Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is LIVE! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
Shackled City Epic: "Vengeance" (story concluded)
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 1828399" data-attributes="member: 143"><p>Chapter 251</p><p></p><p>The morning was bright and crisp, with the morning sun already a blazing white ball in a sky of cloudless blue. It looked to be a glorious late summer day, although the occasional breeze coming down off the mountains hinted at the approach of autumn. </p><p></p><p>The companions, accompanied by Beorna, walked down Obsidian Way around the broad outermost curve of the bowl of the town. Below them to their right the city sloped down in concentric rings to the still waters of the central lake. The lake was visible occasionally in the breaks in the rows of buildings made by the steep alleys that led down to the lower avenues that ran in tighter circles around the interior of the caldera. Ahead their destination was clearly visible beyond similar breaks in the line of buildings. The tall spire of the Temple of Kelemvor was a landmark visible from most sites throughout the town. </p><p></p><p>Zenna absently adjusted her new bracers, thin silver guards more ornamental than defensive. She hadn’t gotten quite used to them, and they chafed where her wrists met her hands. Still, given the power they possessed, she would learn to adjust. </p><p></p><p>Last night, after Jenya had shown them to the room that they would share, Mole had opened her <em>bag of holding</em> to reveal a surprising collection of magical goodies that she’d pilfered from the bodies of the two slain assassins. Zenna didn’t know how she’d managed such a thorough looting in the handful of moments between the battle’s end and the arrival of the Watch, who’d taken the bodies of the villains into custody pending their investigation. Her mouth tightened. No doubt that “investigation” would end up in a dusty file folder somewhere, while some politically connected guard officer would be wearing the half-orc assassin’s armor and carrying around his magical sword before too long. She wouldn’t have been surprised if they even cleaned the bloodstains out of the sorcerer’s robe and sold it...</p><p></p><p>But in the meantime, she and Mole had examined their prizes. They hadn’t found anything revealing clues about the assassins’ identities or their employers—not that Zenna had expected to find such—but they had been exceptionally well equipped. In addition to a few healing potions, they found matching pairs of rings and amulets with minor protective properties; a pair of gauntlets that enhanced one’s strength; the bracers she now wore, which surrounded their wearer with a defensive aura; and finally a cloak that seemed to reinforce the physical presence, the charisma, of its wearer. That morning over breakfast they’d apportioned out the new items among the group. The dwarf templar had been absent from that gathering, although Jenya had stepped in briefly to greet them. They met Beorna again at the main gate, looking impatient to be about their business. </p><p></p><p>Beorna had changed since their last meeting, clad now in a suit of adamantine full plate fitted to her like a second skin, the symbol of her god featured prominently upon her breastplate. Her new sword was slung across her back, twin to the adamantine blade she’d already carried. Zenna wondered at this woman. She seemed to radiate a devotion to her chosen faith that the tiefling had seen in many of the servants of the Vigilant One she’d known. At the same time, however, there was a sort of somber depth to her, deeper currents that Zenna could not read. As a woman who herself had long kept shields up around her private emotions, Zenna was quick to recognize the same in others.</p><p></p><p>Beorna walked in the company of the two dwarves, not <em>quite</em> ignoring the others, but not attracting idle conversation from them, either. </p><p></p><p>“So, axeman,” she said to Hodge, as they made their way down the avenue. “Last night... would you truly have lifted that weapon of yours against me?”</p><p></p><p>Hodge shot her a hard look under shaggy brows; clearly the vulgar miner was taken a bit aback by the woman, and hadn’t quite figured out how to deal with her. “I nae be wantin’ to kill a woman dwarf...” </p><p></p><p>Beorna snorted. “Well then, you really are as dumb as you look. A woman’ll slide steel into your intestines as fast as any man, faster if you’re too mooney-eyed to notice she’s carrying a blade.” </p><p></p><p>“I don’ raise me axe unless I be meanin’ to use it,” Hodge said, trying to recoup something from the exchange. “An’ you or anyone else give me reason, then they get a taste o’ the blade.” He lifted the heavy axe, and its head burst into flame.</p><p></p><p>“Strong words,” she said. “A potent weapon, to make one wonder at the steel of the man who bears it.” She gave him an appraising look that caused him to flush at her scrutiny. “Tis a pity that you have not mastered the art of bathing. As for the rest, we shall see.”</p><p></p><p>She turned her gaze toward Arun, who’d feigned disinterest in the conversation. “And what of Golden Boy?” she asked, speaking to Hodge, although her voice had been pitched to carry clearly. “I was not aware that they were now accepting beardless youths into the Order of the Hammer.” Though her words were biting, her tone was light, and she’d looked at Arun differently since the exchange with the holy sword the previous night. </p><p></p><p>Arun’s look was hard, but he did not reply. </p><p></p><p>“Cat got your tongue, boy?” she said, with a broad grin that seemed slightly salacious. </p><p></p><p>“Arun’s slain giants, demons, and even a few dragons,” Mole said, piping into the conversation. </p><p></p><p>“Oh?” Beorna responded, with a raised eyebrow. “An impressive list.” Chuckling as if remembering some private joke, she turned her attention back ahead to the road. </p><p></p><p>“And what of yourself, Templar?” Zenna asked. “What great deeds should we know of from your résumé, if we are to accept you into our company?”</p><p></p><p>Beorna did not turn nor shift her stride, and for a moment Zenna thought she was ignoring her. But then the dwarven woman said, “I walk the path of Justice,” she said. “That is all you need know of me.”</p><p></p><p>Dannel glanced over at her and shrugged, as if to say, <em>Not so different from all the other Helmites we’ve known, is she?</em></p><p></p><p>A commotion in the crowd drew her attention to the left side of the street. They were nearing one of the massive gates in the city wall, one of four that each gave onto a narrow road that wound its way down the side of the volcano, each heading in a different direction into the surrounding lands. </p><p></p><p>There was a definite motion in the group of people moving along the street, away from the direction of the gates. And a moment later, she realized why. </p><p></p><p>There was a massive creature standing there, coming forward toward them. He—assuming it <em>was</em> a he—stood easily nine feet tall, with muscles corded like tree trunks. He was humanoid in form, but his face was unlike anything that could even be remotely called human; the shape of his features were clearly draconic, and a pair of massive horns with a slight curve jutted from the sides of his head. Instead of scales, black fur covered his exposed skin, creating an odd juxtaposition that hinted at a mixed racial ancestry. He was clad in a shirt of chain links pulled tight over the vast spread of his chest, and he carried a length of chain that trailed a huge, spiked ball that scratched noisily on the cobbles in his wake.</p><p></p><p>Zenna’s first thought was to wonder how this... <em>thing</em> had gotten through the gates of the town unhindered by the guards. </p><p></p><p>Her second thought was that it was coming straight toward them. </p><p></p><p>There was a slight stir of activity as the companions readied themselves for a confrontation. The monstrous stranger came forward until he stood before them, dominating the street about twenty paces distant. </p><p></p><p>“Of course, the one time we need the Watch around, they’re nowhere to be found,” Dannel said dryly. </p><p></p><p>“This smacks of a set-up,” Zenna returned quietly, and the elf nodded. </p><p></p><p>Mole, never one to pass up the opportunity to look trouble in the eye—although she barely came up to its knee in this case—stepped forward, but before she could utter a no-doubt creative and provocative greeting, Beorna had eclipsed her. </p><p></p><p>“Ho now, what’s this?” the dwarf said. “I don’t know who or what you are, ugly, but you’d best be moving along.” She rapped the shoulder plate of her armor with the blade of her sword, and then gestured with it down the street.</p><p></p><p> The giant beast peered at them intently. When it spoke, its voice was a bellow that rebounded off the fronts of the buildings that faced the street. </p><p></p><p>“Did you kill the dragon-father?” </p><p></p><p>Hodge’s face was limned in the red glow of the flames that engulfed the head of his axe. “Well now, that’s a tough one... we’ve killed a fair num’er o’ drakes, it true... could yer be a bit more specific, now?”</p><p></p><p>Zenna bit back a curse. She glanced at Beorna, but the dwarven priestess wasn’t even bothering to hide her mirth at Hodge’s comment. <em>Dwarves!</em> She stepped forward quickly, lamenting the lack of anyone in her group who possessed any skill at diplomacy whatsoever. </p><p></p><p>“Careful, Zenna!” Dannel whispered, but he didn’t otherwise act to hinder her. Well, <em>that</em> was something at least, but as she looked up at the giant hulk looming over them, a part of her wished that he’d made an effort to stop her. </p><p></p><p>“We seek no trouble with you, mighty one,” she said, raising her hands to show that they were empty, drawing the monstrous warrior’s attention to her. As she did, she twisted her hands subtly in the gestures that triggered one of her spells. “We respect your power,” she went on, bowing her head, her cowl concealing her face momentarily as she quietly uttered the arcane incantation that summoned the magic. “What is your name, great warrior?”</p><p></p><p>The dragon-kin looked at her with suspicion, the links of his huge spiked chain rattling slightly with the movements of his fists. “I am Zarik Dhor,” he said, his chest swelling with pride. “Dhorlot the Black was my father.”</p><p></p><p>Currents of power flowed out from her into him, carrying a powerful enchantment designed to snare his mind and bind him to her. But as the spell took hold, it slid from a will that to Zenna felt like a solid wall, fashioned of granite blocks. She drove at the wall, abandoning subtlety, but each mental thrust simply glided from the considerable discipline of his mind. </p><p></p><p>But she got a reaction. The dragon-man’s eyes widened as he realized that he was under attack, and with a mighty roar he leapt forward with surprising quickness, the chain snapping forward with blinding speed. There was no time for Zenna to duck or dodge, and the heavy iron sphere at the end of the chain slammed into her with colossal force, knocking her roughly backward to land hard on the smooth stone cobbles of the street.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Lazybones, post: 1828399, member: 143"] Chapter 251 The morning was bright and crisp, with the morning sun already a blazing white ball in a sky of cloudless blue. It looked to be a glorious late summer day, although the occasional breeze coming down off the mountains hinted at the approach of autumn. The companions, accompanied by Beorna, walked down Obsidian Way around the broad outermost curve of the bowl of the town. Below them to their right the city sloped down in concentric rings to the still waters of the central lake. The lake was visible occasionally in the breaks in the rows of buildings made by the steep alleys that led down to the lower avenues that ran in tighter circles around the interior of the caldera. Ahead their destination was clearly visible beyond similar breaks in the line of buildings. The tall spire of the Temple of Kelemvor was a landmark visible from most sites throughout the town. Zenna absently adjusted her new bracers, thin silver guards more ornamental than defensive. She hadn’t gotten quite used to them, and they chafed where her wrists met her hands. Still, given the power they possessed, she would learn to adjust. Last night, after Jenya had shown them to the room that they would share, Mole had opened her [I]bag of holding[/I] to reveal a surprising collection of magical goodies that she’d pilfered from the bodies of the two slain assassins. Zenna didn’t know how she’d managed such a thorough looting in the handful of moments between the battle’s end and the arrival of the Watch, who’d taken the bodies of the villains into custody pending their investigation. Her mouth tightened. No doubt that “investigation” would end up in a dusty file folder somewhere, while some politically connected guard officer would be wearing the half-orc assassin’s armor and carrying around his magical sword before too long. She wouldn’t have been surprised if they even cleaned the bloodstains out of the sorcerer’s robe and sold it... But in the meantime, she and Mole had examined their prizes. They hadn’t found anything revealing clues about the assassins’ identities or their employers—not that Zenna had expected to find such—but they had been exceptionally well equipped. In addition to a few healing potions, they found matching pairs of rings and amulets with minor protective properties; a pair of gauntlets that enhanced one’s strength; the bracers she now wore, which surrounded their wearer with a defensive aura; and finally a cloak that seemed to reinforce the physical presence, the charisma, of its wearer. That morning over breakfast they’d apportioned out the new items among the group. The dwarf templar had been absent from that gathering, although Jenya had stepped in briefly to greet them. They met Beorna again at the main gate, looking impatient to be about their business. Beorna had changed since their last meeting, clad now in a suit of adamantine full plate fitted to her like a second skin, the symbol of her god featured prominently upon her breastplate. Her new sword was slung across her back, twin to the adamantine blade she’d already carried. Zenna wondered at this woman. She seemed to radiate a devotion to her chosen faith that the tiefling had seen in many of the servants of the Vigilant One she’d known. At the same time, however, there was a sort of somber depth to her, deeper currents that Zenna could not read. As a woman who herself had long kept shields up around her private emotions, Zenna was quick to recognize the same in others. Beorna walked in the company of the two dwarves, not [I]quite[/I] ignoring the others, but not attracting idle conversation from them, either. “So, axeman,” she said to Hodge, as they made their way down the avenue. “Last night... would you truly have lifted that weapon of yours against me?” Hodge shot her a hard look under shaggy brows; clearly the vulgar miner was taken a bit aback by the woman, and hadn’t quite figured out how to deal with her. “I nae be wantin’ to kill a woman dwarf...” Beorna snorted. “Well then, you really are as dumb as you look. A woman’ll slide steel into your intestines as fast as any man, faster if you’re too mooney-eyed to notice she’s carrying a blade.” “I don’ raise me axe unless I be meanin’ to use it,” Hodge said, trying to recoup something from the exchange. “An’ you or anyone else give me reason, then they get a taste o’ the blade.” He lifted the heavy axe, and its head burst into flame. “Strong words,” she said. “A potent weapon, to make one wonder at the steel of the man who bears it.” She gave him an appraising look that caused him to flush at her scrutiny. “Tis a pity that you have not mastered the art of bathing. As for the rest, we shall see.” She turned her gaze toward Arun, who’d feigned disinterest in the conversation. “And what of Golden Boy?” she asked, speaking to Hodge, although her voice had been pitched to carry clearly. “I was not aware that they were now accepting beardless youths into the Order of the Hammer.” Though her words were biting, her tone was light, and she’d looked at Arun differently since the exchange with the holy sword the previous night. Arun’s look was hard, but he did not reply. “Cat got your tongue, boy?” she said, with a broad grin that seemed slightly salacious. “Arun’s slain giants, demons, and even a few dragons,” Mole said, piping into the conversation. “Oh?” Beorna responded, with a raised eyebrow. “An impressive list.” Chuckling as if remembering some private joke, she turned her attention back ahead to the road. “And what of yourself, Templar?” Zenna asked. “What great deeds should we know of from your résumé, if we are to accept you into our company?” Beorna did not turn nor shift her stride, and for a moment Zenna thought she was ignoring her. But then the dwarven woman said, “I walk the path of Justice,” she said. “That is all you need know of me.” Dannel glanced over at her and shrugged, as if to say, [I]Not so different from all the other Helmites we’ve known, is she?[/I] A commotion in the crowd drew her attention to the left side of the street. They were nearing one of the massive gates in the city wall, one of four that each gave onto a narrow road that wound its way down the side of the volcano, each heading in a different direction into the surrounding lands. There was a definite motion in the group of people moving along the street, away from the direction of the gates. And a moment later, she realized why. There was a massive creature standing there, coming forward toward them. He—assuming it [I]was[/I] a he—stood easily nine feet tall, with muscles corded like tree trunks. He was humanoid in form, but his face was unlike anything that could even be remotely called human; the shape of his features were clearly draconic, and a pair of massive horns with a slight curve jutted from the sides of his head. Instead of scales, black fur covered his exposed skin, creating an odd juxtaposition that hinted at a mixed racial ancestry. He was clad in a shirt of chain links pulled tight over the vast spread of his chest, and he carried a length of chain that trailed a huge, spiked ball that scratched noisily on the cobbles in his wake. Zenna’s first thought was to wonder how this... [I]thing[/I] had gotten through the gates of the town unhindered by the guards. Her second thought was that it was coming straight toward them. There was a slight stir of activity as the companions readied themselves for a confrontation. The monstrous stranger came forward until he stood before them, dominating the street about twenty paces distant. “Of course, the one time we need the Watch around, they’re nowhere to be found,” Dannel said dryly. “This smacks of a set-up,” Zenna returned quietly, and the elf nodded. Mole, never one to pass up the opportunity to look trouble in the eye—although she barely came up to its knee in this case—stepped forward, but before she could utter a no-doubt creative and provocative greeting, Beorna had eclipsed her. “Ho now, what’s this?” the dwarf said. “I don’t know who or what you are, ugly, but you’d best be moving along.” She rapped the shoulder plate of her armor with the blade of her sword, and then gestured with it down the street. The giant beast peered at them intently. When it spoke, its voice was a bellow that rebounded off the fronts of the buildings that faced the street. “Did you kill the dragon-father?” Hodge’s face was limned in the red glow of the flames that engulfed the head of his axe. “Well now, that’s a tough one... we’ve killed a fair num’er o’ drakes, it true... could yer be a bit more specific, now?” Zenna bit back a curse. She glanced at Beorna, but the dwarven priestess wasn’t even bothering to hide her mirth at Hodge’s comment. [I]Dwarves![/I] She stepped forward quickly, lamenting the lack of anyone in her group who possessed any skill at diplomacy whatsoever. “Careful, Zenna!” Dannel whispered, but he didn’t otherwise act to hinder her. Well, [I]that[/I] was something at least, but as she looked up at the giant hulk looming over them, a part of her wished that he’d made an effort to stop her. “We seek no trouble with you, mighty one,” she said, raising her hands to show that they were empty, drawing the monstrous warrior’s attention to her. As she did, she twisted her hands subtly in the gestures that triggered one of her spells. “We respect your power,” she went on, bowing her head, her cowl concealing her face momentarily as she quietly uttered the arcane incantation that summoned the magic. “What is your name, great warrior?” The dragon-kin looked at her with suspicion, the links of his huge spiked chain rattling slightly with the movements of his fists. “I am Zarik Dhor,” he said, his chest swelling with pride. “Dhorlot the Black was my father.” Currents of power flowed out from her into him, carrying a powerful enchantment designed to snare his mind and bind him to her. But as the spell took hold, it slid from a will that to Zenna felt like a solid wall, fashioned of granite blocks. She drove at the wall, abandoning subtlety, but each mental thrust simply glided from the considerable discipline of his mind. But she got a reaction. The dragon-man’s eyes widened as he realized that he was under attack, and with a mighty roar he leapt forward with surprising quickness, the chain snapping forward with blinding speed. There was no time for Zenna to duck or dodge, and the heavy iron sphere at the end of the chain slammed into her with colossal force, knocking her roughly backward to land hard on the smooth stone cobbles of the street. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
Shackled City Epic: "Vengeance" (story concluded)
Top