away, and we nearly lost the fighter into the yawning abyss. We counted the heartbeats, but never heard the lime hit the bottom.</p><p></p><p>"Listen for drums." the Ranger whispered. No kidding, we'd learned that lesson the hard way in the Iron Mines of Nucrotta, when one of the escort soldiers fell screaming into an abyss, and the sounds of drums began. We'd barely made it out of there, running at full speed, after pouring the living rust on the biggest iron deposits we could find.</p><p></p><p>Finally, it opened up into a vast cave, coating in lime. There were humps all across the floor of the room, and the Ranger cracked open one of the lumps with one of her knives.</p><p></p><p>A skeleton, prostrating itself toward the darkness. We moved carefully forward, the theif and the monk ghosting ahead to see what they could find. They came back quickly, and made hand symbols for danger, caution, magic, and religious.</p><p></p><p>At the far end of the cave stood a vast, lime coated altar, the writhing, venomous green writing shone through the lime coating the altar. At the back of the altar was a limestone covered statue of the God-Totem we'd killed on the surface. In front of it was a nest of warped bones. In a pile twice the size of a man was gold, the lime rotted remnants of silver and bronze, all heaped up with skulls and bones of the God-Totem's victims.</p><p></p><p>The rogue began digging through the pile, stopping every once in awhile to break something free of the grip of limestone. The huge ape began demolishing the altar, and I took a close look at the statue.</p><p></p><p>It was exactly like the God-Totem we had defeated. Down to the smallest detail. I knew there was something important about it, but I couldn't figure it out.</p><p></p><p>"WOAH! LOOK AT THIS!" came a cry from the rogue. He was toward the bottom of the pile, and I was busy chipping limestone off the statue. We all moved over, and took a look at what had been found.</p><p></p><p>It was copper, enscribed with rune, and looked like a squid had mated with a slightly melted elf, then had a lamprey attached to it. It was disgusting, and made all of us naseous to look at it.</p><p></p><p>"Destroy it, Saduul." the Ranger whispered. I brought up my magic, my most potent firespell, and cooked it off, the flash hitting it.</p><p></p><p>And doing nothing but wipe away the limestone. My blood magic senses suddenly told me that the runes inscribed on the copper creature were filled with fresh blood.</p><p></p><p>"OUT! BACK OUT!" the druid screamed, pointing at another lump of limestone that had just shattered to reveal a creature out of nightmare and horror. It looked like a leech had mated with an octopus and grafted on an elven torso and a lamprey's head.</p><p></p><p>It was also ten feet tall.</p><p></p><p>There was a grinding sound at the back of the cave, and parts of the God-Totem began falling free, to reveal an inhuman, twisted shape out of fever dreams and nightmares.</p><p></p><p>"GIVE OBESIANCE UNTO ME!" came a thundering roar that sounded only in our minds. The rogue and the two warriors fell to their knees, but the Ranger, the Druid, the MOnk and I began dragging them from the cave.</p><p></p><p>The skeletons began bursting out of their lime coated cocoons, greenish, rotting flesh swirling into being around their, their arms turning to tentacles with hungry, teeth filled suckers.</p><p></p><p>"BURN, FOUL ONES!" Saduul cried out, cooking off a fire lance to clear the way. They staggered, smoking, but did not fall.</p><p></p><p>"RUN FOR IT!" the monk called out. The ape was swept up by the tentacles of the hideous statue/god, and wrung out like a dishrag. It squalled once, and the blood sprays arced in midair and flowed into the multitude of eyes adorning the head.</p><p></p><p>I pushed another fire lance out, smashing our way out of the cavern, and into the twisted tunnel that led to the surface. The limestone was melting, the fumes choking us, and the walls of the tunnel began to turn reddish, with black viens that shone with a lurid purple light.</p><p></p><p>*THOOM* echoed from behind us. Our feet began slipping on the floor, but we kept struggling. The ranger plunged a knife into the floor, vile green and black blood, finger-sized maggots, and twisting, crawling things that should not be fountained out, gagging her.</p><p></p><p>I tried to use the blood to power my magic, but felt it's twisted, obscene power try to infect me, trying to worm its way into my blood. As Saduul vomited out black blood, the druid dragged him by his arm.</p><p></p><p>The entrance to the cavern was closed by a rotting sphincter, the Ranger attacked it, tearing with her fighting knives, until with an obscene sound, it fell away, and we pushed our way out of it.</p><p></p><p>I turned back to look, and squirming things with millipede feet, writhing feelers, and sucking tentacles, as long as my arm, were pulling the scraps back together.</p><p></p><p>We fled the cave, and stopped. The clearing was full of bodies, but they were twisting, the skin blackening and abdomens exploding out tentacle-like entrails. The smiling mouths were full of lamprey teeth, and the eyes were sucking whirlpools of purple, reddish, and green energy.</p><p></p><p>"RUN!" The druid screamed. And we did.</p><p></p><p>The rising sun was our only hope. Saduul recovered at the same time as everyone else, when we crossed through a creek.</p><p></p><p>"Stop." Saduul croaked. The party came to a halt, taking equipment inventory as Saduul knelt down next to the stream and sniffed it.</p><p></p><p><em>iron</em></p><p></p><p>"Aw crap, I dropped <em>Brain-Reaver</em> back there." the fighter complained.</p><p></p><p>"It's gone now. I ain't going back!" The druid cried out.</p><p></p><p>"Hey, we stayed and helped keep those troops from burning the Amythest Grove, you owe me!" the fighter yelled back.</p><p></p><p>"Shut up." Saduul hissed, picking up a cupped handful of water.</p><p></p><p>"DOn't tell me to..." THe fighter shut up when Saduul held out a palm wreathed in flame.</p><p></p><p>"I hear it too." The rogue said, going pale. "They're saying..."</p><p></p><p>"DON'T REPEAT IT!" the druid yelled.</p><p></p><p>"We're going back for Brain-Reaver." the fighter announced.</p><p></p><p>"It's gone." THe barbarian said. "If you dropped it back there, it's gone."</p><p></p><p>"What the hell woke it up?" The rogue asked, shaking his head.</p><p></p><p>"Saduul." the barbarian said.</p><p></p><p>"For once, our savage brother's suspicion about mages is correct," Saduul responded, standing up. "Or rather, he's correct that my being a blood mage is what brought it back. Blood magic is ancient, powerful, and profane, outlawed by all the gods but Vecna, and even he watches those of us who use it carefully."</p><p></p><p>"We know all this. Blood magic is old, blood magic is powerful. SO WHAT?" the fighter screamed.</p><p></p><p>"Blood magic is the <em>oldest</em> magic. From the dawn of time." Saduul answered. "The echoes of my power awoke that <em>thing</em> from beneath the earth. Probably as we entered its very body."</p><p></p><p>"It's body?" the fighter asked.</p><p></p><p>"The tunnel, it was one of it's many and foul orifices." the barbarian grunted. "This is a thing of nightmares, a creature of elder sorcerers, brought to foul life by insane worship."</p><p></p><p>"Let's move."</p><p></p><p>"It and its minions can't cross this stream." Saduul said. "It must go through a vien of iron somewhere. That's cold iron, babies. It may be ancient, but it still has to follow rules."</p><p></p><p>We returned to the camp, and there we found the cleric hovering over the bay, drawing runes of power granted by Vecna into the water, causing the dead sailors and soldiers murdered by Saduul to explode from the deep, clutching weapons.</p><p></p><p>"VECNA GRANTS GIFTS TO THOSE WHO BRING HIS WORSHIP UNTO NEW PEOPLE! TAKE THESE GIFTS, SADUUL, AND TEACH THIS ONE THE WAY OF POWER!" Thundered out over the bay.</p><p></p><p>With a splash, the cleric landed in the water.</p><p></p><p>We managed to save her before she drowned.</p><p></p><p>(Next installment, the CLeric's player finally shows up, and plans are made to crush the Empire's war fleet)</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Ralts Bloodthorne, post: 3385995, member: 6390"] We entered the cave carefully, the monk leading the way, Saduul pulling second rank. The druid had taken some of the entrails from a slain tribesman, poured herbs and powders on it, threw it in the air, and a black skinned, fire wreathed carniverous ape lept from the trees and caught the entrials in its mouth. We had a meat-shield. The cave stank of rotten blood and flesh, and it quickly dropped down. There were obscene runes carved in the rock and smeared with blood and feces. There were skulls sitting atop of gourds that were decorated with beads. This was savagery at its best. The flames on the monk were still bright enough to light the way, and the way was disgusting. Rotting food and excrement from the God-Totem littered the floor. A half-eaten body of a bull-man maiden was tossed in the corner. There was water dripping from somewhere. Luckily, the caves were empty, or usable treasure, artifacts, or anything else. "This isn't right. There should be a ton of gold, silver, and brass icons hidden away somewhere." the fighter said, nervously playing with his sword. "And where is the God-Totem's nest?" asked the Ranger. She bent down and began searching, looking for something, anything. "Here." She called out. It was cleverly hidden, stalagmites and stalagtites making a nearly invisible curtian to hide the entrance. We peered in, and caught a glimpse of savage hell. The limestone and the lime deposits were red with what we assumed to be iron contamination. THere were skeletons warped and twisted into the limestone, and fossils that spoke of twisted, corrupt, and foul creatures. "Hey Saduul, I found you friend." the fighter chuckled, pointing at a monkey with bat wings, a disfigured muzzle full of fangs, and a scorpian tail. It was completely encased in lime, the flesh seared away. "Thanks." I said, kneeling down and carefully chipping it free. What it was, I had no clue, but it would make an excellent undead. The passage wound it's way into the bowels of the earth, and we had to be careful not to slip. At one point a section of thin lime crumbled away, and we nearly lost the fighter into the yawning abyss. We counted the heartbeats, but never heard the lime hit the bottom. "Listen for drums." the Ranger whispered. No kidding, we'd learned that lesson the hard way in the Iron Mines of Nucrotta, when one of the escort soldiers fell screaming into an abyss, and the sounds of drums began. We'd barely made it out of there, running at full speed, after pouring the living rust on the biggest iron deposits we could find. Finally, it opened up into a vast cave, coating in lime. There were humps all across the floor of the room, and the Ranger cracked open one of the lumps with one of her knives. A skeleton, prostrating itself toward the darkness. We moved carefully forward, the theif and the monk ghosting ahead to see what they could find. They came back quickly, and made hand symbols for danger, caution, magic, and religious. At the far end of the cave stood a vast, lime coated altar, the writhing, venomous green writing shone through the lime coating the altar. At the back of the altar was a limestone covered statue of the God-Totem we'd killed on the surface. In front of it was a nest of warped bones. In a pile twice the size of a man was gold, the lime rotted remnants of silver and bronze, all heaped up with skulls and bones of the God-Totem's victims. The rogue began digging through the pile, stopping every once in awhile to break something free of the grip of limestone. The huge ape began demolishing the altar, and I took a close look at the statue. It was exactly like the God-Totem we had defeated. Down to the smallest detail. I knew there was something important about it, but I couldn't figure it out. "WOAH! LOOK AT THIS!" came a cry from the rogue. He was toward the bottom of the pile, and I was busy chipping limestone off the statue. We all moved over, and took a look at what had been found. It was copper, enscribed with rune, and looked like a squid had mated with a slightly melted elf, then had a lamprey attached to it. It was disgusting, and made all of us naseous to look at it. "Destroy it, Saduul." the Ranger whispered. I brought up my magic, my most potent firespell, and cooked it off, the flash hitting it. And doing nothing but wipe away the limestone. My blood magic senses suddenly told me that the runes inscribed on the copper creature were filled with fresh blood. "OUT! BACK OUT!" the druid screamed, pointing at another lump of limestone that had just shattered to reveal a creature out of nightmare and horror. It looked like a leech had mated with an octopus and grafted on an elven torso and a lamprey's head. It was also ten feet tall. There was a grinding sound at the back of the cave, and parts of the God-Totem began falling free, to reveal an inhuman, twisted shape out of fever dreams and nightmares. "GIVE OBESIANCE UNTO ME!" came a thundering roar that sounded only in our minds. The rogue and the two warriors fell to their knees, but the Ranger, the Druid, the MOnk and I began dragging them from the cave. The skeletons began bursting out of their lime coated cocoons, greenish, rotting flesh swirling into being around their, their arms turning to tentacles with hungry, teeth filled suckers. "BURN, FOUL ONES!" Saduul cried out, cooking off a fire lance to clear the way. They staggered, smoking, but did not fall. "RUN FOR IT!" the monk called out. The ape was swept up by the tentacles of the hideous statue/god, and wrung out like a dishrag. It squalled once, and the blood sprays arced in midair and flowed into the multitude of eyes adorning the head. I pushed another fire lance out, smashing our way out of the cavern, and into the twisted tunnel that led to the surface. The limestone was melting, the fumes choking us, and the walls of the tunnel began to turn reddish, with black viens that shone with a lurid purple light. *THOOM* echoed from behind us. Our feet began slipping on the floor, but we kept struggling. The ranger plunged a knife into the floor, vile green and black blood, finger-sized maggots, and twisting, crawling things that should not be fountained out, gagging her. I tried to use the blood to power my magic, but felt it's twisted, obscene power try to infect me, trying to worm its way into my blood. As Saduul vomited out black blood, the druid dragged him by his arm. The entrance to the cavern was closed by a rotting sphincter, the Ranger attacked it, tearing with her fighting knives, until with an obscene sound, it fell away, and we pushed our way out of it. I turned back to look, and squirming things with millipede feet, writhing feelers, and sucking tentacles, as long as my arm, were pulling the scraps back together. We fled the cave, and stopped. The clearing was full of bodies, but they were twisting, the skin blackening and abdomens exploding out tentacle-like entrails. The smiling mouths were full of lamprey teeth, and the eyes were sucking whirlpools of purple, reddish, and green energy. "RUN!" The druid screamed. And we did. The rising sun was our only hope. Saduul recovered at the same time as everyone else, when we crossed through a creek. "Stop." Saduul croaked. The party came to a halt, taking equipment inventory as Saduul knelt down next to the stream and sniffed it. [i]iron[/i] "Aw crap, I dropped [i]Brain-Reaver[/i] back there." the fighter complained. "It's gone now. I ain't going back!" The druid cried out. "Hey, we stayed and helped keep those troops from burning the Amythest Grove, you owe me!" the fighter yelled back. "Shut up." Saduul hissed, picking up a cupped handful of water. "DOn't tell me to..." THe fighter shut up when Saduul held out a palm wreathed in flame. "I hear it too." The rogue said, going pale. "They're saying..." "DON'T REPEAT IT!" the druid yelled. "We're going back for Brain-Reaver." the fighter announced. "It's gone." THe barbarian said. "If you dropped it back there, it's gone." "What the hell woke it up?" The rogue asked, shaking his head. "Saduul." the barbarian said. "For once, our savage brother's suspicion about mages is correct," Saduul responded, standing up. "Or rather, he's correct that my being a blood mage is what brought it back. Blood magic is ancient, powerful, and profane, outlawed by all the gods but Vecna, and even he watches those of us who use it carefully." "We know all this. Blood magic is old, blood magic is powerful. SO WHAT?" the fighter screamed. "Blood magic is the [i]oldest[/i] magic. From the dawn of time." Saduul answered. "The echoes of my power awoke that [i]thing[/i] from beneath the earth. Probably as we entered its very body." "It's body?" the fighter asked. "The tunnel, it was one of it's many and foul orifices." the barbarian grunted. "This is a thing of nightmares, a creature of elder sorcerers, brought to foul life by insane worship." "Let's move." "It and its minions can't cross this stream." Saduul said. "It must go through a vien of iron somewhere. That's cold iron, babies. It may be ancient, but it still has to follow rules." We returned to the camp, and there we found the cleric hovering over the bay, drawing runes of power granted by Vecna into the water, causing the dead sailors and soldiers murdered by Saduul to explode from the deep, clutching weapons. "VECNA GRANTS GIFTS TO THOSE WHO BRING HIS WORSHIP UNTO NEW PEOPLE! TAKE THESE GIFTS, SADUUL, AND TEACH THIS ONE THE WAY OF POWER!" Thundered out over the bay. With a splash, the cleric landed in the water. We managed to save her before she drowned. (Next installment, the CLeric's player finally shows up, and plans are made to crush the Empire's war fleet) [/QUOTE]
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