[PROLOGUE]The Search For The Lost Artifact of Arkos

“It sure is good to be back in the sky again, isn’t it?”

“You are just happy to be back on Wings…..”

Two guys are seen talking to each other on the starboard of Wings, a huge airship which could easily be mistaken as a gigantic blue dragon. One of the guy is covered in black cloak while wearing a leather armour underneath is having a conversation with another guy wearing a red trench coat.

“Come on now Loki…ever since the last time, we haven’t had much fun like this.”

“You are quite right there, Ivan. There just ain’t much bad guys for me to trash anymore.” replied Loki.

Both guys started laughing. Both are friends who were accidentally thrown into this crazy parallel world. Although both friends were separated at first, in the end they fought together at the plains of Horos to end the first war. All of a sudden, a magical circle appeared behind them. Out came an elderly man of 65 years wearing a blue robe covering his shoulder till his feet.

“Hey, Old Mal. What brought you out here?” asked Loki, without even turning his back.

“What are you two doing out here? Didn’t you hear the announcement that we are all suppose to assemble in the war room?” Old Mal replied with a stern voice.

“Sorry about that Malfester. We were just remembering the old days.” Ivan replied while leaning on the railing at the side.

Malfester sighed as he snapped his fingers. Immediately, the same magical circle appeared beneath them. The two of them felt themselves sinking into the floor and as soon as the ring appeared, it vanished together with Loki and Ivan. The two of them find themselves inside the war room. At the meeting table, two guys were already seated and were looking somewhat unhappy.

“We’re sorry for being late Marus but we were caught up with something.” Ivan apologized before Loki could say anything else. Loki got the hint and just took his seat.

“Never mind about that. Let’s just get to the matter at hand. We all know that we have to find the lost artifact of Arkos. Intelligence have located that one of the map that will lead us to this artifact is located in the city that we are heading to now. I don’t really know how Intelligence dug this stuff up but it seems like that there is another unidentified group that is after this artifact too. Whatever it is, this mission is of top priority and a failure is not affordable. And Ivan, I would prefer if you would refer to me properly the next time.” Marus said in a serious tone.

“Very well Captain Marus. How do you suggest we find what we are supposed to look for? It’s not like the baron of Tielrhadu will just let us in and search each and every children in his city. You know that if we are caught, this could jeopardize the relationship of Gyphe and Tielrhadu” snapped Ivan.

“Ah, that….Luckily for us, King Luke has an important meeting with Baron Luthier. For the success of this mission, we have suggested that Kaiser be the emissary for the King. Malfester will be following Kaiser to help discuss some urgent matters. However, this whole operation will be kept totally secret. Even the baron must not know of it. That’s where both of you, Loki and Ivan, will secretly search for that child we are suppose to look for. Try to keep your identities a secret. You should know how both of your reputation presides you.” Marcus briefed the four of them calmly.

“I don’t think it will it will be much of a problem for me. I just hope I can distract Baron Luhtier long enough for you two to locate that child. Just don’t try to get into any troubles.” Kaiser spoke up.

As the briefing ended, each of them went out their separate ways and prepares for the mission. Fifteen minutes later, Captain Marus’s voice boomed over the intercom announcing their arrival at Tielrhadu. As they got up to the bridge, the view of Tielrhadu comes into sight. Tielrhadu, a once small merchant town started in between two river forks is now a booming city filled with traders and merchants from all over the place seeking for fortunes and golds.

Kaiser and Malfester are greeted by the baron himself while being escorted by a number of his personal guards. As the attentions are thrown towards Kaiser and Malfester, Loki and Ivan grappled down from behind Wings and sneaked into the shadows. Moving silently, they climbed down towards the city, avoiding the regular patrol group of guards and the unseen traps that laid around in wait for their unfortunate victim. Moments later, both of them entered the city of Tielrhadu through a back alley.

“Let’s spilt up here. Call me when you find the child or if you get into any trouble.” Ivan said as he breaks away from Loki.

Without saying anymore, both of them split up and went in different directions. Back in Tielrhadu Castle, Kaiser, Malfester and Baron Luthier are discussing urgent matters which are proceeding smoothly. Hours went by but Loki and Ivan still hadn’t had any success in locating their target. All the clues they had was that the child has a marking of an Arkos emblem on their body and the location is kept hidden by the Guild of Watchers.

“Maybe if I go up to higher ground, I can see the overview of this damn city.” grunted Ivan.

Climbing up the stairs of the nearby city tower that he could locate, Ivan reached the top with a few minutes of walking. The city is huge, filled with people walking around going about with their businesses. However, he couldn’t spot Loki among this huge mass of crowd. Somehow, he felt a strange feeling and turned his back looking towards the horizon. What he noticed first was just a simple black dot in the sky ahead. Upon closer inspection, he noticed six airships of which he has never seen before approaching towards Tielrhadu. Just for safety reason, he decided to call in Wings’ control bridge.

Back in Wings, everything was calm. Few hours passed by and nothing out of the ordinary happened. Out of a sudden, the sensor ran wild. Captain Marus who was in the bridge was surprised and immediately ask for a status report.

“Captain, we got six incoming airships. Identified two battleship class and four escorts. Nation of origin unidentified as of yet, captain.” the comm. engineer immediately reported.

“Marus……Marus………Can you hear me?” Ivan’s voice could be heard over the intercom.

“It’s Captain Marus. Have you found the “map” yet?”

“Unsuccessful yet. But is the baron expecting any other guests? And I would prefer if you would regard the “map” as a living being and not as an object.”

“This is not the time for useless debate. We might be in trouble if we do not find the child now. I have a hint that this is the group Intelligence was talking about.” Captain Marus replied over the intercom.

“Then shouldn’t we evacuate the people here? Casualties will be high if a war…….. Oh no…….”

Without any warnings, one of the turret of the airship shot its cannon towards the city. Two missed it’s target and slammed into the city wall, rocking the whole foundation of the wall unstable. The wall still stands but taking a few more hits like that will only prove to be fatal. The other shot went sailing towards the tower Ivan was in. What he saw just a massive fireball, both scorching and fast, coming towards him. Without wasting anytime, he hooked one of his grappling hooks and grappled down the tower. As the fireball impacted itself on the tower, debris of rocks are sent flying all over the place. The hook broke loose and Ivan went plummeting down 30 feet before hitting one of the roofs of a building below.

“What the hell just happened!? What was that big explosion we heard just now!?”

“Looks like the enemy just fired at us. Nothing much we can do about that but to get all these civilians out of here. Hopefully, the “map” might be one of the evacuates.” Ivan replied while trying to catch his breath.

“Kaiser!! Does the baron know anything about this?”

“Yeah, looks like we just got sold out, Ivan. It seems like we were able to squeeze some juicy information from him.” Kaiser immediately relayed the information.

“How did you know that?” Ivan was puzzled.

“He was really trying to finish the discussion fast and his eyes were looking kinda suspicious. I felt something was amiss and just took hold of the situation. Lucky for me, I hit the jackpot. How’s the situation out there now?” said Kaiser.

“Very bad!! The wall just gave way and orcs are flooding the place. I don’t think the guards can hold out that long. We need to evacuate everyone now!!” replied Ivan.

Hordes of heavily armoured orcs flooded the city immediately as the city wall fell. They slaughtered all the guards without showing any emotions mercy. Tens of guards fell in the first breach and innocent civilians were killed in the killing frenzy.

“Yo, Ivan!!” A familiar voice came out from the earring on Ivan’s ear.

“LOKI!! Where the hell are you!? Any luck on the objective yet?”

“I found the “map” all right. The baron has got to find better ways to hide stuffs. I am right inside the house where I found her.”

“Oooh, so it’s a little girl…….Anyway, things are getting too out of hand here. Get to the airship with the girl fast.” Ivan demanded while dodging a few axe slashes aimed towards him.

“Too late for that. Marus just left with Wings to the front line. The 2nd fleet should arrive as reinforcement in four hours time. We just got to hold out until then.” Loki’s voice can be heard from the earring.

“FOUR HOURS!! That’s just great. Just try to bring all the civilians somewhere safe. And stay alive with the girl.” Ivan quickly switches communication to another recipient. “Kaiser. You there?”

“Yeah, Kaiser here. How are things getting along out there?”

“Very bad. I don’t even think if we can even hold out for four hours. How’s the castle holding?”

“Castle’s been breached. They somehow sent in another wave from the northern district. Caught us here by surprise. Need you to come here fast to help us out. We are currently holding our position up here. There’s a secret pathway at the back of the castle. You’ll know it when you see it.”

“Fine, I am heading your way. Get Mal to summon for help. We’re gonna need them…..and we need them fast.”

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Reminder: The reason the story may sound somewhat ridiculous and blurry is because I intentionally put it that way so you can question my NPCs during the campaign.

Parallel World Adventure

Due to some nice feedbacks from players, I will bring back the continuation of my campaign this 9th September. To help me in preparing for my first day back as DM, I would like some help from players that will be joining me on that night:

1) Please think through on what character you REALLY want to play but was never given the
chance. [How wild you can get is how wild I can become.]
2) After thinking what you want to play, please consult me as soon as possible before the actual
game-day. Those who fail to do so can still join the game but will only have their character
suffer a severe level and game-play progress growth.
3) Those who have thought their character but are unable to finalize his/her skills and etc.,
please consult me as soon as possible too.

Rules of the game:

1) Please be warned that whatever your character does in my campaign will affect the future
flow of the campaign. Please becareful in choosing what path of action that you might want
to make.
2) NPCs and surroundings are never as what they seem to be.
3) Please play as a team as casualty rate is a 90% in my campaign.
4) Dont get angry and quit halfway.
5) Dont waste my time with useless questions that can be ignored.
6) Do NOT ask me "What can my character do?". Should any players ask me this, I shall invoke
rule "Refer to "What can my character do?" guide for the dummy".
7) Dont refer too much to the AD&D players, items and monster guide.
8) Have fun.