Tales of Faerun

[josh900]

Tannin had spent the early morning out in the shops, buying everything he would need to start on Nawen's new armor. As he returned to the inn he spotted their new drow companion duck into an alleyway. "With a sigh he hefted the box of supplies up into a better grip and walked to the alley where he spotted Xundus sitting down. "Not the best place for a sit you know." Tannin said to the drow. "Anyone could sneak up behind you and take your stuff. And that would be a terrible embarrassing situation wouldn't you agree? A pure drow being mugged by some dirty homeless commoner? Oooh what would the matrons think of that?" He said in a mocking tone. "Why, I imagine they would have all sorts of wonderfully painful methods of torture for that offence." He said as he set the box of supplies down. "So what are you doing down here anyways? So far away from the rest of the group."

------------

 

"You're probably at risk for more than a mugging here Nawen." Azuris said as he finished his breakfast. "Westgate isn't the most hospitable place. The sooner we leave here the happier I'll be." He grumbled.

-------

 

"I'm a Kender!" Hexol said happily, pointing to himself. "We're the nicest folk you'll ever meet! I'm guessing you've never met one huh? Everyone who's met says they never forget us, We're just that nice!"

His attention quickly turned to Ianthe and his smile widened even more. "Hi Ianthe! I'm Hexol! I've never met a Nymph before! You sure are pretty, but I guess you'd have to be seeing that you're a Nymph and all. You're even prettier than my wife! But don't tell her that." He said covering the side of his mouth and whispering, though with the coughing and sputtering coming from Azuris it would be difficult to hear.

"You're married!?!?" Azuris asked in complete shock.

"Ahuh!" Hexol nodded to him eagerly. "Her name's Trixel! She's back home keeping things afloat while I'm gone!" He said with a smile.

"Oh gods." Azuris moaned, putting his face in his hands. "That poor girl, can't imagine what it's like with a child like you to take care of." He muttered as he looked back up at Hexol who was now holding up two fingers.

"What is that?" Azuris asked, the color on his face draining away.

"Two." Hexol said simply.

"Two.. why two? Two what? What are you saying? What do you mean two???" Azuris demanded in a shaky voice.

"We got two kids!"

And with that revelation, Azuris sank into his chair with a look of utter horror on his face. "He...bred.... There's more of him out there." He said to himself. Internally begging the gods that this was all just a joke.

Hexol meanwhile laughed at the knight's reaction. "I think I broke him. It's okay Azzy! Trixel's got a looot of help taking care of them while I'm gone, at first she wanted to come along and take them with us, but we decided it would be better for them to grow up in our home town instead of out on the road, too many new things to a young Kender can get them a bit too excited to keep control of you see."

[Quintatas]

Xundus turned to Tannin as he approached. He chuckled at his mocking, not at all offended. He was probably right.

 

The drow sighed. "I suppose I can talk to you about it. You're half-drow, right? Surely you understand the.. the inner conflict that plagues me. Ever since I left Ched Nasad and the Underdark, I've had a sort of conflict with myself. On one hand, I wish for the common good, to liberate others and destroy evil."

 

"On the other hand, I am selfish and greedy. I want to partake in the pleasures of the drow, to kill and torture. Of course, I haven't, but I do feel the pull. And it's gotten worse since we fought the dragon. I find it harder to resist."

 

The drow looked up at Tannin. "I hope that doesn't make you gut me right here," he said, a mirthless grin on his face.

[josh900]

After listening to Xundus's confession Tannin truly understood his plight. "No not at all sir Xundus." He said with a smile. "It does however make me want to shove my boot so far up your arse that when I remove it, it'll take out that overused cliche you're blabbering on about." Tannin said with a scowl. "Seriously, if I had a copper for every time I heard that one, I might have a couple gold coins by now." He said as he sat on the box of supplies. "Let me tell you something. I've killed more people than you have, simple fact that I can safely tell you without even knowing an ounce of your history. I've killed more, tortured more, and at times have probably even enjoyed it more than you have or ever will. So take it from someone with more experience in the matter, you'll never not enjoy it. "He said with a light smile.

"There will always be a piece of you that thrives on the thrill. The need for blood, the need to take something's life. It's simply what we are, how our lives were. The trick.. you see, now that you're away from all of that, is to not let that urge for the thrill take over your life, same as a drunkered or a drug addict, the only difference is that Killers tend to have shorter lives." He joked.

"Don't try and control it, when it's easier to simply not give it a chance to come up. Now me. I combat the urges with a little something called, productivity. I write, I draw, I sew, I craft, I tell tales. Whatever keeps my mind focused and safe from wandering. Find yourself a distraction, something that'll keep your mind off of the killing and you'll do alright." Tannin finished and stood up. "Find yourself some good books. nothing filled with violence or anything, happy tales or historical documents, poetry or scripts for some theater scripts. What I did when I was younger, helped me out quite a lot back then. A good story can keep you seated for hours without any urge to get up."

[Quintatas]

Xundus smiled at Tannins advice. He would take it to heart.

 

"I will try, though I must admit, I never had much interest in the arts. Perhaps writing a journal, or reading a book as you mentioned, could do me some good. Thank you, Tannin."

 

With that, the drow made for the tavern, and up to his room. He wasn't very proficient with reading Common, but he knew the drow language well. Grabbing a spare parchment, as well as a pen and inkwell, he set to work. He didn't know exactly what to write, but the title read, "Dro d'natha ilythiiri."

 

"Good," he said to himself, "time to get to work."

[GrueMaster]

"Wha- OOOF!" Dri grunted as Weyland shoved her out of the way of a massive sword. By Tymora! She tumbled out of the way further out of the reach of whatever the thing was that was attacking. Overhearing that this cat creature was behind Weyland's enslavement, the changeling swallowed her sudden fear and took up a grim determination, summoning Lonesome, which radiated alarm at first. Are you ready? she sent telepathically, and the weapon began dripping acid and sent back a confirming response. Alright, then...

 

Dri began moving, trying to move behind Sana and flank her, but she had barely managed to move into position when the creature suddenly disappeared, and five copies took her place. Oh, for gods' sakes! Dri swore as she once again dodged the blow from one of the Sanas. How are we supposed to know which one is the real one? She thought furiously, weaving to and fro, and suddenly had a crazy idea. Oh, Tymora, let this work!

 

Pulling out a small bag, she teased it open with her free hand and then swung the bag in an arc, sending a fan of marbles flying outward. The marbles hit two of the Sanas... which immediately disappeared!

 

YES!

 

The rogue cheered inwardly, and pulled out another object, this time a bag that looked like it was filled with some kind of mush. Aiming for another image, she tossed the tanglefoot bag at it, hoping this time it would be the real one...

[Flipout6]

The Greys looked around, alarmed, trying to find any sign of Sana.

 

"Where'd she go?!?!" Arland asked.

 

"I don't remember this trick..." Weyland mumbled to himself.

 

"Keep your guard up. Don't leave your backs exposed." Sybille advised. "Amendale! Make sure she doesn't sneak up on you! Audri, same thing!" Amendale nodded.

 

As it turns out,Sybille's fears were unfounded, which she found out when multiple identical copies of Sana appeared. Even though several simultaneous Sanas would make it difficult to discern which was which, it was better than taking a pair of scimitars to the back.

 

"Smack 'em till ya find the right one!" Sybille shouted, before charging. Guessing that Sana would be the one farther away from them, she rushed right through most of them, running right through one image with a shoulder-check and swinging her hammer on any other subsequent ones. Arland shoved both of his blades through one of them and shattered it. It was ultimately Weyland who found the right Sana, after he made to sever her front legs from her body and nearly took ten claws to the face when she reared up to defend herself.

 

"Over here!" He shouted, barely defending himself against tremendously powerful blows that would buckle or shatter regular steel shields if they blocked the armor-piercing blades at all.

 

"You can roll over and die anytime now!" Arland growled to Sana as he jumped onto her back and made to sever her head before she elbowed him and nearly sent him to the ground. He grabbed on to her hair and resisted falling off, and managed to cleave a huge hunk of skin out of her back before she sheathed a blade, grabbed Weyland by the shield, and threw him backwards into a tree. After doing so, she fell onto her side and rolled over, knocking over and crushing both Arland and Sybille. They lay there, gasping, as Sana began casting a spell that Amendale failed to counter.

 

"You're...mine." Sana grinned wickedly, as she cast the spell. Weyland stood up and drew his blade. Arland struggled to his feet and helped Sybille to hers, her having been crushed twice. "Attack." Sana told Weyland, and pointed at Amendale. The warrior charged....right at Amendale, knocking him over with his shield and shoving his blade right through Amendale's stomach. The Moon elf felt cold pain fill him, and then stars filled his eyes as the electrical enchantment on the blade coursed through every fiber of his being before the blade was withdrawn. Confused, he stared through blurry eyes at Weyland as his friend raised his blade again.

 

"WEYLAND! WHAT IN THE HELLS ARE YOU DOING?!?!" Sybille shouted, alarmed. "She has control of his mind!"

"He was always mine." Sybille ran towards Weyland, tackling him to the ground as he was about to finish Amendale off.

 

"You, me and Audri, scow." Arland's eyes narrowed and he easily dodged Sana's pained counterattack as the wound he inflicted began to affect her.

 

"Weyland! Weyland! Come back into your senses!" Sybille wrestled with her brother on the ground, and it wasn't long before she'd disarmed him and locked him in a choke-hold. He reached for his sword, intending to spear his sister on it, before he suddenly stopped.

 

"Urk...!" He breathed. "Can't...breathe! Sybille!"

 

She let him go. She'd had to do that to Marie before, mind-dominated people didn't address people by names. "Get Amendale to his feet. He's still alive."

"I saw myself stab him..." Weyland helped Amendale to his feet, feeling shell-shocked. Sybille rushed back into battle to assist Arland, who wouldn't let up his own assault. Sana wasn't given an opportunity to cast the spell again.

 

"Amendale. Amendale!" Weyland shook his friend. "Heal yourself, friend. That's not enough to fell you. Here, here's your components, you taught me. Remember the words?" Because I sure as hells don't know what you have to say.

 

"Yes....yes." Amendale sighed, his head lolling. He was lucky that Weyland had missed the liver or he may already be dead. Bringing his mind back into focus despite the pain and disorientation, he cast the spell and covered the wound with his hand. The pain increased threefold for a second until everything had been patched up and healed. "I'm okay. Go!"

 

"Weyland's back in his own head again!" Sybille declared to Arland.

 

"Took him long enough!" Arland somersaulted over the ground, avoiding a powerful downward strike that he had no doubt would have blown through his armor, mithral or no, and came out of the roll swinging. One of Sana's tendons was severed, and she nearly fell over right there and then. Shrieking, she kicked at Arland with her hind legs and kept him back. Relying on intense concentration, she barely managed to let loose another spell, this time a Dominate spell aimed at Dri. This was followed by her focusing an attack on Sybille, and two blows slipped by. One glanced off of her shoulder-plate harmlessly while another one hit her hard enough in the rips that two of them cracked, and a sizable bruise would be left. Unable to charge at Amendale, she watched in horror as the Moon Elf took advantage of Dri's destroying her remaining mirror images to summon a cone of fire downwards from the very sky itself before she could cast anything to counter him, and with the mirrors gone, he knew exactly where she was. All three Greys backed up and watched as the flame seared Sana inside and out, and yet somehow she stayed standing.

 

"HOW IN THE HELLS IS SHE STILL ALIVE?!?!" Arland asked incredulously.

 

"Who cares, let's fix that!" Weyland shouted. Taking advantage of her momentary opening, he sliced her stomach wide open, forcing her to hold in her own innards as he brought his blade down and completely severed one of her front paws from her body. By now she was regaining her senses, despite the pain, and she managed to stay standing with only two good legs and continue to fight at the same time. How, Weyland didn't know. But she hit him with a Forceful Hand, and he was dragged to the edge of the woods before it moved to Arland and dragged him backwards as well.

 

Already off-balance as is, Sana took a Tanglefoot Bag to her two rear legs and tripped onto her stomach when it hardened. Sybille, sensing victory, brought her maul into the air, shouted, and slammed it into Sana's back, splitting the Lamia's spine in two. Sana, defeated, fell over.

 

"This is for my brother, creature." Sybille growled she raised her weapon to crush Sana's skull into the dirt.

 

"Wait!" Weyland shouted, limping towards her. The Forceful hand had sprained his ankle and it pained him to put weight on it. "Let me."

 

Sybille stepped backwards. "As you wish, brother. You have more a right than any of us to it."

 

"Let me watch." Arland demanded as he stumbled out of the wheat field.

 

Weyland kicked Sana's scimitars well out of her reach and placed a foot on her stomach, laying pressure on it. Sana gasped as the pressure extended all the way to her back, and burning pain engulfed her. He let up on the pressure, leaving her coherent enough to understand his final words to her.

 

"You deserve far worse than you're getting, Sana." He told her. There was no anger in his voice. If anything, he sounded exhausted. "You've done so much to people who didn't deserve it. I'm only doing a small justice to all the others you killed and enslaved and tortured. I can't help them anymore, I can only avenge them... and myself. May they find peace....and may Kelemvor toss your soul into the Wall of the Faithless, never to return."

 

And with that, he slid his blade through her heart.

[AurianaValoria1]

Sana gasped a ragged breath as Weyland's sword sliced through her chest. Her charred hands flung upwards and gripped around the blade tightly, her blood pouring in rivulets down the shining metal. She stared into the warrior's eyes with the light swiftly fading from her own, and the last words she spoke were laced with honest sorrow.

 

"All...I wanted...was to have...you...back..."

 

Finally, her grip relaxed, and she sank into the grass, dead.

Edited February 3, 2014 by AurianaValoria1

[GrueMaster]

Dri stared in horror as Weyland suddenly charged at his own friend and skewer Amendale. "WEYLAND!" she yelled mentally, but was unable to make it past Sana. Shefelt something brush against her mind when Sana cast some sort of spell, but it failed to take hold and she pierced the creature's backside with Lonesome, sending acid burning throughout the wound before tumbling back out of the lamia's reach.

 

She prepared to dart back in again when she saw Weyland was back to normal and Amendale was back up and casting. Dri caught a glimpse of the pillar of fire descending upon Sana and shielded her eyes from the sudden heat, and looked on in shock to see the thing still standing.

 

How in the Hells...? She began to move close when Arland clipped her as he was sent through the air by some spell, sending the girl sprawling on the ground, dazed. Dri just managed to regainher senses when the tanglefoot bag took hold and froze Sana in place long enough for Sybille to land the crippling blow. She dragged herself off the ground and watched as Weyland finished the lamia off and Sana speak something intelligible, before finally falling limp in death.

 

Thank Tymora that's over... She walked over and looked at her friends, and especially Weyland, with concern. Are you going to be okay?

 

 

====================================

 

Tak'we looked at Aera and then Conall in befuddlement. Weretiger? Werewolf? Not terribly familiar with those terms, the thri-kreen continued asking the two about these things. "Doess thiss mean you two can turn into anmals, like the spirit druidss of the thri-kreen?" He tilted his head, confused.

 

His confusion only grew when he overheard Hexol not only had a mate but had hatchlings as well. "Softskin hatchling isss a clutch-father?! How young do softskinss mate!?" he asked incredulously, nearly overwhelmed by this new information.

[AurianaValoria1]

Dagny glanced over her shoulder as Xundus abruptly left. Exchanging looks with Rhaine, the dwarf shrugged, "Wonder what's wrong with him?"

 

Conall half-smiled at Tak'we, "I wish it were that simple, friend. In a sense, the answer is yes. But it is also no as well. Both Aera and I are afflicted with lycanthropy...a disease that causes the infected person to involuntarily transform into a beast-humanoid hybrid on a full moon. Sometimes, we can fully morph into an animal. For Aera, that form would be a tigress. For me, it is a wolf. There are many other lycanthrope forms, like wererats and wereboars, and some of them are completely unique to the individual."

 

The paladin sighed as he continued, "Most of the time, lycanthropy is not very well-controlled. Those who are infected, like Aera, find themselves utter beasts on a full moon. As time wears on, though, and the lycan ages, the ability to control thoughts and desires during this transformation increases. On the other hand, those who inherit the condition, like those of my clan, are able to wrestle with their inner beast much better early on; with the blessings of Selune, we are...were...able to completely control when and how we turn."

 

He shook his head sadly, "Unfortunately, most of us are not able to resist the call of the hunt...even those who inherit the disease, like I have. They take to following Malar, the Beastlord, and conduct bloody massacres of their human and elven brethren. These Malarites destroyed my clan, my family. I am the only Whitefang left. And if the followers of Malar have their way, they will kill me as well."

 

"They can try, but they won't succeed."

 

Ariel suddenly piped up, the sword causing a bright sparkle on its pommel. Conall smiled and patted the hilt.

 

"Well I'm glad you're so confident."

 

"She is right," Rhaine suddenly turned sideways, having cleaned her plate as she listened to the paladin's words. She crossed her legs elegantly, leaning with one elbow on the bar, "I think I speak for all of us when I say that they will have to get through us first."

 

"Aye," Dagny nodded solemnly, draining her wine goblet, "There's no way I'm lettin' anyone make you a bloody sacrifice."

 

Conall inclined his head appreciatively, "I thank you, my friends. Your support means much to me. But it is difficult to feel completely comfortable knowing that I have a target on my back...and especially when my presence has the potential to bring danger to you all."

[Deleted6317247User]

"This just keeps sounding better and better." Nawen said after both Dagny and Azuris spoke. She noticed Xundus leaving and wondered where he went. As she wondered whether to follow him, the drow returned and went upstairs. Glad to see that he's unharmed she turned her attention back to her friends only to hear quite amusing exchange between Azuris and Hexol. She put her hand on her mouth to stop herself from laughing at Azuris's reaction. "Wait... you mean other kenders can get even more excited than you?" She asked Hexol.

 

She then listened to Conall's speech and after pretty much everyone present expressed their opinions she added hers as well. "We probably can't change your mind and make you feel completely comfortable about it but I'm sure that all of us will fight beside you and no one would blame you if anything... I'm not really helping am I?"