RIP Cragathorn "The Quick," my buddy's 6th level Eleven Thief. My evil 6th level Magic-User had adventured with him for three real life years.
They escaped slavery together; travelled to the savage frozen north; escaped death by the sweat of their balls countless times; inflicted "reverse mental torture" psychological warfare upon a band of bandits for months.
Tonight we were in Malikarr; when I was tipsy last session my sorcerer and one other PC barged into the sunken temple of a beggar cult (always bad news). My PC was Held by a priest and today Cragathorn saved his helpless ass.
We decided to beat the hoof from this island, to avoid the blowback from the beggar cult and also because we were intuiting that the Set slaver cult that we joined and subsequently ditched to escape slavery were on our trail.
After healing up in a remote fishing village we made sail for the City-State of the Invincible Overlord. We were making good time but in an egregious case of paranoia failure we sailed too close roam island.
As a player I am terrified of islands; of course a 17 foot tall cyclops swam up to our vessel and stuffed not only two crewmen but also Cragathorn into a sack while we desperately attempted to kill it before it went swimming off.
My sorcerer used his Ebony Fly to stalk the cyclops and when it made land and started a cookfire he tried to Magic Missile it but was driven away by thrown boulders.
The next morning we sent an Invisible, uninjured Fighter PC to the island on a rowboat on a suicide/recon/rescue mission.
I still don't know what happened to him.
The next morning Gorice flew out on his Ebony Fly to the island, with both his Cronenberger-steed and his self Invisible, but no trace of either PC or the cyclops could be found.
Later Cragathorn was flung out of the magic sack of man-holding and desperately tried to knife the cyclops, but had his head dashed out on a cavern wall.
Cragaorn died, but he died fighting; and he died in an awesome, lurid, pulpy fashion after blooding his foe.
Crom! Count the Dead!
Great story!
ReplyDeleteNicely put Blair. Got my blood going again like those last seconds when I diced those final attack rolls.
ReplyDeleteIt was a disastrous series of events that led to an ultimately fitting and memorable death.
It's been a while since I claimed such a long standing character.
It's something I must inevitably do as an impartial Dungeon Master but I never relish the death of a character I like.