The following occurs after the events that began in the Inn and Back alley. Thank you to all who participated! It was a blast!
Bleeding, broken and burned, the Scathachian warriors made their way from the alley between the Red Dragon Inn and the Marketplace; Trixie, who had since transformed back into her human self, Isuelt and another woman, who was unrecognized by either of the two priestess, but who understood the ancient and arcane language of the Scathachians and had introduced herself simply as Valkyrie. Valkyrie was bleeding from her wounds, Trixie's skin was charred in places, including her face, and Isuelt's back was still jarred from the death knight's shield. A death knight, a fire dancer and a blonde thief had been their undoing this night.
As the trio hurriedly made their way back to the Sanctuary for healing and reinforcements, Valkyrie had asked Isuelt for a recant of recent history. As the blonde thief had taken the hammer, the relic Scathach's Gavel, that Valkyrie had carried, she claimed to do so in the name of Bha'al. The death knight had worn the symbol of Bha'al on his shield, and just like that, the Scathachians knew who they were reunited with. The emissaries of Temple Bha'al had reared their ugly heads and had arrived once more in full force in the city of Rhydin. This prompted Isuelt, Trixie and Lucien Mallorek to recant a stormy night not so long ago.
"A little over a year ago, actually," Isuelt's hoarse voice began. "It was storming like nothing I can remember. It was summer. And this was no summer storm." She had a hand around the smaller Valkyrie's waist as the two nearly helped each other follow Trixie toward the Northwest Cliffs. "The thunder was so loud you could feel it. And the rain" The rain pierced to the bone. There were many of us out that night, on patrol. The city had been feeling...darker, more cloying lately. As if elements were coming together to weave a net over us. We could all feel it, Scathachian and non-Scathachian alike. We were out, scattered in teams. Then these creatures..." she paused and looked to Trixie, wondering if she could offer a better explanation, for Isuelt's memories of that night were still blurry. "As if they had come from shadows, all black and teeth. They, however, were not the worst of it." She grunted lightly as her back was rebelling, she knew that the death knight's shield had pierced her skin beneath her leather casing, she could feel the slick blood pooling around her waist. "There were ghouls that came later. It was like a goddess damned horror house. They were everywhere. We...we fought them off as best we could, but they....they were almost corralling us. Toward the Marketplace, I thought."
Isuelt stopped talking for a few steps. She needed to catch her breath as the slope began to climb as they ventured up the Northwest Cliffs toward the Sanctuary.
"We ended up, though, in Mallorek's house. That gentlemen that was there tonight, beard and blonde hair. Lucien's house was...almost throbbing with this strange...energy a light, something. I thought it was the lightning from the storm, but now that I look back on it, I don't think that was it. Lucien is collector of antiques, a hobby of his. I didn't realize until tonight that he also collected relics." She swallowed, beginning to understand the significance of that. "We couldn't find him in that house that night...and everyone was arriving, with ghouls on their heels. That throbbing was louder and louder. Almost like drums. And then, there was a loud crack of thunder and the blinding of lightning and...and...then I woke up far, far away from there. The sun was shining, it was morning." Her dark eyes looked to Valkyrie, knowing that this tale was outlandish. "I didn't know where I was, I didn't know where anyone was. We were...scattered. Some of us were left in Rhydin, others were blown to the corners of the world. We've only just lately come back together here. And now that we are all gathering once more, it makes perfect sense that the Temple of Bha'al has gathered as well. We were having trouble with them in the days leading up to that night. And the relic" That is what they were after. You've led them here. You've maybe led all of us here."
The lights from the Scathachian Sanctuary were seen on the hill. She paused and took a few more breaths before starting up again with Trixie and Valkyrie. "Seems everything's restarting..."
Bleeding, broken and burned, the Scathachian warriors made their way from the alley between the Red Dragon Inn and the Marketplace; Trixie, who had since transformed back into her human self, Isuelt and another woman, who was unrecognized by either of the two priestess, but who understood the ancient and arcane language of the Scathachians and had introduced herself simply as Valkyrie. Valkyrie was bleeding from her wounds, Trixie's skin was charred in places, including her face, and Isuelt's back was still jarred from the death knight's shield. A death knight, a fire dancer and a blonde thief had been their undoing this night.
As the trio hurriedly made their way back to the Sanctuary for healing and reinforcements, Valkyrie had asked Isuelt for a recant of recent history. As the blonde thief had taken the hammer, the relic Scathach's Gavel, that Valkyrie had carried, she claimed to do so in the name of Bha'al. The death knight had worn the symbol of Bha'al on his shield, and just like that, the Scathachians knew who they were reunited with. The emissaries of Temple Bha'al had reared their ugly heads and had arrived once more in full force in the city of Rhydin. This prompted Isuelt, Trixie and Lucien Mallorek to recant a stormy night not so long ago.
"A little over a year ago, actually," Isuelt's hoarse voice began. "It was storming like nothing I can remember. It was summer. And this was no summer storm." She had a hand around the smaller Valkyrie's waist as the two nearly helped each other follow Trixie toward the Northwest Cliffs. "The thunder was so loud you could feel it. And the rain" The rain pierced to the bone. There were many of us out that night, on patrol. The city had been feeling...darker, more cloying lately. As if elements were coming together to weave a net over us. We could all feel it, Scathachian and non-Scathachian alike. We were out, scattered in teams. Then these creatures..." she paused and looked to Trixie, wondering if she could offer a better explanation, for Isuelt's memories of that night were still blurry. "As if they had come from shadows, all black and teeth. They, however, were not the worst of it." She grunted lightly as her back was rebelling, she knew that the death knight's shield had pierced her skin beneath her leather casing, she could feel the slick blood pooling around her waist. "There were ghouls that came later. It was like a goddess damned horror house. They were everywhere. We...we fought them off as best we could, but they....they were almost corralling us. Toward the Marketplace, I thought."
Isuelt stopped talking for a few steps. She needed to catch her breath as the slope began to climb as they ventured up the Northwest Cliffs toward the Sanctuary.
"We ended up, though, in Mallorek's house. That gentlemen that was there tonight, beard and blonde hair. Lucien's house was...almost throbbing with this strange...energy a light, something. I thought it was the lightning from the storm, but now that I look back on it, I don't think that was it. Lucien is collector of antiques, a hobby of his. I didn't realize until tonight that he also collected relics." She swallowed, beginning to understand the significance of that. "We couldn't find him in that house that night...and everyone was arriving, with ghouls on their heels. That throbbing was louder and louder. Almost like drums. And then, there was a loud crack of thunder and the blinding of lightning and...and...then I woke up far, far away from there. The sun was shining, it was morning." Her dark eyes looked to Valkyrie, knowing that this tale was outlandish. "I didn't know where I was, I didn't know where anyone was. We were...scattered. Some of us were left in Rhydin, others were blown to the corners of the world. We've only just lately come back together here. And now that we are all gathering once more, it makes perfect sense that the Temple of Bha'al has gathered as well. We were having trouble with them in the days leading up to that night. And the relic" That is what they were after. You've led them here. You've maybe led all of us here."
The lights from the Scathachian Sanctuary were seen on the hill. She paused and took a few more breaths before starting up again with Trixie and Valkyrie. "Seems everything's restarting..."