Overkill Permanently Captured

Majestic, Time – past the witching hour.
Dear Father Phillip

Sometimes I feel life is like this- you work your but off gathering wood, and the tree falls on you.

But just when you think things can’t get any worse, they do. The fight against evil has been getting us all down, with some of us being taken for torturing by the Agent and having to trudge through the soul wearying Jungles of Yin to fighting creatures of evil in what could only be called charnel houses. It has been an entirely depressing time, and we are now waiting for more of our own to be taken an tortured. The thought of it is frightening to know the same fate awaits me. I can only hope I hold up as well as all the others have.
But as they say, every cloud has a silver lining, and for whatever reasons Mary, Overkill’s beloved was returned to him and after a period of mourning for the daughter the Agent tortured and killed they seemed to start healing each other just by being near each other.

And then Tyvernos was taken from us, I am not going to dwell on this unhappy event, we tried to figure out ways to stop or change this but we couldn’t. All I could do was pray for his safety.

The days passed and he didn’t return, and all we could do was hope our prayers for him helped him in some way.

And as suddenly as he was taken, he was returned, and what can I say, he had been tortured in ways that I couldn’t bear think about, and that will always leave a scar, but his heart seemed unmarked, and after a day or 2 was back as close to being his cheery self as he could considering the circumstances. Our diminutive friend had taken all that the Agent could throw at him and it wasn’t enough to break his courage or his will. The strength of the so called little people amazes me sometimes, and it’s going to be interesting to see who gets to kill the agent first, because after this the line is going to be very long, as he isn’t just taking CrIsis members.

And then the happy news
Overkill Glandar of House Ironforge of the Redbeard Clan proposed to Mary Von Lorde with the wedding to be held in Mishala.

This was the best news I had heard for a long, long time (seems like almost forever).
Not only was his beloved out of the hands of the Agents, we had an excellent reason to have a big party and honour the gods of light at the same time.

I could go on about the trek through the jungle wildlands but it was depressing, wet, muddy, mosquito blown, and if I didn’t mention it was very very wet, very very muddy, and I think I saw a mosquito trying to get into Overkills Armour, except it was too small. (The armour that is, not the mosquito. They would give the Vampires of the Empire of Sin a run for their money).

Oh yes, in all that had happened another little miracle occurred, Overkill had been visited by The Lord Horus and given a great gift , Golden Armour, as of the sun itself. It seems to fit him perfectly, and will bring fear to the evil that’s against us, because it looks like something out of the Saga’s of Old where the armour would turn the blows of the mightiest giant and bring light to the darkest corners. When you see it you will understand what I mean. On the battlefield you can’t miss seeing him because now he will be the bright shiny tornado of death.

So the trek was pretty much the same as last time, and all that changed were the creatures trying to hinder or eat us. We skirted the Dragonsgate as we actually met some friendly people in the jungle and they warned us that the Cult of Dragonwright was active again, and that evil dragons were on the prowl. Normally we wouldn’t worry and try and sneak past but with Mary about we decided to go the long way, and eventually we made it to Mishala. Mishala the Grande, Mishala the hidden, but more importantly Mishala the clean. We were covered in muck from travelling through the Jungle, and probably smelt as bad as we looked. When we get to town a bath and clean clothes would be a welcome relief. Some people live here easily, but the local insect life had decided that I was going to be Entrée to Crisis Salmagundi.

Upon entering town we headed to Rog-Tilda, as we had been away for a while, and he managed to cheer us all up. We visited previous friends, and I also went to the home of Nara’s parents, and they are still showing their grief, I thought that my presence would rekindle their grief and decided to leave them be until I can return Nara to her home. We then went and saw Sulyott the All-Knowing, and we badgered him with Questions like we normally do (and he answered them as he normally does) and he secretly agreed to enchant the Tankards that would be the present from Crisis. The local jeweler managed to make a clever pair, with lids as well to prevent spillage while at sea, and these were handed over to Sulyott to do his magiking on the urging of Xerx’ses (It was like Xerx’ses had channelled his womanly/heifer or whatever female minotaurs are called side). I liked this idea too, it added mystery to the present because if Overkill asks me what they do, I can smile and say ask Sulyott.

26th Majestik
Today’s the day that we get to take Overkill on his last day as a practising single guy, I heard that Mary had her Henna night last night and from the laughing and giggling it sounded like it was a great success, now if only we could do that for Overkill (Overkill giggling is a scary thought). I thought our best bet would be to take Rogtilda out for some fishing so he can join in the celebrations as well. I managed to get help from Mikala’s staff at his manor in this endeavour and they were very very sneaky too. They managed to get Rogtilda filled with supplies for our Journey (Not sure where they got the Dwarven Ale from but it was the perfect touch). Now all we had to do was get Overkill onto the boat before he woke up so we could set sail. Ja’Deir proved invaluable here. His mental powers were easily a match for the task at hand and we quietly snuck into the room. Ja’deir casually waved his hand and Overkills bed gently lifted up, we opened the doors to the balcony and Ja’Deir gently floated the bed outside, then as we quietly walked down the street couple of guards checked out what we were doing, but Mikala had warned them that we might be doing something like this, so they just chuckled to themselves and moved on. Eventually everyone was on the boat, and luckily Overkill was floating through the air or Rogtilda’s excitement would definitely have woken him up. We put him on the deck, got some kegs out and talked Xerx’ses into making a triple bacon and beef breakfast, and when that was ready we got the fishing rods out, and woke Overkill. Note to ones self, when waking Overkill from sleep make sure you do it from a looong distance away as he can awaken *grouchy*, but the bacon and beer fixed him up quick smart. By this stage we were a fair way out to see so we did the only thing you could do on such a voyage, we fished.

We fished and caught quite a haul as Asher easily caught the most (06 to 37 next highest), the lucky so and so, but I guess the rules are if you caught em you clean em, so he had to spend a bit of the morning doing that as we had fresh fish wrapped in bacon for lunch, and washed it down with some wine, or mead or whatever one of the 10 different types of alcohol was aboard.
After the mornings fishing and lunch it was time for the games, we are all very competitive and I had no idea who was going to win what.

First up was Kings Crowns, its a poker like game only played with dice, and Xerx’ses seemed to pick up on the nuances of the game the quickest (or was less drunk, not sure which) and crushed all opposition, after that defeat I decided on a more strategic game and went for Fox and Hounds, both Tyvernos and Ja’Deir played well with Jadeir taking the win in a last minute gambit (which included showing Tyvernos a new Herb he found in the jungles).

After this I decided are more physical game was needed, so we grabbed a rope strung it across the deck over the cargo hold, got some nasty seaweed and muck to break the fall and started. This was a great fight as the weaker looking party members had, lets just say tricks up their sleeves.

Jadeir beat me with combined muscle and mind muscle (I swear), Asher and Tyvernos faced off, and Asher certainly had the first round easily, but then Tyvernos turned into a creature of the wind and slimed Asher twice. (Who knew he could do that). But then it was the battle Royal, Overkill vs Xerx’ses. In the blue corner weighing in at a few thousand pounds is Xerx’ses, In the red corner, also weighing in at a few thousand pounds but about %10 the height, Overkill. This was going to be a competition to remember.
They both grabbed the rope tensed it and pulled as hard as they could, both Xerx’ses and Overkill slipped as the rope broke, hunting around we managed to find some chain and the competition continued. Xerx’ses strained, and Overkill slid a little, Xerx’ses redoubled his efforts and dragged Overkill closer, but Overkill managed to find some more grip and made back some ground, then in a spectacular move Xerx’ses leaned down low and gave some slack, then stood to his full height and yanked Overkill fully off his feet (yay nat 20). Overkill slid along the deck and Joined me and Asher in getting slimed.

Then Rogtilda stomped forward and had a go, Xerx’ses is strong, but unfortunately it seemed as if Rogtilda had a home ground advantage and pulled Xerx’ses to the edge, Xerx’ses. rather than getting slimed just simply let go. Rogtilda won the tug of war.

We obviously had to wash some muck out of our throats (well some of us did) so we had a few more drinks, and we toasted to Crisis members both present and absent .

Then it was time for the game of Hazard, yet again I think Rogtilda won as I wasn’t sure of the rules. We had a pot (of mead) and each bet a shot, then the “Caster” had to roll and if he rolled that number a second time he won the pot, if he didn’t he sculled the pot, but apparently rolling other numbers did other things too, Rogtilda won by default of not being able to drink (He was getting Overkill to do that for him), I didn’t think that one through real well but nobody seemed to mind.

Then more feats of strength, Arm Wrestling, Xerx’ses changed into human form so Overkill could at least play against him, and this was a tense game as well, Overkill started a full strength attack, and that seemed to surprise Xerx’ses and Overkill got his arm down 2/3rds of the way, but then Xerx’ses rallied in an Amazing fashion, and when he got his arm vertical slammed Overkills arm to the desk (nat 20 yay), Overkill almost had him but Xerx’ses just managed to fight back and win, Rogtilda couldn’t join in because he was to big, so Xerx’ses was the winner.

Then during the late afternoon I approached Ja’deir about him doing some sort of spectacular illusion, even if we only believe it happened, he smiled to himself, picked some fish out of his teeth and grabbed another drink. I had a funny feeling Overkill was going to be in for one hell of a show.
and was I ever right. Have you ever seen a Lo-Dox ?

Do not call them a dragon turtle, here I was thinking Jadeir would use a nice illusion, but somehow he managed to attract a dragon. Only in Crisis could this happen.

It started well enough, we heard this eathereal singing that turned loud and lusty, and sure enough, on either side of the ship were some er . . . dwarvish mermaids, and they were singing about beer, I think, as my dwarvish is not up to scratch, but it certainly amused Overkill, Their beards were long and silky and platted, their eyebrows bushy and their, well I’ll leave it up to your imagination. Ja’deir is damn good at this (or had put some thought into something like this beforehand) was what I was thinking, until the dockworker in the Crows nest, I think he was hiding from Xerx’ses from when Xerx’ses complimented him on his fishing line skills
and smiled at him, I think he almost soiled his pants, but I guess they are sharp pointy teeth, called out that there was Land Ho, maybe I shouldn’t have got Tyvernos to supply the 13 special herbs and spices for the Fried Chicken on board, but it tasted damn good.

We all stumbled over to the port side, and lo and behold, there was a small island that surely hadn’t been there half an hour ago. We all stumbled around a bit trying to decide what to do and decided that taking the longboat over was a good idea, just as we got it unstrapped some more rocks came up out of the water, except these rocks had eyes, we all scrambled back as this giant head came up out of the water and we stumbled back, it was a turtle, a gigantic huginormous turtle with flipperish wings as well as stumpy legs. It looked all in all somewhat ridiculous, like someone has some clay of life and couldn’t quite decide on the shape they wanted. It was a Lodox, and the one thing I remember from the books is they are touchy about their appearance and their power levels, as being a water dragon they think people make fun of them.
I tried not to smile and turned to warn the others and just as I opened my mouth to say something Overkill’s loud voice boomed out over the water, “Look at the size of that toirtoise. Mah stonemother would flip that guy over and cook him in his shell” and started laughing, loudly. Everybody else was quiet as a mouse, Then Rogtilda said “I don’t think big fishy liked being called turtle Overkee”. We heard a deep rumbling, coming from the Lodox, it got louder and louder until it started guffawing (I don’t know any other word that quite matched). It laughed loudly, and while doing so rumbled out “A dwarf, in Golden Armour on a talking boat that talks with a troglodyte accent in the southern Seas with a Minotaur as first mate, now I have seen everything.” Then it inhaled, and exhaled with a roar, and we picked up a burst of negative speed, i.e we flew BACK towards the coast at incredible speed, until just as the sun touched the horizon we were coming into the bay, backwards. The back of the ship finally dug in and water and food went everywhere. After the drenching we managed to get the ship turned around, and other than a few bruises we were none the worse for wear (However I don’t think the guy in the crow’s nest is going to get on a ship for a goodly while).

We docked and all stumbled into town, where Mikala’s staff had a conventional feast prepared and we all got cleaned up and ready, and the rest of the night passed in a much more conventional way, (except less brawling would be my guess). The head of staff mentioned in passing that he heard about our encounter with Tarihimal the Lodox, and he too laughed when he found out how it went. I’m not sure what really happened after the meal, there was music dancing and some really strong wine. All I know is that I was woken up before dawn to prepare for the midday ceremony. Because Rogtilda couldn’t come onto land the townsfolk had spent the night making some extra additions to the dock, and when I approached the next morning Rogtilda was basically affixed to the quay, the quay had a long gold and red carpet and the ground was strewn with petals of the native flowers, and at the end of the carpet there were some freshly made stairs that went up to the deck of the ship. Rogtilda had been done up as well, someone had made some big pennants of the gods of light and Crisis and affixed them to the ship, and there were two smaller boats either side of the quay with musicians. As I preferred the role of friend rather than officiator I decided that the priest who ran the shrine was a nice fellow, and got him to officiate so I could join in the festivities as well. Time went by slowly as the last of the touches were put on the decorations and the guests took their seats (glad I wasn’t the seating planner, there were a lot of very important people there. Sulyott, and even some priests of Dragonwright showed up, and the air was festive so there were no vigorous religious discussions.
Then just before 12 the band started up and everybody went quiet. Overkill starting fidgeting and Xerx’ses adjusted Overkills tie a third time.
…and then Mary came into view and everyone ooohed as sunlight streamed down from the sky in sparkles and lit up her radiant smile. She slowly moved down the quay, flower petals swirling around her feet, the waters still and quiet, until she came unto her husband and lo, light fell from the heavens unto his brow as well, and lit Overkill up so all could see his joy and love.

Then Harold, the priest from the shrine, gathered his wits and started the ceremony.

Mawage. Mawage is wot bwings us togeder tooday. Mawage, that bwessed awangment, that dweam wifin a dweam…
And wuv, tru wuv, will fowow you foweva…
So tweasure your wuv.

This went on for about 15 minutes, until it came for the time of the vows.
I’m not sure how private Overkill wanted to keep these so I will say it moved everybody, and there were tears (who knew Kobolds could cry) and laughter.

At the end of it a Storm appeared off in the distance with lightning and thunder, but was moving parallel with the coast so we got nary a raindrop.

I suspect deific intervention was involved, but with all the people of power here who could really tell.
But I would be surprised if none of the gods had showed up in disguise, but being disguised no-one noticed them. They have been here for the painful times, so why not the good times as well?

Well its past midnight and my hand and mind are starting to wander, I am going down to the shrine to pray for the safety of those that couldn’t be here today. Overkill and Mary’s wedding went off without a . . . without trouble and I think we can thank the gods for that.

May Overkill and Mary have many, many children.

Written on the XXth of Majestic, the day/early morning after overkill got caught by Mary written by the hand ofIndaris Excellar

Murphy the otter by Kyung Soo Park.
The mud of Borneo by Travel Journals.
Overkills and Mary’s Mugs byGeeks are Sexy.
Fox and geese boardgame by Passion For Puzzles.
Twue Wov by the awesomeness that is Princess Bride and No Aura Journals.

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