Blrrrglglgl’s Tale
By William A. Thorn
During the 14-hour siege of the marble tower in the Plague Lands, the group found a few opportunities for respite. While a couple kept a watchful eye out the arrow slits for the next wave of blood plagued horrors, the others rested in nervous silence, their gazes fixed upon nothing or upon whatever they fiddled with in the hands. During one of these respites, Blrrrglglgl suddenly spoke, his gurgling “Blrrrglglgl,” breaking everyone’s torpor and drawing their attention. Vallen translated for him, and what he had to say was a tale of his time abandoned on the Island of Marr.
So, I was sitting there on the beach, minding my own business. Dwarf Guy left with you all, you know, to go looking for something and left me behind to watch over the others. I guess the others were scavenging around for stuff to put in the iron crab, you know? From time to time, they began bickering about something or other, but the Silver Human Guys calmed them down. So, there was nothing for me to do but sit back and enjoy the sun and waves.
Dark Human Guy was hanging around a bit, breathing in some kind incense though a little stick. He was eyeing me, so I hollered out to him, “Yo, what up Dark Human Guy?” He walked over and said, “Hey Fish Guy, you want to try some ganja?” Or at least that is what I think he said cuz I don’t understand human speak, you know? I wasn’t sure what to make of it, but he insisted. I guessed breathing through the little fire stick was like drinking different kinds of drinks for people who could only breathe air. So, I took the little fire stick and breathed in.
I didn’t find it pleasant at first. I choked and coughed a bit, and the Dark Human Guy was laughing at me. I was like, “Yo, man, I’m feeling your negative vibes, man. Chill out,” you know? And he showed me how to do it, and soon the both of us were sitting back giggling at the Silver Human Guys barking at the Pirate Human Guys over how to fill the iron crab and make it walk.
Everything was chill, you know? We were chilaxing when a scuffle broke out over by the crab. The Pirate Human Guys were fighting with each other over something again, and the Silver Human Guys were once again trying to settle them down, but suddenly swords started swinging. The Silver Human Guys joined in. Me and Dark Human Guy were like, “Chill out bro! You’re disrupting the cool beach vibes. Try to relax and take it all in” But that didn’t stop them, and blood was being spilled all over the beach. Like come on man, it’s mother nature man! Have a little more respect, you know?
Anyway, during the melee, one of the Pirate Human Guys got into the iron crab and sealed himself in it and then tried to walk it into the ocean, I guess toward the ship. Except the the iron crab sunk into the sand. Well, that got everyone’s attention and they stopped fighting, but they were all pumped up with negative vibes and started hollering at the driver and banging on the iron crab to get him to open it and all. To be honest, the guy was trying to steal it all for himself, which was, like, not cool man, but when you got a bunch of swords swinging in your face, what would you do?
Anyhow that went on for some time. It eventually got dark, and me and the Dark Human Guy built a campfire, and we roasted some fish and baked clams that I caught. It was like real cool. We had ourselves a little clam bake right there on the shore, man, of the dreaded evil isle, man. How cool is that man? And spooky. The Pirate Human Guys and the Silver Human Guys settled down joined in the moment. The Dark Human Guy pulled out some more of his ganja sticks and then everyone mellowed out, but that one Pirate Human Guy stayed in iron crab. I mean, I guess he was pretty upset about it all.
The next day wasn’t much different. I mean, there was a lot less fighting, but we were all kinda bored. The Silver Human Guys finally got the iron crab opened up and found the driver guy inside dead. I guess he fell asleep and suffocated. It was kind of a bummer, but that’s kinda like karma, you know? He did kinda bring it upon himself. They just closed up the iron crab and waited around all morning for you all to return.
It wasn’t long after I returned from the water with some lunch later when we heard a great crash over the waves. We looked out over the ocean and there she was, this giant mermaid Sea Goddess. She had risen from the water next to our ship. The Dark Human Guy was impressed with her majesty, or it could have been her giant bosom or midriff, I can never tell what gets humans worked up. She towered over the ship like it was a toy, and then we heard cannon fire. Like, really bro? A giant, busty Sea Goddess comes over to your place for a visit, and all you can do is shoot at her? I mean, offering her a cool ale might have gotten you a lot farther, man. Uncool. Well, it didn’t take long for her to bring her trident down with one swoop and crack ship in two. Then she sunk back into the water without a word.
We were like wow man, you know? What are we going to do now? The Silver Knight Guys are going to be pissed. No one had been smoking that morning, well except for the Dark Human Guy, but it wasn’t an illusion. Within a few hours, debris started coming ashore. There were also some survivors who rowed to shore in the little boats, but it was mostly dead bodies. The Dark Human Guy wanted us to to drag the all the bodies on to the beach, and I was like, yeah bro, I’ll help ya. It’s the least we can do. We can wrap them up in sea weed and send them to Davy Jones’ Locker, but that’s not what he had in mind. He started doing some weird magic and they started getting back up again! I mean, they weren’t quite the same, but they walked and shuffled around. They didn’t do much besides follow the Dark Human Guy around, but otherwise they weren’t a nuisance.
The Silver Human Guys, though, they didn’t like the idea and they protested the Dark Human Guy using his magic on their bothers. That’s cool man. I mean, if they were my brothers, I’d be kinda bummed out to see them walking around, mumbling and groaning, all dead and stuff. It’s not good for the aura, you know? So, the Silver Human Guys took the dead brothers and buried them further upland on the island. I followed and watched, and I found the ritual a bit strange, but to each his own, man. I’m not going to judge, you know?
That afternoon, the Old Human Guy and the Shield Robot Guy Showed up. They looked quite concerned and spoke to the Silver Human Guys. I don’t know what all the fuss was about, but I guessed you all were having some problems finding your magic crystals. But, we didn’t go help you all. I guess you told them to stay and wait. And wait we did. It was the next day that we heard the huge crash and boom from somewhere further inland, and that was when the sky grew dark and things turned for the worse. I mean, I was enjoying the clam bakes and all, and doing a little spear fishing and clam diving, but the others started to get a little worried.
I mean, I think the Dark Human Guy’s followers were already making everyone a little nervous, but this made it worse. As they days wore on, everything got more tense. But I think it was when the ganja ran out that everyone started picking fights. First, the Silver Human Guys had words with the Dark Human Guy, and then I think there was some kind of vote by the Survivor Human Guys they voted the Dark Human Guy and his followers off the island or something, but he and his followers just left to a different part of the island. Then a few nights later, his followers came back and attacked the Silver Human Guys. I have to admit, those Silver Human Guys are not too bad in a fight. They can hold their own, but they’re only warmup-bout worthy, not headline match worthy. I mean, the dead guys weren’t really that mobile or smart, you know?
The Silver Human Guys re-killed all of the Dark Human Guy’s followers, and then they went off, I guess to go kill the Dark Human Guy. I told them to just chill man, he’s all alone now, he can’t do much. But they were too mad and said, “No, he can make more follower guys,” or at least I think that is what they said because I don’t know human speak. So they left. Only one knight came back, but I think he killed the Dark Human Guy. He had his stuff with him. So we spent the next day burying the bodies inland a bit, but we had to be careful. Ever since the big boom, there were strange creatures stalking the island.
When that was all done, it has been almost two weeks since we had seen you all. The other survivors of the ship wanted to leave, but the Silver Human Guy didn’t want to leave. I don’t know why exactly, I told him if the Dwarf Guy wasn’t dead, he would have shown up by then, but he didn’t understand me and was being all oppressive about it and demanded we stay and wait. So, we waited, but we moved down shore some distance, further away from all the creatures roaming the island.
We spent another couple of weeks camping out on the coast there, but the vibes were completely different. I mean, I fished and hunted for clams, but people weren’t into the whole chilling by the clam bake fire thing. The Old Human Guy was acting funny. He had begun staring off over the ocean, as if he were seeing or hearing something. The one Silver Human Guy left was at odds with the Survivor Human Guys about everything. If they wanted to swim, he said no. If they want to go for a walk, they said no. I mean, the guy really needed a little loving, if you get my drift. I think that one Survivor Human Chick missing the leg recognized it and was getting all sweet on him to help him losen up, but he wasn’t having it. By the way, she was pretty good at cooking up the clams and fish. She made some great clam chowder, like divine, you know?
One night, the Suvivor Human people decide they were going to try to leave, and they snuck off on one of the boats. We discovered the boat missing in the morning, and the Silver Human Guy was completely apoplectic. The Old Human Guy was rather relaxed about it all, though I don’t know if he was just meditating or going senile. He was like this old man longing to be somewhere else, staring out over the sea toward the mainland, I think.
A few days later, I discovered the boat the Survivor Human Guys took floating in the ocean, but no Survivor Humans Guys. I brought the boat back to shore, and the Silver Human Guy was stoked. Man, like, the Survivor Human Guys were missing. I asked him, “How could you be so stoked with them missing? They’re probably dead!” But he didn’t understand. And then the days went on, and on.
A couple more weeks went by and the Silver Human Guy said something to me and pointed to the Old Human Guy and then pointed inland. I wasn’t sure what he was saying, but then he left inland. So, I guess he wanted me to look after the Old Human Guy while he went searching for you all. Unfortunately, the Silver Human Guy never returned.
So it was down to just me and the Old Human Guy and the Shield Robot Guy. The Shield Robot Guy just stood over the Old Human Guy, but he wasn’t doing so well. He stopped eating and sleeping and was just staring over the ocean. I tried talking to him, but he didn’t listen to me. Eventually he collapsed and died, so I buried him they way that the Silver Humans Guys did, but I didn’t go as far inland as before. Obviously, there was something out there killing Silver Human Guys, and here I was dragging the Old Human Guy around, who was twice my size.
Then it was just me. I was okay with that, man, you know? I could survive without any problems. I fished and hunted for clams, I swam in the ocean, I built campfires and watched the stars. It was quite relaxing. It was the first time I had time to myself to enjoy the simplicity of life, you know? For the first time, I was contemplating what I could do with my life.
Then you all showed up.
Personal Journal of Yugao, Avenger of Tydothos
By Matthew Vetrini
Vengeance is in my heart, death in my hand, blood and revenge are hammering in my head.
And then I came back….and now I know my purpose. And, I will fulfill that purpose to its ultimate end.
As I lie here recovering from what is called resurrection sickness, I listen to my comrades-in-arms. I must also remember, I was sent here to bring them into line, regardless of my personal feelings on the matter, or any of them individually. Honestly, from what I’ve seen and heard thus far, they are not who I remember them to be. Perhaps this is due to their recent brush with the Primordial powers. To my knowledge at least three of them have become imbued with Primordial powers, however, I have yet to see any demonstration of those powers. What this means for the war raging against the newly awakened plague hordes, I am unsure. This is especially concerning as it would seem, at least according to them, Ulene is an Ancient, and the Ancients are responsible for the blood plague!
Vengeance is a delicious fruit, and I shall feast upon is in the name of Tydothos.
Furthermore, it was they that trapped the Primordials at some point! We have even encountered the Primordial of Magic, who was trapped in some kind of Ancient prison below ground. In fact, it was the Primordial of Magic that both powered the resurrection ritual that brought both Kai and I back, and later apparently imbued Vallen with some kind of Primordial powers. Nonetheless, the group does seem to be following through with their end of the bargain to find power crystals, whether they turn those over to the powers in Thule, and ultimately Ulene is in doubt, as they are now steadfast in their belief that she is not to be trusted. I do not have enough information to determine that as fact or not. Nonetheless, I must get them to move towards either Thule or the southern forts. However, we are nowhere near either of those locations.
…my mind is still processing all the details of my new purpose as given to my by Tydothos.
I wake to hear the group discussing various ways to getting everyone and everything up and out of the cave temple we are in, but after much debate we get it solved. Upon getting above ground we discuss where we should go to next, again after some discussion, it’s decided we move to the beach to see if Barnabus and the Silver Guard are still there with the pirate crew. No one is there. Other than a half buried mechanical crab device, it is clear that they are long gone. Which isn’t surprising because the group has been gone for over a month. Eventually, the group decides to break into two teams. One group will search for the missing boats and the other will take stock of the contents of the crab.
Now the god of vengeance yields to me his power to punish the wicked!
There is a considerable amount of items in the crab! This leads to a considerable discussion as to who will take what.
I find myself usually quiet, all I can think of is my new purpose, and judging the actions of my comrades. This is something I never considered before, not of them, not of the Order, and never of myself. I am the hand of vengeance! My eyes are those of Tydothos. He that called me to my true purpose shall guide me.
After cataloging what was in the technical crab, we decided to move down the beach as some “fish dwarf” friend of Tavin has been located along with three boats capable of getting us off the island. Later, we discover that Barnabus has died, and his spirit has also passed on.
Again, I long to know would Tydothos have found him worthy? And what of this “fish dwarf”. I’m told he’s a warrior of considerable talent.
After a brief ceremony, we move back to the beach. It is decided that a group will search for the larger vessel that brought the crew to this island, and the rest of us will make preparations. Nothur and I decide to go look for more “prison crystals.” This turns out to be a bad idea. We find more, and almost free one creature within. Then, decide to bring back one. This is an even worse idea, as what we find inside nearly kills Nothur and I. I never thought a chicken could be so deadly.
Tydothos punished me for my actions. I can not fail him.
After spending some time recovering, we decide upon which boats we will use, and upon our course to return to Hauther and travel up the fjord as far as we can through the plague lands. This again turns out to an unwise decision. We quickly find this out as we are not only have to spend hours rowing to shore, but as we get closer we hear louder and louder voices of the blood plague.
I shall reap vengeance and death upon this blighted land of Hauther. They shall know Tydothos’s will!
An odd part of this conversation revolved around Elre’s weapon speaking to him. It was telling him to go north to the last bastion of forest elves in Hauther.
And there too, shall I bring vengeance. None shall escape, as I will be Tydothos’s avatar. He will fill me with his power, and when I think of all my wrongs…my blood is liquid flame!
Could this mean a new front has opened there? The last intelligence from the north didn’t mention this development, but I’ve been gone a little while. And on my last mission north, I believe I left the situation better than I found it. But the areas where the forest elves is largely unknown, no patrols have been out that way.
For I will truly be this land’s keeper and the finder of lost peoples. And I will strike down upon the unbelievers with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my people. And they will know I am the avatar of Tydothos when I will lay his vengeance upon all that deserve it.
We finally make landfall at the mouth of fjord, and happen upon a thin stretch of beach with a set of roughly carved stairs. Again after some discussion, we decide to scout the area above, this like our previous decisions does not end well. Not only are we continually plagued by the call of the blood plague that flows through us, we draw numerable infected, and are forced to fight nearly the entire evening horde upon horde. Eventually, we retreat back to the beach and set up the dwarf’s tower in the water in conjunction with the weather stone to a more defensible position actually slightly off shore. This not only allows us much needed time to rest from our foolish choices, but serenity quite literally knocked on our door in the form of a “fish man” brought us a summons from an undersea kingdom.
I am become vengeance, the protector of worlds.