Y'all, any of you who even is slightly interested, You SHOULD join as spectators on the discord i made, the adventure is extremely interesting, and reading through it, you'll find it to be a great story. I shall say no more ^^.
You can find the link to the Adventure in Faeryl's post above.
If you can't do or see much when you first join, it's normal, i haven't set anything to automatically give you the "spectator" role when you join, but i'm here almost all the time, so you shouldn't need to wait long.
You can find the link to the Adventure in Faeryl's post above.
If you can't do or see much when you first join, it's normal, i haven't set anything to automatically give you the "spectator" role when you join, but i'm here almost all the time, so you shouldn't need to wait long.
After a long hold, the adventure with the northern dwarfs continued.
After being dropped off in a small creek, safely hidden, a place Brownbeard used to take advantage of for smuggling, along with other not so legal activities. We set camp there, and a few of us headed outwards to explore the surroundings, as well as to take a look at the nearby village of fishermen.
After over a day, having passed near the village (and seeing it hadn't any real interest to us), we spotted a lone tower in a huge flat plain large of many kilometers. We decided to investigate, and perhaps get the chance for a better view of the area.
Several hours later, we entered the tower, but upon entering, having broken down the old wooden door which was stuck, said wooden door closed again, turned to stone, and the room changed, it was empty, except for the small pool of water in the middle, and 9 doors (counting the one we entered from), on each side of the tower.
We set camp there, as night was already falling, before investigating any of this magical stuff, a good night's rest would be appreciated. The next morning (or what we guessed was morning as we couldn't see outside), a few of us guarded the room, while two others explored, behind each door was a dark room (including from where we entered), after closing the door behind them, the explorers found different rooms behind each door.
The first was a room with coins made of gold, silver and copper.
The explorer decided to place some silver coins in some numbered emplacements which were available nearby, in front of a wheel of (mis)fortune, upon doing so, the wheel spun, and fortunately for him, one of said emplacements was what he got on the wheel. He gained some Intelligence points, and the door to leave the room opened. Which led him back to the main room the rest of us were waiting in.
The second room featured much the same concept, except instead of coins was small idols representing each of us. He took our slayer's idol and placed it, after a spin of the wheel, the slayer, who was in the main room we were waiting in, was teleported into another room. The explorer joined back to the main room once again.
The slayer was faced with a succubus, who had a human and an elf as bodyguards.
She offered him a simple deal, stay by her side forever as a bodyguard, or give up some of his beauty and leave.
After attacking the bodyguards and slaying them, he found out the succubus couldn't be harmed with his weapons, and accepted her offer to give up some of his charisma, which let him join back with us, looking quite awful afterwards.
Another explorer found a room with a pressure plate in front of a wheel, He decided to simply step on it, which triggered the wheel. However, what happened was all of his items were lost, suddenly gone, he was butt naked, and joined back with us.
The next room was, yet again, the room with a wheel and our idols. This time the explorer placed all of our idols on a single spot, and a few seconds later, all of us were teleported into an isolated room, each facing a bear, after each killing our bear with more or less difficulty, we were teleported back to the main room, in which a bit of an argument ensued between all of us for putting others in danger for no real reason. We did however all get stronger after beating the bear, which granted us +1/+2 in strength.
After this little issue was solved, the explorers all headed to the next room together, and there, they found it was actually a corridor with 5 statues on one side. (One represented a human slinger, the next represented a human with a throwing dagger, the following was a human with a javelin, the fourth had a bow and the last had a melnibonean bow) In front of said statues, on the opposite side of the corridor, were large empty pedestals, the slayer jumped on the one in front of the statue wielding a melnibonean bow, shortly after he found out he couldn't leave the pedestal, after attempting and failing at trying a few ideas he had to be able to leave, he threw one of his axes and hit the statue, while the statue also responded by firing an arrow. after exchanging a shot, a topaz fell from above and landed in front of the slayer, who could now leave the pedestal. He grabbed the topaz and his axe and they left the room, joining back with the rest of us.
The last room they entered was empty and featured 8 doors, all ligned up in front of them. The doors were too small for multiple to enter at the same time, and so all 3 picked a different door, only to find themselves on the backline of a chess game, two were the towers and one was a horseman.
After a long and almost deadly chess game, they won and teleported back to the main room.
That's all for this time, only played during the afternoon as not enough people were available for the evening, so it's a bit shorter than usual.
CAMPAIGN ABORTED
it's over from this point on, who knows, maybe they'll appear in another adventure someday.
After being dropped off in a small creek, safely hidden, a place Brownbeard used to take advantage of for smuggling, along with other not so legal activities. We set camp there, and a few of us headed outwards to explore the surroundings, as well as to take a look at the nearby village of fishermen.
After over a day, having passed near the village (and seeing it hadn't any real interest to us), we spotted a lone tower in a huge flat plain large of many kilometers. We decided to investigate, and perhaps get the chance for a better view of the area.
Several hours later, we entered the tower, but upon entering, having broken down the old wooden door which was stuck, said wooden door closed again, turned to stone, and the room changed, it was empty, except for the small pool of water in the middle, and 9 doors (counting the one we entered from), on each side of the tower.
We set camp there, as night was already falling, before investigating any of this magical stuff, a good night's rest would be appreciated. The next morning (or what we guessed was morning as we couldn't see outside), a few of us guarded the room, while two others explored, behind each door was a dark room (including from where we entered), after closing the door behind them, the explorers found different rooms behind each door.
The first was a room with coins made of gold, silver and copper.
The explorer decided to place some silver coins in some numbered emplacements which were available nearby, in front of a wheel of (mis)fortune, upon doing so, the wheel spun, and fortunately for him, one of said emplacements was what he got on the wheel. He gained some Intelligence points, and the door to leave the room opened. Which led him back to the main room the rest of us were waiting in.
The second room featured much the same concept, except instead of coins was small idols representing each of us. He took our slayer's idol and placed it, after a spin of the wheel, the slayer, who was in the main room we were waiting in, was teleported into another room. The explorer joined back to the main room once again.
The slayer was faced with a succubus, who had a human and an elf as bodyguards.
She offered him a simple deal, stay by her side forever as a bodyguard, or give up some of his beauty and leave.
After attacking the bodyguards and slaying them, he found out the succubus couldn't be harmed with his weapons, and accepted her offer to give up some of his charisma, which let him join back with us, looking quite awful afterwards.
Another explorer found a room with a pressure plate in front of a wheel, He decided to simply step on it, which triggered the wheel. However, what happened was all of his items were lost, suddenly gone, he was butt naked, and joined back with us.
The next room was, yet again, the room with a wheel and our idols. This time the explorer placed all of our idols on a single spot, and a few seconds later, all of us were teleported into an isolated room, each facing a bear, after each killing our bear with more or less difficulty, we were teleported back to the main room, in which a bit of an argument ensued between all of us for putting others in danger for no real reason. We did however all get stronger after beating the bear, which granted us +1/+2 in strength.
After this little issue was solved, the explorers all headed to the next room together, and there, they found it was actually a corridor with 5 statues on one side. (One represented a human slinger, the next represented a human with a throwing dagger, the following was a human with a javelin, the fourth had a bow and the last had a melnibonean bow) In front of said statues, on the opposite side of the corridor, were large empty pedestals, the slayer jumped on the one in front of the statue wielding a melnibonean bow, shortly after he found out he couldn't leave the pedestal, after attempting and failing at trying a few ideas he had to be able to leave, he threw one of his axes and hit the statue, while the statue also responded by firing an arrow. after exchanging a shot, a topaz fell from above and landed in front of the slayer, who could now leave the pedestal. He grabbed the topaz and his axe and they left the room, joining back with the rest of us.
The last room they entered was empty and featured 8 doors, all ligned up in front of them. The doors were too small for multiple to enter at the same time, and so all 3 picked a different door, only to find themselves on the backline of a chess game, two were the towers and one was a horseman.
After a long and almost deadly chess game, they won and teleported back to the main room.
That's all for this time, only played during the afternoon as not enough people were available for the evening, so it's a bit shorter than usual.
CAMPAIGN ABORTED
it's over from this point on, who knows, maybe they'll appear in another adventure someday.
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I had to read this twice to make sure it wasn't Brownbread 
what an ass.... speaking of ass can a wizard turn a succubus into an ass?
i had this in my head!
Its ok i am part french i like frogs not to eat just to pet
Look forward to next adventure!
when does this take place is there a time and day that it happens?
what an ass.... speaking of ass can a wizard turn a succubus into an ass?
i had this in my head!
Its ok i am part french i like frogs not to eat just to pet
Look forward to next adventure!
when does this take place is there a time and day that it happens?
There's no real time when it happens, basically it continues once the key characters for the moment have acted, kinda hard to explain with words.
But what i can say is no matter your schedule, one should be able to keep up as it doesn't go too quickly, usually.
But what i can say is no matter your schedule, one should be able to keep up as it doesn't go too quickly, usually.
Likes:
Faeryl and Pandagnome
Found this fantastic map, which shows really well what the island of the diamond looks like, I'll translate the name of the locations below.
Tour de guet : Watchtower
chateau du nord : Northern castle
The cursed forest
Eau de boue : Muddy water
(dwarf village)
Tour de Yastronne : Tower of Yastronne
Plaines aux chevaux : Horse plains
Forteresse des nains : Dwarf's fortress
(the west gate we entered from)
Village barbare : Barbarian village
Pont de pierres : Stonebridge
(dwarf village)
(in the evil hills) Village de pécheurs :
Fishermans village
(Next to the Castle of the deers)
Village des cerfs : Village of the deers
(Below the evil hills) Swamps
Fishermans village
There's a lot more locations not shown on the map, but those are some of the most important.
Tour de guet : Watchtower
chateau du nord : Northern castle
The cursed forest
Eau de boue : Muddy water
(dwarf village)
Tour de Yastronne : Tower of Yastronne
Plaines aux chevaux : Horse plains
Forteresse des nains : Dwarf's fortress
(the west gate we entered from)
Village barbare : Barbarian village
Pont de pierres : Stonebridge
(dwarf village)
(in the evil hills) Village de pécheurs :
Fishermans village
(Next to the Castle of the deers)
Village des cerfs : Village of the deers
(Below the evil hills) Swamps
Fishermans village
There's a lot more locations not shown on the map, but those are some of the most important.
i cant seem to find it maybe i am just bad at this discord
Likes:
Pandagnome and Degiance
New info which came up and is fairly important.
The southern dwarfs of Karak Izril and the northern dwarfs of the Karaz Ankor are VERY different.
Here are some of the most important differences :
(the southern dwarfs will now be refered to as "dwarves", for a reason you'll find out in just a bit)
-The northern dwarfs are much tougher, stronger and have different knowledge than the southern dwarfs, similarly, the greenskins and every foe of the lands are also stronger. Their physical build is very similar to Warhammer fantasy's, square, tough and strong.
-The southern dwarves, while weaker also have weaker foes, while their knowledge on runecraft is much lower, they have wizards among them. Rock sorcerer being the prime exemple. Their physical build is much like Tolkien's dwarves, can range from looking a bit like warhammer's, to looking like half-men.
-The northern dwarfs and southern dwarves both venerate the 7 ancestor gods, Valaya, Grimnir, Grungni, Smednir, Thungni, Morgrimm and Gazul.
However, the southern dwarves also venerate more gods, like Gaia, among others.
-On the subject of the Karak architecture, Karak Izril's road from the great hall to the northern gate takes a full day of travelling. You can barely see the other end of the main hall from one of it's sides. Similar to Tolkien's Moria.
The northern Karaks have extremely defensible and fairly tight corridors, Karak KazadAldrhun, their capital, has corridors that don't take more than 10 minutes to cross while running (for the longest, and at a dwarf's speed). The rooms are decently sized, with beauty and ease of defense both equally prized. You can easily see the whole great hall from one side to the other, with only a few areas being hidden by pillars.
The only weakness was an attack from inside by their own kind...
The southern dwarfs of Karak Izril and the northern dwarfs of the Karaz Ankor are VERY different.
Here are some of the most important differences :
(the southern dwarfs will now be refered to as "dwarves", for a reason you'll find out in just a bit)
-The northern dwarfs are much tougher, stronger and have different knowledge than the southern dwarfs, similarly, the greenskins and every foe of the lands are also stronger. Their physical build is very similar to Warhammer fantasy's, square, tough and strong.
-The southern dwarves, while weaker also have weaker foes, while their knowledge on runecraft is much lower, they have wizards among them. Rock sorcerer being the prime exemple. Their physical build is much like Tolkien's dwarves, can range from looking a bit like warhammer's, to looking like half-men.
-The northern dwarfs and southern dwarves both venerate the 7 ancestor gods, Valaya, Grimnir, Grungni, Smednir, Thungni, Morgrimm and Gazul.
However, the southern dwarves also venerate more gods, like Gaia, among others.
-On the subject of the Karak architecture, Karak Izril's road from the great hall to the northern gate takes a full day of travelling. You can barely see the other end of the main hall from one of it's sides. Similar to Tolkien's Moria.
The northern Karaks have extremely defensible and fairly tight corridors, Karak KazadAldrhun, their capital, has corridors that don't take more than 10 minutes to cross while running (for the longest, and at a dwarf's speed). The rooms are decently sized, with beauty and ease of defense both equally prized. You can easily see the whole great hall from one side to the other, with only a few areas being hidden by pillars.
The only weakness was an attack from inside by their own kind...
Likes:
Faeryl, Degiance and Mahdi
A new bit of info on the stormbringer world, The gods and their realms function similarly to the chaos gods in Warhammer 40K.
If people believe in a god, he will grow stronger and stronger, however the main difference is written information, relics and religious items linked to said god also increase his influence, which means a god cannot be destroyed completely unless every information about him is erased, and every person who believes in them is dead.
This means that the dwarf Ancestor gods were severely weakened, but thanks to the dwarves of Karak Izril also worshipping them, the effect wasn't as bad, however if every dwarf and dwarves had been slain, they would still keep on existing, due to the dwarf Karaks and every relic they have would be impossible to get rid of.
Another likely explanation as to why the dwarves of Karak Izril also worship the 7 ancestor gods as well Gaia and a few others, is that they most likely discovered in times long gone, relics and other information explaining the ancestor gods, which the dwarfs of the Karaz Ankor (the northern dwarfs) have always and exclusively worshipped. Learning about them, they no doubt started worshipping the ancestors along with their own gods.
Someday soon i'll post a new summary, this evening we played the dwarves of Karak Izril.
If people believe in a god, he will grow stronger and stronger, however the main difference is written information, relics and religious items linked to said god also increase his influence, which means a god cannot be destroyed completely unless every information about him is erased, and every person who believes in them is dead.
This means that the dwarf Ancestor gods were severely weakened, but thanks to the dwarves of Karak Izril also worshipping them, the effect wasn't as bad, however if every dwarf and dwarves had been slain, they would still keep on existing, due to the dwarf Karaks and every relic they have would be impossible to get rid of.
Another likely explanation as to why the dwarves of Karak Izril also worship the 7 ancestor gods as well Gaia and a few others, is that they most likely discovered in times long gone, relics and other information explaining the ancestor gods, which the dwarfs of the Karaz Ankor (the northern dwarfs) have always and exclusively worshipped. Learning about them, they no doubt started worshipping the ancestors along with their own gods.
Someday soon i'll post a new summary, this evening we played the dwarves of Karak Izril.
There indeed are some dwarfs in between, they're slaves at the human capital in the great plain, however it's not known if they're southern dwarves or northern dwarfs.
As for the tatoos, that's an interesting point, a dead person with religious tatoos would probably count as writings.
As for the tatoos, that's an interesting point, a dead person with religious tatoos would probably count as writings.
Likes:
Pandagnome and Degiance
Now for the dwarves of Karak Izril, two playsessions in one for this summary, as i was too lazy to write the last one before.
Having finished with the fleshy-tentacle creature which made illusions of precious stuff, the priestess decided to just say screw this and use her Elan to ask Gazul to teleport us back to the rest of the dwarves. Later on, Lothos summons us, as he learned, thanks to the lorekeeper and his twelve slayers, about some gates which we need to close to stop some creatures they'd found about from coming. Said creatures are linked closer to the earth than even the dwarves, and could very well make the walls of Karak Izril crush us all. Said gates were located near the mines and some Jewel-making outposts, which made a fair percentage of 100% of the miners volunteer to join the expedition. Along with some more dwarves. Multiple carts and chariots were then prepared to go close these gates, including one transporting beer, another transporting food and two others for random equipment.
Doing my job as a Ranger from the northern lands, I took the lead in front of the convoy to scout for ambushes or any problem of the sort, which turned out to be a good decision, as i soon spotted a horde of goblins in ambushing position, however, before being able to sound the alarm, i was hit by a poisonous arrow, knocking me out instantly thanks to a critically failed poison resistance roll.
But it wasn't that big of a deal, as the ones in front of the convoy were the twelve slayers, who had obviously joined us for this mission. Seeing me fall to the ground, they charged forward to rampage through everything that could be found, which also resulted in the alarm being sounded. While the slayers and some warriors handled the front fairly easily, some greenskins were also waiting in ambush at the back, which was even more heavily defended, resulting in a massacre without any loss for the dwarves and the greenskins routing in under a minute.
The convoy continued, with myself being healed back into shape. We soon arrived at our first environmental challenge, a bridge over a huge ravine in severe state of disrepair, which took us 2 days to fix sufficiently and for us to dismantle the carts/chariots, to move them and the goods they were carrying accross, and then put them back together again.
A few steps later, a goblin trap sprung on us, a giant boulder fell from the ceiling, only to stop at the top of our helmets instead of crushing us, typical goblin trap. The most badly injured by this trap had a slight headache.
We then continued on our way to the first gate, which we closed without much trouble. On our way to the second gate, another goblin trap was triggered, which opened the fake floor below the slayers, unfortunately for the goblins waiting below, it was the slayers. A short massacre later, the slayers came back, seeing there wasn't anything else to kill down there. Meanwhile, our rock sorcerer and I had explored a side corridor, as he felt some magical energy nearby. We soon found the secret brewery of Karak Izril, as it had been opened earlier by our lorekeeper and his slayers, who had already drank a fair bit of the ale stored there.
After showing the brewmaster, who was joining us on this trip, his future workplace, we continued forwards, and soon found an enormous cave troll, who was much tougher than any other troll we had faced so far. However, that didn't stop it from getting severely killed. We then closed the second gate, and started heading out towards the last one.
We were mostly laughing around during those playsessions, and the next one SHOULD be the end of the Campaign for the dwarves of Karak Izril.
Having finished with the fleshy-tentacle creature which made illusions of precious stuff, the priestess decided to just say screw this and use her Elan to ask Gazul to teleport us back to the rest of the dwarves. Later on, Lothos summons us, as he learned, thanks to the lorekeeper and his twelve slayers, about some gates which we need to close to stop some creatures they'd found about from coming. Said creatures are linked closer to the earth than even the dwarves, and could very well make the walls of Karak Izril crush us all. Said gates were located near the mines and some Jewel-making outposts, which made a fair percentage of 100% of the miners volunteer to join the expedition. Along with some more dwarves. Multiple carts and chariots were then prepared to go close these gates, including one transporting beer, another transporting food and two others for random equipment.
Doing my job as a Ranger from the northern lands, I took the lead in front of the convoy to scout for ambushes or any problem of the sort, which turned out to be a good decision, as i soon spotted a horde of goblins in ambushing position, however, before being able to sound the alarm, i was hit by a poisonous arrow, knocking me out instantly thanks to a critically failed poison resistance roll.
But it wasn't that big of a deal, as the ones in front of the convoy were the twelve slayers, who had obviously joined us for this mission. Seeing me fall to the ground, they charged forward to rampage through everything that could be found, which also resulted in the alarm being sounded. While the slayers and some warriors handled the front fairly easily, some greenskins were also waiting in ambush at the back, which was even more heavily defended, resulting in a massacre without any loss for the dwarves and the greenskins routing in under a minute.
The convoy continued, with myself being healed back into shape. We soon arrived at our first environmental challenge, a bridge over a huge ravine in severe state of disrepair, which took us 2 days to fix sufficiently and for us to dismantle the carts/chariots, to move them and the goods they were carrying accross, and then put them back together again.
A few steps later, a goblin trap sprung on us, a giant boulder fell from the ceiling, only to stop at the top of our helmets instead of crushing us, typical goblin trap. The most badly injured by this trap had a slight headache.
We then continued on our way to the first gate, which we closed without much trouble. On our way to the second gate, another goblin trap was triggered, which opened the fake floor below the slayers, unfortunately for the goblins waiting below, it was the slayers. A short massacre later, the slayers came back, seeing there wasn't anything else to kill down there. Meanwhile, our rock sorcerer and I had explored a side corridor, as he felt some magical energy nearby. We soon found the secret brewery of Karak Izril, as it had been opened earlier by our lorekeeper and his slayers, who had already drank a fair bit of the ale stored there.
After showing the brewmaster, who was joining us on this trip, his future workplace, we continued forwards, and soon found an enormous cave troll, who was much tougher than any other troll we had faced so far. However, that didn't stop it from getting severely killed. We then closed the second gate, and started heading out towards the last one.
We were mostly laughing around during those playsessions, and the next one SHOULD be the end of the Campaign for the dwarves of Karak Izril.
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Well, i've waited long enough for this one, here's the end of the Karak Izril campaign :
After more walking, we soon came upon a path, which was below another path and above a ravine, we soon heard a group of greenskins from the path above us, however they seemed to be in very bad condition, badly hurt and wounded. They avoided us by simply continuing on their path we couldn't reach.
However, we also heard some creatures coming from below, and when we looked, we saw the Drow, they had come to ensure the dwarves of karak izril would not get back their home. They tried to fight an uphill battle and were defeated without too much trouble, however, Skalli Kandoom, the ranger from the northern lands, soon felt the mark, left on his neck by the Avatar of Loth, start to burn. He knew this meant the Avatar itself was coming. He rushed to his friend's side, the rock sorcerer, and warned him of the approaching danger. A very quick discussion later, they came to a decision, they walked to the edge of the ravine, and the sorcerer prepared a spell.
As the Avatar, a demigod, revealed itself, the sorcerer launched an enormous ice beam, using all of his and the ranger's mana, thanks to a magical ring allowing him to use the other ring wearer's mana as well.
44 mana later, they both fell to the ground unconscious from the amount of mana burned instantly.
However, the avatar also fell, the spell was much too strong, and unexpected.
Angering the slayers in the process, who couldn't find a glorious death fighting a demigod, they were put on a cart and they all continued on their way to the last door.
Not long after, they were ambushed once more, the ambushers were quickly disposed of, as usual, however, a rune of teleportation had been activated on the ground, which sent a carriage and one of our miners missing, they were by themselves as this happened right as the ambush started.
The two dwarves that were teleported found themselves balanced on a huge stalagmite. The miner managed to set foot on a nearby overlooking path, and attempted to secure the cart so it would not fall once the other dwarf tried to get off, unfortunately, one craftsmanship fail later, he fell to his death, near the portal below, which was the last entrance we needed to close.
Much thought later, after the ambush had been taken care of, the rune priestess found the teleportation rune and joined the miner, who was about to attempt something that was almost certain death, she used her elan to ask a favor from the gods, once more. Surprisingly, it worked once again, so she asked for the dwarf to be revived, for the three of them to be teleported back to the rest of the convoy, and for this cavern to crumble, burying and destroying the portal in the process.
Facing only a little opposition on their way back to Karak Izril, they returned to their home, partially reclaimed, but now safe. The dwarves had much talking done, mostly political, and they soon started preparing to reclaim the other half of Karak Izril, which means the great hall, the northern gates, the mines 2 and 3, the temple as well as the eastern part which wasn't under their control yet.
Perhaps in a few years, this final part will be revealed, but victory is assured.
Is it the last you've seen of Karak Izril and the dwarves for now? You will discover that soon enough.
After more walking, we soon came upon a path, which was below another path and above a ravine, we soon heard a group of greenskins from the path above us, however they seemed to be in very bad condition, badly hurt and wounded. They avoided us by simply continuing on their path we couldn't reach.
However, we also heard some creatures coming from below, and when we looked, we saw the Drow, they had come to ensure the dwarves of karak izril would not get back their home. They tried to fight an uphill battle and were defeated without too much trouble, however, Skalli Kandoom, the ranger from the northern lands, soon felt the mark, left on his neck by the Avatar of Loth, start to burn. He knew this meant the Avatar itself was coming. He rushed to his friend's side, the rock sorcerer, and warned him of the approaching danger. A very quick discussion later, they came to a decision, they walked to the edge of the ravine, and the sorcerer prepared a spell.
As the Avatar, a demigod, revealed itself, the sorcerer launched an enormous ice beam, using all of his and the ranger's mana, thanks to a magical ring allowing him to use the other ring wearer's mana as well.
44 mana later, they both fell to the ground unconscious from the amount of mana burned instantly.
However, the avatar also fell, the spell was much too strong, and unexpected.
Angering the slayers in the process, who couldn't find a glorious death fighting a demigod, they were put on a cart and they all continued on their way to the last door.
Not long after, they were ambushed once more, the ambushers were quickly disposed of, as usual, however, a rune of teleportation had been activated on the ground, which sent a carriage and one of our miners missing, they were by themselves as this happened right as the ambush started.
The two dwarves that were teleported found themselves balanced on a huge stalagmite. The miner managed to set foot on a nearby overlooking path, and attempted to secure the cart so it would not fall once the other dwarf tried to get off, unfortunately, one craftsmanship fail later, he fell to his death, near the portal below, which was the last entrance we needed to close.
Much thought later, after the ambush had been taken care of, the rune priestess found the teleportation rune and joined the miner, who was about to attempt something that was almost certain death, she used her elan to ask a favor from the gods, once more. Surprisingly, it worked once again, so she asked for the dwarf to be revived, for the three of them to be teleported back to the rest of the convoy, and for this cavern to crumble, burying and destroying the portal in the process.
Facing only a little opposition on their way back to Karak Izril, they returned to their home, partially reclaimed, but now safe. The dwarves had much talking done, mostly political, and they soon started preparing to reclaim the other half of Karak Izril, which means the great hall, the northern gates, the mines 2 and 3, the temple as well as the eastern part which wasn't under their control yet.
Perhaps in a few years, this final part will be revealed, but victory is assured.
Is it the last you've seen of Karak Izril and the dwarves for now? You will discover that soon enough.
Likes:
Degiance, Wyntyr and Mahdi
The prophecy continues :
Activating the statue of Odin, He appears in front of it in ethereal form, much like Thor did in the room of the prophecy in the dwarf capital. He rewards the Norse people by gifting them a long-lost art, the Berserkirs, "animal spirit warriors", of which there are 3 different kinds, Berserkers, representing the spirit of the bear, Ulfhednars, for the spirit of the wolf, and Svinfylkingars, for the spirit of the boar.
A hundred warriors were given this art, three quarters of which became Berserkers, a fifth became Ulfhednars, the last five became Svinfylkingars.
Along with this, four more chosen ones joined the heroes, two of which were Berserkers, and the group's Varyag, (focus warriors)(not actual translation), also became a Berserker.
At the same time, the group's apprentice shaman, Cercha, who is also the Great shaman's daughter, became an actual shaman, only with less power. This is a strange event as apprentice shamans do not become shamans until they reach their 40s, and Cercha is only 25.
After Odin took his leave, Thor appeared, also in ethereal form. He first congratulates his chosen ones for making a great progress for their kind. He also reveals a hidden room behind the statue, filled with various magical items for his warriors to use. Some of said items having been crafted by the dwarf Ancestor gods themselves, ages ago. For instance, 3 of those items were living silver weapons, only a couple dozens of those being in existence around the world, lost through time or hidden in secret undiscovered vaults. The secret of fabricating this metal is unknown to mortals, much like it's existence until now. Thor then dismissed them and disappeared, having told them to return the next day, he now had much talking to do with the dwarf Ancestor gods, having been unable to talk to them, since they had lost their influence over the
Karaz-Ankor 80 years ago, when the Dwarf empire fell.
The following day, once all of them were waiting at the statue, Thor appeared again.
A plan had been decided, The prophecy would end with one of this era's greatest battles, the objective of which would be the complete annihilation of the demonic dwarfs along with their undead puppets.
To stand a chance of succeeding, they would need to find 7 runic mythril idols, each representing one of the 7 dwarf Ancestor god. They had already obtained the Idol of Grungni in the hidden room on this island.
The idols would serve to perform a strong magical ritual. The problem was that their location is unknown. Thor had obtained the information from the Ancestor gods that the second Idol was located in Karak Izril's 2nd market in a hidden room.
Another objective Thor gave them, which was convenient with the first one, would be that once they had obtained the Idol, they would head towards the 2nd storage, where they would find two dwarfs, one of which they'd already heard about due to his bad reputation amongst his kind, Skalli Kandoom, the exiled ranger from the north.
They would have to return to Fornheim with them, to bring them to Karak Kazadaldrhun, they would know what to do from there.
This mission would start with heading to the east of the island of the diamond, to find an old abandoned port, from there they would be able to reach the eastern gate of Karak Izril without encountering anything to hinder their progress. Entering through the side which the dwarves of Karak Izril had already conquered was not an option as they would be far too untrusting and stubborn to let the norse pass through to the other side.(After all, they aren't dwarfs, why would they trust our chosen ones?)
Having said everything, Thor wished for good fortune to be on their side, then said farewell and disappeared.
The norsemen later departed for Karak Izril, on their way there, they noticed that Fornheim, where they had just been, seemed to be enduring a severe storm in a large area around it. Obviously, that wasn't the case, and this is simply an illusion to discourage sailors from getting near.
Soon after, the Great Shaman used the telepathic link between him and his daughter Cercha to pass the message that Brownbeard, The Viking captain's friend, had come to say that the dwarfs had reached the great plain. He also left the captain a piece of technology for a fair price. (fair price for a dwarf at least) Said item was some mounted repeating crossbows to mount on his ship, he had acquired this from one of the dwarfs that he helped out.
The Great Shaman also passed word that another group of 3 chosen ones had been revealed to him, their leader is an apprentice shaman named Askel, his warriors are a Berserker named Joosef Stronkaxe and an Ulfhednar named Drakki Direscar. They would set out to free the enslaved dwarfs in Karak Agrilbarag.
Much time later, having landed in the old port and crossed the horse plains, the heroes reached the eastern door of Karak Izril, as they approached, the door opened and a horde of goblins came charging towards them, our heroes were severely outnumbered, the ensuing battle was short, and the chosen ones soon noticed that the southern greenskins are weaker than the ones they have to fight at home, another difference is some of them didn't actually have a green skin. (southern greenskins are a mix between both Tolkien's and Warhammer's)
How nice of the goblins, they had opened the door for them!
Proceeding inside, they slaughtered for hours, advancing, encountering various strange creatures, until they reached the hidden room in the market, where they found many magical stones as well as Grimnir's runic mythril Idol. They then headed back up, to the storage.
In the corridor to the storage, they soon faced off against a dozen cave trolls along with thirty or so orks in full plate armor. the battle was long and brutal, but norse strength prevailed.
As they recovered from this brutal encounter, two dwarfs came out of a hidden passage in the corridor and headed towards the group, A ranger, Skalli Kandoom without doubt, along with him is a priest, at least that's what they thought at first, until they learned this dwarf can use magic, quite a surprise for them, but they soon figured out that rock sorcerers, while rare, are absolutely normal for the dwarves of Karak Izril, revealing the two kinds of dwarf and their differences. The two mountain dwellers had come here as they had been sent on a scouting mission by Lothos (after securing the western part of Karak Izril) to obtain information on the situation in the rest of Karak Izril that hadn't been reclaimed yet.
A long trip back later, they learned much from each other about many subjects, and soon they arrived back at Fornheim.
That's it for now, this message should already be plenty long, i'll write more later.
Activating the statue of Odin, He appears in front of it in ethereal form, much like Thor did in the room of the prophecy in the dwarf capital. He rewards the Norse people by gifting them a long-lost art, the Berserkirs, "animal spirit warriors", of which there are 3 different kinds, Berserkers, representing the spirit of the bear, Ulfhednars, for the spirit of the wolf, and Svinfylkingars, for the spirit of the boar.
A hundred warriors were given this art, three quarters of which became Berserkers, a fifth became Ulfhednars, the last five became Svinfylkingars.
Along with this, four more chosen ones joined the heroes, two of which were Berserkers, and the group's Varyag, (focus warriors)(not actual translation), also became a Berserker.
At the same time, the group's apprentice shaman, Cercha, who is also the Great shaman's daughter, became an actual shaman, only with less power. This is a strange event as apprentice shamans do not become shamans until they reach their 40s, and Cercha is only 25.
After Odin took his leave, Thor appeared, also in ethereal form. He first congratulates his chosen ones for making a great progress for their kind. He also reveals a hidden room behind the statue, filled with various magical items for his warriors to use. Some of said items having been crafted by the dwarf Ancestor gods themselves, ages ago. For instance, 3 of those items were living silver weapons, only a couple dozens of those being in existence around the world, lost through time or hidden in secret undiscovered vaults. The secret of fabricating this metal is unknown to mortals, much like it's existence until now. Thor then dismissed them and disappeared, having told them to return the next day, he now had much talking to do with the dwarf Ancestor gods, having been unable to talk to them, since they had lost their influence over the
Karaz-Ankor 80 years ago, when the Dwarf empire fell.
The following day, once all of them were waiting at the statue, Thor appeared again.
A plan had been decided, The prophecy would end with one of this era's greatest battles, the objective of which would be the complete annihilation of the demonic dwarfs along with their undead puppets.
To stand a chance of succeeding, they would need to find 7 runic mythril idols, each representing one of the 7 dwarf Ancestor god. They had already obtained the Idol of Grungni in the hidden room on this island.
The idols would serve to perform a strong magical ritual. The problem was that their location is unknown. Thor had obtained the information from the Ancestor gods that the second Idol was located in Karak Izril's 2nd market in a hidden room.
Another objective Thor gave them, which was convenient with the first one, would be that once they had obtained the Idol, they would head towards the 2nd storage, where they would find two dwarfs, one of which they'd already heard about due to his bad reputation amongst his kind, Skalli Kandoom, the exiled ranger from the north.
They would have to return to Fornheim with them, to bring them to Karak Kazadaldrhun, they would know what to do from there.
This mission would start with heading to the east of the island of the diamond, to find an old abandoned port, from there they would be able to reach the eastern gate of Karak Izril without encountering anything to hinder their progress. Entering through the side which the dwarves of Karak Izril had already conquered was not an option as they would be far too untrusting and stubborn to let the norse pass through to the other side.(After all, they aren't dwarfs, why would they trust our chosen ones?)
Having said everything, Thor wished for good fortune to be on their side, then said farewell and disappeared.
The norsemen later departed for Karak Izril, on their way there, they noticed that Fornheim, where they had just been, seemed to be enduring a severe storm in a large area around it. Obviously, that wasn't the case, and this is simply an illusion to discourage sailors from getting near.
Soon after, the Great Shaman used the telepathic link between him and his daughter Cercha to pass the message that Brownbeard, The Viking captain's friend, had come to say that the dwarfs had reached the great plain. He also left the captain a piece of technology for a fair price. (fair price for a dwarf at least) Said item was some mounted repeating crossbows to mount on his ship, he had acquired this from one of the dwarfs that he helped out.
The Great Shaman also passed word that another group of 3 chosen ones had been revealed to him, their leader is an apprentice shaman named Askel, his warriors are a Berserker named Joosef Stronkaxe and an Ulfhednar named Drakki Direscar. They would set out to free the enslaved dwarfs in Karak Agrilbarag.
Much time later, having landed in the old port and crossed the horse plains, the heroes reached the eastern door of Karak Izril, as they approached, the door opened and a horde of goblins came charging towards them, our heroes were severely outnumbered, the ensuing battle was short, and the chosen ones soon noticed that the southern greenskins are weaker than the ones they have to fight at home, another difference is some of them didn't actually have a green skin. (southern greenskins are a mix between both Tolkien's and Warhammer's)
How nice of the goblins, they had opened the door for them!
Proceeding inside, they slaughtered for hours, advancing, encountering various strange creatures, until they reached the hidden room in the market, where they found many magical stones as well as Grimnir's runic mythril Idol. They then headed back up, to the storage.
In the corridor to the storage, they soon faced off against a dozen cave trolls along with thirty or so orks in full plate armor. the battle was long and brutal, but norse strength prevailed.
As they recovered from this brutal encounter, two dwarfs came out of a hidden passage in the corridor and headed towards the group, A ranger, Skalli Kandoom without doubt, along with him is a priest, at least that's what they thought at first, until they learned this dwarf can use magic, quite a surprise for them, but they soon figured out that rock sorcerers, while rare, are absolutely normal for the dwarves of Karak Izril, revealing the two kinds of dwarf and their differences. The two mountain dwellers had come here as they had been sent on a scouting mission by Lothos (after securing the western part of Karak Izril) to obtain information on the situation in the rest of Karak Izril that hadn't been reclaimed yet.
A long trip back later, they learned much from each other about many subjects, and soon they arrived back at Fornheim.
That's it for now, this message should already be plenty long, i'll write more later.
Likes:
Degiance, Markolis and Mahdi
and so, the norse story continues...
Having finally returned, the group used Fornheim's stone of teleportation to get to Karak Kazadaldrhun. Once there, Skalli had everyone follow him, after all, this was his home, however it was quite empty aside from the gear lying around and the few dead bodies chaotic dwarfs and their puppets, along with the new runic golems waiting around. This was quite the change from over 80 years ago, when Skalli was forced to leave and the dwarfen realm was still doing well.
Skalli knew what to do, and headed directly to the mausoleum, met with it's entrance closed, he spoke a few words, and the door opened, the norsemen had heard those words before, when the brewmaster spoke the words on the king's hammer. Quick to catch on, the ranger explained his past as an Ironbreaker, the king's bodyguards, ages ago, (in human time at least) he was one of the best warriors in the Karaz Ankor, although very young back then. Unfortunately, this skill did not save him from getting his shield-bearing arm severely wounded while defending king Galdmindir from a group of trolls. Skalli had no choice but to switch to another job, as he could not properly defend the king anymore.
He decided to become a ranger, and was competent enough at his job, until the day he failed to spot a greenskin ambush for a convoy he was escorting, and was the only one able to escape from it. When he returned home, all alone and with a failed mission, the slayer oath was what should've been given to him, however, having been the first ranger to ever receive a grudge, the ancients had a council, the result of which was the decision to exile the ranger, his only chance of redeeming himself and returning would be to find the lost expedition from hundreds of years prior, a mission that was certain to be suicidal. Skalli had not succeeded, but he still hadn't died either, he had recently acquired hints of where they may be located however.
As his story was revealed to the group, they reached the great priestess Gesizda's tomb, Skalli took his greatest friends in hand, which were his weapons, "Dongliz-maraz" and "Drengbarazi-strollaz", placed them on the tomb, then let a single teardrop fall on the tomb. All three ingredients disappeared and the tomb opened. He took two parchments, closed the tomb, and headed back out to Karak Kazadaldrhun's temple. Once there, he used one of the parchments to re-activate the temple, then he used the second one, and Galdmindir, the Karaz Ankor's high king, stood in front of them.
Having ressurected the high King by sacrificing his only weapons, which were also the only belongings he had from before being exiled, the king allowed him to re-equip himself, so that he may have a chance of finishing his quest, they did not speak again afterwards. Equiped with two new runic weapons, "Vengryn" and "Dokdrengi", Skalli left along with his rock sorcerer friend, using a teleportation parchment to arrive directly in Karak Izril.
Hours later, after many explanations of the situation and what had happened since the fall of the Karaz Ankor, Galdmindir promised all his support to his new allies, they would fight side by side at the final battle, no matter if it would be the end or a new beginning for them. Once more, and perhaps one last time, the dwarfs and the norsemen would fight side by side, just as their ancestors did ages ago.
Galdmindir would wait here, he had much to sort, and would wait for his kin to arrive, as another group of norsemen had been sent to rescue the dwarfs held as slaves in Karak Agrilbarag, the same dwarfs that Skalli had failed to protect.
Returning to Fornheim through the teleporter, the chosen ones were called back home by the Great shaman, there was much work ahead of them.
The Viking captain decided paying a visit to Brownbeard wouldn't hurt, and he made a quick detour after passing through the Maelstrom to meet him, afterwards, he used an item he had acquired on Fornheim, which let him choose at which Maelstrom he would exit once entering one, this let him cross the sea of the star in a single day instead of almost a month, and soon enough, they were back home.
After yet more discussions with the Great shaman, a decision was reached, to find the remaining 5 runic mythril idols, the Great shaman would use his magical powers to scan the whole world, it would take time, but he would find the idols eventually. two days later, he had the location of three of the five idols, they were all located in the same area, far up north, past the world's edge mountains (the world is still thought to be flat in this world). Thanks to the map they had obtained far earlier in this campaign, they already knew of the sea above the world's edge mountains (along with the maelstrom in it), which had also meant that they weren't actually the world's edge, but the name would remain.
After some preparation, including filling a bottomless chest they had acquired while slaughtering through Karak Izril with countless foodstuff and other adventuring equipment. they set sail to the maelstrom, which would get them to unexplored lands.
Aight, that's all for this time, there's still more for me to write, but that's already a good read for you guys until then x).
Having finally returned, the group used Fornheim's stone of teleportation to get to Karak Kazadaldrhun. Once there, Skalli had everyone follow him, after all, this was his home, however it was quite empty aside from the gear lying around and the few dead bodies chaotic dwarfs and their puppets, along with the new runic golems waiting around. This was quite the change from over 80 years ago, when Skalli was forced to leave and the dwarfen realm was still doing well.
Skalli knew what to do, and headed directly to the mausoleum, met with it's entrance closed, he spoke a few words, and the door opened, the norsemen had heard those words before, when the brewmaster spoke the words on the king's hammer. Quick to catch on, the ranger explained his past as an Ironbreaker, the king's bodyguards, ages ago, (in human time at least) he was one of the best warriors in the Karaz Ankor, although very young back then. Unfortunately, this skill did not save him from getting his shield-bearing arm severely wounded while defending king Galdmindir from a group of trolls. Skalli had no choice but to switch to another job, as he could not properly defend the king anymore.
He decided to become a ranger, and was competent enough at his job, until the day he failed to spot a greenskin ambush for a convoy he was escorting, and was the only one able to escape from it. When he returned home, all alone and with a failed mission, the slayer oath was what should've been given to him, however, having been the first ranger to ever receive a grudge, the ancients had a council, the result of which was the decision to exile the ranger, his only chance of redeeming himself and returning would be to find the lost expedition from hundreds of years prior, a mission that was certain to be suicidal. Skalli had not succeeded, but he still hadn't died either, he had recently acquired hints of where they may be located however.
As his story was revealed to the group, they reached the great priestess Gesizda's tomb, Skalli took his greatest friends in hand, which were his weapons, "Dongliz-maraz" and "Drengbarazi-strollaz", placed them on the tomb, then let a single teardrop fall on the tomb. All three ingredients disappeared and the tomb opened. He took two parchments, closed the tomb, and headed back out to Karak Kazadaldrhun's temple. Once there, he used one of the parchments to re-activate the temple, then he used the second one, and Galdmindir, the Karaz Ankor's high king, stood in front of them.
Having ressurected the high King by sacrificing his only weapons, which were also the only belongings he had from before being exiled, the king allowed him to re-equip himself, so that he may have a chance of finishing his quest, they did not speak again afterwards. Equiped with two new runic weapons, "Vengryn" and "Dokdrengi", Skalli left along with his rock sorcerer friend, using a teleportation parchment to arrive directly in Karak Izril.
Hours later, after many explanations of the situation and what had happened since the fall of the Karaz Ankor, Galdmindir promised all his support to his new allies, they would fight side by side at the final battle, no matter if it would be the end or a new beginning for them. Once more, and perhaps one last time, the dwarfs and the norsemen would fight side by side, just as their ancestors did ages ago.
Galdmindir would wait here, he had much to sort, and would wait for his kin to arrive, as another group of norsemen had been sent to rescue the dwarfs held as slaves in Karak Agrilbarag, the same dwarfs that Skalli had failed to protect.
Returning to Fornheim through the teleporter, the chosen ones were called back home by the Great shaman, there was much work ahead of them.
The Viking captain decided paying a visit to Brownbeard wouldn't hurt, and he made a quick detour after passing through the Maelstrom to meet him, afterwards, he used an item he had acquired on Fornheim, which let him choose at which Maelstrom he would exit once entering one, this let him cross the sea of the star in a single day instead of almost a month, and soon enough, they were back home.
After yet more discussions with the Great shaman, a decision was reached, to find the remaining 5 runic mythril idols, the Great shaman would use his magical powers to scan the whole world, it would take time, but he would find the idols eventually. two days later, he had the location of three of the five idols, they were all located in the same area, far up north, past the world's edge mountains (the world is still thought to be flat in this world). Thanks to the map they had obtained far earlier in this campaign, they already knew of the sea above the world's edge mountains (along with the maelstrom in it), which had also meant that they weren't actually the world's edge, but the name would remain.
After some preparation, including filling a bottomless chest they had acquired while slaughtering through Karak Izril with countless foodstuff and other adventuring equipment. they set sail to the maelstrom, which would get them to unexplored lands.
Aight, that's all for this time, there's still more for me to write, but that's already a good read for you guys until then x).
One more step towards Valhalla...
Sails up!
Reaching the Maelstrom mid-afternoon, they entered it, waiting for the 10 minutes to pass, during which they are seemingly in an underwater tunnel, surrounded by water on all sides, only breathing thanks to an air bubble surrounding the ship, all seemed to go well, until a few minutes before exiting the Maelstrom's tunnel, everyone aboard the viking ship started hearing haunting screams coming from all around, quickly, everyone took up arms, and mere seconds after, Mermaids got on the ship, wildly attacking all aboard, however, most were unarmed except for their sharp teeth and claws, the hardened soldiers aboard had no trouble holding against the onslaught of half-women half-fish creatures.
A few minutes of fighting later, having suffered no casualties and barely any wounds, the mermaids escaped from the fight, just as the ship resurfaced. The temperature was quite pleasantly warm compared to the freezing shores of the north. No land in sight and having just been attacked by creatures they had already encountered before, the ship headed north, towards their objective. Thanks to the spell of localisation the Great shaman cast on her daughter, he could tell at any time where in the world she was, added to that their ability to telepathically communicate with one another, he could easily tell his daughter which way they needed to go.
Barely a day later, they once again heard screams coming from below. This time however, the norsemen were ready, a perfect oval shieldwall quickly formed in the middle of the ship, waiting for the incoming bloodbath.
Out of the water jumped mermaids, this time however, they were all armed and armored, they would most certainly have been more of a challenge, had the norsemen not prepared for them a shieldwall harder to pierce than the walls of Asgard. The battle was short, but the dead mermaids were not few, their morale quickly wavered and they retreated, shamed by the laughter of the shieldbearers. They would not attempt another assault. At least, not anytime soon.
Almost two weeks later, land was in sight, a large city as well! The captain had a feeling the architecture was familiar, it ressembled the buildings made by the japanese on the island in the middle of the sea of the star. Through his spyglass, he saw numerous humans, all gathering on the city's port, some armed, some clearly civilians. The port seemed to have very serious defensive positions and devices, they could recognise many large mounted repeater crossbows, something very new to the norse. There was no doubt about it, these humans had more advanced military weaponry.
They soon arrived to the port, as they did, they saw a flying creature coming towards them, a hippogryph, on it was a man in seemingly expensive and seriously decorated clothes. He landed his mount in front of the norsemen, and asked in common tongue numerous questions, a few things were quickly discussed and he asked for the norse leaders to follow him, the chinese man's Emperor surely had much to discuss with these impressively tough seafarers, after all, no ship other than small fishing boats that barely venture out of the port had ever docked here as far as their history records go.
And as expected, the captain, the shamaness and the warlord, who accompanied the chinese interpreter, soon saw the dwarfen mythril idol, sitting on top of the Emperor's throne, this one was a representation a Valaya, the last of the 3 main dwarf gods.
And so, the spokesmen of each culture discussed for hours, learning and negotiating numerous things. The captain bought a hippogryph in exchange of a runic weapon, and the shamaness negotiated for the mythril idol, however, to obtain it, they would have to head eastwards and fight alongside the chinese against an army of Ogres who would assault the great wall in slightly over two weeks.
(Here goes a parenthesis of things learned in this diplomatic session)
The chinese Empire was constantly besieged on all sides, only holding together thanks to their advanced technology, the great wall surrounding their entire land, as well as their special mounts, the demigryphs, the hippogryphs and a few griffins (who are obviously only for the nobility). The Shaolin, warrior monks from the Imaralia, were also a great help from any invasion. A new ally appeared relatively recently as well, a group of less than a hundred dwarfs, a specie previously unknown to the chinese, arrived from the south-west around 80 years ago, they had fled their homeland and desperately escaped, crossing through the cursed lands and the world's edge mountains due to the lack of other options when the chaotic dwarfs ravaged their lands. A great number of them died in the attempt. The dwarfs came with three mythil runic idols, the Emperor's grandfather who reigned at the time, took their most precious Idol to ensure loyalty from their new ally, as it was a very prized possession to them. They were then led to the Imaralia, where they could start a new life, their outpost would take the name of "Karak Azul". The dwarfen smiths were now fabricating weapons and armors constantly, their mastery in the forge was a great asset for the chinese.
However, compared to the threats constantly looking at the chinese empire, allies were few.
To the south, the forbidden sea was property of the mermaids, nothing can enter with any hope of leaving. Sometimes, the mermaids themselves would attack, hence the heavily defended positions on the port.
Even further south, the world's edge mountains were home to the harpies, those half-bird half-(wo)man often raided the least protected lands and caravans in the chinese empire.
To the east, the Ogre Kingdoms, a place where man-like creatures, who are more than twice as tall as a man, war with each other. When peace comes amongst their kind, war will come to the surrounding realms. The ogres are currently at peace.
To the north, the snowy taigas hold the mongolian Khanate (you can easily guess what this involves)
To the north-west lie the plains of the centaur kingdom, half-horse half-(wo)man creatures that sometimes ally with the mongols, during such times, the chinese constantly stay on-guard. Their alliance makes for a truly fearsome combination of warriors. Currently, they are allied.
The forest to the west is the only place that does not suffer assaults, or almost none, the centaurs can attempt sneaky assaults after all. Not much is known about this forest, especially it's inner part.
Disastrous as the situation may look, things may look brighter for the chinese in the future, in recent years, the discovery of gunpowder has made for a formidable new weapon, but it's recipe is kept very secret, and only the nobles and their bodyguards are armed with experimental pistols.
After some vain attempts at obtaining the secret of gunpowder, the norsemen were then dismissed, they would head towards the imaralia the next day, there they would be able to meet with the dwarfs and obtain some war-machines being made to fight the ogre assault.
Their trip went mostly uneventfully, they were accompanied by a few interpreters, the land surrounding them was plains, small hills and some forests. after the first week of traveling, nearing the Imaralia, the convoy was attacked by nearly a hundred harpies, they were swiftly dealt with, the few surviving ones fleeing, and being chased down by one of the valkyries on her new hippogryph mount.
The same day, the shamaness heard good and bad news from her father, the other group of chosen ones had returned with all of the dwarfs that were held as slaves by the greenskins, there was no losses for either the norsemen or the dwarfs, the same couldn't be said for the greenskins. The dwarfs would be sent through the sea of the star, to pass through the maelstrom and reach Fornheim, to then reach Karak Kazadaldrhun and join up with their high king, it was longer than by going to the dwarf capital by land, but it was much safer. The chosen ones, along with a ranger who would guide them, would go and stop a ritual in progress by the chaotic dwarfs in the dwarf lands.
A few days later, they reached Karak Azul, the gates of the karak opened and they were let inside, the dwarfs were quite surprised to see norsemen here, having thought most of the southern world to be in ruins by now. The following discussion was a rollercoaster of emotions, despaired by learning the chaotic dwarfs had raised an army of over half a million undead, including a zombified dragon. They rejoiced at learning that the High king Galdmindir was alive once again. They cried when they learned that no more than a hundred dwarfs were still alive, either wandering through the great plain or heading to the capital to join up with their leader. They were thankful when they heard that all the warriors of a norse village died to protect the dwarfs and give them time to escape.
But most of all, their determination to persevere grew when they learned of the old alliance between the norse and the dwarfs. The self proclaimed king of Karak Azul, the only noble to have made it here, happily accepted when the norse asked about having some warriors join them for the final battle to come. The rest of the dwarfs would remain here, most due to the large amount of ressources to be obtained from the heart of the Imaralia, it is an enormous mountain with an enormous amount of ressources.
This discussion over, the norse met with the two Shaolins currently staying at the dwarf Karak, they would be driving the war chariots the dwarfs had just finished making. Two huge chariots with a mounted repeater crossbow and led by four demigryphs.
The next day, the Norsemen along with the two Shaolin and their chariots, headed to the great wall, on their way the encountered a giant white gorilla which was about 10 meters tall (about 33 feet). On it was a few Shaolins riding it, quite a sight to behold, they waved at the Shaolins and passed by each other.
Some days later, they arrived at the Great wall. It certainly lives up to it's name, about 10 meters tall and expanding as far as the eye can see. On it are mounted repeater crossbows, and not far away, a camp is set up, a good number of chinese archers are waiting, the battle expected to happen the next day. The norsemen set up their own camp, later in the day, the emperor's son arrived riding a griffin, joined by the royal guard, all riding hippogryphs, some demigryph knights arrived very soon after.
A battle to be remembered was going to happen soon.
Wew, quite a write that was, that's where we've stopped for now.
Sails up!
Reaching the Maelstrom mid-afternoon, they entered it, waiting for the 10 minutes to pass, during which they are seemingly in an underwater tunnel, surrounded by water on all sides, only breathing thanks to an air bubble surrounding the ship, all seemed to go well, until a few minutes before exiting the Maelstrom's tunnel, everyone aboard the viking ship started hearing haunting screams coming from all around, quickly, everyone took up arms, and mere seconds after, Mermaids got on the ship, wildly attacking all aboard, however, most were unarmed except for their sharp teeth and claws, the hardened soldiers aboard had no trouble holding against the onslaught of half-women half-fish creatures.
A few minutes of fighting later, having suffered no casualties and barely any wounds, the mermaids escaped from the fight, just as the ship resurfaced. The temperature was quite pleasantly warm compared to the freezing shores of the north. No land in sight and having just been attacked by creatures they had already encountered before, the ship headed north, towards their objective. Thanks to the spell of localisation the Great shaman cast on her daughter, he could tell at any time where in the world she was, added to that their ability to telepathically communicate with one another, he could easily tell his daughter which way they needed to go.
Barely a day later, they once again heard screams coming from below. This time however, the norsemen were ready, a perfect oval shieldwall quickly formed in the middle of the ship, waiting for the incoming bloodbath.
Out of the water jumped mermaids, this time however, they were all armed and armored, they would most certainly have been more of a challenge, had the norsemen not prepared for them a shieldwall harder to pierce than the walls of Asgard. The battle was short, but the dead mermaids were not few, their morale quickly wavered and they retreated, shamed by the laughter of the shieldbearers. They would not attempt another assault. At least, not anytime soon.
Almost two weeks later, land was in sight, a large city as well! The captain had a feeling the architecture was familiar, it ressembled the buildings made by the japanese on the island in the middle of the sea of the star. Through his spyglass, he saw numerous humans, all gathering on the city's port, some armed, some clearly civilians. The port seemed to have very serious defensive positions and devices, they could recognise many large mounted repeater crossbows, something very new to the norse. There was no doubt about it, these humans had more advanced military weaponry.
They soon arrived to the port, as they did, they saw a flying creature coming towards them, a hippogryph, on it was a man in seemingly expensive and seriously decorated clothes. He landed his mount in front of the norsemen, and asked in common tongue numerous questions, a few things were quickly discussed and he asked for the norse leaders to follow him, the chinese man's Emperor surely had much to discuss with these impressively tough seafarers, after all, no ship other than small fishing boats that barely venture out of the port had ever docked here as far as their history records go.
And as expected, the captain, the shamaness and the warlord, who accompanied the chinese interpreter, soon saw the dwarfen mythril idol, sitting on top of the Emperor's throne, this one was a representation a Valaya, the last of the 3 main dwarf gods.
And so, the spokesmen of each culture discussed for hours, learning and negotiating numerous things. The captain bought a hippogryph in exchange of a runic weapon, and the shamaness negotiated for the mythril idol, however, to obtain it, they would have to head eastwards and fight alongside the chinese against an army of Ogres who would assault the great wall in slightly over two weeks.
(Here goes a parenthesis of things learned in this diplomatic session)
The chinese Empire was constantly besieged on all sides, only holding together thanks to their advanced technology, the great wall surrounding their entire land, as well as their special mounts, the demigryphs, the hippogryphs and a few griffins (who are obviously only for the nobility). The Shaolin, warrior monks from the Imaralia, were also a great help from any invasion. A new ally appeared relatively recently as well, a group of less than a hundred dwarfs, a specie previously unknown to the chinese, arrived from the south-west around 80 years ago, they had fled their homeland and desperately escaped, crossing through the cursed lands and the world's edge mountains due to the lack of other options when the chaotic dwarfs ravaged their lands. A great number of them died in the attempt. The dwarfs came with three mythil runic idols, the Emperor's grandfather who reigned at the time, took their most precious Idol to ensure loyalty from their new ally, as it was a very prized possession to them. They were then led to the Imaralia, where they could start a new life, their outpost would take the name of "Karak Azul". The dwarfen smiths were now fabricating weapons and armors constantly, their mastery in the forge was a great asset for the chinese.
However, compared to the threats constantly looking at the chinese empire, allies were few.
To the south, the forbidden sea was property of the mermaids, nothing can enter with any hope of leaving. Sometimes, the mermaids themselves would attack, hence the heavily defended positions on the port.
Even further south, the world's edge mountains were home to the harpies, those half-bird half-(wo)man often raided the least protected lands and caravans in the chinese empire.
To the east, the Ogre Kingdoms, a place where man-like creatures, who are more than twice as tall as a man, war with each other. When peace comes amongst their kind, war will come to the surrounding realms. The ogres are currently at peace.
To the north, the snowy taigas hold the mongolian Khanate (you can easily guess what this involves)
To the north-west lie the plains of the centaur kingdom, half-horse half-(wo)man creatures that sometimes ally with the mongols, during such times, the chinese constantly stay on-guard. Their alliance makes for a truly fearsome combination of warriors. Currently, they are allied.
The forest to the west is the only place that does not suffer assaults, or almost none, the centaurs can attempt sneaky assaults after all. Not much is known about this forest, especially it's inner part.
Disastrous as the situation may look, things may look brighter for the chinese in the future, in recent years, the discovery of gunpowder has made for a formidable new weapon, but it's recipe is kept very secret, and only the nobles and their bodyguards are armed with experimental pistols.
After some vain attempts at obtaining the secret of gunpowder, the norsemen were then dismissed, they would head towards the imaralia the next day, there they would be able to meet with the dwarfs and obtain some war-machines being made to fight the ogre assault.
Their trip went mostly uneventfully, they were accompanied by a few interpreters, the land surrounding them was plains, small hills and some forests. after the first week of traveling, nearing the Imaralia, the convoy was attacked by nearly a hundred harpies, they were swiftly dealt with, the few surviving ones fleeing, and being chased down by one of the valkyries on her new hippogryph mount.
The same day, the shamaness heard good and bad news from her father, the other group of chosen ones had returned with all of the dwarfs that were held as slaves by the greenskins, there was no losses for either the norsemen or the dwarfs, the same couldn't be said for the greenskins. The dwarfs would be sent through the sea of the star, to pass through the maelstrom and reach Fornheim, to then reach Karak Kazadaldrhun and join up with their high king, it was longer than by going to the dwarf capital by land, but it was much safer. The chosen ones, along with a ranger who would guide them, would go and stop a ritual in progress by the chaotic dwarfs in the dwarf lands.
A few days later, they reached Karak Azul, the gates of the karak opened and they were let inside, the dwarfs were quite surprised to see norsemen here, having thought most of the southern world to be in ruins by now. The following discussion was a rollercoaster of emotions, despaired by learning the chaotic dwarfs had raised an army of over half a million undead, including a zombified dragon. They rejoiced at learning that the High king Galdmindir was alive once again. They cried when they learned that no more than a hundred dwarfs were still alive, either wandering through the great plain or heading to the capital to join up with their leader. They were thankful when they heard that all the warriors of a norse village died to protect the dwarfs and give them time to escape.
But most of all, their determination to persevere grew when they learned of the old alliance between the norse and the dwarfs. The self proclaimed king of Karak Azul, the only noble to have made it here, happily accepted when the norse asked about having some warriors join them for the final battle to come. The rest of the dwarfs would remain here, most due to the large amount of ressources to be obtained from the heart of the Imaralia, it is an enormous mountain with an enormous amount of ressources.
This discussion over, the norse met with the two Shaolins currently staying at the dwarf Karak, they would be driving the war chariots the dwarfs had just finished making. Two huge chariots with a mounted repeater crossbow and led by four demigryphs.
The next day, the Norsemen along with the two Shaolin and their chariots, headed to the great wall, on their way the encountered a giant white gorilla which was about 10 meters tall (about 33 feet). On it was a few Shaolins riding it, quite a sight to behold, they waved at the Shaolins and passed by each other.
Some days later, they arrived at the Great wall. It certainly lives up to it's name, about 10 meters tall and expanding as far as the eye can see. On it are mounted repeater crossbows, and not far away, a camp is set up, a good number of chinese archers are waiting, the battle expected to happen the next day. The norsemen set up their own camp, later in the day, the emperor's son arrived riding a griffin, joined by the royal guard, all riding hippogryphs, some demigryph knights arrived very soon after.
A battle to be remembered was going to happen soon.
Wew, quite a write that was, that's where we've stopped for now.
Likes:
Degiance and Mahdi
A battle to be remembered...
After the arrival of the prince on his griffin, joined by a hundred royal guards riding hippogryphs, along with the two hundred demigryphs knights, the evening came up with another surprise, two giant white gorrilas with battle-ready shaolins monks riding it, they had come to drop off word that they would join the fight the next day, and then left.
The next day, the ogre army, which counted around 3000 warriors and 1000 archers, descended upon the 2km long plain (just about 1.25 miles) which stood in front of the great wall. However, behind the army was a few catapults being brought, this would be a problem, thankfully, after the entire army along with their artillery had stepped on the flatland, the two gorillas from the day before appeared behind them, destroyed the catapults by throwing huge boulders on them and ran off while the shaolins riding them deflected the arrows the ogres tried to shoot. (big arrows mind you, twice the size of a human one)
Not discouraged by the loss of their long ranged weaponry, the ogre army remained on their objective and started marching towards the great wall again.
the demigryphs positioned themselves in front of the great wall, just in front of the norsemen, who awaited eagerly to cross swords with the fearsome foes. The hippogryphs and the prince waited behind the great wall to take to the air. Every single chinese archer was ready to fire when the enemy would get sufficiently close, same goes for the chinese catapults.
Minutes later, rocks and arrows rained upon the ogres, the thousand ogre archers also let loose a few volleys, however, they were all but decimated early in the fight by the superior chinese firepower, as the warriors drew closer to the wall, the flying beasts took to the air, along with that the demigryphs started to charge head-on towards the ogre shieldwall, seconds before impact however, the entire line blew apart, literally, as bombs had been dropped from the sky by the royal guard who flew over their lines, the demigryphs were met with only some light resistance as they slaughtered hundreds, after which they fell back to regroup, they then started circling around the ogre army which was still pushing on to the great wall. The remaining archers were finished by the charge of the royal guard.
The norsemen took a circular defensive stance in the middle of battlefield, the shaman overlooking the fight from the middle. They expertly held the line and fought the entire battle with no losses. As the ogre warriors reached the walls, a single ladder was put down, and a final rear charge from the demigryphs finished whatever survivors remained, the ogres had been crushed by chinese might, and not a single one of them laid foot upon the walls.
Having earned their reward well, the prince bid them farewell after the battle, he would await them in the forbidden city with his father, where they would wait to grant the norsemen their reward. he departed after midday, having celebrated victory with his warriors.
There was no survivors for the ogres, chinese losses were around the two hundreds, less than a fifth of which were demigryph knights and royal guards. A great victory by a long reach.
A few days later, they returned to Karak Azul in the Imaralia, there, the king Skegnir Azdamaz awaited them, his 30 dwarf warriors were ready, and he would join them, not only to get approval from the high king as a new king, but also to join the fight that would decide the fate of the norsemen and their new dwarfen allies. The runesmith also joined them, as all of the main knowledge on the art of the runes was located in Karak KazadAldrhun, the dwarf capital. The king's armor was fairly impressive, being a mythril full plate armor with some good runes inscribed upon it. His mythril axe was nothing the norsemen hadn't yet seen or obtained however, some might even say "weak" compared to theirs.
On the way to the Chinese capital, now joined by their dwarfen allies, the shamaness received grim news from her father, the other group of chosen ones had seemingly failed in their task, as he felt the demon dwarf's ritual finish, what this ritual had accomplished however, he did not know.
Having finally arrived, they obtained the mythil idol of valaya, their promised payment. They now had 5 of the 7 idols needed, having obtained Smednir's and Thungni's idols in Karak Azul.
They spent a couple of days here, enjoying local culture and buying all sorts of goods. They would soon depart, back into the forbidden sea to get back home.
After the arrival of the prince on his griffin, joined by a hundred royal guards riding hippogryphs, along with the two hundred demigryphs knights, the evening came up with another surprise, two giant white gorrilas with battle-ready shaolins monks riding it, they had come to drop off word that they would join the fight the next day, and then left.
The next day, the ogre army, which counted around 3000 warriors and 1000 archers, descended upon the 2km long plain (just about 1.25 miles) which stood in front of the great wall. However, behind the army was a few catapults being brought, this would be a problem, thankfully, after the entire army along with their artillery had stepped on the flatland, the two gorillas from the day before appeared behind them, destroyed the catapults by throwing huge boulders on them and ran off while the shaolins riding them deflected the arrows the ogres tried to shoot. (big arrows mind you, twice the size of a human one)
Not discouraged by the loss of their long ranged weaponry, the ogre army remained on their objective and started marching towards the great wall again.
the demigryphs positioned themselves in front of the great wall, just in front of the norsemen, who awaited eagerly to cross swords with the fearsome foes. The hippogryphs and the prince waited behind the great wall to take to the air. Every single chinese archer was ready to fire when the enemy would get sufficiently close, same goes for the chinese catapults.
Minutes later, rocks and arrows rained upon the ogres, the thousand ogre archers also let loose a few volleys, however, they were all but decimated early in the fight by the superior chinese firepower, as the warriors drew closer to the wall, the flying beasts took to the air, along with that the demigryphs started to charge head-on towards the ogre shieldwall, seconds before impact however, the entire line blew apart, literally, as bombs had been dropped from the sky by the royal guard who flew over their lines, the demigryphs were met with only some light resistance as they slaughtered hundreds, after which they fell back to regroup, they then started circling around the ogre army which was still pushing on to the great wall. The remaining archers were finished by the charge of the royal guard.
The norsemen took a circular defensive stance in the middle of battlefield, the shaman overlooking the fight from the middle. They expertly held the line and fought the entire battle with no losses. As the ogre warriors reached the walls, a single ladder was put down, and a final rear charge from the demigryphs finished whatever survivors remained, the ogres had been crushed by chinese might, and not a single one of them laid foot upon the walls.
Having earned their reward well, the prince bid them farewell after the battle, he would await them in the forbidden city with his father, where they would wait to grant the norsemen their reward. he departed after midday, having celebrated victory with his warriors.
There was no survivors for the ogres, chinese losses were around the two hundreds, less than a fifth of which were demigryph knights and royal guards. A great victory by a long reach.
A few days later, they returned to Karak Azul in the Imaralia, there, the king Skegnir Azdamaz awaited them, his 30 dwarf warriors were ready, and he would join them, not only to get approval from the high king as a new king, but also to join the fight that would decide the fate of the norsemen and their new dwarfen allies. The runesmith also joined them, as all of the main knowledge on the art of the runes was located in Karak KazadAldrhun, the dwarf capital. The king's armor was fairly impressive, being a mythril full plate armor with some good runes inscribed upon it. His mythril axe was nothing the norsemen hadn't yet seen or obtained however, some might even say "weak" compared to theirs.
On the way to the Chinese capital, now joined by their dwarfen allies, the shamaness received grim news from her father, the other group of chosen ones had seemingly failed in their task, as he felt the demon dwarf's ritual finish, what this ritual had accomplished however, he did not know.
Having finally arrived, they obtained the mythil idol of valaya, their promised payment. They now had 5 of the 7 idols needed, having obtained Smednir's and Thungni's idols in Karak Azul.
They spent a couple of days here, enjoying local culture and buying all sorts of goods. They would soon depart, back into the forbidden sea to get back home.
Likes:
Pandagnome and Degiance