Morday, 48 Autumn Colours 204 [continued]
The party are united in butchering the stupefied demonic creatures
that surround the place where The Prince fell. It is strangely therapeutic
work. Nicos again voices his opinion that they should take the Prince's
crown, but is shouted down by the rest of the party members. The
enhanced swords make short work of the victims of Ravenna's Rapture,
and then thoughts turn to matters more mundane.
It is freezing. Elias wishes to use the Blade of Charity to look
into the future and see what will happen when they take the fight
to Karatath. They are all convinced that an assault is the only
logical course of action now that they have these blades. However,
they are not dressed for sub-arctic weather conditions. Nicos suggests
that Arvan use his Miracle power to conjure a castle out of nowhere
so they can get out of the wind. "Or I could just lead you
to shelter," says the druid dryly before heading out into the
snow. The rest of the group follow him.
Going across the ice is slow, the sense of something watching their
every move is still nagging at them. Raza asks Arvan whether the
Prince was the most powerful of Karatath's servants in the Great
Dark. Arvan shrugs. He cannot say for sure, and gets a little shirty
when Raza questions his judgement. He says that there are other
beings whose power may eclipse that of the Prince. He speaks of
Vandantamus, the father of all vampires, as a creature that should
be avoided. Then the druid finds an entrance to a cave.
A cave is not likely to be deserted in this weather, but Arvan
is confident that they possess more than enough power to match anything
they could find within. He walks in openly. When their eyes become
accustomed to the dark, they notice movement at the back of the
cave. It looks like some sort of giant slug, maybe twenty feet long
and half that wide. Arvan draws his sword and walks forward. "Wait!"
says Elias. "How do we know it's evil?" - "This is
the Great Dark," the druid replies. "Everything is evil."
Alessandre smiles and hurries after Arvan.
By the time the rest of the party have reached the back of the
cave, Arvan and Alessandre are all ready busy hacking away at the
creatures. On closer inspection it seems as though it is not one
creature, but many. A thick, translucent skin, dripping in slime
forms a writhing sack, within which are dozens of smaller creatures.
At first glance they appear to be human children, but their features
are warped and and devilish. The creature seems to have no form
of defence apart from a palpable aura that instills fear in the
heart of those who approach. Only Nicos and Ravenna are cowed by
this effect, however, as the rest of the group happily lay it to
rest.
Once the creature is killed Brack tries to get a fire going in
the cave. Arvan directs that the bodies of the demonic children
burn exceedingly well and give off much warmth, although they do
spit hot globules of putrefying fat. Alessandre points out that
the creature was trying to flee through a hole into the underworld.
They have to close it. The suggestion of plugging the hole with
Elias while he is in his trance is rejected, as Arvan unwillingly
draws upon the Weave and seals the breech with a stone shape spell.
He then sits by himself at some distance from the fire. Arvan is
becoming less chummy and more on edge around the party. His attempt
on Ravenna's life has gone unremarked upon in the furore surrounding
the recovery of the seventh sword, but it is almost as though he
no longer trusts himself.
Everyone is jumpy, everyone is eager to be off, but they are willing
to allow Elias to invoke his blade's transcendent power. Elias lies
on the ground by the fire, his sword drawn and hands clasped around
the hilt. Alessandre is not watching him. She is at the gave mouth,
Blade of Justice drawn, almost daring any creature to come slithering
within her reach. Elias sighs, closes his eyes and the sword is
engulfed in light.
Opening his eyes, Elias finds himself standing at the centre of
a plain of infinite nothingness. It is white in all directions.
He is completely alone. Then he hears the kindling of a flame, the
stench of a familiar tobacco, and a hunched figure steps into view.
It is Narramac.
"Hello, Elias Raithborne," says the wizard stopping in
front of Elias. "I'm not really here, and as I say these words,
I have not met you except through an ambulant at Castle Northmeet.
Undoubtedly the two of us now have a relationship of some sort.
It's quite likely you hate me; blame me perhaps for the death of
a close comrade or for not telling you everything I know. It must
be….. annoying, to say the least. I don't know if we will have
developed any trust between us, I hope we have, because it's that
trust I call upon now."
"If you are hearing this speech then you must be trying to
access the transcendent power of the Blade of Prudence. Ergo you
have regained the seventh sword. Ergo you are in the Great Dark.
Amazing. The six of you have evidently proved to be worthier custodians
of the Blades than I could have imagined. But I digress, and I cannot
afford to do that. The temptation of seeing The Future Laid Bare
is great. I am asking you, begging you, not to do it."
"I would hope that you would take my request on faith, but
if reasons you need then I will give you two. The first is that
you are in the Great Dark. The magical weave is corrupted here -
I am sure you know that. Even the Blade of Prudence must touch the
Weave to work its magic. Its power to divine the future may be perverted.
It may show you the worst possible future, not the most likely.
A strong mind may override that, but you do not have the experience.
The last wielder was an elven mesmerist called Olreth. He had a
hundred years experience in reading visions before picking up the
blade, and even his judgement was not faultless."
"That was the first reason, the second is more important,
and perhaps it is what you have come to expect from me. As bad as
it would be if the vision was perverted, it would be worse still
if the vision gave you a clear understanding of the future. That
knowledge could ruin everything. All that has happened, all that
you have endured has happened for a reason. You were given these
blades for a reason. You are in the Great Dark for a reason. If
you look into the future and discover certain facts before you were
meant to know them then you put everthing at risk. By whatever bonds
of friendship or respect you have for me I am begging that you do
not do that."
"But I cannot stop you. I am not really here, this is just
a programmed illusion hidden in your blade. When I fade you will
meet The Seer, a metaphysical being bound to the blade who guides
you through the vision of the future. You do not need him. Trust
your instincts. They will not fail you. I only hope that one day
we will meet in safety and I will be able to explain myself to you
and your companions. Die in the Light, Elias."
"Die in the light?" Elias repeats. That is the epithet
of the Saldarím. Odd hearing Narramac say it. And odder still
receiving this warning from the old wizard. As Narramac fades, Elias
stands alone on the white plain comtemplating aloud what to do.
In the end he decides to disregard the old wizard's warning. As
far as he can see, they need all the help they can get and even
visions of the worst possible outcome will at least give them some
useful information. He proceeds.
"Elias is in danger!" says Ravenna leaping to her feet.
Alessandre hesitates at the mouth of the cave for a moment before
concern overcomes her and she hurries to join Ravenna and Nicos
at Elias's side. "What is it?" asks the bard, but gets
no further as Elias begins to convulse. Nicos slaps him about a
bit trying to wake him up but to no measurable effect. Raza volunteers
his sword and gives Elias indomitable will. Yet still he continues
to thrash about, trapped in his vision.
Another figure appears on the plain before Elias. It looks elven,
but it is impossible to distinguish gender in the androgynous face.
The Seer looks at Elias with a baleful sentience, and then embraces
him like a brother. "You have come!" it says. "The
seventh sword has been reclaimed. More than one thousand years I
have waited. Tell me, has the world changed much in this time?"
Elias begins to explain what has happened to the world since the
blades were originally captured by Karatath, but the Seer soon becomes
bored with his speech. "That is not why you have come,"
it says. "You seek to mould this - the blank canvas of the
future. You seek visions, you seek insight! You must ask me a single
question. You can ask no more than one question in a day. What is
your question?"
Elias takes a deep breath and asks the Seer: "What will happen
if we proceed with the planned assault against Karatath and his
minions in the Great Dark?" The Seer smiles. It says: "Having
received your question I will part the veil of time and allow you
to gaze upon the future. This is not a vision of what will be, but
of what could be if you follow you current path. You may question
the vision for as long as you desire, but I am bound by your original
request, and cannot bend."
With a gesture the Plain reforms into the wasted land of the Great
Dark. The sun bakes down upon the ground. Then the ground begins
to bleed. Blood wells up through the sand and covers everything.
Suddenly Elias is in the middle of battle after battle, standing
side-by-side with the rest of the Chosen. All around him creatures
of darkness, both man and monster are dying under the force of the
Blades of Virtue. It is a horrible sight. Ravenna knee-deep in corpses
as her sword lashes out removing limbs. Alessandre covered in blood
- all of them covered in blood. Death seems to walk with them. Death
to the creatures of the Dark. Everything falls before the Chosen
of Narramac.
Elias is horrified. The creatures dying before them are not simply
demons, but men twisted by the Great Dark. Worse than the Mannenites
perhaps, more twisted than them, and yet still they are men. As
the carnage continues, Elias gets a sense of time passing. Days,
weeks, months of unremitting destruction. He begins to feel sick.
Every mile of the Great Dark they traverse leads to more forces
of Karatath, and other evils, throwing themselves against them with
seemingly no regard for their own safety.
And so it continues until one creature walks toward the party.
It is of human-size, but grotesquely malformed into a gargoyle-like
appearance, and is riding a unicorn of the deepest black. The figure
on the unicorn raises its hand - set into the palm is a black gem.
Elias and his companions stop fighting and walk toward the figure.
They each bow in turn and profess unswerving loyalty to the Dark
Lord Karatath. Fear replaces disgust in Elias's mind.
The Chosen of Narramac change from champions of justice of champions
of darkness. They are at the front of Karatath's army. In less that
one month the seven lead an uprising from the south. They head north
through the Mannenite lands and those of the Chulyak Khayet who
will not join are destroyed. A huge fleet is prepared and Elias
sails on Belsinor's Girdle to conquer the northern world.
It is then he feels hands on his shoulder and looks around to see
the Seer. The creature smiles at him, but the smile does not touch
its eyes. It is quivering as it touches Elias, as if it takes some
profound pleasure in showing him these visions. "More?"
the Seer asks, barely able to control its excitement. Elais nods.
That was only a possible future, and he has other questions, many
other questions.
"What if we proceed with an army of paladins from the Girdle?"
he says. The Seer smiles, and he sees himself and his friends in
the cave where he currently lays. There has been an argument but
they agree to get help. To find the paladins they must leave the
Great Dark. They use Ravenna's ring to seek out a portal stone.
It is deeply buried by the snow, but they soon uncover it. Ravenna
performs the ritual, it works and they step into the Greymere. Here
things become a little less distinct. Although Elias has an understanding
of shape and of individuals the details seem obscured by a mist.
But the details are not necessary for him to realise what is to
happen to them there. The Blades are taken from them. They are tried
for crimes. Raza is put to death. It is a long while before they
are released to the real world. When they do they are without the
blades and without Raza. It takes longer still to reach the Girdle,
and the Saldarím will not go with them without the seven
Blades of Virtue.
Elias heart sinks. There must be a way. "What if we attacked
with any army?" The Seer again shows him the future. If they
go outside the Great Dark for an army then they fall foul of the
elves just as if they had gone to seek the Saldarím. They
must raise an army from within the Great Dark. They can only govern
such a force with fear. The army is not loyal. It cannot face up
to the threats that the blade wielders themselves can face, and
as a result it suffers heavy casualties where the Chosen are unhurt.
The army promotes chaos, promotes evil. It turns on the seven. The
chances of one of the seven dying greatly increases with such allies.
"What if one of us does die before reaching Karatath?"
The answer to that is easily given. If one of them dies, the sword
ceases to function. They have six swords, and not seven. Their power
is insufficient to accomplish the task they have set themselves.
If one dies, they will all die. Elias runs through a variety of
visions, concerned with what would happen if a particular member
of the group died. On the whole it makes no difference, although
he does learn that Nicos is far more likely to be killed than anyone
else.
"What if we tried to find allies in the Great Dark?"
The answer is the same as if they tried to raise an army here. Chaos,
evil and death. "What if we tried to find Grexam?" The
Seer foretells that if they search for Grexam it is far more likely
the the unicorn rider will find them first, but if they do find
Grexam the bizarre creature is shocked at the blood that stains
them, and wants nothing to do with them.
"What if Raza contacts to moon gods for aid in the attack?"
There is no way to contact the moon gods in the Great Dark. They
have to leave. They therefore fall foul fo the elves again. Raza
is killed and never gets the chance to talk to them.
"What if we attacked guerilla style instead of a forward charge?"
But they cannot do that. The Blades of Virtue makes evil seek them
out. "What if we destroyed Karatath's most powerful servants
before going for him?" But that is what must happen anyway,
as the greatest of the dark lord's minions strive to prevent the
party from reaching the Aegis.
"What if we returned to Norandor and assaulted Mínaris
first?" - "What if we returned to the northern world and
worked on Karatath's servants first?" Both these questions
again require travel through the Greymere! "What if we obtained
spare blade wielders before attacking?" Yet where can they
come from? If they come from the Dark they will be untrustworthy,
if they come from outside the Dark then they need to go through
the Greymere, at which point they will lose the blades and Raza."
Elias shakes his head. This is a no win situation. They need to
find a way out of the Dark that doesn't involve going through the
Greymere. "What if we used the Breath of Virtue to blow open
the Gates of Perdition?" He sees the vision and the Gates are
not even scratched by this powerful weapon. With each further vision
he looks at the Seer becoming more and more animated. Colour is
returned to its race. It looks almost gleeful. Then he snaps awake
and the vision ends.
Elias sits up by the fire and is aware of a terrible pain in his
body and his hands. His fingers are broken where Nicos and Alessandre
have wrenched the Blade of Prudence from him. He is bleeding from
cuts all over his body, his head is pounding and he cannot focus.
Then there is a burst of white light from the Blade of Fortitude
and he is restored.
Ravenna and Nicos tell him that almost as soon as he entered the
trance he started thrashing about wildly. Wounds spontaneously opened
on his body. It looked as though he was dying. The only way to save
him was to remove the Blade of Prudence, ending the vision. "What
did you find out?" asks Raza. Elias sighs. "This is wrong,"
he says slowly. "This is hopeless. We can't stay. We shouldn't
stay."
His words bring a fountain of objections from the rest of the group.
They are as vociferous and unshakeable as if Elias had attacked
their deepest beliefs. Elias retells the visions he saw from the
sword, although he doesn't mention the vision from Narramac.
"We lose sight of who we are!" says Elias. "I don't
want to become that! We should go back." Elias is finding it
difficult to come to these conclusions. Like the rest of the group
he is convinced that it is the right thing to do to remain in the
Dark and slay Karatath, but from what he has seen….
"There is no way that's going to happen!" says Nicos
confidently. Elias says that there is. He saw the future. "The
possible future!" says Ravenna. "It needn't happen that
way, not now we know about it." - "But every way I saw
led to either death or corruption!" Elias exclaims. "Hey,"
says Nicos. "I am INCORRUPTIBLE!" and he invokes the Blade
of Faith to make it so. Nicos's gung-ho confidence and Elias's indecision
makes for a complete reversal of roles.
"It may have been showing me the worst possible outcome, but….."
stammers Elias, but Nicos breaks in. "This is the nancy-boy
paladin in you coming out," he says. To Elias horror, Alessandre
agrees. "We have a chance to destroy all this Elias. Where's
the decision? All you've said is that we slay lots of demons. Well
that's fine by me! I look forward to it! And now we know about that
unicorn rider we can avoid him, or take him out with the Breath
of Virtue before he gets near us! Am I right?"
Elias is trying desperately not to be convinced. His blade grants
him wisdom, but it seems as though the blade is in conflict with
itself and he is becoming confused. "It's not that I don't
agree that we should stay and destroy Karatath, it's just that the
visions showed me nothing but failure."
Ravenna is getting exasperated and turns to Arvan. "Could
the corruption of the Weave here affect the swords?" Arvan
thinks for a moment and replies. "Yes. The weave does not only
affect magic users, but it also perverts the intention of spells.
Particularly divinations." Ravenna turns triumphantly to Elias,
"Well there you are then! The Weave has affected the vision,
we cannot trust it!"
"That makes no sense!" says Elias. "What you are
saying is that we can't trust one sword but we can rely on the others!
If we can't trust mine then we can't trust any of them! Just because
the other abilities have seemed to work properly so far, that doesn't
mean that they will keep working properly."
But how can the Weave have affected the swords? Klazid said that
no force could influence the swords. "Narrmac did," says
Nicos. "He changed them so they would accept us. Plus, the
Prince was using the Blade of Justice." But surely that was
because the Blade of Justice has been in the Dark for so long……
but if that was true then why should the Blade of Prudence be acting
up. The blades are connected…. "Which brings me back to
one point. That we cannot trust the swords."
"We need more visions," says Raza slowly. "We should
wait here until tomorrow and Elias should have another vision. And
we will see what that brings." - "No," says Arvan.
He doesn't shout, but the word shocks everyone to silence. "We
cannot delay. We will not delay. Our mission is clear. Whatever
you have been saying, we all agree on that. We move. We move now
and we keep moving until we reach the Aegis and destroy Karatath.
That is why we are here."
None can argue with that. Alessandre is particularly eager to be
off, she wants to find things and she wants to kill things. Elias
is too mixed up with the visions from the Blade of Prudence to find
that as disturbing as he might. Nicos says that he can invoke his
Transcendent power of Omnipresence once per day for an hour, according
to Klazid. He can use that to teleport them in mile leaps across
the Dark. In an hour he could travel up to six hundred miles. Perhaps
that would get them ahead of the game. After a little discussion,
and Nicos's disgust are wearing cloaks made from the dead thing
in the cave, the cleric dips in the Weave, casts Protection from
Elements on everyone, is violently ill and they head out into the
ice and the snow. Six hundred miles further south, the terrain has
not changed.
Sunday, 49 Autumn Colours 204
They decide to press on until they find shelter for Elias to invoke
the Blade of Prudence once more. After an hour they begin to descend
from the icy plateau, and they come to temperate valleys. The sky
is still thick with dark clouds. There is no sign of the sun, if
indeed there is a sun in this place. Light certainly comes from
above, but its source cannot be determined. Before them is a terrain
of scraggy bushes and sickly yellow grass that looks to be in a
state of continual decomposition. It feels slimy under their feet.
Brack is the first to see the force that is moving across the valley
to greet them. It is an army. At least ten thousand strong, and
it appears to be made up entirely of the undead. Zombies, skeletons
and far worse lie in the malformed throng that is moving up the
valley towards them. Alessandre's face is painted with glee. She
has to be all but restrained from racing down the valley and engaging
them.
There are seven figures at the centre of the horde who appear to
be its masters. Liches. Each forming an incantation. Each crackling
with magical energy. A flash of green light shoots from the outstretched
hands of one lich, leaping to the hands of the other six. Then a
second lich repeats the procedure, as though they are building a
seven pointed star with their magical powers.
Ravenna looks at the valley, and then at the swords. "The
Breath of Virtue," she says. Alessandre is elated at the idea.
"Yeah! Nuke 'em!" she exclaims. Arvan points out if they
are going to do anything they need to do it now. The star is almost
complete and there is no telling what magic the liches will unleash.
The Chosen put the seven swords together. Guided by Arvan they take
careful aim at the coven of liches and invoke the most powerful
effect the Blades of Virtue have to offer.
The hilts become warm and the blades shine with an incandescent
light that obscures almost everything else. Arvan concentrates as
a globe of energy forms around the tips of the blades and a beam
of light hurtles down toward the army of darkness. The final lich
sends forth his magic to seal the star, but it is too late. The
breath of virtue strikes the liches and the spell is unwoven. The
impact of the beam sunders the ground. All undead creatures that
it touches are instantly turned to dust, be they lich, zombie or
wraith. From the initial point of impact the beam spreads out like
a sea of crackling energy until fills the valley. The back-blast
washes over the Chosen and they feel good! When the sea of light
before them subsides, there is no sign of the army that marched
to oppose them. The breath punched into the valley floor creating
a crater so deep they cannot see the bottom. The land is scorched
and forever changed.
Alessandre screams in delight, and she is quickly joined by the
rest of the party. "Did you see that?" The bard turns
to Elias. "And you're worried, we're going to fail? What can
stand up to that?" The party allow themselves a few minutes
celebration. Elias is caught up in it. He is as pleased as any of
them that they have accomplished so much. Eventually they walk the
ridge around the still smoking valley, and look for a place to rest.
With a fire kindled, Elias lays down next to it, ready to invoke
his blade's transcendent power for a second time. The party are
still buzzing after the their success against the undead horde.
The question Elias will ask of the Seer has been decided. It is
hoped that Nicos's ability to jump them 600 miles per day will be
of benefit in avoiding the worse the Great Dark has to offer. Elias
closes his eyes and falls into a visionsome sleep.
Again he awakes on the plain, but this time Narramac does not appear
to him. The Seer is soon by his side, however, simpering and smiling.
Elias shakes him off. "What if we used Nicos's Omnipresence
power to bypass as much of the Dark as possible, and go straight
for the Aegis?" The Seer smiles and waves his hand.
"Elias's heart has stopped," says Nicos. Alessandre watches
impassively as the rest of the Chosen rush to help. But they cannot
wake him. Ravenna invokes the Blade of Charity to take Elias's wounds
onto herself. Elias's heart restarts but Ravenna collapses to the
floor and has be revived by Brack.
In his vision Elias is catapulted into battle once again. He and
his fellows are racing across a barren plain towards the Aegis.
The Aegis appears as a dark fortress made of a strange black stone
that looks similar (although not identical) to Ashardon. Before
the Aegis are hundreds of thousands of supplicants. They are Malificents.
Servants of the Dark Lord, praying day and night for his release.
They used to be kept in line by the Prince, but the Prince isn't
there anymore. They stand and try to stop the seven, but the Blades
of Virtue are too powerful. Many do not seem to be putting up a
fight as the party cleave their way through, sending heads and limbs
into the air. The butchery lasts several hours, the party not pausing
in their whirlwind of destruction. Then they reach the black wall,
but there is no way in. No door. No window. There is no choice.
The Seven come together and unleash the Breath of Virtue at the
Aegis. When the dust clears, there is a single crack in the dark
wall. Through that crack, something begins to slime its way out,
some form of darkness, some concentrated evil. A force takes hold
of the seven, and they killed as easily as helpless babes.
Elias awakens. His fingers are broken again and Brack heals him
of his hurts. He begins to explain the vision. This time his consternation
at their mission meets with even more opposition. He argues that
there is no point if they cannot get into the Aegis. They will simply
have to find another way in, Ravenna argues. "How?" asks
Elias. "We get one of Karatath's servants and find the way
in from it," snarls Alessandre. "I'll find it out, believe
me!" Elias realises that with the Blade of Justice and her
current state of mind Alessandre is quiter capable of doing just
that, and it scares him.
"It doesn't matter," says Arvan slowly. "It doesn't
matter how many we have to kill in this. They are all servants of
Karatath, they do not deserve to life. If we have blood on our hands,
if we sacrifice ourselves, what does it matter as long as we bring
the Enemy down?" - "What of our souls?" asks Elias.
- "What of them?" counters Arvan. "We are but seven.
We have to concentrate on the goal, this evil has to be eradicated."
"That doesn't sound like a druid," says Ravenna. Arvan
grimaces at her words. "The Order does not hold the attraction
it once did. This is more important."
Arvan's words disturb the group. He has been to the Great Dark
before. It has effected him. Has it warped his morality? Elias asks
whether Arvan minds him using his detect evil ability on him. Arvan
says that it is a waste of time they could be attacking minions
of Karatath, and does not agree. Nicos surreptitiously casts the
same spell onto Arvan and Elias. One of them registers as evil,
and he has a small fit. Ravenna takes him aside and Nicos explains
what he saw. He returns, casts the spell once more and is certain
that it is Elias who is evil. He has obviously been corrupted by
his sword. "You are never using that sword again!" Nicos
exclaims.
Elias realises what is going on, and denies that he has been corrupted.
He uses his own detect evil and senses that Ravenna, Nicos and Arvan
have been corrupted. He steps back. "What is it?" asks
Alessandre. Nicos invokes his transcendent power, making the rest
of the part Clerics of Nicos (or God Funk as he likes to be know).
He grants everyone the ability to detect evil, although every time
a spell is cast the weave travels through him and he is feeling
a little sick. Each member of the party seems to get different results.
Ravenna uses various spells to discover that Elias is evil and good
at the same time. There is obviously something screwy going on.
If they cannot trust the spells, they cannot trust the visions.
But Elias maintains that if they cannot trust the visions, they
cannot trust any of the swords and therefore must leave. "We're
not going to get another shot at this, Elias," says Alessandre.
"We're here now. We have the seven swords and we can make a
difference. If we leave we're not coming back, we lose our chance."
This is not just Alessandre's opinion. It seems to be everyone's.
They have to ignore Elias's visions and press on, hoping that they
will find a way to overcome them.
Vítday, 1 Mizzle Month 204
Thus begins the Chosen of Narramac's epic struggle across the Great
Dark. As the days pass, time becomes less relevent to the seven
and dates can only be ascribed to their actions very roughly, and
only then with the benefit of hindsight. Nicos continues to invoke
his transcendent power to jump them through the nightmares that
befall them, and as time passes Elias becomes more and more worried
that the visions the Blade of Prudence showed him were far from
a worst-case scenario.
Battle runs into battle. The seven know nothing except conflict,
and blood and gore. Arvan attempts to chart a path away from major
cities that he knows of but that is not always possible. More often
than not, settlements have been abandoned by their occupants. The
inhabitants have fled at the mere hint that the wielders of the
Blades of Virtue are on their way. They battle demons, monsters,
devils and men all throwing themselves against the Chosen as enthusiastically
as the Seer showed they would.
But there is more. Something beyond all the carnage. Elias feels
it perhaps because he is looking for it. Whether the others sense
it, he cannot say; if they do, it does not seem to bother them.
They are beginning to enjoy the destruction. They are starting to
revel in it. Confidence blooms within them, along with may other
emotions that they would not have entertained before.
Nicos revels in his power. He drinks it up. But the sensation of
killing is not enough for him. His eyes rove. He looks at Alessandre
and Ravenna hungrily as if they have something he wants to take.
Brack seems to lose interest in the quest. He becomes indolent.
He still wants to destroy the evil, but it is such an effort for
him. Incongruously, he begins to sleep. Ravenna speaks of riches
and reward. She knows Karatath must be destroyed, but she wants
something tangible out of it. She starts to loot the bodies of the
fallen. Raza retreats into himself. He seems manic. He gorges himself
on the food they find. He feels the need to eat the bodies of his
victims and tries to use his blade to stop. But it is as though
the Blade of Temperence is at war with itself. Arvan makes Raza
seem chummy. He steps away from the rest of the party, and even
sleeps apart from them. When he does spend any time with them he
regards them so intently that Nicos is scared he will turn on them.
Alessandre becomes more and more brutal. She is more consumed with
doing violence. Elias begins to feel better about himself. Their
victory after victory gives him a supreme confidence in their abilities.
A dangerous confidence. He sees all their actions as justifiable,
and yet, he is a paladin of the Saldarím. He has sworn to
uphold the Laws of Elyas. Where do they fit in to all this?
As these thoughts nag our heroes, the terrain of the Great Dark
flashes by them. Moutains, forests, seas….. each new obstacle
more warped than the last. Yet, Arvan seems to know where he is
heading. He has the vision, and he will lead them to the heart of
this evil place.
Sunday, 6 Mizzle Month 204
Yet, matters must eventually come to ahead. On this day, shortly
after dawn the Chosen slaughter another army raised against them.
This time they did not use the Breath of Virtue. Instead they opted
to slay them hand-to-hand. Brack invoked his warmachine power, and
no force was able to stand against him. Now they stand on a battlefield
of broken bodies and forsaken souls.
Brack collapses to the ground. He intends to sleep where he lies
and no force will move him on. Alessandre is venting her spleen
by continuing to butcher the dead. Ravenna is picking over the spoils,
looting the corpses. Raza is looking hungrily at the fallen. Nicos
seems intent with seducing Alessandre, making various plays to turn
her against Elias and to him. Elias is shouting and balling at the
group. He tells them how they have to listen to him, how he is in
charge and how they need to move on. Brack uses his gifts as a cleric
of Funk and tries to silence Elias, but Elias resists and then verbally
berrates Brack in no uncertain terms. Were it not for the dwarf's
lethargy he would cleave Elias's skull for such remarks.
As the arguments continue, Raza approaches Arvan. "This is
wrong," he tells the druid. "We are changing. What is
happening?" Arvan looks at him carefully. "Do not approach
me," he says. Raza shakes his head. He can feel the hunger
in him, he knows the righteousness of their quest, yet something
is still profoundly wrong. Maybe Elias was right with his visions,
although Elias himself seems to have forgotten that now. Maybe the
Blade of Temperence is the answer. Maybe he can use that to enchance
the will of his companions, to make them see reason. Who can he
try it on first. Not Arvan. The druid looks dangerous, and Raza
fears antagonising him. But who? Alessandre, perhaps.
Ravenna sees the arguments but continues to pick through the bodies.
She has several large bags laden with gold and gems. But such trinkets
are worthless when compared to magic. If she could just see what
was magical, and what was not then she would be even richer! Then
it occurs to her that she has such a spell. She can detect magic.
To do so would be to touch the Weave as a sorceress, but she is
determined. What harm can it possibly do? She casts the spell.
The Weave disgusts her as much as it did on the other side of the
Enceinte. She feels her breakfast lurching around within her. And
then she feels something else. Something has noticed her. It is
as though she has gained the attention of an unwanted suitor. She
shrugs, and the spell comes free of the weave, activating normally.
She feels no sensation of disgust at casting it. She considers that
might be a bad thing, but puts it out of her mind as she begins
to scan the battlefield. Soon she unearths a green gem in the pouch
of a fallen foe. It radiates necromantic magic. Ravenna laughs and
settles back on her heals to work out what it does.
Nicos has taken Alessandre aside. He is telling her that Elias
has changed since he became a paladin, as everyone knew he would.
He is dull. She doesn't want to be with him surely. Nicos says that
she once told him she had more in common with him than anyone else
in the party. Alessandre may agree, but she doesn't seem desperately
keen on 'being' with anyone at present. Then she feels Raza's use
his blade upon her. The monk has used the Release power to try.
The only effect it has had on Alessandre is to make her angry.
The Blade of Justice is in her hand and at Raza's throat in an
instant. "What did you try to do to me!" she yells. The
monk steps back, raising his hands in a concillatory gesture. Raza
can see in his eyes that Alessandre needs only the smallest excuse
to kill him. Nicos tries to placate the bard, but she turns to him
in a threatening manner. Raza uses the opportunity (and his boots)
to put some distance between him and the bard. "Alessandre,"
he says quickly. "This isn't you!" Alessandre turns and
walks purposefully toward him. "You remember in Belsinor's
Girlde when you found me that girl?" The bard pauses. She smiles
briefly, but then shakes her head. "You've changed. We all
have."
"That's it!" says Elias. "You've all been bewitched
by this place! I'm the only one who isn't effected!" Elias's
delusion grows from a small idea, and very soon he is completely
impossible to reason with. Raza tries his Release power on Elias
and himself, but to no effect. He appeals to Arvan for help, but
the druid tells the monk that he should refrain from speaking, it
invokes a murderous rage. Raza is despondent, and consoles himself
by eating the fingers of a fallen enemy.
A small light is kindled in the green gem, and Ravenna watches
one of the corpses struck down by Brack animate. She smiles and
uses the gem again. Two animated dead seem to be the limit of its
power, but that is enough for Ravenna. She loads the zombies her
sacks of loot. She is glad to have the next best thing to a pack
animal.
When she returns to the group, they are surprised to see her. Brack
stands, kills the two zombies and then goes back to sleep again.
This annoys Ravenna who uses the gem to create two more, and explains
that they will help to carry the bags. No-one else seems to have
any objection to using them.
It is time to move on. They cannot sit in the middle of a battlefield.
Brack doesn't want to leave. He is happy to wait for Karatath to
come to him. It takes a mammoth argument before the group are on
their feet and moving south. As they progress Nicos stays close
to Alessandre, trying to seduce the bard, and she doesn't resist
his advances. Elias convinces himself that it is because they are
both possessed by something. Thank the light that he is immune!
Vitday, 8 Mizzle Month 204
All the issues and conflicts that arose on that battlefield two
days previously are now ten times worse. When they are not killing
the group are barely talking to one another. But now, there is something
to stay. They stand on the edge of a crumbling cliff, looking down
upon a fetid city that sprawls for miles along the coast of a polluted
sea. Acrid black smoke rises from thousands of chimneys, covering
the place in a sickly miasma. Beyond the city wall an army is stationed,
standing ready to protect this place from attack.
"It is the city of Tharkis," says Arvan grimly. "I
have visited it twice before. We could have gone around it, but
its ruler is not someone we should allow to live. Tharkis is ruled
by a sorceress called Grelka. She is part human, part hobgoblin
and part demon. She rules with fear and her Legion of Horrors."
Ravenna steps forward. "There will be a lot of riches in a
city that size," she says. Tharkis must be as large, if not
larger, than Hadras. It will be difficult to enter the city and
fight their way through the streets despatching all the evil they
can find. Better to take out the entire place in one go. "Nuke
it, as Alessandre said," Ravenna quips. "The Breath of
Virtue it is."
Suddenly Brack raises his hand and points. A horseman has left
the city and is galloping up the crooked road toward them. The Chosen
eye him suspiciously and Elias unslings his bow. "Let him approach,"
says Arvan. When asked why, the druid replies. "Because I know
him. His name is Beltan."
The Chosen close ranks and Arvan steps forward as the rider draws
his foaming horse to a halt in front of them. "Hold,"
says the horseman, and then gazes on Arvan incredulously. "I
did not believe it when I heard it was you, Walker-in-Shadows. The
witch, Grelka, has heard of your approach and of your power. There
are innocents down there Walker-in-Shadows. One thousand souls as
yet untouched by the Great Dark. She says that she will kill them
if you do not move on."
Arvan is silent, not answering his old acquaintance. Beltan eyes
him uneasily, as is he senses a profound change about the druid.
Then Arvan says. "It makes no difference. One thousand souls
will not remain untouched by the Great Dark for long. If we turn
away from this place, Grelka will not suffer them to remain uncorrupted.
For the sacrifice of one thousand, we can destroy more than a million
purveyors of evil, including Grelka herself."
Arvan turns to the rest of the group, assuming that they will all
join him in unleashing the Breath of Virtue. But there is disagreement.
"No way!" says Nicos. "You can't do something like
that. You can't just kill innocents!" Raza, Ravenna and Alessandre
immediately side with Arvan. They cannot save the innocents, so
they might as well take out Grelka. "Why?" asks Nicos.
"Why not just move on past?"
"We cannot leave Grelka behind us," says Arvan. "Why
not?" replies the cleric. "That's what we have been doing,
jumping 600 miles a day to stay ahead of the nasties." - "Grelka
is different," he druid maintains. "We cannot allow her
to live if we can prevent it." Elias wades in on Nicos's side.
Both the blades and the Dark seem to be pushing the party one way,
but he rembers the Thirteen Laws of Elyas. On this he cannot be
moved. He cannot sacrifice the innocents.
Ravenna suggests that Avran could invoke the Miracle power of his
blade after they have used the Breath of Virtue to resurrect the
souls trapped there. The souls could then be turned over to Beltan
to look after (if they are innocent then they are probably children).
However, when Arvan admits that he cannot be sure if his Miracle
power will work in such a fashion, Elias says that he cannot be
part of it.
"Walker-in-Shadows, please," says Beltan. "There
is someone down there, I care for. You cannot sacrifice her."
It seems as though Arvan has not heard this plea. Ravenna says to
Beltan, "That is a strange attitude for someone of the Great
Dark." Beltan looks at the druid as he replies. "I learned
a great many things from Arvan. Although now I am wondering if those
lessons were worth anything."
"Listen," says Nicos sharply. "We can't use the
Breath of Virtue unless we all agree and I don't agree so that's
an end to it. I won't go down into that city with you either, so
there won't be seven swords and you'll all get minced. There is
no discussion here!"
"You're a good man," says Elias with a mixture of admiration
and incredulity. Arvan, however, gives the cleric such a evil look
Nicos fears he is about to be attacked. Raza and Ravenna try to
convince Nicos and Elias to change their minds, but to no avail.
Brack thinks it would be better to use the Breath of Virtue, because
it's less effort, but he can't be bothered to argue about it.
"You're right," says Arvan at last. "If we do not
all agree then we cannot act." The druid turns to Beltan. "You
have your answer. We will move on. Tharkis will be spared."
Beltan seems as though he wants to say something to Arvan, in the
end he thinks better of it. The party can see from the look on his
face that he is afraid of all of them, and he is more than happy
to turn around and return to the city. A bizarre world where the
holders of the Blades of Virtue are more feared than Grelka.
The seven watch the horseman descend the steep path, and see the
army move apart to allow him access to the city. They each sense
that something has changed within them. Raza, Alessandre, Arvan
and Brack were ready to sacrifice innocents to continue with this
mission. Elias felt the efficacy of the solution very tempting.
Something is profoundly wrong. Something has affected them all.
Something so clear in their minds from the moment they slew the
Prince is now cast into doubt.
"We can't stay here," says Elias slowly. Looking around
he realises that this time he isn't facing implacable opposition
from his companions. Something has changed. Maybe it is continuous
conflict, maybe the amount of blood staining their hands. They still
feel the need to destroy Karatath, they still carry strange emotions
within them. Nicos has his desires; Brack has his laziness; Ravenna
has her cupidity; Raza has his hunger; Arvan has his envy; Elias
has his confidence; Alessandre has her anger…… yet now
they each have a sense of perspective.
"We are obviously not ourselves," says Arvan. "But
it would still be my choice to stay here. But there is no point
in my staying alone. Where one goes, we all must go." Ravenna
smiles. She can get some real money for the things she has found
here, when they get back to Norandor. Brack is easily convinced.
Alessandre simply nods. Raza realises better than any of them, the
changes that the Great Dark seems to have wrought. However, the
alternative is the Greymere and he is not thrilled with that prospect.
Nicos is the most difficult person to convince. Some lingering desire
to stay and smash evil remains within him, but it is a rational
desire, and one he is convinced out of. "The swords were never
used in the Great Dark before," says Elias. "The previous
wielders fought their last battle at Belsinor's Girdle. Remember
the visions. If we stay, we cannot win. All we will do is sacrifice
ourselves."
A decision is made. As the seven turn away from Tharkis they turn
away from their quest to destroy Karatath….. at least for a
time. They have to escape this evil place, and they have to take
the blades with them. Ravenna takes the ring given to her by Etchen
from her pocket and slips it on. She can sense the direction of
a portal stone, but it is some distance away. They turn west, away
from the Aegis and toward escape.
Caladay, 11 Mizzle Month 204
Four hours after they wake the news from the ring is better. Ravenna
is now convinced that they are not too far from a portal stone.
The battles they have faced in the past two days have been tiresome
but not deadly. As if some force senses they are trying to leave
the Dark and is glad to be rid of them.
Sharp-eyed Brack sees something before them. There is a force moving
in from the north east, and it will intercept them before they reach
the portal stone. In the sky is a cloud of malformed vulture-like
creatures. On the ground is a horde of ape-shaped demons. But it
is there leader that gives the seven pause. The creature at the
front of the multitude is a cadaverous, ghoulish entity. And he
rides a black unicorn.
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