What Dirty Hands Do

[Ford 1996]

 

 

The Helderenberg -- an excellent ship, each plank sporting a robustness one would not expect wood from Axios to have, adequate living quarters, enough food to feed a small kingdom and -- most importantly -- cells strong enough to hold the most dangerous criminals in Aeldin.

 

The boat rested idly near the northwestern shore of Asul, trapped on a reef near the city of Al’Khaleed. A man in an apron frantically seeks out many an adventurer, a lumberjack, a housewife, a carpenter -- anyone whose attention he could possibly grab.

 

Sweaty hands and scalp emphasized his desperation, and immense gratitude was granted towards those who accepted his plea.

 

“Come, come! Please, you must! My friends and I were shipwrecked! They need my help! They are trapped beneath lumber!”

 

Those who followed him were led through the desert until they reached the site of the “wreck”. The apron-adorning man abruptly collapsed onto the floor, those clerics of the party far too late to save him. In almost an instant, he had perished from dehydration.

 

…

 

The group continued forth onto the ship, greeting its lifeless deck with skeptical eyes. They scanned the vicinity first, deeming it safe enough to delve down into the lower levels…

 

An assault ensued. Humanoid abominations of unknown origin and of different heights struck out from the darkness, clawing and gnashing at the intruders. Blood and refuse caked the walls. The luxurious living quarters of the Helderenberg were a cramped nightmare. Three mali’aheral struggled against the initial attack, a cleric holding out as best he can before passing out, managing to take one wretched thing out of commission with his magicks. The armored one and the female would manage to escape, but would suffer a worse fate later by hellfire.

 

The dwarf is a crafty bastard.

 

A woman would be held hostage, and due to her stubbornness, suffered severe wounds by the hands of a psychotic man. It was by the grace of a blonde half-elf and her deliverance of death upon the criminal that the injured woman would survive through the ordeal.

 

The human was a determined man.

 

Below the ship, two mali laid in wait, the sounds of battle and strife above conveying to them that they needed to evade the upper level for the time being. And so they waited in their cells, patiently, until all died down.

 

The elves are wary ones.

 

Blood and sweat were spilled on the already grimey floor, a brown-haired mali and his kin trying their best to defend from the encroaching horde of alchemical mishaps that were once men.

 

The dwarf did not make the situation very easy for them, tossing about alchemical fire and employing his creations to halt their every attempt at escape.

 

…

 

In the end, a lone Azdrazi in all of his draconic, scaled might held off the creatures in a small corridor, allowing the others time to escape and recover. Soon after, he fled as well and dived into the waters, swimming towards the shore. The homonculi suffered a horrid fate, promptly drowning once making contact with the water, but at least now their tortured minds would rest in peace.

 

And the fight of Helderenberg ceased. And quiet came. 

...

 

A trio of figures remain standing on the shore nearby the battered ship as night approached, one a tall, lithe man of resolute posture, the other a stocky, bearded fellow, and the other a woman of meager size whose hair flowed down to her shoulders.

 

Words are exchanged, their tones varying...

 

The dwarf departed from the two with a grumble, heading inland.

 

The elfess dipped her head, weary from the ordeal. She stayed beside the male elf, watching the dwarf take his leave.

 

The other mali merely looked out to the sea with a crooked smile and those ambitious, fanatical eyes of his.

 

Spoiler

Thank you to all who attended the event! Sorry for so few screens, but I had a lot of fun and I hope you all did too! Keep your eyes peeled for future events branching off of this one.

 

 

[arakrsptec 171]

Cyprian lightly patted the bloody blade he'd used to carve through the initial attack, the Clerics having healed the wounds dealt toward him as he held the exit.

[Cave_Creature 467]

Faeinn sure is glad she decided to turn around.

[Farryn 860]

Elvira slumped back in her chair, the cleric too exhausted from leading her clerics away from that blasted ship. It took her nearly most of her strength to heal Eris halfway and carry the poor young woman back to safety. The thoughts of what happened ran through her head and she rubbed her forehead.

Her fighting ones of those monsters.

Hearing the shout that the prisoners were holding one of her clerics hostages.

Swinging through the window and into the prisoner cargo hold.

Fighting the dwarf prisoner and blinding him.

Killing the damned prisoner who dared to harm one of the newest members of her order.

 

Even now, the cleric leader boiled with rage at the foul tactic: a cleric had healed and attempted to help them, yet they retaliated by holding her captive and nearly killing her. She felt a pang of regret that she had used the Arm of Tahariae too soon, which now reminded her to use such relic when truly needed. She did not wish to kill the prisoner but bearing in mind they bore the intentions to kill and were harming her cleric, death was the only option to ensure Eris survived.

Yet Elvira noted down the bravery of all those there, from those who perished to those who died. She will have to meet with Seyer, J'alan, Eris, and the Azdrazi Cyprian and thank them for their assistance. For now, she took a piece of parchment and began to write a report of such event.

[mitto 2312]

Moved to The Great Library. It shall be sorted into the appropriate category shortly.

 

If you feel this is a mistake, please contact myself or any FM and we'll restore it.