The Howling Horde -
Part III
As
recorded by Cobbweb Palpinn Urbar Clan Astrolacyll, 52nd High Priest of
Glimmerung, during a seance with his predecessor Folbiddle.
And they called themselves heroes.
“Thia’s Trouble-Finders”…that was the name I heard deep in the warrens.
A fantastic group of elves and humans who had come to deliver us from
the rampaging horde. A glorious gift from Garl Glittergold sent to turn
back the flood of gnolls that had ravaged the Glimmerloch. Skeptical at
first, even I became hopeful when I heard about their stand in the
tunnels, defeating wave after wave until the gnolls’ very corpses
formed walls from floor to ceiling and blocked their advance.
But if they are heroes, why am I still dead?
I was caught in the tunnels when the riverbed collapsed; my joy at
seeing my homeland protected was the only thing that protected me as I
fell into the hands of the evil dog men.
The tortures I received at their hands were unspeakable, but I fell
into the grace of Garl, and knew a slight peace. My god was with
me, and he reassured me that help was coming.
Garl’s voice in my mind told me of the Trouble-Finders approach to the
crypts. I almost shouted out, to tell them to flee…for the horde
was too strong…the brutish leader “Fleshnasher” and the corrupt priest
“Dark Bone” were together too powerful for any force to overcome.
My life and the lives of my companions were not worth the sacrifice.
But then, through Garl’s eyes, I saw a miracle. Faced with the
odds they did, they should not have survived. But not only did
the Trouble-Finders prevail, they succeeded beyond anyone’s greatest
hopes. Within minutes, not only had they slain the evil priest,
but they had routed Fleshnasher's forces and caused even the flind to
flee. Even as I dropped into the murky waters of the cavern, I
knew hope, for after such heroics, surely my rescue was just moments
away?
But they never came.
I fought the snake-woman’s influence with all the fire in my heart even
as her poison coursed through me and corrupted my mind. Firm in
my belief in Garl, and knowing that salvation lay only moments away, my
mind was clear, my resolve fast.
But they never came.
I even heard them a few chambers away. Where once they turned
aside a hundred gnolls, they were now forced back again and again by a
simple slug. A slug!
Despite all the torture, I never once shed a tear until the moment I
heard their voices carry through the rock, giving up the quest, leaving
me for dead.
After that, the information came freely from my lips. I abandoned
Garl as easily as he abandoned me. I was alive when the snake
woman started to feast on me, but I no longer cared…what pain could be
greater than being abandoned by your god?
“Thia’s Toruble-Finders” they were called. The saviors of the
Glimmerloch.
Well, they never saved me.