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Thread: RP Story: Yakhmar's Hole (an epic tale of roughly 20 parts)

  1. #11

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    Part 11:

    At the sound of Monch's command, the team acted instantly - the hours of preparation, the brief discussion they had outside, the frantic drive of hope and greed allowed them to push past the beating wings of despair and panic. They charged down the hill, dragging their half-burnt Commander through the snow behind them.

    At the bottom of the hill, the ice-worm awaited. Upon smelling the first wave of frantic two-legged appetizers, Yakmahr surged forward, with a ferocious speed that belied her massive bulk. The ground (and her stomach) rumbled with the approach and she met the group head on (not that she had much of a choice, her only discernable weapon was her head).

    The raiders threw themselves at her and every last man and woman fought with a desperate ferocity. But victory was not in the cards for them at this moment, despite the cheers of their immobilized and almost trampled Commander.

    It was when Greg (remember Greg? Yakmahr's favorite?) lead the first wave of ice-worm spawns against the group that things started to unwind. The teams had been poorly sorted by Monch and did not coordinate their efforts well. At first there were only four young worms, but soon they were joined by four more and it looked as if there would be more. Confusion broke into the ranks, and it was only the split-second decision of Javed that saved them altogether.

    "Pull back!" He yelled with authority. Pushing Madaylia towards the entrance while waving the raid to retreat with the other, Javed was able to get them to disengage properly, with the soldiers blocking the rear as they retreated up the hill. Though the worms were well suited to their environment, the raiders were driven by determination and self preservation, and managed to crest the steep incline first, drawing to a stop a hundred feet or so from the entrance.

    Losing interest, or so the men and women of Order's Seeker Corps thought, the worm spawn eventually stopped and turned to slide back down the hill.

    As those that remained stopped to take a tally of injuries, they were interrupted by a dozen dangerous-looking men and women following Se'Tee'Kaa through the carved entrance and down the frozen ramp towards the larger lair.

    "Charade! Je... Where's Jezebiel?" Miaa asked.

    "Still stuck in Khitai, it seems," Charade replied with a shrug.

    "Nevermind that, it is still good to see you, and only just in the nick of time."

    "Enough talk," Blacklizard chimed in, "let's get everyone back up to fighting shape so my knives can take another shot at those oversized nightcrawlers." Javed nodded in agreement. Even after this first disasterous run, they were still in good spirits.

    "Alright then. Let's patch up the wounded and see if Monch has a better..." Javed stopped cold. It struck everyone at the same time that they no longer heard the boisterous ramblings of Order's First Seeker. Already knowing the worst to be the case, Billington looked down at the woven leather cord that had been attached to his belt.

    It was cut... nay, bitten in twain, the individual straps already unwinding from the larger cord.

    "That means..."

    Those assembled looked back down the hill, deep into the lair, at Yakmahr herself, calmly resting at the back of the cave...

    ...slowly chewing.


    (To be continued)
    Yangrin | Yangbear | Krem | Marsheesh | Oforawesome | Pappalegba | Yangryn
    -------------------
    Age of Conan Wiki | Still waiting for Half Life 3 - FU Gabe Newell! / May 2014 Update! It's apparently been "worked on"!!!!! #Sarcasm | PvP approach: The 'Cup of Tea' stratagem. That upon finding myself in a PvP zone & being attacked, I get up, walk away from the keyboard and go and make a cup of tea.

  2. #12

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    Part 12:

    She continued to chew. This one tasted different from the others. Bits were hard, she was used to that, but the softer bits were shockingly flavorless, as if the flesh had been ruined before she was able to eat it. Yakhmar wasn't familiar with burning or charring. I mean, she was an ice worm, a toasty fire wasn't something she curled up to every night. There was a time in the past when she felt the unwelcome kiss of flame, but the two-legs that came to her now were generally wise enough not to use any against her.

    Feeling suddenly full, she moved the body from one of her segmented stomachs to a less full one for further digestion. She was hoping more would come. One would not even begin to assuage her hunger.

    But as the churnings and rumblings continued in her gullet, the most ferocious ice worm in Hyborea began to feel something she had not felt in ... well, a really long time, to be honest. It felt as if her meal was actually still attempting to escape. This struck her as most odd because no living thing had ever resisted her own unique blend of digestive juices and crushing undulations. Certainly this was as unfamiliar a feeling to her as the sight of the open sky.

    She was becoming concerned. She had no way to cope with any sort of intestinal discomfort, so she rolled around a bit, attempting to settle her stomachs and bring some sort of relief back to her otherwise happy existence. As it continued, Yakhmar was seriously wishing she had a way of remembering what it is she had just eaten, and a way to record it in a definitive fashion so as to not do it again.

    The torturous clawing finally made it down to her tail. Her body cried for mercy and she mustered every bit of strength to evacuate her aching bowels with a thunderous blast. It had all the force of a geothermic geyser, spraying the back wall of her cave with the accumulated colonic detrius of decades of bad eating. After it was over, she ate a few mouthfuls of fresh snow, crunching and chewing the ice to bring her a sort of cathartic release.

    She had to admit, though, that as painful as the event was, she felt remarkably better now. She felt almost like a young hatchling. She let out a satisfied, rumbling shriek and then refocused her attention on the things at the furthest reaches of her senses. They all had suddenly grown quiet; all noise had stopped. Dead, perhaps? She allowed herself the fleeting hope that more bodies were even now being dragged through the darkness, but didn't give her offspring the credit for being competant enough to perform such a mundane task without her direct guidance.

    Behind her, one of the rapid cooling piles of scat shifted and moved, disgorging two figures. To Yahkmar, who was virtually blind, she didn't notice anything. It all smelled the same, and therefore, was beneath her notice.

    "Just when I begin to think there can be no fresh humiliation left for me to endure, he manages this most foul horror," said Crispin, Monch's ghoulish Dread Shadow and former Captain of Acheron. With the last of his unholy strength, Crispin threw the limp body of the Lion of Ahriman off to the side. As he felt the shadows' pull to reclaim him, he breathed a sigh of relief before vanishing altogether.

    Yakhmar summoned her children to her, preparing them once again for the neverending battle against the two-legs that continually invaded her home. Greg was attempting to say something or other about these two-legs being different, but Yakhmar barked a quick command to shut up. She liked Greg, but was not about to suffer this sort of insolence from him or any of her children.

    The strategy was sound. When they attacked, waves of three to four worms would come in regular intervals. It had worked reliably up to now, so there was no reason to change things up at this point.

    But as Yakhmar coached her brood, in the still, silent hollow just beside her waste mounds, something began to move.


    (To be continued)
    Yangrin | Yangbear | Krem | Marsheesh | Oforawesome | Pappalegba | Yangryn
    -------------------
    Age of Conan Wiki | Still waiting for Half Life 3 - FU Gabe Newell! / May 2014 Update! It's apparently been "worked on"!!!!! #Sarcasm | PvP approach: The 'Cup of Tea' stratagem. That upon finding myself in a PvP zone & being attacked, I get up, walk away from the keyboard and go and make a cup of tea.

  3. #13

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    Part 13:

    At the entrance to the lair, Javed was was organizing the raiding party to make use of the new arrivals, moving them into position to deal with what was to come. She could see confusion in the faces of some. Many had grown up on the frigid border of Cimmeria, but could not fathom actually assaulting the legendary Yakhmar head-on. But, he noted with grim satisfaction, not a single soldier questioned his orders. This was a critical development and he wished he had more time to enjoy it.

    As a unit, they had become a living weapon, a single beast with two dozen claws, that attacked ferociously, without hesitation and without question. Even though he was only Second Seeker, Javed felt confident. Monch wouldn't have picked him if he didn't believe in him. He was wholly unaware that Monch had merely drawn his name at random from a hat because of a drunken bet with the barbarian Drome.

    But Javed was coordinating things with Miaa the Shamaness, who had accepted the burden and privaledge of her uncle's position in the guild to help temper the raiders she counted in her charge. Javed was listening to her instruct those that would be closest to Yakhmar as he lined up those that would remain just beyond the reach of the worm. The cursed Stygian drew in a deep breath before addressing the soldiers in the lead.

    "Charade, Sidack, Tarcon, let us move our forces back down and into position, shall we?" The soldiers of the Seeker Corps listened and nodded sharply before moving down the slope in an orderly fashion. As the other groups fell in line, there was a buzz of energy and excitement about them. This time they would prevail, each and every one of them felt it. Before they reached the first shelf, someone in the back struck up a cry.

    "FROM THE DARKNESS..."

    Though slighly stunned by the unexpected cry, there came an enthusiastic reply from the assembled comrades: "LIGHT!"

    Javed joined in on the next call, his sword raised high in defiance, his eyes wild, "FROM THE EVIL AND MADNESS..."

    This time everyone responded in unison, their voices ringing clear and strong: "RETRIBUTION!"

    The cavern reverberated from the cry and those marching down could not help but finish the chant, with wicked grins,

    "AND FROM THE CHAOS?!"

    "O R D E R !!!" Weapons tapped out a resounding cadence against shields or breastplates. Were there creatures down in that frozen pit that could understand them, surely the thunder of their resolve would have rattled them to the core.

    The soldiers reached the first shelf, giving them a clear view of the plain below. Buoyed by the ringing battlecry, adrenaline racing through their bodies, every nerve aware, every sinew and muscle poised, full of brash courage, life, and deadly intent, the Seeker Corps moved as one unit. Together, they descended further, shields held before them, swords gleaming coldly in the dim light, passing by the almost forgotten remains of great beasts, skeletons bleached as white as the ice and snow.

    As the light dimmed, and the echo of their cheering subsided, and the raiders fell into an expectant silence. The lair itself, which had for so long lay in suffocating silence, felt suddenly alive, the previous sense of malevolence becoming an unmistakable, open hatred. A long, low groaning wind rose from the belly of the beast, swept past those in the front ranks and swirled among the raiders. It writhed snake-like about them, its touch cold and clammy, and its scent like the fetid rotting corpses of the living dead. The torches flared and then sputtered, some of them going out completely. Then it was gone, and in the charged stillness that followed, a sliding, scraping sound of metal on ice rose from the darkness.

    Alone and covered in poo, Order's First Seeker had returned.


    (To be continued)
    Yangrin | Yangbear | Krem | Marsheesh | Oforawesome | Pappalegba | Yangryn
    -------------------
    Age of Conan Wiki | Still waiting for Half Life 3 - FU Gabe Newell! / May 2014 Update! It's apparently been "worked on"!!!!! #Sarcasm | PvP approach: The 'Cup of Tea' stratagem. That upon finding myself in a PvP zone & being attacked, I get up, walk away from the keyboard and go and make a cup of tea.

  4. #14

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    Part 14:

    Miaa and Javed exchanged a brief glace, not sure what to make of what they saw before them. Behind them, the assembled raid force stood in mute astonishment.

    Perhaps ten paces away, stood the menacing silhouette of the Commander of the Seeker Corps. Though no taller than any of them, it seemed to tower over them, the spirit of the man rose an undaunted giant. It was difficult to make out any details, under the excrement, but it obviously powerfully mad. His signature armor was cracked and stained and his eyes all but glowed in the darkened shadows, and stench, like a faint mist, seemed to seep from his skin - like fog rising from a frozen pond.

    The raiders felt a momentary flutter of panic, but suppressed it (along with their gag reflexes) in order to try and help their comrade in his dramatic return from being digested.

    "Tarcon, Mixy," Javed said, "help Monch up the slope and back to camp."

    "Oh Hells NO!" Tarcon replied, already holding his nose and backing up. Mixy was doing likewise. In fact, the entire assembled force recoiled at the smell of their Commander. Dramatically, Monch took a long stride forward, head and face thrusting forward, mouth agape in a demonic, hate-filled scream of rage.

    "MOVE!!" roared Blacklizard, stepping aside to avoid Monch's flailing grip. The next few minutes the constituent members of the group broke rank and spread out, trying to avoid the clumsy poo-stained pawing. Monch staggered to and fro, like some necromancer's animated puppet, roughly jerking around.

    "Herd him outside!" Javed urged, pointing towards the opening.

    Currently the object of Monch's lurching, Miyeong bravely goaded him towards the entrance of the cave, trying to avoid both his grasp and the lip of the opening. She hopped nimbly through, but Monch had similar results to his first trip through and stumbled over the icy curb, falling facedown into the snow outside the cave, where he remained still.

    Tense, stinky moments passed.

    "Is he dead?" Miaa asked.

    "No..." Miyeong said after drawing close, "he lives."

    "Quickly then! We have little time!" Miaa cried, giving orders to those assembled. With the precision of a finely tuned trebuchet, they launched into action. Soon enough, two large cauldrons of water lay steaming in the afternoon sun of the Eiglophian Mountains.

    "Where did we find two large cauldrons anyway?" Javed asked as Tarcon and Billington managed to used two large poles to half drag, half carry Monch from the entrance to the camp.

    "It seems our previously unmentioned guild member Deusexmachina had some on her waggon with her the entire time," Miaa said with a sigh of relief as they dumped a stripped down Monch into one of the cauldrons. His armor had been removed by a couple of brave souls and dumped into the other cauldron. The gloves they had used to touch him burned on the fire below.

    "Do you think this will work?" Miyeong asked, drawing close.

    "Even if it does," Miaa says gravely, "what's to stop him from being covered from head to toe later this evening, or tomorrow? I mean, this is Monch we're talking about."

    "True," Javed and Miyeong say, almost simultaneously.

    With an inhuman roar, Monch erupts up from underneath the surface of the water. His eyes are ablaze with focus and determination and rage. Now clean and alert, water flowing freely from his fabulous muttonchops, he is truly a sight to behold.

    "I am here! Ready to exact my vengeance! Bring me my arms and armor and let us rain furious vengeance down upon that unholy worm! Who is WITH ME?!?!?"

    His cry clearly echoes around the icy valley, startling the local wildlife and causing even the long-frozen mountain ice to rumble in response. He is therefore slightly shocked when he does not get a rousing reply. In fact, all he gets is a chilling silence and some shocked looks from his guildmates before he is answered by the female Stygian tending the fires.

    "Your armor needs about ten more minutes of boiling before it's clean," Lilata says.

    "I see," Monch replies.

    "And then it will have to cool."

    "Right. I get it."

    "And we should probably look into getting you some fresh undergarments, because I think they're ruined altogether," she continues.

    "Yes, yes, fine... I'll just be in here then," he says sheepishly as he slowly sinks back into the water.


    (To be continued)
    Yangrin | Yangbear | Krem | Marsheesh | Oforawesome | Pappalegba | Yangryn
    -------------------
    Age of Conan Wiki | Still waiting for Half Life 3 - FU Gabe Newell! / May 2014 Update! It's apparently been "worked on"!!!!! #Sarcasm | PvP approach: The 'Cup of Tea' stratagem. That upon finding myself in a PvP zone & being attacked, I get up, walk away from the keyboard and go and make a cup of tea.

  5. #15

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    Part 15:

    Blacklizard and Madaylia crouched, weapons drawn, to either side of the lairs entrance. It was unlikely anything would follow them all the way up, but tensions had become tense since Monch's reappearance. Chances were not at liberty to be taken.

    "Hold!! Wait for my command!" Monch shouted.

    The Lion of Ahriman was just finishing strapping on his last gauntlet, redressing himself after his most unfortunate passage through the bowels of Yakhmar's bowels.

    "We're not going anywhere without you," Miaa said with an exasperated sigh.

    "That's good, because I have a score to settle," Monch replied with a growl. "And precious few parts left to accomplish it in."

    "I don't understand. What parts?" Javed asked.

    "Never you mind," Monch said. Then, in a much louder voice, he addressed the camp. "Is everyone ready to move?"

    He watched raiders rise from where they had been resting, grim resolve on each of their faces. They began to move steadily towards the wall of ice that housed the lair of the greatest of Cimmeria's iceworms.

    "Ready, First Seeker!" one of the soldiers shouted.

    Monch cracked a fierce grin and moved towards the entrance of the iceworm's lair. This time, he did not stumble. This time, the ranks of Order's Seeker Corps fell in line with him, silently forming an unbreakable phalanx of steel and resolve. Arcane and divine practitioners fell in behind the heavily armored soldiers and the lighter armored skirmishers. To the outside observer, this was a well trained, disciplined fighting force ready to withstand the tide of iceworm aggression and turn it into the succulent rewards of victory.

    Down the icy cavern they marched, checking to make sure weapons were in place, spells were in order and restoratives were at hand. More than one of them took a quick drink to steady nerves and several others prayed to the distant gods of their lands.

    In front of them, the cavern opened up once again, and the fading daylight still filtered down through the holes in the icy roof overhead, splashing onto the freshly disturbed snowy ground.

    Monch motioned for them all to stop. As the echo of the last footstep died away, Monch walked ahead, dramatically turning to face the raiders after he was a good distance away.

    "Here we are again," Monch said. "Remember this moment. It will be a moment you tell your grandchildren." Tarcon raised his hand. Monch signaled him with a nod of his head.

    "This specific moment or if... I mean, when we kill the worm?" Tarcon asked.

    "What if we don't want to have children? or grandchildren?" Orikx asked.

    "Could I do it in like a picture book, or does it have to be explicitly an oral tradition?" Lilata questioned. Monch gripped his head and growled slightly.

    "That's not what I meant!" Monch replied. But before the Scion of Acheron could elaborate further, a howl of rage rose from somewhere in the shadowed depths - an alien cry that froze their marrow and momentarily stopped the hearts of even their bravest.

    Somewhere below, now dangerously close, she waited for them.


    (To be continued)
    Yangrin | Yangbear | Krem | Marsheesh | Oforawesome | Pappalegba | Yangryn
    -------------------
    Age of Conan Wiki | Still waiting for Half Life 3 - FU Gabe Newell! / May 2014 Update! It's apparently been "worked on"!!!!! #Sarcasm | PvP approach: The 'Cup of Tea' stratagem. That upon finding myself in a PvP zone & being attacked, I get up, walk away from the keyboard and go and make a cup of tea.

  6. #16

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    Part 16:

    Author's Note: Part 16 is actually part 17. Due to a botch in the numbering of the stories sent to us from our outsourced overseas writing staff, an error was made in the sequential numeration. In effect, there is no Part 16, there never was. People complaining that we have intentionally omitted Part 16 are a bunch of whiny QQ'ers that should be slapped abruptly with a large, dead fish.

    Without further delay, we bring you Part 17, which is actually the 16th part of the story, but labeled as the 17th, so as to not cause you any further discomfort or disorientation.

    Please to enjoy, Yakhmar's Hole, Part 17...

    ...

    ...

    It's down there... in the next post.


    (To be continued)
    Yangrin | Yangbear | Krem | Marsheesh | Oforawesome | Pappalegba | Yangryn
    -------------------
    Age of Conan Wiki | Still waiting for Half Life 3 - FU Gabe Newell! / May 2014 Update! It's apparently been "worked on"!!!!! #Sarcasm | PvP approach: The 'Cup of Tea' stratagem. That upon finding myself in a PvP zone & being attacked, I get up, walk away from the keyboard and go and make a cup of tea.

  7. #17

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    Part 17:

    Yakhmar watched them intently. Actually, that was inaccurate. Yakhmar sensed them with the most far reaching of her senses, taste. She tasted them at the top of her lair, the subtle changes in air pressure and temperature playing across her barbed tongue in the most sensual fashion (unusual since most ice-worms are not known for their sensuality. Yakhmar being only the second, behind Sexthrelda the less-hairy).

    She felt the vibrations of their heavy booted feet and the whiny tenor of their tiny voices. She smelled the sweat cooling quickly on their necks and faces and tasted their fear on the brutal icy wind that circulated down even to the bottommost region of her domain.

    She was not sure what they planned, or even if these things had such things as plans. Truth be told, they always tended to do the same thing, running at her blindly and then waiting for her children to pop from the snow and devour them. She thought to herself that it would be nice if things weren't always so formulaic. Yakhmar had a certain longing to break free from the century or so of instinctual behavior and charge them for a change. Maybe to even go outside and shake things up a bit. Wouldn't that be fun? Charging them while they set up their cookfires and laid out their toiletries.

    But that was not meant to be. She knew she was the hunted here, always on the defensive, ready to strike only when struck first. She growled at this thought, a low rumble that shook the whole of the cave.

    Let them come if they dared. She had plenty of teeth and at least five segmented stomachs. There was enough digestion to go around to those foolish enough to challenge her.

    There was a shift in the wind.

    It was time.

    Time to masticate. Time to masticate hard!


    (To be continued)
    Yangrin | Yangbear | Krem | Marsheesh | Oforawesome | Pappalegba | Yangryn
    -------------------
    Age of Conan Wiki | Still waiting for Half Life 3 - FU Gabe Newell! / May 2014 Update! It's apparently been "worked on"!!!!! #Sarcasm | PvP approach: The 'Cup of Tea' stratagem. That upon finding myself in a PvP zone & being attacked, I get up, walk away from the keyboard and go and make a cup of tea.

  8. #18

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    Part 18:

    The thing Monch noticed most was the cold. As they approached the end of the expansive chamber, the exposed skin on his face and neck literally stung with it and his eyes began to water. He blew out a plume of vapor as if he needed to confirm the extreme change.

    "Has it always been this cold?" he offhandedly asked aloud.

    "THERE!" shouted someone from the front ranks. Ahead of them was Yakhmar, quietly undulating at the back of the cave, her five segmented stomachs already growling with anticipation.

    "Of course she's there!" Monch said sharply. "Did you think she was going to go on vacation while we were out?"

    "I just wanted to make sure nobody missed her lurking in the shadows," came the reply.

    "Lurking? She doesn't know what lurking is! She's at least an eight ton giant ice worm covered in blubber and fur with razor sharp teeth, a barbed tongue and surrounded by hulking piles of the frozen remains of those who have come before us. Stealth isn't even one of her skills. She has as much need for subtlety as Drome has for proper table manners." Monch stepped away from the group and put his back to Yakhmar.

    "Does anyone else not see the worm? It's literally the only other thing in the cave except for us. But I want to make sure it doesn't 'sneak up' on anyone as we charge down the slope to what most people would consider certain death." Monch scanned the ranks of the raiders. There was a bit of grumbling, but no one spoke up.

    "Excellent," Monch said, pulling out his new war-pick and giving it a few test swings. In the next few moments, he resumed speaking, but in a calmer, more rehearsed fashion.

    He broke the group in twain, one far larger than the other. The smaller group would engage Yakhmar directly. The larger group would keep an eye out for her spawn, as they would attempt to ambush those in the first group.

    "Perhaps we could stand on that large pile of bones over there behind that ice column. Then someone could goad the worm toward us and we would have the advantage of the high ground. Why, I wager the smaller worms couldn't even reach us up there," someone offered as Monch finished his briefing.

    Monch sighed.

    "Yes. It probably would be safer. Perhaps even easier. But if we did things safely and easily, we'd be in another line of business. Baking perhaps or cobbling. I would have made a fantastic cobbler," Monch said.

    "Maybe you all have forgotten what it means to be in the Seeker Corps! I think now would be the perfect time for us to go over the Seeker Corps Oath," the Lion of Ahriman declared, to the rising groans and moans of those assembled.

    "Come, come! You all know the words. Everyone repeat it aloud with me. Don't forget the contracts you signed that stated those that don't repeat the Oath when requested by a commanding officer forfeit a weeks wages and looting rights." As Monch continued, other voices spoke aloud, some loud, some soft and some stuttering as if they barely remembered, but all speaking in one voice (more or less).


    "We're the Seeker Corp and we're here to say,
    We've come to beat your monsters away.
    Tried and true we'll make our stand,
    And drive the monsters from your land.
    Always alert and able and ready,
    Oi Monsters! We've come to make you deady!
    Order Seeker Corps, there's no denying!
    We'll kill the monsters or we'll die trying!"


    Monch stopped and looked around at those assembled. He was not happy.

    "Well, that was decidedly less enthusiastic than I wanted. You're lucky I'm not going to ask you to do it again."

    "Permission to make a new Oath should we not die a gruesome death?" someone from the back ranks asked.

    "Permission denied!" Monch retorted with a frown. "Let's get focused on what's important: making that worm killed and delicious sandwiches!"

    That, it seemed, was something the Seeker Corps could get behind. With a savage cry, they charged down the slope towards Yakhmar, close on each other's heels and ready for the fight of their lives.



    (To be continued)
    Yangrin | Yangbear | Krem | Marsheesh | Oforawesome | Pappalegba | Yangryn
    -------------------
    Age of Conan Wiki | Still waiting for Half Life 3 - FU Gabe Newell! / May 2014 Update! It's apparently been "worked on"!!!!! #Sarcasm | PvP approach: The 'Cup of Tea' stratagem. That upon finding myself in a PvP zone & being attacked, I get up, walk away from the keyboard and go and make a cup of tea.

  9. #19

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    Part 19, Sub-Part A:

    Bone and sinew, breath and blood, the Seekers of Order gave themselves over completely to the lust and rage of combat. Had their opponent been an army arrayed on a field of battle, the assault would have been devastating. But here, atop the icy knives of the Eiglophian Mountains, in the lair of Yakhmar the ice-worm, their frenzy broke apart like full casks on a Friday Night at Serenus' tavern.

    With speed unseen since the last time they were down here, Yakhmar crashed the front lines, bowling over several heavily armed soldiers and breaking the carefully formed ranks. A howling juggernaut of blubbery flesh and fur dashed them aside. No doubt limbs were crushed and cuts opened by the flailing barbed tongue of the gigantic annelid. And just as the deadly peristalsis looked as if it would never end, the worm finally reared its head and howled.

    But before panic could set in, Monch's voice rang out clearly in the cavern.

    "Tarcon! Georgetta! Get the beast under control! Miaa! Orikx! Starwhisper! Do what you can to support them!" The words flushed renewed confidence into their limbs. Georgetta slashed deeply at the side of the worm, cutting a wicked gash near the beast's cavernous mouth while Tarcon fended off the darting barbed tongue with his equally quick polearm.

    In concert, the two of them managed to turn the beast to the side, exposing its vulnerable flank to the Corps. With steady feat and unwavering concentration, the soldiers herded the worm up the slope away from the main group. Miaa, Orikx and Starwhisper followed behind them, attacking when possible, but mostly bolstering their comrades with spell and prayer.

    Monch surveyed the scattered members of the raid on the ground around him. Espying a particular member, he marched over and reached out an arm to help pull Blacklizard to his feet.

    "I need you on that worm," Monch told the cowled Stygian. "Work your vilest poisons and miasmas to slow and eat away from the beast from the inside. Turn her blood to acid and her muscles to soup. Bend her insides with your venoms and corrupt her fully with every potent toxin you have at your disposal." Blacklizard threw a quick look at Yahkmar and then back at Monch.

    "So... you want me to stab her, right?"

    "Stab her a lot," Monch replied calmly. With a wicked smile on his face, the ebon-garbed assassin flew up the hill, long knives at the ready.

    As the others began to regroup, Javed pulled close and put a hand on the Scion of Acheron's shoulder.

    "What next?"

    Monch turned, his eyes burning with resolve.

    "Take Datolite and Mixy and pull the others back slightly. We will have visitors in a moment and it will be your job to help cut them down." Nodding, Javed moved with a swiftness to help reform the three remaining squads.

    "Charade! Thelemus! Prepare yourselves!" The Lion of Ahriman roared. But as the words escaped his lips, the snow between the bulk of the Seeker Corps and Yakhmar erupted.

    The children of Yakhmar had arrived... and they had brought their appetites...


    (To be continued)
    Yangrin | Yangbear | Krem | Marsheesh | Oforawesome | Pappalegba | Yangryn
    -------------------
    Age of Conan Wiki | Still waiting for Half Life 3 - FU Gabe Newell! / May 2014 Update! It's apparently been "worked on"!!!!! #Sarcasm | PvP approach: The 'Cup of Tea' stratagem. That upon finding myself in a PvP zone & being attacked, I get up, walk away from the keyboard and go and make a cup of tea.

  10. #20

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    Part 19, Section 2

    Monch stole a glance towards Yakhmar and the chaotic struggle of warriors seeking to bring her down. Since summoning her brood, she had gone on the offensive: she hissed and spat and flung her barbed tongue about with blinding speed. Monch wished them well, but knew he was needed here. Tarcon and Georgetta had the support they needed as long as the Lion of Ahriman and his fellow soldiers could keep the hungry broodlings away from them.

    "Yahh!" Monch screamed at a nearby wormling who was trying to make a dash for the hill. With a flash of his blade, backed up by the dark magicks of the Black Flame of Acheron that burned immortal in his soul, the Templar of the Last Church was able to goad the wormling into following him back towards the scrimmage line.

    Monch made hasty retreat towards Javed and his squad. The Xotli cursed Stygian was directing the others to strike at the sides while Charade held its attention. Spells, blades and arrows wrought it asunder mere moments later, so by the time Monch closed on them, they were ready for a fresh target.

    But Monch came in too fast, and the group had to break apart lest the worm bowl them all over. Melkel faced the worst of it, the rookie ranger sent flying backwards in the snow. Monch feared the blunder could cost the young man his life, so he reached into himself and pulled free the bloodthirsty shade of lost Acheron, Crispin the Shadow.

    "Save the boy!" Monch ordered, compelling Crispin to obey. Undead limbs surged with unholy strength and the Captain of the fabled lost civilization bore down on the worm, cutting deep and cruelly with his double-bladed axe. The worm took notice, ignoring Melkel long enough for Javed's squad to regroup. Regaining his own feet, the young ranger even managed to send some arrows into the dying beast's blubbery hide before it had expired completely.

    "Thank you," Monch managed to say to Crispin before the shadows beckoned him home.

    "You may rest your lips on my petrified co..." The spectre had not finished his sentence before vanishing, but Monch did wonder why Crispin had a hand on his codpiece, adjusting his bits and pieces there for Ahriman and all to behold. "That seems rather odd behavior, even for him."

    Monch turned to survey the rest of the group, particularly Charade and Thelemus, who were helping him herd the lesser worms. They appeared hale. In fact, other than Melkel's bruises, it looked as if they had managed to escape relatively unscathed.

    "We have worm sign!" Thelemus yelled, pointing just ahead of them. He and Charade exploded into action, charging across the snow and ice to prevent yet another group from reaching up the hill. Monch felt his muscles tense and set himself ready to join them, but just then there was a viscous barking from somewhere close behind him. Someone shouted his name (although they might have said "lunch" because it was pretty close to lunchtime, but he was willing to believe it was his name) and then he was struck hard and thrown to one side.


    (To be continued)
    Yangrin | Yangbear | Krem | Marsheesh | Oforawesome | Pappalegba | Yangryn
    -------------------
    Age of Conan Wiki | Still waiting for Half Life 3 - FU Gabe Newell! / May 2014 Update! It's apparently been "worked on"!!!!! #Sarcasm | PvP approach: The 'Cup of Tea' stratagem. That upon finding myself in a PvP zone & being attacked, I get up, walk away from the keyboard and go and make a cup of tea.

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