https://wiki.rpg.net/api.php?action=feedcontributions&feedformat=atom&user=Elvisrex 2026-05-15T03:08:52Z User contributions MediaWiki 1.43.0 https://wiki.rpg.net/index.php?title=Brick_City&diff=59606 2007-08-29T21:41:32Z

<p>Elvisrex: /* CAMPAIGN OVERVIEW */</p> <hr /> <div>[[Category:Setting]]<br /> [[Category:Supers]]<br /> [[Category:Mutants &amp; Masterminds]]<br /> <br /> [[Image:Brick.jpg|frame|Scenic downtown Brick City. Can't you just smell that river?]]<br /> <br /> &lt;div style=&quot;font-size:125%;&quot;&gt;<br /> '''''&quot;We're not your classic heroes.&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;We're the other guys.&quot;'''''<br /> &lt;/div&gt;<br /> &lt;div style=&quot;font-size:115%; padding-left:150px&quot;&gt;<br /> '''''- The Shoveler, &quot;Mystery Men&quot;'''''<br /> &lt;/div&gt;<br /> ----<br /> ----<br /> &lt;br&gt;<br /> ''METRO CITY is a shining jewel in the crown of truth, justice and the American way, a thriving metropolis that is home to some of the greatest heroes this world has ever known. The Order of Exemplars looks down from its mighty space station in geosynchronous orbit directly above the downtown area, keeping the City safe from evildoers, and occasionally inviting the best and brightest of the next generation of heroes to join its ranks and fight crime alongside the likes of Übermensch, Arachno-Man and Firefox.''<br /> <br /> &lt;br&gt;<br /> ''And BRICK CITY, about 30 minutes to the west, is ... one of METRO CITY's neighbors. Perhaps due to the numerous toxic waste dumps dotting the landscapes nearby, BRICK CITY has in recent decades grown from a town known for its high-quality building materials to a town known for its low-to-medium-quality superheroes. Approximately one in seven people born here possesses some sort of power. And while the practical usefulness of the vast majority of these powers are another story entirely, many of these extraordinary citizens have taken on the mantle of heroes, feeling that it is their duty to use their gifts to better the lot of their fellow man.''<br /> <br /> &lt;br&gt;<br /> ''Or, even better, make a buck or get a cereal endorsement or something.''<br /> &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> ==CAMPAIGN OVERVIEW==<br /> <br /> In Brick City, about 15% of the population has some sort of super-power. The vast majority of these powers are minor and essentially useless ... the ability to remove and re-attach one's thumb, perhaps, or uncanny skill at correctly guessing how many jellybeans are in a jar. A small minority, however, have some real power: the ability to fly, command the elements or read minds. Those who are really good at it may someday receive the coveted golden envelope that means an interview with the Exemplars in Metro City. For those who aren't, or at least aren't yet ... well, that's why most superheroes in Brick City have day jobs. And no, freelancing as a reporter and expecting a steady paycheck for taking pictures of yourself in costume doesn't fly around here.<br /> <br /> <br /> PCs in this campaign start out at power level 6, with 90 pp to spend. Just about any character concept is workable, although I'd recommend that you stick to one basic 'signature power' and branch off from there, if you like. Don't feel like you necessarily have to max anything out, either ... if you were really that powerful, you wouldn't still be in Brick City ... but you can still be really good at what you do, whatever that may be. If your average superhero is the best of the best, think of yourself as somewhere in the top 10% of the bottom 5% of the best.<br /> <br /> ==THE ROSTER==<br /> ==='''[[Hero Name]]'''=== <br /> ''CIVILIAN IDENTITY'': '''James W. Smith''' &lt;br&gt; &quot;Blah blah blah, this is where you write a short bio brief, who you are, why you are and what you're going to do about it...&quot; ... ''(as played by Player)''<br /> <br /> ==='''[[Hero Name]]'''=== <br /> ''CIVILIAN IDENTITY'': '''James W. Smith''' &lt;br&gt; &quot;Blah blah blah, this is where you write a short bio brief, who you are, why you are and what you're going to do about it...&quot; ... ''(as played by Player)''<br /> <br /> ==='''[[Hero Name]]'''=== <br /> ''CIVILIAN IDENTITY'': '''James W. Smith''' &lt;br&gt; &quot;Blah blah blah, this is where you write a short bio brief, who you are, why you are and what you're going to do about it...&quot; ... ''(as played by Player)''<br /> <br /> ==='''[[Hero Name]]'''=== <br /> ''CIVILIAN IDENTITY'': '''James W. Smith''' &lt;br&gt; &quot;Blah blah blah, this is where you write a short bio brief, who you are, why you are and what you're going to do about it...&quot; ... ''(as played by Player)''<br /> <br /> ==='''[[Hero Name]]'''=== <br /> ''CIVILIAN IDENTITY'': '''James W. Smith''' &lt;br&gt; &quot;Blah blah blah, this is where you write a short bio brief, who you are, why you are and what you're going to do about it...&quot; ... ''(as played by Player)''<br /> <br /> &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<br /> ----<br /> ----<br /> &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> ==WORLD AT LARGE==<br /> ===the GOOD (heroes) ===<br /> <br /> &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<br /> ----<br /> ----<br /> &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<br /> ===the BAD (villains) ===<br /> <br /> &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<br /> ----<br /> ----<br /> &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<br /> ===the UNKNOWN (neutral or unknown)===<br /> <br /> &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<br /> ----<br /> ----<br /> &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> ==NEWS &amp; EVENTS==<br /> ===Projects &amp; Plans===<br /> <br /> &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<br /> ----<br /> ----<br /> &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<br /> ==LOCATIONS OF INTEREST==<br /> ===Notable areas, landmarks, institutions and businesses===<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ====Neighborhoods of Brick City ====<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ====Suburbs &amp; the Country outside Brick City====<br /> <br /> <br /> ====Government, Corporate &amp; Financial of Brick City====<br /> <br /> <br /> ===The World Beyond===<br /> <br /> <br /> &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<br /> ----<br /> ----<br /> &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<br /> ==RESOURCE MATERIAL==<br /> * visit Green Ronin's home page: [http://www.greenronin.com/ Green Ronin Publishing]<br /> * visit Mutants and Masterminds' home page: [http://www.mutantsandmasterminds.com/index.php M&amp;M &quot;Headquarters&quot;] <br /> * visit the M&amp;M Forums: [http://www.mutantsandmasterminds.com/phpBB2/ M&amp;M Forum - &quot;the Atomic Think Tank&quot;] <br /> * What is M&amp;M? [[Wikipedia:Mutants and Masterminds|Mutants and Masterminds]]<br /> * [[Mutants&amp;Masterminds RPG Wiki Resource:Main Page|M&amp;M RPG.net Wiki]]<br /> <br /> &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<br /> ==INSPIRATION==<br /> <br /> The following are great examples of the 'feel' of the Brick City setting. Highly recommended if you need inspiration, and also because they're good.<br /> <br /> * [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0132347/ Mystery Men] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystery_Men (wikipedia)]<br /> * [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0417373/ The Venture Bros.] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venture_brothers (wikipedia)]<br /> * [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112196/ The Tick] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_tick (wikipedia)]<br /> <br /> <br /> ==NEAT FACT-OIDS==<br /> ===POLICE RESPONSE TIMES===<br /> * Rich Suburbs and Civic Centres: 4 minutes +1d20 rounds. <br /> * Middle class suburbs, and entertainment centers: 8 minutes +1d20 rounds. <br /> * Slums and low-class suburbs: 1d20 minutes.<br /> <br /> &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> ----</div>

Elvisrex https://wiki.rpg.net/index.php?title=Brick_City&diff=59605 2007-08-29T21:37:40Z

<p>Elvisrex: </p> <hr /> <div>[[Category:Setting]]<br /> [[Category:Supers]]<br /> [[Category:Mutants &amp; Masterminds]]<br /> <br /> [[Image:Brick.jpg|frame|Scenic downtown Brick City. Can't you just smell that river?]]<br /> <br /> &lt;div style=&quot;font-size:125%;&quot;&gt;<br /> '''''&quot;We're not your classic heroes.&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;We're the other guys.&quot;'''''<br /> &lt;/div&gt;<br /> &lt;div style=&quot;font-size:115%; padding-left:150px&quot;&gt;<br /> '''''- The Shoveler, &quot;Mystery Men&quot;'''''<br /> &lt;/div&gt;<br /> ----<br /> ----<br /> &lt;br&gt;<br /> ''METRO CITY is a shining jewel in the crown of truth, justice and the American way, a thriving metropolis that is home to some of the greatest heroes this world has ever known. The Order of Exemplars looks down from its mighty space station in geosynchronous orbit directly above the downtown area, keeping the City safe from evildoers, and occasionally inviting the best and brightest of the next generation of heroes to join its ranks and fight crime alongside the likes of Übermensch, Arachno-Man and Firefox.''<br /> <br /> &lt;br&gt;<br /> ''And BRICK CITY, about 30 minutes to the west, is ... one of METRO CITY's neighbors. Perhaps due to the numerous toxic waste dumps dotting the landscapes nearby, BRICK CITY has in recent decades grown from a town known for its high-quality building materials to a town known for its low-to-medium-quality superheroes. Approximately one in seven people born here possesses some sort of power. And while the practical usefulness of the vast majority of these powers are another story entirely, many of these extraordinary citizens have taken on the mantle of heroes, feeling that it is their duty to use their gifts to better the lot of their fellow man.''<br /> <br /> &lt;br&gt;<br /> ''Or, even better, make a buck or get a cereal endorsement or something.''<br /> &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> ==CAMPAIGN OVERVIEW==<br /> <br /> In Brick City, about 15% of the population has some sort of super-power. The vast majority of these powers are minor and essentially useless ... the ability to remove and re-attach one's thumb, perhaps, or an uncanny skill at correctly guessing how many jellybeans are in a jar, no matter how large. A small minority, however, have some real power: the ability to fly, command the elements or read minds. Those who are really good at it may someday receive the coveted golden envelope that means an interview with the Exemplars in Metro City. For those who aren't, or at least aren't yet ... well, that's why most superheroes in Brick City have day jobs. And no, freelancing as a reporter and expecting a steady paycheck for taking pictures of yourself in costume doesn't fly around here.<br /> <br /> <br /> PCs in this campaign start out at power level 6, with 90 pp to spend. Just about any character concept is workable, although I'd recommend that you stick to one basic 'signature power' and branch off from there, if you like. Don't feel like you necessarily have to max anything out, either ... if you were really that powerful, you wouldn't still be in Brick City ... but you can still be really good at what you do, whatever that may be. If your average superhero is the best of the best, think of yourself as somewhere in the top 10% of the bottom 5% of the best.<br /> <br /> ==THE ROSTER==<br /> ==='''[[Hero Name]]'''=== <br /> ''CIVILIAN IDENTITY'': '''James W. Smith''' &lt;br&gt; &quot;Blah blah blah, this is where you write a short bio brief, who you are, why you are and what you're going to do about it...&quot; ... ''(as played by Player)''<br /> <br /> ==='''[[Hero Name]]'''=== <br /> ''CIVILIAN IDENTITY'': '''James W. Smith''' &lt;br&gt; &quot;Blah blah blah, this is where you write a short bio brief, who you are, why you are and what you're going to do about it...&quot; ... ''(as played by Player)''<br /> <br /> ==='''[[Hero Name]]'''=== <br /> ''CIVILIAN IDENTITY'': '''James W. Smith''' &lt;br&gt; &quot;Blah blah blah, this is where you write a short bio brief, who you are, why you are and what you're going to do about it...&quot; ... ''(as played by Player)''<br /> <br /> ==='''[[Hero Name]]'''=== <br /> ''CIVILIAN IDENTITY'': '''James W. Smith''' &lt;br&gt; &quot;Blah blah blah, this is where you write a short bio brief, who you are, why you are and what you're going to do about it...&quot; ... ''(as played by Player)''<br /> <br /> ==='''[[Hero Name]]'''=== <br /> ''CIVILIAN IDENTITY'': '''James W. Smith''' &lt;br&gt; &quot;Blah blah blah, this is where you write a short bio brief, who you are, why you are and what you're going to do about it...&quot; ... ''(as played by Player)''<br /> <br /> &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<br /> ----<br /> ----<br /> &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> ==WORLD AT LARGE==<br /> ===the GOOD (heroes) ===<br /> <br /> &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<br /> ----<br /> ----<br /> &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<br /> ===the BAD (villains) ===<br /> <br /> &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<br /> ----<br /> ----<br /> &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<br /> ===the UNKNOWN (neutral or unknown)===<br /> <br /> &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<br /> ----<br /> ----<br /> &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> ==NEWS &amp; EVENTS==<br /> ===Projects &amp; Plans===<br /> <br /> &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<br /> ----<br /> ----<br /> &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<br /> ==LOCATIONS OF INTEREST==<br /> ===Notable areas, landmarks, institutions and businesses===<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ====Neighborhoods of Brick City ====<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ====Suburbs &amp; the Country outside Brick City====<br /> <br /> <br /> ====Government, Corporate &amp; Financial of Brick City====<br /> <br /> <br /> ===The World Beyond===<br /> <br /> <br /> &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<br /> ----<br /> ----<br /> &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<br /> ==RESOURCE MATERIAL==<br /> * visit Green Ronin's home page: [http://www.greenronin.com/ Green Ronin Publishing]<br /> * visit Mutants and Masterminds' home page: [http://www.mutantsandmasterminds.com/index.php M&amp;M &quot;Headquarters&quot;] <br /> * visit the M&amp;M Forums: [http://www.mutantsandmasterminds.com/phpBB2/ M&amp;M Forum - &quot;the Atomic Think Tank&quot;] <br /> * What is M&amp;M? [[Wikipedia:Mutants and Masterminds|Mutants and Masterminds]]<br /> * [[Mutants&amp;Masterminds RPG Wiki Resource:Main Page|M&amp;M RPG.net Wiki]]<br /> <br /> &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<br /> ==INSPIRATION==<br /> <br /> The following are great examples of the 'feel' of the Brick City setting. Highly recommended if you need inspiration, and also because they're good.<br /> <br /> * [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0132347/ Mystery Men] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystery_Men (wikipedia)]<br /> * [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0417373/ The Venture Bros.] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venture_brothers (wikipedia)]<br /> * [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112196/ The Tick] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_tick (wikipedia)]<br /> <br /> <br /> ==NEAT FACT-OIDS==<br /> ===POLICE RESPONSE TIMES===<br /> * Rich Suburbs and Civic Centres: 4 minutes +1d20 rounds. <br /> * Middle class suburbs, and entertainment centers: 8 minutes +1d20 rounds. <br /> * Slums and low-class suburbs: 1d20 minutes.<br /> <br /> &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> ----</div>

Elvisrex https://wiki.rpg.net/index.php?title=File:Brick.jpg&diff=59604 2007-08-29T20:21:24Z

<p>Elvisrex: </p> <hr /> <div></div>

Elvisrex https://wiki.rpg.net/index.php?title=DURGAZ&diff=55168 2007-07-13T01:13:17Z

<p>Elvisrex: /* Gear */</p> <hr /> <div>[[image:Midnight_orc_image.jpg|right]]<br /> <br /> ==='''[[Durgaz's Stuff he knows]]'''===<br /> '''***EYES ONLY***''' This is a specialized &quot;lorebook&quot; of all things that would be immediately available (without skill checks) for the character. Things will be posted as they come up or are asked about. Players other than Durgaz SHOULD NOT read this information.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ==Introduction==<br /> #[[Durgaz: Contacts|Contacts]]&lt;br&gt;<br /> #[[Durgaz: 10 Questions|10 Questions]]&lt;br&gt;<br /> #[[Durgaz: Enemies|Enemies]]&lt;br&gt;<br /> #[[Durgaz: Locations|Locations]]&lt;br&gt;<br /> #[[Durgaz: Organizations|Organizations]]&lt;br&gt;<br /> #[[Durgaz: Miscellaneous|Miscellaneous]]&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> == Gear ==<br /> * ''Armor/Clothes:''<br /> ** Plate armor, breastplate and greaves, '' [[The Caustic Plate|'The Caustic Plate']] ''<br /> ** Open-faced plate helmet, '' [[Vanguard|'Vanguard']] ''<br /> ** Spiked steel mask, '' [[The Veil of Hell|'The Veil of Hell']] ''<br /> * ''Weapons:''<br /> ** Talûn-karkû's Vardatch, '' [[Dragondoom|'Dragondoom']] ''<br /> ** Crafted Vardatch ''(given to Radagug)''<br /> ** orcish longbow<br /> ** 14 arrows<br /> ** silvered punch-dagger<br /> * ''Books''<br /> ** The Book of Erotic Orcish Poetry<br /> * ''Charms:'' <br /> ** (True) a small carved figurine with broken chains dangling from its wrists. Grants the possessor a +4 on Will saves vs. Compulsion effects.<br /> ** (True) a tiny wooden mask with no eye-holes. Makes the possessor invisible to Fell.<br /> ** (Greater) a yellow and red silk rosette. When smashed, grants a +2 luck bonus to AC for one minute.<br /> ** (?) a woven silk wrist strap. When it fastened to the wrist and the hands held out, grants '''detect undead''' in a 60' cone for up to 1 minute.<br /> ** (?) a feathered tassel. When the bearer is struck by an attack that beats his AC by 1 or 2, it activates and increases his AC by 1 or 2 against this attack only.<br /> * ''Other''<br /> ** set of enchanted blacksmith tools (+4 craft, and another ability that involves reading Elfish)<br /> ** a [http://wiki.rpg.net/images/3/37/White-Worm-fingers.gif necklace of bog orc tusks and two of the White Worm's fingers.]<br /> ** small whetstone<br /> ** enormous wolf hide, covered in small symbols carved with a heated dagger<br /> ** A ''leaf'', with writing, somehow... It's a mystery!<br /> ** 2 sets of manacles<br /> ** 7 potions of Cure Serious Wounds (cure 3d8+5 damage each).<br /> ** A vial wrapped in a piece of parchment. On the parchment is a drawing of an Orc with snakes for arms.<br /> ** 30' of silk rope<br /> ** 27 doses of Aranasil poison (DC 31, Injury, 2d6 Str initial, 2d6 Str secondary).<br /> ** A mysterious golden sphere, given by the Witch-Queen.<br /> <br /> ==Misc==<br /> <br /> <br /> &lt;br&gt;<br /> ----<br /> [[Midnight: North &amp; South Portal|PORTAL]] &amp;nbsp;|&amp;nbsp; [[Midnight RPG - THE SOUTHIES|THE SOUTHIES]] &amp;nbsp;|&amp;nbsp; [[DURGAZ]] &amp;nbsp;|&amp;nbsp; [[ERANON]] &amp;nbsp;|&amp;nbsp; [[ZAL'KAZZIR]] &amp;nbsp;|&amp;nbsp; [[Kyuad|KYUAD]]<br /> ----</div>

Elvisrex https://wiki.rpg.net/index.php?title=DURGAZ&diff=55166 2007-07-13T01:09:57Z

<p>Elvisrex: /* Gear */</p> <hr /> <div>[[image:Midnight_orc_image.jpg|right]]<br /> <br /> ==='''[[Durgaz's Stuff he knows]]'''===<br /> '''***EYES ONLY***''' This is a specialized &quot;lorebook&quot; of all things that would be immediately available (without skill checks) for the character. Things will be posted as they come up or are asked about. Players other than Durgaz SHOULD NOT read this information.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ==Introduction==<br /> #[[Durgaz: Contacts|Contacts]]&lt;br&gt;<br /> #[[Durgaz: 10 Questions|10 Questions]]&lt;br&gt;<br /> #[[Durgaz: Enemies|Enemies]]&lt;br&gt;<br /> #[[Durgaz: Locations|Locations]]&lt;br&gt;<br /> #[[Durgaz: Organizations|Organizations]]&lt;br&gt;<br /> #[[Durgaz: Miscellaneous|Miscellaneous]]&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> == Gear ==<br /> * ''Armor/Clothes:''<br /> ** Plate armor, breastplate and greaves, '' [[The Caustic Plate|'The Caustic Plate']] ''<br /> ** Open-faced plate helmet, '' [[Vanguard|'Vanguard']] ''<br /> ** Spiked steel mask, '' [[The Veil of Hell|'The Veil of Hell']] ''<br /> * ''Weapons:''<br /> ** Talûn-karkû's Vardatch, '' [[Dragondoom|'Dragondoom']] ''<br /> ** Crafted Vardatch ''(given to Radagug)''<br /> ** orcish longbow<br /> ** 14 arrows<br /> ** silvered punch-dagger<br /> * ''Books''<br /> ** The Book of Erotic Orcish Poetry<br /> * ''Charms:'' <br /> ** (True) a small carved figurine with broken chains dangling from its wrists. Grants the possessor a +4 on Will saves vs. Compulsion effects.<br /> ** (True) a tiny wooden mask with no eye-holes. Makes the possessor invisible to Fell.<br /> ** (Greater) a yellow and red silk rosette. When smashed, grants a +2 luck bonus to AC for one minute.<br /> * ''Other''<br /> ** set of enchanted blacksmith tools (+4 craft, and another ability that involves reading Elfish)<br /> ** a [http://wiki.rpg.net/images/3/37/White-Worm-fingers.gif necklace of bog orc tusks and two of the White Worm's fingers.]<br /> ** small whetstone<br /> ** enormous wolf hide, covered in small symbols carved with a heated dagger<br /> ** A ''leaf'', with writing, somehow... It's a mystery!<br /> ** 2 sets of manacles<br /> ** 7 potions of Cure Serious Wounds (cure 3d8+5 damage each).<br /> ** 30' of silk rope<br /> ** 27 doses of Aranasil poison (DC 31, Injury, 2d6 Str initial, 2d6 Str secondary).<br /> ** A mysterious golden sphere, given by the Witch-Queen.<br /> <br /> ==Misc==<br /> <br /> <br /> &lt;br&gt;<br /> ----<br /> [[Midnight: North &amp; South Portal|PORTAL]] &amp;nbsp;|&amp;nbsp; [[Midnight RPG - THE SOUTHIES|THE SOUTHIES]] &amp;nbsp;|&amp;nbsp; [[DURGAZ]] &amp;nbsp;|&amp;nbsp; [[ERANON]] &amp;nbsp;|&amp;nbsp; [[ZAL'KAZZIR]] &amp;nbsp;|&amp;nbsp; [[Kyuad|KYUAD]]<br /> ----</div>

Elvisrex https://wiki.rpg.net/index.php?title=Vanguard&diff=55165 2007-07-13T01:08:49Z

<p>Elvisrex: </p> <hr /> <div>==='''Also Known As:''' The Helm of Cray'Morn===<br /> <br /> '''Open-Faced Steel Helmet:''' Armor bonus +1, Spell Failure 5%, Weight 5 lbs.<br /> <br /> ==COVENANT ITEM PROPERTIES==<br /> <br /> :* '''3rd Level:''' The wearer gains a mastery of tactical maneuvers over brute force. Once per day, he gains a +2 bonus on his next attack roll or ability check made to bull rush, disarm, overrun, sunder or trip. The helm also grants a +5 morale bonus on saving throws against Fear effects. Whenever the wearer successfully saves against a Fear effect, he receives the benefits of a '''heroism''' spell for 3 rounds. If he is immune to fear, he automatically gains this benefit when subjected to a Fear effect from any enemy.<br /> <br /> :* '''6th Level:''' The wearer's once-per-day bonus to an attack roll or ability check made to bull rush, disarm, overrun, sunder or trip increases to +4. The morale bonus to saves against Fear effects increases to +8. <br /> <br /> :* '''8th Level:''' The wearer's bonus to his next attack roll or ability check made to bull rush, disarm, overrun, sunder or trip increases to +6. The morale bonus to saves against Fear effects increases to +10. If the wearer successfully saves against a Fear effect, he now receives the benefits of a '''greater heroism''' spell for 3 rounds. If he is immune to fear, he automatically gains this benefit when subjected to a Fear effect from any enemy.</div>

Elvisrex https://wiki.rpg.net/index.php?title=The_Caustic_Plate&diff=55161 2007-07-13T01:01:24Z

<p>Elvisrex: </p> <hr /> <div>[[image:Midnight_caustic_plate.jpg|right]]<br /> ==='''Also Known As:''' Orc Steel, Umash's Metal, Umash Says Keep Yer Mitts Off===<br /> <br /> '''Full Plate Mail:''' Armor bonus +7, Max Dex Bonus +1, Armor Check Penalty -6, Spell Failure 65%, Speed 20/15, Weight 55 lbs.<br /> <br /> '''Donning Armor:''' Takes 10 minutes; must have help, or the armor can only be donned hastily.<br /> &lt;br&gt;'''Donning Hastily:''' Takes 6 minutes. (With help, cut this time in half.)<br /> &lt;br&gt;'''OPTION:''' If the wearer gives the armor 5 hit points' worth of his blood while donning within one hour before battle, donning (and Donning Hastily) time is halved.<br /> <br /> ==COVENANT ITEM PROPERTIES==<br /> <br /> :* '''3rd Level:''' The armor appears terrifying and gory, even if shined and and cleaned moments later. Attempts to paint over or obscure its finish do not diminish the horror. This grants the wearer a -20 ti diplomacy checks to non-combat checks with anyone within 30'. Any of the wearer's allies within 30' gain a +2 morale bonus to Will saves, as do any Shadow minions who are not aware the wearer is not allied with them. The armor exudes a strong coppery smell of fresh blood that gives the wearer a -5 penalty on Hide checks.<br /> <br /> :* '''6th Level:''' When activated, the armor gives its wearer a blurred, distorted and hazy appearance as if affected by a '''blur''' spell. This ability functions 3 times per day, and lasts 5 rounds. In addition, once per day the wearer can create an aura of terror with a 20' radius. Every creature in the affected area briefly perceives a creature from its worst nightmares instead of the wearer, and must make a DC 22 Will save or be panicked for one round. Even if this save succeeds, creatures in the radius must also make a DC 16 Will save or be shaken for one round instead.<br /> <br /> :* '''8th Level:''' The '''blur''' spell effect now functions 3 times per day for 10 rounds. Once per day, the armor may use an ability favored by those dedicated to fighting the foul arts of necromancy: when activated, it allows the user to ignore any death effect (magical death effects and energy drain) or negative energy effect ('''inflict''' or '''chill touch''' spells.) The armor creates a backlash of negative energy against incorporeal attackers -- any time the wearer is hit by an incorporeal touch attack, the attacker takes 1d10 points of damage, with no miss change for incorporealness. This includes spirits embodied in creatures, such as astiraxes and certain Outsiders.</div>

Elvisrex https://wiki.rpg.net/index.php?title=The_Caustic_Plate&diff=55159 2007-07-13T01:01:18Z

<p>Elvisrex: /* &#039;&#039;&#039;Also Known As:&#039;&#039;&#039; Orc Steel, Umash&#039;s Metal, Umash Says Keep Yer Mitts Off */</p> <hr /> <div>[[image:Midnight_caustic_plate.jpg|right]]<br /> ==='''Also Known As:''' Orc Steel, Umash's Metal, Umash Says Keep Yer Mitts Off===<br /> &lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Full Plate Mail:''' Armor bonus +7, Max Dex Bonus +1, Armor Check Penalty -6, Spell Failure 65%, Speed 20/15, Weight 55 lbs.<br /> <br /> '''Donning Armor:''' Takes 10 minutes; must have help, or the armor can only be donned hastily.<br /> &lt;br&gt;'''Donning Hastily:''' Takes 6 minutes. (With help, cut this time in half.)<br /> &lt;br&gt;'''OPTION:''' If the wearer gives the armor 5 hit points' worth of his blood while donning within one hour before battle, donning (and Donning Hastily) time is halved.<br /> <br /> ==COVENANT ITEM PROPERTIES==<br /> <br /> :* '''3rd Level:''' The armor appears terrifying and gory, even if shined and and cleaned moments later. Attempts to paint over or obscure its finish do not diminish the horror. This grants the wearer a -20 ti diplomacy checks to non-combat checks with anyone within 30'. Any of the wearer's allies within 30' gain a +2 morale bonus to Will saves, as do any Shadow minions who are not aware the wearer is not allied with them. The armor exudes a strong coppery smell of fresh blood that gives the wearer a -5 penalty on Hide checks.<br /> <br /> :* '''6th Level:''' When activated, the armor gives its wearer a blurred, distorted and hazy appearance as if affected by a '''blur''' spell. This ability functions 3 times per day, and lasts 5 rounds. In addition, once per day the wearer can create an aura of terror with a 20' radius. Every creature in the affected area briefly perceives a creature from its worst nightmares instead of the wearer, and must make a DC 22 Will save or be panicked for one round. Even if this save succeeds, creatures in the radius must also make a DC 16 Will save or be shaken for one round instead.<br /> <br /> :* '''8th Level:''' The '''blur''' spell effect now functions 3 times per day for 10 rounds. Once per day, the armor may use an ability favored by those dedicated to fighting the foul arts of necromancy: when activated, it allows the user to ignore any death effect (magical death effects and energy drain) or negative energy effect ('''inflict''' or '''chill touch''' spells.) The armor creates a backlash of negative energy against incorporeal attackers -- any time the wearer is hit by an incorporeal touch attack, the attacker takes 1d10 points of damage, with no miss change for incorporealness. This includes spirits embodied in creatures, such as astiraxes and certain Outsiders.</div>

Elvisrex https://wiki.rpg.net/index.php?title=The_Veil_of_Hell&diff=55158 2007-07-13T01:00:29Z

<p>Elvisrex: /* &#039;&#039;&#039;Also Known As:&#039;&#039;&#039; The Masque of Am&#039;haran Vo, Fear Bringer */</p> <hr /> <div>[[image:Midnight_veil_of_hell.jpg|right]]<br /> ==='''Also Known As:''' The Masque of Am'haran Vo, Fear Bringer===<br /> <br /> '''Spiked Steel Mask:''' Armor bonus +1, Spell Failure 25%, Weight 5 lbs.<br /> <br /> ==COVENANT ITEM PROPERTIES==<br /> <br /> :* '''3rd Level:''' The wearer is granted a +2 insight bonus to Will saving throws and a +5 competence bonus to Intimidate checks. He also gains the Leadership feat with an effective Leadership score of 13 (only affecting followers ... 10 followers, or double that amount if they are Orcs or other traditionally Shadow-allied races.)<br /> <br /> :* '''6th Level:''' The wearer's insight bonus to Will saves increases to +4 and his competence bonus to Intimidate checks increases to +10. His Leadership score increases to 17 (only affecting followers ... 30 followers, or double that amount if they are Orcs or other traditionally Shadow-allied races.)</div>

Elvisrex https://wiki.rpg.net/index.php?title=The_Veil_of_Hell&diff=55157 2007-07-13T00:59:33Z

<p>Elvisrex: </p> <hr /> <div>[[image:Midnight_veil_of_hell.jpg|right]]<br /> ==='''Also Known As:''' The Masque of Am'haran Vo, Fear Bringer===<br /> &lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Spiked Steel Mask:''' Armor bonus +1, Spell Failure 25%, Weight 10 lbs.<br /> <br /> ==COVENANT ITEM PROPERTIES==<br /> <br /> :* '''3rd Level:''' The wearer is granted a +2 insight bonus to Will saving throws and a +5 competence bonus to Intimidate checks. He also gains the Leadership feat with an effective Leadership score of 13 (only affecting followers ... 10 followers, or double that amount if they are Orcs or other traditionally Shadow-allied races.)<br /> <br /> :* '''6th Level:''' The wearer's insight bonus to Will saves increases to +4 and his competence bonus to Intimidate checks increases to +10. His Leadership score increases to 17 (only affecting followers ... 30 followers, or double that amount if they are Orcs or other traditionally Shadow-allied races.)</div>

Elvisrex https://wiki.rpg.net/index.php?title=File:Midnight_veil_of_hell.jpg&diff=55154 2007-07-13T00:53:39Z

<p>Elvisrex: </p> <hr /> <div></div>

Elvisrex https://wiki.rpg.net/index.php?title=File:Midnight_caustic_plate.jpg&diff=55153 2007-07-13T00:48:19Z

<p>Elvisrex: </p> <hr /> <div></div>

Elvisrex https://wiki.rpg.net/index.php?title=Midnight_RPG_-_Chapter_14.88&diff=50402 2007-05-04T16:35:43Z

<p>Elvisrex: /* Questions, part 2 */</p> <hr /> <div>== Kevin ==<br /> [''This recaps the visions/dreams that Durgaz had in the Laboratory of Vrolk, in the Obsidian Spire. I will try to capture all the information I noted to you in-person. Please NOTE if I miss something. You are WELCOME to ask questions, or try to &quot;interact&quot; with any of the visions to learn more as you have in the past. Just ask.'']<br /> <br /> <br /> As you pull your weery hide up to the open-sky chamber, the crown level on the Black Nail, you feed week. The others that may wish to sleep beneath the stars havenpt found their way up to the tip of the Spire as yet... Giving you time to breath, time to relax and let your guard down, if only for a few minutes. <br /> <br /> <br /> You haven't been able to do so in weeks. The visions, they are coming outside of your dreams these days. It seems '''&quot;the Vile&quot;''' has found a way into your head. Only ONE OTHER has breeched your minds-armors, ...could this elf be compared to God? ...or rather, NOT &quot;God&quot; but '''&quot;the Bain of All Mother&quot;'''? For THAT &quot;god&quot; is not yours any longer... yet sometimes your tongue slips... a few dozen years beneath '''&quot;the Shadow in the North&quot;''' makes hard and fast habits no matter how far away from the Shadow-gaze you grow.<br /> <br /> <br /> They (thinking down to your companions) know NOTHING of suffering! They know NOTHING of fear or hate or loathing... Eranon, the only friend you have save Walden is of elf-kind... He cannot know. He knows love, he knows the hearth, he knows kin, kith and kind. He may have offer sympathy for the chill you face nightly, but he does not know... The others, they are human. And though they have found their hearts long hidden from them by Shadow, they know nothing of lose. Their ancestors may know what they had that was taken when the Shadow fell, but that was before them, before their father's fathers... They fight for myth and legend. They donot even know what it is to live free... Nor can their hearts know what it is to have a home, to know your family or friends will not forsake you in the face of the Shadow... They cannot know the Shadow's volcanic embrace or how cold it is to be without it... They know nothing.<br /> <br /> <br /> For all you have gained with freedom, you were a son of Orc... for all you have gained you gave up tenfold.<br /> <br /> WHY?!?? Why did you do it?... Why did you believe that life beyond the Shadow would be a better one?? <br /> <br /> It has given nothing but pain and more lose. Why do you fight it brother? Why not go home?...<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> NO!<br /> <br /> That is NOT who you are anymore.<br /> <br /> You are among those the ShadowWall... Walden... called friend.<br /> <br /> You are Durgaz, the mirror-breaker. <br /> <br /> And you will have your vengance!<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> But not tonight. Not for these too few hours. These moments are yours. And to whatever god is out there you can but hold hope that Aryth doesn't ask for your allegiance... to...nigh...t.... '''[as you drift off to sleep]'''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> As Durgaz head rests on the pack of the armor bits he has recently sequestered from the laboratory below. Your mind drifts into unconciousness. But your wish cannot come to pass... For all the torment that &quot;the Vile&quot; has twisted in your mind of late, the dreams still come. Aryth herself calls out to you. And with that you feel the hate recend, to be replaced with conviction. For in the times when your sleep is not interupted by constant images of fear and hate, the other moments are frought with a peace - but it is a peace that comes with great cost.<br /> <br /> That COST is what drove you mad. It drove you to flee the Shadow's hold. It drove you to be alone. At the same time it comforts your sleep, giving you full rest - it requests something of you... What that is, must be your journey to uncover.<br /> <br /> Go with the peace now as the cool breeze and cloud-cover fade, showing you scenes sometimes near, yet somethings far-away in both time and space.............<br /> <br /> == Durgaz ==<br /> <br /> Fear and hate and madness are the shackles in which the Shadow binds us. But we are taught not to see the chains, just the layers of tempered steel that shield us from the Fey and the sons of Man, who would rise up and kill us all if given just half a chance.<br /> <br /> I know all this, and it does not stop me from thinking this way on some nights when the stars disappear and I am left alone with only the dark to keep me company. I call these folk my friends and companions, and still sometimes I must fight the impulse to smash one across the face for raising his gaze to mine. There is still an ember of Shadow buried somewhere in my mind that cannot be extinguished, and it is my charge to make sure that it is forever kept free of the tinder that would make it a flame.<br /> <br /> I believed that my visions were infallible, that they could not mislead. I was wrong. I may see where others cannot, and know the consequences of actions before they happen, but it is I who chooses what to do with that knowledge. My mistakes are my own, and that is both my weakness and my strength.<br /> <br /> I am a weapon, turned back on he who forged it. I am a shield, protecting those who cannot protect themselves. But most of all, I am a free orc. <br /> <br /> That is what separates me from my brothers. We will all die, some of us sooner than others. But they will die and be forgotten, a thousand faceless slaves conscripted to murder in the Shadow's name. I will live forever as a part of every life I have helped to save, even though nobody may remember my name, and then I will have ''earned'' the right to rest free of nightmares and visions. No sooner.<br /> <br /> &lt;span id=&quot;v1&quot;&gt;<br /> ===the WHITE-WORM &amp; his horde===<br /> ['''10 DAYS AGO''']: A toad croaks sitting on a slippery rock amid the moor, given the name Worgren. It flows to a shallow from the Erenriver, at the base of the Eren River Valley. It is a place that you've marched through many times. The story was not more than a year ago this day that a lone Dwarf faced off with a '''Shadow-Clutch''' in that very spot. The foolish Dwarf had little hope against the giants, but it was his mantle to hold them so that dozens of villages would live. It is rumored he was envoy to the Witch Queen... But that is a fable for sure, perhaps Eranon would know this tale? No matter... In the night the toad has little time to flee when the foul muck-ridden heel of another such '''&quot;Clutch&quot;''' tramples its scaley hide into the moors.<br /> <br /> On that night an army run across Worgren's Moor in Shadow's haste. The brutes are some 150 strong. Six dozen Orc-brothers, made up of seemingly as many tribes sprint in fear of being overtaken by their own battlegroup following on their heels behind! The proud pestilence of the Uruk stomp out all life that takes its time to slow before their mad march. The human mercenaries call them a &quot;Shadow-Clutch&quot;, they are 75 motherless killers that hunt until their hunt is done...<br /> <br /> At the front of the column rallying moreso that leading at this point is the orc called - Talûn-karkû, the White-Worm... He would eat your heart were he to find you. He calls out to the Clutch...<br /> <br /> '''''&quot;YOU HAVE NOT YET BEGUN TO SUFFER, YOU MOTHER-LESS DOGS! BEFORE YOU IS PAIN AND BEHIND YOU IS DEATH, CHOOSE AND IF YOUR MIND IS WISE YOU WILL DINE ON THE FLESH OF TRAITOR MY BROTHERS!!!'''''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''The haze of blood-soaked memory pulls over the marching of your orc brotherhood. For a moment you see the stars and then feel compelled to look back to Aryth...''<br /> &lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;span id=&quot;v2&quot;&gt;<br /> ===VROLK the Vile &amp; his Spire-Guard===<br /> ['''1 DAY OR LESS AGO''']: As the cloud parts, you overlook a site that would be serene were you to not fully understand the inhabitants... A campsite, near a stone alter not unlike the one the human Thorton called &quot;Satan Rock&quot;. You know this place. You passed by it when fleeing to save the human's life. At best recollection it is about 5-6 days travel (walking) into the swamps of the Dead Marshes, similarly some 5-6 days from the Worgren Moor.<br /> <br /> But this time the swamp is infested with Shadow. Orc tents scatter across the area beyond the alter. Although the stars are not shining brightly in the skys on these recent nights, at best count their are 100-150 tents... 1-3 orc may reside in each, tents are not the custom of your orc brothers, but these are not brothers. These orc are of the Vile. You can see that from the strange bastardized holy symbols that you recall encroaching on the spot of the natural mirror that you destroyed not long ago. And the black tents remain. Some 3-4 of these, that you assume to be of higher station. Humans in dark robes walk about them. Women of human and halfling kind pleasure these dark Legates in the night. One of the three Legate men enjoys the company of male boys. Twisted is their natures... The one that is Kyuad's friend treats his women with pain, as screems of whip beating hate carene from his tent.<br /> <br /> Apart from the smell of the orc horde their master meditates. The Vile sits in the center of the stone rock, that acts to focus his prayers. The elf appears veral and content, he awaits something. He shoots only a deathly glance as an orc troop has the audacity to question when the camp would move... Vrolk knows... they have found their place in the world and they would wait... For Jahzir has likely found him out by now. It would be on this place of power that he would commune with the Dark. If he be worthy his men would hold off the horde while his goal be achieved!!<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''Again the haze takes you. For another moment of relief you see the stars and then back to Aryth below...''<br /> &lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;span id=&quot;v3&quot;&gt;<br /> ===the WHITE-WORM &amp; his horde===<br /> ['''NOW''']: The moon has been eaten by the sky this night! Talûn-karkû's &quot;men&quot; continue their march. Seven villages have met their makers as the band acts as much the part of ghouls or locust devourering the country-side. The Worm's orc troop have fared better than he expected... Less than two dozen have been evicerated at the hands of the Uruk that roar at their backs! THIS was the truth of things the White-Worm would say, on such marches... Those that made the final battle at the end of such a tear where those that deserved to find glory! It is as nature demands!!<br /> <br /> <br /> '''''&quot;ONWARD BROTHERS, PUT SNOUT INTO THE WIND! CAN YOU SMELL IT?!?!! ELF-FLESH!! THE VILE GROWS NEARER WITH EVER STEP. WHEN WE STOP, WE WILL HAVE THE PRIEST'S FLESH, AND IT WILL BE GLORIOUS - ON THE FULL MOON BROTHERS WE DINE ON JAHZIR'S TRAITOR!!&quot;'''''<br /> <br /> <br /> And for the first time in years the commander of Durgaz's youth smiles, his fangs stained with blood as his troop continue full bore into the hapless maelgral that wander the boundries of the City of Dead... For this is Cambrial's district that his Dafrum-Dâgalûr now plunge into! The orc and uruk alive make merry in the torturing of the dead, but they do not have the luxury of languishing in their kills... if you can call them that. This would be the practice the Worm feared his men would be lacking. With weeks behind them and nearly a week more in front - he may have wondered if his troop would be slow to act...<br /> <br /> For wrath and ruin. <br /> <br /> For fear of Shadow's dawn.<br /> <br /> They are NOT.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''The clouds cover your eyes... This time the fog lifts from behind the stalkers in the dark...''<br /> &lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;span id=&quot;v4&quot;&gt;<br /> ===RADAGUG &amp; his Dogs===<br /> ['''NOW''']: And in the same instant that his commander tears across the Cambrial country-side, another orc makes his way to the point of his troop's mission. A goblin snicker swells up, but is beaten down before it can be heard in the camp beyond. The branching leaves of the jungle swamp give way as a dozen or more of the lowly servants of Izrador make their way through the muck and up next to the cold alabaster stone of the alter in the night.<br /> <br /> Radagug, snorts - sounding more like a hedge hog than an orc. It is his way... He then lets free a fumey smell as he forces himself to vomit, holding the disgust in his mouth for a moment before lapping it back down into his gullet. The &quot;sniffers&quot; smell their orders and those that donot have that talent follow the grunt of their orcen master. <br /> <br /> His fellow orc think him weak. But even Radagug is more than a match for the mongrels that make up the camp beyond the stone alter...<br /> <br /> But that is not his goal. Is the Vile here? A dozen goblins creep around the alter watching the elf from the dark. They take comfort that the elf does not erupt to call his guards. They believe their scouting mission is a success... From behind Vrolk's spot of meditation they confirm their mission, then recede... They believe they have not been seen.<br /> <br /> They are wrong.<br /> <br /> And the Vile's lip curls. It would be only a short time before the Full Moon...<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''As Radagug's Dogs retreat to rejoin the White-Worm, you too pull back with them... Slowly floating into the mysts above the haze that Aryth has made for you. Finally a pillow on the land that you can now rest. Tomorrow you can reflect on what these images and dreams mean... Unless you want to go back for more tonight!!'' <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> '''(ie. you are welcome to ask questions or try to change the points of view of your Seer visions, if you like)'''<br /> &lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> == Questions ==<br /> <br /> 1) Here's a big one. The first time you told me about the [[Midnight_RPG_-_Chapter_14.88#v4|fourth vision,]] it wasn't clear that Vrolk had actually SEEN Radagug and his dogs. Is that the case? Or is at least clear that he knows they're there?<br /> <br /> 2) I would like to ask Eranon if he has in fact heard the story about the Shadow-Clutch and the dwarf who held them off. I'm not sure whether to create a new bluebook for this or just to handle it email-wise, since even if Eranon knows it, both Steve and I will be hearing it for the first time...<br /> <br /> 3) I'm a little unclear on the actual direction that Talun-Karku's army is heading. If it is moving into the marshes, I assume it's passing somewhere to the north of Cambrial. With the information I have, would it be possible to make a guess as to the general area where it probably originated? <br /> <br /> 4) In the [[Midnight_RPG_-_Chapter_14.88#v2|second vision,]] I'd like to get as good a look at the Legates as I can. Do they have visible holy symbols anywhere on them? If so, are they traditional symbols of Izrador, or Vrolk's weird new emblem?<br /> <br /> 5) Also, are the legates (other than Kyuad's friend) the same ones that I saw up at the top of the Spire, with Krell and Diero, a few days back?<br /> <br /> 6) Speaking of which: It sounded like we were hoping for a minimum of 24 hours of downtime at the top of the spire, which means I can use the Seer abilities I exhausted during the previous day. Specifically, sometime when nobody else is around (I'm sleeping alone up on the upper deck, so I should be able to get some time in), I would like to take that thing out of my bag ... the thing that I thought was the Cadaverous Eye ... and use Seer Sight on it, to try and review its last six days. In addition to maybe finding out what it is, I'm hoping that I may be able to get some idea of what Vrolk was doing around here in the hours and days leading up to his departure. HOWEVER: Before I even take it out of my bag, I'm going to do an Augury to see whether or not something horrible will happen if I do. I'm afraid of this thing, which will be all the more amusing if it just turns out to be a paperweight or something. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ==kevin==<br /> <br /> hehe... I love your insights. My favorite is:<br /> <br /> ''&quot;I call these folk my friends and companions, and still sometimes I must fight the impulse to smash one across the face for raising his gaze to mine.&quot;'' <br /> <br /> <br /> I want to also note on this statement:<br /> <br /> ''&quot;I believed that my visions were infallible, that they could not mislead. I was wrong. I may see where others cannot, and know the consequences of actions before they happen, but it is I who chooses what to do with that knowledge. My mistakes are my own, and that is both my weakness and my strength.''<br /> <br /> <br /> You are right that Durgaz's visions will always hold information. I like to think of them as multiple &quot;truths&quot; and YOU get to decide what those truths are, what they mean and what to do about them. What better way to make a hero than by giving him a choice? :)<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> As for your questions...<br /> <br /> <br /> '''Q: ''' 1) Here's a big one. The first time you told me about the [[Midnight_RPG_-_Chapter_14.88#v4|fourth vision,]] it wasn't clear that Vrolk had actually SEEN Radagug and his dogs. Is that the case? Or is at least clear that he knows they're there?<br /> <br /> '''A: ''' Good point. Go with the above. You get the distinct feeling from Vrolk's body language that he might not have knew (at first) that the Orc and his Goblins were there, but they stayed too long. And whether through senses or magic he detected them as they were pulling back. But he made NO movement or acknowledgement to anyone. Only YOUR mind's eye saw him. You KNOW that he DIDNOT see you, this was NOT for your benefit. This is a truth you believe through a sixth sense feeling of your viewing of the vision.<br /> <br /> <br /> '''Q: ''' 2) I would like to ask Eranon if he has in fact heard the story about the Shadow-Clutch and the dwarf who held them off. I'm not sure whether to create a new bluebook for this or just to handle it email-wise, since even if Eranon knows it, both Steve and I will be hearing it for the first time...<br /> <br /> '''A: ''' I referred to a &quot;Shadow-Clutch&quot; meaning a type of troupe that have been put together on rare occassion by the Night Kings, Traitor Princes or Generals of Shadow. This &quot;clutch&quot; is basically a special forces unit of 75 Uruk. The one that I noted specifically as having battled the Dwarf at Worgren's Moor MIGHT be something an elf would have heard about. It'd be like we hear the &quot;legends&quot; of Wyatt Earp at the OK Corral. Eranon might have heard of it. I'd have him make an Int check for it. But he wouldn't have much more info than what I gave unless he rolled REALLY well. Kyuad might also be able to make a Lorebook check, that might have a broader chance of knowing something.<br /> <br /> I'd say you should Bluebook it, or ask them in-game or prior to the game.<br /> <br /> <br /> '''Q: ''' 3) I'm a little unclear on the actual direction that Talun-Karku's army is heading. If it is moving into the marshes, I assume it's passing somewhere to the north of Cambrial. With the information I have, would it be possible to make a guess as to the general area where it probably originated? <br /> <br /> '''A: ''' Apologies... Assume they took a route similar to YOUR route through the swamps. They would use the Shadow's Highways when they could but open ground could serve them just as well. They ARE passing somewhere north of Cambrial. Yes. With a Survival Check... &lt;br&gt; '': '''ROLL:''' Durgaz (Survival +5) ROLLED: 12+5 = 17 '' &lt;br&gt; With that roll, you could guess that with some time looking or with a map and Eranon's aid perhaps you could track the area down in short time. With maps you could likely find the spot give or take 5-10 hours.<br /> <br /> <br /> '''Q: ''' 4) In the [[Midnight_RPG_-_Chapter_14.88#v2|second vision,]] I'd like to get as good a look at the Legates as I can. Do they have visible holy symbols anywhere on them? If so, are they traditional symbols of Izrador, or Vrolk's weird new emblem?<br /> <br /> '''A: ''' Holy Symbols on the Legates... &lt;br&gt; '': '''ROLL:''' Durgaz (Spot +0) ROLLED: 14+0 = 14'' &lt;br&gt; With that spot check Durgaz would see that YES they wear vestages of the Dark Lord. &lt;br&gt; '': '''ROLL:''' Durgaz (Know: Shadow +4) ROLLED: 18+4 = 22 '' &lt;br&gt; The legates bare robes of initiates of the '''The Devout''' (aka. the Cult of the Shadow, the Order of Shadow). &lt;br&gt; ''Some legates believe that Sunulael’s Cult of the Shadow was derived from one such splinter cell. With Sunulael’s transfiguration into a Night King, he became titular head of the Order of Shadow. The ancient leaders of the old order, the Cabalists, were greatly angered by the elevation of this upstart, this outsider, to the principle position of their church. Though unwilling to openly oppose Sunulael and his loyal legates, the Cabalists take every opportunity to steal what credit, praise, and honors they can, while hindering the plans of Sunulael’s legates, the Devout, whenever such actions would be unlikely to point back to them or their masters.''<br /> <br /> ''There are others among the Cabalists’ number who would take things even further: for some, the anger at Sunulael’s elevation has become a living thing, perhaps replacing the life and heat that once inhabited their undead bodies. Ever fond of plotting and wheels within wheels, these few have formed a coven, an inner circle, whose stated aim is to bring Sunulael and the Devout to ruin and reclaim their rightful place at the feet of their god. A schism is growing in the Order of Shadow, and it threatens to tear it asunder.''<br /> <br /> These legates are obviously NOT yet full Legates. They all appear well trained and are likely ready to be made full legates. Each one bares different robes of a sort, robes and symbology, jewelry and such denoting their different factions and directions of interest...<br /> <br /> * Diero Pessiogn, a male human (Erenlander) seems to be a &quot;Keeper of Forbidden Lore&quot; – of the Keepers of Obsidian that are among the most powerful and influential of the order’s factions. Temple masters, lore keepers, and guardians of the zordrafin coriths, the Keepers of Obsidian are charged with the most sacred duty of expanding and maintaining the network of black mirrors that are vital to Izrador’s dark purpose. The lower ranks of the Keepers are responsible for renewing the zordrafin coriths with the blood of living sacrifices, as well as safeguarding the order’s hidden libraries and the storehouses of knowledge that it has hoarded and stolen over the centuries. The higher ranks oversee the construction and maintenance of the black mirrors and typically take the role of high priest in the temples of the Shadow. The Keepers of Obsidian maintain and protect Izrador’s network of black mirrors, the instruments through which he collects arcane energies. The lower ranks of the Keepers are responsible for renewing Izrador’s sacred mirrors using the blood of living sacrifices, which is poured into the basin-like altars that hold the loathsome substance of the mirror. Because of their pivotal role in Izrador’s powerbase, the high priest at a Temple of Shadow containing a black mirror is often a Keeper of Obsidian. <br /> * A male human (Urban Sarcosan) looks to be a &quot;Darkvoice&quot; - one of the The Voices of Shadow, they are not so much a formalized sect as a calling to which particularly zealous legates seem to be drawn. Preachers and missionaries, the Voices of Shadow lead the congregations in worship of the dark god in the Temples of Shadow and spread his doctrine among the occupied settlements of Erenland with fearsome zeal. At the word of these wild-eyed legates, whole communities have been put to the sword or consumed in awful conflagrations for the suspicion of harboring heretics or unbelievers. One of the most numerous but least powerful of the sub-orders, the Voices of Shadow that serves as acolytes and assistant priests in the Temples of Shadow. They are record keepers, overseeing the city’s scribes and preaching the word of Izrador to the faithful. The presiding Voice of Shadow within a temple is called the Voice of the Master. <br /> * A male human (Erenlander) seems to be a Bearer of the Black Shield, a Dark Templar Soldier Legate. The Soldiers of Shadow are warrior-priests that serve the armies of Izrador. Though not in the formal orc chain of command, they are typically assigned to specific armies where they follow the orders of the commanding warchiefs. Though it is not common, some soldiers serve as standing advisors to the regional governors, and both the Night Kings Sunulael and Jahzir travel with loyal personal guards made up of these dark knights. Soldier legates are a group apart from other legates; they do not typically participate in the dark intrigues of their brother priests and rarely aspire to be anything but devout warriors in service to the Shadow. Many military orders have risen and fallen in Izrador’s name over the centuries. Some are ancient and once-secret sects like the Knights of Winter, but others are newer, having arisen during the war-torn decades of the Last Age. The Brotherhood of the Sword that guards the Shadow’s temples and zordrafin coriths and the Fulminate Shield, whose knights serve as elite cavalry and honor-guards to high-ranking legates, are examples of more recent holy orders in service to the Shadow. Dark Knights are touched by the divine, unholy warriors whose dark faith is their shield and gives strength to their weapon arms. Mounted on astirax-bound destriers, the feared hardukan, these heavily armored knights scour the borderlands of Erenland in the hunt for insurgent forces and serve as personal bodyguards to senior temple legates.<br /> <br /> <br /> NONE of them bare the mark or symbols of Vrolk the Vile specifically. They in fact all seem to possible have been transferred along with Jahzir's other troupes (the Orcs). Their cloaks and materials seem to be more inline with Jorg Kinslayer's troops than Kulos the Exonerated's troops. But their allegiance can never be certain. Legates are known to serve Izrador first, themselves second, and another master third... on average - this might not be the case in every situation though.<br /> <br /> <br /> '''Q: ''' 5) Also, are the legates (other than Kyuad's friend) the same ones that I saw up at the top of the Spire, with Krell and Diero, a few days back?<br /> <br /> '''A: ''' YES, 100% they are. Krell and the other smaller Spire Legate (that you saw down in the dark chapel) were with seemingly showing them around. NOW, only the three are present with Vrolk. Kyuad's friend included.<br /> <br /> <br /> '''Q: ''' 6) Speaking of which: It sounded like we were hoping for a minimum of 24 hours of downtime at the top of the spire, which means I can use the Seer abilities I exhausted during the previous day. Specifically, sometime when nobody else is around (I'm sleeping alone up on the upper deck, so I should be able to get some time in), I would like to take that thing out of my bag ... the thing that I thought was the Cadaverous Eye ... and use Seer Sight on it, to try and review its last six days. In addition to maybe finding out what it is, I'm hoping that I may be able to get some idea of what Vrolk was doing around here in the hours and days leading up to his departure. HOWEVER: Before I even take it out of my bag, I'm going to do an Augury to see whether or not something horrible will happen if I do. I'm afraid of this thing, which will be all the more amusing if it just turns out to be a paperweight or something. <br /> <br /> '''A: ''' Question... Is there reason that you do not believe the crystal orb to BE the Cadaverous Eye? I don't think I discounted this idea. anyway...<br /> <br /> '': '''ROLL:''' Durgaz (Augury)'' &lt;br&gt; As to using the Crystal Orb, before removing it from the bag you seek the answer and find that it seems as though you would not get a NEGATIVE feeling, but you really don't get a strong positive feeling either. It feels more like it may not be directly dangerous but could be indirectly dangerous, depending on multiple reasons beyond your sphere of knowledge.<br /> <br /> DO you still choose to use your Seer Sight? If so, can you note more specifically what you're looking for? Maybe some questions beyond what you saw prior?<br /> <br /> == Questions, part 2==<br /> <br /> 2 and 3) Regarding the Shadow-Clutch story and the army's point of origin: It seems like Steve is as busy as I've been, or more, so I'm not going to take this to a bluebook. Maybe we can handle it at the beginning of the next game. (There's no reason we'd be discussing this out of the other characters' earshot, anyway.)<br /> <br /> 4) I have some questions on Legate orders, but I don't think they're the sort of thing Durgaz would know, even with a successful Knowledge(shadow) check. Besides, I have two people right here who probably do, one of whom would undoubtedly love to tell me all about it. I'll do this one in-game too.<br /> <br /> 6) Well, Durgaz thought it was, at first, but then Kyuad started floating the idea that the eye-helmet might be the Eye instead. OOC, I can't remember what Kyuad said about the thing before, or whether there was any specific mention of what it looked like, so I'm not sure either. Ultimately, I think Durgaz still believes it to be the Eye, since it did feature prominently in so many visions, and since the helmet seems keyed specifically to Vrolk's eye-creatures.<br /> <br /> Given the uncertain nature of the reading he got from his Augury, Durgaz will leave the the crystal orb in his bag. There is too much at stake here to risk it now, and his main concern is that doing anything with this thing might somehow alert Vrolk ... after all, why else would he leave it here? The main thing he was looking for, anyway, could be gleaned elsewhere; I just thought I'd use the Eye(?) as a focal point because I know it was involved. What I want to see is what Vrolk did in his lab right before he left. Since my strong suspicion is that he deliberately left things here for us to find, I want to find out if I can specifically see him choosing things to take or things to leave, or &quot;planting&quot; anything. I'm also a little curious as to how that imp ended up in a cage behind his pillow.<br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> [[Midnight: North &amp; South Portal]]</div>

Elvisrex https://wiki.rpg.net/index.php?title=Midnight_RPG_-_Chapter_14.88&diff=50401 2007-05-04T16:34:01Z

<p>Elvisrex: /* Questions, part 2 */</p> <hr /> <div>== Kevin ==<br /> [''This recaps the visions/dreams that Durgaz had in the Laboratory of Vrolk, in the Obsidian Spire. I will try to capture all the information I noted to you in-person. Please NOTE if I miss something. You are WELCOME to ask questions, or try to &quot;interact&quot; with any of the visions to learn more as you have in the past. Just ask.'']<br /> <br /> <br /> As you pull your weery hide up to the open-sky chamber, the crown level on the Black Nail, you feed week. The others that may wish to sleep beneath the stars havenpt found their way up to the tip of the Spire as yet... Giving you time to breath, time to relax and let your guard down, if only for a few minutes. <br /> <br /> <br /> You haven't been able to do so in weeks. The visions, they are coming outside of your dreams these days. It seems '''&quot;the Vile&quot;''' has found a way into your head. Only ONE OTHER has breeched your minds-armors, ...could this elf be compared to God? ...or rather, NOT &quot;God&quot; but '''&quot;the Bain of All Mother&quot;'''? For THAT &quot;god&quot; is not yours any longer... yet sometimes your tongue slips... a few dozen years beneath '''&quot;the Shadow in the North&quot;''' makes hard and fast habits no matter how far away from the Shadow-gaze you grow.<br /> <br /> <br /> They (thinking down to your companions) know NOTHING of suffering! They know NOTHING of fear or hate or loathing... Eranon, the only friend you have save Walden is of elf-kind... He cannot know. He knows love, he knows the hearth, he knows kin, kith and kind. He may have offer sympathy for the chill you face nightly, but he does not know... The others, they are human. And though they have found their hearts long hidden from them by Shadow, they know nothing of lose. Their ancestors may know what they had that was taken when the Shadow fell, but that was before them, before their father's fathers... They fight for myth and legend. They donot even know what it is to live free... Nor can their hearts know what it is to have a home, to know your family or friends will not forsake you in the face of the Shadow... They cannot know the Shadow's volcanic embrace or how cold it is to be without it... They know nothing.<br /> <br /> <br /> For all you have gained with freedom, you were a son of Orc... for all you have gained you gave up tenfold.<br /> <br /> WHY?!?? Why did you do it?... Why did you believe that life beyond the Shadow would be a better one?? <br /> <br /> It has given nothing but pain and more lose. Why do you fight it brother? Why not go home?...<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> NO!<br /> <br /> That is NOT who you are anymore.<br /> <br /> You are among those the ShadowWall... Walden... called friend.<br /> <br /> You are Durgaz, the mirror-breaker. <br /> <br /> And you will have your vengance!<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> But not tonight. Not for these too few hours. These moments are yours. And to whatever god is out there you can but hold hope that Aryth doesn't ask for your allegiance... to...nigh...t.... '''[as you drift off to sleep]'''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> As Durgaz head rests on the pack of the armor bits he has recently sequestered from the laboratory below. Your mind drifts into unconciousness. But your wish cannot come to pass... For all the torment that &quot;the Vile&quot; has twisted in your mind of late, the dreams still come. Aryth herself calls out to you. And with that you feel the hate recend, to be replaced with conviction. For in the times when your sleep is not interupted by constant images of fear and hate, the other moments are frought with a peace - but it is a peace that comes with great cost.<br /> <br /> That COST is what drove you mad. It drove you to flee the Shadow's hold. It drove you to be alone. At the same time it comforts your sleep, giving you full rest - it requests something of you... What that is, must be your journey to uncover.<br /> <br /> Go with the peace now as the cool breeze and cloud-cover fade, showing you scenes sometimes near, yet somethings far-away in both time and space.............<br /> <br /> == Durgaz ==<br /> <br /> Fear and hate and madness are the shackles in which the Shadow binds us. But we are taught not to see the chains, just the layers of tempered steel that shield us from the Fey and the sons of Man, who would rise up and kill us all if given just half a chance.<br /> <br /> I know all this, and it does not stop me from thinking this way on some nights when the stars disappear and I am left alone with only the dark to keep me company. I call these folk my friends and companions, and still sometimes I must fight the impulse to smash one across the face for raising his gaze to mine. There is still an ember of Shadow buried somewhere in my mind that cannot be extinguished, and it is my charge to make sure that it is forever kept free of the tinder that would make it a flame.<br /> <br /> I believed that my visions were infallible, that they could not mislead. I was wrong. I may see where others cannot, and know the consequences of actions before they happen, but it is I who chooses what to do with that knowledge. My mistakes are my own, and that is both my weakness and my strength.<br /> <br /> I am a weapon, turned back on he who forged it. I am a shield, protecting those who cannot protect themselves. But most of all, I am a free orc. <br /> <br /> That is what separates me from my brothers. We will all die, some of us sooner than others. But they will die and be forgotten, a thousand faceless slaves conscripted to murder in the Shadow's name. I will live forever as a part of every life I have helped to save, even though nobody may remember my name, and then I will have ''earned'' the right to rest free of nightmares and visions. No sooner.<br /> <br /> &lt;span id=&quot;v1&quot;&gt;<br /> ===the WHITE-WORM &amp; his horde===<br /> ['''10 DAYS AGO''']: A toad croaks sitting on a slippery rock amid the moor, given the name Worgren. It flows to a shallow from the Erenriver, at the base of the Eren River Valley. It is a place that you've marched through many times. The story was not more than a year ago this day that a lone Dwarf faced off with a '''Shadow-Clutch''' in that very spot. The foolish Dwarf had little hope against the giants, but it was his mantle to hold them so that dozens of villages would live. It is rumored he was envoy to the Witch Queen... But that is a fable for sure, perhaps Eranon would know this tale? No matter... In the night the toad has little time to flee when the foul muck-ridden heel of another such '''&quot;Clutch&quot;''' tramples its scaley hide into the moors.<br /> <br /> On that night an army run across Worgren's Moor in Shadow's haste. The brutes are some 150 strong. Six dozen Orc-brothers, made up of seemingly as many tribes sprint in fear of being overtaken by their own battlegroup following on their heels behind! The proud pestilence of the Uruk stomp out all life that takes its time to slow before their mad march. The human mercenaries call them a &quot;Shadow-Clutch&quot;, they are 75 motherless killers that hunt until their hunt is done...<br /> <br /> At the front of the column rallying moreso that leading at this point is the orc called - Talûn-karkû, the White-Worm... He would eat your heart were he to find you. He calls out to the Clutch...<br /> <br /> '''''&quot;YOU HAVE NOT YET BEGUN TO SUFFER, YOU MOTHER-LESS DOGS! BEFORE YOU IS PAIN AND BEHIND YOU IS DEATH, CHOOSE AND IF YOUR MIND IS WISE YOU WILL DINE ON THE FLESH OF TRAITOR MY BROTHERS!!!'''''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''The haze of blood-soaked memory pulls over the marching of your orc brotherhood. For a moment you see the stars and then feel compelled to look back to Aryth...''<br /> &lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;span id=&quot;v2&quot;&gt;<br /> ===VROLK the Vile &amp; his Spire-Guard===<br /> ['''1 DAY OR LESS AGO''']: As the cloud parts, you overlook a site that would be serene were you to not fully understand the inhabitants... A campsite, near a stone alter not unlike the one the human Thorton called &quot;Satan Rock&quot;. You know this place. You passed by it when fleeing to save the human's life. At best recollection it is about 5-6 days travel (walking) into the swamps of the Dead Marshes, similarly some 5-6 days from the Worgren Moor.<br /> <br /> But this time the swamp is infested with Shadow. Orc tents scatter across the area beyond the alter. Although the stars are not shining brightly in the skys on these recent nights, at best count their are 100-150 tents... 1-3 orc may reside in each, tents are not the custom of your orc brothers, but these are not brothers. These orc are of the Vile. You can see that from the strange bastardized holy symbols that you recall encroaching on the spot of the natural mirror that you destroyed not long ago. And the black tents remain. Some 3-4 of these, that you assume to be of higher station. Humans in dark robes walk about them. Women of human and halfling kind pleasure these dark Legates in the night. One of the three Legate men enjoys the company of male boys. Twisted is their natures... The one that is Kyuad's friend treats his women with pain, as screems of whip beating hate carene from his tent.<br /> <br /> Apart from the smell of the orc horde their master meditates. The Vile sits in the center of the stone rock, that acts to focus his prayers. The elf appears veral and content, he awaits something. He shoots only a deathly glance as an orc troop has the audacity to question when the camp would move... Vrolk knows... they have found their place in the world and they would wait... For Jahzir has likely found him out by now. It would be on this place of power that he would commune with the Dark. If he be worthy his men would hold off the horde while his goal be achieved!!<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''Again the haze takes you. For another moment of relief you see the stars and then back to Aryth below...''<br /> &lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;span id=&quot;v3&quot;&gt;<br /> ===the WHITE-WORM &amp; his horde===<br /> ['''NOW''']: The moon has been eaten by the sky this night! Talûn-karkû's &quot;men&quot; continue their march. Seven villages have met their makers as the band acts as much the part of ghouls or locust devourering the country-side. The Worm's orc troop have fared better than he expected... Less than two dozen have been evicerated at the hands of the Uruk that roar at their backs! THIS was the truth of things the White-Worm would say, on such marches... Those that made the final battle at the end of such a tear where those that deserved to find glory! It is as nature demands!!<br /> <br /> <br /> '''''&quot;ONWARD BROTHERS, PUT SNOUT INTO THE WIND! CAN YOU SMELL IT?!?!! ELF-FLESH!! THE VILE GROWS NEARER WITH EVER STEP. WHEN WE STOP, WE WILL HAVE THE PRIEST'S FLESH, AND IT WILL BE GLORIOUS - ON THE FULL MOON BROTHERS WE DINE ON JAHZIR'S TRAITOR!!&quot;'''''<br /> <br /> <br /> And for the first time in years the commander of Durgaz's youth smiles, his fangs stained with blood as his troop continue full bore into the hapless maelgral that wander the boundries of the City of Dead... For this is Cambrial's district that his Dafrum-Dâgalûr now plunge into! The orc and uruk alive make merry in the torturing of the dead, but they do not have the luxury of languishing in their kills... if you can call them that. This would be the practice the Worm feared his men would be lacking. With weeks behind them and nearly a week more in front - he may have wondered if his troop would be slow to act...<br /> <br /> For wrath and ruin. <br /> <br /> For fear of Shadow's dawn.<br /> <br /> They are NOT.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''The clouds cover your eyes... This time the fog lifts from behind the stalkers in the dark...''<br /> &lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;span id=&quot;v4&quot;&gt;<br /> ===RADAGUG &amp; his Dogs===<br /> ['''NOW''']: And in the same instant that his commander tears across the Cambrial country-side, another orc makes his way to the point of his troop's mission. A goblin snicker swells up, but is beaten down before it can be heard in the camp beyond. The branching leaves of the jungle swamp give way as a dozen or more of the lowly servants of Izrador make their way through the muck and up next to the cold alabaster stone of the alter in the night.<br /> <br /> Radagug, snorts - sounding more like a hedge hog than an orc. It is his way... He then lets free a fumey smell as he forces himself to vomit, holding the disgust in his mouth for a moment before lapping it back down into his gullet. The &quot;sniffers&quot; smell their orders and those that donot have that talent follow the grunt of their orcen master. <br /> <br /> His fellow orc think him weak. But even Radagug is more than a match for the mongrels that make up the camp beyond the stone alter...<br /> <br /> But that is not his goal. Is the Vile here? A dozen goblins creep around the alter watching the elf from the dark. They take comfort that the elf does not erupt to call his guards. They believe their scouting mission is a success... From behind Vrolk's spot of meditation they confirm their mission, then recede... They believe they have not been seen.<br /> <br /> They are wrong.<br /> <br /> And the Vile's lip curls. It would be only a short time before the Full Moon...<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''As Radagug's Dogs retreat to rejoin the White-Worm, you too pull back with them... Slowly floating into the mysts above the haze that Aryth has made for you. Finally a pillow on the land that you can now rest. Tomorrow you can reflect on what these images and dreams mean... Unless you want to go back for more tonight!!'' <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> '''(ie. you are welcome to ask questions or try to change the points of view of your Seer visions, if you like)'''<br /> &lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> == Questions ==<br /> <br /> 1) Here's a big one. The first time you told me about the [[Midnight_RPG_-_Chapter_14.88#v4|fourth vision,]] it wasn't clear that Vrolk had actually SEEN Radagug and his dogs. Is that the case? Or is at least clear that he knows they're there?<br /> <br /> 2) I would like to ask Eranon if he has in fact heard the story about the Shadow-Clutch and the dwarf who held them off. I'm not sure whether to create a new bluebook for this or just to handle it email-wise, since even if Eranon knows it, both Steve and I will be hearing it for the first time...<br /> <br /> 3) I'm a little unclear on the actual direction that Talun-Karku's army is heading. If it is moving into the marshes, I assume it's passing somewhere to the north of Cambrial. With the information I have, would it be possible to make a guess as to the general area where it probably originated? <br /> <br /> 4) In the [[Midnight_RPG_-_Chapter_14.88#v2|second vision,]] I'd like to get as good a look at the Legates as I can. Do they have visible holy symbols anywhere on them? If so, are they traditional symbols of Izrador, or Vrolk's weird new emblem?<br /> <br /> 5) Also, are the legates (other than Kyuad's friend) the same ones that I saw up at the top of the Spire, with Krell and Diero, a few days back?<br /> <br /> 6) Speaking of which: It sounded like we were hoping for a minimum of 24 hours of downtime at the top of the spire, which means I can use the Seer abilities I exhausted during the previous day. Specifically, sometime when nobody else is around (I'm sleeping alone up on the upper deck, so I should be able to get some time in), I would like to take that thing out of my bag ... the thing that I thought was the Cadaverous Eye ... and use Seer Sight on it, to try and review its last six days. In addition to maybe finding out what it is, I'm hoping that I may be able to get some idea of what Vrolk was doing around here in the hours and days leading up to his departure. HOWEVER: Before I even take it out of my bag, I'm going to do an Augury to see whether or not something horrible will happen if I do. I'm afraid of this thing, which will be all the more amusing if it just turns out to be a paperweight or something. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ==kevin==<br /> <br /> hehe... I love your insights. My favorite is:<br /> <br /> ''&quot;I call these folk my friends and companions, and still sometimes I must fight the impulse to smash one across the face for raising his gaze to mine.&quot;'' <br /> <br /> <br /> I want to also note on this statement:<br /> <br /> ''&quot;I believed that my visions were infallible, that they could not mislead. I was wrong. I may see where others cannot, and know the consequences of actions before they happen, but it is I who chooses what to do with that knowledge. My mistakes are my own, and that is both my weakness and my strength.''<br /> <br /> <br /> You are right that Durgaz's visions will always hold information. I like to think of them as multiple &quot;truths&quot; and YOU get to decide what those truths are, what they mean and what to do about them. What better way to make a hero than by giving him a choice? :)<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> As for your questions...<br /> <br /> <br /> '''Q: ''' 1) Here's a big one. The first time you told me about the [[Midnight_RPG_-_Chapter_14.88#v4|fourth vision,]] it wasn't clear that Vrolk had actually SEEN Radagug and his dogs. Is that the case? Or is at least clear that he knows they're there?<br /> <br /> '''A: ''' Good point. Go with the above. You get the distinct feeling from Vrolk's body language that he might not have knew (at first) that the Orc and his Goblins were there, but they stayed too long. And whether through senses or magic he detected them as they were pulling back. But he made NO movement or acknowledgement to anyone. Only YOUR mind's eye saw him. You KNOW that he DIDNOT see you, this was NOT for your benefit. This is a truth you believe through a sixth sense feeling of your viewing of the vision.<br /> <br /> <br /> '''Q: ''' 2) I would like to ask Eranon if he has in fact heard the story about the Shadow-Clutch and the dwarf who held them off. I'm not sure whether to create a new bluebook for this or just to handle it email-wise, since even if Eranon knows it, both Steve and I will be hearing it for the first time...<br /> <br /> '''A: ''' I referred to a &quot;Shadow-Clutch&quot; meaning a type of troupe that have been put together on rare occassion by the Night Kings, Traitor Princes or Generals of Shadow. This &quot;clutch&quot; is basically a special forces unit of 75 Uruk. The one that I noted specifically as having battled the Dwarf at Worgren's Moor MIGHT be something an elf would have heard about. It'd be like we hear the &quot;legends&quot; of Wyatt Earp at the OK Corral. Eranon might have heard of it. I'd have him make an Int check for it. But he wouldn't have much more info than what I gave unless he rolled REALLY well. Kyuad might also be able to make a Lorebook check, that might have a broader chance of knowing something.<br /> <br /> I'd say you should Bluebook it, or ask them in-game or prior to the game.<br /> <br /> <br /> '''Q: ''' 3) I'm a little unclear on the actual direction that Talun-Karku's army is heading. If it is moving into the marshes, I assume it's passing somewhere to the north of Cambrial. With the information I have, would it be possible to make a guess as to the general area where it probably originated? <br /> <br /> '''A: ''' Apologies... Assume they took a route similar to YOUR route through the swamps. They would use the Shadow's Highways when they could but open ground could serve them just as well. They ARE passing somewhere north of Cambrial. Yes. With a Survival Check... &lt;br&gt; '': '''ROLL:''' Durgaz (Survival +5) ROLLED: 12+5 = 17 '' &lt;br&gt; With that roll, you could guess that with some time looking or with a map and Eranon's aid perhaps you could track the area down in short time. With maps you could likely find the spot give or take 5-10 hours.<br /> <br /> <br /> '''Q: ''' 4) In the [[Midnight_RPG_-_Chapter_14.88#v2|second vision,]] I'd like to get as good a look at the Legates as I can. Do they have visible holy symbols anywhere on them? If so, are they traditional symbols of Izrador, or Vrolk's weird new emblem?<br /> <br /> '''A: ''' Holy Symbols on the Legates... &lt;br&gt; '': '''ROLL:''' Durgaz (Spot +0) ROLLED: 14+0 = 14'' &lt;br&gt; With that spot check Durgaz would see that YES they wear vestages of the Dark Lord. &lt;br&gt; '': '''ROLL:''' Durgaz (Know: Shadow +4) ROLLED: 18+4 = 22 '' &lt;br&gt; The legates bare robes of initiates of the '''The Devout''' (aka. the Cult of the Shadow, the Order of Shadow). &lt;br&gt; ''Some legates believe that Sunulael’s Cult of the Shadow was derived from one such splinter cell. With Sunulael’s transfiguration into a Night King, he became titular head of the Order of Shadow. The ancient leaders of the old order, the Cabalists, were greatly angered by the elevation of this upstart, this outsider, to the principle position of their church. Though unwilling to openly oppose Sunulael and his loyal legates, the Cabalists take every opportunity to steal what credit, praise, and honors they can, while hindering the plans of Sunulael’s legates, the Devout, whenever such actions would be unlikely to point back to them or their masters.''<br /> <br /> ''There are others among the Cabalists’ number who would take things even further: for some, the anger at Sunulael’s elevation has become a living thing, perhaps replacing the life and heat that once inhabited their undead bodies. Ever fond of plotting and wheels within wheels, these few have formed a coven, an inner circle, whose stated aim is to bring Sunulael and the Devout to ruin and reclaim their rightful place at the feet of their god. A schism is growing in the Order of Shadow, and it threatens to tear it asunder.''<br /> <br /> These legates are obviously NOT yet full Legates. They all appear well trained and are likely ready to be made full legates. Each one bares different robes of a sort, robes and symbology, jewelry and such denoting their different factions and directions of interest...<br /> <br /> * Diero Pessiogn, a male human (Erenlander) seems to be a &quot;Keeper of Forbidden Lore&quot; – of the Keepers of Obsidian that are among the most powerful and influential of the order’s factions. Temple masters, lore keepers, and guardians of the zordrafin coriths, the Keepers of Obsidian are charged with the most sacred duty of expanding and maintaining the network of black mirrors that are vital to Izrador’s dark purpose. The lower ranks of the Keepers are responsible for renewing the zordrafin coriths with the blood of living sacrifices, as well as safeguarding the order’s hidden libraries and the storehouses of knowledge that it has hoarded and stolen over the centuries. The higher ranks oversee the construction and maintenance of the black mirrors and typically take the role of high priest in the temples of the Shadow. The Keepers of Obsidian maintain and protect Izrador’s network of black mirrors, the instruments through which he collects arcane energies. The lower ranks of the Keepers are responsible for renewing Izrador’s sacred mirrors using the blood of living sacrifices, which is poured into the basin-like altars that hold the loathsome substance of the mirror. Because of their pivotal role in Izrador’s powerbase, the high priest at a Temple of Shadow containing a black mirror is often a Keeper of Obsidian. <br /> * A male human (Urban Sarcosan) looks to be a &quot;Darkvoice&quot; - one of the The Voices of Shadow, they are not so much a formalized sect as a calling to which particularly zealous legates seem to be drawn. Preachers and missionaries, the Voices of Shadow lead the congregations in worship of the dark god in the Temples of Shadow and spread his doctrine among the occupied settlements of Erenland with fearsome zeal. At the word of these wild-eyed legates, whole communities have been put to the sword or consumed in awful conflagrations for the suspicion of harboring heretics or unbelievers. One of the most numerous but least powerful of the sub-orders, the Voices of Shadow that serves as acolytes and assistant priests in the Temples of Shadow. They are record keepers, overseeing the city’s scribes and preaching the word of Izrador to the faithful. The presiding Voice of Shadow within a temple is called the Voice of the Master. <br /> * A male human (Erenlander) seems to be a Bearer of the Black Shield, a Dark Templar Soldier Legate. The Soldiers of Shadow are warrior-priests that serve the armies of Izrador. Though not in the formal orc chain of command, they are typically assigned to specific armies where they follow the orders of the commanding warchiefs. Though it is not common, some soldiers serve as standing advisors to the regional governors, and both the Night Kings Sunulael and Jahzir travel with loyal personal guards made up of these dark knights. Soldier legates are a group apart from other legates; they do not typically participate in the dark intrigues of their brother priests and rarely aspire to be anything but devout warriors in service to the Shadow. Many military orders have risen and fallen in Izrador’s name over the centuries. Some are ancient and once-secret sects like the Knights of Winter, but others are newer, having arisen during the war-torn decades of the Last Age. The Brotherhood of the Sword that guards the Shadow’s temples and zordrafin coriths and the Fulminate Shield, whose knights serve as elite cavalry and honor-guards to high-ranking legates, are examples of more recent holy orders in service to the Shadow. Dark Knights are touched by the divine, unholy warriors whose dark faith is their shield and gives strength to their weapon arms. Mounted on astirax-bound destriers, the feared hardukan, these heavily armored knights scour the borderlands of Erenland in the hunt for insurgent forces and serve as personal bodyguards to senior temple legates.<br /> <br /> <br /> NONE of them bare the mark or symbols of Vrolk the Vile specifically. They in fact all seem to possible have been transferred along with Jahzir's other troupes (the Orcs). Their cloaks and materials seem to be more inline with Jorg Kinslayer's troops than Kulos the Exonerated's troops. But their allegiance can never be certain. Legates are known to serve Izrador first, themselves second, and another master third... on average - this might not be the case in every situation though.<br /> <br /> <br /> '''Q: ''' 5) Also, are the legates (other than Kyuad's friend) the same ones that I saw up at the top of the Spire, with Krell and Diero, a few days back?<br /> <br /> '''A: ''' YES, 100% they are. Krell and the other smaller Spire Legate (that you saw down in the dark chapel) were with seemingly showing them around. NOW, only the three are present with Vrolk. Kyuad's friend included.<br /> <br /> <br /> '''Q: ''' 6) Speaking of which: It sounded like we were hoping for a minimum of 24 hours of downtime at the top of the spire, which means I can use the Seer abilities I exhausted during the previous day. Specifically, sometime when nobody else is around (I'm sleeping alone up on the upper deck, so I should be able to get some time in), I would like to take that thing out of my bag ... the thing that I thought was the Cadaverous Eye ... and use Seer Sight on it, to try and review its last six days. In addition to maybe finding out what it is, I'm hoping that I may be able to get some idea of what Vrolk was doing around here in the hours and days leading up to his departure. HOWEVER: Before I even take it out of my bag, I'm going to do an Augury to see whether or not something horrible will happen if I do. I'm afraid of this thing, which will be all the more amusing if it just turns out to be a paperweight or something. <br /> <br /> '''A: ''' Question... Is there reason that you do not believe the crystal orb to BE the Cadaverous Eye? I don't think I discounted this idea. anyway...<br /> <br /> '': '''ROLL:''' Durgaz (Augury)'' &lt;br&gt; As to using the Crystal Orb, before removing it from the bag you seek the answer and find that it seems as though you would not get a NEGATIVE feeling, but you really don't get a strong positive feeling either. It feels more like it may not be directly dangerous but could be indirectly dangerous, depending on multiple reasons beyond your sphere of knowledge.<br /> <br /> DO you still choose to use your Seer Sight? If so, can you note more specifically what you're looking for? Maybe some questions beyond what you saw prior?<br /> <br /> == Questions, part 2==<br /> <br /> 2 and 3) Regarding the Shadow-Clutch story and the army's point of origin: It seems like Steve is as busy as I've been, or more, so I'm not going to take this to a bluebook. Maybe we can handle it at the beginning of the next game. (There's no reason we'd be discussing this out of the other characters' earshot, anyway.)<br /> <br /> 4) I have some questions on Legate orders, but I don't think they're the sort of thing Durgaz would know, even with a successful Knowledge(shadow) check. Besides, I have two people right here who probably do, one of whom would undoubtedly love to tell me all about it. I'll do this one in-game.<br /> <br /> 6) Well, Durgaz thought it was the Eye, at first, but then Kyuad started floating the idea that the eye-helmet might be the Eye instead. OOC, I can't remember what Kyuad said about the Cadaverous Eye before, or whether there was any specific mention of what it looked like, so I'm not sure either. Ultimately, I think Durgaz still believes it to be the Eye, since it did feature prominently in so many visions, and since the helmet seems keyed specifically to Vrolk's eye-creatures.<br /> <br /> Given the uncertain nature of the reading he got from his Augury, Durgaz will leave the the crystal orb in his bag. There is too much at stake here to risk it now, and his main concern is that doing anything with this thing might somehow alert Vrolk ... after all, why else would he leave it here? The main thing he was looking for, anyway, could be gleaned elsewhere; I just thought I'd use the Eye(?) as a focal point because I know it was involved. What I want to see is what Vrolk did in his lab right before he left. Since my strong suspicion is that he deliberately left things here for us to find, I want to find out if I can specifically see him choosing things to take or things to leave, or &quot;planting&quot; anything. I'm also a little curious as to how that imp ended up in a cage behind his pillow.<br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> [[Midnight: North &amp; South Portal]]</div>

Elvisrex https://wiki.rpg.net/index.php?title=Midnight_RPG_-_Chapter_14.88&diff=50400 2007-05-04T16:32:43Z

<p>Elvisrex: /* Questions, part 2 */</p> <hr /> <div>== Kevin ==<br /> [''This recaps the visions/dreams that Durgaz had in the Laboratory of Vrolk, in the Obsidian Spire. I will try to capture all the information I noted to you in-person. Please NOTE if I miss something. You are WELCOME to ask questions, or try to &quot;interact&quot; with any of the visions to learn more as you have in the past. Just ask.'']<br /> <br /> <br /> As you pull your weery hide up to the open-sky chamber, the crown level on the Black Nail, you feed week. The others that may wish to sleep beneath the stars havenpt found their way up to the tip of the Spire as yet... Giving you time to breath, time to relax and let your guard down, if only for a few minutes. <br /> <br /> <br /> You haven't been able to do so in weeks. The visions, they are coming outside of your dreams these days. It seems '''&quot;the Vile&quot;''' has found a way into your head. Only ONE OTHER has breeched your minds-armors, ...could this elf be compared to God? ...or rather, NOT &quot;God&quot; but '''&quot;the Bain of All Mother&quot;'''? For THAT &quot;god&quot; is not yours any longer... yet sometimes your tongue slips... a few dozen years beneath '''&quot;the Shadow in the North&quot;''' makes hard and fast habits no matter how far away from the Shadow-gaze you grow.<br /> <br /> <br /> They (thinking down to your companions) know NOTHING of suffering! They know NOTHING of fear or hate or loathing... Eranon, the only friend you have save Walden is of elf-kind... He cannot know. He knows love, he knows the hearth, he knows kin, kith and kind. He may have offer sympathy for the chill you face nightly, but he does not know... The others, they are human. And though they have found their hearts long hidden from them by Shadow, they know nothing of lose. Their ancestors may know what they had that was taken when the Shadow fell, but that was before them, before their father's fathers... They fight for myth and legend. They donot even know what it is to live free... Nor can their hearts know what it is to have a home, to know your family or friends will not forsake you in the face of the Shadow... They cannot know the Shadow's volcanic embrace or how cold it is to be without it... They know nothing.<br /> <br /> <br /> For all you have gained with freedom, you were a son of Orc... for all you have gained you gave up tenfold.<br /> <br /> WHY?!?? Why did you do it?... Why did you believe that life beyond the Shadow would be a better one?? <br /> <br /> It has given nothing but pain and more lose. Why do you fight it brother? Why not go home?...<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> NO!<br /> <br /> That is NOT who you are anymore.<br /> <br /> You are among those the ShadowWall... Walden... called friend.<br /> <br /> You are Durgaz, the mirror-breaker. <br /> <br /> And you will have your vengance!<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> But not tonight. Not for these too few hours. These moments are yours. And to whatever god is out there you can but hold hope that Aryth doesn't ask for your allegiance... to...nigh...t.... '''[as you drift off to sleep]'''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> As Durgaz head rests on the pack of the armor bits he has recently sequestered from the laboratory below. Your mind drifts into unconciousness. But your wish cannot come to pass... For all the torment that &quot;the Vile&quot; has twisted in your mind of late, the dreams still come. Aryth herself calls out to you. And with that you feel the hate recend, to be replaced with conviction. For in the times when your sleep is not interupted by constant images of fear and hate, the other moments are frought with a peace - but it is a peace that comes with great cost.<br /> <br /> That COST is what drove you mad. It drove you to flee the Shadow's hold. It drove you to be alone. At the same time it comforts your sleep, giving you full rest - it requests something of you... What that is, must be your journey to uncover.<br /> <br /> Go with the peace now as the cool breeze and cloud-cover fade, showing you scenes sometimes near, yet somethings far-away in both time and space.............<br /> <br /> == Durgaz ==<br /> <br /> Fear and hate and madness are the shackles in which the Shadow binds us. But we are taught not to see the chains, just the layers of tempered steel that shield us from the Fey and the sons of Man, who would rise up and kill us all if given just half a chance.<br /> <br /> I know all this, and it does not stop me from thinking this way on some nights when the stars disappear and I am left alone with only the dark to keep me company. I call these folk my friends and companions, and still sometimes I must fight the impulse to smash one across the face for raising his gaze to mine. There is still an ember of Shadow buried somewhere in my mind that cannot be extinguished, and it is my charge to make sure that it is forever kept free of the tinder that would make it a flame.<br /> <br /> I believed that my visions were infallible, that they could not mislead. I was wrong. I may see where others cannot, and know the consequences of actions before they happen, but it is I who chooses what to do with that knowledge. My mistakes are my own, and that is both my weakness and my strength.<br /> <br /> I am a weapon, turned back on he who forged it. I am a shield, protecting those who cannot protect themselves. But most of all, I am a free orc. <br /> <br /> That is what separates me from my brothers. We will all die, some of us sooner than others. But they will die and be forgotten, a thousand faceless slaves conscripted to murder in the Shadow's name. I will live forever as a part of every life I have helped to save, even though nobody may remember my name, and then I will have ''earned'' the right to rest free of nightmares and visions. No sooner.<br /> <br /> &lt;span id=&quot;v1&quot;&gt;<br /> ===the WHITE-WORM &amp; his horde===<br /> ['''10 DAYS AGO''']: A toad croaks sitting on a slippery rock amid the moor, given the name Worgren. It flows to a shallow from the Erenriver, at the base of the Eren River Valley. It is a place that you've marched through many times. The story was not more than a year ago this day that a lone Dwarf faced off with a '''Shadow-Clutch''' in that very spot. The foolish Dwarf had little hope against the giants, but it was his mantle to hold them so that dozens of villages would live. It is rumored he was envoy to the Witch Queen... But that is a fable for sure, perhaps Eranon would know this tale? No matter... In the night the toad has little time to flee when the foul muck-ridden heel of another such '''&quot;Clutch&quot;''' tramples its scaley hide into the moors.<br /> <br /> On that night an army run across Worgren's Moor in Shadow's haste. The brutes are some 150 strong. Six dozen Orc-brothers, made up of seemingly as many tribes sprint in fear of being overtaken by their own battlegroup following on their heels behind! The proud pestilence of the Uruk stomp out all life that takes its time to slow before their mad march. The human mercenaries call them a &quot;Shadow-Clutch&quot;, they are 75 motherless killers that hunt until their hunt is done...<br /> <br /> At the front of the column rallying moreso that leading at this point is the orc called - Talûn-karkû, the White-Worm... He would eat your heart were he to find you. He calls out to the Clutch...<br /> <br /> '''''&quot;YOU HAVE NOT YET BEGUN TO SUFFER, YOU MOTHER-LESS DOGS! BEFORE YOU IS PAIN AND BEHIND YOU IS DEATH, CHOOSE AND IF YOUR MIND IS WISE YOU WILL DINE ON THE FLESH OF TRAITOR MY BROTHERS!!!'''''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''The haze of blood-soaked memory pulls over the marching of your orc brotherhood. For a moment you see the stars and then feel compelled to look back to Aryth...''<br /> &lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;span id=&quot;v2&quot;&gt;<br /> ===VROLK the Vile &amp; his Spire-Guard===<br /> ['''1 DAY OR LESS AGO''']: As the cloud parts, you overlook a site that would be serene were you to not fully understand the inhabitants... A campsite, near a stone alter not unlike the one the human Thorton called &quot;Satan Rock&quot;. You know this place. You passed by it when fleeing to save the human's life. At best recollection it is about 5-6 days travel (walking) into the swamps of the Dead Marshes, similarly some 5-6 days from the Worgren Moor.<br /> <br /> But this time the swamp is infested with Shadow. Orc tents scatter across the area beyond the alter. Although the stars are not shining brightly in the skys on these recent nights, at best count their are 100-150 tents... 1-3 orc may reside in each, tents are not the custom of your orc brothers, but these are not brothers. These orc are of the Vile. You can see that from the strange bastardized holy symbols that you recall encroaching on the spot of the natural mirror that you destroyed not long ago. And the black tents remain. Some 3-4 of these, that you assume to be of higher station. Humans in dark robes walk about them. Women of human and halfling kind pleasure these dark Legates in the night. One of the three Legate men enjoys the company of male boys. Twisted is their natures... The one that is Kyuad's friend treats his women with pain, as screems of whip beating hate carene from his tent.<br /> <br /> Apart from the smell of the orc horde their master meditates. The Vile sits in the center of the stone rock, that acts to focus his prayers. The elf appears veral and content, he awaits something. He shoots only a deathly glance as an orc troop has the audacity to question when the camp would move... Vrolk knows... they have found their place in the world and they would wait... For Jahzir has likely found him out by now. It would be on this place of power that he would commune with the Dark. If he be worthy his men would hold off the horde while his goal be achieved!!<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''Again the haze takes you. For another moment of relief you see the stars and then back to Aryth below...''<br /> &lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;span id=&quot;v3&quot;&gt;<br /> ===the WHITE-WORM &amp; his horde===<br /> ['''NOW''']: The moon has been eaten by the sky this night! Talûn-karkû's &quot;men&quot; continue their march. Seven villages have met their makers as the band acts as much the part of ghouls or locust devourering the country-side. The Worm's orc troop have fared better than he expected... Less than two dozen have been evicerated at the hands of the Uruk that roar at their backs! THIS was the truth of things the White-Worm would say, on such marches... Those that made the final battle at the end of such a tear where those that deserved to find glory! It is as nature demands!!<br /> <br /> <br /> '''''&quot;ONWARD BROTHERS, PUT SNOUT INTO THE WIND! CAN YOU SMELL IT?!?!! ELF-FLESH!! THE VILE GROWS NEARER WITH EVER STEP. WHEN WE STOP, WE WILL HAVE THE PRIEST'S FLESH, AND IT WILL BE GLORIOUS - ON THE FULL MOON BROTHERS WE DINE ON JAHZIR'S TRAITOR!!&quot;'''''<br /> <br /> <br /> And for the first time in years the commander of Durgaz's youth smiles, his fangs stained with blood as his troop continue full bore into the hapless maelgral that wander the boundries of the City of Dead... For this is Cambrial's district that his Dafrum-Dâgalûr now plunge into! The orc and uruk alive make merry in the torturing of the dead, but they do not have the luxury of languishing in their kills... if you can call them that. This would be the practice the Worm feared his men would be lacking. With weeks behind them and nearly a week more in front - he may have wondered if his troop would be slow to act...<br /> <br /> For wrath and ruin. <br /> <br /> For fear of Shadow's dawn.<br /> <br /> They are NOT.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''The clouds cover your eyes... This time the fog lifts from behind the stalkers in the dark...''<br /> &lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;span id=&quot;v4&quot;&gt;<br /> ===RADAGUG &amp; his Dogs===<br /> ['''NOW''']: And in the same instant that his commander tears across the Cambrial country-side, another orc makes his way to the point of his troop's mission. A goblin snicker swells up, but is beaten down before it can be heard in the camp beyond. The branching leaves of the jungle swamp give way as a dozen or more of the lowly servants of Izrador make their way through the muck and up next to the cold alabaster stone of the alter in the night.<br /> <br /> Radagug, snorts - sounding more like a hedge hog than an orc. It is his way... He then lets free a fumey smell as he forces himself to vomit, holding the disgust in his mouth for a moment before lapping it back down into his gullet. The &quot;sniffers&quot; smell their orders and those that donot have that talent follow the grunt of their orcen master. <br /> <br /> His fellow orc think him weak. But even Radagug is more than a match for the mongrels that make up the camp beyond the stone alter...<br /> <br /> But that is not his goal. Is the Vile here? A dozen goblins creep around the alter watching the elf from the dark. They take comfort that the elf does not erupt to call his guards. They believe their scouting mission is a success... From behind Vrolk's spot of meditation they confirm their mission, then recede... They believe they have not been seen.<br /> <br /> They are wrong.<br /> <br /> And the Vile's lip curls. It would be only a short time before the Full Moon...<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''As Radagug's Dogs retreat to rejoin the White-Worm, you too pull back with them... Slowly floating into the mysts above the haze that Aryth has made for you. Finally a pillow on the land that you can now rest. Tomorrow you can reflect on what these images and dreams mean... Unless you want to go back for more tonight!!'' <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> '''(ie. you are welcome to ask questions or try to change the points of view of your Seer visions, if you like)'''<br /> &lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> == Questions ==<br /> <br /> 1) Here's a big one. The first time you told me about the [[Midnight_RPG_-_Chapter_14.88#v4|fourth vision,]] it wasn't clear that Vrolk had actually SEEN Radagug and his dogs. Is that the case? Or is at least clear that he knows they're there?<br /> <br /> 2) I would like to ask Eranon if he has in fact heard the story about the Shadow-Clutch and the dwarf who held them off. I'm not sure whether to create a new bluebook for this or just to handle it email-wise, since even if Eranon knows it, both Steve and I will be hearing it for the first time...<br /> <br /> 3) I'm a little unclear on the actual direction that Talun-Karku's army is heading. If it is moving into the marshes, I assume it's passing somewhere to the north of Cambrial. With the information I have, would it be possible to make a guess as to the general area where it probably originated? <br /> <br /> 4) In the [[Midnight_RPG_-_Chapter_14.88#v2|second vision,]] I'd like to get as good a look at the Legates as I can. Do they have visible holy symbols anywhere on them? If so, are they traditional symbols of Izrador, or Vrolk's weird new emblem?<br /> <br /> 5) Also, are the legates (other than Kyuad's friend) the same ones that I saw up at the top of the Spire, with Krell and Diero, a few days back?<br /> <br /> 6) Speaking of which: It sounded like we were hoping for a minimum of 24 hours of downtime at the top of the spire, which means I can use the Seer abilities I exhausted during the previous day. Specifically, sometime when nobody else is around (I'm sleeping alone up on the upper deck, so I should be able to get some time in), I would like to take that thing out of my bag ... the thing that I thought was the Cadaverous Eye ... and use Seer Sight on it, to try and review its last six days. In addition to maybe finding out what it is, I'm hoping that I may be able to get some idea of what Vrolk was doing around here in the hours and days leading up to his departure. HOWEVER: Before I even take it out of my bag, I'm going to do an Augury to see whether or not something horrible will happen if I do. I'm afraid of this thing, which will be all the more amusing if it just turns out to be a paperweight or something. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ==kevin==<br /> <br /> hehe... I love your insights. My favorite is:<br /> <br /> ''&quot;I call these folk my friends and companions, and still sometimes I must fight the impulse to smash one across the face for raising his gaze to mine.&quot;'' <br /> <br /> <br /> I want to also note on this statement:<br /> <br /> ''&quot;I believed that my visions were infallible, that they could not mislead. I was wrong. I may see where others cannot, and know the consequences of actions before they happen, but it is I who chooses what to do with that knowledge. My mistakes are my own, and that is both my weakness and my strength.''<br /> <br /> <br /> You are right that Durgaz's visions will always hold information. I like to think of them as multiple &quot;truths&quot; and YOU get to decide what those truths are, what they mean and what to do about them. What better way to make a hero than by giving him a choice? :)<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> As for your questions...<br /> <br /> <br /> '''Q: ''' 1) Here's a big one. The first time you told me about the [[Midnight_RPG_-_Chapter_14.88#v4|fourth vision,]] it wasn't clear that Vrolk had actually SEEN Radagug and his dogs. Is that the case? Or is at least clear that he knows they're there?<br /> <br /> '''A: ''' Good point. Go with the above. You get the distinct feeling from Vrolk's body language that he might not have knew (at first) that the Orc and his Goblins were there, but they stayed too long. And whether through senses or magic he detected them as they were pulling back. But he made NO movement or acknowledgement to anyone. Only YOUR mind's eye saw him. You KNOW that he DIDNOT see you, this was NOT for your benefit. This is a truth you believe through a sixth sense feeling of your viewing of the vision.<br /> <br /> <br /> '''Q: ''' 2) I would like to ask Eranon if he has in fact heard the story about the Shadow-Clutch and the dwarf who held them off. I'm not sure whether to create a new bluebook for this or just to handle it email-wise, since even if Eranon knows it, both Steve and I will be hearing it for the first time...<br /> <br /> '''A: ''' I referred to a &quot;Shadow-Clutch&quot; meaning a type of troupe that have been put together on rare occassion by the Night Kings, Traitor Princes or Generals of Shadow. This &quot;clutch&quot; is basically a special forces unit of 75 Uruk. The one that I noted specifically as having battled the Dwarf at Worgren's Moor MIGHT be something an elf would have heard about. It'd be like we hear the &quot;legends&quot; of Wyatt Earp at the OK Corral. Eranon might have heard of it. I'd have him make an Int check for it. But he wouldn't have much more info than what I gave unless he rolled REALLY well. Kyuad might also be able to make a Lorebook check, that might have a broader chance of knowing something.<br /> <br /> I'd say you should Bluebook it, or ask them in-game or prior to the game.<br /> <br /> <br /> '''Q: ''' 3) I'm a little unclear on the actual direction that Talun-Karku's army is heading. If it is moving into the marshes, I assume it's passing somewhere to the north of Cambrial. With the information I have, would it be possible to make a guess as to the general area where it probably originated? <br /> <br /> '''A: ''' Apologies... Assume they took a route similar to YOUR route through the swamps. They would use the Shadow's Highways when they could but open ground could serve them just as well. They ARE passing somewhere north of Cambrial. Yes. With a Survival Check... &lt;br&gt; '': '''ROLL:''' Durgaz (Survival +5) ROLLED: 12+5 = 17 '' &lt;br&gt; With that roll, you could guess that with some time looking or with a map and Eranon's aid perhaps you could track the area down in short time. With maps you could likely find the spot give or take 5-10 hours.<br /> <br /> <br /> '''Q: ''' 4) In the [[Midnight_RPG_-_Chapter_14.88#v2|second vision,]] I'd like to get as good a look at the Legates as I can. Do they have visible holy symbols anywhere on them? If so, are they traditional symbols of Izrador, or Vrolk's weird new emblem?<br /> <br /> '''A: ''' Holy Symbols on the Legates... &lt;br&gt; '': '''ROLL:''' Durgaz (Spot +0) ROLLED: 14+0 = 14'' &lt;br&gt; With that spot check Durgaz would see that YES they wear vestages of the Dark Lord. &lt;br&gt; '': '''ROLL:''' Durgaz (Know: Shadow +4) ROLLED: 18+4 = 22 '' &lt;br&gt; The legates bare robes of initiates of the '''The Devout''' (aka. the Cult of the Shadow, the Order of Shadow). &lt;br&gt; ''Some legates believe that Sunulael’s Cult of the Shadow was derived from one such splinter cell. With Sunulael’s transfiguration into a Night King, he became titular head of the Order of Shadow. The ancient leaders of the old order, the Cabalists, were greatly angered by the elevation of this upstart, this outsider, to the principle position of their church. Though unwilling to openly oppose Sunulael and his loyal legates, the Cabalists take every opportunity to steal what credit, praise, and honors they can, while hindering the plans of Sunulael’s legates, the Devout, whenever such actions would be unlikely to point back to them or their masters.''<br /> <br /> ''There are others among the Cabalists’ number who would take things even further: for some, the anger at Sunulael’s elevation has become a living thing, perhaps replacing the life and heat that once inhabited their undead bodies. Ever fond of plotting and wheels within wheels, these few have formed a coven, an inner circle, whose stated aim is to bring Sunulael and the Devout to ruin and reclaim their rightful place at the feet of their god. A schism is growing in the Order of Shadow, and it threatens to tear it asunder.''<br /> <br /> These legates are obviously NOT yet full Legates. They all appear well trained and are likely ready to be made full legates. Each one bares different robes of a sort, robes and symbology, jewelry and such denoting their different factions and directions of interest...<br /> <br /> * Diero Pessiogn, a male human (Erenlander) seems to be a &quot;Keeper of Forbidden Lore&quot; – of the Keepers of Obsidian that are among the most powerful and influential of the order’s factions. Temple masters, lore keepers, and guardians of the zordrafin coriths, the Keepers of Obsidian are charged with the most sacred duty of expanding and maintaining the network of black mirrors that are vital to Izrador’s dark purpose. The lower ranks of the Keepers are responsible for renewing the zordrafin coriths with the blood of living sacrifices, as well as safeguarding the order’s hidden libraries and the storehouses of knowledge that it has hoarded and stolen over the centuries. The higher ranks oversee the construction and maintenance of the black mirrors and typically take the role of high priest in the temples of the Shadow. The Keepers of Obsidian maintain and protect Izrador’s network of black mirrors, the instruments through which he collects arcane energies. The lower ranks of the Keepers are responsible for renewing Izrador’s sacred mirrors using the blood of living sacrifices, which is poured into the basin-like altars that hold the loathsome substance of the mirror. Because of their pivotal role in Izrador’s powerbase, the high priest at a Temple of Shadow containing a black mirror is often a Keeper of Obsidian. <br /> * A male human (Urban Sarcosan) looks to be a &quot;Darkvoice&quot; - one of the The Voices of Shadow, they are not so much a formalized sect as a calling to which particularly zealous legates seem to be drawn. Preachers and missionaries, the Voices of Shadow lead the congregations in worship of the dark god in the Temples of Shadow and spread his doctrine among the occupied settlements of Erenland with fearsome zeal. At the word of these wild-eyed legates, whole communities have been put to the sword or consumed in awful conflagrations for the suspicion of harboring heretics or unbelievers. One of the most numerous but least powerful of the sub-orders, the Voices of Shadow that serves as acolytes and assistant priests in the Temples of Shadow. They are record keepers, overseeing the city’s scribes and preaching the word of Izrador to the faithful. The presiding Voice of Shadow within a temple is called the Voice of the Master. <br /> * A male human (Erenlander) seems to be a Bearer of the Black Shield, a Dark Templar Soldier Legate. The Soldiers of Shadow are warrior-priests that serve the armies of Izrador. Though not in the formal orc chain of command, they are typically assigned to specific armies where they follow the orders of the commanding warchiefs. Though it is not common, some soldiers serve as standing advisors to the regional governors, and both the Night Kings Sunulael and Jahzir travel with loyal personal guards made up of these dark knights. Soldier legates are a group apart from other legates; they do not typically participate in the dark intrigues of their brother priests and rarely aspire to be anything but devout warriors in service to the Shadow. Many military orders have risen and fallen in Izrador’s name over the centuries. Some are ancient and once-secret sects like the Knights of Winter, but others are newer, having arisen during the war-torn decades of the Last Age. The Brotherhood of the Sword that guards the Shadow’s temples and zordrafin coriths and the Fulminate Shield, whose knights serve as elite cavalry and honor-guards to high-ranking legates, are examples of more recent holy orders in service to the Shadow. Dark Knights are touched by the divine, unholy warriors whose dark faith is their shield and gives strength to their weapon arms. Mounted on astirax-bound destriers, the feared hardukan, these heavily armored knights scour the borderlands of Erenland in the hunt for insurgent forces and serve as personal bodyguards to senior temple legates.<br /> <br /> <br /> NONE of them bare the mark or symbols of Vrolk the Vile specifically. They in fact all seem to possible have been transferred along with Jahzir's other troupes (the Orcs). Their cloaks and materials seem to be more inline with Jorg Kinslayer's troops than Kulos the Exonerated's troops. But their allegiance can never be certain. Legates are known to serve Izrador first, themselves second, and another master third... on average - this might not be the case in every situation though.<br /> <br /> <br /> '''Q: ''' 5) Also, are the legates (other than Kyuad's friend) the same ones that I saw up at the top of the Spire, with Krell and Diero, a few days back?<br /> <br /> '''A: ''' YES, 100% they are. Krell and the other smaller Spire Legate (that you saw down in the dark chapel) were with seemingly showing them around. NOW, only the three are present with Vrolk. Kyuad's friend included.<br /> <br /> <br /> '''Q: ''' 6) Speaking of which: It sounded like we were hoping for a minimum of 24 hours of downtime at the top of the spire, which means I can use the Seer abilities I exhausted during the previous day. Specifically, sometime when nobody else is around (I'm sleeping alone up on the upper deck, so I should be able to get some time in), I would like to take that thing out of my bag ... the thing that I thought was the Cadaverous Eye ... and use Seer Sight on it, to try and review its last six days. In addition to maybe finding out what it is, I'm hoping that I may be able to get some idea of what Vrolk was doing around here in the hours and days leading up to his departure. HOWEVER: Before I even take it out of my bag, I'm going to do an Augury to see whether or not something horrible will happen if I do. I'm afraid of this thing, which will be all the more amusing if it just turns out to be a paperweight or something. <br /> <br /> '''A: ''' Question... Is there reason that you do not believe the crystal orb to BE the Cadaverous Eye? I don't think I discounted this idea. anyway...<br /> <br /> '': '''ROLL:''' Durgaz (Augury)'' &lt;br&gt; As to using the Crystal Orb, before removing it from the bag you seek the answer and find that it seems as though you would not get a NEGATIVE feeling, but you really don't get a strong positive feeling either. It feels more like it may not be directly dangerous but could be indirectly dangerous, depending on multiple reasons beyond your sphere of knowledge.<br /> <br /> DO you still choose to use your Seer Sight? If so, can you note more specifically what you're looking for? Maybe some questions beyond what you saw prior?<br /> <br /> == Questions, part 2==<br /> <br /> 2 and 3) Regarding the Shadow-Clutch story and the army's point of origin: It seems like Steve is as busy as I've been, or more, so I'm not going to take this to a bluebook. Maybe we can handle it at the beginning of the next game. (There's no reason we'd be discussing this out of the other characters' earshot, anyway.)<br /> <br /> 4) I have some questions on Legate orders, but I don't think they're the sort of thing Durgaz would know, even with a successful Knowledge(shadow) check. Besides, I have two people right here who probably do, one of whom would undoubtedly love to tell me all about it. I'll do this one in-game.<br /> <br /> 6) Well, Durgaz thought it was the Eye, at first, but then Kyuad started floating the idea that the eye-helmet might be the Eye instead. OOC, I can't remember what Kyuad said about the thing before, or whether there was any specific mention of what the thing looked like, so I'm not sure either. Ultimately, I think Durgaz still believes it to be the Eye, since it did feature prominently in so many visions, and since the helmet seems keyed specifically to Vrolk's eye-creatures.<br /> <br /> Given the uncertain nature of the reading he got from his Augury, Durgaz will leave the thing in his bag. There is too much at stake here to risk it now, and his main concern is that doing anything with this thing might somehow alert Vrolk ... after all, why else would he leave it here? The main thing he was looking for, anyway, could be gleaned elsewhere; I just thought I'd use the Eye(?) as a focal point because I know it was involved. What I want to see is what Vrolk did in his lab right before he left. Since my strong suspicion is that he deliberately left things here for us to find, I want to find out if I can specifically see him choosing things to take or things to leave, or &quot;planting&quot; anything. I'm also a little curious as to how that imp ended up in a cage behind his pillow.<br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> [[Midnight: North &amp; South Portal]]</div>

Elvisrex https://wiki.rpg.net/index.php?title=Midnight_RPG_-_Chapter_14.88&diff=50399 2007-05-04T16:14:27Z

<p>Elvisrex: </p> <hr /> <div>== Kevin ==<br /> [''This recaps the visions/dreams that Durgaz had in the Laboratory of Vrolk, in the Obsidian Spire. I will try to capture all the information I noted to you in-person. Please NOTE if I miss something. You are WELCOME to ask questions, or try to &quot;interact&quot; with any of the visions to learn more as you have in the past. Just ask.'']<br /> <br /> <br /> As you pull your weery hide up to the open-sky chamber, the crown level on the Black Nail, you feed week. The others that may wish to sleep beneath the stars havenpt found their way up to the tip of the Spire as yet... Giving you time to breath, time to relax and let your guard down, if only for a few minutes. <br /> <br /> <br /> You haven't been able to do so in weeks. The visions, they are coming outside of your dreams these days. It seems '''&quot;the Vile&quot;''' has found a way into your head. Only ONE OTHER has breeched your minds-armors, ...could this elf be compared to God? ...or rather, NOT &quot;God&quot; but '''&quot;the Bain of All Mother&quot;'''? For THAT &quot;god&quot; is not yours any longer... yet sometimes your tongue slips... a few dozen years beneath '''&quot;the Shadow in the North&quot;''' makes hard and fast habits no matter how far away from the Shadow-gaze you grow.<br /> <br /> <br /> They (thinking down to your companions) know NOTHING of suffering! They know NOTHING of fear or hate or loathing... Eranon, the only friend you have save Walden is of elf-kind... He cannot know. He knows love, he knows the hearth, he knows kin, kith and kind. He may have offer sympathy for the chill you face nightly, but he does not know... The others, they are human. And though they have found their hearts long hidden from them by Shadow, they know nothing of lose. Their ancestors may know what they had that was taken when the Shadow fell, but that was before them, before their father's fathers... They fight for myth and legend. They donot even know what it is to live free... Nor can their hearts know what it is to have a home, to know your family or friends will not forsake you in the face of the Shadow... They cannot know the Shadow's volcanic embrace or how cold it is to be without it... They know nothing.<br /> <br /> <br /> For all you have gained with freedom, you were a son of Orc... for all you have gained you gave up tenfold.<br /> <br /> WHY?!?? Why did you do it?... Why did you believe that life beyond the Shadow would be a better one?? <br /> <br /> It has given nothing but pain and more lose. Why do you fight it brother? Why not go home?...<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> NO!<br /> <br /> That is NOT who you are anymore.<br /> <br /> You are among those the ShadowWall... Walden... called friend.<br /> <br /> You are Durgaz, the mirror-breaker. <br /> <br /> And you will have your vengance!<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> But not tonight. Not for these too few hours. These moments are yours. And to whatever god is out there you can but hold hope that Aryth doesn't ask for your allegiance... to...nigh...t.... '''[as you drift off to sleep]'''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> As Durgaz head rests on the pack of the armor bits he has recently sequestered from the laboratory below. Your mind drifts into unconciousness. But your wish cannot come to pass... For all the torment that &quot;the Vile&quot; has twisted in your mind of late, the dreams still come. Aryth herself calls out to you. And with that you feel the hate recend, to be replaced with conviction. For in the times when your sleep is not interupted by constant images of fear and hate, the other moments are frought with a peace - but it is a peace that comes with great cost.<br /> <br /> That COST is what drove you mad. It drove you to flee the Shadow's hold. It drove you to be alone. At the same time it comforts your sleep, giving you full rest - it requests something of you... What that is, must be your journey to uncover.<br /> <br /> Go with the peace now as the cool breeze and cloud-cover fade, showing you scenes sometimes near, yet somethings far-away in both time and space.............<br /> <br /> == Durgaz ==<br /> <br /> Fear and hate and madness are the shackles in which the Shadow binds us. But we are taught not to see the chains, just the layers of tempered steel that shield us from the Fey and the sons of Man, who would rise up and kill us all if given just half a chance.<br /> <br /> I know all this, and it does not stop me from thinking this way on some nights when the stars disappear and I am left alone with only the dark to keep me company. I call these folk my friends and companions, and still sometimes I must fight the impulse to smash one across the face for raising his gaze to mine. There is still an ember of Shadow buried somewhere in my mind that cannot be extinguished, and it is my charge to make sure that it is forever kept free of the tinder that would make it a flame.<br /> <br /> I believed that my visions were infallible, that they could not mislead. I was wrong. I may see where others cannot, and know the consequences of actions before they happen, but it is I who chooses what to do with that knowledge. My mistakes are my own, and that is both my weakness and my strength.<br /> <br /> I am a weapon, turned back on he who forged it. I am a shield, protecting those who cannot protect themselves. But most of all, I am a free orc. <br /> <br /> That is what separates me from my brothers. We will all die, some of us sooner than others. But they will die and be forgotten, a thousand faceless slaves conscripted to murder in the Shadow's name. I will live forever as a part of every life I have helped to save, even though nobody may remember my name, and then I will have ''earned'' the right to rest free of nightmares and visions. No sooner.<br /> <br /> &lt;span id=&quot;v1&quot;&gt;<br /> ===the WHITE-WORM &amp; his horde===<br /> ['''10 DAYS AGO''']: A toad croaks sitting on a slippery rock amid the moor, given the name Worgren. It flows to a shallow from the Erenriver, at the base of the Eren River Valley. It is a place that you've marched through many times. The story was not more than a year ago this day that a lone Dwarf faced off with a '''Shadow-Clutch''' in that very spot. The foolish Dwarf had little hope against the giants, but it was his mantle to hold them so that dozens of villages would live. It is rumored he was envoy to the Witch Queen... But that is a fable for sure, perhaps Eranon would know this tale? No matter... In the night the toad has little time to flee when the foul muck-ridden heel of another such '''&quot;Clutch&quot;''' tramples its scaley hide into the moors.<br /> <br /> On that night an army run across Worgren's Moor in Shadow's haste. The brutes are some 150 strong. Six dozen Orc-brothers, made up of seemingly as many tribes sprint in fear of being overtaken by their own battlegroup following on their heels behind! The proud pestilence of the Uruk stomp out all life that takes its time to slow before their mad march. The human mercenaries call them a &quot;Shadow-Clutch&quot;, they are 75 motherless killers that hunt until their hunt is done...<br /> <br /> At the front of the column rallying moreso that leading at this point is the orc called - Talûn-karkû, the White-Worm... He would eat your heart were he to find you. He calls out to the Clutch...<br /> <br /> '''''&quot;YOU HAVE NOT YET BEGUN TO SUFFER, YOU MOTHER-LESS DOGS! BEFORE YOU IS PAIN AND BEHIND YOU IS DEATH, CHOOSE AND IF YOUR MIND IS WISE YOU WILL DINE ON THE FLESH OF TRAITOR MY BROTHERS!!!'''''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''The haze of blood-soaked memory pulls over the marching of your orc brotherhood. For a moment you see the stars and then feel compelled to look back to Aryth...''<br /> &lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;span id=&quot;v2&quot;&gt;<br /> ===VROLK the Vile &amp; his Spire-Guard===<br /> ['''1 DAY OR LESS AGO''']: As the cloud parts, you overlook a site that would be serene were you to not fully understand the inhabitants... A campsite, near a stone alter not unlike the one the human Thorton called &quot;Satan Rock&quot;. You know this place. You passed by it when fleeing to save the human's life. At best recollection it is about 5-6 days travel (walking) into the swamps of the Dead Marshes, similarly some 5-6 days from the Worgren Moor.<br /> <br /> But this time the swamp is infested with Shadow. Orc tents scatter across the area beyond the alter. Although the stars are not shining brightly in the skys on these recent nights, at best count their are 100-150 tents... 1-3 orc may reside in each, tents are not the custom of your orc brothers, but these are not brothers. These orc are of the Vile. You can see that from the strange bastardized holy symbols that you recall encroaching on the spot of the natural mirror that you destroyed not long ago. And the black tents remain. Some 3-4 of these, that you assume to be of higher station. Humans in dark robes walk about them. Women of human and halfling kind pleasure these dark Legates in the night. One of the three Legate men enjoys the company of male boys. Twisted is their natures... The one that is Kyuad's friend treats his women with pain, as screems of whip beating hate carene from his tent.<br /> <br /> Apart from the smell of the orc horde their master meditates. The Vile sits in the center of the stone rock, that acts to focus his prayers. The elf appears veral and content, he awaits something. He shoots only a deathly glance as an orc troop has the audacity to question when the camp would move... Vrolk knows... they have found their place in the world and they would wait... For Jahzir has likely found him out by now. It would be on this place of power that he would commune with the Dark. If he be worthy his men would hold off the horde while his goal be achieved!!<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''Again the haze takes you. For another moment of relief you see the stars and then back to Aryth below...''<br /> &lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;span id=&quot;v3&quot;&gt;<br /> ===the WHITE-WORM &amp; his horde===<br /> ['''NOW''']: The moon has been eaten by the sky this night! Talûn-karkû's &quot;men&quot; continue their march. Seven villages have met their makers as the band acts as much the part of ghouls or locust devourering the country-side. The Worm's orc troop have fared better than he expected... Less than two dozen have been evicerated at the hands of the Uruk that roar at their backs! THIS was the truth of things the White-Worm would say, on such marches... Those that made the final battle at the end of such a tear where those that deserved to find glory! It is as nature demands!!<br /> <br /> <br /> '''''&quot;ONWARD BROTHERS, PUT SNOUT INTO THE WIND! CAN YOU SMELL IT?!?!! ELF-FLESH!! THE VILE GROWS NEARER WITH EVER STEP. WHEN WE STOP, WE WILL HAVE THE PRIEST'S FLESH, AND IT WILL BE GLORIOUS - ON THE FULL MOON BROTHERS WE DINE ON JAHZIR'S TRAITOR!!&quot;'''''<br /> <br /> <br /> And for the first time in years the commander of Durgaz's youth smiles, his fangs stained with blood as his troop continue full bore into the hapless maelgral that wander the boundries of the City of Dead... For this is Cambrial's district that his Dafrum-Dâgalûr now plunge into! The orc and uruk alive make merry in the torturing of the dead, but they do not have the luxury of languishing in their kills... if you can call them that. This would be the practice the Worm feared his men would be lacking. With weeks behind them and nearly a week more in front - he may have wondered if his troop would be slow to act...<br /> <br /> For wrath and ruin. <br /> <br /> For fear of Shadow's dawn.<br /> <br /> They are NOT.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''The clouds cover your eyes... This time the fog lifts from behind the stalkers in the dark...''<br /> &lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;span id=&quot;v4&quot;&gt;<br /> ===RADAGUG &amp; his Dogs===<br /> ['''NOW''']: And in the same instant that his commander tears across the Cambrial country-side, another orc makes his way to the point of his troop's mission. A goblin snicker swells up, but is beaten down before it can be heard in the camp beyond. The branching leaves of the jungle swamp give way as a dozen or more of the lowly servants of Izrador make their way through the muck and up next to the cold alabaster stone of the alter in the night.<br /> <br /> Radagug, snorts - sounding more like a hedge hog than an orc. It is his way... He then lets free a fumey smell as he forces himself to vomit, holding the disgust in his mouth for a moment before lapping it back down into his gullet. The &quot;sniffers&quot; smell their orders and those that donot have that talent follow the grunt of their orcen master. <br /> <br /> His fellow orc think him weak. But even Radagug is more than a match for the mongrels that make up the camp beyond the stone alter...<br /> <br /> But that is not his goal. Is the Vile here? A dozen goblins creep around the alter watching the elf from the dark. They take comfort that the elf does not erupt to call his guards. They believe their scouting mission is a success... From behind Vrolk's spot of meditation they confirm their mission, then recede... They believe they have not been seen.<br /> <br /> They are wrong.<br /> <br /> And the Vile's lip curls. It would be only a short time before the Full Moon...<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''As Radagug's Dogs retreat to rejoin the White-Worm, you too pull back with them... Slowly floating into the mysts above the haze that Aryth has made for you. Finally a pillow on the land that you can now rest. Tomorrow you can reflect on what these images and dreams mean... Unless you want to go back for more tonight!!'' <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> '''(ie. you are welcome to ask questions or try to change the points of view of your Seer visions, if you like)'''<br /> &lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> == Questions ==<br /> <br /> 1) Here's a big one. The first time you told me about the [[Midnight_RPG_-_Chapter_14.88#v4|fourth vision,]] it wasn't clear that Vrolk had actually SEEN Radagug and his dogs. Is that the case? Or is at least clear that he knows they're there?<br /> <br /> 2) I would like to ask Eranon if he has in fact heard the story about the Shadow-Clutch and the dwarf who held them off. I'm not sure whether to create a new bluebook for this or just to handle it email-wise, since even if Eranon knows it, both Steve and I will be hearing it for the first time...<br /> <br /> 3) I'm a little unclear on the actual direction that Talun-Karku's army is heading. If it is moving into the marshes, I assume it's passing somewhere to the north of Cambrial. With the information I have, would it be possible to make a guess as to the general area where it probably originated? <br /> <br /> 4) In the [[Midnight_RPG_-_Chapter_14.88#v2|second vision,]] I'd like to get as good a look at the Legates as I can. Do they have visible holy symbols anywhere on them? If so, are they traditional symbols of Izrador, or Vrolk's weird new emblem?<br /> <br /> 5) Also, are the legates (other than Kyuad's friend) the same ones that I saw up at the top of the Spire, with Krell and Diero, a few days back?<br /> <br /> 6) Speaking of which: It sounded like we were hoping for a minimum of 24 hours of downtime at the top of the spire, which means I can use the Seer abilities I exhausted during the previous day. Specifically, sometime when nobody else is around (I'm sleeping alone up on the upper deck, so I should be able to get some time in), I would like to take that thing out of my bag ... the thing that I thought was the Cadaverous Eye ... and use Seer Sight on it, to try and review its last six days. In addition to maybe finding out what it is, I'm hoping that I may be able to get some idea of what Vrolk was doing around here in the hours and days leading up to his departure. HOWEVER: Before I even take it out of my bag, I'm going to do an Augury to see whether or not something horrible will happen if I do. I'm afraid of this thing, which will be all the more amusing if it just turns out to be a paperweight or something. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ==kevin==<br /> <br /> hehe... I love your insights. My favorite is:<br /> <br /> ''&quot;I call these folk my friends and companions, and still sometimes I must fight the impulse to smash one across the face for raising his gaze to mine.&quot;'' <br /> <br /> <br /> I want to also note on this statement:<br /> <br /> ''&quot;I believed that my visions were infallible, that they could not mislead. I was wrong. I may see where others cannot, and know the consequences of actions before they happen, but it is I who chooses what to do with that knowledge. My mistakes are my own, and that is both my weakness and my strength.''<br /> <br /> <br /> You are right that Durgaz's visions will always hold information. I like to think of them as multiple &quot;truths&quot; and YOU get to decide what those truths are, what they mean and what to do about them. What better way to make a hero than by giving him a choice? :)<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> As for your questions...<br /> <br /> <br /> '''Q: ''' 1) Here's a big one. The first time you told me about the [[Midnight_RPG_-_Chapter_14.88#v4|fourth vision,]] it wasn't clear that Vrolk had actually SEEN Radagug and his dogs. Is that the case? Or is at least clear that he knows they're there?<br /> <br /> '''A: ''' Good point. Go with the above. You get the distinct feeling from Vrolk's body language that he might not have knew (at first) that the Orc and his Goblins were there, but they stayed too long. And whether through senses or magic he detected them as they were pulling back. But he made NO movement or acknowledgement to anyone. Only YOUR mind's eye saw him. You KNOW that he DIDNOT see you, this was NOT for your benefit. This is a truth you believe through a sixth sense feeling of your viewing of the vision.<br /> <br /> <br /> '''Q: ''' 2) I would like to ask Eranon if he has in fact heard the story about the Shadow-Clutch and the dwarf who held them off. I'm not sure whether to create a new bluebook for this or just to handle it email-wise, since even if Eranon knows it, both Steve and I will be hearing it for the first time...<br /> <br /> '''A: ''' I referred to a &quot;Shadow-Clutch&quot; meaning a type of troupe that have been put together on rare occassion by the Night Kings, Traitor Princes or Generals of Shadow. This &quot;clutch&quot; is basically a special forces unit of 75 Uruk. The one that I noted specifically as having battled the Dwarf at Worgren's Moor MIGHT be something an elf would have heard about. It'd be like we hear the &quot;legends&quot; of Wyatt Earp at the OK Corral. Eranon might have heard of it. I'd have him make an Int check for it. But he wouldn't have much more info than what I gave unless he rolled REALLY well. Kyuad might also be able to make a Lorebook check, that might have a broader chance of knowing something.<br /> <br /> I'd say you should Bluebook it, or ask them in-game or prior to the game.<br /> <br /> <br /> '''Q: ''' 3) I'm a little unclear on the actual direction that Talun-Karku's army is heading. If it is moving into the marshes, I assume it's passing somewhere to the north of Cambrial. With the information I have, would it be possible to make a guess as to the general area where it probably originated? <br /> <br /> '''A: ''' Apologies... Assume they took a route similar to YOUR route through the swamps. They would use the Shadow's Highways when they could but open ground could serve them just as well. They ARE passing somewhere north of Cambrial. Yes. With a Survival Check... &lt;br&gt; '': '''ROLL:''' Durgaz (Survival +5) ROLLED: 12+5 = 17 '' &lt;br&gt; With that roll, you could guess that with some time looking or with a map and Eranon's aid perhaps you could track the area down in short time. With maps you could likely find the spot give or take 5-10 hours.<br /> <br /> <br /> '''Q: ''' 4) In the [[Midnight_RPG_-_Chapter_14.88#v2|second vision,]] I'd like to get as good a look at the Legates as I can. Do they have visible holy symbols anywhere on them? If so, are they traditional symbols of Izrador, or Vrolk's weird new emblem?<br /> <br /> '''A: ''' Holy Symbols on the Legates... &lt;br&gt; '': '''ROLL:''' Durgaz (Spot +0) ROLLED: 14+0 = 14'' &lt;br&gt; With that spot check Durgaz would see that YES they wear vestages of the Dark Lord. &lt;br&gt; '': '''ROLL:''' Durgaz (Know: Shadow +4) ROLLED: 18+4 = 22 '' &lt;br&gt; The legates bare robes of initiates of the '''The Devout''' (aka. the Cult of the Shadow, the Order of Shadow). &lt;br&gt; ''Some legates believe that Sunulael’s Cult of the Shadow was derived from one such splinter cell. With Sunulael’s transfiguration into a Night King, he became titular head of the Order of Shadow. The ancient leaders of the old order, the Cabalists, were greatly angered by the elevation of this upstart, this outsider, to the principle position of their church. Though unwilling to openly oppose Sunulael and his loyal legates, the Cabalists take every opportunity to steal what credit, praise, and honors they can, while hindering the plans of Sunulael’s legates, the Devout, whenever such actions would be unlikely to point back to them or their masters.''<br /> <br /> ''There are others among the Cabalists’ number who would take things even further: for some, the anger at Sunulael’s elevation has become a living thing, perhaps replacing the life and heat that once inhabited their undead bodies. Ever fond of plotting and wheels within wheels, these few have formed a coven, an inner circle, whose stated aim is to bring Sunulael and the Devout to ruin and reclaim their rightful place at the feet of their god. A schism is growing in the Order of Shadow, and it threatens to tear it asunder.''<br /> <br /> These legates are obviously NOT yet full Legates. They all appear well trained and are likely ready to be made full legates. Each one bares different robes of a sort, robes and symbology, jewelry and such denoting their different factions and directions of interest...<br /> <br /> * Diero Pessiogn, a male human (Erenlander) seems to be a &quot;Keeper of Forbidden Lore&quot; – of the Keepers of Obsidian that are among the most powerful and influential of the order’s factions. Temple masters, lore keepers, and guardians of the zordrafin coriths, the Keepers of Obsidian are charged with the most sacred duty of expanding and maintaining the network of black mirrors that are vital to Izrador’s dark purpose. The lower ranks of the Keepers are responsible for renewing the zordrafin coriths with the blood of living sacrifices, as well as safeguarding the order’s hidden libraries and the storehouses of knowledge that it has hoarded and stolen over the centuries. The higher ranks oversee the construction and maintenance of the black mirrors and typically take the role of high priest in the temples of the Shadow. The Keepers of Obsidian maintain and protect Izrador’s network of black mirrors, the instruments through which he collects arcane energies. The lower ranks of the Keepers are responsible for renewing Izrador’s sacred mirrors using the blood of living sacrifices, which is poured into the basin-like altars that hold the loathsome substance of the mirror. Because of their pivotal role in Izrador’s powerbase, the high priest at a Temple of Shadow containing a black mirror is often a Keeper of Obsidian. <br /> * A male human (Urban Sarcosan) looks to be a &quot;Darkvoice&quot; - one of the The Voices of Shadow, they are not so much a formalized sect as a calling to which particularly zealous legates seem to be drawn. Preachers and missionaries, the Voices of Shadow lead the congregations in worship of the dark god in the Temples of Shadow and spread his doctrine among the occupied settlements of Erenland with fearsome zeal. At the word of these wild-eyed legates, whole communities have been put to the sword or consumed in awful conflagrations for the suspicion of harboring heretics or unbelievers. One of the most numerous but least powerful of the sub-orders, the Voices of Shadow that serves as acolytes and assistant priests in the Temples of Shadow. They are record keepers, overseeing the city’s scribes and preaching the word of Izrador to the faithful. The presiding Voice of Shadow within a temple is called the Voice of the Master. <br /> * A male human (Erenlander) seems to be a Bearer of the Black Shield, a Dark Templar Soldier Legate. The Soldiers of Shadow are warrior-priests that serve the armies of Izrador. Though not in the formal orc chain of command, they are typically assigned to specific armies where they follow the orders of the commanding warchiefs. Though it is not common, some soldiers serve as standing advisors to the regional governors, and both the Night Kings Sunulael and Jahzir travel with loyal personal guards made up of these dark knights. Soldier legates are a group apart from other legates; they do not typically participate in the dark intrigues of their brother priests and rarely aspire to be anything but devout warriors in service to the Shadow. Many military orders have risen and fallen in Izrador’s name over the centuries. Some are ancient and once-secret sects like the Knights of Winter, but others are newer, having arisen during the war-torn decades of the Last Age. The Brotherhood of the Sword that guards the Shadow’s temples and zordrafin coriths and the Fulminate Shield, whose knights serve as elite cavalry and honor-guards to high-ranking legates, are examples of more recent holy orders in service to the Shadow. Dark Knights are touched by the divine, unholy warriors whose dark faith is their shield and gives strength to their weapon arms. Mounted on astirax-bound destriers, the feared hardukan, these heavily armored knights scour the borderlands of Erenland in the hunt for insurgent forces and serve as personal bodyguards to senior temple legates.<br /> <br /> <br /> NONE of them bare the mark or symbols of Vrolk the Vile specifically. They in fact all seem to possible have been transferred along with Jahzir's other troupes (the Orcs). Their cloaks and materials seem to be more inline with Jorg Kinslayer's troops than Kulos the Exonerated's troops. But their allegiance can never be certain. Legates are known to serve Izrador first, themselves second, and another master third... on average - this might not be the case in every situation though.<br /> <br /> <br /> '''Q: ''' 5) Also, are the legates (other than Kyuad's friend) the same ones that I saw up at the top of the Spire, with Krell and Diero, a few days back?<br /> <br /> '''A: ''' YES, 100% they are. Krell and the other smaller Spire Legate (that you saw down in the dark chapel) were with seemingly showing them around. NOW, only the three are present with Vrolk. Kyuad's friend included.<br /> <br /> <br /> '''Q: ''' 6) Speaking of which: It sounded like we were hoping for a minimum of 24 hours of downtime at the top of the spire, which means I can use the Seer abilities I exhausted during the previous day. Specifically, sometime when nobody else is around (I'm sleeping alone up on the upper deck, so I should be able to get some time in), I would like to take that thing out of my bag ... the thing that I thought was the Cadaverous Eye ... and use Seer Sight on it, to try and review its last six days. In addition to maybe finding out what it is, I'm hoping that I may be able to get some idea of what Vrolk was doing around here in the hours and days leading up to his departure. HOWEVER: Before I even take it out of my bag, I'm going to do an Augury to see whether or not something horrible will happen if I do. I'm afraid of this thing, which will be all the more amusing if it just turns out to be a paperweight or something. <br /> <br /> '''A: ''' Question... Is there reason that you do not believe the crystal orb to BE the Cadaverous Eye? I don't think I discounted this idea. anyway...<br /> <br /> '': '''ROLL:''' Durgaz (Augury)'' &lt;br&gt; As to using the Crystal Orb, before removing it from the bag you seek the answer and find that it seems as though you would not get a NEGATIVE feeling, but you really don't get a strong positive feeling either. It feels more like it may not be directly dangerous but could be indirectly dangerous, depending on multiple reasons beyond your sphere of knowledge.<br /> <br /> DO you still choose to use your Seer Sight? If so, can you note more specifically what you're looking for? Maybe some questions beyond what you saw prior?<br /> <br /> == Questions, part 2==<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> [[Midnight: North &amp; South Portal]]</div>

Elvisrex https://wiki.rpg.net/index.php?title=Midnight_RPG_-_Chapter_14.75&diff=50398 2007-05-04T16:11:30Z

<p>Elvisrex: /* Andrew/Durgaz */</p> <hr /> <div>== Kevin ==<br /> * [''This scene takes place some time after Zal'Kazzir frees the imp, in the time FOLLOWING his introduction &quot;speach&quot; to the group. In the time when you're looking around Vrolk's Laboratory and into the evening when you rest, the little Imp (who has said he is now &quot;bound&quot; to Zal'Kazzir) comes up to you to chat... Think of it as &quot;networking&quot; or &quot;small talk&quot;... hehe...'']<br /> <br /> <br /> [[Image:Nazif picture.gif|thumb|NAZIF, as picutred here, naked and possible chilled was found as such captured seemingly as one of &quot;the Vile's&quot; pets or playthings. Once rescued, he quickly found his courtly cloak, rings, jewelry and other accoutrements. While not embarrassed by being without close, any good advisor knows the importance of &quot;looking the part&quot;.]]<br /> <br /> ==='''DURGAZ's''' PRIVATE talk with Nazif, Zal'Kazzir's courtesan imp===<br /> <br /> '''&quot;Hello my friend. T'would I be impolite were I to call you by your given name? Durgaz, is it that your fellow pathwalkers call you? May I speak to you in such a familiar tone?&quot;''', the small green-gray skinned imp quaries as its eyelids slowly flicker as if the very light beyond its former cage, burns its bulbous eyes... Looking to you in hopes of acceptance...<br /> <br /> '''&quot;I can only hope that you would speak to me in kind. I am Nazif by name, those I call friend know me as the butter-cream churner. I am most happy to make your aquaintence. Is it true that you have the glory of calling yourself &quot;mirror-breaker&quot;?? I would be in debt to you good sir, if you were to tell the tale of this most wounderous of deads.&quot;''', Nazif, sits his bottom to the wooden floors that grow unnaturally out of the obsidian gemstone of the Spire. He sits without bending his body, focusing his eyes looking into your's directly. He seems ever-so inquisitive and even aids you when he notices you picking up anything or moving anything.<br /> <br /> == Andrew/Durgaz ==<br /> <br /> ''[Durgaz pauses in whatever he is doing and looks down at the imp. He then looks up again, scanning the room for Zal'Kazzir. Noting that the Sarcosan appears to be nowhere in sight, he lowers his gaze back down to the imp.]''<br /> <br /> &quot;I do not call myself mirror-breaker. I do not think anyone here has called me that, either. I will assume that you heard the term from your master, the Sarcosan. You should continue to call me Durgaz.<br /> <br /> &quot;There is not much tale to tell. We were in the marsh, several days' travel from this place, when we got word that enemies were approaching our position. Kyuad, the Erenlander, had found something he believed to be a ''zordrafin corith. [Durgaz studies the imp carefully for signs of recognition.]'' &quot;We waited until the enemy was nearly upon us, then pushed a rotten tree over onto the ''corith''. It exploded, and it took out a good portion of the woods with it. We escaped.&quot;<br /> <br /> &quot;Your master was there. I am sure he could make a much more exciting story from those events than I can. Maybe you should go and ask him.&quot; <br /> <br /> ''[If the imp attempts to help Durgaz move or pick anything up, Durgaz will try to jerk whatever it is out of the imp's reach ... not in an overtly rude or hostile way, but more in a &quot;don't worry, I've got it&quot; kind of way. He will not say anything, though.]''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ==kevin / (newly named) Balal==<br /> The little imp seems to have found a chance away from his new master who freed him from the prison. It seems he is vastly interested in what Durgaz is doing. Much like a child he tried to help (even though you don't want it) but when he sees this he does not PUSH. He simply helps, by organizing or cleaning up behind you. Or preparring things before you get to the item...<br /> <br /> At your mention of the zordrafin corith, the little beast's eyes do widen. He can see you speak with irreverence and a greater disdain and knowledge than your orcen kin. Your mind flows not full of blood-rage, he can see... He seems keenly interested in having and hearing your deeper thoughts. So he begins...<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> '''''Oh no, ma-lord... I have not heard of your honorary name from your Sarcosan friend, if you currently call him that(?)... It is spoken of from the mouth of elf-tongue that I heard your name. The 'orc that sees'... It was the Vile that spoke of the mirror-breaker. Nay. Forgive, ma-lord... it was not the necromancer elf. It was his man. Funny though, now that you make me reconsider it WAS 'the' Sarcosan... Just not 'your' Sarcosan. It was the rough-rider called Azam'han and the denizens of this hall. They spoke of the instance of derailment that happened with the incoming army led drugged into this the Black Nail of the swamp. Nearly three dozen 'tusks' were lost on that day in the cosmic blast that could also be called essence of the Hate-Bringer. It was that day that the Vile was in full jest, as he knew your defiance would bring the eye of the dark lord onto your troupe. And it was this deed that the Vile took love and obsession with your hide, for he knew it would be the hammer to his nail for rising in the eyes of both the Priest King and thier shared servitor in the North''''' (Izrador).<br /> <br /> == Andrew/Durgaz ==<br /> <br /> ''[Durgaz snorts in disgust.]'' &quot;If he sees me as 'the hammer to his nail', he is more correct than he knows. As a sorcerer, unaccustomed to physical labor, perhabs he can be forgiven for not knowing that a hammer does not help a nail to RISE. It strikes it over and over again, until the nail lies broken, crushed and buried. THAT is all I offer to the Vile.&quot;<br /> <br /> ==kevin /Balal==<br /> <br /> '''''So then Lord Durgaz, if you will not regail the tale of teetering the balance of power, even though it may have only been for but a flickering moment - I shall find this story elsewhere. My only wish was to pay service with my bardic tongue to your perilous portrayal. Perhaps a song in your honor? I know the tongue of both Black Speak and Orc. Or should your turned ear be more pleased I can splay it in a tune of elven make... 'twould I be wrong to think your tastes tilt toward the elf-kind? Donot feel betrayed by my admonishment and insight. Perhaps you have not even given it thought, but I can see your care for Eranon of elf-make. Friend for sure you are to the archer, but would not your flesh crave comfort of the love of an elven princess? Would not your eye and heart dip to the humble heart and warm bossom of an elven queen or three in your bed?...'''''<br /> <br /> '''''This I could make so in promise, dear friend. I have my lips to the ear of ladies of the forest that would give great thanks to one such as you... a mirror-breaker! Were you to bat your eye in acceptance within a month I would ensure you lay beside such beauty... Donot think this a tempt or tease. This is a fair trade that I offer you... Let me be sure to note that your 'payment' to me would be less than what you might think. I ask only to stand in your shadow. I fear that my new master walks the wall between dark and light. If he were to fall, or more openly if he were to draw the unwanted gaze of demons, devils, seraphs or angels - whether they be on this or that side of the Scar-Digger in the North, I wish only to ask your protection when in the more perilous situation.'''''<br /> <br /> <br /> '''''But perhaps I overstep my bounds? I do not wish to assume you would trade in flesh. Perhaps it is the heart of a woman you seek. Holding the soul as she holds yours. I would not pretend that I can bring you your true mate, but I can offer aid in the ways of hunting for such. And if it is not the caress of soul-mates or the flavor of flesh that I might offer, you must but ask for things that I could give. With the caviat in mind that while you are powerful in might, I offer you a more powerful insight. When you walk with an Outsider in terms of appreciation, you walk with a mind to improving your station when might would not make right... So let me finally put this to you Lord Durgaz... What do you seek? What do you dream? How may I serve you in friendship, so that you may serve me in friendship?'''''<br /> <br /> == Andrew/Durgaz ==<br /> <br /> ''[Durgaz's voice drops to that low, calm tone that his companions would recognize as the one that usually precedes a threat.]'' &quot;Listen carefully to me, creature. I may travel with elves, fight alongside the elves, break bread with elves ... but I am not an elf. I am an orc. And no elfish princess would willingly lie with or love an orc, no matter what he has broken. I do not understand what you are offering, but I don't like it. It smacks of the sort of mind-slavery your new master engages in, and of the false promises whispered into the ears of the false Sussars of Sarcosa. I want none of it. If you wish to walk beside me, do so. I require nothing of you in return.<br /> <br /> &quot;You speak of stories, songs in my honor? If you truly wish to touch the hearts of these elven ladies you speak of, perhaps you should sing them the story of the time that I and five of my men captured two elfish scouts, a husband and wife, seven miles outside of Zorgetch. Sing of how we kept them with us, sending one at a time into each town we passed, instructing them to enter the town and beg for shelter, then come back and tell us who had obliged, or we would kill the other. Sing of how we would then descend upon the town, drag those whom the elves had named from their homes, and lash them to death in the town square. Sing of how we did this for four months, until one day while the male had been sent scouting, Naarghash, who was charged with watching the woman, instead raped and killed her; and the male, upon his return, went mad with grief and rage and had to be killed in turn. Will this tale flutter the heart of a princess more than the story of the ''corith''-breaking, do you think?&quot;<br /> <br /> &quot;OR, perhaps you could put your tale-spinning and song-writing skills to work on the memory of a true hero. His name was Valendil, and he died today, after being captured, held and tortured into unlife by your previous master. He led a band of brave elves with a hand that was wise and true, and he did many great things, among them extending that hand to me when I was still struggling free of the darkness, and he died in a manner horribly unbefitting to one of his stature. If you wish to honor the memory of one who deserves it, begin with Valendil.&quot;<br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> [[Midnight: North &amp; South Portal]]</div>

Elvisrex https://wiki.rpg.net/index.php?title=Midnight_RPG_-_Chapter_14.75&diff=50397 2007-05-04T16:11:08Z

<p>Elvisrex: /* Andrew/Durgaz */</p> <hr /> <div>== Kevin ==<br /> * [''This scene takes place some time after Zal'Kazzir frees the imp, in the time FOLLOWING his introduction &quot;speach&quot; to the group. In the time when you're looking around Vrolk's Laboratory and into the evening when you rest, the little Imp (who has said he is now &quot;bound&quot; to Zal'Kazzir) comes up to you to chat... Think of it as &quot;networking&quot; or &quot;small talk&quot;... hehe...'']<br /> <br /> <br /> [[Image:Nazif picture.gif|thumb|NAZIF, as picutred here, naked and possible chilled was found as such captured seemingly as one of &quot;the Vile's&quot; pets or playthings. Once rescued, he quickly found his courtly cloak, rings, jewelry and other accoutrements. While not embarrassed by being without close, any good advisor knows the importance of &quot;looking the part&quot;.]]<br /> <br /> ==='''DURGAZ's''' PRIVATE talk with Nazif, Zal'Kazzir's courtesan imp===<br /> <br /> '''&quot;Hello my friend. T'would I be impolite were I to call you by your given name? Durgaz, is it that your fellow pathwalkers call you? May I speak to you in such a familiar tone?&quot;''', the small green-gray skinned imp quaries as its eyelids slowly flicker as if the very light beyond its former cage, burns its bulbous eyes... Looking to you in hopes of acceptance...<br /> <br /> '''&quot;I can only hope that you would speak to me in kind. I am Nazif by name, those I call friend know me as the butter-cream churner. I am most happy to make your aquaintence. Is it true that you have the glory of calling yourself &quot;mirror-breaker&quot;?? I would be in debt to you good sir, if you were to tell the tale of this most wounderous of deads.&quot;''', Nazif, sits his bottom to the wooden floors that grow unnaturally out of the obsidian gemstone of the Spire. He sits without bending his body, focusing his eyes looking into your's directly. He seems ever-so inquisitive and even aids you when he notices you picking up anything or moving anything.<br /> <br /> == Andrew/Durgaz ==<br /> <br /> ''[Durgaz pauses in whatever he is doing and looks down at the imp. He then looks up again, scanning the room for Zal'Kazzir. Noting that the Sarcosan appears to be nowhere in sight, he lowers his gaze back down to the imp.]''<br /> <br /> &quot;I do not call myself mirror-breaker. I do not think anyone here has called me that, either. I will assume that you heard the term from your master, the Sarcosan. You should continue to call me Durgaz.<br /> <br /> &quot;There is not much tale to tell. We were in the marsh, several days' travel from this place, when we got word that enemies were approaching our position. Kyuad, the Erenlander, had found something he believed to be a ''zordrafin corith. [Durgaz studies the imp carefully for signs of recognition.]'' &quot;We waited until the enemy was nearly upon us, then pushed a rotten tree over onto the ''corith''. It exploded, and it took out a good portion of the woods with it. We escaped.&quot;<br /> <br /> &quot;Your master was there. I am sure he could make a much more exciting story from those events than I can. Maybe you should go and ask him.&quot; <br /> <br /> ''[If the imp attempts to help Durgaz move or pick anything up, Durgaz will try to jerk whatever it is out of the imp's reach ... not in an overtly rude or hostile way, but more in a &quot;don't worry, I've got it&quot; kind of way. He will not say anything, though.]''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ==kevin / (newly named) Balal==<br /> The little imp seems to have found a chance away from his new master who freed him from the prison. It seems he is vastly interested in what Durgaz is doing. Much like a child he tried to help (even though you don't want it) but when he sees this he does not PUSH. He simply helps, by organizing or cleaning up behind you. Or preparring things before you get to the item...<br /> <br /> At your mention of the zordrafin corith, the little beast's eyes do widen. He can see you speak with irreverence and a greater disdain and knowledge than your orcen kin. Your mind flows not full of blood-rage, he can see... He seems keenly interested in having and hearing your deeper thoughts. So he begins...<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> '''''Oh no, ma-lord... I have not heard of your honorary name from your Sarcosan friend, if you currently call him that(?)... It is spoken of from the mouth of elf-tongue that I heard your name. The 'orc that sees'... It was the Vile that spoke of the mirror-breaker. Nay. Forgive, ma-lord... it was not the necromancer elf. It was his man. Funny though, now that you make me reconsider it WAS 'the' Sarcosan... Just not 'your' Sarcosan. It was the rough-rider called Azam'han and the denizens of this hall. They spoke of the instance of derailment that happened with the incoming army led drugged into this the Black Nail of the swamp. Nearly three dozen 'tusks' were lost on that day in the cosmic blast that could also be called essence of the Hate-Bringer. It was that day that the Vile was in full jest, as he knew your defiance would bring the eye of the dark lord onto your troupe. And it was this deed that the Vile took love and obsession with your hide, for he knew it would be the hammer to his nail for rising in the eyes of both the Priest King and thier shared servitor in the North''''' (Izrador).<br /> <br /> == Andrew/Durgaz ==<br /> <br /> ''[Durgaz snorts in disgust.]'' &quot;If he sees me as 'the hammer to his nail', he is more correct than he knows. As a sorcerer, unaccustomed to physical labor, perhabs he can be forgiven for not knowing that a hammer does not help a nail to RISE. It strikes it over and over again, until the nail lies broken, crushed and buried. THAT is all I offer to the Vile.&quot;<br /> <br /> ==kevin /Balal==<br /> <br /> '''''So then Lord Durgaz, if you will not regail the tale of teetering the balance of power, even though it may have only been for but a flickering moment - I shall find this story elsewhere. My only wish was to pay service with my bardic tongue to your perilous portrayal. Perhaps a song in your honor? I know the tongue of both Black Speak and Orc. Or should your turned ear be more pleased I can splay it in a tune of elven make... 'twould I be wrong to think your tastes tilt toward the elf-kind? Donot feel betrayed by my admonishment and insight. Perhaps you have not even given it thought, but I can see your care for Eranon of elf-make. Friend for sure you are to the archer, but would not your flesh crave comfort of the love of an elven princess? Would not your eye and heart dip to the humble heart and warm bossom of an elven queen or three in your bed?...'''''<br /> <br /> '''''This I could make so in promise, dear friend. I have my lips to the ear of ladies of the forest that would give great thanks to one such as you... a mirror-breaker! Were you to bat your eye in acceptance within a month I would ensure you lay beside such beauty... Donot think this a tempt or tease. This is a fair trade that I offer you... Let me be sure to note that your 'payment' to me would be less than what you might think. I ask only to stand in your shadow. I fear that my new master walks the wall between dark and light. If he were to fall, or more openly if he were to draw the unwanted gaze of demons, devils, seraphs or angels - whether they be on this or that side of the Scar-Digger in the North, I wish only to ask your protection when in the more perilous situation.'''''<br /> <br /> <br /> '''''But perhaps I overstep my bounds? I do not wish to assume you would trade in flesh. Perhaps it is the heart of a woman you seek. Holding the soul as she holds yours. I would not pretend that I can bring you your true mate, but I can offer aid in the ways of hunting for such. And if it is not the caress of soul-mates or the flavor of flesh that I might offer, you must but ask for things that I could give. With the caviat in mind that while you are powerful in might, I offer you a more powerful insight. When you walk with an Outsider in terms of appreciation, you walk with a mind to improving your station when might would not make right... So let me finally put this to you Lord Durgaz... What do you seek? What do you dream? How may I serve you in friendship, so that you may serve me in friendship?'''''<br /> <br /> == Andrew/Durgaz ==<br /> <br /> ''[Durgaz's voice drops to that low, calm tone that his companions would recognize as the one that usually precedes a threat.]'' &quot;Listen carefully to me, creature. I may travel with elves, fight alongside the elves, break bread with elves ... but I am not an elf. I am an orc. And no elfish princess would willingly lie with or love an orc, no matter what he has broken. I do not understand what you are offering, but I don't like it. It smacks of the sort of mind-slavery your new master engages in, and of the false promises whispered into the ears of the false Sussars of Sarcosa. I want none of it. If you wish to walk beside me, do so. I require nothing of you in return.<br /> <br /> &quot;You speak of stories, songs in my honor? If you truly wish to touch the hearts of these elven ladies you speak of, perhaps you should sing them the story of the time that I and five of my men captured two elfish scouts, a husband and wife, seven miles outside of Zorgetch. Sing of how we kept them with us, sending one at a time into each town we passed, instructing them to enter the town and beg for shelter, then come back and tell us who had obliged, or we would kill the other. Sing of how we would then descend upon the town, drag those whom the elves had named from their homes, and lash them to death in the town square. Sing of how we did this for four months, until one day while the male had been sent scouting, Naarghash, who was charged with watching the woman, instead raped and killed her; and the male, upon his return, went mad with grief and rage and had to be killed in turn. Will this tale flutter the heart of a princess more than the story of the ''corith''-breaking, do you think?&quot;<br /> <br /> &quot;OR, perhaps you could put your tale-spinning and song-writing skills to work on the memory of a true hero. His name was Valendil, and he died today, after being captured, held and tortured into unlife by your previous master. He led a band of brave elves with a hand that was wise and true, and he did many great things, among them extending that hand to me when I was still attempting to struggle free of the darkness, and he died in a manner horribly unbefitting to one of his stature. If you wish to honor the memory of one who deserves it, begin with Valendil.&quot;<br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> [[Midnight: North &amp; South Portal]]</div>

Elvisrex https://wiki.rpg.net/index.php?title=Midnight_RPG_-_Chapter_14.75&diff=50396 2007-05-04T16:08:25Z

<p>Elvisrex: /* Andrew/Durgaz */</p> <hr /> <div>== Kevin ==<br /> * [''This scene takes place some time after Zal'Kazzir frees the imp, in the time FOLLOWING his introduction &quot;speach&quot; to the group. In the time when you're looking around Vrolk's Laboratory and into the evening when you rest, the little Imp (who has said he is now &quot;bound&quot; to Zal'Kazzir) comes up to you to chat... Think of it as &quot;networking&quot; or &quot;small talk&quot;... hehe...'']<br /> <br /> <br /> [[Image:Nazif picture.gif|thumb|NAZIF, as picutred here, naked and possible chilled was found as such captured seemingly as one of &quot;the Vile's&quot; pets or playthings. Once rescued, he quickly found his courtly cloak, rings, jewelry and other accoutrements. While not embarrassed by being without close, any good advisor knows the importance of &quot;looking the part&quot;.]]<br /> <br /> ==='''DURGAZ's''' PRIVATE talk with Nazif, Zal'Kazzir's courtesan imp===<br /> <br /> '''&quot;Hello my friend. T'would I be impolite were I to call you by your given name? Durgaz, is it that your fellow pathwalkers call you? May I speak to you in such a familiar tone?&quot;''', the small green-gray skinned imp quaries as its eyelids slowly flicker as if the very light beyond its former cage, burns its bulbous eyes... Looking to you in hopes of acceptance...<br /> <br /> '''&quot;I can only hope that you would speak to me in kind. I am Nazif by name, those I call friend know me as the butter-cream churner. I am most happy to make your aquaintence. Is it true that you have the glory of calling yourself &quot;mirror-breaker&quot;?? I would be in debt to you good sir, if you were to tell the tale of this most wounderous of deads.&quot;''', Nazif, sits his bottom to the wooden floors that grow unnaturally out of the obsidian gemstone of the Spire. He sits without bending his body, focusing his eyes looking into your's directly. He seems ever-so inquisitive and even aids you when he notices you picking up anything or moving anything.<br /> <br /> == Andrew/Durgaz ==<br /> <br /> ''[Durgaz pauses in whatever he is doing and looks down at the imp. He then looks up again, scanning the room for Zal'Kazzir. Noting that the Sarcosan appears to be nowhere in sight, he lowers his gaze back down to the imp.]''<br /> <br /> &quot;I do not call myself mirror-breaker. I do not think anyone here has called me that, either. I will assume that you heard the term from your master, the Sarcosan. You should continue to call me Durgaz.<br /> <br /> &quot;There is not much tale to tell. We were in the marsh, several days' travel from this place, when we got word that enemies were approaching our position. Kyuad, the Erenlander, had found something he believed to be a ''zordrafin corith. [Durgaz studies the imp carefully for signs of recognition.]'' &quot;We waited until the enemy was nearly upon us, then pushed a rotten tree over onto the ''corith''. It exploded, and it took out a good portion of the woods with it. We escaped.&quot;<br /> <br /> &quot;Your master was there. I am sure he could make a much more exciting story from those events than I can. Maybe you should go and ask him.&quot; <br /> <br /> ''[If the imp attempts to help Durgaz move or pick anything up, Durgaz will try to jerk whatever it is out of the imp's reach ... not in an overtly rude or hostile way, but more in a &quot;don't worry, I've got it&quot; kind of way. He will not say anything, though.]''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ==kevin / (newly named) Balal==<br /> The little imp seems to have found a chance away from his new master who freed him from the prison. It seems he is vastly interested in what Durgaz is doing. Much like a child he tried to help (even though you don't want it) but when he sees this he does not PUSH. He simply helps, by organizing or cleaning up behind you. Or preparring things before you get to the item...<br /> <br /> At your mention of the zordrafin corith, the little beast's eyes do widen. He can see you speak with irreverence and a greater disdain and knowledge than your orcen kin. Your mind flows not full of blood-rage, he can see... He seems keenly interested in having and hearing your deeper thoughts. So he begins...<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> '''''Oh no, ma-lord... I have not heard of your honorary name from your Sarcosan friend, if you currently call him that(?)... It is spoken of from the mouth of elf-tongue that I heard your name. The 'orc that sees'... It was the Vile that spoke of the mirror-breaker. Nay. Forgive, ma-lord... it was not the necromancer elf. It was his man. Funny though, now that you make me reconsider it WAS 'the' Sarcosan... Just not 'your' Sarcosan. It was the rough-rider called Azam'han and the denizens of this hall. They spoke of the instance of derailment that happened with the incoming army led drugged into this the Black Nail of the swamp. Nearly three dozen 'tusks' were lost on that day in the cosmic blast that could also be called essence of the Hate-Bringer. It was that day that the Vile was in full jest, as he knew your defiance would bring the eye of the dark lord onto your troupe. And it was this deed that the Vile took love and obsession with your hide, for he knew it would be the hammer to his nail for rising in the eyes of both the Priest King and thier shared servitor in the North''''' (Izrador).<br /> <br /> == Andrew/Durgaz ==<br /> <br /> ''[Durgaz snorts in disgust.]'' &quot;If he sees me as 'the hammer to his nail', he is more correct than he knows. As a sorcerer, unaccustomed to physical labor, perhabs he can be forgiven for not knowing that a hammer does not help a nail to RISE. It strikes it over and over again, until the nail lies broken, crushed and buried. THAT is all I offer to the Vile.&quot;<br /> <br /> ==kevin /Balal==<br /> <br /> '''''So then Lord Durgaz, if you will not regail the tale of teetering the balance of power, even though it may have only been for but a flickering moment - I shall find this story elsewhere. My only wish was to pay service with my bardic tongue to your perilous portrayal. Perhaps a song in your honor? I know the tongue of both Black Speak and Orc. Or should your turned ear be more pleased I can splay it in a tune of elven make... 'twould I be wrong to think your tastes tilt toward the elf-kind? Donot feel betrayed by my admonishment and insight. Perhaps you have not even given it thought, but I can see your care for Eranon of elf-make. Friend for sure you are to the archer, but would not your flesh crave comfort of the love of an elven princess? Would not your eye and heart dip to the humble heart and warm bossom of an elven queen or three in your bed?...'''''<br /> <br /> '''''This I could make so in promise, dear friend. I have my lips to the ear of ladies of the forest that would give great thanks to one such as you... a mirror-breaker! Were you to bat your eye in acceptance within a month I would ensure you lay beside such beauty... Donot think this a tempt or tease. This is a fair trade that I offer you... Let me be sure to note that your 'payment' to me would be less than what you might think. I ask only to stand in your shadow. I fear that my new master walks the wall between dark and light. If he were to fall, or more openly if he were to draw the unwanted gaze of demons, devils, seraphs or angels - whether they be on this or that side of the Scar-Digger in the North, I wish only to ask your protection when in the more perilous situation.'''''<br /> <br /> <br /> '''''But perhaps I overstep my bounds? I do not wish to assume you would trade in flesh. Perhaps it is the heart of a woman you seek. Holding the soul as she holds yours. I would not pretend that I can bring you your true mate, but I can offer aid in the ways of hunting for such. And if it is not the caress of soul-mates or the flavor of flesh that I might offer, you must but ask for things that I could give. With the caviat in mind that while you are powerful in might, I offer you a more powerful insight. When you walk with an Outsider in terms of appreciation, you walk with a mind to improving your station when might would not make right... So let me finally put this to you Lord Durgaz... What do you seek? What do you dream? How may I serve you in friendship, so that you may serve me in friendship?'''''<br /> <br /> == Andrew/Durgaz ==<br /> <br /> ''[Durgaz's voice drops to that low, calm tone that his companions would recognize as the one that usually precedes a threat.]'' &quot;Listen carefully to me, creature. I may travel with elves, fight alongside the elves, break bread with elves ... but I am not an elf. I am an orc. And no elfish princess would willingly lie with or love an orc, no matter what he has broken. I do not understand what you are offering, but I don't like it. It smacks of the sort of mind-slavery your new master engages in, and of the false promises whispered into the ears of the false Sussars of Sarcosa. I want none of it. If you wish to walk beside me, do so. I require nothing of you in return.<br /> <br /> &quot;You speak of stories, songs in my honor? If you truly wish to touch the hearts of these elven ladies you speak of, perhaps you should sing them the story of the time that I and five of my men captured two elfish scouts, a husband and wife, seven miles outside of Zorgetch. Sing of how we kept them with us, sending one at a time into each town we passed, instructing them to enter the town and beg for shelter, then come back and tell us who had obliged, or we would kill the other. Sing of how we would then descend upon the town, drag those whom the elves had named from their homes, and lash them to death in the town square. Sing of how we did this for four months, until one day while the male had been sent scouting, Naarghash, who was charged with watching the woman, instead raped and killed her; and the male, upon his return, went mad with grief and rage and had to be killed in turn. Will this tale flutter the heart of a princess more than the story of the ''corith''-breaking, do you think?&quot;<br /> <br /> &quot;OR, perhaps you could put your tale-spinning and song-writing skills to work on the memory of a true hero. His name was Valendil, and he died today, after being captured, held and tortured into unlife by your previous master. He led a band of brave elves with a hand that was wise and true, and he did many great things, among them extending a hand to me when I was still attempting to struggle free of the darkness, and he died in a manner horribly unbefitting to one of his stature. If you wish to honor the memory of one who deserves it, begin with Valendil.&quot;<br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> [[Midnight: North &amp; South Portal]]</div>

Elvisrex https://wiki.rpg.net/index.php?title=Midnight_RPG_-_Chapter_14.75&diff=50395 2007-05-04T16:08:15Z

<p>Elvisrex: </p> <hr /> <div>== Kevin ==<br /> * [''This scene takes place some time after Zal'Kazzir frees the imp, in the time FOLLOWING his introduction &quot;speach&quot; to the group. In the time when you're looking around Vrolk's Laboratory and into the evening when you rest, the little Imp (who has said he is now &quot;bound&quot; to Zal'Kazzir) comes up to you to chat... Think of it as &quot;networking&quot; or &quot;small talk&quot;... hehe...'']<br /> <br /> <br /> [[Image:Nazif picture.gif|thumb|NAZIF, as picutred here, naked and possible chilled was found as such captured seemingly as one of &quot;the Vile's&quot; pets or playthings. Once rescued, he quickly found his courtly cloak, rings, jewelry and other accoutrements. While not embarrassed by being without close, any good advisor knows the importance of &quot;looking the part&quot;.]]<br /> <br /> ==='''DURGAZ's''' PRIVATE talk with Nazif, Zal'Kazzir's courtesan imp===<br /> <br /> '''&quot;Hello my friend. T'would I be impolite were I to call you by your given name? Durgaz, is it that your fellow pathwalkers call you? May I speak to you in such a familiar tone?&quot;''', the small green-gray skinned imp quaries as its eyelids slowly flicker as if the very light beyond its former cage, burns its bulbous eyes... Looking to you in hopes of acceptance...<br /> <br /> '''&quot;I can only hope that you would speak to me in kind. I am Nazif by name, those I call friend know me as the butter-cream churner. I am most happy to make your aquaintence. Is it true that you have the glory of calling yourself &quot;mirror-breaker&quot;?? I would be in debt to you good sir, if you were to tell the tale of this most wounderous of deads.&quot;''', Nazif, sits his bottom to the wooden floors that grow unnaturally out of the obsidian gemstone of the Spire. He sits without bending his body, focusing his eyes looking into your's directly. He seems ever-so inquisitive and even aids you when he notices you picking up anything or moving anything.<br /> <br /> == Andrew/Durgaz ==<br /> <br /> ''[Durgaz pauses in whatever he is doing and looks down at the imp. He then looks up again, scanning the room for Zal'Kazzir. Noting that the Sarcosan appears to be nowhere in sight, he lowers his gaze back down to the imp.]''<br /> <br /> &quot;I do not call myself mirror-breaker. I do not think anyone here has called me that, either. I will assume that you heard the term from your master, the Sarcosan. You should continue to call me Durgaz.<br /> <br /> &quot;There is not much tale to tell. We were in the marsh, several days' travel from this place, when we got word that enemies were approaching our position. Kyuad, the Erenlander, had found something he believed to be a ''zordrafin corith. [Durgaz studies the imp carefully for signs of recognition.]'' &quot;We waited until the enemy was nearly upon us, then pushed a rotten tree over onto the ''corith''. It exploded, and it took out a good portion of the woods with it. We escaped.&quot;<br /> <br /> &quot;Your master was there. I am sure he could make a much more exciting story from those events than I can. Maybe you should go and ask him.&quot; <br /> <br /> ''[If the imp attempts to help Durgaz move or pick anything up, Durgaz will try to jerk whatever it is out of the imp's reach ... not in an overtly rude or hostile way, but more in a &quot;don't worry, I've got it&quot; kind of way. He will not say anything, though.]''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ==kevin / (newly named) Balal==<br /> The little imp seems to have found a chance away from his new master who freed him from the prison. It seems he is vastly interested in what Durgaz is doing. Much like a child he tried to help (even though you don't want it) but when he sees this he does not PUSH. He simply helps, by organizing or cleaning up behind you. Or preparring things before you get to the item...<br /> <br /> At your mention of the zordrafin corith, the little beast's eyes do widen. He can see you speak with irreverence and a greater disdain and knowledge than your orcen kin. Your mind flows not full of blood-rage, he can see... He seems keenly interested in having and hearing your deeper thoughts. So he begins...<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> '''''Oh no, ma-lord... I have not heard of your honorary name from your Sarcosan friend, if you currently call him that(?)... It is spoken of from the mouth of elf-tongue that I heard your name. The 'orc that sees'... It was the Vile that spoke of the mirror-breaker. Nay. Forgive, ma-lord... it was not the necromancer elf. It was his man. Funny though, now that you make me reconsider it WAS 'the' Sarcosan... Just not 'your' Sarcosan. It was the rough-rider called Azam'han and the denizens of this hall. They spoke of the instance of derailment that happened with the incoming army led drugged into this the Black Nail of the swamp. Nearly three dozen 'tusks' were lost on that day in the cosmic blast that could also be called essence of the Hate-Bringer. It was that day that the Vile was in full jest, as he knew your defiance would bring the eye of the dark lord onto your troupe. And it was this deed that the Vile took love and obsession with your hide, for he knew it would be the hammer to his nail for rising in the eyes of both the Priest King and thier shared servitor in the North''''' (Izrador).<br /> <br /> == Andrew/Durgaz ==<br /> <br /> ''[Durgaz snorts in disgust.]'' &quot;If he sees me as 'the hammer to his nail', he is more correct than he knows. As a sorcerer, unaccustomed to physical labor, perhabs he can be forgiven for not knowing that a hammer does not help a nail to RISE. It strikes it over and over again, until the nail lies broken, crushed and buried. THAT is all I offer to the Vile.&quot;<br /> <br /> ==kevin /Balal==<br /> <br /> '''''So then Lord Durgaz, if you will not regail the tale of teetering the balance of power, even though it may have only been for but a flickering moment - I shall find this story elsewhere. My only wish was to pay service with my bardic tongue to your perilous portrayal. Perhaps a song in your honor? I know the tongue of both Black Speak and Orc. Or should your turned ear be more pleased I can splay it in a tune of elven make... 'twould I be wrong to think your tastes tilt toward the elf-kind? Donot feel betrayed by my admonishment and insight. Perhaps you have not even given it thought, but I can see your care for Eranon of elf-make. Friend for sure you are to the archer, but would not your flesh crave comfort of the love of an elven princess? Would not your eye and heart dip to the humble heart and warm bossom of an elven queen or three in your bed?...'''''<br /> <br /> '''''This I could make so in promise, dear friend. I have my lips to the ear of ladies of the forest that would give great thanks to one such as you... a mirror-breaker! Were you to bat your eye in acceptance within a month I would ensure you lay beside such beauty... Donot think this a tempt or tease. This is a fair trade that I offer you... Let me be sure to note that your 'payment' to me would be less than what you might think. I ask only to stand in your shadow. I fear that my new master walks the wall between dark and light. If he were to fall, or more openly if he were to draw the unwanted gaze of demons, devils, seraphs or angels - whether they be on this or that side of the Scar-Digger in the North, I wish only to ask your protection when in the more perilous situation.'''''<br /> <br /> <br /> '''''But perhaps I overstep my bounds? I do not wish to assume you would trade in flesh. Perhaps it is the heart of a woman you seek. Holding the soul as she holds yours. I would not pretend that I can bring you your true mate, but I can offer aid in the ways of hunting for such. And if it is not the caress of soul-mates or the flavor of flesh that I might offer, you must but ask for things that I could give. With the caviat in mind that while you are powerful in might, I offer you a more powerful insight. When you walk with an Outsider in terms of appreciation, you walk with a mind to improving your station when might would not make right... So let me finally put this to you Lord Durgaz... What do you seek? What do you dream? How may I serve you in friendship, so that you may serve me in friendship?'''''<br /> <br /> == Andrew/Durgaz ==<br /> <br /> ''[Durgaz's voice drops to that low, calm tone that his companions would recognize as the one that usually precedes a threat.]'' &quot;Listen carefully to me, creature. I may travel with elves, fight alongside the elves, break bread with elves ... but I am not an elf. I am an orc. And no elfish princess would willingly lie with or love an orc, no matter what he has broken. I do not understand what you are offering, but I don't like it. It smacks of the sort of mind-slavery your new master engages in, and of the false promises whispered into the ears of the false Sussars of Sarcosa. I want none of it. If you wish to walk beside me, do so. I require nothing of you in return.<br /> <br /> &quot;You speak of stories, songs in my honor? If you truly wish to touch the hearts of these elven ladies you speak of, perhaps you should sing them the story of the time that I and five of my men captured two elfish scouts, a husband and wife, seven miles outside of Zorgetch. Sing of how we kept them with us, sending one at a time into each town we passed, instructing them to enter the town and beg for shelter, then come back and tell us who had obliged, or we would kill the other. Sing of how we would then descend upon the town, drag those whom the elves had named from their homes, and lash them to death in the town square. Sing of how we did this for four months, until one day while the male had been sent scouting, Naarghash, who was charged with watching the woman, instead raped and killed her; and the male, upon his return, went mad with grief and rage and had to be killed in turn. Will this tale flutter the heart of a princess more than the story of the ''corith''-breaking, do you think?&quot;<br /> <br /> &quot;OR, perhaps you could put your tale-spinning and song-writing skills to work on the memory of a true hero. His name was Valendil, and he died today, after being captured, held and tortured into unlife by your previous master. He led a band of brave elves with a hand that was wise and true, and he did many great things, among them extending a hand to me when I was still attempting to struggle free of the darkness, and he died in a manner horribly unbefitting to one of his stature. If you wish to honor the memory of one who deserves it, begin with Valendil.&quot;<br /> <br /> ----<br /> [[Midnight: North &amp; South Portal]]</div>

Elvisrex https://wiki.rpg.net/index.php?title=Midnight_RPG_-_Chapter_14.75&diff=50392 2007-05-04T15:20:52Z

<p>Elvisrex: /* Andrew/Durgaz */</p> <hr /> <div>== Kevin ==<br /> * [''This scene takes place some time after Zal'Kazzir frees the imp, in the time FOLLOWING his introduction &quot;speach&quot; to the group. In the time when you're looking around Vrolk's Laboratory and into the evening when you rest, the little Imp (who has said he is now &quot;bound&quot; to Zal'Kazzir) comes up to you to chat... Think of it as &quot;networking&quot; or &quot;small talk&quot;... hehe...'']<br /> <br /> <br /> [[Image:Nazif picture.gif|thumb|NAZIF, as picutred here, naked and possible chilled was found as such captured seemingly as one of &quot;the Vile's&quot; pets or playthings. Once rescued, he quickly found his courtly cloak, rings, jewelry and other accoutrements. While not embarrassed by being without close, any good advisor knows the importance of &quot;looking the part&quot;.]]<br /> <br /> ==='''DURGAZ's''' PRIVATE talk with Nazif, Zal'Kazzir's courtesan imp===<br /> <br /> '''&quot;Hello my friend. T'would I be impolite were I to call you by your given name? Durgaz, is it that your fellow pathwalkers call you? May I speak to you in such a familiar tone?&quot;''', the small green-gray skinned imp quaries as its eyelids slowly flicker as if the very light beyond its former cage, burns its bulbous eyes... Looking to you in hopes of acceptance...<br /> <br /> '''&quot;I can only hope that you would speak to me in kind. I am Nazif by name, those I call friend know me as the butter-cream churner. I am most happy to make your aquaintence. Is it true that you have the glory of calling yourself &quot;mirror-breaker&quot;?? I would be in debt to you good sir, if you were to tell the tale of this most wounderous of deads.&quot;''', Nazif, sits his bottom to the wooden floors that grow unnaturally out of the obsidian gemstone of the Spire. He sits without bending his body, focusing his eyes looking into your's directly. He seems ever-so inquisitive and even aids you when he notices you picking up anything or moving anything.<br /> <br /> == Andrew/Durgaz ==<br /> <br /> ''[Durgaz pauses in whatever he is doing and looks down at the imp. He then looks up again, scanning the room for Zal'Kazzir. Noting that the Sarcosan appears to be nowhere in sight, he lowers his gaze back down to the imp.]''<br /> <br /> &quot;I do not call myself mirror-breaker. I do not think anyone here has called me that, either. I will assume that you heard the term from your master, the Sarcosan. You should continue to call me Durgaz.<br /> <br /> &quot;There is not much tale to tell. We were in the marsh, several days' travel from this place, when we got word that enemies were approaching our position. Kyuad, the Erenlander, had found something he believed to be a ''zordrafin corith. [Durgaz studies the imp carefully for signs of recognition.]'' &quot;We waited until the enemy was nearly upon us, then pushed a rotten tree over onto the ''corith''. It exploded, and it took out a good portion of the woods with it. We escaped.&quot;<br /> <br /> &quot;Your master was there. I am sure he could make a much more exciting story from those events than I can. Maybe you should go and ask him.&quot; <br /> <br /> ''[If the imp attempts to help Durgaz move or pick anything up, Durgaz will try to jerk whatever it is out of the imp's reach ... not in an overtly rude or hostile way, but more in a &quot;don't worry, I've got it&quot; kind of way. He will not say anything, though.]''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ==kevin / (newly named) Balal==<br /> The little imp seems to have found a chance away from his new master who freed him from the prison. It seems he is vastly interested in what Durgaz is doing. Much like a child he tried to help (even though you don't want it) but when he sees this he does not PUSH. He simply helps, by organizing or cleaning up behind you. Or preparring things before you get to the item...<br /> <br /> At your mention of the zordrafin corith, the little beast's eyes do widen. He can see you speak with irreverence and a greater disdain and knowledge than your orcen kin. Your mind flows not full of blood-rage, he can see... He seems keenly interested in having and hearing your deeper thoughts. So he begins...<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> '''''Oh no, ma-lord... I have not heard of your honorary name from your Sarcosan friend, if you currently call him that(?)... It is spoken of from the mouth of elf-tongue that I heard your name. The 'orc that sees'... It was the Vile that spoke of the mirror-breaker. Nay. Forgive, ma-lord... it was not the necromancer elf. It was his man. Funny though, now that you make me reconsider it WAS 'the' Sarcosan... Just not 'your' Sarcosan. It was the rough-rider called Azam'han and the denizens of this hall. They spoke of the instance of derailment that happened with the incoming army led drugged into this the Black Nail of the swamp. Nearly three dozen 'tusks' were lost on that day in the cosmic blast that could also be called essence of the Hate-Bringer. It was that day that the Vile was in full jest, as he knew your defiance would bring the eye of the dark lord onto your troupe. And it was this deed that the Vile took love and obsession with your hide, for he knew it would be the hammer to his nail for rising in the eyes of both the Priest King and thier shared servitor in the North''''' (Izrador).<br /> <br /> == Andrew/Durgaz ==<br /> <br /> ''[Durgaz snorts in disgust.]'' &quot;If he sees me as 'the hammer to his nail', he is more correct than he knows. As a sorcerer, unaccustomed to physical labor, perhabs he can be forgiven for not knowing that a hammer does not help a nail to RISE. It strikes it over and over again, until the nail lies broken, crushed and buried. THAT is all I offer to the Vile.&quot;<br /> <br /> ==kevin /Balal==<br /> <br /> '''''So then Lord Durgaz, if you will not regail the tale of teetering the balance of power, even though it may have only been for but a flickering moment - I shall find this story elsewhere. My only wish was to pay service with my bardic tongue to your perilous portrayal. Perhaps a song in your honor? I know the tongue of both Black Speak and Orc. Or should your turned ear be more pleased I can splay it in a tune of elven make... 'twould I be wrong to think your tastes tilt toward the elf-kind? Donot feel betrayed by my admonishment and insight. Perhaps you have not even given it thought, but I can see your care for Eranon of elf-make. Friend for sure you are to the archer, but would not your flesh crave comfort of the love of an elven princess? Would not your eye and heart dip to the humble heart and warm bossom of an elven queen or three in your bed?...'''''<br /> <br /> '''''This I could make so in promise, dear friend. I have my lips to the ear of ladies of the forest that would give great thanks to one such as you... a mirror-breaker! Were you to bat your eye in acceptance within a month I would ensure you lay beside such beauty... Donot think this a tempt or tease. This is a fair trade that I offer you... Let me be sure to note that your 'payment' to me would be less than what you might think. I ask only to stand in your shadow. I fear that my new master walks the wall between dark and light. If he were to fall, or more openly if he were to draw the unwanted gaze of demons, devils, seraphs or angels - whether they be on this or that side of the Scar-Digger in the North, I wish only to ask your protection when in the more perilous situation.'''''<br /> <br /> <br /> '''''But perhaps I overstep my bounds? I do not wish to assume you would trade in flesh. Perhaps it is the heart of a woman you seek. Holding the soul as she holds yours. I would not pretend that I can bring you your true mate, but I can offer aid in the ways of hunting for such. And if it is not the caress of soul-mates or the flavor of flesh that I might offer, you must but ask for things that I could give. With the caviat in mind that while you are powerful in might, I offer you a more powerful insight. When you walk with an Outsider in terms of appreciation, you walk with a mind to improving your station when might would not make right... So let me finally put this to you Lord Durgaz... What do you seek? What do you dream? How may I serve you in friendship, so that you may serve me in friendship?'''''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> [[Midnight: North &amp; South Portal]]</div>

Elvisrex https://wiki.rpg.net/index.php?title=Midnight_RPG_-_Chapter_14.75&diff=50391 2007-05-04T15:16:11Z

<p>Elvisrex: /* Andrew/Durgaz */</p> <hr /> <div>== Kevin ==<br /> * [''This scene takes place some time after Zal'Kazzir frees the imp, in the time FOLLOWING his introduction &quot;speach&quot; to the group. In the time when you're looking around Vrolk's Laboratory and into the evening when you rest, the little Imp (who has said he is now &quot;bound&quot; to Zal'Kazzir) comes up to you to chat... Think of it as &quot;networking&quot; or &quot;small talk&quot;... hehe...'']<br /> <br /> <br /> [[Image:Nazif picture.gif|thumb|NAZIF, as picutred here, naked and possible chilled was found as such captured seemingly as one of &quot;the Vile's&quot; pets or playthings. Once rescued, he quickly found his courtly cloak, rings, jewelry and other accoutrements. While not embarrassed by being without close, any good advisor knows the importance of &quot;looking the part&quot;.]]<br /> <br /> ==='''DURGAZ's''' PRIVATE talk with Nazif, Zal'Kazzir's courtesan imp===<br /> <br /> '''&quot;Hello my friend. T'would I be impolite were I to call you by your given name? Durgaz, is it that your fellow pathwalkers call you? May I speak to you in such a familiar tone?&quot;''', the small green-gray skinned imp quaries as its eyelids slowly flicker as if the very light beyond its former cage, burns its bulbous eyes... Looking to you in hopes of acceptance...<br /> <br /> '''&quot;I can only hope that you would speak to me in kind. I am Nazif by name, those I call friend know me as the butter-cream churner. I am most happy to make your aquaintence. Is it true that you have the glory of calling yourself &quot;mirror-breaker&quot;?? I would be in debt to you good sir, if you were to tell the tale of this most wounderous of deads.&quot;''', Nazif, sits his bottom to the wooden floors that grow unnaturally out of the obsidian gemstone of the Spire. He sits without bending his body, focusing his eyes looking into your's directly. He seems ever-so inquisitive and even aids you when he notices you picking up anything or moving anything.<br /> <br /> == Andrew/Durgaz ==<br /> <br /> ''[Durgaz pauses in whatever he is doing and looks down at the imp. He then looks up again, scanning the room for Zal'Kazzir. Noting that the Sarcosan appears to be nowhere in sight, he lowers his gaze back down to the imp.]''<br /> <br /> &quot;I do not call myself mirror-breaker. I do not think anyone here has called me that, either. I will assume that you heard the term from your master, the Sarcosan. You should continue to call me Durgaz.<br /> <br /> &quot;There is not much tale to tell. We were in the marsh, several days' travel from this place, when we got word that enemies were approaching our position. Kyuad, the Erenlander, had found something he believed to be a ''zordrafin corith. [Durgaz studies the imp carefully for signs of recognition.]'' &quot;We waited until the enemy was nearly upon us, then pushed a rotten tree over onto the ''corith''. It exploded, and it took out a good portion of the woods with it. We escaped.&quot;<br /> <br /> &quot;Your master was there. I am sure he could make a much more exciting story from those events than I can. Maybe you should go and ask him.&quot; <br /> <br /> ''[If the imp attempts to help Durgaz move or pick anything up, Durgaz will try to jerk whatever it is out of the imp's reach ... not in an overtly rude or hostile way, but more in a &quot;don't worry, I've got it&quot; kind of way. He will not say anything, though.]''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ==kevin / (newly named) Balal==<br /> The little imp seems to have found a chance away from his new master who freed him from the prison. It seems he is vastly interested in what Durgaz is doing. Much like a child he tried to help (even though you don't want it) but when he sees this he does not PUSH. He simply helps, by organizing or cleaning up behind you. Or preparring things before you get to the item...<br /> <br /> At your mention of the zordrafin corith, the little beast's eyes do widen. He can see you speak with irreverence and a greater disdain and knowledge than your orcen kin. Your mind flows not full of blood-rage, he can see... He seems keenly interested in having and hearing your deeper thoughts. So he begins...<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> '''''Oh no, ma-lord... I have not heard of your honorary name from your Sarcosan friend, if you currently call him that(?)... It is spoken of from the mouth of elf-tongue that I heard your name. The 'orc that sees'... It was the Vile that spoke of the mirror-breaker. Nay. Forgive, ma-lord... it was not the necromancer elf. It was his man. Funny though, now that you make me reconsider it WAS 'the' Sarcosan... Just not 'your' Sarcosan. It was the rough-rider called Azam'han and the denizens of this hall. They spoke of the instance of derailment that happened with the incoming army led drugged into this the Black Nail of the swamp. Nearly three dozen 'tusks' were lost on that day in the cosmic blast that could also be called essence of the Hate-Bringer. It was that day that the Vile was in full jest, as he knew your defiance would bring the eye of the dark lord onto your troupe. And it was this deed that the Vile took love and obsession with your hide, for he knew it would be the hammer to his nail for rising in the eyes of both the Priest King and thier shared servitor in the North''''' (Izrador).<br /> <br /> ==Andrew/Durgaz==<br /> <br /> &quot;If he sees me as the hammer to his nail, he is more correct than he knows. As a sorcerer, unaccustomed to physical labor, perhabs he can be forgiven for not knowing that a hammer does not help a nail to RISE. It strikes it over and over again, until the nail lies broken, crushed and buried. THAT is all I offer to the Vile. The 'orc that sees' wishes to see nothing more than his death. And I will.&quot;<br /> <br /> ==kevin /Balal==<br /> <br /> '''''So then Lord Durgaz, if you will not regail the tale of teetering the balance of power, even though it may have only been for but a flickering moment - I shall find this story elsewhere. My only wish was to pay service with my bardic tongue to your perilous portrayal. Perhaps a song in your honor? I know the tongue of both Black Speak and Orc. Or should your turned ear be more pleased I can splay it in a tune of elven make... 'twould I be wrong to think your tastes tilt toward the elf-kind? Donot feel betrayed by my admonishment and insight. Perhaps you have not even given it thought, but I can see your care for Eranon of elf-make. Friend for sure you are to the archer, but would not your flesh crave comfort of the love of an elven princess? Would not your eye and heart dip to the humble heart and warm bossom of an elven queen or three in your bed?...'''''<br /> <br /> '''''This I could make so in promise, dear friend. I have my lips to the ear of ladies of the forest that would give great thanks to one such as you... a mirror-breaker! Were you to bat your eye in acceptance within a month I would ensure you lay beside such beauty... Donot think this a tempt or tease. This is a fair trade that I offer you... Let me be sure to note that your 'payment' to me would be less than what you might think. I ask only to stand in your shadow. I fear that my new master walks the wall between dark and light. If he were to fall, or more openly if he were to draw the unwanted gaze of demons, devils, seraphs or angels - whether they be on this or that side of the Scar-Digger in the North, I wish only to ask your protection when in the more perilous situation.'''''<br /> <br /> <br /> '''''But perhaps I overstep my bounds? I do not wish to assume you would trade in flesh. Perhaps it is the heart of a woman you seek. Holding the soul as she holds yours. I would not pretend that I can bring you your true mate, but I can offer aid in the ways of hunting for such. And if it is not the caress of soul-mates or the flavor of flesh that I might offer, you must but ask for things that I could give. With the caviat in mind that while you are powerful in might, I offer you a more powerful insight. When you walk with an Outsider in terms of appreciation, you walk with a mind to improving your station when might would not make right... So let me finally put this to you Lord Durgaz... What do you seek? What do you dream? How may I serve you in friendship, so that you may serve me in friendship?'''''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> [[Midnight: North &amp; South Portal]]</div>

Elvisrex https://wiki.rpg.net/index.php?title=Midnight_RPG_-_Chapter_14.75&diff=50390 2007-05-04T15:15:54Z

<p>Elvisrex: /* Andrew/Durgaz */</p> <hr /> <div>== Kevin ==<br /> * [''This scene takes place some time after Zal'Kazzir frees the imp, in the time FOLLOWING his introduction &quot;speach&quot; to the group. In the time when you're looking around Vrolk's Laboratory and into the evening when you rest, the little Imp (who has said he is now &quot;bound&quot; to Zal'Kazzir) comes up to you to chat... Think of it as &quot;networking&quot; or &quot;small talk&quot;... hehe...'']<br /> <br /> <br /> [[Image:Nazif picture.gif|thumb|NAZIF, as picutred here, naked and possible chilled was found as such captured seemingly as one of &quot;the Vile's&quot; pets or playthings. Once rescued, he quickly found his courtly cloak, rings, jewelry and other accoutrements. While not embarrassed by being without close, any good advisor knows the importance of &quot;looking the part&quot;.]]<br /> <br /> ==='''DURGAZ's''' PRIVATE talk with Nazif, Zal'Kazzir's courtesan imp===<br /> <br /> '''&quot;Hello my friend. T'would I be impolite were I to call you by your given name? Durgaz, is it that your fellow pathwalkers call you? May I speak to you in such a familiar tone?&quot;''', the small green-gray skinned imp quaries as its eyelids slowly flicker as if the very light beyond its former cage, burns its bulbous eyes... Looking to you in hopes of acceptance...<br /> <br /> '''&quot;I can only hope that you would speak to me in kind. I am Nazif by name, those I call friend know me as the butter-cream churner. I am most happy to make your aquaintence. Is it true that you have the glory of calling yourself &quot;mirror-breaker&quot;?? I would be in debt to you good sir, if you were to tell the tale of this most wounderous of deads.&quot;''', Nazif, sits his bottom to the wooden floors that grow unnaturally out of the obsidian gemstone of the Spire. He sits without bending his body, focusing his eyes looking into your's directly. He seems ever-so inquisitive and even aids you when he notices you picking up anything or moving anything.<br /> <br /> == Andrew/Durgaz ==<br /> <br /> ''[Durgaz pauses in whatever he is doing and looks down at the imp. He then looks up again, scanning the room for Zal'Kazzir. Noting that the Sarcosan appears to be nowhere in sight, he lowers his gaze back down to the imp.]''<br /> <br /> &quot;I do not call myself mirror-breaker. I do not think anyone here has called me that, either. I will assume that you heard the term from your master, the Sarcosan. You should continue to call me Durgaz.<br /> <br /> &quot;There is not much tale to tell. We were in the marsh, several days' travel from this place, when we got word that enemies were approaching our position. Kyuad, the Erenlander, had found something he believed to be a ''zordrafin corith. [Durgaz studies the imp carefully for signs of recognition.]'' &quot;We waited until the enemy was nearly upon us, then pushed a rotten tree over onto the ''corith''. It exploded, and it took out a good portion of the woods with it. We escaped.&quot;<br /> <br /> &quot;Your master was there. I am sure he could make a much more exciting story from those events than I can. Maybe you should go and ask him.&quot; <br /> <br /> ''[If the imp attempts to help Durgaz move or pick anything up, Durgaz will try to jerk whatever it is out of the imp's reach ... not in an overtly rude or hostile way, but more in a &quot;don't worry, I've got it&quot; kind of way. He will not say anything, though.]''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ==kevin / (newly named) Balal==<br /> The little imp seems to have found a chance away from his new master who freed him from the prison. It seems he is vastly interested in what Durgaz is doing. Much like a child he tried to help (even though you don't want it) but when he sees this he does not PUSH. He simply helps, by organizing or cleaning up behind you. Or preparring things before you get to the item...<br /> <br /> At your mention of the zordrafin corith, the little beast's eyes do widen. He can see you speak with irreverence and a greater disdain and knowledge than your orcen kin. Your mind flows not full of blood-rage, he can see... He seems keenly interested in having and hearing your deeper thoughts. So he begins...<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> '''''Oh no, ma-lord... I have not heard of your honorary name from your Sarcosan friend, if you currently call him that(?)... It is spoken of from the mouth of elf-tongue that I heard your name. The 'orc that sees'... It was the Vile that spoke of the mirror-breaker. Nay. Forgive, ma-lord... it was not the necromancer elf. It was his man. Funny though, now that you make me reconsider it WAS 'the' Sarcosan... Just not 'your' Sarcosan. It was the rough-rider called Azam'han and the denizens of this hall. They spoke of the instance of derailment that happened with the incoming army led drugged into this the Black Nail of the swamp. Nearly three dozen 'tusks' were lost on that day in the cosmic blast that could also be called essence of the Hate-Bringer. It was that day that the Vile was in full jest, as he knew your defiance would bring the eye of the dark lord onto your troupe. And it was this deed that the Vile took love and obsession with your hide, for he knew it would be the hammer to his nail for rising in the eyes of both the Priest King and thier shared servitor in the North''''' (Izrador).<br /> <br /> ==Andrew/Durgaz==<br /> <br /> ''[Durgaz snorts in disgust.]'' &quot;If he sees me as the hammer to his nail, he is more correct than he knows. As a sorcerer, unaccustomed to physical labor, perhabs he can be forgiven for not knowing that a hammer does not help a nail to RISE. It strikes it over and over again, until the nail lies broken, crushed and buried. THAT is all I offer to the Vile. The 'orc that sees' wishes to see nothing more than his death. And I will.&quot;<br /> <br /> ==kevin /Balal==<br /> <br /> '''''So then Lord Durgaz, if you will not regail the tale of teetering the balance of power, even though it may have only been for but a flickering moment - I shall find this story elsewhere. My only wish was to pay service with my bardic tongue to your perilous portrayal. Perhaps a song in your honor? I know the tongue of both Black Speak and Orc. Or should your turned ear be more pleased I can splay it in a tune of elven make... 'twould I be wrong to think your tastes tilt toward the elf-kind? Donot feel betrayed by my admonishment and insight. Perhaps you have not even given it thought, but I can see your care for Eranon of elf-make. Friend for sure you are to the archer, but would not your flesh crave comfort of the love of an elven princess? Would not your eye and heart dip to the humble heart and warm bossom of an elven queen or three in your bed?...'''''<br /> <br /> '''''This I could make so in promise, dear friend. I have my lips to the ear of ladies of the forest that would give great thanks to one such as you... a mirror-breaker! Were you to bat your eye in acceptance within a month I would ensure you lay beside such beauty... Donot think this a tempt or tease. This is a fair trade that I offer you... Let me be sure to note that your 'payment' to me would be less than what you might think. I ask only to stand in your shadow. I fear that my new master walks the wall between dark and light. If he were to fall, or more openly if he were to draw the unwanted gaze of demons, devils, seraphs or angels - whether they be on this or that side of the Scar-Digger in the North, I wish only to ask your protection when in the more perilous situation.'''''<br /> <br /> <br /> '''''But perhaps I overstep my bounds? I do not wish to assume you would trade in flesh. Perhaps it is the heart of a woman you seek. Holding the soul as she holds yours. I would not pretend that I can bring you your true mate, but I can offer aid in the ways of hunting for such. And if it is not the caress of soul-mates or the flavor of flesh that I might offer, you must but ask for things that I could give. With the caviat in mind that while you are powerful in might, I offer you a more powerful insight. When you walk with an Outsider in terms of appreciation, you walk with a mind to improving your station when might would not make right... So let me finally put this to you Lord Durgaz... What do you seek? What do you dream? How may I serve you in friendship, so that you may serve me in friendship?'''''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> [[Midnight: North &amp; South Portal]]</div>

Elvisrex https://wiki.rpg.net/index.php?title=Midnight_RPG_-_Chapter_14.75&diff=50389 2007-05-04T15:15:33Z

<p>Elvisrex: /* kevin / (newly named) Balal */</p> <hr /> <div>== Kevin ==<br /> * [''This scene takes place some time after Zal'Kazzir frees the imp, in the time FOLLOWING his introduction &quot;speach&quot; to the group. In the time when you're looking around Vrolk's Laboratory and into the evening when you rest, the little Imp (who has said he is now &quot;bound&quot; to Zal'Kazzir) comes up to you to chat... Think of it as &quot;networking&quot; or &quot;small talk&quot;... hehe...'']<br /> <br /> <br /> [[Image:Nazif picture.gif|thumb|NAZIF, as picutred here, naked and possible chilled was found as such captured seemingly as one of &quot;the Vile's&quot; pets or playthings. Once rescued, he quickly found his courtly cloak, rings, jewelry and other accoutrements. While not embarrassed by being without close, any good advisor knows the importance of &quot;looking the part&quot;.]]<br /> <br /> ==='''DURGAZ's''' PRIVATE talk with Nazif, Zal'Kazzir's courtesan imp===<br /> <br /> '''&quot;Hello my friend. T'would I be impolite were I to call you by your given name? Durgaz, is it that your fellow pathwalkers call you? May I speak to you in such a familiar tone?&quot;''', the small green-gray skinned imp quaries as its eyelids slowly flicker as if the very light beyond its former cage, burns its bulbous eyes... Looking to you in hopes of acceptance...<br /> <br /> '''&quot;I can only hope that you would speak to me in kind. I am Nazif by name, those I call friend know me as the butter-cream churner. I am most happy to make your aquaintence. Is it true that you have the glory of calling yourself &quot;mirror-breaker&quot;?? I would be in debt to you good sir, if you were to tell the tale of this most wounderous of deads.&quot;''', Nazif, sits his bottom to the wooden floors that grow unnaturally out of the obsidian gemstone of the Spire. He sits without bending his body, focusing his eyes looking into your's directly. He seems ever-so inquisitive and even aids you when he notices you picking up anything or moving anything.<br /> <br /> == Andrew/Durgaz ==<br /> <br /> ''[Durgaz pauses in whatever he is doing and looks down at the imp. He then looks up again, scanning the room for Zal'Kazzir. Noting that the Sarcosan appears to be nowhere in sight, he lowers his gaze back down to the imp.]''<br /> <br /> &quot;I do not call myself mirror-breaker. I do not think anyone here has called me that, either. I will assume that you heard the term from your master, the Sarcosan. You should continue to call me Durgaz.<br /> <br /> &quot;There is not much tale to tell. We were in the marsh, several days' travel from this place, when we got word that enemies were approaching our position. Kyuad, the Erenlander, had found something he believed to be a ''zordrafin corith. [Durgaz studies the imp carefully for signs of recognition.]'' &quot;We waited until the enemy was nearly upon us, then pushed a rotten tree over onto the ''corith''. It exploded, and it took out a good portion of the woods with it. We escaped.&quot;<br /> <br /> &quot;Your master was there. I am sure he could make a much more exciting story from those events than I can. Maybe you should go and ask him.&quot; <br /> <br /> ''[If the imp attempts to help Durgaz move or pick anything up, Durgaz will try to jerk whatever it is out of the imp's reach ... not in an overtly rude or hostile way, but more in a &quot;don't worry, I've got it&quot; kind of way. He will not say anything, though.]''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ==kevin / (newly named) Balal==<br /> The little imp seems to have found a chance away from his new master who freed him from the prison. It seems he is vastly interested in what Durgaz is doing. Much like a child he tried to help (even though you don't want it) but when he sees this he does not PUSH. He simply helps, by organizing or cleaning up behind you. Or preparring things before you get to the item...<br /> <br /> At your mention of the zordrafin corith, the little beast's eyes do widen. He can see you speak with irreverence and a greater disdain and knowledge than your orcen kin. Your mind flows not full of blood-rage, he can see... He seems keenly interested in having and hearing your deeper thoughts. So he begins...<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> '''''Oh no, ma-lord... I have not heard of your honorary name from your Sarcosan friend, if you currently call him that(?)... It is spoken of from the mouth of elf-tongue that I heard your name. The 'orc that sees'... It was the Vile that spoke of the mirror-breaker. Nay. Forgive, ma-lord... it was not the necromancer elf. It was his man. Funny though, now that you make me reconsider it WAS 'the' Sarcosan... Just not 'your' Sarcosan. It was the rough-rider called Azam'han and the denizens of this hall. They spoke of the instance of derailment that happened with the incoming army led drugged into this the Black Nail of the swamp. Nearly three dozen 'tusks' were lost on that day in the cosmic blast that could also be called essence of the Hate-Bringer. It was that day that the Vile was in full jest, as he knew your defiance would bring the eye of the dark lord onto your troupe. And it was this deed that the Vile took love and obsession with your hide, for he knew it would be the hammer to his nail for rising in the eyes of both the Priest King and thier shared servitor in the North''''' (Izrador).<br /> <br /> ==Andrew/Durgaz==<br /> <br /> ''[Durgaz snorts in disgust.]'' &quot;If he sees me as 'the hammer to his nail', he is more correct than he knows. As a sorcerer, unaccustomed to physical labor, perhabs he can be forgiven for not knowing that a hammer does not help a nail to RISE. It strikes it over and over again, until the nail lies broken, crushed and buried. THAT is all I offer to the Vile. The 'orc that sees' wishes to see nothing more than his death. And I will.&quot;<br /> <br /> ==kevin /Balal==<br /> <br /> '''''So then Lord Durgaz, if you will not regail the tale of teetering the balance of power, even though it may have only been for but a flickering moment - I shall find this story elsewhere. My only wish was to pay service with my bardic tongue to your perilous portrayal. Perhaps a song in your honor? I know the tongue of both Black Speak and Orc. Or should your turned ear be more pleased I can splay it in a tune of elven make... 'twould I be wrong to think your tastes tilt toward the elf-kind? Donot feel betrayed by my admonishment and insight. Perhaps you have not even given it thought, but I can see your care for Eranon of elf-make. Friend for sure you are to the archer, but would not your flesh crave comfort of the love of an elven princess? Would not your eye and heart dip to the humble heart and warm bossom of an elven queen or three in your bed?...'''''<br /> <br /> '''''This I could make so in promise, dear friend. I have my lips to the ear of ladies of the forest that would give great thanks to one such as you... a mirror-breaker! Were you to bat your eye in acceptance within a month I would ensure you lay beside such beauty... Donot think this a tempt or tease. This is a fair trade that I offer you... Let me be sure to note that your 'payment' to me would be less than what you might think. I ask only to stand in your shadow. I fear that my new master walks the wall between dark and light. If he were to fall, or more openly if he were to draw the unwanted gaze of demons, devils, seraphs or angels - whether they be on this or that side of the Scar-Digger in the North, I wish only to ask your protection when in the more perilous situation.'''''<br /> <br /> <br /> '''''But perhaps I overstep my bounds? I do not wish to assume you would trade in flesh. Perhaps it is the heart of a woman you seek. Holding the soul as she holds yours. I would not pretend that I can bring you your true mate, but I can offer aid in the ways of hunting for such. And if it is not the caress of soul-mates or the flavor of flesh that I might offer, you must but ask for things that I could give. With the caviat in mind that while you are powerful in might, I offer you a more powerful insight. When you walk with an Outsider in terms of appreciation, you walk with a mind to improving your station when might would not make right... So let me finally put this to you Lord Durgaz... What do you seek? What do you dream? How may I serve you in friendship, so that you may serve me in friendship?'''''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> [[Midnight: North &amp; South Portal]]</div>

Elvisrex https://wiki.rpg.net/index.php?title=Midnight_RPG_-_Chapter_14.88&diff=50353 2007-05-03T22:18:15Z

<p>Elvisrex: /* Durgaz */</p> <hr /> <div>== Kevin ==<br /> [''This recaps the visions/dreams that Durgaz had in the Laboratory of Vrolk, in the Obsidian Spire. I will try to capture all the information I noted to you in-person. Please NOTE if I miss something. You are WELCOME to ask questions, or try to &quot;interact&quot; with any of the visions to learn more as you have in the past. Just ask.'']<br /> <br /> <br /> As you pull your weery hide up to the open-sky chamber, the crown level on the Black Nail, you feed week. The others that may wish to sleep beneath the stars havenpt found their way up to the tip of the Spire as yet... Giving you time to breath, time to relax and let your guard down, if only for a few minutes. <br /> <br /> <br /> You haven't been able to do so in weeks. The visions, they are coming outside of your dreams these days. It seems '''&quot;the Vile&quot;''' has found a way into your head. Only ONE OTHER has breeched your minds-armors, ...could this elf be compared to God? ...or rather, NOT &quot;God&quot; but '''&quot;the Bain of All Mother&quot;'''? For THAT &quot;god&quot; is not yours any longer... yet sometimes your tongue slips... a few dozen years beneath '''&quot;the Shadow in the North&quot;''' makes hard and fast habits no matter how far away from the Shadow-gaze you grow.<br /> <br /> <br /> They (thinking down to your companions) know NOTHING of suffering! They know NOTHING of fear or hate or loathing... Eranon, the only friend you have save Walden is of elf-kind... He cannot know. He knows love, he knows the hearth, he knows kin, kith and kind. He may have offer sympathy for the chill you face nightly, but he does not know... The others, they are human. And though they have found their hearts long hidden from them by Shadow, they know nothing of lose. Their ancestors may know what they had that was taken when the Shadow fell, but that was before them, before their father's fathers... They fight for myth and legend. They donot even know what it is to live free... Nor can their hearts know what it is to have a home, to know your family or friends will not forsake you in the face of the Shadow... They cannot know the Shadow's volcanic embrace or how cold it is to be without it... They know nothing.<br /> <br /> <br /> For all you have gained with freedom, you were a son of Orc... for all you have gained you gave up tenfold.<br /> <br /> WHY?!?? Why did you do it?... Why did you believe that life beyond the Shadow would be a better one?? <br /> <br /> It has given nothing but pain and more lose. Why do you fight it brother? Why not go home?...<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> NO!<br /> <br /> That is NOT who you are anymore.<br /> <br /> You are among those the ShadowWall... Walden... called friend.<br /> <br /> You are Durgaz, the mirror-breaker. <br /> <br /> And you will have your vengance!<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> But not tonight. Not for these too few hours. These moments are yours. And to whatever god is out there you can but hold hope that Aryth doesn't ask for your allegiance... to...nigh...t.... '''[as you drift off to sleep]'''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> As Durgaz head rests on the pack of the armor bits he has recently sequestered from the laboratory below. Your mind drifts into unconciousness. But your wish cannot come to pass... For all the torment that &quot;the Vile&quot; has twisted in your mind of late, the dreams still come. Aryth herself calls out to you. And with that you feel the hate recend, to be replaced with conviction. For in the times when your sleep is not interupted by constant images of fear and hate, the other moments are frought with a peace - but it is a peace that comes with great cost.<br /> <br /> That COST is what drove you mad. It drove you to flee the Shadow's hold. It drove you to be alone. At the same time it comforts your sleep, giving you full rest - it requests something of you... What that is, must be your journey to uncover.<br /> <br /> Go with the peace now as the cool breeze and cloud-cover fade, showing you scenes sometimes near, yet somethings far-away in both time and space.............<br /> <br /> == Durgaz ==<br /> <br /> Fear and hate and madness are the shackles in which the Shadow binds us. But we are taught not to see the chains, just the layers of tempered steel that shield us from the Fey and the sons of Man, who would rise up and kill us all if given just half a chance.<br /> <br /> I know all this, and it does not stop me from thinking this way on some nights when the stars disappear and I am left alone with only the dark to keep me company. I call these folk my friends and companions, and still sometimes I must fight the impulse to smash one across the face for raising his gaze to mine. There is still an ember of Shadow buried somewhere in my mind that cannot be extinguished, and it is my charge to make sure that it is forever kept free of the tinder that would make it a flame.<br /> <br /> I believed that my visions were infallible, that they could not mislead. I was wrong. I may see where others cannot, and know the consequences of actions before they happen, but it is I who chooses what to do with that knowledge. My mistakes are my own, and that is both my weakness and my strength.<br /> <br /> I am a weapon, turned back on he who forged it. I am a shield, protecting those who cannot protect themselves. But most of all, I am a free orc. <br /> <br /> That is what separates me from my brothers. We will all die, some of us sooner than others. But they will die and be forgotten, a thousand faceless slaves conscripted to murder in the Shadow's name. I will live forever as a part of every life I have helped to save, even though nobody may remember my name, and then I will have ''earned'' the right to rest free of nightmares and visions. No sooner.<br /> <br /> &lt;span id=&quot;v1&quot;&gt;<br /> ===the WHITE-WORM &amp; his horde===<br /> ['''10 DAYS AGO''']: A toad croaks sitting on a slippery rock amid the moor, given the name Worgren. It flows to a shallow from the Erenriver, at the base of the Eren River Valley. It is a place that you've marched through many times. The story was not more than a year ago this day that a lone Dwarf faced off with a '''Shadow-Clutch''' in that very spot. The foolish Dwarf had little hope against the giants, but it was his mantle to hold them so that dozens of villages would live. It is rumored he was envoy to the Witch Queen... But that is a fable for sure, perhaps Eranon would know this tale? No matter... In the night the toad has little time to flee when the foul muck-ridden heel of another such '''&quot;Clutch&quot;''' tramples its scaley hide into the moors.<br /> <br /> On that night an army run across Worgren's Moor in Shadow's haste. The brutes are some 150 strong. Six dozen Orc-brothers, made up of seemingly as many tribes sprint in fear of being overtaken by their own battlegroup following on their heels behind! The proud pestilence of the Uruk stomp out all life that takes its time to slow before their mad march. The human mercenaries call them a &quot;Shadow-Clutch&quot;, they are 75 motherless killers that hunt until their hunt is done...<br /> <br /> At the front of the column rallying moreso that leading at this point is the orc called - Talûn-karkû, the White-Worm... He would eat your heart were he to find you. He calls out to the Clutch...<br /> <br /> '''''&quot;YOU HAVE NOT YET BEGUN TO SUFFER, YOU MOTHER-LESS DOGS! BEFORE YOU IS PAIN AND BEHIND YOU IS DEATH, CHOOSE AND IF YOUR MIND IS WISE YOU WILL DINE ON THE FLESH OF TRAITOR MY BROTHERS!!!'''''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''The haze of blood-soaked memory pulls over the marching of your orc brotherhood. For a moment you see the stars and then feel compelled to look back to Aryth...''<br /> &lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;span id=&quot;v2&quot;&gt;<br /> ===VROLK the Vile &amp; his Spire-Guard===<br /> ['''1 DAY OR LESS AGO''']: As the cloud parts, you overlook a site that would be serene were you to not fully understand the inhabitants... A campsite, near a stone alter not unlike the one the human Thorton called &quot;Satan Rock&quot;. You know this place. You passed by it when fleeing to save the human's life. At best recollection it is about 5-6 days travel (walking) into the swamps of the Dead Marshes, similarly some 5-6 days from the Worgren Moor.<br /> <br /> But this time the swamp is infested with Shadow. Orc tents scatter across the area beyond the alter. Although the stars are not shining brightly in the skys on these recent nights, at best count their are 100-150 tents... 1-3 orc may reside in each, tents are not the custom of your orc brothers, but these are not brothers. These orc are of the Vile. You can see that from the strange bastardized holy symbols that you recall encroaching on the spot of the natural mirror that you destroyed not long ago. And the black tents remain. Some 3-4 of these, that you assume to be of higher station. Humans in dark robes walk about them. Women of human and halfling kind pleasure these dark Legates in the night. One of the three Legate men enjoys the company of male boys. Twisted is their natures... The one that is Kyuad's friend treats his women with pain, as screems of whip beating hate carene from his tent.<br /> <br /> Apart from the smell of the orc horde their master meditates. The Vile sits in the center of the stone rock, that acts to focus his prayers. The elf appears veral and content, he awaits something. He shoots only a deathly glance as an orc troop has the audacity to question when the camp would move... Vrolk knows... they have found their place in the world and they would wait... For Jahzir has likely found him out by now. It would be on this place of power that he would commune with the Dark. If he be worthy his men would hold off the horde while his goal be achieved!!<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''Again the haze takes you. For another moment of relief you see the stars and then back to Aryth below...''<br /> &lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;span id=&quot;v3&quot;&gt;<br /> ===the WHITE-WORM &amp; his horde===<br /> ['''NOW''']: The moon has been eaten by the sky this night! Talûn-karkû's &quot;men&quot; continue their march. Seven villages have met their makers as the band acts as much the part of ghouls or locust devourering the country-side. The Worm's orc troop have fared better than he expected... Less than two dozen have been evicerated at the hands of the Uruk that roar at their backs! THIS was the truth of things the White-Worm would say, on such marches... Those that made the final battle at the end of such a tear where those that deserved to find glory! It is as nature demands!!<br /> <br /> <br /> '''''&quot;ONWARD BROTHERS, PUT SNOUT INTO THE WIND! CAN YOU SMELL IT?!?!! ELF-FLESH!! THE VILE GROWS NEARER WITH EVER STEP. WHEN WE STOP, WE WILL HAVE THE PRIEST'S FLESH, AND IT WILL BE GLORIOUS - ON THE FULL MOON BROTHERS WE DINE ON JAHZIR'S TRAITOR!!&quot;'''''<br /> <br /> <br /> And for the first time in years the commander of Durgaz's youth smiles, his fangs stained with blood as his troop continue full bore into the hapless maelgral that wander the boundries of the City of Dead... For this is Cambrial's district that his Dafrum-Dâgalûr now plunge into! The orc and uruk alive make merry in the torturing of the dead, but they do not have the luxury of languishing in their kills... if you can call them that. This would be the practice the Worm feared his men would be lacking. With weeks behind them and nearly a week more in front - he may have wondered if his troop would be slow to act...<br /> <br /> For wrath and ruin. <br /> <br /> For fear of Shadow's dawn.<br /> <br /> They are NOT.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''The clouds cover your eyes... This time the fog lifts from behind the stalkers in the dark...''<br /> &lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;span id=&quot;v4&quot;&gt;<br /> ===RADAGUG &amp; his Dogs===<br /> ['''NOW''']: And in the same instant that his commander tears across the Cambrial country-side, another orc makes his way to the point of his troop's mission. A goblin snicker swells up, but is beaten down before it can be heard in the camp beyond. The branching leaves of the jungle swamp give way as a dozen or more of the lowly servants of Izrador make their way through the muck and up next to the cold alabaster stone of the alter in the night.<br /> <br /> Radagug, snorts - sounding more like a hedge hog than an orc. It is his way... He then lets free a fumey smell as he forces himself to vomit, holding the disgust in his mouth for a moment before lapping it back down into his gullet. The &quot;sniffers&quot; smell their orders and those that donot have that talent follow the grunt of their orcen master. <br /> <br /> His fellow orc think him weak. But even Radagug is more than a match for the mongrels that make up the camp beyond the stone alter...<br /> <br /> But that is not his goal. Is the Vile here? A dozen goblins creep around the alter watching the elf from the dark. They take comfort that the elf does not erupt to call his guards. They believe their scouting mission is a success... From behind Vrolk's spot of meditation they confirm their mission, then recede... They believe they have not been seen.<br /> <br /> They are wrong.<br /> <br /> And the Vile's lip curls. It would be only a short time before the Full Moon...<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''As Radagug's Dogs retreat to rejoin the White-Worm, you too pull back with them... Slowly floating into the mysts above the haze that Aryth has made for you. Finally a pillow on the land that you can now rest. Tomorrow you can reflect on what these images and dreams mean... Unless you want to go back for more tonight!!'' <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> '''(ie. you are welcome to ask questions or try to change the points of view of your Seer visions, if you like)'''<br /> &lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> == Questions ==<br /> <br /> 1) Here's a big one. The first time you told me about the [[Midnight_RPG_-_Chapter_14.88#v4|fourth vision,]] it wasn't clear that Vrolk had actually SEEN Radagug and his dogs. Is that the case? Or is at least clear that he knows they're there?<br /> <br /> 2) I would like to ask Eranon if he has in fact heard the story about the Shadow-Clutch and the dwarf who held them off. I'm not sure whether to create a new bluebook for this or just to handle it email-wise, since even if Eranon knows it, both Steve and I will be hearing it for the first time...<br /> <br /> 3) I'm a little unclear on the actual direction that Talun-Karku's army is heading. If it is moving into the marshes, I assume it's passing somewhere to the north of Cambrial. With the information I have, would it be possible to make a guess as to the general area where it probably originated? <br /> <br /> 4) In the [[Midnight_RPG_-_Chapter_14.88#v2|second vision,]] I'd like to get as good a look at the Legates as I can. Do they have visible holy symbols anywhere on them? If so, are they traditional symbols of Izrador, or Vrolk's weird new emblem?<br /> <br /> 5) Also, are the legates (other than Kyuad's friend) the same ones that I saw up at the top of the Spire, with Krell and Diero, a few days back?<br /> <br /> 6) Speaking of which: It sounded like we were hoping for a minimum of 24 hours of downtime at the top of the spire, which means I can use the Seer abilities I exhausted during the previous day. Specifically, sometime when nobody else is around (I'm sleeping alone up on the upper deck, so I should be able to get some time in), I would like to take that thing out of my bag ... the thing that I thought was the Cadaverous Eye ... and use Seer Sight on it, to try and review its last six days. In addition to maybe finding out what it is, I'm hoping that I may be able to get some idea of what Vrolk was doing around here in the hours and days leading up to his departure. HOWEVER: Before I even take it out of my bag, I'm going to do an Augury to see whether or not something horrible will happen if I do. I'm afraid of this thing, which will be all the more amusing if it just turns out to be a paperweight or something. <br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> [[Midnight: North &amp; South Portal]]</div>

Elvisrex https://wiki.rpg.net/index.php?title=Midnight_RPG_-_Chapter_14.88&diff=50352 2007-05-03T22:16:21Z

<p>Elvisrex: /* Questions */</p> <hr /> <div>== Kevin ==<br /> [''This recaps the visions/dreams that Durgaz had in the Laboratory of Vrolk, in the Obsidian Spire. I will try to capture all the information I noted to you in-person. Please NOTE if I miss something. You are WELCOME to ask questions, or try to &quot;interact&quot; with any of the visions to learn more as you have in the past. Just ask.'']<br /> <br /> <br /> As you pull your weery hide up to the open-sky chamber, the crown level on the Black Nail, you feed week. The others that may wish to sleep beneath the stars havenpt found their way up to the tip of the Spire as yet... Giving you time to breath, time to relax and let your guard down, if only for a few minutes. <br /> <br /> <br /> You haven't been able to do so in weeks. The visions, they are coming outside of your dreams these days. It seems '''&quot;the Vile&quot;''' has found a way into your head. Only ONE OTHER has breeched your minds-armors, ...could this elf be compared to God? ...or rather, NOT &quot;God&quot; but '''&quot;the Bain of All Mother&quot;'''? For THAT &quot;god&quot; is not yours any longer... yet sometimes your tongue slips... a few dozen years beneath '''&quot;the Shadow in the North&quot;''' makes hard and fast habits no matter how far away from the Shadow-gaze you grow.<br /> <br /> <br /> They (thinking down to your companions) know NOTHING of suffering! They know NOTHING of fear or hate or loathing... Eranon, the only friend you have save Walden is of elf-kind... He cannot know. He knows love, he knows the hearth, he knows kin, kith and kind. He may have offer sympathy for the chill you face nightly, but he does not know... The others, they are human. And though they have found their hearts long hidden from them by Shadow, they know nothing of lose. Their ancestors may know what they had that was taken when the Shadow fell, but that was before them, before their father's fathers... They fight for myth and legend. They donot even know what it is to live free... Nor can their hearts know what it is to have a home, to know your family or friends will not forsake you in the face of the Shadow... They cannot know the Shadow's volcanic embrace or how cold it is to be without it... They know nothing.<br /> <br /> <br /> For all you have gained with freedom, you were a son of Orc... for all you have gained you gave up tenfold.<br /> <br /> WHY?!?? Why did you do it?... Why did you believe that life beyond the Shadow would be a better one?? <br /> <br /> It has given nothing but pain and more lose. Why do you fight it brother? Why not go home?...<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> NO!<br /> <br /> That is NOT who you are anymore.<br /> <br /> You are among those the ShadowWall... Walden... called friend.<br /> <br /> You are Durgaz, the mirror-breaker. <br /> <br /> And you will have your vengance!<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> But not tonight. Not for these too few hours. These moments are yours. And to whatever god is out there you can but hold hope that Aryth doesn't ask for your allegiance... to...nigh...t.... '''[as you drift off to sleep]'''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> As Durgaz head rests on the pack of the armor bits he has recently sequestered from the laboratory below. Your mind drifts into unconciousness. But your wish cannot come to pass... For all the torment that &quot;the Vile&quot; has twisted in your mind of late, the dreams still come. Aryth herself calls out to you. And with that you feel the hate recend, to be replaced with conviction. For in the times when your sleep is not interupted by constant images of fear and hate, the other moments are frought with a peace - but it is a peace that comes with great cost.<br /> <br /> That COST is what drove you mad. It drove you to flee the Shadow's hold. It drove you to be alone. At the same time it comforts your sleep, giving you full rest - it requests something of you... What that is, must be your journey to uncover.<br /> <br /> Go with the peace now as the cool breeze and cloud-cover fade, showing you scenes sometimes near, yet somethings far-away in both time and space.............<br /> <br /> == Durgaz ==<br /> <br /> Fear and hate and madness are the shackles in which the Shadow binds us. But we are taught not to see the chains, just the layers of tempered steel that shield us from the Fey and the sons of Man, who would rise up and kill us all if given just half a chance.<br /> <br /> I know all this, and it does not stop me from thinking this way on some nights when the stars disappear and I am left alone with only the dark to keep me company. I call these folk my friends and companions, and still sometimes I must fight the impulse to smash one across the face for raising his gaze to mine. There is still an ember of Shadow buried somewhere in my mind that cannot be extinguished, and it is my charge to make sure that it is forever kept free of the tinder that would make it a flame.<br /> <br /> I believed that my visions were infallible, that they could not mislead. I was wrong. I may see where others cannot, and know the consequences of actions before they happen, but it is I who chooses what to do with that knowledge. My mistakes are my own, and that is both my weakness and my strength.<br /> <br /> I am a weapon, turned back on he who forged it. I am a shield, protecting those who cannot protect themselves. But most of all, I am a free orc. <br /> <br /> That is what separates me from my brothers. Someday, perhaps very soon, we will all die. They will die and be forgotten, a thousand faceless slaves conscripted to murder in the Shadow's name. But I will live forever as a part of every life I have helped to save, even though nobody will remember my name. Then I will have ''earned'' the right to rest.<br /> <br /> &lt;span id=&quot;v1&quot;&gt;<br /> ===the WHITE-WORM &amp; his horde===<br /> ['''10 DAYS AGO''']: A toad croaks sitting on a slippery rock amid the moor, given the name Worgren. It flows to a shallow from the Erenriver, at the base of the Eren River Valley. It is a place that you've marched through many times. The story was not more than a year ago this day that a lone Dwarf faced off with a '''Shadow-Clutch''' in that very spot. The foolish Dwarf had little hope against the giants, but it was his mantle to hold them so that dozens of villages would live. It is rumored he was envoy to the Witch Queen... But that is a fable for sure, perhaps Eranon would know this tale? No matter... In the night the toad has little time to flee when the foul muck-ridden heel of another such '''&quot;Clutch&quot;''' tramples its scaley hide into the moors.<br /> <br /> On that night an army run across Worgren's Moor in Shadow's haste. The brutes are some 150 strong. Six dozen Orc-brothers, made up of seemingly as many tribes sprint in fear of being overtaken by their own battlegroup following on their heels behind! The proud pestilence of the Uruk stomp out all life that takes its time to slow before their mad march. The human mercenaries call them a &quot;Shadow-Clutch&quot;, they are 75 motherless killers that hunt until their hunt is done...<br /> <br /> At the front of the column rallying moreso that leading at this point is the orc called - Talûn-karkû, the White-Worm... He would eat your heart were he to find you. He calls out to the Clutch...<br /> <br /> '''''&quot;YOU HAVE NOT YET BEGUN TO SUFFER, YOU MOTHER-LESS DOGS! BEFORE YOU IS PAIN AND BEHIND YOU IS DEATH, CHOOSE AND IF YOUR MIND IS WISE YOU WILL DINE ON THE FLESH OF TRAITOR MY BROTHERS!!!'''''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''The haze of blood-soaked memory pulls over the marching of your orc brotherhood. For a moment you see the stars and then feel compelled to look back to Aryth...''<br /> &lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;span id=&quot;v2&quot;&gt;<br /> ===VROLK the Vile &amp; his Spire-Guard===<br /> ['''1 DAY OR LESS AGO''']: As the cloud parts, you overlook a site that would be serene were you to not fully understand the inhabitants... A campsite, near a stone alter not unlike the one the human Thorton called &quot;Satan Rock&quot;. You know this place. You passed by it when fleeing to save the human's life. At best recollection it is about 5-6 days travel (walking) into the swamps of the Dead Marshes, similarly some 5-6 days from the Worgren Moor.<br /> <br /> But this time the swamp is infested with Shadow. Orc tents scatter across the area beyond the alter. Although the stars are not shining brightly in the skys on these recent nights, at best count their are 100-150 tents... 1-3 orc may reside in each, tents are not the custom of your orc brothers, but these are not brothers. These orc are of the Vile. You can see that from the strange bastardized holy symbols that you recall encroaching on the spot of the natural mirror that you destroyed not long ago. And the black tents remain. Some 3-4 of these, that you assume to be of higher station. Humans in dark robes walk about them. Women of human and halfling kind pleasure these dark Legates in the night. One of the three Legate men enjoys the company of male boys. Twisted is their natures... The one that is Kyuad's friend treats his women with pain, as screems of whip beating hate carene from his tent.<br /> <br /> Apart from the smell of the orc horde their master meditates. The Vile sits in the center of the stone rock, that acts to focus his prayers. The elf appears veral and content, he awaits something. He shoots only a deathly glance as an orc troop has the audacity to question when the camp would move... Vrolk knows... they have found their place in the world and they would wait... For Jahzir has likely found him out by now. It would be on this place of power that he would commune with the Dark. If he be worthy his men would hold off the horde while his goal be achieved!!<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''Again the haze takes you. For another moment of relief you see the stars and then back to Aryth below...''<br /> &lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;span id=&quot;v3&quot;&gt;<br /> ===the WHITE-WORM &amp; his horde===<br /> ['''NOW''']: The moon has been eaten by the sky this night! Talûn-karkû's &quot;men&quot; continue their march. Seven villages have met their makers as the band acts as much the part of ghouls or locust devourering the country-side. The Worm's orc troop have fared better than he expected... Less than two dozen have been evicerated at the hands of the Uruk that roar at their backs! THIS was the truth of things the White-Worm would say, on such marches... Those that made the final battle at the end of such a tear where those that deserved to find glory! It is as nature demands!!<br /> <br /> <br /> '''''&quot;ONWARD BROTHERS, PUT SNOUT INTO THE WIND! CAN YOU SMELL IT?!?!! ELF-FLESH!! THE VILE GROWS NEARER WITH EVER STEP. WHEN WE STOP, WE WILL HAVE THE PRIEST'S FLESH, AND IT WILL BE GLORIOUS - ON THE FULL MOON BROTHERS WE DINE ON JAHZIR'S TRAITOR!!&quot;'''''<br /> <br /> <br /> And for the first time in years the commander of Durgaz's youth smiles, his fangs stained with blood as his troop continue full bore into the hapless maelgral that wander the boundries of the City of Dead... For this is Cambrial's district that his Dafrum-Dâgalûr now plunge into! The orc and uruk alive make merry in the torturing of the dead, but they do not have the luxury of languishing in their kills... if you can call them that. This would be the practice the Worm feared his men would be lacking. With weeks behind them and nearly a week more in front - he may have wondered if his troop would be slow to act...<br /> <br /> For wrath and ruin. <br /> <br /> For fear of Shadow's dawn.<br /> <br /> They are NOT.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''The clouds cover your eyes... This time the fog lifts from behind the stalkers in the dark...''<br /> &lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;span id=&quot;v4&quot;&gt;<br /> ===RADAGUG &amp; his Dogs===<br /> ['''NOW''']: And in the same instant that his commander tears across the Cambrial country-side, another orc makes his way to the point of his troop's mission. A goblin snicker swells up, but is beaten down before it can be heard in the camp beyond. The branching leaves of the jungle swamp give way as a dozen or more of the lowly servants of Izrador make their way through the muck and up next to the cold alabaster stone of the alter in the night.<br /> <br /> Radagug, snorts - sounding more like a hedge hog than an orc. It is his way... He then lets free a fumey smell as he forces himself to vomit, holding the disgust in his mouth for a moment before lapping it back down into his gullet. The &quot;sniffers&quot; smell their orders and those that donot have that talent follow the grunt of their orcen master. <br /> <br /> His fellow orc think him weak. But even Radagug is more than a match for the mongrels that make up the camp beyond the stone alter...<br /> <br /> But that is not his goal. Is the Vile here? A dozen goblins creep around the alter watching the elf from the dark. They take comfort that the elf does not erupt to call his guards. They believe their scouting mission is a success... From behind Vrolk's spot of meditation they confirm their mission, then recede... They believe they have not been seen.<br /> <br /> They are wrong.<br /> <br /> And the Vile's lip curls. It would be only a short time before the Full Moon...<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''As Radagug's Dogs retreat to rejoin the White-Worm, you too pull back with them... Slowly floating into the mysts above the haze that Aryth has made for you. Finally a pillow on the land that you can now rest. Tomorrow you can reflect on what these images and dreams mean... Unless you want to go back for more tonight!!'' <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> '''(ie. you are welcome to ask questions or try to change the points of view of your Seer visions, if you like)'''<br /> &lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> == Questions ==<br /> <br /> 1) Here's a big one. The first time you told me about the [[Midnight_RPG_-_Chapter_14.88#v4|fourth vision,]] it wasn't clear that Vrolk had actually SEEN Radagug and his dogs. Is that the case? Or is at least clear that he knows they're there?<br /> <br /> 2) I would like to ask Eranon if he has in fact heard the story about the Shadow-Clutch and the dwarf who held them off. I'm not sure whether to create a new bluebook for this or just to handle it email-wise, since even if Eranon knows it, both Steve and I will be hearing it for the first time...<br /> <br /> 3) I'm a little unclear on the actual direction that Talun-Karku's army is heading. If it is moving into the marshes, I assume it's passing somewhere to the north of Cambrial. With the information I have, would it be possible to make a guess as to the general area where it probably originated? <br /> <br /> 4) In the [[Midnight_RPG_-_Chapter_14.88#v2|second vision,]] I'd like to get as good a look at the Legates as I can. Do they have visible holy symbols anywhere on them? If so, are they traditional symbols of Izrador, or Vrolk's weird new emblem?<br /> <br /> 5) Also, are the legates (other than Kyuad's friend) the same ones that I saw up at the top of the Spire, with Krell and Diero, a few days back?<br /> <br /> 6) Speaking of which: It sounded like we were hoping for a minimum of 24 hours of downtime at the top of the spire, which means I can use the Seer abilities I exhausted during the previous day. Specifically, sometime when nobody else is around (I'm sleeping alone up on the upper deck, so I should be able to get some time in), I would like to take that thing out of my bag ... the thing that I thought was the Cadaverous Eye ... and use Seer Sight on it, to try and review its last six days. In addition to maybe finding out what it is, I'm hoping that I may be able to get some idea of what Vrolk was doing around here in the hours and days leading up to his departure. HOWEVER: Before I even take it out of my bag, I'm going to do an Augury to see whether or not something horrible will happen if I do. I'm afraid of this thing, which will be all the more amusing if it just turns out to be a paperweight or something. <br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> [[Midnight: North &amp; South Portal]]</div>

Elvisrex https://wiki.rpg.net/index.php?title=Midnight_RPG_-_Chapter_14.88&diff=50351 2007-05-03T22:16:09Z

<p>Elvisrex: /* Questions */</p> <hr /> <div>== Kevin ==<br /> [''This recaps the visions/dreams that Durgaz had in the Laboratory of Vrolk, in the Obsidian Spire. I will try to capture all the information I noted to you in-person. Please NOTE if I miss something. You are WELCOME to ask questions, or try to &quot;interact&quot; with any of the visions to learn more as you have in the past. Just ask.'']<br /> <br /> <br /> As you pull your weery hide up to the open-sky chamber, the crown level on the Black Nail, you feed week. The others that may wish to sleep beneath the stars havenpt found their way up to the tip of the Spire as yet... Giving you time to breath, time to relax and let your guard down, if only for a few minutes. <br /> <br /> <br /> You haven't been able to do so in weeks. The visions, they are coming outside of your dreams these days. It seems '''&quot;the Vile&quot;''' has found a way into your head. Only ONE OTHER has breeched your minds-armors, ...could this elf be compared to God? ...or rather, NOT &quot;God&quot; but '''&quot;the Bain of All Mother&quot;'''? For THAT &quot;god&quot; is not yours any longer... yet sometimes your tongue slips... a few dozen years beneath '''&quot;the Shadow in the North&quot;''' makes hard and fast habits no matter how far away from the Shadow-gaze you grow.<br /> <br /> <br /> They (thinking down to your companions) know NOTHING of suffering! They know NOTHING of fear or hate or loathing... Eranon, the only friend you have save Walden is of elf-kind... He cannot know. He knows love, he knows the hearth, he knows kin, kith and kind. He may have offer sympathy for the chill you face nightly, but he does not know... The others, they are human. And though they have found their hearts long hidden from them by Shadow, they know nothing of lose. Their ancestors may know what they had that was taken when the Shadow fell, but that was before them, before their father's fathers... They fight for myth and legend. They donot even know what it is to live free... Nor can their hearts know what it is to have a home, to know your family or friends will not forsake you in the face of the Shadow... They cannot know the Shadow's volcanic embrace or how cold it is to be without it... They know nothing.<br /> <br /> <br /> For all you have gained with freedom, you were a son of Orc... for all you have gained you gave up tenfold.<br /> <br /> WHY?!?? Why did you do it?... Why did you believe that life beyond the Shadow would be a better one?? <br /> <br /> It has given nothing but pain and more lose. Why do you fight it brother? Why not go home?...<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> NO!<br /> <br /> That is NOT who you are anymore.<br /> <br /> You are among those the ShadowWall... Walden... called friend.<br /> <br /> You are Durgaz, the mirror-breaker. <br /> <br /> And you will have your vengance!<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> But not tonight. Not for these too few hours. These moments are yours. And to whatever god is out there you can but hold hope that Aryth doesn't ask for your allegiance... to...nigh...t.... '''[as you drift off to sleep]'''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> As Durgaz head rests on the pack of the armor bits he has recently sequestered from the laboratory below. Your mind drifts into unconciousness. But your wish cannot come to pass... For all the torment that &quot;the Vile&quot; has twisted in your mind of late, the dreams still come. Aryth herself calls out to you. And with that you feel the hate recend, to be replaced with conviction. For in the times when your sleep is not interupted by constant images of fear and hate, the other moments are frought with a peace - but it is a peace that comes with great cost.<br /> <br /> That COST is what drove you mad. It drove you to flee the Shadow's hold. It drove you to be alone. At the same time it comforts your sleep, giving you full rest - it requests something of you... What that is, must be your journey to uncover.<br /> <br /> Go with the peace now as the cool breeze and cloud-cover fade, showing you scenes sometimes near, yet somethings far-away in both time and space.............<br /> <br /> == Durgaz ==<br /> <br /> Fear and hate and madness are the shackles in which the Shadow binds us. But we are taught not to see the chains, just the layers of tempered steel that shield us from the Fey and the sons of Man, who would rise up and kill us all if given just half a chance.<br /> <br /> I know all this, and it does not stop me from thinking this way on some nights when the stars disappear and I am left alone with only the dark to keep me company. I call these folk my friends and companions, and still sometimes I must fight the impulse to smash one across the face for raising his gaze to mine. There is still an ember of Shadow buried somewhere in my mind that cannot be extinguished, and it is my charge to make sure that it is forever kept free of the tinder that would make it a flame.<br /> <br /> I believed that my visions were infallible, that they could not mislead. I was wrong. I may see where others cannot, and know the consequences of actions before they happen, but it is I who chooses what to do with that knowledge. My mistakes are my own, and that is both my weakness and my strength.<br /> <br /> I am a weapon, turned back on he who forged it. I am a shield, protecting those who cannot protect themselves. But most of all, I am a free orc. <br /> <br /> That is what separates me from my brothers. Someday, perhaps very soon, we will all die. They will die and be forgotten, a thousand faceless slaves conscripted to murder in the Shadow's name. But I will live forever as a part of every life I have helped to save, even though nobody will remember my name. Then I will have ''earned'' the right to rest.<br /> <br /> &lt;span id=&quot;v1&quot;&gt;<br /> ===the WHITE-WORM &amp; his horde===<br /> ['''10 DAYS AGO''']: A toad croaks sitting on a slippery rock amid the moor, given the name Worgren. It flows to a shallow from the Erenriver, at the base of the Eren River Valley. It is a place that you've marched through many times. The story was not more than a year ago this day that a lone Dwarf faced off with a '''Shadow-Clutch''' in that very spot. The foolish Dwarf had little hope against the giants, but it was his mantle to hold them so that dozens of villages would live. It is rumored he was envoy to the Witch Queen... But that is a fable for sure, perhaps Eranon would know this tale? No matter... In the night the toad has little time to flee when the foul muck-ridden heel of another such '''&quot;Clutch&quot;''' tramples its scaley hide into the moors.<br /> <br /> On that night an army run across Worgren's Moor in Shadow's haste. The brutes are some 150 strong. Six dozen Orc-brothers, made up of seemingly as many tribes sprint in fear of being overtaken by their own battlegroup following on their heels behind! The proud pestilence of the Uruk stomp out all life that takes its time to slow before their mad march. The human mercenaries call them a &quot;Shadow-Clutch&quot;, they are 75 motherless killers that hunt until their hunt is done...<br /> <br /> At the front of the column rallying moreso that leading at this point is the orc called - Talûn-karkû, the White-Worm... He would eat your heart were he to find you. He calls out to the Clutch...<br /> <br /> '''''&quot;YOU HAVE NOT YET BEGUN TO SUFFER, YOU MOTHER-LESS DOGS! BEFORE YOU IS PAIN AND BEHIND YOU IS DEATH, CHOOSE AND IF YOUR MIND IS WISE YOU WILL DINE ON THE FLESH OF TRAITOR MY BROTHERS!!!'''''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''The haze of blood-soaked memory pulls over the marching of your orc brotherhood. For a moment you see the stars and then feel compelled to look back to Aryth...''<br /> &lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;span id=&quot;v2&quot;&gt;<br /> ===VROLK the Vile &amp; his Spire-Guard===<br /> ['''1 DAY OR LESS AGO''']: As the cloud parts, you overlook a site that would be serene were you to not fully understand the inhabitants... A campsite, near a stone alter not unlike the one the human Thorton called &quot;Satan Rock&quot;. You know this place. You passed by it when fleeing to save the human's life. At best recollection it is about 5-6 days travel (walking) into the swamps of the Dead Marshes, similarly some 5-6 days from the Worgren Moor.<br /> <br /> But this time the swamp is infested with Shadow. Orc tents scatter across the area beyond the alter. Although the stars are not shining brightly in the skys on these recent nights, at best count their are 100-150 tents... 1-3 orc may reside in each, tents are not the custom of your orc brothers, but these are not brothers. These orc are of the Vile. You can see that from the strange bastardized holy symbols that you recall encroaching on the spot of the natural mirror that you destroyed not long ago. And the black tents remain. Some 3-4 of these, that you assume to be of higher station. Humans in dark robes walk about them. Women of human and halfling kind pleasure these dark Legates in the night. One of the three Legate men enjoys the company of male boys. Twisted is their natures... The one that is Kyuad's friend treats his women with pain, as screems of whip beating hate carene from his tent.<br /> <br /> Apart from the smell of the orc horde their master meditates. The Vile sits in the center of the stone rock, that acts to focus his prayers. The elf appears veral and content, he awaits something. He shoots only a deathly glance as an orc troop has the audacity to question when the camp would move... Vrolk knows... they have found their place in the world and they would wait... For Jahzir has likely found him out by now. It would be on this place of power that he would commune with the Dark. If he be worthy his men would hold off the horde while his goal be achieved!!<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''Again the haze takes you. For another moment of relief you see the stars and then back to Aryth below...''<br /> &lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;span id=&quot;v3&quot;&gt;<br /> ===the WHITE-WORM &amp; his horde===<br /> ['''NOW''']: The moon has been eaten by the sky this night! Talûn-karkû's &quot;men&quot; continue their march. Seven villages have met their makers as the band acts as much the part of ghouls or locust devourering the country-side. The Worm's orc troop have fared better than he expected... Less than two dozen have been evicerated at the hands of the Uruk that roar at their backs! THIS was the truth of things the White-Worm would say, on such marches... Those that made the final battle at the end of such a tear where those that deserved to find glory! It is as nature demands!!<br /> <br /> <br /> '''''&quot;ONWARD BROTHERS, PUT SNOUT INTO THE WIND! CAN YOU SMELL IT?!?!! ELF-FLESH!! THE VILE GROWS NEARER WITH EVER STEP. WHEN WE STOP, WE WILL HAVE THE PRIEST'S FLESH, AND IT WILL BE GLORIOUS - ON THE FULL MOON BROTHERS WE DINE ON JAHZIR'S TRAITOR!!&quot;'''''<br /> <br /> <br /> And for the first time in years the commander of Durgaz's youth smiles, his fangs stained with blood as his troop continue full bore into the hapless maelgral that wander the boundries of the City of Dead... For this is Cambrial's district that his Dafrum-Dâgalûr now plunge into! The orc and uruk alive make merry in the torturing of the dead, but they do not have the luxury of languishing in their kills... if you can call them that. This would be the practice the Worm feared his men would be lacking. With weeks behind them and nearly a week more in front - he may have wondered if his troop would be slow to act...<br /> <br /> For wrath and ruin. <br /> <br /> For fear of Shadow's dawn.<br /> <br /> They are NOT.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''The clouds cover your eyes... This time the fog lifts from behind the stalkers in the dark...''<br /> &lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;span id=&quot;v4&quot;&gt;<br /> ===RADAGUG &amp; his Dogs===<br /> ['''NOW''']: And in the same instant that his commander tears across the Cambrial country-side, another orc makes his way to the point of his troop's mission. A goblin snicker swells up, but is beaten down before it can be heard in the camp beyond. The branching leaves of the jungle swamp give way as a dozen or more of the lowly servants of Izrador make their way through the muck and up next to the cold alabaster stone of the alter in the night.<br /> <br /> Radagug, snorts - sounding more like a hedge hog than an orc. It is his way... He then lets free a fumey smell as he forces himself to vomit, holding the disgust in his mouth for a moment before lapping it back down into his gullet. The &quot;sniffers&quot; smell their orders and those that donot have that talent follow the grunt of their orcen master. <br /> <br /> His fellow orc think him weak. But even Radagug is more than a match for the mongrels that make up the camp beyond the stone alter...<br /> <br /> But that is not his goal. Is the Vile here? A dozen goblins creep around the alter watching the elf from the dark. They take comfort that the elf does not erupt to call his guards. They believe their scouting mission is a success... From behind Vrolk's spot of meditation they confirm their mission, then recede... They believe they have not been seen.<br /> <br /> They are wrong.<br /> <br /> And the Vile's lip curls. It would be only a short time before the Full Moon...<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''As Radagug's Dogs retreat to rejoin the White-Worm, you too pull back with them... Slowly floating into the mysts above the haze that Aryth has made for you. Finally a pillow on the land that you can now rest. Tomorrow you can reflect on what these images and dreams mean... Unless you want to go back for more tonight!!'' <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> '''(ie. you are welcome to ask questions or try to change the points of view of your Seer visions, if you like)'''<br /> &lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> == Questions ==<br /> <br /> 1) Here's a big one. The first time you told me about the [[Midnight_RPG_-_Chapter_14.88#v4|fourth vision,]] it wasn't clear that Vrolk had actually SEEN Radagug and his dogs. Is that the case? Or is at least clear that he knows they're there?<br /> <br /> 2) I would like to ask Eranon if he has in fact heard the story about the Shadow-Clutch and the dwarf who held them off. I'm not sure whether to create a new bluebook for this or just to handle it email-wise, since even if Eranon knows it, both Steve and I will be hearing it for the first time...<br /> <br /> 3) I'm a little unclear on the actual direction that Talun-Karku's army is heading. If it is moving into the marshes, I assume it's passing somewhere to the north of Cambrial. With the information I have, would it be possible to make a guess as to the general area where it probably originated? <br /> <br /> 4) In the [[Midnight_RPG_-_Chapter_14.88#v2|second vision,]] I'd like to get as good a look at the Legates as I can. Do they have visible holy symbols anywhere on them? If so, are they traditional symbols of Izrador, or Vrolk's weird new emblem?<br /> <br /> 5) Also, are the legates (other than Kyuad's friend) the same ones that I saw up at the top of the Spire, with Krell and Diero, a few days back?<br /> <br /> 6) Speaking of which: It sounded like we were hoping for a minimum of 24 hours of downtime at the top of the spire, which means I can use the Seer abilities I exhausted during the previous day. Specifically, sometime when nobody else is around (I'm sleeping alone up on the upper deck, so I should be able to get some time in), I would like to take that thing out of my bag ... the thing that I thought was the Cadaverous Eye ... and use Seer Sight on it, to try and review its last six days. In addition to maybe finding out what it is, I'm hoping that I may be able to get some idea of what Vrolk was doing around here in the hours and days leading up to his departure. HOWEVER: Before I even take it out of my bag, I'm going to do an Augury to see whether or not something horrible will happen if I do. I'm afraid of this thing, which will be all the more amusing if it just turns out to be a paperweight or something. <br /> <br /> ----<br /> [[Midnight: North &amp; South Portal]]</div>

Elvisrex https://wiki.rpg.net/index.php?title=Midnight_RPG_-_Chapter_14.88&diff=50350 2007-05-03T22:07:03Z

<p>Elvisrex: /* Questions */</p> <hr /> <div>== Kevin ==<br /> [''This recaps the visions/dreams that Durgaz had in the Laboratory of Vrolk, in the Obsidian Spire. I will try to capture all the information I noted to you in-person. Please NOTE if I miss something. You are WELCOME to ask questions, or try to &quot;interact&quot; with any of the visions to learn more as you have in the past. Just ask.'']<br /> <br /> <br /> As you pull your weery hide up to the open-sky chamber, the crown level on the Black Nail, you feed week. The others that may wish to sleep beneath the stars havenpt found their way up to the tip of the Spire as yet... Giving you time to breath, time to relax and let your guard down, if only for a few minutes. <br /> <br /> <br /> You haven't been able to do so in weeks. The visions, they are coming outside of your dreams these days. It seems '''&quot;the Vile&quot;''' has found a way into your head. Only ONE OTHER has breeched your minds-armors, ...could this elf be compared to God? ...or rather, NOT &quot;God&quot; but '''&quot;the Bain of All Mother&quot;'''? For THAT &quot;god&quot; is not yours any longer... yet sometimes your tongue slips... a few dozen years beneath '''&quot;the Shadow in the North&quot;''' makes hard and fast habits no matter how far away from the Shadow-gaze you grow.<br /> <br /> <br /> They (thinking down to your companions) know NOTHING of suffering! They know NOTHING of fear or hate or loathing... Eranon, the only friend you have save Walden is of elf-kind... He cannot know. He knows love, he knows the hearth, he knows kin, kith and kind. He may have offer sympathy for the chill you face nightly, but he does not know... The others, they are human. And though they have found their hearts long hidden from them by Shadow, they know nothing of lose. Their ancestors may know what they had that was taken when the Shadow fell, but that was before them, before their father's fathers... They fight for myth and legend. They donot even know what it is to live free... Nor can their hearts know what it is to have a home, to know your family or friends will not forsake you in the face of the Shadow... They cannot know the Shadow's volcanic embrace or how cold it is to be without it... They know nothing.<br /> <br /> <br /> For all you have gained with freedom, you were a son of Orc... for all you have gained you gave up tenfold.<br /> <br /> WHY?!?? Why did you do it?... Why did you believe that life beyond the Shadow would be a better one?? <br /> <br /> It has given nothing but pain and more lose. Why do you fight it brother? Why not go home?...<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> NO!<br /> <br /> That is NOT who you are anymore.<br /> <br /> You are among those the ShadowWall... Walden... called friend.<br /> <br /> You are Durgaz, the mirror-breaker. <br /> <br /> And you will have your vengance!<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> But not tonight. Not for these too few hours. These moments are yours. And to whatever god is out there you can but hold hope that Aryth doesn't ask for your allegiance... to...nigh...t.... '''[as you drift off to sleep]'''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> As Durgaz head rests on the pack of the armor bits he has recently sequestered from the laboratory below. Your mind drifts into unconciousness. But your wish cannot come to pass... For all the torment that &quot;the Vile&quot; has twisted in your mind of late, the dreams still come. Aryth herself calls out to you. And with that you feel the hate recend, to be replaced with conviction. For in the times when your sleep is not interupted by constant images of fear and hate, the other moments are frought with a peace - but it is a peace that comes with great cost.<br /> <br /> That COST is what drove you mad. It drove you to flee the Shadow's hold. It drove you to be alone. At the same time it comforts your sleep, giving you full rest - it requests something of you... What that is, must be your journey to uncover.<br /> <br /> Go with the peace now as the cool breeze and cloud-cover fade, showing you scenes sometimes near, yet somethings far-away in both time and space.............<br /> <br /> == Durgaz ==<br /> <br /> Fear and hate and madness are the shackles in which the Shadow binds us. But we are taught not to see the chains, just the layers of tempered steel that shield us from the Fey and the sons of Man, who would rise up and kill us all if given just half a chance.<br /> <br /> I know all this, and it does not stop me from thinking this way on some nights when the stars disappear and I am left alone with only the dark to keep me company. I call these folk my friends and companions, and still sometimes I must fight the impulse to smash one across the face for raising his gaze to mine. There is still an ember of Shadow buried somewhere in my mind that cannot be extinguished, and it is my charge to make sure that it is forever kept free of the tinder that would make it a flame.<br /> <br /> I believed that my visions were infallible, that they could not mislead. I was wrong. I may see where others cannot, and know the consequences of actions before they happen, but it is I who chooses what to do with that knowledge. My mistakes are my own, and that is both my weakness and my strength.<br /> <br /> I am a weapon, turned back on he who forged it. I am a shield, protecting those who cannot protect themselves. But most of all, I am a free orc. <br /> <br /> That is what separates me from my brothers. Someday, perhaps very soon, we will all die. They will die and be forgotten, a thousand faceless slaves conscripted to murder in the Shadow's name. But I will live forever as a part of every life I have helped to save, even though nobody will remember my name. Then I will have ''earned'' the right to rest.<br /> <br /> &lt;span id=&quot;v1&quot;&gt;<br /> ===the WHITE-WORM &amp; his horde===<br /> ['''10 DAYS AGO''']: A toad croaks sitting on a slippery rock amid the moor, given the name Worgren. It flows to a shallow from the Erenriver, at the base of the Eren River Valley. It is a place that you've marched through many times. The story was not more than a year ago this day that a lone Dwarf faced off with a '''Shadow-Clutch''' in that very spot. The foolish Dwarf had little hope against the giants, but it was his mantle to hold them so that dozens of villages would live. It is rumored he was envoy to the Witch Queen... But that is a fable for sure, perhaps Eranon would know this tale? No matter... In the night the toad has little time to flee when the foul muck-ridden heel of another such '''&quot;Clutch&quot;''' tramples its scaley hide into the moors.<br /> <br /> On that night an army run across Worgren's Moor in Shadow's haste. The brutes are some 150 strong. Six dozen Orc-brothers, made up of seemingly as many tribes sprint in fear of being overtaken by their own battlegroup following on their heels behind! The proud pestilence of the Uruk stomp out all life that takes its time to slow before their mad march. The human mercenaries call them a &quot;Shadow-Clutch&quot;, they are 75 motherless killers that hunt until their hunt is done...<br /> <br /> At the front of the column rallying moreso that leading at this point is the orc called - Talûn-karkû, the White-Worm... He would eat your heart were he to find you. He calls out to the Clutch...<br /> <br /> '''''&quot;YOU HAVE NOT YET BEGUN TO SUFFER, YOU MOTHER-LESS DOGS! BEFORE YOU IS PAIN AND BEHIND YOU IS DEATH, CHOOSE AND IF YOUR MIND IS WISE YOU WILL DINE ON THE FLESH OF TRAITOR MY BROTHERS!!!'''''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''The haze of blood-soaked memory pulls over the marching of your orc brotherhood. For a moment you see the stars and then feel compelled to look back to Aryth...''<br /> &lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;span id=&quot;v2&quot;&gt;<br /> ===VROLK the Vile &amp; his Spire-Guard===<br /> ['''1 DAY OR LESS AGO''']: As the cloud parts, you overlook a site that would be serene were you to not fully understand the inhabitants... A campsite, near a stone alter not unlike the one the human Thorton called &quot;Satan Rock&quot;. You know this place. You passed by it when fleeing to save the human's life. At best recollection it is about 5-6 days travel (walking) into the swamps of the Dead Marshes, similarly some 5-6 days from the Worgren Moor.<br /> <br /> But this time the swamp is infested with Shadow. Orc tents scatter across the area beyond the alter. Although the stars are not shining brightly in the skys on these recent nights, at best count their are 100-150 tents... 1-3 orc may reside in each, tents are not the custom of your orc brothers, but these are not brothers. These orc are of the Vile. You can see that from the strange bastardized holy symbols that you recall encroaching on the spot of the natural mirror that you destroyed not long ago. And the black tents remain. Some 3-4 of these, that you assume to be of higher station. Humans in dark robes walk about them. Women of human and halfling kind pleasure these dark Legates in the night. One of the three Legate men enjoys the company of male boys. Twisted is their natures... The one that is Kyuad's friend treats his women with pain, as screems of whip beating hate carene from his tent.<br /> <br /> Apart from the smell of the orc horde their master meditates. The Vile sits in the center of the stone rock, that acts to focus his prayers. The elf appears veral and content, he awaits something. He shoots only a deathly glance as an orc troop has the audacity to question when the camp would move... Vrolk knows... they have found their place in the world and they would wait... For Jahzir has likely found him out by now. It would be on this place of power that he would commune with the Dark. If he be worthy his men would hold off the horde while his goal be achieved!!<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''Again the haze takes you. For another moment of relief you see the stars and then back to Aryth below...''<br /> &lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;span id=&quot;v3&quot;&gt;<br /> ===the WHITE-WORM &amp; his horde===<br /> ['''NOW''']: The moon has been eaten by the sky this night! Talûn-karkû's &quot;men&quot; continue their march. Seven villages have met their makers as the band acts as much the part of ghouls or locust devourering the country-side. The Worm's orc troop have fared better than he expected... Less than two dozen have been evicerated at the hands of the Uruk that roar at their backs! THIS was the truth of things the White-Worm would say, on such marches... Those that made the final battle at the end of such a tear where those that deserved to find glory! It is as nature demands!!<br /> <br /> <br /> '''''&quot;ONWARD BROTHERS, PUT SNOUT INTO THE WIND! CAN YOU SMELL IT?!?!! ELF-FLESH!! THE VILE GROWS NEARER WITH EVER STEP. WHEN WE STOP, WE WILL HAVE THE PRIEST'S FLESH, AND IT WILL BE GLORIOUS - ON THE FULL MOON BROTHERS WE DINE ON JAHZIR'S TRAITOR!!&quot;'''''<br /> <br /> <br /> And for the first time in years the commander of Durgaz's youth smiles, his fangs stained with blood as his troop continue full bore into the hapless maelgral that wander the boundries of the City of Dead... For this is Cambrial's district that his Dafrum-Dâgalûr now plunge into! The orc and uruk alive make merry in the torturing of the dead, but they do not have the luxury of languishing in their kills... if you can call them that. This would be the practice the Worm feared his men would be lacking. With weeks behind them and nearly a week more in front - he may have wondered if his troop would be slow to act...<br /> <br /> For wrath and ruin. <br /> <br /> For fear of Shadow's dawn.<br /> <br /> They are NOT.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''The clouds cover your eyes... This time the fog lifts from behind the stalkers in the dark...''<br /> &lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;span id=&quot;v4&quot;&gt;<br /> ===RADAGUG &amp; his Dogs===<br /> ['''NOW''']: And in the same instant that his commander tears across the Cambrial country-side, another orc makes his way to the point of his troop's mission. A goblin snicker swells up, but is beaten down before it can be heard in the camp beyond. The branching leaves of the jungle swamp give way as a dozen or more of the lowly servants of Izrador make their way through the muck and up next to the cold alabaster stone of the alter in the night.<br /> <br /> Radagug, snorts - sounding more like a hedge hog than an orc. It is his way... He then lets free a fumey smell as he forces himself to vomit, holding the disgust in his mouth for a moment before lapping it back down into his gullet. The &quot;sniffers&quot; smell their orders and those that donot have that talent follow the grunt of their orcen master. <br /> <br /> His fellow orc think him weak. But even Radagug is more than a match for the mongrels that make up the camp beyond the stone alter...<br /> <br /> But that is not his goal. Is the Vile here? A dozen goblins creep around the alter watching the elf from the dark. They take comfort that the elf does not erupt to call his guards. They believe their scouting mission is a success... From behind Vrolk's spot of meditation they confirm their mission, then recede... They believe they have not been seen.<br /> <br /> They are wrong.<br /> <br /> And the Vile's lip curls. It would be only a short time before the Full Moon...<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''As Radagug's Dogs retreat to rejoin the White-Worm, you too pull back with them... Slowly floating into the mysts above the haze that Aryth has made for you. Finally a pillow on the land that you can now rest. Tomorrow you can reflect on what these images and dreams mean... Unless you want to go back for more tonight!!'' <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> '''(ie. you are welcome to ask questions or try to change the points of view of your Seer visions, if you like)'''<br /> &lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> == Questions ==<br /> <br /> 1) Here's a big one. The first time you told me about the [[Midnight_RPG_-_Chapter_14.88#v4|fourth vision,]] it wasn't clear that Vrolk had actually SEEN Radagug and his dogs. Is that the case? Or is at least clear that he knows they're there?<br /> <br /> 2) I would like to ask Eranon if he has in fact heard the story about the Shadow-Clutch and the dwarf who held them off. I'm not sure whether to create a new bluebook for this or just to handle it email-wise, since even if Eranon knows it, both Steve and I will be hearing it for the first time...<br /> <br /> 3) In the [[Midnight_RPG_-_Chapter_14.88#v2|second vision,]] I'd like to get as good a look at the Legates as I can. Do they have visible holy symbols anywhere on them? If so, are they traditional symbols of Izrador, or Vrolk's weird new emblem?<br /> <br /> 4) Also, are the legates (other than Kyuad's friend) the same ones that I saw up at the top of the Spire, with Krell and Diero, a few days back?<br /> <br /> 5) Speaking of which: It sounded like we were hoping for a minimum of 24 hours of downtime at the top of the spire, which means I can use the Seer abilities I exhausted during the previous day. Specifically, sometime when nobody else is around (I'm sleeping alone up on the upper deck, so I should be able to get some time in), I would like to take that thing out of my bag ... the thing that I thought was the Cadaverous Eye ... and use Seer Sight on it, to try and review its last six days. In addition to maybe finding out what it is, I'm hoping that I may be able to get some idea of what Vrolk was doing around here in the hours and days leading up to his departure. HOWEVER: Before I even take it out of my bag, I'm going to do an Augury to see whether or not something horrible will happen if I do. I'm afraid of this thing, which will be all the more amusing if it just turns out to be a paperweight or something. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> [[Midnight: North &amp; South Portal]]</div>

Elvisrex https://wiki.rpg.net/index.php?title=Midnight_RPG_-_Chapter_14.88&diff=50349 2007-05-03T22:03:40Z

<p>Elvisrex: /* Questions */</p> <hr /> <div>== Kevin ==<br /> [''This recaps the visions/dreams that Durgaz had in the Laboratory of Vrolk, in the Obsidian Spire. I will try to capture all the information I noted to you in-person. Please NOTE if I miss something. You are WELCOME to ask questions, or try to &quot;interact&quot; with any of the visions to learn more as you have in the past. Just ask.'']<br /> <br /> <br /> As you pull your weery hide up to the open-sky chamber, the crown level on the Black Nail, you feed week. The others that may wish to sleep beneath the stars havenpt found their way up to the tip of the Spire as yet... Giving you time to breath, time to relax and let your guard down, if only for a few minutes. <br /> <br /> <br /> You haven't been able to do so in weeks. The visions, they are coming outside of your dreams these days. It seems '''&quot;the Vile&quot;''' has found a way into your head. Only ONE OTHER has breeched your minds-armors, ...could this elf be compared to God? ...or rather, NOT &quot;God&quot; but '''&quot;the Bain of All Mother&quot;'''? For THAT &quot;god&quot; is not yours any longer... yet sometimes your tongue slips... a few dozen years beneath '''&quot;the Shadow in the North&quot;''' makes hard and fast habits no matter how far away from the Shadow-gaze you grow.<br /> <br /> <br /> They (thinking down to your companions) know NOTHING of suffering! They know NOTHING of fear or hate or loathing... Eranon, the only friend you have save Walden is of elf-kind... He cannot know. He knows love, he knows the hearth, he knows kin, kith and kind. He may have offer sympathy for the chill you face nightly, but he does not know... The others, they are human. And though they have found their hearts long hidden from them by Shadow, they know nothing of lose. Their ancestors may know what they had that was taken when the Shadow fell, but that was before them, before their father's fathers... They fight for myth and legend. They donot even know what it is to live free... Nor can their hearts know what it is to have a home, to know your family or friends will not forsake you in the face of the Shadow... They cannot know the Shadow's volcanic embrace or how cold it is to be without it... They know nothing.<br /> <br /> <br /> For all you have gained with freedom, you were a son of Orc... for all you have gained you gave up tenfold.<br /> <br /> WHY?!?? Why did you do it?... Why did you believe that life beyond the Shadow would be a better one?? <br /> <br /> It has given nothing but pain and more lose. Why do you fight it brother? Why not go home?...<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> NO!<br /> <br /> That is NOT who you are anymore.<br /> <br /> You are among those the ShadowWall... Walden... called friend.<br /> <br /> You are Durgaz, the mirror-breaker. <br /> <br /> And you will have your vengance!<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> But not tonight. Not for these too few hours. These moments are yours. And to whatever god is out there you can but hold hope that Aryth doesn't ask for your allegiance... to...nigh...t.... '''[as you drift off to sleep]'''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> As Durgaz head rests on the pack of the armor bits he has recently sequestered from the laboratory below. Your mind drifts into unconciousness. But your wish cannot come to pass... For all the torment that &quot;the Vile&quot; has twisted in your mind of late, the dreams still come. Aryth herself calls out to you. And with that you feel the hate recend, to be replaced with conviction. For in the times when your sleep is not interupted by constant images of fear and hate, the other moments are frought with a peace - but it is a peace that comes with great cost.<br /> <br /> That COST is what drove you mad. It drove you to flee the Shadow's hold. It drove you to be alone. At the same time it comforts your sleep, giving you full rest - it requests something of you... What that is, must be your journey to uncover.<br /> <br /> Go with the peace now as the cool breeze and cloud-cover fade, showing you scenes sometimes near, yet somethings far-away in both time and space.............<br /> <br /> == Durgaz ==<br /> <br /> Fear and hate and madness are the shackles in which the Shadow binds us. But we are taught not to see the chains, just the layers of tempered steel that shield us from the Fey and the sons of Man, who would rise up and kill us all if given just half a chance.<br /> <br /> I know all this, and it does not stop me from thinking this way on some nights when the stars disappear and I am left alone with only the dark to keep me company. I call these folk my friends and companions, and still sometimes I must fight the impulse to smash one across the face for raising his gaze to mine. There is still an ember of Shadow buried somewhere in my mind that cannot be extinguished, and it is my charge to make sure that it is forever kept free of the tinder that would make it a flame.<br /> <br /> I believed that my visions were infallible, that they could not mislead. I was wrong. I may see where others cannot, and know the consequences of actions before they happen, but it is I who chooses what to do with that knowledge. My mistakes are my own, and that is both my weakness and my strength.<br /> <br /> I am a weapon, turned back on he who forged it. I am a shield, protecting those who cannot protect themselves. But most of all, I am a free orc. <br /> <br /> That is what separates me from my brothers. Someday, perhaps very soon, we will all die. They will die and be forgotten, a thousand faceless slaves conscripted to murder in the Shadow's name. But I will live forever as a part of every life I have helped to save, even though nobody will remember my name. Then I will have ''earned'' the right to rest.<br /> <br /> &lt;span id=&quot;v1&quot;&gt;<br /> ===the WHITE-WORM &amp; his horde===<br /> ['''10 DAYS AGO''']: A toad croaks sitting on a slippery rock amid the moor, given the name Worgren. It flows to a shallow from the Erenriver, at the base of the Eren River Valley. It is a place that you've marched through many times. The story was not more than a year ago this day that a lone Dwarf faced off with a '''Shadow-Clutch''' in that very spot. The foolish Dwarf had little hope against the giants, but it was his mantle to hold them so that dozens of villages would live. It is rumored he was envoy to the Witch Queen... But that is a fable for sure, perhaps Eranon would know this tale? No matter... In the night the toad has little time to flee when the foul muck-ridden heel of another such '''&quot;Clutch&quot;''' tramples its scaley hide into the moors.<br /> <br /> On that night an army run across Worgren's Moor in Shadow's haste. The brutes are some 150 strong. Six dozen Orc-brothers, made up of seemingly as many tribes sprint in fear of being overtaken by their own battlegroup following on their heels behind! The proud pestilence of the Uruk stomp out all life that takes its time to slow before their mad march. The human mercenaries call them a &quot;Shadow-Clutch&quot;, they are 75 motherless killers that hunt until their hunt is done...<br /> <br /> At the front of the column rallying moreso that leading at this point is the orc called - Talûn-karkû, the White-Worm... He would eat your heart were he to find you. He calls out to the Clutch...<br /> <br /> '''''&quot;YOU HAVE NOT YET BEGUN TO SUFFER, YOU MOTHER-LESS DOGS! BEFORE YOU IS PAIN AND BEHIND YOU IS DEATH, CHOOSE AND IF YOUR MIND IS WISE YOU WILL DINE ON THE FLESH OF TRAITOR MY BROTHERS!!!'''''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''The haze of blood-soaked memory pulls over the marching of your orc brotherhood. For a moment you see the stars and then feel compelled to look back to Aryth...''<br /> &lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;span id=&quot;v2&quot;&gt;<br /> ===VROLK the Vile &amp; his Spire-Guard===<br /> ['''1 DAY OR LESS AGO''']: As the cloud parts, you overlook a site that would be serene were you to not fully understand the inhabitants... A campsite, near a stone alter not unlike the one the human Thorton called &quot;Satan Rock&quot;. You know this place. You passed by it when fleeing to save the human's life. At best recollection it is about 5-6 days travel (walking) into the swamps of the Dead Marshes, similarly some 5-6 days from the Worgren Moor.<br /> <br /> But this time the swamp is infested with Shadow. Orc tents scatter across the area beyond the alter. Although the stars are not shining brightly in the skys on these recent nights, at best count their are 100-150 tents... 1-3 orc may reside in each, tents are not the custom of your orc brothers, but these are not brothers. These orc are of the Vile. You can see that from the strange bastardized holy symbols that you recall encroaching on the spot of the natural mirror that you destroyed not long ago. And the black tents remain. Some 3-4 of these, that you assume to be of higher station. Humans in dark robes walk about them. Women of human and halfling kind pleasure these dark Legates in the night. One of the three Legate men enjoys the company of male boys. Twisted is their natures... The one that is Kyuad's friend treats his women with pain, as screems of whip beating hate carene from his tent.<br /> <br /> Apart from the smell of the orc horde their master meditates. The Vile sits in the center of the stone rock, that acts to focus his prayers. The elf appears veral and content, he awaits something. He shoots only a deathly glance as an orc troop has the audacity to question when the camp would move... Vrolk knows... they have found their place in the world and they would wait... For Jahzir has likely found him out by now. It would be on this place of power that he would commune with the Dark. If he be worthy his men would hold off the horde while his goal be achieved!!<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''Again the haze takes you. For another moment of relief you see the stars and then back to Aryth below...''<br /> &lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;span id=&quot;v3&quot;&gt;<br /> ===the WHITE-WORM &amp; his horde===<br /> ['''NOW''']: The moon has been eaten by the sky this night! Talûn-karkû's &quot;men&quot; continue their march. Seven villages have met their makers as the band acts as much the part of ghouls or locust devourering the country-side. The Worm's orc troop have fared better than he expected... Less than two dozen have been evicerated at the hands of the Uruk that roar at their backs! THIS was the truth of things the White-Worm would say, on such marches... Those that made the final battle at the end of such a tear where those that deserved to find glory! It is as nature demands!!<br /> <br /> <br /> '''''&quot;ONWARD BROTHERS, PUT SNOUT INTO THE WIND! CAN YOU SMELL IT?!?!! ELF-FLESH!! THE VILE GROWS NEARER WITH EVER STEP. WHEN WE STOP, WE WILL HAVE THE PRIEST'S FLESH, AND IT WILL BE GLORIOUS - ON THE FULL MOON BROTHERS WE DINE ON JAHZIR'S TRAITOR!!&quot;'''''<br /> <br /> <br /> And for the first time in years the commander of Durgaz's youth smiles, his fangs stained with blood as his troop continue full bore into the hapless maelgral that wander the boundries of the City of Dead... For this is Cambrial's district that his Dafrum-Dâgalûr now plunge into! The orc and uruk alive make merry in the torturing of the dead, but they do not have the luxury of languishing in their kills... if you can call them that. This would be the practice the Worm feared his men would be lacking. With weeks behind them and nearly a week more in front - he may have wondered if his troop would be slow to act...<br /> <br /> For wrath and ruin. <br /> <br /> For fear of Shadow's dawn.<br /> <br /> They are NOT.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''The clouds cover your eyes... This time the fog lifts from behind the stalkers in the dark...''<br /> &lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;span id=&quot;v4&quot;&gt;<br /> ===RADAGUG &amp; his Dogs===<br /> ['''NOW''']: And in the same instant that his commander tears across the Cambrial country-side, another orc makes his way to the point of his troop's mission. A goblin snicker swells up, but is beaten down before it can be heard in the camp beyond. The branching leaves of the jungle swamp give way as a dozen or more of the lowly servants of Izrador make their way through the muck and up next to the cold alabaster stone of the alter in the night.<br /> <br /> Radagug, snorts - sounding more like a hedge hog than an orc. It is his way... He then lets free a fumey smell as he forces himself to vomit, holding the disgust in his mouth for a moment before lapping it back down into his gullet. The &quot;sniffers&quot; smell their orders and those that donot have that talent follow the grunt of their orcen master. <br /> <br /> His fellow orc think him weak. But even Radagug is more than a match for the mongrels that make up the camp beyond the stone alter...<br /> <br /> But that is not his goal. Is the Vile here? A dozen goblins creep around the alter watching the elf from the dark. They take comfort that the elf does not erupt to call his guards. They believe their scouting mission is a success... From behind Vrolk's spot of meditation they confirm their mission, then recede... They believe they have not been seen.<br /> <br /> They are wrong.<br /> <br /> And the Vile's lip curls. It would be only a short time before the Full Moon...<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''As Radagug's Dogs retreat to rejoin the White-Worm, you too pull back with them... Slowly floating into the mysts above the haze that Aryth has made for you. Finally a pillow on the land that you can now rest. Tomorrow you can reflect on what these images and dreams mean... Unless you want to go back for more tonight!!'' <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> '''(ie. you are welcome to ask questions or try to change the points of view of your Seer visions, if you like)'''<br /> &lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> == Questions ==<br /> <br /> 1) Here's a big one. The first time you told me about the [[Midnight_RPG_-_Chapter_14.88#v4|fourth vision,]] it wasn't clear that Vrolk had actually SEEN Radagug and his dogs. Is that the case? Or is at least clear that he knows they're there?<br /> <br /> 2) In the [[Midnight_RPG_-_Chapter_14.88#v2|second vision,]] I'd like to get as good a look at the Legates as I can. Do they have visible holy symbols anywhere on them? If so, are they traditional symbols of Izrador, or Vrolk's weird new emblem?<br /> <br /> 3) Also, are the legates (other than Kyuad's friend) the same ones that I saw up at the top of the Spire, with Krell and Diero, a few days back?<br /> <br /> 4) Speaking of which: It sounded like we were hoping for a minimum of 24 hours of downtime at the top of the spire, which means I can use the Seer abilities I exhausted during the previous day. Specifically, sometime when nobody else is around (I'm sleeping alone up on the upper deck, so I should be able to get some time in), I would like to take that thing out of my bag ... the thing that I thought was the Cadaverous Eye ... and use Seer Sight on it, to try and review its last six days. In addition to maybe finding out what it is, I'm hoping that I may be able to get some idea of what Vrolk was doing around here in the hours and days leading up to his departure. HOWEVER: Before I even take it out of my bag, I'm going to do an Augury to see whether or not something horrible will happen if I do. I'm afraid of this thing, which will be all the more amusing if it just turns out to be a paperweight or something. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> [[Midnight: North &amp; South Portal]]</div>

Elvisrex https://wiki.rpg.net/index.php?title=Midnight_RPG_-_Chapter_14.88&diff=50347 2007-05-03T21:53:15Z

<p>Elvisrex: /* Questions */</p> <hr /> <div>== Kevin ==<br /> [''This recaps the visions/dreams that Durgaz had in the Laboratory of Vrolk, in the Obsidian Spire. I will try to capture all the information I noted to you in-person. Please NOTE if I miss something. You are WELCOME to ask questions, or try to &quot;interact&quot; with any of the visions to learn more as you have in the past. Just ask.'']<br /> <br /> <br /> As you pull your weery hide up to the open-sky chamber, the crown level on the Black Nail, you feed week. The others that may wish to sleep beneath the stars havenpt found their way up to the tip of the Spire as yet... Giving you time to breath, time to relax and let your guard down, if only for a few minutes. <br /> <br /> <br /> You haven't been able to do so in weeks. The visions, they are coming outside of your dreams these days. It seems '''&quot;the Vile&quot;''' has found a way into your head. Only ONE OTHER has breeched your minds-armors, ...could this elf be compared to God? ...or rather, NOT &quot;God&quot; but '''&quot;the Bain of All Mother&quot;'''? For THAT &quot;god&quot; is not yours any longer... yet sometimes your tongue slips... a few dozen years beneath '''&quot;the Shadow in the North&quot;''' makes hard and fast habits no matter how far away from the Shadow-gaze you grow.<br /> <br /> <br /> They (thinking down to your companions) know NOTHING of suffering! They know NOTHING of fear or hate or loathing... Eranon, the only friend you have save Walden is of elf-kind... He cannot know. He knows love, he knows the hearth, he knows kin, kith and kind. He may have offer sympathy for the chill you face nightly, but he does not know... The others, they are human. And though they have found their hearts long hidden from them by Shadow, they know nothing of lose. Their ancestors may know what they had that was taken when the Shadow fell, but that was before them, before their father's fathers... They fight for myth and legend. They donot even know what it is to live free... Nor can their hearts know what it is to have a home, to know your family or friends will not forsake you in the face of the Shadow... They cannot know the Shadow's volcanic embrace or how cold it is to be without it... They know nothing.<br /> <br /> <br /> For all you have gained with freedom, you were a son of Orc... for all you have gained you gave up tenfold.<br /> <br /> WHY?!?? Why did you do it?... Why did you believe that life beyond the Shadow would be a better one?? <br /> <br /> It has given nothing but pain and more lose. Why do you fight it brother? Why not go home?...<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> NO!<br /> <br /> That is NOT who you are anymore.<br /> <br /> You are among those the ShadowWall... Walden... called friend.<br /> <br /> You are Durgaz, the mirror-breaker. <br /> <br /> And you will have your vengance!<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> But not tonight. Not for these too few hours. These moments are yours. And to whatever god is out there you can but hold hope that Aryth doesn't ask for your allegiance... to...nigh...t.... '''[as you drift off to sleep]'''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> As Durgaz head rests on the pack of the armor bits he has recently sequestered from the laboratory below. Your mind drifts into unconciousness. But your wish cannot come to pass... For all the torment that &quot;the Vile&quot; has twisted in your mind of late, the dreams still come. Aryth herself calls out to you. And with that you feel the hate recend, to be replaced with conviction. For in the times when your sleep is not interupted by constant images of fear and hate, the other moments are frought with a peace - but it is a peace that comes with great cost.<br /> <br /> That COST is what drove you mad. It drove you to flee the Shadow's hold. It drove you to be alone. At the same time it comforts your sleep, giving you full rest - it requests something of you... What that is, must be your journey to uncover.<br /> <br /> Go with the peace now as the cool breeze and cloud-cover fade, showing you scenes sometimes near, yet somethings far-away in both time and space.............<br /> <br /> == Durgaz ==<br /> <br /> Fear and hate and madness are the shackles in which the Shadow binds us. But we are taught not to see the chains, just the layers of tempered steel that shield us from the Fey and the sons of Man, who would rise up and kill us all if given just half a chance.<br /> <br /> I know all this, and it does not stop me from thinking this way on some nights when the stars disappear and I am left alone with only the dark to keep me company. I call these folk my friends and companions, and still sometimes I must fight the impulse to smash one across the face for raising his gaze to mine. There is still an ember of Shadow buried somewhere in my mind that cannot be extinguished, and it is my charge to make sure that it is forever kept free of the tinder that would make it a flame.<br /> <br /> I believed that my visions were infallible, that they could not mislead. I was wrong. I may see where others cannot, and know the consequences of actions before they happen, but it is I who chooses what to do with that knowledge. My mistakes are my own, and that is both my weakness and my strength.<br /> <br /> I am a weapon, turned back on he who forged it. I am a shield, protecting those who cannot protect themselves. But most of all, I am a free orc. <br /> <br /> That is what separates me from my brothers. Someday, perhaps very soon, we will all die. They will die and be forgotten, a thousand faceless slaves conscripted to murder in the Shadow's name. But I will live forever as a part of every life I have helped to save, even though nobody will remember my name. Then I will have ''earned'' the right to rest.<br /> <br /> &lt;span id=&quot;v1&quot;&gt;<br /> ===the WHITE-WORM &amp; his horde===<br /> ['''10 DAYS AGO''']: A toad croaks sitting on a slippery rock amid the moor, given the name Worgren. It flows to a shallow from the Erenriver, at the base of the Eren River Valley. It is a place that you've marched through many times. The story was not more than a year ago this day that a lone Dwarf faced off with a '''Shadow-Clutch''' in that very spot. The foolish Dwarf had little hope against the giants, but it was his mantle to hold them so that dozens of villages would live. It is rumored he was envoy to the Witch Queen... But that is a fable for sure, perhaps Eranon would know this tale? No matter... In the night the toad has little time to flee when the foul muck-ridden heel of another such '''&quot;Clutch&quot;''' tramples its scaley hide into the moors.<br /> <br /> On that night an army run across Worgren's Moor in Shadow's haste. The brutes are some 150 strong. Six dozen Orc-brothers, made up of seemingly as many tribes sprint in fear of being overtaken by their own battlegroup following on their heels behind! The proud pestilence of the Uruk stomp out all life that takes its time to slow before their mad march. The human mercenaries call them a &quot;Shadow-Clutch&quot;, they are 75 motherless killers that hunt until their hunt is done...<br /> <br /> At the front of the column rallying moreso that leading at this point is the orc called - Talûn-karkû, the White-Worm... He would eat your heart were he to find you. He calls out to the Clutch...<br /> <br /> '''''&quot;YOU HAVE NOT YET BEGUN TO SUFFER, YOU MOTHER-LESS DOGS! BEFORE YOU IS PAIN AND BEHIND YOU IS DEATH, CHOOSE AND IF YOUR MIND IS WISE YOU WILL DINE ON THE FLESH OF TRAITOR MY BROTHERS!!!'''''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''The haze of blood-soaked memory pulls over the marching of your orc brotherhood. For a moment you see the stars and then feel compelled to look back to Aryth...''<br /> &lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;span id=&quot;v2&quot;&gt;<br /> ===VROLK the Vile &amp; his Spire-Guard===<br /> ['''1 DAY OR LESS AGO''']: As the cloud parts, you overlook a site that would be serene were you to not fully understand the inhabitants... A campsite, near a stone alter not unlike the one the human Thorton called &quot;Satan Rock&quot;. You know this place. You passed by it when fleeing to save the human's life. At best recollection it is about 5-6 days travel (walking) into the swamps of the Dead Marshes, similarly some 5-6 days from the Worgren Moor.<br /> <br /> But this time the swamp is infested with Shadow. Orc tents scatter across the area beyond the alter. Although the stars are not shining brightly in the skys on these recent nights, at best count their are 100-150 tents... 1-3 orc may reside in each, tents are not the custom of your orc brothers, but these are not brothers. These orc are of the Vile. You can see that from the strange bastardized holy symbols that you recall encroaching on the spot of the natural mirror that you destroyed not long ago. And the black tents remain. Some 3-4 of these, that you assume to be of higher station. Humans in dark robes walk about them. Women of human and halfling kind pleasure these dark Legates in the night. One of the three Legate men enjoys the company of male boys. Twisted is their natures... The one that is Kyuad's friend treats his women with pain, as screems of whip beating hate carene from his tent.<br /> <br /> Apart from the smell of the orc horde their master meditates. The Vile sits in the center of the stone rock, that acts to focus his prayers. The elf appears veral and content, he awaits something. He shoots only a deathly glance as an orc troop has the audacity to question when the camp would move... Vrolk knows... they have found their place in the world and they would wait... For Jahzir has likely found him out by now. It would be on this place of power that he would commune with the Dark. If he be worthy his men would hold off the horde while his goal be achieved!!<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''Again the haze takes you. For another moment of relief you see the stars and then back to Aryth below...''<br /> &lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;span id=&quot;v3&quot;&gt;<br /> ===the WHITE-WORM &amp; his horde===<br /> ['''NOW''']: The moon has been eaten by the sky this night! Talûn-karkû's &quot;men&quot; continue their march. Seven villages have met their makers as the band acts as much the part of ghouls or locust devourering the country-side. The Worm's orc troop have fared better than he expected... Less than two dozen have been evicerated at the hands of the Uruk that roar at their backs! THIS was the truth of things the White-Worm would say, on such marches... Those that made the final battle at the end of such a tear where those that deserved to find glory! It is as nature demands!!<br /> <br /> <br /> '''''&quot;ONWARD BROTHERS, PUT SNOUT INTO THE WIND! CAN YOU SMELL IT?!?!! ELF-FLESH!! THE VILE GROWS NEARER WITH EVER STEP. WHEN WE STOP, WE WILL HAVE THE PRIEST'S FLESH, AND IT WILL BE GLORIOUS - ON THE FULL MOON BROTHERS WE DINE ON JAHZIR'S TRAITOR!!&quot;'''''<br /> <br /> <br /> And for the first time in years the commander of Durgaz's youth smiles, his fangs stained with blood as his troop continue full bore into the hapless maelgral that wander the boundries of the City of Dead... For this is Cambrial's district that his Dafrum-Dâgalûr now plunge into! The orc and uruk alive make merry in the torturing of the dead, but they do not have the luxury of languishing in their kills... if you can call them that. This would be the practice the Worm feared his men would be lacking. With weeks behind them and nearly a week more in front - he may have wondered if his troop would be slow to act...<br /> <br /> For wrath and ruin. <br /> <br /> For fear of Shadow's dawn.<br /> <br /> They are NOT.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''The clouds cover your eyes... This time the fog lifts from behind the stalkers in the dark...''<br /> &lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;span id=&quot;v4&quot;&gt;<br /> ===RADAGUG &amp; his Dogs===<br /> ['''NOW''']: And in the same instant that his commander tears across the Cambrial country-side, another orc makes his way to the point of his troop's mission. A goblin snicker swells up, but is beaten down before it can be heard in the camp beyond. The branching leaves of the jungle swamp give way as a dozen or more of the lowly servants of Izrador make their way through the muck and up next to the cold alabaster stone of the alter in the night.<br /> <br /> Radagug, snorts - sounding more like a hedge hog than an orc. It is his way... He then lets free a fumey smell as he forces himself to vomit, holding the disgust in his mouth for a moment before lapping it back down into his gullet. The &quot;sniffers&quot; smell their orders and those that donot have that talent follow the grunt of their orcen master. <br /> <br /> His fellow orc think him weak. But even Radagug is more than a match for the mongrels that make up the camp beyond the stone alter...<br /> <br /> But that is not his goal. Is the Vile here? A dozen goblins creep around the alter watching the elf from the dark. They take comfort that the elf does not erupt to call his guards. They believe their scouting mission is a success... From behind Vrolk's spot of meditation they confirm their mission, then recede... They believe they have not been seen.<br /> <br /> They are wrong.<br /> <br /> And the Vile's lip curls. It would be only a short time before the Full Moon...<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''As Radagug's Dogs retreat to rejoin the White-Worm, you too pull back with them... Slowly floating into the mysts above the haze that Aryth has made for you. Finally a pillow on the land that you can now rest. Tomorrow you can reflect on what these images and dreams mean... Unless you want to go back for more tonight!!'' <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> '''(ie. you are welcome to ask questions or try to change the points of view of your Seer visions, if you like)'''<br /> &lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> == Questions ==<br /> <br /> 1) Here's a big one. The first time you told me about the [[Midnight_RPG_-_Chapter_14.88#v4|fourth vision,]] it wasn't clear that Vrolk had actually SEEN Radagug and his dogs. Is that the case? Or is at least clear that he knows they're there?<br /> <br /> 2) In the [[Midnight_RPG_-_Chapter_14.88#v2|second vision,]] I'd like to get as good a look at the Legates as I can. Do they have visible holy symbols anywhere on them? If so, are they traditional symbols of Izrador, or Vrolk's weird new emblem?<br /> <br /> 3) Also, are the legates (other than Kyuad's friend) the same ones that I saw up at the top of the Spire, with Krell and Diero, a few days back?<br /> <br /> ----<br /> [[Midnight: North &amp; South Portal]]</div>

Elvisrex https://wiki.rpg.net/index.php?title=Midnight_RPG_-_Chapter_14.88&diff=50346 2007-05-03T21:49:30Z

<p>Elvisrex: /* Questions */</p> <hr /> <div>== Kevin ==<br /> [''This recaps the visions/dreams that Durgaz had in the Laboratory of Vrolk, in the Obsidian Spire. I will try to capture all the information I noted to you in-person. Please NOTE if I miss something. You are WELCOME to ask questions, or try to &quot;interact&quot; with any of the visions to learn more as you have in the past. Just ask.'']<br /> <br /> <br /> As you pull your weery hide up to the open-sky chamber, the crown level on the Black Nail, you feed week. The others that may wish to sleep beneath the stars havenpt found their way up to the tip of the Spire as yet... Giving you time to breath, time to relax and let your guard down, if only for a few minutes. <br /> <br /> <br /> You haven't been able to do so in weeks. The visions, they are coming outside of your dreams these days. It seems '''&quot;the Vile&quot;''' has found a way into your head. Only ONE OTHER has breeched your minds-armors, ...could this elf be compared to God? ...or rather, NOT &quot;God&quot; but '''&quot;the Bain of All Mother&quot;'''? For THAT &quot;god&quot; is not yours any longer... yet sometimes your tongue slips... a few dozen years beneath '''&quot;the Shadow in the North&quot;''' makes hard and fast habits no matter how far away from the Shadow-gaze you grow.<br /> <br /> <br /> They (thinking down to your companions) know NOTHING of suffering! They know NOTHING of fear or hate or loathing... Eranon, the only friend you have save Walden is of elf-kind... He cannot know. He knows love, he knows the hearth, he knows kin, kith and kind. He may have offer sympathy for the chill you face nightly, but he does not know... The others, they are human. And though they have found their hearts long hidden from them by Shadow, they know nothing of lose. Their ancestors may know what they had that was taken when the Shadow fell, but that was before them, before their father's fathers... They fight for myth and legend. They donot even know what it is to live free... Nor can their hearts know what it is to have a home, to know your family or friends will not forsake you in the face of the Shadow... They cannot know the Shadow's volcanic embrace or how cold it is to be without it... They know nothing.<br /> <br /> <br /> For all you have gained with freedom, you were a son of Orc... for all you have gained you gave up tenfold.<br /> <br /> WHY?!?? Why did you do it?... Why did you believe that life beyond the Shadow would be a better one?? <br /> <br /> It has given nothing but pain and more lose. Why do you fight it brother? Why not go home?...<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> NO!<br /> <br /> That is NOT who you are anymore.<br /> <br /> You are among those the ShadowWall... Walden... called friend.<br /> <br /> You are Durgaz, the mirror-breaker. <br /> <br /> And you will have your vengance!<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> But not tonight. Not for these too few hours. These moments are yours. And to whatever god is out there you can but hold hope that Aryth doesn't ask for your allegiance... to...nigh...t.... '''[as you drift off to sleep]'''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> As Durgaz head rests on the pack of the armor bits he has recently sequestered from the laboratory below. Your mind drifts into unconciousness. But your wish cannot come to pass... For all the torment that &quot;the Vile&quot; has twisted in your mind of late, the dreams still come. Aryth herself calls out to you. And with that you feel the hate recend, to be replaced with conviction. For in the times when your sleep is not interupted by constant images of fear and hate, the other moments are frought with a peace - but it is a peace that comes with great cost.<br /> <br /> That COST is what drove you mad. It drove you to flee the Shadow's hold. It drove you to be alone. At the same time it comforts your sleep, giving you full rest - it requests something of you... What that is, must be your journey to uncover.<br /> <br /> Go with the peace now as the cool breeze and cloud-cover fade, showing you scenes sometimes near, yet somethings far-away in both time and space.............<br /> <br /> == Durgaz ==<br /> <br /> Fear and hate and madness are the shackles in which the Shadow binds us. But we are taught not to see the chains, just the layers of tempered steel that shield us from the Fey and the sons of Man, who would rise up and kill us all if given just half a chance.<br /> <br /> I know all this, and it does not stop me from thinking this way on some nights when the stars disappear and I am left alone with only the dark to keep me company. I call these folk my friends and companions, and still sometimes I must fight the impulse to smash one across the face for raising his gaze to mine. There is still an ember of Shadow buried somewhere in my mind that cannot be extinguished, and it is my charge to make sure that it is forever kept free of the tinder that would make it a flame.<br /> <br /> I believed that my visions were infallible, that they could not mislead. I was wrong. I may see where others cannot, and know the consequences of actions before they happen, but it is I who chooses what to do with that knowledge. My mistakes are my own, and that is both my weakness and my strength.<br /> <br /> I am a weapon, turned back on he who forged it. I am a shield, protecting those who cannot protect themselves. But most of all, I am a free orc. <br /> <br /> That is what separates me from my brothers. Someday, perhaps very soon, we will all die. They will die and be forgotten, a thousand faceless slaves conscripted to murder in the Shadow's name. But I will live forever as a part of every life I have helped to save, even though nobody will remember my name. Then I will have ''earned'' the right to rest.<br /> <br /> &lt;span id=&quot;v1&quot;&gt;<br /> ===the WHITE-WORM &amp; his horde===<br /> ['''10 DAYS AGO''']: A toad croaks sitting on a slippery rock amid the moor, given the name Worgren. It flows to a shallow from the Erenriver, at the base of the Eren River Valley. It is a place that you've marched through many times. The story was not more than a year ago this day that a lone Dwarf faced off with a '''Shadow-Clutch''' in that very spot. The foolish Dwarf had little hope against the giants, but it was his mantle to hold them so that dozens of villages would live. It is rumored he was envoy to the Witch Queen... But that is a fable for sure, perhaps Eranon would know this tale? No matter... In the night the toad has little time to flee when the foul muck-ridden heel of another such '''&quot;Clutch&quot;''' tramples its scaley hide into the moors.<br /> <br /> On that night an army run across Worgren's Moor in Shadow's haste. The brutes are some 150 strong. Six dozen Orc-brothers, made up of seemingly as many tribes sprint in fear of being overtaken by their own battlegroup following on their heels behind! The proud pestilence of the Uruk stomp out all life that takes its time to slow before their mad march. The human mercenaries call them a &quot;Shadow-Clutch&quot;, they are 75 motherless killers that hunt until their hunt is done...<br /> <br /> At the front of the column rallying moreso that leading at this point is the orc called - Talûn-karkû, the White-Worm... He would eat your heart were he to find you. He calls out to the Clutch...<br /> <br /> '''''&quot;YOU HAVE NOT YET BEGUN TO SUFFER, YOU MOTHER-LESS DOGS! BEFORE YOU IS PAIN AND BEHIND YOU IS DEATH, CHOOSE AND IF YOUR MIND IS WISE YOU WILL DINE ON THE FLESH OF TRAITOR MY BROTHERS!!!'''''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''The haze of blood-soaked memory pulls over the marching of your orc brotherhood. For a moment you see the stars and then feel compelled to look back to Aryth...''<br /> &lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;span id=&quot;v2&quot;&gt;<br /> ===VROLK the Vile &amp; his Spire-Guard===<br /> ['''1 DAY OR LESS AGO''']: As the cloud parts, you overlook a site that would be serene were you to not fully understand the inhabitants... A campsite, near a stone alter not unlike the one the human Thorton called &quot;Satan Rock&quot;. You know this place. You passed by it when fleeing to save the human's life. At best recollection it is about 5-6 days travel (walking) into the swamps of the Dead Marshes, similarly some 5-6 days from the Worgren Moor.<br /> <br /> But this time the swamp is infested with Shadow. Orc tents scatter across the area beyond the alter. Although the stars are not shining brightly in the skys on these recent nights, at best count their are 100-150 tents... 1-3 orc may reside in each, tents are not the custom of your orc brothers, but these are not brothers. These orc are of the Vile. You can see that from the strange bastardized holy symbols that you recall encroaching on the spot of the natural mirror that you destroyed not long ago. And the black tents remain. Some 3-4 of these, that you assume to be of higher station. Humans in dark robes walk about them. Women of human and halfling kind pleasure these dark Legates in the night. One of the three Legate men enjoys the company of male boys. Twisted is their natures... The one that is Kyuad's friend treats his women with pain, as screems of whip beating hate carene from his tent.<br /> <br /> Apart from the smell of the orc horde their master meditates. The Vile sits in the center of the stone rock, that acts to focus his prayers. The elf appears veral and content, he awaits something. He shoots only a deathly glance as an orc troop has the audacity to question when the camp would move... Vrolk knows... they have found their place in the world and they would wait... For Jahzir has likely found him out by now. It would be on this place of power that he would commune with the Dark. If he be worthy his men would hold off the horde while his goal be achieved!!<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''Again the haze takes you. For another moment of relief you see the stars and then back to Aryth below...''<br /> &lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;span id=&quot;v3&quot;&gt;<br /> ===the WHITE-WORM &amp; his horde===<br /> ['''NOW''']: The moon has been eaten by the sky this night! Talûn-karkû's &quot;men&quot; continue their march. Seven villages have met their makers as the band acts as much the part of ghouls or locust devourering the country-side. The Worm's orc troop have fared better than he expected... Less than two dozen have been evicerated at the hands of the Uruk that roar at their backs! THIS was the truth of things the White-Worm would say, on such marches... Those that made the final battle at the end of such a tear where those that deserved to find glory! It is as nature demands!!<br /> <br /> <br /> '''''&quot;ONWARD BROTHERS, PUT SNOUT INTO THE WIND! CAN YOU SMELL IT?!?!! ELF-FLESH!! THE VILE GROWS NEARER WITH EVER STEP. WHEN WE STOP, WE WILL HAVE THE PRIEST'S FLESH, AND IT WILL BE GLORIOUS - ON THE FULL MOON BROTHERS WE DINE ON JAHZIR'S TRAITOR!!&quot;'''''<br /> <br /> <br /> And for the first time in years the commander of Durgaz's youth smiles, his fangs stained with blood as his troop continue full bore into the hapless maelgral that wander the boundries of the City of Dead... For this is Cambrial's district that his Dafrum-Dâgalûr now plunge into! The orc and uruk alive make merry in the torturing of the dead, but they do not have the luxury of languishing in their kills... if you can call them that. This would be the practice the Worm feared his men would be lacking. With weeks behind them and nearly a week more in front - he may have wondered if his troop would be slow to act...<br /> <br /> For wrath and ruin. <br /> <br /> For fear of Shadow's dawn.<br /> <br /> They are NOT.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''The clouds cover your eyes... This time the fog lifts from behind the stalkers in the dark...''<br /> &lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;span id=&quot;v4&quot;&gt;<br /> ===RADAGUG &amp; his Dogs===<br /> ['''NOW''']: And in the same instant that his commander tears across the Cambrial country-side, another orc makes his way to the point of his troop's mission. A goblin snicker swells up, but is beaten down before it can be heard in the camp beyond. The branching leaves of the jungle swamp give way as a dozen or more of the lowly servants of Izrador make their way through the muck and up next to the cold alabaster stone of the alter in the night.<br /> <br /> Radagug, snorts - sounding more like a hedge hog than an orc. It is his way... He then lets free a fumey smell as he forces himself to vomit, holding the disgust in his mouth for a moment before lapping it back down into his gullet. The &quot;sniffers&quot; smell their orders and those that donot have that talent follow the grunt of their orcen master. <br /> <br /> His fellow orc think him weak. But even Radagug is more than a match for the mongrels that make up the camp beyond the stone alter...<br /> <br /> But that is not his goal. Is the Vile here? A dozen goblins creep around the alter watching the elf from the dark. They take comfort that the elf does not erupt to call his guards. They believe their scouting mission is a success... From behind Vrolk's spot of meditation they confirm their mission, then recede... They believe they have not been seen.<br /> <br /> They are wrong.<br /> <br /> And the Vile's lip curls. It would be only a short time before the Full Moon...<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''As Radagug's Dogs retreat to rejoin the White-Worm, you too pull back with them... Slowly floating into the mysts above the haze that Aryth has made for you. Finally a pillow on the land that you can now rest. Tomorrow you can reflect on what these images and dreams mean... Unless you want to go back for more tonight!!'' <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> '''(ie. you are welcome to ask questions or try to change the points of view of your Seer visions, if you like)'''<br /> &lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> == Questions ==<br /> <br /> 1) Here's a big one. The first time you told me about the [[Midnight_RPG_-_Chapter_14.88#v4|fourth vision,]] it wasn't clear that Vrolk had actually SEEN Radagug and his dogs. Is that the case? Or is at least clear that he knows they're there?<br /> <br /> 2) In the [[Midnight_RPG_-_Chapter_14.88#v2|second vision,]] I'd like to get as good a look at the Legates as I can. Do they have visible holy symbols anywhere on them? If so, are they traditional symbols of Izrador, or Vrolk's weird new emblem?<br /> <br /> ----<br /> [[Midnight: North &amp; South Portal]]</div>

Elvisrex https://wiki.rpg.net/index.php?title=Midnight_RPG_-_Chapter_14.88&diff=50345 2007-05-03T21:39:47Z

<p>Elvisrex: /* Questions */</p> <hr /> <div>== Kevin ==<br /> [''This recaps the visions/dreams that Durgaz had in the Laboratory of Vrolk, in the Obsidian Spire. I will try to capture all the information I noted to you in-person. Please NOTE if I miss something. You are WELCOME to ask questions, or try to &quot;interact&quot; with any of the visions to learn more as you have in the past. Just ask.'']<br /> <br /> <br /> As you pull your weery hide up to the open-sky chamber, the crown level on the Black Nail, you feed week. The others that may wish to sleep beneath the stars havenpt found their way up to the tip of the Spire as yet... Giving you time to breath, time to relax and let your guard down, if only for a few minutes. <br /> <br /> <br /> You haven't been able to do so in weeks. The visions, they are coming outside of your dreams these days. It seems '''&quot;the Vile&quot;''' has found a way into your head. Only ONE OTHER has breeched your minds-armors, ...could this elf be compared to God? ...or rather, NOT &quot;God&quot; but '''&quot;the Bain of All Mother&quot;'''? For THAT &quot;god&quot; is not yours any longer... yet sometimes your tongue slips... a few dozen years beneath '''&quot;the Shadow in the North&quot;''' makes hard and fast habits no matter how far away from the Shadow-gaze you grow.<br /> <br /> <br /> They (thinking down to your companions) know NOTHING of suffering! They know NOTHING of fear or hate or loathing... Eranon, the only friend you have save Walden is of elf-kind... He cannot know. He knows love, he knows the hearth, he knows kin, kith and kind. He may have offer sympathy for the chill you face nightly, but he does not know... The others, they are human. And though they have found their hearts long hidden from them by Shadow, they know nothing of lose. Their ancestors may know what they had that was taken when the Shadow fell, but that was before them, before their father's fathers... They fight for myth and legend. They donot even know what it is to live free... Nor can their hearts know what it is to have a home, to know your family or friends will not forsake you in the face of the Shadow... They cannot know the Shadow's volcanic embrace or how cold it is to be without it... They know nothing.<br /> <br /> <br /> For all you have gained with freedom, you were a son of Orc... for all you have gained you gave up tenfold.<br /> <br /> WHY?!?? Why did you do it?... Why did you believe that life beyond the Shadow would be a better one?? <br /> <br /> It has given nothing but pain and more lose. Why do you fight it brother? Why not go home?...<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> NO!<br /> <br /> That is NOT who you are anymore.<br /> <br /> You are among those the ShadowWall... Walden... called friend.<br /> <br /> You are Durgaz, the mirror-breaker. <br /> <br /> And you will have your vengance!<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> But not tonight. Not for these too few hours. These moments are yours. And to whatever god is out there you can but hold hope that Aryth doesn't ask for your allegiance... to...nigh...t.... '''[as you drift off to sleep]'''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> As Durgaz head rests on the pack of the armor bits he has recently sequestered from the laboratory below. Your mind drifts into unconciousness. But your wish cannot come to pass... For all the torment that &quot;the Vile&quot; has twisted in your mind of late, the dreams still come. Aryth herself calls out to you. And with that you feel the hate recend, to be replaced with conviction. For in the times when your sleep is not interupted by constant images of fear and hate, the other moments are frought with a peace - but it is a peace that comes with great cost.<br /> <br /> That COST is what drove you mad. It drove you to flee the Shadow's hold. It drove you to be alone. At the same time it comforts your sleep, giving you full rest - it requests something of you... What that is, must be your journey to uncover.<br /> <br /> Go with the peace now as the cool breeze and cloud-cover fade, showing you scenes sometimes near, yet somethings far-away in both time and space.............<br /> <br /> == Durgaz ==<br /> <br /> Fear and hate and madness are the shackles in which the Shadow binds us. But we are taught not to see the chains, just the layers of tempered steel that shield us from the Fey and the sons of Man, who would rise up and kill us all if given just half a chance.<br /> <br /> I know all this, and it does not stop me from thinking this way on some nights when the stars disappear and I am left alone with only the dark to keep me company. I call these folk my friends and companions, and still sometimes I must fight the impulse to smash one across the face for raising his gaze to mine. There is still an ember of Shadow buried somewhere in my mind that cannot be extinguished, and it is my charge to make sure that it is forever kept free of the tinder that would make it a flame.<br /> <br /> I believed that my visions were infallible, that they could not mislead. I was wrong. I may see where others cannot, and know the consequences of actions before they happen, but it is I who chooses what to do with that knowledge. My mistakes are my own, and that is both my weakness and my strength.<br /> <br /> I am a weapon, turned back on he who forged it. I am a shield, protecting those who cannot protect themselves. But most of all, I am a free orc. <br /> <br /> That is what separates me from my brothers. Someday, perhaps very soon, we will all die. They will die and be forgotten, a thousand faceless slaves conscripted to murder in the Shadow's name. But I will live forever as a part of every life I have helped to save, even though nobody will remember my name. Then I will have ''earned'' the right to rest.<br /> <br /> &lt;span id=&quot;v1&quot;&gt;<br /> ===the WHITE-WORM &amp; his horde===<br /> ['''10 DAYS AGO''']: A toad croaks sitting on a slippery rock amid the moor, given the name Worgren. It flows to a shallow from the Erenriver, at the base of the Eren River Valley. It is a place that you've marched through many times. The story was not more than a year ago this day that a lone Dwarf faced off with a '''Shadow-Clutch''' in that very spot. The foolish Dwarf had little hope against the giants, but it was his mantle to hold them so that dozens of villages would live. It is rumored he was envoy to the Witch Queen... But that is a fable for sure, perhaps Eranon would know this tale? No matter... In the night the toad has little time to flee when the foul muck-ridden heel of another such '''&quot;Clutch&quot;''' tramples its scaley hide into the moors.<br /> <br /> On that night an army run across Worgren's Moor in Shadow's haste. The brutes are some 150 strong. Six dozen Orc-brothers, made up of seemingly as many tribes sprint in fear of being overtaken by their own battlegroup following on their heels behind! The proud pestilence of the Uruk stomp out all life that takes its time to slow before their mad march. The human mercenaries call them a &quot;Shadow-Clutch&quot;, they are 75 motherless killers that hunt until their hunt is done...<br /> <br /> At the front of the column rallying moreso that leading at this point is the orc called - Talûn-karkû, the White-Worm... He would eat your heart were he to find you. He calls out to the Clutch...<br /> <br /> '''''&quot;YOU HAVE NOT YET BEGUN TO SUFFER, YOU MOTHER-LESS DOGS! BEFORE YOU IS PAIN AND BEHIND YOU IS DEATH, CHOOSE AND IF YOUR MIND IS WISE YOU WILL DINE ON THE FLESH OF TRAITOR MY BROTHERS!!!'''''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''The haze of blood-soaked memory pulls over the marching of your orc brotherhood. For a moment you see the stars and then feel compelled to look back to Aryth...''<br /> &lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;span id=&quot;v2&quot;&gt;<br /> ===VROLK the Vile &amp; his Spire-Guard===<br /> ['''1 DAY OR LESS AGO''']: As the cloud parts, you overlook a site that would be serene were you to not fully understand the inhabitants... A campsite, near a stone alter not unlike the one the human Thorton called &quot;Satan Rock&quot;. You know this place. You passed by it when fleeing to save the human's life. At best recollection it is about 5-6 days travel (walking) into the swamps of the Dead Marshes, similarly some 5-6 days from the Worgren Moor.<br /> <br /> But this time the swamp is infested with Shadow. Orc tents scatter across the area beyond the alter. Although the stars are not shining brightly in the skys on these recent nights, at best count their are 100-150 tents... 1-3 orc may reside in each, tents are not the custom of your orc brothers, but these are not brothers. These orc are of the Vile. You can see that from the strange bastardized holy symbols that you recall encroaching on the spot of the natural mirror that you destroyed not long ago. And the black tents remain. Some 3-4 of these, that you assume to be of higher station. Humans in dark robes walk about them. Women of human and halfling kind pleasure these dark Legates in the night. One of the three Legate men enjoys the company of male boys. Twisted is their natures... The one that is Kyuad's friend treats his women with pain, as screems of whip beating hate carene from his tent.<br /> <br /> Apart from the smell of the orc horde their master meditates. The Vile sits in the center of the stone rock, that acts to focus his prayers. The elf appears veral and content, he awaits something. He shoots only a deathly glance as an orc troop has the audacity to question when the camp would move... Vrolk knows... they have found their place in the world and they would wait... For Jahzir has likely found him out by now. It would be on this place of power that he would commune with the Dark. If he be worthy his men would hold off the horde while his goal be achieved!!<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''Again the haze takes you. For another moment of relief you see the stars and then back to Aryth below...''<br /> &lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;span id=&quot;v3&quot;&gt;<br /> ===the WHITE-WORM &amp; his horde===<br /> ['''NOW''']: The moon has been eaten by the sky this night! Talûn-karkû's &quot;men&quot; continue their march. Seven villages have met their makers as the band acts as much the part of ghouls or locust devourering the country-side. The Worm's orc troop have fared better than he expected... Less than two dozen have been evicerated at the hands of the Uruk that roar at their backs! THIS was the truth of things the White-Worm would say, on such marches... Those that made the final battle at the end of such a tear where those that deserved to find glory! It is as nature demands!!<br /> <br /> <br /> '''''&quot;ONWARD BROTHERS, PUT SNOUT INTO THE WIND! CAN YOU SMELL IT?!?!! ELF-FLESH!! THE VILE GROWS NEARER WITH EVER STEP. WHEN WE STOP, WE WILL HAVE THE PRIEST'S FLESH, AND IT WILL BE GLORIOUS - ON THE FULL MOON BROTHERS WE DINE ON JAHZIR'S TRAITOR!!&quot;'''''<br /> <br /> <br /> And for the first time in years the commander of Durgaz's youth smiles, his fangs stained with blood as his troop continue full bore into the hapless maelgral that wander the boundries of the City of Dead... For this is Cambrial's district that his Dafrum-Dâgalûr now plunge into! The orc and uruk alive make merry in the torturing of the dead, but they do not have the luxury of languishing in their kills... if you can call them that. This would be the practice the Worm feared his men would be lacking. With weeks behind them and nearly a week more in front - he may have wondered if his troop would be slow to act...<br /> <br /> For wrath and ruin. <br /> <br /> For fear of Shadow's dawn.<br /> <br /> They are NOT.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''The clouds cover your eyes... This time the fog lifts from behind the stalkers in the dark...''<br /> &lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;span id=&quot;v4&quot;&gt;<br /> ===RADAGUG &amp; his Dogs===<br /> ['''NOW''']: And in the same instant that his commander tears across the Cambrial country-side, another orc makes his way to the point of his troop's mission. A goblin snicker swells up, but is beaten down before it can be heard in the camp beyond. The branching leaves of the jungle swamp give way as a dozen or more of the lowly servants of Izrador make their way through the muck and up next to the cold alabaster stone of the alter in the night.<br /> <br /> Radagug, snorts - sounding more like a hedge hog than an orc. It is his way... He then lets free a fumey smell as he forces himself to vomit, holding the disgust in his mouth for a moment before lapping it back down into his gullet. The &quot;sniffers&quot; smell their orders and those that donot have that talent follow the grunt of their orcen master. <br /> <br /> His fellow orc think him weak. But even Radagug is more than a match for the mongrels that make up the camp beyond the stone alter...<br /> <br /> But that is not his goal. Is the Vile here? A dozen goblins creep around the alter watching the elf from the dark. They take comfort that the elf does not erupt to call his guards. They believe their scouting mission is a success... From behind Vrolk's spot of meditation they confirm their mission, then recede... They believe they have not been seen.<br /> <br /> They are wrong.<br /> <br /> And the Vile's lip curls. It would be only a short time before the Full Moon...<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''As Radagug's Dogs retreat to rejoin the White-Worm, you too pull back with them... Slowly floating into the mysts above the haze that Aryth has made for you. Finally a pillow on the land that you can now rest. Tomorrow you can reflect on what these images and dreams mean... Unless you want to go back for more tonight!!'' <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> '''(ie. you are welcome to ask questions or try to change the points of view of your Seer visions, if you like)'''<br /> &lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> == Questions ==<br /> <br /> 1) Here's a big one. The first time you told me about the [[Midnight_RPG_-_Chapter_14.88#v4|fourth vision,]] it wasn't clear that Vrolk had actually SEEN Radagug and his dogs. Is that the case? Or is at least clear that he knows they're there?<br /> <br /> 2) In the [[Midnight_RPG_-_Chapter_14.88#v2|second vision,]] I'd like to get as good a look at the Legates as I can. Do they have visible holy symbols anywhere on them? If so, are they traditiopnal symbols of Izrador, or Vrolk's weird new emblem?<br /> <br /> ----<br /> [[Midnight: North &amp; South Portal]]</div>

Elvisrex https://wiki.rpg.net/index.php?title=Midnight_RPG_-_Chapter_14.88&diff=50344 2007-05-03T21:37:32Z

<p>Elvisrex: /* Questions */</p> <hr /> <div>== Kevin ==<br /> [''This recaps the visions/dreams that Durgaz had in the Laboratory of Vrolk, in the Obsidian Spire. I will try to capture all the information I noted to you in-person. Please NOTE if I miss something. You are WELCOME to ask questions, or try to &quot;interact&quot; with any of the visions to learn more as you have in the past. Just ask.'']<br /> <br /> <br /> As you pull your weery hide up to the open-sky chamber, the crown level on the Black Nail, you feed week. The others that may wish to sleep beneath the stars havenpt found their way up to the tip of the Spire as yet... Giving you time to breath, time to relax and let your guard down, if only for a few minutes. <br /> <br /> <br /> You haven't been able to do so in weeks. The visions, they are coming outside of your dreams these days. It seems '''&quot;the Vile&quot;''' has found a way into your head. Only ONE OTHER has breeched your minds-armors, ...could this elf be compared to God? ...or rather, NOT &quot;God&quot; but '''&quot;the Bain of All Mother&quot;'''? For THAT &quot;god&quot; is not yours any longer... yet sometimes your tongue slips... a few dozen years beneath '''&quot;the Shadow in the North&quot;''' makes hard and fast habits no matter how far away from the Shadow-gaze you grow.<br /> <br /> <br /> They (thinking down to your companions) know NOTHING of suffering! They know NOTHING of fear or hate or loathing... Eranon, the only friend you have save Walden is of elf-kind... He cannot know. He knows love, he knows the hearth, he knows kin, kith and kind. He may have offer sympathy for the chill you face nightly, but he does not know... The others, they are human. And though they have found their hearts long hidden from them by Shadow, they know nothing of lose. Their ancestors may know what they had that was taken when the Shadow fell, but that was before them, before their father's fathers... They fight for myth and legend. They donot even know what it is to live free... Nor can their hearts know what it is to have a home, to know your family or friends will not forsake you in the face of the Shadow... They cannot know the Shadow's volcanic embrace or how cold it is to be without it... They know nothing.<br /> <br /> <br /> For all you have gained with freedom, you were a son of Orc... for all you have gained you gave up tenfold.<br /> <br /> WHY?!?? Why did you do it?... Why did you believe that life beyond the Shadow would be a better one?? <br /> <br /> It has given nothing but pain and more lose. Why do you fight it brother? Why not go home?...<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> NO!<br /> <br /> That is NOT who you are anymore.<br /> <br /> You are among those the ShadowWall... Walden... called friend.<br /> <br /> You are Durgaz, the mirror-breaker. <br /> <br /> And you will have your vengance!<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> But not tonight. Not for these too few hours. These moments are yours. And to whatever god is out there you can but hold hope that Aryth doesn't ask for your allegiance... to...nigh...t.... '''[as you drift off to sleep]'''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> As Durgaz head rests on the pack of the armor bits he has recently sequestered from the laboratory below. Your mind drifts into unconciousness. But your wish cannot come to pass... For all the torment that &quot;the Vile&quot; has twisted in your mind of late, the dreams still come. Aryth herself calls out to you. And with that you feel the hate recend, to be replaced with conviction. For in the times when your sleep is not interupted by constant images of fear and hate, the other moments are frought with a peace - but it is a peace that comes with great cost.<br /> <br /> That COST is what drove you mad. It drove you to flee the Shadow's hold. It drove you to be alone. At the same time it comforts your sleep, giving you full rest - it requests something of you... What that is, must be your journey to uncover.<br /> <br /> Go with the peace now as the cool breeze and cloud-cover fade, showing you scenes sometimes near, yet somethings far-away in both time and space.............<br /> <br /> == Durgaz ==<br /> <br /> Fear and hate and madness are the shackles in which the Shadow binds us. But we are taught not to see the chains, just the layers of tempered steel that shield us from the Fey and the sons of Man, who would rise up and kill us all if given just half a chance.<br /> <br /> I know all this, and it does not stop me from thinking this way on some nights when the stars disappear and I am left alone with only the dark to keep me company. I call these folk my friends and companions, and still sometimes I must fight the impulse to smash one across the face for raising his gaze to mine. There is still an ember of Shadow buried somewhere in my mind that cannot be extinguished, and it is my charge to make sure that it is forever kept free of the tinder that would make it a flame.<br /> <br /> I believed that my visions were infallible, that they could not mislead. I was wrong. I may see where others cannot, and know the consequences of actions before they happen, but it is I who chooses what to do with that knowledge. My mistakes are my own, and that is both my weakness and my strength.<br /> <br /> I am a weapon, turned back on he who forged it. I am a shield, protecting those who cannot protect themselves. But most of all, I am a free orc. <br /> <br /> That is what separates me from my brothers. Someday, perhaps very soon, we will all die. They will die and be forgotten, a thousand faceless slaves conscripted to murder in the Shadow's name. But I will live forever as a part of every life I have helped to save, even though nobody will remember my name. Then I will have ''earned'' the right to rest.<br /> <br /> &lt;span id=&quot;v1&quot;&gt;<br /> ===the WHITE-WORM &amp; his horde===<br /> ['''10 DAYS AGO''']: A toad croaks sitting on a slippery rock amid the moor, given the name Worgren. It flows to a shallow from the Erenriver, at the base of the Eren River Valley. It is a place that you've marched through many times. The story was not more than a year ago this day that a lone Dwarf faced off with a '''Shadow-Clutch''' in that very spot. The foolish Dwarf had little hope against the giants, but it was his mantle to hold them so that dozens of villages would live. It is rumored he was envoy to the Witch Queen... But that is a fable for sure, perhaps Eranon would know this tale? No matter... In the night the toad has little time to flee when the foul muck-ridden heel of another such '''&quot;Clutch&quot;''' tramples its scaley hide into the moors.<br /> <br /> On that night an army run across Worgren's Moor in Shadow's haste. The brutes are some 150 strong. Six dozen Orc-brothers, made up of seemingly as many tribes sprint in fear of being overtaken by their own battlegroup following on their heels behind! The proud pestilence of the Uruk stomp out all life that takes its time to slow before their mad march. The human mercenaries call them a &quot;Shadow-Clutch&quot;, they are 75 motherless killers that hunt until their hunt is done...<br /> <br /> At the front of the column rallying moreso that leading at this point is the orc called - Talûn-karkû, the White-Worm... He would eat your heart were he to find you. He calls out to the Clutch...<br /> <br /> '''''&quot;YOU HAVE NOT YET BEGUN TO SUFFER, YOU MOTHER-LESS DOGS! BEFORE YOU IS PAIN AND BEHIND YOU IS DEATH, CHOOSE AND IF YOUR MIND IS WISE YOU WILL DINE ON THE FLESH OF TRAITOR MY BROTHERS!!!'''''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''The haze of blood-soaked memory pulls over the marching of your orc brotherhood. For a moment you see the stars and then feel compelled to look back to Aryth...''<br /> &lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;span id=&quot;v2&quot;&gt;<br /> ===VROLK the Vile &amp; his Spire-Guard===<br /> ['''1 DAY OR LESS AGO''']: As the cloud parts, you overlook a site that would be serene were you to not fully understand the inhabitants... A campsite, near a stone alter not unlike the one the human Thorton called &quot;Satan Rock&quot;. You know this place. You passed by it when fleeing to save the human's life. At best recollection it is about 5-6 days travel (walking) into the swamps of the Dead Marshes, similarly some 5-6 days from the Worgren Moor.<br /> <br /> But this time the swamp is infested with Shadow. Orc tents scatter across the area beyond the alter. Although the stars are not shining brightly in the skys on these recent nights, at best count their are 100-150 tents... 1-3 orc may reside in each, tents are not the custom of your orc brothers, but these are not brothers. These orc are of the Vile. You can see that from the strange bastardized holy symbols that you recall encroaching on the spot of the natural mirror that you destroyed not long ago. And the black tents remain. Some 3-4 of these, that you assume to be of higher station. Humans in dark robes walk about them. Women of human and halfling kind pleasure these dark Legates in the night. One of the three Legate men enjoys the company of male boys. Twisted is their natures... The one that is Kyuad's friend treats his women with pain, as screems of whip beating hate carene from his tent.<br /> <br /> Apart from the smell of the orc horde their master meditates. The Vile sits in the center of the stone rock, that acts to focus his prayers. The elf appears veral and content, he awaits something. He shoots only a deathly glance as an orc troop has the audacity to question when the camp would move... Vrolk knows... they have found their place in the world and they would wait... For Jahzir has likely found him out by now. It would be on this place of power that he would commune with the Dark. If he be worthy his men would hold off the horde while his goal be achieved!!<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''Again the haze takes you. For another moment of relief you see the stars and then back to Aryth below...''<br /> &lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;span id=&quot;v3&quot;&gt;<br /> ===the WHITE-WORM &amp; his horde===<br /> ['''NOW''']: The moon has been eaten by the sky this night! Talûn-karkû's &quot;men&quot; continue their march. Seven villages have met their makers as the band acts as much the part of ghouls or locust devourering the country-side. The Worm's orc troop have fared better than he expected... Less than two dozen have been evicerated at the hands of the Uruk that roar at their backs! THIS was the truth of things the White-Worm would say, on such marches... Those that made the final battle at the end of such a tear where those that deserved to find glory! It is as nature demands!!<br /> <br /> <br /> '''''&quot;ONWARD BROTHERS, PUT SNOUT INTO THE WIND! CAN YOU SMELL IT?!?!! ELF-FLESH!! THE VILE GROWS NEARER WITH EVER STEP. WHEN WE STOP, WE WILL HAVE THE PRIEST'S FLESH, AND IT WILL BE GLORIOUS - ON THE FULL MOON BROTHERS WE DINE ON JAHZIR'S TRAITOR!!&quot;'''''<br /> <br /> <br /> And for the first time in years the commander of Durgaz's youth smiles, his fangs stained with blood as his troop continue full bore into the hapless maelgral that wander the boundries of the City of Dead... For this is Cambrial's district that his Dafrum-Dâgalûr now plunge into! The orc and uruk alive make merry in the torturing of the dead, but they do not have the luxury of languishing in their kills... if you can call them that. This would be the practice the Worm feared his men would be lacking. With weeks behind them and nearly a week more in front - he may have wondered if his troop would be slow to act...<br /> <br /> For wrath and ruin. <br /> <br /> For fear of Shadow's dawn.<br /> <br /> They are NOT.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''The clouds cover your eyes... This time the fog lifts from behind the stalkers in the dark...''<br /> &lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;span id=&quot;v4&quot;&gt;<br /> ===RADAGUG &amp; his Dogs===<br /> ['''NOW''']: And in the same instant that his commander tears across the Cambrial country-side, another orc makes his way to the point of his troop's mission. A goblin snicker swells up, but is beaten down before it can be heard in the camp beyond. The branching leaves of the jungle swamp give way as a dozen or more of the lowly servants of Izrador make their way through the muck and up next to the cold alabaster stone of the alter in the night.<br /> <br /> Radagug, snorts - sounding more like a hedge hog than an orc. It is his way... He then lets free a fumey smell as he forces himself to vomit, holding the disgust in his mouth for a moment before lapping it back down into his gullet. The &quot;sniffers&quot; smell their orders and those that donot have that talent follow the grunt of their orcen master. <br /> <br /> His fellow orc think him weak. But even Radagug is more than a match for the mongrels that make up the camp beyond the stone alter...<br /> <br /> But that is not his goal. Is the Vile here? A dozen goblins creep around the alter watching the elf from the dark. They take comfort that the elf does not erupt to call his guards. They believe their scouting mission is a success... From behind Vrolk's spot of meditation they confirm their mission, then recede... They believe they have not been seen.<br /> <br /> They are wrong.<br /> <br /> And the Vile's lip curls. It would be only a short time before the Full Moon...<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''As Radagug's Dogs retreat to rejoin the White-Worm, you too pull back with them... Slowly floating into the mysts above the haze that Aryth has made for you. Finally a pillow on the land that you can now rest. Tomorrow you can reflect on what these images and dreams mean... Unless you want to go back for more tonight!!'' <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> '''(ie. you are welcome to ask questions or try to change the points of view of your Seer visions, if you like)'''<br /> &lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> == Questions ==<br /> <br /> 1) Here's a big one. The first time you told me about the [[Midnight_RPG_-_Chapter_14.88#v4|fourth vision,]] it wasn't clear that Vrolk had actually SEEN Radagug and his dogs. Is that the case? Or is at least clear that he knows they're there?<br /> <br /> ----<br /> [[Midnight: North &amp; South Portal]]</div>

Elvisrex https://wiki.rpg.net/index.php?title=Midnight_RPG_-_Chapter_14.88&diff=50343 2007-05-03T21:36:20Z

<p>Elvisrex: /* RADAGUG &amp; his Dogs */</p> <hr /> <div>== Kevin ==<br /> [''This recaps the visions/dreams that Durgaz had in the Laboratory of Vrolk, in the Obsidian Spire. I will try to capture all the information I noted to you in-person. Please NOTE if I miss something. You are WELCOME to ask questions, or try to &quot;interact&quot; with any of the visions to learn more as you have in the past. Just ask.'']<br /> <br /> <br /> As you pull your weery hide up to the open-sky chamber, the crown level on the Black Nail, you feed week. The others that may wish to sleep beneath the stars havenpt found their way up to the tip of the Spire as yet... Giving you time to breath, time to relax and let your guard down, if only for a few minutes. <br /> <br /> <br /> You haven't been able to do so in weeks. The visions, they are coming outside of your dreams these days. It seems '''&quot;the Vile&quot;''' has found a way into your head. Only ONE OTHER has breeched your minds-armors, ...could this elf be compared to God? ...or rather, NOT &quot;God&quot; but '''&quot;the Bain of All Mother&quot;'''? For THAT &quot;god&quot; is not yours any longer... yet sometimes your tongue slips... a few dozen years beneath '''&quot;the Shadow in the North&quot;''' makes hard and fast habits no matter how far away from the Shadow-gaze you grow.<br /> <br /> <br /> They (thinking down to your companions) know NOTHING of suffering! They know NOTHING of fear or hate or loathing... Eranon, the only friend you have save Walden is of elf-kind... He cannot know. He knows love, he knows the hearth, he knows kin, kith and kind. He may have offer sympathy for the chill you face nightly, but he does not know... The others, they are human. And though they have found their hearts long hidden from them by Shadow, they know nothing of lose. Their ancestors may know what they had that was taken when the Shadow fell, but that was before them, before their father's fathers... They fight for myth and legend. They donot even know what it is to live free... Nor can their hearts know what it is to have a home, to know your family or friends will not forsake you in the face of the Shadow... They cannot know the Shadow's volcanic embrace or how cold it is to be without it... They know nothing.<br /> <br /> <br /> For all you have gained with freedom, you were a son of Orc... for all you have gained you gave up tenfold.<br /> <br /> WHY?!?? Why did you do it?... Why did you believe that life beyond the Shadow would be a better one?? <br /> <br /> It has given nothing but pain and more lose. Why do you fight it brother? Why not go home?...<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> NO!<br /> <br /> That is NOT who you are anymore.<br /> <br /> You are among those the ShadowWall... Walden... called friend.<br /> <br /> You are Durgaz, the mirror-breaker. <br /> <br /> And you will have your vengance!<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> But not tonight. Not for these too few hours. These moments are yours. And to whatever god is out there you can but hold hope that Aryth doesn't ask for your allegiance... to...nigh...t.... '''[as you drift off to sleep]'''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> As Durgaz head rests on the pack of the armor bits he has recently sequestered from the laboratory below. Your mind drifts into unconciousness. But your wish cannot come to pass... For all the torment that &quot;the Vile&quot; has twisted in your mind of late, the dreams still come. Aryth herself calls out to you. And with that you feel the hate recend, to be replaced with conviction. For in the times when your sleep is not interupted by constant images of fear and hate, the other moments are frought with a peace - but it is a peace that comes with great cost.<br /> <br /> That COST is what drove you mad. It drove you to flee the Shadow's hold. It drove you to be alone. At the same time it comforts your sleep, giving you full rest - it requests something of you... What that is, must be your journey to uncover.<br /> <br /> Go with the peace now as the cool breeze and cloud-cover fade, showing you scenes sometimes near, yet somethings far-away in both time and space.............<br /> <br /> == Durgaz ==<br /> <br /> Fear and hate and madness are the shackles in which the Shadow binds us. But we are taught not to see the chains, just the layers of tempered steel that shield us from the Fey and the sons of Man, who would rise up and kill us all if given just half a chance.<br /> <br /> I know all this, and it does not stop me from thinking this way on some nights when the stars disappear and I am left alone with only the dark to keep me company. I call these folk my friends and companions, and still sometimes I must fight the impulse to smash one across the face for raising his gaze to mine. There is still an ember of Shadow buried somewhere in my mind that cannot be extinguished, and it is my charge to make sure that it is forever kept free of the tinder that would make it a flame.<br /> <br /> I believed that my visions were infallible, that they could not mislead. I was wrong. I may see where others cannot, and know the consequences of actions before they happen, but it is I who chooses what to do with that knowledge. My mistakes are my own, and that is both my weakness and my strength.<br /> <br /> I am a weapon, turned back on he who forged it. I am a shield, protecting those who cannot protect themselves. But most of all, I am a free orc. <br /> <br /> That is what separates me from my brothers. Someday, perhaps very soon, we will all die. They will die and be forgotten, a thousand faceless slaves conscripted to murder in the Shadow's name. But I will live forever as a part of every life I have helped to save, even though nobody will remember my name. Then I will have ''earned'' the right to rest.<br /> <br /> &lt;span id=&quot;v1&quot;&gt;<br /> ===the WHITE-WORM &amp; his horde===<br /> ['''10 DAYS AGO''']: A toad croaks sitting on a slippery rock amid the moor, given the name Worgren. It flows to a shallow from the Erenriver, at the base of the Eren River Valley. It is a place that you've marched through many times. The story was not more than a year ago this day that a lone Dwarf faced off with a '''Shadow-Clutch''' in that very spot. The foolish Dwarf had little hope against the giants, but it was his mantle to hold them so that dozens of villages would live. It is rumored he was envoy to the Witch Queen... But that is a fable for sure, perhaps Eranon would know this tale? No matter... In the night the toad has little time to flee when the foul muck-ridden heel of another such '''&quot;Clutch&quot;''' tramples its scaley hide into the moors.<br /> <br /> On that night an army run across Worgren's Moor in Shadow's haste. The brutes are some 150 strong. Six dozen Orc-brothers, made up of seemingly as many tribes sprint in fear of being overtaken by their own battlegroup following on their heels behind! The proud pestilence of the Uruk stomp out all life that takes its time to slow before their mad march. The human mercenaries call them a &quot;Shadow-Clutch&quot;, they are 75 motherless killers that hunt until their hunt is done...<br /> <br /> At the front of the column rallying moreso that leading at this point is the orc called - Talûn-karkû, the White-Worm... He would eat your heart were he to find you. He calls out to the Clutch...<br /> <br /> '''''&quot;YOU HAVE NOT YET BEGUN TO SUFFER, YOU MOTHER-LESS DOGS! BEFORE YOU IS PAIN AND BEHIND YOU IS DEATH, CHOOSE AND IF YOUR MIND IS WISE YOU WILL DINE ON THE FLESH OF TRAITOR MY BROTHERS!!!'''''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''The haze of blood-soaked memory pulls over the marching of your orc brotherhood. For a moment you see the stars and then feel compelled to look back to Aryth...''<br /> &lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;span id=&quot;v2&quot;&gt;<br /> ===VROLK the Vile &amp; his Spire-Guard===<br /> ['''1 DAY OR LESS AGO''']: As the cloud parts, you overlook a site that would be serene were you to not fully understand the inhabitants... A campsite, near a stone alter not unlike the one the human Thorton called &quot;Satan Rock&quot;. You know this place. You passed by it when fleeing to save the human's life. At best recollection it is about 5-6 days travel (walking) into the swamps of the Dead Marshes, similarly some 5-6 days from the Worgren Moor.<br /> <br /> But this time the swamp is infested with Shadow. Orc tents scatter across the area beyond the alter. Although the stars are not shining brightly in the skys on these recent nights, at best count their are 100-150 tents... 1-3 orc may reside in each, tents are not the custom of your orc brothers, but these are not brothers. These orc are of the Vile. You can see that from the strange bastardized holy symbols that you recall encroaching on the spot of the natural mirror that you destroyed not long ago. And the black tents remain. Some 3-4 of these, that you assume to be of higher station. Humans in dark robes walk about them. Women of human and halfling kind pleasure these dark Legates in the night. One of the three Legate men enjoys the company of male boys. Twisted is their natures... The one that is Kyuad's friend treats his women with pain, as screems of whip beating hate carene from his tent.<br /> <br /> Apart from the smell of the orc horde their master meditates. The Vile sits in the center of the stone rock, that acts to focus his prayers. The elf appears veral and content, he awaits something. He shoots only a deathly glance as an orc troop has the audacity to question when the camp would move... Vrolk knows... they have found their place in the world and they would wait... For Jahzir has likely found him out by now. It would be on this place of power that he would commune with the Dark. If he be worthy his men would hold off the horde while his goal be achieved!!<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''Again the haze takes you. For another moment of relief you see the stars and then back to Aryth below...''<br /> &lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;span id=&quot;v3&quot;&gt;<br /> ===the WHITE-WORM &amp; his horde===<br /> ['''NOW''']: The moon has been eaten by the sky this night! Talûn-karkû's &quot;men&quot; continue their march. Seven villages have met their makers as the band acts as much the part of ghouls or locust devourering the country-side. The Worm's orc troop have fared better than he expected... Less than two dozen have been evicerated at the hands of the Uruk that roar at their backs! THIS was the truth of things the White-Worm would say, on such marches... Those that made the final battle at the end of such a tear where those that deserved to find glory! It is as nature demands!!<br /> <br /> <br /> '''''&quot;ONWARD BROTHERS, PUT SNOUT INTO THE WIND! CAN YOU SMELL IT?!?!! ELF-FLESH!! THE VILE GROWS NEARER WITH EVER STEP. WHEN WE STOP, WE WILL HAVE THE PRIEST'S FLESH, AND IT WILL BE GLORIOUS - ON THE FULL MOON BROTHERS WE DINE ON JAHZIR'S TRAITOR!!&quot;'''''<br /> <br /> <br /> And for the first time in years the commander of Durgaz's youth smiles, his fangs stained with blood as his troop continue full bore into the hapless maelgral that wander the boundries of the City of Dead... For this is Cambrial's district that his Dafrum-Dâgalûr now plunge into! The orc and uruk alive make merry in the torturing of the dead, but they do not have the luxury of languishing in their kills... if you can call them that. This would be the practice the Worm feared his men would be lacking. With weeks behind them and nearly a week more in front - he may have wondered if his troop would be slow to act...<br /> <br /> For wrath and ruin. <br /> <br /> For fear of Shadow's dawn.<br /> <br /> They are NOT.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''The clouds cover your eyes... This time the fog lifts from behind the stalkers in the dark...''<br /> &lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;span id=&quot;v4&quot;&gt;<br /> ===RADAGUG &amp; his Dogs===<br /> ['''NOW''']: And in the same instant that his commander tears across the Cambrial country-side, another orc makes his way to the point of his troop's mission. A goblin snicker swells up, but is beaten down before it can be heard in the camp beyond. The branching leaves of the jungle swamp give way as a dozen or more of the lowly servants of Izrador make their way through the muck and up next to the cold alabaster stone of the alter in the night.<br /> <br /> Radagug, snorts - sounding more like a hedge hog than an orc. It is his way... He then lets free a fumey smell as he forces himself to vomit, holding the disgust in his mouth for a moment before lapping it back down into his gullet. The &quot;sniffers&quot; smell their orders and those that donot have that talent follow the grunt of their orcen master. <br /> <br /> His fellow orc think him weak. But even Radagug is more than a match for the mongrels that make up the camp beyond the stone alter...<br /> <br /> But that is not his goal. Is the Vile here? A dozen goblins creep around the alter watching the elf from the dark. They take comfort that the elf does not erupt to call his guards. They believe their scouting mission is a success... From behind Vrolk's spot of meditation they confirm their mission, then recede... They believe they have not been seen.<br /> <br /> They are wrong.<br /> <br /> And the Vile's lip curls. It would be only a short time before the Full Moon...<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''As Radagug's Dogs retreat to rejoin the White-Worm, you too pull back with them... Slowly floating into the mysts above the haze that Aryth has made for you. Finally a pillow on the land that you can now rest. Tomorrow you can reflect on what these images and dreams mean... Unless you want to go back for more tonight!!'' <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> '''(ie. you are welcome to ask questions or try to change the points of view of your Seer visions, if you like)'''<br /> &lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> == Questions ==<br /> <br /> 1) Here's a big one. The first time you told me about the fourth vision, it wasn't clear that Vrolk had actually SEEN Radagug and his dogs. Is that the case? Or is at least clear that he knows they're there?<br /> <br /> ----<br /> [[Midnight: North &amp; South Portal]]</div>

Elvisrex https://wiki.rpg.net/index.php?title=Midnight_RPG_-_Chapter_14.88&diff=50342 2007-05-03T21:36:04Z

<p>Elvisrex: /* the WHITE-WORM &amp; his horde */</p> <hr /> <div>== Kevin ==<br /> [''This recaps the visions/dreams that Durgaz had in the Laboratory of Vrolk, in the Obsidian Spire. I will try to capture all the information I noted to you in-person. Please NOTE if I miss something. You are WELCOME to ask questions, or try to &quot;interact&quot; with any of the visions to learn more as you have in the past. Just ask.'']<br /> <br /> <br /> As you pull your weery hide up to the open-sky chamber, the crown level on the Black Nail, you feed week. The others that may wish to sleep beneath the stars havenpt found their way up to the tip of the Spire as yet... Giving you time to breath, time to relax and let your guard down, if only for a few minutes. <br /> <br /> <br /> You haven't been able to do so in weeks. The visions, they are coming outside of your dreams these days. It seems '''&quot;the Vile&quot;''' has found a way into your head. Only ONE OTHER has breeched your minds-armors, ...could this elf be compared to God? ...or rather, NOT &quot;God&quot; but '''&quot;the Bain of All Mother&quot;'''? For THAT &quot;god&quot; is not yours any longer... yet sometimes your tongue slips... a few dozen years beneath '''&quot;the Shadow in the North&quot;''' makes hard and fast habits no matter how far away from the Shadow-gaze you grow.<br /> <br /> <br /> They (thinking down to your companions) know NOTHING of suffering! They know NOTHING of fear or hate or loathing... Eranon, the only friend you have save Walden is of elf-kind... He cannot know. He knows love, he knows the hearth, he knows kin, kith and kind. He may have offer sympathy for the chill you face nightly, but he does not know... The others, they are human. And though they have found their hearts long hidden from them by Shadow, they know nothing of lose. Their ancestors may know what they had that was taken when the Shadow fell, but that was before them, before their father's fathers... They fight for myth and legend. They donot even know what it is to live free... Nor can their hearts know what it is to have a home, to know your family or friends will not forsake you in the face of the Shadow... They cannot know the Shadow's volcanic embrace or how cold it is to be without it... They know nothing.<br /> <br /> <br /> For all you have gained with freedom, you were a son of Orc... for all you have gained you gave up tenfold.<br /> <br /> WHY?!?? Why did you do it?... Why did you believe that life beyond the Shadow would be a better one?? <br /> <br /> It has given nothing but pain and more lose. Why do you fight it brother? Why not go home?...<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> NO!<br /> <br /> That is NOT who you are anymore.<br /> <br /> You are among those the ShadowWall... Walden... called friend.<br /> <br /> You are Durgaz, the mirror-breaker. <br /> <br /> And you will have your vengance!<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> But not tonight. Not for these too few hours. These moments are yours. And to whatever god is out there you can but hold hope that Aryth doesn't ask for your allegiance... to...nigh...t.... '''[as you drift off to sleep]'''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> As Durgaz head rests on the pack of the armor bits he has recently sequestered from the laboratory below. Your mind drifts into unconciousness. But your wish cannot come to pass... For all the torment that &quot;the Vile&quot; has twisted in your mind of late, the dreams still come. Aryth herself calls out to you. And with that you feel the hate recend, to be replaced with conviction. For in the times when your sleep is not interupted by constant images of fear and hate, the other moments are frought with a peace - but it is a peace that comes with great cost.<br /> <br /> That COST is what drove you mad. It drove you to flee the Shadow's hold. It drove you to be alone. At the same time it comforts your sleep, giving you full rest - it requests something of you... What that is, must be your journey to uncover.<br /> <br /> Go with the peace now as the cool breeze and cloud-cover fade, showing you scenes sometimes near, yet somethings far-away in both time and space.............<br /> <br /> == Durgaz ==<br /> <br /> Fear and hate and madness are the shackles in which the Shadow binds us. But we are taught not to see the chains, just the layers of tempered steel that shield us from the Fey and the sons of Man, who would rise up and kill us all if given just half a chance.<br /> <br /> I know all this, and it does not stop me from thinking this way on some nights when the stars disappear and I am left alone with only the dark to keep me company. I call these folk my friends and companions, and still sometimes I must fight the impulse to smash one across the face for raising his gaze to mine. There is still an ember of Shadow buried somewhere in my mind that cannot be extinguished, and it is my charge to make sure that it is forever kept free of the tinder that would make it a flame.<br /> <br /> I believed that my visions were infallible, that they could not mislead. I was wrong. I may see where others cannot, and know the consequences of actions before they happen, but it is I who chooses what to do with that knowledge. My mistakes are my own, and that is both my weakness and my strength.<br /> <br /> I am a weapon, turned back on he who forged it. I am a shield, protecting those who cannot protect themselves. But most of all, I am a free orc. <br /> <br /> That is what separates me from my brothers. Someday, perhaps very soon, we will all die. They will die and be forgotten, a thousand faceless slaves conscripted to murder in the Shadow's name. But I will live forever as a part of every life I have helped to save, even though nobody will remember my name. Then I will have ''earned'' the right to rest.<br /> <br /> &lt;span id=&quot;v1&quot;&gt;<br /> ===the WHITE-WORM &amp; his horde===<br /> ['''10 DAYS AGO''']: A toad croaks sitting on a slippery rock amid the moor, given the name Worgren. It flows to a shallow from the Erenriver, at the base of the Eren River Valley. It is a place that you've marched through many times. The story was not more than a year ago this day that a lone Dwarf faced off with a '''Shadow-Clutch''' in that very spot. The foolish Dwarf had little hope against the giants, but it was his mantle to hold them so that dozens of villages would live. It is rumored he was envoy to the Witch Queen... But that is a fable for sure, perhaps Eranon would know this tale? No matter... In the night the toad has little time to flee when the foul muck-ridden heel of another such '''&quot;Clutch&quot;''' tramples its scaley hide into the moors.<br /> <br /> On that night an army run across Worgren's Moor in Shadow's haste. The brutes are some 150 strong. Six dozen Orc-brothers, made up of seemingly as many tribes sprint in fear of being overtaken by their own battlegroup following on their heels behind! The proud pestilence of the Uruk stomp out all life that takes its time to slow before their mad march. The human mercenaries call them a &quot;Shadow-Clutch&quot;, they are 75 motherless killers that hunt until their hunt is done...<br /> <br /> At the front of the column rallying moreso that leading at this point is the orc called - Talûn-karkû, the White-Worm... He would eat your heart were he to find you. He calls out to the Clutch...<br /> <br /> '''''&quot;YOU HAVE NOT YET BEGUN TO SUFFER, YOU MOTHER-LESS DOGS! BEFORE YOU IS PAIN AND BEHIND YOU IS DEATH, CHOOSE AND IF YOUR MIND IS WISE YOU WILL DINE ON THE FLESH OF TRAITOR MY BROTHERS!!!'''''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''The haze of blood-soaked memory pulls over the marching of your orc brotherhood. For a moment you see the stars and then feel compelled to look back to Aryth...''<br /> &lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;span id=&quot;v2&quot;&gt;<br /> ===VROLK the Vile &amp; his Spire-Guard===<br /> ['''1 DAY OR LESS AGO''']: As the cloud parts, you overlook a site that would be serene were you to not fully understand the inhabitants... A campsite, near a stone alter not unlike the one the human Thorton called &quot;Satan Rock&quot;. You know this place. You passed by it when fleeing to save the human's life. At best recollection it is about 5-6 days travel (walking) into the swamps of the Dead Marshes, similarly some 5-6 days from the Worgren Moor.<br /> <br /> But this time the swamp is infested with Shadow. Orc tents scatter across the area beyond the alter. Although the stars are not shining brightly in the skys on these recent nights, at best count their are 100-150 tents... 1-3 orc may reside in each, tents are not the custom of your orc brothers, but these are not brothers. These orc are of the Vile. You can see that from the strange bastardized holy symbols that you recall encroaching on the spot of the natural mirror that you destroyed not long ago. And the black tents remain. Some 3-4 of these, that you assume to be of higher station. Humans in dark robes walk about them. Women of human and halfling kind pleasure these dark Legates in the night. One of the three Legate men enjoys the company of male boys. Twisted is their natures... The one that is Kyuad's friend treats his women with pain, as screems of whip beating hate carene from his tent.<br /> <br /> Apart from the smell of the orc horde their master meditates. The Vile sits in the center of the stone rock, that acts to focus his prayers. The elf appears veral and content, he awaits something. He shoots only a deathly glance as an orc troop has the audacity to question when the camp would move... Vrolk knows... they have found their place in the world and they would wait... For Jahzir has likely found him out by now. It would be on this place of power that he would commune with the Dark. If he be worthy his men would hold off the horde while his goal be achieved!!<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''Again the haze takes you. For another moment of relief you see the stars and then back to Aryth below...''<br /> &lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;span id=&quot;v3&quot;&gt;<br /> ===the WHITE-WORM &amp; his horde===<br /> ['''NOW''']: The moon has been eaten by the sky this night! Talûn-karkû's &quot;men&quot; continue their march. Seven villages have met their makers as the band acts as much the part of ghouls or locust devourering the country-side. The Worm's orc troop have fared better than he expected... Less than two dozen have been evicerated at the hands of the Uruk that roar at their backs! THIS was the truth of things the White-Worm would say, on such marches... Those that made the final battle at the end of such a tear where those that deserved to find glory! It is as nature demands!!<br /> <br /> <br /> '''''&quot;ONWARD BROTHERS, PUT SNOUT INTO THE WIND! CAN YOU SMELL IT?!?!! ELF-FLESH!! THE VILE GROWS NEARER WITH EVER STEP. WHEN WE STOP, WE WILL HAVE THE PRIEST'S FLESH, AND IT WILL BE GLORIOUS - ON THE FULL MOON BROTHERS WE DINE ON JAHZIR'S TRAITOR!!&quot;'''''<br /> <br /> <br /> And for the first time in years the commander of Durgaz's youth smiles, his fangs stained with blood as his troop continue full bore into the hapless maelgral that wander the boundries of the City of Dead... For this is Cambrial's district that his Dafrum-Dâgalûr now plunge into! The orc and uruk alive make merry in the torturing of the dead, but they do not have the luxury of languishing in their kills... if you can call them that. This would be the practice the Worm feared his men would be lacking. With weeks behind them and nearly a week more in front - he may have wondered if his troop would be slow to act...<br /> <br /> For wrath and ruin. <br /> <br /> For fear of Shadow's dawn.<br /> <br /> They are NOT.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''The clouds cover your eyes... This time the fog lifts from behind the stalkers in the dark...''<br /> &lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> ===RADAGUG &amp; his Dogs===<br /> ['''NOW''']: And in the same instant that his commander tears across the Cambrial country-side, another orc makes his way to the point of his troop's mission. A goblin snicker swells up, but is beaten down before it can be heard in the camp beyond. The branching leaves of the jungle swamp give way as a dozen or more of the lowly servants of Izrador make their way through the muck and up next to the cold alabaster stone of the alter in the night.<br /> <br /> Radagug, snorts - sounding more like a hedge hog than an orc. It is his way... He then lets free a fumey smell as he forces himself to vomit, holding the disgust in his mouth for a moment before lapping it back down into his gullet. The &quot;sniffers&quot; smell their orders and those that donot have that talent follow the grunt of their orcen master. <br /> <br /> His fellow orc think him weak. But even Radagug is more than a match for the mongrels that make up the camp beyond the stone alter...<br /> <br /> But that is not his goal. Is the Vile here? A dozen goblins creep around the alter watching the elf from the dark. They take comfort that the elf does not erupt to call his guards. They believe their scouting mission is a success... From behind Vrolk's spot of meditation they confirm their mission, then recede... They believe they have not been seen.<br /> <br /> They are wrong.<br /> <br /> And the Vile's lip curls. It would be only a short time before the Full Moon...<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''As Radagug's Dogs retreat to rejoin the White-Worm, you too pull back with them... Slowly floating into the mysts above the haze that Aryth has made for you. Finally a pillow on the land that you can now rest. Tomorrow you can reflect on what these images and dreams mean... Unless you want to go back for more tonight!!'' <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> '''(ie. you are welcome to ask questions or try to change the points of view of your Seer visions, if you like)'''<br /> <br /> == Questions ==<br /> <br /> 1) Here's a big one. The first time you told me about the fourth vision, it wasn't clear that Vrolk had actually SEEN Radagug and his dogs. Is that the case? Or is at least clear that he knows they're there?<br /> <br /> ----<br /> [[Midnight: North &amp; South Portal]]</div>

Elvisrex https://wiki.rpg.net/index.php?title=Midnight_RPG_-_Chapter_14.88&diff=50341 2007-05-03T21:35:46Z

<p>Elvisrex: /* VROLK the Vile &amp; his Spire-Guard */</p> <hr /> <div>== Kevin ==<br /> [''This recaps the visions/dreams that Durgaz had in the Laboratory of Vrolk, in the Obsidian Spire. I will try to capture all the information I noted to you in-person. Please NOTE if I miss something. You are WELCOME to ask questions, or try to &quot;interact&quot; with any of the visions to learn more as you have in the past. Just ask.'']<br /> <br /> <br /> As you pull your weery hide up to the open-sky chamber, the crown level on the Black Nail, you feed week. The others that may wish to sleep beneath the stars havenpt found their way up to the tip of the Spire as yet... Giving you time to breath, time to relax and let your guard down, if only for a few minutes. <br /> <br /> <br /> You haven't been able to do so in weeks. The visions, they are coming outside of your dreams these days. It seems '''&quot;the Vile&quot;''' has found a way into your head. Only ONE OTHER has breeched your minds-armors, ...could this elf be compared to God? ...or rather, NOT &quot;God&quot; but '''&quot;the Bain of All Mother&quot;'''? For THAT &quot;god&quot; is not yours any longer... yet sometimes your tongue slips... a few dozen years beneath '''&quot;the Shadow in the North&quot;''' makes hard and fast habits no matter how far away from the Shadow-gaze you grow.<br /> <br /> <br /> They (thinking down to your companions) know NOTHING of suffering! They know NOTHING of fear or hate or loathing... Eranon, the only friend you have save Walden is of elf-kind... He cannot know. He knows love, he knows the hearth, he knows kin, kith and kind. He may have offer sympathy for the chill you face nightly, but he does not know... The others, they are human. And though they have found their hearts long hidden from them by Shadow, they know nothing of lose. Their ancestors may know what they had that was taken when the Shadow fell, but that was before them, before their father's fathers... They fight for myth and legend. They donot even know what it is to live free... Nor can their hearts know what it is to have a home, to know your family or friends will not forsake you in the face of the Shadow... They cannot know the Shadow's volcanic embrace or how cold it is to be without it... They know nothing.<br /> <br /> <br /> For all you have gained with freedom, you were a son of Orc... for all you have gained you gave up tenfold.<br /> <br /> WHY?!?? Why did you do it?... Why did you believe that life beyond the Shadow would be a better one?? <br /> <br /> It has given nothing but pain and more lose. Why do you fight it brother? Why not go home?...<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> NO!<br /> <br /> That is NOT who you are anymore.<br /> <br /> You are among those the ShadowWall... Walden... called friend.<br /> <br /> You are Durgaz, the mirror-breaker. <br /> <br /> And you will have your vengance!<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> But not tonight. Not for these too few hours. These moments are yours. And to whatever god is out there you can but hold hope that Aryth doesn't ask for your allegiance... to...nigh...t.... '''[as you drift off to sleep]'''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> As Durgaz head rests on the pack of the armor bits he has recently sequestered from the laboratory below. Your mind drifts into unconciousness. But your wish cannot come to pass... For all the torment that &quot;the Vile&quot; has twisted in your mind of late, the dreams still come. Aryth herself calls out to you. And with that you feel the hate recend, to be replaced with conviction. For in the times when your sleep is not interupted by constant images of fear and hate, the other moments are frought with a peace - but it is a peace that comes with great cost.<br /> <br /> That COST is what drove you mad. It drove you to flee the Shadow's hold. It drove you to be alone. At the same time it comforts your sleep, giving you full rest - it requests something of you... What that is, must be your journey to uncover.<br /> <br /> Go with the peace now as the cool breeze and cloud-cover fade, showing you scenes sometimes near, yet somethings far-away in both time and space.............<br /> <br /> == Durgaz ==<br /> <br /> Fear and hate and madness are the shackles in which the Shadow binds us. But we are taught not to see the chains, just the layers of tempered steel that shield us from the Fey and the sons of Man, who would rise up and kill us all if given just half a chance.<br /> <br /> I know all this, and it does not stop me from thinking this way on some nights when the stars disappear and I am left alone with only the dark to keep me company. I call these folk my friends and companions, and still sometimes I must fight the impulse to smash one across the face for raising his gaze to mine. There is still an ember of Shadow buried somewhere in my mind that cannot be extinguished, and it is my charge to make sure that it is forever kept free of the tinder that would make it a flame.<br /> <br /> I believed that my visions were infallible, that they could not mislead. I was wrong. I may see where others cannot, and know the consequences of actions before they happen, but it is I who chooses what to do with that knowledge. My mistakes are my own, and that is both my weakness and my strength.<br /> <br /> I am a weapon, turned back on he who forged it. I am a shield, protecting those who cannot protect themselves. But most of all, I am a free orc. <br /> <br /> That is what separates me from my brothers. Someday, perhaps very soon, we will all die. They will die and be forgotten, a thousand faceless slaves conscripted to murder in the Shadow's name. But I will live forever as a part of every life I have helped to save, even though nobody will remember my name. Then I will have ''earned'' the right to rest.<br /> <br /> &lt;span id=&quot;v1&quot;&gt;<br /> ===the WHITE-WORM &amp; his horde===<br /> ['''10 DAYS AGO''']: A toad croaks sitting on a slippery rock amid the moor, given the name Worgren. It flows to a shallow from the Erenriver, at the base of the Eren River Valley. It is a place that you've marched through many times. The story was not more than a year ago this day that a lone Dwarf faced off with a '''Shadow-Clutch''' in that very spot. The foolish Dwarf had little hope against the giants, but it was his mantle to hold them so that dozens of villages would live. It is rumored he was envoy to the Witch Queen... But that is a fable for sure, perhaps Eranon would know this tale? No matter... In the night the toad has little time to flee when the foul muck-ridden heel of another such '''&quot;Clutch&quot;''' tramples its scaley hide into the moors.<br /> <br /> On that night an army run across Worgren's Moor in Shadow's haste. The brutes are some 150 strong. Six dozen Orc-brothers, made up of seemingly as many tribes sprint in fear of being overtaken by their own battlegroup following on their heels behind! The proud pestilence of the Uruk stomp out all life that takes its time to slow before their mad march. The human mercenaries call them a &quot;Shadow-Clutch&quot;, they are 75 motherless killers that hunt until their hunt is done...<br /> <br /> At the front of the column rallying moreso that leading at this point is the orc called - Talûn-karkû, the White-Worm... He would eat your heart were he to find you. He calls out to the Clutch...<br /> <br /> '''''&quot;YOU HAVE NOT YET BEGUN TO SUFFER, YOU MOTHER-LESS DOGS! BEFORE YOU IS PAIN AND BEHIND YOU IS DEATH, CHOOSE AND IF YOUR MIND IS WISE YOU WILL DINE ON THE FLESH OF TRAITOR MY BROTHERS!!!'''''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''The haze of blood-soaked memory pulls over the marching of your orc brotherhood. For a moment you see the stars and then feel compelled to look back to Aryth...''<br /> &lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;span id=&quot;v2&quot;&gt;<br /> ===VROLK the Vile &amp; his Spire-Guard===<br /> ['''1 DAY OR LESS AGO''']: As the cloud parts, you overlook a site that would be serene were you to not fully understand the inhabitants... A campsite, near a stone alter not unlike the one the human Thorton called &quot;Satan Rock&quot;. You know this place. You passed by it when fleeing to save the human's life. At best recollection it is about 5-6 days travel (walking) into the swamps of the Dead Marshes, similarly some 5-6 days from the Worgren Moor.<br /> <br /> But this time the swamp is infested with Shadow. Orc tents scatter across the area beyond the alter. Although the stars are not shining brightly in the skys on these recent nights, at best count their are 100-150 tents... 1-3 orc may reside in each, tents are not the custom of your orc brothers, but these are not brothers. These orc are of the Vile. You can see that from the strange bastardized holy symbols that you recall encroaching on the spot of the natural mirror that you destroyed not long ago. And the black tents remain. Some 3-4 of these, that you assume to be of higher station. Humans in dark robes walk about them. Women of human and halfling kind pleasure these dark Legates in the night. One of the three Legate men enjoys the company of male boys. Twisted is their natures... The one that is Kyuad's friend treats his women with pain, as screems of whip beating hate carene from his tent.<br /> <br /> Apart from the smell of the orc horde their master meditates. The Vile sits in the center of the stone rock, that acts to focus his prayers. The elf appears veral and content, he awaits something. He shoots only a deathly glance as an orc troop has the audacity to question when the camp would move... Vrolk knows... they have found their place in the world and they would wait... For Jahzir has likely found him out by now. It would be on this place of power that he would commune with the Dark. If he be worthy his men would hold off the horde while his goal be achieved!!<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''Again the haze takes you. For another moment of relief you see the stars and then back to Aryth below...''<br /> &lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> ===the WHITE-WORM &amp; his horde===<br /> ['''NOW''']: The moon has been eaten by the sky this night! Talûn-karkû's &quot;men&quot; continue their march. Seven villages have met their makers as the band acts as much the part of ghouls or locust devourering the country-side. The Worm's orc troop have fared better than he expected... Less than two dozen have been evicerated at the hands of the Uruk that roar at their backs! THIS was the truth of things the White-Worm would say, on such marches... Those that made the final battle at the end of such a tear where those that deserved to find glory! It is as nature demands!!<br /> <br /> <br /> '''''&quot;ONWARD BROTHERS, PUT SNOUT INTO THE WIND! CAN YOU SMELL IT?!?!! ELF-FLESH!! THE VILE GROWS NEARER WITH EVER STEP. WHEN WE STOP, WE WILL HAVE THE PRIEST'S FLESH, AND IT WILL BE GLORIOUS - ON THE FULL MOON BROTHERS WE DINE ON JAHZIR'S TRAITOR!!&quot;'''''<br /> <br /> <br /> And for the first time in years the commander of Durgaz's youth smiles, his fangs stained with blood as his troop continue full bore into the hapless maelgral that wander the boundries of the City of Dead... For this is Cambrial's district that his Dafrum-Dâgalûr now plunge into! The orc and uruk alive make merry in the torturing of the dead, but they do not have the luxury of languishing in their kills... if you can call them that. This would be the practice the Worm feared his men would be lacking. With weeks behind them and nearly a week more in front - he may have wondered if his troop would be slow to act...<br /> <br /> For wrath and ruin. <br /> <br /> For fear of Shadow's dawn.<br /> <br /> They are NOT.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''The clouds cover your eyes... This time the fog lifts from behind the stalkers in the dark...''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ===RADAGUG &amp; his Dogs===<br /> ['''NOW''']: And in the same instant that his commander tears across the Cambrial country-side, another orc makes his way to the point of his troop's mission. A goblin snicker swells up, but is beaten down before it can be heard in the camp beyond. The branching leaves of the jungle swamp give way as a dozen or more of the lowly servants of Izrador make their way through the muck and up next to the cold alabaster stone of the alter in the night.<br /> <br /> Radagug, snorts - sounding more like a hedge hog than an orc. It is his way... He then lets free a fumey smell as he forces himself to vomit, holding the disgust in his mouth for a moment before lapping it back down into his gullet. The &quot;sniffers&quot; smell their orders and those that donot have that talent follow the grunt of their orcen master. <br /> <br /> His fellow orc think him weak. But even Radagug is more than a match for the mongrels that make up the camp beyond the stone alter...<br /> <br /> But that is not his goal. Is the Vile here? A dozen goblins creep around the alter watching the elf from the dark. They take comfort that the elf does not erupt to call his guards. They believe their scouting mission is a success... From behind Vrolk's spot of meditation they confirm their mission, then recede... They believe they have not been seen.<br /> <br /> They are wrong.<br /> <br /> And the Vile's lip curls. It would be only a short time before the Full Moon...<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''As Radagug's Dogs retreat to rejoin the White-Worm, you too pull back with them... Slowly floating into the mysts above the haze that Aryth has made for you. Finally a pillow on the land that you can now rest. Tomorrow you can reflect on what these images and dreams mean... Unless you want to go back for more tonight!!'' <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> '''(ie. you are welcome to ask questions or try to change the points of view of your Seer visions, if you like)'''<br /> <br /> == Questions ==<br /> <br /> 1) Here's a big one. The first time you told me about the fourth vision, it wasn't clear that Vrolk had actually SEEN Radagug and his dogs. Is that the case? Or is at least clear that he knows they're there?<br /> <br /> ----<br /> [[Midnight: North &amp; South Portal]]</div>

Elvisrex https://wiki.rpg.net/index.php?title=Midnight_RPG_-_Chapter_14.88&diff=50340 2007-05-03T21:35:31Z

<p>Elvisrex: /* the WHITE-WORM &amp; his horde */</p> <hr /> <div>== Kevin ==<br /> [''This recaps the visions/dreams that Durgaz had in the Laboratory of Vrolk, in the Obsidian Spire. I will try to capture all the information I noted to you in-person. Please NOTE if I miss something. You are WELCOME to ask questions, or try to &quot;interact&quot; with any of the visions to learn more as you have in the past. Just ask.'']<br /> <br /> <br /> As you pull your weery hide up to the open-sky chamber, the crown level on the Black Nail, you feed week. The others that may wish to sleep beneath the stars havenpt found their way up to the tip of the Spire as yet... Giving you time to breath, time to relax and let your guard down, if only for a few minutes. <br /> <br /> <br /> You haven't been able to do so in weeks. The visions, they are coming outside of your dreams these days. It seems '''&quot;the Vile&quot;''' has found a way into your head. Only ONE OTHER has breeched your minds-armors, ...could this elf be compared to God? ...or rather, NOT &quot;God&quot; but '''&quot;the Bain of All Mother&quot;'''? For THAT &quot;god&quot; is not yours any longer... yet sometimes your tongue slips... a few dozen years beneath '''&quot;the Shadow in the North&quot;''' makes hard and fast habits no matter how far away from the Shadow-gaze you grow.<br /> <br /> <br /> They (thinking down to your companions) know NOTHING of suffering! They know NOTHING of fear or hate or loathing... Eranon, the only friend you have save Walden is of elf-kind... He cannot know. He knows love, he knows the hearth, he knows kin, kith and kind. He may have offer sympathy for the chill you face nightly, but he does not know... The others, they are human. And though they have found their hearts long hidden from them by Shadow, they know nothing of lose. Their ancestors may know what they had that was taken when the Shadow fell, but that was before them, before their father's fathers... They fight for myth and legend. They donot even know what it is to live free... Nor can their hearts know what it is to have a home, to know your family or friends will not forsake you in the face of the Shadow... They cannot know the Shadow's volcanic embrace or how cold it is to be without it... They know nothing.<br /> <br /> <br /> For all you have gained with freedom, you were a son of Orc... for all you have gained you gave up tenfold.<br /> <br /> WHY?!?? Why did you do it?... Why did you believe that life beyond the Shadow would be a better one?? <br /> <br /> It has given nothing but pain and more lose. Why do you fight it brother? Why not go home?...<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> NO!<br /> <br /> That is NOT who you are anymore.<br /> <br /> You are among those the ShadowWall... Walden... called friend.<br /> <br /> You are Durgaz, the mirror-breaker. <br /> <br /> And you will have your vengance!<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> But not tonight. Not for these too few hours. These moments are yours. And to whatever god is out there you can but hold hope that Aryth doesn't ask for your allegiance... to...nigh...t.... '''[as you drift off to sleep]'''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> As Durgaz head rests on the pack of the armor bits he has recently sequestered from the laboratory below. Your mind drifts into unconciousness. But your wish cannot come to pass... For all the torment that &quot;the Vile&quot; has twisted in your mind of late, the dreams still come. Aryth herself calls out to you. And with that you feel the hate recend, to be replaced with conviction. For in the times when your sleep is not interupted by constant images of fear and hate, the other moments are frought with a peace - but it is a peace that comes with great cost.<br /> <br /> That COST is what drove you mad. It drove you to flee the Shadow's hold. It drove you to be alone. At the same time it comforts your sleep, giving you full rest - it requests something of you... What that is, must be your journey to uncover.<br /> <br /> Go with the peace now as the cool breeze and cloud-cover fade, showing you scenes sometimes near, yet somethings far-away in both time and space.............<br /> <br /> == Durgaz ==<br /> <br /> Fear and hate and madness are the shackles in which the Shadow binds us. But we are taught not to see the chains, just the layers of tempered steel that shield us from the Fey and the sons of Man, who would rise up and kill us all if given just half a chance.<br /> <br /> I know all this, and it does not stop me from thinking this way on some nights when the stars disappear and I am left alone with only the dark to keep me company. I call these folk my friends and companions, and still sometimes I must fight the impulse to smash one across the face for raising his gaze to mine. There is still an ember of Shadow buried somewhere in my mind that cannot be extinguished, and it is my charge to make sure that it is forever kept free of the tinder that would make it a flame.<br /> <br /> I believed that my visions were infallible, that they could not mislead. I was wrong. I may see where others cannot, and know the consequences of actions before they happen, but it is I who chooses what to do with that knowledge. My mistakes are my own, and that is both my weakness and my strength.<br /> <br /> I am a weapon, turned back on he who forged it. I am a shield, protecting those who cannot protect themselves. But most of all, I am a free orc. <br /> <br /> That is what separates me from my brothers. Someday, perhaps very soon, we will all die. They will die and be forgotten, a thousand faceless slaves conscripted to murder in the Shadow's name. But I will live forever as a part of every life I have helped to save, even though nobody will remember my name. Then I will have ''earned'' the right to rest.<br /> <br /> &lt;span id=&quot;v1&quot;&gt;<br /> ===the WHITE-WORM &amp; his horde===<br /> ['''10 DAYS AGO''']: A toad croaks sitting on a slippery rock amid the moor, given the name Worgren. It flows to a shallow from the Erenriver, at the base of the Eren River Valley. It is a place that you've marched through many times. The story was not more than a year ago this day that a lone Dwarf faced off with a '''Shadow-Clutch''' in that very spot. The foolish Dwarf had little hope against the giants, but it was his mantle to hold them so that dozens of villages would live. It is rumored he was envoy to the Witch Queen... But that is a fable for sure, perhaps Eranon would know this tale? No matter... In the night the toad has little time to flee when the foul muck-ridden heel of another such '''&quot;Clutch&quot;''' tramples its scaley hide into the moors.<br /> <br /> On that night an army run across Worgren's Moor in Shadow's haste. The brutes are some 150 strong. Six dozen Orc-brothers, made up of seemingly as many tribes sprint in fear of being overtaken by their own battlegroup following on their heels behind! The proud pestilence of the Uruk stomp out all life that takes its time to slow before their mad march. The human mercenaries call them a &quot;Shadow-Clutch&quot;, they are 75 motherless killers that hunt until their hunt is done...<br /> <br /> At the front of the column rallying moreso that leading at this point is the orc called - Talûn-karkû, the White-Worm... He would eat your heart were he to find you. He calls out to the Clutch...<br /> <br /> '''''&quot;YOU HAVE NOT YET BEGUN TO SUFFER, YOU MOTHER-LESS DOGS! BEFORE YOU IS PAIN AND BEHIND YOU IS DEATH, CHOOSE AND IF YOUR MIND IS WISE YOU WILL DINE ON THE FLESH OF TRAITOR MY BROTHERS!!!'''''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''The haze of blood-soaked memory pulls over the marching of your orc brotherhood. For a moment you see the stars and then feel compelled to look back to Aryth...''<br /> &lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> ===VROLK the Vile &amp; his Spire-Guard===<br /> ['''1 DAY OR LESS AGO''']: As the cloud parts, you overlook a site that would be serene were you to not fully understand the inhabitants... A campsite, near a stone alter not unlike the one the human Thorton called &quot;Satan Rock&quot;. You know this place. You passed by it when fleeing to save the human's life. At best recollection it is about 5-6 days travel (walking) into the swamps of the Dead Marshes, similarly some 5-6 days from the Worgren Moor.<br /> <br /> But this time the swamp is infested with Shadow. Orc tents scatter across the area beyond the alter. Although the stars are not shining brightly in the skys on these recent nights, at best count their are 100-150 tents... 1-3 orc may reside in each, tents are not the custom of your orc brothers, but these are not brothers. These orc are of the Vile. You can see that from the strange bastardized holy symbols that you recall encroaching on the spot of the natural mirror that you destroyed not long ago. And the black tents remain. Some 3-4 of these, that you assume to be of higher station. Humans in dark robes walk about them. Women of human and halfling kind pleasure these dark Legates in the night. One of the three Legate men enjoys the company of male boys. Twisted is their natures... The one that is Kyuad's friend treats his women with pain, as screems of whip beating hate carene from his tent.<br /> <br /> Apart from the smell of the orc horde their master meditates. The Vile sits in the center of the stone rock, that acts to focus his prayers. The elf appears veral and content, he awaits something. He shoots only a deathly glance as an orc troop has the audacity to question when the camp would move... Vrolk knows... they have found their place in the world and they would wait... For Jahzir has likely found him out by now. It would be on this place of power that he would commune with the Dark. If he be worthy his men would hold off the horde while his goal be achieved!!<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''Again the haze takes you. For another moment of relief you see the stars and then back to Aryth below...''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ===the WHITE-WORM &amp; his horde===<br /> ['''NOW''']: The moon has been eaten by the sky this night! Talûn-karkû's &quot;men&quot; continue their march. Seven villages have met their makers as the band acts as much the part of ghouls or locust devourering the country-side. The Worm's orc troop have fared better than he expected... Less than two dozen have been evicerated at the hands of the Uruk that roar at their backs! THIS was the truth of things the White-Worm would say, on such marches... Those that made the final battle at the end of such a tear where those that deserved to find glory! It is as nature demands!!<br /> <br /> <br /> '''''&quot;ONWARD BROTHERS, PUT SNOUT INTO THE WIND! CAN YOU SMELL IT?!?!! ELF-FLESH!! THE VILE GROWS NEARER WITH EVER STEP. WHEN WE STOP, WE WILL HAVE THE PRIEST'S FLESH, AND IT WILL BE GLORIOUS - ON THE FULL MOON BROTHERS WE DINE ON JAHZIR'S TRAITOR!!&quot;'''''<br /> <br /> <br /> And for the first time in years the commander of Durgaz's youth smiles, his fangs stained with blood as his troop continue full bore into the hapless maelgral that wander the boundries of the City of Dead... For this is Cambrial's district that his Dafrum-Dâgalûr now plunge into! The orc and uruk alive make merry in the torturing of the dead, but they do not have the luxury of languishing in their kills... if you can call them that. This would be the practice the Worm feared his men would be lacking. With weeks behind them and nearly a week more in front - he may have wondered if his troop would be slow to act...<br /> <br /> For wrath and ruin. <br /> <br /> For fear of Shadow's dawn.<br /> <br /> They are NOT.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''The clouds cover your eyes... This time the fog lifts from behind the stalkers in the dark...''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ===RADAGUG &amp; his Dogs===<br /> ['''NOW''']: And in the same instant that his commander tears across the Cambrial country-side, another orc makes his way to the point of his troop's mission. A goblin snicker swells up, but is beaten down before it can be heard in the camp beyond. The branching leaves of the jungle swamp give way as a dozen or more of the lowly servants of Izrador make their way through the muck and up next to the cold alabaster stone of the alter in the night.<br /> <br /> Radagug, snorts - sounding more like a hedge hog than an orc. It is his way... He then lets free a fumey smell as he forces himself to vomit, holding the disgust in his mouth for a moment before lapping it back down into his gullet. The &quot;sniffers&quot; smell their orders and those that donot have that talent follow the grunt of their orcen master. <br /> <br /> His fellow orc think him weak. But even Radagug is more than a match for the mongrels that make up the camp beyond the stone alter...<br /> <br /> But that is not his goal. Is the Vile here? A dozen goblins creep around the alter watching the elf from the dark. They take comfort that the elf does not erupt to call his guards. They believe their scouting mission is a success... From behind Vrolk's spot of meditation they confirm their mission, then recede... They believe they have not been seen.<br /> <br /> They are wrong.<br /> <br /> And the Vile's lip curls. It would be only a short time before the Full Moon...<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''As Radagug's Dogs retreat to rejoin the White-Worm, you too pull back with them... Slowly floating into the mysts above the haze that Aryth has made for you. Finally a pillow on the land that you can now rest. Tomorrow you can reflect on what these images and dreams mean... Unless you want to go back for more tonight!!'' <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> '''(ie. you are welcome to ask questions or try to change the points of view of your Seer visions, if you like)'''<br /> <br /> == Questions ==<br /> <br /> 1) Here's a big one. The first time you told me about the fourth vision, it wasn't clear that Vrolk had actually SEEN Radagug and his dogs. Is that the case? Or is at least clear that he knows they're there?<br /> <br /> ----<br /> [[Midnight: North &amp; South Portal]]</div>

Elvisrex https://wiki.rpg.net/index.php?title=Midnight_RPG_-_Chapter_14.88&diff=50339 2007-05-03T21:35:03Z

<p>Elvisrex: /* Questions */</p> <hr /> <div>== Kevin ==<br /> [''This recaps the visions/dreams that Durgaz had in the Laboratory of Vrolk, in the Obsidian Spire. I will try to capture all the information I noted to you in-person. Please NOTE if I miss something. You are WELCOME to ask questions, or try to &quot;interact&quot; with any of the visions to learn more as you have in the past. Just ask.'']<br /> <br /> <br /> As you pull your weery hide up to the open-sky chamber, the crown level on the Black Nail, you feed week. The others that may wish to sleep beneath the stars havenpt found their way up to the tip of the Spire as yet... Giving you time to breath, time to relax and let your guard down, if only for a few minutes. <br /> <br /> <br /> You haven't been able to do so in weeks. The visions, they are coming outside of your dreams these days. It seems '''&quot;the Vile&quot;''' has found a way into your head. Only ONE OTHER has breeched your minds-armors, ...could this elf be compared to God? ...or rather, NOT &quot;God&quot; but '''&quot;the Bain of All Mother&quot;'''? For THAT &quot;god&quot; is not yours any longer... yet sometimes your tongue slips... a few dozen years beneath '''&quot;the Shadow in the North&quot;''' makes hard and fast habits no matter how far away from the Shadow-gaze you grow.<br /> <br /> <br /> They (thinking down to your companions) know NOTHING of suffering! They know NOTHING of fear or hate or loathing... Eranon, the only friend you have save Walden is of elf-kind... He cannot know. He knows love, he knows the hearth, he knows kin, kith and kind. He may have offer sympathy for the chill you face nightly, but he does not know... The others, they are human. And though they have found their hearts long hidden from them by Shadow, they know nothing of lose. Their ancestors may know what they had that was taken when the Shadow fell, but that was before them, before their father's fathers... They fight for myth and legend. They donot even know what it is to live free... Nor can their hearts know what it is to have a home, to know your family or friends will not forsake you in the face of the Shadow... They cannot know the Shadow's volcanic embrace or how cold it is to be without it... They know nothing.<br /> <br /> <br /> For all you have gained with freedom, you were a son of Orc... for all you have gained you gave up tenfold.<br /> <br /> WHY?!?? Why did you do it?... Why did you believe that life beyond the Shadow would be a better one?? <br /> <br /> It has given nothing but pain and more lose. Why do you fight it brother? Why not go home?...<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> NO!<br /> <br /> That is NOT who you are anymore.<br /> <br /> You are among those the ShadowWall... Walden... called friend.<br /> <br /> You are Durgaz, the mirror-breaker. <br /> <br /> And you will have your vengance!<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> But not tonight. Not for these too few hours. These moments are yours. And to whatever god is out there you can but hold hope that Aryth doesn't ask for your allegiance... to...nigh...t.... '''[as you drift off to sleep]'''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> As Durgaz head rests on the pack of the armor bits he has recently sequestered from the laboratory below. Your mind drifts into unconciousness. But your wish cannot come to pass... For all the torment that &quot;the Vile&quot; has twisted in your mind of late, the dreams still come. Aryth herself calls out to you. And with that you feel the hate recend, to be replaced with conviction. For in the times when your sleep is not interupted by constant images of fear and hate, the other moments are frought with a peace - but it is a peace that comes with great cost.<br /> <br /> That COST is what drove you mad. It drove you to flee the Shadow's hold. It drove you to be alone. At the same time it comforts your sleep, giving you full rest - it requests something of you... What that is, must be your journey to uncover.<br /> <br /> Go with the peace now as the cool breeze and cloud-cover fade, showing you scenes sometimes near, yet somethings far-away in both time and space.............<br /> <br /> == Durgaz ==<br /> <br /> Fear and hate and madness are the shackles in which the Shadow binds us. But we are taught not to see the chains, just the layers of tempered steel that shield us from the Fey and the sons of Man, who would rise up and kill us all if given just half a chance.<br /> <br /> I know all this, and it does not stop me from thinking this way on some nights when the stars disappear and I am left alone with only the dark to keep me company. I call these folk my friends and companions, and still sometimes I must fight the impulse to smash one across the face for raising his gaze to mine. There is still an ember of Shadow buried somewhere in my mind that cannot be extinguished, and it is my charge to make sure that it is forever kept free of the tinder that would make it a flame.<br /> <br /> I believed that my visions were infallible, that they could not mislead. I was wrong. I may see where others cannot, and know the consequences of actions before they happen, but it is I who chooses what to do with that knowledge. My mistakes are my own, and that is both my weakness and my strength.<br /> <br /> I am a weapon, turned back on he who forged it. I am a shield, protecting those who cannot protect themselves. But most of all, I am a free orc. <br /> <br /> That is what separates me from my brothers. Someday, perhaps very soon, we will all die. They will die and be forgotten, a thousand faceless slaves conscripted to murder in the Shadow's name. But I will live forever as a part of every life I have helped to save, even though nobody will remember my name. Then I will have ''earned'' the right to rest.<br /> <br /> ===the WHITE-WORM &amp; his horde===<br /> ['''10 DAYS AGO''']: A toad croaks sitting on a slippery rock amid the moor, given the name Worgren. It flows to a shallow from the Erenriver, at the base of the Eren River Valley. It is a place that you've marched through many times. The story was not more than a year ago this day that a lone Dwarf faced off with a '''Shadow-Clutch''' in that very spot. The foolish Dwarf had little hope against the giants, but it was his mantle to hold them so that dozens of villages would live. It is rumored he was envoy to the Witch Queen... But that is a fable for sure, perhaps Eranon would know this tale? No matter... In the night the toad has little time to flee when the foul muck-ridden heel of another such '''&quot;Clutch&quot;''' tramples its scaley hide into the moors.<br /> <br /> On that night an army run across Worgren's Moor in Shadow's haste. The brutes are some 150 strong. Six dozen Orc-brothers, made up of seemingly as many tribes sprint in fear of being overtaken by their own battlegroup following on their heels behind! The proud pestilence of the Uruk stomp out all life that takes its time to slow before their mad march. The human mercenaries call them a &quot;Shadow-Clutch&quot;, they are 75 motherless killers that hunt until their hunt is done...<br /> <br /> At the front of the column rallying moreso that leading at this point is the orc called - Talûn-karkû, the White-Worm... He would eat your heart were he to find you. He calls out to the Clutch...<br /> <br /> '''''&quot;YOU HAVE NOT YET BEGUN TO SUFFER, YOU MOTHER-LESS DOGS! BEFORE YOU IS PAIN AND BEHIND YOU IS DEATH, CHOOSE AND IF YOUR MIND IS WISE YOU WILL DINE ON THE FLESH OF TRAITOR MY BROTHERS!!!'''''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''The haze of blood-soaked memory pulls over the marching of your orc brotherhood. For a moment you see the stars and then feel compelled to look back to Aryth...''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ===VROLK the Vile &amp; his Spire-Guard===<br /> ['''1 DAY OR LESS AGO''']: As the cloud parts, you overlook a site that would be serene were you to not fully understand the inhabitants... A campsite, near a stone alter not unlike the one the human Thorton called &quot;Satan Rock&quot;. You know this place. You passed by it when fleeing to save the human's life. At best recollection it is about 5-6 days travel (walking) into the swamps of the Dead Marshes, similarly some 5-6 days from the Worgren Moor.<br /> <br /> But this time the swamp is infested with Shadow. Orc tents scatter across the area beyond the alter. Although the stars are not shining brightly in the skys on these recent nights, at best count their are 100-150 tents... 1-3 orc may reside in each, tents are not the custom of your orc brothers, but these are not brothers. These orc are of the Vile. You can see that from the strange bastardized holy symbols that you recall encroaching on the spot of the natural mirror that you destroyed not long ago. And the black tents remain. Some 3-4 of these, that you assume to be of higher station. Humans in dark robes walk about them. Women of human and halfling kind pleasure these dark Legates in the night. One of the three Legate men enjoys the company of male boys. Twisted is their natures... The one that is Kyuad's friend treats his women with pain, as screems of whip beating hate carene from his tent.<br /> <br /> Apart from the smell of the orc horde their master meditates. The Vile sits in the center of the stone rock, that acts to focus his prayers. The elf appears veral and content, he awaits something. He shoots only a deathly glance as an orc troop has the audacity to question when the camp would move... Vrolk knows... they have found their place in the world and they would wait... For Jahzir has likely found him out by now. It would be on this place of power that he would commune with the Dark. If he be worthy his men would hold off the horde while his goal be achieved!!<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''Again the haze takes you. For another moment of relief you see the stars and then back to Aryth below...''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ===the WHITE-WORM &amp; his horde===<br /> ['''NOW''']: The moon has been eaten by the sky this night! Talûn-karkû's &quot;men&quot; continue their march. Seven villages have met their makers as the band acts as much the part of ghouls or locust devourering the country-side. The Worm's orc troop have fared better than he expected... Less than two dozen have been evicerated at the hands of the Uruk that roar at their backs! THIS was the truth of things the White-Worm would say, on such marches... Those that made the final battle at the end of such a tear where those that deserved to find glory! It is as nature demands!!<br /> <br /> <br /> '''''&quot;ONWARD BROTHERS, PUT SNOUT INTO THE WIND! CAN YOU SMELL IT?!?!! ELF-FLESH!! THE VILE GROWS NEARER WITH EVER STEP. WHEN WE STOP, WE WILL HAVE THE PRIEST'S FLESH, AND IT WILL BE GLORIOUS - ON THE FULL MOON BROTHERS WE DINE ON JAHZIR'S TRAITOR!!&quot;'''''<br /> <br /> <br /> And for the first time in years the commander of Durgaz's youth smiles, his fangs stained with blood as his troop continue full bore into the hapless maelgral that wander the boundries of the City of Dead... For this is Cambrial's district that his Dafrum-Dâgalûr now plunge into! The orc and uruk alive make merry in the torturing of the dead, but they do not have the luxury of languishing in their kills... if you can call them that. This would be the practice the Worm feared his men would be lacking. With weeks behind them and nearly a week more in front - he may have wondered if his troop would be slow to act...<br /> <br /> For wrath and ruin. <br /> <br /> For fear of Shadow's dawn.<br /> <br /> They are NOT.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''The clouds cover your eyes... This time the fog lifts from behind the stalkers in the dark...''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ===RADAGUG &amp; his Dogs===<br /> ['''NOW''']: And in the same instant that his commander tears across the Cambrial country-side, another orc makes his way to the point of his troop's mission. A goblin snicker swells up, but is beaten down before it can be heard in the camp beyond. The branching leaves of the jungle swamp give way as a dozen or more of the lowly servants of Izrador make their way through the muck and up next to the cold alabaster stone of the alter in the night.<br /> <br /> Radagug, snorts - sounding more like a hedge hog than an orc. It is his way... He then lets free a fumey smell as he forces himself to vomit, holding the disgust in his mouth for a moment before lapping it back down into his gullet. The &quot;sniffers&quot; smell their orders and those that donot have that talent follow the grunt of their orcen master. <br /> <br /> His fellow orc think him weak. But even Radagug is more than a match for the mongrels that make up the camp beyond the stone alter...<br /> <br /> But that is not his goal. Is the Vile here? A dozen goblins creep around the alter watching the elf from the dark. They take comfort that the elf does not erupt to call his guards. They believe their scouting mission is a success... From behind Vrolk's spot of meditation they confirm their mission, then recede... They believe they have not been seen.<br /> <br /> They are wrong.<br /> <br /> And the Vile's lip curls. It would be only a short time before the Full Moon...<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''As Radagug's Dogs retreat to rejoin the White-Worm, you too pull back with them... Slowly floating into the mysts above the haze that Aryth has made for you. Finally a pillow on the land that you can now rest. Tomorrow you can reflect on what these images and dreams mean... Unless you want to go back for more tonight!!'' <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> '''(ie. you are welcome to ask questions or try to change the points of view of your Seer visions, if you like)'''<br /> <br /> == Questions ==<br /> <br /> 1) Here's a big one. The first time you told me about the fourth vision, it wasn't clear that Vrolk had actually SEEN Radagug and his dogs. Is that the case? Or is at least clear that he knows they're there?<br /> <br /> ----<br /> [[Midnight: North &amp; South Portal]]</div>

Elvisrex https://wiki.rpg.net/index.php?title=Midnight_RPG_-_Chapter_14.88&diff=50338 2007-05-03T21:33:15Z

<p>Elvisrex: </p> <hr /> <div>== Kevin ==<br /> [''This recaps the visions/dreams that Durgaz had in the Laboratory of Vrolk, in the Obsidian Spire. I will try to capture all the information I noted to you in-person. Please NOTE if I miss something. You are WELCOME to ask questions, or try to &quot;interact&quot; with any of the visions to learn more as you have in the past. Just ask.'']<br /> <br /> <br /> As you pull your weery hide up to the open-sky chamber, the crown level on the Black Nail, you feed week. The others that may wish to sleep beneath the stars havenpt found their way up to the tip of the Spire as yet... Giving you time to breath, time to relax and let your guard down, if only for a few minutes. <br /> <br /> <br /> You haven't been able to do so in weeks. The visions, they are coming outside of your dreams these days. It seems '''&quot;the Vile&quot;''' has found a way into your head. Only ONE OTHER has breeched your minds-armors, ...could this elf be compared to God? ...or rather, NOT &quot;God&quot; but '''&quot;the Bain of All Mother&quot;'''? For THAT &quot;god&quot; is not yours any longer... yet sometimes your tongue slips... a few dozen years beneath '''&quot;the Shadow in the North&quot;''' makes hard and fast habits no matter how far away from the Shadow-gaze you grow.<br /> <br /> <br /> They (thinking down to your companions) know NOTHING of suffering! They know NOTHING of fear or hate or loathing... Eranon, the only friend you have save Walden is of elf-kind... He cannot know. He knows love, he knows the hearth, he knows kin, kith and kind. He may have offer sympathy for the chill you face nightly, but he does not know... The others, they are human. And though they have found their hearts long hidden from them by Shadow, they know nothing of lose. Their ancestors may know what they had that was taken when the Shadow fell, but that was before them, before their father's fathers... They fight for myth and legend. They donot even know what it is to live free... Nor can their hearts know what it is to have a home, to know your family or friends will not forsake you in the face of the Shadow... They cannot know the Shadow's volcanic embrace or how cold it is to be without it... They know nothing.<br /> <br /> <br /> For all you have gained with freedom, you were a son of Orc... for all you have gained you gave up tenfold.<br /> <br /> WHY?!?? Why did you do it?... Why did you believe that life beyond the Shadow would be a better one?? <br /> <br /> It has given nothing but pain and more lose. Why do you fight it brother? Why not go home?...<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> NO!<br /> <br /> That is NOT who you are anymore.<br /> <br /> You are among those the ShadowWall... Walden... called friend.<br /> <br /> You are Durgaz, the mirror-breaker. <br /> <br /> And you will have your vengance!<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> But not tonight. Not for these too few hours. These moments are yours. And to whatever god is out there you can but hold hope that Aryth doesn't ask for your allegiance... to...nigh...t.... '''[as you drift off to sleep]'''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> As Durgaz head rests on the pack of the armor bits he has recently sequestered from the laboratory below. Your mind drifts into unconciousness. But your wish cannot come to pass... For all the torment that &quot;the Vile&quot; has twisted in your mind of late, the dreams still come. Aryth herself calls out to you. And with that you feel the hate recend, to be replaced with conviction. For in the times when your sleep is not interupted by constant images of fear and hate, the other moments are frought with a peace - but it is a peace that comes with great cost.<br /> <br /> That COST is what drove you mad. It drove you to flee the Shadow's hold. It drove you to be alone. At the same time it comforts your sleep, giving you full rest - it requests something of you... What that is, must be your journey to uncover.<br /> <br /> Go with the peace now as the cool breeze and cloud-cover fade, showing you scenes sometimes near, yet somethings far-away in both time and space.............<br /> <br /> == Durgaz ==<br /> <br /> Fear and hate and madness are the shackles in which the Shadow binds us. But we are taught not to see the chains, just the layers of tempered steel that shield us from the Fey and the sons of Man, who would rise up and kill us all if given just half a chance.<br /> <br /> I know all this, and it does not stop me from thinking this way on some nights when the stars disappear and I am left alone with only the dark to keep me company. I call these folk my friends and companions, and still sometimes I must fight the impulse to smash one across the face for raising his gaze to mine. There is still an ember of Shadow buried somewhere in my mind that cannot be extinguished, and it is my charge to make sure that it is forever kept free of the tinder that would make it a flame.<br /> <br /> I believed that my visions were infallible, that they could not mislead. I was wrong. I may see where others cannot, and know the consequences of actions before they happen, but it is I who chooses what to do with that knowledge. My mistakes are my own, and that is both my weakness and my strength.<br /> <br /> I am a weapon, turned back on he who forged it. I am a shield, protecting those who cannot protect themselves. But most of all, I am a free orc. <br /> <br /> That is what separates me from my brothers. Someday, perhaps very soon, we will all die. They will die and be forgotten, a thousand faceless slaves conscripted to murder in the Shadow's name. But I will live forever as a part of every life I have helped to save, even though nobody will remember my name. Then I will have ''earned'' the right to rest.<br /> <br /> ===the WHITE-WORM &amp; his horde===<br /> ['''10 DAYS AGO''']: A toad croaks sitting on a slippery rock amid the moor, given the name Worgren. It flows to a shallow from the Erenriver, at the base of the Eren River Valley. It is a place that you've marched through many times. The story was not more than a year ago this day that a lone Dwarf faced off with a '''Shadow-Clutch''' in that very spot. The foolish Dwarf had little hope against the giants, but it was his mantle to hold them so that dozens of villages would live. It is rumored he was envoy to the Witch Queen... But that is a fable for sure, perhaps Eranon would know this tale? No matter... In the night the toad has little time to flee when the foul muck-ridden heel of another such '''&quot;Clutch&quot;''' tramples its scaley hide into the moors.<br /> <br /> On that night an army run across Worgren's Moor in Shadow's haste. The brutes are some 150 strong. Six dozen Orc-brothers, made up of seemingly as many tribes sprint in fear of being overtaken by their own battlegroup following on their heels behind! The proud pestilence of the Uruk stomp out all life that takes its time to slow before their mad march. The human mercenaries call them a &quot;Shadow-Clutch&quot;, they are 75 motherless killers that hunt until their hunt is done...<br /> <br /> At the front of the column rallying moreso that leading at this point is the orc called - Talûn-karkû, the White-Worm... He would eat your heart were he to find you. He calls out to the Clutch...<br /> <br /> '''''&quot;YOU HAVE NOT YET BEGUN TO SUFFER, YOU MOTHER-LESS DOGS! BEFORE YOU IS PAIN AND BEHIND YOU IS DEATH, CHOOSE AND IF YOUR MIND IS WISE YOU WILL DINE ON THE FLESH OF TRAITOR MY BROTHERS!!!'''''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''The haze of blood-soaked memory pulls over the marching of your orc brotherhood. For a moment you see the stars and then feel compelled to look back to Aryth...''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ===VROLK the Vile &amp; his Spire-Guard===<br /> ['''1 DAY OR LESS AGO''']: As the cloud parts, you overlook a site that would be serene were you to not fully understand the inhabitants... A campsite, near a stone alter not unlike the one the human Thorton called &quot;Satan Rock&quot;. You know this place. You passed by it when fleeing to save the human's life. At best recollection it is about 5-6 days travel (walking) into the swamps of the Dead Marshes, similarly some 5-6 days from the Worgren Moor.<br /> <br /> But this time the swamp is infested with Shadow. Orc tents scatter across the area beyond the alter. Although the stars are not shining brightly in the skys on these recent nights, at best count their are 100-150 tents... 1-3 orc may reside in each, tents are not the custom of your orc brothers, but these are not brothers. These orc are of the Vile. You can see that from the strange bastardized holy symbols that you recall encroaching on the spot of the natural mirror that you destroyed not long ago. And the black tents remain. Some 3-4 of these, that you assume to be of higher station. Humans in dark robes walk about them. Women of human and halfling kind pleasure these dark Legates in the night. One of the three Legate men enjoys the company of male boys. Twisted is their natures... The one that is Kyuad's friend treats his women with pain, as screems of whip beating hate carene from his tent.<br /> <br /> Apart from the smell of the orc horde their master meditates. The Vile sits in the center of the stone rock, that acts to focus his prayers. The elf appears veral and content, he awaits something. He shoots only a deathly glance as an orc troop has the audacity to question when the camp would move... Vrolk knows... they have found their place in the world and they would wait... For Jahzir has likely found him out by now. It would be on this place of power that he would commune with the Dark. If he be worthy his men would hold off the horde while his goal be achieved!!<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''Again the haze takes you. For another moment of relief you see the stars and then back to Aryth below...''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ===the WHITE-WORM &amp; his horde===<br /> ['''NOW''']: The moon has been eaten by the sky this night! Talûn-karkû's &quot;men&quot; continue their march. Seven villages have met their makers as the band acts as much the part of ghouls or locust devourering the country-side. The Worm's orc troop have fared better than he expected... Less than two dozen have been evicerated at the hands of the Uruk that roar at their backs! THIS was the truth of things the White-Worm would say, on such marches... Those that made the final battle at the end of such a tear where those that deserved to find glory! It is as nature demands!!<br /> <br /> <br /> '''''&quot;ONWARD BROTHERS, PUT SNOUT INTO THE WIND! CAN YOU SMELL IT?!?!! ELF-FLESH!! THE VILE GROWS NEARER WITH EVER STEP. WHEN WE STOP, WE WILL HAVE THE PRIEST'S FLESH, AND IT WILL BE GLORIOUS - ON THE FULL MOON BROTHERS WE DINE ON JAHZIR'S TRAITOR!!&quot;'''''<br /> <br /> <br /> And for the first time in years the commander of Durgaz's youth smiles, his fangs stained with blood as his troop continue full bore into the hapless maelgral that wander the boundries of the City of Dead... For this is Cambrial's district that his Dafrum-Dâgalûr now plunge into! The orc and uruk alive make merry in the torturing of the dead, but they do not have the luxury of languishing in their kills... if you can call them that. This would be the practice the Worm feared his men would be lacking. With weeks behind them and nearly a week more in front - he may have wondered if his troop would be slow to act...<br /> <br /> For wrath and ruin. <br /> <br /> For fear of Shadow's dawn.<br /> <br /> They are NOT.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''The clouds cover your eyes... This time the fog lifts from behind the stalkers in the dark...''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ===RADAGUG &amp; his Dogs===<br /> ['''NOW''']: And in the same instant that his commander tears across the Cambrial country-side, another orc makes his way to the point of his troop's mission. A goblin snicker swells up, but is beaten down before it can be heard in the camp beyond. The branching leaves of the jungle swamp give way as a dozen or more of the lowly servants of Izrador make their way through the muck and up next to the cold alabaster stone of the alter in the night.<br /> <br /> Radagug, snorts - sounding more like a hedge hog than an orc. It is his way... He then lets free a fumey smell as he forces himself to vomit, holding the disgust in his mouth for a moment before lapping it back down into his gullet. The &quot;sniffers&quot; smell their orders and those that donot have that talent follow the grunt of their orcen master. <br /> <br /> His fellow orc think him weak. But even Radagug is more than a match for the mongrels that make up the camp beyond the stone alter...<br /> <br /> But that is not his goal. Is the Vile here? A dozen goblins creep around the alter watching the elf from the dark. They take comfort that the elf does not erupt to call his guards. They believe their scouting mission is a success... From behind Vrolk's spot of meditation they confirm their mission, then recede... They believe they have not been seen.<br /> <br /> They are wrong.<br /> <br /> And the Vile's lip curls. It would be only a short time before the Full Moon...<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''As Radagug's Dogs retreat to rejoin the White-Worm, you too pull back with them... Slowly floating into the mysts above the haze that Aryth has made for you. Finally a pillow on the land that you can now rest. Tomorrow you can reflect on what these images and dreams mean... Unless you want to go back for more tonight!!'' <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> '''(ie. you are welcome to ask questions or try to change the points of view of your Seer visions, if you like)'''<br /> <br /> == Questions ==<br /> <br /> 1) Here's a big one. The first time you told me about the third vision, it wasn't clear that Vrolk had actually SEEN Radagug and his dogs. Is that the case? Or is at least clear that he knows they're there?<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> [[Midnight: North &amp; South Portal]]</div>

Elvisrex https://wiki.rpg.net/index.php?title=Midnight_RPG_-_Chapter_14.88&diff=50337 2007-05-03T21:26:30Z

<p>Elvisrex: /* Durgaz */</p> <hr /> <div>== Kevin ==<br /> [''This recaps the visions/dreams that Durgaz had in the Laboratory of Vrolk, in the Obsidian Spire. I will try to capture all the information I noted to you in-person. Please NOTE if I miss something. You are WELCOME to ask questions, or try to &quot;interact&quot; with any of the visions to learn more as you have in the past. Just ask.'']<br /> <br /> <br /> As you pull your weery hide up to the open-sky chamber, the crown level on the Black Nail, you feed week. The others that may wish to sleep beneath the stars havenpt found their way up to the tip of the Spire as yet... Giving you time to breath, time to relax and let your guard down, if only for a few minutes. <br /> <br /> <br /> You haven't been able to do so in weeks. The visions, they are coming outside of your dreams these days. It seems '''&quot;the Vile&quot;''' has found a way into your head. Only ONE OTHER has breeched your minds-armors, ...could this elf be compared to God? ...or rather, NOT &quot;God&quot; but '''&quot;the Bain of All Mother&quot;'''? For THAT &quot;god&quot; is not yours any longer... yet sometimes your tongue slips... a few dozen years beneath '''&quot;the Shadow in the North&quot;''' makes hard and fast habits no matter how far away from the Shadow-gaze you grow.<br /> <br /> <br /> They (thinking down to your companions) know NOTHING of suffering! They know NOTHING of fear or hate or loathing... Eranon, the only friend you have save Walden is of elf-kind... He cannot know. He knows love, he knows the hearth, he knows kin, kith and kind. He may have offer sympathy for the chill you face nightly, but he does not know... The others, they are human. And though they have found their hearts long hidden from them by Shadow, they know nothing of lose. Their ancestors may know what they had that was taken when the Shadow fell, but that was before them, before their father's fathers... They fight for myth and legend. They donot even know what it is to live free... Nor can their hearts know what it is to have a home, to know your family or friends will not forsake you in the face of the Shadow... They cannot know the Shadow's volcanic embrace or how cold it is to be without it... They know nothing.<br /> <br /> <br /> For all you have gained with freedom, you were a son of Orc... for all you have gained you gave up tenfold.<br /> <br /> WHY?!?? Why did you do it?... Why did you believe that life beyond the Shadow would be a better one?? <br /> <br /> It has given nothing but pain and more lose. Why do you fight it brother? Why not go home?...<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> NO!<br /> <br /> That is NOT who you are anymore.<br /> <br /> You are among those the ShadowWall... Walden... called friend.<br /> <br /> You are Durgaz, the mirror-breaker. <br /> <br /> And you will have your vengance!<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> But not tonight. Not for these too few hours. These moments are yours. And to whatever god is out there you can but hold hope that Aryth doesn't ask for your allegiance... to...nigh...t.... '''[as you drift off to sleep]'''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> As Durgaz head rests on the pack of the armor bits he has recently sequestered from the laboratory below. Your mind drifts into unconciousness. But your wish cannot come to pass... For all the torment that &quot;the Vile&quot; has twisted in your mind of late, the dreams still come. Aryth herself calls out to you. And with that you feel the hate recend, to be replaced with conviction. For in the times when your sleep is not interupted by constant images of fear and hate, the other moments are frought with a peace - but it is a peace that comes with great cost.<br /> <br /> That COST is what drove you mad. It drove you to flee the Shadow's hold. It drove you to be alone. At the same time it comforts your sleep, giving you full rest - it requests something of you... What that is, must be your journey to uncover.<br /> <br /> Go with the peace now as the cool breeze and cloud-cover fade, showing you scenes sometimes near, yet somethings far-away in both time and space.............<br /> <br /> == Durgaz ==<br /> <br /> Fear and hate and madness are the shackles in which the Shadow binds us. But we are taught not to see the chains, just the layers of tempered steel that shield us from the Fey and the sons of Man, who would rise up and kill us all if given just half a chance.<br /> <br /> I know all this, and it does not stop me from thinking this way on some nights when the stars disappear and I am left alone with only the dark to keep me company. I call these folk my friends and companions, and still sometimes I must fight the impulse to smash one across the face for raising his gaze to mine. There is still an ember of Shadow buried somewhere in my mind that cannot be extinguished, and it is my charge to make sure that it is forever kept free of the tinder that would make it a flame.<br /> <br /> I believed that my visions were infallible, that they could not mislead. I was wrong. I may see where others cannot, and know the consequences of actions before they happen, but it is I who chooses what to do with that knowledge. My mistakes are my own, and that is both my weakness and my strength.<br /> <br /> I am a weapon, turned back on he who forged it. I am a shield, protecting those who cannot protect themselves. But most of all, I am a free orc. <br /> <br /> That is what separates me from my brothers. Someday, perhaps very soon, we will all die. They will die and be forgotten, a thousand faceless slaves conscripted to murder in the Shadow's name. But I will live forever as a part of every life I have helped to save, even though nobody will remember my name. Then I will have ''earned'' the right to rest.<br /> <br /> ===the WHITE-WORM &amp; his horde===<br /> ['''10 DAYS AGO''']: A toad croaks sitting on a slippery rock amid the moor, given the name Worgren. It flows to a shallow from the Erenriver, at the base of the Eren River Valley. It is a place that you've marched through many times. The story was not more than a year ago this day that a lone Dwarf faced off with a '''Shadow-Clutch''' in that very spot. The foolish Dwarf had little hope against the giants, but it was his mantle to hold them so that dozens of villages would live. It is rumored he was envoy to the Witch Queen... But that is a fable for sure, perhaps Eranon would know this tale? No matter... In the night the toad has little time to flee when the foul muck-ridden heel of another such '''&quot;Clutch&quot;''' tramples its scaley hide into the moors.<br /> <br /> On that night an army run across Worgren's Moor in Shadow's haste. The brutes are some 150 strong. Six dozen Orc-brothers, made up of seemingly as many tribes sprint in fear of being overtaken by their own battlegroup following on their heels behind! The proud pestilence of the Uruk stomp out all life that takes its time to slow before their mad march. The human mercenaries call them a &quot;Shadow-Clutch&quot;, they are 75 motherless killers that hunt until their hunt is done...<br /> <br /> At the front of the column rallying moreso that leading at this point is the orc called - Talûn-karkû, the White-Worm... He would eat your heart were he to find you. He calls out to the Clutch...<br /> <br /> '''''&quot;YOU HAVE NOT YET BEGUN TO SUFFER, YOU MOTHER-LESS DOGS! BEFORE YOU IS PAIN AND BEHIND YOU IS DEATH, CHOOSE AND IF YOUR MIND IS WISE YOU WILL DINE ON THE FLESH OF TRAITOR MY BROTHERS!!!'''''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''The haze of blood-soaked memory pulls over the marching of your orc brotherhood. For a moment you see the stars and then feel compelled to look back to Aryth...''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ===VROLK the Vile &amp; his Spire-Guard===<br /> ['''1 DAY OR LESS AGO''']: As the cloud parts, you overlook a site that would be serene were you to not fully understand the inhabitants... A campsite, near a stone alter not unlike the one the human Thorton called &quot;Satan Rock&quot;. You know this place. You passed by it when fleeing to save the human's life. At best recollection it is about 5-6 days travel (walking) into the swamps of the Dead Marshes, similarly some 5-6 days from the Worgren Moor.<br /> <br /> But this time the swamp is infested with Shadow. Orc tents scatter across the area beyond the alter. Although the stars are not shining brightly in the skys on these recent nights, at best count their are 100-150 tents... 1-3 orc may reside in each, tents are not the custom of your orc brothers, but these are not brothers. These orc are of the Vile. You can see that from the strange bastardized holy symbols that you recall encroaching on the spot of the natural mirror that you destroyed not long ago. And the black tents remain. Some 3-4 of these, that you assume to be of higher station. Humans in dark robes walk about them. Women of human and halfling kind pleasure these dark Legates in the night. One of the three Legate men enjoys the company of male boys. Twisted is their natures... The one that is Kyuad's friend treats his women with pain, as screems of whip beating hate carene from his tent.<br /> <br /> Apart from the smell of the orc horde their master meditates. The Vile sits in the center of the stone rock, that acts to focus his prayers. The elf appears veral and content, he awaits something. He shoots only a deathly glance as an orc troop has the audacity to question when the camp would move... Vrolk knows... they have found their place in the world and they would wait... For Jahzir has likely found him out by now. It would be on this place of power that he would commune with the Dark. If he be worthy his men would hold off the horde while his goal be achieved!!<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''Again the haze takes you. For another moment of relief you see the stars and then back to Aryth below...''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ===the WHITE-WORM &amp; his horde===<br /> ['''NOW''']: The moon has been eaten by the sky this night! Talûn-karkû's &quot;men&quot; continue their march. Seven villages have met their makers as the band acts as much the part of ghouls or locust devourering the country-side. The Worm's orc troop have fared better than he expected... Less than two dozen have been evicerated at the hands of the Uruk that roar at their backs! THIS was the truth of things the White-Worm would say, on such marches... Those that made the final battle at the end of such a tear where those that deserved to find glory! It is as nature demands!!<br /> <br /> <br /> '''''&quot;ONWARD BROTHERS, PUT SNOUT INTO THE WIND! CAN YOU SMELL IT?!?!! ELF-FLESH!! THE VILE GROWS NEARER WITH EVER STEP. WHEN WE STOP, WE WILL HAVE THE PRIEST'S FLESH, AND IT WILL BE GLORIOUS - ON THE FULL MOON BROTHERS WE DINE ON JAHZIR'S TRAITOR!!&quot;'''''<br /> <br /> <br /> And for the first time in years the commander of Durgaz's youth smiles, his fangs stained with blood as his troop continue full bore into the hapless maelgral that wander the boundries of the City of Dead... For this is Cambrial's district that his Dafrum-Dâgalûr now plunge into! The orc and uruk alive make merry in the torturing of the dead, but they do not have the luxury of languishing in their kills... if you can call them that. This would be the practice the Worm feared his men would be lacking. With weeks behind them and nearly a week more in front - he may have wondered if his troop would be slow to act...<br /> <br /> For wrath and ruin. <br /> <br /> For fear of Shadow's dawn.<br /> <br /> They are NOT.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''The clouds cover your eyes... This time the fog lifts from behind the stalkers in the dark...''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ===RADAGUG &amp; his Dogs===<br /> ['''NOW''']: And in the same instant that his commander tears across the Cambrial country-side, another orc makes his way to the point of his troop's mission. A goblin snicker swells up, but is beaten down before it can be heard in the camp beyond. The branching leaves of the jungle swamp give way as a dozen or more of the lowly servants of Izrador make their way through the muck and up next to the cold alabaster stone of the alter in the night.<br /> <br /> Radagug, snorts - sounding more like a hedge hog than an orc. It is his way... He then lets free a fumey smell as he forces himself to vomit, holding the disgust in his mouth for a moment before lapping it back down into his gullet. The &quot;sniffers&quot; smell their orders and those that donot have that talent follow the grunt of their orcen master. <br /> <br /> His fellow orc think him weak. But even Radagug is more than a match for the mongrels that make up the camp beyond the stone alter...<br /> <br /> But that is not his goal. Is the Vile here? A dozen goblins creep around the alter watching the elf from the dark. They take comfort that the elf does not erupt to call his guards. They believe their scouting mission is a success... From behind Vrolk's spot of meditation they confirm their mission, then recede... They believe they have not been seen.<br /> <br /> They are wrong.<br /> <br /> And the Vile's lip curls. It would be only a short time before the Full Moon...<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''As Radagug's Dogs retreat to rejoin the White-Worm, you too pull back with them... Slowly floating into the mysts above the haze that Aryth has made for you. Finally a pillow on the land that you can now rest. Tomorrow you can reflect on what these images and dreams mean... Unless you want to go back for more tonight!!'' <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> '''(ie. you are welcome to ask questions or try to change the points of view of your Seer visions, if you like)'''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> [[Midnight: North &amp; South Portal]]</div>

Elvisrex https://wiki.rpg.net/index.php?title=Midnight_RPG_-_Chapter_14.88&diff=50336 2007-05-03T21:24:32Z

<p>Elvisrex: /* Durgaz */</p> <hr /> <div>== Kevin ==<br /> [''This recaps the visions/dreams that Durgaz had in the Laboratory of Vrolk, in the Obsidian Spire. I will try to capture all the information I noted to you in-person. Please NOTE if I miss something. You are WELCOME to ask questions, or try to &quot;interact&quot; with any of the visions to learn more as you have in the past. Just ask.'']<br /> <br /> <br /> As you pull your weery hide up to the open-sky chamber, the crown level on the Black Nail, you feed week. The others that may wish to sleep beneath the stars havenpt found their way up to the tip of the Spire as yet... Giving you time to breath, time to relax and let your guard down, if only for a few minutes. <br /> <br /> <br /> You haven't been able to do so in weeks. The visions, they are coming outside of your dreams these days. It seems '''&quot;the Vile&quot;''' has found a way into your head. Only ONE OTHER has breeched your minds-armors, ...could this elf be compared to God? ...or rather, NOT &quot;God&quot; but '''&quot;the Bain of All Mother&quot;'''? For THAT &quot;god&quot; is not yours any longer... yet sometimes your tongue slips... a few dozen years beneath '''&quot;the Shadow in the North&quot;''' makes hard and fast habits no matter how far away from the Shadow-gaze you grow.<br /> <br /> <br /> They (thinking down to your companions) know NOTHING of suffering! They know NOTHING of fear or hate or loathing... Eranon, the only friend you have save Walden is of elf-kind... He cannot know. He knows love, he knows the hearth, he knows kin, kith and kind. He may have offer sympathy for the chill you face nightly, but he does not know... The others, they are human. And though they have found their hearts long hidden from them by Shadow, they know nothing of lose. Their ancestors may know what they had that was taken when the Shadow fell, but that was before them, before their father's fathers... They fight for myth and legend. They donot even know what it is to live free... Nor can their hearts know what it is to have a home, to know your family or friends will not forsake you in the face of the Shadow... They cannot know the Shadow's volcanic embrace or how cold it is to be without it... They know nothing.<br /> <br /> <br /> For all you have gained with freedom, you were a son of Orc... for all you have gained you gave up tenfold.<br /> <br /> WHY?!?? Why did you do it?... Why did you believe that life beyond the Shadow would be a better one?? <br /> <br /> It has given nothing but pain and more lose. Why do you fight it brother? Why not go home?...<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> NO!<br /> <br /> That is NOT who you are anymore.<br /> <br /> You are among those the ShadowWall... Walden... called friend.<br /> <br /> You are Durgaz, the mirror-breaker. <br /> <br /> And you will have your vengance!<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> But not tonight. Not for these too few hours. These moments are yours. And to whatever god is out there you can but hold hope that Aryth doesn't ask for your allegiance... to...nigh...t.... '''[as you drift off to sleep]'''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> As Durgaz head rests on the pack of the armor bits he has recently sequestered from the laboratory below. Your mind drifts into unconciousness. But your wish cannot come to pass... For all the torment that &quot;the Vile&quot; has twisted in your mind of late, the dreams still come. Aryth herself calls out to you. And with that you feel the hate recend, to be replaced with conviction. For in the times when your sleep is not interupted by constant images of fear and hate, the other moments are frought with a peace - but it is a peace that comes with great cost.<br /> <br /> That COST is what drove you mad. It drove you to flee the Shadow's hold. It drove you to be alone. At the same time it comforts your sleep, giving you full rest - it requests something of you... What that is, must be your journey to uncover.<br /> <br /> Go with the peace now as the cool breeze and cloud-cover fade, showing you scenes sometimes near, yet somethings far-away in both time and space.............<br /> <br /> == Durgaz ==<br /> <br /> Fear and hate and madness are the shackles in which the Shadow binds us. But we are taught not to see the chains, just the layers of tempered steel that shield us from the Fey and the sons of Man, who would rise up and kill us all if given just half a chance.<br /> <br /> I know all this, and it does not stop me from thinking this way on some nights when the stars disappear and I am left alone with only the dark to keep me company. I call these folk my friends and companions, and still sometimes I must fight the impulse to smash one across the face for raising his gaze to mine. There is still an ember of Shadow buried somewhere in my mind that cannot be extinguished, and it is my charge to make sure that it is forever kept free of the tinder that would make it a flame.<br /> <br /> I believed that my visions were infallible, that they could not mislead. I was wrong. I may see where others cannot, and know the consequences of actions before they happen, but it is I who chooses what to do with that knowledge. My mistakes are my own, and that is both my weakness and my strength.<br /> <br /> I am a weapon, turned back on he who forged it. I am a shield, protecting those who cannot protect themselves. But most of all, I am a free orc. <br /> <br /> That is what separates me from my brothers. Someday, perhaps very soon, we will all die. They will die and be forgotten, a thousand faceless slaves conscripted to murder in the Shadow's name. But I will live forever as a part of every life I have helped to save, even though nobody will remember my name. Then, and only then, will I have earned the right to rest.<br /> <br /> ===the WHITE-WORM &amp; his horde===<br /> ['''10 DAYS AGO''']: A toad croaks sitting on a slippery rock amid the moor, given the name Worgren. It flows to a shallow from the Erenriver, at the base of the Eren River Valley. It is a place that you've marched through many times. The story was not more than a year ago this day that a lone Dwarf faced off with a '''Shadow-Clutch''' in that very spot. The foolish Dwarf had little hope against the giants, but it was his mantle to hold them so that dozens of villages would live. It is rumored he was envoy to the Witch Queen... But that is a fable for sure, perhaps Eranon would know this tale? No matter... In the night the toad has little time to flee when the foul muck-ridden heel of another such '''&quot;Clutch&quot;''' tramples its scaley hide into the moors.<br /> <br /> On that night an army run across Worgren's Moor in Shadow's haste. The brutes are some 150 strong. Six dozen Orc-brothers, made up of seemingly as many tribes sprint in fear of being overtaken by their own battlegroup following on their heels behind! The proud pestilence of the Uruk stomp out all life that takes its time to slow before their mad march. The human mercenaries call them a &quot;Shadow-Clutch&quot;, they are 75 motherless killers that hunt until their hunt is done...<br /> <br /> At the front of the column rallying moreso that leading at this point is the orc called - Talûn-karkû, the White-Worm... He would eat your heart were he to find you. He calls out to the Clutch...<br /> <br /> '''''&quot;YOU HAVE NOT YET BEGUN TO SUFFER, YOU MOTHER-LESS DOGS! BEFORE YOU IS PAIN AND BEHIND YOU IS DEATH, CHOOSE AND IF YOUR MIND IS WISE YOU WILL DINE ON THE FLESH OF TRAITOR MY BROTHERS!!!'''''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''The haze of blood-soaked memory pulls over the marching of your orc brotherhood. For a moment you see the stars and then feel compelled to look back to Aryth...''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ===VROLK the Vile &amp; his Spire-Guard===<br /> ['''1 DAY OR LESS AGO''']: As the cloud parts, you overlook a site that would be serene were you to not fully understand the inhabitants... A campsite, near a stone alter not unlike the one the human Thorton called &quot;Satan Rock&quot;. You know this place. You passed by it when fleeing to save the human's life. At best recollection it is about 5-6 days travel (walking) into the swamps of the Dead Marshes, similarly some 5-6 days from the Worgren Moor.<br /> <br /> But this time the swamp is infested with Shadow. Orc tents scatter across the area beyond the alter. Although the stars are not shining brightly in the skys on these recent nights, at best count their are 100-150 tents... 1-3 orc may reside in each, tents are not the custom of your orc brothers, but these are not brothers. These orc are of the Vile. You can see that from the strange bastardized holy symbols that you recall encroaching on the spot of the natural mirror that you destroyed not long ago. And the black tents remain. Some 3-4 of these, that you assume to be of higher station. Humans in dark robes walk about them. Women of human and halfling kind pleasure these dark Legates in the night. One of the three Legate men enjoys the company of male boys. Twisted is their natures... The one that is Kyuad's friend treats his women with pain, as screems of whip beating hate carene from his tent.<br /> <br /> Apart from the smell of the orc horde their master meditates. The Vile sits in the center of the stone rock, that acts to focus his prayers. The elf appears veral and content, he awaits something. He shoots only a deathly glance as an orc troop has the audacity to question when the camp would move... Vrolk knows... they have found their place in the world and they would wait... For Jahzir has likely found him out by now. It would be on this place of power that he would commune with the Dark. If he be worthy his men would hold off the horde while his goal be achieved!!<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''Again the haze takes you. For another moment of relief you see the stars and then back to Aryth below...''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ===the WHITE-WORM &amp; his horde===<br /> ['''NOW''']: The moon has been eaten by the sky this night! Talûn-karkû's &quot;men&quot; continue their march. Seven villages have met their makers as the band acts as much the part of ghouls or locust devourering the country-side. The Worm's orc troop have fared better than he expected... Less than two dozen have been evicerated at the hands of the Uruk that roar at their backs! THIS was the truth of things the White-Worm would say, on such marches... Those that made the final battle at the end of such a tear where those that deserved to find glory! It is as nature demands!!<br /> <br /> <br /> '''''&quot;ONWARD BROTHERS, PUT SNOUT INTO THE WIND! CAN YOU SMELL IT?!?!! ELF-FLESH!! THE VILE GROWS NEARER WITH EVER STEP. WHEN WE STOP, WE WILL HAVE THE PRIEST'S FLESH, AND IT WILL BE GLORIOUS - ON THE FULL MOON BROTHERS WE DINE ON JAHZIR'S TRAITOR!!&quot;'''''<br /> <br /> <br /> And for the first time in years the commander of Durgaz's youth smiles, his fangs stained with blood as his troop continue full bore into the hapless maelgral that wander the boundries of the City of Dead... For this is Cambrial's district that his Dafrum-Dâgalûr now plunge into! The orc and uruk alive make merry in the torturing of the dead, but they do not have the luxury of languishing in their kills... if you can call them that. This would be the practice the Worm feared his men would be lacking. With weeks behind them and nearly a week more in front - he may have wondered if his troop would be slow to act...<br /> <br /> For wrath and ruin. <br /> <br /> For fear of Shadow's dawn.<br /> <br /> They are NOT.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''The clouds cover your eyes... This time the fog lifts from behind the stalkers in the dark...''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ===RADAGUG &amp; his Dogs===<br /> ['''NOW''']: And in the same instant that his commander tears across the Cambrial country-side, another orc makes his way to the point of his troop's mission. A goblin snicker swells up, but is beaten down before it can be heard in the camp beyond. The branching leaves of the jungle swamp give way as a dozen or more of the lowly servants of Izrador make their way through the muck and up next to the cold alabaster stone of the alter in the night.<br /> <br /> Radagug, snorts - sounding more like a hedge hog than an orc. It is his way... He then lets free a fumey smell as he forces himself to vomit, holding the disgust in his mouth for a moment before lapping it back down into his gullet. The &quot;sniffers&quot; smell their orders and those that donot have that talent follow the grunt of their orcen master. <br /> <br /> His fellow orc think him weak. But even Radagug is more than a match for the mongrels that make up the camp beyond the stone alter...<br /> <br /> But that is not his goal. Is the Vile here? A dozen goblins creep around the alter watching the elf from the dark. They take comfort that the elf does not erupt to call his guards. They believe their scouting mission is a success... From behind Vrolk's spot of meditation they confirm their mission, then recede... They believe they have not been seen.<br /> <br /> They are wrong.<br /> <br /> And the Vile's lip curls. It would be only a short time before the Full Moon...<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''As Radagug's Dogs retreat to rejoin the White-Worm, you too pull back with them... Slowly floating into the mysts above the haze that Aryth has made for you. Finally a pillow on the land that you can now rest. Tomorrow you can reflect on what these images and dreams mean... Unless you want to go back for more tonight!!'' <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> '''(ie. you are welcome to ask questions or try to change the points of view of your Seer visions, if you like)'''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> [[Midnight: North &amp; South Portal]]</div>

Elvisrex https://wiki.rpg.net/index.php?title=Midnight_RPG_-_Chapter_14.88&diff=50335 2007-05-03T21:05:14Z

<p>Elvisrex: /* Durgaz */</p> <hr /> <div>== Kevin ==<br /> [''This recaps the visions/dreams that Durgaz had in the Laboratory of Vrolk, in the Obsidian Spire. I will try to capture all the information I noted to you in-person. Please NOTE if I miss something. You are WELCOME to ask questions, or try to &quot;interact&quot; with any of the visions to learn more as you have in the past. Just ask.'']<br /> <br /> <br /> As you pull your weery hide up to the open-sky chamber, the crown level on the Black Nail, you feed week. The others that may wish to sleep beneath the stars havenpt found their way up to the tip of the Spire as yet... Giving you time to breath, time to relax and let your guard down, if only for a few minutes. <br /> <br /> <br /> You haven't been able to do so in weeks. The visions, they are coming outside of your dreams these days. It seems '''&quot;the Vile&quot;''' has found a way into your head. Only ONE OTHER has breeched your minds-armors, ...could this elf be compared to God? ...or rather, NOT &quot;God&quot; but '''&quot;the Bain of All Mother&quot;'''? For THAT &quot;god&quot; is not yours any longer... yet sometimes your tongue slips... a few dozen years beneath '''&quot;the Shadow in the North&quot;''' makes hard and fast habits no matter how far away from the Shadow-gaze you grow.<br /> <br /> <br /> They (thinking down to your companions) know NOTHING of suffering! They know NOTHING of fear or hate or loathing... Eranon, the only friend you have save Walden is of elf-kind... He cannot know. He knows love, he knows the hearth, he knows kin, kith and kind. He may have offer sympathy for the chill you face nightly, but he does not know... The others, they are human. And though they have found their hearts long hidden from them by Shadow, they know nothing of lose. Their ancestors may know what they had that was taken when the Shadow fell, but that was before them, before their father's fathers... They fight for myth and legend. They donot even know what it is to live free... Nor can their hearts know what it is to have a home, to know your family or friends will not forsake you in the face of the Shadow... They cannot know the Shadow's volcanic embrace or how cold it is to be without it... They know nothing.<br /> <br /> <br /> For all you have gained with freedom, you were a son of Orc... for all you have gained you gave up tenfold.<br /> <br /> WHY?!?? Why did you do it?... Why did you believe that life beyond the Shadow would be a better one?? <br /> <br /> It has given nothing but pain and more lose. Why do you fight it brother? Why not go home?...<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> NO!<br /> <br /> That is NOT who you are anymore.<br /> <br /> You are among those the ShadowWall... Walden... called friend.<br /> <br /> You are Durgaz, the mirror-breaker. <br /> <br /> And you will have your vengance!<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> But not tonight. Not for these too few hours. These moments are yours. And to whatever god is out there you can but hold hope that Aryth doesn't ask for your allegiance... to...nigh...t.... '''[as you drift off to sleep]'''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> As Durgaz head rests on the pack of the armor bits he has recently sequestered from the laboratory below. Your mind drifts into unconciousness. But your wish cannot come to pass... For all the torment that &quot;the Vile&quot; has twisted in your mind of late, the dreams still come. Aryth herself calls out to you. And with that you feel the hate recend, to be replaced with conviction. For in the times when your sleep is not interupted by constant images of fear and hate, the other moments are frought with a peace - but it is a peace that comes with great cost.<br /> <br /> That COST is what drove you mad. It drove you to flee the Shadow's hold. It drove you to be alone. At the same time it comforts your sleep, giving you full rest - it requests something of you... What that is, must be your journey to uncover.<br /> <br /> Go with the peace now as the cool breeze and cloud-cover fade, showing you scenes sometimes near, yet somethings far-away in both time and space.............<br /> <br /> == Durgaz ==<br /> <br /> Fear and hate and madness are the shackles in which the Shadow binds us. But we are taught not to see the chains, just the layers of tempered steel that shield us from the Fey and the sons of Man, who would rise up and kill us all if given just half a chance.<br /> <br /> I know all this, and it does not stop me from thinking this way on some nights when the stars disappear and I am left alone with only the dark to keep me company. I call these folk my friends and companions, and still sometimes I must fight the impulse to smash one across the face for raising his gaze to mine. There is still an ember of Shadow buried somewhere in my mind that cannot be extinguished, and it is my charge to make sure that it is forever kept free of the tinder that would make it a flame.<br /> <br /> I believed that my visions were infallible, that they could not mislead. I was wrong. I may see where others cannot, and know the consequences of actions before they happen, but it is I who chooses what to do with that knowledge. My mistakes are my own, and that is both my weakness and my strength.<br /> <br /> I am a weapon, turned back on he who forged it. I am a shield, protecting those who cannot protect themselves. But most of all, I am a free orc.<br /> <br /> ===the WHITE-WORM &amp; his horde===<br /> ['''10 DAYS AGO''']: A toad croaks sitting on a slippery rock amid the moor, given the name Worgren. It flows to a shallow from the Erenriver, at the base of the Eren River Valley. It is a place that you've marched through many times. The story was not more than a year ago this day that a lone Dwarf faced off with a '''Shadow-Clutch''' in that very spot. The foolish Dwarf had little hope against the giants, but it was his mantle to hold them so that dozens of villages would live. It is rumored he was envoy to the Witch Queen... But that is a fable for sure, perhaps Eranon would know this tale? No matter... In the night the toad has little time to flee when the foul muck-ridden heel of another such '''&quot;Clutch&quot;''' tramples its scaley hide into the moors.<br /> <br /> On that night an army run across Worgren's Moor in Shadow's haste. The brutes are some 150 strong. Six dozen Orc-brothers, made up of seemingly as many tribes sprint in fear of being overtaken by their own battlegroup following on their heels behind! The proud pestilence of the Uruk stomp out all life that takes its time to slow before their mad march. The human mercenaries call them a &quot;Shadow-Clutch&quot;, they are 75 motherless killers that hunt until their hunt is done...<br /> <br /> At the front of the column rallying moreso that leading at this point is the orc called - Talûn-karkû, the White-Worm... He would eat your heart were he to find you. He calls out to the Clutch...<br /> <br /> '''''&quot;YOU HAVE NOT YET BEGUN TO SUFFER, YOU MOTHER-LESS DOGS! BEFORE YOU IS PAIN AND BEHIND YOU IS DEATH, CHOOSE AND IF YOUR MIND IS WISE YOU WILL DINE ON THE FLESH OF TRAITOR MY BROTHERS!!!'''''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''The haze of blood-soaked memory pulls over the marching of your orc brotherhood. For a moment you see the stars and then feel compelled to look back to Aryth...''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ===VROLK the Vile &amp; his Spire-Guard===<br /> ['''1 DAY OR LESS AGO''']: As the cloud parts, you overlook a site that would be serene were you to not fully understand the inhabitants... A campsite, near a stone alter not unlike the one the human Thorton called &quot;Satan Rock&quot;. You know this place. You passed by it when fleeing to save the human's life. At best recollection it is about 5-6 days travel (walking) into the swamps of the Dead Marshes, similarly some 5-6 days from the Worgren Moor.<br /> <br /> But this time the swamp is infested with Shadow. Orc tents scatter across the area beyond the alter. Although the stars are not shining brightly in the skys on these recent nights, at best count their are 100-150 tents... 1-3 orc may reside in each, tents are not the custom of your orc brothers, but these are not brothers. These orc are of the Vile. You can see that from the strange bastardized holy symbols that you recall encroaching on the spot of the natural mirror that you destroyed not long ago. And the black tents remain. Some 3-4 of these, that you assume to be of higher station. Humans in dark robes walk about them. Women of human and halfling kind pleasure these dark Legates in the night. One of the three Legate men enjoys the company of male boys. Twisted is their natures... The one that is Kyuad's friend treats his women with pain, as screems of whip beating hate carene from his tent.<br /> <br /> Apart from the smell of the orc horde their master meditates. The Vile sits in the center of the stone rock, that acts to focus his prayers. The elf appears veral and content, he awaits something. He shoots only a deathly glance as an orc troop has the audacity to question when the camp would move... Vrolk knows... they have found their place in the world and they would wait... For Jahzir has likely found him out by now. It would be on this place of power that he would commune with the Dark. If he be worthy his men would hold off the horde while his goal be achieved!!<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''Again the haze takes you. For another moment of relief you see the stars and then back to Aryth below...''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ===the WHITE-WORM &amp; his horde===<br /> ['''NOW''']: The moon has been eaten by the sky this night! Talûn-karkû's &quot;men&quot; continue their march. Seven villages have met their makers as the band acts as much the part of ghouls or locust devourering the country-side. The Worm's orc troop have fared better than he expected... Less than two dozen have been evicerated at the hands of the Uruk that roar at their backs! THIS was the truth of things the White-Worm would say, on such marches... Those that made the final battle at the end of such a tear where those that deserved to find glory! It is as nature demands!!<br /> <br /> <br /> '''''&quot;ONWARD BROTHERS, PUT SNOUT INTO THE WIND! CAN YOU SMELL IT?!?!! ELF-FLESH!! THE VILE GROWS NEARER WITH EVER STEP. WHEN WE STOP, WE WILL HAVE THE PRIEST'S FLESH, AND IT WILL BE GLORIOUS - ON THE FULL MOON BROTHERS WE DINE ON JAHZIR'S TRAITOR!!&quot;'''''<br /> <br /> <br /> And for the first time in years the commander of Durgaz's youth smiles, his fangs stained with blood as his troop continue full bore into the hapless maelgral that wander the boundries of the City of Dead... For this is Cambrial's district that his Dafrum-Dâgalûr now plunge into! The orc and uruk alive make merry in the torturing of the dead, but they do not have the luxury of languishing in their kills... if you can call them that. This would be the practice the Worm feared his men would be lacking. With weeks behind them and nearly a week more in front - he may have wondered if his troop would be slow to act...<br /> <br /> For wrath and ruin. <br /> <br /> For fear of Shadow's dawn.<br /> <br /> They are NOT.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''The clouds cover your eyes... This time the fog lifts from behind the stalkers in the dark...''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ===RADAGUG &amp; his Dogs===<br /> ['''NOW''']: And in the same instant that his commander tears across the Cambrial country-side, another orc makes his way to the point of his troop's mission. A goblin snicker swells up, but is beaten down before it can be heard in the camp beyond. The branching leaves of the jungle swamp give way as a dozen or more of the lowly servants of Izrador make their way through the muck and up next to the cold alabaster stone of the alter in the night.<br /> <br /> Radagug, snorts - sounding more like a hedge hog than an orc. It is his way... He then lets free a fumey smell as he forces himself to vomit, holding the disgust in his mouth for a moment before lapping it back down into his gullet. The &quot;sniffers&quot; smell their orders and those that donot have that talent follow the grunt of their orcen master. <br /> <br /> His fellow orc think him weak. But even Radagug is more than a match for the mongrels that make up the camp beyond the stone alter...<br /> <br /> But that is not his goal. Is the Vile here? A dozen goblins creep around the alter watching the elf from the dark. They take comfort that the elf does not erupt to call his guards. They believe their scouting mission is a success... From behind Vrolk's spot of meditation they confirm their mission, then recede... They believe they have not been seen.<br /> <br /> They are wrong.<br /> <br /> And the Vile's lip curls. It would be only a short time before the Full Moon...<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''As Radagug's Dogs retreat to rejoin the White-Worm, you too pull back with them... Slowly floating into the mysts above the haze that Aryth has made for you. Finally a pillow on the land that you can now rest. Tomorrow you can reflect on what these images and dreams mean... Unless you want to go back for more tonight!!'' <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> '''(ie. you are welcome to ask questions or try to change the points of view of your Seer visions, if you like)'''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> [[Midnight: North &amp; South Portal]]</div>

Elvisrex https://wiki.rpg.net/index.php?title=Midnight_RPG_-_Chapter_14.88&diff=50334 2007-05-03T21:02:52Z

<p>Elvisrex: /* Durgaz */</p> <hr /> <div>== Kevin ==<br /> [''This recaps the visions/dreams that Durgaz had in the Laboratory of Vrolk, in the Obsidian Spire. I will try to capture all the information I noted to you in-person. Please NOTE if I miss something. You are WELCOME to ask questions, or try to &quot;interact&quot; with any of the visions to learn more as you have in the past. Just ask.'']<br /> <br /> <br /> As you pull your weery hide up to the open-sky chamber, the crown level on the Black Nail, you feed week. The others that may wish to sleep beneath the stars havenpt found their way up to the tip of the Spire as yet... Giving you time to breath, time to relax and let your guard down, if only for a few minutes. <br /> <br /> <br /> You haven't been able to do so in weeks. The visions, they are coming outside of your dreams these days. It seems '''&quot;the Vile&quot;''' has found a way into your head. Only ONE OTHER has breeched your minds-armors, ...could this elf be compared to God? ...or rather, NOT &quot;God&quot; but '''&quot;the Bain of All Mother&quot;'''? For THAT &quot;god&quot; is not yours any longer... yet sometimes your tongue slips... a few dozen years beneath '''&quot;the Shadow in the North&quot;''' makes hard and fast habits no matter how far away from the Shadow-gaze you grow.<br /> <br /> <br /> They (thinking down to your companions) know NOTHING of suffering! They know NOTHING of fear or hate or loathing... Eranon, the only friend you have save Walden is of elf-kind... He cannot know. He knows love, he knows the hearth, he knows kin, kith and kind. He may have offer sympathy for the chill you face nightly, but he does not know... The others, they are human. And though they have found their hearts long hidden from them by Shadow, they know nothing of lose. Their ancestors may know what they had that was taken when the Shadow fell, but that was before them, before their father's fathers... They fight for myth and legend. They donot even know what it is to live free... Nor can their hearts know what it is to have a home, to know your family or friends will not forsake you in the face of the Shadow... They cannot know the Shadow's volcanic embrace or how cold it is to be without it... They know nothing.<br /> <br /> <br /> For all you have gained with freedom, you were a son of Orc... for all you have gained you gave up tenfold.<br /> <br /> WHY?!?? Why did you do it?... Why did you believe that life beyond the Shadow would be a better one?? <br /> <br /> It has given nothing but pain and more lose. Why do you fight it brother? Why not go home?...<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> NO!<br /> <br /> That is NOT who you are anymore.<br /> <br /> You are among those the ShadowWall... Walden... called friend.<br /> <br /> You are Durgaz, the mirror-breaker. <br /> <br /> And you will have your vengance!<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> But not tonight. Not for these too few hours. These moments are yours. And to whatever god is out there you can but hold hope that Aryth doesn't ask for your allegiance... to...nigh...t.... '''[as you drift off to sleep]'''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> As Durgaz head rests on the pack of the armor bits he has recently sequestered from the laboratory below. Your mind drifts into unconciousness. But your wish cannot come to pass... For all the torment that &quot;the Vile&quot; has twisted in your mind of late, the dreams still come. Aryth herself calls out to you. And with that you feel the hate recend, to be replaced with conviction. For in the times when your sleep is not interupted by constant images of fear and hate, the other moments are frought with a peace - but it is a peace that comes with great cost.<br /> <br /> That COST is what drove you mad. It drove you to flee the Shadow's hold. It drove you to be alone. At the same time it comforts your sleep, giving you full rest - it requests something of you... What that is, must be your journey to uncover.<br /> <br /> Go with the peace now as the cool breeze and cloud-cover fade, showing you scenes sometimes near, yet somethings far-away in both time and space.............<br /> <br /> == Durgaz ==<br /> <br /> Fear and hate and madness are the shackles in which the Shadow binds us. But we are taught not to see the chains, just the layers of tempered steel that shield us from the Fey and the sons of Man, who would rise up and kill us all if given just half a chance.<br /> <br /> I know all this, and it does not stop me from thinking this way on some nights when the stars disappear and I am left alone with only the dark to keep me company. I call these folk my friends and companions, and still sometimes I must fight the impulse to smash one across the face for raising his gaze to mine. There is still an ember of Shadow buried somewhere in my mind that cannot be extinguished, and it is my charge to make sure that it is forever kept free of the tinder that would make it a flame.<br /> <br /> I should know, by now, the danger of blindly obeying or following anything ... man, god, spirit ... whether it is the Shadow, the Witch-Queen or the voice of Aryth. I believed that my visions were infallible, that they could not mislead. I was wrong. I may see where others cannot, and know the consequences of actions before they happen, but it is I who chooses what to do with that knowledge. My mistakes are my own, and that is both my weakness and my strength.<br /> <br /> I am a weapon, turned back on he who forged it. I am a shield, protecting those who cannot protect themselves. But most of all, I am a free orc.<br /> <br /> ===the WHITE-WORM &amp; his horde===<br /> ['''10 DAYS AGO''']: A toad croaks sitting on a slippery rock amid the moor, given the name Worgren. It flows to a shallow from the Erenriver, at the base of the Eren River Valley. It is a place that you've marched through many times. The story was not more than a year ago this day that a lone Dwarf faced off with a '''Shadow-Clutch''' in that very spot. The foolish Dwarf had little hope against the giants, but it was his mantle to hold them so that dozens of villages would live. It is rumored he was envoy to the Witch Queen... But that is a fable for sure, perhaps Eranon would know this tale? No matter... In the night the toad has little time to flee when the foul muck-ridden heel of another such '''&quot;Clutch&quot;''' tramples its scaley hide into the moors.<br /> <br /> On that night an army run across Worgren's Moor in Shadow's haste. The brutes are some 150 strong. Six dozen Orc-brothers, made up of seemingly as many tribes sprint in fear of being overtaken by their own battlegroup following on their heels behind! The proud pestilence of the Uruk stomp out all life that takes its time to slow before their mad march. The human mercenaries call them a &quot;Shadow-Clutch&quot;, they are 75 motherless killers that hunt until their hunt is done...<br /> <br /> At the front of the column rallying moreso that leading at this point is the orc called - Talûn-karkû, the White-Worm... He would eat your heart were he to find you. He calls out to the Clutch...<br /> <br /> '''''&quot;YOU HAVE NOT YET BEGUN TO SUFFER, YOU MOTHER-LESS DOGS! BEFORE YOU IS PAIN AND BEHIND YOU IS DEATH, CHOOSE AND IF YOUR MIND IS WISE YOU WILL DINE ON THE FLESH OF TRAITOR MY BROTHERS!!!'''''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''The haze of blood-soaked memory pulls over the marching of your orc brotherhood. For a moment you see the stars and then feel compelled to look back to Aryth...''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ===VROLK the Vile &amp; his Spire-Guard===<br /> ['''1 DAY OR LESS AGO''']: As the cloud parts, you overlook a site that would be serene were you to not fully understand the inhabitants... A campsite, near a stone alter not unlike the one the human Thorton called &quot;Satan Rock&quot;. You know this place. You passed by it when fleeing to save the human's life. At best recollection it is about 5-6 days travel (walking) into the swamps of the Dead Marshes, similarly some 5-6 days from the Worgren Moor.<br /> <br /> But this time the swamp is infested with Shadow. Orc tents scatter across the area beyond the alter. Although the stars are not shining brightly in the skys on these recent nights, at best count their are 100-150 tents... 1-3 orc may reside in each, tents are not the custom of your orc brothers, but these are not brothers. These orc are of the Vile. You can see that from the strange bastardized holy symbols that you recall encroaching on the spot of the natural mirror that you destroyed not long ago. And the black tents remain. Some 3-4 of these, that you assume to be of higher station. Humans in dark robes walk about them. Women of human and halfling kind pleasure these dark Legates in the night. One of the three Legate men enjoys the company of male boys. Twisted is their natures... The one that is Kyuad's friend treats his women with pain, as screems of whip beating hate carene from his tent.<br /> <br /> Apart from the smell of the orc horde their master meditates. The Vile sits in the center of the stone rock, that acts to focus his prayers. The elf appears veral and content, he awaits something. He shoots only a deathly glance as an orc troop has the audacity to question when the camp would move... Vrolk knows... they have found their place in the world and they would wait... For Jahzir has likely found him out by now. It would be on this place of power that he would commune with the Dark. If he be worthy his men would hold off the horde while his goal be achieved!!<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''Again the haze takes you. For another moment of relief you see the stars and then back to Aryth below...''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ===the WHITE-WORM &amp; his horde===<br /> ['''NOW''']: The moon has been eaten by the sky this night! Talûn-karkû's &quot;men&quot; continue their march. Seven villages have met their makers as the band acts as much the part of ghouls or locust devourering the country-side. The Worm's orc troop have fared better than he expected... Less than two dozen have been evicerated at the hands of the Uruk that roar at their backs! THIS was the truth of things the White-Worm would say, on such marches... Those that made the final battle at the end of such a tear where those that deserved to find glory! It is as nature demands!!<br /> <br /> <br /> '''''&quot;ONWARD BROTHERS, PUT SNOUT INTO THE WIND! CAN YOU SMELL IT?!?!! ELF-FLESH!! THE VILE GROWS NEARER WITH EVER STEP. WHEN WE STOP, WE WILL HAVE THE PRIEST'S FLESH, AND IT WILL BE GLORIOUS - ON THE FULL MOON BROTHERS WE DINE ON JAHZIR'S TRAITOR!!&quot;'''''<br /> <br /> <br /> And for the first time in years the commander of Durgaz's youth smiles, his fangs stained with blood as his troop continue full bore into the hapless maelgral that wander the boundries of the City of Dead... For this is Cambrial's district that his Dafrum-Dâgalûr now plunge into! The orc and uruk alive make merry in the torturing of the dead, but they do not have the luxury of languishing in their kills... if you can call them that. This would be the practice the Worm feared his men would be lacking. With weeks behind them and nearly a week more in front - he may have wondered if his troop would be slow to act...<br /> <br /> For wrath and ruin. <br /> <br /> For fear of Shadow's dawn.<br /> <br /> They are NOT.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''The clouds cover your eyes... This time the fog lifts from behind the stalkers in the dark...''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ===RADAGUG &amp; his Dogs===<br /> ['''NOW''']: And in the same instant that his commander tears across the Cambrial country-side, another orc makes his way to the point of his troop's mission. A goblin snicker swells up, but is beaten down before it can be heard in the camp beyond. The branching leaves of the jungle swamp give way as a dozen or more of the lowly servants of Izrador make their way through the muck and up next to the cold alabaster stone of the alter in the night.<br /> <br /> Radagug, snorts - sounding more like a hedge hog than an orc. It is his way... He then lets free a fumey smell as he forces himself to vomit, holding the disgust in his mouth for a moment before lapping it back down into his gullet. The &quot;sniffers&quot; smell their orders and those that donot have that talent follow the grunt of their orcen master. <br /> <br /> His fellow orc think him weak. But even Radagug is more than a match for the mongrels that make up the camp beyond the stone alter...<br /> <br /> But that is not his goal. Is the Vile here? A dozen goblins creep around the alter watching the elf from the dark. They take comfort that the elf does not erupt to call his guards. They believe their scouting mission is a success... From behind Vrolk's spot of meditation they confirm their mission, then recede... They believe they have not been seen.<br /> <br /> They are wrong.<br /> <br /> And the Vile's lip curls. It would be only a short time before the Full Moon...<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''As Radagug's Dogs retreat to rejoin the White-Worm, you too pull back with them... Slowly floating into the mysts above the haze that Aryth has made for you. Finally a pillow on the land that you can now rest. Tomorrow you can reflect on what these images and dreams mean... Unless you want to go back for more tonight!!'' <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> '''(ie. you are welcome to ask questions or try to change the points of view of your Seer visions, if you like)'''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> [[Midnight: North &amp; South Portal]]</div>

Elvisrex https://wiki.rpg.net/index.php?title=Midnight_RPG_-_Chapter_14.88&diff=50333 2007-05-03T21:02:14Z

<p>Elvisrex: /* Durgaz */</p> <hr /> <div>== Kevin ==<br /> [''This recaps the visions/dreams that Durgaz had in the Laboratory of Vrolk, in the Obsidian Spire. I will try to capture all the information I noted to you in-person. Please NOTE if I miss something. You are WELCOME to ask questions, or try to &quot;interact&quot; with any of the visions to learn more as you have in the past. Just ask.'']<br /> <br /> <br /> As you pull your weery hide up to the open-sky chamber, the crown level on the Black Nail, you feed week. The others that may wish to sleep beneath the stars havenpt found their way up to the tip of the Spire as yet... Giving you time to breath, time to relax and let your guard down, if only for a few minutes. <br /> <br /> <br /> You haven't been able to do so in weeks. The visions, they are coming outside of your dreams these days. It seems '''&quot;the Vile&quot;''' has found a way into your head. Only ONE OTHER has breeched your minds-armors, ...could this elf be compared to God? ...or rather, NOT &quot;God&quot; but '''&quot;the Bain of All Mother&quot;'''? For THAT &quot;god&quot; is not yours any longer... yet sometimes your tongue slips... a few dozen years beneath '''&quot;the Shadow in the North&quot;''' makes hard and fast habits no matter how far away from the Shadow-gaze you grow.<br /> <br /> <br /> They (thinking down to your companions) know NOTHING of suffering! They know NOTHING of fear or hate or loathing... Eranon, the only friend you have save Walden is of elf-kind... He cannot know. He knows love, he knows the hearth, he knows kin, kith and kind. He may have offer sympathy for the chill you face nightly, but he does not know... The others, they are human. And though they have found their hearts long hidden from them by Shadow, they know nothing of lose. Their ancestors may know what they had that was taken when the Shadow fell, but that was before them, before their father's fathers... They fight for myth and legend. They donot even know what it is to live free... Nor can their hearts know what it is to have a home, to know your family or friends will not forsake you in the face of the Shadow... They cannot know the Shadow's volcanic embrace or how cold it is to be without it... They know nothing.<br /> <br /> <br /> For all you have gained with freedom, you were a son of Orc... for all you have gained you gave up tenfold.<br /> <br /> WHY?!?? Why did you do it?... Why did you believe that life beyond the Shadow would be a better one?? <br /> <br /> It has given nothing but pain and more lose. Why do you fight it brother? Why not go home?...<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> NO!<br /> <br /> That is NOT who you are anymore.<br /> <br /> You are among those the ShadowWall... Walden... called friend.<br /> <br /> You are Durgaz, the mirror-breaker. <br /> <br /> And you will have your vengance!<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> But not tonight. Not for these too few hours. These moments are yours. And to whatever god is out there you can but hold hope that Aryth doesn't ask for your allegiance... to...nigh...t.... '''[as you drift off to sleep]'''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> As Durgaz head rests on the pack of the armor bits he has recently sequestered from the laboratory below. Your mind drifts into unconciousness. But your wish cannot come to pass... For all the torment that &quot;the Vile&quot; has twisted in your mind of late, the dreams still come. Aryth herself calls out to you. And with that you feel the hate recend, to be replaced with conviction. For in the times when your sleep is not interupted by constant images of fear and hate, the other moments are frought with a peace - but it is a peace that comes with great cost.<br /> <br /> That COST is what drove you mad. It drove you to flee the Shadow's hold. It drove you to be alone. At the same time it comforts your sleep, giving you full rest - it requests something of you... What that is, must be your journey to uncover.<br /> <br /> Go with the peace now as the cool breeze and cloud-cover fade, showing you scenes sometimes near, yet somethings far-away in both time and space.............<br /> <br /> == Durgaz ==<br /> <br /> Fear and hate and madness are the shackles in which the Shadow binds us. But we are taught not to see the chains, just the layers of tempered steel that shield us from the Fey and the sons of Man, who would rise up and kill us all if given just half a chance.<br /> <br /> I know all this, and it does not stop me from thinking this way on some nights when the stars disappear and I am left alone with only the dark to keep me company. I call these folk my friends and companions, and still sometimes I must fight the impulse to smash one across the face for raising his gaze to mine. There is still an ember of Shadow buried somewhere in my mind that cannot be extinguished, and it is my charge to make sure that it is forever kept free of the tinder that would make it a flame.<br /> <br /> I should know, by now, the danger of blindly obeying or following anything ... man, god, spirit ... whether it is the Shadow, the Witch-Queen or the voice of Aryth. I believed that my visions were infallible, that they could not mislead. I was wrong. I may see where others cannot, and know the consequences of actions before they happen, but it is I who chooses what to do with that knowledge. My mistakes are my own, and that is both my weakness and my strength.<br /> <br /> I am a weapon, turned back on he who created it. I am a shield, protecting those who cannot protect themselves. But most of all, I am a free orc.<br /> <br /> ===the WHITE-WORM &amp; his horde===<br /> ['''10 DAYS AGO''']: A toad croaks sitting on a slippery rock amid the moor, given the name Worgren. It flows to a shallow from the Erenriver, at the base of the Eren River Valley. It is a place that you've marched through many times. The story was not more than a year ago this day that a lone Dwarf faced off with a '''Shadow-Clutch''' in that very spot. The foolish Dwarf had little hope against the giants, but it was his mantle to hold them so that dozens of villages would live. It is rumored he was envoy to the Witch Queen... But that is a fable for sure, perhaps Eranon would know this tale? No matter... In the night the toad has little time to flee when the foul muck-ridden heel of another such '''&quot;Clutch&quot;''' tramples its scaley hide into the moors.<br /> <br /> On that night an army run across Worgren's Moor in Shadow's haste. The brutes are some 150 strong. Six dozen Orc-brothers, made up of seemingly as many tribes sprint in fear of being overtaken by their own battlegroup following on their heels behind! The proud pestilence of the Uruk stomp out all life that takes its time to slow before their mad march. The human mercenaries call them a &quot;Shadow-Clutch&quot;, they are 75 motherless killers that hunt until their hunt is done...<br /> <br /> At the front of the column rallying moreso that leading at this point is the orc called - Talûn-karkû, the White-Worm... He would eat your heart were he to find you. He calls out to the Clutch...<br /> <br /> '''''&quot;YOU HAVE NOT YET BEGUN TO SUFFER, YOU MOTHER-LESS DOGS! BEFORE YOU IS PAIN AND BEHIND YOU IS DEATH, CHOOSE AND IF YOUR MIND IS WISE YOU WILL DINE ON THE FLESH OF TRAITOR MY BROTHERS!!!'''''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''The haze of blood-soaked memory pulls over the marching of your orc brotherhood. For a moment you see the stars and then feel compelled to look back to Aryth...''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ===VROLK the Vile &amp; his Spire-Guard===<br /> ['''1 DAY OR LESS AGO''']: As the cloud parts, you overlook a site that would be serene were you to not fully understand the inhabitants... A campsite, near a stone alter not unlike the one the human Thorton called &quot;Satan Rock&quot;. You know this place. You passed by it when fleeing to save the human's life. At best recollection it is about 5-6 days travel (walking) into the swamps of the Dead Marshes, similarly some 5-6 days from the Worgren Moor.<br /> <br /> But this time the swamp is infested with Shadow. Orc tents scatter across the area beyond the alter. Although the stars are not shining brightly in the skys on these recent nights, at best count their are 100-150 tents... 1-3 orc may reside in each, tents are not the custom of your orc brothers, but these are not brothers. These orc are of the Vile. You can see that from the strange bastardized holy symbols that you recall encroaching on the spot of the natural mirror that you destroyed not long ago. And the black tents remain. Some 3-4 of these, that you assume to be of higher station. Humans in dark robes walk about them. Women of human and halfling kind pleasure these dark Legates in the night. One of the three Legate men enjoys the company of male boys. Twisted is their natures... The one that is Kyuad's friend treats his women with pain, as screems of whip beating hate carene from his tent.<br /> <br /> Apart from the smell of the orc horde their master meditates. The Vile sits in the center of the stone rock, that acts to focus his prayers. The elf appears veral and content, he awaits something. He shoots only a deathly glance as an orc troop has the audacity to question when the camp would move... Vrolk knows... they have found their place in the world and they would wait... For Jahzir has likely found him out by now. It would be on this place of power that he would commune with the Dark. If he be worthy his men would hold off the horde while his goal be achieved!!<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''Again the haze takes you. For another moment of relief you see the stars and then back to Aryth below...''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ===the WHITE-WORM &amp; his horde===<br /> ['''NOW''']: The moon has been eaten by the sky this night! Talûn-karkû's &quot;men&quot; continue their march. Seven villages have met their makers as the band acts as much the part of ghouls or locust devourering the country-side. The Worm's orc troop have fared better than he expected... Less than two dozen have been evicerated at the hands of the Uruk that roar at their backs! THIS was the truth of things the White-Worm would say, on such marches... Those that made the final battle at the end of such a tear where those that deserved to find glory! It is as nature demands!!<br /> <br /> <br /> '''''&quot;ONWARD BROTHERS, PUT SNOUT INTO THE WIND! CAN YOU SMELL IT?!?!! ELF-FLESH!! THE VILE GROWS NEARER WITH EVER STEP. WHEN WE STOP, WE WILL HAVE THE PRIEST'S FLESH, AND IT WILL BE GLORIOUS - ON THE FULL MOON BROTHERS WE DINE ON JAHZIR'S TRAITOR!!&quot;'''''<br /> <br /> <br /> And for the first time in years the commander of Durgaz's youth smiles, his fangs stained with blood as his troop continue full bore into the hapless maelgral that wander the boundries of the City of Dead... For this is Cambrial's district that his Dafrum-Dâgalûr now plunge into! The orc and uruk alive make merry in the torturing of the dead, but they do not have the luxury of languishing in their kills... if you can call them that. This would be the practice the Worm feared his men would be lacking. With weeks behind them and nearly a week more in front - he may have wondered if his troop would be slow to act...<br /> <br /> For wrath and ruin. <br /> <br /> For fear of Shadow's dawn.<br /> <br /> They are NOT.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''The clouds cover your eyes... This time the fog lifts from behind the stalkers in the dark...''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ===RADAGUG &amp; his Dogs===<br /> ['''NOW''']: And in the same instant that his commander tears across the Cambrial country-side, another orc makes his way to the point of his troop's mission. A goblin snicker swells up, but is beaten down before it can be heard in the camp beyond. The branching leaves of the jungle swamp give way as a dozen or more of the lowly servants of Izrador make their way through the muck and up next to the cold alabaster stone of the alter in the night.<br /> <br /> Radagug, snorts - sounding more like a hedge hog than an orc. It is his way... He then lets free a fumey smell as he forces himself to vomit, holding the disgust in his mouth for a moment before lapping it back down into his gullet. The &quot;sniffers&quot; smell their orders and those that donot have that talent follow the grunt of their orcen master. <br /> <br /> His fellow orc think him weak. But even Radagug is more than a match for the mongrels that make up the camp beyond the stone alter...<br /> <br /> But that is not his goal. Is the Vile here? A dozen goblins creep around the alter watching the elf from the dark. They take comfort that the elf does not erupt to call his guards. They believe their scouting mission is a success... From behind Vrolk's spot of meditation they confirm their mission, then recede... They believe they have not been seen.<br /> <br /> They are wrong.<br /> <br /> And the Vile's lip curls. It would be only a short time before the Full Moon...<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''As Radagug's Dogs retreat to rejoin the White-Worm, you too pull back with them... Slowly floating into the mysts above the haze that Aryth has made for you. Finally a pillow on the land that you can now rest. Tomorrow you can reflect on what these images and dreams mean... Unless you want to go back for more tonight!!'' <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> '''(ie. you are welcome to ask questions or try to change the points of view of your Seer visions, if you like)'''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> [[Midnight: North &amp; South Portal]]</div>

Elvisrex https://wiki.rpg.net/index.php?title=Midnight_RPG_-_Chapter_14.88&diff=50332 2007-05-03T21:01:36Z

<p>Elvisrex: </p> <hr /> <div>== Kevin ==<br /> [''This recaps the visions/dreams that Durgaz had in the Laboratory of Vrolk, in the Obsidian Spire. I will try to capture all the information I noted to you in-person. Please NOTE if I miss something. You are WELCOME to ask questions, or try to &quot;interact&quot; with any of the visions to learn more as you have in the past. Just ask.'']<br /> <br /> <br /> As you pull your weery hide up to the open-sky chamber, the crown level on the Black Nail, you feed week. The others that may wish to sleep beneath the stars havenpt found their way up to the tip of the Spire as yet... Giving you time to breath, time to relax and let your guard down, if only for a few minutes. <br /> <br /> <br /> You haven't been able to do so in weeks. The visions, they are coming outside of your dreams these days. It seems '''&quot;the Vile&quot;''' has found a way into your head. Only ONE OTHER has breeched your minds-armors, ...could this elf be compared to God? ...or rather, NOT &quot;God&quot; but '''&quot;the Bain of All Mother&quot;'''? For THAT &quot;god&quot; is not yours any longer... yet sometimes your tongue slips... a few dozen years beneath '''&quot;the Shadow in the North&quot;''' makes hard and fast habits no matter how far away from the Shadow-gaze you grow.<br /> <br /> <br /> They (thinking down to your companions) know NOTHING of suffering! They know NOTHING of fear or hate or loathing... Eranon, the only friend you have save Walden is of elf-kind... He cannot know. He knows love, he knows the hearth, he knows kin, kith and kind. He may have offer sympathy for the chill you face nightly, but he does not know... The others, they are human. And though they have found their hearts long hidden from them by Shadow, they know nothing of lose. Their ancestors may know what they had that was taken when the Shadow fell, but that was before them, before their father's fathers... They fight for myth and legend. They donot even know what it is to live free... Nor can their hearts know what it is to have a home, to know your family or friends will not forsake you in the face of the Shadow... They cannot know the Shadow's volcanic embrace or how cold it is to be without it... They know nothing.<br /> <br /> <br /> For all you have gained with freedom, you were a son of Orc... for all you have gained you gave up tenfold.<br /> <br /> WHY?!?? Why did you do it?... Why did you believe that life beyond the Shadow would be a better one?? <br /> <br /> It has given nothing but pain and more lose. Why do you fight it brother? Why not go home?...<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> NO!<br /> <br /> That is NOT who you are anymore.<br /> <br /> You are among those the ShadowWall... Walden... called friend.<br /> <br /> You are Durgaz, the mirror-breaker. <br /> <br /> And you will have your vengance!<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> But not tonight. Not for these too few hours. These moments are yours. And to whatever god is out there you can but hold hope that Aryth doesn't ask for your allegiance... to...nigh...t.... '''[as you drift off to sleep]'''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> As Durgaz head rests on the pack of the armor bits he has recently sequestered from the laboratory below. Your mind drifts into unconciousness. But your wish cannot come to pass... For all the torment that &quot;the Vile&quot; has twisted in your mind of late, the dreams still come. Aryth herself calls out to you. And with that you feel the hate recend, to be replaced with conviction. For in the times when your sleep is not interupted by constant images of fear and hate, the other moments are frought with a peace - but it is a peace that comes with great cost.<br /> <br /> That COST is what drove you mad. It drove you to flee the Shadow's hold. It drove you to be alone. At the same time it comforts your sleep, giving you full rest - it requests something of you... What that is, must be your journey to uncover.<br /> <br /> Go with the peace now as the cool breeze and cloud-cover fade, showing you scenes sometimes near, yet somethings far-away in both time and space.............<br /> <br /> == Durgaz ==<br /> <br /> Fear and hate and madness are the shackles in which the Shadow binds us. But we are taught not to see the chains, just the layers of tempered steel that shield us from the Fey and the sons of Man, who would rise up and kill us all if given just half a chance.<br /> <br /> I know all this, and it does not stop me from thinking this way on some nights when the stars disappear and I am left alone with only the dark to keep me company. I call these folk my friends and companions, and still sometimes I might fight the impulse to smash one across the face for raising his gaze to mine. There is still an ember of Shadow buried somewhere in my mind that cannot be extinguished, and it is my charge to make sure that it is forever kept free of the tinder that would make it a flame.<br /> <br /> I should know, by now, the danger of blindly obeying or following anything ... man, god, spirit ... whether it is the Shadow, the Witch-Queen or the voice of Aryth. I believed that my visions were infallible, that they could not mislead. I was wrong. I may see where others cannot, and know the consequences of actions before they happen, but it is I who chooses what to do with that knowledge. My mistakes are my own, and that is both my weakness and my strength.<br /> <br /> I am a weapon, turned back on he who created it. I am a shield, protecting those who cannot protect themselves. But most of all, I am a free orc.<br /> <br /> ===the WHITE-WORM &amp; his horde===<br /> ['''10 DAYS AGO''']: A toad croaks sitting on a slippery rock amid the moor, given the name Worgren. It flows to a shallow from the Erenriver, at the base of the Eren River Valley. It is a place that you've marched through many times. The story was not more than a year ago this day that a lone Dwarf faced off with a '''Shadow-Clutch''' in that very spot. The foolish Dwarf had little hope against the giants, but it was his mantle to hold them so that dozens of villages would live. It is rumored he was envoy to the Witch Queen... But that is a fable for sure, perhaps Eranon would know this tale? No matter... In the night the toad has little time to flee when the foul muck-ridden heel of another such '''&quot;Clutch&quot;''' tramples its scaley hide into the moors.<br /> <br /> On that night an army run across Worgren's Moor in Shadow's haste. The brutes are some 150 strong. Six dozen Orc-brothers, made up of seemingly as many tribes sprint in fear of being overtaken by their own battlegroup following on their heels behind! The proud pestilence of the Uruk stomp out all life that takes its time to slow before their mad march. The human mercenaries call them a &quot;Shadow-Clutch&quot;, they are 75 motherless killers that hunt until their hunt is done...<br /> <br /> At the front of the column rallying moreso that leading at this point is the orc called - Talûn-karkû, the White-Worm... He would eat your heart were he to find you. He calls out to the Clutch...<br /> <br /> '''''&quot;YOU HAVE NOT YET BEGUN TO SUFFER, YOU MOTHER-LESS DOGS! BEFORE YOU IS PAIN AND BEHIND YOU IS DEATH, CHOOSE AND IF YOUR MIND IS WISE YOU WILL DINE ON THE FLESH OF TRAITOR MY BROTHERS!!!'''''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''The haze of blood-soaked memory pulls over the marching of your orc brotherhood. For a moment you see the stars and then feel compelled to look back to Aryth...''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ===VROLK the Vile &amp; his Spire-Guard===<br /> ['''1 DAY OR LESS AGO''']: As the cloud parts, you overlook a site that would be serene were you to not fully understand the inhabitants... A campsite, near a stone alter not unlike the one the human Thorton called &quot;Satan Rock&quot;. You know this place. You passed by it when fleeing to save the human's life. At best recollection it is about 5-6 days travel (walking) into the swamps of the Dead Marshes, similarly some 5-6 days from the Worgren Moor.<br /> <br /> But this time the swamp is infested with Shadow. Orc tents scatter across the area beyond the alter. Although the stars are not shining brightly in the skys on these recent nights, at best count their are 100-150 tents... 1-3 orc may reside in each, tents are not the custom of your orc brothers, but these are not brothers. These orc are of the Vile. You can see that from the strange bastardized holy symbols that you recall encroaching on the spot of the natural mirror that you destroyed not long ago. And the black tents remain. Some 3-4 of these, that you assume to be of higher station. Humans in dark robes walk about them. Women of human and halfling kind pleasure these dark Legates in the night. One of the three Legate men enjoys the company of male boys. Twisted is their natures... The one that is Kyuad's friend treats his women with pain, as screems of whip beating hate carene from his tent.<br /> <br /> Apart from the smell of the orc horde their master meditates. The Vile sits in the center of the stone rock, that acts to focus his prayers. The elf appears veral and content, he awaits something. He shoots only a deathly glance as an orc troop has the audacity to question when the camp would move... Vrolk knows... they have found their place in the world and they would wait... For Jahzir has likely found him out by now. It would be on this place of power that he would commune with the Dark. If he be worthy his men would hold off the horde while his goal be achieved!!<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''Again the haze takes you. For another moment of relief you see the stars and then back to Aryth below...''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ===the WHITE-WORM &amp; his horde===<br /> ['''NOW''']: The moon has been eaten by the sky this night! Talûn-karkû's &quot;men&quot; continue their march. Seven villages have met their makers as the band acts as much the part of ghouls or locust devourering the country-side. The Worm's orc troop have fared better than he expected... Less than two dozen have been evicerated at the hands of the Uruk that roar at their backs! THIS was the truth of things the White-Worm would say, on such marches... Those that made the final battle at the end of such a tear where those that deserved to find glory! It is as nature demands!!<br /> <br /> <br /> '''''&quot;ONWARD BROTHERS, PUT SNOUT INTO THE WIND! CAN YOU SMELL IT?!?!! ELF-FLESH!! THE VILE GROWS NEARER WITH EVER STEP. WHEN WE STOP, WE WILL HAVE THE PRIEST'S FLESH, AND IT WILL BE GLORIOUS - ON THE FULL MOON BROTHERS WE DINE ON JAHZIR'S TRAITOR!!&quot;'''''<br /> <br /> <br /> And for the first time in years the commander of Durgaz's youth smiles, his fangs stained with blood as his troop continue full bore into the hapless maelgral that wander the boundries of the City of Dead... For this is Cambrial's district that his Dafrum-Dâgalûr now plunge into! The orc and uruk alive make merry in the torturing of the dead, but they do not have the luxury of languishing in their kills... if you can call them that. This would be the practice the Worm feared his men would be lacking. With weeks behind them and nearly a week more in front - he may have wondered if his troop would be slow to act...<br /> <br /> For wrath and ruin. <br /> <br /> For fear of Shadow's dawn.<br /> <br /> They are NOT.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''The clouds cover your eyes... This time the fog lifts from behind the stalkers in the dark...''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ===RADAGUG &amp; his Dogs===<br /> ['''NOW''']: And in the same instant that his commander tears across the Cambrial country-side, another orc makes his way to the point of his troop's mission. A goblin snicker swells up, but is beaten down before it can be heard in the camp beyond. The branching leaves of the jungle swamp give way as a dozen or more of the lowly servants of Izrador make their way through the muck and up next to the cold alabaster stone of the alter in the night.<br /> <br /> Radagug, snorts - sounding more like a hedge hog than an orc. It is his way... He then lets free a fumey smell as he forces himself to vomit, holding the disgust in his mouth for a moment before lapping it back down into his gullet. The &quot;sniffers&quot; smell their orders and those that donot have that talent follow the grunt of their orcen master. <br /> <br /> His fellow orc think him weak. But even Radagug is more than a match for the mongrels that make up the camp beyond the stone alter...<br /> <br /> But that is not his goal. Is the Vile here? A dozen goblins creep around the alter watching the elf from the dark. They take comfort that the elf does not erupt to call his guards. They believe their scouting mission is a success... From behind Vrolk's spot of meditation they confirm their mission, then recede... They believe they have not been seen.<br /> <br /> They are wrong.<br /> <br /> And the Vile's lip curls. It would be only a short time before the Full Moon...<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ''As Radagug's Dogs retreat to rejoin the White-Worm, you too pull back with them... Slowly floating into the mysts above the haze that Aryth has made for you. Finally a pillow on the land that you can now rest. Tomorrow you can reflect on what these images and dreams mean... Unless you want to go back for more tonight!!'' <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> '''(ie. you are welcome to ask questions or try to change the points of view of your Seer visions, if you like)'''<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> [[Midnight: North &amp; South Portal]]</div>

Elvisrex https://wiki.rpg.net/index.php?title=Midnight_RPG_-_Chapter_14.75&diff=50331 2007-05-03T20:27:39Z

<p>Elvisrex: /* Andrew/Durgaz */</p> <hr /> <div>== Kevin ==<br /> * [''This scene takes place some time after Zal'Kazzir frees the imp, in the time FOLLOWING his introduction &quot;speach&quot; to the group. In the time when you're looking around Vrolk's Laboratory and into the evening when you rest, the little Imp (who has said he is now &quot;bound&quot; to Zal'Kazzir) comes up to you to chat... Think of it as &quot;networking&quot; or &quot;small talk&quot;... hehe...'']<br /> <br /> <br /> [[Image:Nazif picture.gif|thumb|NAZIF, as picutred here, naked and possible chilled was found as such captured seemingly as one of &quot;the Vile's&quot; pets or playthings. Once rescued, he quickly found his courtly cloak, rings, jewelry and other accoutrements. While not embarrassed by being without close, any good advisor knows the importance of &quot;looking the part&quot;.]]<br /> <br /> ==='''DURGAZ's''' PRIVATE talk with Nazif, Zal'Kazzir's courtesan imp===<br /> <br /> '''&quot;Hello my friend. T'would I be impolite were I to call you by your given name? Durgaz, is it that your fellow pathwalkers call you? May I speak to you in such a familiar tone?&quot;''', the small green-gray skinned imp quaries as its eyelids slowly flicker as if the very light beyond its former cage, burns its bulbous eyes... Looking to you in hopes of acceptance...<br /> <br /> '''&quot;I can only hope that you would speak to me in kind. I am Nazif by name, those I call friend know me as the butter-cream churner. I am most happy to make your aquaintence. Is it true that you have the glory of calling yourself &quot;mirror-breaker&quot;?? I would be in debt to you good sir, if you were to tell the tale of this most wounderous of deads.&quot;''', Nazif, sits his bottom to the wooden floors that grow unnaturally out of the obsidian gemstone of the Spire. He sits without bending his body, focusing his eyes looking into your's directly. He seems ever-so inquisitive and even aids you when he notices you picking up anything or moving anything.<br /> <br /> == Andrew/Durgaz ==<br /> <br /> ''[Durgaz pauses in whatever he is doing and looks down at the imp. He then looks up again, scanning the room for Zal'Kazzir. Noting that the Sarcosan appears to be nowhere in sight, he lowers his gaze back down to the imp.]''<br /> <br /> &quot;I do not call myself mirror-breaker. I do not think anyone here has called me that, either. I will assume that you heard the term from your master, the Sarcosan. You should continue to call me Durgaz.<br /> <br /> &quot;There is not much tale to tell. We were in the marsh, several days' travel from this place, when we got word that enemies were approaching our position. Kyuad, the Erenlander, had found something he believed to be a ''zordrafin corith. [Durgaz studies the imp carefully for signs of recognition.]'' &quot;We waited until the enemy was nearly upon us, then pushed a rotten tree over onto the ''corith''. It exploded, and it took out a good portion of the woods with it. We escaped.&quot;<br /> <br /> &quot;Your master was there. I am sure he could make a much more exciting story from those events than I can. Maybe you should go and ask him.&quot; <br /> <br /> ''[If the imp attempts to help Durgaz move or pick anything up, Durgaz will try to jerk whatever it is out of the imp's reach ... not in an overtly rude or hostile way, but more in a &quot;don't worry, I've got it&quot; kind of way. He will not say anything, though.]''<br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> [[Midnight: North &amp; South Portal]]</div>

Elvisrex https://wiki.rpg.net/index.php?title=Midnight_RPG_-_Chapter_14.75&diff=50330 2007-05-03T20:27:16Z

<p>Elvisrex: /* Andrew/Durgaz */</p> <hr /> <div>== Kevin ==<br /> * [''This scene takes place some time after Zal'Kazzir frees the imp, in the time FOLLOWING his introduction &quot;speach&quot; to the group. In the time when you're looking around Vrolk's Laboratory and into the evening when you rest, the little Imp (who has said he is now &quot;bound&quot; to Zal'Kazzir) comes up to you to chat... Think of it as &quot;networking&quot; or &quot;small talk&quot;... hehe...'']<br /> <br /> <br /> [[Image:Nazif picture.gif|thumb|NAZIF, as picutred here, naked and possible chilled was found as such captured seemingly as one of &quot;the Vile's&quot; pets or playthings. Once rescued, he quickly found his courtly cloak, rings, jewelry and other accoutrements. While not embarrassed by being without close, any good advisor knows the importance of &quot;looking the part&quot;.]]<br /> <br /> ==='''DURGAZ's''' PRIVATE talk with Nazif, Zal'Kazzir's courtesan imp===<br /> <br /> '''&quot;Hello my friend. T'would I be impolite were I to call you by your given name? Durgaz, is it that your fellow pathwalkers call you? May I speak to you in such a familiar tone?&quot;''', the small green-gray skinned imp quaries as its eyelids slowly flicker as if the very light beyond its former cage, burns its bulbous eyes... Looking to you in hopes of acceptance...<br /> <br /> '''&quot;I can only hope that you would speak to me in kind. I am Nazif by name, those I call friend know me as the butter-cream churner. I am most happy to make your aquaintence. Is it true that you have the glory of calling yourself &quot;mirror-breaker&quot;?? I would be in debt to you good sir, if you were to tell the tale of this most wounderous of deads.&quot;''', Nazif, sits his bottom to the wooden floors that grow unnaturally out of the obsidian gemstone of the Spire. He sits without bending his body, focusing his eyes looking into your's directly. He seems ever-so inquisitive and even aids you when he notices you picking up anything or moving anything.<br /> <br /> == Andrew/Durgaz ==<br /> <br /> ''[Durgaz pauses in whatever he is doing and looks down at the imp. He then looks up again, scanning the room for Zal'Kazzir. Noting that the Sarcosan appears to be nowhere in sight, he lowers his gaze back down to the imp.]''<br /> <br /> &quot;I do not call myself mirror-breaker. I do not think anyone here has called me that, either. I will assume that you heard the term from your master, the Sarcosan. You should continue to call me Durgaz.<br /> <br /> &quot;There is not much tale to tell. We were in the marsh, several days' travel from this place, when we got word that enemies were approaching our position. Kyuad, the Erenlander, had found something he believed to be a ''zordrafin corith. [Durgaz studies the imp carefully for signs of recognition.]'' &quot;We waited until the enemy was nearly upon us, then pushed a rotten tree over onto the ''corith''. It exploded, and it took out a good portion of the woods with it. We escaped.&quot;<br /> <br /> &quot;Your master was there. I am sure he could make a much more exciting story from those events than I can. Maybe you should go and ask him.&quot; <br /> <br /> ''[If the imp attempts to help Durgaz move or pick anything up, Durgaz will attempt to move whatever it is out of the imp's reach ... not in an overtly rude or hostile way, but more in a &quot;don't worry, I've got it&quot; kind of way. He will not say anything, though.]''<br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> [[Midnight: North &amp; South Portal]]</div>

Elvisrex https://wiki.rpg.net/index.php?title=Midnight_RPG_-_Chapter_14.75&diff=50329 2007-05-03T20:26:57Z

<p>Elvisrex: /* Andrew/Durgaz */</p> <hr /> <div>== Kevin ==<br /> * [''This scene takes place some time after Zal'Kazzir frees the imp, in the time FOLLOWING his introduction &quot;speach&quot; to the group. In the time when you're looking around Vrolk's Laboratory and into the evening when you rest, the little Imp (who has said he is now &quot;bound&quot; to Zal'Kazzir) comes up to you to chat... Think of it as &quot;networking&quot; or &quot;small talk&quot;... hehe...'']<br /> <br /> <br /> [[Image:Nazif picture.gif|thumb|NAZIF, as picutred here, naked and possible chilled was found as such captured seemingly as one of &quot;the Vile's&quot; pets or playthings. Once rescued, he quickly found his courtly cloak, rings, jewelry and other accoutrements. While not embarrassed by being without close, any good advisor knows the importance of &quot;looking the part&quot;.]]<br /> <br /> ==='''DURGAZ's''' PRIVATE talk with Nazif, Zal'Kazzir's courtesan imp===<br /> <br /> '''&quot;Hello my friend. T'would I be impolite were I to call you by your given name? Durgaz, is it that your fellow pathwalkers call you? May I speak to you in such a familiar tone?&quot;''', the small green-gray skinned imp quaries as its eyelids slowly flicker as if the very light beyond its former cage, burns its bulbous eyes... Looking to you in hopes of acceptance...<br /> <br /> '''&quot;I can only hope that you would speak to me in kind. I am Nazif by name, those I call friend know me as the butter-cream churner. I am most happy to make your aquaintence. Is it true that you have the glory of calling yourself &quot;mirror-breaker&quot;?? I would be in debt to you good sir, if you were to tell the tale of this most wounderous of deads.&quot;''', Nazif, sits his bottom to the wooden floors that grow unnaturally out of the obsidian gemstone of the Spire. He sits without bending his body, focusing his eyes looking into your's directly. He seems ever-so inquisitive and even aids you when he notices you picking up anything or moving anything.<br /> <br /> == Andrew/Durgaz ==<br /> <br /> ''[Durgaz pauses in whatever he is doing and looks down at the imp. He then looks up again, scanning the room for Zal'Kazzir. Noting that the Sarcosan appears to be nowhere in sight, he lowers his gaze back down to the imp.]''<br /> <br /> &quot;I do not call myself mirror-breaker. I do not think anyone here has called me that, either. I will assume that you heard the term from your master, the Sarcosan. You should continue to call me Durgaz.<br /> <br /> &quot;There is not much tale to tell. We were in the marsh, several days' travel from this place, when we got word that enemies were approaching our position. Kyuad, the Erenlander, had found something he believed to be a ''zordrafin corith. [Durgaz studies the imp carefully for signs of recognition.]'' &quot;We waited until the enemy was nearly upon us, then pushed a rotten tree over onto the ''corith''. It exploded, and it took out a good portion of the woods with it. We escaped.&quot;<br /> <br /> &quot;Your master was there. I am sure he could make a much more exciting story from those events than I can. Maybe you should go and ask him.&quot; <br /> <br /> ''[If the imp attempts to help Durgaz move or pick anything up, Durgaz will attempt to move whatever it is out of the imp's reach ... not in an overtly hostile way, but more in a &quot;don't worry, I've got it&quot; kind of way. He will not say anything, though.''<br /> <br /> ----<br /> [[Midnight: North &amp; South Portal]]</div>

Elvisrex https://wiki.rpg.net/index.php?title=Midnight_RPG_-_Chapter_14.75&diff=50328 2007-05-03T20:24:50Z

<p>Elvisrex: /* Andrew/Durgaz */</p> <hr /> <div>== Kevin ==<br /> * [''This scene takes place some time after Zal'Kazzir frees the imp, in the time FOLLOWING his introduction &quot;speach&quot; to the group. In the time when you're looking around Vrolk's Laboratory and into the evening when you rest, the little Imp (who has said he is now &quot;bound&quot; to Zal'Kazzir) comes up to you to chat... Think of it as &quot;networking&quot; or &quot;small talk&quot;... hehe...'']<br /> <br /> <br /> [[Image:Nazif picture.gif|thumb|NAZIF, as picutred here, naked and possible chilled was found as such captured seemingly as one of &quot;the Vile's&quot; pets or playthings. Once rescued, he quickly found his courtly cloak, rings, jewelry and other accoutrements. While not embarrassed by being without close, any good advisor knows the importance of &quot;looking the part&quot;.]]<br /> <br /> ==='''DURGAZ's''' PRIVATE talk with Nazif, Zal'Kazzir's courtesan imp===<br /> <br /> '''&quot;Hello my friend. T'would I be impolite were I to call you by your given name? Durgaz, is it that your fellow pathwalkers call you? May I speak to you in such a familiar tone?&quot;''', the small green-gray skinned imp quaries as its eyelids slowly flicker as if the very light beyond its former cage, burns its bulbous eyes... Looking to you in hopes of acceptance...<br /> <br /> '''&quot;I can only hope that you would speak to me in kind. I am Nazif by name, those I call friend know me as the butter-cream churner. I am most happy to make your aquaintence. Is it true that you have the glory of calling yourself &quot;mirror-breaker&quot;?? I would be in debt to you good sir, if you were to tell the tale of this most wounderous of deads.&quot;''', Nazif, sits his bottom to the wooden floors that grow unnaturally out of the obsidian gemstone of the Spire. He sits without bending his body, focusing his eyes looking into your's directly. He seems ever-so inquisitive and even aids you when he notices you picking up anything or moving anything.<br /> <br /> == Andrew/Durgaz ==<br /> <br /> ''[Durgaz pauses in whatever he is doing and looks down at the imp. He then looks up again, scanning the room for Zal'Kazzir. Noting that the Sarcosan appears to be nowhere in sight, he lowers his gaze back down to the imp.]''<br /> <br /> &quot;I do not call myself mirror-breaker. I do not think anyone here has called me that, either. I will assume that you heard the term from your master, the Sarcosan. You should continue to call me Durgaz.<br /> <br /> &quot;There is not much tale to tell. We were in the marsh, several days' travel from this place, when we got word that enemies were approaching our position. Kyuad, the Erenlander, had found something he believed to be a ''zordrafin corith. [Durgaz studies the imp carefully for signs of recognition.]'' &quot;We waited until the enemy was nearly upon us, then pushed a rotten tree over onto the ''corith''. It exploded, and it took out a good portion of the woods with it. We escaped.&quot;<br /> <br /> &quot;Your master was there. I am sure he could make a much more exciting story from those events than I can. Maybe you should go and ask him.&quot; <br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> [[Midnight: North &amp; South Portal]]</div>

Elvisrex https://wiki.rpg.net/index.php?title=Midnight_RPG_-_Chapter_14.75&diff=50327 2007-05-03T20:24:24Z

<p>Elvisrex: /* Kevin */</p> <hr /> <div>== Kevin ==<br /> * [''This scene takes place some time after Zal'Kazzir frees the imp, in the time FOLLOWING his introduction &quot;speach&quot; to the group. In the time when you're looking around Vrolk's Laboratory and into the evening when you rest, the little Imp (who has said he is now &quot;bound&quot; to Zal'Kazzir) comes up to you to chat... Think of it as &quot;networking&quot; or &quot;small talk&quot;... hehe...'']<br /> <br /> <br /> [[Image:Nazif picture.gif|thumb|NAZIF, as picutred here, naked and possible chilled was found as such captured seemingly as one of &quot;the Vile's&quot; pets or playthings. Once rescued, he quickly found his courtly cloak, rings, jewelry and other accoutrements. While not embarrassed by being without close, any good advisor knows the importance of &quot;looking the part&quot;.]]<br /> <br /> ==='''DURGAZ's''' PRIVATE talk with Nazif, Zal'Kazzir's courtesan imp===<br /> <br /> '''&quot;Hello my friend. T'would I be impolite were I to call you by your given name? Durgaz, is it that your fellow pathwalkers call you? May I speak to you in such a familiar tone?&quot;''', the small green-gray skinned imp quaries as its eyelids slowly flicker as if the very light beyond its former cage, burns its bulbous eyes... Looking to you in hopes of acceptance...<br /> <br /> '''&quot;I can only hope that you would speak to me in kind. I am Nazif by name, those I call friend know me as the butter-cream churner. I am most happy to make your aquaintence. Is it true that you have the glory of calling yourself &quot;mirror-breaker&quot;?? I would be in debt to you good sir, if you were to tell the tale of this most wounderous of deads.&quot;''', Nazif, sits his bottom to the wooden floors that grow unnaturally out of the obsidian gemstone of the Spire. He sits without bending his body, focusing his eyes looking into your's directly. He seems ever-so inquisitive and even aids you when he notices you picking up anything or moving anything.<br /> <br /> == Andrew/Durgaz ==<br /> <br /> ''[Durgaz pauses in whatever he is doing and looks down at the imp. He then looks up again, scanning the room for Zal'Kazzir. Noting that the Sarcosan appears to be nowhere in sight, he lowers his gaze back down to the imp.]''<br /> <br /> &quot;I do not call myself mirror-breaker. I do not think anyone here has called me that, either. I will assume that you heard the term from your master, the Sarcosan. You should continue to call me Durgaz.<br /> <br /> &quot;There is not much tale to tell. We were in the marsh, several days' travel from this place, when we got word that enemies were approaching our position. Kyuad, the Erenlander, had found something he believed to be a ''zordrafin corith''. [Durgaz studies the imp carefully for signs of recognition.]'' &quot;We waited until the enemy was nearly upon us, then pushed a rotten tree over onto the ''corith''. It exploded, and it took out a good portion of the woods with it. We escaped.&quot;<br /> <br /> &quot;Your master was there. I am sure he could make a much more exciting story from those events than I can. Maybe you should go and ask him.&quot; <br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> [[Midnight: North &amp; South Portal]]</div>

Elvisrex