It feels like a century has passed since we’ve been anywhere but this troublesome mountain. Although I appreciate all facets of nature under Ehlonna’s care, I can’t wait to have a change of scenery. These caverns along the way have brought us nothing but danger and awe.
Poor Kratos has been through so much and has endured as usual. As for my human friend, I know our partnership has strengthened, but there is still much to learn of one another. He is a skilled fighter for sure, and our skills have synced well much quicker than expected. Kratos seems to enjoy his company, so that’s a plus.
We’ve been traveling for a few hours this day and something’s been off. I warn Jared to keep an eye out as discreetly as possible. Kneeling to the ground I make a few gestures, and with ease the message is formed eligible for him to read. We continue on for another half hour or so, before we’ve come to agree, we are indeed being followed. Usually we travel till much later after sunset, but we wanted to give our new friends an opportunity to strike.
Already there had been a chill in the air that was unsettling, and now as we portray to settle down, it seemed to intensify the feeling.
“Not so stealthy am I?”, questioned a voice from within the shadows. We defensively position ourselves back to back, eagerly awaiting an assault. I sensed movement off to the left. Jared points his weapon off to the right. Kratos sways his head side to side. It seems he has multiple targets. We’re indeed surrounded.
“You may have thought you had the upper hand, but I assure you I’ve been around for quite some time. And I must say, I owe you three a great deal.” A chuckle acts as a pause, “And because of that, I’ve decided to recruit you as well.”
“Recruit us?”, I think; and with that, movement causes Jared to fire, revealing a dwarf. A familiar looking dwarf, with a reddish-gray beard that trails along the floor. I cock my head in that direction, and in an instant a wave of emotions and thoughts crash into one another. The dwarf seemed familiar, but his pace was slower than normal. Jared fired a shot and confirmed a hit to the head. I’d never seen an enemy of that size take a shot and be unphased. In the same instance, Kratos leaps forward gnawing at the enemy to his left. Hidden in shadow I hear Kratos’ growl as its brought to a halt. Being flung back in our direction, he lands but not alone. Lying on the ground next to Kratos, is yet another familiar sight. A glare that relayed fear, it was the same odd creature we had come across not long ago. Afraid and alone.
I was shook as my focus moved from its glare to the rest of its features. This creature was no longer mortal. As the realization sets, I hear a loud swoop as something shoots up into the air taking flight. At the same time, what attacked Kratos appears. Jared rapidly firing and reloading, urges me to get my grip. “UNDEAD!!” he yells. “Come on, give me some light!.”
I was frozen for a moment, then as Kratos charged at his previous assailant, I gather the focus to bring forth a storm of thunderous might. The clouds coalesce above us, and one by one I call down lightning into the shadows. Aimlessly hoping for a hit, and trying to gain brief sight on what we’re up against. One by one the flashes shoot down, illuminating figures moving in slowly like pawns on a chessboard.
“SWITCH!”, Jared demands. In one swift movement we trade places. In seconds these undead dwarves drop like the fodder they were made to be. Lightning crashing down on their already torn, decomposing bodies. I check on Kratos once more, and I can’t believe my eyes once more. A golem! It makes sense now, “I’ve been around for quite some time”, is what he said. Whoever this man is, he’s been following us from the start of this trek.
I mutter a few words to enhance Kratos, making him a bit larger. “Your magics won’t stand a chance against what I’ve obtained. You should all just submit now.” He’s really starting to piss me off. With a long winded sigh he says, “So be it. After them!”
“Aw c’mon what now?”, mutters Jared. The clouds above start to separate as my control on weather dissipates. I stay focused, shifting my body to those akin to me, and all under Ehlonna’s grace. With a running start, I become a large brown bear charging at this golem. Making contact, I send it back 10 feet, but because this is a terrible situation to begin with; Kratos is robbed of a recovery as an undead manticore dives down on him pinning him to the ground.
It becomes a battle of monsters instantly. Jared dextrously maneuvers through the chaos only to be met with multiple whips of the manticore’s tail. This beast was already a challenge on it’s own, and right now it’s not looking so good for us. I rush towards the beast to give Kratos relief, but I’m grappled by the golem who is now focused on me. I’m slammed hard on the ground repeatedly, until my form drops. Just before it’s hulking fist can meet my skull, I roll through its legs; shift into a tiger and make my way towards Jared.
He’s managed to help Kratos back on his feet, but the two are badly wounded. Crying out to Ehlonna in a mighty roar, I channel healing to both of my companions. “I… always forget you can do that…. thanks”, Jared says biting pain behind each word.
“You really are starting to irritate me. Just submit! Don’t you want to be friends?!” This mystery man yells from the shadows, finally stepping forward and revealing himself. A young human man with a darkness in his eyes. Tattered robes and a tome in hand. If I was staring right at him, that description alone would have me thinking of a lich. I’ve seen his kind before. A student of the arcane, but this ones curiosity has lead him to some dark magics, and our good deeds have fueled his uprising.
Jared quickly takes a shot, and in an instant, this necromancer produces a protective barrier, a magic shield.
*Click*
“Damn…. I need ammo…”
With a mutter of a few incantations, our hard work becomes meaningless, as that strange creature and all of those dwarves rise once more. I cant speak in the form I’m in, but if a bear could have a “fuck this shit” face, I certainly had it.
As the dead rise once more, we feel the tremors of what we can now assume were those nasty grick we disposed of recently. This is bad. We need to get out of here now. We’re overwhelmed and I’m sure this man has more tricks up his sleeve, or better yet in his spellbook.
I focus on the tremors and the ground beneath me, putting all of my power to bring forth all of the roots possible, to entangle our enemies. Without words shared, we take this opportunity to flee. In our retreat, this bastard of a necromancer casts a spell I’ve always had the pleasure of having assist me in battle, until now. A fireball explodes just enough behind us to send us forward and off of our feet. With the trees in flames providing more cover, I head towards the nearest tree unaffected by the flames.
“Hurry”, I beckon the two getting up from that powerful blast. With the wisdom bestowed upon me by Ehlonna, I open a gateway through the tree and instruct them to run through, as I follow right behind. Just as I pass through, I take a look back and see the still persistent pursuit of the undead gang heading towards us. The gateway closes and I drop to the floor. Casting another massive heal, and finally being rid of immediate danger, we just stood there lying on the ground. Out of breath, exhausted, and shook.
Jared finally breaks the silence, “where are we?”
“Not far from where we first met”
“Could you always do that? You know what, don’t answer. I don’t want to hate you right now.”
“As you wish”, with the biggest grin I’ve had all day. “We should try finding a decent place to sleep tonight, considering what just happened. I’m not prepared to reflect until we…”
With a jump, Jared interrupts me. He looks me straight in the eyes and says “the Behir…….”
Hey everyone, we are back with our second installment of “Subclass Special”. In contrast to what we do for Monster Mayhem posts, we will focus on more of a narrative for the ongoing adventures of Normac and Silverkin, instead of being “informative” as a bestiary would be. We are well aware that a basic Wizard player character won’t be able to summon monster’s of that magnitude, but we wanted to add some more flavor and excitement to the narrative. We hope you enjoy it.
Make sure to follow us on Instagram and Twitter, for more updates and future prizes/giveaways. We have more interesting content along the way. We just want to continue to grow and enrich this amazing community of Dungeons and Dragons. Thank you for the love and support. Until next time.
– Pat
Normac & Silverkin 