Geon's Passages

Sept 7th

The church's shipment of blue ice swords was late, much to the dismay of Ishmat, so I was sent to check with Togen. It was unlike Togen to be late with a shipment of weapons, especially one of such value, so I was prepared for some sort of retrieval to be needed. When I met with Togen he told me of his missing shipment from the Azure Peak. Knowing the importance to the church i offered my services to either retrieve the shipment or the very least find out what the trouble was in return for a favor from him in the future. Not being familiar with the peaks I knew that I would need a guide and some companions for this journey in case of the worst. I was pointed in the direction of Eoin Cross who was highly recomended by Togen. With a little encouragement and bartering I was able to obtain his services in return for my favor from Togen. When asked he said he would look for more adventurers to come along. That night I filled Ishmat in and awaited the coming of Eoin and his companions. To my dismay only one came with him. Max who with a little more bartering and a game of chance agreed to help me for a favor in the future. I however took note that his want for treasure was of more value than the making of a new friend and possible ally. We supped and chated of the mission at hand, when we were done I offered our church as a resting place till morning when we would prepare to leave.

Sept 8th

The next morning I awoke to breakfast and Eoin gone in search of another companion much to my delight. However when he returned I met Homer who's presence seemed lax and rustic rather than the superb spy i was assured he was. That didn't bother me half as much as learning how greedy this man was. I expected to barter for the services I required but in the end he didn't need any coaxing..in his words "I was going to go anyway I just wanted to see what I could get out of you." I do not trust homer…I plan on watching him. The good priest supplied us with some holy water and 1 spark, ice and fire orbs for our journey which I'm sure will come in handy. We began our journey that morning and began the march to the Azer peaks. I sized up the group I had managed to acquire. At first sight they seem like nothing more than a ragtag band of second-class adventurers, but there's something about them, an aura as it were. Eoin seems the leader more than anything else, he exudes confidence and his overall demeaner seem that of an honorable man, I can see myself being friends with this man. Max is a funny little creature of a man. Although his gambling doesn't appeal to me he does have some qualities that are quite appealing for quests such as these. His ability to navigate through terrain is admirable and his confidence with the chocobo leads me to believe he is quite skilled with beasts. Although not as likeable as Eoin he is a humorous man. His sometimes overbearing attention to detail and inquisitive mind can be laughable but at the same time serves his purpose. To this point Homer has proven nothing special. Although I do not expect him to be helpful until we've reached our objective, his overall laziness is appauling. He sleeps in the wagon while we march, He doesn't cook,hunt or set traps for overnights……..I worry about him taking a nap during his portion of the nightwatch. On the brightside there is nothing missing from my pockets so there is hope……a little. An uneventful day ended with us at the foot of the peaks ready for our rest. Lets hope it goes this way tomorrow.

Sept 9

We awoke in high spirits ready to embark up the Mountain, we estimated it would take the day to reach the peak. On the way up it was eerily quiet, the type of quiet that begs to be broken, and it was. We were assaulted by a _ an hour up the 2nd half of the mountain. It tore at the neck of the chocobo with aggresion catching us offguard. Eoin threw a mighty blow with his massive right fist as Max prepared his arrows. I jumped over the beast with Eoin still close by it and used a blast of ice to subdue the creatures movements. With a few shots from Max's bow, Eoin's fist and my chain we ungripped the jaws of the beast and felled it swiftly and without harm to ourselves. Homer's lack of effectiveness in battle was nothing short of embarrasing….but i suppose with his skills not being a great deal usefull in this sort of a fight…it can be forgiven. The chocobo was quite startled, with good reason at this point and with quite the ways to go. Max calm it a little and we continued up the path with great caution. We reached the top without further incident. When we reached the peak, there was a village half in rubble awaiting us. No sign of life was apparent and the buildings were burned to the ground for the most part. The opening to the mine was 2 large doors in the back center of the plateau. We searched the inside finding claw marks and a hidden door which we decided not to open due to the unknown dangers. We would wait for the morning to figure out our plans. Max tended to the chocobo while Eoin set traps by the entrance to the mine. Homer scouted the remainder of the area to be assured that we were on safe ground and I cooked supper for us before we rested. The next day would be when we began the search.

Sept 10th

By Bahamut what a day this had been. We awoke the next day to find that in the night Homer had set off a trap that was guarding the secret door. So he opened it without us around and failed in disarming the trap…..hmmm. We had breakfast and tied the chocobo to a tree before we headed into the mine. In the first chamber there were two pathways and a large statue of a Dwarf holding a mighty pick axe in his right hand. As we surveyed the room we approached the middle of the room where the statue was. It was standing on a block of stone with dwarven script. Homer deciphered the text and said it was of no concern to us what was on it and we could continue. Down one of the hallways we discovered pressure plates under the tiles. I decided to jump and glide over to the end of the hallway to try and find a way to disable them. I was half in stride when Homer yelled "stop" he could disable the trap…..hmmmm. A little upset he waited till I was ready to jump to tell me I watched him attempt to disable the trap. His plan of attack……face plant into the pressure plate bringing the statue to life. Brilliant. The statue took a swipe at Max and nearly ripped his leg clean off. Eoin attacked with a charge and mearly chipped at the mighty sentinal. I rushed to there aid hitting with a flurry of blows at it's knees doing no more damage than Eoin. Max was shooting from his back with all he had with Eoin standing in between him and certain death. I continued to beat at the knee that was beginning to show some wear until between me and Eoin's onslaught the leg crumbled bringing the statue down. I shot a spray of acid at it's face not doing the damage I had hoped it would. It took more swings at us focusing mostly on Eoin. Finally Owen felled the sentinal with a mighty blow that made it fall and smash against the ground. We tended to Max's wounds and prepared ourselves as much as possible to continue on. We decided to go down the pathway (hopefully without another faceplant). We moved with stealth down the corridor, hearing a unhealthy snarl around the corner. We spotted a wounded fire beast down the hallway. Much to my dismay Homer was chosen to creep down the corridor and prepare to strike the beast while we distracted it, hopefully drawing it closer to us. Trusting Eoin's judgement we sent Homer and prepared to attack. When Homer was in position we jumped out and screamed in a rage at the creature. Rearing it's head it began to race toward us. Homer's delivered a precise strike(perhaps the first thing i'd seen him do correctly) wounding it's right hamstring giving us what we thought was a decisive advantage…..again we were wrong. It continued to come closer through a barrage of arrows flung from Max's bow. When it got close enough for my talons to strip it's hide it unleashed a devistating blast of hellfire from it's mouth. While I took minor pains from it, Eoin was obliterated and passed out. I lept over his body and slashed with all my might while Max continued to pierce it's hide full of arrows. With our combined effort we finally felled the beast and revived Eoin as with a few potions. We had sustained an unplanned and abundant amount of wounds early into the mission. Yet the will and drive of this group surprised me. Still they wished to carry on with some reluctance. Even Homer was content with continue on. With fear and fatigue gripping our souls we continued to delve deeper into the abyss. We came upon a well of pure, clean water that we sipped upon before continuing on. However Max was extremely eager to dive into the well to find a possible treasure or passageway hidden at the bottom….funny little man. We assured him we would return and check it out should time permit. The cavern darkened further ahead prompting us to unsheath an everburning torch from the walls to light our way down. A large chamber with a prominently large door lay ahead of us. Having enough of surprises we listened and recognized the improper speaking patterns of undead guarding the other side of the door. Without much debate Eoin and myself rushed in and quickly dispatched the two undeads. The room had many doors surrounding it which Homer quickly began to scout. I decided to investigate a door myself as did Eoin and Max. The find of the day came in the form of a chunk of adamantine found by Eoin. It was agreed we would split it equally (homer getting half of my share) giving us all a decent chunk of the 8pd block. I carried the find aswell as the 5 magic scrolls I had found. Homer had found a potion or two and Max unfortunetly uncovered a room full of old carts and decrepit weaponry. The room had a few dead dwarves occupying it's space. We decided not to take the risk of more undead hindering us and I burned the room to cinders before we bedded down for the night.

Sept 11th

I have indeed found a strong-willed group of adventurers. After a hellish day there bravery has stood tested and true. Although the worry in their eyes was apparant they still stood true to there word and agreed to proceed to finish the task at hand, providing of course that we didn't have another day like the one past. The night before a less than presentable elevator shaft was noticed. Being the only way to stray deeper into the dungeon it would be where our band would continued. Using silk rope to create a fail safe we lowered into the next chamber. As we decended the ropes strength gave and we began to fall swiftly to the bottom of the shaft. I grabbed ahold of Eoin and Max gliding us to the bottom safely. Although I didn't choose deliberatly who I grabbed, I must admit a small bit of pleasure in watching Homer bruise his tailbone on the ground below. A small victory is better than none I suppose. The sound of flowing water flooded the dank hallway before us. Sure enough a stream flowed through the depths of the earth our group had explored. The journey through these hallways was fraught with suspense. If we had run into such pains on the first floor….what called this dank basement home we wondered. In the darkness we heard a most perculiar sound toward a lighted room. "DWARF" followed by the sound of arrows whisking through the thick air. Homer being the crafty (chuckle) one again was chosen to scope out the sound. It was revealed that two zombies were guarding the passageway into the deeper portions of this tomb. However, they did not seem to be worried about the room they were guading…just the hallway. Approaching with a confident and lax demeaner Homer ever so quaintly waltzed in and said "hey". We awaited at the ready to protect…."not dwarf". Not dwarf was the extent of their interest. We walked in a tad baffled at which point again the two turned quickly scanning the three of us and again concluding "not dwarf, not dwarf, not dwarf.". After a brief chat with the zombies we deciphered they were told to kill all dwarves that came down this way by the dead man with what appeared to be a zombie dwarfs head attatched to it's ankle. Unfortunetly we also found out they were from Infernia meaning that there was some connection between the missing shipment and whatever evils lurked in Infernia's clutch's. With some quick thinking and horrible acting I was able to convince the living dead that I was sent from Infernia to replace their fallen leader with new orders to continue onward and kill all dwarves ahead. Unfortunetly little could be gathered in regards to what was ahead nor the amount of possible dwarves we could expect to see. How long this killing of dwarves was even a mystery due to the unconventional time keeping of the undead. How long had they been doing this? 53 dwarves ago is when it started……sigh. Continuing on with the constant chant of "DWARF" followed by either the thud of arrow meeting flesh or rock we came to an ubrupt halt when the usual constant chant had an added "which one……ugh….the big one." A gast. We used the sentinals as meat shields against the onslaught of blows to come. The gast's strikes were the least of our worries. The smell that came from it was so repulsive I began to spew whatever sustanance I had in me. The rest of the party was sickened to lesser degree's than me and Eoin but we stood our ground. The meat shields held up well against the Gast and it's zombie bretheren and we managed to begin winning the battle. I engulfed the gast in a entaglement of fire giving us better chance to avoid it's strikes aswell as burning it's putrid skin. It's disgusting pertruding belly made an excellent target. Without thinking as to why it's belly was so large I sent a flurry of blows at it's gut with Bahamut's talons opening up its inards which released a liquid which ignited from the fire still wrapping it's body. An explosion of blood, guts and the remainders of the bodies it had devoured flung everwhere. Again the smell being more dipicable than a rotting battle field, I proceeded in expelling the remainder of what was in my belly. When we finished dispatching the remainder of the fiends in our way we examined the room. A strange group of gremlin looking folk creeped from some hidden room. Letting Homer deal with them I guarded the upcoming hallway with my 2 followers while Eoin and Max searched the room the gremlins came from. Then it came.

Of all the things I was to encounter this was not one I had thought nor hoped would show up. An Abishai. The vile prescence of such a fiend made my blood boil in hate. I ordered the corpses to attack only ending up in a useless argument about the lack of it being a dwarf. Luckily the bastard son of Tiamat attacked one of them giving them reason to fight. Enraged I douced my chain with holy water and attacked with a relentless flurry of blows striking without care or regard for those around or my own safety. A barrage of arrows came from behind me and the clash of both it's arrows and the weapons were useless against the steel like skin of the Abishai. The skin of an Abishai is tough, however the holy water on my weapon bypassed it's toughness and cut into the flesh of it's sinister hide. The stupid creature did itself no favors stinging itself in back of it's skull sickening it to go along with the electricity entagling it. Standing over the weakend fiend I looked deep into it's soul and bellowed "IN THE NAME OF BAHAMUT" severing it's head from it's body. Victorious I let out a mighty cry and praised Bahamut for his strength.

In the end we managed to locate an extremely cold room that contained the missing blue ice. We agreed to load it and bring the spoils home in the morn. I offered them the remains of whatever was left after Togen's order had been filled, seeing how any inhabitants of this mine were either dead or now undead.

Sept 12

Homer killed the gremlins in the night to my pleasure. Evil little creatures set this mine into absolute chaos. Apparantly they wanted assylum from whatever fiend they served. BAH. Evil little wretches never should've obeyed an inhabitant of Infernia. Homer has earned a bit of respect with this unexpected act, even if it was for the state not god. We packed up the blue ice and brought it outside, aware of the possible prescence of a werewolf. Outside, what was left of the village was again ablaze. All that was left of our chocobo the the hobbled carcass of ravaged skin and knawed upon bone. A figure jumped out of one of the windows prompting a swift shot from Max's bow. It missed and the wolf jumped off of the edge of the mountain. Upon looking down the cliff we saw a women on a glider safely on her way to whereever. If we didn't have enough to worry about now there is a changeling spy. We decided to march through the night till we arrived safely home. I offered my church as a place of comfort for the day which the 3 gladly took after bartering payment for the lost chocobo. Before I allowed myself sleep, I brought a pair of bracers I had stripped from the carcass of the Abishai to Ophelia. After a painful and tiring attempt at talking to her I decided to leave them with her to analyze until the next day. Promptly I returned to the church and retired to my quarters.

Sept 13

Last night was long for me. It was the anniversary of my families unnatural passing at the hands of an unknown evil. I sat in my bed and pondered upon my many travels around the plains of ossia and the outskirts of Infirnia. I had still not even found a snippet of evidence I could connect to the people responsible for their deaths. I lie there deep inside of my thoughts until i fell into a state of conscience sleep. I was visited by Bahamut that night. He brought reassure that I will find those responsible in due time. He also brought word of a coming evil. A dark cloud that will descend upon our land swiftly and without warning. I would need to find allies in this time of need to battle it including one I had only heard of. Isarre. I awoke from my meditation rested but a deep feeling of worry in my gut. I met with the party the next morning over breakfast and chatted about the few things we needed to wrap up the mission. We parted ways to do our business and would meet up later to deal with the adamantine. I returned to Ophelia's to see what she had learned of the bracers knowing from our first encounter she would probably not be immediately helpful. I thought correctly as she tried to tell me they were the king of Infirnia's bands. Quickly dismissing this lie I got the truth from her. They were bands that bore little magic power other than granting the bearer a better ability to evade he opponent. Thanking the kind women for her reluctant however useful help I bid her adu and returned to the church. Eoin was there waiting for me so we countinued along to Togens Homer finding us on our way. We saw Togen and distributed the adamantine between us. Homer again surprised me with his generosity by not only giving up his claim to my share but also his own share to me in order to avoid complications in the matter. After this we parted ways till the next time we would meet, which I was sure we would. I had become rather fond of these men Even though they were funny at times I had come to value their company. Some more than others but they all had their charm. Especially with this vision, I do not think our meeting was chance. These may be the warriors I seek.

Sept 17th

A sombre 2 days of reflection. I informed Ishmat of my vision and Bahamut's warning of impending darkness. I requested an audience with the Church's high council in order to fill them in on what I know and to ask for help in locating Isarre. In my thoughts have been how to inform Eoin and the others what I think. I have just met these people and the chances of their immediate acceptance of my belief is highly unlikely. I must work them into the scheme of things slowly. By chance Eoin visited my church today to ask me to help their group in an errand for the state. Although I do not trust the governing party, this would allow me the chance I needed to begin devulging to them the threat coming. To my disbelief Max had been posted far from Grandia, this sadened me. Although not a close friend, I believed him to be one of the allies Bahamut spoke of. Could I be wrong? I decided to help Eoin and Homer as a friend and would not begin telling them anything until I could be sure. As for the mission it would seem that Homers boss One Eyed Jack was captured and we were to get him back aswell as other captives. We would have the day to acquire what we would need for the journey and prepare ourselves for what was to come. I bought a few potions and informed Ishmat that I was going on an errand with the people who had helped me. I instructed him to reach the council as soon as possible for my meeting with them. With this I retired to my room to rest.

Sept 18th

I awoke and met with Eoin ready to embark on his errand, still contemplating whether my thoughts of their place in the scheme of things were valid. I hoped this venture would give me insight into this matter. When we arrived to our meeting spot I was filled in on the remainder of the details. We were to meet up with a paladin named Heratio the 3rd who would be our guide through the deserts. I had figured we would be walking to meet this paladin, however i was wrong. Instead our mode of transportation would be an old man who I had recognized as one of the towns sages. He presented himself modestly before turning into his natural form of a Sage Dragon. I was amazed that a creature such as this had been able to hide from the church's view. Usually we would be able to detect such an entity. Looking around I noticed everyone's shock to such a display. However unorthodox this would be, it still would be quite an effective way to travel. Shaking off the surprise we climbed onto it's back and prepared to travel. I briefly chatted with the dragon, finding him a tad senile and from what I gathered a coward when it came to battles but still a useful ally. We landed a bit out of the city as not to attract too much attention and were soon joined by Sir Heratio. He presented himself with great dignity and pride wearing a full plate of armor and a shield bearing his families crest. His steed was groomed for battle but had an elegance about it not unlike a horse being showed in contest. The sage dragon returned to his human form which sent a jolt through the Paladin's stone like demeanor. Explaining what had just happened made him calm himself and prepare to embark on our journey. The kind paladin had arranged mounts for us, meaning I would have to learn how to ride a mount. After stumbling for a while I managed to mount the horse and situate myself a sturdy place on it's back. The sage came to me and handed me a draconic necklace, instructing me that when we required to evacuate to meerly hold it in my hand and say Escape in old Draconic text. I thanked the sage as he turned back to dragon and flew away.

We were to embark through the desert till we had reached the Shaqti village who are also enemies of the people who kidnapped Homer's spies. We travelled along in relative peace, gazing over the endless nothingness that we travelled. I had heard many tales of the perils that lurk in deserts such as these and at all times was weary of the land I rode over. We saw tracks that would suddenly end and remains of some form of beast that must have become supper for a larger predator. As we proceeded Heratio spotted moving lumps of sand ahead of us. Eoin noticed this possible threat as Ant lions. Deciding to try and avoid a fight, we continued around them to the left. As we continued, we again noticed them, but this time they were behind us following us. Knowing that eventually it would strike we stopped and adopted a defensive postiion with Eoin and Heratio holding the front flanks while me and Homer held the center rear. The creatures stopped. We sat waiting while I stood upon my mount. After a few moments the monster shot forward toward me. Waiting for this i lept and glided over top of the threat. My mount however was viciously attacked being poisoned by the bite of the ant lion. It fell to the ground frothing at the mouth, paralyzed from both fear and the poison. Heratio flanked it and let loose a mighty swipe from his broadsword hacking a piece of it's hide clean off. Homer came from the side and grazed its hard shell doing little to help our cause. Eoin began riding in as I swooped down delivering 2 sharp blows from my chain. The beast cried out in agony as Eoin great fist pummled it with a devastating blow. Knowing it's imminent demise it began to burrow underground. I tried to hold it but the blood made it too slippery to hold and it fled quickly into the ground and escaped. We watched as the 2 antlion's that accompanied it turned on it's bretheren quickly finishing what we started. A frenzy was about to ensue until a much larger sand mound began to close in making the other antlions flee as quickly as they could in seperate directions. The sand mound came up from underneath the dead carcass and in one fell bite devoured it. The beast was a landshark, a much more worthy adversary than the antlion. Quickly I mounted with Heratio and we carried on as quickly as we could. Looking back i saw the monstrosity eating the remains of my horse, clearly preferring the taste of steed to dead antlion it followed us for the remainder of our journey at a safe distance.

We reached the village being met by a few warriors. We presented ourselves and proclaimed ourselves enemies of their rivals needing an audience with their honorable chief. He was out on a hunt but would be back soon enough. We were granted 2 escorts to walk the village and pick up supplies if we desired. We split paths until the leader arrived. I had decided to try and make friends with these savages by earning their respect in a hunt. Figuring out that landshark was a most beloved dish of the Shaqti i decided to inquire about a hunt to offer the local witchdoctor and gift in exchange for services. At first it seemed as if my escorts were pleased at my willingness to join them in a hunt. As I met with the remainder of the hunting party I began to question their eagerness at leaving. Not so much leaving but at having me lead. I asked what we would use to bait the landshark…..many eyes began wandering in my direction quite suspiciously. The answer I recieved made me question my idea "well….i know what they like to eat." "what" I asked "umm….I'm looking at a possibility." At which point I quickly said "look at the sun it's nearly down. perhaps another time then" and quickly scuttled off to some degree of safety.

The chief arrived ontop a mighty T-rex dragging the hides of 3 landsharks behind it. The chief dismounted to much applause from those around as the inhabitants of the village began to drag away the spoils to cook. We approached graciously paying our respects to the chief. After a brief introduction we were invited to his tent for a chat. As we walked in we noticed many groups of Shaqti fumbling over each others bodies in what seemed like some sort of game. However the chief explained this is a festival day for them which includes many orgies and sexual treats to be had. An interesting ritual to say the least. We explained to the chief what we wished to accomplish and how we had hoped that he would be able to supply a adequate distraction while we extracted those we needed. He seemed reluctant to oblige despite Eoin and Homer's best efforts. I decided to appeal to his vanity and love of success from what I gathered. I put the spin of how great it would be to enjoy a successful hunt and plentiful rain with a decisive strike against one of their most hated enemies. He began to see and decided to give it a nights rest to think it over. We were offered a shack to sleep in for the night.
We accepted and went to our quarters. Usually a foreign religions festivities would entrigue me and I would try and participate but I decided against joining in a fire praising tribes sexual deeds. We laid ourselves to bed hoping the chief would tomorrow aid us in our noble mission.

Sept 19th

Not long after we laid to rest there was a earth shattering crackle of thunder followed by screams of horror outside that jolted us out of our slumber. We grabbed our weapons rushing outside. We noticed the shaqti had ended their ritualistic mating and warriors began assembling all around the village. On a high peak close to the center of the village the chief had mounted his T-Rex and a group of highly armored Shaqti were in rank to both of his sides. As we approached lightning continued to pound the ground just outside the northern portion of the village. The chief looked down at us with a slight grin glancing his face.
"Perhaps you will be able to prove your worth today my friends."
Eoin stepped forward "What is happening." he inquired.
"This storm is mearly a vail to the true threat that comes. Many of the beasts that lurk the desert come to feast upon the flesh of Shaqti this night." As he spoke lightning that looked sure to strike the inhabitants scurrying the streets was stopped dead by an unseen force. Noticing our puzzled face the chief explained " Our sages have put a protective shield over the village as to hold up against the forces of nature and whatever else would penetrate our perimeter. Although powerful they may be, it's only a matter of time before…." The chiefs words were cut off by a monstrous boom that struck the barrier's foundation followed by a wave of hellfire that smashed the front of the barrier open. Through the hole came three red bullette's not unlike the one that ate my steed. The first charged forward into a group of soldiers on the front line. The second went left closer to the houses on the right. The third went left toward no particular target. The chief began directing his men with great authority. He looked at the berserkers on the left "You take the one going into the houses." They collectively nodded submissivly and sped toward their target. Turning his gaze to us the chief ordered "Reinforce the center quickly!" Without hesitation we rushed to aid the frontlines. "You shall help them now go." The chief sent his second group of berserkers to fight by our sides. As we began to get closer Eoin noticed that the 3rd Bullette had begun to chase a group of small children by the far west o wall. He informed us of the bullette's path and we decided to take 4 warriors with us to aid the children. Homer however turned and looked at us "DONT BE STUPID. HELP THE WARRIORS THEN WE'LL GET TO THAT ONE." The Paladin could not have heard this already being far ahead with Eoin to do the noble thing and save the innocent children. I pleaded with Homer to follow however Homer ignored my plea's and replied "WHATEVER IDIOTS"………..said the man running with unfknown warriors after the large red beast trying to kill it with a Rapier!!!! Turning to join Eoin and Horatio I lept and began gliding toward the children. Eoin got there first stopping the charging Bullette with a Phenomenal blow from his arm that set the bullette off balance. I swooped over the beast hitting it with a swift blow from above scratching it's hide. The paladin hauled off and let down with the force of a bull and cleaved a piece of it's armor like face clean off. The bullette went on it's hind legs revealing the splattered blood of children underneath him letting out a scream of absolute horror. It comes down attempting to crush Heratio underneath it's mighty hoof barely missing him. I leap up again overtop of the bullette readying a blast of entangling ice. As I blast the beast 2 screams are heard. One was the beasts piercing screech of agony and the other……..
We all recognize the voice…..but instead of witty sarcasm it was a blood curdling scream of unthinkable pain. It was homer screaming in terrible pain. Myself and Eoin looked back to see the bullette's horn tearing through Homer's spine pertruding out of his stomach. With a whip of it's neck, Homer was flung into the air and devoured in one swift snatch of the bullette's mouth.
Me and Homer may not have gotten along, but he was still a valued ally and to some small degree a friend. At the sight of Homer demise Eoin and I went into a maddening rage and began ripping into the bullette we had been fighting. As we did Wolves began to funnel through the hole still gaping in the forcefield. They circled all three of the beasts aswell as the warriors battling with them. Horatio began dispatching the wolves around us with utter ease. Me and Eoin had lost our awareness and had become blood drunk at the sight of our fallen friend. Eoin Demolished the beasts side with a bludgeoning blow to it's ribs, crumbling the very marrow in their roots. Heratio continued hacking relentlessy into the wolves, hacking limbs and snouts with utter lack of difficulty. I let loose with consecutives blows to it's back side trying to both hit it and cut open the pouch at my side to drop the 3 orbs from my pouch onto it's opened wound's. With one more mighty strike from the Eoin's mighty fist the beast flipped to it's back. Having done in the wolves around him, Horatio climbed the belly of the bullette, raised his sword shouting "IN THE NAME OF HERONIUS" stabbing deep within the gut of the monster, felling it. Immediately me and Eoin rushed toward the murderous Bullette who killed our comrade. We both lept atop it's back with the Paladin trying to get in range. The Shaqti to our sides had taken massive casualties. One had lost it's weapon's arm and was retreating back as quick as he could. Eoin hammer fisted it's spine sending the beast into a frenzy as I ravaged the top of it's neck with a piercing blow ripping the armor like flesh revealing bone and blood. It bucked viciously dislodging me from it's back with Eoin holding on seemingly with ease. Eoin again Struck it's spine as Heratio stuck it's belly cleaving back, emptying some body parts from it's gullet. With all my strength I sent two hellish blows connecting solidly to it's ribs sending the bucking creature sliding sideways with Eoin riding atop of it triumphantly. We had killed our departed friends murderer. I Heard a mighty roar behind a hill where a warrior said the chief had ridden to. I thought of joining the frey but fatigue struck my body making the thought of any sort of travel unwanted. The third Bullette was being taken care of by the hand picked berserkers the chief had sent. The wolves had began to retreat out of the village having taken heavy losses. I looked toward the hill to see the chiefs mount swallowing the head of a fire hydra…..making me even more happy I had decided to leave the chief to his works. Eoin fell to his ass in absolute exhaustion. Before I joined him, I reached into the gut of the bullette pulling out the derranged remains of Homer. Putting Homer to one side I sat next to my friend. He was the most hurt out of us all, having known Homer the longest. I decided not to try and console him as he seemed more the type to deal with things on his own accord. The chief had ridden in and was informed of the great victory we had achieved felling 2 of the 3 bullette's. He came before us lying down in an exhausted heap of saddness. Although victorious…we felt like we had lost.

"My friends." He said solomly. "I apologize for your loss. He fought valiantly no doubt, for a cause not his own. Anything you wish I will grant you."

I asked for my stocks to be replenished and a cinder wolf mount to ride home. The Paladin refused this gesture quoting as a true Paladin would "I need no gift. Serving justice to evil beasts is reward enough for me good sir." Eoin asked how they bury their dead. Knowing what he wished for his friend, the chief obliged kindly.
"We will cremate your friend and hold his ashes in a place of great honor for all to revere."
"Thank you kind chief." Eoin replied

We had all tired and wished to bed down. Our mission being a failure without Homer, we decided to bed here for the night and begin the long trek home tomorrow when our bodies healed and our spirits had a chance to mend.