"Do not be overconfident here. The blood of Dragondoom are far beyond any foes we have yet faced." The other Shadovar nodded, and the arcanist nodded back. "We will bypass the traps and find our way down to the depths of the caverns. Swords, you will keep their minions busy. Leave the rest to the arcanists."
"As you command, lord." The five ranks of swordsmen snapped into salutes, blades held in their hands and hits touched to their foreheads.
One of the arcanists, Nerahzel, a tall man with glowing green eyes turned to the others. "Are we powerful enough to do this? This is no small battle."
Terlan, the lead arcanist, shook his head. "We are twenty arcanists strong and a hundred swords. There are no more than eight dragons in this cave, and they do not know that we are coming for them."
"As you command, lord." Nerahzel saluted.
The Shadovar had little trouble getting past traps. A few levitation spells and the column passed over them harmlessly, the tripwires and pressure plates safely beneath. The entry chamber of Morueme's cave was massive, a hundred feet high and seven times that across, extending back deep into the darkness. Shadovar precision applied to all aspects of life, especially battle, and the protective circle was neat and organized. Three rows of swordsmen surrounding the arcanists and priests in the center.
They floated further down the tunnels, just above the ground, seeing no signs of life at all. The spell ran out and the Shadovar hit the ground, immediately tightening their formation and staying still. One arcanist began casting again when they heard a rumble, and the ground shook. A swordsman turned back to the center. "Hobgoblins."
Hobgoblins came out of the shadows around them, at the end of their darkvision. Hundreds of them, armored in leather and chain and plate, wielding everything from crossbows to halberds and axes. Terlan looked around and yawned. "Let them break on our battle line, they have no chance."
A screeching roar cut through the quiet, shaking the walls of the cavern. More joined it, and the Shadovar could see toothed maws highlighted with blue lightning, deep in the darkness. The great blue wyrm Nahaunglaroth laughed, spitting lightning, and stepped forward. The other dragons slid from the dark, all around the Shadovar, showing toothy dragon grins.
The swordsmen quickly raised their shields to form a wall, and the arcanists floated into the air, crackling with black and purple energy. Terlan held a hand out towards Nahaunglaroth, and flames began to crawl up his arm, swirling in his hand and forming a quickly growing ball. "If you surrender all of your Netherese artifacts to us... artifacts that rightly belong to us anyway... we will leave peacefully. If you do not, we will kill you all and take them ourselves."
Nahaunglaroth laughed again and reared, spreading his wings wide, then snaked his head down and breathed a wave of lightning into the Shadovar, throwing their line across the chamber. The other dragons joined in, bathing the Shadovar in lightning from all sides.
Terlan's fireball became a column of writhing flame stretching from floor to roof, bathing him in yellow, red and blue. He gathered it and send a column of fire into Nahaunglaroth's face. The dragon screeched and smacked him from the air with his tail, then pinned the hapless arcanist under a clawed foot. He pressed until there was a satisfying crunch, then charged into the remaining Shadovar.
Black energy flew and bolts of lightning cracked. The cavern shook with the fury of the battle and stones dislodged, falling onto the Shadovar and crushing several of them. The hobgoblins quickly scattered when the dragons entered the fray. Nerahzel screamed for the retreat and vanished into the shadows. None of the rest heard his command.
The hobgoblins dragged the corpses out and piled them on the other bones at the cavern's entrance, a warning to any others who would dare enter Dragondoom.
Welcome to Dragondoom
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Grand Fromage
- Goon Spy
- Posts: 1838
- Joined: Sat Jan 03, 2004 9:04 am
- Location: Chengdu, Sichuan, China
aye limit = < teh dragon
even troy "teh sahde R gonna pwn juz and claim all your base are ours!" denning had Princes VERY wary of Shadow Dragons in his trilogy
even troy "teh sahde R gonna pwn juz and claim all your base are ours!" denning had Princes VERY wary of Shadow Dragons in his trilogy
Garrigan DeLorre - Paladin 6 - died honorably in battle
X'Anne - Witch (Druid/Ranger mix) 4 - captured and imprisoned awaiting trial (retired)
Talon Xavaliir - Cleric 11 - living
"I didn't know he only had six kids, I thought he had millions." (on the passing of Gary Gygax)
X'Anne - Witch (Druid/Ranger mix) 4 - captured and imprisoned awaiting trial (retired)
Talon Xavaliir - Cleric 11 - living
"I didn't know he only had six kids, I thought he had millions." (on the passing of Gary Gygax)
