The evening began innocent enough. I was just out bouncing a few undesirables from the Eternal Realm and outlying areas. 'Afore I knew it, my bag began to be weighty from the benevolence of the local thugs. "Best head for Cove I guess and bank this loot," I thought to myself. A moment later there I stood in front of the Bank of Cove. "Hiya Oni," a voice rang out behind me. I spun around at the calling out of my name. There stood Liberation and Lady ManbeardLib. "Oh! Hello!"I said with some surprise. "What are you up to?" asked Liberation. "Well, not much. What are are you doing?" I replied. "I was just readying myself for a excursion in the frozen north." "Hmm, perhaps I will come along and document your journey." "Haha! Oni, that would be fine. Do as you please." Lib' continued to ready himself. A portal was opened and out stepped four magnificent and regal dragons: Ancientiest, Shadowier, Do I dare write the other two? Yeah! - Snot and Puke. "Yeah! This should do it." I heard him say quietly. The four snorted and nodded in agreement. They seemed very eager to show their prowess and prove that they had not been trained in vain. They had no idea just how much that training was going to help them in the coming journey. Another portal opened at the request of Lady 'Lib. I thought for a moment and stepped in. Out a cavern entrance and into the Lost Lands I stepped. "You are coming! "Told ya I would," I replied. Liberation just laughed and opened another portal. The sleepy little hamlet of Delucia stood before me as again I stepped through the shimmering blue. "Just one more portal and we will be there." Once again, Lady 'Lib called forth a gate, and the six disappeared. "So, the journey begins...," I thought and stepped into the quickly fading blue. A cold blast hit my face as I cleared the portal and stood on the frozen plane of Kos Heb. Nononetrust stamped furiously attempting to get accustomed to the cold and snow. He had not been this far north for quite some time and was not relishing the thought of standing in the deep snow. "Calm down," I whispered in his ear, "Or I will heat you up considerably, featherbrain." He came to a quick halt and stood motionless in the snow and cold. Guess the threat of heat was worse than the cold. Just south of the portal, undead were roaming about. The Fierce Four tore into the already dead corpses. These being were animated by some unhuman means. Bolts of magic struck as the dragons used all their powers. Undead magi shot back hurling all manner of evil magicks at the dragons. It was to no avail. The Four stood valiantly. Often wounded but never succombing to the onslaught, the dragons fought on. The carnage was great. Piles of mangled corpses lay strewn in the snow all around my vantage point high on a nearby rock cropping. It was a gruesome but legendary fight. The six moved slowly south, and I had to leave my vantage point to continue to chronicle this 'Excursion to the North'. Wreck and ruin followed the stalwart band. The sounds of chomping, biting and crunching of bone with the bolts of magic rang out in the little cauldron made by the surrounding mountain ranges. This made for eerie echos throughout the area. And then it appeared.... A red, elevated stone shrine. So this was the reason for the incursion north. It was guarded by countless snakes and lizardmen. The whole valley was reverberating with hissing. SSS's where flying everywhere. It was the proverbial snake pit. But the dragons waded right in and began to clear the tainted area. Bite, chomp, blast! It started all over again. This time the agonizing cries of the lizard folk were added to the echoes. I stood motionless in the center of the evilly spawned hissers. I had made my way south just before some evil conjured them up. It seemed like a millenia, but Lib', Lady 'Lib and the Fierce Four came on. The spear-armed lizardmen were no match and went down under the weight of the party. The shrine was cleared. I was free to move again. Liberation of the Shrine had occurred.
