Difference between revisions of "Thaddeus (Chapter 17)"

Latest revision as of 13:28, 12 February 2017

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Thaddeus (Act III)#Chapter 17

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-Arise and go, for this is no place to rest.
-Uncleanness destroys with grievous waste.
-If a man should go about and utter lies,
-saying, "I will preach to you of hate and fear,"
-He would be the priest for these people!
--- Visions of Akarat, c. 62, v. 8-12
-Back on Meshif's ship, Thaddeus assessed the situation.  Apparently, glorious Kurast has been all but consumed by rampant jungle growth.  This small zone on the river is under a spell of protection, and remains relatively safe.  The area is full of refugees, who blame the Hand of Zakarum for the city's fall and their predicament.  A band of mercenary mages hunts in the jungle, keeping the creatures at bay, mostly.  And their attitude towards him, as a follower of the church of Light, seems to be one of exhausted tolerance.
-After his experiences in the west, Thaddeus had some idea of what he needed to do.  Merely rooting out evil would not be enough.  These people needed more than a respite.  To give them hope and a reason for living, Thaddeus would have to bring some goodness back to this land.  The church had been overcome by evil decades ago; Mephisto was master of his keepers, and they would certainly strive to protect him.  While Thaddeus would need to kill him and his brothers, he could not destroy the church.  Sadly, the church would have to be purged and cleansed before it was fit.  It was meant to be a vessel for the light; destroying it would leave an emptiness.  The church would have to be filled again with the joy of proper worship, to shine once more, as it was meant to.
-As he carried his footlocker off Meshif's ship, Thaddeus wondered about the patriarch of the church, Sankekur.  Though they'd never met, he'd heard his name many times.  He was one of the most distinguished priests Kurast ever produced.  Brilliant and compassionate, strong and deeply spiritual, a humanitarian of wit and humor whose whole life was inseparable from the church, Sankekur was outstanding in every way.  Even the simple, raw facts of his many accomplishments read like the best efforts of a dozen men.  It was only natural for him to rise to the highest position in the church.  And now... according to Natalya, Sankekur was at the center of Kurast's corruption.  As much as he tried, Thaddeus could not connect the evil around him with the stories about Sankekur.  It was easier to believe he was dead, and Mephisto had put some impostor up in his place.
-The dockside was full of people, so Thaddeus could not find a house with room inside for him to stay.  Rather than board on the ship, he decided to put his things out in the open, next to the pyramid/lighthouse where Hratli's protective spell was centered.  It would demonstrate his trust to the locals; hopefully, it would be reciprocated.  When he put his footlocker down, Thaddeus heard an unfamiliar rattle.  Inside, a battle crown sat next to two runestones, with another one of those notes.
-Your devoutedness,
-Glad to see you're making such progress.  Don't mind the crown: it's not vanity, it's a fashion statement!  The runeword is Lore, "Ort Sol."  Don't worry, you'll love it; you'd look lousy in a Great Helm anyways.  -- The Mule
-Even if he was a heavenly agent, this Mule really needed to work on his grammar.  For that matter, is "devoutedness" even a word?  The battle crown was not a vanity; they were first made in Kurast for Paladins to wear in combat.  The radiant spires are imitations of the glory of the Light; only later did crowns become a symbol of temporal authority.  Made from an extraordinarily strong alloy of steel and unknown metals, battle crowns are imbued with a wall of force, an invisible shield completely surrounding the wearer's head.  Though open in front (allowing the wearer to be recognized) the shield protects the face nearly as well as steel.  Knowledge of making battle crowns was kept in Kurast; the skill might be lost now.  Any crown you might find is an antique, but they are very durable and if the shield is intact, there is no better protection.
-Set with the runes, the crown seemed to help Thaddeus remember more.  The light radiating from its spires was certainly heartening; a much nicer runeword than "stealth."  Feeling much better about his chances, Thaddeus turned to the path leading off the platform, and out into the jungle.  The first thing he saw was a tall man in a traveling cloak, slowly walking into the greenery.  That was surprising, and alarming; no one but the Iron Wolves dared to enter the jungle, and this man wasn't one of them.  Thaddeus ran to intercept him.
-With his hood pulled down, Thaddeus couldn't see the stranger's face.  As he watched, the man disappeared in a puff of brimstone, and four fleshy worms appeared in his stead.  They attacked viciously; Thaddeus struck them all down, but the stranger was gone.  That had to have been one of the Prime Evils, Thaddeus was sure.  But he couldn't find him again; the demon lord was gone.  If Diablo and his brothers could vanish whenever they chose, how was Thaddeus going to stop them before they had achieved their goals?  He might have to defeat all three together, something no one had ever done.  It might not even be possible.
-The dockside was lost to view very quickly as Thaddeus moved into the jungle.  The green seemed to close in behind him, dank and dark and suffocating.  To keep from getting lost, he followed a small river, which thankfully did not branch confusingly, as is often the way of marshy waterways.  The first thing he met was a flock of Blood Hawks.  What were these creatures doing here?  They had never been seen this far east -- Diablo must have brought them with him from the Rogue's pass.  The three brothers were rearranging the world to suit them.  Thaddeus had found Quill Rats more annoying, but maybe Diablo thought differently.
-Beyond them, a group of Thorned Hulks stood by the riverbank, almost indistinguishable from the woody bramble around them.  As Thaddeus approached, they stood, and slowly shuffled towards him, hatred burning in their eyes.  This was a sad sight.  Hulks had always protected Kurast, and worked alongside humans who sought to live with the jungle.  Is there anything good which cannot fall into darkness?  Perhaps they had simply been deceived: Hulks protect their jungle from invaders, and might believe this unnatural growth was good.  Thaddeus was being considered an invader, a threat.  As the Hulks came closer, he stood his ground, hoping they wouldn't attack... but fearing they would.  They did -- the nearest raised its huge arm, and brought it down where Thaddeus had been a moment ago.  A few Blessed Hammers ended their lives.
-A jade statuette of a warrior lay tangled in the wood and seeping bracken of a Hulks' body.  How it got there was a mystery; maybe this Hulk had grown through the remains of a ruined house, Thaddeus had seen a few among the trees.  It would sell for a bit, and money was a great convenience.  Then he remembered a collection of statuettes Meshif kept in his cabin, mounted in a special cabinet on the wall.  Since he seemed to have a fondness for them, he might appreciate this.  It might also get his mind off the destruction of his homeland.  Material things can be a distraction from higher, spiritual values, which is why the church frowns on a concern with the material.  In this case, however, a distraction would be good for Meshif; he was taking Kurast's plight very hard.
-Thaddeus also met a group of Flayers.  That was no surprise, they were native to this place, but a shaman was with them, like the shamans of the Fallen Ones.  The Flayer shaman did not walk on his own: another Flayer was pressed into carrying him atop his huge head.  Like the Fallen shaman, the Flayer could bring his dead lackeys back to life.  After beating him to death, Thaddeus let a few hammers fly to deal with his underlings.  As they watched the Blessed Hammers spin by over their heads, missing them all completely, Thaddeus could swear he heard them giggling.  So he beat them to death as well.  Being so small made them hard targets; if Thaddeus ever met more, he would have to find some more efficient way to deal with them.
-It turned out that the statuette was part of a collection, commemorating a group of warriors who saved a city from an invasion of the undead.  Meshif started telling Thaddeus about the incident, which apparently involved a lot of very large men flexing their muscles, fathering the city's next generation with every woman in the place, and incidentally killing all the undead.  As fascinating as the tale was, Thaddeus felt compelled to return to business in the jungle.  His long wait in Lut Gholein had left Meshif a bit cash-poor, so he couldn't pay for the statuette, but insisted Thaddeus take a golden bird statue as compensation.
-The bird statuette was a frilly little thing with screw holes in its feet, as though it was meant to fit on a perch.  While examining it, Thaddeus found a compartment on the underside, full of a spicy-smelling powder.  Meshif hadn't known the compartment was there, or what the powder was; maybe an alchemist might know?  When Thaddeus brought the bird to Alkor, he leapt at the sight and grabbed it out of Thaddeus' hands.  Cackling, he began mixing some preparation, and told Thaddeus to come back later.
-While repairing Thaddeus' equipment, Hratli mentioned, "As I told you before, I placed a spell of protection over the dockside.  Now, that spell seems to be weakening, and the jungle is creeping ever closer."
-Thaddeus was watching a snail crawl along the edge of a sword.  "I have noticed it myself.  That Flayer head on the spike next to the gate has begun to sprout."
-"We certainly would not want more of them here," Hratli said.  "With a suitable source of magical power, the spell might be reinforced."
-"You know of such a source, perhaps?"
-"In my old house, quite near here, I had an old artifact called the Gidbinn, dating from the time of the Skatsimi.  In appearance, it resembles a small knife, made of copper.  It was of little use to me then, but it is a great repository of power, and would be more than suitable for strengthening the spell."
-Thaddeus nodded.  "I'll see if I can find it."
-Meanwhile, Alkor had mixed the powder with a few other choice ingredients to make a potion for Thaddeus.  Eager to demonstrate his trust, Thaddeus drank it; it was strong, not very pleasant to the taste, and went straight to his head.  When Thaddeus came around, he was lying on the floor of Alkor's hut, with the old alchemist kicking him.
-"Get up!  Get up, you lazybones!  I do not want you lying about here all day, the floor is my favorite spot!"
-Slowly, Thaddeus sat up.  "What was that you gave me?"
-"A potion of life, of course!  You are not supposed to fall over dead from it.  Get off of my floor!  It is my floor, you may not have any of it."
-"I do feel a bit livelier..."
-"So demonstrate it, by getting out of here!"
-After thanking Alkor, who kicked him in the shins for his pains, Thaddeus went back to the jungles.  In a small clearing, draped with spider webs, he found an underground cavern.  To no one's surprise, the place was full of huge spiders, just like the ones from the catacombs of the Rogue's monastery.  Most of their tunnels were too narrow for Blessed Hammer to spin properly, so Thaddeus went through by hand, trying not to strike or step on the many human bodies wrapped up in the webs.  In the deepest part of the caves, a golden chest held a great deal of money, and a well-preserved human eye.
-The chest was a strong one, all metal, with the highest quality lock.  The eye must be very important, but Thaddeus had no idea why.  Then he remembered the story of Khalim, a Paladin who rebelled against the Hand of Zakarum, but who did not escape Kurast with the rest of the Protectors.  Unable or unwilling to flee, Khalim was struck down (with great sorrow, of course) by the Hand, and his body burned for his heretical beliefs.  To the great shock and anger of the church, Khalim's body would not burn, a clear sign of incorruptibility and Khalim's saintly nature.  News of this was brought west with many followers of Zakarum; it was the sign they needed to know which side to take.  Khalim's body was hacked into pieces, mutilated and scattered to the far corners of Kurast.
-Finding even a small piece of Khalim's body, the relic of a saint directly connected with the battle against Mephisto, was the best sign Thaddeus could have found.  Cain was very excited to see the eye, and was sure that if more of Khalim's body were recovered, the saint would take some more active role in the battle.  Despite the terrific news, no one around the docks seemed to care.  Their dejection ran deep, and Thaddeus would have to go to much greater lengths to revive their spirits.

Difference between revisions of "Thaddeus (Chapter 17)"

Latest revision as of 13:28, 12 February 2017

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