Gunndyr (plot)

[Deus Mortus]

((As with the Warrior Guild Jobs, I will sometimes godmode to keep things on track, I try to allow freedom, but I don't want you blowing up yourself on accident or silly things like that. Also we take turns posting so everyone has an equal chance to react.))

The portal arises in the middle of a alrge city in the realm of Gunndyr on what seems to be a stage of some sort and Tinderhall steps through, nearby him is small girl, 3 perhaps 4 years old and looks at him with a mix of fear, curiosity and reverence.

Tinderhall gives her one slight look, draws his blade and decapitates her, the small body immediately slumps over and the head rolls of the stage in the crowd.

[Destro_Yersul]

One of the NPC's in the crowd picks up the head and hides it in his backpack, hoping everyone will be too busy watching Tinderhall to notice.

[Deus Mortus]

((O_O heh, but if you want to join, could you do it through the raiding the workers thread, I know continuity is long dead, but I try to honor it every once in a while ;) ))

[Destro_Yersul]

((Oh, alright. I didn't actually know this was connected, and you did say it was in the middle of Town, so...))

[Deus Mortus]

((Ah my fault, it was in the middle of a large city in Gunndyr in another realm, my bad))

[Destro_Yersul]

((Ok then. In that case it was just a random NPC with a strange affinity for severed heads. I'll go find that Raiding thread now...))

[Deus Mortus]

((Here it is (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=33148)))

[Lord Magtok]

Magtok opens a portal, and arrives at Gundyr. He is followed by the Rogue Android through the same portal.

[Deus Mortus]

Some armed guards start to walk to Tinderhall, but before they can reach him, he slams to the ground with one hand and shouts, NULLIFY LIFE, after which a dark wave rolls out, every living thing the wave touches stops living, they seem to be fine, but they simply stopped being alive. Rogue Android, go find the sorceror, he is a good 100 miles to the southwest, can't miss his home it's a giant tower, Magtok, the forges are in the eastern part of the city, you can go there and I will ask Maerok to send you some extra aid once he has animated some undead.

[Destro_Yersul]

A suspicious looking NPC that is not an NPC steps through the portal from Tinderhall's realm. What... I... do?

[Deus Mortus]

Tinderhall looks at the NPC, Depends, who are you and what can you do?

[Destro_Yersul]

I... Damn this stupid body! Hello. I've taken control of this NPC here, and his way of slowly talking has been driving me mad since it started. I suspect it has to do with the devouring of his soul, a task I've nearly completed. Anyways, I don't actually have a name. I'm what Destro would be, if he was evil. My specialty is making things die in extraordinarily horrible ways, and remaining unseen while doing it.

[Deus Mortus]

Good enough for me, there are several army's scattered around this realm, who will soon attack us, I want you to prepare for when they come and when they do, kill all their high ranking officers.

[Destro_Yersul]

Can I take one of them over as well? This particular body is running out of usefulness, with its soul almost gone and all. Too bad. It was a very tasty soul, too.

[Deus Mortus]

I heard one of the army's is lead by a particularly strong warrior, a living legend here, I would suggest taking him over.

[Destro_Yersul]

Excellent. I'll go make preparations. The not-NPC wanders off.

((Dinner. Back soon))

[Deus Mortus]

((Later))

Very well.

((maerok, you coming in?))

[Maerok]

Maerok drifts through the portal, his eyes glowing with red and black. He listens in on Tinderhall's directions to Magtok and seeks out reinforcements. The demilich hovers over a nearby group of locals and unleashes his true tainted aura, the sinister energy he had been holding back for quite a while in the Town. Waves of decay and desolation envelop those nearby. Those who fall return to their feet as a grim tableau of undead, their specific types of undeath seemingly at random.

[Deus Mortus]

When you're done Maerok, send some to help Magtok and use the rest to guard the walls.

[Destro_Yersul]

((Ok, I'm back))
The NPC returns. Say, when do you suppose these armies will be attacking?

[Deus Mortus]

Do you see that large tower up there with the light in it? When it goes out the other nations will know there is something wrong and mobilize, should be any moment now. The light sizzles out.

[Destro_Yersul]

Well, isn't that just excellent? Shall I go see if I can find this great leader, in order to possess him?

[Maerok]

"Will do." He animates a row of corpses. "I've saved you", he mutters under his breath as they are reduced to a bodiless existence. With a pulse of sentience, he grants the undead in the area rudimentary intelligence and orders them to secure the walls.He suddenly begins work on a rune in the ground, seeking to open a portal to Dread Nirvana.

[Deus Mortus]

They should be here in a day or so, I want you to posses him then and use him to cause confusion, until then I want you to go to a village a mile or so north from here and kill everyone there, make sure to leave anough remains so they can be animated.

((Mearok, I already killed every living being here with my nullify life spell))

[Destro_Yersul]

Can do! I'll find a new host there too. Hang on, probably be faster if I... The NPC collapses forward, neither dead or alive. Something wispy and transparent pulls itself out from his back and takes the shape of a humanoid figure. ...remove myself from that pitiful frame and simply go in a straight line.

[Deus Mortus]

Then go, I want it done before the armies arrive.

[Maerok]

(where are we exactly? :smalleek:)
OOC Edit: Fixed the prior post.

[Destro_Yersul]

Right, I'll see you later. The ghost of Not-Destro orients itself towards the village Tinderhall wants it to go to and takes off, passing through trees, bodies and other solid obstacles as if they weren't there.

[Deus Mortus]

The village is your normal mudhole farmer's town, a lot of wooden houses and large inn in the middle, people everywhere are hard at work and children are playing in front of the inn.

[Destro_Yersul]

The ghost decides, in its sadistic fashion, that having a child kill them all would be ridiculously fun. He floats over to the inn and tries to possess one of the children.

[Maerok]

Maerok finishes the Burning Sigil rune, and activates it, slowly burning a 'tunnel' through the void between the staging grounds of his army in his demiplane and where he floats.

[Deus Mortus]

There a few children there, three particularly peek your interest, a small blond girl with big blue eyes holding a teddy bear, a large bully and bit shy boy being bullied by the bully.

[Destro_Yersul]

The ghost decides to go for irony and picks the shy kid. He overlaps his existence with the boy, and tries to take over his motor functions.

[Deus Mortus]

The kid poses no real resistance, but the shy girl points at you as soon as you are in the boy and starts to scream in fear.

[Destro_Yersul]

The ghost who is now the boy points at the girl and screams back. Then he closes his fist, the effect of which will crush her ribcage if it works.

[Deus Mortus]

The spell seems to have no affect on her and she throws her teddy bear at you.

[Maerok]

Maerok finishes the Burning Sigil and opens the sun-like rune so that his army may pour forth if needed in the future. To prevent entry or exit until that time, he activates the semi-opaque covering of the rune.

[Destro_Yersul]

Ah, bloody hell. The ghost catches the teddy bear and throws it back. He spends a thought to make the bully fall over backwards, too. Just because he can.

[Deus Mortus]

The bully blasts backwards and dies by the slam against the wall, the teddy bear however seems to burn your hands and the moment it lands on the floor, it starts growing into a grand white bear, twice the size of a normal one. The patrons around you are all looking shocked at you and the girl.

[Destro_Yersul]

This is all very weird... The ghost in the boy runs away from the bear, figuring that's what any sane kid would do.

[Deus Mortus]

The villagers come by from the shock and start to chase the boy, one of them screams, THE SEER ATTACKED HIM, HE MUST BE A DEMON!

[Destro_Yersul]

Well that explains it. The ghost quickly makes a plan. He runs into a dead end alley, and turns to put his back to the wall.

[Deus Mortus]

The mob quickly fills the gap between so the entrance to the alley is blocked, the bear stands in front of them.

[Destro_Yersul]

Come on, come on... The ghost in the boy looks left and right, and tries to act scared.

[Deus Mortus]

the mob and the bears close in.

[Destro_Yersul]

That's right. I hope this works, or I'm going to have to get out of here very quickly. The boy tries to back up and finds that his back is already against the wall. Have to time this just right.

[Deus Mortus]

The bear charges forward attempting to maul you.

[Destro_Yersul]

Just before the bear gets to him, the ghost pops out the back of the boy and slides through the wall behind it.

[Deus Mortus]

The bear mauls the boy, before it's able to react and the mob burns what's left, afterwards they return to the inn.

[Destro_Yersul]

That was quite effective actually. Now, where's that girl... The ghost sets off to find the blonde girl and make her die.

[Deus Mortus]

You find the blond girl in the inn again, playing with the white bear, at the tables in the inn the people are loudly talking about how they killed the demon.

[Destro_Yersul]

This time the ghost tries to possess the blond girl. Come on, work...

[Deus Mortus]

You enter the body but you are cast down in a large ring, in front of you Valkyrie and the bear, We will not allow you to live!

[Destro_Yersul]

How does that work? I'm already dead! The ghost tries to figure a way out of this one that involves lots of bleeding and screaming on the part of people who aren't him.

[Deus Mortus]

Dead perhaps, but we will destroy until even undeath is beyond you! the girl strikes down with a blade and in pure reflex you block it, when you look closer to yourself you notice you are armored in black plate armor with a large greatsword.

[Destro_Yersul]

Well THIS is very excellent. The ghost raises his blade and grins. I'd like to see you try. He swings the greatsword at the girl, wielding the massive blade with one hand.

[Deus Mortus]

The bear jumps in front of it to protect the girl, it is torn in pieces with just one blow, HOW CAN YOU DO THIS? THIS IS MY MIND!

[Destro_Yersul]

Because I can. Your mind or not, I do whatever I want. The ghost spins the sword and advances, breaking into a running charge after the first couple steps. He brings the sword down towards the girl.

[Deus Mortus]

The girl parries the blow and sends you flying for a few feet by a punch following up the parry.

[Destro_Yersul]

The ghost lands on his feet. Impressive. He spins the sword again and sends a jet of flame at the girl.

[Deus Mortus]

THAT IS NOT PO- the girl burns away and you gain control of the body, you can feel the power seated within it.

((I have to go now, let's continue this tomorrow))

[Destro_Yersul]

((Alright. I have work tomorrow, but should be back some time around six PM PST, or earlier))

Excellent. The ghost who is now the girl continues what she was doing before his possession attempt and plots his next move.

[Lord Magtok]

Meanwhile, Magtok leads a dozen robotic man-sized spiders swiftly towards the forges, as the Rogue Android flies to the castle via jetpack.

[Deus Mortus]

((Sorry my internet connection is going awry to say the least, it should be repaired by monday/tuesday, but until then it's going to be rather unstable))

No one seems to have noticed the change in the girl, the only change that can be seen is that the shade of the bear's eyes is no longer yellow but red.

You find the forges behind the heat of a dozen large smith's fire is a thick adamantite door.

The flight goes normal until the android is swept down by a fierce wind and smacked unconscious against the a mountain.

((Destro you now have control over the girl and the bear, Magtok the door is also enchanted and can't be destroyed, search the room for clues how to open it. The rogue android will start repairing itself soon, or something similar, but not just yet))

[Lord Magtok]

((Okay. The robot has an auto-repair thingy, subject to Plot damage and disabling.))

Magtok scans the room with his ghostly red robot eye, hoping to find a clue that would allow him to open the door. Meanwhile, the spider bots are chewing away at the door, with no progress made at all, due to the aforementioned enchantment.

[Deus Mortus]

You see a man in better clothes then the rest laying on the floor.

[Lord Magtok]

Magtok orders a spider to lift him up, and search him. If the guy is awake, having a giant robot spider stick its legs in his pockets and such likely would be terrifying.

[Deus Mortus]

You find the following items:

A metal key
A small missive
A note
A small note
and a few gold pieces

[Lord Magtok]

Magtok reads over the notes, and commands the spider bots to search for a keyhole.

[Destro_Yersul]

((Alright. I'll try to post whenever possible))

The ghost, who is now the girl continues playing with the bear, trying to look unsuspicious. Of course, he also sets about using what magic he has to create a string of little yellow beads. He also tries to set the heart of a random tavern goer to stop sometime within the next several seconds. Preferably someone older, and easily subject to things like heart attacks.

[Deus Mortus]

Missive:

When the earth is bound to a soul,
When the fires are loved by a heart,
When the hammer is wielded by a strong arm,
Then I shall open to give the earth,
Then I shall open to give the kiss of fire,
Then I shall open to hand over the hammer.

Note:

Burrow, I would like to lend the books of attunemend, could you put them in the chest of my apprentice? It's the large red one with the eagle engraved on top, I think this one might make a good mastersmith.

Small Note:

2 bottles of wine
1 wheel of cheese
4 hard breads
1 gallon of milk

Oh and if they have some of those small fruits I like, please bring them too, love you always, Jennivere.

The yellow beads form slowly and an older men in front of the fire seems to fall asleep.

[Raistlin1040]

Deigrian falls from a portal.
If I ever ascend to godhood, the god of plots will be the first to feel my wrath.

[Deus Mortus]

Oh that *******, tried to kill him multiple times however one way or another I always got sidetracked by quests. Anyway, I want you to stand on guard, slow down any enemies coming here with illusions and the such.

[Raistlin1040]

Sure whatever.

[Deus Mortus]

Well are you going to or are you just going to stand there?

[Raistlin1040]

Hmm. There isn't anyone here to guard against.
Deigrian turns and begins "guarding"

[Deus Mortus]

Not right now, but in a few days there will be multiple army's of hundreds of thousands on our ass and I have no doubt that scouts will be here soon, so you either are going to take this serious or I will make sure that the first thing those armies encounter is you, understood?

[Raistlin1040]

Fine. As it is I've been working on a mass phantasmal killer so I'll take care of the scouts easy.

[Deus Mortus]

Good, you can use the large tower in the middle of the town for it, Pit has a few scrolls that will help you with it.

[Raistlin1040]

Alright.
Deigrian teleports to the tower

[Deus Mortus]

Pit send him the bloody scrolls.

Yes my lord.

A few scrolls of all seeing mind appear in the tower, it allows a mind to focus on an area of 500 miles around it, allowing the mind to see, hear and know everything that is done there. You can also manifest your powers in this area, but you can't use your body while using the spell.

[Lord Magtok]

Magtok orders the robot spiders to scan the contents of the entire room, while Magtok thinks over the missive's riddle.

Something about a hammer and fire. Both are associated with forges. Hmm..."When the earth is bound to a soul, When the fires are loved by a heart, When the hammer is wielded by a strong arm...maybe only a smith can open the door...

Magtok carelessly telekinetically chucks the searched man at the enchanted door.

[Raistlin1040]

Deigrian casts the first scroll

[Deus Mortus]

The man bounces off.

Deigrian drops down as he lost control of his body and instantly is aware of the entire area around the city, it seems the city itself is shielded from scrying.

[Raistlin1040]

((Gotta go do chores and play Bauldur's Gate. Feel free to NPC Deigrian. I'll stay on for a few more minutes to answer any questions. PM me.))

[Lord Magtok]

Magtok looks for a blacksmith type person to chuck at the door, and has the spiders search and scan any books in the room.

[Deus Mortus]

The room is filled with blacksmiths, about 50 of them, the spiders run around and scan the entire room, they find well over 500 books.

[Lord Magtok]

This may take awhile...

He begins to chuck blacksmith after blacksmith at the door, and orders the spiders to scan every word of every book for more clues.

[Deus Mortus]

((You might also just want to check the large red chest <_< ))

A pile of blacksmiths starts to form at the base of the door, however it seems to have no effect, not even a scratch or dent.

[Lord Magtok]

Magtok realizes its not a specific blacksmith who can open the door, and rereads the note.

That's what I get for skimming when I read...

He then uses telekinesis to try to open the chest with the key.

[Deus Mortus]

The chest has no lock, so it is opened even without the key, within it are 3 letters.

[Lord Magtok]

Magtok reads the letters, and orders the spiders to hold their positions for now.

[Deus Mortus]

The task of earth

The earth is our mother and we all posses a part of her,
The earth's heart is her rock,
The earth's soul is her metal,
Let the earth's soul become part of you and you shall be bound.

The young fire

No love is wilder then that of fire,
Let her burn your heart and her love shall be eternal.

The hammer

In this documents are instructions on how to craft a hammer following a special ceremony, you notice that in the plans there a hollow part in the wooden handle and in the metal head. To craft this you will need 10 bars of adamantite, 10 bars of mithril, 2 bars of blended quartz and 1 large piece of ironwood.

[Lord Magtok]

Magtok attempts to turn a dozen blacksmiths into androids, and tasks them with gathering the supplies for the hammer.

Meanwhile, he uses a portal to bring a computer, and has it analyze the clues.

[Deus Mortus]

The supply's are quickly gathered, the computer's results read as following:

ERROR FATAL PLOT FAILURE

[Lord Magtok]

Crap. I hate Windows XP...

He has the guys get to work on the hammer, doing what they can without a furnace, since none is available.

[Deus Mortus]

((Erm did I not say the whole room was filled furnace's?))

[Destro_Yersul]

The ghost smiled inwardly at the string of yellow beads. It used the girls eyes to look around at the rest of the bar, checking to make sure no one was watching. Then it mentally snapped the string the beads were on and let them roll across the floor. Then it put on what it hoped was a concerned look and started crawling after the beads.

[Lord Magtok]

((Oh. Whoops.))

The androids get to work on the hammer.

[Maerok]

Maerok has his army of the undead deconstruct any nearby buildings and objects to help reinforce the gates, build spiked walls in any choke-points in the roads, and construct catapults. He also casts a proper amount of desecrate spells and unhallows across the area along with spells to hamper light/good-based energies, preparing for a possible counterattack.

The undead dwarven drilling machine from the mine travels the portal into the area from Dread Nirvana and begins digging trenches.

[Deus Mortus]

The people in the inn hardly pay attention to you, though some give you a small pat on your head and a loving smile.

((Magtok, you might want to consider first solving the puzzle before making the hammer))

The digging machine has some trouble with the hard rocky surface, so it only operates at a very slow pace.

[Destro_Yersul]

I can't find all my beads... The ghost/girl continues looking for beads, hoping he got the voice right.

[Deus Mortus]

A waitress walks towards the girl, You should drink something honey, you sound a bit gruffy, why don't you go to uncle Marn and I'll look for those beads. The waitress points towards the barman and smiles to you.

[Destro_Yersul]

The ghost nods and walks over to the bar. It smiles inwardly as it thinks about what it's about to do. As soon as it is out of the way, all the beads it isn't holding explode. Electricity arcs everywhere, probably killing a good number of the patrons. Your call, of course.

[Deus Mortus]

Th inn quickly catches fire and multiple patrons are electrocuted, chaos is everywhere as people try to flee.

[Destro_Yersul]

The ghost quickly steps outside, utilising its magic to phase through the wall. Once outside it creates walls of force to surround the tavern, trapping the hapless townspeople inside.

[Lord Magtok]

Hmm...maybe if I try to put all the notes together?


The task of earth

The earth is our mother and we all posses a part of her,
The earth's heart is her rock,
The earth's soul is her metal,
Let the earth's soul become part of you and you shall be bound.

The young fire

No love is wilder then that of fire,
Let her burn your heart and her love shall be eternal.

Missive:
When the earth is bound to a soul,
When the fires are loved by a heart,
When the hammer is wielded by a strong arm,
Then I shall open to give the earth,
Then I shall open to give the kiss of fire,
Then I shall open to hand over the hammer.

[Deus Mortus]

((Destro are you still in the girl or did you leave her in the inn?))

((Magtok, read the damn clues :P ))

[Lord Magtok]

((I've got a pretty good idea of what to do, but Magtok prefers to just try random things until he gets the answer. He doesn't like to think about riddles.))

He thinks over the clues while his player has to go do something.

[Destro_Yersul]

((Still in. Should have made note of that))

[Deus Mortus]

You hear screams of panic from within the inn and people are rushing over to try and get in.

[Destro_Yersul]

The ghost/girl looks at the inn and drops the walls of force, willing it to explode spectacularly half a second later.

[Deus Mortus]

Some people outside the inn are wounded, but most are left unharmed and alive.

[Destro_Yersul]

The ghost/girl quickly counts the number of people left. He wanders over towards the inn to make sure his count was correct.

[Deus Mortus]

47 adults 18 children and 9 elderly

[Destro_Yersul]

The ghost/girl decides those are too many to take on all at once. It starts by magically and imperceptibly removing several major organs from some of the adults.

[Lord Magtok]

Magtok decides to highlight sections of the clues to help organize the info.


The task of earth

The earth is our mother and we all posses a part of her,
The earth's heart is her rock,
The earth's soul is her metal,
Let the earth's soul become part of you and you shall be bound.

The young fire

No love is wilder then that of fire,
Let her burn your heart and her love shall be eternal.

Hammer Instructions....

Missive:
When the earth is bound to a soul,
When the fires are loved by a heart,
When the hammer is wielded by a strong arm,
Then I shall open to give the earth,
Then I shall open to give the kiss of fire,
Then I shall open to hand over the hammer.

[Maerok]

Infected humanoids and vats of contagion are dragged out of Maerok's portal by teams of zombies to fill the trenches set up on both sides of the walls.

[Deus Mortus]

It doesn't work completely, it seems the girl still is resisting a bit, some people fall down, but most remain alive.

The clues look very neat right now, but it doesn't solve the puzzle.

Maerok, is there any way you can actually zombify enemies from a range?

[Maerok]

"Er... Yes, I can modify certain spells to raise those they kill. Or I could raise the corpses from a distance. Why do you ask?"

[Deus Mortus]

In what kind of scale could you do this?

[Lord Magtok]

Magtok gets annoyed with the clues, and attempts to use his ghostliness to pass right through the door. He braces himself for the deity Plot's cruel interference.

[Deus Mortus]

You pass through the door, only to find yourself reappear from the same side you entered.

[Lord Magtok]

((Not me, him. We share the same name, but Lord Magtok the Player is a completely separate entity.))

The ghost curses, and decides to try to decipher the first clue.


The earth is our mother and we all posses a part of her,
The earth's heart is her rock,
The earth's soul is her metal,
Let the earth's soul become part of you and you shall be bound.

Missive:
When the earth is bound to a soul,
Then I shall open to give the earth,

[Destro_Yersul]

The ghost/girl thinks to itself: Good thing I didn't abandon this form. It seems the spirit of this one is strong willed indeed. I'll have to do something about this...

While it is thinking this, it tries removing some more organs magically, then checks the number of remaining people again.

[Deus Mortus]

((Can't you just call him Player Magtok or something, rather confusing and could you just solve th puzzle, you need to do a second one and I have a timeline planned out and else everyone will have to wait xD ))

You seize up in cramps and fall to the floor as the girl's spirit is battling you for dominion over the body.

[Destro_Yersul]

Shock it! The ghost fights to maintain control, ceasing its focus on the world around it.

[Deus Mortus]

You once more find yourself in an arena, but this time the girl is armed and you are naked.

[Destro_Yersul]

Great. Well, looks like I'll have to rely on my other abilities. The ghost tries to create something to wear, at least.

[Deus Mortus]

Nothing happens and the girl storms at you, trying to strike you with her blade.

[Destro_Yersul]

Okay.. The ghost throws itself out of the way and rolls to its feet. It throws a jet of fire at the girl.

[Deus Mortus]

The girls comes after you with surprising speed and just before her hit connects you close your eyes, when you open them again, you find yourself in a large green grassfield.

[Lord Magtok]

I suppose "the earth's soul is a part of me..", but I think the second clue about fire is a bit odd. Hey you! Robot spider! Throw yourself into the furnace! *Snicker* But seriously, maybe I should do something with a furnace...

He rereads this:


No love is wilder then that of fire,
Let her burn your heart and her love shall be eternal.

...And then slaps himself in his wispy forehead.

Of course! I put the heart, or earth into the fire, or furnace, and then something or other should happen... I guess...I'll work the rest out in a few minutes...

He has a robot put some rock into a furnace.

[Deus Mortus]

The rock heats up.

[Destro_Yersul]

Weird. The ghost looks around suspiciously. Where is this?

[Deus Mortus]

The view is idyllic the sky is clear blue with some white streaks, butterfly's and birds fly around and you notice a road a bit to your left.

[Destro_Yersul]

I wonder if I can still use magic here. The ghost starts along the road, trying to create a little flame on the end of a finger as he goes.

[Deus Mortus]

A few sparks come forth, but you are immensely tired by the act.

[Destro_Yersul]

Bloody hell. The ghost gives up and simply walks along the road for a while.

[Deus Mortus]

After a while you see a small cottage and a pile of clothes in front of it.

[Lord Magtok]

The rock heats up.

Magtok then orders a strong robot to finish the hammer, and pound it against the now softer rock.

[Destro_Yersul]

The ghost walks over to the cottage and pokes the pile of clothes.

[Deus Mortus]

((THE PILE OF CLOTHS EAT YOU!!! :P ))

It's a pile of clothes, it doesn't do anything.

[Destro_Yersul]

The ghost picks up the clothes and puts them on. He walks into the cottage, assuming the front door is unlocked, and looks around.

[Deus Mortus]

((I'm going now, we'll finish this later))

[Maerok]

"On a large scale. Some of the darker spells will cut down a mess of them only to raise them again, as you apparently have plans for."

[Deus Mortus]

Very good, one of the army's is lead by a church, they have rather powerfull weaponry against the undead and their army is a few thousand strong, do you think you can cut them down before they can unleash any spells? They only need a moment to kill all undead here...

[Maerok]

"A church? Well then, this calls for quells. Big ones. They'll cut off their divine power, and lead them into a slaughter. Should have planned for this before... I'm prepare some tempests of the blackest magic." The skull drifts back to the edge of his portal, ordering for several teams of the undead creatures to set up hidden positions with overlapping areas of effect. He also has boards set up across the contagion moats built around the wall, on the attacker side, with weakened planks so that the weight of a few men will set off the death trap. With the traps set up, he begins work on runes drawn across the walls facing towards where the attackers should be coming from.

He organizes his skeletons into squadrons of archers, along with battalions of zombies wielding swords and shields; each one infused with the power to bestow a most destructive retribution on those who might slay them.

[Deus Mortus]

Might not work, the high priests are avatars and from what I have heard most black magic does not trouble them.

[Lord Magtok]

Hmm...what have I done so far...well the earth's soul is a part of me...I've put burned the heart...


The task of earth

The earth is our mother and we all posses a part of her,
The earth's heart is her rock,
The earth's soul is her metal,
Let the earth's soul become part of you and you shall be bound.

The young fire

No love is wilder then that of fire,
Let her burn your heart and her love shall be eternal.

Hammer Instructions....

Missive:
When the earth is bound to a soul,
When the fires are loved by a heart,
When the hammer is wielded by a strong arm,
Then I shall open to give the earth,
Then I shall open to give the kiss of fire,
Then I shall open to hand over the hammer.

[Deus Mortus]

((You're going at this at totally the wrong way, but it amuses me since I figured you'd try this first...))

[Lord Magtok]

Magtok suddenly gets aggravated with the riddle, and attempts to do each of the things mentioned in the clues literally. That includes putting his ghostly heart into the furnace to burn it.

[Deus Mortus]

It doesn't do anything.

[Maerok]

"Avatars... To which god? I'll need some time to think on a proper counter-strategy... Accursed clerics."

[Deus Mortus]

I do not know to which god I am afraid, there seems to be only one god in this realm, but all residents simply refer to him as The Ancient, The One or God. What I do know is that this is a powerful deity and has power beyond this realm.

[Maerok]

"Any notable temples or strategic points that I might be able to strike in order to create a suitable diversion? If they can be delayed for however long it would take to perform our duties here... The common undead are no good against the divine."

[Deus Mortus]

Temples are scattered all over the place, but there is a large one a hundred or so miles from here.

[Maerok]

"Alright then. It sounds like I should send a few legions of my finest. I need directions to the three closest temples: divide and conquer, or at least delay."

[Deus Mortus]

A few scouting groups finally arrive and Deigrian should be able to see them.

The first is a small church who's priest recently been given sainthood, it's about 200 miles to the east, just over the large river that also runs through this town on a hill. The second is the temple I was talking about, it's just over 100 miles north, but it's protected against scrying so I don't know the forces there, the third is the headquarters of a paladin order, its 15 miles west from the second temple.

[Destro_Yersul]

((Hi. Sorry I haven't been on at the same time as you for a while. I still wish to be in on this though. If you could post a reaction to my posts, even if I'm not on, I will reply to it when I get back on. I still check this thread whenever I can, and I do read everything, so that would be great. Thanks in advance :smallsmile:))

[Maerok]

"Alright then... I would definitely love to add the saint to my ranks, and if the priest's divine abilities can be used against the others that would prove to be very useful. I'll send a legion of 100 devourers to the small church, two more legions to the temple, and four more to the headquarters. And for each, I'll send some undead clerics to desecrate and unhallow their sites for as long as they can... Along with squads of quells to cut off their divine magics. Mostly to distract, but if any warrior should prove worthy enough, like that saint, I think it would be worth the effort to take them."

[Deus Mortus]

((Whoops, I thought I replied to that, sorry))
((Also Magtok, if you really can't figure out the puzzle, PM me, else please just solve it so we can move along...))

Inside you find a small greenery with plants everywhere and bend over old lady taking care of them.

I understand, I will provide some backup as needed, I can reach those sides if really needed with some firepower, but not very accurate. I however can't leave here though, due to some preparations I have to make.

((Just rp them leaving))

[Destro_Yersul]

The ghost looks around and walks up to the old lady. He realizes things here may not be as they seem, especially with the whole magic difficulty. *Ahem* Hello.

[Deus Mortus]

The old woman doesn't turn around, Yes yes yes, I'll be with you in a second darling.

[Maerok]

Maerok sends off his forces to their destinations, giving each group a small trinket with which to contact him.

[Deus Mortus]

The first group arrives at the church just before dusk, the night is young and there are souls to be reaped...

((Could you tell me what devourers are? If it's in a book just tell me the title.))

[Maerok]

(Devourers: http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/devourer.htm
Quells: Libris Mortis)

[Deus Mortus]

((Alright, well rp the legion when you're ready))

[Destro_Yersul]

The ghost sighs and taps her on the shoulder. Look, could you tell me where I am?

[Raistlin1040]

Deigrian casts summon Monster X to amuse himself and posts his summons as sentries.

[Deus Mortus]

Like I said in a moment, patience is a virtue boy.

((Raistlin check a bit back in the thread, there are some scouting party's nearby))

[Lord Magtok]

Magtok takes a moment to sort out the clues in front of himself, and does something vague and unspecific that likely has a major part in solving the riddle.

[Raistlin1040]

Deigrian blasts the scouting parties with some maximized fireballs.

[Deus Mortus]

You kill three of them, but one seems to be protected to good to get killed by such a spell, they are now carefully advancing, looking for the person who cast that spell.

[Raistlin1040]

Deigrian flies down by him and smirks. Hey. Ready to die? He draws his magical spear, charges it and strikes, his spear loaded with pure energy. Long batlike wings explode from his back and his eyes flash red. His voice deepens
So this is the power of a half fiend. I like it. I like it a lot.

[Deus Mortus]

((Dude they're miles away from you and you are inable of movement in the large tower, as to scout it, you're able to see and hear everything in 100 miles radius around you and you can cast spells/manifest powers in that radius, but you can't move...))

[Raistlin1040]

((Teleport? And I can just cancel the spell I was using. I have like 2-3 scrolls left))

[Deus Mortus]

((Alright, if that's what you want))

He pierces one of the scouts, but before he can continue a thundering voice is communed to him telepathically.

WHY THE HELL ARE YOU OUTSIDE OF THE TOWN, COME BACK YOU IDIOT!

((The thundering voice being a pissed Tinderhall))

[Raistlin1040]

Deigrian sighs and teleports back, but not before stabbing a few more scouts and eating their brains. (Tastes like chicken!)

[Deus Mortus]

The scouts all die and once you are back you hear Tinderhall's voice again, this time calmer, You're here to guard, when you're not in the tower focusing on the spell you can't guard which puts me at risk, pull something like that again and I will kill you.

[Raistlin1040]

If you are strong enough to kill me then you don't need protection. If you do need the protection then I could kill you faster then you me. So it's a moot point. The demon voice stops Besides what's wrong with me having a little fun?

[Deus Mortus]

I am very capable of doing this alone, the reason I took all of you here is too see how good you were and to forge new alliances. So trust me, I am very capable of taking you out, secondly fun is ok, but not when it endangers others in your team.

[Raistlin1040]

Well I'm very good at what I do. You'll be fine

[Deus Mortus]

I'm not kidding, don't try it again. The presence of the voice disappears.

[Raistlin1040]

Pfft. Old man trying to control me. I could easily take him.
It's not a matter of whether you could. It's a matter of why.
Father?
Yes Deigrian. We may be evil but we still make alliances. Don't knock an ally unless you know his power. This...tinderhall could be a valuble ally against the forces of good. Like that paladin you want to kill.
Ekrath? He's no threat. Not anymore.
I wouldn't be so sure. He's been training intensly and is as powerful as you in your normal form.
But I've got my half-fiend form now.
Yes but Ekrath may prove to be tougher then you expect. Maybe you should ask Tinderhall for help.

[Lord Magtok]

((Is the android going to awaken sometime? I'm sure you have this all figured out, but is it soon?))

Magtok continues to do something that likely comes close to solving the riddle. ((Had I known in RL what the solution was, it would've been easier to describe his actions.))

[Deus Mortus]

((No it's when we have killed the whole plane off, give or take some, the solution is simple, place the soul of earth in the handle and the love of fire in the metal head ;) ))

[Lord Magtok]

((Argghh! So SIMPLE! And I didn't get that!))

Magtok (with the help of a sudden message from the heavens) solves the riddle.

Meanwhile, the Rogue Android's circuits play Pong to pass the time.

[Maerok]

The legion positions itself around the small church. Quells move in especially close to cut off the divine spellcasting of any clerics. Undead spellcasters begin to scour the area with divinations, looking for any signs of life.

[Destro_Yersul]

Alright. The ghost looks around, glancing at the interior of the cottage.

[Deus Mortus]

The hammer is quickly finished and it seems to shine with an unnatural glow.

A beam of light erupts from the church door, turning about 20 of the undead ((of Maerok's choice)) to dust, a man radiating with light steps outside.

The woman turns around to Destro, Now you mind telling me what you were thinking of hurting that poor child?

[Lord Magtok]

Magtok orders an android to try to smash down the enchanted door with the hammer.

[Deus Mortus]

The android raises the hammer to the door and tries to smash it with all his might, it doesn't seem to do any damage, but a few moments after the android hit the doors, they swing open.

[Lord Magtok]

I suppose that was unneccesary. Come on, my minions. Let us continue.

The group travels through the open doors.

[Destro_Yersul]

The ghost of not-Destro ponders this question. Which one? The little girl? My thoughts were that, left alone, she would get in the way of my mission.

[Deus Mortus]

Inside is an enormous deposit of all kinds of rare materials, seemingly endless.

Well I suppose all of them, but the girl in particular yes, what mission are you on?

[Lord Magtok]

Magtok eyes the treasure with suspicion, as he orders several androids to scan and investigate the wealth.

[Deus Mortus]

The androids remain busy and report it will take several days to catalogue all the metals, though one of them found something different then standard bars, in the middle of the room is a black metal box with a lock on it.

[Lord Magtok]

Magtok takes the key from before, and inspects the keyhole to dteremine whether the key will unlock the box. Meanwhile, he formulates a battle plan for an attack on the Town with a holographic display in front of him.

((Hooray for multitasking!))

[Destro_Yersul]

Kill everything in that village. Now can you tell me where I am?

[Deus Mortus]

The key looks like a perfect fit for the box.

The woman shakes her head, Look behind you...

[Maerok]

As twenty of the devourers are dusted, the remaining force begins to approach en mass. Half of the devourers (40) unleash rays of enfeeblement while the other half (40) calls in planar allies (hell hounds). Waves of quells begin to work together in trying to cut off the man's divine power.

[Deus Mortus]

The quells are chanting, but it seems to have no effect as another beam from his hand erupts evaporating half of the quells and 10 of the hell hounds.

[Maerok]

One of the devourers takes the token of Maerok and activates it to send a distress message before it rallies all the others into a rush for the defender of the church.

[Deus Mortus]

The man raises his hand once more and a wave of light ushers forth, pushing back all devourers and killing all the quells.

[Maerok]

Half the division tries again while the other half splits off and tries to enter the church from another way.

[Deus Mortus]

Those rushing in are quickly killed and those looking for another way find nothing, except perhaps trying to break through the solid stone walls.

[Maerok]

The creature holding the token begins to slam on it even harder, unsure if it is working or not.

[Deus Mortus]

The distress signal flares up.

[Lord Magtok]

Seeing as the key will fit, Magtok attempts to open the box with it, and look inside.

[Destro_Yersul]

Ok... The ghost steps to the side and turns around to see behind him and keep an eye on the old woman at the same time.

[Deus Mortus]

Inside is large golden anvil, scribed with magic runes, it emanates incredible power.

As you turn around the world back of you has changed, you are standing in a jungle of dead plants, you hear screams coming from everywhere.

[Maerok]

Maerok picks up on the signal flare and he drifts off towards the light to help out.

He arrives to see the man attacking his army.

[Deus Mortus]

The man doesn't seem to notice him as he continues to assault the undead.

[Lord Magtok]

Magtok attempts to translate the magic runes on the golden anvil with some ridiculousy large computer pulled from his portal thingy.

[Destro_Yersul]

Interesting. The ghost sets off through the jungle, trying once again to magically create a light.

[Maerok]

Maerok summons an Elder Earth Elemental and another one soon after, which promptly burrow under the ground towards the defender.

[Deus Mortus]

Your computer is unable to translate it as it is infected with spyware.

The light fizzles and anyway you go, the screams get louder, you also notice you are no longer a ghost, but in the body you were born in.

The defender tries to blast them with the light rays, but they bounce off as they are meant as anti undead weapons, he then fiddles a bit with his bracers.

[Maerok]

Two pairs of rock arms surge up from the ground and try to pummel him as Maerok launches a fireball at the church itself.

[Deus Mortus]

The man is grappled, but speaks a few words and a whirlwind of force surrounds him, the church quickly catches fire, well atleast the wooden furniture inside.

[Maerok]

Maerok cackles, unleashing an Evard's black tentacles spell before closing the distance. He lets his tainted depravity manifest itself as a blackened aura.

[Deus Mortus]

The tentacles are swept away and so are the elemental, he points a rod at you and fires an intense beam of light, it only misses you by a hair, but you notice how deadly it is, only one hit will kill you.

[Lord Magtok]

Damn cheap firewall...

MAgtok simply decides to take the hammer, and just for the fun of it, orders a group of robots to smith a sword, using the furnaces to melt some metals, and then finally the special hammer and anvil to bend it into a proper shape.

[Deus Mortus]

The moment one of your androids touch the anvil it destroys them, leaving ashes saying "You are not the mastersmith".

[Lord Magtok]

Damn...somebody clean up the ashes, I'm going to go work on battle plans and look for this mastersmith person.

[Destro_Yersul]

Damn. The ghost continues on, wondering at his non-ghost form. I wonder if anything magical works here.

[Maerok]

The demilich calls up a storm of vengeance, seeking shelter in the bleak clouds as he directs the entire spell against the man.

[Deus Mortus]

As you walk on you come upon the edge of the forest and before you you see a desert of red sand, spread across the entire desert are corpses and souls mourning over their own death.

The man makes a wave with his hand and pushes away the storm.

[Maerok]

"You prove to be more of a nuisance than I originally thought..." Calling on power from evil forces beyond, he launches a fell animating, widened acid fog, aiming to land it in the church. "And you'll be a worthy trophy in the end."

[Deus Mortus]

The man inhales a deep breath and then blows away the fog.

[Maerok]

Maerok begins to return from the skies, try to employ telekinesis in order to throw the capable opponent into the church wall.

[Deus Mortus]

Your efforts bounce of the man, he fiddles a bit with his bracer and he knocks back, pushing you a few feet back.

[Destro_Yersul]

The ghost, or rather, the thing that used to be a ghost, sighs. People were suffering and he hadn't caused it! This made him annoyed, so he started off across the desert, hoping to leave all the stupid people who dies before he could kill them far behind.

[Maerok]

Maerok sees the bracer and channels a disintegrate spell at it as he realizes he is running out of options.

[Deus Mortus]

As you walk through the desert you notice all the people bare your face...

The bracers explodes and the man is sent a few feet backwards, but then grabs a golden staff and sticks it into the ground and a sphere of force surrounds him.

[Lord Magtok]

((Psst...What do I do now?))

[Deus Mortus]

((Who here qualify's as a master craftsman?))

[Destro_Yersul]

Curious. The ghost furrows his brow and continues. If all of these are me, how am I here? For what purpose? And who cares? I'll find a way out of here eventually. And when I do I think I'll go on a nice big killing spree to cheer me up. Call it insanity, call it his nature, but not-Destro is only a little bit put off by this. He stopped for a second and tried talking to himself. Then he realized the irony of the situation, laughed, and moved on. Someone up there is, quite possibly, more sadistic than me. I love it...

[Deus Mortus]

As the ghost comes to peace with them being him, they start to walk towards him, their hands stretched out.

[Destro_Yersul]

The ghost raises an eyebrow and continues on at his level pace. Anything you want from me? I've decided you're probably figments of my imagination, but if you aren't why don't you all come along and we can kill some stuff. Or maybe you wouldn't like that. Aren't you dead? He quickens his step in order to keep ahead of them.

[Maerok]

"I see someone is pulling out the whole toybox..." Maerok launches a greater dispel magic spell over the area where the defender, who he must assume to be the saint, is standing.

[Deus Mortus]

It is no use, one of them reaches Destro and touches him, an image is conjured in your mind of one of your killings, but you are the victim and feels everything he felt, the pain and fear is horrible.

The magic surrounding the man is instantly gone as he looks shocked at his items.

[Destro_Yersul]

The ghost/Not-Destro drops to his knees from the pain. Hey, I remember this one. Oh, that one hurt. Good, I had planned it to- erk! That was even more painful than I expected. Damn I'm scary. I really should- gah! save.. that one.. for later.. use. Don't want to die. Not again, not here...

[Maerok]

Maerok raises an unholy aura and approaches the saint, trying to paralyze him forever with a touch.

[Lord Magtok]

((Who here qualify's as a master craftsman?))

((Magtok?))

He drifts over to the destroyed anvil, and examines one of the pieces.

[Deus Mortus]

The assault of memory's continues on, with every touch one of them disappears, but there are so many of them it seems that it is endless.

As Maerok touches the saint, he instantly is paralyzed, though it seems he is still in full control of his senses.

((The anvil isn't destroyed))

(Sorry for my absence, work caught up to me)

[Destro_Yersul]

Damndamndamn... I.. can.. resist... this... The ghost then laughs as an idea comes to it amidst the pain. It releases its hold on what was left of its sanity and simply takes the memories as they come, cackling madly the whole time.

[Deus Mortus]

The wave continues for what seems an eternity, until all the suffering is done and all your copy's are gone.

[Destro_Yersul]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! The ghost stands up. Gone, gone, everything is gone! Kill again, make some more, hmm? Let's just continue, going on and on and on. He laughs again. First sign of insanity, talking to myself. I know, but we've established that I'm mad. Mad? I'm not mad. I'm just crazy! Still laughing, he stumbles off into the desert.

[Deus Mortus]

As you walk on the desert starts to change, at first slowly, but with every step you take it changes faster.

((Could you PM some info of your char's youth?))