After the battle a council was held to decide the course of action, one thing was evident, The Island’s isolation no longer kept it safe, and so the consensus was that they needed more allies. That led them to a new problem; Where would they find these allies? Ayltenq was the first to suggest one, “Surely we may find allies amongst our brethren upon the mainland? For if the First cannot rely upon the First then hope is truly lost!” Goqtli answered him at length, “I have been unable to contact the First of the mainlands, and many Slann were struggling against the powers of Chaos, and almost surely some have perished, and many Slann sympathetic to my leaving may have been among the fallen, but it is certainly worth reaching out to our Kin, and we have ships to reach them now.” And so they decided to make for Lustria and the Southlands Next Eliara voiced her thoughts, “Norimia and I have friends and kin in the Old World, we should be able to bring three allies to the field.” Vasdbo eyed her suspiciously at the mention of a third ally. Boqtlan spoke up in answer to them, “May we speak openly as to the nature and power of these allies? For it is well to speak of high numbers of individual allies, but folly to ask for help from allies who can bring little strength, for they would likely be overwhelmed, and folly for you to ask those not known for integrity in ties of kin and friendship.” Norimia spoke in answer before Eliara could, “She speaks of her kin in Loren, my kin, and a friend of ours. And yes, we can trust him, he won’t turn us away unless his King, or The Lady herself, has a different duty for him.” Vasdbo lept out of his seat in outrage at this, “A Bretonnian! No, I will not allow it! I will never work with one of them!” Norimia met his fiery gaze evenly, “Then leave.” he said simply, Vasdbo strode furiously towards him, “You vile traitor! I should strike you down where you stand!” He reached for the hilt of his sword, but before he could draw it Ardaris pulled him away, lifting him clear off the ground, and threw him across the room. Anerhet looked at her, surprised, “Was that entirely necessary?” He asked, Ardaris shrugged, “Better than having to waste time waiting he throws his tantrum.” No others had any allies to mention, and so they decided to trust in the strength of the few allies that had been mentioned, and prepared to set out. The people leaving for the Old World were: Norimia, Vasdbo, Eliara, Ardaris, and a small crew of trustworthy men. Norimia and Eliara leaving for the Old World to gather their allies, Vasdbo was leaving the island, and Ardaris said that she had some things to find that might help, and so would leave them upon entering Bretonnia. The seas were calm, and they were blown by a steady, prevailing wind, and landed at Marienburg, the closest port to Parravon, which was the Dukedom their friend held his lands in, at Marienburg Vasdbo left their company, and they meet up with the resident leader of the Legion of the Ulv, a warrior organization that Norimia’s family had been in for several generations, who strove to be the most powerful warriors they could be, and never turned down a chance to prove their valour and skill against the strongest of opponents. Expectably, they leaped at the chance of proving themselves against the Northerners, since they are hailed as the strongest human warriors on the planet, and they also relished the chance to fight Daemons. They were easy to persuade to join the expanding alliance. And so they left for Bretonnia, their course was to head to Axebite Pass, which led directly into Parravon, and, other than occasional attacks by bandits, who were put down with ease there were no difficulties. The problem was that almost every pass between Bretonnia and the Empire was plagued by Orcs, who flourished in the mountains, and so they entered with care, but moved quickly, for every second spent in the Pass invited death to come ever closer. It was late in the second night, when Ardaris heard the approach of Orcs from behind, and they soon came into view, hundreds of Orcs, driving about thrice their number in goblins before them. “Was it too much to ask for us to get through the three days in the Pass without getting attacked!?” Norimia exclaimed in frustration. “Run.” was Ardaris’ answer, which offered them no comfort. “And by that I assume you mean ‘You two run and I’ll stay and die’.” Eliara argued, Ardaris smiled slightly, “It’s slightly difficult for me to die, considering that I’m already dead.” Norimia glared at her, “You know what she means!” he snapped. Ardaris sighed, “If we stay and fight we all die, if we all run then they’ll run us down and kill you two, and I can’t exactly call upon the friendship of a Bretonnian Baron, or the elves of Loren for that matter. The only way two of us get away is if one of us stays behind, and I’m the least valuable one of us three, all I can bring to battle is myself, you have allies, therefore I should stay behind.” The cold logic stung them, but they couldn’t argue, but still they stood where they were. Ardaris’ eyes flashed with anger, and she picked Norimia up by the front of his tunic, “The time in which I mattered upon this world is long gone! You have futures that matter, I should have been dead over three thousand years ago! Now run!” She roared, and they did, although for the moment they weren’t sure whether they were running from the Orcs or her, but it didn’t matter. The battle was fairly one sided. Skilled as she was, Ardaris was no match for such an overwhelming force of Greenskins, despite killing over five dozen Orcs, she was overwhelmed, chuckling quietly to herself throughout the battle, at the irony of being killed by Orcs twice. Raymond had received a letter that said Norimia, Eliara and one other, so he was confused at the fact that only his two friends arrived, but they quickly told him the story, and he expressed his sympathies for their loss, “I would urge you to pray for her soul, but I don’t know of who you would pray to for a Vampire’s soul.” He said after. Norimia smiled wanly, “I don’t think there is any god for such souls, that would require there to be a god of the Undead.” Important Characters Goqtli- A Third Generation Slann in charge of the Kahoun of Cuaqtla Boqtlan- The lead Oldblood of Cuaqtla, has the blessings of Itzl, Quetzl and Tepok and is revered by the inhabitants of Cuaqtla as a great leader, when it comes to war Goqtli himself listens to him, rides a Cold One Tzaqor- The highest ranking Skink Chief of Cuaqtla, in military second only to Boqtlan he even outranks most Saurus as he is very good at the positioning of troops in battle, rides a Ripperdactyl, highest ranking ‘air skink’ Uaxhedin- A brash Skink chief with a slight capability to use heavens magic, highest ranking ‘sea skink’ Ayltenq- The High Skink Priest of Cuaqtla, he is detail intensive and knows of all three priestly lores but has a short attention span and dislikes concentrating on casting more than one lore a battle and Goqtli dislikes taxing him so lets him contribute the amount he does Vasdbo- A Witch Hunter who has dedicated his life to showing the Empire that the Lizardmen aren’t just vile creatures (E.G not Human or Dwarves (Not including Bretonnians or the Norse or Chaos Dwarves or anything that isn’t the Empire or the Normal ‘Good’ Dwarves)) Norimia- An experienced warrior, member of The Legion of the Ulv, previously in the service of Vasdbo Baron Raymond- A Bretonnian Lord and Grail Knight, Renowned for service to the Lady and the King, He has even ridden beside the Fay Enchantress! Eliara- Norimia’s second in command, this Ex-Wood Elf is one of the finest archers in The Empire Important Locations Cuaqtla- Located on the island of Kaixilixapati this Kahoun was created as a place to store knowledge and as a focal point for the geomantic web Deceased Characters Ardaris- A powerful vampire who allied with the lizardmen of Cuaqtla, and left to find allies, died fighting an overwhelming force of Orcs P.S Bob, you cause me pain with your 'I like Ardaris' post, I'd just figured out the whole story for this, just not written it down, and you go and say that!
This is all bubbling along nicely. Your superhero / superpower alliance is set to grow - I hope you've got an even bigger threat than the last one to allow you to build tension again. Don't forget that big threats can be in small, simple packages (a traitor, a crumbling alliance) or even impersonal ones (global warming, a famine on Gilligan's Island, a plague) Sometimes more swords is the last thing you need. You were in pain? You were very quiet about it. Now for the paradox of ultimate pain - I liked her alive. Scalenex probably likes her better dead. You can't not please nobody none of the time. So. How dead is she? She's died before and you've foreshadowed a God of Undeath. Most of all she has unfinished business. She could be there if you need her later (although she might be a bit bony or wraith-y I suppose.) I'll save up my tears just in case.
I enjoyed this chapter. The narrative was set at a brisk pace which stopped it getting bogged down in too many unnecessary details. That being said, I would've quite liked more detail of Ardaris' final fight and perhaps some character development for the new Legion (although I have a hunch they'll be expanded upon later). I liked the poignancy behind that final paragraph....also, was that a hint at Nagash?!