# Saduul Cortez: Lunatic. Mass Murderer. Hero?



## Ralts Bloodthorne (Feb 21, 2007)

That's right, it's the return of Saduul Cortez, baby!

The campaign went on haitus while the DM served some time in the desert, but now he's back, and last Saturday I vacated the DM seat at a good pause point for my campaign, and he took the reins back.

Now, as you may or may not recall, when we last left Saduul Cortez, he had spent two weeks creating a spellbook out of the flesh of some of the evil-cow men. (Hey, they were dead, they weren't using it!) The monk had slain the champion of the gnolls, and we had our suspicions that the goblin tribe would betray us to the evil cow-men.

In addition, there were ships enroute carrying armed soldiers, more than likely after the gold we had allowed their spies (green winged albatrosses) to see us "burying" in the sand.

Saduul had managed to create Gauntlents of the Fire Spirit for the monk (Basically gave him a +2 to hit and damage, as well as wreathing his hands in a fire version of shocking grasp 3x  a day for 10 rounds) as well as ordered his undead minions to help fix the beach colony.

Well, we had our plans, and realized we had less than two weeks until the ships arrived. That was problem number one.

The evil-cow-men, while demoralized and frightened after their god's apparent destruction and the sigil of Vecna the Undying appearing over their pyramid, had retreated to the jungle, but we knew they weren't gone. Problem Two.

Saduul's spellbook had been destroyed, and he had to rewrite it, from memory. Problem Three.

The cleric had gone into a coma, and we feared her God had died. Problem Four.

We decided on taking the fight to the evil human tribe, take care of that problem right off the bat.

The thief and the ranger disappeared into the jungle, loaded up with what few potions we had managed to brew using local ingrediants. Translation: Not much. The druid was our best source of potions, and she was categorizing as many of the plants and herbs as she could.

Saduul had found a leaf, that when mixed with brackenberries, made an acceptable wine. As a bonus, he found he could see spirits, mainly a fire coated leapord who spoke to him.

We began building fortifications, fifty paces into the jungle, and our fighters, veterans of the War of Marque and mean S.O.B.'s, began setting booby traps. Our old armor was gone, rusted our or damaged in the fighting, and we were down to body paint and leaves. Looking good, crew.

First we had a line of small stakes, designed to penetrate boots and break free. The jungle would keep them from using any cavalry against us.

Then a low earthen wall.

Then a wooden wall made out of jungle trees.

In no way shape or form were we going to give the oncoming Imperial Soldiers a chance to fight on open ground. They'd be able to mass and slaughter us. Our only hope was to stay mobile. Strike fast, fade away.

"Come with me, Fire Brother." The monk told Saduul. Curious, he followed him into the jungle, and his path lead us to the blood soaked and fire blasted pyramid in the jungle. THe stripped bones of cow-men, goblins, humans, and kobolds littered the surroundings.

"Yeah, it's full of dead people. So?" Saduul says, looking around.

"Are you not a fire necromancer?"

"D'OH!" Literally hundreds of skeletons, and a huge pyramid. 200 paces on a side and 100 feet tall. What was wrong with me? I was a blood mage, a fire mage, and a necromancer. Before the War of Marque, I would have been a criminal, and hung or burned at the stake. But desperate times makes for strange bedfellows.

We surveyed the area. Good sized, with a large clearing, but so what? The druid could fix that. Providing her little goody two shoes trees didn't try to stomp me into fertilizer. The big question was: Could I bind the pyramid to me?

The monk provided guard while Saduul climbed the pyramid and went into a trance (Which mainly involved drinking a lot of wine and cutting the throats of a couple of monkeys) and surveyed what he saw.

The pyramid existed on both the astral plane, and the ethereal plane.

Unfortunately, so did it's guardian.

A huge cow-man, with twenty eyes, and a huge jaw filled with a hundred hundred fangs, and claws the dripped with the blood of unbelievers, heretics, and bloody sacrifices.

Saduul stood before him, clad in robes of blood, his twisted staff of necromancy and fire held before him.

"What vermin stands before me?"

"Saduul Cortez, and I am your death."

The battle was tough, as the guardian attempted to overwhelm my will and destroy my mind but in the end, I was wounded, but prevailed. The monk watched as rents and welts appeared on Saduul's bare skin, phantom claws tearing at his flesh.

When it was over, Saduul's eyes were covered with a bloody film, yet he could see just fine.

"It is ours." Saduul said, reaching out and petting  the blood soaked stones.

Meanwhile, the colonists were working hard, working on the colony on the beach. When we were sure we were not being watched, we'd have groups of five to twelve people go into the jungle, and come back light one. We sent them off at odd times, and had them come back in different orders. Doing this, we managed to hide 50 strong men in the jungle, where they began constructing pit traps, deadfall log traps, swinging tree traps.

We had approximately three times as many huts as we had family groups. In the extra huts, pits were dug and covered, with monkey-poop smeared stakes at the bottom. The druid brought water up from beneath the sand and several huts were filled with quicksand.

Animals were caged, ready for us to sacrifice and use their blood and spirits to infuse our magic and amp up our powers. We had left behind civilization, and would use the only tool available to us: Savage Power.

The ranger and the rogue arrived back soon after nightfall. They had located the evil human village. It was a few hours away through the jungle, but we'd have to be careful, they had a cave system they could fall back to if things got tough.

"Not unless they are fireproof!" Saduul chortled.

We moved through the night, chewing on leaves of a particularly bitter plant to stave off exhaustion. We found their village, where skulls adorned posts and runes of dark gods stillborn in antiquity were carved on the skulls.

Saduul moved to the cave enterance and looked inside. Nobody was in there, and he could see that it dropped quickly downward, burrowing beneath the ground. Still, a strange exhalation came from the cave, the breeze reeking of old blood.

"Have you been here before?" the ranger whispered. I merely glared at her.

The rogue and the ranger slipped into the village and went to work. The old man feasting off of the food in clay pot suddenly found himself being drug into the jungle and throttled by the ranger's iron hard fingers. The rogue cut the throat of the other watcher, and pushed him body face first into the pit full of feces, old food, and worse.

"There is no honor in this." The monk said, shaking his head sorrowfully.

"We'll lie about it in the history books." Saduul replied, nervously glancing at the cave.

The ranger came out of the darkness, her knives bloody.

"What do we do with the infants and children?"

"Kill all of the children older than 3. We take the rest back with us."

"And the women?"

"Kill them."

"You're a butcher, Saduul."

"You're one to talk. Remember Barthold's Gate? I wanted to spare the serfs, you butchered them. You can either kill them with your knife, or I'll burn this village to god's blasted ground."

She grumbled, but vanished into the darkness. Was it just me, or was the breathing from the cave getting heavier?

"Stop breathing on my neck, Fire Brother." I told the monk. He was real close, and his breath was hot against my bare neck and back.

"I am over here." Came his voice from the darkness. Ahead and to my right.

I dove forward, and claws raked my back, drawing blood. I stood up and let loose with a spell, the blood burning away as I used my own vitalis to power the spell.

Before me stood a vast creature, as tall as two men standing on each other's shoulders. It's great head was that of a crocidile, it's body was that of a powerful ape. Rotting fur fell from it's obscene frame, and serrated claws jutted from it's twisted hands. It threw back it's great head, opened that huge maw, and roared at the night sky.

The moon turned red.

"KILL THEM ALL!" the fighter roared out of the darkness, as men came tumbling, naked and holding bronze knives, out of one of the larger huts.

The vast creature stomped a single step forward, a ripple of flame surrounding it's foot.

"Saduul..." the monk said.

"Nobody touches me and lives." I growled. So the savage men had a totem creature, did they? Well, he'd burn like all the others. It roared something in the babbling tongue of the natives, but none of us understood. The silver earrings that allowed us to understand other tongues having rotted in the sea air and the damp.

The monk moved forward, for the attack, and I wrapped him flames to blunt the worst this creature had to offer. One of the women of the tribe ran by screaming, and I grabbed her, slit her throat with my dagger, and used the blood to power my spells.

A lance of fire (fire lightning bolt) took it square in the face, staggering it, and the monk kicked at it's thigh. It answered with a swing of one paw, missing the monk, and tried to grab me with the other paw. I faded back, luckily.

Chanting sounded from behind me, and I turned around and cooked off a burst of firey darts into the first painted savage I saw shaking a stick. The magic missiles, wrapped in fire, burst his chest and he went back with a scream. The fighter lunged out of the pack of savages he was battling and crushed the shaman's head with his axe.

I turned back as the monk leaped from the things outstretched hand to deliver a fire-wreathed kick into the creatures face, bursting an eye. Black blood and maggots poured from wound, and I moved up close and stuck my hand into the blood.

Power.

Taking the backlash, I quickly drew a firey rune of power in the air, and the creature shrieked as pain ripped through it. The monk kicked again, and the other eye popped, but he was unable to keep his balance as it threw its head in pain.

"BURN! EVERYTHING BURN!" Saduul yelled, feeling his blood catch fire in his viens as the powerful blood magic spell caused ripples of fire to emenate from him, burning everything around him for five paces. The creature screamed and backed up a set.

Straight into the barbarians axe. It sunk in with a mighty THUNK and the creature dropped. As we watched, it turned to ashes and collapsed, leaving behind the smell of  carrion and blood.

"We check the cave before we leave." the warrior said, leaning on his axe. "If it is large enough, when the Imperials come, the colonists may hide in there while we fight them."

"The Imperium shall not despoil this jeweled shore." Saduul said.

"Aye." the ranger said. "My husband has told me that he would sooner die than allow the iron boot of the Emperor to crush this vedant land."

We all turned and faced the entrance of the cave, where the abomination had strode from mere moments before. We could all hear the sound of breathing coming from its depths, and smell the smell of something unholy within.

"Say, you don't have any relatives that live here?" Asked the rogue.

We were completely unaware that the cleric had woken up, her skin darkened and black, twisted scars that spoke of power and betrayal across her back.

And the symbol of Vecna in her eyes.


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## shilsen (Feb 21, 2007)

He's back, baby !


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## joshuakanton (Feb 21, 2007)

Excellent story, I look forward to the next session.


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## iwatt (Feb 21, 2007)

So the crocodile-ape wasn't fireproof I take it...   




> He's back, baby !




My sentiments exactly.



Warlord: Good to see the Monk's player diving into the spirit fo the game now. IIRC he was the one who brought in a couple of paladins PCs?


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## WhatGravitas (Feb 21, 2007)

Yay! Fun! And on another note... has anybody the link to the original story handy? This stuff should go straight to the story hours.


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## Nifft (Feb 21, 2007)

I dig Saduul. Saduul is cool.
But this is really a Story Hour.

Thanks, -- N


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## Wolv0rine (Feb 21, 2007)

Nifft said:
			
		

> I dig Saduul. Saduul is cool.
> But this is really a Story Hour.
> 
> Thanks, -- N



Yeah but I don't scan the Story Hour forum, so I'd miss the cool Saduul games I moved too far away to get in on!


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## Ralts Bloodthorne (Feb 21, 2007)

OK, so, now for a little on the "blood magic" that Saduul wallows in.

For every Con Point of blood, I can either "relearn" a spell I know, at the cost of 1 Con Point per Level of the spell, however, I must make a successful Willpower Check (DC: 15+Spell Level) or take 1d4+Spell Level in damage.

Or, I can use it to "supercharge" a spell (IE: Metamagic feats) providing I'm willing to make a Willpower Check (DC: 10+Total Spell Level) or I take 1d4 points of damage per spell level.

OR I can use it to heal myself, providing I make a Willpower Check (DC: 10+Con Points) and heal myself for 1d4 points per Con Point.

How do we decide how much blood is out there?

The GM handles it by dividing the hitpoints by the Con of the creature, and for every X amount of damage is done, 1 Con Point is out there.

Or, I can kill someone with the dagger, or coup de grace them, that gives me ALL of their Con Points immediately, but I have to use them all within 2 rounds.

If I take damage, for the same as Monster Math applies, that's how much blood is available, however, because it is MY blood, the DC is reduced by 2.


Right now, we're hoping that the friendly bull-men with share with us the secrets of body paint magic and scarification rituals.

The GM rules that because we were so far away from home, our magical armor and many magic items began decaying. Combined with the humidity and the sea air, and silver/wood/iron items began to rot.

Thankfully, he's leaving steel weapons and magic weapons alone, although we have to constantly take care of them.

For those of you interested in the first thread:

http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=167034&highlight=Saduul+Cortez

In addition, the GM has asked me to come up with a PrC for a Blood & Fire Necromancer. I have to build it up, get his approval, and go from there. So I'm going to build the most outrageous thing I can, and go from there.

Hey, go for outrageous, that way what you really want you have a good chance at getting.

For those of you wondering about the God-Totem, it went something like this:

Round One: Saduul takes 18 points of damage in the claw rake, makes his Fort Save against poison (I get a bonus due to Fire of the Blood feat)

Monk: Uses healing flame to cure 5d6 points of damage.

Round Two: Creature does "fire stomp" but doesn't affect Saduul or the monk.
Saduul casts Energy Substitution Fire Stoneskin on Monk
Monk moves up.

Round Three: Creature attempts a gaze attack on the monk, who shrugs it.
Saduul slices at a woman and hit her for 5 points of damage, killing her.
Monk tries a spin kick, which misses

Round Four: Energy Replacement Lightning Bolt!
Creature swings at the monk misses, swings at me, misses
Monk swings at creature, misses

Round Fire: Creature swings at monk, misses
Energy Admixture Magic Missile hits shaman, Fighter takes a 5 foot step and bashes in his skull
Monk jumps on the fist that is on the ground, makes a balance check, jumps to the crocidle face, makes a balance check, and kicks him in the eye. CRIT! POP goes the eye

Round Six:
Creature tries to paw monk off of face, fails.
Saduul steps forward and gets 2 Con points of God-Totem blood, uses it to heal a total of 4d4+4 points of damage. I get a mighty 17 total!
Monk succeeds in balance check, kicks the thing in the face again.

Round Seven: Creature attempts to grab monk, fails
2 more Con Points, use it to maximize a a Symbol of Pain
Monk kicks out the other eye with a FIre Cresent Kick. Fails balance check

Round 8: Creature is blinded, tries to stomp monk and fails
Monk tumbles back 20'
Saduul lets loose with a _Greater Firebust_ but fails the attempt at Enlarge Spell via the blood pouring from the God-Totem

BARBARIAN OUT OF NOWHERE!
Power Attack! Critical Hit! MAXED OUT DAMAGE!

God Totem dies.


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## Ralts Bloodthorne (Mar 7, 2007)

We entered the cave carefully, the monk leading the way, Saduul pulling second rank.  The druid had taken some of the entrails from a slain tribesman, poured herbs and powders on it, threw it in the air, and a black skinned, fire wreathed carniverous ape lept from the trees and caught the entrials in its mouth.

We had a meat-shield.

The cave stank of rotten blood and flesh, and it quickly dropped down. There were obscene runes carved in the rock and smeared with blood and feces. There were skulls sitting atop of gourds that were decorated with beads.

This was savagery at its best.

The flames on the monk were still bright enough to light the way, and the way was disgusting. Rotting food and excrement from the God-Totem littered the floor. A half-eaten body of a bull-man maiden was tossed in the corner.

There was water dripping from somewhere.

Luckily, the caves were empty, or usable treasure, artifacts, or anything else.

"This isn't right. There should be a ton of gold, silver, and brass icons hidden away somewhere." the fighter said, nervously playing with his sword.

"And where is the God-Totem's nest?" asked the Ranger. She bent down and began searching, looking for something, anything.

"Here." She called out. It was cleverly hidden, stalagmites and stalagtites making a nearly invisible curtian to hide the entrance. We peered in, and caught a glimpse of savage hell.

The limestone and the lime deposits were red with what we assumed to be iron contamination. THere were skeletons warped and twisted into the limestone, and fossils that spoke of twisted, corrupt, and foul creatures.

"Hey Saduul, I found you friend." the fighter chuckled, pointing at a monkey with bat wings, a disfigured muzzle full of fangs, and a scorpian tail. It was completely encased in lime, the flesh seared away.

"Thanks." I said, kneeling down and carefully chipping it free. What it was, I had no clue, but it would make an excellent undead.

The passage wound it's way into the bowels of the earth, and we had to be careful not to slip. At one point a section of thin lime crumbled away, and we nearly lost the fighter into the yawning abyss. We counted the heartbeats, but never heard the lime hit the bottom.

"Listen for drums." the Ranger whispered. No kidding, we'd learned that lesson the hard way in the Iron Mines of Nucrotta, when one of the escort soldiers fell screaming into an abyss, and the sounds of drums began. We'd barely made it out of there, running at full speed, after pouring the living rust on the biggest iron deposits we could find.

Finally, it opened up into a vast cave, coating in lime. There were humps all across the floor of the room, and the Ranger cracked  open one of the lumps with one of her knives.

A skeleton, prostrating itself toward the darkness. We moved carefully forward, the theif and the monk ghosting ahead to see what they could find. They came back quickly, and made hand symbols for danger, caution, magic, and religious.

At the far end of the cave stood a vast, lime coated altar, the writhing, venomous green writing shone through the lime coating the altar. At the back of the altar was a limestone covered statue of the God-Totem we'd killed on the surface. In front of it was a nest of warped bones. In a pile twice the size of a man was gold, the lime rotted remnants of silver and bronze, all heaped up with skulls and bones of the God-Totem's victims.

The rogue began digging through the pile, stopping every once in awhile to break something free of the grip of limestone. The huge ape began demolishing the altar, and I took a close look at the statue.

It was exactly like the God-Totem we had defeated. Down to the smallest detail. I knew there was something important about it, but I couldn't figure it out.

"WOAH! LOOK AT THIS!" came a cry from the rogue. He was toward the bottom of the pile, and I was busy chipping limestone off the statue. We all moved over, and took a look at what had been found.

It was copper, enscribed with rune, and looked like a squid had mated with a slightly melted elf, then had a lamprey attached to it. It was disgusting, and made all of us naseous to look at it.

"Destroy it, Saduul." the Ranger whispered. I brought up my magic, my most potent firespell, and cooked it off, the flash hitting it.

And doing nothing but wipe away the limestone. My blood magic senses suddenly told me that the runes inscribed on the copper creature were filled with fresh blood.

"OUT! BACK OUT!" the druid screamed, pointing at another lump of limestone that had just shattered to reveal a creature out of nightmare and horror. It looked like a leech had mated with an octopus and grafted on an elven torso and a lamprey's head.

It was also ten feet tall.

There was a grinding sound at the back of the cave, and parts of the God-Totem began falling free, to reveal an inhuman, twisted shape out of fever dreams and nightmares.

"GIVE OBESIANCE UNTO ME!" came a thundering roar that sounded only in our minds. The rogue and the two warriors fell to their knees, but the Ranger, the Druid, the MOnk and I began dragging them from the cave.

The skeletons began bursting out of their lime coated cocoons, greenish, rotting flesh swirling into being around their, their arms turning to tentacles with hungry, teeth filled suckers.

"BURN, FOUL ONES!" Saduul cried out, cooking off a fire lance to clear the way. They staggered, smoking, but did not fall.

"RUN FOR IT!" the monk called out. The ape was swept up by the tentacles of the hideous statue/god, and wrung out like a dishrag. It squalled once, and the blood sprays arced in midair and flowed into the multitude of eyes adorning the head.

I pushed another fire lance out, smashing our way out of the cavern, and into the twisted tunnel that led to the surface. The limestone was melting, the fumes choking us, and the walls of the tunnel began to turn reddish, with black viens that shone with a lurid purple light.

*THOOM* echoed from behind us. Our feet began slipping on the floor, but we kept struggling. The ranger plunged a knife into the floor, vile green and black blood, finger-sized maggots, and twisting, crawling things that should not be fountained out, gagging her.

I tried to use the blood to power my magic, but felt it's twisted, obscene power try to infect me, trying to worm its way into my blood. As Saduul vomited out black blood, the druid dragged him by his arm.

The entrance to the cavern was closed by a rotting sphincter, the Ranger attacked it, tearing with her fighting knives, until with an obscene sound, it fell away, and we pushed our way out of it.

I turned back to look, and squirming things with millipede feet, writhing feelers, and sucking tentacles, as long as my arm, were pulling the scraps back together.

We fled the cave, and stopped. The clearing was full of bodies, but they were twisting, the skin blackening and abdomens exploding out tentacle-like entrails. The smiling mouths were full of lamprey teeth, and the eyes were sucking whirlpools of purple, reddish, and green energy.

"RUN!" The druid screamed. And we did.

The rising sun was our only hope. Saduul recovered at the same time as everyone else, when we crossed through a creek.

"Stop." Saduul croaked. The party came to a halt, taking equipment inventory as Saduul knelt down next to the stream and sniffed it.

_iron_

"Aw crap, I dropped _Brain-Reaver_ back there." the fighter complained.

"It's gone now. I ain't going back!" The druid cried out.

"Hey, we stayed and helped keep those troops from burning the Amythest Grove, you owe me!" the fighter yelled back.

"Shut up." Saduul hissed, picking up a cupped handful of water.

"DOn't tell me to..." THe fighter shut up when Saduul held out a palm wreathed in flame.

"I hear it too." The rogue said, going pale. "They're saying..."

"DON'T REPEAT IT!" the druid yelled.

"We're going back for Brain-Reaver." the fighter announced.

"It's gone." THe barbarian said. "If you dropped it back there, it's gone."

"What the hell woke it up?" The rogue asked, shaking his head.

"Saduul." the barbarian said.

"For once, our savage brother's suspicion about mages is correct," Saduul responded, standing up. "Or rather, he's correct that my being a blood mage is what brought it back. Blood magic is ancient, powerful, and profane, outlawed by all the gods but Vecna, and even he watches those of us who use it carefully."

"We know all this. Blood magic is old, blood magic is powerful. SO WHAT?" the fighter screamed.

"Blood magic is the _oldest_ magic. From the dawn of time." Saduul answered. "The echoes of my power awoke that _thing_ from beneath the earth. Probably as we entered its very body."

"It's body?" the fighter asked.

"The tunnel, it was one of it's many and foul orifices." the barbarian grunted. "This is a thing of nightmares, a creature of elder sorcerers, brought to foul life by insane worship."

"Let's move."

"It and its minions can't cross this stream." Saduul said. "It must go through a vien of iron somewhere. That's cold iron, babies. It may be ancient, but it still has to follow rules."

We returned to the camp, and there we found the cleric hovering over the bay, drawing runes of power granted by Vecna into the water, causing the dead sailors and soldiers murdered by Saduul to explode from the deep, clutching weapons.

"VECNA GRANTS GIFTS TO THOSE WHO BRING HIS WORSHIP UNTO NEW PEOPLE! TAKE THESE GIFTS, SADUUL, AND TEACH THIS ONE THE WAY OF POWER!" Thundered out over the bay.

With a splash, the cleric landed in the water.

We managed to save her before she drowned.

(Next installment, the CLeric's player finally shows up, and plans are made to crush the Empire's war fleet)


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## Ralts Bloodthorne (Mar 8, 2007)

We drug the cleric to shore, and Saduul examined the runic scars twisting over her body. Prayers to Vecna, hymns to his glory, and dark runes that muttered with profane whispers. Her eyes are open, revealing dead white eyes with a green and black symbol of Vecna within them.

Saduul set the colonist kids out with slings to kill as many parrots and other birds as they could and bring them back, promising a chunk of rock candy for each bird. The kids ran off with their slings and their stones. The druid sent monkeys to follow them, to make sure that the kids were safe. The monkey's didn't know it, but they would soon be following the will of Vecna. Their sacrifice would be appreciated.

The Cleric awoke, and began checking to see what kind of spells she had access to. As the last worshipper of her god, she dreamed she had slain him with a spear, and cast his body into a vast cloudy canyon, and burned the heart of the God on a vast altar made of living dead dedicated to Vecna on a vast plain filled with nothing but the dead.

Her palms had weeping wounds in the shape of Vecna's symbol on them.

She could heal, she could create undead (as we had seen) with far more power than she should have, but could eat nothing but rotting flesh. She had been warped by the very touch of Vecna himself. Saduul was jealous, but figured that Vecna may need a martyr on this continent sooner or later.

She was notably flammable. This gave Saduul hope that he was still Vecna's favored arcane fist on the continent.

The children began bringing back parrots, and the Ranger had gutted dozens of fish. Scribing glass power circles in the sand, Saduul had the rogue and the ranger slit the throats of the monkeys and spray the blood on the circles. Once the dead parrots were placed inside, more monkeys had their throats cut, and the blood sprayed upon the circle.

Saduul sliced open his biceps, behind the muscle, and ran a rope made of a thorn-vine through the wound, and hung skulls of defeated cowmen from them. He began dancing around the circle, calling out for Vecna's blessing, and summoning up great power. The blood of the shaman of the evil cow-men ahd been gathered, and it was poured over Saduul as he danced.

The parrots began to stir, and burst into flame, scorching them to blackened, twisted skeletons. The cleric finished carving a rune dedicated Vecna in the foreheads of the monkeys, and stuffed the dead monkey's into the fish. They too were thrown into the circles, and a captured evil human was slaughtered to provide blood and power. Unholy purple lightning cascaded around the monkey-stuffed fish, burning both to blackened bones with leathery blackened flesh on them.

The power exhausted, Saduul collapsed on the ground. The party debated on killing on, but the Paladin skeleton, Spring Heeled Jack, and Big Red drug him away to his hut and prowled around the outside, hissing and menacing anyone who drew close.

"Is it just me, or is Saduul taking to this land to well for my liking?" The fighter asked.

"What do you expect, he's a damned lunatic." the Ranger said, then excused herself, telling the party that her husband was calling her. She promised over her shoulder that her husband and her would take midnight watch.

The party spent the rest of the day getting albatross reports on where the ships were, shoring up the defenses, and warning everyone not to journey beyond the Red Rock stream. The jungle had a darkness gathering in it, but first thing was first.

The Empire had sent legions to defeat us, aboard twenty ships, including a century of the Emperor's Own. The same arrogant scum who looked down on real troops, who crucified commanders who lost a battle, even if the battle they had been ordered into was unwinnable.

Toward nightfall, one of the albatrosses returned with a rat. The rat quickly bargained for its life. It bore bad news, but was allowed to live anyway.

The Emperor had sent the Holy Order of the Guardians with the ships. These were men and women who killed those who did not display enough faith, who got too popular with the masses, who had the unfortunate luck to be related to an officer who failed in his military duties, who dug out those who were politically unreliable, or executed any military soldier who gained too much fame and/or power.

The Black Hand of the Emperor was aboard the huge vessel.

At dusk, Saduul came out, looking pale and sickly.

"Some of my life force, my vitality itself, was consumed in the ritual. It will be many moons before I am whole once more." Saduul answered the questions.

Still, the plan went forward. The blackened monkey-fish were tossed into the water, and the blackened parrots took flight , the lurid purple light in their eyes guiding them.

The parrots approached the ships, invisible in the night sky. Each of the twenty ships had twenty parrots fly upwards, then suddenly power dive at the decks, punching through rigging and sails...

And igniting into flame a mere 5' above the decks.

The hailing rain of undead firey missiles crashed into the deck, and the monkey's climbed out of the bellies of the fish, and began climbing up the decks. Once on the deck, with horrific, deafening screeches, they burst into flame and began jupming around on the rails and rigging.

Those sailors who jumped overboard were attacked by infernal energy infused fish.

Eight ships survived the attack.

They had just tasted our preperations.

Erythnull Count The Dead; Vecna Make Use of Them!


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## TheRelinquished (Mar 8, 2007)

*sniff*

I've missed this story so much. I just want you to know, Ralts, that Saduul has inspired me, and continues to do so with each well-told story. I can't wait for the next installment. I hope your next session is as satisfying as I think it's going to be.


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## FalcWP (Mar 8, 2007)

I'm also really glad to see new installments of this story.  Saduul is *so* much fun to read about.


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## joshuakanton (Mar 8, 2007)

Excellent story, I look forward to the next session.


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## Rel (Mar 8, 2007)

I'm gonna slide this over to the Story Hour forum but it's definately worth a read!


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## Rackhir (Mar 8, 2007)

Woohoo! Saduul is my second favorite Story Hour Mage after Mostin of course. Really Glad to see him back! You might want to repost/start a new SH thread to copy the old stuff into.


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## Baron Opal (Mar 9, 2007)

After reading through the two threads I'm wondering what's up with the cleric's God? (The dying one, I mean.)


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