Shackled City Epic: "Vengeance" (story concluded)

Who is your favorite character in "The Shackled City"?

  • Zenna

    Votes: 27 29.7%
  • Mole

    Votes: 17 18.7%
  • Arun

    Votes: 31 34.1%
  • Dannel

    Votes: 10 11.0%
  • Other (note in a post)

    Votes: 6 6.6%

Lazybones said:
I'll see if one of the other readers keyed into that one; if not the answer will come out in a later update. :]
An anagram for:

- doggrel tilt
- dig troll get
- dolt get girl

and last, but certainly not least:

- glittergold


It seems like our heros have become so powerful that they attract the attention of the gods... ;)


BTW, Lazybones, I only just noticed that you changed the title of the SH to "Vengeance" - late, I know. Does that mean the war the heros are about to wage on Graz'zt?
 
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Neverwinter Night said:
BTW, Lazybones, I only just noticed that you changed the title of the SH to "Vengeance" - late, I know. Does that mean the war the heros are about to wage on Graz'zt?
Even -I- thought that was obvious. :p He changed the header every time he writes a new 'book', how did you miss this?

On the other hand, my Realms-Foo is weak, I'll just wait and see what happens. :]
 

Neverwinter Knight said:
An anagram for:

- doggrel tilt
- dig troll get
- dolt get girl

and last, but certainly not least:

- glittergold


It seems like our heros have become so powerful that they attract the attention of the gods... ;)


BTW, Lazybones, I only just noticed that you changed the title of the SH to "Vengeance" - late, I know. Does that mean the war the heros are about to wage on Graz'zt?
Heh, I'm going to run out of cookies for you, NWK. Good catch.

As for the title, my intent was for it to work on several levels; whether or not it does, we'll have to see how the story comes out in the end (I have an outline of what I intend to happen, of course, but almost always a few twists come out in the writing, and a few things don't come out quite like I planned. ;) ).

Friday post:

* * * * *

Chapter 480

Dannel had never seen an elven lich, but there could be no doubting the nature of the unannounced intruder. It was tall, still bearing the lines of the noble elf it had once been, its features desiccated, its gray skin stretched tight over the angular shape of its skull. It was clad in a robe that had seen better days, now a ruined fragment that hung about the lich’s form like wisps of cloud.

He had an arrow ready in a heartbeat, but held his fire, alert to any sign of threat or spellcasting. One of the others was less hesitant, and loosed a shaft that passed through the lich before vanishing into the surrounding undergrowth.

“It’s an image,” Dannel said, his eyes shooting around, observant for other threats.

“It can still cast spells through the projection,” Jannae warned. She had readied her own magic against it, but Dannel knew that it was highly unlikely that an elder creature like the lich would be discomfited by the limited powers of the priestess.

“What is your business, guardian?” Eldren said, boldly stepping forward to address the creature. “Is the evil in the wood your doing?”

The lich hissed, like air coming from a leaking bladder, and it took them a moment to realize that it was speaking. “Evil…” it said. “Yes… evil… evil must be purged, the Wood must be cleansed…”

It lifted up its hands high above its head, looking up as if to invoke the very skies above to smite its enemies. “Ware!” Eldren said, drawing back in alarm. But the lich merely shuddered, and with a faint shimmer it disappeared.

“What was that all about?” Yaela queried.

“It sounded… mad,” Dannel said.

Yaela’s eagle, perched on a nearby branch, cried out and leapt into the air. Dalan’s wolf echoed the bird’s alarm, backing away with its teeth bared in a hostile growl.

“What is it…” Ellene asked, her bow half-drawn.

“Something stirs…” Jannae said.

They could all feel it, a sense of building unrest in the wood. The feeling became reality a moment later as a massive rumbling shook the forest floor around them, almost strong enough to shake them from their feet. But even over that cacophony they could detect the sounds of something massive coming at them from the forest, from the direction of their ultimate destination.

“Ready yourselves!” Eldren shouted, casting a ward that immediately toughed his flesh to the color and consistency of rough bark. The other elves made whatever similar provisions they could, consuming potions or taking up positions of relative cover. They did not have long to wait. Whatever was coming was moving slowly, but from the sounds they heard it was coming straight through the undergrowth, the tearing of plants and crushing of brush sounding unduly harsh through the otherwise silent wood.

Dannel had taken up position atop a nearby fallen log, and from that vantage watched for a look at the approaching enemies. He caught sight of them quickly, four bulky masses approaching through the forest, but the obstructing trees and dense brush obscuring them made a shot difficult even for him. He could fire a seeker arrow that would penetrate that maze, but with only one such missile per day, he elected to hold his fire for the moment. A few of the other elves attempted shots anyway, but none of the missiles made it near the approaching forms as far as Dannel could tell.

“Four of them!” Eldren warned, having spotted the same thing as Dannel.

The four creatures finally emerged from the brush into the open, giving the elves a clear look at their foes. The intruders resembled massive heaps of rotting vegetation, animated into the crude resemblance of a humanoid form. Each was almost ten feet tall, and from the way the ground shook at their movements, they had to weigh thousands of pounds. A wave of rot swept through the clearing ahead of them. They clearly knew exactly where their foes were located, for they came immediately forward toward the elves without hesitation, massive “arms” unfolding from their bodies as they begun their attack.
 

I want to ask you another (;)) question, Lazybones. Have you been taking inspiration from MtG's Ravnica guild, the Golgari? Because this plant-undead theme seems to be very similar to what those 'circle of life' freaks are all about.
 


Solarious said:
I want to ask you another (;)) question, Lazybones. Have you been taking inspiration from MtG's Ravnica guild, the Golgari? Because this plant-undead theme seems to be very similar to what those 'circle of life' freaks are all about.
Nope, I'm not familiar with that.

Neverwinter Knight said:
By the way these first fights have been going, I guess the returing elves will be few, if any at all. Dannel is our epic AA, but at what level did you put the other elves?
Eldren's a Moon Elf Ranger 12/Peerless Archer 4. Jannae, his cohort, is a Moon Elf Rogue 5/Cleric 6 (Sehaine Moonbow). All of the other elves are 8th level, most multiclassed in one way or another, but with at least a few ranger levels. I didn't stat out all the elves.

* * * * *

Chapter 481

Dannel had drawn and sighted down the length of a long arrow as soon as the enemies emerged into the open, but before he could loose Eldren’s voice forestalled him.

“Hold, Dannel!” the ranger warned. “Shamblers… your shock-bow will only empower them!”

Dannel nodded, remembering that bit of lore. He cursed his decision to leave Benzan’s longbow, itself a potent magical weapon, back at the Traveler’s Rest in Ember Vale, in Cal’s care. He had no other backup, and without it the firepower he could bring to bear was greatly impaired.

“Dannel!” Jannae cried, drawing his attention around as she tossed her own longbow up at him. The priestess’s bow had a weaker pull, and lacked the powerful enchantments laid upon Dannel’s weapon, but he was an arcane archer, and the song filled him as he drew, aimed, and released his first shaft.

The first shambler staggered as a half-dozen arrows slammed into it. The thing apparently could be harmed by mundane weapons, for it seemed to be hindered by the impacts, although the missiles jutting from it seemed miniscule in contrast to its incredible bulk. The other shamblers moved around it, but all four were engulfed in a spread of entangling growth as the forest floor suddenly became animated, clinging to them as they moved forward. The huge shamblers were far too strong to be long hindered by the entangle spell, but it did slow them, leaving them open targets for the ongoing barrage of arrows coming from the elves. Another ranger laid a second entangle at close range, extending the area of effect to almost directly in front of the line of defenders.

The first shambler went down as the storm of arrows continued, the huge creature sagging with over two dozen missiles stuck into its body. The others pressed on through the entangled areas, however, not even bothering to try to avoid the radius of the spell effects, simply tearing forward through the clinging growth. By unspoken agreement the elves shifted their fire and focused on a second foe, sending a hail of arrows into it as well. Yaela’s eagle flew low over them, trying to distract them, but the monsters paid the small avian no heed. Dalan kept his wolf close at hand, lest the animal move forward into the entangle spells.

Damn, these things are tough! Dannel thought, as he fired yet another arrow into the second monster. With time and distance they could possibly slay all of them without loss, as they were slower than the elves; a few of the scouts had already shimmied up into the lower branches of nearby trees, to give them a protected vantage from which to fire. All of the elves moved faster than the shamblers, and with his own expeditious retreat spell he could easily lure them off while maintaining a more or less continuous barrage of fire. He glanced back over his shoulder, looking for the easiest route of retreat; what he saw, however, caused his heart to pound in his chest.

“Mohrgs!” he yelled.

The elves turned and saw that the undead monstrosities had formed a wide ring around them, and were rapidly closing in. There were almost a dozen, their tentacle-tongues already probing in anticipation of stinging warm flesh.
 

Flanked and outmanuvered! Giant advanced Shamblers to the front, and about twelve advanced (probably) paralysis-causing Mohrgs to the rear. This just ain't these elves' day. :]
 

Lazybones said:
Eldren's a Moon Elf Ranger 12/Peerless Archer 4. Jannae, his cohort, is a Moon Elf Rogue 5/Cleric 6 (Sehaine Moonbow). All of the other elves are 8th level, most multiclassed in one way or another, but with at least a few ranger levels. I didn't stat out all the elves.
Against a mad elven lich? Cute... :]
 

Chapter 482

“Go high!” Eldren shouted, putting his own words into action as he rushed to the nearest tree and started to climb. The elves immediately started aiding each other, those already in the trees tossing down lines to help those still below.

Dannel knew that his position atop the fallen log would not give him much advantage against the charging mohrgs, whose skill at climbing he’d already seen in action. He instead called upon his magic, and used his ability to alter self to take on the form of an avariel, wings sprouting from his back through the careful seams he’d long ago had installed in his armor. He saw Jannae, exposed in the center of the clearing, and leapt down beside her. Taking the priestess into his arms, he beat his borrowed wings to lift the two of them slowly into the air. She was not exceptionally heavy, but Dannel was not a natural flyer, and the nearest shambler was only about fifteen paces distant when he finally got high enough off the ground to be sufficiently clear of their reach.

“There, that branch!” Jannae said, pointing out a good destination.

“Dalan!” cried Yaela, from halfway up the trunk of another nearby tree. The elf ranger had not joined them in their ascent, instead taking up a defensive position amidst the protruding roots of another tree, his wolf by his side.

“Yaela, don’t stop!” Eldren warned, seeing a shambler lumber toward the woman ranger’s tree. She started up again, but the massive creature slammed into the tree with a powerful all-out blow from its thick arms. The trunk of the tree was easily seven or eight feet thick, and even the shambler could not unroot it, but the blow was enough to shake it severely. The elf screamed as she lost her grip, plummeting into the waiting grasp of the plant creature. For a moment she looked as though she would get free before it could grab her. Bouncing off its spongy mass she tumbled to her feet, darting away as it turned.

But then a second shambler rose up before her, and engulfed her in its huge arms before she could even scream.

“Yaela!” Dalan cried. He started toward her, his wolf running ahead, but almost immediately had to defend himself as a mohrg leapt at him, trying for a bite that would leave him paralyzed and easy prey.

Ellene let out a battle cry as she leapt from her own tentative perch, using the rope she’d been climbing to swing her into the melee. She caromed into the mohrg with enough force to send it sprawling, and as she landed she drew out her twin shortswords with a flourish. “Behind you!” she warned Dalan, engaging the mohrg she’d knocked down while the elf and his wolf faced another three of the skeletal undead, with others close behind them. The last two rangers had already reached secure branches about thirty feet up and had wedged themselves into firing positions, and started blasting mohrgs with accurate shots from their masterwork bows. One, locking her knee around the branch to steady herself, fitted two magical arrows to her string and fired both into a charging mohrg’s chest, shattering bones and stabbing deep into the putrescent mass inside its ribs. But none of the undead started for the trees, not yet, swarming instead upon the embattled elves on the ground.

Dannel dropped Jannae on the branch and immediately took up his bow again. They were relatively safe, but only so long as their friends distracted the enemy forces. Without hesitation he called upon one of the greater powers of his song, launching another hail of arrows that slammed down into their foes in a devastating barrage. A second shambler went down, Dannel’s arrow finally pushing its tally of injuries over the threshold of what it could take, and several mohrgs took hits, but they already knew that these enemies were too tough to be taken out with a single blow.

Jannae, meanwhile, drew upon her powers to bless her allies; there was little more she could do, with Dannel’s bow lying atop the fallen log almost forty feet below them.

Yaela’s eagle dove down at the top of the shambler holding its companion, digging its claws deep into its dense mass. The attack was little more than a distraction, but the ranger became momentarily visible as she tore herself free from the creature’s grasp and fell hard onto her back before it. The shambler immediately lifted its huge arms to crush her, but before it could strike Eldren yelled and leapt from his position thirty feet up a nearby tree, drawing his sword as he fell. He slammed sword-first into the shambler’s body, driving the elven blade deep into it, even its momentous bulk affected by the weight of the elf impacting it. As Yaela leapt free, Eldren tore his sword out from the wound and fell back, tumbling on impact and coming awkwardly to his feet. As the shambler turned, he glanced to the side, where two mohrgs were already coming his way.

“Come on then!” he yelled, leaping inside the shambler’s reach, taking a solid hit across his shoulders but avoiding its enfolding grasp.

“He’s crazy!” Dannel exclaimed. The last shambler, still coming slowly through the second entangle spell, was only a few steps from reinforcing its peer, and the mohrgs were everywhere. He tried to help Eldren by firing arrows into the back of the one he’d dropped onto, but again the missiles seemed of little individual effect.

“Yes,” Jannae whispered, as she stepped forward and dove off of the branch.

Dalan smote a mohrg across the front of its skull with his longsword, sending the already-injured undead staggering back. Beside him, his wolf Longfang had borne a second of the undead monsters to the ground, and was trying to shake it to pieces. But the elf cried out as three mohrgs leapt at him from ahead and each flank, two of the piercing tendrils stabbing through his armor into his flesh. The elf stiffened and went down, barely feeling the punishing blow across his back as he fell. Longfang instantly leapt to his help, or tried to; the mohrg he’d taken down nipped the wolf in the flank, and the animal crumpled, paralyzed.

Ellene could do nothing to help either, struggling against two mohrgs that were doing their best to flank her. Her head swam from the effects of the glancing punch she’d taken to her left temple, and she felt stiff from the toxic bite to her hip that she’d barely resisted. She was a master swordswoman, very adept at the two swords style that maintained effective offense and defense, but these were no common adversaries. She was not alone, as her friends continued to rain down arrows from above, but the mohrgs seemed able to withstand an incredible amount of punishment.

Eldren ignored the blows that punished his back, focusing on the shambler. The mossmantle protected him from the mohrg’s paralysis, but he thought he felt a rib pop as another crushing blow slammed into him. And on top of that, the shambler was winding up for what looked like a pretty intense attack of its own, its arms coming up high above its body. Yelling a curse in elvish, he swept his sword through its torso, feeling the resistance of its body collapse before the preternatural sharpness of the blade. The shambler staggered back and toppled over, crushing Yaela beneath its crumbling bulk.

The ranger turned just in time to take a solid hit across the front of his face from the last shambler, and everything went dark.
 


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