[HEADING=3]For those interested in joining...[/HEADING]
[HEADING=2]Story So Far[/HEADING]
This morning, General Corphaeus, under the orders of King Antonius, assigned the young Aquean, Soreal, to assemble a team of warriors and mages to eliminate a growing band of bandits. It was after midday when the select few met as a group in a field outside of the walls of Regnatores. Their initial intention was to send a scouting party into Dark Tree Forest to gather information necessary for a coordinated assault, though their plans fell through when the scouts were ambushed by bandits as soon as they had entered the nearby woods. The rest of the group was quick to aid the scouting party and together they fought off the attackers.
With the element of surprise having been reduced substantially, the group was forced to trek deeper into the woods without a decent layout of the bandits' encampment. It was by a magnificent stroke of luck that they not only avoided another ambush, but happened to find themselves overlooking a few dozen bandits waiting to ambush any passers by. The group struck swiftly and fervently, dimishing their numbers quickly until one was left alive. They decided to use the straggler as a source of information, though the bandit was mysteriously killed by an unseen force from within before any vital information could be extracted. The only thing he had a chance to tell was that their leader was visited by a cloaked man, though none other than the leader seemed to know the man. So there the group was, standing at a previously guarded cave entrance with no knowledge of who or what may lie within, only the certainty that any threat must be eradicated.
Venturing through the narrow passageways of the cave and into an open cavern within, they were approached by the leader of the bandits along with his most elite subordinates. The battle that ensued was fought fiercely from both sides, but in the end, it was Soreal's warriors that emerged victorious. When the dust had settled, their only exit was suddenly blocked off by large boulders and the crystals embedded in the cavern walls began to throw off a blue glow. A thick cloud of smoke began to appear at the center of the room, from which a hooded mage, calling himself Kaladin, appeared. He told the band of travelers that there was rising evil, one that would rival even that of the Malumian immortals all those years before. Kaladin said the warriors were unable to be killed because they had already died. They were soldiers brought back to life by powerful necromancy, a dark art believed to be dead for countless millennia.
The mysterious mage gave the band of adventurers the tools necessary to defeat the cursed undead - strange crystals that gave of a faint, white glow. Kaladin instructed them to venture south to the town of Newbridge, where they would encounter the undead. Skeptical of the mage's intent, Soreal reluctantly agreed to travel to the town. With that, the mage disappeared in a cloud of smoke, the crystals on the walls ceased to glow, and the boulder blocking the only passageway shifted back into its former resting place. With the exit cleared, the adventurers left the cave and began the long trek to Newbridge.
After nearly a day's walk, several miles from their destination, they met with a pair of Fae that were sent with the same goal as the adventurers. With the new additions, the group continued their journey to Newbridge. It was almost sundown when they arrived, though finding nothing but smouldering remains of the town. It wasn't clear what could've caused the incident, there was no evidence to be found. After an hour of searching through ash and rubble, coming across smouldering furniture and scorched corpses, they managed to find a set of fresh tracks leading out of town. With a destination, they headed out in hopes of finding further clues as to what happened.
Shortly after the adventurers left the town to follow the lead, a sinister figure that had been watching from the shadows resurrected the corpses of the townsfolk. As the group came to a halt, having reached the end of the trail, the animated corpses that had ambled after the adventurers soon caught them by surprise. In the ensuing onslaught, the band of adventurers slayed dozens of the undead, the crystals proving their worth as they cut them down like nothing. After the dust settled, Soreal received a message by an arrow that landed near his feet. The message was sent by none other than the necromancer, toying with them; telling them of how he murdered those in the village and brought them back to life. The message taunted them further by telling them where they should go to find him. It was written that they were to head to Ironvale, across Straylight River and just south of Sophisma, and there they would begin their search. As the group pressed on, they were convenienced once more when they came across an "abandoned" two-horse carriage. The former driver of which was found dead in his seat, though it was unclear as to what killed him; the man had no visible wounds of any kind and appeared to have just dropped dead. The travelers were suspicious of their sudden turn of luck but decided to take the carriage, for better or worse.
Hours into the trip, they were nearing the edge of the woods and ultimately the Stavros Bridge - the largest arched, stone structure in all of Sophisma.
Just a few miles from the clearing before the river, the buggy was ambushed by a large band of archers, hidden and shielded by the tree line. Though the adventures tried their best to defend the wagon, it seemed that fate would not allow them to pass unscathed. The mage, Athgar, had the misfortune to take an arrow in his side and was bleeding out as the carriage barreled down the road.
As the wagon drew nearer to the bridge, five towering warriors clad in obsidian armor stood and watched atop the bridge's small stronghold, blood of the recent fighting still dripping from their clawed greaves.
The leader obsidian warriors barked orders in a strange and foreign tongue and his subordinates swiftly carried them out, tearing down the western arch of the bridge, sending half of the stone bridge into the raging waters below. Knowing the destruction would be hidden from view by the outpost, the leader scurried beneath the bridge to lie in wait with his underlings.
Soon the carriage, nearly covered in arrows, rolled onto the bridge and approached the outpost gates. Many of the passengers swifty disembarked while Drogon was doing his best to keep Athgar alive, but his efforts were proving to be futile. It seemed the mages fate was sealed, that he was to die there in the rear of that carriage when all of a sudden the stone beneath the adventurer's feet began to shake. The eastern arch of the bridge soon crumbled and fell into the river below shortly before the leader of the obsidian warriors leapt atop the bridge to make his presence known to the travelers. Before any could act, the warrior shot its chained claws into the rear of the carriage, tearing it open and reeling the wounded man inside back until he hung before it. The warriors arm emitted a dark aura as it began to drain Athgar's life and soul, the mage screaming in agony the entire time until he was turned into nothing more than a dark, withered husk of a human being. Having seen nothing of the sort before, many of the travelers were instilled with fear and awe, leaving them in a minor stupor. However, they were quickly pulled back to situation at hand when the warrior began to move for them and they made a hasty retreat into the outpost.
Once in the stronghold with the door shut and barred, they were thrown into darkness for there was no light within. Aaron had to use his limited knowledge of fire magic as a makeshift torch which revealed the corpses of the Royal Guard scattered around the outpost; most with severed limbs or holes ripped through their torsos. It was no mystery what had done this, but there was nothing to be done except try to stay alive. Without knowing that they were now trapped on the outpost that lie atop the single stone pillar in the middle of Straylight River, they pressed further into the dark, lifeless structure...
[HEADING=2]And so it begins...[/HEADING]
[HEADING=3]...yet again.[/HEADING]
Soreal cautiously walked through the silent hallway, torch in hand, careful not to mistake the dancing shadows of the flickering flame as movement in the outpost. The smell of blood and open flesh lingered in his nostrils as he led the group to the other end of the windowless fortress. The knowledge that the obsidian beast could be lurking anywhere kept him on edge, though he struggled to keep it from showing. After what he saw, there was no telling what else it could be capable of doing.
Terrus and Arborus walked side-by-side, the earth elemental keeping his hatchet at the ready as was his brother with the twin blades.
"I don' much like this, not knowin' where tha' thing is," Terrus muttered.
"Aye," Arborus agreed with a quick nod that made his mask wobble. "Nor do I."
"Watch your step," Soreal called back to the group. "There's more corpses ahead."
"Gods, how many men did this thing tear through?" Aaron asked as he stepped over a pair of severed legs, careful to avoid the pooling blood.
[HEADING=2]Story So Far[/HEADING]
This morning, General Corphaeus, under the orders of King Antonius, assigned the young Aquean, Soreal, to assemble a team of warriors and mages to eliminate a growing band of bandits. It was after midday when the select few met as a group in a field outside of the walls of Regnatores. Their initial intention was to send a scouting party into Dark Tree Forest to gather information necessary for a coordinated assault, though their plans fell through when the scouts were ambushed by bandits as soon as they had entered the nearby woods. The rest of the group was quick to aid the scouting party and together they fought off the attackers.
With the element of surprise having been reduced substantially, the group was forced to trek deeper into the woods without a decent layout of the bandits' encampment. It was by a magnificent stroke of luck that they not only avoided another ambush, but happened to find themselves overlooking a few dozen bandits waiting to ambush any passers by. The group struck swiftly and fervently, dimishing their numbers quickly until one was left alive. They decided to use the straggler as a source of information, though the bandit was mysteriously killed by an unseen force from within before any vital information could be extracted. The only thing he had a chance to tell was that their leader was visited by a cloaked man, though none other than the leader seemed to know the man. So there the group was, standing at a previously guarded cave entrance with no knowledge of who or what may lie within, only the certainty that any threat must be eradicated.
Venturing through the narrow passageways of the cave and into an open cavern within, they were approached by the leader of the bandits along with his most elite subordinates. The battle that ensued was fought fiercely from both sides, but in the end, it was Soreal's warriors that emerged victorious. When the dust had settled, their only exit was suddenly blocked off by large boulders and the crystals embedded in the cavern walls began to throw off a blue glow. A thick cloud of smoke began to appear at the center of the room, from which a hooded mage, calling himself Kaladin, appeared. He told the band of travelers that there was rising evil, one that would rival even that of the Malumian immortals all those years before. Kaladin said the warriors were unable to be killed because they had already died. They were soldiers brought back to life by powerful necromancy, a dark art believed to be dead for countless millennia.
The mysterious mage gave the band of adventurers the tools necessary to defeat the cursed undead - strange crystals that gave of a faint, white glow. Kaladin instructed them to venture south to the town of Newbridge, where they would encounter the undead. Skeptical of the mage's intent, Soreal reluctantly agreed to travel to the town. With that, the mage disappeared in a cloud of smoke, the crystals on the walls ceased to glow, and the boulder blocking the only passageway shifted back into its former resting place. With the exit cleared, the adventurers left the cave and began the long trek to Newbridge.
After nearly a day's walk, several miles from their destination, they met with a pair of Fae that were sent with the same goal as the adventurers. With the new additions, the group continued their journey to Newbridge. It was almost sundown when they arrived, though finding nothing but smouldering remains of the town. It wasn't clear what could've caused the incident, there was no evidence to be found. After an hour of searching through ash and rubble, coming across smouldering furniture and scorched corpses, they managed to find a set of fresh tracks leading out of town. With a destination, they headed out in hopes of finding further clues as to what happened.
Shortly after the adventurers left the town to follow the lead, a sinister figure that had been watching from the shadows resurrected the corpses of the townsfolk. As the group came to a halt, having reached the end of the trail, the animated corpses that had ambled after the adventurers soon caught them by surprise. In the ensuing onslaught, the band of adventurers slayed dozens of the undead, the crystals proving their worth as they cut them down like nothing. After the dust settled, Soreal received a message by an arrow that landed near his feet. The message was sent by none other than the necromancer, toying with them; telling them of how he murdered those in the village and brought them back to life. The message taunted them further by telling them where they should go to find him. It was written that they were to head to Ironvale, across Straylight River and just south of Sophisma, and there they would begin their search. As the group pressed on, they were convenienced once more when they came across an "abandoned" two-horse carriage. The former driver of which was found dead in his seat, though it was unclear as to what killed him; the man had no visible wounds of any kind and appeared to have just dropped dead. The travelers were suspicious of their sudden turn of luck but decided to take the carriage, for better or worse.
Hours into the trip, they were nearing the edge of the woods and ultimately the Stavros Bridge - the largest arched, stone structure in all of Sophisma.
The Stavros Bridge is the largest stone bridge, and definitely the largest arched structure in all of Sophisma. It connects both rises in the river valley located in the very center of the kingdom and stretches on for an entire kilometer. The bridge rests atop two equal-sized arches meeting at a large support structure in the middle of the river; both sections span for five-hundred meters and have a breadth of thirty meters. No doubt a majestic show of masonry, it served another, far more important purpose; it was the tether between the two halves of Sophisma, cut by the great divide that is Straylight River. At the middle of the bridge, directly above the support column, sits an outpost defended by dozens of King Antonius's royal guards.
As the wagon drew nearer to the bridge, five towering warriors clad in obsidian armor stood and watched atop the bridge's small stronghold, blood of the recent fighting still dripping from their clawed greaves.
Each one was eight feet tall and clad in armor of tempered obsidian. Each set of armor was gilded with unique and intricate patterns, ornate with runes of a long-lost language. The hands and feet of the armor were large, razor-sharp obsidian claws at the ends of large rounded bracers and greaves.
Soon the carriage, nearly covered in arrows, rolled onto the bridge and approached the outpost gates. Many of the passengers swifty disembarked while Drogon was doing his best to keep Athgar alive, but his efforts were proving to be futile. It seemed the mages fate was sealed, that he was to die there in the rear of that carriage when all of a sudden the stone beneath the adventurer's feet began to shake. The eastern arch of the bridge soon crumbled and fell into the river below shortly before the leader of the obsidian warriors leapt atop the bridge to make his presence known to the travelers. Before any could act, the warrior shot its chained claws into the rear of the carriage, tearing it open and reeling the wounded man inside back until he hung before it. The warriors arm emitted a dark aura as it began to drain Athgar's life and soul, the mage screaming in agony the entire time until he was turned into nothing more than a dark, withered husk of a human being. Having seen nothing of the sort before, many of the travelers were instilled with fear and awe, leaving them in a minor stupor. However, they were quickly pulled back to situation at hand when the warrior began to move for them and they made a hasty retreat into the outpost.
Once in the stronghold with the door shut and barred, they were thrown into darkness for there was no light within. Aaron had to use his limited knowledge of fire magic as a makeshift torch which revealed the corpses of the Royal Guard scattered around the outpost; most with severed limbs or holes ripped through their torsos. It was no mystery what had done this, but there was nothing to be done except try to stay alive. Without knowing that they were now trapped on the outpost that lie atop the single stone pillar in the middle of Straylight River, they pressed further into the dark, lifeless structure...
[HEADING=2]And so it begins...[/HEADING]
[HEADING=3]...yet again.[/HEADING]
Soreal cautiously walked through the silent hallway, torch in hand, careful not to mistake the dancing shadows of the flickering flame as movement in the outpost. The smell of blood and open flesh lingered in his nostrils as he led the group to the other end of the windowless fortress. The knowledge that the obsidian beast could be lurking anywhere kept him on edge, though he struggled to keep it from showing. After what he saw, there was no telling what else it could be capable of doing.
Terrus and Arborus walked side-by-side, the earth elemental keeping his hatchet at the ready as was his brother with the twin blades.
"I don' much like this, not knowin' where tha' thing is," Terrus muttered.
"Aye," Arborus agreed with a quick nod that made his mask wobble. "Nor do I."
"Watch your step," Soreal called back to the group. "There's more corpses ahead."
"Gods, how many men did this thing tear through?" Aaron asked as he stepped over a pair of severed legs, careful to avoid the pooling blood.