Gods & Men: The Ancient Myths: Chapter 1 IC Thread

[wiegeabo]

"I am but a humble bard, at your service...but I believe you will find that I can do much more than play a melodic tune."

Caed taps his crossbow which lies strapped to his side lightly, and looks to the dwarf and wizard who have yet to reveal themselves.

"Caed is what my...colleagues call me though. These are some fine men you all have gathered...a fine set of numbers indeed. But the Lich-King's numbers are far greater. Which means that the strategy must be very well thought out. What's being done about the river to the west?"

Some of the others look to Caed strangely, not seeing this side of him before. But then again they do not know his full past.

Good old Caed. Camouflage yourself all you want in the garb of a bard, but we both know the true you. The one that you keep buried deep, just waiting for its chance to be released.

I step forward and speak up in fluent Norwegian. "King Hardrada. Our lives our yous to do as you wish. But if you will but consider the suggestion of this humble wizard, we may be best served by splitting our forces."

"And who would you be?" The Kings asks, neh, demands.

I bow down with practiced ease. Feigning humbleness makes getting jobs that much simpler. "I am called Xxymryx, the wizard. You oh-so-humble servant in these trying times."

"Laying it on rather heavily?" Pyrist whispers.

"Shut up!" I say. "I know what I am doing."

Hardrada glares at me. And then "HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" he roars. "Ahhh. It has been much, much too long since I have laughed. These are trying times. Thank you for thatwizard. But your reputation proceeds you."

I straighten up to my full height, presenting the strength that the Norse respect. "As I had hoped. You shall have the full service of my powers, and that of my friend, the priest Pyrist, if you desire them."

"But I was serious about splitting our forces..."

 

[Byrd Man]

As the rest of the group introduce themselves, the Docktore keeps his head down and slinks away.

The king takes notices of the man of science and points him out.

"You...you seem familiar."

All eyes shift towards the Docktore.

The wizard at the right hand of the king clears his throat. Take away the old wizard's wrinkles and age, and he and the Docktore look identical.

"Dante."

"Hello, Father. Everyone, this my father Cicero Giovanni, order of the white and all that good stuff. Father, this is....everyone."

 

[Johnny Blaze]

As the rest of the group introduce themselves, the Docktore keeps his head down and slinks away.

The king takes notices of the man of science and points him out.

"You...you seem familiar."

All eyes shift towards the Docktore.

The wizard at the right hand of the king clears his throat. Take away the old wizard's wrinkles and age, and he and the Docktore look identical.

"Dante."

"Hello, Father. Everyone, this my father Cicero Giovanni, order of the white and all that good stuff. Father, this is....everyone."

"A pleasure to meet you", Rothgar nodded his head towards the wizard.

Looking over the King and his entourage, Rothgar asked, "Where do we stand?"

"Close to twenty thousand in camp now", the King replied.
"My forces from the North, King Henry's Southern army from Briton, Cicero and his clan, an elven force from the East, and a Dwarven legion, led by King Gareth Oathhammer."

"Not to mention the collection of bizarre things that showed up last night", the dwarf spoke.

"Bizarre things?"

"Aye", Oathhammer nodded, "a collection o' beasties from across the land. Seen some centaurs, treants, and even a few griffins in the lot."

"Quite the diverse fighting force", Rothgar smiled.
"With any luck, we might just win the day."

 

[Catman_prb]

"King Hardrada," Kelvamin said coolly "A pleasure to meet you at last, though I must say your reputation precedes you,"

His eyes passed over the assembled troops, before fixing on the tall and austere wizard who stood beside the Viking King.

"Master Giovanni, I believe that I have your father's sword," the swordmaster said, drawing it from his back with a quick flick of the wrist and kneeling to present it to the sorcerer. He accepted it with a slightly bemused look on his aged face.

"Err, thank you," he said, his regal decorum broken for a second.

"Henry," Kelvamin said to the King of the Britons with barely concealed distaste in his voice "I find it hard to believe that you managed to unite the tribes all by your self. Perhaps Artur or Mordred assisted you before their company was banished?"

"Aelle," the Briton spat, flexing his wode-dyed muscles and lifting his redbearded chin "I didn't know that you had survived that whole debarkle with that Kelvamin rodent,"

Kelvamin made a jerking movement, but held his hands at his sides with tight clenched fists.

"I bear the title Kelvamin now, Henry," Kelvamin said in barely a whisper "And don't fool yourself into thinking that your political friends equate to might with the sword,"

"You always were an irritating little runt Aelle. Mind you keep out of my way,"

"Of course, lord king,"

 

[Johnny Blaze]

[YT]MOX_7xRuvIA[/YT]​

A loud horn rang through the air, causing the entire encampment to give pause. Again the horn rang out, and shouts began to spread throughout the camp as men and women began to scurry to their units.

King Hardrada and the companions of Athens rushed to a hill near the king's tent and looked out across the field at the city of Dusseldorf. A black bolt, looking like a swirling tornado of evil energy, rose up like a pillar from inside the city and into the sky above. A black cloud grew out from the loathsome pillar, spreading out in all directions like a shadowy veil that blotted out the sun.

Suddenly, what was once day was turned into night. And it was an eerie darkness, one that made even the bravest of hearts sweat in trepidation.

It's thousands of fires around it's ramparts making it appear like burning candle in the black, the massive doors of the city of Dusseldorf slowly opened, and the infernal horde marched out.

"Moridin's beard..."

"To your stations! Form the lines, and prepare for battle", the King boldly cried out.
"Luck in battle, boys", Hardrada nodded before moving off to join his soldiers.

A blood-curdling cry split through the darkness, and the shadowy forms of dozens of dragons could be seen circling the city like hungry buzzards.

The horde kept flowing out from the gate, slowly forming a long line across the entire breadth of the city wall. Despite the terrible horror taking shape before them, the army of light did not waver. With the charismatic kings leading the charge, the mortal forces formed their ranks quickly.
Elven archers stood ready, their arrows ready to catch fire ready to rain down upon their enemies. Mighty Catapults lay pulled back and ready to hurl massive boulders, and ballista bolts stood locked and ready to fire.
The army got prepared just in time, too.

The black army began to slowly advance towards them, and the dragons, their roars echoing loudly across the battlefield, flew in towards them.

Rothgar drew Banahogg, the blade igniting in divine flame almost instantly. The Viking Prince stood staring at the oncoming legion, his face in a stern visage.

"Whatever happens, we stick together."

 

[wiegeabo]

"I'll be damned."

I thought we'd have more time. Possibly find a way in while the Lich-King was focused on the army outside his doors. But now-

"My lord," I say to the king. He turns away from the sight before us. "How long do you think your men can hold off the attack?"

 

[Johnny Blaze]

"I'll be damned."

I thought we'd have more time. Possibly find a way in while the Lich-King was focused on the army outside his doors. But now-

"My lord," I say to the king. He turns away from the sight before us. "How long do you think your men can hold off the attack?"

"Hold off", Hardrada gave a stern look.
"We are here to wipe this scourge from the face of the Earth, or die trying. There is no retreat."

With that said, the Viking King turn and walked off towards his soldiers, issuing commands.

Rothgar looked across the field at the massive dragons that would be on them in mere moments, and the legion of undead and demonic being that followed closely behind them.

Rothgar sighed in dismay as he suddenly found himself questioning the choice to attack the lich head on. Clearly he had underestimated the sheer size and power of the horde they faced.

But all those thoughts were pushed away as Rothgar leaped to the side and rolled away, barely avoiding the lightning breath of the large blue dragon as the flying reptiles tore through the army's ranks.

 

[wiegeabo]

"You misunderstand me, King Hardrada. If your men can hold off the army long enough for out band to infiltrate-"

But time runs out and the attack begins.

I run towards the others. "Pyrist!"

"I know!" His hands move in a mystical pattern as he mutters words, some of which even I don't understand. There's a faint shimmer above us, and a series of arrows from enemy archers strike the invisible shell, bouncing harmlessly to the ground. Flames erupt from the mouth of one of the dragons, and like at the field, but do not penetrate.

"How long can you keep this up?"

Sweat already beads on his brow. "How long do you need?"

"Long enough." I run over to the nearest group of archers. "Hold!" They look at me quizzically. "Let me see your arrows." Now they look at me as if I was indeed mad.

"Trust me." One of the archers does so, and I splay my hands over his quiver. They glow momentarily as I chant, and then return to their normal appearance. Pulling a pouch from within my robe, I spread a small amount of liquid over the arrowheads.

"They shall fly like a bird, strike stronger than steel, and bring death to the dead."

"Truthfully?"

Another archer hands me his quiver. "Yes, but the enchantment will not last forever. Use them quickly, but wisely." The archer knocks an arrow into his bow, pulls back, and let's it fly. The arrow travels faster than any they've ever seen, hits the first undead soldier, and passes through it and the five behind. The soldiers drop where they stood, no longer moving.

And suddenly I'm surrounded by archers, quivers in their hands...

 

[SuperFerret]

Brottor had remained silent, yet respectful, during the introductions and planning. He was a constant presence at the side of the young viking who led the group the dwarven paladin had joined, and that was where he remained, even now, sitting astride the back of his Deinonychus, Vallond, the feathered dinosaur recently equipped with specially made barding. Its eyes staring intently as the horde advanced upon them.

Brottor's gaze wandered, scanning the faces of his companions. The wise dwarf sensed fear and apprehension in them, but also determination and bravery. He was forced to admit as he gazed out over the enemy army of monsters that he himself felt the same mix of emotions, his gauntleted hand gripping his holy warhammer Th'Rak tightly.

Suddenly, he was jerked to the side as Vallond deftly leaped to avoid a massive lightning bolt that left the ground on which the dinosaur previously stood blackened and smoking. Once again, he was amazed at the beast and grateful that he had found her.

"Do not fall to the dragonfear, friends!" The dwarven paladin called out to his companions, breaking his silence in an attempt to bolster their morale. Not an easy feat against the fear generated by a dragon's presence, even for a paladin.

Paladins inspire by doing, Brottor. the dwarf told himself, gripping Th'Rak firmly while prompting Vallond into a charge. Right into the oncoming horde of unholy evil.

Brottor barely noticed it, but Th'Rak and his armor began to glow faintly as he approached the enemy.

FOR MORADIN!

 

[Johnny Blaze]

A final volley of ranged weaponry flew through the air, and the two armies let loose a battle cry. The ground shook as both titanic forces charged the other. Battle mages let fly mighty fireballs at the advancing ranks, while demonic creatures retaliated with infernal magicks of their own.
The dragons continued their assault from the air, battling wizards and griffins as they bombarded the mortal troops with their deadly breath attacks.

Banahogg pulled back behind his head, Rothgar brought it's flaming steel crashing down on top of a skeletal soldier's head, splitting the monster in two.

With a quick backhand swipe, Rothgar removed the head from a zombie. The headless corpse still came at him, but Rothgar easily chopped the thing to pieces.

Rothgar saw the dragon's fire coming in from the corner of his eye, and barely was able to leap aside. The fire charred a trio of zombies instantly, but Rothgar avoided the brunt of the attack.
As the red dragon roared and flew over his head, the Viking Prince felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. Spinning around, Rothgar just was able to block the blow from the Barbazu.

The bearded devil came at Rothgar again, smiling wickedly as it stabbed at the hero's gut. The fiend's blade stopped mere centimeters from his flesh, and Rothgar sighed in relief as he slashed outward with his sword.
Mighty Banahogg's reach was absolute, slashing the devil across it's throat.
As the creature's eyes went wide, gasping in panic, Rothgar slashed downward, splitting the demon's skull as though it were a melon.

As the infernal ichor splattered across his armor, Rothgar spun around and was finally able to take stock of the raging chaos around him. They were up against impossible odds, there was no doubt in that.

But, as a massive green dragon fell out of the sky after being blasted by a wizard's lightning bolt, Rothgar began to feel the slightest bit of hope.
Despite the odd, it looked like they may actually pull this off.

 

[wiegeabo]

I only have enough of the ichor to coat a handful of quivers. But it makes a world of difference. Already a hole has been punched in the enemies front lines, and our forces have created a small breech, forcing the Lich's army to backtrack and redouble their defenses. If nothing else, it buys us time.

I am able to cast my spell on the arrows of a few more archers before I start feeling the drain. "Don't waste these arrows on the dead. They will not stop them. Concentrate on the living creatures, especially the dragons. While the spell holds, not even their hides will protect them."

The archers acknowledge my advice and run off to find good positions. I glance over at Pyrist and see him struggling to maintaining his protective field. Holding off a horde of vampires for a night is an impressive feat. But holding back on army and fleet of dragons for any length of time is nigh impossible.

Pulling a vile from my pouch, I offer it to Pyrist.

"Is that...what I...think it...is?"

I nod. "Distilled lycan saliva. It will keep you going for half a day."

Pyrist shakes his head. "And corrupt me in the process. My magics will fail me."

"They're going to fail you anyway when you die. At least for the time being they will be stronger than ever. If you live, they'll return."

"They...may not."

"You've gone through the final commitment of purity," I say with understanding.

Pyrist can only nod.

A nearby explosion kicks rocks up at us. I use my body to shield my friend, falling to one knee as I take a sharp rock to my shoulder. The first sign that his bubble is failing.

"If I had any whisp blood, I'd offer it to you. But this is all I am carrying. Take it now. If you fall, we fall, and the world falls. I'd do it myself, but..."

Pyrist nods, the act of speaking becoming too distracting. "That is the last thing we need." With a sigh of resignation, Pyrist nods. I lift the vile to his lips and he drinks it all.

"Thank you..."

Pyrist says nothing as he swallows. His body shakes, his face griped in an expression of pain. For an instant, his field falls, and a number of soliders are lost to the arrows that make it through.

And then Pyrist straightens, all effort in his body gone. His eyes open, and a fury fills them that I have never seen in my friend. The sky visibly shimmers as Pyrist reestablishes his control. We can actually see the shield extend outwards into the battle. It passes harmlessly through our army, but every undead soldier of the Lich literally falls apart as the spell animating them is negated.

At least two furlongs of the Lich's undead forces crumble to dust, and both sides of the army stand there, confused beyond movement. Then the Lich's forces finally regain their senses, the undead moving to the rear for support as the living monsters and creatures who serve the Lich push on to engage us.

"This will not be in vain," I promise.

"Just go..." Pyrist says with venom.

And I do, knowing he'll one day forgive me. It's what he does. I just wonder how long it will take...

 

[Catman_prb]

Kelvamin had to satisfy his weaponry needs with an ancient scimitar that he had stolen off of a skeleton that was now severely missing a skull. He wondered idly if that counted as grave robbing as he cut a swathe through a small battalion of undead creatures that had surrounded a dwindling group of Norse warriors. He slaughtered the last of the unholy things and turned around to smile at his new found allies.

"Well that wasn't quite as bad as I thought it was going to be," he said cheerfully.

Wordlessly, one of the Norse warriors pointed behind him. Kelvamin turned, his jaw dropping.

"Is that a reanimated giant?" he asked very quietly.

The Norseman nodeed.

"I think this is the point at which you run," the sword-winder said, squaring his shoulders and running at the creature.

This is going to blunt the damned sword, he thought to himself as he charged his weapon home.

 

[Johnny Blaze]

The lich, standing atop the ramparts, looked out across the battlefield. Despite the sheer size and power of his forces, the mortals weren't fairing very badly. In fact, they were slowly seeming to make headway, in large part thanks to the positive energy barrier that was erected by the mortal spellcasters.
Charaun chuckled, and, if he still had lips on his withered face, he would've smiled.

He had let them have their hope long enough.

The lich's eyes went black, festering with a malevolent energy. The terrible Crown of Horns atop the lich's head began to shine with a purple aura that moved to surround Charaun's entire form.
This nimbus of dark power began to grow brighter and darker at the same time, and it wasn't long before it could be seen from across the battlefield, a beacon of death and terror in the eyes of all.

Charaun looked to the black sky above, reaching towards it with his hand. The lich twisted his wrist, and the sky above the waring armies began to turn and spiral. As the lich lowered his hand, the black sky descended towards the battlefield, impacting the magical barrier with a crack that sounded like a hundred lightning bolts striking as one.

The barrier began to crack as it was consumed by the negative energy, finally, when the cloud had permeated it's entirety, the magical construction shattered as though it were glass.

As the cloud disappeared, the sound of inhuman laughter echoed across the battlefield.

"A valiant effort, mortals, but all for naught."

Charaun looked across the battlefield at the battle that seemed to slow to a crawl after the events that destroyed the barrier.

"Now", the lich hissed as his eyes began to burn with a purple light.
"Witness the power you truly face..."

Suddenly, all across the field of battle, the eyes of the freshly slain dead began to shine with the same dark energy. Grabbing the weapons still at their side, the corpses silently rose to their feet and began attacking their former mortal allies...

 

[wiegeabo]

With the loss of the Lich's undead in the front lines, the King's men find themselves outnumbering their enemies for the first time. And they press their first advantage, forcing the Lich's army backwards. Unfortunately, Pyrist's bubble only protects from weapons and the undead. The living can move freely.

That includes dragons.

With flames scorching the already charred ground, a massive red dragon bares down on a large contingent of our men. I launch a small fire ball, a plan starting to percolate. It strikes the dragon in the neck, doing it no harm, but it does get it's attention focused on me. I suppose that's a good thing, but as it locks it's gaze on me, and I feel the fear it exudes, I start wondering just what in the hells I was thinking.

And I start wondering if I can do this, or if I've just lost my mind.

I duck behind a massive tree, one of the few still relatively undamaged, and place my hands upon it, concentrating.. The dragon's mouth erupts in flame and my concentration is broken as I realize the tree likely won't be able to protect me. But the burst of fire never reaches me as a large sphere of water seemingly appears from nowhere. It bubbles and boils in fury, but absorbs the heat.

I glance back and see the young women sweat with concentration. I give her the briefest nod of thanks, knowing there is no time to spare. Placing my hands back on the tree, I begin to recite the spell, not knowing if I still have the energy for this.

Seeing it's flame having no effect, the dragon clamps it's mouth shut and starts to pull away. But as it passes over me, I recite the final word of the spell with a shout. The tree shakes violently for a moment before it's branches grow into the air with unbelievable speed, spearing the dragon as it passes overhead.

The dragon roars with anger and pain, and the branches break with loud cracks as the beast rips itself free. It tumbles out of control before slamming into the ground. Whether it's mortally wounded or not, I can't tell. And at the moment, I don't really care.

I slump to the ground and lean back against the massive trunk, my mind and body drained. I'm vaguely aware of Aithne running towards me, but my mind just swirls around. I feel her tug at me as the world suddenly goes dark. Am I going to pass out?, I vaguely think to myself. But the dimness isn't coming from the corners of my vision. The world itself is darkening.

Aithne continues to tug, but I'm too heavy for her, and can't help but be anything except dead weight. Yet, I feel myself rise into the air as she forms a platform of water beneath me.

"A valiant effort, mortals, but all for naught."

The laughter and words seem to come from everywhere, making my blood run cold.

"Now ,witness the power you truly face..."

"My cart..." I weakly say to Aithne. "Get me to my cart now..."

 

[trustyside-kick]

Some people would call me a scholar, but I just choose wisely with my words. Others would call me a man of god, a preacher. I have my beliefs, and fear the Almighty for his presence is indeed here, but I do not praise him. Many would go to call me a prophet, believing that my stories fortell possible future events, but I merely re-tell tales of the past, no trickery in this.


I am none of these. So who am I? That matters not. I am untamable, bearing ties to no one. My alliegance lies not with the elves, nor the dwarves, nor even the humans. My heritage, bears little, next to no importance in why I am here. I have been away from home, for so long, after I have told my tale, you too will have forgotten me, for I will not be here afterwards. I am a recluse. I am a hermit. I am a nomad. I am an outcast. But you may call me Caed.

***

We slay as many as we can, only for the Lich to simply re-summon them as it re-animates their corpses. There is simply no end to this madness. After all my time of fighting, and with all my skill...am I faced with an adversary that I simply cannot defeat?

This thought remains constant as Caed finds himself shooting arrows with his crossbow into the body he had just dropped moments ago due to the Lich's spell. The Bard is starting to lose hope, whereas before he remained optimistic when the valiant band of heroes first thought to challenge the evil beings' power. But it is only now that he has witnessed said power, and it is far more than he could have ever imagined:

Never before has Caed seen a Lich rise with such strength and might.

"We need to find a way to keep these things from simply rising again after death!"

After Caed drops another skeletal warrior, only for it to rise again, he grows irritated. His irritation intensifies as he reaches into his quiver and realizes he has but one arrow left.

Oh, the odds.
​

Surrounding by a band of skeletal warriors, ogres, and a few houndish-looking creatures even Caed had thought to be mere myth in all his long life, he takes hold of his guitar. Strumming a strong, dissonant chord, the surrounding minions of the Lich are temporarily paralyzed and Caed takes hold of his last arrow by the hand. Rather than load the arrow into his crossbow and fire away, he instead endows it with holy properties.

Now, dashing with great speed, the bard races past each and every foe still under his paralysis enchantment, slashing away with his last arrow in lethal and deadly spots. By the time the enchantment is done, the musician is nearly covered in their green and black blood.

"Ugh...yet again I failed to think it through entirely. Ah well. Results are results after all."

Spotting a minotaur coming up from behind the fire mage Xxmyrxx and lady Aithne as they try to bring the weakened mage to his cart, Caed loads the arrow into his crossbow.

You owe me one, Thrice Damned Elf-Man...as well as an arrow.
​

Firing the last arrow of his quiver, Caed strikes the minotaur, hitting right at its brain and the large creature drops dead behind the mage and elementalist. The fire mage looks at Caed, and he simply acts as though he had nothing to do with it.
​

 

[wiegeabo]

Aithne's waters support me as we quickly work our way to the friendly battle line. Suddenly there's a loud thump behind us. We turn to see a dead minotaur laying on the ground, an arrow embedded through its head. I look up and see Caed. He looks at me, then turns away. I do the same.

"He-"

"It doesn't matter. All that matters...is getting to my wagon." I can feel my energies slowly returning, but far too slowly.

At a seemingly agonizing crawl, the young maid finally gets me to my cart. "Go back to the battle. You don't want to see this."

"But I can help."

I nod. "You can. Out there. Not here. I can't guarantee your safety if you remain here."

She gives me a look of incredulity. I realize how I sound. I grab her by her shoulders and look into her eyes. "Trust me."

She nods, still not believing me, and runs off to rejoin the others. I sigh heavily.

"I know what you're thinking," my companion says.

I smile weakly as I drag myself into the cart. "I'm useless like this. And not much better when I'm not."

"There has to be another way."

"No doubt. But we're out of time. Just do it, and get it over with."

Without another word, my companion weaves the necessary magiks. I suddenly feel warm and cold, and then it feels as if my blood is boiling while my bones freeze. I collapse to the ground, and the world goes black for just a moment...

...and when it returns, everything looks different. Everything feels different. But I know it's not the world.

It's me.

I strip off my robes, no longer needing the useless trinkets concealed within. There's no power there. No, real power comes from within. Leaning into my cart, I tap a secret section, saying the words needed to unlock the compartment. It slides open, and I pull the blades from within.

"Xxymryx?"

Looking at the blades, I smile. The slightest run of my thumb along the blade draws a thin line of blood. I smile even more.

"Xxymryx?"

"Not Xxymryx." I turn away, looking at the bodies and ash covering the ground.

Spoiler

"I am drow..."