Torrek's page

Torrek's Tall Tavern Tales: The Cathedral of Wee Jas[br/]

Twas on the 15th of Wealsun when m'companions and I finally decided to pay a visit to the Cathedral of Wee Jas. Why, you ask? Let's just say we weren't going to ask for the high- priest's blessing. We did have a few scores to settle with the folks at the cathedral for certain offences:

- Turning m'friend Ander into a monkey (though if you ask me, I think he enjoyed his time spent as a primate).

- Turning m'other friend Gwydion into a toad.

- Rescuing our prisoner, Zenith Splintershield, from our custody (at least we managed to keep the head).

- Consorting with beholders.

- Attacking the Church of St. Cuthbert, kidnapping the boy, Terrem, killing the boy's step-parents, as well as Jenya Urikas, high-priestess of St. Cuthbert.

- Performing dark rituals on Alek Tercival, Paladin of St. Cuthbert.

- Sending assassins to kill the Company of the Copper Coin (that's us).

-Trashing m'favourite watering-hole, the Tipped Tankard. This was the final straw![br/]

Some of you might have heard of a little ruckus before the cathedral’s very steps. Aye, that one of m’companions was overly anxious to deliver the city’s justice is true enough, but those guards were given fair warning and declined our offer to leave in peace. Upon entering, lo and behold! Giants and half-orcs! And I can tell ye right now that these weren’t the penitent kind. A fierce battle ensued with yours truly caught in the middle of it. I was a bit worried when one of them giants got past me and smashed a door over m’friend Ander’s noggin. But the Monkey Mage is a sly one, I tell ye, for a moment after the door came down crashing down upon him, Ander appeared a hundred feet away with hardly a scratch on him. While m’friend, Sorin, engaged the giants, a whirlwind of claws and fury, yours truly took on some of them half-orcs. The nerve of them, wielding waraxes. Tis a powerful weapon, deserving of respect, not to be wielded by common half-orcs! Well, sure enough, by the time I was through with them, they learned proper respect. So this gang of ruffians was led by some priest named Calmus. A coward, he was, for no sooner had we dispatched his dogs that he decided to flee up the tower. We thought it best to let him sweat it out a bit, so we explored the rest the temple. Nothing of interest did we find, except for some books and some dead naked guy.

Aye, so up the tower we went! Now listen carefully, for ye are about to hear our most tragic tale yet. We finally made it to the top of the tower only to find that our enemies were well prepared for us. Father Ike Iverson, although we couldn’t see him at first since he was flying near the top of the ceiling, had a bunch of monstrous zombies and a skeletal devil waiting for us, as well as Calmus and those two assassins that had trashed the Tipped Tankard. Twas a good thing, or so I thought at the time, since here was proof that the Church of Wee Jas was consorting with the forces of Evil. The battle did not start well for us. Unbeknownst to us at first, a dread wraith, a spirit born of evil and darkness (or so Ishara tells me), came out of the floor and attacked us. I tried to defeat the foul thing, but m’axe just went through it, more often than not. While Sorin was engaged against the zombies, the devil summoned a wall of ice and Penelope and Sorin were cut off from the rest of us. Father Ike was busy using his unholy magicks from a distance, and things looked grim indeed as it appeared the wraith would soon kill Ander and Ishara. Lucky for us that we had Gwydion with us. Calling upon his nameless patron, he smote the wraith and sent it back to the hell it came from. Finally, things were starting to look better for the Company of the Copper Coin. Unfortunately, my newfound hopes were soon destroyed, as Father Ike, enraged at the destruction of his wraith, descended upon Gwydion, calling him traitor. Gwydion, already weary from his fight against the wraith, stood little chance against the insane priest and was soon killed. Busy I was fighting against the devil, which I promptly slew, but I could not arrive in time to save m’friend. A strange thing happened after that. It appeared that Father Ike’s magicks failed him after Gwydion’s death. One second he was standing nearly 9 feet tall, filled with unholy powers. The next second he changed back to good old regular Ike Iverson. Perhaps Wee Jas hadn’t given up on Gwydion after all, and abandoned Ike in his moment of need. The rest of us, barely alive thanks to Ishara’s magicks, rallied to defeat the evil priest. None of our enemies in the temple survived our fury, save for one of the assassins who again escaped our wrath using a spell of invisibility. But I doubt we’ll be seeing that one again, for surely he must have learned by now that it’s probably best not to anger the Company of the Copper Coin.

After the battle, the city watch finally had the decency to show up. We let them clean up the mess. It’s the least they could do after all the trouble we saved them. We picked up our brave companion (and a few spoils of war), and departed. I, for one, was more than willing to drown m’sorrow in a pint of ale, seeing as Gwydion had already mentioned that were he ever to die, no magick would be able to bring him back to the world of the living. M'friends, let us raise our mugs to Holy Brother Gwydion. May he find his goddess and finally know peace.

Yarrr, good times indeed. Twas a memorable night. I got m'first kill!

Since m'birthrite is coming up, I prepared a list of all m'friends and allies to invite. Let it not be said that this dwarf passed up a chance to celebrate and get drunk!

Torrek Spellmason's Birthrite Invitation List:

M'friends in the Company of the Copper Coin:

- Dagmar Anvilheart, Axe-Brother of Clangeddin Silverbeard
- Ander Aslaxin, the Monkey Mage
- Penelope Littlesprout, Mistress of Occipitus
- Brother Gwydion of the Lucky Monkey
- Sorin of Rainhaven
- Ishara of Sasserine, Priestess of Istus

M'family, Clan Spellmason:

- Grandsire Morgrim, Patriarch of Clan Spellmason
- Grandsire Grennel, Matriarch of Clan Spellmason
- Dorag Spellmason, Master Brewer, Father of Torrek
- Tyrra Spellmason, Mistress of Fire, Wife of Dorag
- Balmek Spellmason, Apprentice of Dorag
- Algar Spellmason, Apprentice of Tyrra
- Snaevar Spellmason, Master of Earth, Priest of Moradin
- Jormun Spellmason, Apprentice of Snaevar
- Amakar Spellmason, Master of Tomes
- Sarras Spellmason, Daughter of Amakar
- Prellis Spellmason, Apprentice of Amakar
- Dorn Spellmason, Forge Master
- Beyla Spellmason, Mistress of Crafts, Wife of Dorn
- Gofnyr Spellmason, Son of Dorn
- Rostenoc Spellmason, Son of Dorn
- Vorgrim Spellmason, Apprentice of Dorn
- Batava Spellmason, Apprentice of Beyla
- Cluggin Spellmason, Master Alchemist
- Toffa Spellmason, Feast Mistress, Wife of Cluggin
- Heth Spellmason, Daughter of Cluggin
- Asgrim Spellmason, Son of Cluggin
- Hoff Spellmason, Apprentice of Toffa
- Gulnyr Spellmason, Master of Arms
- Narbeth Spellmason, Mistress of Artefacts, Wife of Gulnyr
- Nartach Spellmason, Son of Gulnyr
- Thendora Spellmason, Daughter of Gulnyr
- Jaer Spellmason, Demonhunter
- Foriel Spellmason, Demonhunter

Allies from the City of Cauldron:

- Lord Arius Vhalantru
- Lord Zachary Aslaxin I
- Lady Thifrane Rhiavadi
- Jenya Urikas, High-Priestess of Saint Cuthbert
- Sir Alek Tercival, Paladin of Saint Cuthbert
- Ruphus Laro, Priest of Saint Cuthbert
- Skylar Krewis, Sergeant of the City Watch
- Shensen Tesseril, Strider of Fharlanghn
- Skie Aldersun, Proprietress of Skie's Treasury
- Gretchyn Tashykk, Mistress of the Lantern Street Orphanage
- Zachary Aslaxin II, Stormblade
- Cora Lathenmire, Stormblade
- Annah Taskerhill, Stormblade
- Todd Vanderboren, Stormblade

Torrek's Tall Tavern Tales: The Fury of Vaprak's Voice (Part Two)

Turns out lots happened while I was dead. M'companions retreated from the fire giant, named Dugobras as we later found out, after meself and Dagmar fell. After a few hours to catch their breaths, they sneaked back into Vaprak's Voice to rescue our bodies. Avoiding Dugobras, they came upon a trio of old women attempting to animate m'corpse and slew the old hags. (This dwarf doesn't quite understand how three old women posed much of a problem to seasoned adventurers. Ah well, tis probably best not to ask, I be grateful to not be one of the place's more permanent guardians.) Sneaking back outside, they began the journey back to the town of Redgorge to get the two of us raised proper.

Twas a day's travel away from Vaprak's Voice when Dagmar and meself miraculously came back to life. And just in time for breakfast too! Dying really works up an appetite, trust me. Most people would be grateful to have their lives back and probably use the opportunity to retire from the adventuring trade and call themselves lucky. Not I! That overgrown blacksmith still had m'waraxe, armour, and shield! Hell have no fury like an angry robbed dwarf. (Me greatuncle, Cluggen Spellmason, was fond of that saying. He once had his purse lifted in town by some thieves and nearly burned a whole city block trying to take out them cutpurses.) Anyways, back to Vaprak's Voice we went. Besides, we still had to find Tercival!

Upon our arrival, that fool of a giant was kind enough to leave m’shield by the main gate with a note telling us he wanted to talk. When we found ‘im, he didn’t have much to say (giants sure are grumpy when they wake up), but was willing to give us our arms back if we left him alone. Twice the fool this Dugobras was, but I sure was happy to get m’hands on m’waraxe again. Now, let it not be said that the Company of the Copper Coin doesn’t finish what it begins. Needing to find Tercival, the giant was the only lead we had and Ander was determined to milk this one for all its worth. As for meself, I was more than willing to help ‘im do it. Now, I couldn’t hear what was being said, Ander and Dagmar having cast spells of invisibility and silence on me, but when I saw the giant try to grab Ander, I grabbed m’axe and stuck it in the giant’s arse. Hah! Wish the lot of you could’ve seen the look on his face. This time Dugobras didn’t stand a chance. Thanks to a bit of protective magic from m’friend Gwydion, this dwarf hardly got hurt at all.

Yarr, but the story doesn’t end here m’friends. Making our way deeper into the Vaprak’s Voice, we finally found Tercival in the most unlikely of places: a mirror! Ander would tell you it was actually a portal, but it looked like a freakin’ mirror to me. Ander’s usually right about that sort of thing. Anyways, when I walked into the mirror, I found meself in a room with another five portals. Stepping through one of those brought me into another room, exactly the same except a different colour. A good thing Gwydion was nearby or I would still be walking around in them chambers. Finally, thanks to Gwydion’s directions, we walked into a ruined cell with none other than Alek Tercival as its sole occupant. Strangely enough, Tercival seemed a bit under the weather, almost as if he had drank himself into a stupor. It took a bit of convincing to take him out of it, but we finally got ‘im to agree to follow us back to Redgorge. Big problem though. Turns out we couldn’t go back the way we came. Opening the only other door brought us to another chamber. Lo and behold, an opening to the outdoors showed us that we were somewhere within the Sea of Dust! For those of you who don’t know where that is, know that it’s a long walk back to Cauldron.

Just as I’m wondering how Ander was gonna get us out of this mess (when in doubt, ask the wizard), flames suddenly sprang out of the ground and a four-armed demon appeared as if from nowhere. Now, I might not be as magically inclined as some of m’cousins, but I know a glabrezu when I see one. But this unholy fiend was none other than Nabthatoron, Lord of the Demonskar and arch-foe of m’ancestor, Surabar Spellmason. Finally, a chance to prove m’worth to Surabar, Nidrama, and m’clan. M’waraxe, hammered in the cold forges of Clan Splintershield and blessed by the Forge-Father and Silverbeard, thirsted for the fiend’s blood. The moment I had been preparing for m’whole life had finally come. And then it passed. As if often the case in battle, everything happened so fast. One second I’m face to face with m'foe, trying to land a blow, the next I’m standing over his body, dead from a single arrow to the head, shot by Gwydion’s bow. Twas most probably the most impressive shot I have ever laid m’eyes upon. Oh well, I’m sure m’time will come. Lots of other demons in the Demonskar, or so I hear.

So how did we finally get back to Redgorge? That story, m’friends, will require another round of drinks…

Torrek's Tall Tavern Tales: The Fury of Vaprak's Voice (Part One)

Nothing really gets the blood flowing like being surrounded by a dozen giants. On the trail of Alek Tercival, a paladin of St. Cuthbert having gone missing, we came upon an ancient dwelling near on the edges of the Demonskar. The ancient tablet we had come upon led us to believe that Tercival had come this way. Twas slightly before nightfall when we first approached "Vaprak's Voice". Expecting hosts of demons to inhabit the area, imagine my surprise to find the place was host to giants! Ahh...twas a fine fight. Blessed we were by the favour of Silverbeard as m'self and m'companions took on dozens of giants. As the bumps on m'noggin can confess, these giants were of the hard-hitting kind. Tis a good thing to have a fellow dwarf heal ye wounds as fast as ye get 'em. M'axe sang beautifully, inspired no doubt by the fair Nidrama, an angel who had come upon us the night before to show us the path. The same angel who had gifted m'ancestor, Surabar Spellmason, with a weapon to defeat the demonic hordes of the Demonskar years ago. Boy, but this beardless lass could make m'heart pound like a Tarrasque with hiccups. One of these days I shall win that fair maiden's heart and the gods will wake from their slumber from the sounds of our... carousing.

Aye, so where was I? Oh right, the giants. So, no sooner had we dispatched the giants that we set about exploring the godsforsaken place. Coming upon a strange metal door, we were somewhat surprised to see the door open by itself as if by magic. 'Sprout, standing at the doorway, was probably even more surprised as she found herself on the receiving end of a flying flaming anvil. That's right, ye all heard me. A flying flaming anvil! Standing by one heluva of a flaming forge, was a flame giant, wielding the biggest hammer I had yet to lay m'eyes upon. Not one to let some overgrown blacksmith pick on m'friends, I yelled out a battlecry and engaged the bastard. Father always said I should think with m'head and not with m'axe. Most fights I get in don't usually last more than a minute before I wipe the blood of m'foes from m'axe. This time the battle lasted all but twelve seconds before yours truly was knocked down like a kobold nanny.

Next thing I know, I'm on the battlements of Ysgard, side by side with Dagmar, taking on a host of orcs along with a host of dwarves. Good times indeed, but apparently this only happens when you're dead! Tis hard to remember things when you’re dead, much like the befuddlement I usually feel after a nightful of dwarven spirits. But I do remember a few things. I saw m’ancestor Surabar, in the flesh, more or less. He said to me, “Torrek, your mission on Oerth is far from over. You still have great things to accomplish. Tis the will of the gods for ye (and Dagmar) to go back and defend Cauldron. And you can start by kicking that giant’s arse. After that, follow the sign of the Smoking Eye. Your destiny awaits.” Nidrama was there too, the sweet lass. I’m afraid she couldn’t say much, with Surabar being there and all, but this dwarf could see the fire in her eyes when she looked upon me. Alas that was the last that I remembered of the time I spent being dead. Tis good being dead, sometimes. But tis even better to live and enact vengeance upon the one who kills ye…