I am currently playing my first successful peasant adventurer, and I figured I could try to enliven her most recent and most impressive deed. So this is a bit of lengthy text.
I kneel behind an oak, take the emu intestines out of my backpack and start chewing on them. Looking carefully past the tree, I can see the stone floor of the shrine, its stone columns, and several bodies lying there lifelessly.
Doubts start rising in my heart. Having been raised in a small hamlet you will probably not know, I have had my first experience with a real fight only a few weeks ago. Hoping to lessen the burden on the people, I have been fighting bandits and wild beasts which have killed the peasants who are already struggling to make a living during the few months of summer when the snow and ice retreat to the glaciers in the North. It was a struggle in the beginning, and the itching wound in my right ear constantly reminds me that even game hunting is not to be trifled with.
And now I am here, about to fight a monster of legend, the marsh titan Katak Dungberries the Leafy Sun. Impressed by my deeds thus far, the lady of Bonelegends, that glorious trade town of the North, sent me to seek out and fight this foe whose rage she feared could eventually destroy the people. And thus I headed out to the south. Leaving the Scalding Hills behind, I travelled across the Splattered Fields, the Enchanting Hills, and the Dunes of Shields to finally reach the hamlet of Guildaqua, which lies on the border between the Fields of Saffron and the Murk of Routs where the shrine of Gillwax lies, the abode of the titan. I travelled many days, leaving behind our beloved Confederacies of Webbing and coming into the territory of the neighboring Obscure Realms. Fortunately, our two realms live at peace with each other, so I had no problem finding shelter for the night. Asking my host, a tanner, about the surroundings yielded little information. While he knew fairly well the location of the shrine, he could not give me any information about its size or design, nor could he give me any information about the foe I was about to face. Back in Bonelegends, things had been the same, just the name and the title of "marsh titan" besides the fact that it was a foe to our well-being.
Despite all the worried thoughts about the unknown foe, I was able to sleep rather well and thus woke well-rested the morning of this 15th of Opal, 321.
Biding my host farewell, I headed east across the marshlands and before the sun reached the zenith, I arrived here, within view of the shrine.
I have to admit that I am kind of disappointed. Hearing about the shrine, I had envisioned a building as fabulous as the temples as we have in our towns and cities, with their impressive engravings. But the shrine I see is just a floor of smoothed stone blocks with grass growing in between them and stone columns holding up no roof or gallery. Calling it a building would be too much, it being more of a forum. Its creators had not even made an effort to smoothen the terrain, instead simply allowing its floor to rise towards the east in an uneven and broken manner. Who those creators were, and why they built the shrine, no one was able to tell me, and I doubt that I would find any hint about them in those ghastly ruins.
Having finished my meals, I brush away the fat from my lips and the unnecessary thoughts from my mind. I ready my bronze sword and shield and carefully close in on the shrine, making sure that the vegetation gives me cover from any prying eyes. As I come closer, I get the first glimpse of my adversary.
At first, I have thought it was a statue, but immediately, I have understood my mistake. It is massive, at least a head taller than I and seemingly made of green glass which glitters in the sun. While it looks human enough, the two horns on its forehead show its demonic nature. While it is standing completely still, the occasional blinking of its heartless eyes warned me of my misjudgment which could have been fatal. While it seems to be made of glass, its sheer mass makes it unpenetrable to the eye, very much like a dark pool whose bottom can not be seen.
A being of glass, animated by some unholy power! I have been foes of flesh and bone, even foes whose natural lives had ended long ago and only foul magic had reanimated, but could I even injure a thing that had never really lived at all?
Shaking my head, I remember that I have overcome all the troubles I have faced thus far, even that tower which had been the abode of a dozen wielders of evil magic and their undead minions. And seeing the corpses lying around the monster, rage rises in me at the thought of how much misery that fiend may bring about unless it gets stopped. Calling upon all my courage, I sneak up to him. Seeing a chance, I swing my sword and hack at its right leg.
It is a glorious hit that would have left a deep wound with any human foe, and I am delighted to see that it has effect on my inhuman foe as well. A spiderweb of fine lines of light suddenly sprawl across the leg, showing that it has been damage. As I duck between the corpses, the titan looks at its leg, seemingly puzzled as to what is going on.
Encouraged by that success, I strike again, this time trying the pommel of the sword, but it has not enough force to hurt the fiend. So I slash it in the upper body, creating a criss-cross of lines across its chest.
A circle of slashing and ducking ensues as I look for any unprotected moments, holes in the titan's defense where I can strike before hiding among the victims of its evil ways. And the titan strikes out at the thin air, not knowing from whence the attacks come.
I have tried smashing it with my bronze shield, but found that I could not wield it with enough force to have an impact on my adversary. And even the sword, while clearly having some impact has not been able to cut through the unnatural skin. And while the titan is clearly aware of something being wrong, there is no hint of pain or tiredness in it.
And then I hit the head another time, fracturing it more and more. With a howl, the titan starts lashing out viciously at its invisible foe. But even then, its movements are far too slow to hit me and I can easily dodge its attacks. I notice that its mouth is surrounded by a purple liquid sending away small whisps of smoke whenever its head stands still. Instinctively, I sense that this is as dire a thread as its horns or its enormous fists, so I make sure to stay away from getting too close to its face.
After what seems an endless dance of glass and bronze, my sword strikes true in its right leg and it gives way under its massive body. The titan falls to the ground, not defeated, but seriously injured. Still, its eyes try to find me, and still it lashes out blindly to find its foe.
At long last, I strike the beast in its belly, and the weakened glass gives way, causing the fiend to break in half. The force of my blow and its frantic movement causes the lower half to be propelled away several meters where it crashes onto the stone floor with a noise that shakes the ground.
The two halves of the titan have stopped moving and glitter like shattered jewels in the morning sun. Katak Dungberries the Leafy Sun is no more. All that remains is to bring to good news to the people of the realms.
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Topic: What's going on in your adventure? (Read 2136596 times)