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Post by The Forgotten God on Oct 14, 2020 1:19:37 GMT
As dusk falls, the temporary inhabitants of Palerose feel a growing unease. Herneiros and Demetrius feel an alien presence nearby as the moons’ bright light fills the hazy sky. A chilly wind blows from the north, bringing the faint but unmistakeable smell of the arthropod-like hosts of the Kraken. Demetrius also feels another army approaching from the east. The earlier slaughter had settled nothing.
All of this is bad enough, but as the monster armies come into the valley below the dead village, Herneiros feels more things coming from the northeast, on the other side of the hill. Anything he can sense is, naturally, rather powerful.
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Post by Geoffrey Ravenhurst on Oct 14, 2020 14:21:29 GMT
Herneiros lets everyone sleep until early morning if they can.
In the meantime, he seeks out this church and grabs whoever can read good and is awake.
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Post by Dr. Archimedes Steller on Oct 14, 2020 14:28:22 GMT
Stomach rumbling and in this creepiest of ruins, Wrugar was unable to catch some proper sleep. The Giant was standing by the entrance of his barn looking at the stars when he caught the smallish, hairy, figure of Herneiros leaving the building where the rest of the party had been resting.
"So I am not the only one eluded by sweet Mistress Sleep..." He muttered, approaching the Wild Huntsman. "This place is no good. I don't usually have trouble sleeping if not for my own memories keeping me awake, but this place just chills me to my old bones. But I am sure you already know that."
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Post by Geoffrey Ravenhurst on Oct 14, 2020 14:42:15 GMT
"Aye... I have no memories of it and yet I feel it has always haunted me. I am going to wake the others in an hour or so, but first I want to take a look at somewhere Tehol mentioned. He said there was a church nearby... and I happen to know what sort of faith my parents practiced. Care to join me? I would rather not be alone if I am correct..."
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Post by Dr. Archimedes Steller on Oct 14, 2020 14:54:39 GMT
"Of course. I just need one moment..." The giant entered the barn, and after a couple of moments came out with a blunt stick, almost as big as Herneiros himself. "Now I am ready. I haven't been to any church in a long while, better take this in case I have to settle any pending disputes." He snorted.
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Post by Geoffrey Ravenhurst on Oct 14, 2020 15:02:12 GMT
Herneiros laughed. "You'll go far in the Mist with that attitude."
***
They approached the church Tehol had spoken of...
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Post by The Forgotten God on Oct 14, 2020 15:41:23 GMT
The strange octagonal house of worship is creepier in the night’s veil. The strange seating seems more alive, more attuned to the inner nature of some world that mankind was never supposed to see. Herneiros feels a sensation in his head like a wasp buzzing by his ear, faint enough to let him know it wasn’t ‘real’ but somehow loud enough to make him want to believe it was.
As they reach the center of the old building the demon hunter sees it. A scar in the air itself runs from the altar in the center to the very top of the pointed ceiling. Something had been opened here once and closed, but the sutures were not as strong as they could be.
Even over the pattering of the rain the adventurers heat the sound of the approaching hordes far below. Subtlety was not in their provenance. The stranger feeling entities to the northeast are close enough now for Herneiros to dee them vividly. There’s a half dozen at the least.
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Post by Geoffrey Ravenhurst on Oct 14, 2020 15:51:53 GMT
"Fuck... Fuck!"
Herneiros declared in frustration. "I hoped we would have more time for this... but I can feel the hordes approaching."
He pointed at the scar in reality. "Well, it won't matter if I do this the butcher's way. I don't know if you can see it, but something came through here once from another reality. Someone tried to repair the rift behind them, but they didn't do a very good job. I just... I just need a quick glimpse of the other side. I might never get another chance."
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Post by Dr. Archimedes Steller on Oct 14, 2020 15:57:58 GMT
Wrugar stared inquisitively at the blabbering human. He saw nothing except an old altar and the church's crumbling structure.
"Herneiros, what demons do you speak off? A rift?" He clinged tightly to his club. "You are clearly not well. This place is doing something strange to your mind. Come, we should leave and you should rest."
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Post by Geoffrey Ravenhurst on Oct 14, 2020 20:20:14 GMT
"No... we have to leave now. I know you can't sense it, but there are three different forces converging on Palerose as we speak. I will deal with this another day."
He gestured to the altar both Tehol and Wrugar apparently found exceptionally dull.
"Let's go..."
***
Herneiros woke the others and explained that three different forces were nearly upon Palerose.
Except Demetrius. Upon waking the Mist elementalist, he merely declared in a frustrated tone, "I was right. You were wrong."
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Post by Tehol Nookington on Oct 14, 2020 20:26:18 GMT
Tehol yawns extravagantly wiping the sleep from his eyes and adjusts his crumpled slept in shirt and trousers. "Whats going on now?" He grumbles. "What forces and why are they coming here?"
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Post by Geoffrey Ravenhurst on Oct 14, 2020 23:04:14 GMT
"Presumably to kill each other. There is no grand fraternity among the Mist Lords. Whatever else Palerose might be, it's still a strategic point in their wars of conquest. Whoever controls it has a staging ground to harry the other, along with Bastion itself. But more specifically, one of the Kraken's lieutenants is leading an attack from the north. Another group is coming from the East, and another is coming from the north east. I suspect the third one belongs to Dominius... it feels different than the Kraken's typical mob. Still, I think we should head south now... I imagine we will face some on the way out, but as long as you stay close to me, we can weather this."
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Post by Tehol Nookington on Oct 16, 2020 21:49:59 GMT
"That sounds like a lot of trouble in this vicinity and mighty bad timing on our parts." Tehol still says groggily through a yawn.
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Post by Geoffrey Ravenhurst on Oct 17, 2020 0:19:27 GMT
Herneiros shook his head. "It's always something all the time... just usually not three different somethings so close to the Bastion patrols..."
He had to privately agree though. This was some mighty bad timing.
"Let's go."
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Post by The Forgotten God on Oct 17, 2020 4:00:19 GMT
As the adventurers move into action the battle below commenced. Squid like generals rally feral sea goblins and reef trolls into something approximating a line while thousands of mindless boglops charge, hoping to break the line, their small minds dominated by the true engines of Dominius’s forces, the great twisted draconic generals Reclaimers simply dubbed Abominations.
Abominations are all unique, as whatever twisted magic the great Mistlord used to create them from his corrupt offspring leave them all with various powers and deformities. The dozen they see range from fifty foot long serpents with vestigial bat wings and teeth a foot long to thirty foot tall juggernauts on two legs, looking much like a colossal tyrannosaur with longer arms and encased in lava-orange scales that flicker in random patterns.
Slipping away, the groups sees the six from the northeast, in an incongruous appearance they appear to be horsemen of some sort, riding almost casually toward the village. Their mounts have something slightly off, and the moonlight soon illuminated the beasts. The fell steeds have horselike features but the heads of some vicious carnivore like a wolf, and six legs that look more like arms in terms of flexibility. The riders are in some sort of armor and have axes at their sides. The only real route that doesn’t lead to immediate danger is straight east, passing over the hill. It is light on cover but if nothing else they’ll have altitude to their advantage, and a giant on high ground chucking six hundred pound boulders is certainly one way to fend off an attack.
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