Chapter 1: The Road to Hestavar
The call had gone out: after their heavy losses at the Battle of the Black Rock, the Knights Templar needed aid. It was a measure of their desperation that Grand Master Oran sent out a copy of his plea to any allies who might conceivably listen. The requested aid included recruits, trainers, healers, or anyone willing to take up arms on behalf of the Templar.
In the small village of Roaming River, a small group of volunteers from across the lands gathered to be taken to Hestavar by a contingent of Templars. They included Marius Ban Vlackburg, an imposing human with dark clothing and a large axe, Caeradwyn, a young eladrin istar from the fey court of Arborlon, the tatooed goliath warden Azak de-Brog, and a man claiming to be Sir Brachion Dendredal, retired Templar Knight. On the day of departure, there were no knights to escort them as planned, instead they found only three travelers headed to Hestavar for their own reasons: the aged historian Aldred, the young village priest Father Earnest, and the minstrel Donovan. Sir Brachion had no luck in determining who was meant to lead the contingent, or why they were several weeks late. Deciding to take matters into his own hands, he started walking down the road to Hestavar, and the others followed with various degrees of enthusiasm, or lack thereof.
Along the path Aldred struck up a lively discussion with Caeradwyn about the history of Arborlon; the eladrin, delighted to finally meet a human who was not totally ignorant, became deeply engrossed. They were interrupted, however, when Donovan became bored and began signing a lewd song, accompanied by his lute and Azak's less-than-skillful but enthusiastic chorus and foot-stompings. This was enough for Caeradwyn to start plotting a way to leave the minstrel behind. Marius and Sir Brachion were both silent through all this as they led the way, contemplating their own thoughts.
By late afternoon the road left the hilly countryside and entered a small forest. Caeradwyn, dismayed at the thought of the weeks the journey was to take, offered to lead the travelers to a fey crossing he belieived to be at the heart of the forest. Azak had a difficult time understanding such a strange concept, but they all agreed to follow the eladrin. Before long they came upon a little-used path that branched off the road deeper into the woods. Father Earnest and Aldred were both visibly flagging by this point; Aldred swallowed his pride and accepted a piggy-back ride from Azak, and Earnest grimly pressed on after the rest of the group.
As it began to grow dark, the travelers were all getting weary, and were heartened to see fire light coming from the windows of an inn not far along the path. Perhaps if they had been less tired they would have been more suspicious of an occupied inn so far off the main road. They were greeted at the door by an old man who introduced himself as Willem. Helping him to run the inn were his two lovely daughters, Susan and Catharine. They were delighted to have customers, explaining that not many travelled that path in these days, and offered to slaughter one of their pigs to feed the guests. Susan caught the eye of Marius, who rarely spent his nights alone. Donovan, with a similar goal in mind, followed Catharine, slyly offering to help her prepare dinner.
Before long Willem returned with the evening meal, ham garnished with vegetables from their garden. Caeradwyn took a plate with only vegetables, while Azak dug into the ham with gusto. Sir Brachion began a conversation with Susan, trying to glean some information and perhaps regretting his vow of celibacy, but was quickly cut off when Marius approached and Susan offered to have a "private conversation" with him in one of the upstairs rooms. Caeradwyn was surprised to see such an affront to Willem's hospitality, but Willem himself didn't seem particularly bothered behind the inn's bar.
As they entered the room, Marius moved to the bed and began to take off his leather armor. Susan, approached, embraced him, then enlarged her mouth and bit him fiercly on the shoulder! Her clothing shredded as her body enlarged, here skin turned red, and horns grew out of her head. Marius was more disappointed than shocked at this turn of events, despite the pain in his shoulder making it hard for him to concentrate. He pushed the creature away from himself, then grabbed his axe and clouted her on the head with it. She let out an inhuman screech at the blow.
In the common room below, everyone was startled at the noise. Willem let out a grunt, then began to grow in size, as his skin turned purple and horns grew out of his head as well. "An oni!" Aldred breathed as he and Father Earnest backed into a corner. Caeradwyn managed to seize the initative and drew his blade, warning the oni to let them leave if it valued its life. The oni sneered back: "You are hardly worth the eating, but that one would make a fine meal," nodding to Azak. The eladrin responded by uttering an arcane word, and sending a blast of magical force into the creature, slamming him into the wall behind the bar. Sir Brachion swiftly followed suit, nimbly leaping over the tables and chairs onto the bar's counter with surprising speed for one his age, and slashed with his long sword. The slash proved to be merely a feint, however, and the knight's true attack came from a glowing green dagger he pulled from under his tabard with his other hand, stabbing the oni in the arm.
Not to be outdone, or eaten for that matter, Azak bellowed a challenge and swung true with his warhammer. The oni managed to gather his wits from the onslaught of blows, took a deep breath, and began to breathe out a fine mist that flowed over the ground and filled the room. The mist made the already weary travelers begin to grow sleepy; Aldred and Earnest passed out straight away. Caeradwyn didn't have that luxury; the oni's other "daughter" burst through the door of the inn, claws and teeth already bloody, and began to attack him. It was at this point that they realized that Donovan had never returned from his rendezvous.
Meanwhile, in the upstairs room, Marius and "Susan" continued to struggle; eventually Susan fled down the stairs in fear of the warrior, only to be followed and struck down by Marius' fierce charge. Marius surveyed the carnage in the common room: Caeradwyn maneuvering for position, Sir Brachion taking a viscious beating from a wooden plank the large oni had torn form the bar, and Azak weakly lashing out with a magically produced vine before subcumbing to the mist's effects and falling into a deep slumber.
Things were not looking well for the group. Suddenly, Sir Brachion's appeared to be turning into an oni as well! This was only another ruse on his part, however; he quickly reverted to his knightly form and drove his knife towards the surprised oni's throat, scoring a deep gash. "What are you?!" the oni bellowed, and struck the knight in the head with his plank, knocking him unconscious. Caeradwyn, taking advantage of the momentary confusion, teleported outside of the inn, and began to hammer both remaining onis with magical force and silvered fire. Azak managed to shake off the effects of the soporific mist, and produced a field of ice that froze both onis in place.
The oni who had called herself "Catharine" quickly fell under this onslaught. "Willem" was made of sterner stuff, but even he could not stand for long against these warriors. He began to transform into a mist similar to that he had breathed earlier, hoping to escape, but Azak was not willing to let the oni escape from his icy snare. He struck the creature square in the head with his warhammer before it could fully dissolve into mist, ending its life.
Father Earnest finally managed to awaken, and quickly rushed to Sir Brachion's side, using his healing skills to revive him. The others noticed a trap door in the floor of the room; they cautiously opened it and Caeradwyn prodcued a magical light, revealing a dug-out cellar filled with the bones and belongings of the onis' previous victims. They decided to leave everything until the morning, and went upstairs to finally sleep in peace. By silent consent Marius was given the now-blood-soaked room he had fought in; he was merely content to have some privacy.
In the small village of Roaming River, a small group of volunteers from across the lands gathered to be taken to Hestavar by a contingent of Templars. They included Marius Ban Vlackburg, an imposing human with dark clothing and a large axe, Caeradwyn, a young eladrin istar from the fey court of Arborlon, the tatooed goliath warden Azak de-Brog, and a man claiming to be Sir Brachion Dendredal, retired Templar Knight. On the day of departure, there were no knights to escort them as planned, instead they found only three travelers headed to Hestavar for their own reasons: the aged historian Aldred, the young village priest Father Earnest, and the minstrel Donovan. Sir Brachion had no luck in determining who was meant to lead the contingent, or why they were several weeks late. Deciding to take matters into his own hands, he started walking down the road to Hestavar, and the others followed with various degrees of enthusiasm, or lack thereof.
Along the path Aldred struck up a lively discussion with Caeradwyn about the history of Arborlon; the eladrin, delighted to finally meet a human who was not totally ignorant, became deeply engrossed. They were interrupted, however, when Donovan became bored and began signing a lewd song, accompanied by his lute and Azak's less-than-skillful but enthusiastic chorus and foot-stompings. This was enough for Caeradwyn to start plotting a way to leave the minstrel behind. Marius and Sir Brachion were both silent through all this as they led the way, contemplating their own thoughts.
By late afternoon the road left the hilly countryside and entered a small forest. Caeradwyn, dismayed at the thought of the weeks the journey was to take, offered to lead the travelers to a fey crossing he belieived to be at the heart of the forest. Azak had a difficult time understanding such a strange concept, but they all agreed to follow the eladrin. Before long they came upon a little-used path that branched off the road deeper into the woods. Father Earnest and Aldred were both visibly flagging by this point; Aldred swallowed his pride and accepted a piggy-back ride from Azak, and Earnest grimly pressed on after the rest of the group.
As it began to grow dark, the travelers were all getting weary, and were heartened to see fire light coming from the windows of an inn not far along the path. Perhaps if they had been less tired they would have been more suspicious of an occupied inn so far off the main road. They were greeted at the door by an old man who introduced himself as Willem. Helping him to run the inn were his two lovely daughters, Susan and Catharine. They were delighted to have customers, explaining that not many travelled that path in these days, and offered to slaughter one of their pigs to feed the guests. Susan caught the eye of Marius, who rarely spent his nights alone. Donovan, with a similar goal in mind, followed Catharine, slyly offering to help her prepare dinner.
Before long Willem returned with the evening meal, ham garnished with vegetables from their garden. Caeradwyn took a plate with only vegetables, while Azak dug into the ham with gusto. Sir Brachion began a conversation with Susan, trying to glean some information and perhaps regretting his vow of celibacy, but was quickly cut off when Marius approached and Susan offered to have a "private conversation" with him in one of the upstairs rooms. Caeradwyn was surprised to see such an affront to Willem's hospitality, but Willem himself didn't seem particularly bothered behind the inn's bar.
As they entered the room, Marius moved to the bed and began to take off his leather armor. Susan, approached, embraced him, then enlarged her mouth and bit him fiercly on the shoulder! Her clothing shredded as her body enlarged, here skin turned red, and horns grew out of her head. Marius was more disappointed than shocked at this turn of events, despite the pain in his shoulder making it hard for him to concentrate. He pushed the creature away from himself, then grabbed his axe and clouted her on the head with it. She let out an inhuman screech at the blow.
In the common room below, everyone was startled at the noise. Willem let out a grunt, then began to grow in size, as his skin turned purple and horns grew out of his head as well. "An oni!" Aldred breathed as he and Father Earnest backed into a corner. Caeradwyn managed to seize the initative and drew his blade, warning the oni to let them leave if it valued its life. The oni sneered back: "You are hardly worth the eating, but that one would make a fine meal," nodding to Azak. The eladrin responded by uttering an arcane word, and sending a blast of magical force into the creature, slamming him into the wall behind the bar. Sir Brachion swiftly followed suit, nimbly leaping over the tables and chairs onto the bar's counter with surprising speed for one his age, and slashed with his long sword. The slash proved to be merely a feint, however, and the knight's true attack came from a glowing green dagger he pulled from under his tabard with his other hand, stabbing the oni in the arm.
Not to be outdone, or eaten for that matter, Azak bellowed a challenge and swung true with his warhammer. The oni managed to gather his wits from the onslaught of blows, took a deep breath, and began to breathe out a fine mist that flowed over the ground and filled the room. The mist made the already weary travelers begin to grow sleepy; Aldred and Earnest passed out straight away. Caeradwyn didn't have that luxury; the oni's other "daughter" burst through the door of the inn, claws and teeth already bloody, and began to attack him. It was at this point that they realized that Donovan had never returned from his rendezvous.
Meanwhile, in the upstairs room, Marius and "Susan" continued to struggle; eventually Susan fled down the stairs in fear of the warrior, only to be followed and struck down by Marius' fierce charge. Marius surveyed the carnage in the common room: Caeradwyn maneuvering for position, Sir Brachion taking a viscious beating from a wooden plank the large oni had torn form the bar, and Azak weakly lashing out with a magically produced vine before subcumbing to the mist's effects and falling into a deep slumber.
Things were not looking well for the group. Suddenly, Sir Brachion's appeared to be turning into an oni as well! This was only another ruse on his part, however; he quickly reverted to his knightly form and drove his knife towards the surprised oni's throat, scoring a deep gash. "What are you?!" the oni bellowed, and struck the knight in the head with his plank, knocking him unconscious. Caeradwyn, taking advantage of the momentary confusion, teleported outside of the inn, and began to hammer both remaining onis with magical force and silvered fire. Azak managed to shake off the effects of the soporific mist, and produced a field of ice that froze both onis in place.
The oni who had called herself "Catharine" quickly fell under this onslaught. "Willem" was made of sterner stuff, but even he could not stand for long against these warriors. He began to transform into a mist similar to that he had breathed earlier, hoping to escape, but Azak was not willing to let the oni escape from his icy snare. He struck the creature square in the head with his warhammer before it could fully dissolve into mist, ending its life.
Father Earnest finally managed to awaken, and quickly rushed to Sir Brachion's side, using his healing skills to revive him. The others noticed a trap door in the floor of the room; they cautiously opened it and Caeradwyn prodcued a magical light, revealing a dug-out cellar filled with the bones and belongings of the onis' previous victims. They decided to leave everything until the morning, and went upstairs to finally sleep in peace. By silent consent Marius was given the now-blood-soaked room he had fought in; he was merely content to have some privacy.
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Posted on June 30, 2009 15:57
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