The Inquisitor - by Blaquerogue

As a young boy, i remember listening to the Priest in the Monastery, how great the Gods were and what we did to be humble and serving. Give to the poor help the needy, take care of each other daily, never give in to riches or favoritism. Those were the days long past.

Now in this new world there is definitely a Shroud to the Avatar. Clerics are outcasts, Priests are non exisitant, and Paladins have no place anymore in this new world we have abruptly been sucked into. Instead we have Mages, lots, and lots of Mages, and different types as well. Mages with swords, Mages with pole arms, Mages with bows. How strange this new world is. Although it is strange and different, the Clerics and Paladins, and Priests will once again arise. We hear the cries of the weak and slighted, our ears are not deaf to your calls, we hear them every time we are in this sacrilege world!

I simply go by the name Inquisitor, for names are not needed to spread light upon this darkened world. Who we are does not matter. What we do does, and that is what really matters! Never should we ever put ourselves before those that are in need of blessings, and heals! Simple things we cannot yet do in this world. It will come Brothers and Sisters of the Gods, once again we will bring light unto a darkened place. My story is just one of many to come. The future is not so bleak as we may think, and will not be, once we spread the knowledge of the Gods once again in this world!

When i was brought here by the Gods, I knew there was a purpose and a right of passage set for us. I started talking to this gypsy woman who ask many questions, that really needn't be answered, for i knew what i was and what i needed, not what she thought i should be. The conversation was irrelevant (as much as my spelling skills are now, you get the picture!). I humored her and left!

When i arrived in the village, that was a smoldering picture of what it used to be i realized how much this world needed the knowledge of the gods! I met a dying guard who gave me some papers for someone i know not, and a key.

As i continued to the center of the town i saw bodies strewn about, and certain individuals were taking the belongings of the dead. I guess they really don't need that stuff anymore, so i did not cast judgement upon him, instead i joined in! Lets face it i needed to get something for protection and fighting since i could hear the Dark Elves outside trying to break in. I found a sword, and apparently the Gods had granted me a decent enough chain armor chest piece To get me through this first trial.

In my search I found an elegant elven mirror, and some elven keepsake necklace, the looter outside traded it for a bone dagger! Now at this point i thought i had truly got me a special weapon! But Alas it was as useless at talking to the gypsy. Some power within it kept me from arming it! Well...Back to the sword. After i had collected all that i needed i went to the gate and unlocked it.

There waiting for me was a elf apparently with some anger issues who immediately started attacking me! I needed to defend myself ( i never thought i was this good with a sword!) After i had killed him i said his last rites, to pass on to his Gods peacefully. Then i felt a sharp pain in my back as an arrow struck me! Another elf was about to meet his maker, and it was done. Again i read him his last rites to pass him on. Finally i found a gate and my true Trials had begun. My next stop would be Soltown, but i had to make it through an unholy pass of mountains to get there.

 

EASTREACH GAP - CH2

As i approached the menacing mountains i could feel the chill of the breeze coming off the mountains, this was unsanctified lands, i felt it, and i smelled death in the air! Pulling out my tattered map from the scroll case, i stretched it across the dry dusty ground. This place was called "Eastreach Gap". I studied the map closely looking for the quickest path through. There was a path to the right i could follow reducing the amount of undead i would encounter along the way. I rolled the map up and put it back in the case, dropped it in my back pack, and tightened down the straps. This map i had was the most important piece of equipment in my pack and i needed to protect it and never let it fall into the wrong hands without it i would be lost.

I pulled out my holy symbol from around my neck and grasped it with both hands,I quietly said a prayer and slid it back under my armor. Pulling out my mace and shield i proceeded into uncertainty. I didnt feel alone though, i knew the gods were with me, i had faith beyond understanding, i had seen the gods work their miracles and i knew they would watch over me (or at least i hoped they would)

As the gates creaked, open old wood crackling under the movement and weight, I set forth into the pass. There just inside the gate was a lone sorcerer, although i could feel he was not good, but a nicer form of evil. He was rude, short with words and told me if i wanted to pass through safely he would be obliged to make that happen, for a price of course! Then he smiled his toothy grin. "1500 gold will get you to the other side, without my help you will surely perish!" Then he laughed. I asked him if he had ever been to the other side? He just laughed and said "of course i have Outlander!" Then i smiled and asked him if he believed in the gods? Again he laughed! As he glared at me he said "The gods are dead foolish child! They have been for years, there is nothing left of them for you to have faith in anymore, Magery is the only power left and it needs no gods!" with that he spat at me and said "go on make your choice!" I then glared back at him and smiled again "thank you Sir that is all i needed to know, so if you have been to the other side, that means i dont really need your help to get there, you are alive an well as we speak!"

The smile left his face instantly. "If you did believe in the gods, then maybe you would have survived this day!" Instantly i swung the mace, he tried to raise his hands for a spell, but before he could finish waving his hands his body was already heading to the ground! His head caved in and lifeless there on the ground, i pulled out my holy symbol said a quiet prayer and laid it upon his broken face. Sure enough the symbol began to glow! (which is always did when an evil spirit was within an innocent vessel) This vessel was already gone, long,long ago! His body lit up the area we stood in and his soul finally released to his god.

I have been in this game for far too many years, i know the signs of a possessed person, I have had many encounters with the same before. Apparently this evil spirit was not as strong as most. Fishing through his pockets i found a note. It was from his former spouse, telling him their marriage was over, and that she was in fact cheating on him with his best friend and he was right on his accusations, and she would keep the kids from him for as long as she could. That explains the weak evil spirit that took him over, he was an easy target for the spirit, he was full of hurt and hate.

Then i heard it "crackle, crackle,crackle" the sound of bone against bone! I looked down the path there stood the undead waiting for my next move! I held my shield high and charged straight on knocking one of the skeletons to the ground, an arrow struck me in my backpack i felt the impact that almost knocked me off my feet! Into the next skeleton footman shield against shield, i was stunned for a minute then rolled to the left just out of the swing of his sword! I rolled back up to my feet and ran on as hard as i could! (there was no way i was going to beat these undead they were far more stronger than i!)

As i ran down the path they slowed and turned away, finally i was at ease and i slowed down to a walk, knowing i was out of their range and far from them. they did not follow. I sat down on a rock pulled my pack from my back and removed the arrow from it. It had punctured my flask of water, for the bottom of the bag was now wet and caked with mud. I drank what drops of water were left then cast it to the ground. After catching my breath i stood up and continued on.

As the night went on, I was tired and parched, but i could not stop here i had to keep going. The pass held an eerie silence, broken once in awhile, by the baying of a Desert Wolf, every now and then i would here scuttling like the sound of dry leaves moving around (but there were no trees here with leaves like that?) i continued on. I would catch something darker than the night moving up ahead just to disappear again, followed by that crunchy dried leaves sound, i needed some light so i cast my light spell, and there before me was the "crackle crackle crackle" sound and its owner! A giant Scorpion!!!!

Black as night itself! It started towards me, i raised my shield again and readied my mace! The dark poisonous tail whipped at me above my shield, i just raised the shield to block it, and swiped at it with my mace! "swoosh, swoosh" i missed it twice! It then moved toward me knocking me back by the impact of it tail! (i could not let this hit me for i knew it was full of deadly poison!) I waited for it to swing its tail again, as i blocked it upward i moved in and slammed my mace against its head, the crunching sound of eggs being smashed, it was now bleeding! Again the tail came at me, and again i dodged! jumping to the right then countering to the left, it came at me again, i blocked it again moved in and laid the final smash upon its crunchy skull, the tail dropped and it lay lifeless.

I felt a warm sensation on my shield arm, blood was trickling down to by elbow! In the melee i had been stung by its tale, death would surely follow! I could feel my energy leaving my body, growing more tired by the minute! I had to keep going! My vision getting blurry and sweat pouring down my brow i knew the poison had set, it was coursing slowly through my veins! Then i heard a growl and a bark ! A Desert Wolf had picked up the scent of my blood and charged at me!

I cast a healing spell once, twice, then three times, i was feeling better but the poison was still coursing through my veins! The wolf jumped at me and i swung my shield forward its head bouncing off it as he tumbled to the ground, and off to my right, then it was back on its feet and charging again! I raised my shield up and let him move through it as i closed it back down on his neck with a yelp! I had his head pinned to the ground, he was struggling to get out of this shield lock i had on him, but i could not let up the pressure! He was too close to me now, if i let up he would definitely be able to sink his teeth into me! I was already weakened, the poison slowly doing its job, and my strength was leaving me rapidly!

I pressed down harder on its neck, again he was yelping! "Die you damned thing just die!" I kept saying. Finally its body slowed and then went quiet, it was dead and so would I if i didn't get help soon! Blurred vision and weakness was taking over me! Between the pain and blurred vision i saw it finally! There up ahead was a gate leading out of this place!

i had to make it there, no matter how i felt! I rolled up and ran as hard as i could towards the gate, again i heard baying and barking behind me the rest of the Wolves were on my trail, with every ounce of strength i had, i charged to the gate and jumped through it!

There outside the gate i felt at peace again, but the poison was still working hard to kill me, i dropped to my knees, and scavenged through my pack, i was fading and fading fast! I felt the cold flask in my hand in my hand, the cure poison potion i had packed away for an emergency, i guzzled it down, then all went black.

 

Riveting reading Blaquerogue. I enjoyed reading what you wrote very much. Nice writing.

 

Thank you! Im getting back into my writing again

 

Very nice read. Look forward to reading more.

 

Soltown - Ch3

There i was kneeling before St. Cuthbert (Deity of Clerics). The first thing i asked him, "Was i dead?" Cuthbert laughed and said "No young one you are quite alive, but in a suspended animation of sort, your body lays upon the fertile grounds just outside of the gate of Eastreach gap, you appear as a skeleton at the moment laying at peace, passerby's will just, well... pass you by with no thought. 'tis the way in this new realm, the care has gone from them along with the knowledge of the Gods and Deities themselves. For these people know not of them anymore, and this is why i have sent you here! As my disciple you will spread the beliefs of, obeying the law, being good, and using common sense. This is the way, those who fail at living up to these virtues are advised to turn to their communities for advice and support, and to pray to me, to clear up their confusion. Evil is intolerable as you understand, we of this faith hate evil, but we are more concerned with law and order, with converting the uninformed, and preventing backsliding among the faithful. That is all you must do in this realm i expect nothing more. I have bestowed upon you a purify spell, that you may cast if you run into a poisonous, disease, or spell type ailments again. it will never fade from you. Now go and spread my words, and teachings among the lost"! You will need to start in a town called "Soltown" there is a refugee camp there, full of those that will need your help!. Then all went black again.

There in the darkness i saw the light, it grew brighter and brighter, until i felt blinded! I squinted my eyes tight and when i opened them again, there i was laying at the foot of the exit out of Eastreach Gap. I picked myself up still groggy from the poison but not dead! Brushing the dust off my chain mail, i stood up and looked around me. there was a town just down the road called "Grey Acre", it seemed like a nice little town, but i needed to move on to Soltown, there were people in need there and i had to get to them to help! I pulled out my map once again and realized it was a straight shot down the road, hopefully this will be an uneventful trip it was not far away.

A large span of ocean was on my left, it was morning now and the sun was coming up the rays reflecting off the water like rays shining through a stained galls window, the breeze was warm and comforting. I stopped only once to take in a fresh breath of ocean air and continued. I stood atop a small mountain to help navigate my way and i could see "Solace Bridge" in the distance, smoke and fire rising up from it, that place must have been attacked recently! I wanted to stop, but i knew i had to pass it by for now, for i was given a holy mission, and i had to stick to the plan. If i saw wounded along the way i would stop and heal them, if not give them their last rites, whatever was suffice. As i was on my way i ran into a Traveling Merchant by the name of Shandy Chapman, he looked me up and down and said "What have we here? I wouldn't believe it, if i hadn't seen it with me own eyes! So the rumors are true then? The Avatars has arrived! I looked at him confused. "What rumors?" I replied. He let out a sigh, "Here sit with me for a bit and have some Coffee, i will give you this canteen of water as well, you do look parched me friend! Ill tell you all about the rumor. Business is slow as usual these days so i expect ill have time to tell you the prophecy or "rumors" as i call it! Im so happy to finally see a friendly face on the trail!

Years ago this land, was ripe with life, the people lived amongst each other for years peacefully, Commerce and trade was hopping, people would greet you with a smile daily, no matter where you were. Trade among towns was the way of life. You see each town has a special resource that is particularly abundant. So we all needed each other to survive. Merchants like me would go from town to town gathering goods and spreading them through the world. By the way you are in just part of the world! This part of the world is called "Novia", there is another part of the world called "The Hidden Vale" I would highly suggest you go there to begin your adventure, there is a town there called "Owls Head" where you will see more of your kind, "Outlanders"! I almost strayed.....back to the prophecy! So an evil group of men gathered in the night "The Obsidian Order" i believe they were called, doing some kind of dark rituals, harvesting the evil with dark magics, the gods did not like this (yes there were Gods back then!) but they are long forgotten now. So those gods decided to destroy this land and the "Obsidian Order" with it! Fire reigned down from the skies and scarred the lands, if you look into the night sky you will see the broken moon a reminder of a dark time indeed!, as it exploded, shards from that moon crashed into the world, creating a great cataclysm! There was a slight error in that decision though, for as the earth ripped open dark races started pouring forth out of the wound, Dark elves, Satyrs and The Ebon Cultists, a spin off of the original Obsidian's as far as i could tell? They were just as evil as their predecessors, they had been building army's right beneath our feet for all those years! In its wake also came forth the Undead! Army's of them sprung out from the ground and graves around us! For the Undead felt that the darkness was theirs and not the Obsidian's! To this day both the Undead and Obsidian's fight amongst themselves for the right to own the darkness and not long after Necropolis arose from the ground with its Grand Liches to bring the battle to those that oppose it!!" Pointing to Solace bridge with smoke rising he said , "that was their demise! The Undead roam that area now!" Ensorceled by this Merchants story, I lost track of time. I needed to head across Solace Bridge before nightfall the Undead were much more powerful at night and i did not want to be surrounded once again by them! Then he stood up and said "Now i dont know how much of that is true, after all it is just rumors to me, but just in case take this orb, im not sure what it does but it may be of help to you later on! It is called "The Sacred Oracle Orb of Obliteration" one of my clients gave this to me but i am an old man now and I care not for rumors. With that we said our farewells and i was back on the road again to Soltown. Along the trail i heard a most wonderful sounding music, so i had to investigate, i met a Bard along the road named Scroda, he was quite skilled with a lute, so i had to stop and listen for a bit ( i love music but i cannot play to save my life). I took a drink of my water quenching my thirst and listened for a bit, then i entered "Soltown".

Sure enough right inside the gate was the refugee camp (gypsy camp some called it) and i made my way there. These people were definitely in need of my help, broken and tattered! I told them the gods have not forgotten them and they just wait for them to ask for help, for the gods will help those that listen and understand. I met a young lady by the name of Abigail. She was crying her eyes out, so i asked her what was the matter? She replied "My husband and I were run out of Solace Bridge by plagued Skeletons and Zombies, but my daughter was out playing by the Ruins when all this happened, and we fear that the child is in danger if not dead! By the hands of these vile creatures!" Tears filling her eyes she whispered the Gods have forgotten us!
I replied to her that they had not but were waiting for once again the need of the people and all she had to do was pray. In the back of my mind i knew what i needed to do at this moment. Go find the girl! Abigail and i Prayed together and i told her, " i would go find her daughter and bring her back to her! have faith!" She looked up at me and said "You will? Oh thank you so much Cleric, but if you do find her dead please bring her body back for a proper burial! Then she started to cry again. "Have faith" i replied. The next person i approached was an angry old man cursing under his breath "Damn those undead! I will kill them all!! I swear it! Ill need to find an iron blade for that works well on those walking bags of earthworms! Then he looked up at me knowing he was actually saying this instead of thinking it! He then turned to me and smiled, "Hey your a Cleric right?" I looked at him and nodded. Well since your a cleric and a holy type person, you would probably be the best bet for me to get me hands on an Iron Blade!" I looked at him quizzically? Then he said "Ok let me break this down to you Cleric, The blades made of pure Iron do the most damage to Undead, Silver weapons kill em right out, but iron weapons hurt them bad! I want them to hurt!! Then ill take this silver dagger me daddy gave me when i was a boy, and drive it through their skull and finish them off!! They killed me wife and me kids and i want justice! Deadly justice! So if'n you find an Iron blade i will pay you well for it! After a momentary pause , I replied "Do you think you will be able to kill off all the Undead? they are the essence of pure evil! That is a foolish mission! You will be outnumbered, and it will not bring back your family unfortunately, and will get you killed in the process! You do realize this dont you??" the old man calmed down and said "I dont care! They can take me, i will be with my family once again! Then he piped up "IF'N I DIE I WILL TAKE SOME OF THOSE BASTARDS WITH ME!!! Calming down again he asked, "So will ye help me or not?" I thought for a moment and said "if i come across an Iron Blade i will bring it to you if that will put you at peace!?" He smiled and said "Thank you Cleric and whatever god you worship! I will be here waiting!

Then I met another woman by the name of Emily, she was worried that her love Quincy was killed in the battle of Solace bridge, she too in tears like most here in this camp. She explained that she and Quincey were quite in love and she was expecting their baby soon, but she had not heard form him since the battle started, she informed me that he was a Soldier and Guard there in Solace bridge, but had not heard anything of it since He sent her here to Soltown, but he promised he would be back! (from the looks of the town, that probably was wishful thinking on her behalf!) I told her i would be going there soon and i would look for him, if i find him i will tell him your worried. She thanked me and gave me blessings on my trip there. Wait she gave me blessings!? At this moment i knew not everyone had forgotten the gods! I gave her blessings back.

I headed into town this time, i needed to find an Inn, i was tired and i had a full day ahead of me that i needed to be prepared for. Walking down the road i noticed spider looking things, i drew my mace, they shined a red light at me watched me but did not attack as i went by i figure they weren't a threat for now. Then there were more around me, they were staring at me making me quite uncomfortable, but i continued on. How strange this place is indeed! Just inside the main area of town i found an Inn, called "The Soltown Inn" Apparently is was established in 421. However long ago that was after all i didn't even know what the date was here and now? I stepped through the door of the Inn, it was packed to the brim! A bard was singing over by the fireplace and the Bartender yelled out in a harsh voice "Welcome to Soltown Inn! Whats your poison!?" I weaved my way over to the bar, "Ill take a stout ale please!", in the flash of an eye a full cup was placed before me, "any food for you today?" I just shook my head, he then told me to "call on him if i need anything else" As i leaned against the bar i could pick up pieces of conversation, most here were run out by undead and were hold ground here until things got better, one old man was in the corner talking about his special brew and how he left the key to his house and he barely escaped the onslaught of undead, another group talked about a place that just appeared called Necropolis to the West. I grabbed another drink and went up to my room for the night, what adventures were before me, but for now i had to rest.

 

thank you there will be plenty more to come!

 

this last section was a little boring, so now that the foundation is set we can roll out!

 

Very enjoyable read. Thanks for sharing.

 

Also be sure to read more of "The Ebon Viper" I Have also started writing more on it as well I actually like that one better thus far!