In the Shadows of Fortress Isaias (week 15)

#1

[open to all Olgog tribes, Open to Bladed Sun, Kincaid, Grim, Yohai, Daemonsbane, Khalid Phoenixkiller, Lord Grimaldus(as resugent)]

The might Chieftain Mag Buskt stood in the sandy cavern and looked in the distance towards the partially hidden Inquisitor Fortress. The Earthers always did make such dangerous structures, he thought. Yet his alien heart pulsed with pride when he thought a single Olgog (despite being twisted) had actually torn through so many Earthers. Enough that the camouflaged walls near the entrance were splattered red bright enough for the whole world to see.

Here safely away from the fighting, Mag Buskt wanted to rush in. But he was no berzerker, and took a deep and calming breath before turning to any leaders who had come due to the dream. The horrible dream all Olgogs had shared of their once great leader Protodoxa, now steps away from securing his fate as a cursed monster.

Mag Buskt said, “It is my responsibility as a Chieftain of the Old ways to put down this mad Mag’Ol Protodoxa. I ask that you assembled leaders help me do so.”

Ogalab MagGor’ab replied quickly, “I do not agree Mag Buskt. Though a great respect is placed on you. Instead we must save Protodoxa and break whatever binding the Warmonger has used to possess his body and mind.”

Kalokgog Magonsa interrupted, “In either case, we need to attack the fortress to distract them long enough for either Ogalab or Mag Buskt’s team to succeed. and for that we need a plan.”

#2

Sir Resugent heard about what was happening at fortress Isaias, from what Lord Grimaldus told him this particular Goblin had been seized by the Demonic Warmonger army. It appeared that they had taken control of him and upgraded him before sending him to attack the fortress. It seemed more then suspicious that this Goblin was attacking the fortress that Sidermann wanted them to capture, especially considering that Sidermann had been captured as well. Sidermann could not be trusted, things were too suspicious.

As Resugent entered the Cavern he looked upon the assembled Goblin leaders, he felt his fingers tense along the hilt of his sword, but after a moment he took his hand away and spoke to them.

"Greetings native leaders, I am Ser Resugent first Knight of Lord Grimaldus, I know you are here for the similar reasons as I, I hope to discuss a plan for us to stop the attack upon the fortress. Your “hero” was taken by demonic forces and twisted into their servant and is now is on a rampage. Lord Grimaldus has agreed to assist us in our mission and will supply us with whatever aid he can. We wish to eliminate the demonic threat and then secure the fortress.
What do you all think?

#3

Auf Lalder says "It is good to see you Resugent again. Protodoxa was taken by the warmongers forces at Thomasville along his hammer. I personally don’t know specifics of his hammer, but I know its a powerful artifact.

But to the point. If possible I want to recover Protodoxa. I prefer to save him and stop his rampage. But if we end up having to kill him, I would like his body returned to the Auf. I don’t know if you also follow a Sidermann, who I only know by name and actions, is a long time enemy of Protodoxa, and will order you to kill him. But truely if Protodoxa can be saved, I wish to do that.

I am not sure about what forces to take, as I do not want to give even more reasons for the inquisitors to start a quest to attack us again. I will back what is needed to be done."

(OCC I don’t believe Lalder knows Sidermann was captured at the same time. If I’m wrong, correct me.)

#4

Uth’lal stepped from the shadows nearby, smirking as he startled a few of those present. Glancing at the rest who were present, he introduced himself.

“I am the Tor’og of Ka’Rhug, and I am here to provide my services to aid this mission. I also represent my tribe in any decisions our opinion is called on. If additional forces are required, I can call on reinforcements from our home. But before we continue, Kolgol has informed me he has a vested interest in Protodoxa, dead or alive. So, I would prefer to take him in one piece, but several smaller pieces are just as well.”

#5

Resugent frowned “This Protodoxa from what I have been told seems to favor violence in general, now he has been further corrupted by demonic magics. Even if you get him back alive, what would prevent him from continuing to kill? Now I am not saying that he needs to be chopped up into little pieces and then melted in acid, but he needs to be stopped and I do not think a kind word will accomplish that. Protodoxa needs to be stopped and fast, the longer we wait the worse things will get. I can go in with a scouting team to slow him down, but we will need assistance to actually stop him. My men and I do not posess strong ability with the leyas, so the best we can do is distract him while the rest of you do the real damage.”

#6

Auf Lalder says "First, we will support you Resugent to take down Protodoxa. We can even send in a few gogs with you if you wish to support you until the rest can come in. Lurtor, One of Mine, can pass was an EEF soldier and accompany you in right from the start.

Protodoxa is a warrior and from a time of when fighting with Oners was common. He listens to the Auf and other elders. I believe they can help him adjust to these times. One way or another, that will happen.

As for his rampage, we will go in to stop him and give you the support you need. Once I get a look at him, I will see if I can remove the warmongers influence He could of had his mind messed with or even be possessed. But I won’t know what until I see him.

Once Protodoxa is down, we will pull out quickly.

Our abilities are hampered a little due to the Wards on Shadow, Fire, and Earth. Do you have a way in? Or a way to disable their air defence? I would prefer not to fight oners to get in or while we are trying to take down Protodoxa. "

#7

Olav stepped into the group assembled, tipping his hat to Uth’lal. He then regarded the rest, lighting a cigar.

“I am Olav, of the Rhug’na’ru.” He puffed a cigar, almost eagerly. “I am here to offer our services. We understand that your leyas may be… hampered with due to their wards. I can offer a bit of long range power against this menace, in any case. I might even be able to take out the air defense Auf Lalder here mentioned.”

#8

With the chaos they probably will not look to closely at my soldiers, my people can just go in without a problem. We can split into two groups, one that I lead to slow down Protodoxa and a second group to try to make a hole in the air defenses." Turning to Olav "if you can engage the air defenses and keep them distracted we can eliminate the Inquisition forces manning them and take over some of them.

My forces shall move in soon, as we do not want Protodoxa to slaughter the entire fortress before we get there. As for what happens to him afterwards, you will be give a chance to show that he can be changed. If it happens again however, we would require a more permanent solution."

#9

Auf Lalder says "I agree. Lurtor can hopefully fit into your group that goes after Protodoxa. He uses Earther style armor, Marzoc I think he called it, and with his helmet on can pass for one of you as long as he’s in the middle of your group. Maybe if you have a cloak that looks like a Oners, you might hide him better amongst your forces. In the battle, If worst comes to worst, he can help protect your troops. This is one of his abilities, from most shadow Leyas, Energy, or physical attacks.

Also Can you give us a signal, or take a comm crystal to signal the air defenses are impaired?

As for our other force, I don’t plan to make it too big, at least unless we need it. I will have an elite group come in when the air defenses are down. A couple of Aufs, and a few of my more talented gogs. We will try to make theirs and my actions quick in and out."

Lurtor steps up from the back in his armor which is set to look like an earthers armor. Lurtor says “I’m ready to go.”

( OCC Lord G, you can post before me to stop the fight, I need you implace before I can act., just make reference to allowing Lurtor to come with you or not. He has Marzoc armor that he can make look like its on an earther, and has troubadour Actor’s disguise, which he will demonstrate in my post to you.)

#10

Olav nodded to Grimaldus. “I suppose I could engage the air defenses, however; would you rather a distraction by giving them a target, or by outright attacking them?” He put the cigar out. “We can do either.”

#11

Resugent responded to Olav “I would like for them to be paying attention to you while we seize the guns, so primarily I wish for you to provide them a target. Now if you cannot survive without causing some damage then so be it, however I would prefer to capture them all intact.”

Turning to Lutor “I can take one of your com crystals, I will start my attack shortly and we can communicate through those crystals.”

#12

Lalder says “If it weren’t for the Shadow leyas ward, we could shut them down. I’ll put a few of my best pilots up to dodge the guns along with Olav’s crew. The fighters should be able to take a shot or two. They will make it look good with a few shots by your guns, and even make it look like they are being driven off. Without being able to fight back, they most likely will be driven back anyways.”

Lalder gives Resugent a com crystal. Then Says “This com crystal will reach me. You can also keep this for after today as well.”

Lurtor, if allowed preps to go with Resugent’s group.

(OCC I know I have 2 characters here talking and confusing things. Lurtor is my gog that can go with Resugent’s group going to slow down Protodoxa, if you approve. Lalder will lead the outside forces.)

#13

The Akalus Legionnaire stood in the back of the room. He did not trust the Earthers, feared the natives were too weak, and did not know how else to contribute to the conversation. Most importantly, the one known as the Mag Buskt concerned him. But right now his greatest concern was the ancient evil possessing Protodoxa, as the olgog was known as.

He knew he had a way to contain the evil inside the now mad olgog, but he didn’t know the price that would be paid for doing so. “Protodoxa is likely being consumed by an ancient evil… mag mag gor I think you natives call it. Unless we can sever this connection, there will be no hope for him.”

#14

Lalder says “That knowledge maybe beyond me. I know how to banish summoned beings, but I doubt the mag mag gor would be so easy. We have an extremely powerful Light artifact, strong enough to destroy most things effected by light leyas. If we used the Halo, or Ray of the sun from that, would it be enough to break the hold the mag mag gor has over him. Or at least give the opening for someone to do so?”

(OOC The light artifact is 6 success light artifact created to contain mag buskt. But I wasn’t going to give that part of the description, though Mag Buskt knows we have it.)

#15

Yagogi’al the Og’ab sat back cross legged along the inner wall of the sandy cavern. He did not have the means to contribute air defensive measures that Sir Resugents needed to combat the Fortress. He was contemplating the reasoning of his friend, Mag Buskt, the matter of Prototdoxa, and the combined efforts of the mag mag gor, when he heard a familiar voice. It was that of the outsider, an uth velor Akalus Legionnaire. Surely, this was no coincidence and his presence here had to be connected the the omen of coming across the All-Knowing Azrael in the lands of Karov. This was the same uth that joined him, and had to be of substantial importance for a meeting such as that. With this, Yagogi’al began…

“I have met this Akalus before, though I do not know much about him. Our first meeting though short was by no means a coincidence. Who are you traveling uth, and what does your connection to Azrael the All-Knowing mean to the situation at hand? You speak as if you know the importance of breaking this tie and you know a great deal more than just what you say. Please feel free to speak and tell what this situation means for you. I feel that the leyas and artifacts will have little barring on the possession of the mag mag gor, but possibly the lack of leyas such as our zela blades are the key. If this is so, you have my gor’ab on the attack.”

#16

Yohai looked at the native. Unfortunately, today he did not have patience to coddle the ignorant native and teach him the history of the uthvelor. An abrupt answer would have to suffice.

“When one is possessed by a demon, a mag gor or the mag mag gor, death doesn’t automatically sever the possession. Any attempts to bring him back to life may retrigger the possession. Furthermore, depending on the type of possession, the demon may actually transfer to the one who killed him. So that’s why it’s important to sever the connection. Unfortunately I only know of three who can break possession. An Earther, from the Eastern Colonies, known as Sira. The bearer of Daemonsbane, who is a great and mighty warrior but otherwise a useless creature, even if he is of my own ilk, who is called Raven. And then there is Daemonsbane himself…”

Yohai thought sadly of Rogarth when he mentioned his name, and the obvious pain he was going through … particularly whenever he was summoned to defeat WarMonger. Was that his fate too??

“… Daemonsbane can consume the creature as well. Other than that, the only other thing I can offer is to obliterate Protodoxa and spare him the fate of having his soul corrupted for all eternity. Or perhaps destroy his weapon.”

He looked at Yagogi’al, “with respect to my connection to Lord Azrael the All-Knowing, I am a soldier created out of our love and respect for his power, knowledge, and protection. I, however, serve the direct orders of Zaodonai Uth Celyse. Lord Azrael did not, in particular, send me on this mission, if that is what you ask. Feel free, however, to take whatever meaning my presence here may mean to you. May it bring a palatable solution.”

#17

Lalder says "Is there any way to reach any of these earthers or Daemonsbane?

Potodoxa does seem to have a connection to his hammer before he was taken. But that maybe how a warrior greets his weapon as an old friend rather than a mystical connection. But this is something we could try. What would be the best way to do this?

We could try to strike his weapon with something? or maybe we attack the handle or the arm of Protodoxa to separate them, and then try to destroy the weapon. Maybe the Artifact will have an effect on the hammers enchantments? But before this it was a powerful artifact. I’m not sure what would destroy it. "

#18

Yohai shrugged. “I’m not sure what his weapon is, but I’m sure if it’s a living weapon, then their souls are connected. I wouldn’t know until I saw them how connected they are. Not sure what destroying one over the other would do. If it’s a living weapon, then it can be killed like any other creature. If it’s merely enchanted then it can be shield broken. A strong adept can also destroy it using high level abilities.” Yohai paused, faked a sigh as social protocol to change the tone of conversation, “Still more questions than answers. I don’t know how to contact anyone on my list, other than my kin, the bearer of Daemonsbane. Unfortunately, as I said, he’s useless. Probably on some vacation somewhere in Earther territory, yelling at Earthers, killing puppies to satiate his poorly controlled temper, and being a miserable son of a K’iorn.”

#19

Yagogi’al took no offense to the warrior Uth for surely he was here to provide some sort of assistance, "There is so much left unanswered, and Akalus Uth, you speak so kindly of your kin. It is a surprising his insolence does not just make that you want to have a good hardy laugh at the situation…or maybe it is best that you keep your composure.

Some time ago, Mag Buskt spoke of training with one of the last of the nightmare lords, that they bestowed the knowledge to be able to combat the mag mag gor. Correct me if i am wrong, and there will be no need for a proper history lesson but was it not the nightmare lords that kept the mag mag gor at bay during the ancient times? Is there a connection between the abilities of the nightmare lord and the strange hobtor material found in the mines?"

#20

Yohai responded, unemotionally, “Laughter, no. More like unspeakable rage. Just as dangerous as laughter. With respect to the the Nightmare Lords and the Ancient Evils, nope, not at all. Nightmare Lords were the pawns of the Ancient Evils, whose machinations caused the K’ias Wars. I won’t get into it, but the Nightmare Lords have no specific tools to fight Ancient Evils or possessed beings. Their abilities include serving as the perfect hosts for Ancient Evils, leading nightmares, and causing extreme pain to everyone in an small area.” Yohai thought for a moment, not knowing anything about this thing the olgog called hobtor.

“I know not what hobtor is or how it’s related to the Nightmare Lords. I also fail to see how it would help your friend.”