Candle Lane: XIII
Candle lane, Herod thought to himself. What kind of place was Candle lane? He walked down the street towards the warehouse.
"The lights are out.." Markos whispered, Herod turned to see Markos staring upwards, for once a more serious expression on his face. "Sorry I just needed the candles!" A slight upturn in Markos's voice excited a chuckle from him. It was a funny moment, Markos's face lit up in a smile.
"You're doing better this morning." Asher clapped a hand against Markos's back. In a grin. From their conversations.. Herod could tell just how terrible Markos's nightmares were. And every morning was like a toss of the dice to see just how bad he was going to be.
"Do we have a plan?" Alekzandr interjected. As the six of them moved towards the road.
"Were you not paying attention?" Herod replied pointing upward. Markos had said it but their little moment had distracted them. Looking upward the four boys gazed at the street lanterns each and every one of them were.. out. The candles were extinguished leaving a severe lack of light in the dim morning. It was roughly five AM, and the lack of illumination was distributing Herod. The group turned the corner into Candle lane, within it at last. The buildings above them towered like giants. What little morning light there was, vanished as the sun couldn't peer over the building's peaks.
"This spells danger." Adleth grunted suddenly, sneaking up on the boys, Riu in tow glanced in either direction, her narrow eyes giving a clear sense of worry to him.
"There it is." Markos broke the tension pointing off into the distance a large warehouse nestled by the dock sat in their path. It was made of black stone walls, with a rusted iron roof. "We should go butcher the non-believers." Markos moved to push forward but Asher and Alekzandr grabbed him on instinct. Herod was not interested however in stopping the cultist just yet.
"Wowowoow hold on." Asher said, "let's uh.. think about this." Pushing the group into a nearby alley, as they stood next to a trash can, a pretty apt description of their adventure thus far.
"Let's just get in and out, grab the fucker and get the cash." Adleth said, peering around the corner.
"Well obviously." Herod replied. "The question is, if the kids there, we may have to deal with some... unsavory people." Herod thought for a moment, was there any part of this he had seen in the Lateracies? "We could go for a back assault, flank around it." He wondered the success of a plan like that, Vulity leapt around him knocking her head curiously.
'If everyone works together then maybe?' Vulity suggested happily.
"There is an open alley to the right of the building, looking at the place there is a landing and clear railing to the left so at least one entrance is on the left not counting the front doors, we go through the side to the back, it's on the docks so water entrance." Adleth said uninterrupted her mind clearly focusing on the mission and less on the stupid side quests each of the members had in mind.
"Why don't we just.. knock on the front door?" Markos asked with his usual wide eyes.
Everyone ignored him.
"Let's split up our entry points. If someones got the man, we gotta make sure we take em out fast, no stops, full on surprise." Asher added. Herod agreed.
"That.. may be hard.." Riu pointed at the building and Herod looked out around the corner.
"Shit." He cussed. In black barely noticeable on the building was a winged snake. The mark of the Zhentarim. "That complicates things." Herod ducked around the corner and stared at the group. "We can't be idle for this. We get in and if needed we cause hell."
"obviously. So are we splitting up?" Asher shot back. The group looked at each other and sighed.
"Yes it does look like it." Alekzandr said.
Herod sighed as he walked around the corner of the alley Asher and Markos on either side of him. To their right Alekzandr and Riu were climbing their way onto the roof of the warehouse hoping to find some kind of advantage. Adleth to their left dived towards the side entrance sneaking her way in.
Oh and Herod? He was heading to the front entrance with a sadistic soldier, and an insane cultist. Fun.
"Can you hear anything?" Herod asked as Markos pressed his ears against the wooden door. His violet eyes stared back with an uncomfortable amount of stillness.
"Yeah.. mostly sounds like.." Markos stopped to frown. "Bird chirping.." Markos' eyes went wide. And Herod began to hear it too. The clang of Riu's armor on the roof. Damn her, she insisted on going up there despite her heavier armor! One would notice at first glance especially with how her clothes looked but she sported some style of scale mail.
"What- do we-" Markos pushed from the door and locked eyes with Herod who was already anticipating the next words.
"Eldritch blast?" Herod asked with a smirk. His blade hummed with a small crackle of power. He did quiz what Puderis would have thought right around then, with his present company.
"Eldritch blast." Markos said grinning. Asher raised a hand to object before Herod took a deep breath, holding Vulity before him he watched the vein's on his sword pulsate with green energy as a force of pure energy shot out slamming into the door.
"Vulity ceriorem ventus!" He chanted, speaking the incantation to summon his hexblades form for an attack.
It must have been a good day since..
The door flew off the hinges.
*VREEPOOM* The sound echoed throughout the Warehouse, as Markos leaped into the building, the door flew forward and while Herod couldn't see it he could hear the sound of wood against tissue as it collided with someone. The door was sent spiraling upward and then landed down on top of the individual it hit.
"CRaww!" Something yelped. Herod charged in, Asher already leaping before him. To his right he saw...
"Is that a fucking a bird?!" Asher screamed. The masked soldier's blade collided with something to Herod's left while he summoned a second eldritch blast. The Kenku as he recognized looked utterly surprised by his entrance before the eldritch blast slammed into him.
"Vulity ceriorem ventus!" He wished he could more easily cast magic with a silent incantation but for now this would do.
Herod slid on his heels as he came to a halt. The bird before him flew backwards into the crate, it's bones could be heard cracking like tinder in a fire.
"They're Kenku!" Herod screamed to Asher it was so much for handling this stealthily, he eyed his next opponent a kenku holding a small short sword and smirked. "You're mine."
"Craw?"
"The big ugly one!" A voice yelled from his side, it was deep and gruff, "The big ug-" a noticeable slash could be heard as Herod turned to see Asher stabbing into the Kenku. The warehouse was sprawling large with its back opened for a port stretching a small river that led to the ocean boxes lined the area and so did the Kenku. "The big!" Surprisingly the Kenku Asher had just stabbed wasnt staying down.
"Why do they keep saying the same thing?!-" Suddenly Asher was cut off the overhead window to the warehouse caved in small silver fragments of light sprained on the ground, Herod wiped Vulity over his head.
"Forima athtio crelens Vulity; shield!" He shouted hoping to use Vulitys shifting property to shield the glass. No such luck, the sword merely hummed in its usual tone. Herod ducked under his cloak and felt glass bounce off of him. "Damnit!" He muttered.
"OW!" Riu screamed as she landed on the ground Alekzandr on top of her.
"...they can only mimic things they've heard.." Herod tried to say while staring at the dumbassery that was Riu and Alekzandr. A loud bang rang from his left as he watched the side door get kicked in. Standing in the entrance was a tall Kenku.
"W-" Herod started before the Kenku slumped over and fell first on its knees and then onto the ground face first, behind him a red headed elf looked snarling holding a dagger outwards with a short sword through the chest of a Kenku on her left.
"The hell are you idiots doing??!" Adleth yelled, jumping into the room. Herod suddenly snapped out of his concentration and turned to hit another one of the birds.
That's when he saw Markos. Riu and Alekzandr were collecting themselves, getting up from the ground readying themselves for combat. But dancing around them was Markos.
"HAHeHAbheaAHAA!" Markos laughed into the room as he stabbed one Kenku after another, Markos's trident dripped red as he swung it in a hellish arc one Kenku standing to his left tried to hold its hand up as the trident sliced through them slashing his throat open, he had trouble remembering the tridents sides were sharpened like a sword. Markos pivoted on his heel, slashing into a Kenku to his right before shoving the trident into the frightened bird. Herod heard a sound to his right and realized the stupid crow he had hit was getting back up.
"Fulger tonitrua Puderis!" Running at it he summoned a Witch bolt as green lightning came crackling down from the blade's tip Herod watched the bird's body go stiff before falling, the feathers burning just slightly.
"We need one alive!" Riu tried to yell.
"Huh?!" Alekzandr replied. "Kever ont!" A massive ear piercing shriek of a noise echoed through the warehouse as Alekzandr fired off a firebolt into a Kenku. Before racking a bolt.
*Chn-flink*
"You idiot!" Riu shot back. Herod scanned the chaotic battlefield numerous Kenku lay dead, but, from the corner of his eye, two of them. In the far back a Kenku was making a break for it. It looked small, smaller than the others; it was dressed in tattered brown leather, its left hand holding a steel short sword. Herod summoned magic from his blade and channeled forth, like a rush of wind he watched as Vulity came alive, a blue three tailed fox leaping off his blade with astounding speed colliding with the Kenku.
"Hex omni Vulity maledictum." Herod remarked, smiling clenching his fist the fleeing Kenku shuddered before collapsing to the ground. He placed a hexblades curse upon it. Pretty proud he let Riu handle the last one.
Her mace came down in an arc breaking the bird's arm. Before she muttered words in another language thrusting her left hand forward. "Sleeping spell.. Somnum magi el tumsheeck..." Like a warm blanket Herod felt a spell encase him soft pillows seem to form under his head as did a lovely full stomach huh.. as his mind went blank and his body limp, he felt exhausted. In fact.. he should probably... the world began to spin around him as Herod drifted off to sleep.
Herod found himself in a forest, it was dawn he knew that but he wasn't sure how he knew that. He had yet to look up at the sky, and had yet to actually see his surroundings. He just knew that it was dawn. 'But the dawn of what?' he wondered. The forest before him held mighty trees with trunks the size of houses stretching far into the vast sky above. Herod took a step forward, the cracking branches below his feet gave him the feeling of reality as did the calming cold.
"Do you know where you want to go?" Herod's mouth opened a little as he heard Puderis's voice. "Champion, do you understand the path you must walk?" Puderis's voice was a deep bellowing sound that to many would be frightening but Herod smiled as he were hearing an old friend.
"Walk through the forest Herod." He looked down to the feminine voice of Vulity, now completely out and hovering over the forest floor. Vulity was a large spectral teal blue fox with slender ears and a fluffy body. Where she should have had a tail instead sprouted three all of them dancing with green energy. She was roughly twice the size of a normal fox with oddly cut ears and eyes. Herod took a step forward and then another. "There is danger near.." Vulity said solemnly. Her voice was light and young sounding so trustable as always, they had fought for years together and grew so used to it all. As if on que Herod heard an echoing cackle in the forest wind. Instantly the forest reshaped, letting him see Puderi, the kingdom domain of Puderis appeared before him. It's lucious river which runs around within the forest walls, centering the great Lateracies. The entire place seemed sour however, the temple of the Lateracies seemed to crumble lightly as if it could no longer hold itself up, the roofless pillars cracked and strained.
"What is this, what's going on my lord?" Again Herod heard the cackle from the forest behind him as a cloaked figure darted from the god's kingdom.
"Something is coming, Herod.. A force you must be ready to face." Puderis formed before him, the god of chastity. Puderis could only be described as incredible, he was a twelve foot tall deer with enormous antlers and glowing green eyes. His antlers curved upward together and behind them spirling horizontally and not vertically like normal was a halo. It was unlike any halo you have ever seen. It was fiery gold and spinning with energy like a constant array of stars. "I advise you to stay with your current companions. There will come a time where you will need them, a chaotic force is coming to Waterdeep.." The laughter of the distant entity came louder once again, and Herod turned to the landscape of the forest. Something was hiding in that forest. Herod grit his teeth. "One threat is now.. Another.. Closing soon, the latter is with us here."
"I will be ready, my lord. I know I will." Herod turned to see Puderis smile, as much as a Stag could smile.
"I know you think so Herod." Another laugh was heard and Herod was moved mystically to the right as a dagger flew past his head. "There is danger, you will need help. The companions you see.. As far as I am able to see I can tell you they are good. Be careful, my champion. There are dead powers at work here. Powers we must not allow to flourish." Herod shivered as he felt a chilling presence on his shoulder, the laughter only growing. "Bring back power to the Lateracies my champion.." Puderis said solemnly. "Now.. to deal with you." Herod turned and saw a darting blue skinned figure. "Begone from this land you insufferable creature!" Puderis bellowed. The laughing only grew louder and louder echoing from within the forest. Puderis struck his hoof to the marble floor as a shockwave blasted out, leveling the forest around Puderi, and suddenly the laughter stopped. "Good, luck." Puderis said as Herod's vision went black.