Tales of Faerun

[AurianaValoria1]

They continued on down the winding tunnel, the air getting colder and colder as they went. The heavy darkness was almost overwhelming, and somehow the eerie silence was almost deafening. The only sounds were the footsteps of the more heavily-armored warriors and the shifting and clinking of leather and metal.

 

At last, the tunnel widened into larger cave, the dusty dirt thick and springy under their feet. The void-like blackness ahead was difficult to see past, and Rhaine moved forward with her light spell...

 

...only to jump back and gasp in surprise as her foot nearly went over a sharp decline. The Doomguide peered downwards and held the light ball farther out, and she could see nothing but emptiness below her - almost endless shadow. It was a ravine, straight into the Underdark and impossibly deep. It stretched so widely that there was no way they could cross to the other side, not even Tak'we with his thri-kreen jumping skills. Another tunnel was clearly visible, but there seemed to be no way to get to it.

 

"Well this is just great," Zorica remarked, cocking her hips and crossing her arms, "How are we supposed to get over there?"

 

"Something is off about this," Argyros commented, his silvery eyes almost glowing in the darkness. He leaned over and looked down the chasm, then left to right as if judging the length of the thing before stepping backwards again.

 

Conall knelt down and checked the floor, "Nawen, correct me if I'm wrong...this dust is thick and could simply have drifted with the winds of this cave...but it looks like there are tracks here as well. People have been coming and going here, despite this obstacle."

 

Dagny frowned, "Would that we had some of me clan's hippogriffs. This would be solved already."

 

All the while, Rhaine kept staring at the ravine, and an icy feeling of dread gripped her as she remembered her dreams. She was frozen, her expression blank, as she desperately tried to think of another way across. But if there was activity like Conall suggested, then there was only one way...

 

No...no, please not this...

 

She could feel Fitalis's dweomer almost humming with energy. They were incredibly close to Kalin now, she was sure of it. The Doomguide's face then hardened - she'd be damned if her own fright was going to keep them from getting to their goal. Taking in a deep, shaking breath, she sheathed Touch of Death and tentatively approached the edge of the ravine again...

[josh900]

"Watch-!" Lucas shrieked as Rhaine's foot went over the edge, but shut himself up as she jumped back.

 

"Who puts a dead end in their hideout?" Azuris grumbled. "I swear these things never make any sense."

 

With a roll of the eyes Tannin stepped forward. "It's not a dead end, there's either another passageway orr." He took a hold of Blackrazor and stepped towards the ledge, he then swung the blade down and as he did, it extended out enough to touch the other ledge. It then drug down along the invisible bridge, scattering sparks out as it did until it retracted back to Tannin. "Well that's good, ran across one of these some time ago, was more like a maze than a bridge, one wrong step and... well, lets just say the remaining hired help got a bit of a raise when we got out of there." He said with an odd look on his face.

 

"Anyways... who first?" He said with a cheery smile.

[Deleted6317247User]

"Yes, you're right," Nawen said as she approached Conall and looked at the floor as well. Shalena meanwhile stared down at the pit below. "It's one of those invisible bridge things, isn't it?" The piratess mused out loud. After Tannin used his screaming blade to show where exactly the invisible bridge was she shot a glance at others. "No way in hells I'm going first."

 

Nawen then stepped forward towards the ledge. "I can go first." She said as she carefully set her foot to where the bridge supposed to start, and as she expected she felt a firm surface beneath it. She looked back at her companions before stepping fully on the invisible bridge and making her way forward across the deep pit. Despite it being a first time she ever walked across something like this, Nawen walked without fear, while trying to walk as straight as possible. When she finally reached the other side she looked back at her companions.

 

"That was easy," she said, "don't worry, it's very firm." She added reassuringly.

[AurianaValoria1]

After Nawen crossed the bridge, Rhaine felt a bit better about it; she swallowed her fear, bit her lip, and then made an almost mad dash across, not daring to look in any direction but straight ahead until her feet firmly touched down on the opposite ledge. Zorica sighed heavily and followed suit, as did Conall, Argyros, and finally Dagny. Once across, Rhaine gestured for the others to quickly catch up, "Come. We should be wary of similar illusions the farther we go."

 

With that, they continued on, walking for what seemed like hours until at last there was a large room before them. A strange stone archway stood in front of a solid cave wall at the opposite end. At Rhaine's approach, however, the archway sprang to life, a web of silvery liquid-like material stretching across it. Fitalis's dweomer was practically singing in her pocket, now, and she withdrew it to see that it was glowing with a bright light.

 

"This portal," she spoke with certainty in her voice, "This leads to the elan's fortress, deeper in the mountains. We must-"

 

"Uh...Rhaine...?" Zorica warned, pointing with her blades at two approaching figures from behind. In the low light, they appeared to be Thri-kreen like Tak'we, but something was off about them.

 

The Doomguide drew Touch of Death again, and the sword vibrated with energy...

 

...they were undead Thri-kreen.

 

As the pair came closer, it became obvious that they had been slain with horrendous magical wounds to the chests, their pale and dry chitin still stained with their blood. Their multifaceted eyes were dull, and yet they almost seemed to glow with a certain intelligent malevolence.

 

Tak'we chattered angrily, "*Nracktck* Foul abominationsss! *tck* Who did thissss to my people?!"

 

Dri shrank backwards, bumping into Weyland even as she held Lonesome close, "I don't think this is going to end well..."

 

Suddenly, the pair split, becoming obviously hostile and luring the party to break in two; they quickly moved to either side of the group and then simultaneously charged.

Edited July 9, 2014 by AurianaValoria1

[Flipout6]

Arland raced across the invisible bridge much more easily than he thought he would, though he still held the tip of his blade out in front of him and dragged it along the ground to make sure he wasn't about to plummet over the edge of the bridge to his death. Marie, lithe and nimble, made it across easily, followed by her sister. Amendale was one of the last across, beckoning a nervous-looking Weyland.

 

"Oh, I don't like this..." The warrior commented, but he picked his way across anyway.

 

"Afraid of heights?" Amendale asked, puzzled. They'd been up in much higher places before, even with the group.

 

"If I trip and fall there's no saving me. That's what I'm afraid of." The elf just shrugged.

 

They managed to make it across without any deaths, thankfully. When they reached the portal, the anticipation of the coming battle seemed to rear its ugly head again. Sybille felt nervousness wriggle away in her gut, while Marie was stricken with cold fear, but she steeled herself. She did, after all, have a sister she needed to be strong for...not that she thought Annette would need any encouragement.

 

"What the-" Arland asked, before they stepped into the light. His eyes narrowed. "Oh, they don't look too friendly..."

 

"Get behind me." Weyland warned, grabbing Dri and stepping in front of her. Beside him, Sybille had made her way to the front as well.

"Someone keep an eye on the portal, make sure nothing comes through." She ordered, not talking to any on person in general.

 

Suddenly the Thri'Kreen were rushing at the group from two separate angles, and the siblings barely put themselves between the onrushing undead and their fellows in time. Weyland dug his heels into the ground and intercepted the one on the right with his shield, feeling its gythka slam into the bulwark with incredible force. Sybille forced the second one backwards with a wide swing from her maul that the creature had to halt to avoid, lest his chitin do little to protect him from the sheer blunt force of such a heavy weapon. Not leaving an opening for the creature to exploit, Sybille used her momentum to bring the hammer around for a second swing, which it blocked with its gythka, stopping the blow in its tracks but nearly breaking the weapon outright. Taking this in stride, the Grey sister switched tactics and used the temporary stillness to her advantage by using the head of her weapon- caught on the gythka- as a lever to sweep the Gythka aside with the handle of her maul, and quickly followed it up by shifting her grip, stepping sideways and bringing the maul around for a massively powerful swing. It met its mark, the chitin doing little to protect the undead Thri'Kreen from the sheer blunt force of the blow. Pieces of decaying shell were blown right off its body and there were a number of loud cracks as the body underneath was crushed beneath hundreds of pounds of force.

 

Weyland wasn't faring as well. Forced on the defensive by a series of rapid, powerful swings from his own opponent's weapon, he rarely gained the opportunity to get in a counter-blow and when he did it did little against the zombie's thick shell. It wasn't strong enough to stop the adamantine blade from cleaving through it, but it inflicting only light wounds that did nothing against a creature that could not bleed. And with his shield occupied deflecting blows he couldn't use it as what he had no doubt would be a much more effective weapon. Suddenly, an orange blur and then the smell of burning flesh announced Arland's assistance against it. Working his way behind it, the youngest Grey scored a series of blows in rapid succession.

 

"I'm hardly getting through!" He shouted. "Tak'We, I need the weak points on these shells, fast!" He managed to work out a few spots of his own, but they were difficult to access. Only twice did he succeed in slipping a blade through the gaps between plates and when he did they failed to pierce anything vital...not that it would probably matter, seeing as they were hardly living.

 

And then it caught fire. The dry, dead flesh beneath lit up like a torch and quickly began spreading across the Thri'Kreen's body underneath its shell.

 

"They're flammable! THEY'RE FLAMMABLE!" He announced.

Edited July 9, 2014 by Flipout6

[Deleted6317247User]

Shalena drew her cutlass but did not join the rest in the fighting. She was pretty sure that the rest of the group would take care of two undead, large insect people. Her crew on the other hand were obviously itching for some fighting, leaped into the battle but were not as successful as the others were.

 

Nawen drew her blade and rushed towards her friends when she noticed two more figures emerging from the tunnel. "Two more thri-kreen incoming!" She shouted, hoping that her friends noticed the enemies or at least heard her through the fighting. Noticing how they Grey siblings fought one, she rushed towards the pirates to help them fight the newcomers. They weren't doing so good.

 

As she was nearing closer, one of the pirates jumped in front of her to fight the undead thri-kreen only to be run through by its gythka. The fallen one was quickly replaced by another pirate "Stay back!" She shouted but the pirate had his weapon drawn and was ready to charge at the enemy. Nawen quickened her pace and reached them before the thri-kreen could strike. She pushed the pirate out of the way and countered the gythka with her own blade, trying to push it aside. "I said stay back!"

 

The thri-kreen must have realized what she was trying to do as he too pushed, but back and towards the wall attempting to corner her. Just as her back bumped into the wall, the thri-kreen swung his gythka towards her but Nawen ducked avoiding the hit and slashed with her blade at his legs where chitin wasn't protecting them.

Edited July 9, 2014 by Guest

[AurianaValoria1]

Rhaine quickly put the dweomer back into her belt pouch and began casting a series of beneficial spells, hoping to bolster her companions against their foes. Realizing that her Turning would do little to no good against creatures of such strength, she channeled that energy into alternate powers - a blindingly bright flash of energy burst from her and washed over everyone in the group; their weapons shimmered with honey-colored divine energy, and every strike they made would be charged with divine magic. She then raised her blade high and another flash of light crashed into the undead Thri-kreen, sapping their unholy life forces and transferring it into her comrades to heal any wounds received. The Doomguide followed with Undeath's Eternal Foe, rendering her companions immune to any foul curses, diseases, or poisons the undead could bestow upon them. Finally, just to give them an additional edge, she Hasted the entire party with her power, their speed doubling in every aspect.

 

"Kelemvor smite you!" she cried at last, her sword bursting to life with green flame as she leaped at the nearest Thri-kreen...the one Weyland and Arland were fighting. Just as their foe caught fire, she landed a blow cleanly on its chest. The green fire exploded upon the chitin with a sizzling sound, burning with astonishing intensity and engulfing the Thri-kreen in cleansing magic. It was only a matter of seconds before the weakened undead was turned into a pile of ash on the floor.

 

Meanwhile, Conall had abandoned his crossbow in favor of Ariel, the solar-filled sword giggling in anticipation of a fight. He was thankful for his new bracers as the second pair of Thri-kreen arrived, and they were totally oblivious to his presence. As Tak'we jumped at one with gythka whirling, jamming his polearm into the soft joint where one of the smaller arms connected to the torso, the werewolf struck from behind, the holy avenger cleaving the other smaller arm clean off.

 

Dagny rushed at the Thri-kreen that had cornered Nawen, slamming her shield into it and knocking it into the ground after the drow had cleanly sliced into its legs. It went down easily, and the dwarf began hacking away with her axe, trying to avoid the flailing limbs. On the other side of the room, Zorica had rushed to aid Sybille, dancing around her foe and jamming her swords into the places that the Grey sister had weakened.

 

Argyros, reluctant to use magic and knowing his arrows would be practically useless, hung back, deeming it more important to protect the likes of Xallistine, Amendale, and Annette from any possible attack, thereby preventing their interruption.

[Flipout6]

Weyland blinked as the Thri'Kreen that had been attacking him disintegrated before his very eyes, but he didn't complain. Looking around, he saw Dagny defending Nawen from attack and rushed to join her. Between his slashing and stabbing, Dagny's hacking and Rhaine's enchantment the zombified Thri'Kreen was quickly reduced to a corpse...again.

 

Arland meanwhile leaped towards the creature attacking Tak'We and Connall and swiped it with both of his blades simultaneously, the holy enchantment on them leaving behind a golden residue in the shape of an X, which was quickly overlapped with a barrage of heavy slashes that, when combined with Tak'We's might and Connall's precision strikes, felled the creature quickly.

 

Sybille, meanwhile, crowed with triumph when her speed was suddenly doubled and her maul glowed with Rhaine's magic. With the Thri'Kreen before her effectively immobilized by its injuries, Sybille took the time she was granted by her increased speed to prepare the heaviest, most powerful blow that she could. The hammer crushed the Thri'Kreen's skull and upper body, chitin and all, completely flattening it.

 

"He's done alright!" She shouted with a laugh, before turning around to help dispatch the last one. She got a hit in, but somebody else took the final blow.

 

With all of them dead, Amendale checked to see if anybody was injured before he cremated the remaining bodies with magical fire.

 

"I'm sorry we don't have time to give them a proper burial service, Tak'We, otherwise I would see it done." He apologized.

 

Sybille looked at Rhaine. "We goin' on through? Everyone ready to go through? If you need a breather, speak up now."

 

Weyland was gasping for breath. "Just give me a few seconds, then I'm set. That last one almost got me." He waited until he'd regained his stamina, a process which only took a few seconds, before he looked at Rhaine and nodded. "I'm ready when you are."

Edited July 11, 2014 by Flipout6

[AurianaValoria1]

Once the battle was over, Rhaine, Dagny, Conall, and Zorica took a few moments to catch their breath. All were thankful that the fight was over quickly, and that no one seemed to be injured except a few of Shalena's pirates. The undead Thri-kreen had been quite fearsome, even with the enhancements Rhaine had bestowed upon the group. The Doomguide hoped that they would not face any more of these twisted creatures in the ruins, but she had her doubts. Tak'we chittered under his breath angrily before speaking in a louder voice, "Tak'we isss certain that thessse are the onesss We'Ka told usss of. *tck* Clutchmates should be careful."

 

"Gods," Dagny swore between breathless pants, "If there are any more of these, we're going to be in for a real mess."

 

Zorica glanced down at the dwarf, "We're in for more than that, I'm afraid."

 

With that, Rhaine turned towards the portal once again and held Fitalis's dweomer close to it. Almost instantly, a silvery circle flashed around the party and yanked them into the archway, throwing them out the other side in a bright blast of magical force...

 

...And they found themselves in a gigantic stone chamber, remarkably similar in style to the rest of the ruins. However, this area was perfectly preserved. The stones were smooth and the edges still sharp, towering drum columns reaching high to support the vaulted ceiling. Ahead of them, atop a set of steep stairs, a blonde woman in blue stood, working with magic that made the room crackle as it was drawn toward her and magnified by a circle of pedestals, focused upon a single point past which a gigantic dragon skeleton lay. There was a shimmering force field surrounding her, reminding Rhaine of others she had dealt with in the past; remembering Fitalis's words, her face set into a grim expression and she knew what she had to do...

 

"Well hello, madame Doomguide," the woman - Saris, Fitalis had called her - spoke without turning around to face them, confident in her protective shields, "So good of you to drop in uninvited. I've been expecting your arrival, however, and I have prepared gifts for you."

 

Out of the shadows on the edges of the chamber, beyond where the magic of the ritual cast a pale blue glow, figures stepped forth.

 

"Zuir you have met before, in a different body," Saris continued with a wicked chuckle, "He disappointed me so. I had hoped he would eliminate you before you ever got here...but no matter. He will not fail me a second time.

 

"You have also met my grandson," she paused for effect, and Rhaine took a sharp breath as Kalin stepped forward, nothing but fury and pain writ on his face. He looked almost like a madman ready to leap on them. The Doomguide felt dread creep into her heart. No...

 

Suddenly, a towering third figure came into view and Tak'we leaped forward, "Che'Tak! *Nrack-tck!* Clutch-brother! What have they done to you!?"

 

There was no answer from the undead Thri-kreen, who looked to be twice as broad as Tak'we and three times as fierce. From around him, another elan emerged, movements strangely robotic, and Saris addressed the group once more," Oh, and meet Tar'ghas. He is....yet another one of my most faithful minions, now."

 

Then, Rhaine caught a glimpse of dozens of glimmering red eyes behind the approaching figures, and her sword hummed a warning. Saris laughed, "Ah yes, Doomguide, just to top it all off...the dead serve as marvelous soldiers, don't you know?"

 

Tenebris shifted uneasily behind her, and Dri backed into Weyland again. Zorica hissed in fury, Conall growled, and Dagny muttered dwarven curses under her breath. Only Argyros seemed strangely silent.

 

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Saris spoke again, her voice suddenly loud and authoritative, "Attack them!"

 

Her minions sprang at her command, including Kalin. Tak'we whirled and whistled, "*Whee-tck* Go after the othersss! Thisss one will handle Che'Tak!" With that, he sprang into combat with his undead brother, the two Thri-kreen clashing head to head in a battle to the death.

Edited July 11, 2014 by AurianaValoria1

[josh900]

After the introductions were over Blackrazor snapped apart in Tannin's hands, turning into two long, curved daggers. "Great! Lets get this over with then!" He yelled out, then immediately casting haste on himself and charging for Saris, all the while screaming "Mine, Mine, Mine, Mine!" He leaped up in the air in an attempt to pounce onto Saris, but her force field protected her. Tannin hit the shield and did his bet to scramble up it as he slid down the bubble, cursing and swearing all the while.

 

As he hit the floor he quickly spotted something he could attack. The other Elan, Tor something or other. Tannin hadn't payed attention to their names. He dashed in the Elan's direction, striking at him with Blackrazor, which was now a long bladed-whip.

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Raising up his shield, though scared, Lucas was ready to defend Rhaine and the others with his life, he would charge with them, and slay any of the monsters that stood before them... or at least he hoped he would.

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Azuris took a deep breath and charged, he wasn't going to even attempt at fighting any of the Elans, their psionic abilities would tear him to pieces in an instant, instead he would deal with what he specialized in, the undead.

Edited July 11, 2014 by josh900