Chapter #1124
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+ THE ADVENTURERS +
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+ Epic VI +
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+ Many of the locations, non-player characters, spells, and other +
+ terms used in these stories are the property of Wizards of the Coast +
+ which has in no way endorsed or authorized their use. Any such +
+ property contained within these stories are not representative of +
+ Wizards of the Coast in any fashion. +
+ The player characters depicted in these stories are copyright +
+ 1991-2022 by Thomas A. Miller. Any resemblance to any persons +
+ or characters either real or fictional is utterly coincidental. +
+ Copying and/or distribution of these stories is permissible under +
+ the sole condition that no money is made in the process. In that +
+ case, I hope you enjoy them! +
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+ ALPHA TEAM (attack initiation) +
+ +
+ Alindyar 18th level dark elven wizard +
+ Lyra 14th level female drow wizard +
+ roc gigantic bird serving as airborne mount +
+ army illusionary; 5,000 cavalry, infantry, archers +
+ +
+ +
+ +
+ BETA TEAM (immediate second wave, striking from air) +
+ +
+ Bosco 14th level halfling thief +
+ The complete Host of Kaloth +
+ white king 15' iron golem with hammer and axe +
+ white queen 25' titaness with mattock +
+ black king 30' cyclops +
+ black queen death naga +
+ white bishop tall, grey-haired high priest +
+ white bishop 2 short, balding, cheerful high priest +
+ black bishop 1 gaunt, bearded high priest +
+ black bishop 2 volatile, aggressive war-priest +
+ 2 white knights noble centaurs with longbow +
+ 2 black knights jet-black horses w/sharp hooves, fire breath +
+ 2 white rooks 10' ivory golems with shortsword +
+ 2 black rooks 8' ebony golems with spiked fists +
+ 8 white pawns white-armored warriors with longswords +
+ 8 black pawns black-armored warriors with spiked maces +
+ Parekh 18th level female human wizard, innovator +
+ Drak 15th level human barbarian +
+ Dexitheseus 17th level human wizard, jack of all trades +
+ Oakly Greenleaf 14th level human Great Druid of Obad-Hai +
+ Relmar 18th level human high priest of Pelor +
+ Wu 18th level human wizard, transmuter +
+ 6 elite ogre magi +
+ +
+ +
+ +
+ GAMMA TEAM (third wave, striking from ground via giant portal) +
+ +
+ Belphanior 18th/18th/18th level elven fighter/wizard/thief +
+ Hope 16th level female human wizard +
+ Poulos 8th level human warrior +
+ Pallin 18th level grey elven wizard of Celestian, teleporter +
+ Socrates large albino hound +
+ Ys 14th level reptilian fighter +
+ +
+ (and arriving after the portal is opened) +
+ Cespedes 19th level human wizard, elementalist +
+ iron dwarf insane, armored berserker +
+ Talos adamantine golem +
+ air elemental +
+ earth elemental +
+ dust para-elemental +
+ lightning quasi-elemental +
+ mineral quasi-elemental +
+ Kronos ancient lich wizard +
+ Frigaar white dragon +
+ Glacius white dragon +
+ iron golem +
+ stone golems, 2 +
+ skeletal infantry (357 skeletal warriors w/armor and weapons) +
+ Tenser 21st level human wizard +
+ Cymria 12th/11th level female sylvan elf fighter/wizard +
+ Batavius 6th level human priest of Heironeous +
+ Boothe 7th level human paladin of Heironeous +
+ Leznurp extraplanar ki-rin +
+ Sparnock 7th level human warrior +
+ 17 mounted elven archers from the Celadon Forest +
+ 40 light cavalry w/lances, swords +
+ +
+ +
+ +
+ DELTA TEAM (fourth wave, striking from ground via foot travel) +
+ +
+ Irina 14th/7th level female human priestess/warrior +
+ Otto 12th/14th level dwarven fighter/thief +
+ Paige 13th level human female warrior +
+ Razor Charlie 12th level human fighter +
+ Skektek 14th level human wizard +
+ desert centaur allies (143) +
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+ Date: 5/1/586 C.Y. (Common Year) +
+ Time: morning +
+ Place: the Brass Hills, within the Bright Desert +
+ Climate: hot and dry +
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+ “I didn't say the plan was foolproof. No plan ever is." +
+ - from _The Wolf's Hour_ +
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MCXXIV. The Battle of the Bright Desert
After much planning, preparation, and staging over the course of weeks,
the attack on Rary's fortress is finally underway! The gleaming white
tower in the distance, and the castle works and other buildings that flank
it, are now bustling with activity as its guards and inhabitants react to
the threat approaching from the north.
Belphanior: (whistles to himself quietly)
Hope: Your dark elf friend did not lie.
To be sure, the mighty army summoned by Alindyar certainly didn't look
like an illusion. Five thousand strong, it consisted of heavy and light
cavalry as well as separate forces of archers and infantry. These mens'
assorted weapons and armor gleamed in the morning sun, and the dust raised
by their approach was as real as the sound of horses and boots as they
advanced toward Rary's fortress.
Pallin: The time has come. (he prepares to work his magic)
The grey elven archmage was a master of spatial magic - portals, their
creation and stability, and how to best generate and maintain them in
challenging places and situations. There were certainly a few other magi
who could have done what Pallin was about to do, but not with the overall
combination of size and duration that this powerful tunnel across the
world would have.
Pallin: (exerts his fullest concentration and focus, as the others move
out of hiding and stand to the side, readying themselves for battle)
Belphanior had opted not to bring his team's noncombatants - Neera and
her charges Arusha and Judhon - to this assault. Their contributions were
better suited for other aspects of the plan; Neera had done some research
to confirm or augment the intelligence they had on the Bright Desert and
what lay within, and would have a lot more work to do if this assault was
successful. Arusha would certainly assist with the latter efforts, if and
when the time came. As for Judhon, he had been given a single task before
this assault, and his craftwork would play a small but potentially crucial
role in today's events.
Belphanior: (watches in awe as a light purple circle of energy appears
in the air nearby, growing from ten feet across to twenty, then thirty,
then even more)
Ys: This resembles a bubble - a giant bubble that, as it grows larger,
becomes more and more difficult to maintain without popping.
Hope: A fitting analogy.
Pallin: (straining with the effort, he keeps his eyes tightly closed)
And...there.
The magical doorway was at least forty feet wide and high, resembling
a semicircle whose edges were ever-shifting. The largest of the incoming
forces stepped through first: the adamant golem Talos, towering over all
others at thirty feet high, was followed by the iron dwarf (encased, as in
past battles, within a bubble of force, to be released when and where the
situation called for it). Alongside these minions floated their master,
Cespedes, borne on an invisible disc of force; his allies continued to
traverse the portal, appearing on this side to the astonishment of the
adventurers who had made it here and set up this beachhead. There was a
lumbering earth elemental, and then a mass of air and wind, an elemental
of air...but aside from those where three others who even Belphanior had
never before seen in his travels and adventures. A para-elemental of dust
emerged from the portal, leaving bits of itself behind in its wake even as
it picked up new material from the ground of the hills. Its opaque brown
form was amorphous and moved with a subdued swishing sound. To its side
floated a lightning quasi-elemental, a vaguely spherical being composed
of electrical energy that crackled and popped as it hovered along, arcs
of itself randomly lashing out and scorching the ground. Last but not
least came another quasi-elemental, this one from the Mineral plane. Its
thick, dense form was comprised of several types of hard stone and rock;
their first impression was that this thing was much like the more common
earth elemental, but stronger and tougher.
All in all, Cespedes had delivered on his promise to bring powerful and
useful allies to the fight. But then again, so had everyone...as was now
seen when Kronos arrived on this side of the magical gateway. His pair
of white dragons, Frigaar and Glacius, followed him through one at a time,
the looks on their faces telling of their unhappiness with the new, much
warmer environment. After the wyrms marched an iron golem, flanked by a
stone golem on either side; these were constructs that Kronos had built
long ago and held in check for the day they might be needed. After those
three was a modest force of skeletal warriors, more than three hundred in
number. Kronos had explained that when he employed undead, he preferred
the simple and mindless varieties. These skeletons were somewhat elite
among their kind: they all had armor and weapons of good quality, they
all moved and fought with the speed and strength of the average warrior,
and they were all of above-average durability. (Kronos had briefly made
reference to "superior raw material", whatever that meant.)
The final element of this remotely-staged force belonged to the wizard
Tenser. Aside from the wizard and his capable henchwoman Cymria, four
other allies had been hand-picked for this mission. Three were long-
serving henchmen of Tenser: a young priest and a bold paladin, both of
whom worshipped Heironeous, as well as a simple but veteran warrior. The
fourth ally was a highly magical creature from a higher plane, one of the
rare and wondrous beings known as ki-rin. It resembled a gigantic horse
with luminous golden scales, with a thicker mane and tail of a darker hue.
Its unusual appearance aside, this ally was a mighty spellcaster with skill
comparable to any of the wizards present. It had some history with Tenser
that involved having worked together to defeat some unspeakable evil, and
it seemed pleased to be here today. Finally, the blue-robed wizard had
also brought a small but experienced fighting force from his home, which
consisted of more than three dozen light cavalry plus almost a score of
skilled elven archers. At the end of this train of forces came a small,
sturdy wagon which bore a light catapult and a pile of stones; this was
pulled by a pair of magical stone horses.
Tenser: (to Belphanior) As you requested, we brought your catapult, and
animals that won't be stopped by conventional attacks or magic. Simply
say your commands to the horses, and they'll pull the weapon to whatever
location you need it.
Belphanior: (performs a cursory check of the wagon and its contents)
Excellent.
Poulos: (nodding as these various forces finish emerging from the huge
magical portal) With allies like this...how can we lose?
Hope: Oh, it's possible. The master of yon fortress is crafty and quite
dangerous, and of greater power and experience than any of our number,
with the possible exception of Kronos. (she glances at Belphanior for
his opinion on this)
Belphanior: Maybe...maybe not. That's why we brought a dozen powerful
wizards, compared to his one. Plus all the others...the priests, the
warriors, the golems, the elementals. Overkill has its place...(he
clenches one fist grimly)...and that place is here, today.
Pallin: (having closed the portal, he is now resting for these precious
few moments before this group begins its approach to the fortress) It
is likely...that the archmage of Ket has his own henchmen and allies.
(he eyes the distant tower of pale white stone wearily)
Belphanior: We'll soon know.
Defenders had begun to issue forth from the fortress complex, and their
numbers were significant: over 2000 mounted cavalry, backed by an almost
equal number of foot-based troops. More than a thousand archers took up
shooting positions on the multiple tiers of battlements, or just outside
the fortress complex; the layered structures allowed them to launch waves
of deadly arrows in rapid succession, to strongly deter any approach by
a conventional force.
As these two armies advanced toward each other, Lyra sought to support
her mate by providing him a stable platform from which to orchestrate his
massive and complex illusion. She directed the gigantic bird to remain in
place, flapping its wings but refraining from any rapid motion that might
disturb Alindyar. As had been discussed previously, she understood that
her role was not to join in the fight, but to look after Alindyar as he
provided an army that could occupy the opposing force. Momentarily, the
battle was joined...and as was the case with the most powerful illusions,
the one brought into being by the dark elf not only looked and sounded
real, but _felt_ real. Paynim and nomad defenders fell to swords, axes,
and arrows - and individual members of the attacking force also bled and
died (or appeared to) when struck, such was the quality of the magic made
by the drow in conjunction with the mighty paintbrush he had employed.
As this great battle played out, the other forces began to enter the
fray. Those from the skyship either descended on their own power (as in
the case of Wu, now in the form of a massive Western dragon with its much
longer snakelike body, smaller wings, and curved horns...and accompanied
by the six flying ogre magi) or through the power of their deities (as in
the case of Oakly Greenleaf, who now soared through the sky in a fiery
chariot, his wild hair all over the place as it was buffeted by the wind).
The others rode down from the skyship on a massive floating disc conjured
by Parekh.
Parekh: (glares at Bosco) Perhaps next time, wait to summon your forces
until _after_ we're on the ground.
Bosco: My forces. (completely oblivious to the sarcasm, he watches as
the disc gets lower and lower, until finally it lands gently on the
ground) Yes...yes! It's time! (he turns to the assembled allies he
has summoned using his powerful chess set) Host of Kaloth! Now is the
time! (he points to the nearby fortress, on whose southern side they
now stand) There lies the enemy...so go forth now...and attack! Win
the day for our side!
The assembled host needed no further encouragement. While they were
made up of two basic groups that tended to bicker with one another (and
would likely come to blows, under the right set of circumstances) the
current situation didn't lend itself to such things. Within moments,
the varied group - which included foot soldiers, stone golems, centaurs,
fire-breathing horses, priests, a cyclops, an iron golem, a naga, and a
titaness - was making its way toward the southern ramparts of Rary's
fortress...much to the alarm of the defenders there.
Parekh: That halfling is...hmmph. (she shakes her head)
Dexitheseus: That is quite a bit of power to be commanded by one so
foolish.
Drak: But I can see why the dark elves recommended his assistance. (he
grows to giant size, as does his iron-banded mallet) That force might
breach the castle singlehandedly.
Relmar: (hefts his glowing mace, his jaw set) Time will tell.
Elsewhere, another group of attackers came from the west. Two huge
white dragons flew ahead, blasting the fortress with their frigid breath
and felling dozens of defenders at a time. Behind them came multiple and
powerful shock troops: four golems, five elementals, and of course the
iron dwarf.
iron dwarf: (leaps onto the adamantine golem's back, quickly climbs up
to its shoulder, then flexes its armored form before leaping through
the air and over the castle wall) RAAAAAARGH! (it immediately charges
into battle, taking on a mob of ten guards, its axe swinging to and fro
with wild abandon as it wades into a mass of foes, roaring loudly)
This was no rehearsed tactic, nor was the insane dwarf consciously
aware that the golem was an ally. Rather, its crazed mind had, at some
point in the past, learned that the huge golem of adamant was immune to
attack and could not be driven away. Thus, the iron dwarf had come to
regard the construct as an object, to be bypassed or ignored...or, as in
this case, used as a platform to get from one place to another.
Behind the larger attackers came Kronos' elite skeletal infantry, who
had been directed to wait until the golems made one or more openings in
the outer wall, at which point they were to swarm through and engage the
foes within. After that came Tenser's smaller force, whose basic tactic
was to surround and defend their liege while he cast powerful spells at
the enemy forces...and Belphanior's small team of five, plus Pallin and
Kronos and Cespedes, and of course the catapult-wagon.
Hope: I suppose that those without magic...must employ such means for
attacking faraway foes.
Belphanior: It can reach targets beyond the range of magic, plus we can
put offensive enchantments on the stones. It's just another tactic at
our disposal. I doubt we'll need to actually fire any stones today.
Pallin: (eyeing the stacked stones in the wagon, he frowns)
As all of this unfolded, some heretofore-unseen defensive measures now
came into play from within Rary's tower. First, a number of metal beasts
began to appear in and around the fortress, engaging the attackers. They
resembled panthers, wolves, bulls, tigers, and such; their bodies were of
metal, granting them great resistance to weapons...and their attacks were
every bit as deadly as swords or axes. There were also some small flying
dragons of the same construction, which whizzed about and attacked foes
at leisure. These dragons - and at least one of the other varieties of
automaton - also breathed fire periodically.
Secondly, a small crew atop the pale tower at the fortress' center now
moved about on that roof, aiming and firing some sort of weapon that spit
forth lightning bolts with alarming frequency. Each one of these missiles
fried any regular troops it hit, and this weapon was quickly obliterating
large numbers of the attackers.
As if that wasn't enough, a number of powerful defenders were issuing
forth from somewhere in the depths of that fortress complex. At least a
half-dozen stood eight feet high, with spherical bodies and multiple long,
spindly arms. Their heads were insectoid, with multifaceted eyes and
chittering mandibles. Another half-dozen or so creatures were human in
size if not appearance, resembling humanoid insects with spiky, chitinous
bodies and huge, glowing yellow eyes. Another weird creature could be
seen roaming about, some sort of bipedal crab-like thing with pincers for
hands, whose head sprouted a number of long tentacles. Exactly what the
hell these assorted monstrosities were, or where they came from, remained
to be seen - but they began using assorted magical powers to try and turn
the tide of the battle back in favor of the defenders.
Last but not least, a number of invisible..._somethings_ now roamed the
battle, grabbing foes in unseen but immensely powerful hands, throttling
and shaking them until they breathed no more.
Kronos: (viewing all of this from afar, via vision enhanced by a spell)
Aerial servants, perhaps. And the other things are all daemons.
Belphanior: Right.
Just then, a breached section of the outer wall exploded outward, the
assaulting forces tossed away with broken and mangled bodies. A quartet
of gleaming iron golems strode through the gap, quickly moving to engage
the nearest attackers.
Belphanior: It seems that Rary's pulling out all the stops. Makes you
wonder what else he has in there.
Kronos: (abruptly turns his gaze to the east) Your other companions
have arrived...and with company.
Otto and the other four were accompanied by nearly a hundred and fifty
of the fierce desert centaurs. These hardy creatures were brave and bold
warriors, each one worth several regular fighting men...and the fact that
they accompanied Otto's team meant that at least a basic truce had been
agreed upon. The besieged fortress could little afford to spare more of
its defenders to deal with this new threat, which was augmented by long-
distance, high-impact magical attacks from Skektek.
Belphanior: It's well and truly underway now. The outcome of this day
will long be remembered in the Flanaess.
Kronos: The time has come to join the battle. (he floats up into the
air, then moments later blasts one of the more powerful daemons with a
barrage of meteorites, smashing it half to death)
Hope: (seeing that they are nearing the fighting, she changes the ground
beneath an enemy golem to mud, causing it to sink in chest-deep) Hah!
(she turns to Belphanior...but he is no longer there)
The following moments were as chaotic as they were impressive, with
varied physical and magical forces brought to bear. Golems fought with
elementals...conjured beings wrestled with invisible aerial servants...
men and elves and desert nomads and norkers and animated skeletons all
crossed weapons and came to blows. A wizard in the form of an exotic
dragon wounded, and was wounded by, a daemon from a lower plane. Some
combatants not of this world were banished outright, while others were
slain in battle...their still, bleeding forms then vanishing. Magical
constructs in the shape of animals - but far more powerful than those
actual animals - slew men, only to be slain by spell...or in one case
the huge fist of a golem. An ancient cyclops from another era grabbed
a scaly daemon in its massive hands, ripping it in two. A passionate
and wild-eyed Great Druid finally ended the threat of the lightning-
throwing weapon atop the tower, engulfing that rooftop in a sudden and
massive storm of fire that blackened the stone and reduced the device's
operators to ashes. A mineral elemental demonstrated its exceptional
power by single-handedly collapsing an entire rampart of the fortress.
An armor-clad berserker, a dwarf whose might was only eclipsed by his
insane rage, tore an extra-worldly foe apart and tossed the gory remnants
aside...before being sucked into a planar gateway created by another
combatant, vanishing into some other dimension, perhaps never to return.
A magically-summoned centaur fought side-by-side with the distant kin
that were the desert centaurs. An insectoid daemon was smashed to a pulp
by repeated blows from Drak's great mallet. A rare lightning elemental
incinerated every defender in its vicinity, with random but deadly arcs
of electricity. Otto dispatched more than one foe with poisoned bolts,
expertly fired from his crossbow. A mythical ki-rin vanquished a golem
with the clever use of a single, simple spell. A group of ogre magi
worked in concert to locate, attack, and eventually drive away a singular
daemon that had led and directed all the others - though not without some
timely help from Parekh, who had never been invited to join the Circle of
Eight but was now aiding in this fight against their most infamous member.
All these scenes, and many more, happened in the great battle at Rary's
fortress - which would later be more commonly known as the Battle of the
Bright Desert. The fighting might have continued for hours yet, save for
the sudden appearance of the individual responsible in one way or another
for everything that was happening here today.
Rary: (standing atop his tower, clad in his tan robes, a staff held in
one gnarled hand)
The old wizard was in utter disbelief. Ever since his failed power
play in Greyhawk, he'd worked hard to secure and build his power here.
He knew that the Circle of Eight would never move on him, directly or
otherwise - at least not this soon; there were too many ideological and
political barriers to such a move. He'd always figured that Tenser might
try something, but he'd have been ready for such an attack. What he had
decidedly _not_ been ready for - what he probably never could have been
ready for - was a concerted effort by a far superior force...the exact
sort of assault that was happening right now before his very eyes. From
the looks of things, there were no fewer than a dozen archmagi out there,
not to mention the sorts of allies that tended to accompany such mighty
wizards. Rary could have defeated any one of them in single combat, or
perhaps even any two or three...but this was beyond his capabilities.
Perhaps if he'd had a little more time to strengthen his forces, to gain
allies, even to find and master the long-lost Scorpion Crown...perhaps
then he would not be looking down over this battle, with its numerous and
varied participants, that was gradually destroying his stronghold along
with his forces.
But there was no use crying over spilled milk. And he was not yet ready
to flee this place, to fight another day. While he could do that at any
time he wished - thanks to the series of protective spells that would now
shield him from any of these wizards' attacks - Rary had one trump card
yet to play; his supreme masterwork, many months in the making, a weapon
whose power would help him rule the Bright Desert and reshape it as he saw
fit. Never mind that the thing wasn't fully completed; it was still close
enough to be of use now, and turn the tide on this fateful day.
Rary: (takes a deep breath, readying himself to begin working a special
incantation)
next: finale
www: http://www.peldor.com/download.html
homepage: http://www.peldor.com/
email: tmiller@peldor.com
released: 9/9/2022
notes: I don't think every single detail of every single battle has
to be shown. In some cases, they are too big for that (unless I spend
many additional hours plotting out all of those details). I claim that
sometimes, the important thing is the destination, not the journey.
I hope it's also clear that - just like the recent final battle with
the Crimson Blades - this was never meant to be a fair fight. Such a
thing isn't in Belphanior's playbook, at least not in a case like this
when he's been wronged by someone who's more powerful than he is. I
think this is why his alignment will never contain the word "good."
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