Adventurers-Upon-Return · Legacy archive
Whom the gods would destroy...
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Re: Whom the gods would destroy...
#41As he listened, Kyrian grew ever more bewildered at the events said to transpire.
"A mire we have marched into, Adan; a path ahead I see not, I know too little. Duke Lokknar, consorting with fiends, holding a noble damsel captive? From his right hand I received my spurs, by all that is sacred! The Roses, marching to war in rank and file? Unheard, I tell you, for we are but guardians and keepers, of one person at a time, a deserving paragon of virtue it has to be. Writings requesting the aegis of a Brother of the Rose pile up in heaps five feet tall every time the imperial courier blows his brass horn at that blessed keep, all pleading to send one of us forth. The order was never meant for mundane bloodshed, by the seven hells; what becomes now of ladies imperiled, without a knight by their side?"
He shook his head furiously, to clear it and let the infuriating thoughts settle down a bit, though his heart was racing.
"Adan, tell me that dream is not clouding my eyes. Correct me, young Erund, that I hear not folly, and this is but a cruel prank. Fear not, I will not take part in whatever madness passes for reason in this conflict, yet it is imperative that whatever dark eminence draped its lies over the sound judgment of just men is dragged into the light, screaming. I will have none of this! The knights of the Order are companions, keepers, duelists when it has to be, teachers informal more often than not. Never were we hounds of war, never will we deign to such!"
He laid his hands upon Adan's shoulders, and looked firmly, deeply into his eyes.
"I know well that you have high stakes in this twisted game, friend. I myself am torn. If sanity is in such short supply here, it may fall upon us to bring this folly to a halt." -
Re: Whom the gods would destroy...
#42"You, who are one, cannot even begin to understand the stakes that I have in this affair, my friend. Though blood sings for vengeance, that is not the way of St Alys, of Trigu. The madness must be cut to its core, e'en if one worthy of it must take up the Brightblade and take the light to it." He shakes his head then, closing his eyes. "It is a shame. It was for this purpose that the Unrivaled were founded, to scourge the deepest shadows from the land, in memory of Her Holiness. They will need awakened to their true purpose."
Released, then, the knight knelt before Erund with a clatter, setting the helm at his side. "Child, it falls upon me, and not upon thee, to bring justice to the perpetrator of this crime. Stay your hand, for St. Alys teaches us not revenge, but justice, and you are of her holy line. Stain not your heritage of Light with hatred." A pause, and he reaches out to touch the boy upon the shoulders, as Kyrian had just done to him. "At first light, we leave, for Lord Ashe's fortress. Would you lay out traveler's rations for us in the morning?" -
Re: Whom the gods would destroy...
#43"Well, I think we should go and see if we can avail ourselves of the lord's hospitality. I am no ranger that can live well off the land, and forgive me, but I do not suspect you are either."
With that said, Kadarin made his way to trail, the grey stone keep his destination.
"You did grab Delsordo's sword, right? Perhaps we could even procure a decent burial for our old friend."
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Re: Whom the gods would destroy...
#44"Well spoken, Adan. Even if I am no faithful in Trigu - I doubt he would have me! - there is merit in you steps. But enough of the gloom! Never forget - fortune favors the bold. We shall not shy back, and you will see, in the end, there will be well-deserved celebrations, a masterful painting of you upon that wall, and maidens will wear fresh smiles upon their lips. Ha! Now off to bed with ye both, and I shall do likewise."
And so he did, the anger he felt a moment before abating as a flash flood.
There was a course - he would find it. A reason behind the madness - sooner or later to be revealed. Bandits - bound to run on his blade. The world had a way of working itself out, it always did. Especially when he was well rested...
Kyrian fell into trance-like elven sleep, and his mind drifted through a moonlit dream, wandering amongst spirits of the wild...
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Re: Whom the gods would destroy...
#45Retiring with little food, willing to take little more than jerky and water, Adan retired at last as well, though he allowed Erund at least to aid him in shucking the heavy armor. His version of rest that night would be fitful at best, punctuated with pacing and cursing beneath his breath. The captivity of his twin did not sit easy with him, it would seem. -
Re: Whom the gods would destroy...
#46There was not much for Erund to say after that. He nodded, trying to look as mature as possible, and then proceeded to prepare the supplies for the coming day’s journey.
While Kyrian dreamed, Adan tossed.
Toward dawn, unable to sleep, he wandered the hunting hall once more, like some apparition in the night, examining among other things the hunting lodge’s arsenal.
Just then, passing a window, Adan froze as he noticed two figures outside, approaching the main gate. As he stared he recognized them. It was the young wizard Kadarin and his apprentice, what was his name? Lemming or Titmouse they called him?
What in the world was the wizard was doing here, Adan thought perplexed. Just then the knocker sounded downstairs, announcing the wizard’s arrival.
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Kyrian dreamed as he was wont to do, but towards morning, the dream he was having began to change. Now he was opening the door to Denhane’s bedroom, walking in, and approaching the old man, who was still seated in his chair by the window. Stepping in front the old Hellschwert wizard, Kyrian paused to examine the figure. Denhane looked up then and thinly smiled.
“I have minutes left, Ser knight. I do not wish to disturb my nephew; his heart is heavy with his past, made only heavier by his future. I have done what I could to unlock the terrible curse, I have done what I could to seal the vault—I—gods know I have tried. The feud and war will rage on. Tell Adan he MUST seek the blade now, there is no other choice. Nothing is at it seems, with your clan and mine. But I fear. I fear the Brightblade’s power. You must help him finish this. YOU must!", he coughed then, and a trickle of blood escaped his lips. Just then Kyrian could see the man’s waist, as Denhane lifted his folded arms from his lap. The wizard was nearly disemboweled. An impossibly large gash in his lower stomach, allowed several of his intestines to spill out ever-so-gently into his lap, quivering there like an undercooked suet and blood-pudding. He finished coughing and his hands reached down to hold his own bowels once more.
“It had to be this way. They have discovered me, and there was no other way. I could not hide anywhere in this world or in any other. I will die honorably instead. Tell Adan would you, that his uncle made no fuss, with his dying breath, asked for no healing draughts."
He paused to draw in a difficult breath.
“You could probably use a wizard. But not me. Not anymore. Before you leave, take my--some small gifts", he lifted a bloodied hand to gesture toward one of the mirrors in the room. "Fare well, Kyrian. Take Erund to Ashe Keep, Verlyn will look after the boy. I hope I am not forgetting anything---one other thing, go quickly, they hunt me, and I feel them close now. The Devil has come to Landeel.“
"Tell Adan---tell him----Helfen, Wehren, Heilen."
Kyrian opened his mouth to speak, but instead found himself yawning in bed, the sun’s rays nearly blinding him through the opened drapes of his own room.
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Re: Whom the gods would destroy...
#47Having collected, at last, the sword and knife that he had remembered admiring as a child, Adan heard the knock at the doors, and descending the stairs, he lifted a buckler from the walls almost casually, gripping it confidently in his left hand. Paranoia it would seem, should be the order of the day, in a demon haunted land. Sliding back the small window on the door, his sapphire eyes peered out, his roughly handsome face only barely visible from outside. "Kadarin! What brings a friendly face to this benighted realm?"
More readily, the portal was opened, the magi and his familiar permitted in, after which the small keep was closed, and tightly locked, the slit once more closed. "We've not long in this place, I fear, but I bid you enter, at least for the moment. I should introduce you to mine uncle as well, who is in residence as he fled those who have chosen to hunt my family." Meaning to lead the other towards the upper studies, he steps towards the stairs once more, looking back to see if the other follows. -
Re: Whom the gods would destroy...
#48"Adan? Why of all the odd coincidences! I cannot start to tell how I got here - and perhaps indeed know little about that. In any case, I am happy to see a familiar ace. How fare you?"
Kadarin and mouse followed Adan to the study, and grateful to be indoors... -
Re: Whom the gods would destroy...
#49"The gods scowl upon this land, and upon her ruling families." With a sigh, Adan looks about the keep as he walks, almost sadly, his eyes drifting up towards the portraits on the walls, assorted noblemen, many of whom bear some resemblance to the blonde knight. "My kin are dying and imprisoned, Kadarin. I must act, but I cannot act alone. I have not the command of sorcery, and.."
Stepping off the top stair, the young nobleman pushes open the door ways to the study, and as he finds the scene within, he falls silent, the blood and guts hanging from the chair where his uncle sat telling the tale in its entirety. "..." The sound that comes from his voice is little more than a strangled yelp. Another.. but how? No, Denhane must have been injured before even arriving, and staved off his end through willpower and sorcery, but for what purpose? "Trigu verdammen!" His bare fist slammed down into the study's table with a crashing sound, though it was not quite enough to break the baroquely decorated slab of wood on the top. -
Re: Whom the gods would destroy...
#50Pages from a book perused briefly in the hunitng lodge's humble library by Adan or Kyrian at some point during previous evening...
Ages ago the devil came to Landeel. Banished by the Brightblade was he, but not before causing much grief and strife. One such remnant of this arch devil, name unspoken, which remains to this day in Landeel, is the Peryton. Native to this land’s forests and crags, very rarely seen in other lands, the Peryton is an amalgam-horror, a creature borne of a twisted and thoroughly evil imagination. It is said this devil took particular delight in laying waste to castles and slaying knights with his talons. Those that he destroyed took no comfort even in death, for their souls he claimed and refashioned, turning them into creatures of hell. Grotesque hybrids, the devil gave them the heads of elks with great, sharpened antlers to represent the puny lances the knights had wielded against him. He gave them the bodies of stags to represent their fighting spirit. He gave them wings to symbolize their vanities. He gave them talons to symbolize his own. He gave them the shadows of men to mock them. He gave them---
--Here there is a break in the text, then a footnote added by someone of a later generation—
“In practical terms, the peryton combines the body of a giant eagle (5 feet tall with a 25 foot wingspan) with the head of a powerful stag. Its skin is impervious to weapons that are not magically enchanted. Its body has dark green plumage and yellow talons. Its stag head is blue-black with pale orange eyes and glossy obsidian antlers. The peryton casts the shadow of a human rather than its own shadow most of the time, and smells like a human as well.”
--G v. H -
Re: Whom the gods would destroy...
#51He contemplated the sunbeam, tempted to bask in it for a while longer, the strange dream already half-forgotten. Slowly, he stretched, rolled around in the pillows, then finally, he assembled enough willpower to leave the warmth of the charming ray. Carefree, as one can only be after a good rest, Kyrian donned his shorts and strolled downstairs, lured by the voices.
As he entered the study they came from, the vision came back to him in stern clarity, as vivid as the blood of the old wizard, flowing over those ancient robes.
"Damn" was all the eloquence he could muster.
'Helfen, wehren, heilen. Yes, I will help the boy finish this.' -
Re: Whom the gods would destroy...
#52Attack!
At the very same moment Adan smashed his fist into the table, the rather large, arched bedroom window beside Denhane’s favorite chair, smashed into thousands of pieces and thousands of shards, great and small, erupted inwards, into the bed chamber, momentarily stunning (figuratively) Kadarin and Adan. Mouse let out a small scream, but it was not heard over the deafening blast of glass and splinters.
Moments later, a foul aroma in the nostrils, and then a hellish creature landed in the room, smashing everything in its path (some chairs, another small table, a chandelier, the bed…). Its wings, impressive in size, seemed nevertheless palsied and putrefying. Its black tongue lolled over razor-sharp fangs in its ebon mouth, its sickly green feathers glistened in the reflections of the flying glass. The creature let out a great shriek, and proceeded to rip into Denhane’s already exposed belly with its talons, ultimately seeking the heart with its teeth.
Rolled surprise and you were, except Kyrian who hears/sees the crash just as he enters the study. The Peryton’s attack focuses on ripping Denhane’s heart out with its teeth and swallowing it. Now we roll initiative. Try to beat this…
http://strolen.com/guild/Themes/Winter30smfRC2/images/dice_warn.gif This dice roll has been tampered with!
Rolled 1d10 : 4, total 4 -
Re: Whom the gods would destroy...
#53fyi, above die roll not tampered with, the text was. -
Re: Whom the gods would destroy...
#54For precious seconds, Adan recoiled from the crash of the daemonic thing through the windows, the seconds it took the foul beast to sully the corpse of his relative. Still, things were not without hope. It was not his blade that the half-armoured knight clutched at, but rather he brought his heavy shield to bear, bringing it around in front at him, as he shouted, "Fall back, and to arms! We are besieged by devilry!"
Fully meaning to cover a retreat for Kadarin, at least out of the study, a plan began to form in Adan's mind. His own arms would be useless against this beast, but the Carmine Rose might not be, and it's reach was long. He could grab another shield from the walls, and form a wall with them in the narrow halls, while kyrian stabbed at it with his greatblade, a phalanx which could not be outmaeuvered in the tight halls of the corridors. "Grandmother, lend us your strength!"
Initiative: Rolled 1d10 : 8, total 8 -
Re: Whom the gods would destroy...
#55Rolled 1d20 : 12, total 12 -
Re: Whom the gods would destroy...
#568? oh lordy. Due to Kyrian's dexterity he actually gets simultaneous initiative with the Peryton. Go great dexterity, go!".
Echo, we can use that d20 roll you just made for your hit roll, in which case you would HIT -
Re: Whom the gods would destroy...
#57Hit it with *what* exactly? I described myself as going downstairs in shorts, meaning I can slap it across the forehead with my penis, tops.
"By Shar-Sanya's silv'ry sheen! Why do foes and fiends find it fitting to fly through windows at me when I'm but in fur?"
Also, it was not the sexy kind of demon, one where being half-naked might prove from slightly advantageous to greatly beneficial, depending on the visual appeal of the nakedness and the distractibility of the fiend.
"Keep it busy!" Kyrian yelled as he ran off with long bounds, to grab his trusty steel. -
Re: Whom the gods would destroy...
#58Hit it with *what* exactly? I described myself as going downstairs in shorts, meaning I can slap it across the forehead with my penis, tops.
my apologies. Good point. It registered when I read it, but in the heat of initiative, i forgot the swordless shorts :P. Aborting assumed sword hit.... -
Re: Whom the gods would destroy...
#59Having gobbled down Denhane's pulseless heart, the daemon turned to Adan and Kadarin, charging across the tile, like an excited dog upon a slippery surface. Bloody drool sprayed from its mouth as it came, its outstretched wings buffeting its rush. It slammed its own body, talons first, against Adan's risng shield...
http://strolen.com/guild/Themes/Winter30smfRC2/images/dice_warn.gif This dice roll has been tampered with!
Rolled 1d20 : 4, total 4 -
Re: Whom the gods would destroy...
#60...the shield rose in time, and somehow Adan found the strength and balance to deflect the brunt of the creature's charge, though he was driven back with considerable force.
Adan and Kadarin's turn. Kyrian will arrive in 1 Rd, with sword, or 2 rds if he throws on armor too -
Re: Whom the gods would destroy...
#61A sommersault through the door of his chamber later, Kyrian tore the Carmine Rose free of its scabbard, and caught the morn's light on the blade. Awakened, its petals flared to life, expectant of carmine dew to come, the energy running through him sending ripples along their delicate shapes.
As he charged back towards the fray, his legs' claws tore at the expensive carpet, shredding it in places - but who cared?
Can't imagine putting on full plate in less than five minutes, so I just grab the sword and run. -
Re: Whom the gods would destroy...
#62Slammed backwards through the door, Adan scrabbled against the walls, reaching at last a second great shield to pull into his right hand, and present the foul creature in front of him with a wall of steel. "By the name of Alys, I abjure thee, daemon! By the name of Trigu, I command thee! Begone!"
With no meaningful weapon, yet still far enough forward to be in front of the magi in the narrow corridor, Adan braced himself, doing his best to lock the shields into an immobile wall. The need to keep it's attention, however, stayed foremost, and it was with flame in his eyes that he drew back his face, and -spat- at the demon.
Adan is going total defense mode, basically everything he can do to be a wall. Somewhat like dodge, but probably more effective. -
Re: Whom the gods would destroy...
#63Init Roll Rolled 1d10 : 10, total 10.
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Re: Whom the gods would destroy...
#64
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Re: Whom the gods would destroy...
#65plenty enough to snare the Peryton, but because the creature's effective str is 16+, it will be able to break free of the webs in 2 rds
The Peryton rushed to follow Adan toward the hall, but Kyrian cast his spell from the doorway, before backing up. A thick, goopy column of webs greeted the Peryton's second rush, snaring the creature, and stopping it dead in its tracks. The peryton howled and snorted its displeasure, struggling to free its wings of the clutching, gooey strands. It may as well have been flailing to escape quicksand. The beast was stuck, though its urgent lunges seemed to indicate it could eventually break free.
Standing by the door, watching the fell beast struggle, Adan, with two shields in hand now, and Kadarin could see Kyrian, racing down the hall, nearly naked, but Carmine Rose in hand. He was back!
Then they saw something else. A second peryton, entered the bedroom from the same, now open window, landing amidst the glass and broken wood of Denhane's chamber with a sickening thud. It shrieked as had the last, a piercing demonic noise, then slowly advanced, mindful of its struggling fellow creature. Spying the pair in the doorway leading to the hall, the thing shrieked again.
Just then a second thud, a booming sound that seemed to indicate another peryton had landed somewhere on the roof of the hunting lodge. This creature could not yet be seen.
Initiative roll. Kyrian is back. There is 1 peryton stuck in the middle of the room, in a rather large webbing. There is 1 peryton who just arrived trying to figure out how to circumnavigate his fellow peryton, and attack you guys, without getting caught up in the web. A third has apparently landed above somehwere, out of the action for the moment. The webbed Peryton can be attacked with a +2 on all hit rolls. P.S. webs are highly flammable.
http://strolen.com/guild/Themes/Winter30smfRC2/images/dice_warn.gif This dice roll has been tampered with!
Rolled 1d10 : 8, total 8 -
Re: Whom the gods would destroy...
#66Not wishing to tangle with the beastly creature's horns, Kadarin reached for his rosepetals and cast them towards the other Peryton.
It might work, he thought as he spoke the words of magic...
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Re: Whom the gods would destroy...
#67..And was rewarded by the bestile creature stopped dead in its tracks, and toppled over.
"If you have a magic weapons somewhere, now is the time to get it. It may be possible to strangle the thing, but I doubt it."
Kadarin fished again into his pockets, preparing a second casting should the third creature appear. -
Re: Whom the gods would destroy...
#68"I fear I've nothing, but mayhaps the Carmine Rose can pierce their flesh. " Adan's voice was grim as he stepped further into the room, his shields held at the ready in order to intercept and defend wherever it was required. -
Re: Whom the gods would destroy...
#69Unencumbered neither by his armor nor by a low ceiling usually found in lesser abodes, Kyrian vaulted over Adan, mane flying behind him like the fire behind a runner's torch. With a feral roar, he swung the thorn of his rose at the vile beast. "The cavalry to the rescue, Adan! Cover me!" -
Re: Whom the gods would destroy...
#70With grim resolve, Adan stepped forwards, the barest distance ahead and slightly to the side of Kyrian, his shields still held high, in the shield-bearer positions of old. It may have been many a year since it was last used as a technique, but here.. Here it would have to serve. -
Re: Whom the gods would destroy...
#71Rolled 1d20 : 17, total 17
I roll to dispense pwnage upon the webbed doom-elk-chicken, please -
Re: Whom the gods would destroy...
#72Like a knife through clotted cream, the Carmine Rose cuts through the webbing and putrid flesh alike. With a stroke, Kyrian has nearly severed the wing of the stuck creature. Black blood sprays everywhere as the peryton lets out a dying shriek.
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moments later, Kyrian butchers the sleeping peryton as well, quickly ending its life.
All queit now, except for some involuntary twicthing on the parts of the dying beats. Adan's shields are both black with blood. -
Re: Whom the gods would destroy...
#73"This was some rather merry smiting, sir Adan! Yet it is to continue with greater fervor, for more of them abound" Kyrian flashed him a smile, then approached the window, ready to roll aside.
"Here, chicky chicky, I am still uneaten and tastier than ever!" -
Re: Whom the gods would destroy...
#74Kyrian could not see any creatures in the skies outside the window, or below on the grounds. There were some unpleasant noises coming from the roof however, as if more beasts were up there, looking for another way inside... -
Re: Whom the gods would destroy...
#75"They are as deaf as they are vile!" he cursed, then turned to his allies. "Aid me in donning my iron carapace, for this dance is far from over. Then, we shall give them a way inside, and make sure it is thorny." Reminiscing of the strange nightly ephemera, he gestured towards *that* mirror and instructed Kadarin: "Look there, beyond the truthful glass, for anything that may be of use."
The knight wiped some of the blood off his fur with a nearby blanket, then strode off towards his steely attire. -
Re: Whom the gods would destroy...
#76"I hear one, but they run in flocks, and cold steel such as mine cannot pierce their flesh." Shaking his head, Adan sighed, as he stepped through the room towards his uncle's corpse, an infinite sadness upon his face as he kneels beside it, reaching out with a single hand, the shield still upon it, to close the man's eyes and giving the man his final blessing, a brief prayer entirely in the language of his ancestors, and an old one indeed.
To you, High Lady, I commend this soul.
In bravery, he walked your dark forest,
In joy, he lifted his voice to you.
In sorrow, he sought your respite.
In death, I ask you guide to his final rest.
Blessed be you, and all that you ask.
Amen.
Burial, however, would have to wait until the foes were dead. With sorrow, then, he moved to examine the gestured mirror, and after a moment, reached into it, his arm rippling and fading as it moved into the space beyond, and drew out the artifacts left therein. A careful check over of them, and he tucked both the dagger and key into his belt, before donning the necklace. The others, and the stone as well, could be distributed later, but for now, these would serve a purpose to him. Tucking the others away in various places, save the bracers, which he held to Kadarin with a nod in passing, he went to aid Kyrian in the donning of his steely suit, and to finish donning his own. They would be well abused today. -
Re: Whom the gods would destroy...
#77As the warriors donned their armor, Kadarin examined the scrolls. Mouse hides himself inside the first-floor privy...
the sounds of thuds, grunts, and shrieks above them, accompanied Adan and Kyrian as they scrambled to prepare for battle once more. Adan had a strange thought then. Were the elk-demons after something besides blood and hearts? Were they sent to kill Denhane, or were they sent to retrieve something?
His thoughts, and Kyrians were suddenly interrupted by the call of Herald, outside. The horse seemed to be in dire straits, by the sounds of it. -
Re: Whom the gods would destroy...
#78Pulling his own helmet down over his head, Adan began to bolt towards the inner entrance to the stables, a great clattering following his passage, though he kept to the indoors, determined to minimize his exposure to the sky. The large shield upon his arm, he drew not the sword, but the mystical dagger as he ran to the doorways of the stable, great consternation upon his face. -
Re: Whom the gods would destroy...
#79"A helpless horse they assault, when they could have us? Fortune frowns upon such feeble cowardice. Onwards, Adan, they cannot have victory today; and by default, it will fall to us."
Barely restraining his energy, he urged the other knight onwards. -
Re: Whom the gods would destroy...
#80Through the house they ran full speed now, until at last they reached the stable doors. Shoving them open, Kyrian and Adan proceeded to enter. From within, they could now see an agitated Herald, rearing and flailing his hoofs, near the entranceway to the stables (30 yards from where you stand).
The prized mount was fearlessly trying to defend itself (or did it rip free and attack the intruder on its own accord?) from a rather large peryton, who could not quite fit comfortably into the stables, though he was trying. It seemed a stalemate at the moment, but one that Herald would eventually lose.
Behind the large peryton at the stables entryway, Kyrian and Adan could see another now, this one still outside, and circling the manse approximately twenty feet off the ground, its giant, clumsy wings keeping it airborne. It seemed to be headed for the wide-open bedroom window.
For the moment peryton is pre-occupied with Herald. Your initiative automatically