The stone continues

[Morgeruat]

OOC: this thread is the continuation of the search for the stone of... thread, it's open to those who participated in the previous one, as well as to any newcomers (for the time being) Particularly this might be of interest to any members of Keldorns order that still lurk around anywhere on the RP Forum

IC: the adventurers had returned to their lives after aiding the noble Paladin Sir Morguerat, from Stonerock in his dwarven citadel, to Sir Jorlon, and to Rufus (don't be offended if I left you out, i'm trying to keep this fairly short and some people are bound to be left out of the initial post) but their victory was short lived, for a few months after their raid on the treasure horde of Balagos the dragon They all heard rumors of a dark knight leading armies of necromancers and undead on raids against neighboring kingdoms, and none had yet withstood the fury of his attacks, for the undead do not feel pain, or halt their marches for lack of sleep, and supplies and supply wagons could be kept light as few living generals were needed in an army of the dead. The evil blight was spreading slowly, but steadily and the heroes feared that it would become too great to turn back if they delayed, and so they gathered, trying to find the Identity of the dark knight, and hopefully become able to overthrow him and halt his army of darkness from turning this world into a place more horrible than any demon fomr the 9 hells could imagine.

[SecretMaster]

Wooohooo. Were back in businness. hey Morgeruat, I'll post my guy's stuff later, but i'm going to bed, so g'night for now.

[K T Ong]

(ooc: Good to start again! )

"Okay, Rufus, it's time to bathe Fenric!" shouted Magnus.

"Noooo..." whimpered Rufus, face stretched into a expression of agony.

"Ruuuu-fus?"

"Owwww, all right..." groaned Rufus reluctantly as he prepared a great tub of warm water and added soap to it. Fenric nearby was tremendously excited and jumped up and down. "Bath -- fun! Fenric -- like!" Rufus lifted the werewolf and heaved him into the water. "Now sit still while I rinse you!" instructed Rufus, but Fenric ignored his instructions and rolled about in the water until the whole place was buried in lather and soap suds, and Rufus slipped right into the tub with a loud splash while attempting to keep Fenric under control.

"Feeeen-riiiic!!" screamed Rufus. Now the whole place was a mess and there were two people in the bathtub. Just then Magnus came in.

"Rufus, I told you to bathe Fenric, I didn't ask you to bathe together with him!"

"He made me fall into the bathtub!" yelled Rufus.

Just then Magnus heard a knock at the door and quickly went to see who it was.

"Khadgar!" exclaimed Magnus, pleasantly surprised. "What brings you here? Come in, I'll get you some tea!"

[K T Ong]

A picture of Rufus, BTW. Hope you folks will like it.



I can also do a pic of your characters (StoneRock might be a bit hard, though -- I'm not used to drawing dwarves [img]tongue.gif[/img] ). Just give me a short physical description and I'll do one for you.

[ 07-14-2002, 05:21 PM: Message edited by: K T Ong ]

[SecretMaster]

OOC>Cool pic K T.
IC> Khadgar comes in. "Hello Magnus, its been awhile." He notices some water dripping through the ceiling. "Now what in earths name have you been up to? Why, your flooding place" He chuckles. "On another note, I've come to chat with you. I've been very busy. You see, our friend Morgeruat sent me a letter the other day. We're trying to re-unite everyone, because we are preparing a long journey. We are attempting to discover this Dark Knight's identity, and foil his plans of turning the world into darkness. Jorlon suspects the Knight he is trying to find is part of the legion."
Rufus comes down to see who it is.
"Hello Rufus!"Khadgar waves. "How are you doing today?"

[K T Ong]

Still all wet and foamy, Rufus forced a stiff smile on his face. "I'm...great, sir," he replied. "I'd presume you have been, too..." Behind him was Fenric, all wet and foamy as well and humping his back excitedly. Khadgar could not help but giggle at the sight of the two.

Magnus smiled at Rufus and Fenric, and shook his head. "All right, I'll allow you to use your magic this once," he said. The expression on Rufus' face brightened up noticeably as he quickly pulled out his wand from his boot and waved it in a circle. Sparkles glittered in the air and all the water and soap suds around the place disappeared while Fenric and himself became clean and dry again.

"You don't allow your little apprentice to use magic to handle such things, old boy?" asked Khadgar.

"Only occasionally will I let him," replied Magnus. "I don't want Rufus to take magic for granted!" Nearby, Rufus sulked.

"Anyway, as I was saying," continued Khadgar, his expression suddenly sober, "I've received news from Sir Morguerat about the Dark Knight and his undead legions. From what he has learned, the Dark Knight is apparently gathering his forces to launch an all-out Crusade of Darkness across the continent, all the way from the Northern Ice to the Dark Jungles of the far South. If that's really his intention, and if he succeeds, our entire world could be plunged into Endless Night..."

"Of late I have discerned stirrings of things unclean in my World-Scrying Orb as well," confirmed Magnus, "which gave certain indication of the presence of a rising force of extreme malevolence. I actually meant to invite you over and ask you what you would know of this, but now you've come --"

A knock at the door interrupted Magnus' words. "I'll answer it," said Rufus, who went to the door.

"Help... Help me..." gasped a beautiful female dark elf with utter exhaustion and weakness as she fell through the door. Rufus quickly held her in his arms to prevent her from falling.

"Hey!" cried Rufus in astonishment. "Who are you?"

"I'm... Chun-Li..." gasped the elf. "I'm a necromancer who once worked... for the Dark Knight, but..." Magnus' and Khadgar's eyes went wide open with alarm upon hearing the words.

"But what?" pursued Rufus.

"He... wanted to slay my whole family and clan... and make them into undead troopers... so I defected..." Then she lost consciousness and went limp.

(ooc: Thought I'd introduce a female character -- not very healthy for everyone in the party to be male, right? And she can help a great deal, too, since she formerly worked for the Dark Knight and would therefore know a lot of things. Of course, if you folks don't like the idea, then just ignore it. Don't mind me naming her after one of my favorite Street Fighters, BTW.

And SecretMaster, would you like me to draw you a picture of Sir Jorlon? )

[Morgeruat]

As they were pondering the strange turn of events, and their unprecedented luck in getting such a valuable ally, they couldn't help but wonder how she had known where to find them, and if would help their foe find them as well...

Rufus was just finishing binding the wounds of the exhausted drow when a loud knock at the front door grabbed the attention of all in the room, without waiting the portal flew open and in walked a broken shell of a man, he was small in stature, with a fearful look to his eyes, his horse was tethered outside bearing a suit of ancient plate and mail that the poor man could obviously not carry himself, and yet as they looked at him they could see in his eyes a strength, and as they focused on that strength they saw the truth, this broken pitiful weakling was the former paladin Sir Morgeruat, who had once led them on their heroic quest against the dragon Balagos.

Looking around he greeted those present, "Good to see you again Kadgar, Magnus, Rufus, and even you Fenric, it's been too long since we've seen each other, as for my change in appearance, I will have to tell you about that later, for there is no time for the telling now, and perhaps it is even now too late, I fear we cannot wait idly by here for our companions to join us, the agents of the dark one Morhd Sihthe are everywhere and are destroying the most powerful bastions of those who can resist, clearing the way for his armies to swallow everything in their wake with little or no resistance" closing his eyes he stood there for a moment, "I'm too late, one of them is here" he reached towards his back, before realizing his no longer bore his enchanted blade, scowling he the reached for the rapier at his belt, and left his hand on the pommel ready to free the blade from it's scabbard at a moments notice, he looked around and closed the door. "Magnus, I trust this keep is warded against the agents of evil?"

[K T Ong]

"It is," answered Magnus. "Very heavily. Only those who are good by nature can pass the barrier -- or extremely powerful evil creatures, such as the archdemons, who are fortunately safely locked away by the great god Clangeddin in another plane of existence. But even then this place is magically hidden from normal sight; only those who have been here before would know how to come here, such as Khadgar and you. Or those who possess extraordinary magical abilities."

"Then... How did that minion of the Dark Knight come here?" asked the now-weakened paladin, pointing at the dark elf still lying on a couch. "And why are you all nursing her? She's a servant of the Dark Knight!" Fenric was so taken aback by the paladin's tone of speech (even though he only dimly understood what the paladin said) that he stopped stroking the dark elf's long, flowing black hair.

"No longer, apparently," replied Khadgar. "Do not fear, Sir Morguerat. She told us she had defected before losing consciousness. And if she could pass through the wards against evil set up by Magnus, that would mean she must have become good. So what she said would have to be true."

"She would also have to be a spellcaster of considerable ability," remarked Magnus, "to be able to find this place, as I explained. But for now, come, noble Sir Morguerat, come inside -- and your steed Clonin, too. Come, sit down and tell us what happened. And let's see how we can cure you of your terrible affliction!"

(ooc: I think StoneRock will hate Chun-Li, since elves and dwarves don't get along well and, furthermore, Stoney's a high priest while Chun-Li's a necromancer (albeit a good one). Ought to make for some very interesting storylines, don't you agree, SecretMaster? )

[ 07-15-2002, 09:53 AM: Message edited by: K T Ong ]

[Morgeruat]

Hrmm, if you say she's joined us then your word is good enough for me, but I will be keeping an eye on her though...said the knight, "however I must say that if she is not the creature I sensed then we are all in great danger, it may have followed one of us here.

"we can wait a short time to see if any other allies appear, but then we must leave, or risk getting caught napping." with that the former knight began describing how he came to look so different from the man they had known before, it was a very intriguing tale that chilled them to the bone, A story of how he battled a great evil to regain his paladinhood, and succeeded, but when he did so the evil was released, his soul was "split" the evil was removed, and became a powerful darklord who unfortunately escaped capture, his current whereabouts are unknown, but it is hoped he is dead. Unfortunately the process took most of Morguerat's strength with it, leaving the
knight weak and small, he now stands 5'4" thin and wiry, and with greasy shoulder length dirty blonde hair.

[ 07-15-2002, 01:48 PM: Message edited by: Morgeruat ]

[K T Ong]

"This is... terrible!" exclaimed Rufus. "Is there anything we can do to help Sir Morguerat regain his former self, Master Magnus?"

"There is," said Magnus, "but it's an extremely difficult and exhausting spell which takes a long time to cast. In fact it takes seven days, the fourth of which must be the summer solstice -- and the summer solstice was two weeks ago already!"

"Is there no other way, then?" asked the apprentice.

"I have actually designed a Girdle of the Giants of late," interjected Khadgar, "which will endow any warrior who wears it with superhuman strength and endurance, and greatly augment his physical size as well. The effects last only as long as the girdle is worn, though; once it is removed they will be gone. The Girdle can only be a temporary solution until a more permanent one can be found. And I left it behind at my residence..."

"I wonder if this young woman would know of yet any other ways to help in this respect..." muttered Magnus.

Just then the dark elf stirred. "Pretty girl... waking up!" said Fenric.

Chun-Li sat up. "Easy, miss," said Rufus, "you've still got a few wounds. By the way, I'm Rufus, and this is Magnus, my mentor in the mystic arts. This is Fenric, my... uhhh... playmate..."

"You may address me as Khadgar," said Khadgar.

"I'm Sir Morguerat, Expatriot of the Keldorn Order," said the paladin.

"I must thank all of you greatly for providing me this refuge," said Chun-Li. "The minions of the Dark Knight were pursuing me, and I was virtually out of mana. Had I not found this place, I would have been done for..."

"Could any of the minions have followed you here?" asked the paladin.

Chun-Li's expression became sober. Quickly she looked around the place, a green glow emanating from her eyes as she did so.

"There are none for now," said Chun-Li. "Not for miles around. If there were, I would have been able to spot them straight away. I know their aura. It is nevertheless possible they might find this place and seek entry, though, so I think I must do something, now that I've regained my mana." The dark elf stood up and turned around and around with her arms stretched out as if performing a dance, and for a moment the surroundings seemed to grow darker. Then all was normal again.

"I've cast an Aura of Darkness around this place," explained the drow. "Whenever a place has been overrun and devastated by the Dark Knight's forces, it will be enshrouded in such an aura, so once any minions of the Dark Knight outside see this aura, they'll think this place has already been overrun by their forces and will therefore leave it alone. We're safe for now. And I can maintain this aura for as long as I have mana."

"Rufus, how many potions of mana have we left?" asked Magnus. "Don't mind checking it out for me."

But as Rufus was preparing to leave, a bright glow appeared in the hall, resolving itself into a large gate through which two figures stepped. They were Sir Jorlon and StoneRock!

"Greetings, friends!" said Sir Jorlon happily. Then the smile on the faces of the two changed to an expression of shock as they saw the diminutive yet strangely familiar man, the aura of darkness that enshrouded the place, and above all the dark elf necromancer...

"What... What's going on??" cried StoneRock. "Has this place been overrun by the Dark Knight's forces already??"

[ 07-15-2002, 09:48 PM: Message edited by: K T Ong ]