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Post by Aegis Gram on Jul 30, 2013 8:41:26 GMT
Erastus 27 , 71 (first year after the founding of three river.)
Contemplations on the trail: I ache to feel misshapen bones crunch under my heel but alas we saw no battle at this early stage of the expedition. Logically I know this is for the best as it means the people of Three River are all the safer for the lack of such creatures. However I can feel Typhon's need to destroy rising, or is that only an illusion born of my own mind. I wish I knew.
Erastus 30, 71
The Band of the Hawk: It looks like for the first time in years I find myself with a raison d'etre beyond killing. It came to me during contemplation of a waterfall in the forests surrounding what is now known as Three River. As I sat in the base of the falls letting the roar of the water calm my mind a piercing cry broke my meditations. Thru the morning mists a boat came flying the standard of a great White Hawk. Standing upon the bow was an elven woman and the largest bird I have ever seen. As I saw her she sensed my presence. At this point I feel I should mention that to withstand the force of the falls I had to call upon my inner power and become my true self. Standing at 21 hand and weighing nearly 44 stones Typhon would be intimidating even without the jagged teeth and clawed hands. All of that at once has been known to make even strong men cower in fear. Yet the elfmaid seemed unshaken. It was as if she had expected to find me. She called for the ship to stop, and waved to me as if it was the most natural thing in the world. I will admit I was stunned to inaction by all this. I would have found it less odd had she called for the crew to pepper me with bullets and arrows. After a few moments she smiled and held up a finger as if telling me to wait. She disappered below deak and came forth a few moments later with a man dressed in armor bearing the sigil of the hawk. In a powerful voice that reached me even over the roar of the falls he spoke " My name is Jonathan Cousland of the Band Of The Hawk. A little birdy told us there was someone worth meeting here. You haven't seen them around have you?" Laughing at the remark I jumped the twenty or so feet seprating my rock from their boat. As the crew scrambled to keep the vessel from capsizing I stuck out my hand. "Aegis Gram. Monster Slayer."
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Post by Aegis Gram on Aug 10, 2013 4:32:21 GMT
Arodus 1, 71
Battle at last: Ah it feels good to once again crush misshapen bodies under my heels. Today we ran across the trail of a raiding band of monsters. A handful of gnolls, hobgoblins, and best of all a mated pair of bugbears. While the other monsters were barely worth noting I always take pleasure in dispatching goblinoids. During the festivities I may have become a bit over excited driven the head of one of the bugbears right down into its torso with a two handed slam.. Imagine my surprise when I went in with a follow up claw swipe to find my opponent looking very much like a tortoise with its head pulled into the shell. I am still debating over who had the more amusing kill. My tortoise bugbear or Sir John's lanced Gnoll. When it gutted itself attempting to get off the lance that had so obviously ended it's life I had great trouble not laughing. When Sir. John charged the other Bugbear with the creatures guts still streaming behind him like ribbons at a fair I actually did let out a chuckle. Of interest was Lady Wither Fang's bird and Angus' fortitude. The great Bird put out the eyes of more then one of the creatures, and Angus Held off three foes at once whilst I took on one of the bugbears and Sir. John harried the other. All and all a good day for the folk of Three River.
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Post by Aegis Gram on Aug 10, 2013 5:31:05 GMT
Arodus 3, 71 The Band of the Hawk continued:
Sir. John took my hand without hesitation and gave it a vigorous shake. I was honestly taken aback at his courage. The claws on my hands can rend steel and bone like butter yet he gave no sign of fear whatsoever. As his hand began to bleed I felt a bit sorry for trying to scare them, and any that would let themselves be grasped be the likes of me had more then proved their good intent so I decided to reciprocate. I let my greater self fade and became the man I was born as rather then the beast I was meant to be.
I am not fond of my original form. It's weak and frail compared to the real me. However I have to illusions to it's uses. I am attractive and many find my wit charming. It makes my journeys into civilization easy, and has bought me more then a few nights of pleasure. It has also brought me information on Aberrations in abundance. As any who meet those THINGS will quickly seek ether Religion or the bottle as quickly as possible. In both places an angelic face and a knack for asking the right questions will loosen the tongues of those that want to talk, but fear that no one will believe them.
I think the elf-maid my have been pleasantly surprised by my other side, but it is always hard to tell with her kind. Sir. John however was visibility pleased. It seemed knowing I was truly human under all the claws and fangs bolstered his already superhuman resolve. No sooner had I let down my guard then he said "Why not join the Band Of the Hawk.?" What followed was several hours of delusion about the state of the world and the true proposal; To build a City in this wilderness. I did not take to the idea at first,
"Yet another city full of crime, corruption, racism, and worthless lords that grew fat on the people? Why on Calidor would we need yet another of those?" I sneered.
Hearing my response they laughed. That was precisely why they were building a new city. A Free City. A place where the people would write the laws and where anyone could rise on the merit of their own ability. I was amazed that not only did they share my disdain for the current corrupt order, but that they had gathered a large amount of people that felt the same. They had plans to build a city that flowed with nature in the style of the elves at the place where the three rivers met, but were in desperate need of powerful allies to protect their fledgling city state.
This I felt was providence. These people needed me, they wanted my help, and they were more then worthy of my friendship. Finally I saw a reason for my life beyond isolation and killing. A place I could maybe be accepted; maybe even be hailed as a hero. I would stand with the Band of the Hawk and with any luck we could bring something worth fighting for into this world.
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Post by Aegis Gram on Aug 13, 2013 2:30:38 GMT
Arodus 12, 71 The Dark One
In recounting my first meeting with the Band of the Hawk I must not forget to mention...HER. The first day aboard the boat was a fine trip. We made great time upriver and it was less then a mile from my place of meditation that they had chosen to settle. I had been sitting in what would someday be my own home. A home built right into the basin of the falls. My domicile above the mechanism that would use the power of the falls to operate countless automatons through out the settlement, but such a thing would be a while in the making. We reached the base camp as the sun was setting. Jon and Witherfang left me to settle in and I bid them good night. As it grew darker I use a light spell on a stray rock and decided I would rather see the night life in this future city. There was a makeshift bar I got a drink at, and a few appraising looks from the bar maid. She was a little old for me but still attractive. The almost motherly type of lady with whom you do things that are anything but. I decided that I would have to come back some time and continued on. It was after several more stops that I found myself outside the proto-cemetery sometime just after 2 am. I was reliving myself on the base of a tree when I saw something moving among the wooden crosses. Most would write something like that off. Most don't hunt Abominations for sport. Assuming it was a house cat or a ghoul I scaled the iron fence, and immediately felt the fool. The fence ended not ten feet away in a gaping hole. Regardless I resolved to finish my climb. Hopping down from my perch I came up face to face with a beautiful young woman. She had perfect pale skin and hair like midnight, and dazzling smile that ended in two razor points. Her solid red eyes seemed to dance with glee as I fell back and reached for my dagger. I readied it to throw; intending to buy myself some time to find somewhere to summon my inner power. However she had made no move to attack. Instead she was holding back what was certainly laughter at my reaction. Confused I slowly lowered my weapon.
" Oh no!" she mocked " A strong and virtuous slayer of monsters has come to end my evil unlife with an IRON stake. How did he know my only weakness? Alas I am undone by his cunning 'let the blood drinker sneak up on me first' strategy. Surly my only hope is the smile at him and hope he doesn't notice my obvious fangs."
"Now your just being petty" I retorted. " As I'm not slowly bleeding out, or offering to find you nice virgins to eat I'm guessing your a Damphir. I'm Aegis Gram new to the Band of the Hawk." I gestured a greeting. She smiled again with those dam fangs. " I know exactly who you are" she said in an obviously amused voice. " Welcome to the Band. I'm Doloth Sin. Don't get in my way or your new name is Wine Skin."
It was at that point that I came to find that the halfdead had a hold on the town I could not have guessed. While Sir John had the love of all the people Doloth Sin had their ears. It seemed that no one could argue against her will in the makeshift town meetings. With my arrival that changed. We soon found ourselves at the center of every debate. Before we knew it they had tired of our arguing so much that they elected us to the senate of the High King.
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