Tales of Faerun

[mythicdawnmaster]

After a self-satisfactory smile at her smouldering annihilation of the bilious slime, and an intrigued glance at the mangled remains of the half digested adventurers, she heeded Quarylene's call and kicked her heels into the side of her nightmare. The infernal steed paid no notice as it passed over the now scorching puddle of acidic bile, galloping hastily as it shadowed the direction of the Vampiress.

 

The Underdark truly was a mysterious cornucopia of muculent depravity and phosphorescent mosses. The very walls of the cavernous passages they passed under seemed to be rife with evil, strange, faintly glowing mushrooms presented death upon their spotted, slimy surfaces, and all manner of noxious insects scuttled about loathsomely in a conglomeration of hairy legs and sharpened pincers. This place was evil, but not in the infernal, tortuously complex diversity of the circles of hell; no, this place had a clear air to it, a definite overall vibe. The monsters here were cool, calculated and nigh-invisible, this was a place for the grotesque shadows of the world to hide themselves in natural squalor. It was a place of dark intrigue, of subtle plots, it was all of the subtle things mortals feared incarnate. The Underdark's negative connotations were not misplaced.

 

"Tell me, Quarylene." Ravenna began as she rode parallel to the former Matron Mother. "What was it like ruling a kingdom in this ephemeral chasm? I had expected this place to alien, but not quite so. Everything here is a perversion of the surface, I see similarities but they end swiftly. I admit my intrigue."

[GrueMaster]

Tak'we gave something that sounded like a concerned wheezing of sorts as he watched Rhaine and Azuris practice. He'd heard the previous sound of crashing and now that he could see how it was made, it worried him. He was already anxious over how winged pointy-ear's bird was killed, feeling sadness for Rhaine and Theron and anger towards whoever did this.

 

"But now clutchmates look like they are trying to kill each other." He voiced his concern, his confusion over this strange behavior obvious in his tone. "Shouldn't we try to sstop them? This iss bothering this one."

[Deleted6317247User]

Nawen noticed that the jousting practice became a bit more aggressive but tried not to get too distracted. Tak'we also seemed concerned about it.

 

"They're just practicing," she said hoping that her words would calm him even if only a little, "they're not really fighting." She said. "I hope." Nawen thought but decided to leave it unspoken.

 

"I'm afraid I'm not the best source of information," she said as she looked back at Conall, "but she hates Weyland and I think he was her slave." She wasn't close with the Grey brothers or with Amendale and thus she knew very little. Her not being the eavesdropping type, didn't help much either.

 

Shalena who had her fair share of slaves and slavery before she joined them, remained quiet.

 

"What's important is that Fenrir found Theron outside of Grey's brothers tent and that is enough of the proof that it's the same Lamia."

 

"This mystery investigation is all fine and well," Shalena said, "but if it's the same thing, how in the hells did she find you? You were traveling across the sea and we saw no other ships after we destroyed Umberlee's Wave."

Edited October 29, 2013 by Guest

[josh900]

Azuris didn't answer Rhaine as Bob spun around, ready for another charge, instead he simply waited in silence for the signal to charge. He was going to aim for her shield this time, chances are she would move out of the way if he aimed anywhere else.

It didn't matter to him if he won though, he decided that he wasn't going to compete in the tournament anyways, the incident with the Paladins had left him in less than an ideal state of mind, which he seemed to be taking out on Rhaine at the moment.

 

When his lance made contact with her shield and hers with his, his vision faded in and out from the pain that shot through his body, splinters of wood showed him as gravity seemed to no longer function, when his head made contact with the ground he realized that he had been knocked clean off of Bob.

As his vision cleared and he was able to breath once again, he raised his visor with some difficulty and groaned. "Now I remember why I hate jousting."

 

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Hexol watched their duel with wide eyed amazement. Back home he had never gotten the chance to see a jousting match before. "I wanna do that.." He said to himself as a grin spread over his face, what many would consider a terrible idea forming in his mind.

Edited October 31, 2013 by josh900

[AurianaValoria1]

Rhaine's lance connected with Azuris's shield and shattered into a thousand pieces, the force throwing her out of the saddle and flipping her backwards over Azrael's crupper. She twisted midair and landed with a resounding clank on her elbows, her left arm bending painfully under her weight and against the rigidity of her shield. For a few moments, she stayed motionless on the ground, steadying her breathing and trying to stop the world from spinning. Finally, she managed to push herself to her feet and raised her visor.

 

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Conall's blue eyes widened as the two riders unhorsed each other, both making heavy landings. Laying Theron's bundle gently on the ground, he then jumped over the fence, "Come on...let's see if they're all right."

 

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Quarylene snorted, "The philosophy of the Underdark is 'kill or be killed.' Only the strong survive, and only the strongest may rule it. Let me be clear...you rule those who have the good sense to grovel before you. You do not rule the wilds of the Underdark."

[mythicdawnmaster]

Ravenna smiled lightly "I can respect such a system, it is not unlike the hells. But tell me, the wilds, why is it they may not be tamed? Everything bends once you apply the correct amount of force, eventually. In fact, I rather look forward to testing that theory a little more on your dear Spider Goddess. We will make her feel the sting of vengeance... although, those poor priestesses are going to feel a lot more than a mere sting." The devil queen grinned sadistically for a moment, as she continued to ride beside the vampiress.

[Quintatas]

The going was easy.

Xundus found the walk manageable, and even very much enjoyable. The sun was a bit bright today, and he was forced to pull his cowl down a bit lower, even with his enchanted trinket, gifted to him by a priestess of Selune, which allowed him to view the surface world without the light hurting his sensitive drow eyes. It was a quiet day, as well, and other than the occasional song from a bird or the sharp "clink!" of his rapier brushing against a rock, it was relatively silent. That sense of quiet peace ended, though, when he came within hearing range of the tourney grounds. As he approached the tents, he heard the sound of shattering wood, and after a bit of walking, he found the source of the sound. A red-haired woman with strange, black-feathered wings, stood there. Interesting, he thought. A Favored Soul, is she? He leaned against a nearby fence post. This could be exactly what he was looking for.

[Flipout6]

"WHOA HOOOO! WHAT A SPECTACULAR HIT!" Weyland cheered as both Rhaine and Azuris were thrown off their horses. Arland silently cursed that Azueis didn't wind up sending Rhaine over the fence and out of the entire court, but this was the next next best thing. (He could have not been de-horsed himself, after all.) Amendale stood up and came an inch from blasting Rhaine and Azuris with a bit of healing magic, but they got up and were walking well enough to alleviate his concern.

 

"Our turn, brother." Weyland clapped a hand on Arland's shoulder.

"I'm gonna flatten you. Just you watch." Arland snarked.

Several minutes later, through some means or another, both of them were in their full armor, Weyland in his set of heavy adamantine plate-mail and Arland in his lighter mithril chainmail, supplemented with light plates. Both of them got on their horses, shooting cocky smirks at one another. Weyland, feeling much more competent because of his past experience, slid his thumb across his throat and grinned, moving his horse into position. Arland and Amendale rolled their eyes simultaneously. Arland brought his own horse into position, holding a lance and fiddling with shield.

 

"Right then." Arland said to himself, pulling his shield into position. He knew how to use one, of course. It came with training with his father back home. He just never actually used a shield unless he lacked a second blade.

 

"Uh...AMENDALE!" Weyland shouted. "SIGNAL FOR US! PLEASE!"

 

Begrudingly, Amendale stood up, raised his arm, and then shot a fire arrow into the air that flew fifty feet upwards and disappeared in a miniature explosion. Weyland and Arland spurred their horses onward and exploded into action. Both horses galloped full-speed across the field. Arland decided to be sneaky and try to pull the same trick that Azuris had with Rhaine. Unfortunately for him, Weyland knew full-well that he'd pull a stunt like that and raised his shield at almost exactly the right time and angle, and the force of the blow was cut in half when the end of the lance bounced off the adamantine bulwark. His own lance slammed into Arland's shield and nearly slipped by, but instead it shattered on impact and the force threw most of Arland's weight off, and he almost fell off his horse.

 

"LUCKY SHOT!" Arland taunted, voice muffled by his visor.

"AGAINST YOU I DON'T NEED ANY LUCK!" Weyland shot back. Amendale's lips curled upwards. He could already tell just how one-sided this contest really was.

 

Retrieving a second lance, Weyland swung his horse around and quickly adjusted himself. Arland did the same, just without a new lance. Amendale's hand shot another fire arrow into the air and they charged.

 

"I'LL BET HEXOL COULD BEAT YOU!" Weyland taunted, quickly breathing again when he saw them about to collide.

 

Arland's lance was aimed more precisely this time, and Weyland had to hold his shield closer to his chest to block the blow, which almost threw him off-balance when some of the force was transferred to his chest like a shove. But that was where his misfortune ended, because his own lance flew right by Arland's shield and clocked him in the shoulder, flinging him around like a ragdoll and knocking him completely backwards. He barely managed to pull himself up and stay on the horse. Weyland's lance split in half at the middle, and he tossed it aside, while Arland's shattered. With new lances, they wasted no time in continuing to the third round.

 

Arland was already feeling nervous when he charged again, pulling his visor down. He tried to focus on where Weyland's defenses might be weakest, and in doing so nearly forgot to put up his shield. Weyland's lance was already inside his defenses by then, and when Arland swung his shield into place, it knocked the lance downwards and to the side, right past his saddle. His own lance was easily directed away from Weyland's shield once again, significantly reducing any kind of force he would have had to deal with.

 

"YOU'VE GOT NOTHIN'!" Weyland jeered as they flew past one another. This fell upon deaf ears.

 

Because that lance had sailed past Arland's saddle at exactly the wrong angle.

 

The force hit Arland hard enough that his feet were ripped right from their stirrups. In the space of seven or eight feet between himself and the ground, Arland flipped head-over-heels three times and clanked his head on the ground, his lance landing in the dirt a few feet from him.

 

That was approximately when unbelievable pain exploded in his nether regions.

 

Arland instantly curled up into a ball, accidentally smacking himself in the face with his shield. He rocked back and forth, screaming beneath his mask as tears streamed down his face.

 

OWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOW WHAT DID I DO TO DESERVE GETTING HIT THERE OWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOW! Was a rough translation of his jumbled thoughts as Weyland broke down into uncontrollable laughter. So hard he actually fell back onto his rear, shaking and wheezing.

 

"Luck of heroes having armor protecting there." Amendale commented, grinning despite himself.

 

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!" Arland screamed.

 

Weyland stood up to go over to help his brother, but something occurred to him."Alright Amendale, just heal him already." Weyland breathed. Amendale complied, sending his most powerful healing spell Arland's way.

 

The pain stopped, and Arland lay there in a quivering heap, armor chittering with every shiver. Shakily, he managed to stand up. He tossed up his visor and barely stopped himself from tossing up his own breakfast. He stumbled over to his brother and slammed his gauntleted fist into Weyland's jaw, which would have broken it if he hasn't been wearing a helmet.

 

"All right, all right, fair's fair." Weyland smiled and held his palms outward in an offer of peace.

 

"I'll pay you back for that someday." Arland growled as Amendale broke out in laughter.

[Deleted6317247User]

Nawen followed Conall to see if Azuris and Rhaine were alright. She couldn't help but wonder why would anyone compete in a jousting tournament where even a practice lance could kill or severely injure a person.

 

"Are you guys alright?" She asked but then Amendale came in and healed them.

 

"I have some whiskey to help with the pain!" Shalena shouted from her spot. The pirate noticed that Arland and Weyland were getting ready to practice so she decided to stay back and watch the Grey brothers instead.

[AurianaValoria1]

Rhaine pushed the locks of damp crimson hair that fell forward from under the brow of her helm back from her face, "I'm...fine. Just a bit shaken, is all. Now what-?"

 

She was cut off as Weyland and Arland's taunting signalled another round of practice. Unfortunately for Arland, it did not turn out in his favor, ending with his brother landing a rather devastating blow to a very sensitive region. The Doomguide was, somehow, not the least bit surprised at this outcome.

 

"Ohoho," Dagny chortled, "Poor lad...looks like he's learning the value of heavy armor."

 

"And how easily bravery can turn into stupidity," Conall added.

 

Turning to Rhaine, Conall gestured for her to follow him, "Milady, it might be best if you follow me. Something has arisen."

 

Sighing, she glanced to Azrael - who had, by now, wandered back over to her - and took his reins in her hands, "Very well. What is it?"

 

The ranger led her over to where Theron's bundle lay. He took up the mass of cloak and feathers again and carefully flipped back one corner of the garment to reveal the bird's mangled corpse, "This. It's the eagle, my lady. The one that followed us around everywhere. Fenrir found him outside the Greys' tent; the bird was killed and then left there by a Lamia."

 

Rhaine's heart ached to see Theron's poor body. She had grown quite fond of the eagle and his sweet personality, and she felt slightly sick to see him like this. But this sickness gave way to anger. She knew exactly which Lamia had slain him...

 

Sana...

 

She had almost killed Weyland after they had made it out of the Anauroch. Now, it looked like she had returned to finish the job.

 

Looking back over her shoulder at the jousting field, Rhaine shouted, "Weyland! Arland! You need to come see this."

 

"I don't know if she is going to dare to attack us while we're around so many others," Conall mused, "but Fenrir mentioned her murderous activities in the forests around here and on the road to Sarshel."

 

"She's waiting for us to leave," Rhaine thought aloud, "Waiting for Weyland to stray too far from the rest of the group. Theron was left as a message...she's watching us."

 

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Quarylene laughed, "Nothing can overpower the Underdark. Not completely. There's always something, somewhere, that's stronger than you. Although...now that you are here, Devil Queen, the scales of power have shifted. Shar and Lolth would like to claim the most influence in these wretched lands, but your very presence here is a challenge to both."

Edited November 5, 2013 by AurianaValoria1