All was not well at Empath Abbey. A sense of dread seemed to hang over the Deep Forest and there was an oppressive air about the city of Yew. Antos tossed and turned in a fitful sleep. No one else heard his cries despite the eerie silence that haunted Empath Abbey on this unnaturally dark night. Perhaps the other occupants of the Abbey simply assumed he had imbibed too much wine again, or perhaps they were troubled by their own dark dreams. Either way, no one was present to witness Antos bolting out of bed covered in a sour sweat and weeping bitterly. After taking a few moments to wash and dress himself, he slipped out of his room and into the small alcove which houses the Ankh of Life, hoping to meditate and center himself following his troubled slumber. He was disappointed but not surprised to find that a member of the Order of the Rose was also there deep in meditation. It occurred to him that perhaps he had not been the only one troubled by dark dreams during an even darker night and his heart went out to her. As he took a seat across the aisle from her, he began to chant the Mantra of Justice again and again, hoping he might recall some of the vision that he had received in his troubled sleep. Despite all efforts to clear his mind and focus, the only thing that he remembered was a vivid image of the Shrine of Justice, but it appeared as though it had bathed in blood. No other revelation seemed to be forthcoming, so he quietly slipped out of the Abbey, mounted his trusty old nag and began to ride east towards the shrine, heedless of the rain that had begun to fall. As he traveled, the very night itself grew ever darker and the air grew ever more foul. In his heart, he knew that his dream was no mere nightmare to be dismissed upon waking and the growing sense of foreboding that gripped him as he approached the shrine was evidence of this. Eventually, his old nag simply stopped in her tracks and refused to take another step further east. So, he secured her to a tree and hurried along on foot, hoping against hope that his suspicions were unfounded. As the shrine came into sight, Antos began to weep once more and his heart was filled with a rage that he never knew was possible. There, before him in the preternatural darkness, the Shrine of Justice stood bathed in blood just as he had foreseen and it was further desecrated by grisly limbs and severed heads. As he stammered and fell to his knees, the very trees themselves seemed to weep with him at the horror which they had witnessed. The old man drew up his courage and calmed himself as best he could before entering the shrine. As he stepped inside, he was aghast at the atrocity which had been erected inside. There, in the center of the shrine itself, stood a great blood-soaked guillotine with its perilous blade rising and falling over and over again; its terrifying sound was a mockery of true Justice to Antos' ears. He could bear no more. The truth was obvious now. The fourth seal had been broken and his greatest fears had been realized. In despair, Antos shook his fists at the ink black sky and cried out, "No! No! Not here! Why? Why?" But no answer came to him; only patter of rain accompanied by the creak and thud of the monstrous guillotine rising and falling again and again. Consumed by horror and rage, Antos fled back to where his old nag was tied. He quickly took to the saddle and spurred her back to the Lighthouse. As soon as he arrived, he bounded up the stairs and grabbed a blank scroll and an inkwell from his writing desk to pen a letter to... To whom? And what could he possibly say? How could he describe the horror of what he had witnessed at the shrine? How could he possibly write with his hands still shaking from rage and exhaustion? He went downstairs and grabbed a bottle of wine to steady his nerves and began to consume it in great gulps. Pausing to catch a breath, he hung his head for a moment before casting the bottle aside to shatter on the stone floor and returned to his writing desk. Picking up his quill, he composed the following message: Antos copied the message several times and carefully sealed each one before a bleak, grey dawn heralded the beginning of a dark and troubled day. Entrusting the missives to the morning post, he returned once more to the Abbey where he collapsed into bed from exhaustion and wept bitter tears until sleep claimed him once more.
Dear Antos, The Great Council has heard word of this atrocity at the Shrine of Justice and will certainly lend all aid to Yew in the endeavor to restore it to its virtuous idiom. There are many veterans of the past Shrine battles that I am sure will join your cause as well. I shall reach out to my friends and allies. In the meantime I shall look in the vaults of the King's Library for any clues, and I might suggest that you undertake your own personal investigations into this as well so that we might divine a solution. Tread safely in the Deep Wood for the time being, my friend. -Lord Alex Caember King's Steward of the Great Council
*war drums echo in the distance* *Cero pulls on the reins of his spirit mount and scribbles in his notes* Justice, the fourth corruption. No clear idea yet of what Baerron Jael wants with the shrines but once again the lightbringers must take action. If we can only get ahead of this and stop him before he finishes his plans. Undead, Creatures of the Abyss, Covenants of Evil Mages, Orcs...What will he/it use next at his disposal. *Cero closes his notes* Antos will need more help, I must make haste and spread the word. The light must prevail.
Wow, what a fight! My white wyrm looked more like a red wyrm after that battle! Besieged on all sides by numerous enemies the battlefield was true chaos. A dastardly brigand[brg] was slinking about with one of the nastiest heavy xbows I have ever seen. It was chunking me for half my health each shot! Anarchy came and brought their blue PK friend Krispy Kreme! They harried us on all sides and anyone foolish enough to chase them off quickly fell to their waiting ambush. Alas, even with Krispy Kreme attacking me as a blue they couldn't take me down! My achievement of the night was just staying alive through that whole thing. The Orcs caused great casualties especially early on in the fight before Anarchy showed up. Just as our band of adventurers clashed into the Ancient Undead the Orcs savagely launched their attack catching us off guard. They somehow managed to evade my White Wyrm every single time! Must be some Orcish blud magic voodoo trick or something. It was certainly a battle of attrition. The deadly poison from the rotting corpses was brutal. We paid heavy prices but we managed to hold back the scoundrels till the bitter end. Antos was literally cleansing the shrine just a few feet from a raging battlefield as we stood shoulder to shoulder guarding the entrance. I was low on regs, pots, health, mana, stamina, when I realized the deed was done. The shrine was cleansed. With the murderers closing in, our numbers reaching critical levels and still crazy powerful undead creatures lurking about I could feel my impending death rapidly closing in..... ...Checking my mana supply....I had Just enough for a gate! ..I Shouted Vas Rel Por! ........... .........Bam, 1st try no Fizzle, the gate Appeared With a flamestrike at my heels I jumped into the gate! MISSION ACCOMPLISHED CULTURAL VICTORY PRAISE KEK
Diz wuz gug tym fur urukz, dabu! This was another fun event the orcs enjoyed to be a part of. Thank you
