Legacy Champion
Beginning Trainer
Hello, everyone. You may call me Legacy Champion. You all may know me, for I am a reincarnation of someone here that once was. My story, The Adventures of Tah, doesn't exactly have chapters, so I'll be posting it in large chunks. It's rated PG-14 for mild language and a little blood and gore. A few things for those not familiar with D&D: The Underdark is a large underground place, half dragons are humanoids that look a little like dragons, and Mindflayers are humanoids that look like they have four-tentacled squids for heads.
Here go:
The Adventures of Tah, Book 1
By Legacy Champion
Deep in the depths of the underdark, a heated argument was taking place.
“Oink!”
“Hiss!”
“Shut it!”
Pork Pete and Shasstiss stared each other down as an aggravated Tah walked down the long corridor. Following him was Sunflower the elfish druid and Drago the half-dragon paladin.
“I’m hungry. Before we go to that city, I want to eat. And you know what that means,” Tah grumbled.
“Yeah. We find a kobold so you can suck on its head,” smirked Drago.
“We’ve got five more miles to walk. We’re bound to meet something along the way,” Sunflower said with evident boredom.
“Want to make Shasstiss big so he and Pork Pete can fight?”
“Don’t you know the first rule of magic?” Sunflower said with half surprise and half anger, “Never use it for your own amusement!”
“Really, Sunflower?” Tah questioned, “I thought magic was a force in all of us that should be freed in any way seen fit by the user,” Tah said flatly.
“Feh. You sorcerers have no idea what you could do if you were more disciplined.”
“Whatever,” said Drago, “I don’t care. Just get Tah some food so he won’t be grumpy.”
“Shut it, Drago. Sunflower, the way I see it, you wizards and druids are too disciplined. You read spells out of books while we do what we feel like. I think you’re getting the rotten end of the deal. Humph. I don’t even care any more. I’m hungry.”
“Yes, you said that already. I’m hungry too. Some chicken would be nice right about now.”
“Is that all you two can think about? Food?”
“Uuh, no. Remember? Owning my own plane, raising an undead army and conquering other planes…”
“Food. Err, and, glory, and money, and…land,” said Drago. “I can’t think of anything else.”
Suddenly, and without warning, three chain devils sprang out of a pit up ahead.
“Mmm. Brains,” Tah mused.
“Attack!” shouted Sunflower.
“No kidding,” Drago said sarcastically.
Tah sprung into action. He leapt into the shadows right behind himself and came up in front of the first chain devil, firing his enchanted light crossbow. The bolts hit home in the chain devil’s shoulder. As it prepared to counterattack with its chains, Tah swung around the wounded shoulder and body slammed the chain devil, knocking it to the ground. The chain devil couldn’t pick itself up for two reasons: Its shoulder couldn’t support a thing, and Tah was sitting on it.Tah grabbed it by its neck and attached his tentacles to its head.Tah made a loud, sickening, slurping sound.
“Oh, god, I still can’t get used to that,” Drago said as he turned away in disgust.
He himself was having an easy time dealing with the devil attacking him. He drenched the devil with acid that he and his kind exhaled and watched as it writhed in pain. Despite the extreme pain, the devil jumped at him. Drago easily blocked with his double-ended spear, preparing to retaliate. The devil swung its chains around in a circular motion tried to lacerate Drago. He blocked with his great-sword. The chains wrapped around it, exposing the chain devil’s torso. Drago drove his spear into the now unprotected flesh.
On the other side of the battle zone, Sunflower toyed with the devil attacking him. At first, he used an immobilization spell to stun the devil. He then used slow and then blur, making himself appear to be a fast-moving ghost of a druid in the eyes of the devil. He then walked around the devil, punching it rapidly. To the devil, it looked like Sunflower was running and punching both at the speed of light. Finally, the devil fell to the ground, defeated.
“That was tasty. Very tasty,” said Tah.
“To you, yes,” Sunflower smirked.
“I wonder what that was all about,” said Drago.
A few hours later, all their questions were answered.
The city they had expected to see was…missing, a huge crater filling its place.
“You know, the last time I checked, meteors came from, uhh, well, outside,” Sunflower said, trying to be witty.
“You aren’t witty, Sunflower, stop trying to be witty, ‘cause it’s not working,” Tah said.
“But seriously, people, this is really wrong. I mean, this isn’t supposed to be like this,” Sunflower added.
“What tipped you off, the crater?”
“No time to argue now, guys, look!”
Drago pointed to the other side of the crater. There, two huge hydras stood, each with fifteen heads drooling at the adventurers.
“Go to town, Tah. We aren’t cutting off their heads. So why not suck out their brains?” Drago said in a sarcastic yet matter-of-factly way.
“Txzah Zenkfra,” Tah said flatly, which was an under common expression for “with pleasure.”
Tah dashed into the shadows and came up at the other side of the crater, right above the first hydra’s head. In a daring move, he took a crossbow bolt and shoved it in one head’s eye, piercing the brain and killing the head. Another head picked Tah up and threw him against the wall, temporarily stunning him. Drago was already halfway around the crater and decided now was the time to act. He moved into firing position and spit a line of acid at the closest hydra’s chest. The hydra reared up angrily, the fatal error.
“Thunk.” The now-fully conscious Tah shot the bolt deep into the hydra’s stomach. It screeched in pain, and fell, driving the bolt in deeper, killing the hydra instantly.
The other hydra saw the dead comrade and realized it had no cover. Panicking, it flailed about, knocking the now present Sunflower off his feet.
“Waah!” Sunflower cried out.
Tah teleported onto the distracted and now overconfident hydra’s main head.
“Big mistake on the hydra’s part,” Drago said, amused.
The hydra couldn’t fight, the extraction happened so fast. It fell to the ground.
While Tah sucked the rest of the brains out of the hydra’s heads,
Sunflower picked himself up and brushed himself off.
“That was fun. Whatever destroyed the city, we now know it’s intelligent, otherwise it wouldn’t send hydras after us.”
“The hydras are a clue, Sunflower. Two things are scary enough or skilled enough to tame hydras: a beastmaster or a dragon.”
“Drago, for your sake, I hope it’s a beastmaster,” Tah flatly stated.
“Speaking of beastmasters,” Drago said, “Remember that one we faced way back when?”
“I seem to…”
***
Tah lay down in bed. It was well past time to wake up, but he didn’t feel like it.
“Master,” said a kobold slave in a feeble manner.
“Why do you disturb my sleep, minion?” Tah growled.
“Forgive me, Master, but Chef says luncheon is ready,” The kobold said with fear in its voice.
“What is it today, minion?”
“A half-dragon they found snooping around the place, Master. He put up quite a fight.”
“Is it live, minion?”
“Of course, master, it’s still struggling on the kitchen table.”
Tah got out of bed. He went to the dining room to find the half dragon, held down by around ten kobolds, writhing on the table.
“So it’s come to this!” the half-dragon started, “A mindflayer being fed by his minions!”
“SILENCE, KNAVE!!” Tah screamed, not angry, but trying to intimidate. “On second thought, half dragon, you’re right.” Tah stroked his tentacles thoughtfully. “Minions, release him into “The grounds,” Tah said.
“The grounds?” What kind of a place is that?” the half dragon asked.
“You…are pushing…your luck!” Tah said through gritted teeth. “The grounds is my back yard. It’s filled with kobolds who will KILL you on sight.”
“Sounds fun, Mindflayer. Riddle me this: What would you rather do: kill a half dragon for the sport of it, or become even richer than you already are.”
“Tempting. I’m reading your mind, you’re not bluffing. Go on.”
“What if I told you that there’s a rich human beastmaster, summoning large creatures to fight for him? If we can get to him undetected, we can easily kill him.”
Tah was already done suiting up. He usually dressed lightly.
“Do you know where he is?”
“I’ve studied his lair carefully. I have maps that are magically enchanted: they project images from them.”
Tah had grabbed his crossbow and quarterstaff by them.
“Where is that damned scythe?” Tah asked in frustration.
“You’re a farmer?” The half dragon asked.
“Aristocrat, landowner, slaveholder, city official. Not farmer, not in the least. The scythe symbolizes death, and that’s what I do best. My name literally translates from under common as “death on two legs.”
“What’s your name, then?” The half dragon asked.
“Dekar. Tah Dekar,” Tah said in a smooth manner. “And yours?”
“It’s draconic.”
“I know draconic.’
“Ah. Then it’s Rawrakarrdwaarrarrrwarrar.”
“Drago Lixthuth, then. Pleasure to meet you.”
“It’s mine. Mind if I call a friend?”
“Go ahead.”
Drago walked out the door. He leaned his head back and sprayed out a high-pressurized geyser of acid, acting as a beacon. Instantly, an elf teleported beside him.
“What does the mindflayer want?” The elf asked.
“It wants to find this beastmaster the half dragon speaks of, and it would also like to be addressed when you have a question about it,”
“Fine. Let’s go.”
After telling his servants he was leaving, Tah set out with the half dragon and the elf.
“My name is Sunflower,” the elf said once.
“I am Tah,” Tah responded. “All questions should be answered by now.”
After a lot of walking, it was clear that Tah and Sunflower hated each other. A lot.
The beastmaster was waiting for them.
“Heh. Looks like they’ve arrived,” he arrogantly said.
Those were his last words. Tah’s bolt ran his heart through.
***
“I’ll never forget the look on that chump’s face,” Tah spoke. The party continued on until they came upon a peculiar sight: a drow inquisition fighting a large group of trolls. It was obvious the drow were losing. Badly. In fact, there only appeared to be one drow left standing. He disappeared occasionally and jumped to attack the trolls.
Tah, Drago and Sunflower looked at each other and nodded. Tah was the first to jump into action. He started cackling, a sound that reverberated throughout the cavern. Everyone dropped their weapons and held their ears.
Tah dove into the shadows and jumped out behind a troll. He slurped up a satisfying meal. He used his mind blast on the others. They fell quickly to Bigby’s crushing fist, a spell used to conjure a giant hand to do the dirty work.
The only uninjured drow came up to Tah.
“Thanks,” he said with appreciation. “Wait. Tah, is that you?”
“Melok?” Tah asked.
“Tah, my friend, it is you,” Melok stated. “We have much catching up to do, you realize.”
“Yes,” Tah said plainly, “we do.” At that very moment, one of the troll’s stomach burst, and a large gargoyle stepped out.
“That’s Bromthurst. He’s my gargoyle servant,” Melok stated.
“Wait,” Sunflower started, “am I missing something?”
“Oh, yeah. You’re there. Let me explain. Awhile back, y’know, when I had my glory, I was traveling in an inquisition…
“You FOOL! You thought I was going to break into a flashback, DIDN’T YOU?! Actually, if you thought that, you’d be right.”
The others stared at him.
“Right, I’m getting besides the point, here, so…
***
It was Tah, Xeno, and Qüunos, and things were not going well. Mainly, they kept staring at each other’s heads. The three of them were sent by the elder pool to find a rouge kobold slave with sensitive information regarding the mindflayer-orcish war (the two races had been at war for around ten years by then).
Now, kobolds aren’t bright, they can’t fight very well, and they certainly don’t like the mindflayers. If one were to escape, it would be bad. Very bad indeed.
So, inquisitions were sent out frequently to find renegades. Tah volunteered. Successful slavecatchers were greatly rewarded.
Back to the story. Tah, at the time 80, was the youngest of the group. But, he was still the most powerful. Xeno was a wizard who had trained in the overworld. He hated Tah, because Tah was a sorcerer. There’s this thing about mindflayer sorcerers and mindflayer wizards. Prospective sorcerers were picked by the Elder Pool, while those not fit to be sorcerers could become wizards or druids. Sorcerers are farther up on the mindflayer hierarchy-in fact, they’re right below the elder pool! Here’s how it goes:
Elder Pool
Sorcerers
Patriarchs-not desirable. Also chosen by elder pool. Celibacy required, and no one wants that.
Wizards-Druids (equal value)
Telepath seers-chosen by individual, approved by Elder Pool. They use their telepathic powers for oracly.
Townsfolk
Town non telepath- we would say “village idiot.”
Slaves-not mindflayers. Usually goblins, kobolds and Kuo-tas.
Xeno was a wizard, and he wasn’t happy with it at all. Qüunos was a seer. Seers didn’t get that much respect, but hey. They figured that what you got to do, you got to do. Anyway, it’s getting off topic. The three had been traveling for weeks, and still no sign of the kobold.
“How could a kobold get so far?” Tah questioned. The group had scried the place many times. Many, many times. Suddenly, Xeno saw something. He didn’t tell the others though, because he would get the credit. The fatal error.
“Groogghhshh!!!” Xeno gurgled. Mindflayers don’t have the lungs to scream, so they make these weird gurgly sounds instead. Tah and Qüunos turned around and saw what the recently deceased (dearly beloved) Xeno didn’t see, in addition to the kobold renegade: two iron golems, fresh with mindflayer blood (it’s blue) on their swords. Tah and Qüunos quickly established a telepathic link.
‘Where did they come from?’ Tah sent.
‘Orcs build things. Did I answer your question?’ Qüunos sent back.
Tah nodded and charged up a flaming sphere while Qüunos sent two crossbow bolts at the kobold. They found their marks: in the kobold’s skull. Tah had charged the sphere to the point of it being as big as his IQ in diameter: really big. He hurled the sphere at the first golem, not melting, but seriously heating it. The second charged at Qüunos, cutting him in to several pieces. Tah teleported over to his fallen comrade’s dead body. Err…body parts. He put his hands over the corpse’s face and absorbed the magical energy. He then launched an ice storm in the direction of the heated golem. A hiss filled the cavern.
After the steam subsided, two things were obvious: one, the previously heated golem had turned into a statue. Two, the other had absorbed a big load of steam, instantly rusting. Tah brushed his hands together.
“A job well done,” he said to himself.
“Yes, a job well done,” another voice repeated.
Tah turned to see a drow standing beside him.
“Hi, I’m Melok. Who are you?” Melok asked.
“You may call me Tah. What news of the war?” Tah inquired.
“The usual stuff. Gains, losses, sacrifices and hostages. We drove the orcs back at the entrance to your city.”
The explanation for Melok’s explanation is this: the drows and mindflayers are allies. They fight together in the war. They’ve been allies for a while now. To make a long story short, Tah and Melok became friends while fighting the war.
However, the two were separated in a cave in. They knew they were both alive, but they continued on with their lives.
***
By the time Tah was done with his story, the group of now five had come to an overworld entrance. Simultaneously, Melok and Tah both said
“I think we should turn back. Right now!”
Sunflower rolled his eyes.
“Why, what’s the worst that can happen?”
“I’d be burned to death by townsfolk,” Melok said, making an ‘off with his head’ motion with his finger.
“I’d be burned to death by the sun,” Tah added.
“Oh, relax,” Drago said. “Tah, you can wear this cloak I found and this mythril vest,”
Tah asked, “Where’d you get the vest?”
Drago answered, “It was mine, but I got too big for it.”
Tah tried on the suit. It fit him very well. Almost perfectly, in fact. And when he was done suiting up, he was looking pretty good.
“Pretty darn good.”
“Melok, for you, it’s much simpler. Bromthurst, your cape, please.”
Bromthurst gave Drago his cape without question.
“Now, Melok, put the cape on and put this bandanna over your face. Now, lower your hat over your eyes. You’re good.”
“No, I’m evil.”
“I just meant that you were ready.”
“Ah. Say no more.”
***
After traveling a few days in the overworld, the party came to a crossroads. Cloak, as Tah had taken to calling himself, and Melok decided they would travel alone for a while.
In a week or so, Cloak found a large stream with a troll sitting down next to it. The troll got up and chucked a boulder at Cloak. He dodged and teleported to the troll, attempting to stun it with a mind blast. It failed. The troll attacked with tooth and claw, tearing into Cloak’s flesh. He used a minor healing charm to ease the pain and scab the slash and bite marks. He ran back and used mind blast again. This time, the troll fell with a crash.
“Got him good,” Tah remarked before extracting its brain.
Cloak noticed something strange. The troll had been carrying a staff made of carved wood with a blue orb on top which was partly obscured by some of the wood wrapping around it. Cloak recognized the artifact immediately.
“Frostburn’s Wrath? Why here, though? It doesn’t matter. I’ll take it.”
Now, Frostburn’s Wrath is a staff that can make anything cold, and do a lot more than that. To unlock its full potential, three rituals must be preformed. Cloak was already in the middle of the second.
“I should meet up with Melok,” he decided.
***
Melok was in the middle of a fight himself. He had hired a guide to help him find a rare artifact he had heard about. While in a cabin, an elf wizard had attacked him. He faded into invisibility and attacked with his two hand crossbows. They both hit their targets and exploded on impact, being magical and all.
The elf that had attacked then attacked the guide, decapitating her. Melok retaliated swiftly, throwing a knife at the elf’s neck. It hit with grim accuracy. Taking the mythril shirt off the elf, he discovered what it was.
“Is that the Infiltrator? What a catch! Wait till I show everyone!” The Infiltrator is a lot like Frostburn’s Wrath. It’s a legacy weapon. The Infiltrator can make the user ultimately sneaky. It’s very useful like that. Again, a few rituals are required. Melok was doing them.
***
Cloak and Melok met up first.
“Cloak/Melok! I found the Infiltrator/Frostburn’s Wrath!”
They showed each other the two artifacts.
“Lets go show the party. I wonder what they’ll have to say.”
“No, Melok,” Tah started, “I think we should keep this a secret until we complete all the rituals.”
“Agreed. But I want to use it,” Melok pouted.
“Don’t be such a dire rat. We’ll use them. Just not now.”
Sorry it had to end like that, but I should get the next chunk up in a few days. Please Review. PLEASE!
Here go:
The Adventures of Tah, Book 1
By Legacy Champion
Deep in the depths of the underdark, a heated argument was taking place.
“Oink!”
“Hiss!”
“Shut it!”
Pork Pete and Shasstiss stared each other down as an aggravated Tah walked down the long corridor. Following him was Sunflower the elfish druid and Drago the half-dragon paladin.
“I’m hungry. Before we go to that city, I want to eat. And you know what that means,” Tah grumbled.
“Yeah. We find a kobold so you can suck on its head,” smirked Drago.
“We’ve got five more miles to walk. We’re bound to meet something along the way,” Sunflower said with evident boredom.
“Want to make Shasstiss big so he and Pork Pete can fight?”
“Don’t you know the first rule of magic?” Sunflower said with half surprise and half anger, “Never use it for your own amusement!”
“Really, Sunflower?” Tah questioned, “I thought magic was a force in all of us that should be freed in any way seen fit by the user,” Tah said flatly.
“Feh. You sorcerers have no idea what you could do if you were more disciplined.”
“Whatever,” said Drago, “I don’t care. Just get Tah some food so he won’t be grumpy.”
“Shut it, Drago. Sunflower, the way I see it, you wizards and druids are too disciplined. You read spells out of books while we do what we feel like. I think you’re getting the rotten end of the deal. Humph. I don’t even care any more. I’m hungry.”
“Yes, you said that already. I’m hungry too. Some chicken would be nice right about now.”
“Is that all you two can think about? Food?”
“Uuh, no. Remember? Owning my own plane, raising an undead army and conquering other planes…”
“Food. Err, and, glory, and money, and…land,” said Drago. “I can’t think of anything else.”
Suddenly, and without warning, three chain devils sprang out of a pit up ahead.
“Mmm. Brains,” Tah mused.
“Attack!” shouted Sunflower.
“No kidding,” Drago said sarcastically.
Tah sprung into action. He leapt into the shadows right behind himself and came up in front of the first chain devil, firing his enchanted light crossbow. The bolts hit home in the chain devil’s shoulder. As it prepared to counterattack with its chains, Tah swung around the wounded shoulder and body slammed the chain devil, knocking it to the ground. The chain devil couldn’t pick itself up for two reasons: Its shoulder couldn’t support a thing, and Tah was sitting on it.Tah grabbed it by its neck and attached his tentacles to its head.Tah made a loud, sickening, slurping sound.
“Oh, god, I still can’t get used to that,” Drago said as he turned away in disgust.
He himself was having an easy time dealing with the devil attacking him. He drenched the devil with acid that he and his kind exhaled and watched as it writhed in pain. Despite the extreme pain, the devil jumped at him. Drago easily blocked with his double-ended spear, preparing to retaliate. The devil swung its chains around in a circular motion tried to lacerate Drago. He blocked with his great-sword. The chains wrapped around it, exposing the chain devil’s torso. Drago drove his spear into the now unprotected flesh.
On the other side of the battle zone, Sunflower toyed with the devil attacking him. At first, he used an immobilization spell to stun the devil. He then used slow and then blur, making himself appear to be a fast-moving ghost of a druid in the eyes of the devil. He then walked around the devil, punching it rapidly. To the devil, it looked like Sunflower was running and punching both at the speed of light. Finally, the devil fell to the ground, defeated.
“That was tasty. Very tasty,” said Tah.
“To you, yes,” Sunflower smirked.
“I wonder what that was all about,” said Drago.
A few hours later, all their questions were answered.
The city they had expected to see was…missing, a huge crater filling its place.
“You know, the last time I checked, meteors came from, uhh, well, outside,” Sunflower said, trying to be witty.
“You aren’t witty, Sunflower, stop trying to be witty, ‘cause it’s not working,” Tah said.
“But seriously, people, this is really wrong. I mean, this isn’t supposed to be like this,” Sunflower added.
“What tipped you off, the crater?”
“No time to argue now, guys, look!”
Drago pointed to the other side of the crater. There, two huge hydras stood, each with fifteen heads drooling at the adventurers.
“Go to town, Tah. We aren’t cutting off their heads. So why not suck out their brains?” Drago said in a sarcastic yet matter-of-factly way.
“Txzah Zenkfra,” Tah said flatly, which was an under common expression for “with pleasure.”
Tah dashed into the shadows and came up at the other side of the crater, right above the first hydra’s head. In a daring move, he took a crossbow bolt and shoved it in one head’s eye, piercing the brain and killing the head. Another head picked Tah up and threw him against the wall, temporarily stunning him. Drago was already halfway around the crater and decided now was the time to act. He moved into firing position and spit a line of acid at the closest hydra’s chest. The hydra reared up angrily, the fatal error.
“Thunk.” The now-fully conscious Tah shot the bolt deep into the hydra’s stomach. It screeched in pain, and fell, driving the bolt in deeper, killing the hydra instantly.
The other hydra saw the dead comrade and realized it had no cover. Panicking, it flailed about, knocking the now present Sunflower off his feet.
“Waah!” Sunflower cried out.
Tah teleported onto the distracted and now overconfident hydra’s main head.
“Big mistake on the hydra’s part,” Drago said, amused.
The hydra couldn’t fight, the extraction happened so fast. It fell to the ground.
While Tah sucked the rest of the brains out of the hydra’s heads,
Sunflower picked himself up and brushed himself off.
“That was fun. Whatever destroyed the city, we now know it’s intelligent, otherwise it wouldn’t send hydras after us.”
“The hydras are a clue, Sunflower. Two things are scary enough or skilled enough to tame hydras: a beastmaster or a dragon.”
“Drago, for your sake, I hope it’s a beastmaster,” Tah flatly stated.
“Speaking of beastmasters,” Drago said, “Remember that one we faced way back when?”
“I seem to…”
***
Tah lay down in bed. It was well past time to wake up, but he didn’t feel like it.
“Master,” said a kobold slave in a feeble manner.
“Why do you disturb my sleep, minion?” Tah growled.
“Forgive me, Master, but Chef says luncheon is ready,” The kobold said with fear in its voice.
“What is it today, minion?”
“A half-dragon they found snooping around the place, Master. He put up quite a fight.”
“Is it live, minion?”
“Of course, master, it’s still struggling on the kitchen table.”
Tah got out of bed. He went to the dining room to find the half dragon, held down by around ten kobolds, writhing on the table.
“So it’s come to this!” the half-dragon started, “A mindflayer being fed by his minions!”
“SILENCE, KNAVE!!” Tah screamed, not angry, but trying to intimidate. “On second thought, half dragon, you’re right.” Tah stroked his tentacles thoughtfully. “Minions, release him into “The grounds,” Tah said.
“The grounds?” What kind of a place is that?” the half dragon asked.
“You…are pushing…your luck!” Tah said through gritted teeth. “The grounds is my back yard. It’s filled with kobolds who will KILL you on sight.”
“Sounds fun, Mindflayer. Riddle me this: What would you rather do: kill a half dragon for the sport of it, or become even richer than you already are.”
“Tempting. I’m reading your mind, you’re not bluffing. Go on.”
“What if I told you that there’s a rich human beastmaster, summoning large creatures to fight for him? If we can get to him undetected, we can easily kill him.”
Tah was already done suiting up. He usually dressed lightly.
“Do you know where he is?”
“I’ve studied his lair carefully. I have maps that are magically enchanted: they project images from them.”
Tah had grabbed his crossbow and quarterstaff by them.
“Where is that damned scythe?” Tah asked in frustration.
“You’re a farmer?” The half dragon asked.
“Aristocrat, landowner, slaveholder, city official. Not farmer, not in the least. The scythe symbolizes death, and that’s what I do best. My name literally translates from under common as “death on two legs.”
“What’s your name, then?” The half dragon asked.
“Dekar. Tah Dekar,” Tah said in a smooth manner. “And yours?”
“It’s draconic.”
“I know draconic.’
“Ah. Then it’s Rawrakarrdwaarrarrrwarrar.”
“Drago Lixthuth, then. Pleasure to meet you.”
“It’s mine. Mind if I call a friend?”
“Go ahead.”
Drago walked out the door. He leaned his head back and sprayed out a high-pressurized geyser of acid, acting as a beacon. Instantly, an elf teleported beside him.
“What does the mindflayer want?” The elf asked.
“It wants to find this beastmaster the half dragon speaks of, and it would also like to be addressed when you have a question about it,”
“Fine. Let’s go.”
After telling his servants he was leaving, Tah set out with the half dragon and the elf.
“My name is Sunflower,” the elf said once.
“I am Tah,” Tah responded. “All questions should be answered by now.”
After a lot of walking, it was clear that Tah and Sunflower hated each other. A lot.
The beastmaster was waiting for them.
“Heh. Looks like they’ve arrived,” he arrogantly said.
Those were his last words. Tah’s bolt ran his heart through.
***
“I’ll never forget the look on that chump’s face,” Tah spoke. The party continued on until they came upon a peculiar sight: a drow inquisition fighting a large group of trolls. It was obvious the drow were losing. Badly. In fact, there only appeared to be one drow left standing. He disappeared occasionally and jumped to attack the trolls.
Tah, Drago and Sunflower looked at each other and nodded. Tah was the first to jump into action. He started cackling, a sound that reverberated throughout the cavern. Everyone dropped their weapons and held their ears.
Tah dove into the shadows and jumped out behind a troll. He slurped up a satisfying meal. He used his mind blast on the others. They fell quickly to Bigby’s crushing fist, a spell used to conjure a giant hand to do the dirty work.
The only uninjured drow came up to Tah.
“Thanks,” he said with appreciation. “Wait. Tah, is that you?”
“Melok?” Tah asked.
“Tah, my friend, it is you,” Melok stated. “We have much catching up to do, you realize.”
“Yes,” Tah said plainly, “we do.” At that very moment, one of the troll’s stomach burst, and a large gargoyle stepped out.
“That’s Bromthurst. He’s my gargoyle servant,” Melok stated.
“Wait,” Sunflower started, “am I missing something?”
“Oh, yeah. You’re there. Let me explain. Awhile back, y’know, when I had my glory, I was traveling in an inquisition…
“You FOOL! You thought I was going to break into a flashback, DIDN’T YOU?! Actually, if you thought that, you’d be right.”
The others stared at him.
“Right, I’m getting besides the point, here, so…
***
It was Tah, Xeno, and Qüunos, and things were not going well. Mainly, they kept staring at each other’s heads. The three of them were sent by the elder pool to find a rouge kobold slave with sensitive information regarding the mindflayer-orcish war (the two races had been at war for around ten years by then).
Now, kobolds aren’t bright, they can’t fight very well, and they certainly don’t like the mindflayers. If one were to escape, it would be bad. Very bad indeed.
So, inquisitions were sent out frequently to find renegades. Tah volunteered. Successful slavecatchers were greatly rewarded.
Back to the story. Tah, at the time 80, was the youngest of the group. But, he was still the most powerful. Xeno was a wizard who had trained in the overworld. He hated Tah, because Tah was a sorcerer. There’s this thing about mindflayer sorcerers and mindflayer wizards. Prospective sorcerers were picked by the Elder Pool, while those not fit to be sorcerers could become wizards or druids. Sorcerers are farther up on the mindflayer hierarchy-in fact, they’re right below the elder pool! Here’s how it goes:
Elder Pool
Sorcerers
Patriarchs-not desirable. Also chosen by elder pool. Celibacy required, and no one wants that.
Wizards-Druids (equal value)
Telepath seers-chosen by individual, approved by Elder Pool. They use their telepathic powers for oracly.
Townsfolk
Town non telepath- we would say “village idiot.”
Slaves-not mindflayers. Usually goblins, kobolds and Kuo-tas.
Xeno was a wizard, and he wasn’t happy with it at all. Qüunos was a seer. Seers didn’t get that much respect, but hey. They figured that what you got to do, you got to do. Anyway, it’s getting off topic. The three had been traveling for weeks, and still no sign of the kobold.
“How could a kobold get so far?” Tah questioned. The group had scried the place many times. Many, many times. Suddenly, Xeno saw something. He didn’t tell the others though, because he would get the credit. The fatal error.
“Groogghhshh!!!” Xeno gurgled. Mindflayers don’t have the lungs to scream, so they make these weird gurgly sounds instead. Tah and Qüunos turned around and saw what the recently deceased (dearly beloved) Xeno didn’t see, in addition to the kobold renegade: two iron golems, fresh with mindflayer blood (it’s blue) on their swords. Tah and Qüunos quickly established a telepathic link.
‘Where did they come from?’ Tah sent.
‘Orcs build things. Did I answer your question?’ Qüunos sent back.
Tah nodded and charged up a flaming sphere while Qüunos sent two crossbow bolts at the kobold. They found their marks: in the kobold’s skull. Tah had charged the sphere to the point of it being as big as his IQ in diameter: really big. He hurled the sphere at the first golem, not melting, but seriously heating it. The second charged at Qüunos, cutting him in to several pieces. Tah teleported over to his fallen comrade’s dead body. Err…body parts. He put his hands over the corpse’s face and absorbed the magical energy. He then launched an ice storm in the direction of the heated golem. A hiss filled the cavern.
After the steam subsided, two things were obvious: one, the previously heated golem had turned into a statue. Two, the other had absorbed a big load of steam, instantly rusting. Tah brushed his hands together.
“A job well done,” he said to himself.
“Yes, a job well done,” another voice repeated.
Tah turned to see a drow standing beside him.
“Hi, I’m Melok. Who are you?” Melok asked.
“You may call me Tah. What news of the war?” Tah inquired.
“The usual stuff. Gains, losses, sacrifices and hostages. We drove the orcs back at the entrance to your city.”
The explanation for Melok’s explanation is this: the drows and mindflayers are allies. They fight together in the war. They’ve been allies for a while now. To make a long story short, Tah and Melok became friends while fighting the war.
However, the two were separated in a cave in. They knew they were both alive, but they continued on with their lives.
***
By the time Tah was done with his story, the group of now five had come to an overworld entrance. Simultaneously, Melok and Tah both said
“I think we should turn back. Right now!”
Sunflower rolled his eyes.
“Why, what’s the worst that can happen?”
“I’d be burned to death by townsfolk,” Melok said, making an ‘off with his head’ motion with his finger.
“I’d be burned to death by the sun,” Tah added.
“Oh, relax,” Drago said. “Tah, you can wear this cloak I found and this mythril vest,”
Tah asked, “Where’d you get the vest?”
Drago answered, “It was mine, but I got too big for it.”
Tah tried on the suit. It fit him very well. Almost perfectly, in fact. And when he was done suiting up, he was looking pretty good.
“Pretty darn good.”
“Melok, for you, it’s much simpler. Bromthurst, your cape, please.”
Bromthurst gave Drago his cape without question.
“Now, Melok, put the cape on and put this bandanna over your face. Now, lower your hat over your eyes. You’re good.”
“No, I’m evil.”
“I just meant that you were ready.”
“Ah. Say no more.”
***
After traveling a few days in the overworld, the party came to a crossroads. Cloak, as Tah had taken to calling himself, and Melok decided they would travel alone for a while.
In a week or so, Cloak found a large stream with a troll sitting down next to it. The troll got up and chucked a boulder at Cloak. He dodged and teleported to the troll, attempting to stun it with a mind blast. It failed. The troll attacked with tooth and claw, tearing into Cloak’s flesh. He used a minor healing charm to ease the pain and scab the slash and bite marks. He ran back and used mind blast again. This time, the troll fell with a crash.
“Got him good,” Tah remarked before extracting its brain.
Cloak noticed something strange. The troll had been carrying a staff made of carved wood with a blue orb on top which was partly obscured by some of the wood wrapping around it. Cloak recognized the artifact immediately.
“Frostburn’s Wrath? Why here, though? It doesn’t matter. I’ll take it.”
Now, Frostburn’s Wrath is a staff that can make anything cold, and do a lot more than that. To unlock its full potential, three rituals must be preformed. Cloak was already in the middle of the second.
“I should meet up with Melok,” he decided.
***
Melok was in the middle of a fight himself. He had hired a guide to help him find a rare artifact he had heard about. While in a cabin, an elf wizard had attacked him. He faded into invisibility and attacked with his two hand crossbows. They both hit their targets and exploded on impact, being magical and all.
The elf that had attacked then attacked the guide, decapitating her. Melok retaliated swiftly, throwing a knife at the elf’s neck. It hit with grim accuracy. Taking the mythril shirt off the elf, he discovered what it was.
“Is that the Infiltrator? What a catch! Wait till I show everyone!” The Infiltrator is a lot like Frostburn’s Wrath. It’s a legacy weapon. The Infiltrator can make the user ultimately sneaky. It’s very useful like that. Again, a few rituals are required. Melok was doing them.
***
Cloak and Melok met up first.
“Cloak/Melok! I found the Infiltrator/Frostburn’s Wrath!”
They showed each other the two artifacts.
“Lets go show the party. I wonder what they’ll have to say.”
“No, Melok,” Tah started, “I think we should keep this a secret until we complete all the rituals.”
“Agreed. But I want to use it,” Melok pouted.
“Don’t be such a dire rat. We’ll use them. Just not now.”
Sorry it had to end like that, but I should get the next chunk up in a few days. Please Review. PLEASE!
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