Narratives

The call had come to adventurers far and wide, under the banner of a Zylchin merchant and his religious cronies, that an undead stronghold had been found under a blanket of perpetual night and we were going to root out the evil.

As we gathered in the pavilion, we were briefed on the mission. First, we were to undertake some missions, forays into the zone to take them by surprise and probe their defenses. We were then to regroup at a staging area before making our final assault.

Of paramount importance, was to destroy the focus items of the spell that created the everlasting night. I, Ayodon Pyr - Elven Sorcerer Extraordinaire, was requested by a young wizard to lead a party of mages to destroy one of the focus items. The company of mages turned out to be a full party of sorcerers, (of which I was the most senior). Our group was provided with a scroll of Greater Dispelling and we were all taught the rudimentary basics to be able to cooperatively cast the spell from this scroll. Upon reading the arcane mark of the scriber, it turned out that this particular scroll had initially be scribed for "Educational Purposes Only" for wizards enrolled in Abjuration Studies at the Rel Mord Wizards Guild.

Be that as it may, I led our group into the night. Spotting the grotesque statue we were to destroy in the distance, we hurried as a group to complete our mission. Hopefully, success would bring an end to the eternal nightfall. As we neared our objective, it became clear that it was not something that was undefended. Ghouls set upon us.

A fireball or two later, with the odd magic missile here and there, and the undead were released into oblivion. Greater Dispelling is somewhat beyond my ability to normally cast, yet I was able to channel enough understanding of the scroll to cast it on my own. However, all took part in the casting to ensure the successful completion of the mission and more importantly, that we might all have a rightful share to the Zylchin purse. Can't be too careful about those mission contracts Zylchins always seem to fret over you know.....

After destroying the statue focus, we noticed it would be a few hours before the spell of eternal night would eventually fade. Powerful magic must have surely been at work in its creation. In the staging area, I came across a few old friends who I had not seen for a long time. Kran Dokk, a half-orc Holy Liberator, Lord Timmy Goodfellow, Bishop Renax Elkar of Mayaheine; and Kirian Galanodel. Kran still held the grudge against me about that whole "dieing and having to come back to life" thing a few years back. Timmy had himself a nice mean pony instead of a nice mean dog. I guess when you become a Lord, its not fitting to ride around on dogs anymore, even if one is a halfling. Bishop Renax had also lead a mission to destroy one of the nightfall spell focus items. Surely that was meant to be an omen of success for us. Kirian was greatly increased in his power of elven archery since I had last adventured with him in the Bright Desert.

Thus, those of us who were of the greatest skill in our fields were chosen to lead the fight and drive into the heart of the enemy forces which were seen to be gathering. As we advanced, wraiths emerged from the ground and I began the assault with a fireball. Risking fire against the incorporeal is always risky, and it was almost as if they anticipated the attack as they faded just prior to the impact. They quickly joined into the fray flying at us with great speed. Renax called upon the blessings of Mayaheine to return the foul creatures from whence they came. Our hearts sank as despite the powerful and sincere prayer, but one of the creatures fled. Tactics became the crunch of the battle as we worked together to drive forth the evil before us. These wraiths were unfortunately more powerful than the more common variety one finds in everyday adventuring. I myself was drained almost to my death in whilst assisting how I could. Just as we were about to dispatch the last of the foul creatures, a lich appeared with a squad of large zombies. We all recognized the familiar gestures as the lich cast haste and then shield on itself. Our good bishop acted in a manner of great wisdom and promptly dispelled a number of the enchantments protecting our new foe. Kran, Timothy and I finished off the last of the wraiths just as the advanced zombies finished their advance. It was at this moment, disaster struck in the form of a chain lightning spell directed on our cleric. I unfortunately was standing next to him awaiting a cure just as it struck. Just prior to the blast of electricity arcing to me, I saw Renax slump to the ground nigh upon death. I do not know exactly what happened next, as I was in a blissful dreaming state; you my friends are all aware of that state as I seem to find myself there in virtually every story I relate....

Anyways, I woke up to find none other than Timmy chuckling over me with a wand in his hand. At that moment I heard Renax grumbling about getting "healed with a wand" and shot a grimace towards the both of us. He said, "Watch a REAL healer in action Timmy!" as he uttered the incantation of an extremely powerful healing spell. Timmy responded with a smile as he plunged his enchanted sword into a foul undead creature before us. As for myself, I decided that getting closer to the cleric would probably result in getting myself killed rather than getting myself healed and thus began to crawl away. I figured I would just stay close to the ground so that lich who began tossing fireballs at the cleric would hopefully not see me. I began to unload my own arsenal of fireballs back at the lich. Kirian was peppering arrows into the lich, and Kran was busy battling the other undead. The enchantments I had placed on Kran's and Timmy's swords proved instrumental, giving them that extra edge in being able to hit and damage our foes. Renax used his last blessing of Mayaheine for the day and utterly destroyed the last of the zombies allowing us all to focus on the lich. We heard cries off in the distance of "Retreat! Retreat!", but it is a testament to the resolution of our group as Timmy charged the lich with his "Halfling Greatsword". The lich, obviously hurt by the many arrows and fireballs Kirian and I had weakened him with, attempted to fly away. Renax ended his retreat with another dispelling attempt, stripping him of the last of his protections. The lich fell to the ground and Timmy finished him off with a final blow. With that, our group split up that we might bolster the forces around us.

It turned out that the calls of retreat were coming from both our flanks, as our friends and comrades were battling vampire mages loyal to the lich leader. Timmy ran to the right and I followed him (after Renax healed me of course), and Renax, Kran, and Kirian ran to the left.

Timmy and I came across a number of battered adventurers who were holding the creature at bay. Timmy quaffed a potion and flew into the air, eagerly engaging the vampire in melee combat. Timmy's charge was awe inspiring to the adventurers below him who began helping as they could, shooting arrows here and there. A wizard, Richard Whatley, and I assaulted the creature with our fireballs. Kirian also showed up and was able to get some excellent long range shots at the vampire. It didn't take long before the foul vampire was dealt a final blow from Enalias, a young Elven Sorcerer.

With the vampire vanquished, Timmy, Richard, Kirian, and I regrouped for a moment so that we could move to assist Renax and Kran. Unfortunately, just as we were about to leave, we ran into the other vampire. As it had turned out, this vampire having disabled all the adventurers who had been over with Renax, was beating a retreat when he ran into our group. We gave a valiant fight, bringing the creature nigh unto its destruction when it started to try to fly away. Tired and weary from the strenuous non-stop fighting, our attacks began to stop connecting with the enemy. The vampire flew out of the range of all except those who were flying and those of us who were the most veteran of our professions. Even so, we had trouble trying to get that final blow. In the end, what killed that foul creature of darkness was the light of the noonday. As the battle raged to a point where the shroud of night was lifted due to the efforts of the valiant clerics and sorcerers in the joint effort of dispelling the effect.

Regarding the fate of Renax, Kran, and those they had gone to assist? They lived, some had been compelled to retreat, and some had been frozen in place by foul magic. We had all faced powerful foes that day, and there were many of us who were stretched to our limits. Luckily, despite a few setbacks, success was had on all fronts with only a minimum of casualties.

The Zylchins healed and most importantly paid our group as we returned from plundering the stronghold lair of the lich and his vampire minions. It was a good day for Nyrond and Almor. And that my friends, is why I know wear this tattoo on my arm, in remembrance of that day.