Register    Login    Forum    Search    Chat [0]    FAQ

Board index » Emerald Hills General Forums » Role playing




Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 6 posts ] 
Author Message
 Post subject: The Last Gryphon Rider
 Post Posted: Thu May 07, 2009 2:52 am 
Offline
User avatar

Joined: Wed May 06, 2009 4:27 pm
Posts: 297
Location: Eagle Shire/King's Point
Fionnigan Hellblazer dismounted and walked around to face his gryphon.
“Felarof I’m heading into the village. You must stay here. The folk of this village haven't seen a gryphon for quite a while, and we would cause quite a scene if we just marched in there together.”
Felarof nodded knowingly, and from his beak came a squawk that could have been mistaken for the sound of a child saying aye. Fionnigan tussled the feathers of the great beasts head and turned to head into the village proper, pulling the hood of his cloak up over his head as he walked. The village was a small encampment on the border of the kingdom, and was mainly a soldier’s outpost. Since the riders of gryphons hadn’t been seen for a number of years and all were thought to be dead or missing riding into the middle of a royal military outpost on the back of gryphon might be looked upon as suspicious and as of late suspicious people were being rounded up and put in the tower.
Fionnigan rounded a corner from the main road and found the inn he was looking for. The Inn of The Fallen Phoenix the weathered sign above the entrance said. This was the place, and he had a feeling he would find who had sent for him when he entered the place. How this mysterious stranger had found him he was unsure, but he was sure that it was someone who knew him well. At the very least it was clear that this stranger was aware he had been on the run.
“Get you anything friend?” said the bartender as Fionnigan reached the bar.
“Whiskey and a pint of your blackest ale.”
“Coming right up.”
The bartender turned and headed to the middle of the bar to retrieve the whiskey. As he walked Fionnigan noticed that he had a severe limp. The man came back smartly and with a large bottle of the best looking whiskey Fionnigan had seen in ages and a large clay mug brimming with foam.
“You take a blade in a tumble in here some night?” Fionnigan asked.
“Wha…Oh you mean my leg. No I was a soldier in the King’s army. I was a member of his admiral’s regiment. It was in the dragon wars, I got it caught in between the ship we was boarding and our boat and crushed it. Never was the same.”
The Dragon Wars... that was the last mission of the glorious riders of the gryphon known as Gryphon’s Rage. Fionnigan sat in silence contemplating the odd possibility of meeting another veteran of that war out here on the outer edge of the kingdom. Could it be the fates telling him something?
“Yup, made it through that battle and found my way here. After that I opened up the Phoenix here. You ever serve in his majesty’s army?”
“Me, oh no, I’m just a traveling magician. I’m looking for work if you know of any.” Fionnigan said as he took a pull from his mug.
“I don’t know of anywhere around here that would have use of a magician. Not much use for fancy tricks out here on the border friend.” The bartender said as he walked away.
“A simple magician doesn’t study under Kamal Mustafa at the high tower of wizardry.” Came a voice from behind Fionnigan.
Fionnigan turned to see his longtime friend Nakamura Toda-Mashi Kyoshiro standing in front of him. Standing beside Nakamura was a woman he had seen before and could not place where. He sat down his mug and reached out his arms to embrace his friend.
To Be Continued…


Top 
 Profile  
 
 Post Posted: Sun Jan 03, 2010 6:17 pm 
Offline
User avatar

Joined: Wed May 06, 2009 4:27 pm
Posts: 297
Location: Eagle Shire/King's Point
“I understand your request m’lady, and as the wife of my company’s commander, and a lady of the royal court I am compelled to oblige you. However, for reasons which are my own burden to bear I cannot honor it.” Said Fionnigan
“Why not? From what little my husband told me of you, your skills at the arts of magic were quite adequate, or at the very least were, and I hope still are, adequate enough for my needs.” Replied Lady Uziel
“She speaks the truth old friend. You studied at the high tower under the likes of Kamal, and Ryu Ivan Spellbound. Her request is quite simple for a mage of your abilities. Besides if I remember correctly your skill at scrying was unmatched.” Added Nakamura
Fionnigan could not deny this last part. He had an ability with the art of foresight that was matched by but a few. It was a gift he had inherited from his Melnibonian mother, and he had been able to see future as well as present events even as a child. However, in his youth the visions had come sporadically and without warning. The magical rites he had learned at the hand of his master Spellbound had helped him to focus his mind, and over time the visions came easier. This allowed him to scry with little to no effort, but had also created a dependency in him on the magical rites and sigils that brought them, to the point where Fionnigan could no longer see the unseen without them.
“That maybe true, and my ability with foresight is undeniable. However, I have not practiced magic of any sort greater than slight of hand and some minor can-trips in a long time. It was a promise I made to someone I loved and a promise I aim to keep.” Fionnigan barely spoke above a whisper at this last part
“Listen to me mage, I have not journeyed to another kingdom and back, and tracked you down just to be refused.” Lady Uziel said sternly
“Well m’lady than perhaps if I tell you of the tragedy that my last attempt to weave the magical arts wrought you will change your mind.” Began Fionnigan “Her name was Katherina Marawynn, and I met her shortly after the last charge of Gryphon’s Rage. You see I had returned to the kingdom of my birth in search of my brother Banquo. I needed console and succor in light of the events of the Dragon Wars, and I sought out my kin for it. You may remember him m’lady. Your husband had sent for him and our friend Arklon to ride with us during one of the orc invasions of the Celestial Kingdom.”
“Yes I remember that. The king had offered his armies in service to the Celestial crown and the elven council. My husband needed more gryphon riders to fill out his ranks.” Replied Lady Uziel
Fionnigan lit the bowl of pipe weed he had packed and went back to his story “That is correct. My brother was one of the best riders in the Haven Barony, as was Arklon. That being the case, he sent Thrannthallis and myself to request their aid. Well after that battle my brother and Arklon returned to the Haven, where Arklon became captain of the guard, and my brother settled down, married, and began raising a family. After the ill fated battle that saw the end of Gryphon’s Rage, I returned to the Barony. My brother welcomed me into his home, and I began to ply my trade in the Tower as an instructor in scrying. I met Katherina there. She was also an instructor in magical defense. She was the most beautiful woman I had ever met. Of course being half elven she had certain advantages over most women I had met in my life. She also had an ability with the arts of sorcery that surpassed those of even my greatest masters. Needless to say I was struck by the bolt of love, and I was powerless to stop it.” Fionnigan paused and took a drag off his pipe, blowing the smoke out of his nostrils like a dragon

_________________
"A mind needs books as a sword needs a wetstone, if it is to keep it's edge.”
Tyrion Lannister

I do not suffer fools gladly, and fools with white belts never.

Mortem proditoribus.


Top 
 Profile  
 
 Post Posted: Mon Jan 04, 2010 11:06 am 
Offline
User avatar

Joined: Wed May 06, 2009 4:27 pm
Posts: 297
Location: Eagle Shire/King's Point
“I eventually worked up the courage to approach this vision of beauty, and we found that we had similar interests. From that point on love moved with the swiftness of a gryphon’s flight. Our courtship was quick, and in the summer of my third year of teaching we were wed. We built a meager cottage on the edge of the Golden Forest surrounding the Lake of the Plains. There we started a new life, and I was free from the cares and worries of my days of combat. For a time things were peaceful, but those times came to an end once the forces of darkness began amassing at our borders. As the forces of orc, goblin, troll, and dark elf began marching across the plains Gryphon’s Haven was the first to fall. You must understand our Barony was on the border itself, and was therefore counted as a sentry town for the crown. So when the hordes began to mass around the border we were the first to muster forces and fight.”
“It was on the shores of the lake that our forces chose to make their stand. The Baron’s top strategists drew up a battle plan to use all of the magic users in the High Tower to open a dimensional doorway in the lake, and for our land forces to push the horde into said doorway. Well our forces contained a well paid traitor who leaked the strategy to our enemies. They managed to incorporate the aid of a lich, and he took possession of the mind of Headmaster Spellbound. The day before the battle he started killing wizards in the tower, students and teachers alike. One boy managed to escape, and he made his way from the tower to where our ground forces were camped. He was though quite injured and he knew that he wouldn’t make it that far. So he chose to make it as far as my cottage, it being located on the nearer shore.”
“He fell almost lifeless on our doorstep, and told us of Headmaster Spellbound’s betrayal. As I cradled him in my arms he slowly faded into deaths embrace, and by the time he was gone I was so enraged it was as if a wave of hatred and anger had broken on my heart. Katherina stopped me and calmed me enough to listen to her. She pleaded with me to go with her to the tower, and attempt to break the lich’s hold on the Headmaster. Having calmed considerably I agreed that this was the best course of action.”

_________________
"A mind needs books as a sword needs a wetstone, if it is to keep it's edge.”
Tyrion Lannister

I do not suffer fools gladly, and fools with white belts never.

Mortem proditoribus.


Top 
 Profile  
 
 Post Posted: Fri Apr 30, 2010 1:30 am 
Offline
User avatar

Joined: Wed May 06, 2009 4:27 pm
Posts: 297
Location: Eagle Shire/King's Point
“So we prepared ourselves, and set out to put a stop to the madness that had consumed the High Tower. As we came upon it we could see signs of destruction throughout the courtyard leading to the Tower entrance, and once we breached it's doors the evidence was overwhelming. Bodies of students and professors alike lie dead or dying all over the various floors of the Tower. Each new level brought only more carnage and my rage grew until we crested the top. There floated my former master, the head of our order, in a state unlike any I had ever seen. He began to taunt me with lies about my students and my lover in the tongues of the void. During this exchange my love was, unbeknownst to me, weaving a spell of exorcism. As my master and I exchange verbal barbs in the speech of daemons, she was pulling the lich out of Master Spellbound's body. However my anger had reached a level at which I could not turn back, and I hurled a lightning bolt at my former master. As I was beginning my incantation my love was finishing hers and Master Spellbound was no longer possessed by the time the bolt left my hands. Knowing this my love threw herself into it's path, and was struck.”

“She received the full force of the blast, and fell dead to the floor in a heap of charred flesh. I held the burnt body of my lover in my arms and howled to the gods above at my own foolishness.”

“Now let me ask you something m'lady, have you ever killed someone?” Fionnigan asked, his steely blue eyes piercing the smoke from his pipe.

“Well, no of course not.” stammered Lady Uziel.

“Well I have. I have killed men, orcs, goblins, dark elves, and more creatures than I care to list, and I have done so in service of both kingdoms that I have lived under. Most of those have never bothered me. I did what I did for my people and my kingdom, and some that I sent to the abyss deserved to be in no other place. However on that day I not only took an innocent life, but I took the life of the woman I loved. Let me tell you when you are guilty of such a horrific thing you long for death to take you. I vowed that day to never again weave magic on that level, and I have kept that vow. I plan to keep it until I have come to the clearing at the end of the road, and my body is burning on a pyre.”

_________________
"A mind needs books as a sword needs a wetstone, if it is to keep it's edge.”
Tyrion Lannister

I do not suffer fools gladly, and fools with white belts never.

Mortem proditoribus.


Top 
 Profile  
 
 Post Posted: Tue May 11, 2010 1:29 am 
Offline
User avatar

Joined: Wed May 06, 2009 4:27 pm
Posts: 297
Location: Eagle Shire/King's Point
The Last Gryphon Rider Chapter 2: The Scales of the World

Fionnigan Hellblazer walked into the Eagle's Talon Tavern and made his way directly to the bar.

“What can I get for ya soldier?” the barkeep asked.

“Give me a bottle of your best whiskey.” Fionnigan said as he set a gold piece down on the bar in front of him.

“Y-yes sir.” the barkeep stammered.

The barkeep ducked under the top of the bar and back up again with a bottle of deep amber whiskey. The bottle had a considerable amount of dust covering it. So much so that the thought occurred to Fionnigan that the best stuff must get brought out so rarely he might be drinking a one hundred year old whiskey for all he knew.

Fionnigan pulled the cork from the bottle with his teeth, spit it back towards the bar, and savored the bittersweet smell of fine aged whiskey as it rolled out of the ancient bottle. He put the bottle to his lips, feeling the slight tingle of the alcohol, tilted it back, and took a huge pull from the bottle. He than proceeded toward an empty table in the corner of the tavern. He took a seat at the chair facing the door, and pulled deeply from the bottle again.

On the other side of the tavern Dame Nightengael Bauhaus was in the middle of one of her best ballads. It was one Fionnigan recognized, the Ballad of Nevron the Brave. The tune was a very patriotic one, and yet had a strong sense of the tragic about it as well. It was a fitting tune to hear this soon after the kingdom had won it's final war with the Celestial Kingdom.

“What would bring a bard of the ranks of the royal court to this shithole?” Fionnigan wondered.

Fionnigan didn't have time to ponder this thought, because just as he was thinking it his oldest friend Thrann walked in to the tavern. Thrann immediately located Fionnigan and walked toward his table.

“I only just heard about Sura. How are you doing my friend?” Thrann asked as he took a seat at the table.

“Well I'll tell you once I'm done with this.” replied Fionnigan.

“How did she die?” asked Thrann.

“The healer said she came down with the plague. Said she must have had it since even before I left for the field, and it just finally wore her down enough it killed her.” Fionnigan said sullenly.

“God's below, was there nothing they could do for her?” asked Thrann.

“Apparently not. The healer suggested I see a priest. So I did, and do you know what he said to me? He said sometimes the world has to balance the scales, and that Sura's death was the universe balancing the scales of my life since I came back from the battlefront. Can you believe that?” said Fionnigan as he took another large pull from the bottle.

“Don't listen to those old fools. You didn't lose Sura because you lived through the war.” replied Thrann.

“So than how am I supposed to explain why she was taken from me? What did she just die because of pure cosmic randomness? Is that supposed to make me feel better?” asked Fionnigan.

“Well I wouldn't say it was randomness that cause her death either. Look the reason for her death doesn't matter. She's gone and you can't blame yourself for her death.” said Thrann.

Fionnigan tipped the bottle up again, and held it for a long time. He sat the bottle back down on the table, about one third of the ancient whiskey still in the bottle.

“You can have what's left of that. If you will excuse me I have to go attend to my wife's funeral.” said Fionnigan as he stood up and made his way from the table.

_________________
"A mind needs books as a sword needs a wetstone, if it is to keep it's edge.”
Tyrion Lannister

I do not suffer fools gladly, and fools with white belts never.

Mortem proditoribus.


Top 
 Profile  
 
 Post Posted: Tue May 29, 2012 10:05 pm 
Offline
User avatar

Joined: Wed May 06, 2009 4:27 pm
Posts: 297
Location: Eagle Shire/King's Point
Fionnigan looked up from the body of the boy had just exhausted himself to get to his cabin. As the young wizard's spirit was leaving his body Fionnigan felt it pass through him, and sensed the opening of a gateway in the prime material plane. He felt the young man's passing as if it were his own. He looked to the horizon and pondered one thing.

“If what this boy says is true than the enemy must know every bit of our plan.” thought Fionnigan “And if that's the case than our ground forces are walking straight into a trap.”

“What did he tell you?” Katherina asked.

“He said that Master Spellbound had begun acting strange earlier in the day, and then just before mid-day he began speaking the black speech and killing instructors and students alike. He said he has been barricaded in his study at the top of the high tower since he fled.” stated Fionnigan flatly.

Katherina turned around and headed back toward the cottages foyer.

“Where are you going?” Fionnigan asked.

“I'm gathering our things. If what that boy just told you is true we have to put a stop to this.” said Katherina.

“By the time we get there he could have every caster of worth murdered in that place.” said Fionnigan as he followed his wife.

“If we don't do something he will.” replied Katherina as she picked up her traveling bag.

Fionnigan knew Katherina was right. If they had even a minor chance of saving even a few of the more powerful casters in the tower than they had to take it. He began to ready himself for their journey. He headed to their bedroom and opened the chest that contained all of his casting equipment. He pulled out a set of robes that had pockets in nearly every possible crease and fold, some of which contained bags of holding sewn into them. This particular set of robes was a gift to him from the ambassador of the Celestial Kingdom. Fionnigan needed to gather nothing else, all the necessary items he might require for any number of spells was contained within this particular set of robes. He headed back toward where Katherina was still gathering her things.

“What if this doesn't work?” Fionnigan asked as Katherina prepared the components for a teleportation spell.

“First of all would you have a little faith? There's every possibility this will work. If it doesn't work than we teleport to the battlefront, and we ward the Baron and his commanders and then we try our hardest to open the portal ourselves.” Katherina as a matter of fact.

And with that the two disappeared from the front room of their home, and reappeared on the ground floor of the high tower of sorcery. As the witch and wizard ascended the spiral stairs rounding the interior of the tower bodies were littering every part. Some were still suffering the effects of the offensive spells used against them. They writhed and moaned in agony.

Finally the pair made their way to the headmasters office atop the tower, and Fionnigan hurled a large flaming sphere at the barricaded door. The door splintered into many pieces and flew into the headmaster's office. Master Spellbound sat at his desk his hands folded on the desk in front of him. His eyes were completely black in their sockets.

“Thrak ishi.” growled the master wizard in the cursed tongue of the black speech.

“Do not taint these halls with the tongue of the void you filth...”started Fionnigan.

“Hoshat dug'hai.” Master Spellbound growled. “Ugla sha kurv shatruag.”

“Shatruag pash narash kurv! Ash brishzel shakatrog!” Fionnigan screamed, and as he did a lightning bolt flew from his hands.

Katherina looked to her lover and then flung herself into the path of the bolt. The bolt struck her with full force in the chest, and charred her chest. The witch fell to the floor lifeless.

Fionnigan awoke with a start, and was covered in a sheen of cold sweat. He looked over at Vassalisa lying next to him, and stroked her hair as she slept.

_________________
"A mind needs books as a sword needs a wetstone, if it is to keep it's edge.”
Tyrion Lannister

I do not suffer fools gladly, and fools with white belts never.

Mortem proditoribus.


Top 
 Profile  
 
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
 
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 6 posts ] 

Board index » Emerald Hills General Forums » Role playing


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 25 guests

 
 

 
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Search for:
Jump to:  
cron