1/29/00 - Report by Eve
The attacks were swift, today, the armies of undead rising forth from the soil and assailing the City of Paladins once again. Our calls for reinforcements drew many to its streets in quick fashion, and the battle had begun its chaotic cycle within minutes of my arrival...
The bridge near the city's park was swarmed with the dead, a wave of skeletal knights and liches marching into the midst of the defenders and tearing through our ranks. We split their ranks with a field of energy, casting Flamestrikes and Energy Bolts into their midst from the sides of the bridge as our warriors and dragons held them from breaking to the streets...
An attack soon came from the gates to our backs, and we were flanked from behind. Losing little ground, we repelled the attacks from each side, few of our militia falling in the battle...
The first wave was soon repelled, the streets littered with the corpses of the dead. We set about to healing the wounded, gathering the gold and armor from the fallen bodies of our attackers...
I set about on a patrol of the city, checking the Counselor's Halls and banks for any sign of the walking dead, hoping to catch sight of the lich, Juo'nar, and put an end to these attacks on the city. Finding nothing, I quickly spurred my mount towards the Paladin's Isle, to make sure all was well...
I found two men on watch there, a paladin aspirant named Jerome Alston reporting that the isle had received no attacks as of late. No sooner did he speak those words, then a legion of dead sprang from the soil, surrounding us from all sides. I watched as the two watchmen fled from their posts, taking more defensive positions, and decided to do the same...
I rushed into the library, riding through the halls and out the passage that led to the small courtyard. With a wall between myself and the army of living dead, I began volleying a series of Flamestrikes into their midst, felling a few before something terrifying happened...
One minute, the wall protected me, the undead unable to reach me save for their spells...the next, they literally LEAPT over the wall, propelled by some magic I have never seen before! Caught off guard, the blades of the bone knights cut into me, and I retreated into the library with blood staining my dress...
It was then I noticed him...in the other room, not ten feet away, a lich adorned in robes of green, his eyes ablaze with a fire that paralyzed me with fear...I had found the leader of the assault, the one known as Juo'nar...
But as fast as he appeared, he was gone, leaving me no time to capture a portrait of him. Finding the army of undead to be increasing, I quickly called out for reinforcements, summoning to my side a number of capable warriors to dispense of the enemy and help scour the city. Efficiently and systematically, we felled the dead that swarmed the Isle, and soon set about to searching the city for Juo'nar, finding nothing.
We reassembled on the isle soon after, where we took time to rest our mounts and tend to our injuries.
It was then a call for help from Vesper came to me, with reports of the Troll Lord, G'Ruagak, in the midst of the battlefield. We quickly opened a gate to the city's streets, emerging into a massive siege on the town, scores of trolls surrounding the citizens. Jumping quickly to the offensive, I called down a series of lighting bolts, dispensing a few as I brought my quarterstaff to bear, and leapt to the defense of one of the many citizens under attack...
It was then I noticed something strange...a large troll, slightly off color from the rest, suddenly screamed out a battle cry and descended upon me, its speed double that of the other trolls. I attempted to cast a number of spells at it, but its relentless assault interrupted all but one of my offensive strikes, so I was forced to bring my staff to bear and melee the beast...
Which was no easy task...it apparently was much stronger than its kin, and when I was forced to flee, it pursued me through the crowd, weaving through the defenders and focusing on me alone. Calling on the power of teleport, I gained some distance on my assailant, and rained another Flamestrike down on him as a number of men surrounded him, soon bringing him to rest with the rest of his kind on the streets of the city...
From Vesper, we returned to Trinsic, where reports stated an army of ratmen and lizardmen held the road leading to Britain. We dispatched a group to Britain by gate, having travel south down the road, and then the remaining group travelled towards the capital, to converge at the halfway point after clearing the way. Finding scout groups and small bands on our way, we felled the enemy with little trouble. The only scare came when a dread spider appeared from the nearby forest, but after a volley of arrows and spells, it too fell beneath our might. Soon meeting up with the advance guard, we quickly travelled to Yew, with reports of the Abbey under attack...
Throwing open the doors of the stone fortress, we rushed inside, hearing the guttural language of the orcs drowning out the cries of the city's residents. Quickly drawing our weapons and rushing into the fray, I was shocked to find not ten feet from me, the leader of the offensive, Keeonean. He walked amidst the orcish army, and I noticed the guards followed him closely, seeming to protect him. Fearing their enchanted halberds bringing instant death upon me, I held my attack, challenging him to a duel away from the city's protection. Silently, he fled from the room and emerged outside...
I teleported over his orc allies, felling two with my staff as I rushed through the doors after him. I yelled for him to concede, telling him our forces would soon arrive and that his defeat was ensured, but he ignored me and would not speak.
Instead, he raised his arms into the air, and suddenly the entire street was covered with a swarm of orcish mages and lords. I quickly sent out a second call for reinforcements, and fell into line with a number of men emerging from the Abbey. After a vicious battle of steel and magic, the orcs lay dead at our feet, Keeonean standing alone beside the Winery...
I called for a line, and we assembled in rank before him, weapons held before us, prepared to strike. It was then we noticed Keeonean spin around to face a man in dark clothing that stood behind him, who I soon recognized to be the rather infamous thief Zann, in disguise. It seems that Zann had somehow managed to deprive Keeonean of all his pearl without the guards acting in the dark leader's defense...
Keeonean reached out his hand, motioning for thier return. The thief asked if he handed the pearl back, would the mage speak to the army assembled, and Keeonean nodded his affirmation. I yelled out to Zann to not be a fool and trust him, but it was too late. As the pearls landed in the mage's hand, he vanished without a word, leaving our army with no new information, save what he held in his pack.
Thanking the thief wholeheartedly for his brilliant attempt, I scanned my town reports, and noticed that the only towns not sieged with an appearance by their leader were Britain and Cove. Realizing Britain's crowds served as their own defense, we decided to assemble at the gates of Cove, the city with the weakest defense, where the rumored Gazer Fiend was expected to soon strike...
After an hour of standing in formation, with no appearance by the enemy, one of our scouts rushed in reporting a massive assembly of ettins and orcs in the nearby fort. With everyone itching for a battle, we decided to take the offensive this time, a lesson to the orcs to not side with the enemy...
It took fifteen minutes, but after engaging a formidable line of ettins at the entrance, we swarmed into the orc's home, and cleared the walls of their kind. A victory cheer went up around us, and the battle here was won for the evening...
And after another fifteen minutes at the gates of Cove, the period of timelessness was soon upon us, so we all faded away to our seperate chambers for much needed sleep...
I cannot say I slept well.