eruditus
11-05-2003, 09:15 AM
So much has happened since the "esteemed" doctor's last journal entry. In fact, en entire adventure series opened and closed. However, a telling moment in the campaign was had and it will inevidably strain the loose connections to the group.
This all begins with an encounter with a group of Trolls, including the likes of which they had never encountered - a true leader. Up until now they had only faced scouts and thugs - albeit, TROLL scouts and thugs. Ten foot hulking beasts of a chaotic visage of tusk and horn and fiery eyes and a piercing bark.
The group is introduced to the trolls here by Roar, the twin's stoic undead bodyguard, being kicked into the camp clearing. He had been instructed not to "interact" with them and thus had been dodging and taking the beating the one troll could muster. As usual, Willum ran and hid. The rest took to their feet and prepared themselves. Trolls came into the clearing four strong. And there were more.
Then a series of barks drew the attention to a new troll entering the scene. He was easily fifteen feet tall, a tower of bone, muscle and sinew. He bore a massive barbed whip. He sized up the group and barked a command they did not understand. The lash resounded over their heads with a crack. The group didn't move. Again he passed the whip by them. Roar shook with restraint - he wanted nothing but to go at the troll to end this but strained under the command of his masters. At the third stroke of the whip Abbi stepped forward, seemingly in defiance in the eyes of the Bellower.
The Bellower, trying to measure the group - food or ally - calls on a seer he had been escorting to the front lines of the troll army advancement. Seeing that the group did not attack them instantly yet were not afraid he decided that with the proper respect he would let the group move on unmolested. Communication seemed impossible. Sihera, opened her mind to the beast trying to do that which only recently came to her. She hoped that once tied to the Bellower's thoughts, they could better get their respective ideas across.
At first Sihera found nothing but bleak darkness and hatred. Then the floodgates opened and consumed her. Imagry of torture and war filled her head and she was overcome by a touch of the divine, a mind beyond the ken of man. The girl fled. She had to escape the darkness and sought the deepest corner, as far from the troll she could find. However, her escape did not come physically, but mentally.
Willum and Glimm (part necromancer, part spiritualist) speak on and on about Sihera, the innocent, mute 16 year old girl, and how she is possessed by a demon. That is why, according to Willum, her mouth is sewn shut for her words lay continents low. However, Sihera has been nothing but the glue that ties this group together. Always even handed and always looking to heal more than harm (okay, unless you piss her off then she gets a little vindictive :) ).
The trolls, finding the group worthy of an alliance, handed them off a token of the bellower, a carved wooden disk that was a trophy of a former conquest. They gathered their strength, tended to an unconscious Sihera and camped for the night. The group awoke, after a fitful night in the wilderness, to young Sihera sitting about the smouldering campfire. She greeted the group warmly with a smile, then put a spoonful of stew in her mouth. She swallowed contentedly. And everything went to hell.
Willum drew his weapon (a troll shortsword) as Sihera offered everyone stew.
"Willum, I think Glimm wants a chicken. Could you fetch him one?" Sihera said calmly.
Willum looked about for a moment. His mind was clear. Clearer than it had ever been. For a moment he forgot about his worries. He thought not of the Castle, nothing of the betrayals he'd faced, and nothing of his misgivings about the nature of humanity to begin with. He was at peace and all of his natural misgivings and distrustful inclinations melted away as he focused his singlular will on one purpose - to close THAT mouth.
In the background Abbi begins her prayer, her stance low. She lowers her arm and with a surge of breath raises them to the sky. In a steady cadence she speaks "Gen Jeid, help me follow the footsteps of the past." Ams raised now, Abbi brings them down and the wind begins to blow a little harder than it was just moments ago. Her voice raises and her fists strike air, "How did those before us subdue the demon."
Willum pounced and the two rolled for a short time, Sihera laughing as they did. In Willum's first stoke the doctor cut through Siher's clavicle. Sihera's laughing stopped and her eyes went steeley.
"Willum, " Sihera began and she strove to twist the sword from the doctor's grasp. Twist she did, the sword went loose, Willum, with renewed vigor, slipped from her grasp, reached out to grasp the spinning sword in midair, blade down. Then he tucked it to his shoulder and with his weight behind it drove the blade down into Sihera's maw as she screamed her last words "don't hurt me!"
Willum rose in horror, tears cascading down his cheeks and he recoiled from her body. Abbi completed her last pose and uttered the final phrase to the Shadow of Memory, "and how can we do the same."
There they all stood in shock. Sihera's body lie there twitching. The troll sword had entered her mouth, cut through her lower jaw and into the earth below, pinning her head to the ground. he eyes moved about. Still alive, holding on to what life she had left, Sihera could only gag. She tried to motion to her friends but pain curtailed her communications. A dark pool soaked the soil, creating a darkened halo. Blood sputtered and lept as Sihera tried to gasp for breath but took in only blood.
Trill lept into action but had no idea what to do for her friend. She grasped the sword by the hilt and looked into Sihera's eyes. Willum appaered at her side and held the young girls head. The sword was pulled from its mooring of flesh and dirt. With a gurgle and a heave, Sihera's eyes rolled to the back of her head and her life slipped away...
*to be continued*
This all begins with an encounter with a group of Trolls, including the likes of which they had never encountered - a true leader. Up until now they had only faced scouts and thugs - albeit, TROLL scouts and thugs. Ten foot hulking beasts of a chaotic visage of tusk and horn and fiery eyes and a piercing bark.
The group is introduced to the trolls here by Roar, the twin's stoic undead bodyguard, being kicked into the camp clearing. He had been instructed not to "interact" with them and thus had been dodging and taking the beating the one troll could muster. As usual, Willum ran and hid. The rest took to their feet and prepared themselves. Trolls came into the clearing four strong. And there were more.
Then a series of barks drew the attention to a new troll entering the scene. He was easily fifteen feet tall, a tower of bone, muscle and sinew. He bore a massive barbed whip. He sized up the group and barked a command they did not understand. The lash resounded over their heads with a crack. The group didn't move. Again he passed the whip by them. Roar shook with restraint - he wanted nothing but to go at the troll to end this but strained under the command of his masters. At the third stroke of the whip Abbi stepped forward, seemingly in defiance in the eyes of the Bellower.
The Bellower, trying to measure the group - food or ally - calls on a seer he had been escorting to the front lines of the troll army advancement. Seeing that the group did not attack them instantly yet were not afraid he decided that with the proper respect he would let the group move on unmolested. Communication seemed impossible. Sihera, opened her mind to the beast trying to do that which only recently came to her. She hoped that once tied to the Bellower's thoughts, they could better get their respective ideas across.
At first Sihera found nothing but bleak darkness and hatred. Then the floodgates opened and consumed her. Imagry of torture and war filled her head and she was overcome by a touch of the divine, a mind beyond the ken of man. The girl fled. She had to escape the darkness and sought the deepest corner, as far from the troll she could find. However, her escape did not come physically, but mentally.
Willum and Glimm (part necromancer, part spiritualist) speak on and on about Sihera, the innocent, mute 16 year old girl, and how she is possessed by a demon. That is why, according to Willum, her mouth is sewn shut for her words lay continents low. However, Sihera has been nothing but the glue that ties this group together. Always even handed and always looking to heal more than harm (okay, unless you piss her off then she gets a little vindictive :) ).
The trolls, finding the group worthy of an alliance, handed them off a token of the bellower, a carved wooden disk that was a trophy of a former conquest. They gathered their strength, tended to an unconscious Sihera and camped for the night. The group awoke, after a fitful night in the wilderness, to young Sihera sitting about the smouldering campfire. She greeted the group warmly with a smile, then put a spoonful of stew in her mouth. She swallowed contentedly. And everything went to hell.
Willum drew his weapon (a troll shortsword) as Sihera offered everyone stew.
"Willum, I think Glimm wants a chicken. Could you fetch him one?" Sihera said calmly.
Willum looked about for a moment. His mind was clear. Clearer than it had ever been. For a moment he forgot about his worries. He thought not of the Castle, nothing of the betrayals he'd faced, and nothing of his misgivings about the nature of humanity to begin with. He was at peace and all of his natural misgivings and distrustful inclinations melted away as he focused his singlular will on one purpose - to close THAT mouth.
In the background Abbi begins her prayer, her stance low. She lowers her arm and with a surge of breath raises them to the sky. In a steady cadence she speaks "Gen Jeid, help me follow the footsteps of the past." Ams raised now, Abbi brings them down and the wind begins to blow a little harder than it was just moments ago. Her voice raises and her fists strike air, "How did those before us subdue the demon."
Willum pounced and the two rolled for a short time, Sihera laughing as they did. In Willum's first stoke the doctor cut through Siher's clavicle. Sihera's laughing stopped and her eyes went steeley.
"Willum, " Sihera began and she strove to twist the sword from the doctor's grasp. Twist she did, the sword went loose, Willum, with renewed vigor, slipped from her grasp, reached out to grasp the spinning sword in midair, blade down. Then he tucked it to his shoulder and with his weight behind it drove the blade down into Sihera's maw as she screamed her last words "don't hurt me!"
Willum rose in horror, tears cascading down his cheeks and he recoiled from her body. Abbi completed her last pose and uttered the final phrase to the Shadow of Memory, "and how can we do the same."
There they all stood in shock. Sihera's body lie there twitching. The troll sword had entered her mouth, cut through her lower jaw and into the earth below, pinning her head to the ground. he eyes moved about. Still alive, holding on to what life she had left, Sihera could only gag. She tried to motion to her friends but pain curtailed her communications. A dark pool soaked the soil, creating a darkened halo. Blood sputtered and lept as Sihera tried to gasp for breath but took in only blood.
Trill lept into action but had no idea what to do for her friend. She grasped the sword by the hilt and looked into Sihera's eyes. Willum appaered at her side and held the young girls head. The sword was pulled from its mooring of flesh and dirt. With a gurgle and a heave, Sihera's eyes rolled to the back of her head and her life slipped away...
*to be continued*