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Bainen Hunting - 1002

Type of Missve: mass distrubution by Sir tetch, original is personal correspondence between Sir Lucas of Chimeron and Aeston
Date: 1002
Responses: unknown
Sir Lucas,
My Report on this past week of hunting Bainen.

We gathered in Tuath Fusach on the mid-day of the 10th. It warmed my heart to see so many come forward to help with our cause. There were many on the battlefield whom I considered hard and fast friends, and others whom I distrusted and even feared. But we were all on the same side right then, and that was good enough for me. I addressed the crowd and told them of the deeds that had to be done that week. Their courage did not waiver in the face of such difficult prospects, and so we boldly began our quest.

We began our journey walking South to the Grey Forest. We arrived that evening, and started on our path through the woods. There were many undead that came at our party from all directions, some vastly more powerful than others, but our rear-guard, largely overseen by Brynn, was excellent, and the front line, in no small part thanks to BrightHammer and Trent, held without difficulty, and we pressed onward leaving corpses in our wake. We continued down our trail and finally arrived at a large pool of darkness, which we could not cross. There we met such a force that we were driven back and forced to regroup and gather our dead. The experience of our healers soon put things to rights. We pushed onward and came again to the ichor. It was then, in a moment of observation, that my eyes fell upon the Bainen Void. If there was one word that could sum up Void's description, it would be "indescribable". A humanoid form of blackness without a face, it fought furiously and we couldn't affect it. We were driven back a second time. Nero's divining had previously shown an image of how to defeat Void. A bottle being emptied and a sword being raised. We theorized about what this could mean for days, but when the bottle was uncovered, Nero informed me of what I had to do. Void's soul was in that bottle, and someone had to drink it in order to affect the demon. I quaffed the vile liquid and we prepared our next wave of attack. The next assault was brutal and messy. We became fragmented, and the enemy bit deep into our line. I was able to kill Void (not an easy task), but it got back up as I was beaten off. A wave of magical energy sent us all reeling backwards, and I was thrown into the woods, where I was beaten down by several undead and a possessed Guilliam.

Rebel, however, had made a critical decision which would turn the battle soon in our favor. Through the woods, before the wave of magic, he took a force to the other side of the ichor. When we were driven off, his group retreated back in that direction. Time passed, attacks went both ways for a time, and the healers did their job well. Our final assault was aided by Rebel making a vicious assault from behind. That time I killed Void we had a plan ready. Bright placed a Circle of Protection on me to protect me from
a wave of magic as it came. As he did so, I furiously scalped the creature.

The deed was done just before the thing regenerated, and all that was left to be done was our exit from the forest.

We were weary and spent from battle, but there were more deeds to do and no time to waste. It was late evening so, as others took the opportunity to sleep, Nero and I decided what had to happen next. We knew that Void could open up Bainen Gates, so we were confident that he needed to be put down first. The final Bainen who could open Gates was still many days away...

Strife, in Brandon's Pass.

Nero and I decided the only thing to do was transport the group there by virtue of a DI, otherwise we risked not having time to slay the other Bainen in Eagle's Rook and Chimeron.

The next morning began with a ritual to Nero's Five Ladies. I could spend as much time describing this procedure as I could the entire week, so allow me to simply say it was amazing in many ways. Regardless, Nero's deities led us single file to Brendan's Pass, and we came face-to-face with a rather severe looking web. Several unlucky souls attempted to pass the web, mostly by crawling under it, but they disappeared as soon as their bodies touched it. Cecil soon took care of this problem with a disenchant, and our path was clear... apart from the hordes of enemies in our way. It was a hard battle to get into the grove, but we did so, largely thanks to Da'oud. Strife was an enigma to defeat. He was made up of three pieces, and had hidden 1/3 of his soul in three different beings. One was an innocent young girl, one was Diedre, the owner of the grove and a being of great insight and wisdom, and the last was a rather nasty werewolf-thing. It was a hard puzzle to figure out, in the heat of battle, and I thank Zula for his quick-wits which went
a very long way towards solving it. In the end, we had to scalp the three that held the souls, and place them on the pieces of strife as we scalped them. This part of the quest was many things, but not easy. Disease debilitated many of our finest warriors, and there was not enough curing to go around. Dame Julia's circle kept us all going, and I doubt we would have had the resources to win if not for that. In any case, our victory was hard won, but we had little time to celebrate, for Eagle's Rook called.

After a troubled sleep, I awoke and prepared with my colleges to walk to Eagle's Rook. There the dreadful Bal Malek and his O Zhan were destroying every facet of life they could find. We met Sir Pyr and Squire Vawn there, and we traveled to the swamps where the creatures lived. The O Zhan outnumbered us 10-to-1, and fought without giving any quarter. Where I expected cowering creatures that would impale themselves on our blades, we were met by devious, backstopping, resourceful beasts... and we were largely outmatched. We cleaved though many, but there were always more to take the place of one that fell. I knew Bal Malek had to be destroyed in order for it all to end. Once we broke through and killed the demon. We brought our torches to bear to burn the creature, but an O Zhan dove through our line and sacrificed himself to regenerate him. Bal Malek ran fast, and we couldn't catch him in the swamp. The minutes of fighting turned into hours, and we were bested by the horde on almost every front. The Jackal came to our aid many times, and I shudder at how many marks Pyr and Vawn must have taken to raise us all several times. I myself took 25 to do so, breaking a vow to myself that I would never. Finally, after many deaths on both sides, we were able to corner and kill Bal Malek again thanks to Pyr's
leadership. The entire field came to burn the corpse or prevent an O Zhan from raising him... and after what seemed like forever, his corpse burned and the day was won.

Finally, we sought the Bainen darkness in the tunnels under Chimeron. He was by far the weakest of the four, and needed only to taste a magic blow before he was defeated. As we entered the tunnels, we were besieged by 'shadows', which we could only effect after they came off of the walls... we had to keep our eyes sharp, and be prepared for an assault from anywhere... for the darkness itself was alive. It did not take us long to defeat Darkness, and likewise his children... each of which we had to eliminate or face them later when they had grown stronger. By this time in the week my voice was too hoarse to yell orders, and my limbs seemed as heavy as stone... for sleep was not coming to me easily. Owen, Brynn, Da'oud and Trent called the battle, and I merely fought as well as I could. During the course of the adventure we befriended a pack of Goblins whom helped us in exchange for clearing their homes of the shadows... but in the end we were forced to fight them... such is the way of the world, I suppose.

So overall, that is how things played out. I learned a great deal, and I found valuable allies in people from many lands and ways of life. My memory fails me to recount who did what and when throughout the entire journey, but I know that each person on this quest played a unique and vital role to the cause. I told them I would forever be in their debt for their assistance, and I will do my best to honor that, all the days I am here in these Realms. Overall, I am very satisfied with how things went. It was a successful week, and I am very tired... I haven't been sleeping well with all the excitement I guess. Tomorrow morning I am off the see Joffrey in Tuath Fusach again, so I will bid you goodnight.

Leviathan with you,
Squire Aeston
Created by Cain (Jay Bonci) at 05-01-07 01:07 AM
Last Modified by Faelinn Shadowmoon (Leanne Micciche) at 04-15-08 01:46 PM