Diablo II: The Epic Behind the Game
Disclaimer: I do not own Diablo II, I, or anything else that blizzard created. In fact, some of my dialogue comes directly from the game, for accuracy purposes only. The Characters however are of my own design, directly from my chars on Battle.net
During the American Civil War, General Sherman (best known for burning Atlanta, Georgia) once said, "War is hell."
This man was obviously not a writer lacking criticism, for that is truly hell.
I may just be impatient, but I there is something that I simply love to do.
Read Reviews. Please give me something to read. (Robin unsheathes katana) I simply don't know what I'll do with myself if you don't....
Oh, Well, enough of that...
We return to our story shortly after Elric has relieved himself of his midnight snack and breakfast.
Rogue Encampment:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Well, you see my dear Charsi..." Tozam put his head in his hand, knowingly flexing every muscle in his arm at the same time. "The really, really big ones come from from three things, Two of which you surely know very well."
"Oh really?" Charsi, the rogue's resident blacksmith asked, her attention half on Tozam and half on the work that he had brought her.
"Yes. First is diet: High proteins like, let's say, ten wild turkey eggs in the morning and Caribou at mid-day and supper. Then, of course, is the ever important exercise."
"And the third thing, Mr. Tozam?" Charsi asked, having a hard time keeping her eyes off of the large, muscular, and rather handsome warrior before her.
"Good Breeding, pure and simple."
"Breeding?" Charsi's eyes widened in shock from that one. "You mean you can get bulky by...?"
"Take my parents for instance." Tozam continued on, oblivious to the fact that Charsi was blushing a bright red. "My father was a strong, ogre of a man. Pure bred Barbarian if ever there was one. He could down enough ale to kill a village of southerners and still be coherent enough to lead his men into the maws of battle the next morning."
"Oh!" Charsi breathed in relief. "'Breeding' like that...I see."
"There was only one warrior in my tribe who could put my father in control. All of the men of the village feared her."
"Her?"
"Yes...My mother. Twice as large as my father, and more fierce than any monster that he had ever faced on the battlefield." Tozam laughed a hardy laugh, "Ahhhh, good times...good times."
Charsi laughed as she hadn't in months.
"That is a very good tale, Mr. Tozam." Charsi praised, finally setting her
smithing hammer aside and wiping the sweat from her brow. "Your swords are ready. The rusting and bronzing was quite extensive, but thankfully, the magic was untarnished. Might I ask where you managed to get such exquisite weapons in such disrepair?"
"I took it out from under the eyes of a fat, greedy creature that just didn't know any better.
"Ahhhh, Bargain price from Gheed?"
"It was a steal. Now, what do I owe you?"
"Sixteen gold."
"How about twelve and a hug?"
Charsi eyed the barbarian curiously.
"Fourteen and a kiss?"
"Sixteen, Mr. Tozam and the fee is not negotiable ."
"Oh well," Tozam sighed, reaching into his purse and counting out the coins
before handing them over. "You can't blame me for trying."
"No, I can't." Charsi said, picking out coin out of the rest and flipping it
back to the barbarian. "And you can't blame me either." She added, pulling the barbarian down and giving him a quick kiss on the cheek.
"That was for body-building lesson."
Tozam suppressed a laugh and cocked an eyebrow to the rogue smith.
"Any chance you want to hire me on as a personal trainer. I promise results."
"Don't push your luck."
--------------------------------
Elric sat down heavily in the small, makeshift stool inside a makeshift mess hall for the patrons of the encampment. His head was pounding, and the rest of his body nearly exhausted from his one-sided battle with the holy ground
surrounding Akara's relic.
Why hadn't he backed down?
He should have known that the High Priestess, Priest, Pope, or Que Hagan of ANY religion would have recognized him for what he was and had some sort of defense.
Of course he knew why he didn't bother letting it known that he was not welcome on hallow grounds.
He had wanted to impress Natalie.
She wouldn't have had any reason to be impressed of course, but all the same, it would have made him feel more 'Normal' if she thought that he didn't have such obvious limitations.
"You want something?" A grizzled looking merchant acting as a waiter came up to him, looking down on the tan-skinned young man with a sour glare. Elric could tell that this man was without any clue as to the true nature of his customer.
"Do you sell food here?" Elric asked, trying to lighten his mood and doingeverything he could to keep from becoming snappy with the people around him. The last thing that he needed was to have the locals become suspicious.
"What does the sign outside this twig-house say, son?" The waiter asked snidely.
"Well, judging by the handwriting and the angles of the ancient runes, it was either 'The Dead Cat Bar' or 'The Filthy Socks Inn'."
"That sign's written in common, smart-ass." The merchant said, crossing his arms and continuing his sour look. "And it says 'Food Hall'."
"And they say that people in the food-service industry have no sense of humor."Elric waved off the man's next comment and rubbed his eyes thoughtfully. "Yeah, do you carry any fresh meat?"
"Aye, young traveler." The man, nodded, "We have..."
"Just surprise me, please." Elric said, not wanting to have to choose between anything at the moment. "Also, I want it raw."
"Alright, sir. Venison, Rare!" He called back to the chef behind the bar.
"Not rare, sir." Elric reiterated, "Raw."
"That's what I told the chef, young master."
"That wasn't what I meant. When other people say raw, they mean precariously cooked. When I say raw, I mean that I want you kill the deer, tear out the fleshy parts, put it on a plate, and bring it out to me. Save the chef time in cooking and get right to the eating."
"We don't do that..." The waiter stopped as Elric reached into his money pouch and pulled out more than twice what the meat would have been worth fully cooked.
"...for anyone else. Of course exceptions can always be made. Your food will be out in a moment with some of our choice ale."
"No ale, thank you. I will take some hot tea though."
"Tea!? No one has ever ordered tea from me before!"
"First time for everything. Now go on, chop-chop." Elric said, feigning cheerfulness and clapping his hands to mark his point.
The reluctant waiter was about to protest, but apparently thought better of it and went on his way.
"You just can't get good service in these parts." Elric said mostly to himself, not even realizing that someone had snuck up behind him until the seat beside him was pulled out and a very annoyed looking necromancer sat down next to the half-demon.
"I swear that I am going to kill that over-grown lummox." Cathim started, his
face more menacing than Elric in his true form. "First my health, then my gold, then he had the gall to try and pay off the healer to suppress my short-term memory! AND WITH MY MONEY!!"
"Oh, hi Cathim. Back from communing with the spirit world are we?"
Cathim brought his thumb and forefinger less than an inch from each other."That close, that bloody close to making my stay in the afterlife permanent. And what's worse is that, after I passed out, I saw a long tunnel of light!"
"What's so bad about that?"
"I lost a bet with a peer of mine." Cathim explained, "He said that you saw the Light when you die and I said that there was no light. Next time I see him, I owe him a hundred gold. This has been a bad day for my wallet."
"And how exactly were you guys planning to find out weather there was light or not?" Elric asked, "And why should you pay the guy until he sees it forhimself."
"Well, because..." Cathim stopped, thinking about what Elric was saying. "Good point."
At about this time, the waiter returned with a tray of bloody, uncooked venison meat and an urn of steaming tea.
"What the hell is that?"
"I have unique taste, necromancer." Elric said, picking up the crude metal fork and knife on the table and starting to cut into the meat. Without a second thought, he pulled off a small, dripping red hunk, and popped it into his mouth. "Besides, it has more flavor this way."
"I'm not talking about that, Halfling." Cathim gestured to the meat, "I'm talking about THAT!" He restated, pointing to the urn.
"Oh for the love of... I LIKE TEA, OKAY!" Elric shook his head and returned to his meal.
"Raw meat and tea? Strange, halfling. That is just plain strange."
"This coming from a death obsessed human who bestows curses and spends his free-time piecing bones together to make a better mousetrap."
---------------
"Hold, Mighty Warrior of the North. A moment of your time." The man in shining white armor held up an arm to stop Tozam in his tracks just outside of the caravan's general store/wagon.
"Uhhh... yeah, sure..." Tozam looked over the man. Judging by the fine grade of his armor, Tozam would have thought that man was some sort of noble. But, his southern accent placed him further south, closer to Kurast. Then, Tozam
recognized the emblem on his sword, helm, and shield. The insignia of the Zakarum.
A paladin of the Travencal.
"But I don't give donations, I'm not interested in being converted, and I wield no dark magic, so any lectures will be both wasted and over my head."
"I wish for none of those things. Though I was not under the impression that you were in need of conversion." The paladin turned his head thoughtfully and added almost as an afterthought. "Maybe later."
Then the paladin returned to the topic at hand.
"I seek a companion for my journeys, good man."
"A companion, huh?" Tozam repeated. "Well, I have heard that the brothels in Lut Golein are very sophisticated, but I think that you would likely be impaled before you could get companionship from any of the rogues. So, best thing to do is to wait until someone manages to open the gate to the mountain pass and go on to Lut Golein."
"Uhhh," Under his helm, Tozam could tell that the paladin, probably in his early twenties, was blushing bright red. "That twas not the companionship I had in mind, mighty warrior."
"Ohhhh, one of those, huh?"
"One of what?"
"Never mind." Tozam could see that this one was probably a bit too 'sheltered' by the church to understand what he was talking about. "Perhaps if you were to speak more plainly, I might be able to help ya."
"Oh, yes." The paladin nodded, removing his helm and allowing Tozam his first good look at the smaller southerner. He would probably be considered handsome by the standards of a woman, but the burly, barbarian men of Tozam's tribe would have laughed out loud if this one announced he was a warrior. He seemed almost childlike by comparison to Tozam's muscular features, which had taken a lifetime of training and exercise to acquire. "I am Preen, A Defender of the Word. A child of the light and paladin of the Zakarum Church."
'Yeah...' Tozam thought to himself quietly, 'Really hard to figure that out.'
"I am on a mission most urgent, and, unfortunately, my former company ran afoul a nameless monstrosity on the Blood Moor some weeks ago and did not survive the hellish encounter."
"Oh, really?" Tozam asked, his previous distain turned into sudden interest. "And what would your quest be?"
"To vanquish all evil on the mortal planes, spread the light throughout the lands, and, most importantly, destroy the Prime Evil- Diablo: Lord of Terror, and save the world."
Tozam was silent for a moment...
Then burst out laughing in the paladin's face.
"Oh... is that all? For a moment, I thought that you might be doing something important, like rescuing kitties from trees."
"It is NO laughing matter, Sir!" The knight was more than a little flustered.
Tozam's face suddenly became dead calm and serious.
"No, it certainly isn't. But if you come up to most mercenaries and asked them to join you, you wouldn't have gotten such a jovitial response. Your enthusiasm is impressive, but I'm afraid that it is the only thing."
"I...I do not understand..."
"Start smaller." Tozam suggested, "Nobody is born ready to change to world, you must work yourself up to it. Try joining a party of adventurers with a mix of skills that benefit each other in a mutual relationship based on respect and the common cause of good."
-------------- (meanwhile)
"... and then I will stab OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER..." Cathim jabbed his dagger into the small, bloody carcass, punctuating every 'OVER' with a new knife wound.
"CATHIM!! STOP STABBING MY FOOD!!"
"And then, when I get good enough, I'll resurrect him and do it all again!"
Cathim seethed in anger.
"Nice plan you got there. Here, I'm the 'you-know-what' and it's you making the death threats to our colleague. You know, it's a wonder how this party has managed to survive for so long?"
"We've only been an adventuring party for a day."
"Like I said." Elric took another bite of his now even more mutilated and bloody meat."Hey, it taste better now."
"Umm, I hope this isn't my poisoned dagger..."
-----------------
"Perhaps you are right sir...?"
"I am Tozam. Warrior of The Wondrous City of Horrogoth." Tozam stated proudly.
"A Barbarian!" Preen gasped in a mix of awe and fear. "A savage brute of the barren waste of the north that seeks to raid and pillage the far north villages of Kanduras?"
"..." Tozam glared at the paladin in such a way that even HE got the point.
"Alright, Let's try that again without the stereotype. I am Tozam. Warrior of the Wondrous City of Horrogoth."
"Ah..." Preen nodded, "And I, Preen, offer my services to you and your group."
"Well that's..." Tozam stopped dead cold. "Wait! WHAT!?!?!?!?!?!?"
------------------
"Brrr..." Goosebumps ran up Cathim's entire body.
"What's wrong, necro? Body heat dropping? I thought Tozam warned you against doing that sort of thing." Elric asked, sipping at some hot tea.
"No, not that...I just suddenly have the feeling that someone I know is about to do something that I am going to hate."
------------------
"Well,...Ummm..." Tozam thought for a moment. A paladin was offering to help, and that could be a very good, if somewhat annoying, thing. Cathim wouldn't like it, but then again it might make him forget about the maming and the gold incident if the healer hadn't been able to do it.
Plus, as he had said before: 'There are safety in numbers'.
"Alright. I accept. On two conditions: First, no preaching, attempting to convert, or badgering me or any other members of my current party. No matter how much you're gong to want to."
"But...okay" Preen was about to protest, but then thought better of it.
"And secondly: don't slow us down, or we will leave your holy arse behind."
"I assure you, Sir Tozam of Horrogoth, I will not slow anyone down. In fact, your current companions may very well have to work to keep up with us."
"As long as you understand that," Tozam thought for a moment "We all take even portions of the treasure unless there are special items. Also... Wait? US?"
"Oh yes," Preen nodded, "You see, friend Tozam, after my former party was lost to the forces of darkness, I came upon a young damsel in great distress and saved her from a hoard of dark spirits serving the beast that the rogues called 'The Countess'. After I dealt with the monsters, we plundered the tomb and, thanks to the gold we found, we have been able to rest for the past few weeks here until the poor young woman's nerves recovered from the shock."
"What was she doing out there to begin with?" Tozam asked.
"She said something about looking for some spare change. But I didn't press the matter. she was so grateful for my help though that the beauteous woman offered her assistance to my quest. Well, at least that's what I think she said. She did seem a little preoccupied when we discussed it, what with the gold flowing out of the chest in the Countess' room."
At about this moment, Tozam heard a high, undignified woman's scream from inside the merchant's cart, which was followed quite swiftly by said merchant suddenly flying though the canvas covering of his wagon to fall between Preen and Tozam.
Then Tozam heard what had to be one of the most terrifyingly dangerous human voices that he had ever heard before.
"NOBODY CONS ME!" A young, blond woman wearing a peculiar looking red-leather armor and golden headband leaped effortlessly though the tear made by the merchant's exit and landed silently in front of said cowering merchant.
Another girly scream came from the skinny businessman.
"I..I swear..." he stuttered, "I didn't...didn't know... I thought that they were all good."
"THOSE SO CALLED 'HEALING POTIONS' ARE NOTHING BUT WATER WITH RED FOOD DYE!" The young woman bellowed. And Tozam could have sworn for a moment that he saw fangs sprouting from her mouth and smoke coming out of her ears. "And don't think that I'm going to buy your sob story, Little man! Do you know what we do to liar on the Isle of Skovas? DO YOU!"
"AHHHHHH!" the merchant squealed again. "Please...no, don't. I swear...I...I'll pull everything from the shelves...I swear I'll never do it again..."
"THAT'S NOT GOOD ENOUGH!!!"
"Annnddd...and.... I'll... I'll double your refund..." The poor bastard was shaking like a twig in a windstorm, barely able to hold his hands over his head in a feeble attempt to defend himself.
Then, they blonde's entire demeanor changed in an instant. Her raging face suddenly twisted and contorted to look... happy. In fact, as she closed her eyes and smiled, she looked downright cute. Whatever fangs there might have been, real or imagined, likewise vanished. Now, they young woman who had been spitting fire a moment before seemed the very essence of innocent female youth.
"Oh...Really? Gee, That sounds wonderful." She almost squealed with joy, reaching down and picking up the still frightened (and now obviously soiled) merchant.
"Now, you go fetch my refund and I'll wait right here for you."
The man nodded slightly, and was then was pulled close enough to the young woman that she could whisper in his ear. Preen may not have heard what she said, but Tozam's sensitive ears picked up every, blood-chilling word.
"If you aren't back out here is two minutes, I am going to drag you out to the Blood Moor, cut open your entrails, and throw you into a blood hawks nest so they can eat you alive from the inside out." Then sweetly, she held him out at arms length and asked.
"Understand?"
The merchant wasted no time with confirming that he understood. He just ran as quickly as he could back into the cart where Tozam heard him rummaging for the coins to pay his debt.
"Now, that wasn't very nice." Preen said while Tozam stared at the girl flicking her ponytail back and forth over her shoulders. "What if he was telling the truth?"
The innocent girl vanished again and the fire breathing monster that was in her place turned over towards the paladin.
"SHUT UP! OKAY! CAN THE IDEALISM! IF IT WEREN'T FOR THAT BLASTED.... DAMN,
STUPID HONOR CODE!!! OHHHHH! PREEN! YOU....YOU...! I WILL KILL YOU! I SWEAR TO ALL MY GODESSES! I WILL KILL YOU!"
To his credit, Preen the paladin never even blinked at the threat on his life or blanched at the hatred in the young woman's voice.
"Have you ever considered going to a Zakarum confessional? It is really very cleansing for the soul, and I might help with that anger management problem you have there."
"(Twitch-twitch)...noooooooooo...I don't have an anger problem... Thank you for caring though...(twitch-twitch)" The young woman's entire body was tense, almost as if she were ready to spring into a fight at any moment. But, as before, this changed almost instantly and the young warrioress turned to Tozam with a large, innocent smile of the most relaxed and sincere friendship.
"Hellow, I'm Raid deAlkirk, First bow of the Amazon Guard of the Isle of Philios. A pleasure to meet you. I take it from the fact that you aren't trying to strangle HIM that we are going to be traveling together now?"
"..." Tozam was speechless. But after a moment, found his voice.
"Ummmm, yes... I am Toe-Jam of Nauggoth...I MEAN... Uh, Totam of Hagar, UH I MEAN... Tozam of Horrogoth. Right, Yes... Travel...left...I mean right..."
"OH, wonderful!" Raid shouted happily, practically leaping into Tozam's arms and giving him a great hug around his neck. "I know that we'll all be best friends."
"Ummm, yeah, I guess, uhhh"
Then Raid leaned close and whispered into Tozam's ear.
"By the way, I automatically get 50% of all gold found in parties between two and four persons and 25% in parties between five and ten. I don't join anyone larger than that. Also, I get first pick of jewelry and gems that are found as part of a horde. Is that acceptable?"
Tozam was dumbstruck for a moment.
"Ummm, first, would you mind telling me what they do do to liars on the Isle of Skovos?"
Raid whispered the answer into his ear.
"Yeah... Umm, okay, no problem. That sounds perfectly reasonable." Tozam said, looking between the Amazon and the paladin and wondering what kind of idiot he was for agreeing to let these two on as part of the team.
"Cathim and Elric are going to kill me..." He gritted his teeth as he realized just what it was he had just done. "ELRIC!!! A Paladin?! Oh, my god...I forgot..."
-----------------------
"I am going to kill him, Elric. Pure and simple. A teeth spell right between the little bugga's eyes should do it and then...What?" Cathim asked, noting the way that Elric was looking at him.
"I've been asking you to stop planning revenge on Little Bugga for almost twenty minutes and you haven't heard a word of it. I finished my meal like ten minutes ago and was going to ask you if you would mind checking in on Natalie while I when to try and find that friend of mine that I told you about earlier."
"Oh... Okay, but only if you help me perfect my plan."
"It's a deal." Elric said, nodding. There was still a little stiffness in his arms from his earlier encounter with Akara, but at least the throbbing in his head was gone. Now, maybe, he could try and find Alisa.
"Hey, why aren't you with Natalie anyways?" Cathim asked suddenly, stopping Elric right before he was about to leave. "I thought that the two of you were going to talk to Akara?"
"We were," Elric answered truthfully, "But, uhhh, Akara didn't like me. And apparently, neither did the ground near her tent."
"I'm sorry, I don't..." The fact dawned on the necromancer, "wait,... you're like other abysmal creatures in that aspect, aren't you? You can't set foot on hallowed ground?"
"Uhhh, I would rather not talk about that in the middle of a bar, Cathim." Elric whispered uneasily, glancing from side to side to make sure no-one was paying attention to them. It was one thing for them to say 'you-know-what' and 'like-you, Elric'. But that was only because such terms were so vague. If anyone in the camp started hearing that Elric couldn't handle being on holy ground, then it wouldn't take a whole lot to figure out that he wasn't like the rest of them. "And it's not that I can't set foot on it, it's just that it really kicks my arse to do so."
"I'll try to remember that." The necromancer nodded, "But I should warn you, Akara's reaction to me will probably only be a little better than her reaction to you."
"You're a man of the cloth, Catty." Elric said, getting off of the stool and leaving a modest tip consisting of two or three gold coins. "Just because your cloth is black and her's is purple doesn't mean that you two won't bear to get along."
"She worships a giant, floating eye that is blind, but can see everything. What sense is there in that?"
"What sense does it make to spend your entire life studying death? We all get there and find out all about it sooner or later anyways. Just find Natalie and lets get on our way as soon as possible." Elric moved to leave, opened the it, stopping in the door-way. "Oh, one other thing. If I gave you some coins, would you mind picking up some mana and healing potions from one of the merchants."
"Why not go buy them yourself?"
"I've never been very good at haggling or not getting conned. Merchants see me coming, they think: 'Young, innocent, harmless sucker'.
"And what's so bad about that?"
"With the exception of the 'innocent and harmless' part, they're absolutely right. Plus, I doubt that anyone would wanna cheat somebody that could curse them." Elric turned to leave, "I'll meet you back here when I..."
He froze.
"What's the matt..er." Cathim got up and realized why Elric had stopped.
"Battle-Eagle Kashya. Fine day is it not? Especially the way the sun gleams off that steel arrow-head." Elric said flatly, hardly surprise that he was now face to face with the wrong end of the Battle-Eagle's bow. "I understand that you are not thrilled with the service of this bar, but that's no reason to take it out on the patrons."
"I should have shot you the moment that you arrived at the gate. I should have known better than to blindly trust a stranger from the Moor, Monster."
"Been talking to Akara, have you? I know it's pointless, but I'll go ahead and let you know that I think she exadurated." Elric asked, watching the young woman's face and trying to figure out what the Battle-Eagle was thinking. "I would have thought you would be glad that I was in here being good rather than out in the wilderness bothering honest travelers."
"You should die. Right here. Right now." Kashya sneered, tugging slightly more on her already taunt bow.
"Okay, but seeing as how I'm not dead yet, I'm guessing that you have some noble speech set aside that details why demons and other monsters of abysmal origin are so evil that they automatically deserve death. You know, something that says how the noble humans have to suffer the violence brought on without warrant by these monsters who show no honor, mercy, or constructive thought. I'm curious though. Do you plan to deliver that speech before..."
"SHUT UP!"
"...Or after you kill me in cold blood?" Elric had to hide a smirk. Judging by her reaction, he knew that he had nailed this one on the head.
"Or is it that you haven't killed me yet because Akara told you not to unless I did something that warranted it, such as attacking the Battle-Eagle. Something that won't happen just because she's pointing an arrow at my head."
"Back Down!! There's no need for this, Battle-Eagle." A third voice jumped in as Natalie Tasslewind came jogging up from the side of the building, apparently out of breath from her run. "Akara has allowed Elric passage so long as he doesn't bother anybody in the confines of the encampment."
"Akara is acting the part of the fool!" Kashya spat bitterly.
"She acts on behalf of the Sightless Eye, Battle-Eagle." Natalie reminded the warrior. "Do the acts of your tainted sisterhood now rob you of the values that you sought to protect."
Kashya hesitated for a moment, her expression nothing short of pure repulsion for both the half-breed that was her target and the sorceress that challenged her faith. That, and the contempt that she felt from knowing that they were both right. Slowly, she lowered her bow.
"I would like nothing more than to hang your rotting corpse on the gate as a warning." She sneered.
"You know, that would attract a lot more monsters than it would repulse, Battle-Eagle." Elric mentioned before turning to the necromancer who still stood a fair distance inside the food hall. "And when in the seven hells were you planning on jumping to my rescue."
"Uhhh, Truth be told, I was going to stand back and see if the arrow would actually kill you."
"Your concern is touching, necro." Elric rolled his eyes, "Look, Kashya. I don't want to hurt anybody here. I only want to help."
"I'll believe that when you start attending Zakarum Masses and singing in the choir." Kashya hissed.
"Well, till then, the least we can do is be civil. Oh speaking of which there are two things that I was going to ask you: First, I was wondering if you might be able to help me find a friend of mine. Snow-Falcon Alisa Malthion."
Kashya still looked at Elric in disgust, but now seemed to temper her repulsion with whatever warning or precaution that Akara had advised.
"Alisa Malthion is no longer with us." The Battle-Eagle said, sorrow mixing in her eyes with anger. "She fell to the darkness in the battle for the Monastery."
Elric blanched while Natalie and Cathim came up beside him.
"Though I am rather curious as to how my finest lieutenant and childhood friend came to befriend you, creature."
"That... is none of your business, Battle-Eagle."
"Then allow me to go ahead an answer your second query: Whatever it is- The answer is no, never, and I hope you all die a painful and agonizing death." The Battle-Eagle then took the opportunity to spin on her heel and march herself away.
Silence overtook the three companions for a moment.
"Just when I thought that woman couldn't get any more unpleasant." Cathim chimed in.
"Elric, I'm sorry about your friend." Natalie brought a comforting hand down on her brother's shoulder. He jerked slightly, but allowed her to continue.Had it have been anybody else at this particular moment, he would have likely
torn their arm off. "Will you be alright?"
"I don't get it..." He shook his head, his eyes beginning to lose their green and glow red. "Alisa was as fine a warrior as any...and now..." Elric tried to stay the anger that welled up in him.
He hated that...hated that his human half felt every heavy lash of sorrow and regret, but his demon body and instinct refused to let him react with anything but hatred and anger. The need for vengeance against a foe he could not know.
After all, demons could not cry... They had no need, so the emotion had to be released another way.
But he couldn't allow that! He had too much to fight for and defend. He had his sister and newfound friends to protect, so in this, he attempted to lose himself. He had to set aside his feeling for Alisa at the moment and concentrate on the task at hand.
"I...I'll be fine. It's just something of a shock." Elric said, "But, I'm sure we have more important things to deal with right now. What did Akara say?"
"Well, after I told her about you, she said that since you managed to get past the enchantment protecting the encampment and cross the hallowed ground to see her, you must have the blessing of some goodly force. She also said that you would be allowed access provided you do not violate any rogue laws."
"Well, that's good, I guess." Elric nodded.
"Lets find Tozam and then I'll fill you all in on what Akara told me." Natalie said seriously, then looking over at Elric, added.
"Ummm, Elric, you've got a little..." she scratched her cheek.
Elric whipped his face and found a bit of cooling venison blood.
He turned to the necromancer.
"Yeah, this probably helped my speech with Kashya a whole lot. THANKS FOR LETTING ME KNOW!"
----------------------
"La-la-la-lala, La-la-la-la-lala." Raid skipped merrily on, singing a wordless tune that Tozam had never heard before. Happy as humanly possible and more than ten feet ahead of the slower, more deliberate steps of Tozam and Preen.
She was quite beautiful, the barbarian could not deny. Her golden blond hair bouncing with her step, her fine, sharp features defining her face and body. But she was also so extreme, with moods swinging back and forth between innocent, playful Raid the young woman and to Homicidal Man-Killing Amazon Warrior Raid.
Preen, on the other hand, seemed to have been trained with the greatest of discipline. Marching onward with grace and almost aristocratic posture, perfectly comfortable with his plated armor, weapons (a sword and scepter sheathed on each side of his hip.) and the heavy kite shield on his back. Just the dignity that he carried himself with seemed to blow out Tozam's first thoughts that Preen was a pampered, half-witted church errand boy.
The Zakarum may have been zealots that didn't know when to stop preaching, but that didn't make their chosen knights, their 'Defenders of the Word', inept warriors. True paladins, Tozam recalled, were known for their skill and their undying devotion to their faith.
Their one vice, their pride, was also legendary.
"Thought there was no initial resistance, I felt that the tombs must contain some remnant of the evil that had dwelt their in the times when the Countess performed her dark rituals. One can only imagine my shock when I came upon poor Raid, surrounded by over a dozen of the twisted undead souls of the Countess's handmaidens. So, with their attention focused on her, I managed to slip around and make an exact strike to..."
"Hey, she's getting a little far ahead don't you think?" Tozam interrupted, wishing that Preen would stop talking.
"She's only a few feet ahead of us, friend Tozam, hardly a..."
"I'm going to check on her, you know. Make sure that she doesn't...ummmm, trip on a... a... devil twig. Yeah."
"Devil Twig?" Preen eyed Tozam, wondering what the hell he was talking about.
Tozam, on the other hand, rushed forward and closed the gap between himself and Raid, having to side step around her to avoid knocking into the joyous Amazon.
"He doesn't stop talking does he?" Tozam asked, keeping his voice down so that the paladin would not overhear.
"No. Not really." Raid said, her voice harmonious and taking on a sort of wispy quality. "But despite the annoyance of listening to him, he does have his uses. Carrying treasure for instance. He's really good that that."
"Soooo... You stay with him so that he can carry treasure for you?"
"Well, Yeah!" She said as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. "One of the few things that men are really useful for in the field." She paused for a second and looked up at the barbarian's face. "At least at home they can work in the fields and take up some respectable trade. And I do not stay with him, I ALLOW him to stay with me."
"And so the legends are proven true." Tozam chuckled to himself. "Women really do do all the fighting in the Amazon Isles. The men back home will never believe this."
"Are they stupid?" Raid asked quickly. "Surly even a man as large as yourself must have your mate somewhere to make sure that you do not make an ass of yourself."
"Well, Umm, there is a woman in my group... but she is not...that is ummmm...She is not mine and I am not hers."
"Oh..." Raid seemed more than a little chest fallen. "I have not been in these lands for very long, many of your ways are still strange to me. But, this woman that travels with you, she is your leader?"
"Well, uh..." Tozam had to think about that one for a moment. "She...is certainly the voice of reason in the group. And she did kind of bring us all together. But I don't know if she would qualify as our..."
"As long as somebody is." Raid smiled, "I couldn't stand trying to be the only responsible adult in a group of men."
"So, what are you doing in these parts anyway?"
"Oh, you know. The usual. Traveling the world. Doing good. Gaining fame and fortune to rub in the face of my rivals."
"I see..." Tozam shook his head, wondering why he was expecting something a bit more noble.
"HEY! TOZAM!" The barbarian heard his name being called by quite probably the last necromancer that he wanted to see again.
"Ahhhh, that would be our...ummm," Tozam threw a sideways glance to Preen. "Our, umm, secondary spell-caster."
Then at last, the two groups met.
A sorceress, a necromancer and a strange, unarmed, green-eyed boy first came into contact with their friend, the barbarian and the new coming Amazon and Paladin.
Needless to say...
The first few moments of their meeting was the stuff of legends.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT DOING HERE!!" Cathim, Elric and Preen shouted at once. Cathim and Elric pointing at the Paladin and Preen pointing to the necromancer.
"You did not inform me that a member of your current party was a partaker in the dark rituals of Rathma!" Preen snarled.
"What the hell is this 'Kapta' doing following you, Little Bugga! Are you being taken to the inquisition?" Cathim shouted.
" Nostrao traida conistar domarrk Zakarum denteent!!!" Aside from the word 'Zakarum', nobody could quite figure out what Elric was saying.
"Umm, guys.... this is... that is... Uhhh, lets not...What's a 'Kapta?'" Tozam had to stand between the three in order to keep Preen and Cathim from leaping at each other.
The two women watched for a few moments as the three traded insults, with the large barbarian awkwardly trying to explain the situations and calm the others.
Then they turned to each other, each taking the other's hand.
"Natthilea Tasslewind, initiate sorceress of the Zann Esu. My friends call me Natalie" Natalie introduced herself to the blond Amazon, who smiled in response.
"Hi, I'm Raidarin Metidisa deAlkirk of Philios Island, but you can just call me Raid, sister. Your friend invited us to join you on your quest." She looked back to the men, who had still not gotten past the shock of finding each other. "My companion in the shining armor over there is Preen of Kurast. He's okay, fo ra male. But don't ask him anything about the Order of the Light, or he'll talk your ear off."
Natalie laughed quietly.
"Well, you've already met Tozam, I see."
"Yes, a fine specimen that one is. He would be a fine husband to someone back in the Isles."
"The skinny one in the black armor with the skull designs is Cathim the Necromancer. A priest of Rathma and student of the arts of death."
"Which one is he?"
"The one who is now on Tozam's back trying to put him in the choke-hold."
"Ohhh."
"And the other one is my little brother, Elric."
"Elric?" Raid repeated, recognizing the word. "White-Rose? An odd name for a boy."
"Elric is...complicated." Natalie tried to explain, hoping that Tozam's stupidity in promising these people that they could join them would not lead to a tragic end because of Elric. "But a fine warrior, and he knows the surrounding land quite well. He is also knowledgeable of history and magic."
The two's conversation ended abruptly as Tozam, Cathim, and Preen were all drowned out by Elric shouting out:
"ENOUGH!!!!" His voice seemed to reverberate forever.
"Elric, come on." Tozam tried to calm the halfling down. "You have to admit, we could use someone who can heal and, who knows, maybe the blessings of..."
"BUG! JUST SHUT UP!" Elric shouted, his head bowed and his eyes closed. Tozam jumped at his voice, which had more than the usually safe hint of hiss and growl. Effortlessly, he shoved the much larger barbarian (who still had the
necromancer on his back, trying aimlessly to put him in a sleeper hold) aside and stood face to face the rigidly formal paladin.
"I wasn't aware that The Hand of Zakarum had come across the mountains since they abandoned Tristram, Travencal Dog." Elric mocked, making it a point not to open his eyes. "Is it the rogues that you plan to investigate? Did they not lose enough or fight hard enough against demons that took their monastery? Are you here to show them the error of their ways or are you just scouting out the area to try and put up another temple?"
"I am not here to investigate or plan anything, boy." Preen shot back, attempting to use Elric's age against him despite the fact that he could be no less than four or five years older. "I am merely here to keep the peace and..."
"...'Spread the light'." Elric finished for him. "Yeah, I know all about how you overstuffed, half-baked morons do things. First you come in and convince people that your all for them, slay a few on-hand monsters, then become very popular with the population. At least until they do something that you don't like. Then you just start with the hangings and the burnings. Making sure that nobody is 'corrupted' by the dark forces. That no one practices the 'Tainted' magic of the demons. All on penalty of being labeled 'evil' and in need of purifying."
"That is a lie!"
"Entire cities have been torn apart by your inquisitions! Townships turned against one another because of the suspicion and terror that your people spread. Chasing demons that either don't exist or you create yourselves. The sad thing is that the demons you chase are the ones that you create by going there."
"Some of my brothers-in-arms do take overly drastic measures when contesting with the forces of darkness, boy." Preen seemed more than a little shaken up by the concept of what Elric was talking about. "But, in time, that will pass and they will see that they are wrong in how they handle their situations. It is true that we should not attack the symptoms of the corruption, but the core of it."
"Yeah," Elric raised his chin, but his eyes remained closed. "Just be careful, Zakarum dog. Or you might be surprised to discover that the shadow you chase is the one that you cast."
"Elric!" Natalie called from the side, "That's enough!"
"IT CAN NEVER BE ENOUGH!" He called back to her, his eyes seemingly sealed shut, but still never moving from Preen's face. "If the others want you to come with us, FINE! But watch your step around me, dog. Or you might find that your feet have been chewed out right from under you when you need them most."
With that final threat, Elric turned heel and stormed off. Blindly hoofing his way across the encampment's path and finally disappearing behind one of the many carts that had come to the Rogues for protection.
The other five humans stood in silence for a moment.
"What in the name of the Light is his problem?" Preen broke the silence, still somewhat uneasy from what had just taken place. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but he could tell that there was something... unique... about this 'Elric' boy.
"Well," Raid spoke up. "I would guess that he's got issues." She turned back to Natalie. "I agree with what you said: 'Complicated'."
"Ummm... I would really hate to bother everyone..." They heard Cathim's weak voice call out. "But would someone be so kind as to GET THIS BARBARIAN OFF ME AND GET ME TO A HEALER!!!"
Natalie only now realized that when Elric shoved Tozam out of the way, the barbarian had landed in a heap on top of the poor necromancer.
"Oh, great! What else could go wrong?" Natalie asked as Preen, despite his earlier insults and mockeries, did not hesitate to help Tozam, and then Cathim, to their feet.
"To be honest, Natalie..." Tozam said. "...That went much better than I thought it would."
-----------------
Elric did not stop.
Quickly, and with his eyes closed, he marched straight to the gate of the Rogue's encampment. Only a quick order from a vigilant sentry kept him from walking straight though the doors and out into the Blood Moor, where he continued to walk for almost an hour, until finally the Rogue's Encampment was out of sight behind him.
At about this time, Elric made the mistake of walking straight into a tree.
"OW! UGH!!! STUPID TREE!" He shouted at nothing in particular, still refusing to open his eyes.
First he had been nearly devastated by forcing himself to walk on holy ground. Then he had discovered that one of the few real friends that he had ever know had died. And then, he discovered that the stupid, muscle bound brute that his sister had become enamored with had hired a PALADIN!
"What can possibly make this day any worse!?" He asked himself.
Then he suddenly noticed a slight rustle off to the side.
"Move and die, kid." A rough and tumble sort of voice came out from in front of him. "Drop the gold pouches and the outfit and we might consider sparing your miserable hide."
There must have been about six of them, Elric thought. Bandits. Mercenaries that couldn't find a job. He could hear and smell every one of them now. His frustration lifted for a moment, allowing him to think clearly.
"I'm warning you. You don't want to mess with me right now. Leave, and I won't kill you."
"Ha!" The bandit leader laughed out loud. "How about this, child. I'll give you to the count of five to drop the coins and strip out of that perty outfit, and then I'll make your death quick."
Elric didn't hesitate to quickly count down for himself.
"5-4-3-2..."
Elric heard the unmistakable whistle of an incoming weapon and...
-SNATCH!-
Caught the heavy, down-coming mace in mid-swing, easily halting it's path.
"WHAT THE!!!" The bandit leader before him tugged hard on the mace, trying to free it from Elric's grasp. But all for not.
He held the handle of the mace solidly in a hand with four bleeding, splitting fingers and a now useless fleshy thumb.
Elric opened his eyes and looked at the face of the bandit leader for the first (and last) time.
The out of work mercenary gaped in horror as the two fire-red eyes seemed to focus intently on him. It was as though the hell's themselves dwelt behind those pools of fire, and now, it had come for him.
Elric hissed happily, a forked tongue flicking out between his quickly reforming lips and teeth.
"Hellllllllooooooo, Misplaced aggression." He hissed just as he felt another, familiar, sensation from deep within.
"And hello, Lunch."
-------------------------------------------
"And you are certain to the accuracy of this report?" Battle-Eagle Kashya asked the rogue scout, hoping that what she had just heard could not be true.
"Yes, Battle-Eagle. The other four in my attachment died to insure that the message was brought back to you."
"Blood-Raven..." Kashya sighed, wondering yet again if this was all a dream.
That she would awaken from the nightmare any moment to find herself just another of hundreds of warriors defending the Rogue Pass from infrequent annoyances like quill-rats and the occasional yeti.
"What should we do, Battle-Eagle. We can not sacrifice any more rogues from the defense force. There are so few of us left." The scout asked.
"There is only one thing that we can do..." Kashya looked down on the encampment that she was sworn to protect, hating the fact that she was even considering what she was about to do. "Ring the high bell and call all volunteers who are capable to wield a weapon to the briefing circle outside my tent." She ordered.
"We can not handle this alone anymore." Kashya couldn't believe what she was hearing herself say, even though Akara had been saying it for months.
"We need help."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I missed an update Friday...(Looks at people with pitchforks) But there is a perfectly reasonable explanation!!! I was working on another fan-fic that was skewered when the artist who inspired the character refused to let me use her character in a story.
Ah, well, themes the breaks, I guess. But I did manage to get this one in at looks at clock 11:45pm, Thursday. I made it! AHA!
(Revamped Friday, 7th at 9:45am, due to complications and a bunch of screw ups that made the story double spaced)
Also: R&R PEOPLE!!
COMMENT!!! ALL OF YOU COMMENT!! PLZ!!! I NEED YOUR COMMENTS TO LIVE!!!
I need constant criticism (good and bad, as long as they are constructive and involve more than just 'It's Crap'. I really hate it when they don't even go into detail on what's wrong with it.)
Well, Until next week. here's Robin Signing off.
