5 - 031: The End?

[K Man]

Romar -

The Duke does go, begrudgingly. You imagine that if his eyes were not fine points of bluish light in empty sockets, they would be rolling with each step. In huff, the Duke proclaims;

"Uggh. I'll never understand your type Romar. It is so confusing to comit the most unworldly of crimes against your fellow man yet mourn them when they are gone."

"Why don't you just hang yourself and get it over with?"

Ignoring him, you press on, leaving Avyant on the road behind you. Ahead is nothing but a desolate wasteland--a ruin of forgotten memories and valiant last stands.

You remember the day vividly;

...it was autumn when the walls fell, when the gates of Carealal fell to the unrelenting pounding of the Masters' troops.

Or did they?

The screams of the dying, the crackle of raging fires and the groans of the undead seem to distort your memory, but you can't remember the sounds of the walls being breached, of the gates crashing in. But you remember everything else so vividly...

The leaves crunched underfoot as you raced across the fields, remembering the time Marcos and you raced when he fell...

....but it was not for your life.

The defenses have fallen. Racing through the city, you barely take in what is happening. To your right, the Hendars' house was already in flames, the South wall bowing out unhealthly, threatening to collapse. You could hear sounds of a struggle inside, but you cannot stop to help.

To your left a few lung-heaving breaths and heart-racing steps later, you could see the bloodied apron of the old widow Odella in the spice garden just off her porch. The door to her house hangs limply open, also coated in blood. You're certain she is dead.

Behind, the men of Carealal try to scatter, the order to retreat given long ago. The undead clawed through everything too easily. Even the most patriotic of Carealal's soldiers could not stand for long against that. It was time to regoup...time to gather your thoughts...time to find your brother and the rest of your family.

When you raced to the steps of your house, you could not believe what had happened...[/color]

Snapping out of your memory-stupor, you notice that night has indeed begin to fall. Looking to the Duke, the solitary soul responsible for so much pain, he is already frozen from the waist down. His lower body is encased in growing ice, the rest of him covered in a fine layer of frost.

True to his form, his eyes settle on you moments before he freezes completely and he spits;

"Cry all you want, they're dead...and so am I, and so are you."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

All Others -

{To speed things up, let's have a talk with Adolpho Ustgrave and Sturmguard.}

The great king summons the leader of the Knights of the Purest Star to meet in his chambers, high above the city. You are asked to come along as well, to climb the staricase to the chambers where the greatest minds of this war have planned every resistance, every battle.

It is a large chamber, filled nearly to the edges by a circular table that is an exact replica of the lands, built to scale and terrain. Here or there are little wooden castles, litte clay mountains and sandy blue rivers that run the length of the map. Your eyes can't help but settle on the one city that troubles you now, where the beams of light come from...where the Queen of Astoril makes her arrogant demands.

Adolpho arrives quickly, looking to Sturmguard and Krysta...

[Mission Macro from Sturmguard and Krysta. Need to know about defenses of Astoril capital city and potential devices for Phylactery of 'The Master']

Adolpo rubs his chin and sadly nods his head.



"I am sorry m'liege..." He is sure to nod to all others present. "...but I can offer nothing of this soul-containing device of 'The Master'. Malvius, a former member of our ranks made it his life's work--in the footsteps of his father--to find this device for he believed that no amount of warfare would end 'The Master'."

Adolpho pauses, then nods again.

"Malvius left us in search of this thing, determined to find it. Sadly, he has not been seen since. He was last headed to the Feathered Isle (Location 18 on map) claiming that some bird-men there had sagely advice on the soul-container. I can offer no more."

"As for the defenses of Ephemiryl, I can say that the arrogant Queen is very knowledgable of magic and has gone to great lengths to protect her city. She was even continuing to stack that defense when we left to come here--I have no doubt she can counteract your ability to move through the Earth."

Your heart almost drops, until Adolpho continues with a smirk.

"But try as she might, it is still a city. There is always an exit, even if it is not the most attractive of entry methods. A city that size surely has sewers and secret tunnels that even the power-hungry must have missed...she is too focused on glory and it can cloud her judgement."

Sturmguard places both his hand on the round table, cloak and amulet dangling forward, and looks seriously at you all.



"You know Ravenshead needs its heroes more than ever, but I feel you have done enough for country already so I will only ask this..."

"Are you willing to stop Astoril? If you fail, it could mean all of our lives..."

[VemuKhaham]

got little time to reply cause I'll be in Antwerp, Belgium for the entire day. I may be able to get around to it later but otherwise, I'll have to skip today.

[Fangor the Fierce]

"We would need council with each other, but I am sure that we will be heading to Astroil soon. I would like to see how the cleric's are faring in the matter of Mordrock, as his luck and vaolr would be most welcome by me. Supplies should be checked and that would not take long. Our hour of need has come, and I will honor that."

Krysta turns to Adelia, who has kept silent for the most part. "Your assistance would be most welcome, but your decision to make."

"Then let us make haste, for the elves need to be dealt with swiftly..." Adelia replies.

OOC - So what's the deal, is Mordrock going to stumble in on this little meeting, in his usual fashion???

[Japic]

{He's a martyr, I don't think he's coming back myself.}

Glowering at the clay depiction of the elven city Girud's mind flashes back to their last trip there. The pure beauty and elegance of every building and every aspect of the city still burns bright in his memory. Thena face looms, the conceited power hungry face of the Queen. Her son seemed a decent fellow; but the Queen was surely mad with power.

Placing a huge hand on the halfling's shoulder Girud asks a simple question.

"Are you ready to do what must be done?"

With a curt nod it is apparent that the little fellow is in.

---

Lets get on with this suicide mission. (us vs a city full of elves)

[VemuKhaham]

With a twist, Romar stood up and faced the half-frozen Duke Gramble. "Cry all you want, they're dead... and so am I, and so are you."

Those were his words, and at hearing them, something finally snapped in Romar. Here at the doorsteps of his old farm, he was already weak at heart, and during all his journey he had led the Duke further in the naive hope that somehow he would repent at seeing the result of what he had caused. The suffering of the simple man because of the greed of one man, who happened to be at the top. With many other simple men had he fought that day and shed blood, and this... this was their reward? Treachery and mockery??

Romar had hoped the Duke would show some sign, even a minor hint at his humanity, but now his words revealed his folly. With the same cold stare as which he looked upon Veya before she fell, or Mordrid as he spit on him, Romar smirked and looked while the body of Duke Gramble slowly began to freeze.

"Do you know what is worse than death, Gramble?"

With that, he took his backpack off and removed from it a small shovel. As the Duke froze over and watched, Romar began to dig a hole within the yard of his old farmhouse. Looking rather possessed as he dug like a madman, he kept raving in anger, even long after the duke had frozen over in his entirety: "So you say you are death, eh? Do you know where they put the dead, my friend? They put them under the ground, forever to rest in peace. Though because of people like you, hardly anyone even finds rest in death and people have started to simply burn each other. But I can't burn you, now can I? You say you can't be killed. Well isn't that a pity! Than I'll have to make do with digging a hole for you. And you know what, I don't think anyone will care, cause the Master won't even mind to dig you up even if he could hear you squeeming like a worm from your grave below. Even he should know what kind of worm you are, and that the presence of your smelly and rotting corpse will scatter even the filthy ranks of his undead army.

And you know, maybe you won't even have to be buried beneath here all that long. The world's already on the verge of destruction. Maybe one of those blasts will free you soon enough; or whatever the hell is left of you!"

That said, instead of mourning at the place his family died, Romar begins to dig a grave for the block of ice that is the Duke. Labouring deep into the night, once the hole is deep enough, he will start working on a wooden box; a coffin or sorts. There must be some wood around in this entire ruined city to create one. Once he has made a strong wooden box but leaving the upper part of the box still open, he moves the frozen Duke into the coffin. "You won't find anything here that will bring you the warmth of love. Covered beneath many feet of mud the cold chill will consume you!"

He then takes the wooden plate that is to close the box forever, and begins to nail it upon the other parts of the box. As if that isn't enough, he will take his rope and begin to bind it around the box so all plates are held together. Hitting the nails a few more times to ensure it is all firmly closed, he lowers the box into the grave he dug. Without hesitation, he starts filling the hole again, and finally he makes sure there is not a last trace of his digging to be found.

If there is any time left, he will be very tired and sleep.

---

There was just no way this wasn't going to happen if that Duke kept going. Now he got what he asked for.

Anyway, I don't know if I need to make some rolls or if there are any problems with my plan. Yuri made himself a coffin once, so I figured I could do the same.

[GeneralMHB]

Yuri hears the debate being brought forth and knows Astoril needs to be stopped before they shatter the world asunder.

Count me in. My duty was to free this land of war, and I intend to fulfill just that. Astoril has crossed the line. We must depart as soon as possible. We will not fail you my lord.

Even with the confidence in the group he travels with, he is not so sure if it is that easy of a task. He thinks to himself silently.

Magical defenses, wisdom of a thousand generations, and more muscle than we can muster. It is almost near suicide to accomplish!

But it must be done.

With that, he calls Sindri to begin the preparations for the journey.

(OOC: *plays Mission Impossible theme*)