Shackled City Epic: "Vengeance" (story concluded)

[Lazybones]

Chapter 336

Beorna felt the tremor of impact as her sword slid through the body of the vrock. She opened her eyes to see the demon thashing, impaled on the holy blade, and followed it as it collapsed to the ground, twisting the sword in the vicious wound. For the demon, already injured by her earlier attacks, it was enough, and in moments it had dissolved into greasy black smoke.

She turned just in time to hear the blasphemy uttered by the morkoth. She was outside of the radius of the effect, and so she felt it as a vague dissonance, like a scream in the distance that one isn’t quite able to sort out from background noise. But seeing the effect upon her comrades, she realized instantly what had happened.

Even as the morkoth flapped down to the soaked cobbles of the street, she was charging. Her boots splashed in puddles that steamed hot wisps of noxious volcanic gasses. Her head was starting to swim, the toxic fumes from the lake searing her lungs. The vrock spores had sprouted tendrils of ugly fibrous growth that showed through the gaps of her armor like long hairs, their pain persisting as they continued to burrow deeper into her flesh. She had healing at her call, but there was no time for that now as she saw the demon stand over the prone form of Arun, prepared to end his life.

“AAAAAAAAAARRRRRHHHHHH!” she screamed, channeling her pain into an inchoate cry of rage and battle as she ran at the fiend. The morkoth turned and lifted the claw still clutching the wand, firing a lightning bolt that knifed into her chest. She made no effort to dodge the blast, just took it, letting the pain purge her, fueling her with a wave of righteous fury as she slammed into the morkoth, smiting it with the holy power of Helm. The backlash from its unholy aura slammed into her, and she felt her strength draining from her body, but the blow had nonetheless been telling, and the morkoth staggered backward, black blood oozing from a great cleft in its torso.

The energy of her charge spent, Beorna was open to a counterattack from the morkoth. But the fiend, now seriously injured, was feeling the growing surge of need. Its lungs could not breathe air, and although the boiling lake promised pain, it was currently the only alternative to slow asphyxiation.

Beorna quickly recovered and rushed at it again, but a few strong beats of its wings were enough to carry it out over the surging waters, out of her reach. With a final ugly sound it dove into the lake, which swallowed it with a huge splash.

Beorna did not waste time watching it. She knelt by Arun, and felt a surge of relief when she saw that he was merely stunned, and that he still drew breath. His eyes were vacant, but she knew that to be an aftereffect of the spell, and that he would soon recover. His skin was tight and cracked, and runnels of blood ran down his face from where his lips had split, results of the horrid wilting. Beorna channeled a powerful stream of healing energy into him, carefully positioning him so that he would not be washed over by the nearby waters, before turning to where Hodge lay a few feet away.

Even though she’d half expected it, it still pained her when she knelt to examine the dwarf.

Hodge was dead.

A loud noise drew her attention up, and she saw the morkoth erupt once more from the lake, rising swiftly into the air on powerful beats of its wings.

 

[Polynike]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

mole lives hodge doesnt not fair

 

[Neverwinter Knight]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

mole lives hodge doesnt not fair

A Mole hater? What gives ???

 

[Polynike]

dnt get me started on zenna
Lb downloaded TTWW in pdf format what a great job dude

 

[Lazybones]

dnt get me started on zenna
Lb downloaded TTWW in pdf format what a great job dude

Can't take credit for that (well, the writing part I can); one of my UK readers, Padril, did the formatting on the PDF.

And blasphemy: talk about a tactical nuke spell. Attach it to a high-HD bad guy, and WHOOM. About the only defense (other than SR) is not being within the radius.

* * * * *

Chapter 337

Beorna’s lips twisted into a snarl as she reached for her holy sword. But the morkoth did not fly immediately toward her, instead working for more altitude, rising until its unnatural form was obscured behind the rising tendrils of steam and volcanic gasses rising off of the lake.

“What... happening...” Arun’s voice came from behind her, thick with effort as the paladin tried to fight off the paralysis.

Beorna didn’t respond, alert to another assault, or some kind of trick, on the part of the fiend. It looked like the creature was in genuine retreat, however, and when she could no longer see it, she moved to help Arun back to his feet. Her own pain, largely forgotten in the rush of battle, had returned, and she paused to infuse herself with a cure critical wounds.

“We’ve got to find Dannel and Mole,” Beorna said. Arun’s eyes showed the obvious question, glancing at Hodge, and Beorna shook her head.

“The living, first,” Beorna said, and Arun nodded. Another tremor, relatively faint this time, shook the volcano, and steaming water surged out over the avenue, almost to where they stood. “First, we’ve got to get out of this place, to higher ground. And then, we still have work to do.”

* * * * *

The morkoth seethed with pain and anger as it rose high above the city. From above, the place truly looked like a chaotic hellscape, with dozens of fires burning across the city, and ruined buildings toppled over into the once-clear avenues. Tiny dots of motion were everywhere amidst the destruction below, as the panicked inhabitants of the doomed city ran for their lives, seeking escape.

A familiar need presented itself; there was no time to dally and enjoy the scenery. The morkoth had spent decades living in the sunless depths far beneath the surface of the crater lake, exploring tunnels and delving passages that no Cauldronite even suspected existed. It knew, in a vague sense, that rivers emerged from the mountains, and that there had to be other bodies of water not far from the volcano, where it could take shelter, recover its strength, and bide its time.

A brilliant light from above interrupted its musings, and it raised a clawed limb to shield its eyes from the painful radiance. It was not the golden orb of the sun, safely obscured behind the infernal clouds that hung over the city, but a moving object, drawing closer. As it drew nearer, the morkoth could see that it was a winged human—or at least appeared to be, for as it approached the half-fiend could sense the otherworldly nature of the thing, like it a creature that was not native to this prime material plane.

The morkoth shrieked a challenge, although at the moment it would have preferred nothing more than a quick retreat from this confrontation.

“You called me, by the unholy utterance that violated this place,” the winged creature—a female—said. Her voice itself was painful, a clarion and pure sigil that contrasted strongly with the roiling chaos that surrounded them.

The morkoth’s response was an unholy blight that, unsurprisingly, did little to hinder the celestial, who erupted from the chaos storm with a blazing sword held high above her in both slender hands.

“Return to the abyss from which you were spawned, fiend!” the deva cried. The morkoth dove, trying to avoid the charge, but the celestial was too swift. The last thing it felt was a sharp pain between its shoulder blades, and then it was falling, plummeting down into the waiting embrace of the shattered city below.

* * * * *

“Did you see that?” Mole asked, pointing behind them, back toward the lake. “Something falling...”

“Just find us a way up to the next street!” Arun said, coughing. He and Beorna were carrying Hodge’s body between them, using a crude stretcher fashioned from the remains of the wagon below. There had not been time to remove his armor, with the lake splashing at their heels as they retreated, and Arun had insisted on bringing the slain dwarf’s magical axe, despite the added weight. Dannel, even without such a burden, was barely able to keep up with them, the elf pale and wan despite the healing potions that had been poured into him. All of them were suffering from the smoke and the fumes from the lake, and every few steps were an effort.

The lower parts of the city seemed almost deserted, now. The wreckage of ruined buildings, overcome by the continuing tremors, were evident everywhere, spilling out to block alleyways and even some of the main avenues. Plumes of smoke rose across the city, ascending to join with the roiling tumult of the unnatural clouds hanging overhead.

Mole found them a steeply sloping route up to Ash Avenue that was nearly clear of debris, only an overturned wagon offering some difficulty before the dwarves were able to push it aside enough for them all to pass by. As they emerged onto the boulevard, the sounds of the city’s chaos hit them again in full force, although the immediate area around them was free of pedestrians. A black horse bolted down the street past them, trailing its leads, lost in panic at it galloped aimlessly down the street.

“Rest... a moment...” Arun said, all but dropping the stretcher to the hard cobbles, Hodge’s armored body clattering loudly against the stones of the street. Beorna was little better off, although her face was a mask of stoicism, and Dannel simply fell where he stood, sucking in breaths in between bouts of coughing. Only Mole seemed mostly intact, her innate toughness belied by her lithe form.

“It looks like most got out, at least at this level of the city,” Beorna said. None of them commented on the bodies they’d seen on Lava Avenue, or the many ruined buildings that might have held living beings when the tremors had claimed them.

“I wish we’d been able to save those animals,” Mole said.

“If we can get the people out, it’ll be a worthy accomplishment,” Arun said.

“So... what will we...” Dannel began.

He was cut off as Mole pointed upward, and shouted a warning. “Look!” she cried, before she vanished, shrouded in invisibility.

They could all see it this time, a bright point of light descending from the skies above, clearly visible through all of the smoke and haze. It was coming right toward them, getting brighter the closer it got.

“Looks like we’re not done yet,” Beorna said, exhausted, pulling herself to her feet, her holy sword sliding from its scabbard.

 

[Richard Rawen]

The Deva saves the day!? We Hope!

Lets look forward to the Deva proclaiming the dire need for the heroes continued fight for good and she raises Hodge and bolsters the troops and teleports them to Zenna's loc and kicks arse... well ok, the last bit may be a bit much to hope for but the first few would be within reason . . . if you are rooting for the Superman side anyways (you know, Truth, Justice and the once-vaunted-now-almost-forgotten-ideals-of-a-fading-free-societies-Way!)

If not we better hope it's a hungover hummingbird with a dull beak holding a lightstone cause the heroes don't have time or strength for another thumpin!
At least the Morkoth has been banished and will not be added to the already arms-length list of baddies just waiting in line to kick the heroes arse !

Well I'm already itching for the next installment so I think I will take advantage of Padril's generous gift of the PDF file and go read your first yarn LB. Of course I will be back. Lots
Blessings
Richard < > <

 

[Neverwinter Knight]

If not we better hope it's a hungover hummingbird with a dull beak holding a lightstone cause the heroes don't have time or strength for another thumpin!

Let's just say I have a pretty good guess on this Friday's cliffhanger. I sense another death of a party member coming...

 

[Lazybones]

Well, I don't want to disappoint, so...

* * * * *

Chapter 338

The companions rose wearily, preparing themselves for yet another confrontation. But this time, for once, their wariness proved unnecessary, as became evident once the light drew close enough for them to clearly discern its source. Arun recognized her immediately, for the newcomer had made a powerful impact upon him at their first meetings, in the jungles near the Demonskar.

“Nidrama!” he exclaimed.

The deva drifted down on wings spread to catch the air, but even as she reached the ground her bare feet drifted a few inches above the stones of the street. Despite the ash and soot choking the air, her white gown was pristine, and ruffled slightly as if trammeled by a soft breeze.

“I bid you greeting, heroes,” she said. “It is good to see you once more. And you, templar.”

“Celestial,” Beorna said simply, with a nod. “We are quite busy, as you’ve no doubt noticed. What is the purpose of your visitation?”

Ignoring the dwarf’s brusque manner, Nidrama said, “The hour of travail has come upon Cauldron... but this you know, that I can see plainly in your eyes. Your foes seek to open a permanent gateway...”

“Yes, we know, Carceri, Shackleborn, Cagewrights, all that,” the templar interjected. “We were in the midst of helping to evacuate the city, when that... thing appeared.”

“You have done well, for despite the destruction wrought here by the agents of Evil, there are many who yet live through your direct actions.”

“There is still much to be done. Divine agent, what we truly lack is knowledge. Can you tell us where the stronghold of the Cagewrights is located?”

The celestial frowned, and with that change in her expression it seemed as though the light shining from around her dimmed somewhat. “They cloak their activities through dark magics and the blessing of foul gods,” she said. “I am limited in what I can do...”

“I understand the nature of the Compact,” Beorna said. “That comes as no surprise.”

Nidrama seemed to bristle at Beorna’s tone. “Matters are not so simple as you would imagine, templar of Helm,” she said. “Cauldron has become a focal point, and there is a danger of a cascade opening here, a rift that would transform the city into a nodus of the eternal struggle between Dark and Light. Would you have your world so riven?”

“It looks like they’re going to do it regardless,” Dannel said, adding his first words to the conversation. “Unless we stop them.”

“Yes,” the deva said, and there was an odd inflection to her voice. “Unless we stop them.”

“Holy One,” Arun said, wiping his brow of layered soot as he came forward. “I would ask one boon...” He gestured to where Hodge lay motionless in the street. “He gave his life, again, fighting against evil. Is there something that can be done?”

Nidrama turned away from Beorna and Dannel, and as he eyes fixed on the slain warrior, her expression deepened into a look of sadness and sympathy. “Brave warrior,” she said, stepping forward upon what seemed to be an invisible cushion of air. “Once again you have answered the call, ignoring the cost.” She bent low, reaching down to touch the dwarf on the forehead. The touch was ephemeral; even as her fingers appeared to contact the greasy, soot-stained brow of the dwarf she was drawing back, making the connection seem an illusion. But where the fingers had appeared to brush his grayed skin there was now a patch of brightness, a point of light that dimmed slowly, spreading inward through his body. As the companions watched in amazement, the dwarf’s body stirred, and then a loud cough racked Hodge’s supine frame.

“Blast,” the dwarf said, pulling himself up. “Bloody blazing bastards...”

Looking up, he saw the deva hovering over him, a faint smile on her face. “Um... beggin’ yer pardon, lady,” he said, his eyes wide.

“Welcome back, Hodge,” Mole said, her own eyes glimmering slightly.

Beorna knelt beside the warrior, who was still grievously injured, and channeled positive healing energy into him until he could stand, if with assistance.

“We are in your debt, Holy One,” Arun said.

“My act is but one small weight on the balance,” Nidrama replied. “I fear that it will be upon your shoulders that the final burden falls.”

“Well, we’d better get to saving the rest of the city,” Beorna said, allowing Hodge to stand on his own, once it became clear that he could do so.

“Jenya Urikas waits for you by the western gate of the city,” Nidrama said, rising slowly into the air, until she hovered a good two paces above the street. “It may be that she may find the answers that you seek.”

“Nidrama, wait,” Dannel said, stepping forward to face the celestial. “Zenna...”

The deva’s white eyes shone with a deep expression of pity. “I fear that she is lost to the light, Dannel. For in the opening of this lock, the keys are consumed.”

“No, it cannot be...”

“Do not give up hope, for in the end, nothing is truly impossible. Remember that, and may the Light shine upon your steps.”

She brandished her sword, the flames along its length forming a brilliant arc in the air before her as she rose up into the air, her wings beating back the polluted air, the light shining around her forming an envelope of purity within a scene of darkness. It looked as though that light would pierce the shroud forever, but in reality it was just a few moments before she was gone from view.

“I wonder where it is that they go, when they make those dramatic exits,” Mole said.

“Are you all right, friend?” Arun asked, clasping Hodge’s shoulder.

“A bit weak,” the dwarf admitted. He’d drawn out his jug and uncorked it, but when he looked inside his expression darkened. He held it upside down, but not even a drop emerged from the empty container. “Damn and double damn,” he said.

“We should make for the west gate, then,” Dannel said.

“I don’t think we’re done yet,” Beorna said again, sliding her sword back into its sheath. The brief encounter seemed to have reenergized her, and her usual determination shone in her face as she turned to face the others.

“Let’s get going."

 

[Krafus]

I can't recall why Beorna is so curt with Nidrama. Could someone refresh my memory? Anyway, call me evil, but I'm actually beginning to wish Zenna will die in the ritual, or at least be permanently scarred somehow. 'Twould be nice to see a permanent death among the main characters (I don't count the clerics at the beginning of the story because they died too fast ).

Entertaining writing as usual, Lazybones.

 

[Polynike]

Krafus and i are on the same wavelength. thanks LB for bringing Hodge back
another great post thanks