The Strike of Saarii - Chapter VI

Once the party was satisfied with their purchases, new weapons and trinkets with magical properties to boost their abilities in combat, they regrouped at the start of the passage up the mountain to the north of Enligt and were on their way to find the Master Druid. walking up through the snow was slow but nothing interfered for a while, until they started hearing wolf growls all around them. Careful and alert, they moved on until they found a white dire wolf in their way. Dan immediately drew his axe, not a wise move he learned as more dire wolves jumped out of the surrounding trees ready to pounce if he makes a move. The leader of the pack didn't move and neither did the rest, but Dean did. He edged forward, slowly, motioning to the others with his hand to drop their weapons.

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"Vargo?" Dean said, to which the dire wolf nodded. The reply was confusing though, for he spoke only in riddles.

"In riddles I must speak, the reason I cannot say.

A trident found in a mountain pass,

The first spike is colder than the rest,

One is short and dark,

The last, rumoured to host great power.

At the end of each,

you can find what you seek."

At that, the speaker left, as did the rest of the dire wolves when their leader was done. Confused at what Vargo had said, the group discussed what the clues could have meant, not agreeing on their guesses. In the end they decided to keep walking and find out on the way.

They walked until they found a fork in the path, split into three other paths; "A trident found in a mountain pass," said Amal, "this is what Vargo meant, three passages, each with its own perils." They discussed again what these troubles might be, in the end choosing the last option, the one hosting great power. Moving on, they found that the path was not the most comfortable to choose; only enough room for one person to walk forward for quite a while. They walked this tight passage until they found a clearing with four long poles stuck in the ground, placed to form a square; remains of cloth hanging from the top, hinting that this was some form of tent or canopy. Behind the remains of the tent was an entrance to a cave, the only possible way out of the clearing, other than the drop off the side of the mountain.

When Uuragan, Dan and Duryraen started walking inside, a booming voice shouted "You have no busniess here!!". A blue light sparked deep inside the cave, a bolt of lightning shot towards them. The three warriors ducked the lightning strike, which hit one of the four poles outside, immediately spreading to the other three, forming four high walls of electricity; blocking Dean and Amal inside a cage. A bright white light also shone inside as a form of magical shield was created to protect the aggressors, two human mages were walking towards them inside the barrier. A man, who started shooting electric bolts at the party and a woman who kept up the barrier.

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Whatever Uuragan tried, his magic could not pierce the barrier, and wherever Dan and Duryraen hit, the barrier was reinfored, the enemies' red eyes flickering in delight when they saw the futile attempts of the people who fell into their trap. Amal tried all he could from behind the shock wall, creating small shields for his friends outside, to deflect the bolts shot from the shock mage. Dean shot arrow after arrow, at the enemies, none of them piercing the barrier.

Dan, furious that his mighty blows were not hitting home, tried to enter the barrier himself instead of his weapon, which worked. He was now standing between the two mages. He hit the healer with his head, his helmet dealing enough damage for her to loose focus and drop her barrier, and turned to smash her partner with his axe, not knowing how agile his foe was. Noticing what had happened the shock mage turned his focus onto Dan and quickly grabbed the dwarf's axe, channelling his fury through its metal, into the dwarf, sending him flying into the cave wall, falling into an unconscious lump on the ground.

Having no magical barrier, the mage was now vulnerable to Uuragan's frost magic, slowing his movement, while Duryraen launched a full frontal assault. Although his agility was diminished, their enemy was still able to deflect most of Duryraen's attacks. As his fury grew, the shock mage's wall around Dean and Amal grew in intensity, allowing them barely any visibility; Amal tried to help Dan from inside the cage, but it was difficult to do so. Dean on the other hand tried shooting arrows at the enemy healer as she was separated from the group, this way he could not hit any of his friends. One of his arrows hit the mark, piercing her side, her scream in pain filled the cave. Hearing this, her partner knew exactly what had happened, he cast a huge explosion of electrical energy around him, blasting Duryraen and Uuragan away from him. He was now invisible except for a whisp of electricity, which floated over to his healer, her physical form also turned to electricity, they flew off deeper into the cave and out of sight. Only then did the electrical barrier around Dean and Amal vanish.

Having defeated the mages, the group needed some time to recover their strength, Amal tending to their wounds. They camped for the night in the cave, and followed the whisps into the cave to find another exit, the one the mages took to escape. Here they followed the trail until they arrived at a large plateau, with elves guarding the only entrance, spears crossed, denying entrance.

For the curious readers: 
The first spike is colder than the rest > Frost trolls
One is short and dark > Underground tunnel full of goblins

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The Saarii Strike - Chapter II

Having left Kalastaja in a hurry, the group had no resources; no weapons, no food and no drink. They started walking out of the village, towards the military base in Joki, Amal Cal, the priest who recovered them from the raging villagers was leading in front. Not much did he say at first, the rest were still discussing what had happened earlier. When the group arrived at the first fork in the path, Amal headed to the right, but Dean was not going to follow a stranger blindly. Having finally been asked where he was headed, Amal just said "we need supplies, do we not?" At a point, he walked into the shrubs at the side of the path. Hesitant, the group were still concerned about the direction this stranger was leading them in. Dan, feeling like the priest had helped him most, followed him, the rest following the dwarf as they all wanted to stay together as a group. Arriving at small clearing, they now found an ox and cart, Amal's travelling method.

"I cannot offer you much, as I only packed food for one," Amal said before anyone asked, "but I do have some weapons I am to take to Joki, you can borrow them until we arrive there." A shortsword each is what they acquired, much better than fighting with their bare hands if need be. Amal climbed onto the cart, and on they walked, back on the pathway, the four warriors tagging along. Unfortunate as they were, more trouble was to be found soon. A pack of wolves sprang out of the bushes onto the pathway, blocking their progress, fangs bared, Dan and Dean and Duryraen obliged by unsheathing their swords, Uuragan prepared himself to cast some spells, while Amal stayed behind them, ready to help them if any of them got hurt. The three warriors wielding swords, this not being the first time they dealt with danger face to face, charged forward and started killing, while Uuragan did not hesitate to start shooting icicles at the wolves. Amal was slightly surprised at the strength the men had, even after the ordeal of the storm at sea and the trouble in Kalastaja, maybe it was these events that fuelled their attacks. Only needing to heal a couple of scratches at the end of the fight, Amal did so and continued leading the group towards a forest, where they could take a schortcut towards Joki.

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Meeting a second pack of wolves deeper in the forest, the group fought again, defeating the animals and taking some time to catch their breath. This however, was not the last fight they had to go through that day, for heard, not too far off, the growl of a greater beast; Dean instantly recognising it as that of a bear. Amal healed again the few scratches and bruises that the team endured and they got ready to face the new beast, which emerged from the trees to the North. They fought the beast for what felt like hours, but fell it they did. Amal healed all their injuries once again, and knowing that bears like to stash away the carcasses of whatever they kill, the group decided to look for its cave and see what they find. Using his tracking skills, Dean lead the group to a small cave to the North of where they fought off the beast, finding multiple dead bodies inside, both animal and human. However, they found more than this, for there were the remains of a bonfire, a small weapon rack and a chest. It seemed like it was a camp site for travellers or bandits before the bear's hostile takeover. Dean was extremely happy, as he found a bow and some arrows, much better than the sword as he was more experienced as an archer. Duryraen was also pleased with a couple of fine daggers that are harder to find within a military institution. Checking out the chest, they found some gold and jewellery, Amal and Uuragan both noticing that some of them had magical properties. Having done this sort of work before, Amal scrutinised the rings and pendants found in the chest, finding two rings that fortified one's magical stamina, not a bad find for the two mages. Returning back at the area where the group left the ox and cart, they stashed away their unused loot and the swords that have been replaced by the new weapons found in the bear's cave. They now decided that it was time for some rest, Dan and Uuragan started gathering some fire wood while Dean and Duryraen started tearing meat off the dead animals for them to cook and leather to be sold once they reach Enligt. Amal went around the camp, consecrating the area to repel any unwanted visitors while they rest. After a good meal and a good night's rest, the team gathered all their belongings and prepared to continue their journey to Joki.

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Fighters of Midgard - Part 2

These are characters my friends created for a session I Mastered. After the session, I took it upon myself to give them a bit of context and bring them to life through a bit of history. Their background is useful to understand the following post - The Strike of Saarii. 
This post is a continuation of the previous post, which can be accessed here.

Uuragan Oakwale was born on a cold winter night to dark elves Ertrilgor and Uurgael Oakwale, around 150 years ago, high up, somewhere within the range of the White Mountains. His father having the ability to control water and ice, while his mother controlled air, Uuragan inherited a balance of the two. Not much the social type, Uuragan spent his time practising air and frost spells, some times with his older brother, Uuniath. However, during one of they adventures, Uuniath fell to his death off a ledge while the brothers were practising some air spells. Uuragan never knew whether it was his fault or not, nonetheless, he always blamed himself. The only thing left of his brother was his ice sword, the reason why most of their tribe believed Uuragan's story of his brother's tragic death. However, there were those who never liked him, and much less upon learning of his brother's death. Playing a prank on him, these elves almost killed Uuragan in a similar way; only to be saved by a dark elf called Laenia. Becoming the best friendship Uuragan ever had, Laenia taught him much, as she was much older and experienced, especially in air spells. After some time, they decided to move down to civilisation, their road leading them to the city of Enligt; where they eventually joined the army, as it was in dire need of mages to complement the sword and arrow of the rest of the soldiers.

Born to Lord Ansgar Dalgaard of Enligt, Dean Dalgaard had to endure the misfortune of a brutal assault on this noble family for their wealth, at the age of three years old. Dean's sister, Sandela, seventeen years old at the time, managed to escape with him while their parents fought off the brigands who attacked their home. Sandela took her little brother to Bjorg, an elven friend who offered to protect the kid as long as he lived in the White Mountains with him. Dean never saw his sister again, but he did find out his parents were massacred on the night he left Enligt for the first time in his life. Growing up, Dean learned how to wield bow and arrow, hunting bear and wolf for meat and fur at the foot of the mountains, returning home in the snow with enough resources to help the tribe that helped him all his life. During one of his hunting trips, Dean was assaulted by bandits, who took all his loot, money, arrows and his bow. During his return to the mountain, he ended up surrounded by four bears; and without his weapons, defenceless. A dire wolf, chased away the beasts, saving the hunter. Naming his new friend Vargo, Dean returned to the mountains with his new companion who followed and helped him in all his adventures, During his time as a hunter for the tribe hi lived with, Dean found out that the men who attacked his family in Enligt were mercenaries from the island of Saarii, south of the mainland. He also learned the Lord Runo of Enligt was planning an invasion of the island, the perfect opportunity of the Dalgaard family to finally find vengeance.

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