I hate writing about myself, but couldn't resist a small storyline.
"Greetings Lady Lich." the low hiss eminated from a large serpentine maw partially hidden in shadow. "I am quite sure you are wondering how you were summoned to this place...and by who."
What seemed to have mere seconds before, Vampriss had been standing amongst friends surrounding the fallen body of the god Fennin Ro. Examining her current surroundings, the gnome necromancer now found herself in etheral form instead of that of Saydinnia, the high-elven enchantress she had grown accustomed to over the past 65 seasons.
"Speak your business lizard," the lich said evenly as she shifted her head to meet the dragons gaze. While the darkness that surrounded it's identity was powerful magic, she had dealt with enough to know. "Else you'll find yourself the newest contributor to my robe and boot collection."
Smoke and fumes filled the air as the beast let forth a snort. They had no effect on her current form, but no doubt even that small amount was a deadly dose.
"Save your threats little one. I see the rumors of your personality ring true." The serpent paused as if considering what to say...or conversing mentally with another sentient. Vampriss couldn't tell.
"I am afraid you have me at a disadvantage." Vampriss spoke, interupting the silence. "What is your name wyrm?"
"In due time little one." the dragon responded, still hidden from veiw. "As the story goes, you were once the most faithful of Bertoxx's priestess's. Revelling in death and serving it up to your master in great quantities."
The beast seemed to take on a certain aspect of admiration for the "devotion" it described.
"Until the day came in-which you decided to transcend and join your god, only to find that he turnd his back without as much as a thought." A smirk crossed the serpent's mouth as it continued, "Stuck in an astral form, a ghost in the planes, you wondered aimlessly, hate fuming inside you. You studied all you could recall and spoke at great length to the creatures that could not defeat you, until you finally discovered the power to inhabit a dying humanoids body."
The smirk seemed to be turning to an evil grin. The wyrms' delight in the story did not escape Vampriss's attention. She decided to let it continue.
"Once back in the lands of the living, you searched for the ultimate weapon which would allow you to strike at your enemy, Lord Bertoxx. Only finding the right body was a harder task than it appeared. The monk. The rogue. The mage. All too unfamiliar to be useful. So you settled on an afflicted high-elven child with a gift for enchanting."
"How ironic that Bertoxx, lord of disease and death would experience his own demise at the hands of a woman he should have struck down as a child." The dragon outright laughed. Vampriss furrowed her brow a moment, noting how uncommon the occurrance was. In her many dealings, never once had one of the great wyrms so much as chuckled. It was truly enjoying it's own telling of the story.
"Yet...watching the Lord of Disease die did not quench the hatred inside you. Surrounded by friends and adventurers you stuck out against all the gods. One by one they fell, each time offering a small amount of satisfaction, until finally the last of the gods lay at your feet. This is when I decided to take you."
"Yes dragon," Vampriss stated dryly. "I am the scourge of the gods. I am the one they warn their little one's about when they misbehave. I have also slain twice as many dragons and find them much easier prey."
Quickly incanting a spell she had been recalling throughout the beasts long-winded tale, the astral image shimmered into being at the feet of the dragon. Knowing the spell would not hold long, so she had to act quick.
Two words shed the gnome skin, bringing forth the skeletal form she loved and had missed dearly. Arcane power surged through her body as she performed a third cantrip. The surprise wearing off, her dragon foe entered the frey.
All dragons were deceptively quick and agile for their size, but this one seemed extraordinary. Perhaps hasted by spells ot trinkets, the beast recited one spell while tracing the arcane symbol of another at the same time.
"There's a trick I'll have to learn!" thought the lich, completing her own spell and concentrating on the symbol in hopes of defending it. Suddenly undead began to spring forth from the ground around them. Twelve total dissappeared into the shadows as they rushed the serpent. An attack that would not come close to defeating the beast, but would at least slow it a little.
Unable to decipher the symbol, Vampriss relied on a well known counterspell. Fire lept from the dragons giant clawed hand as it finished the incantation. Just as it struck, the lich's body became covered in arcane runes, protecting it's wearer even as it dispated. Unfortunately, the dragon's second spell was finishing up, leaving no time for the gnome to counter.
As the symbol was completed, the two combatant's surroundings ground to a halt. Frozen in stasis Vampriss marvelled at the spell, even as the dragon approached. Such was the way with gnomes.
Vampriss's mind recoiled from all thought as the first sight of the dragon emerged from the shadows. Glass-like transluscent scales pulsing with arcane energy cover an enormous clawed foot. Then another. The same held true for the rest of the dragons body from head to tail.
"Kerafyrm!!" her mind screamed. She had never seen the dragon before or really even heard much of him, but she just knew. The Sleeper was before her.
"You marvel at magic that is ancient and boring to me little one. Your kind is too easily impressed." Kerafyrm turned serious as he continued, "I am sure it did not escape your attention that your current world was not the same as the one before. Most things are the same, however the people and timeline are altered slightly. There are many such worlds in existance. However, out of them all, I am the last of myself."
Vampriss's mind raced to comprehend what the beast was saying. It made perfect sense, but why enlighten her?
"I will tell you why, little one. Listen closely." The dragon smiled, an even more unsettling gesture now that she could see the beast in full.
"The dragons are going to rise again to take our place as rulers of this world. Your kind are going to extract your vengeance all over again in order to prime the heavens for our take-over. This time you will be in familiar lands."
The words resonated through her mind as she felt herself slipping back into astral form. Surely this Sleeper could not be serious. He was an enemy of dragons and a threat to the world itself. Dragons as a race had retreated years ago to enjoy solitude from the surface races. Why now? It was all so unclear...
Suddenly she was pulled forth from her drifting by the clawed hands. Half unconscious, it was several moments before she realized she was laying in tall grass, surrounded by the sounds of wilderness. Glancing around as she lifted herself, she recognized the place as the outerlands of the Karanas, a cesspool of boredom, much like the god they were named after.
"Know this Kerafyrm!" Vampriss shouted into the air hoping the dragon could hear, "When I am done with the gods above, I will seek out your kind below! Of that you can be sure!"
Stopping abruptly in mid-shout, the necromancer paused. The skin beneath the robes were a darkened blue. Stopping to take full stock of the new form, it became apparent that The Sleeper would have the last say in todays battle, for the new form was Dark-elven, a most uncultured race. Worse of all.....it was male, closely resembling a friend from her past life.
Taking quick inventory, the necro was impressed to find suitable gear and a few trinkents. A few quick incantations showed that the new form had a firm grasp on the arcane arts of the undead.
"The name would have to be altered. Vamprixx will suffice." he thought. "Female or male won't matter. I don't intend on being out of lich form for any length of time. This lich is back!" |
