The Hunt for Inqusitor Mortis Leonin


#1

An older Earther with salt and pepper hair and dark skin arrives at the border of Brez and the lands stolen by the Church of One.

Skirting north along the border of Unen and Brez, he sees a single old stone tower piercing up from the sand. It has an Olgog Pelt transcribed with a blood red cross swinging in the breeze.

The man was wearing a trenchcoat made of thick red leather. On his shoulders hung a rack of Quall Horns, and he carried a flamethrower prominently across his back.

He raised an armored gauntlet and rapped on the wooden door of the tower and called out,
“I seek the Paladins of Lord Grimaldus. I have come to discuss the matter of the rogue Inquisitor Mortis Leonin and his many offenses to the House of Lord Grimaldus.
I wish to assist Lord Grimaldus in his rightous fury at the man who stole his family’s legendary Jeweled Cross of Grimaldus.
Will any of the brave Paladins of Lord Grimaldus parlay?”


#2

The older Earther waits several moments before the wooden doors open, a young squire stands before him. As the squire opens his mouth to speak a voice is heard from behind him, “move out of the way fool!” The Squire quickly obeys and retreats further into the tower. A slightly older man walks forward in plate armor, resting his hand casually upon his sword hilt. "You say you wish to speak of the Heretic Leonin and assist on reclaiming a holy relic of our lord? Well then, first before anything is discussed, identify yourself! You speak to Paladin Resugent of His Holy Order, i will know your name before this goes any further.


#3

"Paladin Resugent,
It is a great honor to meet you. I am the proudly human mercenary known as Khalid the Killer of Hope.
I can truthfully assert that more non-humans have died at my hands than whose names I could recite if I were to recite ten names at morning and ten names at midday and ten names at evening for ten hundred days.

I have always preferred the holy purifier that is Fire as my weapon of choice for eliminating my targets. Searching for petrol for my flamethrower has brought me south.
During my last visit to these deserts, I observed the rebel Inquisitor Mortis Leonin working alongside the Walking Dead and other foul and corrupt beings who claimed to be servants of a creature they freely described as a demonic prince.

At that time he frequented a keep of non human origin, an outpost of the monster-spawn called Sea Kings.

It is halfway between this tower and the Cursed Ruins of the Sea Kings to the south. This small alien structure is easily assailable by ten men of courage. And has no defenses save the vile dead whose corruption is undisputed.
On the Border of Brez and Karov it is, and I would lead you there. If you will accept my directions…

When I last left that region the Cross of Grimaldus remained there, being used to power some unnatural beacon.

I respectfully await your decision. May the blessing of Earth be upon you"

Khalid bowed respectfully showing great deference.


#4

As Paladin Resugent listened to the Killer of Hope his face changed from mild annoyance to curiousity, to outright rage at the very thought of someone who had once been a holy inquisitor to consort with such foul beings, to have fallen so far!

“Khalid, when we first met the only thing I was planning on deciding upon was whether to crucify you in front of this tower or to skin you and hang you from the nearest tree, however I see now my eyes were clouded by my own foolishness. I do apologize, had to have been God’s will that brought you here today. That the rebel freely consorts with the servants of a demon prince and his undead minions is an insult that cannot be tolerated any longer! It is my holy duty to go and reclaim our holy relic from being debased and corrupted for such evil.
I shall leave a few Squires here to maintain this tower and take with me eight of my men with us. The ten of us shall assail these vile miscreants, my blade shall fell these foul undead and hopefully the blasphemous rebel himself!”

Paladin Resugent turns around and barks orders to the small troop inside the tower, the eight squires don their leather armor, grab their clubs, back food and water to prepare for the journey. The final four squires are instructed to defend the tower with their lives and wait for the holy crusaders to return.

"Killer of Hope, lets dash the blasphemous prayers of the rebels and his undead servants. We shall reclaim what is rightfully ours, For God’s Glory! Let us depart!


#5

They traveled far to the south, riding through sand storm and hot sun. Finally they reached the cracked white stone ziggurat that was crumbling away on a ruin of petrified wood. Around it were buildings made of the same petrified wood. The skeletons of eight foot tall cambion slaves, long dead, littered the ruins.
A tent on the top of the cracked ziggurat had the cross of Grimaldus displayed prominently.
A pair of Warmonger’s Dead stood in its shadow, hefting short-barreled crystalline cannons of ancient sylvan design. Their bodies were encased in Grey Carapace Armor and only their mouths, with lipless grins could be seen. Unlike many other of the Warmonger’s Dead prowling the Goblin Lands, these had been formed from K’iorn (or Uthvelor) not from Olgogs. They were thin and lithe as a result.
Khalid knelt down below a rise in the sand, whispering, “Paladin Resugent, Do you have a suggested plan of attack? The dead rarely travel in packs of just two, and if two are here…more will follow or are hidden.”


#6

Paladin Resurgent gazed upon the ziggurat and listened to this human, Phoenxkiller. Then looking up at the pair of undead abominations he was forced to agree, it seemed far too easy with just two of those creatures. He wasn’t too sure about those weapons they carried however they resembled demonic guns so simply rushing at their prize wouldn’t be feasible. He considered ordering his Squires forward and use them as cover for his advance, however since he couldn’t judge how effective those demonic weapons were he didn’t want to risk running out of Squires to soon.

“We will need a distraction, something for them to watch while another group moves from the flank. We can use the buildings as cover, perhaps tear off some of the wood to mask our approach. I suggest having five of my Squires gather up some of those bones, and start throwing them up at the ziggarat, of course they won’t actually accomplish much but it might cause those abominations to take notice and use their weapons to try to drive off my men. The Squires will use these buildings in front as cover to try to avoid being shot. Hopefully this will also draw out the hidden enemies forward. When they move out the Squires shall bait them forward then retreat. While you, me, and the remaining three Squires assault the building from the side quietly and try to take the enemy by surprise. My blade is eager to strike down such foul creatures, they will find it difficult to aim when i remove their head and arms. My Squires shall use their clubs to crack their armor and crush their bones.
What do you think of this plan? Any further suggestions?”

Normally Resugent wouldn’t bother asking for advice from someone not of his own rank or higher, however, with the prize being so important, Resugent would take no chances.


#7

“Agreed, however I will lay down cover fire with my flamethrower and see if we can keep some of your squires alive through this battle,” said Khalid, “I’d rather not see your young men burnt to a crisp before they could know a woman in a biblical way. To be fruitful and multiply of course.”

Khalid looked back at the undead and then at the Paladin, “Any chance your squires have saved any of their holy water from mass? That might be a little more effective to hurl if they want to get those dead’s attention. Especially if its been blessed by a priest who is a true believer.”


#8

“Very well, you hold the enemy off with your flamethrower and I shall lead the second group to flank the enemy. Each Squire holds a single vial of holy water, it is standard procedure when entering blighted lands outside our holy control. They can use it to help route the enemy.
We shall go with this plan using your changes. I will allow you the honor of beginning the attack once we are all in position.”

Paladin Resugent ordered his Squires to their places and took his own position, waiting for the signal to strike.


#9

The Squires were dead, Paladin Resugent was scorched by near-hits of magi cannon fire, but is otherwise unwounded.
Khalid’s Flamethrower is out of fuel and they are not a step closer to the Cross which disappeared during the fight.
Khalid knows nothing of the cloaked figure.

–[Involved in this thread currently are Lord Grimaldus as Resugent, Khalid Phoenixkiller, and Krodnok can post actions, distractions, attempts at communicating with them as he is invisible. His skeletons have been sent back to his basecamp for now]–


#10

Khalid checked the bodies of the squires, taking a sample of each saying to Sir Resugent, “I want to bring a piece of each of these brave young boys to the cathedral of Man in Dunesphere where they might have a piece of them interred with the Saints. The rest we should cleanse with fire so the dead do not affect them or turn them against us.”

Seeing the paladin still reeling from the sheer firepower of the Warmonger’s Dead, Khalid offered a consolatory statement, “We will still bring the righteous justice upon the unholy abominations created by fell sorcery. I know where they plan on taking the cross. It was written of by one of Inquisitor Leonin’s aide-de-camp’s in the margins of his bible. The bible was an impressive historic artifact, I was lucky enough to recover from the temples under the City of the Gods.” Khalid never added that it had been found in a Church of Shadows temple not a Church of One.
“So what is stopping us from continuing south? Other than my flamethrower running out of fuel?”


#11

Paladin Resugent gazed upon the battlefield with a mixture of regret and anger. So many of the faithful dead and the cross taken.

“As much as I regret the desecration of the flesh of those molded from God’s image it is better to destroy them then to let them be twisted by the foul dead. Let us burn the bodies and continue on our journey.”


#12

The pair travelled far to the south passing by the entrance to Tla’loc’al.
Khalid knew he would get a nice welcome, food and rest at the caverns of Flesh and Water.
He also knew Resugent would get an earful of the Olgog welcomes and his racism would kick in.
Better to avoid it. The path through the desert was long and dry. Each night as darkness came, and Resugent prayed in his tent, Khalid would sneak off and fly on wings of fire to the nearby Oases and refill their canteens.
On night as he knew it would finally come Resugent asked where they were going.
Khalid replied, “The patriarchs of the Grimaldus family, the Goblinsbane knights, the Dragonsbane knights, the Inquisitor Siedermann, and the Leonin family of Inquisitors were all squires of the thrice cursed Bishop Kasanth Dannor. And all served directly under the Blood Pope Cristos Dugari during the Goblin Genocide.
There were others who served the Thrice cursed Bishop who fled with him into the Northern Kingdoms.
Heretic he was, those loyal squires who returned to Dunesphere immediatly were granted clemency and went on to serve with…distinction.
The Dead obviously seek the keys to Bishop Dannor’s old laboratory where he collected treasures from the Cursed Ruins in the south. The first is Lord Grimaldus’ cross.”


#13

Resugent listened intently, “this is most troubling, the foul fallen Bishop’s profane legacy must never see the light of day. It must be denied to all who seek it, preferably destroyed before it can cause any further harm. You believe that we can find the cross by tracking down the other keys perhaps? Most likely the fallen inquisitor is looking for them, and by finding them ourselves we can track him down as well?
If we could find a new source of fuel for your flamethrower that would be helpful, such a pity that such an effective weapon is denied to us on our holy mission. We must work hard to prevent the impending evil from occurring. God will grant us the strength, i pray we have the wisdom not to squander his kindness. May we bring his righteous wrath upon the traitors and their filthy demonic allies.”


#14

After three more days of wandering the desert, Resugent and Khalid reached the wreakage of a pair of hovertanks.
Khalid flipped out an entrenching tool and began digging under the crossed ruined vehicles. There he revealed a nightmare hide bag filled with trinkets. One of them he pulled out, a censor for burning incense as part of religious rituals. He says, “this is Squire Nightshade’s Censor. Keep it safe. When you are ready light the censor and the smoke will lead the way.”


#15

Resugent was getting tired of wandering roun the desert, but such a great mission was worth great sacrifice, nodding grimly he lit the censor and watched as smoke began to rise…


#16

The smoke rose gently towards the sky and then began to dip as a steady breeze began to blow. It became a very peculiar looking trail of smoke only showing a few feet ahead of them.

Resugent and Khalid continued their wandering through the desert for days.
Finally they reached a beautiful wooded trail quite different from the rest of the Goblin Lands.
This was the much beloved Trail of Auf Maglal.


#17

Resugent looked to Khalid, “Alright, we are here, any signs on where to go next?”


#18

( OOC: Ok, so, I had forgotten that I was apart of this… Sorry…)

Krodnok had followed the Earthers for about a week or so. From a large distance, of course. Even being invisible, he wasn’t sure if they had a way to detect him or not.

Only at night would he risk getting close to where they set up camp. The darkness suited him, and it was much easier to remain undetected.

For the first few nights, not much had happened. One would pray, the other would fly away on flame-wings, and return a while later. Krodnok wished he had flame wings, but maybe he could do something similar with shadow. He’d play with that idea later.

About half a week had passed, and Krodnok began to grow bored. There wasn’t anything going on here. Just a pair of Earthers wandering the desert. On what he had decided would be his last night stalking these two, there was conversation between the pair. Conversation that made him think there was a point to the wandering.

One of them had mentioned treasure. Treasure often meant artifacts with untold power. Untold power would be able to help him with what he had planned. It might be worth sticking around after all…

A few more days walking, and some kind of smoke signal, and they arrived at a wooded area, a trail leading into the trees. It was kind of odd, but woods meant shadows. Krodnok grinned, even though no-one could see him. He shadow walked into to woods and continued shadow-walking down the path.


#19

Deep in the trail of Auf Maglal, the two Humans, and the Dead who followed them unseen, reached an outcropping under which flowed a beautiful river.
Stalefish darted under the water feasting on the spawning Shash’lee slugs.

The tropical treeline was marred by a wide two story stone tower of obvious human manufacture.

It was marked with the symbols of both the Church of One, and the Inquisition. The two humans reached the side of the rocky outcropping and realized if the tower was drilled through the stone it was actually at least five stories tall and its entrance was a small white marble chapel with a simple carving of an open book. There was no doorway, only the open book which took up the far wall of the chapel. It was sized as if for a giant. On its surface were smooth indentations. One for a cross, one for the bottom of the censer, and three more whose object was not clear. Underneath each was a name.

Under the cross it said Grimaldus, under the censer it said Siedermann, under the next three symbols it said Dragonsbane, Goblinsbane, and Leonin.

All three would notice the censer’s place did not say Nightshade as Khalid had said earlier, here its impression said Siedermann.

Resugent would see written in Latin on one of the walls the following, “Here is the greatest secret hidden by the Church of One. Only the most faithful of the faithful can experience the truth present within this tower. This chapel is to commemorate the day that Kasanth Dannor, Bishop of the Goblin Lands was awarded the title of Bishop of the new Church of One Nation to be built North of the Colonies.”

“North of the colonies?” said Resugent, “There is no Church of One Nation built North of the Colonies.”

“I think the person who carved it is referring to the Colony the Earthers now call the City of the Gods,” replied Khalid using the Leyas to translate without Resugent knowing, “The Church of One was very…instrumental in the formation of that colony. More importantly we must have beat the one who stole the Cross here.”

–[Now take it away players, do you open it? Do you enter using the items? If so…how do you address the matter of the cross?. This conversation counts as taking place in the past, week 4, so please do not reference events from Week 5 and onward here.]–


#20

Paladin Resugent glanced at Khalid, "Didn’t you say that the censer belonged to a fellow named Nightshade? This indentation says Siedermann.

Also what can we do for the rest of the indentations, we only have one and there seems to need 5. I suppose we could lay in wait for the one who stole the cross, but then there are the ones from Dragonsbane, Goblinsbane, and Leonin."