Limtrot was really angry with Lorg yet greeted the 3 strangers's. I am Sabasion, this is mariam. We are from London, England" introducement from the male human. "I am Pipen, The Short,once King of the great country of Gaul , we were inprisoned in that ring by Queen Hercala. Thank you for freeing us. But we must run and hide from her wickedness. Limtrot explained "Pipen, do not worry, she is another world I think she will not
harm you. That night all 5 told their stories. Seems the Human came from earth's 1940 during a War called WW2, The Dwarf came from the same world but a different time. Limtrot told of How he met the Dragon and Lorg

Pipen pulled out a map of Queen Hercala's world. "This map shows where most of the portals are in that witches land. The portal I came is on it and I know where I came through, but the two humans Mariam and Sebasian will have to remember your portals. Can you two(Limtrot and lorg) show us where the portal was to this world? Lorg didn't want to help them but Kindhearted Limtrot went back to the burned to the ground canibal village. Yet as they passed by the church still in tact out jumped the head Canible. being in anger and grabed the woman Mariam,and ready to cut her throat

"thanks to your friends my mistress now looks worse than my wife because of burns, the huts can easily be rebuilt, but I am afraid none of you will live to see that" said the chief as his medicine man sat in a nearbye corner rubbing his pot belly. "I will hang your skins like tapestries after they have been flailed off your hides!!"
At that several dozen men appeared from seemingly nowhere with short bows and strangly angled swords. The cheif began to calmly explain how captives were buried up to their necks and the swords were used to open their skulls...

Lurking in the shadows, beyond the sight of the party, stood Malatan with a wicked grin across his face. Pure vindictive hatred showed upon his vistage as he glared at Lorg. A raging hatred at this betrayal by his closest confidant. Malatan was not alone, nor was he anything but the shallowest of allies with the cannibal cheif.
At a signal from Malatan, one of the mercenaries he'd hired in this world nocked and arrow and drew back his bow. In an instant the unsuspecting Mariam was almost decapitated by the arrow that found her throat. Regretably for the cannibal chief, the arrow also took him in his eye...being slightly shorter than the woman he had held captive.
Malatan thought the loss of the chieftain to be akin to losing a nail clipping. THe chieftain had failed to dispose of Limtrot who had become a bigger threat than Malatan had expected. Malatan's hundred or so mercenaries could dispose of all those involved. Starting with that traitor Lorg....
Little did any suspect that Malatan was more than he appeared. On Limtrot's world he was but a bandit, on this one he was a powerful Lord, and on yet another one...he ruled with an iron fist.

How interesting -- welcome. btw Horseman. I wonder why only the Stories board is writable..........

No matter, it's nice to have a place for a voice again. ty nb!

Ohhh, but I don't seem to see those delete or edit buttons anywheres. Guess the gothics have ruined it for all us more honest mods :·/

Well not too many people had the opportune, this board's been de-voiced pawn style for a LONG time. Turned peeps off. Of course.

But I'm one of those mods who'll let you get away with all kindsa 'controversial' writing material a'cuz I think we need to keep that good ol' 'merican Freedom of Speech! (?) Last couple of posts were just fulla 'nasty' 'plotlines' -- but that's just my dinky opinion, I'm just a mod.
Lessen there be a fight or trouble of some kind, I'm off in the shadowz :·D

Have fun 'a'll

~ Magenta der Laute

I'll say, poor Skyking was cutting and pasting my posts fer me:)
Hey the more nasty plotlines the more interestin it gets right?:D Besides with out the occasional limb writin gets a little bland does it not:)

Out of the sky flew in Jerky who flamed alot of the mercenarie's while the rest dispersed. Sibasion cried over the death of Mariam as pipen draged him out of danger. Lorg and limtrot scattered to.

The cannibles formed a defensive circle, one strong youth barking out plans to break from the mercenaries. Short spears and hide sheilds fell to steel swords, yet not without a toll. Even the women fought, for Malatan was not interested in captives at this point.
One mercenary caught Jerky in a net, no doubt thinking he would fetch a prime price for the Dragon.
Lorg saved the cannible youth from a spear thrust. The youth looked at Lorg,"partners?" he grunted.
Lorg nodded, although it looked as if the partnership would be short lived. The mercenaries were verterans, well armed and had them outnumbered and surrounded. Arrows fell like rain....

The mercenary was being bit by Jerky in the net, he tried wigling out of the mercenaries hands. The mercenary tried cutting Jerky's neck yet it was to tough. Limtrot used the only thing he could use. Picking up rocks he threw them at the mercenaries. Lorg and the young mercenary ran towards Limtrot. After a while the mercenary picked up an axe and killed Jerky

One of the arrows hit Lorg in the leg, barrreling towaards him was Malatan in rage. With his last breath the yound mercenary stabed Malatav with his spear, yet Malatav's armor was to strong.

Malatan smiled in a half-grimace and snatched the spear from the young cannibal warrior. With great strength he snapped the shaft ih half and thrusted the tip into the gut of the youth. He then used the broken end shaft to bludgen Lorg across the face. The gauntlets made Malatan almost invincible on the battlefield.
Limtrot watching in horror as the mercenary bashed the net with Jerky in it against the ground lost all self-control. The mercenary, whose arm had been set on fire by the dragon had decided Jerky was not worth the bounty.
Limtrot saw red, foamed out of his mouth and went berserk, in true form of the word. A fury of rage overtook the village idiot and with a broken sword in hand he leaped at the mercenary, hacking his flaming body to pieces. Then charged a large group of Malatan's men who had been laughing at the scene..

Geez I wish people would get their minds on somethin' better....

*long sigh*

~ Magenta der Laute

sorry Skyking - this needed more in-put to keep my interest. I'll have another go, though now we have a few more.

Sabasion, after greeving over Mariams body grew furious to. Grabbing a timber from a burning building he ran full charge at Malatan, while Lorg lifted himself up. Now Malatav had two to contend with. Malatan kept dodging Sabasian's torch and Lorgs spear. Behind him Limtrot was taking on 3 mercenaries. With the youths last dying breath he grabed Malatav's leg and triped him.

Yet, Malatan's magic and luck held out. A horse without a rider came running through the camp, nocking Pipen off his feet and trampling the body of the young cannibal. Malatav grabbed the reins and pulled himself up with another grimace.
Amazingly Limtrot finished with the three mercenaries and charged after the horse...

Meanwhile, Safir gazed into the haze ascending from the
groundless black they knew as End of the World.
'There cannot be any living', he said by hisself.

But there he was, sent out as last hope of his tribe.
Safir nervously touched the Ring of Ritornel and listened.
Nothing. He shook his wings as sign of embarrassment when
he realized how spurious his instinctive longing for
advice happened to be here, so far from home. His neckchains
started to pulsate in amusement, tomorrow when Zaratan had raised
to the zenith, he'll recharge his energies and meditate. In the
shadow of a second he calmed down, sank into crystalline condition,
locked to just wait for a certain key in the eternal cosmic melody.

Safir was the medicine man and one of the few survivers of the cannible tribe. He saught peace after the slaughter Malatan and his men caused. Why they fled when they did left the survivers wondering. Malatan could have easily regrouped his men and stormed back.
Limtrot hadn't caught him, no small suprise, but he did discover that Malatan had droped this weird amulet thingy when the youth had grabbed him.

Limtrot placed it in his pocket as he lifted Sabasion up as Lorg cussed up a storm. I should have had him, he had some magic to help him flee. Lorg looked at the dead Jerky and with the Amulet he seemed to bring the dragon back to life.Pipen walked over saying. We best find your portal..

THere was something odd about Jerky when he came back to life. The tiny dragon had changed a strange ebon colour and his eyes began to glow a milky white...he was not alive...not completely, nor was he dead...somewhere inbetween...
"coward." Limtrot muttered about Malatan.
"I don't think so," spoke Lorg," I think there was a reason he left. He had us dead."

Amother night and they placed Mariam & the young canible on a bed of flames, a form of cremation. The arrow was removed and Lorgs leg was bandadged

The cannibles had an elaborate ceremony for those who had fallen..the ashes of the dead and ground up bones were passed around in a soup. That way the dead would be apart of the tribe forever...

Pipen was upset...he thought that Mariam deserved a good "christian" buriel....whatever that was thought "Lorg".

Safir knew the reason that Malatan fled....

Backtracking back to the spot of the portal, Limtrot decided the only way to get to it (Since tey fell down from it was to get Jerky to carry them one at a time. But was Jerky the same?

Was Sabasian up to it. Could pipen find his portal too?

How would Jerky even carry a full grown man if he WAS the same? And How would they find the right portal?

Safir knew which portal would lead the strangers home...he also knew the secret weakness of Malatan...Malatan actually served a far greater master....

Any woman's perfume made him weak

The more horribly smelling...the weaker he got...especially perfume made from....

How did Safir know this weakness? IT was part of a pact that Malatan made with certain unearthly entities for the magic gauntlets he wore. At one point Malatan enjoyed the smell of his lovers perfume, this most wonderful memory was perhaps the reason the entity chose such a restraint on Malatan. Of all thi Malatan enjoyed it was the smell of women...their hair, their perfume, etc. Now he was as chaste as a monk...fearing church girls and harlots alike. he learned to breathe out of his mouth rather than his nose...an effect that made him appear to gape like a fish.

one by one Jerky lifted each member of te party throug the portal returning to the world of Queen Hercula aka a demon or witch

Safir was glad to help the small group find their way home. He sincerely hoped they would be able to bring Malatan to justice. Malatan had caused a lot of harm.
Once Malatan was dealt with Safir would be free to remove the man's influence from his own world. Queen Hercula was an evil woman but she was just a woman. She was a cambion. Half-demon, half human. Her magic made her a powerful sorceress, but she was not allied with Malatan. He was on her world working for King Yaroslav, a wizard in his own right...known for conjuring invisible things and animating things that had never lived....

"I never thought we be back here again" Thought lorg who sat on a rock to check his leg. What ever happened to Jerky had made him strong.

Jerky's eyes were like pearls, his scales like black onyx...the glow from Jerky's eyes was haunting....and unreavealing...

Both Hurcula and Yaroslav, unbeknownst to the party, desired a codex that lay beneath the Castle. THe codex held much power in the way of magic, and the monks had sworn to protect it. It was an evil book, its pages made from slivers of bone upon which the letters of the writing was carved. Its cover was said to have been bound in the flesh of children.
This foul work that the monks had sworn to hide from the world, being unable to destroy it, was created by an ancient and evil sorceror named Lulach. It was this codex that had driven an unsuspecting monk insane. It was this that had called to the unprotected monk, staining his soul, and reaching into his very dreams....
the Key to the book was an amulet used to lock it by the Holy Seers. It was their order charged to protect it. THe book had some kind of sentience of its own. It did not like being locked. It had acted. Tempting the young monk and seducing him. He had died screaming out spell out of spell from the book that briefly took over his body when he touched it...an ice demon was just one of the creatures summoned. Dead turned undead, and many other horrors were unleashed.
The head monk had used his powers to seal the deepest caves, burrows, ans catacombs of the monastary...trapping the evils within. One monk fled with the medalliion. He had been a younger alcolyte.
Yaroslav had sent Malatan to get the medallion. His plan had been to use the man to get to the book. his own agent had been with him. Only that agent had disappeared....
Hercula too needed that amulet, it was the only garantee of safety to get to the codex. If Yaroslav was not spending so much power combatting Herucla and her powers retreiving the book would be easier...

Malatan entered the Castle. He would deal with that traitor Lorg and the rest after completing the mission. His men had trained for this. The party could not hinder him further, but the rare creature with them that pretended to be a dragon was to have aided him much in this treasure hunt. WHo knows what gem crusted holy relics lay below. Golden ceremonial cups and velvet tapestries...
Sure Yaroslav didn't trust him. Of course Heracula had made some tempting offers as well...He was not sure which he would sell it to, the higher bidder he supposed with an inward chuckle.
He knew the trip into the earth's depths would be trying. He also hoped that he had intimidated those villagers enough that they would cause him little harm after he escaped. He was sure that only a few if any of his men would live. Then again they were the fodder he needed. THe gaunlets he wore were one of the few items able to touch the codex and protect the wearer from the book. One of the reason the pages were made of nice thick bone, malatan supposed. Hard to turn pages with gloves on.
Hopefully he'd not have to deal with the party when he exited the monastary. Worse comes to worse he could always give them the codex he thought with an evil chuckle. Life was looking good. The party even had the fake amulet...or was it the fake amulet...
No!...That TRAITOR!!"Malatan exploded in rage. THe amulet was missing! IT had powers beyond locking the Codex. He had to get it back...the juourney would be almost impossible without it. Only with the amulet would he be able to get through the High Seer's barriers. Only with the amulet would he be protected from the creatures the book had summoned to protect itslef. Only with the amulet could the book be opened. It would be almost useless without the amulet.
Malatan cursed. He would have to get the amulet back....then he would skin that lorgs hide from his quivering body.

Pipen ws able to lead the group to where he thougt his portal might be, but instead insisted they head to Hercula's castle to find a map showing where all the portals are located

Whenthey were in Inprisoned inside that ring Pippen heard about the Map

Pippen was able to dive into the moat, through a hole in the foundation and up into a dungeon. Slowly he made it past Hercula's guards. Crossing against pillars he made it to the ole wizards lab. On a shelp out in the open was the map. He had overheard plenty between the wizard and Queen to know where it was. The prisoners were in this room a month before. Pipen found a cloak for invisibility and used it to go out the front gate of thye castle.

The group follwed a trail near by that lead to a mill and a forest. After several miles Limtrot and Lorg said goodbye to Sebasian and Pippen as they steped through the portal back to the othere side of Limtrots Castle. They wee home with a dragon to boot

They looked at Pipen shakily...no one seemed to want to confront the strange lizard-like creature...except for Limtrot who only remembered a beautiful woman...the half-demon had powers beyond understanding...there had to be another way...

should have been in earlier...

As Limtrot stared at the creature, he became aware that the wall seemed to come alive.
A huge creature, seemingly made from the rock itself, stood staring at him. Although roughly human-shaped, the creature was somewhat larger, towering above Limtrot as it did. Its eyes bore into him, but Limtrot wasn't entirely sure the creature was actually seeing him.

Pipen remembered hearing of these creatures before, Garks, large and brutish, garks were half goblin half rock, thus being able to blend perfectly in with the castle walls.
Fighting these gigantic creatures usually ended in Death, as not only were they incredibly strong, but capable of deadly spells as well.

Never having heard of these creatures, Limtrot drew his sword. Jerky hissed - sensing danger. Too late, though, with a hiss the Gark threw a vial at the dragon. Jerky screamed in agony and fear as he started to crumble in mid-air, helpless. Limtrot stared in horror as his dragon seemed to explode before his eyes. Pipin yelled at him : STOP - you can't possibly win against that creature. Drop your sword!'

The creature through a force field around limtrot Lorg was all alone as he watched his friend carried away.

LORG looked in his bag and found that he still had the invisibility cloak

Jerky Distracted the creature leading it farther from the party...only Jerky knew that its weakness was water...running water...and formed a rough plan to submerge the creature...