THE MORTAL MEN ARE COWARDS

[TaraJess 2854]

Spoiler

EVENT RETELLING, DO NOT METAGAME

shoutout spooks for the emotional damage, we love you guys to death :D

 

 

---

 

It was supposed to be just another trip among friends. 

 

Between the five of them, life had gotten busy. Promotions in work, shops opening, marriages planned, children had. Fifteen years of friendship between them all, but it really had been quite a while since the lot of them got together and simply went out and roamed the realm. It was exciting to be back together, hooves crunching on desert sand as the lot followed Aurellius this time around. For once it was not Johanna that had stumbled upon a new place to show off, this one was all his, a place once explored long ago.

 

It was along the Hyspian borders, upon the mountainside, where the cave mouth resided. Little resistance followed as the group had entered, for such would turn out to be a rather peaceful trip into the underdark. They’d wander below for hours, as like others, they would get lost here and there. But can one be lost when they don’t know where they intend to end up? Is that what the ancient people that lived down there thought? Were they so far lost that they’d erect civilization down below?

The steady grumblings the cavern provided has quieted for a while as the group stumbled upon ruins in the dark. They were beautiful, admittedly. Skylights found the surface of the world, and moonlight poured into the open vault where a supposed courtyard was. There was life down there, greenery, natural beauty in such darkness. And endless amount of corridors and rooms there were as well, libraries, bedrooms, and spaces without purpose, or perhaps such purposes had been quite literally buried beneath stone. 

 

The group marched up creaking steps into another section of the vault, perhaps a study. It was there that they took off with books, the leather-bound pages telling the story of that place and what happened to it. The words hidden in scripts were rather important, it was decided, perhaps enough to bring a bigger party to investigate later on. More wandering, this time to the exit, this time to sunlight. The next time, though, would be different. 

 

On a different day, they again returned to the Hyspian mouth. All of them were in tow, though Aurellius, begrudgingly, brought his beloved along for the trip. He had to, she probably would have followed them all the way out there out of pure curiosity. And besides, the rest of the group loved Astrid to death, she was a welcomed sight. Again, into the deep, they departed. The intent was to return to the vault, though it wasn’t long until the group found life down below, a group of Haenseti they stumbled into.

 

—

 

“Greye?”

 

Such was a familiar voice to Aurellius. “Don Petyr, Ai!”

 

“Eja, ve lot of vy! Ea wasn't aware many others knew ve way down here.” The Weiss man said, beside him, a dark haired woman, who questioned why we were all down there. We were there for the vault of course, perhaps they knew of those ruins as well.

“We are looking for more clues on the vault, though I heard there may be a necromancer lair down here too.”

Yeah, there would be a damned necro lair down here. You had to admit, there were signs of life all around, walled up entrances and camp fires that were scattered here and there. Such news wasn’t surprising.

 

“We know exactly where that is…” 

 

That was all it took. One moment we were going in one direction, next, we marched for all the suffering the underdark held. What is that phrase they say? Curiosity killed the cat.

 

—

 

How could a wall be the entrance to a lair? Such a question puzzled us. There were mentions of a hidden keyhole nearby, but even with all of us there, it was too dark. There was no way for us to find such a tiny sliver in pure black. 

 

BONG BONG BONG

 

The sound was faint to us… was it a… a bell? 

 

It was enough to spook us, quick glances being shared throughout the group. Somebody was actually there… were we even prepared for a fight? A fight was definitely to take place, this is a damn necro lair! The loud guttural voice was heard first beyond the wall.

 

“WHO GOES THERE!” It proclaimed, it echoed in the cavern.

 

Should we respond? Should we leave? Such was the smart thing to do, but oh, what if this was the only chance to see the super interesting necro lair we have found? 

 

Cold sweat is all I felt, my own stomach dropped. Sure, I had my own curiosity, but all of it ran away from me the moment I heard the gears grinding, a large stone pulled out of the way of their entrance. There was nothing now, between us and them. There was no earth to hide us from the absolute rot that took over our senses. 

 

“Come forth, your Master will see you now.” A new voice spoke. We all realized at that moment that an invitation was the last thing we wanted. We realized that we were there with no plan, with no real reason to be on the doorstep of death. More quiet muttering, more chaos. Stay or go?

 

“Have you no courage?” Again, the voice boomed. “COME FORTH!”

 

A look was sent over to the Haenseti group. “We usually get them outside of that door. We've never been in. If vy want a fight, take it now.” 

 

Scurrying footsteps, more numbers hid in the lair. Scraping noises of weaponry being drawn, and all I felt was the cold, the cold sweat. Had caverns always been so dark? Had I ever even been inside a cavern before the last excursion? What were we doing here?

 

It happened too quickly, there was no real plan, but instantly, the sound of shattering glass, and angry darkspawn. A potion had been tossed into the lair, something to stifle their vision, and Rylee had stormed into the lair. Perhaps it was all madness that had taken us over. My feet were moving before my thoughts were, I followed in behind, though not for the fight, but rather to get him out. Should they close that door, our friends ought to return home and start planning our funerals. A chunk of metal was sent flying through the air, it landed on Rylee’s head, hard. Hard enough that Rylee stumbled backwards into me, and through quick shuffling, I shoved him out of the corridor and quickly followed. I had no plans on joining the undead, for they reeked. 

 

Sparks, stench, the biggest war axe my eyes have ever beheld. Was that… a direwolf..?

 

A purple flame flickered in one’s hand, he stepped forth in the doorway as we fled. “Fools, all of you.” I could hear a voice deep down in my own consciousness, whatever he was, he was right. We were fools, we had no business being here. What were we here for? Glory? To simply say we were here? Were we mad? Perhaps the Haenseti were the only ones there with reason. “Get these people out. Vy will niet win this. Niet like this”

 

The mortal men are cowards.

 

“Wicker, attack.” A dead orc barreled down the hall towards me and Rylee. For a moment, I thought, ah, this is it. I shall never see my husband again, I shall never see my son grow. The potion then, was a panic response, tossed behind me as we exited the corridor, in a last ditch effort to slow the undead that craved our flesh. It was enough, in that brief moment. The necromancer spoke in black tongues, more beasts sprang forward. The lot of us bolted at this point, my friends went down the cavern the way we came, while I split and went up the cavern with the Haenseti. Rylee and I didn’t get very far though. 

 

The cavern illuminated then, so bright you would have thought the earth above us had been removed, and sunlight beamed in. But sunlight didn’t burn like that, it didn’t sting at the flesh like that. Such was unholy, the rain of fire that fell on Rylee and I. It was a choking feeling, as embers found their way between the plates of armor. 

 

Perhaps that was all it took, real pain. Perhaps that was enough for me to resign myself to cowardice. This was not how I want to go, in the deep underdark, far from home, I am not even thirty. They are right. I am the mortal man, and I am a coward. 

 

It all blurred after that. I watched as a wicked stream of azure flame roast Rylee in his steel suit. I could smell his flesh as it fused to the armor. Perhaps unconsciously, I prayed for the end of that suffering, for it was horrific. 

 

I heard the crunch that was the result of the war axe bashing in Aurellius’s head. It echoed through the darkness. Perhaps I felt Aurellius’ soul leave that cave, for every blood vessel in my body seemed to tighten all at once. The sound of a skull cracking open is unforgettable.

 

I listened to Mons’ screams as his arm was nearly severed from his body. He put his entire being into blocking that axe, but such was useless when you are fighting an undead orc. Such pure strength was incomparable.

 

I watched Esta be swarmed by darkspawn in her last ditch effort to save Aurellius, she dropped soon after like Mons and Rylee did. Everyone who was in the lower part of the cave was as good as dead then. 

 

Would I have met the same fate if I had followed my friends? I am the disloyal one now? What use am I dead though now as they are? Why am I to die? Just to avoid the title of a coward? Am I to die for some ideal such as honor and loyalty when I have people to go home to? A son who needs me? 

 

—

 

Daylight. You think such would be as sweet as honey after being in the underdark, but it burned. Why did it burn so much? I removed my helm, it clanked against my armor as I wandered. Why was the sunlight burning me? Why did it sting so bad? Was this God’s punishment? The light given to me by the sky above was to torment me now, for I got to see the sun again, and they did not. Why do I still smell it? The rot, and the burning flesh. Why did such a stench cling to me? Am I not wandering through a field of daisies now? Are those not butterflies that fly past me? Bees that hum in the trees nearby? Is that not a birdsong I hear? I am above the ground still, so why is the underdark following me?

 

[xDisarray 553]

Spoiler

Such a sad, sad day… ;(

 

[Monty Cobra 921]

Spoiler

Our final Boys trip...

 

[Yeetboy0206 1574]

Spoiler

Time for trauma lol.

 

[zuziee 4004]

Far away across the continent, Philippa had gotten used to lighting a candle in the church every night, uttering a prayer of protection for all her loved ones. 

[BurberLord123 375]

The Armored One stood, resolute upon the scene, he hated not his opponent, for he had faced him in combat with no hesitation. This lack of hatred was not to say he did not enjoy it, for the sound the mans skull made when his two handed mace made connection, this was what fueled him through the flames that licked upon his blackened shell.

(Thanks for the RP gang, love yall!)

 

[__Stal27 2148]

From the faraway palace of Balian, a Princeling seemed lost in his thoughts, eyes pointed to the skies as he mused the readings of a book. "Some men are born to live for their people, others are born to sacrifice themselves for them. . ."