[Taocow PBEM] Book 3 - Chapter XIII - The Millennium Druids

[Aaron Clausen]

OOC: And onward and upward! Seems like a good place for a new chapter.

>> [GM]
>> ...
>>
>> When the cataclysm is complete, the lake is gone. A muddy expanse
>> leading down to the original riverbed is all that is left, and only a
>> couple of bodies of Kydians can be seen. The central third of the dam is
>> completely gone.
>>
>> But the worst devastation is below the dam. Where the Splugorth army was
>> just a few moments before is a vast lake of rushing water. The
>> Millennium Tree stands like as an island in a sea of chaos. Many of the
>> Splugorth minions have been swept away further downstream, perhaps a few
>> hundred are straggling in the current or crawling up the banks. Sadly,
>> it seems a few defenders were swept away, but it seems a fair enough trade.
>>
>> As to the small pyramid that had been channeling the energy from the
>> rift, it has been knocked on to its side, and is glowing with a harsh
>> red light, and several Kydians around it can literally be seen melting
>> as the intense energies go wild and scorch the area around it.
>>
>> A cheer rises up from the defenders of the Millennium Tree and they rush
>> ahead to pick off the remaining Splugorth troops.
>>
>> Over the radio an excited voice shouts out "We thank you, whoever you are!"
>> [/GM]

> [Oz]
> Oz responded on the same channel. "Remember that feeling when we come
> in and ask for assistance with our wounded. We're a couple of APCs and
> ATVs in-bound."
>
> He got on the guard channel and ordered his men into the transports.
> "Let's get down there before the aliens send reinforcements."
> [/Oz]

> [Alex]
> The ranger does not trust the demon child to turn her head. "If you guys
> have it under control, lets get moving."
> [/Alex]

[GM]
There seems no objection to moving on. Still, reaching the Millennium
Tree is a tricky venture, as it is now surrounded by a fast flowing
river on all sides. It takes some careful maneuvering by all three
vehicles to find the shallowest part of the lake.

For Oz, there is the additional worry that his two scouts that went
out the with newcomer and his dwarf to scout out the lake and dam
never returned, leading one of Oz's men to speculate that they may
have got caught in the flood. A couple of men ask for Oz's permission
to go back and look for the four missing people.

For the most part the Splugorth have retreated, their army defeated.
Here and there the company sees defenders with Kydians taken prisoner.
A couple of technowizards have built a mystically-powered energy cage
to keep the Kydians inside, and it is rapidly filling up.

And then there are the friendly casualties, which seem to number in
the hundreds. Bodies of men, women, D-Bees, many who look to be
acolytes, lay side by side as other priests busily try to discover
their identities.

The Tree itself dominates all. It stands hundreds of feet in the air,
and its native power ripples through the air. There is evidence of
damage, score marks over its bark, but now that the dimensional rift
that was causing it injury has closed up, it is healing rapidly.

As they approach the Tree, it appears that a group is coming to meet
them. Three members of this assembly are dressed in drab robes with
hoods that cover their faces. About a dozen retainers in similar
clothing though not wearing their hoods walk beside them. Finally
there are another six people; three who look to be Ley-line Walkers
and three that are heavily armed types who look like mercenaries;
about half human or humanoid and half D-Bees, who seem to be
bodyguards.

The leading hooded figure raises her hand in a gesture to the rest of
that group, who all stop. The hooded figure approaches and then raises
the hood to reveal an old woman, perhaps seventy years old, with short
grey hair, deep wrinkles on a wizened face, and deep brown eyes.

"I am Cassandra, chief Speaker for the Druids of Hednesforth Tree."
she says in a somewhat hoarse voice. "We owe you and your King a great
debt. If you had not come when you had, I think our lot would be much
the worse now."

"Most of you are welcome here as Friends of the Tree. Here, before you
go further on your journey, we shall do what we can do heal your
wounds. But you must be aware that we have many wounded, some near
death, and our resources are taxed."

Another of the hooded figures walks forward, taking off the hood and
unveiling a humanoid with bright red skin, a bald head with three
small horns and three blood-red eyes. The nose is wide and flat over
an overly large mouth filled with bright white razor sharp teeth. A
pretty terrifying figure all in all, only magnified by a great stature
of at least seven feet tall.

"As Cassandra says, most of you are welcome." he says in a harsh
voice. "But you bring a terrible thing you, a very evil being. Surely
you must know that to bring such a thing to a Millennium Tree could be
viewed as a grave insult. Explain yourselves."
[/GM]

-- 
Aaron Clausen
mightymartianca at gmail.com