Tales of Faerun

[Flipout6]

Zorica's intervention in his battle with the two monks simultaneously saved Weyland a lot of time and possibly pain fighting them when she swiftly killed them both. It took Weyland a moment to realize what happened when they both flopped to the ground and turned to ash, but when he did, he grinned and shouted his compliments on the kill and his thanks after her.

 

Amendale, meanwhile, hadn't seen Zorica coming and was taken off-guard by her desperate affection. Luckily he'd placed his sword back in its sheath before she reached him so he didn't accidentally skewer her on the tip of his blade. When she all but tackled him he was nearly thrown off his feet.

 

"I'm fine, Zorica." He murmured, smiling gently and tucking her hair behind her ear. "Really. I'm alright. To be entirely honest I've had hangovers that hurt worse than that." The moon elf chuckled lightly. "You can thank Weyland for that."

 

Dri, after a quick investigation of the area surrounding the hidden door to the vampire's lair, disabled several traps of both a mundane and magical nature and then triggered its opening mechanism. The slab of stone slid to a hidden slot in the rock to the right to reveal a surprisingly spartan room filled with scavenged coffins taken from Mulhorandi dead.

 

"Here we are!" She announced. After a quick count, she confirmed, "All of their coffins."

 

"Let's not burn daylight, then." Sybille declared with a grin as she grabbed her maul and had a field day utterly annihilating the last refuge of the vampires, reducing the coffins to splinters and shattered messes, before smiling and chirping, "That was fun!"

 

Annette laughed. "Typical Sybbie."

 

Arland raised an eyebrow. "You know, we used to call her Bashie when she was a kid."

 

Again, Annette giggled. "That totally fits her!"

 

"She threw me through the roof once." Arland added helpfully.

 

"Bashie" blew a lock of hair out of her face, grinning hugely. "Gods, I forgot all about that stupid nickname. I love it."

 

Marie was busy aiming at the mysterious newcomer that had appeared mid-battle. "And who are you? Why are you here?"

Edited March 6, 2015 by Flipout6

[Deleted6317247User]

The fighting ended as quickly as it started now that the dead magic zone had been lifted. Both Nawen and Shalena received a few injuries but Rhaine's healing spell fixed the damage. Now that the battle was over, Nawen had more time to look around. That's when she noticed that there was someone else with them. "Another vampire?" She thought as she drew her own bow and aimed at the stranger, just like Marie did, but as the stranger stepped into the light she lowered her bow a bit. She had seen him before, during the festival at Menarses' estate.

 

With the fight over, Orion noticed that one of the adventurers was aiming her bow at him. "Not unexpected." He said as he stepped forward, the blue orb on his staff radiating cold aura once again. "My name is Orion, and I've been following you for a while," he said calmly, "before you jump to any conclusions, I have seen your... interesting group back at Menarses' estate during the festival, and I wished to offer my aid, but you left before I could do so," he said as he shot a glance at Marie seeming not worried about an arrow aimed at him, "so... I followed you waiting for the right moment to introduce myself."

[Llhunara]

With everything settling down most of the group turned their focus to injuries or the stranger that had been lingering amongst the shadows. Llhunarra on the other hand was more focused on the gore that still clung to her face and hair. Wrestling a piece of cloth from her pack she starts to wipe it from her face, pulling at the bits of flesh and muscle embedded in her hair. So disgusted with it the rogue contemplated if she had made the right choice…perhaps next time she would let someone else finish off the creature to save her from such a nasty fate. She figured she wasn’t lucky enough that another waterfall cut through the cave somewhere or perhaps existed at where ever they happened to exit. Such a flow of fresh water would be a godsend.

 

Cleaning herself the best she can, Llhunarra finally tucks the cloth away. Looking up to see the staff bearer before them she silently curses, apparently having missed his name. There were already so any people in the group that she was uncertain of their names, often confusing them perhaps it was best she hadn’t heard his. He seemed to be friend, but that didn’t mean he would be travelling with them going forward and if he did…well she could just address him as Mister.

 

(Sorry, been sick. L )

[josh900]

Lucas was out of breath by the end of the fight, repulsing the vampires drained quite a bit from him. "Well I...always was better at clerical duties than physical ones." He said to Rhaine as he caught his breath.

Aera's transformation slowly reversed itself, but she soon realized that her clothing lay shredded on the tomb floor. She cursed to herself, and made a mental note to get undressed before battle next time. It would be useless to try and sew the scraps back together again, but she was sure she had another change of clothes with Hazel. She covered herself with her arms, and hoped they would make it out of the tomb swiftly.

Catching Aera's lack of modesty from out of the corner of his eye, Lucas felt his face turn red at the sight. Knowing that none of his own clothing would fit her, he went for the next best thing and undid his cloak and moved over to her, keeping his eyes off of her body as he did. He held the cloak out and cleared his throat. "Umm... It's not much b but.. You can use this if you want."

Aera's skin flushed as Lucas handed her his cloak. She was grateful he wasn't looking at her whilst doing so, though. She was honestly glad nobody else had noticed her yet, as Lucas had gotten to her rather quickly. She fastened the cloak around her shoulders, and held it together around her body. "Thank you, Lucas. You, uh... You fought well today."

Lucas chuckled nervously. "Nah.. I didn't, you did though." He said with a nod to her, feeling rather awkward standing close to her, what with his cloak being all that kept her clothed and all.

Aera quite awkwardly nodded and accepted the compliment, before saying, "I'm sure with some training, you'd make a fine fighter."

Sensing his nervousness, Aera then stepped over to her clothing to see if anything could be salvaged. Her dagger lay on the ground, still sheathed, and she snatched it up. Unfortunately, not even her boots had made it through the transformation. She returned to Lucas, "Sorry, looks like I'll be wearing this until we get out of here."

He watched as she looked through the remains of her old clothing. "That's alright. "He said to her. "It was... kinda hot in it anyways, only had it on out of habit." He said in a slightly embarrassed tone.

[AurianaValoria1]

Zorica squeezed Amendale tightly and grinned, "Now, that is something I have to witness for myself, sometime." She then brushed her lips across the elf's briefly before pulling away and turning her attention to the newcomer. She did not like his surprise appearance, but she decided to keep her sentiments to herself, for the time being. Conall had moved closer to Nawen as she knocked her arrow, ready to fire his own pre-loaded crossbow if the stranger mage tried anything.

 

Meanwhile, Rhaine addressed Orion, herself, "I see. Let us speak more of this when we return to our camp. For now, we need to find another way out of here...a way I presume you took, since you did not follow us through the main entrance." The Doomguide then turned to Sybille and added, "Good work...these Sharrans are finished, at last. Let's see if we can't get back to the oasis...we can discuss our discoveries there."

 

It did not take long to find the secret tunnel where Orion had come into the cavern proper, and they followed the narrow corridor as it wound southward; after roughly half an hour, the party ended up emerging in the blinding desert sun on the south side of the mountain. From there, they slowly hiked through the rocky sand around the base of the cliffs until they once again saw the river with its plunging waterfall...

 

...only to witness utter destruction. What had once been the oasis was now barren wasteland. No living thing could be seen for miles except their horses, which - having been led near the falls by Heidi to drink at their leisure - were now in a state of utter panic and unable to flee due to being tethered to a decorative pillar. The trees had been charred, the grass was turned to dust, and everything, including the boulders, were smoking with the heat. The ground was blackened. And lingering in the air was the pungent odor of decay.

 

Argyros narrowed his eyes, "Something is terribly wrong, here. Where are Heidi and Hazel? I don't see them." He then took a few steps back and morphed into his dragon form once more, taking to the sky in a violent rush of silver wings. Conall then pointed, spotting an odd shape on the ground in the distance with a splash of violet upon it, "Look there...oh gods..."

 

He, Rhaine, and Zorica all shouted simultaneously, "Heidi!"

 

Their weapons in hand, they charged forth, hoping to save the gnome before it was too late. Their boots crunched on brittle, burned foliage and dry dust as they ran, and with each step, the stench in the air grew stronger. Argyros was already far ahead of them, swooping over them with a massive shadow. Seconds later, he issued a challenging roar, one tinged with a burning rage, and it only took a few breaths more for the three running companions to find out why...

 

There Heidi lay, undeniably dead...dark marks around her throat, her skin and lips blue. Her clothes had been charred and soiled by whatever destructive force that had swept through the area. Nearby, her clockwork dragonfly had been shattered to hundreds of pieces. And not far from that sad scene lay another...

 

...Aodh. His neck was broken, his head at a horrid angle in the sand.

 

"What...monster did this?!" Rhaine hissed, her fist tightening around her sword hilt. "By the gods, I will have their head!" This heinous crime, on top of everything else that had already transpired that day, filled the Doomguide with an indescribable fury that boiled in her veins...one that set her sword afire once more with cleansing green flames. Her eyes felt hot, her teeth clenched together, and she stalked around the destroyed oasis with death in her gaze.

 

"Oh gods," Conall murmured again, kneeling beside Aodh's small, limp body and gingerly picking it up to cradle it in his large, armored hands, "You poor, poor thing..." He then looked to see copious amounts of blood on the pseudodragon's teeth and face and then back at Heidi's still form, "You were trying to save them, weren't you?" After a few moments, the werewolf glanced up, "Where is Hazel? Has anyone found her, yet?"

 

Zorica trotted over, "No sign of her...though the dirt's been disturbed by something, and I don't think it was the...fire, or whatever it was, that took out the grass and trees. Nawen?" The half-drow motioned to the ranger and pointed to a section of muddy earth, "Have a look over there...looks like there was a scuffle of some sort...can you tell what it was?"

[Deleted6317247User]

Nawen was glad to be out of the tomb but what she saw outside made her stop in her track. The beautiful oasis they've left behind as they entered the tomb was completely destroyed. One glance at the wasteland was enough to tell that the destruction was caused by a person. She stood at the entrance of the tomb, staring at the land while others walked past her.

 

Shalena sent the survivors of her crew to attend to the horses, while she followed the rest of the group to look for Hazel and Heidi. Orion followed them silently. It appears that whatever the winged half-elf wished to discuss will have to wait.

 

Nawen joined others shortly after they've discovered Heidi's body. The fact that her body was mostly untouched by the flame was even a bigger proof that it wasn't a natural fire, but why would anyone do this? The drow shot a glance at Conall who was holding Aodh in his hands. It appears that the poor thing had perished as well. She was about to say something, when she heard Zorica talking. She quickly approached the half-drow and knelt beside the area she was pointing at. "You're right," she said, "someone was indeed fighting here." The drow then noticed charred remains of some sort of plant. She picked a small piece of it to take a closer look. It took her a while until she was able to recognize what it was. Roots. "It appears that Hazel fought someone here," she said, "whoever she was fighting must have destroyed everything else."

[Flipout6]

"What in all the gods-damned hells you can burn in..." Arland murmured to himself, beholding the devastation of the oasis. "Did we take a wrong turn? This sure as stlarn doesn't look like the place we came in. Maybe there's two waterfalls. Maybe we took the wrong secret exit."

 

"No....I don't believe we did." Amendale stated the obvious. "The horses are terrified. I can hear them even up here."

 

Beneath the calming, acid-laced waters of the oasis, Hazel remained magically hidden within the dark, hard expanse of a boulder that had once been water until a flash of magic had transformed it into solid rock. She scarcely breathed, unable to see a thing, but she could still hear what happened outside her temporary sanctuary. Mostly it was the flow of water and the hiss of the corrosives that now laced what had previously been precious life-giving waters. But occasionally she could hear the high-pitched laugh of her attacker above the water line (which was no more than a few inches above her head) as he roved around the oasis, searching for her, or a body. He never seemed to figure out that she might have simply escaped and it never seemed to occur to him exactly where she might be.

 

Once silence descended upon her again, it lasted for what felt like an eternity. Hazel suddenly began to worry; whoever this man was, he'd shown himself to be very capable of destruction, and all of her friends were still in that tomb, unaware that he was out here. What if he was attacking them? No, no, that would be stupid..... but he didn't seem to care about his own state of being. Maybe he was staging a suicidal assault on her friends, trying to take as many of them down with him as he could? Or maybe he found a way to stop them from getting out?

 

Words couldn't express how overjoyed Hazel was when she at last heard the voices of her companions coming from above the water. She released herself from the inside of the boulder and rocketed to the shores of the water. She looked frantically around, checking to see if they were all there. She didn't see that new member of the group anywhere, the Mulhorandi, and she caught sight of someone new, but what really mattered to her was that they were alive.

 

"Thank the gods you're okay!" She exclaimed, nearly sobbing with relief. "I was so worried about you all! The psychopath that did this is still around somewhere. I couldn't kill him, no matter how hard I fought." Tears began to leak down her cheeks as she beheld Heidi and Aodh. "I couldn't save them."

 

"There's damage from many different arcane elements out here." Amendale noted, voice tainted with grief. "The inferno that consumed this oasis is obvious, but there's obvious damage from acid too if you look at some of the trees or the stones. And see everything that's been turned to stone?" He indicated some of the trees and patches of the ground which had been changed from their natural states into lumps of solid rock. "I only know a few spells that can do this kind of damage and only one that affects everything in the vicinity. These are the effects of a prismatic sphere. That's some of the most advanced magic the Weave has to offer."

 

"Hazel, you mind pointing me towards who did this?" Arland growled. "I don't think he's been cut into enough pieces yet."

 

"I'll gut the bastard." Weyland declared. "We can't let him get away from this without punishment."

 

"A shame that your beasts are too clever to drink from the water. I think they would find it markedly less refreshing than they expect it to be. Didn't stop them last time, though, foolish beasts." Silithus chuckled throatily from above them, floating in the air. He held something in his hand that he threw at Rhaine. When it hit the ground with a dry thud, it rolled itself over.... revealing a very familiar- but decomposing- face. One with a black beard sticky with congealed blood and the burnt remains of a purple turban: Menarses. Silithus indicated his own mangled, seared wreck of a face. "That one put up an impressively spirited fight. Not so for most of his subjects, however." He chuckled throatily, a rasping wheeze that ground on the ears. "A shame you weren't there to see the desecration of the bodies, Chosen." He spat the term out spitefully. "Lady Ravenna told me of you and your god in great detail. Kelemvor seeks to remove the fear of death? I will make sure it remains."

 

Amendale threw a fireball at him with a snarl and Silithus rocketed up into the sky as fast as a dragon.

 

"He's the one responsible for the travesty with my village." Amendale declared. His voice was pure ice, deadly calm. As he cast a similar spell on himself, he simply stated, "I won't be able to live with myself if I just let him get away. I won't allow it." And then launched himself off the ground after the man in black, hurtling through the air at precarious speeds until he was a dot on the horizon.

Edited March 10, 2015 by Flipout6

[Llhunara]

When the group got moving again the half-elf was plenty pleased that the secondary exit was so readily available. Mood brightening along with the shift in natural light Llhunarra was glad to be outside. She had always appreciated nature and the outdoors, the natural world full of wonders. To top it all off there were no hungry undead vampires trying to drain her, always a plus in her mind. Humming some as they traveled back towards their point of entry the redhead had no idea that a much more devious foe was ahead of them, one far worse than the dozen vampires they had a recently dispatched.

 

When they came upon the area where they had left their mounts and few companions the rogues first reaction was to lift a hand over her mouth, muffling her gasp in response to what she saw. The area itself was decimated, the effects of a powerful magic burst evident to even her. Heidi lay dead and burnt, the small girl having been dispatched from the world in brutal fashion. It seems so recent that she had offered her wares in exchange for Llhunarra's coin, the females outgoing personality not having cared that the rogue had just been met, still overwhelmed by the party she was to travel with.

 

Hazel, an apparent old friend of the group was no where to be seen, had she been reduced to ash? Who would have done this to such good natured creatures?

 

The second question was answered from above, everyone's eyes drawn upward to the speaker. Llhunarra had no idea who he was, but even so she felt his presence was just...wrong. She did recognize the head thrown to the ground though, the merchant the same one who had given them shelter for so long. She held no love for the man yet that did not mean he was deserving of death, perhaps just a good slap to keep him in line.

 

Weapons drawn and prepared to engage the best she could, she was surprised when the man soars off. It seemed this was all to be some sort of message for Rhaine, his words directed at her above all else. With Amendale launching into the air she found herself of no help...eyes drifting back to the lifeless corpse of Heidi.

[tokyobiohazard]

Upon seeing Silithus make his grand re-entrance, Hazel turned her eyes from the bodies of Heidi and Aodh, but instead of cowering as she wanted to, she spat in the direction he'd taken off in, "You couldn't even kill a little old dryad hundreds of leagues from her forest. You must be dumber than you look. Everyone knows all you have to do to kill a dryad is destroy her tree. Or in my case, my acorn."

With that, the dryad referenced the necklace she wore, a locket of sorts with an acorn safely nestled inside. As Silithus disappeared behind the horizon, Hazel realized it was futile and became as limp as one could while still holding their footing. The adrenaline rush was gone, but on the bright side, it seemed she had recovered more than even she'd thought. She put up a fight, and not a pitiful one, either. In the end, Hazel was proud of her fight today, but regretful she couldn't have done more for Heidi or Aodh.

She comforted herself with thoughts of the end of one life perhaps giving way to another; as Heidi and Aodh's lives came to an end, Ianthe cradled a new life deep in her belly.

Aera, meanwhile, stood near Lucas, not wanting to lose sight of him in all the chaos since she still had his cloak draped over her shoulders. She cursed to herself as she realized she'd already transformed today. She could be chasing Silithus down right now, beheading him with her teeth and claws. Aera balled her fists and ground her teeth together.

"It's a shame some out there can't stand to see others in a peaceful state," Aera pointed to Heidi, "He didn't do that because she put up a fight, he did it because because she and Aodh were the brightest lives we had among us. He knew it would unnerve us."

"Aera," Hazel said, shaking her head and clasping her hand around her locket, "Aera... He did it because he could. Because he liked it."

[AurianaValoria1]

"That son of a-" Zorica tossed her swords in the dirt and ran her hands through her raven-black hair, though it was uncertain whether or not she was cursing because of Silithus's brief arrival and hasty departure or Amendale's following after. Meanwhile, Argyros swooped after the flying pair with an echoing roar, the sound savage and angry...a tone he had not taken frequently whilst in the party's company. Conall instinctively sidled closer to Nawen as the dragon dove past them, his wings dangerously close to knocking over the drow ranger as he skimmed just above the ground.

 

It did not take long for the silver dragon to catch up to the elf, his wing beats loud and powerful as he stretched out his metallic body to streamline his form. His voice came out in a half-bellow, half-snarl, "Amendale! Turn back! Let me handle this. Do not let your desire for vengeance override your good sense, elf! You have more to live for than that! Think about someone other than yourself! Someone special to you!"

 

Back at the destroyed oasis, Rhaine looked down with horror and disgust at the severed head of Menarses that she had dodged. "That man...that beast. He is the one who has been bringing me nightmares, as of late." Biting back her rage, she knelt and did the only thing she could do in a situation such as this...an attempted Resurrection. She hovered a palm over the head and cleared her mind, trying to focus on bringing the unjustly slain merchant back from the dead...

 

...but it was apparent after only a few seconds of concentration that it was all for naught. He would not come, and thus, she was forced to halt the magic. Refusing to give up hope, she tried to do the same for Heidi, holding her gauntleted hand over the fallen gnome's chest...but to no avail. There was nothing for her power to connect to, almost as if the soul itself did not exist. Whatever foul magic the robed man had performed, it had effectively blocked her from returning Heidi to the land of the living.

 

At last, her eyes fell on Aodh, still cradled in Conall's arms. The Doomguide did not know if she would have any more success with the little pseudodragon, but she had to try. Approaching the broken creature, she latched onto it with her mind, focusing all her will on bringing the poor thing back to life...

 

...and with a flash of golden light, Aodh's body stiffened, straightened, and then gasped a squeak of a breath. At once, he jumped up into the air, screeching, and launched himself at Nawen, scrambling over her shoulder and burying himself in her curtain of white hair. Rhaine's lips split into a wide grin of happiness and relief, and she let out a joyful sigh, "Alas, Hazel, he has not won completely, this day. Gods be praised, we've saved one."

 

Conall laughed aloud with glee, even as he wiped a tear away from his eye, "Ah, Nawen, look at him. Regardless of my gladness that he could be brought back, the poor thing is likely scarred for life, now."

 

Rhaine turned to the others, "Despite this small victory, we must keep moving...this oasis is no shelter for us, now. Give me a moment to orient myself, and we will start travel once more. There must be other phylacteries left to find...and perhaps we can beat those Sharrans to them..." She sheathed her blade and dug around in her pack for a few moments, finally withdrawing Valthanarax's magical map...

 

...but it was blank. Nothing but empty parchment. Her eyes wide, she fished around for Xallistine's enchanted goggles and looked at the map through them. Still nothing. Her heart skipped a beat, and her head spun. There was nothing to guide her, now. No leads, no possible pathways, nothing. The remaining phylacteries had, quite possibly, been confiscated by the Shadovar, and they were far beyond the detection of the dracolich's magic. In sheer rage, she tossed the now useless map down to the ground with a cry and torched it with a Flame Strike, the column of fire raining down from the heavens and consuming the dry parchment in the blink of an eye.

 

"Worthless!" she hissed. "We have nothing to go on, now. We just...have to keep traveling until...until..." she shook her head, withdrawing her plain travel map and unfolding it to examine the route they were taking, "There's another river north of here. Perhaps we can make our camp there and ...think of something..." Her voice was tinged with a sense of helplessness and exhaustion, "Bury the dead and fetch the horses. Let us move out quickly." With that, she removed her helm and mask and packed them away, pulling her hair into a sweaty bun at the base of her neck and waiting to give Last Rites to the deceased.

 

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

 

Once Heidi and Menarses were buried and their remains protected as much as possible, they were on their way again, heading northwards towards the River of Shadows. When they at last reached the southern banks of the river, it was sunset, and they began pitching camp once more. Aodh still hid in Nawen's hood; Conall silently helped gather firewood and pitched the tents; Rhaine, as always, helped with whomever needed it, overseeing the whole process with a faraway gaze; Zorica was even more withdrawn and kept glancing at the horizon, her face as hard as stone as she searched for Amendale. Argyros, too, had yet to return, the silver dragon nowhere in sight, not even in the distant skies...

Edited March 12, 2015 by AurianaValoria1