General Summary
Part One
The Infinite Battlefield
On Dynamia, the Plane of Strength, five warriors found themselves embattled at separate points across the Infinite Battlefield. Each of them was from ages past, and had spent years upon years fighting in the afterlife of their Dragon, Barduumus, The Battlelord. As the battles raged across the red iron dust, a sound echoed across the plane. A great, rhythmic thumping of steel on tile. All who heard it paused, and when the booming pounding ceased, beams of bright blue light descended on these five warriors. Daedra Sen, Karda Skullripper, Styrke, Galaduath Valaran, and Edern Hamme were swept away in the light. Barduumus had called his chosen and brought them to the Hall of Champions.The Hall of Champions
As they came out of the light, they saw they were not alone. Each guessed where they had been brought, from the statues and song around them, but none knew why. Statues of solid steel depicted great heroes and warriors from seemingly every race and time. Many were unknown to those gathered, but Styrke had heard of three: Warlord Keel, the First Orc King; Monbaraba, the First Grand Khan; and Black Phillip, General of the Manslayer. Edern recognized the statue of Irina Ozero. Daedra as well saw it and glowered at the statue. As they walked, they reached the end of the hall, where a grand plinth, where they saw the massive frame of Barduumus standing before them, his clawed hand on a massive greatspear. Seeing the Dragon, Edern, Styrke, and Daedra kneeled, though Galaduath chose to bow and Karda nodded to him. Barduumus welcomed the group. They were selected by him to fight in his personal arena, the Steel Soul Arena, to earn a statue in the Hall of Champions. Barduumus told the assembled group with the death of Zenthai, The Dragon King, at the hands of Esturk, The World's End, Zenthai's daughter, Chedae, The Heaven's Light, was the new Deity of Zenethia, the Plane of Light.The Steel Soul Arena
Barduumus did not believe that Chedae was up to the task of facing Esturk when he again rose, calling her a “platinum whelp.” Barduumus wanted new champions to fill the hall and to guide his followers with divine energy as he prepared to face Esturk instead. He charged them to prove themselves in his personal stadium, the Steel Soul Arena, and with another slam of his greatspear, they were transported once again. The arena was a solid steel stadium with a layer of caked red dust. There was a set of glyphs on the floor, and the arena was ringed with modelled draconic heads and statues. Barduumus stood on a platform overlooking them in the arena. He said, “Right. Your one job now is to survive.” To simulate what Barduumus foresaw Esturk would bring to bear in the future, Barduumus summoned the first wave: eight draconic Wyvern Knights wielding steel lances and riding War Drakes.Round One
Edern spoke to Karda and asked if they would be allies or enemies in this. Karda replied saying, “No one’s my enemy until they hit me first.” They all jumped eagerly into battle. Karda raged and started to magically enlarge her form. Styrke cast a protective armor on himself and summoned a large spiritual statue head. The pair rushed towards the enemy and began pummeling into them with Karda’s fists and Styrke’s hammer. Nearby, Daedra was severely hit by the riders. She eagerly returned the aggression, but was forced to fall back to heal while a rider chased her down. On the other side, Edern cast Haste and teleported between back and forth to the Ethereal Plane to attack. The riders tried to keep up with him, but most turned their attention towards Galaduath. As the elf was attacked, he summoned fiery shadows around him, which obscured him from the riders. Karda continued to slam a wyvern knight, nearly killing it on her own, but Galaduath saw the creature’s weakened state across the field and shot it. With the killing blow, the bloodlust effects of Dynamia gave him added vitality. Though Karda was frustrated, she turned her attention to the next of the riders. Edern was knocked from his hasted effect, in was attacked in the lethargic aftereffects. He summoned metallic wings around him to protect him, avoiding the damage. The wings seemed to take hold, and Edern was partially overcome with scales and a draconic, fierce visage as he fought back. Meanwhile, Daedra fought fiercely against the rider that chased her. Trading blows, she struck the rider down with a thunderous smite on her glaive, killing it. Karda grappled and pinned the rider she and Styrke fought, but again Galaduath’s arrow found the killing blow on the enemy. Enraged and with no further enemies in this part of the arena, Karda rushed across the central glyph. As she entered it, it activated and sent a damaging haze that engulfed the center of the arena. Styrke slammed his hammer to the ground and cast a Flame Strike across the glyph, burning the remaining riders and Galaduath, and narrowly missing Edern as he rushed around the fray. The fiery spell slew another of the drakes, and both Styrke and Daedra began moving around the central glyph towards the rest of the fight. From their combined efforts, the remaining Wyvern Knights and War Drakes were cut down and slain with arrow, fist, and blade. As the din of combat faded, the group regarded each other as they heard the approach of creaking of wheels and gnashing of metal scraping metal. Barduumus congratulated them, saying, “You all survived, but are you ready for the next round?” The fighters Barduumus selected prepared to face whatever came next.Part Two
Round Two
Digging up from the steel bottom of the arena, four dracotaurs armed with bows emerged. At the same time, moving through an opening of the outer walls, two steaming metal war machines piloted by kobolds chugged into the arena. With battle cries, the group rushed to fight these before they could attack. Karda activated her runic necklace, and said to Galaduath, “Hey, you take what’s mine again and I’m gonna take it personal.” She rushed to a dracotaur, bludgeoning it severely. An arrow from the elf caught the creature, but it was Karda who smashed its face with her knee. As the bloodlust vitality filled her, Galaduath said, “Don’t worry, I won’t take it personal.” Daedra collided with a dracotaur with a holy Smite, and she beheaded it quickly in a shower of sparks and blood. Turning then, she rushed to join Karda as she held firm a charging war machine shooting fire at her. As Karda held it down, Daedra smashed it until the steam pressure exploded it to shrapnel. Styrke blessed his weapon and summoned the spiritual bust again as a dracotaur and war machine rushed to him. Edern attacked a dracotaur, which shot lightning from its maw at him. Edern fell back and teleported across the field to join the ones fighting Styrke. They attacked the enemies, even as a lightning arrow and blast of flame erupted around them. Styrke broke concentration on his weapon buff, which blinded the kobolds and Edern. Unable to see, Edern tried to hold the machine in place with tangling vines, but the spiked wheels tore the plant apart. As he regained his sight, he slashed the dracotaur to pieces. Galaduath traded arrows with the last dracotaur, and his shot slew the creature. Meanwhile, Styrke and Edern destroyed the last war machine, and the second round was won. As they recovered themselves, Edern said the round had been rough. Daedra said it was “so fun” and Karda said the constant fighting reminded her of what her life had been.Round Three
Barduumus looked down upon them, saying, “Perhaps I have gone too easy on you.” He slammed his tail and the ground began to rumble and shift. He held forward a hand and held the spell glyphs temporarily inert. Edern, Styrke, and Daedra jumped to the center glyph, and Karda and Galaduath ran to a smaller, outer glyph. Then, flying celestial creatures descended from the sky in beams of bluish light: one white-winged planetar and two draconic devas. The ground fell away into an array of jutting weapons and blades. As the group quickly took in the sudden changes, the celestials flew at them. Karda enlarged herself and strode through the field of blades towards a deva. She grappled it and pinned it into the spikes below. Styrke struck it while it was down, and magically enhanced his armor. On the opposite side, Galaduath tried to keep his distance from the other deva attacking him. Meanwhile, Edern and Daedra battled with the planatar in the center glyph. In a rage, Karda smashed the pinned deva again and again, but it was Galaduath’s arrows shot from across the field that killed the creature. She called out in anger, and rushed towards the planatar in the center, joining Styrke and Daedra as they attacked to little effect. Spell effects hit the group with each movement on the glyph. Edern’s movement triggered a mental prison that locked him in the memory of his death battling against demons. As the planatar drove its greatsword into Daedra, the other deva flew from Galaduath to cast a healing spell on the celestial. While Edern broke through the imprisoning spell and Daedra healed herself, Galaduath repeatedly shot the planatar. Karda grabbed the celestial and ripped the wings off, killing it in a rage. She then threw an enlarged javelin through the last deva, killing it and winning the third round. As the enemies dissolved into blue sparks, the field of weapons retracted and the solid steel ground returned. Edern said, “The enemies we face are severe and I know not whether this be wisdom or folly. You be a frightening warrior, and I wish to continue facing things alongside you, not against you,” and he cast a Cure Wounds on Daedra. The rest of the group healed and recovered, but all were starting to run out of resources.Round Four
They positioned themselves again and wondered what they would next face. Barduumus called for the next round, looking up to the sky. A bright, silvery flash spawned a giant metal creature that crashed like a meteor into the arena. A shockwave sent all but Galaduath flying as a huge wyvern coated in mithril scales emerged from the crater. Even as the dust settled, they heard the movement of the arena’s statues as they animated and stepped into the field. The terrifying wyvern lunged towards Karda, biting and tearing into her with teeth and claws. Karda enlarged herself, yelling, “I’m having flashbacks to the day I died!” She grabbed the wyvern’s horns and slammed it into the ground. Galaduath, frightened, stepped back and away. As he came close to the arena’s walls, the dragonhead decorations spewed gouts of flame at him, sending him back. Edern and Styrke quickly tried to assist with powerful magic, but the wyvern was too powerful to be affected. Daedra rushed to pile on, but the central glyph sent a powerful shock of necromantic energy coursing into her, leaving her barely standing. The wyvern roared and orange glyphs appeared around it as it cast Haste on itself. Surprised that it could cast spells, Styrke cast an Antimagic Field to nullify the effects. He confidently stepped onto the central glyph, but this was Barduumus’s spell glyph. So powerful was the divine magic that the field could not suppress it, and he took fire damage from an explosion. Karda slammed repeatedly into the wyvern, and it beat its metal wings in response, scattering Daedra to the ground. The wyvern smashed its giant tail into her, nearly killing her outright. With attacks from the group cutting into the creature, it was Edern’s axes that delivered the final blow. As the wyvern dissolved in blue sparks, he rushed to aid Daedra, but he forgot of the statues ominously approaching. The battle was still on, and the glyph activated, hitting him with a Fireball spell. He reached Daedra and cast a healing spell, bringing her back from the brink. The group charged at the statues that remained. They had a magnetic energy to them, and Edern and Daedra’s weapons were pulled from their grasps. Though Daedra again fell unconscious, with arrow and axe and fists, they crumbled all four statues to ruin, and the fourth round was won. Styrke healed Daedra, and she reclaimed her lost weapon as she spouted curses. Karda said, “I don’t think I’ve got much left,” and Edern agreed the fighting had been a slog. Barduumus bellowed from above them, saying, “The tides of Esturk will not allow you such breaks.” The Dragon looked to the sky once more.Round Five
The ambient light of Dynamia darkened around then and each felt a pressure descending from above. From the sky, a massive archangel of many metal rings and ten feathered wings entered the arena. A single, massive eye suspended in the rings regarded the group. Silently, it expanded its many wings and began to attack. Karda rushed forward and enlarged herself once more. She grabbed onto the rings of angel’s body and slammed it down. She firmly held it in place and began to ruthlessly pummel it. The angel began unleashing blue bolts of divine energy all around. It summoned an array of haladrons, divine obelisks capable of blasting energy, and they focused on Karda as she held the angel in place. Galaduath called out to Daedra, “Are you with me or are you against me?” She said she wanted to kill this angel, and Galaduath cast Polymorph on her, changing her into a large predatory dinosaur. She charged the angel and bit with her massive jaws, but her attacks could not harm the angel. Edern and Styrke, too, tried to fight, and though they killed the wave of haladrons, they could do nothing to stop the angel. Styrke removed the enchantment on Daedra and she returned to her natural form. As she did, the angel released a divine burst of energy all around. Karda realized her doom was coming and resigned herself to holding the angel down as long as she could. She called out, saying, “Hey, poet, barbeque, I hope one of you two wins. Bloodfist were never meant to win, just be a pain in the ass!” The blast ravaged Karda and Daedra was consumed in the blast, dissolving into sparks with the damage of a final Bolt of Law. As the bloodlust energy of Dynamia filled the angel with energy, the remaining warriors realized they could not defeat this creature. Resigned to the grim task, Galaduath drew his bow and shot Karda dead. As Styrke and Edern saw her dissolve into sparks, Barduumus called out to the field, saying, “The first rule of war is there are no rules.” Galaduath moved away from the fighting and drew out a bloodstone. Thrusting it into the ground, he cast a Tiny Hut spell to protect himself from the remaining fight. As Styrke triggered the central glyph, a massive Cloudkill spell triggered, hitting all those closeby and destroying the remaining haladrons. But the archangel simply summoned more, this time within the confines of Galaduath’s barrier. Styrke turned and dispelled the barrier, yelling to him, “Get back in the fight!” Galaduath was faced with many of the summoned obelisks, and he cast an invisibility spell on himself. In response, Styrke called forth a massive flaming spell to destroy the haladrons and catch Galaduath in the blaze. Meanwhile, bolts of divine energy continued to strike all the combatants. Edern tried to keep fighting the angel, but he could not do enough to slow its assault. In a cold fury, Galaduath cast Hold Person on both Edern and Styrke, but only Edern was held in place. Styrke tried to rush the elf, but the archangel struck him down as he moved away. He dissolved into sparks as the angel hovered ominously. Drawing his bow, Galaduath shot two arrows right into Edern as he could not move. With another divine blast, the angel blasted Galaduath and broke his spell concentration, and Edern could move again. Edern looked at the arrows in him, and he called out to the field, saying, “The way of thine magic is unknown to me, elf, as the dark half of sweet Meridi. We shall see how is the brave warrior on the field to earn the favor of our watching Dragon and who is to be a coward so named, avoiding honorable combat.” Edern attacked the angel and used his last spell to close the distance to Galaduath. He reached the elf and they both turned to see the archangel hover towards the last two warriors. Its eye regarded the last targets facing it, and with razor sharp wings it attacked Galaduath in a flurry of bladed feathers. He fell into an array of elven blood and blue sparks, and only Edern remained.After the Battles
Barduumus slammed his tail into the ground, and at his command the angel withdrew and ascended back to the sky. Looking down at the last standing warrior, he said, “Right! Edern, you have earned your place in the Hall of Champions. I know this was but a wee test of what is to come, for Esturk will rise again. I fear your time fighting demons is long, long from over.” Edern replied, thanking Barduumus for his belief to aid in his endeavor to prepare for this next war. The wall of the arena beneath where Barduumus stood shifted and opened. Within was brilliant blue light showing a great feasting table. Around this banquet were many figures from across Azimuth’s history. Edern thought to himself that in a different life, he might have been one of the bards his homeland was once famous for. He looked forward to hearing the stories the other champions awaiting him could tell, and he went inside.
Report Date
01 Nov 2023
Primary Location
Secondary Location
Related Characters
Sometime in the Fifth Age