Gri'shak: Human male, CG fighter, main character, lost both parents in undead attack.
Statistics: STR18/15, DEX8, CON18, INT14, WIS16, CHA15
NWP's: armorer, weaponsmith, reading writing, singing
WP's: Bath'leth, two-handed weaponstyle, chain, bola

History before adventure:
Gri'shak was the only child of Cro'Votch the blacksmith and his wife Chilandra. He had a pleasant childhood during which he heard tales about his great-grandfather Magistralis who came to this world as an adventurer from what he mysteriously called 'The Cage'. According to Gri'shak's father he was running from a powerfull organisation after he acquired a weapon from them, the family weapon: the Bath'leth. A weapon he could wield with such skill that enemies fled after watching him displaying his mastery of the weapon. He also brought along special techniques for forging weapons and a small amount of treasure which he used to buy himself a weaponsmith and he settled in the village. He married a woman and had a pleasant few years, raising his three kids and running his smith. The day that his firstborn son reached adulthood, tragedy struck. Out of nowhere, strangely armored figures appeard who struck him down before he could react. His son grabbed the Bath'leth in anger and waved it menacingly at the armored figures hoping to get them away from his mortally wounded father. Much to his suprise the figures indeed fled away from the scene, but his father's wounds were beyond healing. His son, went in pursuit of the armored men for revenge, but they were nowhere in sight. The only thing he found was a note stating:'the debt is paid'. The children then made a pact, stating that they would all learn how to use the weapon with great skill in the hope that someday they could get revenge for their murdered father. That day never came. They did teach their techniques to their own children, including Gri'shaks father Cro'votch, together with the tale of what happened, hoping that their children could extract revenge in their name. Some of the children became adventurers, but they all died before their time. Gri'shaks father was the only one who was left of the children when Gri'shak turned ten years old. His father began teaching him in the ways of the forge and a little of the fighting techniques he knew. He always hoped that Gri'shak would grow up without having to resort to violence, but he should be able to defend himself, should it occur. When Gri'shak was still a youth, priests from the nearby temple of Helm came to the village to collect candidates for an eduacation of priesthood of Helm. The temple of Helm always was a source of both money and protection for the village and it was a great honor for a family if one of their children had the opportunity to become a priest of Helm. From all the children in the village only Gri'shak and Kellisar were chosen to join the priests in the temple for further testing. Because of his chaotic nature and lack of patience, Gri'shak didn't pass the tests the priest held. Kellisar, however, did pass the tests and he would become a priest of Helm. During the short time they were together in the temple, Gri'shak and Kellisar became close friends, and they both made sure they could still see each other on a regular basis. It was Kellisar who taught Gri'shak how to read and write, something that made Gri'shaks parents very proud.

Kellisar: Human male, LN Specialty priest of Helm, close friend of Gri'shak, founder of party, tempel wasn't attacked.
Statistics: STR15, DEX13, CON14, INT12, WIS17, CHA15
NWP's: Blindfighting, Etiquette, reading writing, spellcraft, healing, herbalism, religion, local history
WP's: Mace, warhammer
History before adventure:
Kellisar was the second born son of the leader of the village. The village actually is more a farming community located halfway the road from Ronko to Zahidan. Near the village there is a great tempel-fortress dedicated to the guardian God Helm. The tempel-fortress was built generations ago, in a time when huge armies of monsters and undead where coming from the east. It is situated on the west shore of the river and is the home and training ground of over one hundred priests, warriors and trainees. They provide protection on the road between Ronko and Zahidan and support the town as an overnight stop for tradingcaravans. Because of this the village is fairly wealthy and safe from monsters. Every three years senior priests come to the village and organize a small tournament for the youths. Through this tournament they test the youths for strength, health and strength of will. The two best scoring persons are then taken too the temple for further testing. If they pass these tests they get the option to train as a priest of Helm. Within the village it's considered a great honor to have a child trained as an priest of Helm. The families are compensated for the loss of their child as farmer, with both money and the aid of the temple's men during harvest time. When the time of the tournament came for Kellisar, he was anxious following in his older brother's footsteps. His brother was the one who entered the priesthood three years earlier and every time he came home, he told stories of his exploits within the service of the temple. These stories of heroeïsm inspired Kellisar to become a priest himself. The day he entered the tournament he was determined to be victorious. However he found strong competition in the person of Gri'shak, the only son of the village's weaponsmith. They developed a friendly rivalry during this tournament, with both surpassing all the other participants. When the final competition was over, it was obvious that both he and Gri'shak would be going to the temple-fortress for evaluation. In the temple it became obvious that these two would make an excelent team together, pushing eachother to the limit. However, the more subtle test were always won by Kellisar, with ease, Gri'shak lacking the patience to stop and think. The point at which it became clear that Gri'shak wouldn't become a priest of Helm was when both he and Kellisar were in the village bar on a restday. There was a man who insulted both Kellisar and Gri'shak. Where Kellisar showed great feats of restraint, Gri'shak hit the man, knocking him down. At this point the man revealed himself as being a travelerpriest of Helm, sent by the elders for the final test. Gri'shak had failed and would have to return to his parents, Kellisar however passed and would begin his education towards priesthood. The next few years he eagerly learned all there was to know about Helm and being a priest. On his spare time he often walked to the village, catching up with his relatives and spending time with Gri'shak. During this time he learned Gri'shak how to read and write, who, in return, taught him more about the exotic weapons that were made in the smith. The two became close friends and often dreamt about adventuring together and acomplishing great deeds, like in the Helmite stories. The day Kellisar became initiated as a full priest of Helm and received his full plate armor (which was forged personally by Gri'shak), was the proudest day of his life.

Travolta: Half-elven male, CN thief, rival of Kellisar, joined party on quest for revenge, lost his sister with whom he worked the thieving buisness in undead attack.
Statistics: STR14, DEX17, CON14, INT12, WIS9, CHA15
NWP's: Set snares, gaming, appraising, blind fighting, tumbling
WP's: longsword, shortbow
History before adventure:
Travolta and his twin sister Mivella are the children of a human and an elven ranger. Although most of the time elfs are reclusive and shun contact with outsiders, the male ranger had frequent contact with them. After a couple of encounters with the elfs, he met his future wife among them. They fell in love and had children together. Because elfs are suspicious of half-bloods' they wouldn't allow the children to be raised in their village and the two rangers moved away. They settled near the swamp, in the neighbourhood of the temple-fortress of Helm. For several years they lived in peace and taught their children the art of surviving in the swamps, but when the children reached the age of 12, tragedy struck. Both children were playing in the swamp when giant lizards closed in on their position. Both parents rushed in when they heard their screams. Their intervention saved the children, but there were too much giant lizards in the area and both were killed while defending their children. Travolta and Mivella had nowhere to turn and kept themselves alive, using the techniques they learned from their parents. One day they had to buy new tools in the village, but didn't have any money. At this point they started picking the pockets of travelers. As they got older, they started stealing more and more, finding it easier to steal for their living, than to work hard for it. Since they mostly stole from travelers and everybody in the village knew about the tragedy that had befallen them, even the priests of Helm turned an eye on their criminal activities. One day, however, Travolta and his sister stole a dagger, that was forged by Gri'shak. This dagger was the weapon Travolta used on a traveler that had tried to rape his sister earlier in the evening. He backstabbed the man, leaving the dagger in the body. The sheriff found the body and dagger, and arrested Gri'shak since there where no witnesses who saw the murder. Eventually Kellisar was able to convince the sheriff to release him after he found out who really did it, and why. Travolta was thrown in jail, where he was planning his revenge on Kellisar when the undead attack came.

Leafa: Human female, LG mage, stranger to town, joined party when mentor died during the undead attack.
Statistics: STR8, DEX10, CON14, INT16, WIS12, CHA15
NWP's: reading writing, spellcraft, enginering, etiquette, heraldry, languages ancient, ancient history, religion
WP's: sling
History before adventure:
Leafa is the third born child of a half-elven female and a human male. She spent her childhood in the town of Byrd, in the neighbourhoor of Crato. When she reached the age of ten, a mage entered the village and demanded money. The mayor of the village, never having met a real mage, thought the man was insane and had him chased out of the village by the sheriff. This angered the mage and he used his wand of cloudkill on the villagesquare. Many people died that day, including Leafa's parents. The remaining villagers immediately searched their belogings for anything valuable, to try to please the angered mage. But whatever they offered, it wasn't enough. The mage demanded that he would be given all the orphans he created, so he could sell them on the slavemarket in Santario. The villagers, fearing his reaction should they refuse, agreed to his demands. That day the mage left town, taking 15 children with him, heading towards Santario. On route to Santario he gave all of the children a scroll with a minor cantrip on it, so he could test their skill in the ways of magic. Of all the children, Leafa was the only one able to cast the cantrip, and the mage decided that he would keep her, as his apprentice. All of the other children where sold for a good price at the slavemarket, and the mage used that money to buy himself a large house, containing a well stocked librairy. During the next couple of years he taught her to read and write so she could assist him in his research of ancient times. Most of the time, however, she was a slave, having to work within the house, regularly receiving beatings from her master for whatever reason he would think of. When she reached the age of 15, she was turning into a beautifull young woman, a thing that didn't pass unnoticed to her master. He periodicly raped and humiliated her, causing her to develop a submissive personality. At this point he taught her basic cantrips she could use to keep her appearance up. The next couple of years where the worst of her short life, in which the only friend she had was a familiar she conjured, with the approval of her master. He thought this would help strengthen his grip on the young woman. The day her master found the location of a powerfull artifact, they left the city. They were heading towards Zahidan, from where they would travel further. One night they reached the town near the temple-fortress of Helm and they entered the inn. While sitting there, a couple of drunk travelers were making fun of the mage. In response to this, he cast the sleep spell knocking them all down. This caused all of the paople in the inn to gasp for air. Seeking to strengthen his grip on Leafa, he ordered her to slay the helpless men. Leafa was scared of the mage, but refused. Furious about her defiance he used magic missiles to kill her familiar, a thing that caused her to shriek in pain. At this point Gri'shak, who was in the inn the whole time, took a leap at the mage and started pounding on him and, eventually, knocking him unconcious. After this he offered Leafa to come with him, so he could protect her, a thing she pondered on, but she was too scared to enrage her master further and she decided to stay with him. She took him to their room and took care of him. When he woke up however, instead of being thankfull, he beat her and raped her, until the point she could barely get up to the sound of the undead attack.
Main enemies:

Kombul the Gray: Human male, NE level 10 cleric, released the Lich and his armies of the undead, became a general in this army, serves the Lich because of a geas spell.
Statistics: STR17, DEX13, CON15, INT14, WIS18, CHA9
NWP's : Reading writing, religion, spellcraft, languages ancient, ancient history, local history, healing, herbalism, disguise
WP's: Mace, sling, warhammer, flail
Equipment: Plate mail+1, helm of charm protection, warhammer+2 (with +1 cold damage), medium shield+1, mace+1, holy symbol
Misc. information:
Hitpoints Armor class THAC0 Damage
69 0 14-1-2=11 1d4+3 +1cold +1str
Immune to charm person and charm monster because of helmet.
Under Geas from Lich to serve him reaching his goals of world domination and aquiering the sphere.
Number of spells per level:
Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5
6 spells 6 spells 4 spells 4 spells 2 spells
Spheres:
Major: All, animal, astral, chaos, combat, elemental, healing, necromatic, summoning, sun, war, weather
Minor: Creation, divination, protection, time
History before adventure:
Kombul the Gray was the only son of a human slaver and a half-elven slave. His mother was raped at an age when she was not even considered an adult. She died while giving birth to Kombul at the age of 16. Kombul was raised by the other slaves in the house and he developed a great hatred towards the slaver, whom never acknowledged him as his son. The slaver did, however, gave him a favorable treatment, compared to the other slaves. He got permission to head into the city of Santario, making offerings in the temple of Talos on behalf of his master. When Kombul reached the age of twelve, the senior priest approached the slaver and bought the young boy, wanting to train him to become a priest of Talos. The boy was an eager student, especially interrested in the stories about the death and destruction Talos could bring. The day he became a full priest of Talos, he set out towards his former home and destroyed it, and all inhabitants, to honor Talos. He left his father for last, taking him with him to the temple. There he tortured him for seven days and seven nights, until the man finally died of his wounds. Kombul revelled in the power and he started going out into the world in search of ways of making him more powerfull. He had several adventures and at one time even fought and defeated an adventuring uncle of Gri'shak. He became more powerfull every year, but always thought he needed more power. Then he found an ancient scroll telling about a vast army of undead in search of an artifact, created by the Gods themselves. He traveled through the great desert and eventually found a great skeleton of an unknown beast, sticking out of the sands, near an oasis. He entered the remains and found a relativly unscathe coffin.

Prologue

The Lich was a mage in acient times, the east. He used to be part of a party of succesfull and loved adventurers, but on one adventure they discovered a huge treasure. In this treasure was an item that caused him too become cursed. He believed that the other party members wanted to kill him, so they could keep all the treasure. Not realising that their mage had changed, they let him keep watch that night. That night he hid all of their equipment and started blasting his sleeping comrades with powerfull incantations. No one survived that night. He gathered all of the equipment and treasures he could find and went back to his magetower. For several months he locked himself up in the tower and started researching all of the items. When he found out he was cursed by one of the items, he was shocked. He removed the curse and feverishly researched any posibility to restore his former friends back to life. In this time he created a lot of undead, failures in his experiments. His greatest failure was with the warrior of the party, whom he accidentally turned into an utterly evil Death Knight. When this happened he decided that he wouldn't be able to resurrect his friends with his own magic, and he started searching for locations of powerfull items that could do the task of restoring his friends to life. At one point he learned about an ancient artifact, used by the Gods themselves to create this world, that could alter the flow of time and held more powers then was ever meant for mortals to hold. He gathered his created army of the undead and headed west, towards the Neptune Sea. The cursed item he took with him, as a reminder of the terrible thing that he did. The vast army moved slowly across the land and reached the great desert that sealed the Neptune Sea area from the rest of the continent. After several weeks of traveling through this hellish environment the supplies he needed to keep himself alive, where almost gone. His army of undead never slowed down however, not needing food, water or sleep. Unknown to him, his former friend and now the undead general of this army, the Death Knight, changed course of the army in the nights so they would stay in the desert longer. Although he couldn't hurt the mage directly, because of powerfull magics keeping him in check, and he had to follow the instructions given to him, he still could interpret as he saw fit. The mage ordered him to cross the desert as quickly as possible, but he never said anything about the direction. So the Death Knight altered the direction several times, because he kept changing his mind' about the direction they should be heading. The mage spent most of his time within a huge undead construction that he used for transportation, so he never found out about his former friends betrayal. Just a few days before his supplies were gone the army approached an oasis, much to the frustration of the Death Knight. But unfortunatly, mere hours before they would reach the oasis a sandstorm picked up. It was an almost unatural storm in intensity and the enitre army was buried in the desertsands within a few hours. The great transportation undead, with the mage still inside, was one of the last creatures to become covered by the desert. The mage tried several spells of teleportation to escape, but they all failed for unknown reasons. The storm lasted several days, that stretched into several weeks. The supplies where totally depleted and the mage tried almost all spells he knew to get out, all failing. One night, his strength almost totally gone, he memorized the one spell of which he hoped that he would never had to cast it. He ordered his skeleton servant to place him within a large coffin, after he had cast the spell. He cast the spell Temporal Stasis upon himself and the last thought he had before drifting away in oblivion was find the Orb&'

Chapter 1: The Lich awakens!

It has been several weeks, since Morkul started his track across the desert and his patience with the guides was starting to wear thin. Every time they would reach an oasis they would stay there for several days, a thing Morkul thought was useless. He started thinking about killing them all so he could raise them as undead servants, not having to stop for days at every oasis. But, alas, he needed their knowledge of the desert if he wanted to reach his destination alive. When he hired them in Yellowtown, he posed as a archeologist , for he feared that should they discover his worship of Talos, they would leave him in the desert to die. Not that that would happen, his worship of Talos enabled him to cross planes with a single spell, and he could have his revenge on them at a later time. But this would cost him valuable time, he didn't want to lose. The moment he would have reached his destination and found the information he was looking for, he would destroy them all as an offering to the God of storms, destruction, rebellion, conflagrations, earthshakings and vortices: Talos. For now he had got to put up with these worms. But just as he thought he could take no more, his God sent him a blessing, in the form of a massive sandstorm. The caravan rushed towards the oasis they spotted earlier on the horizon. Morkul however, unmounted from his camel and set out on foot. All of the guides pleaded for him to join them on their camels so they could reach the oasis before the sandstorm would reach them, but he refused, letting the guides know that he would see them after the storm. Thinking he was crazy they left him, expecting to never see him alive again. He set out, not towards the oasis and relative safety, but towards the centre of the storm and almost certain doom. But there was no fear in his hart, because he knew that his God would protect him.

#

Hurry! We have got to raise this tent if we want to survive this storm! Lenvon the caravan leader shouted. This is no ordinairy storm! We have brought the wrath of the Gods upon us, for participating on this quest! Stop talking and tie the camels to the trees!

The entire group hurried to get the tent up, so they could get out of this suffocating sandstorm. It was a difficult task but after several terrifying minutes they were all sitting in the relative safety of the tent.

Korvel, have you secured the camels? Lenvon asked, shaking the sand out of his clothes.

Of course I did! But it doesn't matter! This is no normal storm and we are all going to die!

O, shut up! You've said this during every sandstorm and didn't we always make it out just fine?Lotter responded.

Well&yeah&but I've got a REALLY bad fealing about this storm. It doesn't feel natural. The nervous young man started rubbing his holy symbol of Pelor, he always carried with him, arround his neck.

What isn't natural is the thing you do to the camels late at night, when you think everybody is asleep, ya pervert! This was a response Korvel didn't expect and he immediately turned blushing red, moving his eyes franticly trying to think of a thing to say, while the rest of the group were laughing out loud at his expense.

At that moment they heard a bellowing laugh coming from outside, that sent a shiver through their spines. Lettor was the first to speak. &Th&th&that wasn't the w&w&wind! WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT!?!?!?!?!

Must have been that Morkul guy! It can't be anything else! His laughter must have been amplified by the winds or something. Korvel said, after his face turned from a blushing red to a terrified white.

Yeah right! We've been in numerous storms before, and I've never heard anything like this! Ah man! We've angered the Gods by following this guy!

Shut your face Lettor, Lenvon said, trying to sound calm. We never were in a storm were somebody was mad enough to walk straight into it, so it may be Morkul or it may not be him. Whatever the case, it's something we can look into after the storm is over. So just sit tight and we'll wait untill tomorrow.

Ah, your right Lenv, as always. Let's just hope nothing like this happens during the rest of this storm! Lettor said, as he was calming down.

#

His robe was flapping feaverishly in the strong winds and he could not see more then two feet, but still Morkul was not afraid. He knew that, as a priest of Talos, his lord would protect his body from taking damage in this storm. When he saw two giant blazing coals in the storm, he knew that his quest was at an end. He stopped walking and started waiting. The storm raged for the rest of the day and throughout the night.

#

It was still early morning when the storm finally subsided, and the frightened men in the tent finally could go outside to check the damage, the storm has caused.

Okay guys, let's check out the camels and... Lenvon stopped dead in his tracks, amazed and terrified at the same time by what he saw. All the other men were equally mesmorized by the view they had after they got out of the tent. The storm had blown the sanddunes that were there yesterday away and reveiled what was burried beneath them, a massive collection of skeletons, both humanoid and monstrous. Their bones bleached by the sun, their hands carrying rusted weapons and shields. There were thousands of them, almost completely surrounding the oasis. The camels were nowhere in sight, probably running away after the first sight of the undead army. Suddenly they saw movement between the skeletal remains and they snapped back to reality. Still to scared to make any sound or even move they saw Morkul running towards them through the legions of undead, laughing like a maniac, his clothes torn by the hard winds and sand, but his body totally unharmed.

Come! Come you fools! Hahaha! Grab your shovels and come with me! I've finally found it! If finally found it! Wahahaha!

Lenv, what should we do?Korvel whispered, trying to remain calm.

He's gone insane in the storm! I say we gather the rest of our gear and get the fuck out of here! Lettor whispered a bit harder.

We don't know what these things will do, should we try to leave, and they seem to leave him alone. I don't like it anymore than you guys do, but I think we should do what the madman tells us to do, because I think he is the only one who can get us out of here alive. Korvel&go inside and get the shovels.

Korvel looked at Lenvor to see if he really meant it, and he saw that Lenvor's mind was made up. Lenvor stared with hard eyes at the madman who came running towards them, straight through the undead army.

Where are the shovels, Korvel! Hurry up! Morkul screamed, hefting his mace towards the scared leader of the caravan. You get those shovels out here NOW or I'll kill you myself you worm!

Lenvor started regretting taking this job, more and more, having taken it only because he needed the money. Thankfully, Korvel just got out of the tent, holding three shovels in his hands, and having tied four waterskins to his belt.

Morkul stopped running, waving them to follow him as het started walking back into the hart of the army. This way! This way! Don't worry about these skeletons, they won't hurt you! Not yet anyway, heh heh. He whispered to himself.

#

The minutes it took the men to catch up with Morkul, who walked through the undead army with no fear at all, were the longest and scariest of their entire lives. They walked through hordes of skeltons, all neatly in formation, as if they could start marching towards a battlefield at any moment. They came across the short and stumpy skeletal remains of humanoids that they could not place, humanoid skeletons wearing rusted armor, giant skeletons with a burning fire within their chest, huge skeletons of various monstrous beasts and at one point even skeletons seated upon the skeletal reamins of horses. Every now and then the wind would blow through the remains creating an unnerving whistling sound that caused a shiver through the spines of the men. Finally, after what seemed ages, Morkul stopped at a gargantuan creature, still half buried in the sands, remains of what appeared to be a tent, flapping in the wind. The men soon closed in on his position and kept a safe distance from this madman and the surrounding skeletons.

What are you waiting for, start digging within this beast. Morkul ordered them, without looking back at them, just staring at a symbol of Talos he had taken in his hand.

The men looked at eachother and slowly started moving into the remains of the beast, being carefull not to touch anything within. After a few minutes of digging they hit something hard and Morkul ordered them to carefully dig it out. It appeared to be the remnants of a small iron cage, and Morkul quickly ordered the men to start digging elsewhere, while he examined it, finding some small bones of what used to be a birdlike creature. The next thing the men uncovered was a human skull. Digging further to uncover more of it, they discovered it was an entire skeleton, wearing some kind of cloak. Morkul's hart jumped as he thought this was the thing he was searching for. He franticly searched the remains, finding runes inscribed on the bones, covering it's arms and legs. Immediately he took out his holy symbol.

Stand back you fools. The men immediately got out of his way, looking from a distance.

Morkul raised his symbol and pointed it towards the remains. In the name of Talos, I command thee! The skeleton immediately responded by rasing to it's feet and it turned so it faced Morkul. What is your wish, my master? It said with a hoarse voice.

#

Lenvor, Korvel and Lettor immediately started running away from this abbomination to nature, leaving their shovels and waterskins behind. Morkul however was amazed at the craftmanship that had to be needed in creating this kind of skeleton. He had created skeletons himself, but he had never created one that could talk. I am looking for information about a great artifact that you have sought. He asked, wondering if this skeleton could even understand this type of question. He was even more surprized when this creature responded to it.

This information I cannot give you, but the Master is the one who could tell you. I have put him in a coffin as he commanded. I could dig him out if you wish it.

This Master' of yours, did he create you? Morkul asked, being so amazed of the display of intelligence by this skeleton. That he almost forgot why he was here in the first place.

The master created all of us, although only I and his general are were given special magics.

The general? There is another like you?

That is correct, the general is located somewhere near here, still burried in the sands, waiting for the Master to wake him. Just like I was, before you wakened me with the power of your God.

Do you know of a way for me to be able to command all of these creatures? The power of my God only enables me to command a few of them, but I want them all! Morkul was getting excited at the prospect of commanding an undead army, so vast it could conquer the entire region surrounding the Neptune Sea.

Only the Master or the general have that power.

Well then, let's not wait and let's get your master out of the sand! Do you need some help with that?

The skeleton turned away from Morkul, not responding to his last question and started walking towards were the head of the creature would be. It entered the skull and Morkul followed him in. The skull was still half in the sand but Morkul could still walk up straight in it. The robed skeleton dug through the sand for some time and finally pulled out a runestone which it placed in a carved out place in the ceiling.

This had fallen out during the storm. The skeleton said, without looking back at Morkul. Morkul was about to respond when the skeletons skull glowed a bright red and he said with a booming voice, nothing like the voice it had since Morkul first wakened it: Arise!

The ground shook under Morkuls feet and he nearly fell over, while the sand under his feet was starting to fall away. It took only a few moments but after he regained his footing, the gargantuan creature had risen from the sand, clearing most of it from it's insides, and Morkul was raised nearly twenty feet from the desertbottom. He now looked over the desert and discovered that even more skeletons were emerging from the sands, nearly doubling their already incredible numbers.

Follow me, please. The skeleton said with his usual hoarse voice as he turned towards Morkul. Morkul was almost estatic of the power he would gain, after he took control of this incredible army.

They were now standing on top of wooden boards completely unscathed by their long rest beneath the sands. As Morkul turned around to follow the skeletal servant, whom walked by him, he saw the three guides he wanted to offer to Talos now the journey was over, running through the sands below.

O no, you don't! Morkul said as he cast a hold spell on the three, immobilizing them for at least twenty minutes. The skeletal servant had halted his movement, waiting for Morkul to follow him once more.

I want to offer them to my Lord, Talos, to thank him for the completion of my quest. Morkul said to the servant as he turned towards him. Whatever you wish. Was the short reply as the skeletal servant resumed his way into the belly of the beast. Morkul followed him, a little annoyed at the uninspired reply of the servant, and reached the belly of the beast once again.

#

This time almost every trace of sand had fallen down to the desertfloor and he could now see the entire contents of the belly. He saw the small iron cage his, soon to be sacrificial victims, dug up only minutes ago, a large wooden closet, a large desk with a comfortable chair behind it and a worn carpet covering the floor. Several ribs of the gargantuan ribcage had either gems encrusted in them or had runes cover them entirely. Everything was still covered with a layer of sand, but the majority was gone. At the far end of the room there were curtains hanging down from the spine of the beast, and the skeletal servant walked right to them. As he approached, the curtains parted by an unknown force and Morkul could see another room beyond. He quickly stepped into this room, which seemed to be both a study and a bedroom. There were several closets, filled with books, all of which were still in perfect condition, a large bed, neatly made up, a small, but complete, laboratory, a large chest in front of the bed and a large metal coffin in the far corner. In this room the layer of sand was much thicker, having fewer openings through which the sands could flow away.

The servant walk towards the coffin and stopped at it's side, rising his arms until they were above the coffinlid. Usstan lar pholor ussta jabbuk ulu ku'lam sohna lueth belbau iklnig ulu ussta dro h'uena mzild! the servant chanted, with the same voice he had when he caused the undead army to rise from the sands.

The lid of the coffin started to glow with a soft blue light and slowly began opening. Morkul stood a few paces behind the servant, and when the lid slowly started to rise, he felt a shiver run down his spine and had the feeling he just made the biggest mistake in his life.

#

In the meantime, hundreds of miles further north, a blacksmith and his son were laying the finishing touches on a set of full plate mail, the son wanted to make for his best friend.

Okay Gri'shak, it looks like it's the right size now. Cool it in the bucket and let's finish this suit.

Sure thing dad. Man, Kellisar is going to be so surprized when he hears that I've made the suit for him.

I'm sure he'll be even more surprized when you tell him about the speciale features you've implemented in it. Cro'votch replied with a smile on his face.

Cro'votch the Blacksmith was well respected and loved in the village, known for both his kindness and his skill at the forge. Gri'shak, his son, and he looked very similar, both around 6 foot tall, broad shoulders and handsome features. The years at the forge had made Cro'votch a wealthy man, but unlike others who receive such wealth, he didn't squander it away. Instead he used the money to buy designs for more exotic weapons and armor which he then tried to make himself. He also gave money to the community so it could be used in the infrastructure. Because of his generousity the village could afford the construction and maintenance of a sewersystem, something normally is reserved to great fortresses, like the templefortress of Helm to the east, and the merchant cities around the Neptune Sea.

The familiar hissing sound that came when the redhot piece of metal was plunged into the water, brought Gri'shaks mind back to so many months ago. He was just a young boy, helping his father at the forge, learning the trade, when a priest of Helm came into the smithy. Gri'shak knew the man from the days that he was still being tested for the skills needed to be trained as a priest of Helm, and wondered why he would enter his fathers workshop. The priests of Helm had their own forge at their fortress and it wasn't usual for them to buy something at Cro'votch's store. The priest talked to his father for several minutes before both of them came towards him. Gri'shak put down the suit of chainmail he was working on as the two men approached him.

#

Greetings Gri'shak, how are you doing? The heavily armored priest asked him.

Just fine, Watcher Glendal. I hope Kellisar is doing well in his trainings? Gri'shak replied. Gri'shak and Kellisar were both chosen over a year ago after a tournament at the village to start training as a priest of Helm. They both developed a deep friendship during that time, and eventhough Gri'shak eventually didn't qualify to become a Helmite, their friendship remained.

He is doing just fine, but that is not why I'm here. The priest said, as he took of his open faced helmet, exposing his short, military-style haircut.

Gri'shak, as you know we have our own forge at the fortress, and it is customary that all newly trained priests receive a set of full plate armor upon completion of their training& Glendal let a pause fall as he put the helmet on a nearby table and brushed his hand over his hair.

However, He continued, the set of armor that was being made this year, was made by an aprentice as a final exam.

He fucked up. Was the quick reply of Gri'shak, which caused a slight smile to appear on the face of his father, who was standing behind the priest.

He made an error in the creation, young Gri'shak. Something that can happen to anyone, even you. Glendal replied with a harsh voice, obviously not appreciating the reply of Gri'shak. The apprentice in question is making up for his error as we speak, the problem is that our master armorer is due to leave for an extended periode of time in a few weeks which leaves him too little time to construct a new set of armor.

O I see were this is going! You want ME to make a new suit for Kellisar! Gri'shak shouted cheerfully. Wow, dad, I've been making these chainmails for ages now, you really think I'm ready for the big stuff?

Hold on boy! Glendar said, immediately smothering Gri'shak enthousiasm. I came here to ask your father to create this suit and eventhough he might think you are ready for such tasks, I'm not convinced. Let me see that mail you are working on. He stretched out his hand and Gri'shak gave him the chainmailshirt he had been working on for the past few days.

Gri'shak knew that his chainmail was flawless, but the prospect of making the armor of all armors, for his best friend even, made his hart pound like crazy. The priest closely inspected the shirt for several moment before grunting his aproval.

Very well, if you think your son can make this armor, you can let him construct it. Just make sure it will be flawless, or Kellisar wil not have an armor when he is initiated. He said as he gave the shirt back to Gri'shak.

I'll check his progress regularly, Glendar, and don't you worry about a thing, my son can handle this.

Glendar picked up his helmet and placed it back on his head as he started walking back towards the entrance. Just bring it to the fortress three days before so we can get the blessing of Helm upon it.

Will do. Glendar reached the door and was about to go outside when Cro'votch called to him.

O Glendar, by the way& Glendar turned back towards the blacksmith and his son.

Cro'votch was standing next to his son with a big smile on his face, Smile sometimes, it won't hurt you!

With a short grunt Glendar turned away and left the building, muttering something about Cro'votch being a naïeve fool.

#

After that Glendar frequently visited the smithy, keeping an eye on the construction of the suit. Checking and double checking every piece made by Gri'shak over the course of the first few weeks of construction. After that Glendar was apparently convinced about the quality Gri'shak could deliver, for his visits became less frequent. That is until the last, most critical, two weeks of construction.

Gri'shak was having an increasingly hard time keeping it a secret for Kellisar, especially when Kellisar brought the subject of his armor up during an evening full of liquor. The innkeeper Benter had to intervene on several occasions to keep it a secret for Kellisar.

And now, after almost 12 weeks of hard work and long days the set of full plate armor was nearly complete. Gri'shak was laying the finishing touches on it, when Glendar entered the smithy.

Greetings Gri'shak, your father said that the suit was almost ready to be moved to the temple?:

Yep, I'm just laying the finishing touches on it. After that you just have to polish it up a little and it will shine as bright as your own suit, Glendar!

As I told you before, Gri'shak, we have a special ceremony at the temple that will take care of that. I will send someone to collect the suit at the end of the day. Make sure it is ready by then. Good day to you both. And with that Glendat turned around and left the smithy, not even waiting for a response of Gri'shak.

Hey dad, he keeps saying they have a ceremony to polish the suit up, but what's so special about that ceremony? I mean it's just taking a moist rag and scrub on the plates, right?

Cro'votch took of his gloves and sat down, poring himself and his son a cup of water before he answered. As far as I know it's some kind of initiation for new priests. There is a large gathering of established priests and worshippers within the temple complex and the initiate stands near the altar wearing his new and unpolished armor. According to what I've heard, the senior priest contacts Helm himself, for the final judgment of the initiate. If Helm is in favor of admitting the initiate into the His order, the armor becomes unblemished. If he doesn't approve, the armor stays the same, and the initiate is not admitted as a priest of Helm.

Gee, it seems so&beneath a God to use His powers to clean armor. I can understand the healing and curing powers He bestows upon people, but come on! If you wear armor, you should also clean it!

Well, Cro'votch replied after taking a drink from his cup, Helm IS the God of guardians, maybe He just wants his followers to be able to concentrate on their tasks instead of how they look in their armor.

Yeah, I guess that makes sense, it's just all that magic. It gives me the creeps.

Gri'shak wiped the sweat from his forehead and took a big gulp of his water. The Gods and their magic, he would never understand.