Chapter #1162
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next chapter (#1163)
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+ THE ADVENTURERS +
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+ Epic VI +
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+ Many of the locations, non-player characters, spells, and other +
+ terms used in these stories are the property of Wizards of the Coast +
+ which has in no way endorsed or authorized their use. Any such +
+ property contained within these stories are not representative of +
+ Wizards of the Coast in any fashion. +
+ The player characters depicted in these stories are copyright +
+ 1991-2024 by Thomas A. Miller. Any resemblance to any persons +
+ or characters either real or fictional is utterly coincidental. +
+ Copying and/or distribution of these stories is permissible under +
+ the sole condition that no money is made in the process. In that +
+ case, I hope you enjoy them! +
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+ Belphanior 18th/18th/18th level elven fighter/wizard/thief +
+ Hope 16th level female human wizard +
+ Poulos 8th level human warrior +
+ Irina 14th/7th level female human priestess/warrior +
+ Paige 13th level human female warrior +
+ Razor Charlie 12th level human fighter +
+ Skektek 14th level human wizard +
+ Ys 14th level reptilian fighter +
+ Parekh 18th level female human wizard, innovator +
+ Drak 15th level human barbarian +
+ Wu 18th level human wizard, transmuter +
+ 6 elite ogre magi +
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+ Date: Richfest day 2, after 6/28/586 C.Y. (Common Year) +
+ Time: a short time past midnight +
+ Place: the royal palace in Istivin, amid occupied Sterich +
+ Climate: dark and chilly +
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+ "And therein lies the truth: to be truly capable of doing battle +
+ with an extremely violent, murderous enemy, you have to be just +
+ as capable and just as willing to inflict harm to them as they +
+ are to you." +
+ - Varg Freeborn, self-defense and tactics expert +
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MCLXII. The Liberation of Istivin
Having succeeded in his primary mission, Belphanior has now been joined
by his sizable and incredibly competent group of allies...
Hope: So what's next?
Belphanior: Our job is to do whatever we can to make the retaking of
Istivin easier for Mongo and his combined forces. Which, as it's now
after midnight, will be later today - maybe even this afternoon if they
make good time. (he looks around) It seems to me that our next move
is to work our way through this palace, vanquish every foe we encounter,
find and free the prisoners somewhere below, and then move out into the
city proper and repeat.
Paige: (grins again) Sounds like fun. Let's get to it!
Thanks to the information gained from the now-deceased King Galmoor,
the team was able to find and strike at key locations in the palace. The
vast bulk of the giants occupying the castle were quartered in the front
courtyard, outdoors where they didn't have to deal with halls and doors
made for much smaller creatures. While they had heard the hue and cry,
and were awake and ready for battle, they still hadn't left the sprawling
courtyard...a fact which (unfortunately for them) made them easy targets
for a series of potent chain lightning spells, which jumped from giant to
giant with lethal effect. This string of electrical attacks incinerated
about fifty hill giants, which according to Galmoor's forced confession
represented the bulk of the giants' force within the palace.
Skektek: (airborne, he folds his arms and smiles, quite pleased with his
destructive prowess)
Days ago, before journeying to Flen to meet up with Mongo, the Bright
Alliance force had appropriated a number of magical wands from the hoard
of Rary. This meant that for the most part, they didn't have to expend
their own magic to take out large numbers of foes here; each spellcaster
(Belphanior, Parekh, Wu, Hope, Skektek, and all six of Wu's detachment
of elite ogre magi) had at least one powerful wand that allowed him or
her to attack the enemy from afar and to great effect. Whether each had
a wand of fire, frost, lightning, magic missiles, or something else...
this extra ordnance made it a hell of a lot easier for the adventurers
to rid the palace of foes as they steadily worked their way through its
passages and chambers, as well as its outer courtyards, roofs, and open
spaces.
Hope: Enjoying this, are you?
Skektek: (holding a wand of fire in one hand and a wand of lightning in
the other, he searches for new targets) Are you kidding? This is like
a dream come true.
Parekh: (spotting a random giant on the loose and entering the palace
area from the city outside, she acts accordingly)
hill giant #57: Huh? (he finds himself suddenly scooped up by a giant
blue hand, held fast in its powerful grip) What the hell? (he rises
rapidly into the air, carried up by the force-hand)
The unlucky giant's ascent stopped abruptly when he was several hundred
feet above the ground...at which point he was dropped strategically in a
nearby location, landing atop a small group of his kind who were rushing
toward the palace.
hill giant #57: (lands atop the others with bone-crunching impact)
Hope: Nice.
Parekh: It's good to have the extra wand, but I think I can do more on
the outside, with my version of the spells that Bigby made famous.
And so it went. There was reportedly another makeshift guard quarters
in the palace's main entry hall and a number of connected chambers, which
was verified when the party burst into that huge chamber after softening
the hundred or so ogres up with a couple of wide-area spells. Ys, Paige,
Poulos, and Drak fought side-by-side with Wu's elite ogre magi as the
adventurers cut their way through the invaders who now found themselves
defenders fighting for their lives. The ogre magi, in addition to being
unusual in appearance, were all prime specimens of their kind: larger,
stronger, and more experienced. They used a variety of magical attacks
as well as long staves tipped with broad curved blades - both with highly
effective results. Razor Charlie stayed back behind the others, throwing
his razor-sharp knives with deadly effect wherever he saw opportunities.
Skektek launched volley after volley of magical missiles as needed, either
distracting or finishing humanoid foes as his spell-work complemented the
fighting skill of his allies. Irina also stayed back, her role being the
protection of Skektek - but that didn't stop her from employing a gigantic
hammer of magical force on more than one opponent.
In another part of the palace, Belphanior and Hope found and dealt with
a small band of ogre shamen who had not yet linked up with any larger
ogrish forces; those humanoids put up a good fight, but they were sorely
overmatched and fell beneath the combined powers of the elven archmage
and the human near-archmage. Meanwhile, outside, Parekh - also airborne
like Skektek - continued to use her summoned force-hand to pluck enemies
from the ground and either drop them onto other foes from lethal heights,
or simply fling them away (which was probably worse for them.) Not to be
left out, Wu had changed his form into that of a huge, exotic dragon of
the legendary type said to exist in the far Western lands. As such, he
flew around and above the city, a winged, bright yellow serpentine form
with a mane, beard, and whiskers. Well over a hundred feet long, this
behemoth possessed huge curved talons and tusklike fangs, but its primary
means of attack were its fiery breath and its spells - dazzling shows of
pyrotechnics, deadly storms of flame, bright bursts of sunlight, and the
like. To be sure, the mere presence of the Wu-dragon caused great panic
among all of the occupying forces, causing many of them to forget any
thoughts of fighting and to instead flee the city. Ironically, by doing
so they only made themselves easier targets for the great dragon and his
allies; although it was nighttime, the various lights, fires, and spells
meant plenty of illumination (not to mention the fact that the dragon was
easily able to see them in the dark.)
Once the larger groups of humanoid foes were dealt with, Belphanior
used the Seeking Scroll (now returned to him by Parekh) to locate all of
the commanders named by Galmoor...and then, one at a time based on who
was nearest to his location at the time, proceeded to locate and dispatch
each one. For this task he chose Skektek, Razor Charlie, and Paige to
accompany him as support for the grim work. While any of his group could
have handled the role without issue, he wanted those who were the most
morally-flexible when it came to dealing with enemies - even those who
deserved to meet swift and bloody ends.
It was a long and violent night...but by the time the sun rose in the
morning, the royal palace had been almost completely cleared of enemies.
In particular, no giants remained alive there, as they were too large to
hide themselves from the attackers. Even better, the majority of those
occupying the city of Istivin had fled, and were now either dead amidst
the surrounding roads and plains or headed away from the city as fast as
they could ride or run. Although they didn't know it yet, those who had
opted to flee eastward were headed directly toward the massive allied
force that Mongo was leading toward Istivin...and within the space of a
few hours, they would learn that fact to their great sorrow.
Those humanoids (and the very few giants who remained alive after any
of Istivin's occupants much taller than a human had basically become
priority targets for the attacking adventurers) who fled north, west, or
northwest would have a happier outcome...provided they made it to any of
the friendly-to-them hills or mountains ahead. A great number of them
were destroyed by Wu in his dragon-form in the early morning hours, as
he had the power and the flying range to chase them down. While he had
no hope of getting them all - there was no preventing their kin in Geoff
and the Crystalmists from eventually learning what had just happened in
Sterich - the old wizard figured that every foe slain today meant one
less foe to commit violence and mayhem another day.
Later, in midmorning, the group had reconvened and stood at the walled
top of a high tower, surveying the city around the palace and the land
around the city.
Belphanior: The giant-king who ruled this entire area is slain, and his
lifeless body on display outside the city gates for all to see. The
palace is cleared of the giants and humanoids who'd occupied it. Most
of those in the city are dead or have fled, and the same goes for the
region outside of the city. And we found the several hundred Sterish
prisoners held in the cellars and dungeons and freed them. (he folds
his arms, enjoying the morning sun's warmth on his sweat- and blood-
stained face) Not a bad night's work.
Parekh: There's still a great deal to be done in Istivin...going street
to street, door to door. And also combing the surrounding plains, and
the rest of the kingdom, for stragglers. Hundreds made it out, despite
our best efforts over the last hours.
Belphanior: (nods) That work's going to mostly be for Mongo's army,
when it gets here. We made a start on ridding this place of foes, but
we've been awake all night. (he yawns) Awake and fighting constantly.
(he glances at Wu, who looks exhausted) How are you holding up?
Wu: It was...a busy morning. And I am no young man anymore. (he grins)
But when I was young, my dragons were smaller and weaker. Heh.
Parekh: I expect that, after some rest, we'll spend the rest of the day
finding and defeating more humanoids, here and there in the city.
Belphanior: Agreed. We need to do as much as we can to make it easier
for the army, when it arrives. (he ponders this) Which should be as
early as this afternoon, depending on how much fighting they've had to
do on their way here. Later, I may take Skektek and fly eastward and
see if we can find more enemies to proactively eliminate...flush them
out into the open and deal with them. Whatever helps the coming army.
Wu: (turns to the north, where the conquered Duchy of Geoff lies, less
than a week's ride beyond the hills known as the Stark Mounds). There
will be battles for that army...battles larger and more difficult than
the one just fought.
Belphanior: There will. And the army would greatly benefit from more
of our help when that time comes. (he turns to the other two archmagi
and fellow members of the Bright Alliance)
Parekh: Say no more. You know we're with you. This may not be our own
future kingdom, but the deeds done in these "Lost Lands" will not only
help these poor people regain their kingdoms, but also inform the rest
of the world of our intent and our capabilities.
Wu: May also make us some new friends, in time.
Parekh: It very well could. (she frowns) And some new enemies. To be
sure, the sorts of endeavors we now pursue are, by their very nature,
sure to garner attention. Fortunately, we possess the necessary power
to deal with that attention, in any form it might take.
Belphanior: (gazes out into the nearly-empty city, pleased)
next: the army arrives, everyone syncs up, next steps are planned
map: http://www.peldor.com/world/atlas/bright_desert_1156.jpg
www: http://www.peldor.com/download.html
homepage: http://www.peldor.com/
email: tmiller@peldor.com
released: 8/9/2024
notes: I wonder how many people have the soundtracks of the 1980s
classics _The Beastmaster_, _Conan the Barbarian_, and _The Sword and
the Sorceror_ among their music rotation on their laptops. As one who
writes fantasy stories, I know I do. (Also handy are the six _Hobbit_
and _Lord of the Rings_ soundtracks.)
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next chapter (#1163)