Journal of Crunch, Day 12c

-day 12-H:
Keniroh has completed reconnaissance of the mirror-like gate, and we have proceeded through it. Area is underwater, but well-lit. We are making our way downwards, towards the likely position of the aboleth.

-day 12-I:
The others have encountered and defeated the dread Kineticist Aboleth and its vile minions. This unit was I was slain during the battle, but fortunately there were preparations in place for such an emergency. Sztuczka has been requesting a dog from Shullat, though I have not seen him own or command any sort of animal. Further briefing on the events occuring during my downtime may be needed.

Shullat: May the Gods Have Mercy on My Soul

Another aboleth defeated.

It was a costly victory. The construct died, though he has been made well again.

Worse, though, is that the Tiny Dragon has learned that I can take on the form of a dog.

She seems as enthusiastic about the prospect as I had feared she might be.

May the gods save me.

Journal of Crunch, Day 12b

-day 12-E:
Encountered abandoned goblin nest, two obsidian gates, potential golem forces, and enormous spider creature trapped in a crystal. Disabled one gate, other gate has signs of hostile defenses. No sign of lair. Pulling back.

-day 12-F:
Heavy magical defenses, enemy wizard. Enemy was pursued to lower level and stalled. Earlier, Shullat was infested by a living non-corporeal creature which harms Keniroh, cure is unknown.

-day 12-G:
Encountered and defeated one of the replicas of the Egoist Aboleth. It was initially disguised as a pillar, but Arkadesh must have seen through this Deceit and wisely decided to agitate it, followed by leading us into the next room, which allowed for a proper ambush on the vile creature when it attacked. Explaining this situation beforehand would have surely alerted the Egoist Aboleth, and Arkadesh is to be commended for his cleverness. The room we are now in contains a crystal mirror-like gate, destination unknown.

Journal of Arcadius

Lord Pelor, I shall be as your hand in this world
May I wield a sword against evil
May I bear a shield for the defenseless

I will not falter
I will not retreat
Whatever the cost to myself
While this evil remains

In life or beyond it, I will see this done.

*A*

Journal of Arcadius

Praise thee Lord Pelor!

Another Aboleth slain!
Another evil banished from the world
Another source of suffering undone

A clone, a dupe, a minion perhaps

But still slain!

Praise the gods
Praise all that is good

May we be a step closer to ridding the world of this evil once and for all
May we protect those millions who, knowing or not, are shielded by our deeds
Now and in the times to come!

Mercy for all who have it, and for these alien things who have none, none!

*A*

The Size of Evil

Even in my time, there were always stories about good sometimes coming in small packages.

The Tiny Dragon is a good example: small of stature, but mighty in valor! Capable of destroying far mightier things than herself with naught by the mighty bellowing breath of her cannon.

All too often, it is left unsaid that evil can use the same trick. The tiniest child is capable of acts of startling evil, and a minor act that goes against righteousness can cause the downfall of a great empire.

And sometimes, the tiny, evil bug which seems to easily crushed is, indeed, one of the mighty enemy you seek to destroy.

Or, as a temple woman I once knew would say, it is, indeed, not the size that counts.

Journal of Crunch, Day 11-12a

-day 12-A:
The battle has begun. Infiltration of enemy city successful, perimeter forces engaged: one sea troll squad. No casualties. Seeking passage downwards to likely location of aboleth lair.

-day 12-B:
Located a stone aboleth with defensive wards inside a room with air; demolitionist Sztuczka is unable to destruct. Noting site and moving on.

-day 12-C:
Large water elemental encountered, slain by means of explosions. Our presence and general location are likely known now. Currently investigating a well, full of destructive black bugs. Keniroh has suggestion of creating a new tunnel adjacent to the well. Waiting on ritual completion.

-day 12-D:
New tunnel creation successful. Chamber below had prismatic defenses around a magical trap, which rendered Bael'thas hostile. He was quickly disabled and resecured. Preparing to move out.

Journal of Arcadius

The Assault Begins

Even with the special underwater writing implements, it is difficult to keep my journal in the depths, so I shall be brief.

The army of Hrogar was grand as it marched into the sea and it arrayed itself against the hordes of the enemy! May they be victorious, and scatter the minions of our foes as so much chaff.

We defeated, with some difficulty, a party of vile psuedonatural sea trolls. We tried vainly to destroy an ancient basalt statue of an aboleth, one that radiated intense psionic power. We fought and were nearly defeated by the mightiest water elemental I've ever seen, but then Keniroh came through with perhaps the most impressive feat of destructive magic I've ever seen. It was as if the light of the sun shone forth under the sea, and it was glorious!

Finally, we encountered a magical trap of some sort, and Bael'thas, as expected, betrayed us. However, upon discussion, he was almost certainly mind-controlled at the time. Thankfully, he lived through our subdual process.

May the gods grant us strength to put an end to this, and to these aboleth, forever.

*A*

Shullat: Underwater

I believe the enemy knows we're here.

It is possible that he learned this when we slaughtered a patrol of sea trolls.

Or perhaps when Tiny Dragon attempted her magic on the statue of the enemy.

Or, for that matter, when I tried to smash that same statue, and it tried to do... whatever it tried to do with psionic energy.

I wonder if the Aboleth was reading my mind, then? I wonder if he saw his own death written there?

I hope so. But if not, I believe that Keniroh showed him the doom that was coming for him.

Because we are coming for him.

And it will be explosive.

Hrefna's Calling: The Wait

Now comes the hardest part for me.

I get to sit, and watch, and wait. My role is done, my powers currently going to confounding the enemies attempt to scry Hrogar's army, but once the battle is joined even that role will be very limited.

This is the hardest part of being a battlefield diviner. I can help up until the moment of the final outcome, but then there is nothing I can do.

Similarly, all I can do is sit and watch while the paladins go forth. Once they are inside the compound I cannot help them, but merely watch helplessly.

It is times like this that I wonder--even for a moment--about my decision to study the art of Divination. Of course that is foolish--my arts have helped us get to this moment--but it is still difficult to sit back and watch, unable to do anything.

Good hunting to them all.

Dyrhildr: The Calm Before the Storm

We sit in the camp, massively arrayed, waiting for the final hour to approach. The humans act like they have been preparing for this moment all of their lives, but I know the elves know better. There is the unmistakeable smell of death here, and I will be surprised if one in ten--from either side--leaves this battle alive.

While the last time this darkness rose is so many generations gone for the humans that it has faded from even myth, heard of only by the most specialized of scholars, the myths remain among our kind. Diluted and told as children's stories, meant to frighten or to teach, but as we have all learned--some to our detriment--these stories were not just true in the abstract, but as real as the ground beneath our feet.

We remember, but that doesn't mean that we are ready for what comes tomorrow morning.

Those stories--once I sit down to analyze them--tell me that the last army that threw themselves against the Aboleth ended up shattered even as the staff was used. That power coaxes power--calls to it--and so nothing as significantly powerful as this thing can exist without having drawn other things along with it. What's more, I know that this Aboleth--despite its apparent weakness compared to the last time they rose--has one key advantage.

It knows everything about the last war, where we are only grasping at fragments and analyzing children's stories. It knows in vivid detail how they were brought down last time, and it has known this for thousands of years.

It will be ready. I can only hope that we are the same.

Journal of Crunch, Day 3-10, Year 2

-day 4:
We have successfully escorted the supply convoy to Point of Origin, and intend to stay in the city for a few days to provide support to its citizens and defenders. Proper repairs to the flagship are already underway. I look forward to exploring the city of which I have heard so much.

Conclusions: Hanging by your feet from a breach in the hull of a naval vessel causes significant drag and unwanted interference with its navigation.


-day 5:
The Temple of Pelor in Point of Origin is very remarkable, it is no wonder that Arkadesh and Azan would travel to train here. The level of polish and care of everything made me aware of the various dents and scratches on my own persons, though in hindsight this is probably intentional. Between Arkadesh and Azan's meetings with Point of Origin's military command, Sztuczka's uncanny ability to find and play at taverns in an evacuated city, and the temple priests' readiness in tending to the injured, and I must profess that I feel fairly useless. Still, it is a fine time to take inventory and clean my armor.

Conclusions: Not every day can be a grand adventure.


-day 7:
We have decided to attack enemy supply convoys traveling the countryside. So far we have taken down three. Sztuczka has proven effective in scaring off many of the soldiers escorting the caravans, removing the need for conflict in many cases. We have opted to destroy the supplies, as transporting them to Point of Origin would take too long. It is strange to be doing this, it is almost like the calm before the fury of a storm. Still, much good has been done, and Point of Origin will find it easier to hold its own against the forces of the vile aboleth.

Conclusions: There is always time for good deeds.


-day 8:
We have been ambushed during a convoy raid by a large black crystalline dragon. While we did not suffer any observable losses or kills, both Shullat and the enemy dragon are missing. In light of these events, Arkadesh has commanded that we return to Phonkeii to resupply, as the enemy forces are aware of our interference. Hopefully Shullat is alive and capable of returning to a safe encampment.

Conclusions: The adaptability of the enemy is not to be underestimated.


-day 9:
Our attempt at recon of the Sunken City did not go well. Bael'thas was captured, and required an extraction. This gave us a chance to see the enemy forces for ourselves; they are numerous and well organized. Fortunately Bael'thas was held outside the city, making it a simple matter for Keniroh to liberate him. Fleeing the city was very tense, though I regret that we were unable to rescue the other prisoners held at the encampment.

We returned to Phonkeii to find that Shullat had returned, and is in good health! The dragon we encountered had shifted to another plane in order to escape, and took Shullat with him. It took some transplanar travel for Shullat to locate Subplane 3 again, and we are glad to have him back.

Conclusions: Never underestimate an Archon when planes are on the line.


-day 10:
Last night, we were assaulted by an elite assassin in an attack that left me temporarily dead. This morning, we have learned that Keniroh's commanding officer was rendered permanently dead. Azan has put up a bounty on the assassin, and Keniroh is arranging the evacuation of his family from Phonkeii. Hopefully the assassin will follow us out of the city.

We have met up with Hrogar's forces in preparation for what may be the final battle. His army is new, but very familiar. It is strange to prepare for war again. Even if we are victorious, many of these people will die, and their bodies will be left to rust on the battlefield. The pre-battle tension is not a feeling that has dimmed in the interval. Hopefully they are here of their own free will, and willing to fight in defense of their plane.

Conclusions: There is always a fight to be fought.

Notes In Various Places

[Written in a leatherbound book kept on a desk, in a tower, on the perimeter wall of Point of Origin.]

Year xxxx, Day 12, Hour 6. All is quiet.
Thanks to Mrs. Hudson for the sandwiches. -Spc. K. Bailey

[Written on ragged linen, and found stuffed in the throat of a dead Izmirian guard.]

THATS WHAT YOU GET FOR NOT SEEING THE KITTY
nobody sees the kitty nobody wants to see the kitty only i see the kitty WHY CAN'T YOU SEE THE KITTY it's RIGHT THERE and it's EATING MY BRAIN you laugh and laugh and laugh and OH NO THERE'S NO KITTY until it RIPS OUT YOUR HEART WITH MY BARE HANDS why can't you just see the kitty

please see the kitty next time, thank you

catfuckergod says they're 'ready' to fight the final fish. catfuckergod is WRONG.
it's got to be a trap WHY ELSE WOULD THEY GET THAT FAR
they're gonna die. those smugeating shitgoats would never have gotten ANYWHERE without ME
they would be ROTTING CORPSES IN A PIT TRAP and nobody would give a ripe shit about aboleths and they would STILL SHIT ON ME.

oh look you don't shit GODLIGHT guess you're a incompetent oaf herp a doooo

oh look your clothes don't withstand extended wear in DEEP SALTWATER
you must be a LESSER PERSON

i guess when RUNNING ALL DAY i'm not allowed to feel shredded underpants cut into my legs NOPE

NO DON'T TRY TO FIX YOUR PROBLEMS JUST SUFFER

SUFFER SUFFER SUFFER SUFFER

IT'LL MAKE YOU A REAL MAN because trying to protect a herd of suicidal IDIOTS from THEMSELVES obviously makes me a SISSY BOY can't be that NOPE NOPE NOPE or or
it's HELLO KITTY TIME

i'll show them

I'll SHOW THEM WHAT I CAN DO

I'LL SHOW THEM ALL

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[etc.]

[Found pinned to a tent at Hrogar's army campsite.]

PVT. MITCHELL:

YOU STOLE FUD FOOD FROM PVT. SONAM. YOU ARE BAD
AND YOU MUST PEEL BEETS BECUZ YOU ARE BAD. AND
YOU CAN NOT EAT DA BEETS THAT YOU PEEL BECUZ NO.
WE ARE GOING TO FIGHT BIG FIGHT SOON AND YOU ARE
STEALING FOOD YOU DO NOT NEED. DAN DOES NOT LIKE
PPL WHO TAKE THINGS THAT ARE NOT THERE THINGS. YO
YOU WILL BE GOOD AND YOU WILL FIGHT GOOD AND
DAN WILL LIKE YOU OKAY.

THIS IS FROM SGT. GRUNGAR

[Nailed to a post, weather-worn but readable, in a town on another plane.]

LOST: WARFORGED

responds to "Crunch" and "Squeaky Shins"

25 greybears

for

Information
Leading to its Whereabouts

Appearance… like a dang warforged. Big, metal,
oak for a butt. Ghulra in shape of a stick figure.
Small blood stain on right hand. Never hurt no one.
No crimes worth a damn. Don't try to dent it up.

If found, tell it to contact Edw. Mulligan
in the Trade District

and that it is missed very much.

needs to return my tools.

Shullat: Still in Hrogar's Camp

I prayed tonight.

I have prayed before, since I have awoken. I have cried to Al'Tyr in the night, trying to figure out where my god has gone, why he has not joined us in the battle.

And always I have heard silence.

When I traveled the plains, when I found myself on the Celestial plane, I asked about him. Asked how many followers he had, where he was worshiped.

And I learned, there, that my greatest fear has been realized.

Al'tyr is gone.

Where, no one knows. If he is still a god, no one knows.

I have not prayed since.

Tonight, on the eve of the battle, it seemed that I ought to pray to someone. Someone who belonged to this fight. Someone whose warriors I have found to be worthy.

I found myself praying to Pelor.

I gave him my doubts. I gave him my confusion over his supposed compassion. I gave him my anger that he allowed the Aboleth to rise again. I gave him my fear, my doubt, and my anger.

And he gave me... peace.

Nothing more. Just peace. A sense that what had happened, happened according to some great reason, and that whatever happens when we attack will happen for the same reason.

For the first time since I have returned, I slept through the night.

I think that I understand, now, how such a god requires such followers as Arcadius and Azan. Perhaps he is more potent than I gave him credit for.

Journal of Arcadius

The Army of Hrogar

I must admit that Hrogar has at last truly proven his worth, and found his proper place in the world. He has assembled a mighty and well-ordered host lands near and far. There are northerners, Elves, dissident units of the army of Izmir, soldiers from Azan's empire and wizards from Keniroh's land, priests from my homeland, noble warriors from Oda's clan, and many others - some from lands unknown to me. All told, they number more than 80,000. It is truly impressive.

Such numbers will be needed, given what we've seen of the Aboleth's defenses. Our side seems to me to be better ordered, but the enemy is more numerous still.

I pray for victory, and that those who fall will not fall in vain. May the gods guide them and guard them.

And, praise be, Shullat has returned! By a path no doubt dangerous and unpleasant - he has been loath to speak of it in detail - he survived and made his way across the planes back to us.

His blade will be needed.

Let us hope we are strong enough, for the time is upon us.

Lord Pelor, I commend my soul to thee. By the faith in my heart and the sword in my hand, let me be the instrument of thy will. I will not rest, I will not falter, I will not turn aside from this task I have been given. May the evil ones perish and those in their thrall be freed!

For all that is right, for justice, for love, for the innocents whose fates depend on what happens now, for the very world, let victory be ours.

*A*

Journal of Arcadius

Reconnaissance

After some discussion of plans, we decided to conduct preliminary scouting of the Aboleth city, and attempt to gather what useful intelligence we could about its layout and defenses. Bael'thas agreed to be our advance scout, as his talents, ostensibly, lie in that direction. He was instructed not to advance too close to the city or to engage in combat, and he was to report back by a specified time.

Alas, he did not heed this wisdom.

The time passed, and he did not return. We knew it could it could only be trouble, and immediately set forth to investigate. Keniroh's wizardry again was of great help, and we traveled invisibly, on magical underwater steeds at immense speed. We quickly located our errant scout, trapped in a force cage and surrounded by both guards and a vast army.

The Aboleth had not been idle, and had raised what appeared to be more than a hundred thousand troops to their defense. The bulk were aquatic elves and the foul race of Saguahin, but folk of all kinds were represented along with sea creatures of various sorts. Leaving aside all temptation to deviate from our task, we went straight to where Bael'thas was imprisoned and blasted his cage apart with magic. I seized Bael'thas forcefully - this was no time for debate on his part - and dragged him with us. He was surprised, to say the least. We then sped away again at the same tremendous speed, leaving hordes of pursuing troops behind us.

Once safely away from the city's magical defenses, we teleported back to our base of operations, and then to the camp of Hrogar.

Praise Lord Pelor for the success of our mission, and my comrades for their focus and concentration at a time when delay would have been fatal!

Still, I wonder about Bael'thas and the workings of his mind. He seems... incautious. In a curious way, it reminds me of Dantroe, or before him Fflam. Who could guess that three beings so different in origins and training could have a thread of commonality? Strange are the ways of the world.

*A*