by Atei on Sun Mar 02, 2003 6:25 pm
*Toten Atei*
I will try to relay what I can about the fight to finally end Gizash's reign of terror.
This past Friday began peacefully enough in WoD. There were the usual happenings: people crafting and visiting in the bank, people hunting various prey either in the open or in the many various dungeons of the Lands, people dying.
For several weeks leading up to this day, the heroes of Britannia had been dealing with the "headhunter" problem. My brother Covenant and his wife Sholeh ran across a Headhunter Mage near a shrine a couple of weeks ago and various others had reported sightings of Juniors, Seniors and Chieftains. Several notes had been found indicating that the headhunters were to gather heads for "someone." The notes were always fairly cryptic: "Gather heads for He comes" and the like. A couple of weeks ago Covenant had unwittingly released the Spirit of Lord Gizash and it became apparent who "he" was.
On Friday, Bishop Duncan arrived at the Bank to inform us that there were several "mystical" boxes in the various dungeons and they must be retrieved. We fought through Famine, Fire, Wind; others found them in other dungeons. Finally all had been collected save 1, and this one Gizash himself held. Rocks delivered the boxes we had collected to the Yew Abbey on this day and then all we could do was wait.
Yesterday, Saturday, I was in the bank making blank scrolls for my brother Aellius when Bishop Duncan returned. He said that he and Guildmaster Conner were searching for the location of Gizash and that missing box. He also told us that once the final box was retrieved, and Gizash's body was dead, we were to dismember it and take the parts, along with the final box and head to the Abbey. He returned a short time later and told us that a hidden gate had been discovered in the Wind Park and that Gizash and his unholy minions lay on the other side. At this point, feeling that Covenant would want to play a part in that evil Lord's demise, I summoned him and returned home.
**hands quill to Covenant**
**takes quill from Toten**
*Covenant Atei*
Forgive me if some of this accounting is a bit inaccurate. I seem to have lost my notes.
When I arrived at the Brit Bank, some of the party had already gone ahead to Wind. Nethlek, Blaze and I gated over to the Wind entrance. Since neither of them knew the way to the Park, I led the way. We basically followed the trail of broken corpses of the inhabitants of that foul place and we were soon at the entrance. Along the way several death cries, belonging to the first group, rang out.
When we arrived on scene, the group was dealing with an Agent of Gizash and the fun-loving folk of Wind -- a lethal combination to say the least. Finally the group was able to overwhelm their attackers and our fallen heroes were resurrected. It took us quite a while to clear Wind Park. In addition to the "normal inhabitants" of the place, including reapers, giant serpents and adept mages, we also had to deal with the Headhunters, again.
Felix Maher (or Majen, not sure which), a Master Scout, went ahead through the secret gate (in stealth mode) and relayed his findings back to us. Awaiting us with black glee in their hearts and murder in their eyes were Ancient Dragons, Purple Wisps, a LOT of Headhunters and of course, the Agents of Gizash. Felix also reported that Lord Gizash himself was there.
We prepared ourselves and charged through the portal. Several of the heroes who had died by foolishly rushing ahead either during Friday's trips or earlier on this one learned their lessons and the group pretty much stayed together. There were booby traps planted (a tell-tale sign is the dirt on the floor that leaves only a small space to squeeze through) and these were immediately noticed by Malakim and Rocks. Despite their warnings several were set off and the group had to deal with explosions, energy fields, poison fields and blinding darkness.
Felix had scouted our path and it was decided we would take the long way around. We fought Ancient Dragons (sometimes two at a time, yikes), a ton of Headhunters and the Agents of Gizash. Thankfully the Purple Wisps were few and far between (a Purple Wisp is about 3-4 times harder to kill than a Black Wisp).
We finally made our way to the corridor that held Lord Gizash, and here the fighting really intensified. Headhunters had learned to poison and the Headhunter Mages couldn't be drained of their mana. There was at least one, maybe two Purple Wisps and Gizash himself. In addition, the Queen of the Headhunters was there and she fought like another Purple Wisp.
A lot of the heroes tasted death here, but in the end, all of the evil-doers were defeated. Lord Gizash's broken corpse lay at my feet and as I looted him, his body parts came away. I also collected the final Mystical Chest. Using my Necro talents, I turned the remaining corpse into a zombie and then released it. There was nothing left.
At this point I was ready to leave. The fight had been long and straining and I wished to return home to my wife Sholeh, but others wanted to stay. I nearly died when a Headhunter Chieftain, apparently not appreciating the service we had done the civilized world by killing Lord Gizash, attacked me, but my fellow heroes defeated him.
At last safe and sound back at the Bank, we began to split the bounty when Bishop Duncan returned. He requested that the final box, along with Gizash's remains, be brought to the Abbey.
After the loot was split, the majority of the group that had defeated Lord Gizash went to the Abbey where Bishop Duncan had laid out the nine Mystical Boxes. He instructed me to place the tenth and final box in its proper location and then told me to put the various body parts in particular boxes. Through his powers, he sent each one to a different location. He said even he didn't know where they went. Finally, I asked the Bishop about the Magic Key that had released the Spirit of Lord Gizash and he asked that I place that in the Yew Chest, which I did last evening.
So there you have it. Not only was Lord Gizash defeated, he was cut up into ten chunks and each piece was sent far away from any other part.
Have we seen the end of Lord Gizash? I highly doubt it. True evil can never be totally defeated, only contained for a while. I imagine his spirit is already searching the Lands in search of his various body parts.