The Return of a Lord

As Ninjanaught left the pub the young mans words kept repeating in his head.

"Skeletal Armies. This sounds promising... I shall speak with this Dwarf.

Ninjanaught walks from the outskirts of town into the centre looking for the Dwarf.
He said to himself under his breath,
"Finding this Dwarf may prove difficult. They are quite small after all. He chuckled to himself.Then again, do like to make there presence known.

He keeps walking around in search of the small fellow and he spots a familiar face.
He motions towards the young man from the Pub.

"You! Boy! Come over here."

Whimpers,
"Yo... You mean me? What have i done?"

Angrerd by this,
"I said come here. Now! Do not fear, you have done nothing wrong."

Slowly coming round,
"Yo... Your not going to hurt me? Hey wait, your that guy out of the Web aren’t you?"

Grabs the young man by the neck and puts him in a crippling position,
"Stop talking. Now, what is your name?"

Writhing in agony,
"Ok ok please don’t hurt me! M... My name is Binky. What are you going to do to me?"

Loosens grip and calms a little,
"Just be quite. I’m not going to hurt you. I just want some information that’s all."

In a scared but cocky manner,
"Sure, sure! Anything you need! You want info, I’m your man!"

Tightens grip,
"What did i say boy! Now. That Dwarf you were talking about earlier, what’s his name? I’m assuming it is a he."

Writhes yet again,
"Ahhh! Ok ok! I don’t know his name! I just heard him shouting while i was... While i was in my watchtower."

Loosens grip yet again,
Hmmm. Where is he now?

"I last saw him dining in a pub with Vyenna! Will you let me go now please?"

Angered once again,
"WHERE! Where was he dining?"

Shrinking in his own pain,
"MWAAAHH! The pub over there! I’m sorry please let me go!"

With the flick of Ninja's wrist the boy is tossed 3 feet away onto the floor.
The boy runs away yet again, as fast as he can and Ninjanaught walks, slowly toward the Pub.

 

Speaking to the dwarf, Grossenschwaum said, If you can find a spot of death on me, I'll be surprised.
And then, turning to the mage, he said Now that the whole town knows we're here, I'm sure we'd need a man of your talents to keep from garnering too much attention.
Very interesting...
By now, Grossenschwaum has no delusions of reaching a peaceful resolution with the town. Seeing how everyone swarmed over a single hysterical herder only cemented his beliefs in the "fragile" human mind.
However, one thing was bothering him; Why would the mage so easily offer assistance? They hadn't yet asked for anything...
Hmm...let's get going.

 

Maximus recalled his father's words, heard a hundred times a hundred;
Max, you need to learn to have patience, like the rest of us. Many a times you 'ave fouled some project or other because you rushed. The real joy is in the contemplating and careful making of a project, not in its outcome. But then life was for living, and he could never just sit there and stare at some damnable thing that needed fixing for monthes on end, when all he had to do was do it. Maybe his impatience with the world is why he'd found himself caught up in the wars of elves and skeletons, instead of carving some blasted mural on a wall.

Then the most unlikely of things happened, the man-cow spoke:
We are not undead, nor do we work for them. I, on the other hand, have recently fought them. See my wound? I got that fighting off a skeleton battalion just up the mountainrange. Maybe we can come to an understanding? We merely wanted to eat, that's all.

He reappraised the creature, trying to use his non-existent powers of divination to figure out if the monster was lying. Finding that to be a useless endeavor, he studied the wounds on the beast instead, and indeed there were skeletal claw marks and other wounds similar to others he'd seen only three days ago.

Then the Dragon spoke, If you can find a spot of death on me, I'll be surprised. , and then started speaking to the mage.
This is all highly irregular... Unsure of what to do next, he decided to sheath his sword.

If you are not from the evil hoard, then what are you? Before the beast had a chance to answer a wind started to pick up, blowing dirt and sod all about. Max covered his face with his cloak and dismounted from his horse, backing away from the creatures and the man. Now he noticed that the man was focused on the townsfolk, and seemed to be uttering some sort of incantation.
By the bloody axe of Alberich, what sort of evil is this?...

 

A great dust storm hid the unusual gathering, and the charging mob came to a halt. After a little while of confusion, a small group came up to Vyenna. One man raised his pitchfork and waved it in front of her.

"Oy! What's goin' on 'ere? Ye better have some explanations!"
I don't know what's goin' on, so get that pitchfork outta my face

The man lowered the pitchfork and turned to the rest of his group. After a little while of simply staring at the dust storm, they went back to the mob.

Well, not much happening here, Vyenna thought. I might as well get back to the workshop

And so she started walking back towards the town.

 

Wolfsbane was getting nervous. He didn't like magic, and now he couldn't see if the mob was advancing or not. In fact, he couldn't see much at all. They needed to get out of there as soon as possible, even if the mod had stopped or not. The mage couldn't keep the spell up forever, and Wolfsbane didn't feel like squashing villagers right now.

You! Dwarf!, he screamed, through the storm, We don't want to fight you! But if you really want to battle us, then follow us away from here. There's no need to draw the other people into this!

And with that, he gave Grossenschwaum a nudge in the side and ran away from the site, towards the wyrms cave.

 

I've "renovated" a mine near the town...While it can serve as a safehouse for now, I'm fairly certain there will be humans returning in the morning. I and the minotaur shall wait there.
There was no real time to get into the current situation, and the dust in the air made for some colorful displays on everyone's part.
Running back to the cave, Gross remembered that he hadn't yet gotten any food since arriving in town. Surely the mage would have something in his cavern...

 

Rosie watched the flames. They coalesced before her eyes, blending with a soft *pop* before dissolving into a vision. When the vision faded back into flames, she smiled. It was the first true smile she had had in years. She closed her eyes for a moment, then rose to find her Master. She had made her decision. She would help him in any way she was able, and maybe, just maybe...

 

Maximus followed the Minotaur and Wyrm, feeling somewhat foolish for charging into battle so rashly. After a while they stopped near a cave entrance, so he decided he'd speak up.

About that bit back there, my apologies. I thought you intended to harm that old man and was mearly coming to his defense. Obviously he can take care of himself.

My name is Maximus, and I am currently a courier in the 5th battalion of of the elven armies of Kre'tor. I am here in this region to rally support to defend the lands against a massive skeletal army that even now marches in our direction. My goal was to rally the humans to fight, but they were more interested in monsters than armies I guess.

Soon, these demonic undead will be upon these lands and will slaughter these people mercelessly. After three days, they will arise and join the hoard, as I have seen many a fallen comrade's fate.

 

Wolfsbane looked up at the dwarf. An undead horde? That would explain what he'd thought was deaths last real attempt to slay the last of the minotaurs. That would explain the skeletons in the valley.
But if they'd been there already... Then...

They could reach the town by nightfall.

Maximus, you said you fought these undead warriors? Well, so have I, and they're in the pass of Rockscreek even as we speak. They could reach the towns gate by evening, today! And the patrol I destroyed must've been a scout-patrol, but they were almost fifty, nevertheless. And they had... Elvish weaponry, I'm sorry to say. The way those bows were made, they could've been made by no other race.

He looked from the wyrm to the dwarf, and back again.

What are we going to do?

 

After a moment of what appeared to be sorrow, the dwarf's expresion changed to one of deteremination.

This does not bode well, I was hoping I was farther ahead of them. Its possible that the scouting party was just lost and the main army is farther behind, but we cant take that chance.

The people of this town have already scoffed at me, so getting them to construct defenses and arm themselves will be difficult, unless....

The dwarf turned his head to one side and held his chin with his right hand, deep in thought. Then, coming to a decision, he climbed onto his horse. There isn't a moment to lose, I will go amongst them again, but this time with a different perspective. Remember that I regard you as an ally against the undead, despite what I might say to the ignorant people of this land.

With that, he kicked the sides of his horse and rode into town at a full gallop.

 

Hmph...damned undead. Even if they're normal weapons, being crafted by elven hands imparts a magical essence to them. A skeletal army may prove resistant to my flames, unless I can generate more powerful fire. I'll need certain minerals and foods to get just the right temperature...
There was also the possibility of shattering the skeletons with rapid heating and cooling. Surely the mage could chill them after Gross had baked their frames.
Looking at Wolfsbane, Gross said, Whatever we do, we need to form a plan. I'm sure that you're well acquainted with melee weaponry, Wolfsbane. While I know you're more than capable of using your fists, we might need to have something crafted specifically for your hands. Or, perhaps we could simply knock a tree down and call it a club.
I'll probably have to rely in my scales and claws, and I'm able to use my tail as a whip.
The dwarf is heavily armed, and I'm sure his armor gives him a grand amount of protection.
I'm not sure how many spells are in the repertoire of our mage friend, but I'm also fairly certain that, when the time comes, we may find out.
However, there's definitely some things worth discussing when we get to the mage's cavern, if we can get there before the army arrives.
Men are a simple matter. They break bones, they bleed, they feel pain.
Skeletons have but one of these weaknesses, and are certainly still able to fight without the use of a few extremeties. That, and they may be able to use a broken limb as a weapon...
Interesting. So many things to consider while killing those which are already dead.

 

The servant from before brought her into His study. She bowed slightly, a small smile playing about her lips.

Tell me what you need, Master, and I will tell you what I see.

 

Rosie blinked.

A truce? Azazoth will not treaty with you, or anyone. He was banished for too long, Sharrizade chose to summon him because of his boundless hatred of life.

She thought quickly on what she knew of the Bone Lord. Her brow furrowed as she recalled her previous Master's incantations.

He isn't killable by normal means. He's resistant to magic, and if destroyed he will regenerate. That's because he's only tied to this plane, not existant on it. Perhaps...

She grinned.

Of course. The spell keeping him here is contained within an amulet Sharrizade wore. If Azazoth does not possess it now, it still lies with Sharrizade's body. Destroy the amulet, and Azathoth will be banished once more.

She looked around the room for something to scry. Spying a crystal decantor of liquid, she picked it up. Rosie hefted it for a moment, then carefully poured the liquor across His desk. She studied the liquid's path intently. The amber puddle flowed across at a slant. As she watched, it reversed direction.

The amulet does not lie in the direction of Sharrizade's tower. Azathoth must have it.

The liquid finished it's journey across His desk, and she neatly caught it in the decantor. She wiped the remaining residue with her sleeve, and raised an eyebrow in question.

 

Vyenna sat bent over her desk, lit by a single candle. She was mumbling to herself and scribbling down notes now and then. There was a knock on the door.

Oh, jeez. If that's that idiot Hampton again, I'll rip his head off! I didn't know such impatience was possible, she thought to herself. but when she opened the door, she saw that it was not Mr. Hampton, but rather... A man. Just a man. The man spoke:

My master wants to see you.

Vyenna was a bit taken aback. Well I'm not invisible, am I?, she replied sarcastically. The man thought for a while, as if he had been taken off guard and had to figure out what in the world this woman was talking about. Finally he said:

You must come to his residence.
Oh I do, do I? Well, it's far past work-hours. Come back tomorrow. She was just about to slam the door shut when the man said:

It is urgent, and my master pays well.
Vyenna thought for a moment. How well?
Very well. She thought some more.

As she followed the man in the streets, she said:

Has anyone ever told you that you look very nondescript?