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Whispering Mountains; An account of our response to the call of Archdruid Swirl.
Topic Started: 14 Nov 2011, 14:17 (498 Views)
Verak Tibor
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Charlie Lloyd
Heroes of Athesia,

As you may have heard, we lately received a message from Archdruid Swirl of the God Cursed Mountains, requesting a meeting. We, being Captain Arcane Ceryndra Silverflame of the Mailed Fists, Aurzel, mighty warrior of Ra, and myself, Slath i Faigh of the mists in your mind, gathered to answer this call. Other heroes had sent word ahead, but it seems they were waylaid, so we made onward without them. And so, thus we travelled, led by our guide, Felix, to a village in the mountains where Swirl and her entourage awaited us. My heart sand loud with the notion of some insight into the lycan threat facing us, of meeting, and perhaps even befriending, Archdruid Swirl, of, may my fantasies run ever more elaborate, even forming an alliance against the threat!

Alas, when we reached the designated spot, there were no druids standing to meet us, but a collection of corpses in druid uniforms and a few feasting mountain lions. It seems that in these mountains, even lions grow insensibly large, with their cubs alone staring me in the face. One wonders if the meagre flesh of men, even so mighty men as those of the mountains, might satisfy the lions for more than a passing moment. Nonetheless, we killed the lion, drove off the lioness, and realising that the cubs would soon starve without their parents, we sent those that survived back to Varis Liadon, who I believe enlisted the aid of Dargan Drosilan, in the hope that they could be trained as house pets.

After having dealt with the immediate danger, we set about determining what had happened at the site. Through the use of Aurzel's rituals to speak with the souls of the dead, and simple observation made about the place, we determined several useful pieces of information. Felix informed us that Archdruid Swirl was not among the numbers of the dead. This, I'll admit, was both a relief and a worry. I should mention, for those that worry, that each and every brave man and woman among the druid party died with weapons in hands, and despite the swiftness of the assault, many even looked their enemies in the eye and showed no fear. Numerous booted footprints confirmed that the lions had only been taking advantage of an earlier attack, and had not killed the druids themselves. A peculiarity of the site, was that the weapons of the enemy could found about, but the enemy themselves were entirely absent. This was later explained when those cultists we killed disappeared entirely after death. However, the weapons themselves held clues, in that they bore upon them symbols like those of the Holy Orders of Pelor in the Dark Plains, but they were quite different. Tainted, one might say.

Sadly, my skill at tracking was not enough to trace the prints any further. So, we headed to a nearby village. We found it in the aftermath of a battle, which, their elder informed us was with Vanir cultists, who for some reason would be attacking them again shortly. We stayed to help with the defence, Aurzel fell in this encounter, such was the tenacity and aggression of the attackers. When he returned to us, he seemed different somehow. Nothing obviously changed, but my attentiveness to the minds of others told me something about him was grimmer than it had been. I could not say what that was, nor would it be my place to do so. Perhaps all I sensed was a sudden resolve to be done with this messy business, spurred on by his own near death experience.

Sadly the valorous guides the villagers provided us also succumbed to underhanded enemy assault. I fear we might have protected them better, for the they had no-one left to spare who might help us root out these cultists, save a small boy who knew of their cave.

I had thought to know the minds of men the world over, and to give weight to their customs and allow even a boy like him the chance to stand, knowing full well that his time would likely end that day. It was not I, then, master of the mind and silver tongued sage of the woods, but Aurzel, mighty warrior and priest, channeller of divine secrets, who successfully convinced the boy to return home. Having done this, we noted around the cavern a kind of mobile moss that seemed to engulf and smother all light in the area. With the aid of Learghas, I was able to look ahead into the darkness and see the cultists hiding ahead. We realised that no ordinary means would keep the moss at bay, but Ceryndra, mistress of the Silver Fire, was, it seems, no ordinary means at all. Through her will alone, she summoned flames so potent as to scour away the moss and let us enter the cave and dispatch the cultists. We found on the body of the leader a letter commanding them to deliver the Archdruid to one Hezuz Dominguez, a name more commonly found to south, in the Dark Plains. The letter too, bore the strange sun symbol, and even the writing itself suggested a man not native to these parts.

We found our way to the location mentioned in the letter, and found what appeared to be a church, hidden away up here among the peaks. I weaved a subtle illusion about Aurzel, that he might walk among the enemy as one of them, to count their numbers and scout the terrain. With this information, we quickly destroyed the cultists guarding the place.

As the last one fell, we heard a disappointed yell from behind us. Imagine my surprise, as a half-orc warrior, who could scarcely conform more to the racial stereotype of stupidity if he had thought to wear lion skulls for warmth, ran toward us. Still, intelligence is not the only virtue, and though we initially thought him a threat, it turned out his disappointment was at not having any cultists left to bash about for himself. He introduced himself, in the loosest sense of the word "introduce", as Krunk, protector of the same druidic circle led by Archdruid Swirl. He had tracked the enemy to here, and was planning his assault as we showed up. Whilst he was trying to decide if we were more enemies or friends, he applied his mind so hard that he apparently missed the fight entirely, which I have to say, is a great shame, for with his help, the fight inside the door went a lot faster. His axes made short work of the mages, or "squishies", who might otherwise have presented us with something more of a barrier.

Having finally fought our way through to the chamber of Hezuz himself, a long fight ensued, where his acolytes seemed more tenacious, if it is possible, than the rest of the mountain folk. He constantly restored them to health after we felled them, so until he was brought down, they would not fall.

We finally did bring down this tainted priest, and freed Archdruid Swirl from her imprisonment. From her, we learned that secret of the mountains, the reasons for their curse, and the motivations of the Lycans.

It seems the ancient mountain folk made a pact with the gods that granted them divine protection, in exchange for keeping the holy mountain clear of outsider. This pact was broken, and an outsider did set foot on the mountain. Such was the wrath of one druid at this that he struck down the trespasser without weapon in hand, creating a powerful Vanir. The druidic circle, in turn, cursed that druid to never die until the Vanir threat was ended. That druid, it turns out, is Fane, the same leader of the Lycans who now leads an army toward Unity Island. Swirl surmises that he feels lycanthropy to be the only defence common folk will have against the Vanir.

With this information, we may have tools with which to bargain with Fane. Though the path may be hard, we can help him end this Vanir problem, that our citizens need not be exposed to this curse. Archdruid Swirl said that if such an alliance were to be proved possible, she will have her people ready to help out.

Thus ends my account. I am sure that I have included all that may be of interest, and much more besides, but if my companions have more to add, then by all means, let them do so.

Let the hunt never end while our enemies still stand!

Slath i Faigh
Edited by Verak Tibor, 14 Nov 2011, 14:17.
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King Kiya
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John K
To avoid any confusion seeing it written down, he's called Thane, not Fane.
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Aurzel
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Andrew Kyriacou
An excellent recounting Slath i Faigh, although you seem to have left out the part of how I heroicly prevented the lycanthropes that had been part of the cult from laying a hand on my comrades to prevent them suffering the same curse as I.

In all seriousness though, one thing I didn't see mention of was the provisor Archdruid Swirl made at the end of our conversation. We may able to convince Thane that we are able to help with the Vanir as we are and refocus on the threat both sides are concerned with (most likely with a sufficient show of strength on our part). However, if and when we manage to purge the mountains, the only way to get the gods to return would be to reapply the old oath. That is to say that no one would be able to set foot on the mountains without swearing unyielding alliegance to those people, forsaking even your homeland. This may not be an issue for some of us but for others, such as our loremaster on the lycans, this would be a difficult choice as he'd no longer be able to take advantage of the offer Thane has given him without swearing such an oath.

Finally, it is true that I fell in battle, and while I was brought back as others have (as I have once before previously even), this time felt different. The grimness Slath felt he sensed in my mind was due to a most unsettling experience. While my spirit began to leave my body I felt ... something, on the edge of my consciousness. It was something unnatural and altogether repulsive, and when I was brought back I knew it had been a Vanir. For what purpose, I do not know. I do know that they must be removed though. While I generally view the beliefs of most people as superstition or something otherwordly that has little effect on our kingdom. This experience has been like a bucket of cold water poured on me.
I pray to Ra none of you have a similar experience ...

Aurzel
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Krunk
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Krunk see Krunks' name in heally mans' story. Krunk not understand rest.
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Aurzel
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Andrew Kyriacou
Krunk it says you smashed some heads and freed Swirl.
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