Chapter one: The storm to end all storms "The beginnings of the Vanguard are a mystery to me.. It seems they just appeared out of thin air, which is of course, insane. Yet how did they come to be here in our fair land? Alas, I could not tell thee." - Jasper, renowned historian.
The Baron glanced around anxiously as camp aides ran to and fro. The entire city of Cove seemed to have sprung into life to enjoy the bizarre spectacle. The complete Arcane Squad stood nervously before Cove's noble ruler, arranged in hexagon, indecipherable markings carved deep into the open field they occupied. The project they were undertaking had been deemed mad by the Moonglow Mage Council - not just mad, dangerous. Meddling in such high level magic would bring about no good, they advised. The Baron cared little for the caution of aged scholars however. They knew nothing of the demands of trade and expansion. An empire that stood still was a dying empire, Cove must expand, it must always expand until the whole of Sosaria was in its grip. A permanent moongate would allow this to happen.
"Get on with it!" exclaimed the Baron in frustration, flailing furiously to signal the tense crowd of mages to set about their work. They gazed at one another, unsure, yet bound by oath to perform this perilous task, they obliged. Chanting began in a strange tongue which puzzled all who watched, the atmosphere of curiosity reaching fever pitch as the ritual continued. The markings on the ground began to glow, illuminating the entire field in a pale red light, which grew more intense as the words continued.
Marius Richter, adopted son of the Baron gazed on with visible apprehension. It was up to him, and his assembled legion of men to pass through and secure the newly opened gate. It wasn't a mission anyone envied, even less so as the earth markings pulsated with a more and more violent life, the ground itself now beginning to shake.
The chanting finally died away, creating an uneasy silence. The sergeant of the Arcane squad opened his spellbook, and with a deep sigh shouted the final incantation to seal the spell, his arms raised high towards the sky. At first, nothing happened. The bemused onlookers chatted amongst themselves as the Baron's face flashed red. It seemed like the entire affair had been nothing but an elaborate hoax. Yet then, far off up in the Glenmore mountains, an ear splitting groan erupted. Sosaria itself began to wake.
The once red light of the markings now transformed into a dazzling blue, collecting itself in a ball of the hexagon. The energy sphere grew and grew, until it reached the size of a man. And then it began...
Bolts of shimmering lightning shot forth in every direction, vaporising many unfortunate bystandards. What had once been a gentle rocking off the ground now exploded into a full scale tremor, the very earth splitting and contorting under the massive surge of energy. Many of the mages were consumed into the crevices that opened up, falling to their untimely deaths. Horses neighed and citizens screamed in terror, but the energy sphere continued to expand, capturing all those nearby in its all but inescapable grasp.
The sheer pull of the magical disturbance ripped many a man limb from limb, crimson blood spewing over the scene of chaos as the elemental whirlpool sucked in more victims who simply vanished from the land, heading to destinations unknown.
The Legion's military commander, Imperator Boris Vladislaw narrowly managed to dodge an oncoming bolt, yet was dismounted in the process, and grasping at the crumbling earth was cast into the void, shortly thereafter followed by a wailing Marius and his dumbstruck horse.
Of how many were taken by the maelstrom, it is nigh on impossible to say. And where they are now, is even more of a sage's guess. It is said some were transported to other planes of existence, far from this land. Others were simply evaporated by the intense fantastical storm, leaving only their crumpled armour as evidence they ever existed. As for Marius and Boris, the Baron has received no word of there whereabouts...
The above is something me and Octiovus wrote up a few years ago, although originally meant as a UO storyline it never came to be. However that is about to change as I have converted the storyline into a forum RP!
I am looking for 4 or 5 people that are interested in participating. You will be role playing an expedition member lost in an unknown land. The system we will (most probably) be using is D&D 3.5. You do not have to be familiar with it, I can hook anyone up with the appropriate hand book(s).
Possible playable characters:
- Legionnaires (Trained soldiers of Cove)
- Legion Arcanists (Wizard/sorcerers)
- Paladins/Clerics (Church members)
- More to come..
I will post more specific details later as I still have a lot of work to do. For instance I have not yet decided if I want the party to start at level 1 or higher.
IMPORTANT: I am looking for people who can be ACTIVE posters, you will need to post almost daily so if you know you cannot be active over the coming months, do not apply!Also, if you go inactive I will most probably have you character die horribly and get a new player in.
To apply you need to:
Email me @
maniacski@gmail.comWith your name, if you have experience with D&D/forum RP's and your MSN and/or AIM (not ICQ).
MORE INFORMATION SOON! ! ! !
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