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A Failing of Faith
Prelude
In Astol:
"My Lord, we have taken our first elven city. However, while their forces do seem to be lossing numbers their morale is great. They are being lead by an elf like we have never seen before. His skill with the bow is great."
"Excellent. And if this elf is the source of their hope, then crush their hope at the source. I want this land before winter breaks!"
"Yes, Sir."
Iron Shores:
"Damn the humans! It is there fault we have this plague upon us!" many other Dwarves below in agreement.
"Sillence!" King Plutex I screams at his council. "Enough! Do not blame man for what is happening. It was man who freed us all those years ago. Many of you were just lads when it happen so your memory maybe a bit faded of the events but they are still there. If anything these Amazons have more reason to come after our people then they do the humans."
"Then what shall we do, my Lord?."
"I have sent our one of our bravest warriors to seek the ones know as Ulrich the Mighty, Morduke the Brave, Toglard the Toad, Olowniuk of the Shadow, Shane Lee the Wandering Fist, Farrol the Strong, and Mailk of the Bow. He will join them and aid them in hopes that they will return here to aid us in our misfortunes."
"Well who did you send?"
"Kurak."
Everyone begins to mutter back and forth at the sound of the name, the only thing that is constant amongst the muttering are the words "Bringer of Thunder and Lightning"
In Votu:
"Send word out to our people, peace with the Amazons is on the horizon."
Someplace dark and distant
"So...let's talk about your brother." blue bolts fill the room as the man in the chair begins to scream in horrible pain.
Adventure Summary
We killed the last of the priests at the smallest temple, then headed back to finish our looting of the big temple and consecrate it in the name of Gramlock. As we were working, none of us noticed the arrival of armed guards outside. After hasty consultation it was decided (mostly by Olowniuk) to let Olowniuk do the talking for the group.
It turned out the town guard had been sent to take us to see the mayor. More disagreements and O agreed to meet the mayor if he came by. He turned out to be among the crowd. He and O moved to the livery for some privacy and they had a long talk. The townsman was worried that the group's actions would bring retalliations and he seemed to want to deliver a moral lesson on consequences and obligations.
Eventually he and O agreed that Ulrich should be involved and they went back out to discuss things. The old man began explaining the consequences of the groups actions as though they were simple children. Everyone listened at first, but then Toglard snapped.
He bellowed, he screamed, he raged. A drop of spittle emerged on his lower lip and hung their magically while he harangued the career politician for his role in not cleaning out the Daesians to begin with. He became more animated, punctuating his statements with fireballs and other spells aimed skyward. In the end, the old man left, perhaps in agreement, perhaps in fear.
The group took their loot to the ship and Morduke made contact with Cordova. He agreed to bring troops and reinforcements and congratulated Morduke on leading his companions to victory. The group celebrated at a local inn, dining on buttered peas and drinking the finest ales.
In the morning, Cordova was there. He and Morduke left on an inspection tour with the other priests while the rest of the group waited or took care of their own business. Most of them stayed on the ship, for they planned to sail that day.
Cordova and Morduke talked through out the morning as Morduke lead him from temple to temple. Cordova explained that Deasious was gaining in power and followers all over the world. The Deasians have been targeting the temples of Gramlock very hard and many temples and priests of Gramlock have fallen. It was becoming a dark time for Gramlock and even the Lords of Light since many of the Lord of Darkness where gaining power at an unbelievable rate. Cordova also explained that the Amazons have made peace with the council. While know one believes it will last for long, they had no choice but to accept the offer. The Amazons have claimed an empire consisting of the Forgotten Isles, Ithaky, Mesasis, Svykur, Minneva, Nystol, Balna, Northern Hikria and even now Gri, who left the council. Rumors are that they even have allies now in Timor Plains.
Suddenly, from below decks, Toglard screamed that Morduke was under attack at the largest temple. He hasted the group and was gone. Shane Lee opened a fold and took the rest of the group there to try to help Morduke.
For his part, Morduke was in dire straits. His trust in Cordova had been broken. He'd lent Cordova the Sword of Gramlock "just to see how it felt" and then Cordova and another man, previously invisible, began attacking him. He unleashed his best spells and failed to penetrate their resistance.
Toglard arrived, courtesy of his wish, and began attacking. His magics started to turn the tide of battle, but it was still clear they were no match for their opponents. As all seemed dark, the rest of the group arrived.
Malik launched a flight of arrows, Shane Lee used a spell to suck one into a painful vice of earth and the others leapt into battle. It seemed clear that the tide had turned and they would emerge victorious, if unhappy, since Cordova would still die a traitor.
A moment later the room filled with a brilliant light. Half the group fled, the other half knelt motionless in forced worship of the evil Daesious himself. Daesious manifested as a twelve-year old boy of unsurpassed beauty.
Even as the others were stuck, Morduke and Ulrich called on the greater powers to help them. Morduke wished for his sword and it began to move to him before Daesious grabbed it with a single gesture. Daesious was rather suprised that Morduke was able to summon the power to even draw the sword to him. Daesious then, however began to brag, telling Morduke that Gramlock had become weak and almost powerless. That soon Daesious would have all the Gramlock had and Gramlock would be nothing. He admired the swoard and claimed that it will would him greatly, the Great Sword of Gramlock, a weapon of a God. The one thing that some of the group did notice is the fact that while Daesious went on about the sword, he paid almost no attention to the fact that Ulrich was carrying the Sheild of Mirqual. Finally the greater powers aided Ulrich as he leapt to the attack and struck Daesious many times. Meanwhile Toglard focused his hatred into a single point and suddenly found he could move as well. He reacted by launching two meteor swarms through Daesious. They struck him, but he remained standing.
A moment later, he invoked his brilliant light again and only Morduke and Ulrich remained in the room. Before they could act, he disappeared, taking Cordova, the assassin, and the sword with him as his prize and leaving behind a very angry group with nothing but questions and the bitter sting of their first defeat to show for their efforts.
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