Author Topic: The ponderings of a Humble Servant (Read 2367 times)

Redhawk · « **on:** March 12, 2006, 07:44:07 PM »

Author’s note: This place isn’t as untouched by Toran’s hand as I had initially worried. Balazar, a pledge to the path, longer resident of the region, has taken me under his wing. He spent a rather large amount of gold tonight making sure that I was properly outfitted to represent the church. I will remember this when I meet a new follower. I hope over the following pages to assemble a list of undead released in the Leader’s name, both to document my presentation to the Undead Hunter’s council and to provide a reference point for my future endeavor’s in the dark places.
The path I walk is righteous and true, Maev O’Leary

Skeletons: Fall quickly under the sword, turn easily. Carry axes, swing poorly. They seem to carry items and looted treasure either from prior to animation or after.

Zombies: Slow moving, unarmed. Didn’t attempt to turn, but notice that they are tough to drop and require much sword work. Their fists do minimal damage. Again, I was disgusted to find that they carry gold and other items – I must discern if this was accumulated prior to animation or after, if it is from prior then I must begin locating the graves and returning the items.

Ghouls: Quick moving, unarmed and soft hitting. A member of our party became diseased when struck by these creatures. Again haven’t attempted to turn, but was able to discern that they drop easily with both sword and arrow.

Dark Shadow: ( I think that’s what it was) a ghoul type creature, who moves quickly, attacks unarmed, but the impact is magical – I asked a cleric and he described it as negative damage, literally sucking the life force out of you. Unable to attempt to turn it, but did aid it in it’s release with well aimed sword blows.

Comments: I encountered these in the crypts below the Hlint cemetery. Balazar informed me that no matter how many times he dispatches the poor creatures, they always seem to come back. I suspect that it is the work of a powerful magic animator, maybe the man Elgar (I think that’s his name) an undertaker I met seeking information in the local tavern. I will keep my eye on him.

Redhawk · « **Reply #1 on:** March 14, 2006, 06:41:27 PM »

Author's Note: Spoke and journeyed with a cleric (maybe?) of another church. My ability to channel Toran's will was greatly weaker than I expected, skeletons, ghouls, and zombies only run in fear. Must practice more, pray harder. -- MO

Redhawk · « **Reply #2 on:** March 22, 2006, 07:44:54 PM »

skeletons: continue to study the skeltons, my power has increased as such that i can usually destroy them by channeling toran's will. they prefer to swarm, so grabbing my holy symbol is often a needed tactic. very strange that all of them seem to carry axes. it has been told that you can collect the knuckle from them once you have defeated them, i hope to find who is buying the knuckles. this maybe an important clue to who is animating all of the dead.

zombies: still a struggle, they hit very hard for unarmed opponents and are often guarded by ghouls. i find it a good tactic to use a crossbow bolt to grab the attention of the ghoul guarding them and then engage the ghoul away from the heard of zombies. i am concerned that both the ghouls and the zombies seem to shrug off the power of my holy symbol. engaged with a ghoul, i discovered that i can channel my failth into my sword and do immense damage. the effort leaves me weak and unable to do much, so i must be prudent with the use of this discovery.

Redhawk · « **Reply #3 on:** April 04, 2006, 04:14:51 PM »

Afflicted soul: I wasn’t but a partner in the release of these desperately sad undead, but the discovery of them chills me to the bone. There is a powerful animator at work and these seem to be bound to a grave. They strike like zombies, but with more power and seem capable of rudimentary spell magic.

Author’s Comments: Toran’s blessing shines bright, I have a mentor and schedule to train. The Shining Hand himself -- Quantum Windword -- has agreed to train me. I must dispatch letters to my father. To be trained by the Shining Hand is an honor I can only hope to aspire to. I will not fail.

Redhawk · « **Reply #4 on:** April 08, 2006, 04:37:37 PM »

I no longer need this as my submission for the Shining Hand, so I’m going to use it as a place to record my most pressing thoughts.

The church here is in massive disarray. I am saddened and concerned by the state of affairs. Just the other night while training in the crypts, I saw a man dressed in the colors and armor of our Order. He was bleeding everywhere and when I inquired if he was ok, he healed himself in the same fashion I do – that little cleric cantrip we are all taught. Yet he wielded a massive greatsword and carried no shield. A man of the church and he can’t even carry the proper battle kit! It is the little things that will hold us together, but we are crumbling from the edges. Order must be re established if we are to be the soldiers of justice.

Redhawk · « **Reply #5 on:** April 10, 2006, 06:01:59 PM »

The most horrible thing has happened. While attempting to put down an ogre threat to the town of Haven, I was captured and imprisoned. These vile subterranean creatures have a nasty little prison camp that they run and Toran saw it fit for me to spend 5 days in its dank dark clutches. I saw a few other sad lost souls whose minds had placed them beyond hope. Luckily I have faith and this only strengthened my trust in the Great Leader. On the fifth day I managed to slip away from my captors. The mines are populated by a slightly less civilized tribe of ogres it seems and once beyond the control of the prison tribe; I was chased thru the mines by the less civilized ones. It was a quick chase and when I thought I was getting close to getting away, I took a wrong turn and was quickly torn from my physical body. I had no hope of finding my body deep in the twisting turning tunnels of that cursed place, so I waited in Hlint for my physical body to return.

Which brings me to another point. Balazar. I am lucky to have another dedicated follower so close at hand, a man who found me wandering lost and confused in the crypts and saw to it that I was put on the right path. His prayers brought me great solace as we waited for my soul and body to be reunited. He was the one after my father that I was eager to tell of my acceptance into the apprenticeship for the Slayers. But I grow concerned of his intentions. Maybe it is the flattery; maybe it is his own loneliness. I roam alone. My love is the sword in my hand and the destiny Toran has laid out for me. I have no interest in the magic of love, that is the language of bards and fools. While I feel bad that I may be misreading the situation, I hope I can stop it before he gets to far ahead of himself. I do wish that I was born male or at least ugly.

Redhawk · « **Reply #6 on:** April 18, 2006, 02:30:08 PM »

I am learning so much, sometimes I can’t even stop to jot down my thoughts here. Quantum has given me lessons in getting my own vials of holy water and instructed me to patrol a region known as the Broken Forest. The undead here are not the barely break a sweat type I’m used to battling in the Hlint crypts. Shadows and Shades strike fiercely and the blessing I can now cast on my blade is a must to stay alive. Twice I’ve had to trudge slowly back to retrieve my stone. These undead are sometimes with these pumped up zombies (Quantum calls them afflicted souls). All of the undead here are bound by a curse to a grave in the center of the forest. Breaking the spell is something beyond the reach of even my mighty teacher, so the need for a slayer to be active in the Forest is almost permanent.

This means I’m very infrequently in Hlint and for the most part the solitude suits me. The quiet times in the temple gathering Holy Water for my blade and the stillness of the forest before I find the cursed ones is more my speed than the busy areas of Hlint. Balazar has gone on a trip to who knows where. I guess he didn’t appreciate my cold shoulder. Men. I envy their freedom to be as they wish, but don’t desire their thin skin. Funny thing happened with Q, during a training session he advised me ( the man is such a cleric) not be seduced into the destruction of drink and womanizing. I am free from being a girl.

Redhawk · « **Reply #7 on:** April 21, 2006, 10:07:35 PM »

So a lesson learned. I have become friends with a reclusive druid who is horrified by the level of corruption in the Broken Forest. He can speak to trees and claims the trees in the Broken Forest don’t speak. I had heard tell of a place where the undead roamed freely and after cleansing the Broken Forest, we hooked up with Bandikoot and eventually worked our way out to this place, called Dire Woods. I have not seen this many undead collecting in one place in my whole life. The place has been completely over run. I faced powerful shadow type creatures who floated over the land and sucked the life out of you when they struck. But this was only the beginning of my mistake. Large giants made up of cast off giant bones came rushing at us and I was stunned to find out that my sword did no damage to them. I fought valiantly, but was torn from my body and had to return in ghost form to get it. I must take Q to this place and he can teach me how to release them. This place is in even more need of a slayer than the Broken Forest.

Redhawk · « **Reply #8 on:** May 02, 2006, 04:25:57 AM »

A strange thing has happened. My assigned posting in the place known as the Broken Forest has come to an end. The undead have been vanquished, but it seems not to be the positive that one would normally expect. The grave that bound the undead to that place has been dug up, the entire forest has been burned to the ground. All that remains are very powerful enchanted plants, when I went to look with very powerful spellcaster Connor and paladin Klaug, we were killed by one swipe. I asked Quantum if I caused this, somehow removing guardians of the grave to allow something to come out or someone to come in. Could it be that the undead provided some protection to the area, a lesser of two evils? According to Connor the grave belongs to a ranger named Shadow and it was most likely his lover who returned. Connor says she was mad, but didn’t explain what this had to do with things. Toran works in strange ways, I am but a soldier and will not question the strategy of the Great Leader.

I am concerned that I may have become undead. I died and instead of going back to the bindstone I appeared before what others call the Soul Mother. She did something that caused me great pain and then sent me back to the bindstone. I must watch myself closely.

Redhawk · « **Reply #9 on:** May 09, 2006, 04:08:37 PM »

I’ve come to know the undead very well. I’ve met them in the woods, I’ve met them in crypts. I know when they are near now, my skin crawls like a druid feeling natures balance askew. I know them when they walk nearby. All these people here, all these wayward souls and there petty games. Politics. Idle laziness till the war finally begins. The war has begun, the dead won’t stay dead and they haunt our world. Toran sends me to them, longsword held high. I do not fear going to my grave, I do not fear their moans and spells.
I have walked to the edge of the world, I have died often and returned to fight again. I found a haunted crypt below the graveyard in Q’s own town. It took an army to flush out the undead below the city. I am grateful that Kharl could lead us against these foul creatures after they sent him and me to the bindstone. Remiel also took us to a powerful place that I can only assume is the gate way to the underworld, a place guarded by a bone golem of size and power that only persuades me to train harder. They try to get even when I sleep, they haunt the darkness behind my eyes. They will lose there too.
Evil presents itself among those who haven’t been buried. Kharl took me against a foul army of drow, Dark Elves of insurmountable evil. I did not tremble, I did not run.
I worry about Q. I have seen the ravages of temptation when I met the fallen justicar, Remiel. I know that Q spends his time with the half-dead bard O. I worry his blood and his soft cleric heart isn’t steel enough to stay the path. I’m convinced that there is celestial blood in the veins of both Q and R. Something about that blood weakens their resistance to temptation. I am here to remind Q of the path, to provide him a voice of reason in the face of so much temptation. I hope I am enough to keep him from following R.

Redhawk · « **Reply #10 on:** May 11, 2006, 12:58:11 PM »

Journeyed with some dwarves of the Stonecutter clan into the mines outside of Pranzis. It seems that giants have made fetching minerals extremely difficult. Giant fighting is a very different process than dealing with undead – the attack starts with them trying to knock the giants over. Undead can’t be knocked over. It was good to watch the dwarves anyways. In the end, the giants sent a baby dragon that destroyed us and went on a rampage near Orc’s Watch.

Q requested that I formally begin the application process for the Shining Hand. Moving from apprentice to full-fledged member. I await their decision; I doubt they will turn me down. I went back to the haunted forest outside of Fort V. Imagine my surprise when I found a dwarven cleric camped out. Kurgin is seeking entrance into Dorand’s undead slayers ranks. We journeyed into the forest and quickly released these ghosts that haunt the place and then I was amazed as Kurgin destroyed the bone golems. Last time they sent me to a bindstone quite quickly, I must remember when I go back to bring a cleric with me. Q showed up also, easily destroying the bone golems (the man called it fun) and then demonstrating what can be done with the blessings that Toran affords the members of the Shining Hand. He sacrificed his own health and destroyed all the ghosts with a gesture. I’d heard my father talk of this, but to see it in action. We have enough power to counter the strongest necromancers. Q also needed some gems in a mine nearby that was controlled by ogers. It seems Ogers have begun to raise there own undead, no sooner had we entered the mine than skeletal orcs came bounding toward us. I aided Q in there release , but I need to go back and see if more have returned. If there are more then there is a serious issue with necromantic ogers that must be tackled.

It seems that everywhere I turn lately I run into a paladin of Roferien, Thomas Swordsinger. The man is a bard in armor, I can’t imagine what the clerics of Roferien were thinking taking him on. According to Q the man is smitten with me and he often compliments me on my looks, sword work and strength. It is not as off putting as Balazar’s advances, he reminds me instead of a puppy dog. I’ve seen him die often, but I would still be happy to see him swinging his sword nearby in battle. Like Kharl, he is one of the few men I feel I don’t have to fear. There intentions are up front and not hidden, and they accept that the true love of my life is my sword and the path I walk and they do not seem to judge me for it.

Even from here, the house in Krandor, I can hear the dead whispering and calling me to them below the city streets and even in the woods outside of Fort V. They know I can release them from their torment, but their makers call them to destroy me. Tormented souls, I know my path.

Redhawk · « **Reply #11 on:** May 11, 2006, 10:12:12 PM »

I am back in V. Another night debating the needs of the heart from TS. I explained to him that there is no place for romantic love in a paladins life, that kind of foolishness brings fear and there is no place for fear in my path. I give my fear to Toran and hold fast to my longsword. After awhile I couldn't resist the whispers of the undead. I knew they haunted the forest and so I sought them. The Undead Orcs are gone, I'll keep checking,but more pressing matters. I am ok with the ghosts and the strange creatures they bring with them. According to a priest in the temple they are called alips. Anyway, the ghosts are hard to hit, but i'm hard for them to hit. It is the bone golems that i struggle with. I've tried hammers, holy water, my long sword and I can't even hit them, forget releasing them. I drew a bone golem out of the forest tonight and he ran amuck thru the country side and there was nothing i could do to help. i hid in the Roferien temple there and wept. Some slayer I am.

Redhawk · « **Reply #12 on:** May 21, 2006, 05:26:11 PM »

Much has happened recently. I have finally mastered the longsword enough to hold the enchanted weapon made by Pendar. The most beautiful and well-balanced weapon I’ve ever held. I also upgraded my armor. Treana and I have finally made peace, I even joined her recently to fight against the giant armies amassed outside of Pranzis. She told me where I can get a nice sheath to display prominently my new sword, no more hiding it with the rubbish I’ve collected in my bag. Giants. It seems that the land around Pranzis is being over run by giants and I have been representing the church on dangerous expeditions into the mines to procure minerals needed to wage war against Blood. It is a diversion from my original mission, but only a break. No matter how many baths I took, the smell of death was not coming out. And the bone golems, if I am careless and wake them, I can do nothing. I made the mistake of running back to Fort V last time, it followed me to the gates, sent me to my bindstone, and then waited for me outside the temple and eventually even chased me into the temple. Worse than having an uncontrollable undead roaming the countryside, bringing it into a place of worship? I have not spoken to Q about this, but I hope it doesn’t hurt my application. Next time, I’ll let it send me to the bindstone where I meet it. Face the death and risk the loss of a soul strand is better than cowardly, rougish, behavior. I must be spending too much time chatting with TS, fear has crept in. If death be my destiny, in Toran's name, it will be honorable.

Redhawk · « **Reply #13 on:** June 05, 2006, 10:34:56 AM »

Months have passed since I last pulled out this journal. If anyone finds it and wants to know, I better start filling in the gaps. I'm in Pranzis now, healing. Mind and body broken. I am being born into Toran by the fires, I am strong and the enemies fear me. They can't beat me in battle, so they seek my mind. I tried to get the smell out, soaked for days in baths,srubbed with sand. It would not leave. Then the voices. In the darkness of sleep they came disguised as dreams. Necromancer's minions screaming that I was doing the bidding of a dark God. I KNOW TORAN'S TRUTH THEY TELL LIES

And then the Shadow came. We locked in battle in the Dire Woods, it fell but not before knocking me around. No cuts, just left me weak and unskilled, all my training vanished. When I slept, it was there. Mocking me. Four nights it came, chanting that you are one of us, you are one of us, you are one of us. On the fifth night, I screamed in my sleep that I wasn't and it yelled back that I was and that it had marked me to prove it. When I woke, there was a white streak running thru my hair.

So I fled to Pranzis. I couldn't find Q anywhere, and when I thought I would, I became terrified that he would know the mark. He would see the mark and think I had weakly given in to the dark ones. So I've cut off all my hair. I will tell them ...

I will tell them the truth. It went white from injuries in battle with undead. I couldn't stand looking like an old woman. They practice dark magic and I am not swayed from Toran's truth, no matter what they do to me.

A priest at the temple suggested that I spend time fighting the evil around Pranzis. I continue to aid Asher, Honora, and Michael in the war against the giants. Since I cut off my hair, the dreams have faded. The smell is finally going away. I am no less beautiful, but maybe this will at least put an end to the idea that I am looking for a good husband. I am pledged to Toran.

Redhawk · « **Reply #14 on:** June 07, 2006, 09:19:23 PM »

Watching Honora sew things gave me an idea. I've sewn a hood onto my clothing to cover my head. Bald and hooded. I look like a rogue, but at least no one knows I've been marked. It's funny, those I meet notice my new clothes but don't ask any questions.
Been spending a lot of time in the desert where having no hair is actually a good thing. I'm still beautiful. I'm still fighting for the good side. Toran's blessing shines in my life, I must venture back to Dire Woods. I'm feeling stronger. Time to find the shadow. Time to remind the living dead who is boss.

Redhawk · « **Reply #15 on:** June 09, 2006, 10:17:24 AM »

Mai 25 1401

This Wedlar finds me back in Hlint. Duty calls. I am ready to return to what I was put here for in the first place. A new infestation, the most serious and horrific I’ve ever seen. I met a cleric of Aeridin, Jin Jun Lee, who is seeking to battle a type of undead called bodaks. Apparently you can get the teeth from them and these teeth can be used to heal. But these bodaks can send you to a bindstone with one stare, so it has required some of the most powerful magics I can find and possess. Amulets and rings and my own spells. I know I’m being put to a test, for when we entered the crypt they spoke to me. Taunted me. Not in my dreams, not after I sleep, but there in person. I am being tested. I will rise to this occasion.

Redhawk · « **Reply #16 on:** June 14, 2006, 07:14:32 PM »

Augra 22 1401
Resting at the temple in FL. JJL has hired me and fighting the undead has done me a world of good. I am reflecting on some mistakes I’ve made. Word is bond, I need to be more careful. The towns I go into. I must be aware of what deity the town is dedicated to and not venture or spend money in towns dedicated to unfriendly Gods. Hlint for instance is Ilsare’s town. It is not enough to avoid just the temple, the town is dedicated to her. Weaponary and spells. I’m walking in civilized areas with weapons and spells visible to the civilians! I must take more care to be less threatening, especially in FL, a town dedicated to the All Watching. I learn, I grow more filled with faith in his justice.

Storan’s crypt is a nightmare and a puzzle. I’ve encountered creatures that JJL calls by two names – revenants and fallen knights. They hit with ferocity and can penetrate most of my spell defenses easily, luckily they do not have much life left in them and they fall quickly. Oddly, they are immune to the powerful blows I’ve learned to channel into my sword. A cleric in the temple told me that these sword strikes are only harmful to creatures completely corrupted by evil. Am I to believe that these revenants are not evil? And yet, they howl in pain when touched by my blessed weapon, I see the scorch marks it leaves on their skin and I know they must be undead. I must attempt talking to them and see if I can puzzle out who or what they are. Well back to the bodaks.

Redhawk · « **Reply #17 on:** June 25, 2006, 05:10:42 PM »

I do not know the day. The world….

I was there on the front line and a valiant effort we waged. But all the prayers and all the preparations were for nothing. Pranzis has fallen and I saw demons running thru the halls of our great temple. All I did was die. Sent with coward’s speed to a bindstone while the demons rampaged the capitol. They won this battle, I will get stronger and come back to win the war.

I have been called by Toran to surrender my quest to become a slayer. The demon blood warlord must be removed from Pranzis and the temple must be restored. I will withdraw my application, I will tell Q. All that matters now is returning Pranzis from the hands of the evil ones.

Toran bless me, Toran steady my sword hand, I’ll bring your vengeance to the enemy.

Redhawk · « **Reply #18 on:** June 27, 2006, 04:52:53 PM »

19 Meras 1402

My heart breaks. I snuck back into Pranzis. I made sure not to remove my armor or sheath my weapon. This is no longer the civilized beautiful city I’ve called my home for so long. There are a few clerics hiding out in the temple, I offered to smuggle them out and then I offered to stay and stand guard. They hinted the my face and name were known to the demon on the throne and it would only be a matter of time before they began rounding up those who had slain so many invaders. So I gathered my bedroll and few belongings. I thought of going to Q’s house and seeing if I can offer assistance to his effort, but then I realized that if I’m on a watch list then I’d be attracting attention to him. As I fled, no more than a refugee, I bumped into Ozymandius. I want to honor the man, the instrumental roll he played in defeating Blood. He is racked with sickness from his efforts. And yet, he proceeds to defend the Warlord’s illegitimate claim to the throne. Every time I get close to respecting him, his undead cursed true self pops up and reminds me of what he really is. I got notice from Q about continuing to battle the undead. I must talk to the man about this path. I am training and gathering to aid in the liberation of Pranzis, falling in defeat, failing so utterly has convinced me that Toran is testing me. Do I walk from this call and continue the endless battle against the undead or do I avenge the insults tossed at us in Pranzis? Do I assume that the defeat at the East Gate was Toran sending me back into the crypts or do I assume that it was a demand that I rise up and focus on the callings of Toran to defeat evil in all forms?

I once met a man at the temple where I grew up. The clerics gave him a wide birth. He was battle scarred and dangerous looking. I asked who he was and they told be that he was to be avoided. I pressed with my questions. They referred to him as a Champion, a paladin so grounded in the holy war, so filled with righteous power, that he walked in places that left the clerics shivering in fear. Is this my calling? I think I need to speak to MD about this, but they tell me that the Champions are chosen by the church and the paladins have no say.

More shall be revealed.

I traded A for Bodak teeth to get better armor. Watching H and I backing up MM and I know my strength is growing. I have killed giants alone in battle now. I can face these evil ones. I must no longer run when they turn on me.

It has been nice to be with MM and H lately, they are so madly in love. It is a bubble of peace in this troubled time. I have no desire to lose myself like that in any kind of mortal temptation of flesh and distraction, but being around it is a nice reminder of why it is so important to stare down evil and wage war in the trenches.

Redhawk · « **Reply #19 on:** June 29, 2006, 08:16:09 PM »

23 Apreal 1402

Been thinking about this man the clerics called a Champion. I studied myself in the mirror at Q’s house in K. Bald and scarred, there is an odd light in my eyes. I know that I’ve seen more, trained harder and am a better warrior than my dad now. I’ve lost the fragile beauty that used to cause me no end of trouble with boys. I am by no means ugly, but I’m no longer pretty. I must look dangerous to regular citizens, especially with the cuts along my cheek from the succubus in P still healing. The woman looking back at me was strange and foreign. I’ve changed much.

I remember too the powerful undead hunter who came once to the temple to meet my Dad. Like the Champion, he was a man who didn’t even need to touch his sword hilt to make others step out of his way. The look in his eyes, something both dangerous and safe, platinum hard and filled with compassion. Last I saw my Dad, that same look had begun to settle about him. But with my Dad there was an exhaustion, a surrender that held the power at a distance. I am growing harder and more determined, I am filling myself up with the power serving Toran provides. Even if I’m not sure of the way forward, I am a long way from being done. I have just begun to wage war.

I have taken to sleeping at the temple in FL again. The Clerics asked if I could return to patrolling the crypt at the base of the Grey Mountains. I still owe JJL for the death warding rings and such and AH gave me some iron full plate on the condition that I get him some teeth also. So I’ve gone back to the endless fight against the resurrected dead. Like being around MM and H, it’s a welcome break from the haunted trauma and danger of P. I forgot how much I thrived in my war against the dark ones, battles that give me space to fight at my best. I have a few new slashes along my rib cage from the revenants, but it is a good rest for my mind to return to old routines. Journeys with simple maps. Toran will guide me, Q will counsel me. I must continue to put one foot in front of the other. Toran’s love and protection keeps me safe.