Order of Chaos
12-23-2004, 06:45 PM
The destruction of the Lord of Destruction, Bowen of Verdantine.
On the 5th day of our journey, we caught up with Bowen at the port city of Eastham. We had tracked the great Lord of Destruction all the way from the lands of Ayan Baqar some months before. Our leader, Gatlyn, believed that Bowen was headed north, towards the city of Stonehold , but for some reason the demon chose to forfeit his lead and take refuge within the sandblasted city.
Wishing to avoid confrontation where innocents might be hurt, Gatlyn ordered us to withdraw from attack untill Bowen had left the city limits. We waited and watched for three days before the treacherous creature emerged from Eastham. Heading north as Gatlyn had predicted, Bowen set off once more. Before he had traveled more than a few miles, into the surrounding forest, we were upon him. With the strongest spells we could muster, we batteled the great Lord of Destruction and forced him to give ground before us.
The enraged demon let loose the full fury of his powers. The earth itself quaked under our feet, swallowing many of our brethren. Fire leapt up from the split rock and burned many more. Destruction spiraled around us in every conceivable form, but we had traveled to far to be stopped just then. Weakened by our extertions, Bowen let loose one final strike agaist Gatlyn; yet, thankfully, the warrior was relitively unhurt. Unfortunately, the sacred vial that had been given by the Archmage Kealdra to contain Bowen was shattered into several small pieces. Reeling in panic, we pressed our attack and succeeded in temporarily containing the raging demon.
Knowing that the shattered pieces of the vial would not be enough to contain the powerful demon Bowen, Gatlyn quickly devised a reckless plan to contain the demon forever. With a feverish light in his eyes, he coldly walked over to Bowen's writhing form and slit the creature's throat. As Bowen's spirit fled the dying body, Gatlyn chose the largest shard of the vial and jammed it into the open wound. The beast was sucked into the golden shard's vacuous recesses and trapped. The shard pulsed and hummed as though unable to hold its terrible contents in check. Though we questioned his judgment, Gatlyn seemed confident thath the shard would hold Bowen until our task was complete.
At this moment, Archmage Kealdra appeared and held Gatlyn in her penetrating gaze. The godess' shimmering eyes were beautiful beyond comprehension, and I distinctly remember her whispering to Gatlyn, "Your sacrifice will be long remembered, noble warrior." With the golden shard in hand, Kealdra led us to a series of secret caverns buried deep beneath the forest floor. There we found seven ancient tombs built by a long forgotten civilization. Our grim procession stopped at the last enormous vault, and Kealdra bade us to begin constructing a binding stone at the chamber's center. It was only then that I realized what she and Gatlyn had in mind...
We etched powerful runes of containment upon the binding stone and used our magics to craft unbreakable chains from the chamber's walls. Once preperations were completed, Gatlyn ordered that he be shackled and bound to the stone. To our horror, Kealdra walked forward and held the glowing shard before her. Before any of us could react, the Archmage drove the shard into Gatlyn's bare chest. Golden fire blazed from Gatlyn's eyes as the Lord of Destruction flooded into his writhing body. We gaped in awe as the realization of what had transpired took root in our minds. Gatlyn has made the ultimate sacrifice: He would remain chained forever, cursed to wrestle with Bowen's foul spirit until the end of time.
Sorrowfully, we made our way back into the sunlight and watched as Kealdra sealed the tomb's giant doors forever. The last sounds to escape the tomb was the tormented scream not born of this world. I pray that Gatlyn's sacrifice was not in vain. I pray that the evil buried under the forest remains bound until men forget that there were evils that walked among them.
On the 5th day of our journey, we caught up with Bowen at the port city of Eastham. We had tracked the great Lord of Destruction all the way from the lands of Ayan Baqar some months before. Our leader, Gatlyn, believed that Bowen was headed north, towards the city of Stonehold , but for some reason the demon chose to forfeit his lead and take refuge within the sandblasted city.
Wishing to avoid confrontation where innocents might be hurt, Gatlyn ordered us to withdraw from attack untill Bowen had left the city limits. We waited and watched for three days before the treacherous creature emerged from Eastham. Heading north as Gatlyn had predicted, Bowen set off once more. Before he had traveled more than a few miles, into the surrounding forest, we were upon him. With the strongest spells we could muster, we batteled the great Lord of Destruction and forced him to give ground before us.
The enraged demon let loose the full fury of his powers. The earth itself quaked under our feet, swallowing many of our brethren. Fire leapt up from the split rock and burned many more. Destruction spiraled around us in every conceivable form, but we had traveled to far to be stopped just then. Weakened by our extertions, Bowen let loose one final strike agaist Gatlyn; yet, thankfully, the warrior was relitively unhurt. Unfortunately, the sacred vial that had been given by the Archmage Kealdra to contain Bowen was shattered into several small pieces. Reeling in panic, we pressed our attack and succeeded in temporarily containing the raging demon.
Knowing that the shattered pieces of the vial would not be enough to contain the powerful demon Bowen, Gatlyn quickly devised a reckless plan to contain the demon forever. With a feverish light in his eyes, he coldly walked over to Bowen's writhing form and slit the creature's throat. As Bowen's spirit fled the dying body, Gatlyn chose the largest shard of the vial and jammed it into the open wound. The beast was sucked into the golden shard's vacuous recesses and trapped. The shard pulsed and hummed as though unable to hold its terrible contents in check. Though we questioned his judgment, Gatlyn seemed confident thath the shard would hold Bowen until our task was complete.
At this moment, Archmage Kealdra appeared and held Gatlyn in her penetrating gaze. The godess' shimmering eyes were beautiful beyond comprehension, and I distinctly remember her whispering to Gatlyn, "Your sacrifice will be long remembered, noble warrior." With the golden shard in hand, Kealdra led us to a series of secret caverns buried deep beneath the forest floor. There we found seven ancient tombs built by a long forgotten civilization. Our grim procession stopped at the last enormous vault, and Kealdra bade us to begin constructing a binding stone at the chamber's center. It was only then that I realized what she and Gatlyn had in mind...
We etched powerful runes of containment upon the binding stone and used our magics to craft unbreakable chains from the chamber's walls. Once preperations were completed, Gatlyn ordered that he be shackled and bound to the stone. To our horror, Kealdra walked forward and held the glowing shard before her. Before any of us could react, the Archmage drove the shard into Gatlyn's bare chest. Golden fire blazed from Gatlyn's eyes as the Lord of Destruction flooded into his writhing body. We gaped in awe as the realization of what had transpired took root in our minds. Gatlyn has made the ultimate sacrifice: He would remain chained forever, cursed to wrestle with Bowen's foul spirit until the end of time.
Sorrowfully, we made our way back into the sunlight and watched as Kealdra sealed the tomb's giant doors forever. The last sounds to escape the tomb was the tormented scream not born of this world. I pray that Gatlyn's sacrifice was not in vain. I pray that the evil buried under the forest remains bound until men forget that there were evils that walked among them.