Kethoth Sepret: Master archer

Kethoth Sepret strode through the mist, grasping his axes in his powerful hands, strong from pulling the Supreme Bow for all that time. The fog would drive any normal creature mad, but Kethoth Sepret was no normal creature. He had walked the Material plane for ten billion years and more, he knew why he was here and what he was here to collect. The Kragali sword had been repaired and Kethoth was here to pay the fee and collect it from the Draanak, master smiths and fearsome warriors. That was the reason Kethoth was gripping his hand-axes so hard, the Draanak were not known for their honesty and even with all his training Kethoth didn't think he could take an elite squadron of Draanak unprepared. A shout pierced the fog, and so did a dozen arrows, whizzing and hissing through the thick mist. Kethoth whirled around and his axes flashed, cutting through the arrows even as they sliced through the air towards him. Another shout rang out and two dozen Draanak warriors sprang out of the fog, throwing their spears and drawing their swords in one fluid motion. Kethoth shouted a battle cry and threw himself at the Draanak, becoming a whirlwind of flashing steel. Soon their were but two warriors still standing, Kethoth and one Draanak, the Draanak and Kethoth stood facing each other for some time, then the Draanak spoke in his raspy voice, mandibles clacking as he talked "kill me then ranger, you have already slain my fellow warriors, some of them my friends. With so much blood on your hands, what difference does a bit more make?". Kethoth stood for a while, glaring at the Draanak. All of a sudden he gave an inhuman screech and lunged forward, smashing the hilt of one axe into the Draanak's forehead, there was a loud crack as the the warrior's shell gave way, revealing the soft pink flesh underneath. The Draanak fell back, laughing as he fell from the edge of the cliff and dropped towards the ground, so far below him. The laugh seemed to follow Kethoth as he walked away, only stopping with a splat when the Draanak hit the bottom.

A little while later, Kethoth reached the Draanak capital and was greeted by the sight of twenty armed guards, four of them. They were Kragali warriors, bound to the Draanak while they held the Kragali sword, Kethoth strode up to them and looked up at the fifteen foot tall, twenty armed and green-skinned soldiers with undershot jaws. "Well, well, well, Kethoth Sepret" the Kragali spat out the last word like it was a curse or an insult "I never thought I'd see the day when the 'master archer' came to Beg! the Draanak for the sword that that will control us!" "I have not come to beg, Troogall, but I expect that you may have begged for release, am I correct?" the Kragali grunted and stood aside, bowing his head in shame as he did so. "Why thank you Troogall" Kethoth mocked "I have never known such kindness from one such as you!" he grinned and loped past, ducking as Troogall's fist swung towards him. The Draanak leader received him in the enormous capital palace "welcome Kethoth, have you got the jewels?"

To Be Continued.

Special Creatures in the Empire #1

1. Gronikems
Even though these creatures were developed when some necromancers tried to upgrade ogres, their intelligence is incredibly high, considering that they are mutated ogres. They went rogue and destroyed most of their creators. Their is also one cyclops gronikem in existence, made by the gnome necromancer cousins. You can negotiate with them and they are not actually that violent, some elvish communities deal with them for protection.

2. Gruftas
Gruftas are ogre cyborgs, basically, imagine an ogre with half of it covered in metal plates and one arm is a large laser-cannon, they have access to a huge variety of gadgets so they can speak/understand any language in their database and can scan for invisibility, they also have immense strength, among other things. They are the second attempt at upgraded ogres. Programmed to be violent, if you see one, RUN!!!

3. Joon
Elf-like creatures who dwell in the deepest part of the forest, name comes from dwarvish "joonar" meaning mystery. There is no further information on these mysterious creatures.

4. Org
Self described supreme hunters, big, dumb brutes about ogre size but with more advanced hunting techniques and bigger teeth, don't need to say much about these guys and gals. Avoid or bribe with shiny things.

5. Jabber monkey
Vicious bite and their jabbering can drive people insane. Are native to Koolode island but were taken as stowaways to Buubar (slave trading capital) and used as torture or entertainment. Rare and dangerous. Avoid at all costs!!!!!

Ramas Sepret: Deaths priest

Authors note: Ramas Sepret is not related to Kethoth Sepret, the latter being older by more than 10 billion years

The wind screamed like a phoenix in pain, lightning flashed like the gods were angry, and Ramas Sepret stood in the eye of the storm like it was nothing more than a warm summer breeze. Which it was in that particular region. He was in the sea of storms, and though it wasn't a sea, it often felt like it. With its frequent earthquakes, storms and volcanic eruptions, it was a very dangerous place to be. It wasn't just the weather either, monsters lurked in every cave,shadowy corner and graveyard. And to add to those problems, the people weren't nice either, thieves and murderers were on every forest, road and open plain. these were the kind of people that were trying to defeat Ramas at this point. "Yaaaaaaah!" shouted one of the bandits, and, charging, swung his axe at Ramas's head. Ramas ducked and swung his scimitar, severing the brute's head from his body. The head hit the ground with a thud and the body crumpled onto the sand, the other brutes stared at him in horror, then they turned and ran. The laugh of a servant of death followed them. Ramas stood there for a while, thinking, then he turned and strode away, leaving a cloud of darkness behind him.

To Be Continued.

Immeral Holimion: the Blind Assassin

Immeral Holimion, the blind assassin, listened silently from the bushes as the slave traders marched past with their captives. Moments later Immeral was among them, a whirling tornado of steel and death, slashing and jabbing, twirling and dancing around his enemies. In a few seconds there was only one man left, he looked up at Immeral in horror, noticing his milky white eyes "but you're blind! how is that possible!" the trader screamed in horror, "The names Immeral Holimion, the blind assassin" Immeral grinned and brought his short sword down into the man's head, killing him instantly. One of slaves approached him to thank him, but he yelped as he realised that Immeral was no longer in the spot that he had occupied moments ago.

Later that day  Immeral was at the gates of Salenbur, the capital of the elven nation. "Sorry sir, but we have to check that you're really who you say you are" one of the guards informed him "please step into the machine" the machine clicked and showed Immeral's details on the small screen the guard was holding. "Thank you sir, please move along".

To Be Continued.

Adventures of Arumunks 3

"Commander" Zol cried "Elzoth has disappeared!" "It's those dang zakanians again" the commander shouted back "keep moving", "oh, it was a zakanian alright" said a soft voice filled with evil that not even the cyganarians could not understand "but not the ones you were expecting" then he laughed and laughed and laughed while the cyganarians screamed and screamed and screamed as the zakanian's magic pulled them apart. The last thing Zol remembered before he blacked out was that face. The zakanian looked like Arumunks, but there was something evil in that face, something even Zol could not comprehend.

"Hurry up Arumunks" shouted Wardnel, as he looked down at the scene of horror that was the slaughter field where the cyganarians had been ripped apart "what is it, Wardnel" Arumunks shouted back, even though he was right behind him. He took one look at the carnage that was the road and then swore loudly, "what is it, Arumunks?" Wardnel asked worriedly, Arumunks didn't reply for a while, then he muttered one word "zerthimons"

To Be Continued.

Travels of Carric Stormwind

"Music is Magic" a quote from Carric Stormwind, greatest bard ever

As he got up off the ground Carric Stormwind noticed footprints in the ground beside, and that his sword and wallet were gone. "Hmmm, Benson, it's time to get up now" he called "la la la" Benson squawked ruffling his feathers and hopping/flying from branch to branch "come my fine little familiar, come my wonderful parrot" Carric sang as Benson jumped towards him and landed on his shoulder. "I'll find out some info about our thief and then we'll have breakfast, ok Benson?" Carric asked "kay" Benson squawked back. Carric crouched by the prints and started singing an elvish hymn, as the magic took effect Benson's feathers started to glow and the knowledge flowed into Carric's mind. "That tickles, elf" squawked Benson, "it's half-elf" replied Carric, frowning as a disturbing thing happened, the information that he had just gained flowed away, almost like someone or something was neutralising his immense magical abilities. "Elf, my feathers are going black" Benson squawked, cutting across Carric's thoughts and bringing his mind back to his body. "What!" he gasped "that's impossible, your feathers are enchanted to glow when near magic, not turn black!" "correct, elf" laughed Benson, but his voice was deep and didn't have the slightest hint of a squawk in it "but what if his feathers are near the almighty power of nothing". "No" whispered Carric in terror and horror "Undragon"

To Be Continued...

Wizard Training in the Forgotten Realms

"It's taking me there! I can't believe it! It's taking me there!" I whoop, as the shuttle blasts off toward the portal. "OK we're ready to go through the portal, start the countdown" shouts Nimble (the gnomish driver) as we blast forward. We hit the portal. Lights flash red. The AI speaks. It asks "you are travelling to another dimension, will you allow inter-dimensional boosters?". Nimble replies with a yell of excitement and a screamed "yes". "Brace for impact" is the only reply. Boom! The shuttle slams into the barrier between dimensions. My seat belt snaps. I'm hurled forward. I slam into the window. It hurts. And then the shuttle accelerates again, throwing me back into my seat. I look out the window and the sight that greets my eyes is incredible, elvish woods and dwarven mountains, dragon-born villages and halfling farms. But then I see them. Clashing armies. Then I remembered, this dimension is in the middle of a war. A big one. They say it will last thousands of years. I see explosions of fire, ice and lightning, I see blood and gore, huge machines and, most horrifyingly, anti- aircraft missiles! I'll recap, I had just come through an old gnomish portal in an old gnomish scout ship and both sides are afraid of gnomish scout ships! Oh yeah and there is also one eensy weensy tiny little detail I forgot, they're pointing gigantic missiles at us!!!!! Help me...

To Be Continued.