The stone continues

[K T Ong]

"No, that shall not be!" contradicted Chun-Li in a firm voice, the hard glare still in her eyes. StoneRock was taken aback. Why was the drow's personality suddenly so different from usual? Though he normally had a dim view of elves, somehow on this occasion he felt a certain awe for the drow.

Without a further word, the dark elf sat down cross-legged and closed her eyes, hands coming together in a strange gesture. As the other adventurers were wondering what was going on, they could see her whole person slowly beginning to glow with a bright, golden light. At the same time Sir Jorlon's wound glowed a sickly, putrid green color, the green glow visibly fading away before the golden radiance. Goden recognised it as the evil substance of the demons being slowly burned away by the light from the drow.

Brighter and brighter the drow's person grew, the fierce, fiery brilliance culminating in a blinding flash of light that left everyone utterly dazzled for several seconds. When everyone could see again, it was found that Sir Jorlon was completely healed of his wounds, as were all the knights who had been engaged in battle with the demons before. Not even a scar was left on their bodies. And Chun-Li was lying on the ground where she had been sitting...

"Oh... What happened?" muttered Sir Jorlon as he slowly sat up. Then he saw Chun-Li and his eyes went wide with alarm. "Chun-Li! Chun-Li!" cried the paladin as he rushed to the drow and picked her up in his arms, shaking her anxiously. Gradually, she regained consciousness...

********************************

It was midday and a bright sun shone down from a crystal clear sky. The entire town's civilians were completely healed and busily repairing the damages, and life was returning to normal. And in a restaurant... (ooc: That's the same restaurant our heroes visited earlier. )

"I tell you," said Chun-Li, "I was as surprised as all of you were. I distinctly felt that there was this being -- or this force -- that momentarily chose me as a vessel through which to carry out its will by banishing the demons and healing Jorlon and the knights. I could tell at the time it 'entered' me that it was extremely powerful, not powerful enough to be a god but powerful nevertheless, and that it was benign by nature and utterly hostile to the demons." The drow paused for a moment. "Actually, though, would it be more correct to say that it 'came out' from somewhere deep within my soul? I wonder..."

"I read of things like this before," said Goden, "but I never thought I'd see it for myself today. What was that 'being', I wonder? Would it return?"

"Whatever it may be," said Sir Jorlon, who was sitting next to the drow and put an arm on her shoulder, "the main thing is that you and I and everyone in this town are all right now. Come, let's have our meal!"

"Yes, friends, let's have our meal!" joined one of the knights who had been battling the demons earlier alongside Sir Jorlon. "The food and drink are all on us -- we owe you heroes a big one! Without you all, we're dead meat by now!"

"You folks have mainly our friend StoneRock to thank," corrected Khadgar. "Not to mention the amazing power of the Golden Gong! I tell you, I'm truly amazed by the power of that gong..."

"Hey, I made my contribution, too!" asserted Rufus. "It was mainly I who showed those demons who's the boss with my halberd! Now they're all locked up in uncle StoneRock's temple -- thanks largely to me, of course!"

"Hey, you're saying I contributed nothing?" scowled Ghzarbanan.

Just then Ryu and Aiko came out of the kitchen with a large bowl of readily sliced orc melon between them. "I'm sure you've all made a contribution, friends!" said Aiko. "For now, why don't you help yourselves to the contribution made by our friend Druhk over here, who delivered all those melons?" The greedy Fenric anxiously meant to charge towards the melons and had to be restrained by Rufus and Magnus.

"We've no doubt achieved a resounding victory today, my wonderful friends," grinned Sir Morgeruat, "but our victory's not yet complete! Now we must plan our next move!"

[ 10-24-2002, 08:05 AM: Message edited by: K T Ong ]

Goden-"Right, we must move on. Listen, the next place we should travel to is Fristway Gate. It is the only town that leads to the Shadow Citidael directly, without any other demons. The town itself is guarded by only 3 demons and 2 shadow lords, but each are extremely powerful. What do you think?"

Khadgar-"This seems like a good Idea, but how powerful is powerful?"

Jorlon-"Exactly what Khadgar said"

Goden-"Well, lets see, there is Myzuc the Overlord. He is a wielder of magic. He is one of the demons. Furix is the Fury Shaker, a demon who wields extremely powerful fire magic. The last demon is Au`zil. He is a demon of stealth. Sticks to the shadows he does. The two shadow lords were great champions of good, turned into a horrific being of undead, shadow, and demon. Their greatest feats are in melee combat."

StoneRock-"Sounds tough, very tough."

[K T Ong]

"Naaaah," boasted Rufus, "with the weapons and magical items given us by the gods, what could possibly stand against us? My Halberd of the Constellations will easily skewer them like slices of melon on this fork!" And he passed a fork right through several pieces of orc melon. "Yah, yah... Bad people, kill!" joined Fenric.

"That's very foolish of you, Rufus," admonished Magnus sternly. "Pride always goes before a fall. You must remember never to underestimate your enemies. That will be the surest way to court your own doom, I tell you." Rufus scowled and lowered his gaze.

"They who know nothing fear nothing," said StoneRock with a smile as he patted Rufus on the back. "Don't be too hard on this brave young man -- he's just a bit inexperienced."

"I agree," nodded one of the knights, "You know, I'm still utterly amazed that you all could have actually gone to the Seven Heavens and met the gods themselves, who gave you all these nice weapons and items! How we envy you for that!"

"Yes, indeed!" joined Aiko. "Well, guess it's not everyone who has that privilege to go to such beautiful places and meet the gods... Hey, you'll have to ask the gods for some favors on our behalf the next time you meet them! Maybe ask them to give us a nicer house!" Everyone laughed.

"Well," said Ryu, "right now it will already be the greatest favor possible from the gods if they will just enable our friends to successfully destroy the Dark Knight and His minions. Did you say you have to go to Fristway Gate as part of this mission, friend Goden? I understand it's an abandoned, underground town far in the north that's flooded with lava!"

"Yes, it is," said Goden. "It used to be inhabited by drows but a few hundred years ago the region became volcanically active and the inhabitants were forced to leave."

"An' ah fear what Goden said is duh truth," confirmed Druhk. "Dat town contains duh only entrance to duh Shadow Citadel, home of duh Dark Knight, weech is much deeper underground. Muh friends heard deez frum duh orcs who joined 'em Darkie bastards, but muh village didn't join, no way."

"Hmmmm," acknowledged Ghzarbanan, nodding his head. "Hey, any of you know more of the strengths and weaknesses of those bozos friend Goden mentioned, those demons and whatever? Maybe we can check up some books? Any of you got a copy of the Fiend Folio we saw in the Astral Library, for example?"

********************************

Travpezario the lich was a little concerned. Obviously the meddlesome fools had acquired the help of the gods, or they wouldn't have been able to destroy the cloud cover created by the Dark Knight for the purpose of blotting out the sun and thus enabling the undead armies to besiege the land even during the day. What was to be done to get rid of those fools?

He pondered for a moment, then decided to send Dermon the Dark against them, just to test their abilities first. He would appoint the now undead assassin to stand guard at the entrance to Fristway Gate. Yes, that's what he would do.

The lich traced a few runes in the air before him, which glowed briefly with a ghastly green before fading away. At once a black, hideous form appeared before his throne of skulls. "What is your bidding, master?..." asked the figure slowly in a lifeless, croaking voice...

[ 10-26-2002, 08:32 PM: Message edited by: K T Ong ]

Goden-"Well, regardless on how you handle the situation, I must be off. I'll meet you 2 miles outside of the Gate. I'll be waiting for 3 weeks only, and it takes about 5 days to get there." He then grabs his supplies and heads off.

Jorlon-"He's right you know. We must devise a quick plan, and fast. The powers are growing stronger, I can feel it."

[K T Ong]

"Goden shouldn't have rushed off like that," remarked Sir Morgeruat. "My steed Clonin will be able to bring all of us to Fristway Gate in less than one day, with his wings and the chariot the gods have supplied us. And wouldn't it be dangerous for Goden to go there all by himself, besides?"

"Maybe we'll have to go there first and wait for him," said Rufus.

"Well?" asked Ghzarbanan. "Does anyone know more about the bozos we'll encounter at that place, their strengths and weaknesses?"

"If my memory does not fail me," replied Khadgar, "the three demons mentioned by Goden are actually none other than the legendary Three Stooges of the Demon World. They're supposed to be very stupid (ooc: SecretMaster, you don't mind ) -- so stupid, you can fool them easily with clever tricks. So maybe we can think of some trick to fool them, and then we'll be able to pass them by easily. As for the two shadow lords..."

"Goden said they were once champions of good," said the halfling. "I wonder in this respect whether my Ankh of Light might be of use? Its light is supposed to have the power to reawaken the goodness in any evil beings that have once been good..."

"I suppose it would be worth trying it on the shadow lords," said Sir Jorlon, "though we should still be prepared for the possibility that it would not work."

"I think the demons still imprisoned in my temple can also give us more clues as to what else we're to expect as we make our way to the Shadow Citadel," joined StoneRock. "Plus any other useful information. Let's go to my temple in this town after we finish our meal. If they don't tell us, our friends Magnus and Khadgar will read the demons' minds using their newly learned psionic spells!"

[ 11-01-2002, 11:01 PM: Message edited by: K T Ong ]

OOC> Whats happened, no one has been postin. Is everyone dead or somethin?

IC>The party goes back to the temple, and StoneRock leads them down to the Inner Chambers where dark demons are imprisoned.
StoneRock-"You must stay here. We have demons from the Shadow Citidael, but only a sacred bunch of priests can enter. I must go alone, but I will find out the information we need. In the meantime, wait here. Come on Jorlon, lets go." Everyone has a baffled look on their face, and Rufus speaks up
Rufus-"How come Jorlon can enter and we can't?"
StoneRock-"Because Jorlon is part of our Sacred order. All commanders of regiments in the Radiant Heart, and all High Priests of Temples. But for one of the Radiant Heart to come in, you must be blessed in by the Arch Cleric and Champion of the Radiant Heart."
Rufus-"Oh. But we are still powerful enough to handle these demons, we could take em!"
StoneRock-"True, but the spirits of the demons may possess you. Come Jorlon, lets go!"
Jorlon and StoneRock head for the chambers.

IC> After an exhausting wait of two days, StoneRock and Jorlon finally emerge.
StoneRock-"I've got good news, and bad news. First the bad; the demon didn't talk much, in fact, he didn't say much. The good news is that he muttered a few words. He told me not to trust anyone, and he told me to seek out the book call K'suat Ngast Umpe'nt Olath. Apparently, its an ancient book found in our library. Its written in a Language called the Mirundda meaning Language of the Saviors. Its been past down era to era to the chosen ones who will save the world from doom."

Rufus- Rufus then blurts out "Hey! Thats us. The gods told us we would save the world remember, so then lets get started!"

Jorlon-"We would do that, but there is a slight problem. This book has been around since the first Era, or atleast legend says. Each Chapter from Each Saviors are written in the language of their time period. It would take months to decode every single passage into our language. We would need a Language expert."

Khadgar-"Why don't we just cast a spell? Or ask the gods?"

Jorlon-"The gods have done enough. And no spell we know can decode this. Not even the whole keep has the power to decode this. Except the-"

StoneRock-"Champion of Words. Every Keep has one. They are the Language experts. They have access to all the forbidden archives, everything. It takes years to learn everything. But our Champion is out right now. He is in the Radiant Heart."

Jorlon-"He is with Marathus. He on duty there, decoding a language from another plane. Apparently, he wishes to make war with another plane. He is foolish, but he has the manpower and men but where did they come from? But thats besides the point. There is one problem though. We are waisting too much time. We can't all go to get him. I'll go get him. You guys start heading out for Fristway Gate. Take Clonin to the Hills of Barshu, east of the Gate. Meet me there. It would take to much time to take the Chariot to the Keep where Marathus is." Jorlon gets up and starts packing for the trip. He walks out of the room.

StoneRock-"I don't like this at all. Jorlon going to Marathus. His kind isn't welcome to Marathus, and who knows what he'd do. And Marathus having a gigantic army, this is even more puzzling. Surely he is aware of the bigger threat. He is also extremely foolish to attack another race from another plane. Mark my words, this will all come down to trouble."

[ 01-02-2003, 07:12 PM: Message edited by: SecretMaster ]

[Morgeruat]

OOC: just got back from 2 weeks in idaho (ok six days on the road and 7 in idaho) I'll start posting again soon.

Thats okay Morgeruat, come and post whenever your ready.

IC>
Jorlon- Jorlon gave a deep and heavy sigh. He'd be gone for a day and a half and he coulnd't get his mind off what the demon had said. "HA, foolish mortal! Do you really think T'zaletect opened this portal so we can be under command of him?!?!? No! He had ulterior motives, to free us from our confines, and rule again! He never really subdued to the Dark Knight, he was double crossing him from the start." What could this mean. Whoever this T'zaletect was, he must seek him out and destroy him for good. "I've battled demons before, but never ones these powerful. It would take our whole group just to bring down two, and there are so many." he thought to himself. "But the gateway has been opened, and we need an army of sheer strength, like Marathus's. Bah, that would never work, who knows where he obtained the manpower." Jorlon continued riding...

StoneRock- "Well, is everyone packed. We've had more than enough time here. Lets see, we've got rations, weapons, armor, healing potions, godlike items, aid kit, spellbooks, the works."

Khadgar- "Yes, I'm all set too. I wonder how far Jorlon has gone?"

Morgeruat- "He is making progress as we speak, in fact, it should take him 3 more days. I saw the horse he has. Its a Knight Champion Horse, born and bred in some faraway place. But they are extremely intelligent, fast, and hardy. I used to have one."

Khadgar- "Wow, it sure is a privelege to join the Radiant Heart."

StoneRock- "That's what they all say, until they have hordes of undead to stop. But we should get a move on, I can't wait to get to Fristway so we can rid ourselves of that blasted elf. He is such a nuisance if you ask me."

Khadgar- "Thats unlike of you StoneRock. You like most elves."

StoneRock- "Not this one, he's a filthy one. Never did see an elf noble wear such shoddy clothes. And he reaked of some strong odor."

Khadgar- "How do you know he is a noble?"

StoneRock- "He told me he was one, and he showed me his personal ring that has the mark of which house he belongs to."

Khadgar- "Many elvish nobles grow up to be warriors and mages, druids and rangers. And all those proffesions don't get the greatest pay. He probably can't afford grand clothing. An only Elvish Kings and priests get the best silks."

StoneRock- "True..."

Progress of the Group:

While Jorlon crossed bare plains, a harsh frosty mountain pass, and forest heavy with brigands, the remaining heroes made their way to the Barshu Hills. It was not what the whole group expected. It was more like a mountain, with a small fading cobblestone path green with moss. Around it were cliffs, trees black with ash, and sulfuric air.

StoneRock- StoneRock huffed and puffed,"Surely there is some easier way up, we've been climbing this blasted thing for almost 4 hours. And the air burns my lungs."

Morgeruat-"Patience StoneRock, you must be strong, and quiet. Will are very close to the Gate, we wouldn't want to alarm our enemies."

Rufus-"Plus, were an easy target for scouts," Rufus chimed in," Were on a mountain cliff, everything, with a clear view. I wouldn't be surprised if the garrison was alerted by now."

Khadgar-"Were almost to the top, look! I can see the top! Yes we are almost-"

Khadgar was interuppted by the screams of men. "Kill them all. Up there on the cliffs!"

StoneRock-"Rufus lad, perhaps you should be quiet, you always seem to say the worst things at the worst time!"

Magnus-"Look, those boulders will provide us some cover! Quickly lets run to them!" The whole group runs behind a bunch of boulders, while Khadgar hides the horses. Morgeruat grabs his bow, same with Gharzbanan. StoneRock starts uttering words of magic when Magnus yells, "Don't StoneRock, there is an anti magic barrier here. The only way to stop it is to kill the demons guarding the gate!"

StoneRock- "Damn it!"

After Morgeruat and Gharzbanan use up a round of arrows, Morgeruat makes up his mind. "We can't hit the enemy from this posistion, and soon they will be making there way upwards to here. We must head to the top, and quickly."

StoneRock-"Well I hope our horses are happy, there at the top grazing away, completely cluess of what is about to happen to us!"

[ 01-16-2003, 03:51 PM: Message edited by: SecretMaster ]