It is late in the month of Augusto in the year 952. King Cedric’s successor, Prince Marcus, battles down against rebel and Kilmoorian forces in the renegade province of Holaf. Wars rage across the land, some obvious like the one in Dramen Del, others are more secretive, like the ones in Blariston.It was a great but terrible victory in the ancient city of Dramen Del. To the east and the west extend a great chain of white-capped mountains, to the north is an ocean of gently swaying brown grasses.
To the south is the shadow haunted, monster filled, Cursed Woods. The celebrations of the night before are still vividly remembered in everyone’s mind. The Akrindorian dream-ale, roasting meats, barbarian dancers, centaur archery contests, mild brawls, red priest demonstrations of wielding weapons and an exquisite display of colorful magics above. Quite a pleasant way to spend an evening instead of battling for their lives.Our adventurers had quite a night. Dril with his drinking. Kazier with his whores. Malik and Wilford with their playful fistfighting. Jinx and Brell with their dancing. Alric with his incredible show of magical light. Gashnak and Alex getting, heh, re-aquainted.
The last month had been exceptionally difficult for all who fought here. Shoulder to shoulder they’ve stood with legends like Death Shadow, gone to the Underworld and met the famed Iron General, Rangh, battled the minions of Marg the deadly Gawks. They visited the secret tower of the mystical wizard Gadrath and more. It has been quite an experience for them, one they will not soon forget. Dramen Del has been saved. More allies are coming into the war against Kilmoor, Bachra and hopefully the friendly Akrindorians. After so much hardship, so many ordeals, travelling to the Underworld and back, they had gone though quite a bit.
That morning it all had changed. From out of the Cursed Woods comes a spattering of black fletched arrows, striking people as they begin to rouse themselves from the depths of sleep. Almost everyone struggled to emerge from their slumber, minds still hazy from the drinking from the night before.In the perpetual gloom of that forest were dozens of blue and gray fleshed creatures with long, curling teeth wearing filthy animal skins. They are large, muscular, with manes of wild hair interwoven with bones. In their hands were spiked, clubs, jagged swords, and headcatchers. Goblins, lots of goblins, here to take advantage of those who had celebrated so hard the night before.
Kazier, Malik, and Wilford quickly got behind the cover of some wagons, turning them over. None of them were in armor, using the loose robes that Borem had given them the night before.Quickly Malik strung his bow and began returning fire at the enemy. From the walls began to blow horns of alarm, the city being alerted to the unexpected danger they were now facing.Behind the goblins he saw a great, dark armored creature backing up in the woods. It was something he had seen before. It was one of the Knights of Discord, looking like one of the Gawks on steroids. In one hand it carried a great axe half as large as a man, already splashed with blood. In the other he saw it carrying the unconcious form of Kayla, the Akrindorian Queen, dragging her by her hair.Many of the people who were staggering to their feet were struck by the endless hail of goblin arrows.
Chestor, the great centaur went charging after the monstrous Knight, bellowing. Two arrows strike his bare chest, sinking in deeply but he keeps going. In a blur the Knight strikes him as he moves forward, knocking the mighty centaur backwards up through the air, hooves and arms flailing as he went crashing into one of the set up pavillions with bone-shattering intensity.The bald elf Brell, lowered his crossbow and began firing. The bolt streaks faster than the eye can follow and struck the Knight in the center of it’s armored head. However, the missle is simply deflected away, something Malik had seen many times before.
Nearby was Jinx, standing and motioning with her arms. "St. Lyssa Guide us!" She called out. Three arrows were immediately fired at her and the courageous Brell leapt to her defense. All three arrows pierced his chest and he collapsed to the ground, in a heap. Instantly Jinx began to try and staunch the massive bleeding.Hearing the sounds of battle Gashnak woke up finding himself alone. Grabbing his nearby blade he rushed into the woods. In the distance he saw Alex over a goblin’s shoulder, being carried away.
At that instant two large goblins attacked, swinging their weapons at the naked but enraged orc.Gashnak rapidly parried their powerful strikes and then lopped off one’s head and split the other in two with his curved hanji-shah. While doing this he didn’t see the figure stealthfully moving up behind him. Malik saw Gashnak fighting and killing the two large goblins as well as the man to his back. It was Leden, the treacherous dog that had eluded them for so long. In both hands were guns. Malik quickly fired an arrow at him just as Leden was raising a pistol to shoot Gashnak.The arrow struck him in the leg causing his shot to miss the back of the orc’s head and struck him just below the left shoulder blade. Whipping around Gashnak saw Leden who then fired his other gun, hitting him almost dead center in his abdomen. The blast knocked him onto his back, blood gushing from his wounds.
Seeing Leden Wilford drew his rapier and charged. An arrow grazed his face and he soon found himself blocked off by several snarling goblins intent on taking his head as a prize. The duellist calmly began to fight and was soon joined by Kazier, slashing and stabbing with his curved blades.Once arming up and getting some armor, Malik, Kazier, Gashnak, Wilford, and Alric went deep into the woods to follow where Kayla and Alex had been taken.
They spotted the dark knight of Discord at a cave guarded by two Goblin warriors. The Goblins were quickly dispatched by arrows or blades and the group charged forward, all save Alric who spotted something glittering in the woods that he decided to investigate. As they advanced into the cave, it turned out to be a trap. The group went through a gateway and ended up on the island of Mel’uur in the lands of Kilmoor. Before them were a hundred archers as well as the naked and chained girls, the Knight behind them.
The leader and architect of this was the sinister Marijid Alingin. "Surrender or be killed where you stand," said the deviant Kilmoorian. Already hurt and outnumbered with so many against them, the group threw their weapons aside and were then taken prisoner.The monstrous Knight of Discord went to Gashnak’s hanji-shah, crying out in an awful voice. "At last, I shall drink the blood of Averness.
"From the woods nearby, this scene was being played out in front of a group of people. They were hidden and watching what was happening. One was Relmek, an orcish gladiator who had just recently escaped from Alingin’s dungeons. The others were a dark haired, pale elf, and a mutilated obnoxious-looking gnome by the names of Gowen and Fendarus.With a roar of triumph the Knight’s black armored hand moved forward. Grabbing at the glowing bloodsword there was a sudden explosion and his hand had been blown off in a spray of black. His inhuman shrieking dropped the Kilmoorians to their knees, hand to their ears, weapons tumbling to the ground. This was what the groups, both of them, needed.
The archers were now all around the prisoners and from the woods came the trio. It all quickly became an unbelievable bloodbath, the poor hand to hand fighting archers were slaughtered. The hurt Knight of Discord was dispatched by Malik. Quickly Alingin retreated back inside the castle, having his troops within, fire cannon shots at the rampaging people.
Getting the two girls everyone raced into the protection of the nearby woods. Over a hundred Kilmoorian warriors had been redly butchered. Introductions were quickly made. Both Gowen and Fendarus had come from a very distant land and they were here to help save their friend, a woman who had been also ensnared by Alingin, a half orc named Wendy. Both Gashnak and Alex stayed close to each other and Kayla, the Akrindorian Queen layed about naked, utterly wiped out by the intense heat of this tropical region.
With direction from Relmek, a plan was formed. Relmek had escpaed from a tunnel on the cliffside of the castle. He figured it would also make an excellent way to get back inside. All everyone would have to do was swim. Kayla was all for the idea, for a chance to cool off.
At nightfall they went down the cliff and swam into the tunnel which was only exposed at low tide. Inside was what appeared to be some type of magical dragon boat, made of scales and sails in the form of wings. Looking it over they realized that only a maximum of eight people would be able to escape on it, and that would be if they crammed on. The group made it into the lower levels of Alingin’s estate with total surprise on their hands.
Splitting into two groups they went to the upper levels and found two ambushes waiting for them. Well, ambushes if they had been coming the other way. In both corridors a naked woman had been chained out as a shield in front of them for protection, hoping to fire arrows past them at targets who might then be reluctant to attack. Sadly for the Kilmoorians, their sneaky enemies had come up from behind them. Both Wendy and Brigit were saved this way and the Kilmoorians were once more slaughtered in a spectacular fashion.
From Brigit they learned that Marijid Alingin had somehow tracked down his stolen goods (from a previous session) and had sent agents to Corvel. There she and Lorne (a dwarven lass and friend of Fare’s) had been captured and taken. Later it seems the agents had made it as far as Dramen Del where they encountered and made a deal with one of the Knights of Discord and the traitorus Leden.
Moving on, a Firedrake was encountered by the group and was butchered by a thrown Fendarus and the flail-wielding orc Relmek. Later, the courtyard was taken and a Kilmoorian cannon.While the estate was being taken over, both Alex and Brigit were sent back down to the dragonboat to wait. It was deemed that would be the safest place for them to be. Alex was reluctant to go but did so, taking young Brigit from Red Shore with her.Moving through the castle they searched for Marjid Alingin, but he was no where to be found.
Coming to one door a woman’s voice was heard from the other side and she was seemingly trying to warn them of something. Kazier kicked the door open and set off an explosive trap which promptly killed Lorne and sent him flying back down the corridor, nearly killed him. Only Wendy’s magical castings saved the badly injured elf’s life. Though he lived she could not awaken him.
Another woman was found here, a slave girl by the name of Millicent. She too had been captured up in Corvel, taken here for the vile Kilmoorian’s pleasure.Getting even more paranoid, Gowan sent Fendarus down to check on Alex and Brigit. There, Fendarus found Alex being squashed into a wall by a spell cast from the sorcerous Alingin. The gnome-titan hurled his axe and the man whirled away. Alingin released the pinned Alex and then began hurling blasts of energy and the cart-wheeling gnome-titan. He evaded the devastating magical attacks by the slimmest of margins. In the end Brigit managed to get Fendarus’s axe back to him and Alingin was hacked to death.
Marijid Alingin’s estate had been taken, his soldiers killed, the girls rescued. But even after all this success, all knew that it would be a very long trip home . . .
TO BE CONTINUED . . . .
Chronicled by Ken Paynter aka...Gashnak
Back to Session 29, Forward to Session 31