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The Nameless One

TALES FROM THE WAR VS. THE NAMELESS ONE:

Tales from the Forgotten War:

Generic Monsters - the troops:

Basilisk: Tough creatures, usually with limited intelligence. She made them smarter, to a degree, and loyal to Her. They can turn their opponants to Stone. They were affected by normal weapons, but it often took a lot of blows to kill one. Her more augmented kind would occasionally regenerate.

Change Children: Creatures created and given life by Her, changechildren are fusions of man (or humaniod) and beast. They are not true shapeshifters nor lycanthropes. Like were-creatures, they are vulnerable to silver and magic. In fact, even though they are affected by all weapons they can only be permanently killed by magic or silver. ChangeChildren seem to have a knack for magic, and seem to have an affinity for summoning and speaking to Mach-med-Dren.

Ghouls: Most of the ghouls that She sent to war were affected by protections vs the undead. Their claws were capable of paralyzing their victims, allowing the ghoul all the time they needed to kill those they scratched. Some few of her ghoulish horde were NOT affected by the protections vs undead, but shied only from the stronger protections vs. enchanted beings. We had no way of telling the difference between the two types, and many healers and priests died because of that...

Kobalds: Kobalds are usually cowardly and rather useless when encountered anywhere other than in Her army. In Her service, Kobalds seem to become terribly brave and bloodthirsty. They have no special abilities, no armor, no spell casting ability that we are aware of. They are generally stupid. If they do attack, they are usually fanatical and suicidal... Oddly dangerous....

Mach-med-Dren: These creatures are terrible because they 'ride' inside and overcome friends and allies, forcing them to fight for Her. Generally, they find warriors, or those with no formal magical training easier to control. Those who can cast magics have reported being able to fight the compulsions of the beasts, but only when confronted with doing something that was completely against their nature, such as killing their mate, or their liege... Generally, once the host was killed, the Mach-med-Dren's influence was ended, and the victim could be raised safely.

Orcs: Orcs have not changed much over the ages. Those of Clan Kurian have been recently augmented, but we have not directly observed their abilities. (If you would like to fill them in, let me know.)

Ogres: Ogres are strong enough to throw boulders, and have tough hides. They are affected by most weapons. They have a peculiar ability to generate poison through the weapons they are weilding. The ability is in the Ogre, not in the weapon.

Ogre Mages: A smarter subset of the Ogre, these creatures are capable of throwing combative and currative magics. Like their bretheran, they are tough, and have the odd weapon poisoning ability.

Shadow Beasts and Pack Masters: Created by a Shadow Wright Demon, Shadowbeasts are nothing but animated darkness. Shadow Beasts are Vulnerable to Silver and Magic. They can be held back by a light spell if the light spell is wielded like a 'protection from undead.' Common Shadow Beasts have the ability to sense magic. They know if you are bearing magic or if you are a spell caster. A Shadow Beast can regenerate lost limbs after 60 seconds of being left alone. Shadow Beasts are unaffected by boulders, unless the boulder is magic or silver. At night, Shadow Beasts are terrifying. The darkness strengthens them. They regenerate from 'disruption' in 60 seconds. Light, however is more affective in the dark, and anyone bearing a magic light and facing the beast will be avoided by the creature entirely. 'Lines' of magic light can hold the shadows at bay- but be aware that if a character casts a shadow over that light (by stepping or fighting over it, for example), a beast might be able to capitalize on this and break through the defense. It should be noted that there are a set number of the creatures, and they just keep reforming again and again... We have not found a means to permanently destoy one, short of killing or banishing the ShadowWright that spawned them. To the best of our knowledge and observation, Shadow Beasts are not sentient. They don't appear to have free will. They don't have the ability to speak. Their 'language' is that of a hunting hound- howls, snarls, barks and other such canine vocalizations. The only time a Shadow Beast 'speaks' is when they have been 'summoned' specifically for that purpose, and even then, they can only speak a short 'pre-recorded' message and cannot respond well, if at all, to retorts or questions. Shadow Beasts have a very limited form of intelligence, mostly oriented toward tracking and capturing their prey. Shadow Beasts travel in packs of five. Usually there is a Pack Master within a pack. Shadow Beasts are single goal oriented. A pack is basically ordered to do one thing (generally : Hunt down and search so and so for such and such...) and the pack will single mindedly do this. Self preservation is not emphasized, survival of the pack or completion of the goal is more important to them. If the Pack cannot succeed as a whole, one beast will throw itself at the problem while the rest defend the one from outside difficulties, even if that means they must martyr themselves to do so. When a Shadow Beast pack locates its target, the first to recognize this will halt and howl to the others and 'point' out the target. Each beast will also howl until all the beasts have reached 'target acquisition'. Acquired targets are then chased until slain or until all the Shadow Beasts are disrupted. Shadow Beasts are very sensitive to magic. If a Shadow Beast 'acquires' a magic weapon, it will whimper and yowl loudly (canine vocalizations implying pain) while it runs back home...Pack Masters are a tougher form of ShadowBeast marked by Her, so that she can cast Her spells through them... Pack Masters can disrupt light, as the spell of the same name, twice per day. Pack Masters can disrupt Circles of Protection, as the spell of the same name, twice per day. Pack Masters can reanimate all 'disrupted' Shadow Beasts within range of it's voice once.

Skeletons: Skeletons are affected by normal weapons, especially blunted ones. They are highly resistant to magic, and magical weapons do not seem to affect them. They, next to vampires, are fast undead.

Trolls: The shock troops of the war, She augmented and strengthened them... They could throw boulders, had toughened natural hide, could regenerate... Some of them were completely immune to certain kinds of weapons. All were vulnerable to fire.

Nether Beasts (Bainen): These came in all sorts of shapes sizes and capabilities. It is impossible to catagorize them all. None seemed to be immune to magic, but that was their only common weakness... Some were poisonous, some hideously strong, some had formidable magical abilities - able to possess, turn or destroy those who opposed them.

Vampires: She embraced more than a few of the allies into her service, the most trajic of those so 'conscripted' was the King of Tollen, a southern kingdom. Many of the Allies lost hope when they found their good, strong king fighting for the Beast. One of the Company was captured and embraced as well, but She didn't account for Sir Ambian's Soul Brother 'eves dropping' on the process... Ambian didn't escape, and would have been broken, but for his Braeling's support. In a moment of apparent lax-ness on Her part, Ambian managed, with his Braeling's support, to find a way out of the Citadel, and embraced the Dawn. Sendree, his braeling, didn't last much longer than Ambian did... Usually, the Vampires in her service were broken to Her will, prisoners of war. All Vampires are vulnerable to magic, sunlight and fire. No other weapons seem to have much of an effect. If you can actually manage to drive a wooden stake through the heart of one, it will be imobilized. They can still speak however, even while so paralyzed, and if they can cast spells, they might do so... Vampires seem to sense no pain.

Zombies: Zombies are affected by protections from undead. They are difficult to stop since they are already dead. They can be immobilized by hacking off their limbs, but you cannot kill them. They inspire terror in the less experienced, but fortunately, they do not move very quickly.

The Generals:

The Changechild General: Nothing more than an augmented changechild, this one was only affected by silver weapons. In addition, any weapon used by him would become diseased. (Killed by Sir Lars, 1998)

The Orc General: This one always appeared dressed in harlequin clothing. While it was possible to kill her, the parts of her body covered in black were impervious to damage, making it hard to do so. (Killed by Sir Baron Diamond, 1996)

The Troll General: Probably the most dangerous of all HER generals, his skin was so tough, that only the most special of weapons would not break upon it. We learned the hard way that in addition to his tough hide, he also regenerated. The only way we managed to destroy this one was with the twin blades. (Killed, 1998)

The Kobald General: this one was sort of an oddity, being immune to two handed weapons and able to shrug off all magical attacks. We could kill him, but he always got back up. The best we could do was to imprision him by using his true name.

The Ogre General: This mostrosity was tough. Not as awful as the Troll General, but still formidable. It took us a while to punch through his hide, but perseverence won out and we defeated him. As with all ogres, this one generated poison and threw boulders. In addition, She somehow made his arms invulnerable to injury. (Killed by Sir Lucas and Sir Randal, 1998)

The Undead General: Responsible for a great many deaths during the war, this creature struck terror into the hearts of all who faced it. Through a combination of the creature's inate abilties and HER dark channeling, it laid waste to hundreds. By itself, the undead general is fearsome to behold. It has the ability to redirect any wound it takes back to the one who dealt the blow. The creature still takes the wound, but the price paid by those who face it is great. When combined with HER ability to raise those who carry HER pattern.... (Killed by a monsterous amount of magic missle wielding mages, 1998)

Marra the Dark Childe: Since Marra has never been seen by any who lived to tell of the experience, we are unble to give you any information pertaining to her. We guess that Marra is human and female, but we have no concrete proof of this. Marra's pattern is harder to discern as she does things that seem to be in direct conflict with her master's survival. But, she has also done many things to save her master. An odd dichotomy that one..

Timeline:

1329 Torril became the Guardian after Preychaser's untimely death.

1589 Torril went into heat for the first time, and with the prodding of the Kal came to the Eerie. Tanith and Torril recognized each other.

1592 Moonsinger became the Guardian of the Wood, Torril left to join Tanith at the Eerie.

@1594 Moonsinger falls to the Death Angel Azreal's charms. She is taken by the Kal kre Bain after being rejected by the Kal en Dral. Her name is taken from her.

@1596 She resurfaces, destroying the nearby villages that she once protected.

1596 Torril is called back to service. She attempts to destroy the Beast, but fails. The Unnamed One disappears to recover from the confrontation.

1598 The Beast resurfaces, after having conquered the orcs and kobalds of the area to Her service. Her success against the Southern tribes attract more of the fell folk, trolls, ogres and oger magi to Her service.

1601 The Beast has gained a strong hold of the Southern Realms, and she developes and sets loose the change-children and mach-med-dren. She has also managed to make a pact with a ShadowWright Demon, inspiring a new horror...

She gained a horrible amount of power in this year. This is also the time that she found and freed Ankmar Vengence, the Prince of Netherhelm, adding his undead hordes to Her forces.

The War (now called the Forgotten War) begins in earnest, and word of the Beasts depradation spreads far and wide.

1602 The Troll Champion Tormack arises in power.

The Beast follows a pattern. She and her armies attack a country, then stop for at least a year to fully control and conquer it. This stop and go tactic, combined with Her ability to confuse communication and halt informational spells, makes it seem like She has stopped her rampage. The Northern Chieftans, aided covertly by the Grey Company, Torril (the Pure One) and Shalnuk, the last of the Valdonian Mage Kings, do not believe the lies and false promises and start to forge the weapons Smaug and Fafnir, as a defense vs the troll, Tormack.

1634 -1636 When Her forces marched upon the North, the Champion of the allies, a dark haired youth who gave up his Self for the strength and speed to kill the troll, defeated Tormack with the firey blades Smaug and Fafnir. That was a glorious hour, and marked the turning point in the war. Torril came upon the Soul Blade, and attempted to destroy it, knowing that it was a key to Her power. Torril only managed to break the Blade, weakening Her, but not destroying Her. Many of Her generals were destroyed and their remains safely sealed in urns with patterns to keep them from being recovered by any magic. Slowly over the next few years, the allies managed to take back the fallen kingdoms of the south, and Her reign of terror slowly ended. Eventually, She was trapped and Torril, Tanith and six others forged a pattern to imprison Her.

1637 Torril stays on as the Guardian of the Wood. Tanith spends time between the Eerie and the Wood.

1907 The Remergence of Marra the Darkchilde. The Darkchilde successfully finds the prison of the Beast, and gathers decendants of the Troll Tormack to destroy the castle that guarded the pattern of Her prison. Fortunately, the Darkchilde couldn't find the prison, and the pattern, we thought, held.

1936 Marra assembled another army, to again assault the prison of her Lord Mistress. Torril dies destroying the army.

1939 Te-Che (the Spirit Hand) Wildsong is born and made the Guardian of the Northern Wilds.

1993 Te-che leaves the Wood.

1993 Karena (the Pretty One) Shadow Rider is born and is made the new Guardian.

1993 The Beast breaks free of the prison pattern, and takes some of the beasts imprisoned with Her out. Shadow Beasts attack the town of Tuath Fasach in October 1993. Babies are stolen, Mach-med-Dren take the bodies of townsfolk.

1994: February, the people of the Realms find the prison pattern and call it 'the Lost Gate.' Torril's spirit, long sleeping, is woken, called and freed by Lady Anne. Torril seeing the patterns arising, 'rides' with Anne, providing her insight in what to do...

1994: June. The Beast chooses a new Avatar, the orc chief, Skull Crusher.

1995: May. The Beast attempts to take control of the land called Folkestone, and is thwarted.

1995: September: You go to the tomb of Torril and gather the pommel piece of the Soul Blade.

1996: March? You discover that true to Pattern, She has made pacts to work with the Undead Lord, Zermarx.

1996: August? You destroy the Undead Lord, Zermarx and reforge the Soul Blade. As is true to pattern, She hides and tries to gain power by attacking small hamlets and homesteds. Slowly gaining power, most likely tring to get you to forget about Her.

1997: June. You make your journey into the dreaming to discover Her Name. Also, as is true to pattern, She attempts to take your leaders and bend them to Her will, as evidenced by the capture of Peregrin.

1997: Sept. You destroy the Soul Blade.

1998: May: The Beast strikes Chimeron, taking Queen Meg prisoner. The Ogre and Undead General are slain, as well as the Vampire, Jerren.

One week later, the Realms makes a full scale assault on the Nameless One's Citadel. In the fighting, the Shadowwright is banished from the body of one of the Moonsinger's Braeling, making him a normal human. Sir Peregrin kills the Unnamed One. Queen Meg is saved from Vampirism by the actions of a young vampire named Thomas Pureheart, a Knight of Iron Reach, posthumously made a Knight of the Crown by Sir Shane.
Created by Iacob of Ivory (David Kapell) at 07-26-06 11:07 PM
Last Modified by Iacob of Ivory (David Kapell) at 07-26-06 11:07 PM