Having seen the grotesque butcheries the cult of Cthon carried out in Darkvale, Thormane’s purpose began to change. His mission up till now, to find his lost hammer, and to locate Frederick Longshore… Forgotten.
There was a greater threat abound here. Lokarr would need to know, and so Thormane’s search became instead for a means to contact Lokarr. He would need evidence of this newfound threat. Sadly, his intelligence on the operations of the cult were quite lacking. He decided to consult the settlements, each of them would have valuable intelligence. He would start at the beginning, At the very bottom, slaying the degenerate zealots one by one, piling their corrupted corpses high. He would build a massive stairway out of their rotting remains and climb it, ascending into the upper echelons of their hierarchy, and topple it. He would bring them down in a cascade of crumbling rubble.
And so he began again.
At the crossing;
Heres one way to make an entrance;
The nearest sentry slashes out but the blow is deflected, and returned in kind on the larger threat looming behind the sentry with a killing thrust, sending the voidspawn into a hellish interdimensional descent, back beneath the earth
Thormane shows the cultists no quarter, slaying all in sight. A swift backhand from his shield explodes 2 cultists in a shower of gore, the violent incorporeal energies of the armament wild and unruly, causing an eruption of water to materialize as he turns his wrath upon the next 2 nearest zealots.
Whirling around like a cyclone, Thormane deftly deflects an inbound acid projectile from a cultist behind him, sending it directly into the chest of the cultist blocking his path
No one is safe. He rams the poorly organized rabble, his shield arm pressing out forcing the weight of their bodies up off the ground to fall to the earth several feet away, or exploding with isolated tidal waves of roiling energies imbued into the barricade
The cultists slain, he searches the nearby area for any clues of the blood-drinker, Caspis… These poor souls…
…Whats this?
Surely Caspis is inside…
My god… What could they possibly be trying to do with all this blood… A chill terror began to creep along Thormane’s mind. So much blood told a very certain tale that whatever was being done down here was serious and likely powerful.
In the next room, Thormane met the answer face to face…
Salazar was a known and feared cultist. He spared no time before unleashing his demonic powers upon Thormane, attempting to bind him in a sigil using a thrall, and consume his life spirit. Thormane grappled with the energies, shouting and writhing, throwing his limbs wide and chaotically, he managed to escape the binding ritual and smashed the thrall away, fully engaging the blade of Cthon.
The energies inside Thormane’s shield buzzed with electrified angst, and crackled into splashing tiers like a small Tsunami on impact, rolling over the cursed sorcerer in waves as though they were being directed by each swing of Thormane’s mace.
Before the waters had time to receed, Salazar was on the offense again, his outstretched hands giving birth to a beam of hellish light. Thormane screamed in defiance, cutting down hard with his mace, absorbing the energies in the beam and redirecting them into Salazar’s abdomen
As Salazar fell, Thormane saw the blade he wielded… He had seen it before, somewhere, long ago… He could not recall when it had been, or where… But he knew he had to claim it for himself. It was his destiny.
With Salazar neutralized, Thormane resumed his pursuit of Caspis. At the top of a stairwell, he was met by a throng of cultists who seemed all too happy to rush headlong into their deaths. Thormane granted them this wish…
As he powered through the crowd, he saw a figure matching the description or Caspis… Wearing a Skinflayer Raiment… His predatory urge and blackmiths fortitude rushed to the fore, seizing the opportunity, the focused the energies of his shield and released a powerful concentrated blast of water. The fluid crashed across the room, smashing furnitures and bodies alike
“NOT SO FAST!” Thormane shouted, dashing after Caspis, disrupting his escape. Caspis spun around, sending his weapon screaming at Thormane’s head in a desperate panic. Thormane ducked and swung in low, delivering a finishing strike to the blood-drinker
Regrettably, Thormane was unable to save the final prisoners from Caspis’ heinous crimes… But at least the bastard was dead.
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