The Corruption of Justice seemed to be carried on the wind and felt within the soil with each step that Antos took. The hour of the cleansing had come, but he had few oprions before him. He had heard through the Court of Justice that there was a brigand by the name of Gordon who claied to know something about an ancient relic that may help to undo the great wrong that had been done in one of the most hallowed places in the Deep Forest. A lack of any other option had decided his course for him, but he was still uneasy with the decision to trust a convicted felon. Rumor had it that this despicable character had been arrested for some sort of trafficking or slave trade and that made their course of action all the more repugnant. But there was little else to be done for the hour was at hand and already a group pf virtuous allies had already begun to assemble at Empath Abbey. Fortunately, Cystreal was on hand and trying to keep everyone orgabized until Antos could get his weary old bones to the Abbey to put the plan into action. Upon arrival, he was pleased to see that a hale and stalwart band had already assembled near the entrance to the Ankh of Life; not as many as he would have liked, but he was pleased nonetheless. Yew is all to often overlooked by the rest of Sosaria and he had feared that few, if any, would heed his plea for aid. But they had come at the appointed time and Cystreal was busily trying to recruit others into their ranks when he arrived. He hoped that his weariness would not show, but over the past week, the corruption that had poisoned the shrine was taking a toll on his very spirit. So strong was his attachment to the Deep Forest, that Baerron Jael could not have dealt him a more grievous blow had he poisoned Antos directly. No one seemed to notice his affliction as he approached the awaiting party of brave souls. If they did, they made no sign of it and listened intently as he began to explain their course of action. However, before he could begin in earnest, even more heavily armed warriors arrived to lend their aid, but at first glance, everyone knew there was something amiss about them. They could barely be heard through their heavy helmets, but their words were clearly a crude approximation of the common tongue. If that were not enough to arouse suspicion, the smell of the newcomers and their mannerisms were an obvious indicator of their true nature. The orcs had come requesting to join in the quest to cleanse the shrine. When the others saw through their obvious disguises, Antos rebuked them and insisted that they join in the quest to cleanse the shrine. After all, it is good to keep one's friends close, and enemies even closer. Hopefully, he would be able to divine their true motives along the way and possibly avert some greater disaster by keeping watch on them. Once he had quelled their concerns about the strange newcomers, he began to lay out the plans. Upon hearing that their first stop would be the Yew prison, one of the assembly mentioned something about a jail break, and Antos' tempers flared. There would be no such occurrance on his watch if it could be helped. He had no intention of freeing anyone who had been justly convicted and sentenced to the sturdy walls of the prison. They were simply going there on a fact finding mission and nothing more. When the party was organized and the plan laid out, they began to ride towards the prison but, despite the companions that had come to lend their aid, Antos felt even less sure than before about relying on the testimony of a cut-throat brigand. His unease had delved into deep doubt once again by the time they made their way through the wending passages and found the prisoner that they sought. Antos called him out and demanded that he tell them all that he might know about this ancient relic of which he had spoken. Not surprisingly, the prisoner refused to reveal what he knew, but insisted on escorting the party to someone who could help them find the item they sought. At first, Antos flatly refused, but other members of the party insisted that he come along, albeit under their watchful eyes. Already the plan was going awry; orcs in their midst and a convicted convict walking free under their custody and they had not yet left Yew! Arriving back at the Abbey, Antos demanded that Gordon reveal all that he knew, but the brigand was firm in his insistence that he take them to "someone" who could help them at the brigand encampment far to the south. As they were pressed for time, no further interrogation was conducted and the party quickly headed south, with their ward leading them into unknown danger. But the danger would not remain unknown for very long. As soon as the band approached the Yew Cemetery, they were assailed by all manner of undead and demonic creatures! But if the prisoner had intentionally led them into a trap, he was braver than expected because he was fighting for his life as much as the assembled heroes. Then at the last moment, the betrayal that they had anticipated occurred. At the height of the fighting, Gordon turned and ran off to the south as quickly as he could. Not surprisingly, the orcish infiltrators abandoned the fight and pursued him. At first, it seemed as though the brigand had been in league with the orcs, but something about the way they rode after him indicated that they had every intention of catching him before he could escape. Whatever they had planned, the quest had already been betrayed twice over before it had barely even begun. The heroic efforts of the warriors repelled the attack and the party quickly rallied and set off in pusuit of the wayward turncoats, but they were beset time and again by all manner of foulf daemons and undead horrors as they made their way south along their trail. By the time they reached the encampment, they were battered and fatigued, but ready to see justice served. They were met at the door to the encampment by another brigand by the name of Icarus Rex who claimed that Gordon had not passed their way, but he was not to be believed, so they forced their way inside and one of the party cried out to Antos that Gordon's body had been found inside. Upon viewing the body, it was obvious that the orcs had caught up to the brigand and tortured him before brutally cutting him down once they had what they wanted from him. Fearing the worst, Antos made a quick search of the brigand's mangled corpse and found a blood drenched journal inside. Upon reading it, Antos was amazed to learn that Gordon had actually been trafficking in Emps! These gentle, simian creatures had not been seen in the Deep Forest in generations and were the guardians of ancient relics possessing unique abilities. So the fact that this underhanded brigand had sought to kidnap and sell them enraged the old man to a degree that he never dreamed possible. As he read through the few portions of the journal unsullied by blood, he learned that Gordon had discovered a family of Emps just beyond the southern border of the city at one of the oldest Yew trees in the wood. Hopefully, they might find the object that they sought when they arrived. But hope was scant when the mission had begun and was growing thinner by the minute. The party quickly hastened to the location mentioned in the journal, but they were delayed time and again by demonic forces. By the time they reached the ancient tree that Gordon had described, the entire area was awash with blood. As they drew near, they heard a terrible inhuman cry that could only mean one thing. The orcs had arrived before them and slain the last of the Emps. By now, the deepening horrors of this quest were taking a toll on them all. This act of genocide was the gravest injustice yet witnessed in a long chain of injustices. Antos prayed that somehow the orcs would come to pay for this unforgivable act of violence. Someone noticed a faint trail of blood headed west and they chose to follow it. When they came to another blood soaked clearing, the rage of the heroes was a palpable thing and nearly blinded Antos to an odd distraction further west. As they journeyed onward, they were shocked to find one of the ancient ruins of old Yew had been overgrown by deadly Reapers! It was as if the corrupted forest had risen up against them in an effort to prevent the from reaching whatever relic of power was hidden inside by the now extinct Emps. After a hard fought battle, the party tended to their wounds and searched the ruins beneath the felled evil trees. At first, Antos felt a growing sense of despair as he feared the orcs had managed to make off with whatever treasure was being guarded there. Just as he was about to give up hope, he spied a small golden chest unearthed by the roots of an overturned reaper and, as he opened it, his heart leapt with wonder and amazement They had stumbled upon the hiding place of the very Heart of Yew itself! With this discovery, Antos felt as if the tide of fortune had turned in their favor. Quickly securing the precious relic, they rode with all haste to the Shrine of Justice, far to the east. However, when they saw how much the corruption had spread, there was not one heart among them that was not filled with dread. The shrine was now overrun with Reapers, Lich Lords, Elder daemons and all manner of foul undead. As if this were not enough of a challenge, the orcs had returned in greater numbers in an effort to reclaim the prize that they had failed to recover. The battle that was waged at the shrine that day was one that will not soon be forgotten. The losses were high on all sides and, when Baerron Jael himself strode onto the scene, all seemed lost. Antos was struck from his steed by Baerron Jael, but quickly recovered and rushed into the Shrine of Justice with the Heart of Yew. There, upon the shrine was another Heart, the dark and twisted Heart of Wrong. Though he was revolted by its presence, Antos heeded a deep instinctive urge within his own heart and placed the Heart of Yew beside its dark counterpart. At that moment, an ghostly apparition appeared and Antos was filled with a renewed sense of peace despite the battles that were still being waged outside the shrine. The spirit began moving about the shrine and speaking in a ghostly voice than none of the assembly seemed to understand. However, Antos was struck by an intuitive certainty that to remain within the shrine would be perilous, so he shouted to the assembled heroes to leave the shrine at once. As soon as the party had returned outside to face an ever growing number of foes, mighty elementals of Earth, Air, Fire and Water appeared and the corruptions of the shrine were swept away, burned to ash or merely swallowed up by the very ground itself. With the shrine now cleansed, the heroes found themselves facing a new threat as a gang of murderers had appeared and were out for blood. The heroes found themselves fighting alongside of the orcs once again as they faced this menace together. However, the mission was complete and Antos cried out to the assembled host to regroup at the Abbey once more by whatever means they had at their disposal. Arriving back at the Abbey, the heroes congratulated one another on a great, albeit costly, victory. The festivities that followed were overshadowed by the fact that their were no more Emps watching over the Deep Forest. Alas, no amount of Yew wine could wash away the sorrow of their passing. Still, the shrine had been cleansed and Justice had been served and that was victory enough for these heroes of virtue. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Map of Major Encounters/Plot Points (OOC note: This thread is a Work In Progress. Additional images and improved maps may be added as they become available!)
