Imperia bows her head, "Of course, sire," she says. The sage sorceress gives Yulia the smile that lets her know that when she says sire she means Yuyu. The linnorm king knows she can rely on her closest friend and companion to hold things together while she's gone. "I will gather your suibjects, give me just a moment."
Imperia steps to one of the larger windows in the Great Hall, and utters a spell. Then she floats out of the window and flies high above the city. She pulls one of the scrolls they keep for such occasions from her pouch and reads it, summoning a giant illusiory copy of herself. The illusion lets of a sound like a thunderclap, drawing people's eyes upward to the banner it holds for their viewing pleasure. The banner reads, "King Rocke will make a public announcement in 15 minutes in front of the Great Hall!" in Skald runes. Her announcement complete, Imperia returns to the hall as the city breaks out with excited buzzing and people begin to stream into the square where Yulia defeated Opir Eight-Fingers years before.
"They will be ready when you are, my King," she says to Yulia, bowing.
Once the crowd has gathered, Yulia steps outside. Once everyone is settled, the Lunar Oracle makes her announcement.
"Greetings, good people of Jol. These last few years of my reign have been fast but prosperous. I, once again, thank you for supporting me through thick and thin. I know that change can be terrifying. Believe me when I say that it can be for the worst. However, sometimes, it can be positive. I am aware that not all of my efforts have been resounding successes, but as a whole, I think that Southmoor is better off now than when I first took power.
"Why do I talk so much about the notion of change? Well, a most drastic example happened to me nearly two decades ago. The first twenty-five years or so of my life were spent amongst friends and family. While there were tough, bitter times, they were mostly happy occasions. And then everything changed one dark day.
"We all know about Fafnheir, the Father of All Linnorms. His wickedness is the stuff of legend. Of all the monsters that plague this land, he is the one who keeps the most children up at night. However, there is another Wyrm, who in my opinion is worse. While certainly a terrible creature, Fafnheir at least tends to keep to his lair; I have never heard of him picking a fight. His eldest son Jörmungandr is another story.
"Unlike his father and brethren, Jörmungandr activates hunts down the great individuals of our time and ages past. You might know him as the Killer of Heroes. About twenty years ago, he attacked a group known as the Desnan Guardians of the Lands of the Linnorm Kings. They were a collection of noble peacekeepers who worked to better Southmoor and its surrounding Linnorm Kingdoms. For example, many of the farming techniques that I have introduced are based on their work. Among them was perhaps the greatest druid of her generation. Her name was Hilda Rockne, and she was my mother.
"The Desnan Guardians were at their Apex when he struck. His main target was my mother, but Jörmungandr also massacred the vast majority of them. I was among the few survivors, and I only escaped because of pure chance. Without a doubt, it was the darkest and worst day of my life."
"In the days since, that Linnorm has continued his terrible killings in the years since, and no one has been able to stop him. However, that changes now. As a service to Southmoor and all the Lands of the Linnorm Kings, I am going to hunt down Jörmungandr and end his reign of terror!
"I am aware of the danger of this task, and I am aware that the worst may very well happen. In that case, my friend Imperia will temporarily run Southmoor in my stead, and she will work day and night to find you all a worthy successor to me. However, I have been studying him for years, and I have been amassing the might to battle him. Unlike that terrible day two decades ago, I can now fight him and win. I am at my Apex, so now is the time to act. I have a chance to make a real difference, so I plan to seize it.
"Remember, this is a service to the Lands of the Linnorm Kings and all its people. All I ask of you in return is to believe in me."
With her announcement made, Yulia takes a bow and then returns to her meadhall.
After casting her usual personal buffs (albeit without Mythic Mage Armor for Trigva and with Life Bubble just covering herself), Yulia leaves for the portal as soon as she can. Thanks to her research, she knows the location of it about ninety miles away from Jol. Since its top speed is sixty miles per hour, her Wind Walk spell lets her get there in under two hours.
Once there, Yulia immediately turns to her normal physical state. Assuming she has the twelve seconds to make it happen, she immediately Polymorphs herself into her deadly Four-Armed Gargoyle state and then casts a spell from her mythic well, causing her stone skin to morph into iron . Yulia then finally takes a look around the entrance to the portal.
The portal is very simple. In fact, if she didn't know it was there, Yulia would have never found it. In the center of a grove of birch and willow trees, there is a small clearing. The clearing is mostly stones, which are all overgrown with a thick carpet of moss. In the center of the clearing is a ring of red capped toadstools about two meters across. The clearing appears to be still and quiet.
Even if she hates her nemesis' beyond description, Yulia cannot help but admit that his way of cloaking his lair is clever.
Yulia waits at the sight of the portal for moonrise. It's dusk when she arrives, and she figures the couple hours she'll have to wait will be good for reconnaissance. As she sits invisibly observing the site, she sees small woodland creatures going about their business unaware that she's even there. Nothing sinister happens, and in a few hours the moon has risen. As soon as the first beams of moonlight hit the clearing, there is a subtle change in the ring. The toadstools seem to gather and absorb the light for several moments. Then, there is a brief shimmer, like a desert mirage, in the middle of the ring. A moment after that, the toadstools start shedding moonlight. Not glowing persay, more like releasing a mist made of moonlight, which twinlkes and drifts along the mossy forest floor for a foot or so around the ring, before dissipating into nothing. Yulia is no expert on the fey, but she guesses this means that the portal is active.
Now back in her half-elf form, Yulia decides to actually assume her Calikang state. It is weird, but that shape would let her wield a Cold Iron weapon as she fights Jörmungandr without costing her accuracy from her natural attacks. Based on her battle with the crag linnorm, Yulia knows that she will likely need Cold Iron to keep him down, so the Lunar Oracle picks her mother's old sickle.
In addition to it being the weapon that slayed a Titan, it would also be so poetic for Jörmungandr to meet his end by a blade that belonged to Hilda Rockne.
Yulia once again throws up an Ironskin spell and then asks for a small Blessing from Desna. She follows those up with castings of Freedom of Movement, Mighty Strength, and Communal Air Walk. Finally feeling ready, Yulia ventures through the portal.
And into a blizzard. Frigid wind and gale of snow whip about Yulia as she emerges into the First World. The first thing she notices is that the gods seemed to have turned up the brightness setting on the world several notches. Even with the cloudy sky and whipping precipitation, the colors of the evergreen forest the Linnorm King finds herself in are vivid to the point of denying simple definition. The wildlife is huge and vital. Knotty pines intermingle with the leafless skeletons of broadleaves in a wild profusion of primordial growth. Barely visible above the treeline to her left is the shattered peak of an ancient mountain. It looks as if at some distant moment a capricious titan came and sloppily scooped off the top chuck of the peak, leaving a caldera in its wake. A steady column of steam and smoke rises from the peak into the strange fey sky to mix with the whirling stormclouds there in an endless canopy of grey, black and silver billows.
Yulia is glad that she is always prepared for cold weather. Even without her Life Bubble spell, the magic boots that the Lunar Oracle has worn since she was a little girl make many of winter's worst problems trivial. Bar some weird antimagic, she should have no trouble physically traveling through the blizzard.
The Linnorm King of Southmoor takes a moment to look around, hoping to find some telltale signs of Jörmungandr to investigate.
Yulia finds no signs of the linnorm, so she begins to walk towards the nearby volcano. The journey takes her through more of the primordial fey forest, and steadily uphill as she approaches the volcano. She sees some small creatures on the way; white hares the size of dogs, a mink with silver feathers and tusks, a group of elk, with antlers that look like they are made of ice, and blue and white spotted fur like leopards. Yet, for the First World the forest is surprisingly empty of fauna. The forest reminds Yulia of her mother, and she feels a bit sad as she makes her way through it.
After a couple of hours of walking, the volcano, which seems to have been receding the whole time, suddenly leaps forward in the Linnorm King's vision. She finds herself standing at the base of it. It's an old, old mountain, worn down by the eons. The peak is not sharp, but still impressive. Yulia estimates it's about 4,000 meters to the rim of the caldera. The slopes of the volcano are steep enough to be essentially barren. They are covered in a thick layer of rime and would be exceedingly difficult to climb. All of the steam and smoke is coming out of the caldera itself up above. This looks like the place Yulia's fey informants told her of. She actiavtes wind walk and ascends through the snow whipping about the peak. The going is slow and annoying, but not unmanageable. Twenty or so minutes later, the lunar oracle crests the edge of the caldera.
The caldera itself is different from the rest of what she's seen so far.It's vibrant with green, and in the center of it there is a steaming lake. Around the lake is a thriving deciduous forest. Ferns, broad leaf trees, vines, shrubs and every other kind of green thing grow there in profusion. Yulia does not see any animals in the woods though. She can't help but think that Imperia and her mother would love the sights.
At one end of the lake, there is a big cave entrance. It has many tree trunks shaved into spikes with the skeletons of all manner of creatures impaled on them arranged all around the entrance pointing inwards. It looks like a round worm's mouth with the circular, inward-pointing rows of teeth. The whole entrance is damp and dripping with condensation. There is little doubt from the looks of that hellish maw that she's found what she came looking for.
She drifts inside the entrance to the cave in her cloud form, drifting through and around the spikes. Once inside she reforms, only to be greeted with the sight of even more bones, strewn everywhere. There are representatives of all manner of creatures, animals, humanoids and things stranger yet. The armor and weapons melted onto some of the bones makes Yulia think that she cannot be the first hero who has attempted this task.
Knowing that there is very little she can do to hurt her nemesis in her cloud form, Yulia materializes in her normal state once she gets past the spikes. With her upper right hand, she quickly grasps her mother's cold iron sickle, and then the Lunar Oracle starts to inspect the cave. The sight of the skeletons and other remains distracts her, though.
Aside from the massive pile of bones, there is a shimmering wall of yellow energy at the edge of the pile blocking further passage into the lair. The tunnel is very warm.
Weapon ready, Yulia decides to advance forward. She carefully walks over the bones via her Air Walk spell.
Yulia hears a faint, ghostly whispering in a cacaphony of languages. It seems to be emanating from the bone pile under her.
Initiative
Haunt 10
Not fully sure what to do, Yulia takes a second to think about anything she knows about the haunt.
Wishing that she could channel positive energy like some of her mom's friends in the Desnan Guardians, Yulia realizes that there is little she can do from a distance and opts to trudge forward instead.
Suddenly realizing that she is standing right over the Haunt, Yulia abruptly stops in mid-step. She quickly conjures a powerful sphere of positive energy in one of her lower arms and strikes at the pile of skeletons with it.
[dice=Cure Critical Wounds "Damage"]4d8+13[/dice]
As Yulia hears the whispering coming from the bones, she realizes it must the a haunt - the rare fusion of undead malevolence into an object or place. She doesn't know much about haunts, but knows that positive energy will destroy them.
Suddenly realizing that she is standing right over the Haunt, Yulia abruptly stops in mid-step. She quickly conjures a powerful sphere of positive energy in one of her lower arms and strikes at the pile of skeletons with it. The energy crackles and arcs along the bones in a spidery web outward from where Yulia touched them. The whispering is disrupted from a moment as the myriad voices cry out in pain.
Fail
One of the whispering voices rises above the others, speaking in some ancient, arcane dialect of the Kellid tongue. Yulia feels the effect a powerful spell settle down on her, and suddenly her sickle is completely disgusting to her. Wave after wave of extreme discomfort radiates from the weapon into her, until she is forced to drop it.
=======================================
Having few other options, Yulia once again strikes at the haunt with positive energy. While a heavy sense of dread would normally throw off her aim, the sheer size of her foe gives her a target nearly impossible to miss. Yulia's large hand comes crash downing on her undead foe, smashing bone into dust and pulverizing it with holy energy.
Yulia manages to keep a hold on her sickle through a surge of the Titans' power, but it still feels exceedingly uncomfortable in her grasp. Having few other options, Yulia once again strikes at the haunt with positive energy. While a heavy sense of dread would normally throw off her aim, the sheer size of her foe gives her a target nearly impossible to miss. Yulia's large hand comes crash downing on her undead foe, smashing bone into dust and pulverizing it with holy energy. There is another hissing noise, and the whispering voices scream again in pain. After the spell discharges, they are significantly more quiet than before.
A different voice than the first rises from the cacophony to chant another spell. This time it reminds Yulia of Imperia, chanting with a Chelish accent, except the voice is masculine. As its spell completes, Yulia can feel a powerful magical blow against her enhancing spells.
Yulia manages to withstand the dispelling effect. She quickly charges her striking arm with positive energy and strikes once more. Despite picking a lower level healing spell, the strength she puts into it eclipses her previous attack.
As the spell hits the haunt, the last of the voices are snuffed out. The shimmering wall of force blocking the tunnel ahead disappears. Beyond it, Yulia can see the tunnel widen out into a larger chamber. She immediately notices four huge fire elementals lurking there. They turn towards her, menace on their semi-humanoid faces.
/4 = 23.5
The elementals flicker forward into the tunnel, blocking Yulia's way forward. She can feel the heat from their huge fiery bodies.
Not wanting to get burned, Yulia holds her ground and casts Resist Energy: Fire on herself. She also takes a second to charge her weapons with arcane energy. The Lunar Oracle then steels herself for combat.
Two of the elementals close with Yulia. The lift arms of twirling flames and whip them outwards at the lunar oracle. The lashing flames are laughably easy for Yulia to dodge in her mythically enhanced state. The other elementals form up in a rough line, blocking her progress further into the cave.
Yulia beats her four free fists against each other and then leaps into the fray. She picks out the closest elemental and takes four powerful swings at it. Like many warriors, the King of Southmoor opts to trade accuracy for a series of power attacks, but thanks to the Book of the Titan, her strikes are even mightier than in prior battles with no additional precision lost.
The elementals begin shifting into flanking positions around Yulia, and continue to assault her with their flaming bodies.
Although slightly bloodied, Yulia keeps the pain train focuses on the elemental she last attacked. She manages to land two solid blows. However, the strange sensation of punching at fire throws off two of her swings.
The elementals continue to attack the oracle.
Hit
Hit
Hit
Hit
Hit
A little over a minute after her battle with the elementals begins, Yulia has managed to beat all the fiery beings to death. She is left bruised and singed after the slog, but is not badly wounded. Ahead the volcanic vent stretches further down into the earth.
Had she been any less stubborn and had she been chasing after any other foe, the Lunar Oracle would have probably retreated, but her desire for closure is just too strong. As such, she presses on.
"Figures that he'd have some decent guardians," Yulia grumbles as she stumbles into the next part of the cave. Once there, she takes a careful look around.