A story to track the adventures of Liorn the Bladeforged

[zedinar]

I am Liorn.

The thought lingered, percolating. Existence is a strange concept for most, let alone for someone who has just begun. Existing that is. There is light, all around me, suffusing my skin.

No, not skin, HE would not have made me of such inferior material. I am Bladeforged.

The two thoughts resonated, becoming a single force that threatened to burst -

"AWAKEN".

The command vibrated through me, past the light, past the thoughts. I opened my eyes.

I felt a force lift me from the light. As the confusion of birth receded, I could make out metallic walls and ceilings beyond my erstwhile cocoon and then I was through. The force settled me gently before HIM. HE loomed over me, a being of metal and divinity, the Lord of Blades, my god. The hum told me these things, the soothing vibrations created by HIS power and might carried HIS will to HIS children. I felt the resonance speak again.

"KNEEL."

The voice was not loud, but it was everywhere. I felt it vibrating within, bringing me to my knees, forcing all but the voice from my head.

"I am Liorn".

The thought just popped out, as if it was squeezed from a container ready to burst, as if saying it would save it from that destructive, intoxicating wave. Shock. I saw it for a moment, I think. In his eyes. A wave of dizziness overwhelmed me as I looked away from HIM.

"YOU ARE MY AGENT" the vibrations intoned, refusing my errant thought "YOU MAY STAND, MY KNIFE".

I tried to stand, still looking down, shaking. The booming of HIS voice within my head was too much. The room began to spin again, then I felt a hand helping me, HIS hand. It was massive, easily the size of a mans head, two large spikes extending from it beyond me. A sudden surge of energy filled me, clearing away the confusion, the dizziness, the thoughts. I stood.

"I HAVE GIVEN YOU A SLIVER OF MY INFINITY, KNIFE; YOU SHALL NEED IT TO DO MY BIDDING."

I was still reeling from the wave of power, so it was good he expected no answer but obedience.

"GO NOW, AND SEEK MY BLADE WITHIN THE ABBOT'S GRAVEYARD."

And HE turned away. As HIS gaze left me I felt as if a massive weight that had been holding me in place was removed. I reached out to HIM, feeling as if without his voice I'd fall apart, only those vibrations could sustain me! Then I stepped back. That aura of command, of complete control, lessened its hold on me as I backpedaled away. I saw HIM raise his hand and beyond the railing another form began to lift upwards. Light suffused me once again, and I was no more.

[zedinar]

Clank The sound of me stumbling as I regained my senses resonated through the open air. I stood on a bronze surface, a roof I realized as I took in my surroundings. Four spires towered above me from each corner of the grand building, all capped in the same material as the roof, and a central minaret loomed nearby, its windows dark and abandoned. I moved to the edge of the roof, where it began to slant downward and could make out figures huddled at the base of the building. Mayhap they knew a way to reach the Abbot's graveyard. The bronze beneath me seemed to vibrate at the thought of HIS final command, and through it I could almost feel his presence, a small part of him watching over me.

I jumped. The fall was not so high, a mere 100 feet. As I fell one of the figures below spotted me, a woman. She cried out and began to gather some magic to her. I'm not sure if she intended to protect herself or me, but her concentration failed her when I slammed into the ground, littering the area with fragments from the small crater I created. Instinctively, I reached for the font of power within, and immediately felt what small wounds I'd suffered from the fall begin to repair themselves. I noted the woman lying on the floor, the force of the impact must have knocked her off her feet, and offered my hand. She stared at it for some time before gathering her robes about her and picking herself up.

"It's raining warforged now, as if we didn't have enough problems" a high pitched voice came from beside me. My eyes swept in that direction, yet all I could see was a man in white robes also picking himself from the ground, another victim of my fall.

"Down 'ere, tincan" I felt something poking at my leg and saw a halfling, covered in dust and looking extremely annoyed. "Nearly crushed me you big oaf, ain't you got some'ing to say, or is your head as thick as the rest of ya."

"I am Liorn" I intoned. I had meant to apologize, but the words slipped free, as they had before.

"Listen to 'im, fall must knocked some cogs loose, or was your maker too deep in his cups when he put ya in the kiln" the halfling kept poking me in the leg, more forcefully "tincan.. 'ey, what are ya doing, let me go!"

I had grown somewhat tired of the little ones jibes and pokes, easily picking him up and bringing him to eye level. He kicked me once and though it looked like he hurt his foot more than he managed to hurt me, I held him out at arms length and shook him till he calmed down.

"My name is Liorn, not Tincan." It felt like an important point to get across. "I am sorry for the trouble I've caused you and yours."

As I said this I looked at the others. They had gathered before me by now. There was the woman, clutching at her purple robes. A bearded man in tan leathers stood beside her, his hand caressing the hilt of a curved blade. At her other side stood an older man, also in purple robes though his had runes and isignias worked into the cloth. I could feel the magic emanating from him as a large figure stepped out of the shadow of a tree behind him, a clay golem from the looks of the creature. The last figure was fastidiously trying to clean his once pristine white robes.

The bearded man spoke. "You're right at that Mr. Liorn, now you be putting Tippin down before we have a disagreement."

His gruff voice was emphasized by a rumble from the clay golem. I lowered the halfling to the ground and he scampered back to those of his group. He seemed about to hurl another insult, but as my gaze locked onto his, he settled on flicking daggers into his hands and attempting to look menacing. It didn't work.

My mind turned to my task as I asked "Do you know where I might find the Abbot's graveyard?"

If anything the tension increased and I wondered if something else had slipped from my tongue that I'd not meant to say. I tried to replay the moment in my mind, I was pretty sure I hadn't accidentally insulted them. I was snapped from my introspection by the white robed man stepping forward holding his necklace up wardingly.

"What business have you with the Necropolis!?" he said in what I took to be his most authorotative voice. "Have you come to join the Abbot's crusade for ascension? Foul beast, we shall send you back to the hellfires that created you!"

The others grabbed their weapons, the halfling grinning as he twirled those daggers, the clay golem's rumble drowning out the shuffling of feet as they prepared themselves to attack. The flash of metal as an arrow slammed into the floor before them startled everyone involved and a new voice came from behind me.

"Now, now, Ellack; is that any way to be treating my companion?"

Another warforged stepped up to me and put his hand on my shoulder. I felt it then, HIS vibration emanating from his touch. This one had also been touched by the Lord of Blades, a Bladeforged like myself. The newcomers attention was still on the white robed man, a priest of the Silver Flame now that I'd had a chance to take a better look at his holy symbol.

"Don't you go using your doomsaying as an excuse to attack a traveller who's only asking for directions."

"Why else would anyone seek the Necropolis?!" Ellack screamed again. "You've probably been corrupted by the Abbot's touch, and you're calling more to his side, that must be it! Silver Flame, give me strength to smite these evildoers."

I felt the priest begin to draw energy into himself and tensed myself to attack before he could finish his spell, but a subtle vibration emanated from the newcomers hand, still on my shoulder. It bade me be calm.

The priest was a beacon of holy power, the old wizard seemed ready to unleash a spell as well, and the bearded man already had his wicked looking scimitar in hand. The spell culminated as Ellack pronounced a word in celestial and all that power exploded outward. It was all I could do to not fall to the floor in an attempt to escape the wave of power that emanated from the priest, and then it hit me. Nothing. I felt the wave go through me and the newcomer and pass on, the magic not finding a target to strike.

"At least you're still using that Holy Word, I'd have had to shoot you otherwise." The newcomer laughed as he placed his bow on his back. "But you see, none of the abbot's taint on me or my friend."

Ellack still seemed incensed and was about to begin another spell when the bearded man placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Let them be, Ellack, you know Hyoga is not the Abbot's creature and another weapon in the crypts, even one who refuses to believe, is still a help."

Ellack let his hands drop and stomped away, the rest of the group leaving me and Hyoga in privacy.

[zedinar]

Hyoga looked me up and down as the others walked away, then shrugged.

"Hot off the forge, aren't you?"

he chuckled to himself as he started to walk away, heading up a flight of stairs I hadn't noticed in all the excitement. They were carved into a small hill upon which the temple I'd appeared on stood, and seemed to lead beyond it.

"Come on then" Hyoga called out "we've things to be about."

I noticed the halfling giving me a hateful glare as I followed Hyoga deeper into what I took to be the Necropolis. It wasn't long before we stood at a massive gate, adorned with various sigils and runic wards. Hyoga walked up to what looked like a large, dusky, gemstone set into the gate.

"A khyber dragonshard. It's fairly hard to find one this big, all the adventurers seem to find are bits and pieces. Useful for some things, sure, but for a warding net this big we need Bertha here."

He tapped the gemstone and it lit up with a purplish light that spiderwebbed through the door, activating the sigils and wardings momentarily before moving on to the next set, spiraling outward until all the markings had lit up and died away.

"Have to check every now and then to make sure the ward net hasn't been tampered with. If any of these markings don't light up, well... we might not have a city to call home for much longer."

I saw a corpse, shambling through these gates, and more behind it. An undead horde crawling over each other to reach a lone outcrop of stone. The image faded, leaving me dazed. Hyoga had opened the gates and was looking back impatiently.

"You coming, newbie, or should I leave you to Ellack's tender ministrations?"

I pushed the vision from my mind and hurried to follow, but stopped suddenly as we stepped onto a destroyed basalt outcropping, exactly what I'd seen! It felt so familiar, like I'd been this way before.

"Careful now, don't be falling off just yet,"

Hyoga said as he helped to steady my footing. Still lost in my shock, I walked to the edge and peered down, expecting to see the same undead army I'd envisioned; but there was nothing except flowing grass fields, even patches of flowers, leading to a stream and the hills beyond. Those flowers, in particular, seemed out of place compared to the land across the stream. There the grass was brown, what few trees I could see were barren and dying.

"I see you're appreciating my garden" Hyoga spread his arms wide as he walked up beside me, as if to take in all that could be seen, and then he scowled

"Give me a moment, I have to pull up some weeds." He reached for his bow and arrow in a single smooth motion and started to sight down at a target I couldn't make out.

"What's wrong" I exclaimed, trying to spot the danger.

Hyoga seemed furious. "Someone is trying to mess up my garden, is what's wrong. Damned necromancers haven't gotten the message yet, wish they'd show their pale faces so I could give them a head full of steel!"

his anger was palpable, yet his hands were steady as he knocked an arrow, then shook his head and smiled grimly. He reached back to his quiver and pulled out three more arrows and knocked all four at once! I kept my head on a swivel, looking for danger, but my eyes kept wandering back to Hyoga as he pulled the bow taught. An intake of breath, and release. Breath and arrows left him together. My eyes strained to track them as they whistled through the air and I finally made out his target, a creature of some sort had been crawling out of the ground, its body clearly rotting and decayed. The creature looked up as all four arrows struck home. It did not move again.

Hyoga whooped, his fury turning to boyish delight "Been wanting to try that trick out for a while, could only manage three before." He smiled as he noticed my amazement "Don't worry newbie, maybe one day you'll be as amazing as me."

"You're the blade I was sent to meet, aren't you Hyoga" I said, realizing how steep a slope I'd need to climb to prove myself in the Lord of Blades eyes.

"Aye, that would be me. I hope you're not as green as you appear though, what we're doing today is going to be dangerous."

"HE invested me with HIS power, I won't let you down!"

Hyoga sighed and shook his head as he put his bow away once more. "Listen newbie, I can practically see those capital letters coming out of your mouth when you mention him, its ok, you can give it a break."

I nearly fell off the ledge as I stepped back in shock. One of the blades that served our Lord could dare to be so sacrilgious!