Date: 3/19/00 11:06 AM Eastern Standard Time
From: Gimmzak
Message-id: <20000319110604.28881.00001863@ng-fv1.aol.com>
A brief bit of background...
The original Company of the Dragon was formed by a group of the oddest individuals assembled. A few dwarves, a few elves, a paladin, a wanted murderer and a few other humans. This group was brought together and traveled the country of Oerth, in the counties of Furyondy, Ulek, Urnst, Veluna...traveling until finally reaching the great city of Greyhawk. At the ending of what became known as the Greyhawk Wars the destiny of this, as of yet unnamed
group, and the histories of Greyhawk would forever be entwined....an excerpt from the history of Greyhawk to set the scene....
The final act of the immense drama of war occurred on the Day of the Great Signing. A pact had been resolved and nearly all the nations had agreed to sign it. As this solemn ceremony got underway, however, a tumultuous event occurred.
Even today a haze obscures the details: apparently someone plotted to annihilate the entire diplomatic corps in attendance, but the scheme misfired. A blazing explosion destroyed a good part of the Grand Hall only minutes before the ambassadors assembled for the day. A fierce magical battle immediately ensued, spreading havoc through much of the old city. When the fire and dust cleared, constables discovered smoldering robes belonging to two powerful
members of the mysterious Circle of Eight--Otiluke and Tenser. The murderer of these wizards, undeniably a powerful mage, was discovered to be a third member of the Circle of Eight--Rary. Using secrets gained in confidence, Rary not only vaporized his two fellows but also tracked down and destroyed every clone the pair held in preparation.
The motive behind Rary's treachery remains clouded. According to many who knew him, the wizard probably saw an opportunity to seize power and land in the confusion that would follow the assassinations. Others suggest Rary was a pawn of the Scarlet Brotherhood.
With the plot discovered, though, Rary and his coconspirator Lord Robilar fled the city. Unable to return to Robilar's castle, which was immediately seized by the troops of Greyhawk, the pair escaped into the Bright Desert. There they conquered the savages and established a kingdom of their own. Though small and mysterious, this growing state could someday threaten the very borders of Greyhawk.
And so after this most despicable act, this dastardly deed did the rulers of Greyhawk seek out these companions..and charged them to go out into the desert and find the traitors Rary, and Robilar. Gathering their equipment the group rushed off into the desert. Many months did they squander through the desert..Rary being a powerful mage his tower wasn't easy to find..a blue dragon..Volt fell at the hands of the companions..an entire mountain of
druegar were exterminated, the holy artifact Oath Keeper was recovered by Gimzak, in the same battle, Gnort lost his leg to a Bullette.
Finally they stumbled upon Robilar's fortress...and Robilar fell, beheaded by the Paladin. (I may be wrong on that it's been over 3 years since it happened so if I'm wrong just lemmie know =) Rested they did, capturing the Fortress at White Rock..and then on to the tower of Rary the Traitor.
The assault on the tower, I wish I could say went perfect...alas it did not and the Companions, causing some minor irritation to Rary, never completed the task of killing him..for he wasn't even there.
Home they went to Greyhawk, rested and then set out on a journey for the mystical and never before found Dragon Mountain.
Rary watched...and Rary waited...and now Rary had found his time..It is now we join things in the present..and watch as the story continues to unfold in Rhydin.
Death of a Dwarf
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Date: 3/19/00 11:33 AM Eastern Standard Time
From: Gimmzak
Message-id: <20000319113342.28881.00001870@ng-fv1.aol.com>
Another season was coming to a close...it had it's highs and lows as do all things. He had stayed away from the arena..saw no real point in going back there. Most times he felt he didn't fit in, though he did have friends there..ah well..back home in Dragon Mt. Something inside pulled at him..a feeling..like a presence he couldn't place. Ah well...whenever he started feeling like this he would go down into the massive treasure vault and walk around.
For some odd reason he pulled on the old armor..the dragon hide he and his friends had commissioned. It was rarer these days that he even wore this old thing, heh old..it still looked brand new. He strapped on the axe and smiled, thoughts returning to the desert and the times he spent with his friends...oh how he longed for them.
Another time and another place he huffed as he made his way through the winding corridors down into the heart of the mountain. The guards nodded and let him pass, he walked in and the doors shut behind him with a nice thud. He passed piles of treasure but that wasn't what he came here to see...the small armory he had built down here was his destination.
He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the outline shadow of a man on the wall, that feeling he had earlier screaming out at him now..damn him for being so out of touch..20 years ago he would have known what that feeling was. He moved closer axe drawn now held low..
Who the hell is there he grumbled
Why Gimzak Stonecutter...we really never did get to speak did we...you and your little friends came and invaded my tower while I was off killing clones..
He blinked...Tower...the only tower he ever invaded....he went white..if you could see past the beard. No..it couldn't be...He rounded the corner and stood face to face with Rary the Traitor.
The mage moved quick and moving his hands, bringing them together thumbs touching, fingers outstretched he spoke some words softly, the tingling Gim felt he knew in an instant is was magic...jets of flame erupted from the magi's fingertips and engulfed him...howling in pain he charged forward and brought the axe down in a quick strike. The lingering smell of burning flesh and hair started to fill the area. The axe bit in deep to something, but it was
rock..the mage wasn't there.
More murmuring, and he turned seeing the mage and rushed again. The spell ended and he braced himself as he charged...nothing happened. hat caused him to stop and look up..a big mistake. A loud explosion...a ball of flame erupting from overhead and engulfing him once again...singeing him once more..burns and blisters on the exposed skin, boots clinging in tatters to his feet he groaned but still he charged on he hurled the axe, thrown with all his
might..just as the mage began casting again..the spell was complete just as the axe bit into his leg, felling him to the ground.
As he lay there he held high a bright red ruby...and Gim felt a tugging inside him his insides felt twisted and pulled..he resisted screaming out..yet no sound came from his lips....he writhed in agony as he felt his life force being drained away..this once powerful dwarf, king to thousands...was now nothing more then a lifeless shell.
The body collapsed and Rary stood holding the gem aloft. He smiled, a truly evil smile as he felt the energy pulse within the gem. He tucked the gem away and limped over to the body, scribbling a quick note he left it onto of the lifeless corpse and with a word..he was gone.
The Company of the Dragon is minus one...
R
From: Gimmzak
Message-id: <20000319113342.28881.00001870@ng-fv1.aol.com>
Another season was coming to a close...it had it's highs and lows as do all things. He had stayed away from the arena..saw no real point in going back there. Most times he felt he didn't fit in, though he did have friends there..ah well..back home in Dragon Mt. Something inside pulled at him..a feeling..like a presence he couldn't place. Ah well...whenever he started feeling like this he would go down into the massive treasure vault and walk around.
For some odd reason he pulled on the old armor..the dragon hide he and his friends had commissioned. It was rarer these days that he even wore this old thing, heh old..it still looked brand new. He strapped on the axe and smiled, thoughts returning to the desert and the times he spent with his friends...oh how he longed for them.
Another time and another place he huffed as he made his way through the winding corridors down into the heart of the mountain. The guards nodded and let him pass, he walked in and the doors shut behind him with a nice thud. He passed piles of treasure but that wasn't what he came here to see...the small armory he had built down here was his destination.
He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the outline shadow of a man on the wall, that feeling he had earlier screaming out at him now..damn him for being so out of touch..20 years ago he would have known what that feeling was. He moved closer axe drawn now held low..
Who the hell is there he grumbled
Why Gimzak Stonecutter...we really never did get to speak did we...you and your little friends came and invaded my tower while I was off killing clones..
He blinked...Tower...the only tower he ever invaded....he went white..if you could see past the beard. No..it couldn't be...He rounded the corner and stood face to face with Rary the Traitor.
The mage moved quick and moving his hands, bringing them together thumbs touching, fingers outstretched he spoke some words softly, the tingling Gim felt he knew in an instant is was magic...jets of flame erupted from the magi's fingertips and engulfed him...howling in pain he charged forward and brought the axe down in a quick strike. The lingering smell of burning flesh and hair started to fill the area. The axe bit in deep to something, but it was
rock..the mage wasn't there.
More murmuring, and he turned seeing the mage and rushed again. The spell ended and he braced himself as he charged...nothing happened. hat caused him to stop and look up..a big mistake. A loud explosion...a ball of flame erupting from overhead and engulfing him once again...singeing him once more..burns and blisters on the exposed skin, boots clinging in tatters to his feet he groaned but still he charged on he hurled the axe, thrown with all his
might..just as the mage began casting again..the spell was complete just as the axe bit into his leg, felling him to the ground.
As he lay there he held high a bright red ruby...and Gim felt a tugging inside him his insides felt twisted and pulled..he resisted screaming out..yet no sound came from his lips....he writhed in agony as he felt his life force being drained away..this once powerful dwarf, king to thousands...was now nothing more then a lifeless shell.
The body collapsed and Rary stood holding the gem aloft. He smiled, a truly evil smile as he felt the energy pulse within the gem. He tucked the gem away and limped over to the body, scribbling a quick note he left it onto of the lifeless corpse and with a word..he was gone.
The Company of the Dragon is minus one...
R
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Date: 3/19/00 11:53 AM Eastern Standard Time
From: Gimmzak
Message-id: <20000319115329.28881.00001874@ng-fv1.aol.com>
Hours passed before anyone realized Gim hadn't come back from the vault. A small search party was sent in to find out if the old king had fallen asleep again. The moment they entered the vault they smelled the burnt flesh...the smell of battle was thick in the air and the 3 dwarves rushed in, weapons drawn. They rounded that corner, just as their king had hours before...only what they found was a gruesome site, a very sad sight...they found the body
of Gimzak Stonecutter, dressed in his armor, the axe of the king was across the room, stained with blood.
No one could move at first, this was totally unexpected...one dwarf left for the high priestess and to get his children, the other two called for more guards and searched the room inch by inch.
The body was removed and taken to the temple within the Mountain and there a ceremony was performed. The cause of death unknown but there was no soul left...nothing..it was as if the soul was sucked away into nothing. Guards were alerted and doubled. A special honor guard was placed around the former king until the time of the viewing.
A council was convened to decide which of the boys would rule and preparations were made to show the body the following day....all in all it had been a harrowing and sad week at Dragon Mountain as the entire clan of dwarves mourned the loss of their king.
The next morning the body was lain in a special building errected the night before at the gates of the Mountian. As you enter into the small room, a coffin is sitting on a raised pyre. The dwarf lie there in splendor and regal in his armor, the axe, still with the stain of blood is clutched in his fingers..All around are reminders of the accomplishments this dwarf had over his life...and hanging behind him, or actually above him on the wall above the
coffin was a worn looking scroll..on that scroll was the dwarf's name...his full name.
Back at DoS a lone dwarf found the cork as the directions he had and he posted a note.
To the patrons of the Duel of Swords,
It is with heavy heart that we of Dragon Mountain
announce the passing of our King, your friend Gimzak
Stonecutter. He died in a battle with an unknown assailant.
His body is prepared for a viewing at the gates to our
home all are welcome to pay their respects.
In Sorrow,
The Dwarves of Dragon Mountain.
OOC note-
((I've enjoyed my stay here in DoS as for now Gim is dead..I've left it open for a possible return but not in the near future. Thank you all for all the fun. Feel free to go to the viewing or don't..I'll leave it open for a few days then close it off and end this.
Frank))
From: Gimmzak
Message-id: <20000319115329.28881.00001874@ng-fv1.aol.com>
Hours passed before anyone realized Gim hadn't come back from the vault. A small search party was sent in to find out if the old king had fallen asleep again. The moment they entered the vault they smelled the burnt flesh...the smell of battle was thick in the air and the 3 dwarves rushed in, weapons drawn. They rounded that corner, just as their king had hours before...only what they found was a gruesome site, a very sad sight...they found the body
of Gimzak Stonecutter, dressed in his armor, the axe of the king was across the room, stained with blood.
No one could move at first, this was totally unexpected...one dwarf left for the high priestess and to get his children, the other two called for more guards and searched the room inch by inch.
The body was removed and taken to the temple within the Mountain and there a ceremony was performed. The cause of death unknown but there was no soul left...nothing..it was as if the soul was sucked away into nothing. Guards were alerted and doubled. A special honor guard was placed around the former king until the time of the viewing.
A council was convened to decide which of the boys would rule and preparations were made to show the body the following day....all in all it had been a harrowing and sad week at Dragon Mountain as the entire clan of dwarves mourned the loss of their king.
The next morning the body was lain in a special building errected the night before at the gates of the Mountian. As you enter into the small room, a coffin is sitting on a raised pyre. The dwarf lie there in splendor and regal in his armor, the axe, still with the stain of blood is clutched in his fingers..All around are reminders of the accomplishments this dwarf had over his life...and hanging behind him, or actually above him on the wall above the
coffin was a worn looking scroll..on that scroll was the dwarf's name...his full name.
Back at DoS a lone dwarf found the cork as the directions he had and he posted a note.
To the patrons of the Duel of Swords,
It is with heavy heart that we of Dragon Mountain
announce the passing of our King, your friend Gimzak
Stonecutter. He died in a battle with an unknown assailant.
His body is prepared for a viewing at the gates to our
home all are welcome to pay their respects.
In Sorrow,
The Dwarves of Dragon Mountain.
OOC note-
((I've enjoyed my stay here in DoS as for now Gim is dead..I've left it open for a possible return but not in the near future. Thank you all for all the fun. Feel free to go to the viewing or don't..I'll leave it open for a few days then close it off and end this.
Frank))
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Date: 3/19/00 12:40 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: WhsprdEchoes
Message-id: <20000319124055.17311.00006098@ng-xe1.aol.com>
Morning. The sun, feeble in a season such as this, tried vainly to break through the stifling fog that only thickened with ascent into the hills. Shadowed valleys held tenacious drifts of pure snow which the blistering warmth of the morning star never seemed to reach. A bird twittered an early song, somewhere, but no other sound, save the shuffling of leaves
coaxed by a stiff breeze, played on that bright birth of day. Two figures, dark in inky accouterments, struggled up the shale littered path to the crux of the valley of Dragon Mountain, their heads bent. Simone canted her chin some and allowed those crystalline pools of verdant to lift, tears standing in those eyes like glass. A hand, sheathed in a black glove, shifted in where it lay upon the crook of Tarathiel's elbow. Feeling the movement,
Tarathiel averted his attention to his wife, the arm that snaked about her waist only drawing a sob from her sorrow ravaged form. The ceremonially clad dwarves, hands stroking their impressive beards, nodded to the mourners as they stepped up into the newly erected structure for the dead king. A small, cat-sized lizard was upon their heels... a dragonette, which immediately hopped atop the casket where the dwarf rested, serenely, peacefully, and
curled atop him. It wasn't disrespect, just remembrance... a sight that brought new tears to Sim. Daoine coiled, languidly, atop the armor clad corpse, and it seemed then, for that moment, that Gimzak wasn't dead. Tarathiel and Simone, Daoine too, had come to pay their respects to their fallen friend... and they stood... quiet. Their goodbye's were whispered.
From: WhsprdEchoes
Message-id: <20000319124055.17311.00006098@ng-xe1.aol.com>
Morning. The sun, feeble in a season such as this, tried vainly to break through the stifling fog that only thickened with ascent into the hills. Shadowed valleys held tenacious drifts of pure snow which the blistering warmth of the morning star never seemed to reach. A bird twittered an early song, somewhere, but no other sound, save the shuffling of leaves
coaxed by a stiff breeze, played on that bright birth of day. Two figures, dark in inky accouterments, struggled up the shale littered path to the crux of the valley of Dragon Mountain, their heads bent. Simone canted her chin some and allowed those crystalline pools of verdant to lift, tears standing in those eyes like glass. A hand, sheathed in a black glove, shifted in where it lay upon the crook of Tarathiel's elbow. Feeling the movement,
Tarathiel averted his attention to his wife, the arm that snaked about her waist only drawing a sob from her sorrow ravaged form. The ceremonially clad dwarves, hands stroking their impressive beards, nodded to the mourners as they stepped up into the newly erected structure for the dead king. A small, cat-sized lizard was upon their heels... a dragonette, which immediately hopped atop the casket where the dwarf rested, serenely, peacefully, and
curled atop him. It wasn't disrespect, just remembrance... a sight that brought new tears to Sim. Daoine coiled, languidly, atop the armor clad corpse, and it seemed then, for that moment, that Gimzak wasn't dead. Tarathiel and Simone, Daoine too, had come to pay their respects to their fallen friend... and they stood... quiet. Their goodbye's were whispered.
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Date: 3/19/00 7:40 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: Dae Dragonsblade
Message-id: <20000319194018.03861.00000358@ng-fj1.aol.com>
The Dragonian sat there reading the post over at least 20 plus times. Even though he was still a pawn to the aura of the Opal..he had retained all his previous emotions and memories. After asking around for directions to Dragon Mountain he quickly made haste and within a couple of hours time (through the use of the portals the aura of the Opal created) he made his way inside the small building.
Glancing at the coffin..he sighed a bit, reading the parchment and nodding slowly. Then stepped back and unsheathed 'Warfare' the solitary snap that the blade always made seemed dismal and distant inside the funeral house..he rendered a Dragonian salute before the coffin and sheathed the blade. Stepping toward the coffin..his mind recounted the events of the night of the challenge with the dwarf..one of his better challenge nights.
His hand rested on the coffin..and he glanced slowly at it. The Eleventh seeming to glitter in the dim lighting. Slipping it off his finger, he smiled through a dark face..
"Old friend. I did not know you nearly as well personally as I did as a warrior. You will be sorely missed by all. You have made a legacy out of the Eleventh ring that I could only hope to ever try to achieve in honor. Resy well"
With that, he laid the Baronial Ring atop the coffin, knowing that someone would eventually return it..he hoped that Gimm would enjoy one last time with the ring. Then stepped back and left the funeral home..shaking his head as he realized that the good ones never come back.
From: Dae Dragonsblade
Message-id: <20000319194018.03861.00000358@ng-fj1.aol.com>
The Dragonian sat there reading the post over at least 20 plus times. Even though he was still a pawn to the aura of the Opal..he had retained all his previous emotions and memories. After asking around for directions to Dragon Mountain he quickly made haste and within a couple of hours time (through the use of the portals the aura of the Opal created) he made his way inside the small building.
Glancing at the coffin..he sighed a bit, reading the parchment and nodding slowly. Then stepped back and unsheathed 'Warfare' the solitary snap that the blade always made seemed dismal and distant inside the funeral house..he rendered a Dragonian salute before the coffin and sheathed the blade. Stepping toward the coffin..his mind recounted the events of the night of the challenge with the dwarf..one of his better challenge nights.
His hand rested on the coffin..and he glanced slowly at it. The Eleventh seeming to glitter in the dim lighting. Slipping it off his finger, he smiled through a dark face..
"Old friend. I did not know you nearly as well personally as I did as a warrior. You will be sorely missed by all. You have made a legacy out of the Eleventh ring that I could only hope to ever try to achieve in honor. Resy well"
With that, he laid the Baronial Ring atop the coffin, knowing that someone would eventually return it..he hoped that Gimm would enjoy one last time with the ring. Then stepped back and left the funeral home..shaking his head as he realized that the good ones never come back.