The Chronicle of Heroes ~ Of Fiends and Shadows

[Summerstream]

(Time to break the chain combo of posts )

<Read more...>

“I don't like heading into stuff like this blind, so I'm coming in with you. I pray to Yggdrasil that they're both conscious so I can ask them about what they saw...”

“And I'll patch them up as good as new!~” Sophie giggled enthusiastically. “And I'll patch you up if you get hurt, Sis~”

Summerstream put her hand on the door frame belonging to the room where she kept her armor on a stand. “I don't plan on getting hurt, you know. Either way. Let's hurry up and get to Prontera. I'll drop you off, come in and check if those two soldiers are conscious, then go check out what Niflheim is like... I can plan from there how to approach this.” Summerstream smiled at her younger sister before she started to don her armor.

Mystra's castle, hmm? Hard to think that is where Lucretia was almost a year ago. Summerstream couldn't help but smile a little to herself as she clipped her cape into place and fastened her silver leaf in sight.

“Hell or high water, Yggdrasil protect me.”

[Aaronock]

"We sent the king of Rune-Midgard three viable choices for this little excursion into Mystra's castle. And...well, he has picked you for several reasons." A burly man with a long pipe smoked behind his desk. "You are given a good bit of free reign for the mission in how you decide to dispatch the monsters and spirits lurking around that castle.

Another man, more lithe and tanned, took a heavy huff from his own oaken pipe. "I see, did he tell you why he chose me in the end? I am not exactly the most skilled in dispatching spirits and monsters..."

The burly man grinned wide, pipe still clutched between his teeth. "Ah Ezekiel, his majesty says that you know the lay of the castle probably better than anyone." Here, the master rogue being given this information shuffled a little in the chair. It was true he had gone in and helped Lucretia approximately a year ago within its halls. His eyes gazed away momentarily to the grey stone walls at the side of the office, his mind lost, and missing the fae princess.

"...And, he hopes you may find out something about the potential...nastier...connections, and the hush hush stance Lord Matthew and the Dark Allegiance has chosen to take surrounding the situation." Ezekiel snapped back to reality then, and considered the offer before him.

"What if I am uninterested?" Ezekiel sighed and breathed out a heavy cloud of smoke from his pipe.

"Would be ill advised in this case master rogue. Unfortunate as it is, seems he recognized your face from some work you did a few years back, in your, uh, other life?" The burly man was referring to Ezekiel's time living back in Alberta, taking care of much of the family business with interior decorating. Upgrades were performed on many of the castle's lights and chandeliers then, and that must have been the work Ernst referred to.

"Sunnava bitch, you have to be kidding?"

"The longer hair, and uh, different attire didn't fool him. In fact, he came here personally to deliver word with the most sincere smile on his face, 'I hire, no, command, Fazil Reis to handle this job as a citizen of Rune Midgard taking orders from his king.' But if it means much, he spoke well of your reputation, as a man who will do as asked, and stands with some level of conviction. And he felt that mattered more despite the other candidates' experiences."

Ezekiel was secretly fuming, and bit hard at the tip of the pipe in his mouth. "Fine, how much is it he pays? This is no short task, I already know it will entail more than simply whatever occurs a few days from now."

The burly man shrugged and blew out a couple of puffs of smoke. "This is too true, but for now your orders are already sealed. King Ernst will pay you accordingly to each task." A few pages of paper were passed to Ezekiel across the desk.

As the rogue glanced at the words in the contract, he read off the payment for the original orders and nearly fell out of his chair. The burly man folded his fingers and propped his elbows over the desk. "Your reputation is getting a little bigger than you expected, hm? But the rate the Midgardian King pays is more than proper for a seasoned master rogue like yourself."

"Th-th-this is insane. I...do not even have words."

"Welcome to the big leagues, no more need for the mercenary life. If you take this job you could potentially have more Zeny than the whole of your parents' estate before the end of it. Do better with that wealth, screw your parents who turn their noses up at anyone they deem lesser."

Ezekiel briefly pondered it, taking a piece of the King's wealth seemed tempting, and it would open the doors to opportunities he could not even currently fathom. With a nod, he shook the burly man's hands. How much did it matter that Ernst knew who he was, perhaps it was more convenient than he could currently read? It did fit into a grander scheme, to make way and merge his dual lives into one.

[GM-Ciar]

Bump, reminder: The event is tomorrow at 8:00 PM EST



Here, have a teaser of what awaits the brave heroes:

[The Midgard Times]

Yesterday, a group of heroes, led by recently-promoted International Agent Adelaide, ventured into the abandoned Mystra's Castle. In it, they discovered the building was booby trapped, powerful necromancy kept the earlier expedition crew alive, and the doors to some parts of the castle were hexed shut.

An old spirit warned the crew that the castle had been defiled with sinister magic, and the keys of an organ that opens the doors had been hidden. After finding them in relatively simple locations, Adelaide deduced whoever had been in the castle wanted the team to succeed.

The team ran up the east tower to find a swirling black vortex of energy at the rooftop. It seemed to attract the spirits and undead, making them restless. After destroying it, Adelaide and the group scoured the rest of the castle for more vortices, eventually destroying them all, and finding something else.

In the deepest part of the castle they encountered a broken down wall, which revealed a tunnel lead to an ominous-looking chamber. A lone pedestal stood at the center. Adelaide deduced the intruders took whatever was on it.

On their way back to the entrance of the castle, the team battled the entity that had recently been attacking both the spirits and the living: A reaper, most likely sent by Hel herself to put the ghosts to rest. As if that wasn't enough, the creatures within the castle were in an uproar over the destruction of the vortices. The group of heroes bravely fought hundreds of fiends that sought to escape the castle, eventually defeating them all.

It is still not known who intruded upon the castle, but alarmists claim we will know soon enough.

<><><><><>

"You called, sir?"

"Tiamat informed me of your findings."

"Yes."

"No one recognized the rest of the undead knights?"

"No, sir."

"Hmm, thanks, and stay undercover. Adelaide doesn't trust either allegiance's investigators."

"Yes, sir."

<><><><><>

And thus ends the first RP event! Thanks to everyone that joined, but we're only just getting started! There's more to come in the following weeks~


Additionally, Mystra's Castle will be open for approximately 2 weeks! Monsters there will spawn naturally, as well Two MVPs, Midnight Jack and Hanz Von Abendroth, which can be found in the underground passage and rooftop respectively (Both MVPs respawn every 5 to 6 hours).

[The Midgard Times]

Walking along a lonely road of a desert canyon town, Ostellos and a hooded Lord Matthew talked about their antics at Mystra's castle.

"What does she plan to do now?" The lord knight asked, in a hushed tone.

"She'll retrieve the fragment, one way or another." The scholar responded, nonchallantly.

Matthew stopped and looked straight at Ostellos' face. "Amaria's now in charge of Fairyland's defense system. Those golems are not to be trifled with."

Ostellos chuckled, haughtily. "We do not 'trifle' with anyone. We will take advantage of their preparations for the auction retrieve what was taken from Mystra's castle."

<><><><><>

The next event will be happening on Thursday, July 28, at 9PM.

More info to come in the following days~

[GM-Ciar]

Bump, reminder: The event is today at 9:00 PM!

[The Midgard Times]

15 minutes ago, the Moscovian Government reported one of their flights went missing some time after departing from a nearby island town. Not much is being divulged at this point, but exclusive sources tell us the airship's tracking system was turned off mid-flight. All countries are on high alert.

<><><><><>

Reminder: The event is in 20 minutes! And don't forget to bring demi-human resists!

[The Midgard Times]

Earlier tonight in fairyland, a stolen Airship violently crashed into Fairyland Palace's west section. An emergency broadcast was promptly issued and adventurers from across Midgard were called upon, arriving in Fairyland to help reinforce the palace. Along with the head of the golem defense system, Amaria, they secured the main rooms and protected Pixie from a group of invaders.

The attackers used summoning scrolls to sic all sorts of fiery beasts on the reinforcements, among other diversions. Amaria and the group apprehended the attackers and chased the remaining ones to the vaults, where they found a mysterious man holding a large mirror fragment.

The man revealed himself as the once-deceased Ostellos, the reason why a portal to Muspelheim opens every week in Niflheim. According to him, he has returned to take back the world for the Dark God Erebos. After seducing several members of the reinforcements to join him, Ostellos ordered his newfound allies to fight Amaria and the reinforcements. They were quickly defeated, however, much to Ostellos' chagrin. Considering the bested allies to be weak, Ostellos turned on them, before being defeated as well.

In the end, Ostellos and the remaining followers escaped with the mysterious mirror fragment. Some claim Lord Matthew was present in the attack and assisting Ostellos, but it has not yet been confirmed.

Some time after the attack, allied forces raided the temporary Dark Allegiance Headquarters and detained councilmen Sir Melot and Rajnish to be questioned thoroughly. Under the international law commonly known as "Veritable Emergency", approved during Kushiel's reign of terror, any citizen can be detained during an attack of this type, without the right for bond or to be tried in court. Warrants to detain councilmen Ciar, Matthew and Tiamat have also been issued, but their whereabouts are unknown.

Light Allegiance Head Councilwoman Lady Thea has made the following statement regarding the recent events:

"Tonight the world has come to learn an unsettling fact. Ostellos roams this realm free again. A man who promises a golden age, but will only bring death and destruction in an attempt to rebuild the world in Erebos' image. A man who, under any circumstance, cannot be trusted... I urge the Dark Allegiance to reveal any information they might have regarding this dangerous man, and to work together with us to put a stop to him."

Regarding the stolen mirror fragment, it is currently unknown what its use is or why they want it, though it's assumed it will be used for nefarious means. Pixie claimed to not even know they had it hidden within the palace vaults and promised a thorough investigation would take place to find out how they obtained it.

It was only a few months ago when Midgard was threatened with destruction. Now a new danger has risen and is on the move. We urge adventurers to be extra careful when venturing into the wilds.

<><><><><>

Thanks for joining the event, hope everyone enjoyed it! I actually expected about ~15 people to join like the last few times, but we had around 30 participants! It was hard for some to keep up with the fast pace of the event and high amounts of people, but I've learned from this event and will try my best to slow down a bit next time.

(For those who were curious about ostellos, his previous "exploits" can be found here.)

[Summerstream]

Recorded the event again~

[Click me to download~]

[How to play .rrf files]

[The Midgard Times]

During an exclusive interview with Pixie today at Kaldheim in the Lutie region, she revealed a bit of info she learned about the mysterious Mirror Fragment stolen from the castle recently by Ostellos.

According to the results of the investigation she had ordered, the Mirror Fragment was originally in Mystra's Castle. The ex-War Chief of the Fairies, the now deceased Amdusias, took it to Fairyland after the siege of the castle, and had it stored in the deepest part of the fairies' treasure vaults. The use of the stolen artefact remains unknown. Upon their release after being detained, Dark Allegiance Councilmen Melot and Rajnish refused to answer questions from the media. They only commented that they were working with the authorities to find Ostellos as soon as possible. The Dark Allegiance's press secretary informed us Tiamat and Ciar were taking a well-deserved vacation in Malaya Port, and would be unavailable for the following weeks.

<><><><><>

Somewhere in an undisclosed location...

Opening his eyes slowly, a gunslinger found himself chained to a metal chair. The room was dimly lit by a lamp dangling from the ceiling, and the only sound the man could hear was the clinking of the chains that bound him. After a few seconds of struggling to break free, a figure walked into the room. "He's awake." The woman announced to someone else.

Another figure, male, walked in shortly after. "Well, well... What have we here. One of Ostellos' brothers'-in-arms." The man very smugly pointed out. Approaching closer, the light revealed their identities to the man. Tiamat and Ciar, not on vacation at all. "Let's make it easy for you." began the woman, patting the prisoner on the head as she walked around him. "Answer our questions, and no harm will come to you." Her voice was surprisingly menacing. "Where is Ostellos?"

"Go to hell!" the gunslinger exclaimed, trying to slip out of his chains.

"I expected you wouldn't talk. You were in Rajnish's troops, after all." The scholar explained, as he approached the man. "He probably wouldn't shut up about how we were just weak pacifists..." Ciar stopped, as he stood behind the prisoner, who couldn't turn back to look at him. The scholar put his hands on the chair as he leaned in to whisper. "You fear Ostellos more than you fear us... But we can be cruel when we want to."

A sudden jolt of lightning passed from the scholar's hands to the metal chair, shocking the gunslinger for a few seconds. The man let out a loud gasp, but tried to keep calm.

"I'm... not talking." He said, before being shocked once again, this time for several excruciating seconds.

"He needs to get wet." She told Ciar, motioning him to return to her.

The scholar reached into his pockets for a yellow stone, waving his other hand in the air as if he was grabbing something. The moisture from the air began to condense, precipitating to the floor as commanded.

The gunslinger struggled futilely, trying to break free. Tiamat stood in the puddle of water and raised both of her hands to waist level. "You know what's about to happen with the waterworks, so I'll ask again. Where is Ostellos?" She asked, the water hovering upwards slowly.

In response to the silence of the prisoner, Ciar took off his scarf, forcefully tied it around the prisoner's face, and inclined his head at 20 degrees. Tiamat violently sent the water swirling around her toward the prisoner. The man began to gag and choke. After the stream of water subsided, Ciar spoke again. "I'm sorry. I couldn't quite hear you. What are Ostellos' plans?"

The gunslinger simply coughed, squirmed and struggled against his restraints. No response. Ciar sighed and placed his hands on the man's head. Sparks flew. The man shook and yelled violently, before becoming unresponsive.

Ciar checked for a pulse. "...I guess we went too far with our playing." He commented, looking at Tiamat. The man was merely unconscious. For now at least

The woman shook her head. "I told you to never start with the head. They get fuzzy."

"We'll return later, then." The scholar replied. He put his arm around Tiamat, and the two nonchalantly walked out of the room. "I know how to distract you in the meanwhile.." Ciar muttered softly to the enchantress at his side.

<><><><><>

The next RP event will be happening sometime next week, keep your eyes peeled for updates!