Ironworks Gaming Forum - View Single Post - Part 7>>>The Shadow of Love (an LoF adventure)

Cyril Darkcloud · 06-24-2006, 12:27 PM

The Giants of Shadow

There was a time when dragons were creatures both rare and wondrous and when none but the mightiest and most storied of heroes would even consider standing against them, let alone have even the slimmest possibility of surviving such an encounter. And the slaying of a dragon – once there was a time when such a feat itself would be more than sufficient to guarantee that the name of that one who had done so would be remembered in the songs of generations as one truly singular and truly favored. Then came the days of assigning statistics to dragons and of placing them upon wilderness and dungeon encounter tables. These days were followed by the multiplication of dragons and the even greater multiplication of the adventurers whose livelihood was made in their looting of their hoards and the selling of their skins. It happened then that the slaying of dragons became a thing merely a step away from the mundane, little more than a right of passage for the powerful character, and even CRPGs came to boast of the several powerful dragons that waited to be slaughtered by heroes as mere stepping stones on the way to some greater goal. How far the mighty have fallen!

Little wonder it is then that this game has witnessed the destruction of 3 such beasts, and little wonder as well that their destruction was simply perceived as a matter unworthy of either note or of celebration, for the death of a dragon is nothing but a commonplace. So it is this day when the growth of shadows at the falling of the sun brings with it the arrival of a band of creatures mighty in limb and pitiless of heart before the smoking crater that houses the lair of mighty Balagos, the dragon who once assaulted the Tower. Such defenses the dragon had are easily bypassed and its guardians are readily slaughtered, and when the giants stand before the creature they greet its vanity with the stern gazes of those who have nothing to fear. They say nothing, but the heat of their hatred fills this smoking chamber and it is the dragon who feels the grip of fear seize its heart.

Fire erupts toward the giants and still the stand. Again fire burns them, and still they stand. A third time, Balagos breathes, and still the giants stand. The burns upon their flesh do not slow them. The pain of the fire matters little to them. And Balagos, might Balagos, matters even less. A shout fills the chamber. “FOR TERRAKIS!’ And before the stones of this place stop ringing with its echoes, the dragon is butchered as if it were nothing more than some base animal. Its body is skinned and its flesh set aside as meat for the journey, and when the Giants of Shadow take their leave of this place nothing but the smallest of traces shall remain of either the dragon or its hoard.

ooc: A tip of the cap to anyone who remembers Balagos. And as far as the once great dragon is concerned – memories are all that are left of him.

06-24-2006, 12:27 PM	#262
Cyril Darkcloud Lord Soth Join Date: February 7, 2002 Location: New York Posts: 1,980	The Giants of Shadow There was a time when dragons were creatures both rare and wondrous and when none but the mightiest and most storied of heroes would even consider standing against them, let alone have even the slimmest possibility of surviving such an encounter. And the slaying of a dragon – once there was a time when such a feat itself would be more than sufficient to guarantee that the name of that one who had done so would be remembered in the songs of generations as one truly singular and truly favored. Then came the days of assigning statistics to dragons and of placing them upon wilderness and dungeon encounter tables. These days were followed by the multiplication of dragons and the even greater multiplication of the adventurers whose livelihood was made in their looting of their hoards and the selling of their skins. It happened then that the slaying of dragons became a thing merely a step away from the mundane, little more than a right of passage for the powerful character, and even CRPGs came to boast of the several powerful dragons that waited to be slaughtered by heroes as mere stepping stones on the way to some greater goal. How far the mighty have fallen! Little wonder it is then that this game has witnessed the destruction of 3 such beasts, and little wonder as well that their destruction was simply perceived as a matter unworthy of either note or of celebration, for the death of a dragon is nothing but a commonplace. So it is this day when the growth of shadows at the falling of the sun brings with it the arrival of a band of creatures mighty in limb and pitiless of heart before the smoking crater that houses the lair of mighty Balagos, the dragon who once assaulted the Tower. Such defenses the dragon had are easily bypassed and its guardians are readily slaughtered, and when the giants stand before the creature they greet its vanity with the stern gazes of those who have nothing to fear. They say nothing, but the heat of their hatred fills this smoking chamber and it is the dragon who feels the grip of fear seize its heart. Fire erupts toward the giants and still the stand. Again fire burns them, and still they stand. A third time, Balagos breathes, and still the giants stand. The burns upon their flesh do not slow them. The pain of the fire matters little to them. And Balagos, might Balagos, matters even less. A shout fills the chamber. “FOR TERRAKIS!’ And before the stones of this place stop ringing with its echoes, the dragon is butchered as if it were nothing more than some base animal. Its body is skinned and its flesh set aside as meat for the journey, and when the Giants of Shadow take their leave of this place nothing but the smallest of traces shall remain of either the dragon or its hoard. ooc: A tip of the cap to anyone who remembers Balagos. And as far as the once great dragon is concerned – memories are all that are left of him.