by Adrian "Cronin" Cronin
The scream of a wagon’s wheel roused me from sleep. The smell of death was thick, as thick as the fog which surrounded our modest caravan. After arming myself and my compatriots, I joined the heroes of the realms at a clearing near a graveyard, the appointed meeting place for our expedition to the Ashenfields.
An elite contingent of Chimeronians stood ready for battle, grim faces on some and unwavering resolve on others. We were there to rescue one of their countrymen afterall. Voraniss also answered the call in force, for a chance to strike back against the Strangers. Our secondary objective was to gain information on our enemy, primary being the rescue of Rekees, the Chimeronian captive. Answering the call as well, were heroes of Blackwood, Gau Dring, Northern Alliance, Stonewood and more, enough to form a squad of their own - an impressive group that would be the envy of any expedition.
We were told that in order to open the gate to the Ashenfields, we would need to move the gravestones from the cemetery and make a bridge to the Ashenfields. How eerie and appropriate. A ritual performed by our Druids and Chimeronian mages made it possible to remove the stones. But wicked spirits and undead husks did all they could to hinder and destroy us. Artair and several mages used their wards to keep the spirits at bay while Gavin knelt and chanted over graves. All the while our warriors were constantly set upon by undead. Step by step and piece by piece, we built the bridge we needed - through the cooperation and coordination of the party until finally we stood before the portal.
It was decided that once within the Ashenfields, we would separate into three groups. Voraniss, Chimeron and the collective previously mentioned.
Voraniss started their journey in a guard house where we donned their uniforms. Asher got a bit too curious and was killed by a chest… I was able to escape with his body and bring him back but was reminded of the danger of this realm. The curious smile on his lifeless face too, gave me pause. Those without uniforms, we deemed prisoners and asked where we should go to “process” them. Our ruse was only successful half of the time but we made deadly work of any guards who caught on too quickly.
We made our way into a second building where we attempted to hide for a time. Within it, we found another chest, covered in many locks. Tempest, Tulkhan and Artair as well as others made many attempts to work their way through it but guards continued to pound on the door. The time had come to face the guards and move on, we needed to cover more ground if we were to find the lost Chimeronian.
After fighting our way out, we saw an incredibly large beast. It was made of Stone and crushed anything in its path. The time to fight was past, and we ran for our very lives. It was at this point that our Voranian squad had scattered to avoid the hulking beast. A new objective became clear to me and mine, unite the pack.
Running through the rain and mist, I saw the visage of my daughter Elowen. Relieved for I had feared the worst, I approached with arms open wide, then felt her elven blade sticking in my gut. When I once again awoke I saw her near, tears welling in her eyes. She had been corrupted, raised as an undead and unable to control her actions. I held her close for a brief moment as a father before telling her to swallow the pain if we were to get out of this alive. The rest of my nation was now present and awaiting our next move.
Gavin and I decided that returning to the locked chest from earlier was our best course of action, now that we had lost the attention of the guards and the Golem. So we made our way there and were joined by Pilpus, Gordon, Twen and a few others on the way.
It wasn’t long before the building was being assaulted again, but Avendar used his savvy to buy us time. He offered the guards riddles in exchange for passage. They were far too simple to guess well and just simple enough to fall for our games, at least for a time. For the Golem returned and blasted the door to splinters. Once again we were fighting for our lives. But we fought them back and Evie repaired the door.
With only a few locks to go, our spirits were raising. But it was at this point we found out that ten Chimeronians entered a building and never came out.
After some debate, we made the call to once again abandon the chest, this time to save our friends. It was a hard fight to the dark building. We lost Tulkhan to the Golem, and a few of our group to the chaos.
Once inside we saw the strewn bodies of the Chimeronians piled in the corner of the room. Evie set up a circle of healing while we started to bring her bodies to recover… but once again the Golem approached with two boulder throwing Ogres at its side. We fought ferociously, as weapon after weapon was crushed by boulder and Golem alike. Using whatever weapons weren't destroyed, we remained a glorious distraction while Evie got to work bringing everyone back. A few times, I was able to convince the Golem to turn on his friends but it did not prove a lasting solution.
In the midst of the battle, Avendar called out to me. He crossed a magical barrier in which I could not follow. He told me to trust him and that I would see him again on the other side. He took a skull from the ground and disappeared. We then escaped, reuniting all three groups. Chimeron recovered their countrymen, we recovered an artifact as well as precious intel about our enemies, and we all escaped through the portal. Even Tulkhan, who had escaped captivity and returned to that chest with Tempest, the contents of which remain a mystery to me. I was just glad to know that we did not trade one life for another.
Once out of the portal we saw to our wounds, both physical and emotional, and set to repairing our weapons that were crushed by the Golem.
James Swift and I sought to use divine magic to fix Azurewrath, the angel blade, by calling upon the angel itself. I made an oath to protect the innocent and destroy evil, upon the blade, and to the angel lest my soul be damned. I also committed myself to journeying to the lands of Stonewood - to slay demons and rid their forest of undead.
I then gathered my countrymen and journeyed onward - to return home with stories of glory, horror and adventure.
Evil must never go unchecked.
OOC:
What a fantastic event. The players and the staff both seemed committed to telling a great story together. It is events like these that ignite a fire in me and keep me coming back.
Kudos to the event staff and to my fellow veterans of the Ashenfields. Can’t wait for the next event.