Sarzu

Return of the Force 2.

That... is a big post indeed...

Return of the Force 2.

Suppose I ought to post my characters in here too...

Darth Gra'tua, Mandalorian Sith Warlord
Tohkran, traditional Jedi Master
Randis Qall, Crime Boss and Freelancer Operative (For funsies)

Legend of Renalta 2 (Dark Fantasy)

"Hmm?" Naream said, somewhat distracted as he looked up from his tome, somewhat annoyed at the interruption, raising his eyebrows when he looked past the others up ahead at the door and what lay beyond, so they had it opened? Good for them. He stood up and walked forwards, missing whatever the Dwarves were saying, neither did he notice anything out of the ordinary so he looked at the others somewhat oddly as they spoke but decided not to show it, merely nodding along and looking neutral. When the human ranger mentioned the bit about the warning of Sarah Darkhammer he resisted the urge to chuckle at Andrea's expense, mostly because laughing at a Drow female usually meant a swift end of one's life, granted they were both Queens Blades but he felt that she was more Drow than a Queensblade, he didn't question that, he had his own goals and reasons to act like a happy Queens Blade, several others in the same service were similar he suspected.

"We can't kill the stunty folk, correct? Well we can but it isn't preferred, such a shame, their bones are quite strong, they would make excellent wights, bit short perhaps but still quite deadly." He pondered for a moment and then saw the range aim a arrow, figuring they would attack, since the whole seducing attempt, while amusing to imagine the effectiveness of that against mind controlled targets, was probably doomed to fail... and maybe have her end up being slashed to bits by the axes of those Dwarves, he opened his tome and opened his mouth. "Miulk'ars Usstan lar pholor dos, doer fotus!" He shouted and a aura of gree energies outlined his form and tome and four orbs flew forth from the magical volume in his hands, landing upon the bridge, materializing into four skeletal wights, Naream staggered but shook his head.

"Kev dosst saroless." He said and in response the wights let go of their weapons, falling on top of the bridge or in the pit below. "Ply'uss l'Harglukkin, dro." After that command the wights started to march forwards, their glowing eyes on the Dwarves in front of them. "My wights... will try and subdue them... relatively unharmed." He said through gritted teeth as he wept the sweat from his brow, it had been a long time since he had called upon any magic. He took a few steps just in case however, not reason for him to be on the front lines, turning around so he could keep both a eye on the bridge and towards the way back, never let your way of retreat be unguarded after all, wouldn't want anything to sneak up behind them while they were distracted by the Dwarves.

Fantasy Nations 2: A New Age (Kadaeux's Trait System)

Infriet Oloth,
Underdark Passages.

Orders had been handed out and various house guards, looking with hate and holding hands on their weapons looked at rival houseguard warriors, but grudgingly released their grip and went on to carry out the tasks assigned to them. Border patrols and Underdark patrols were halved to make room for expeditions beyond the borders of Infriet Oloth, to map out more of the underground realm and scout for suitable caverns to set up new settlements or find places of note, veins of valuable ore for smithing, forging or other resources that could be used by the houses and nation.

These scouting forces were being equipped as if going to war, it was necessary for dark things lurk in the darkness of the underground realm they inhabited, from Hook Horrors, to Umber Hulks, Hydras and even the rare Dragon inhabiting a cavern under the surface, not to mention other... civilizations lurking underneath much like the Drow of Infriet Oloth. Captain Jahkan of house Kazir was leading his band in the deep tunnels a territory far from any settlement of Infriet Oloth and he and his band were unnerved, they had not encountered a single thing in these tunnels, no monsters, no sign of any presence, animal or otherwise and that fact made each and every warrior, himself included, feel a shiver down their spines and a urge to return the way they came. But they couldn't, orders were orders, even if they brought them to places that were unnatural. Besides what is a little fear now and again, kept the senses sharp.

He had lost count of the days spend in these tunnels when the scout up ahead had halted and upon his captain's approach turned around and gestured to a opening in the tunnel ahead, "That isn't on the maps we have, the wall must have given way."

Jahkan looked on and frowned, nodding slowly, "Well then we better add it to the map after we explored it." With a gesture to the troop behind them they started moving once more to the collapsed section to see what it revealed, upon the sigh everyone halted, genuine fear and worry on their faces as they looked on what lay beyond.



One of the soldiers dryly summed up what everyone was thinking, "That... is a lot of water."

Some of the men snorted and backed away, "You don't say smartass, well that's that, big cavern with lots and lots of water, nothing to see there." One said and spat on the rocky surface of the tunnel, "Water is always a bad omen."

"Can't live without it though." Jahkan said and looked at the cavern in front of them, it was massive, a entire underground lake was present here and he pondered, "Might be worth to the house, if we can drain the water and have it add to the aqueducts already in place, can double the water supply with this amount of water..." He pondered out loud.

That silence was broken by a cry, some of the men had steeled their resolve and had gotten closer and were pointing at something on the shores of the lake, "That glint, is that gold down there?"

At that sound several of the men who had backed away disgust and fear sharply turned around and approached to see what their fellow warriors had seen. More cried seeing a glint that might be gold and greed settled in their eyes, if there was a gold vein here and they reported it back their reward would be quite the take, more than their pay and the benefits as a household guard would grant them.

Then someone else cried out, but in fear, pointing at the middle of lake. "There's something in there!" At that several felt their resolve vanishing again and stepped back at the sudden cry, others looked, frowning and muttering when they saw nothing for the soldier to man up and stop shouting about something that wasn't there. "I swear there's something in there and it was massive! That gold is just a lure for something dark to snatch us!" He shouted and backed away from the water, looking at his comrades and the captain.

Jahkan looked on but did not see what the man meant, he saw nothing in the waters, except the glimmer of gold, but he stepped back wit ha sigh, one of his men had said it, a large amount of water, while both a blessing was also a curse, a bad omen. He took a deep breath and addressed the band, "This is what we are going to do... mark this location on the map and we report back to the house leadership that we found this lake... with possible gold... and a possible creature inhabiting it." Some scowled at this, feeling their hopes for a big reward slipping through their fingers. "I know what some of you are thinking, but if we didn't report this... and there really is some big creature in there... then we all would be executed, can't spend your reward if you are dead. Now mark it on the map and let's move on, plenty of tunnel to explore still."

The band headed out, Jahkan lingering behind taking one last look at the lake, for a second he could have sworn he saw something moving under the surface but then it was gone, shaking his head he followed after the warriors.

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Ssussun wun Oloth

The lich arch mage, Ze'zhuanth Uss, was in his study placed in the house Uss compound in the capital, muttering in a arcana tongue that sounded disturbing to any who would hear it, weaving his hands around as energies cackled around his bony fingertips and suddenly darkness erupted from his fingertips and hovered above him, he let out a shout, almost one of glee but then it seems the magic shifted and then died as the energies evaporated with a dry crack as if a whip was being wielded by someone. With a shout of rage the lich smashed his fist down and send a crystal goblet crashing on the ground where it shattered in a dozen pieces, glaring with his glowing eyes at the spot where the darkness had been a moment before. "So close... and yet so far... much more experimentation needed... much more..." He muttered darkly.

He looked at the mess on the floor and clenched his skeletal hand, picking up a orb on his table, peering at it with dark purpose. "One day I will achieve it... one day..."

Fantasy Nations 2: A New Age (Kadaeux's Trait System)

Ssussun wun Oloth, the Council's Chambers

Councillor Varrin looked out of the window of the grand stalactite that served as headquarters of the Council of Ten, from here he had a good view on the grand coliseum down in the pleasure district, he could not make out the individual shapes but he did see a horde of figures darting across the coliseum grounds and heard the chanting and cheering of the crowds. The volume rising in pitch when a crowd favorite was either victorious or was dealt a deadly blow in the arena. He looked over the rest of the city, their home, their place of rule and dominance in this underground realm of theirs that had been carved out with the blood of their people, and he had to grudgingly admit, the thrall races in their service. They had grown lax however and content to keep the status quo and now their people were restless, blades were being sharpened and drills were executed by the various household and slave regiments in service to the various houses, but was it to keep themselves alert and ready for the dangers out there? Or would there be a clan war soon, he would like to avoid that, there were great terrors in the darkness and he would slit his own throat rather than to see his people get exterminated or enslaved by a enemy who would take advantage of their weakness.

He turned around when a voice called out to him, "Councillor Varrin, if you would be so kind to stop looking out of the window and once again pay attention to the meeting?" Looking at the one who addressed him, matron Xanna of house Baenre looked at him directly with her golden eyes and gestured to the empty seat, the other seats around the circular dais already occupied by the other councilors, all save two, Varrin's and the one seat reserved at all times for a particular member of Infriet Oloth who hardly showed at these meetings.

He took his seat and bowed his head curtly, "My apologies my mind was elsewhere." He leaned back in his chair, shadows obscuring his face, he always wondered why the council at the time had designed these chairs to have their occupant's face be obscured in the shadows when not speaking. Councilor Xanna was still leaning forward her face revealed in the light of the torches lit in the council chambers, as she looked at each chair.

"Now that we are all here... and are paying attention." She began, a disapproving frown on her face when she looked at the empty seat as she spoke, "We all know why we are here... accusations have been brought before us that Houses Lo and Uss have been raising troops to take the caves of Salk, containing mushroom and grox farms belonging to house Van'Ra by force." She looked at the seats of the three councilors whose houses she just had named, only councilor Pertark of house Van'Ra leaned forward, the angry scowl on his face clear to all to see as he glared daggers at the seats of the councilors whose houses were raising troops. "The great Conclave of 236AC clearly states that only minor houses may be attacked, the great houses who have members in the Council of Ten may not be targeted by any of the great houses except by the minor houses who may wish to take over a seat on the council." Xanna continued. "What have houses Lo and Uss to say for themselves?"

The councilor of house Lo shifted in his seat and did not reveal his face, taking this as his cue Crazja, matron of house Uss leaned forward with a sly smirk on her face, "Neither my house or house Lo are in violation of the treaty discussed at the Conclave of 236AC matron mother Xanna, we merely are strengthening our borders, because we in fact heard through our agents it was house Van'Ra who was going to attack us, we merely-"

"That is a lie!" Pertark snarled slamming his balled fist down on the armrest of his chair and gestured to matron Crazja. "Most of my troops are on their rotation patrolling the passages to out outlying settlements and you and that house Lo bitch conspired to use this situation to marshal your combined forces to attack my house's land and I will not stand for that!"

"Patriarch Pertark control yourself." Xanna said, her voice low and sharp as she bore her eyes into the councilor until he bowed his head and leaned back in his chair, she looked back towards the smirking Crazja, "Continue... and wipe that smirk of your face Craz, it does not suit you to gloat so obviously."

The smirk was replaced by a small, thin smile and a narrowing of her eyes, "As you wish." She adjusted her clothes and armour and then shrugged lazily, "As I was saying, while our dear patriarch Pertark claims his troops are out patrolling the passages, we in fact gathered he is having his troops disguise themselves with weapons and armour of a minor house to invade caverns belonging to house Uss and Lo and then claim his troops 'defeated' the troops belonging to the minor house and claim the caverns to his holdings." She shrugged again, "We merely took steps to defend ourselves, nothing less, nothing more."

Xanna turned to the seat of Pertark, "Your evidence to the contrary?"

The patriarch shuffled in his seat uncomfortably and grunted, "We caught one of their spies and he revealed the plans... but died during interrogation, he however had a bran of house Lo and I have several witnesses who heard the confession before he died."

"I object, your witnesses all belong to your house no doubt and therefore only owe allegiance to you so we cannot trust any of them to speak the truth, not that any would expect that from anyone belonging to house Van'Ra." Crazja said, cleaning her nails with a small dagger as if she was bored.

The Van'Ra councilor exploded raising up from his chair with a shout and balled fists, "You take that back bitch! I will not suffer such insults to my house, if you and Lo want war then war you will get! You can count on that!" He snarled.

She twirled the dagger between her fingertips and yawned, "As if your house would last a single week, but fine I think my house and house Lo are more than happy to answer your war mongering and face you in battle and exterminate your pathetic house."

Other councilors started to speak and murmur and while Xanna opened her mouth, her face a mask of rage at the actions of both these councilors it was someone else's voice who spoke up, a dry voice which sounded unnatural and made everyone present feel a shiver down their spine. "There will be no war, I will not allow it when other options are available." As one ten faces turned to the seat which had been empty a moment before and now it was occupied, a skeletal figure with glowing eyes was sitting in it rigidly, "My great granddaughter is far too eager to go to war with her own kind." The glowing eyes of the skull turned to councilor Crazja and she let out a whimper and seemed to retreat back in her chair as if she wanted to flee. "My apologies, normally I send word I would be attending a council meeting but it seems my messenger was delayed while I was visiting the caves of Salk and ordered no more than five small armies whose loyalties lie with members of this council to return to their clan homes and stand down. It seems they were mistaken with some orders that were given to them, how fortunate I was there to correct the mistake."

He clasped his skeletal hands together, while no facial expression could be read from the skull it seemed he was very amused right now before he continued, "I think our people can do better things than slaughter each other." He let out a dry chuckle and turned to matron Xanna. "But my apologies I am speaking out of turn at this council, may I continue dear Xanna?"

Of all the councilors Xanna seemed relieved, though wary, than afraid at the presence among them and she nodded. "You have the council's attention Ze'zhuanth Uss, speak and we shall listen."

"Why thank you, how kind." He replied and stood up from the chair to walk in a circle before each seat before he stopped in the middle. "For several decades we have sit here, in our realm and secured our borders... and when they were secured... we did nothing." His eyes bored accusingly into each seat. "It is time to change that, time to stop sitting in chairs and do something. What I am proposing is twofold." He raised a bony finger, "There is a whole world above... send out emissaries, perhaps we can foster relations and rent out our services and fight something else instead of ourselves, it also keeps our troops on edge and not have them risk getting lazy and inexperienced."

He raised a second finger, "Second... I propose we send out troops to secure caverns beyond our current borders and start slowly expanding our realm and grow somewhat." He shrugged and it seems his bones rattled as he did so. "That seems like a much... simpler idea than killing our own people, but that is just my humble opinion I am certain this council consisting of the most worthy and powerful among our kind could think of something better if my suggestions do not suit the interests of our realm." With that he returned to his seat and sat back down, again a vague sense could be felt that the figure was just radiating amusement as his glowing eyes studied each seat.

It was Crazja who broke the silence after a moment, "House Uss... agrees with what the... venerable Ze'zhuanth Uss has proposed, this scion of my house clearly speaks with wisdom and therefore I offer my apologies to councilor Pertark and his house, clearly myself and house Lo were falsely informed that his house was about to attack us, to make amends I am willing to be the first house to offer its troops and resources to expand our realm and send out emissaries or traders to the world above." She quickly said, looking anywhere but the seat occupied by the skeletal figure.

"House Van'Ra... accepts the apology and offers one in return, clearly we acted too hastily and had not investigated these... rumors of a impending attack against us properly. "Pertark began and gulped, "We too offer our resources to this effort, in the hopes that it may avoid conflict among our people."

One by one each other councilor agreed with the proposal, almost reluctantly and some with clear fear in the end a uncomfortable silence came over them all and matron mother Xanna spoke up, "I think, that all has been discussed that we had to, we have all voted in favor of the proposal, I suggest that we end this meeting and all return to their respective houses to make preparations."

After this one by one councilors began to leave the chamber, after the eight member had left, three people were left.

Xanna stood up and groaned, "Sometimes I think these seats are so uncomfortable to force us to make quick decisions so we won't be stuck here for hours or days." She said with a snort and then turned to the skeletal figure who had not moved. "That matron mother of your house was creating trouble... again." The figure shrugged and she turned to the other person remaining in the room, councilor Varrin. "That was your spy house Van'Ra caught, wasn't? You learned of the scheme house Uss and Lo were up to and you forced this meeting to happen by letting that spy of yours, branded with house Lo's mark be captured by Pertark and his people."

Varrin tilted his head and rose a eyebrow, "Matron mother Xanna, I feel obligated to tell you that I or any of my house did no such thing, but if we did, better to have it happened otherwise this meeting wouldn't have taken place and three... or five... of the major houses would have been at war with each other." He sighed and pinched his nose, "I have to agree however that matron Crazja is going to be trouble, this was what... her fifth attempt of creating conflict between major houses?"

The skeletal figure scratched over his skull, the sound it produced uncomfortable for the ears of the two living council members. "Yes... I think her daughter, my great-great granddaughter, might be a better candidate to sit on her mother's seat. Such a shame that accidents happen in our realm." He cackled and stood up, "However, with my proposal that might not be necessary, now if you both would excuse me, I have to return to my experiments." He bowed and as both remaining council members blinked the most powerful individual in Infriet Oloth had vanished as if he had never been present.

Xanna shook her head and muttered, "I hate it when he does that..."

Legend of Renalta 2 (Dark Fantasy)

Meanwhile in the Underdark we are trapped into a temple/tomb of unknown origins and it is established traps are present.... what can possibly go wrong?

Legend of Renalta 2 (Dark Fantasy)

Sarah's Request

Naream had his eyes closed and was trying to shut out the nagging voice of the other Drow in their party who was berating him for not seeing the trap well ahead of anyone else and that if it hadn't been for her he'd probably resemble a pincushion right now and that she couldn't have been bothered to heal him because obviously he was such a waste of space and effort to have along if he couldn't spot a simple trap on the floor of this temple. Thoughts of possible experimentation on what kind of necromantic death magic might be sufficient to kill the yapping llolth-bitch, that or summoning a golem to see what kind of paste she could be turned into on the floor, though he was resisting to make those thoughts reality because she might have some use, besides the images of her screaming were particularly pleasing to him.

Luckily some other distraction came along in the form of a steel door in their way and two side passages also with steel doors, the left passage showing signs of recent travel and what looked like a chisel near the doorway that the Dwarves must have used and left behind... and yet the door was still closed and it seems that the Dwarves had made no dent into it. When the sound of stone colliding with the floor behind him he wasn't that much surprised that the way behind them was closed off, that usually happens in situations like this... almost as if there is some standard plan or guide in how to work ancient temples, tombs or other dungeon type areas of this kind. "Well... now we are locked in." He muttered, he gestured to the left, "Do we first go and look for the small folk, apparently they managed to get that door open somehow, since there's no sign of them and this is the only passage that seems to have seen some travel." He cocked his head to the side. "Yet they didn't force the door open? So they must have found a switch or something? That or something else." He shrugged and looked at the others before stepping back and getting out a tome.

"I am not much of a locksmith, so if any of you have such capabilities please go ahead." He said as he looked through the pages of his tome for something in particular. He heard Andrea mutter that she was of no use in this, unless the door was a person, in that case she apparently could have easily convinced it to open and allow them through. He rolled his eyes at that, great she was one of those people. Well at least she hadn't tried to whip anyone or feed anyone to spiders, yet, but that was something at least. "If a switch can't be found." He said, to nobody in the group in particular. "Let me know and I might have something that could... smash through, maybe." He said as he reached the section of his tome that roughly translated to 'Golems Arcana'.

Legend of Renalta 2 (Dark Fantasy)

Due to Andrea being on vacation I have been asked to take over her character for the duration in Sarah's Request.

Fantasy Nations 2: A New Age (Kadaeux's Trait System)

Hey I have been called a boy toy, minion, slave, butler and worse let people think i've accepted my place, or so it appears... I will be plotting my revenge from the shadows.

Fantasy Nations 2: A New Age (Kadaeux's Trait System)

Note:
You may be approved and your nation has been added with a permalink in the first post, but even in that case and say days or a week or two may pass by while your nation is 'approved' there will be a final round of checks on each sheet to check for oddities and such and only then will you be fully approved.

This just takes time due to real life getting in the way for any of us to check the sheets fully. So bear in mind that some of you might get a pm asking something to change or edit even days after you have been approved initially.

With regards
GM Kadaeux overlord of the dark abyss and ruler of souls
Co-GM Sarzu minion of above