(OOC: Sorry, Mist, I left Traug in the Mausoleum so that if he was still with us he could come back out just like he did. And you could have found the stick in there. I'm sure there were tons of dead adventurers in there :-)
Some Date, Some Year
The morning broke bright and early. The remains of the Red Bastion Expedition rose to a blinding dawn. The evils of the days past seemed to slip away with the evaporating fog.
Liander began his preparations for the ritual. The party was up to an even dozen, and anxious to be on their way. They ate breakfast in silence, not wanting to disturb the busy mage.
Finally the ritual was ready. The twelve stepped into the inscribed circle and prepared themselves. Liander intoned the ancient words, drawing on powers of ages past.
A shadowy form materialized in the middle of the circle. "Who calls upon the Weavers of Reality?"
Liander stepped forward. "We seek admission to the realm of the Weavers. We wish to bargain for an artifact we require on our quest."
"An item of power is required to enter the realm and receive an audience with the Weavers. Do you have such an item?"
Liander reached into his belt and pulled forth the dagger they had received inside the Mausoleum. "Will this suffice?"
The shade reached out and clutched the dagger. "It is acceptable." Without another word, the world around the twelve lost focus. When clarity returned, they stood in a long hall. For an eternity to every side stretched halls of doorways. The man standing before them nodded his head and quietly led them down a hallway unlike the others. They entered a small chamber, where a large host of robed men was assembled. The man spoke.
"You stand in the presence of the Weavers. Tell your tale, and we will judge if you are worthy of our assistance."
Jerreck stepped in front of the others. Carrying his helmet under
his arm, he addressed the Weavers.
"I am Jerreck. These are my companions in an expedition set out to
find some answers and possibly stop a great catastrophy." He paused
for a second, considering his next words.
"It has come to the attention of the nation of Dantimos, that the
power source known as the "Red Bastion" is currently being corrupted
by a demonic being from the plane of fire. Unless he is stopped, the
balance of all mana of this plane will be disturbed, and no one knows
what could happen then. The red mana power source must be cleansed."
The Weavers observed Jerreck with cold silence. He continued.
"To do this, we must travel to this being's home plane and battle him
there. He would be too strong for us here. We have been told by an
oracle that you, the Weavers of Reality, possess an item that would
enable us to battle him. We are here to bargain for this item so that
we may continue our quest and stop the corruption of the Red Bastion."
OOC:
Sorry about the crappy post... i simply can't remember the names of
the demon (or was it a fire elemental?) and the oracle, or what item
the weavers were supposed to provide us with. Oh well. :) This was the
best i could whip up with the info that i have/remember. Hope i wasn't
completely off track.
/Jerreck
OOC: I'm away this weekend, I'll be back by Sunday evening and I'll make my next post then. The fire demon's name is Apyrel, and he controls the elemental. And the Weavers want you to tell the tale of your journey, not just its purpose :-)
Torlax
"In the beginning we were many. We met in the great halls
of the High Mountain dwarves, on our own continent to the
south. We made our way northwards and on the way we visited
the Oracle. After answering her riddles, she told us what we
need to defeat Apyriel."
The assembled Weavers listened solemnly as Jerreck continued.
"On our way to the northern coast, we were ambushed by hordes
of goblins, and our Captain, Jecroth, was killed. A stranger
who thought some of us were vampires started to harrass us from
this point. I'll come back to him later. The angel Cain, lord
Hespus and myself were given command of the group. We stayed at
the Golden Crown, where we met some old man who called himself
"Sage Advisor". He never gave his real name. Anyway, it seems
that the stranger's name was Adunakhor, and worked for this
Sage Advisor. While we spoke, Adunakhor tried to kill Shara, here."
Jerreck nodded towards the bladewoman.
"The old man apologized for the former's behaviour and offered
us some sort of skin to be pulled over a shield. I still have
it in my backpack."
"Anyway, after some problems, we finally got a ship to take us to
Bada'espi. Of course, a week or so into the voyage, we realized
we had ended up on a pirate ship. The pirates even attacked a
merchantman while we were on the ship! The pirates told some story
about how they had just defended themselves, and we pretended to
believe it, saving time until we could free the imprisoned sailors
and overtake the ship. The merchantman was sunk.
"After a grand fight, we managed to vanquish the pirates and free
the prisoners. It turned out that Adunakhor, the little trickster,
had snuck onto the ship as well and had also been imprisoned by
the pirates. Once we reached Bada'espi, we set him free and haven't
seen him again since then."
"Well here, we began to dig out what we could about the Mausoleum of
Gantua. It took a long time, and people were very reluctant to reveal
anything at all. Finally though, we got a lead to go on, and we
travelled on horseback towards the mausoleum. On our way there we
camped in a cave, inhabited by earth spirits. With some luck, i was
able to convince them that we had not knowingly intruded their home,
and they let us off. This seems to have impressed a local wood spirit,
Elian, who contacted us and told us of the corruption that had affected
the area. She granted me this armor, and guided us to the mausoleum,
where we arrived a few days later."
"Elain had told us of a great evil inside, and how the armor alone
would stand against its corruption. Armed to the teeth, we entered
the dark tomb, and great was the evil that faced us. At times we got
separated, fighting our own nightmarish monsters. In the end though,
we all ended up in the inner most chamber, where some undead figure
held court. He possesed the body of one of our magicians, Yosh, and
easily flung our warriors aside. He also seemed to be able to mind
control Shara. With the help of this armor i was able to destroy him
though, but we payed a heavy price that day. The few of us who remained
standing, witnessed the soul of Gantua himself, thanking us for destroying
his nemesis. He gave us these things to help us on our quest, and all we
know is that somehow you, the Weavers of Reality, are supposed to lead
us onwards on our Quest."
Jerreck stopped talking. The room was silent. Everyone waited for the
strange Weavers to say something.
(OOC: My apologies for the late post, I just got to college and it's been a blur. I also don't have a connection in my room until at least Sept. 15th, so my visits might be spaced out.)
The Head Weaver looked around at his fellows, and lowered his head. Soon all of the Weavers around the room sat with heads bowed. After a few tense minutes, the Head Weaver looked up and stood.
"Your quest has been judged worthy of our assistance. We will grant you the item you seek, as well as information to aid you as you continue. We require only that you return the item when your task is complete."
Raising his hand, he whispered softly, and there appeared a slender metal staff, about four feet long, with capped tips. "This is the Staff of Transmutation. It will protect your party from the fires of Apyrel's plane while you battle his minions. All of you will be encompassed in its globe, and the fires will turn into water at its touch."
Jerreck stepped forward to claim the staff. The Head Weaver spoke again. "Be warned, Apyrel is a mighty foe. You will need to acquire the one weapon that can put him to rest for eternity: Frostbite, the Sword of Cabria Truesteel.
"The Sword was used in Cabria's battle against the fire demons that Apyrel sent to her plane many years ago. After winning the battle and nearly destroying Apyrel, she abandoned the sword in the icy pools to the north of your world, believing Apyrel's essence to be trapped in the sword and not wanting to allow his release. Tonight, you will rest here, in our realm, with your party, and tomorrow you will be taken to the lake where the sword rests. You must retrieve it by your own cunning."
The Weavers filed out, with a pair remaining to guide the party to its room. They rested and prepared themselves for the icy journey on the morrow.