Chapter #1186
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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 +
+ 1991-2025 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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+ Belphanior 18th/18th/18th level elven fighter/wizard/thief +
+ Hope 16th level female human wizard +
+ Poulos 8th level human fighter +
+ Irina 14th/7th level female human priestess/fighter +
+ Otto 12th/14th level dwarven fighter/thief +
+ Paige 13th level human female fighter +
+ Razor Charlie 12th level human fighter +
+ Skektek 14th level human wizard +
+ Ys 14th level reptilian fighter +
+ iron dwarf insane, armored berserker +
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+ Date: 1/6/587 C.Y. (Common Year) +
+ Time: late morning +
+ Place: the Hornwood, in southwest Geoff +
+ Climate: cold +
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+ "What have I done?" +
+ "What you had to do...what you always do...turn death into a +
+ fighting chance to live." +
+ - from _Star Trek III: The Search For Spock_ +
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MCLXXXVI. Finding New Allies
While the primary force - commanded by Mongo and Yod Ironbeard - moved
north through the Stark Mounds, toward Gorna...a smaller team had embarked
on a different mission. This effort, which was happening in parallel with
the military advance, was much lower-profile but just as important to the
overall goal of completing the liberation of the Lost Lands. Belphanior's
group had recently arrived, via magical means, in the woodland known as
the Hornwood.
Skektek: (looking around at the dimly-lit forest beneath the tree canopy
above, he shivers) What exactly are we doing here, again?
Belphanior: It's simple. I told Mongo that I could make his plan better
and that's what we're here for.
Skektek: (frowns) How's that work?
Belphanior: Taking Gorna is the logical next step - anyone can see that.
Including the foes who hold Gorna, who will be preparing for an attack
from the south, by an army which they've doubtless surveyed and scouted
in some way and will be planning for. (he smiles thinly) But what they
won't be planning for, and won't be expecting, is for another sizable
force to move in from the west...from here.
Otto: You heard what Mongo said. There should be a thousand soldiers in
here, fled from Geoff...many of them skilled bowmen. Plus more regular
folks, who by now may have learned something about fighting and tactics.
Plus of course the wood elves who took them all in and have been helping
them. (he frowns, rubbing his beard) It seems possible that, trapped
in here, they have no idea of the greater events in the world beyond...
that the wars have been over for years.
Hope: Because the giants - in the mountains to the west, and the overrun
duchy to the east - don't care. They've remained in power in the region
for all that time.
Belphanior: Not for much longer. Worst case, we're going to communicate
with the refugees here in the Hornwood, and see if we can eliminate some
or all of the foes who have kept them trapped in the forest. Best case,
we'll be able to convince them to help at Gorna.
Paige: (nods) This seems like a solid strategy.
Belphanior: (shrugs) You have to think about it the way the enemy would.
And, despite everything that they know about the army that's massed and
bearing down on them, you also have to think about what they _don't_
know: that we have multiple wizards of surpassing power, whose full
capabilities haven't been revealed yet...including one who can open
large magical portals that let us move large numbers of people from one
place to another.
Skektek: Like...from the middle of this forest and surrounded by enemies,
to the outside of the forest free of enemies...
Paige: Perhaps even close to the capital city we're about to attack.
Belphanior: Now you're getting it. They may not help us, but then again
they may. (he gets a gleam in his eye) Especially if we take care of
the foes that have encircled and plagued them for the last few years.
Hope: I assume we're not looking for them because they'll find us.
Poulos: (rests his hand on the pommel of his giant scimitar)
Irina: (eyeing the surrounding trees) Seems likely.
Belphanior: I'm counting on it. They won't attack, at least not right
away, since we're not giants or such. (he quietly uses Blackrazor to
detect the presence of any new souls, if they approach) I don't expect
it'll be too much longer, if these wood elves are as skilled as they're
supposed to be.
Indeed, it didn't take much longer at all. One moment, the small group
was alone in the forest; the next moment, another hundred people closed in
from all sides, according to the subtle empathic communications from the
elf's dark blade.
Belphanior: Remember, everyone...stay calm. We're here to talk, and we
don't want to alarm them.
The adventurers did, of course, have other measures in place. Hope had
previously conjured an unseen magical barrier that would repel non-magical
missiles and projectiles, and Skektek was ever-ready to launch powerful
attacks using his ring of stored spells. However, Belphanior was counting
on the curiosity (and desperation) of the woodland denizens to avoid any
conflict until words were exchanged...and the group of wood elves that now
approached seemed to have the same idea. A dozen in number, these weren't
the slender, graceful elves that populated calmer areas of the world...but
rather tall, lean, serious-looking warriors one and all. They all wore
fine, light leather armor and they all had swords belted to their sides as
well as longbows on their backs. There appeared to not be a weak one in
the bunch.
Belphanior: (slowly, carefully raises his hands, palms out) We come in
peace, and as friends.
wood elven leader: (steps forth) Friends are in short supply these days,
in the Hornwood. I am Tassarion Famenor, captain of our forces, and I
came here personally to see what such an...odd band was about. (he
regards the group critically, the priest among his group having already
confirmed that they aren't evildoers, polymorphed giants, or the like)
Please identify yourselves, and state your purpose here.
Belphanior: (takes one step forward) I am Belphanior, and this is my
team. We're here as part of an effort to re-take Gorna and eventually
all of Geoff.
Tassarion: (clearly taken aback, despite his cool demeanor) I have heard
tales of a Belphanior and his various deeds...some of those deeds are
the stuff of legend. (he frowns) Of course, it's just a name at this
point.
Belphanior: Put us in front of your foes and I'll match the legend to the
name. Sterich has already been re-taken, and as we speak, an army moves
through the Stark Mounds toward Gorna.
Tassarion: Impossible.
Belphanior: Is it? Your people, and the human refugees from Geoff, have
been trapped in here for years, surrounded by giants and other foes and
cut off from the outside world. But in recent months - and after far
too long a wait - things are in motion.
Tassarion: Tell us more. (he motions for his kinsmen to approach) Tell
us everything.
And Belphanior did...starting with the formation of the combined army
commanded by Mongo, and the great assault on Istivin (with a mention about
how magic and infiltration were used to make that attack more efficient)
and then the arrival of a second army commanded by Yod Ironbeard...then
most recently, that sizable force's march north toward Geoff.
Belphanior: ...and in a few days, they will reach Gorna itself, and then
many giants will breathe their last.
Tassarion: (considers all of this) Most impressive.
Belphanior: So we've come here to - at the very least - break the hold
the foes to the east have on you, and the warriors of Geoff who've been
trapped here all this time.
Tassarion: And at the most?
Belphanior: The best case would be if they then marched east to Gorna,
and joined the battle there when it happens.
Tassarion: For that, you will have to talk to them. But my people, the
forest-elves of the Hornwood, have no desire to leave our home to do
battle elsewhere.
Belphanior: Even if it meant annihilating all of the giants who currently
occupy Geoff to the east?
Tassarion: (frowns) Hmm. There is merit to the idea.
Belphanior: This is the first, last, and best chance...and I promise you,
our wizards can fell foes by the score, such is the sheer might of their
magic.
Tassarion: Let us return to our main camp. There, you can speak with the
commander of the Geoff contingent here.
Belphanior: That's why I came here.
Tassarion: One question, though, as I am curious.
Belphanior: What's that?
Tassarion: (nods in the direction of the iron dwarf) What is...that?
Belphanior: That's our super-berserker warrior. He's quiet as a baby for
now, until I unleash him in battle, at which point there'll be hell to
pay.
Tassarion: (somewhat dubious, as the armored dwarf has been completely
silent and unmoving during the entire conversation) Alright. (shaking
his head, he signals his fellow wood elves to move out)
Shortly, the wood elf led Belphanior's group off into the forest, along
routes that outsiders could never have found on their own. The walk was
brisk, but cool and pleasant; within the hour, the adventurers and their
guides entered a much larger encampment. It was surrounded by multiple
sentry-points, those elves undetectable in their concealment to anyone
who lacked magical methods. The central area itself was a strange cross
between a war-camp and a permanent settlement, and contained equal numbers
of wood-elves and human soldiers. The latter bore the insignia of Geoff,
although in all cases those were marred by dirt, blood, and the effects of
a long time in the forest. These soldiers were a grim lot, but were also
battle-hardened and tough-looking.
Belphanior: (looking around, trying to figure it all out)
Tassarion: This has more or less been our permanent base since the wars
began and the giants invaded the Duchy. We saved these men when they
fled into the Hornwood, and together we repelled the giants and their
humanoid allies, keeping them at the outermost edges of the forest. But
over time, they've gradually been pressing inward, getting bolder with
each passing month.
Belphanior: And we'd really like to help with that problem.
Tassarion: Come. We must talk with Commander Stramburg.
Wood elf led high elf to a small tent, whose guards stepped aside to
admit the new arrivals. Within was a tall, broad man who was clearly a
warrior (and a veteran warrior, at that.) His gray hair matched his long
drooping mustache, and numerous scars were visible across his lean frame.
A suit of elven chain mail and a well-used longsword rested to one side.
Tassarion: I present you...Fritz Stramburg, Commander of Geoff's lost
garrison. Commander, this is Belphanior, who has come with news and an
offer of help.
Fritz Stramburg: (carefully sizes up the red-cloaked elf) Have a seat,
then. You can call me Stramburg, or you can call me Commander. (he
frowns) Either way, let's hear what you have to say.
For the second time today, Belphanior relayed the various recent events
in Sterich to the south, and more recent (and upcoming) ones in Geoff to
the east. He kept it brief and succinct, and when he was done he leaned
back in his chair, folded his arms, and waited.
Stramburg: Hmmmm.
Tassarion: At the very least, we would do well to accept additional help
against the foes in the Hornwood's outer edges. (angrily) They have
been there long enough.
Stramburg: (to Belphanior) So you're telling me that - in three days'
time - the giants at Gorna will come under attack from this huge army
of dwarves and men?
Belphanior: (nods) And if you're game, we'll help you smash through the
enemies in the eastern reaches of this woodland and get the hell out,
back into your homeland. (he pauses) If that's what you want.
Stramburg: If we want? (he chuckles) Friend, that's all we've wanted
for the last couple of years. From what you've shared here, it sounds
like most of the rest of the Flanaess has stabilized and returned to
normal...while we've been here, surrounded on all sides by those damned
giants.
Belphanior: That ends now. (he motions to his nine companions) I've got
a damn good team here, all of them experienced in battle and ready to
help me help you punch a hole through these foes you've been fighting.
I've also got plenty of magical help, if and as we need it, which will
tip the scales here just as it did in Istivin and Sterich. (he smiles
thinly) Just point us at the biggest single group of them, and we'll
make a plan and execute it and get you back into your homeland in time
to help retake Gorna.
Tassarion: (nods to Stramburg) As long as we're fighting within the
Hornwood, you'll have our swords and bows.
Stramburg: (stands, grinning) Elf, I don't know where you came from or
how you did what you've done...but that's the best idea I've heard in
a long while. (he extends a hand to Belphanior) Let's do it.
next: words become action
map: http://www.peldor.com/world/atlas/Bright-Desert_1156.jpg
www: http://www.peldor.com/download.html
homepage: http://www.peldor.com/
email: tmiller@peldor.com
released: 12/5/2025
notes: So 1181-1182 were overall planning episodes, 1183-1186 (this
one) and 1187 (the next one) are Sterich/Geoff campaign episodes, 1188
will update us on Peldor and things in Greyhawk, then I'll return to
Geoff for battle in 1189 for two or three episodes. After that, things
will shift to other members of the Bright Alliance and their assorted
tasks/efforts.
Again (and I will keep pointing this out for the remainder of this
arc) these events take place in the southwestern area of the continent,
and the exact map of that region is on the website here:
http://peldor.com/world/wog/map13.html
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