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Wulf's Collected Story Hour -- FINAL UPDATE 12/25
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<blockquote data-quote="Wulf Ratbane" data-source="post: 6032" data-attributes="member: 94"><p><strong>INTERLUDE: QUEEN OF LIES</strong></p><p></p><p>It took them some time to realize that the assault was an unqualified victory. Rourmed and Engram had escaped, true enough, but their departure echoed swiftly through the rest of the cave complex and their salamander allies were not far behind.</p><p></p><p>“Didn’t waste any time buggerin’ off, did they?” Wulf looked disappointed.</p><p></p><p>“Would YOU want to stay around to face us?” asked Keldas.</p><p></p><p>“Aye… Just not a real satisfyin’ battle for me. Spent the whole time worryin’ about my <em>hole</em>.”</p><p></p><p>“This ought to cheer you up,” said Dorn, returning from another cave with a handful of adamantine ore. “Plenty more where this came from.”</p><p></p><p>Indeed, by the time they’d gathered all the ore into one place, Wulf’s smile was chiseled into his face. “Figure we got about a hunn’erd grand here… give or take. All we got to do now is hold on to it.” </p><p></p><p>Wulf looked around at his companions. The fight was over so quickly, nobody was severely hurt, and they hadn’t expended much in the way of resources, either. “Think we can do it?”</p><p></p><p>Dorn nodded. “Should do. Don’t really want to leave that portal sittin’ here.” He pointed to the huge flaming portal that led back to the Elemental Plane of Fire. “I can take care of it tomorrow, for sure.”</p><p></p><p>“What yer got in mind?”</p><p></p><p>“Well, a forge, even a salamander one, seems a proper place to reconsecrate to Haela Brightaxe. I’ll <em>hallow</em> the area tomorrow, and lock ‘er down with a <em>dimensional anchor</em>. That ought to do it.”</p><p></p><p>And it was as simple as that. By the end of the next day, they’d stored the adamantine, returned the prisoner to their own forge, <em>and</em> completely sealed off the salamander gate. By the end of the next week, they’d secured the salamander caves and returned to Chael Rendar. The beholders had also left for better prospects, and the group wasted no time solving the problem of the lava flow. They’d need to dig a channel 40 feet wide and 40 feet deep for the lava to flow across Chael Rendar and ease the earthquakes.</p><p></p><p>“I have to leave for a while for ‘religious matters,’” suggested Dorn. “I’ll send a crew of dwarves down to help out.”</p><p></p><p>Soon enough, Wulf was overseeing a crew of dwarven miners, though truth be told, most of the hard work was done by Keldas: An umber hulk with access to <em>disintegrate</em> could move one hell of a lot of earth.</p><p></p><p>Wulf and Keldas were discussing the placement of the great stone bridges across the lava channel when Wulf received a <em>sending</em> from Diessa.</p><p></p><p>“Drow are attacking the forge in force. The Old Man is poisoned and down. Come home.”</p><p></p><p>Wulf smiled grimly, appreciating her dwarven pragmatism, and gathered the group around him. “Drow attackin’ the forge, the Old Man is down an’ out. We’re heading home. Yer got 10 seconds to prepare, then we hit ‘em!”</p><p></p><p>Keldas, Karak, and Alliane cast a couple of quick spells. Wulf stood near Shorty, who cast a <em>spectral hand</em> then turned a toothy halfling grin to Wulf. </p><p></p><p>“If we survive this, I say we charge the Old Man for bringin’ him back.”</p><p></p><p>They teleported back to the Forge, landing square in Wulf’s own bedroom-- a practical decision, not only because Wulf had installed a secret door leading to the great hall, but because his spartan room was uncluttered enough to accommodate them all. Keldas cast <em>improved invisibility</em> on Wulf, then led the rest of the group out through Wulf’s secret door, and through the Old Man’s quarters. Alliane was in the lead, and she could see the door to the great hall standing open at the end of the passage. Diessa stood there on the dais, her back to the heroes, standing guard over the Old Man and looking out into the great hall where drow and duergar swarmed over the desperate dwarven defenders. </p><p></p><p>Wulf didn’t follow. Instead, he took the long way around, intent on bursting into the great hall from the side door. Away down the long western hallway Wulf could hear the sounds of a desperate battle, but Wulf couldn’t, in good conscience, head off to battle against the drow rank-and-file when their accursed leaders were afoot in his great hall. </p><p></p><p>He turned away and charged through the side door. In a glance he spotted several of the drow leaders, making mental notes to himself as he summed each of them up in turn: <em>Male: wizard. Female: priest. Drider: Yeesh, bigger’n I thought.</em></p><p></p><p>Wulf desperately wanted to come to grips with the priestess standing in the center of the hall, but he knew he couldn’t close the distance fast enough. He was <em>just</em> short. Instead, he drew axe and dagger and opted for the drow male close at hand. <em>Six seconds with that poor bastard, then we’ll close with she-bitch.</em> Wulf charged the short distance confidently, and was not the least bit surprised or concerned when he neared the area of the drow priestess and his invisibility winked out. <em>Invisibility purge, sure enough.</em></p><p></p><p>Wulf slashed into the drow wizard from the side, gutting a deep gash across his side despite the wizard’s protections. The drow snarled confidently and hissed at Wulf with a voice like venom. “Squat one, that was a mistake.”</p><p></p><p>His gloating was short-lived, however, and whatever nastiness he had planned for Wulf would never see fruition. Karak charged into the hall, leapt off the dais, and <em>smote</em> the wizard for all he was worth. The look on the drow’s face as his head rolled across the floor was priceless.</p><p></p><p>Shorty, now <em>hasted</em>, swaggered into the room. He clapped his hands together and summoned a <em>chain lightning</em> that blasted the drow priestess and some dozen of her closest companions. </p><p></p><p>And then, for good measure, <em>he did it again</em>.</p><p></p><p>By the time Shorty was done, the hall was littered with smoking corpses. One of them, it seemed, must have been responsible for the <em>invisibility purge</em>, for Wulf noticed that he’d turned invisible again. Wulf shrugged and left the priestess to Alliane and her <em>searing light</em>. And yes, there was still a drider coming up the hall, but Loyal was just <em>punishing</em> the thing with his arrows and Karak looked eager to smite it, too.</p><p></p><p>Wulf wasn’t about to miss out on the fun again. He noted two unfortunate warriors who were standing close enough for him to get between them, and he dished out two or three attacks to each of them before they even knew he was there. The air crackled again with Shorty’s efforts and Wulf moved among the survivors like lightning himself, cleaving them left and right. He was showboating; though he was invisible, of course, the results of his performance were evident in the flopping limbs, scattered entrails, and assorted gore he left in his wake. </p><p></p><p>The writing was on the wall. A few desperate survivors tried to escape through the old forge and down to Nightscale’s lake. Wulf shouted after them, “Come on, yer pansies, it hasn’t even been thirty seconds since we got here!” He gestured to Alliane. “If yer please?”</p><p></p><p>A <em>divine storm</em> materialized inside the old forge-- whirling longswords of elven make sliced through dark-skinned flesh. Wulf was surprised to see, perhaps, the merest look of satisfaction on Alliane’s face. Every last drow and duergar who had attacked them lay dead at their feet. </p><p></p><p>“So much for <em>that</em>,” said Keldas.</p><p></p><p>“Leave the cleanup to me and we’ll divvy up the loot.” </p><p></p><p>While the rest of the group moved through the hall and tended to the dead, dying, and wounded dwarves, Wulf got to work on the drow and duergar. </p><p></p><p>“Well, it wasn’t easy, but I’ve sorted the drow into two piles: male and female.” He smirked at Keldas. “I think…”</p><p></p><p>“Do you suppose they will return?” asked Karak. “This may be an exploratory attack. A second wave could come at any time.”</p><p></p><p>“How do they tell time in the underdark?” mused Shorty.</p><p></p><p>Karak scoffed. “By the sun!”</p><p></p><p>Wulf stared blankly at Karak. “In the <em>underdark</em>?”</p><p></p><p>“Well, by the <em>moon</em> then.” </p><p></p><p>Wulf just nodded. He had begun to suspect that perhaps Karak wasn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer. “Just cast <em>detect magic</em> and help me strip these bodies of anything useful.”</p><p></p><p>“With pleasure!” The paladin rolled up his sleeves and happily began looting the dead.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Wulf Ratbane, post: 6032, member: 94"] [b]INTERLUDE: QUEEN OF LIES[/b] It took them some time to realize that the assault was an unqualified victory. Rourmed and Engram had escaped, true enough, but their departure echoed swiftly through the rest of the cave complex and their salamander allies were not far behind. “Didn’t waste any time buggerin’ off, did they?” Wulf looked disappointed. “Would YOU want to stay around to face us?” asked Keldas. “Aye… Just not a real satisfyin’ battle for me. Spent the whole time worryin’ about my [I]hole[/I].” “This ought to cheer you up,” said Dorn, returning from another cave with a handful of adamantine ore. “Plenty more where this came from.” Indeed, by the time they’d gathered all the ore into one place, Wulf’s smile was chiseled into his face. “Figure we got about a hunn’erd grand here… give or take. All we got to do now is hold on to it.” Wulf looked around at his companions. The fight was over so quickly, nobody was severely hurt, and they hadn’t expended much in the way of resources, either. “Think we can do it?” Dorn nodded. “Should do. Don’t really want to leave that portal sittin’ here.” He pointed to the huge flaming portal that led back to the Elemental Plane of Fire. “I can take care of it tomorrow, for sure.” “What yer got in mind?” “Well, a forge, even a salamander one, seems a proper place to reconsecrate to Haela Brightaxe. I’ll [I]hallow[/I] the area tomorrow, and lock ‘er down with a [I]dimensional anchor[/I]. That ought to do it.” And it was as simple as that. By the end of the next day, they’d stored the adamantine, returned the prisoner to their own forge, [I]and[/I] completely sealed off the salamander gate. By the end of the next week, they’d secured the salamander caves and returned to Chael Rendar. The beholders had also left for better prospects, and the group wasted no time solving the problem of the lava flow. They’d need to dig a channel 40 feet wide and 40 feet deep for the lava to flow across Chael Rendar and ease the earthquakes. “I have to leave for a while for ‘religious matters,’” suggested Dorn. “I’ll send a crew of dwarves down to help out.” Soon enough, Wulf was overseeing a crew of dwarven miners, though truth be told, most of the hard work was done by Keldas: An umber hulk with access to [I]disintegrate[/I] could move one hell of a lot of earth. Wulf and Keldas were discussing the placement of the great stone bridges across the lava channel when Wulf received a [I]sending[/I] from Diessa. “Drow are attacking the forge in force. The Old Man is poisoned and down. Come home.” Wulf smiled grimly, appreciating her dwarven pragmatism, and gathered the group around him. “Drow attackin’ the forge, the Old Man is down an’ out. We’re heading home. Yer got 10 seconds to prepare, then we hit ‘em!” Keldas, Karak, and Alliane cast a couple of quick spells. Wulf stood near Shorty, who cast a [I]spectral hand[/I] then turned a toothy halfling grin to Wulf. “If we survive this, I say we charge the Old Man for bringin’ him back.” They teleported back to the Forge, landing square in Wulf’s own bedroom-- a practical decision, not only because Wulf had installed a secret door leading to the great hall, but because his spartan room was uncluttered enough to accommodate them all. Keldas cast [I]improved invisibility[/I] on Wulf, then led the rest of the group out through Wulf’s secret door, and through the Old Man’s quarters. Alliane was in the lead, and she could see the door to the great hall standing open at the end of the passage. Diessa stood there on the dais, her back to the heroes, standing guard over the Old Man and looking out into the great hall where drow and duergar swarmed over the desperate dwarven defenders. Wulf didn’t follow. Instead, he took the long way around, intent on bursting into the great hall from the side door. Away down the long western hallway Wulf could hear the sounds of a desperate battle, but Wulf couldn’t, in good conscience, head off to battle against the drow rank-and-file when their accursed leaders were afoot in his great hall. He turned away and charged through the side door. In a glance he spotted several of the drow leaders, making mental notes to himself as he summed each of them up in turn: [I]Male: wizard. Female: priest. Drider: Yeesh, bigger’n I thought.[/I] Wulf desperately wanted to come to grips with the priestess standing in the center of the hall, but he knew he couldn’t close the distance fast enough. He was [I]just[/I] short. Instead, he drew axe and dagger and opted for the drow male close at hand. [I]Six seconds with that poor bastard, then we’ll close with she-bitch.[/I] Wulf charged the short distance confidently, and was not the least bit surprised or concerned when he neared the area of the drow priestess and his invisibility winked out. [I]Invisibility purge, sure enough.[/I] Wulf slashed into the drow wizard from the side, gutting a deep gash across his side despite the wizard’s protections. The drow snarled confidently and hissed at Wulf with a voice like venom. “Squat one, that was a mistake.” His gloating was short-lived, however, and whatever nastiness he had planned for Wulf would never see fruition. Karak charged into the hall, leapt off the dais, and [I]smote[/I] the wizard for all he was worth. The look on the drow’s face as his head rolled across the floor was priceless. Shorty, now [I]hasted[/I], swaggered into the room. He clapped his hands together and summoned a [I]chain lightning[/I] that blasted the drow priestess and some dozen of her closest companions. And then, for good measure, [I]he did it again[/I]. By the time Shorty was done, the hall was littered with smoking corpses. One of them, it seemed, must have been responsible for the [I]invisibility purge[/I], for Wulf noticed that he’d turned invisible again. Wulf shrugged and left the priestess to Alliane and her [I]searing light[/I]. And yes, there was still a drider coming up the hall, but Loyal was just [I]punishing[/I] the thing with his arrows and Karak looked eager to smite it, too. Wulf wasn’t about to miss out on the fun again. He noted two unfortunate warriors who were standing close enough for him to get between them, and he dished out two or three attacks to each of them before they even knew he was there. The air crackled again with Shorty’s efforts and Wulf moved among the survivors like lightning himself, cleaving them left and right. He was showboating; though he was invisible, of course, the results of his performance were evident in the flopping limbs, scattered entrails, and assorted gore he left in his wake. The writing was on the wall. A few desperate survivors tried to escape through the old forge and down to Nightscale’s lake. Wulf shouted after them, “Come on, yer pansies, it hasn’t even been thirty seconds since we got here!” He gestured to Alliane. “If yer please?” A [I]divine storm[/I] materialized inside the old forge-- whirling longswords of elven make sliced through dark-skinned flesh. Wulf was surprised to see, perhaps, the merest look of satisfaction on Alliane’s face. Every last drow and duergar who had attacked them lay dead at their feet. “So much for [I]that[/I],” said Keldas. “Leave the cleanup to me and we’ll divvy up the loot.” While the rest of the group moved through the hall and tended to the dead, dying, and wounded dwarves, Wulf got to work on the drow and duergar. “Well, it wasn’t easy, but I’ve sorted the drow into two piles: male and female.” He smirked at Keldas. “I think…” “Do you suppose they will return?” asked Karak. “This may be an exploratory attack. A second wave could come at any time.” “How do they tell time in the underdark?” mused Shorty. Karak scoffed. “By the sun!” Wulf stared blankly at Karak. “In the [I]underdark[/I]?” “Well, by the [I]moon[/I] then.” Wulf just nodded. He had begun to suspect that perhaps Karak wasn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer. “Just cast [I]detect magic[/I] and help me strip these bodies of anything useful.” “With pleasure!” The paladin rolled up his sleeves and happily began looting the dead. [/QUOTE]
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