Tereman

The First Vampire of Cimmeria Part 5

Mister Ed Classics, Dungeons and Dragons, Writing , , , , , , , , , , ,

Previous: The First Vampire of Cimmeria Part 4

Githyanki invaders touched every part of Cimmeria. Rather than target the politically powerful they attacked mortals skilled in the martial or magical arts. Powerful warriors, magicians, and clerics disappeared as the adlishar and sarath elite of the Githyanki swept across Cimmeria. With the strongest protectors removed the Githyanki infantry invaded. They attacked the city-states, pillaged their treasuries, and enslaved the urban people of Cimmeria to provide resources and servants to the Astral Plane.

Tereman had been spying on the Githyanki using dimensional portals. He learned of the attacks before they occurred, but underestimated the scope. Thus Tracy and the Gish Trio had only been able to organize defenses for Shalerton, Crafterton, and Nomingburg. After the initial attacks failed on the strongest of those cities the Githyanki didn’t follow up with a full-scale invasion. The Lich-queen was content with the prizes she had earned across the rest of Cimmeria.

Tracy and the Gish Trio began planning how to drive back the Githyanki and defeat Bavastatner. The problems would undoubtedly be easier to manage if the alliance between the Lich-queen and Bavastatner was destroyed. Tereman’s divinations revealed that the pair had sworn their alliance on the River Styx and that Bavastatner was searching for a way out of his oath. Tracy came up with a plot. The Gish Trio would help Bavastatner achieve his goal and then with their enemies divided they would strike.

Continue reading →

The First Vampire of Cimmeria Part 4

Mister Ed Dungeons and Dragons, Writing , , , , , , , , , , ,

Previous: The First Vampire of Cimmeria Part 3

The Blue Dragon menace had returned to Cimmeria, but there was a silver lining; Tracy had returned as well. The magic tying her return to the breaking of the Blue Orb also controlled the location of her return. Tracy reappeared next to the people most likely to help her fight the blue dragons. Those best suited for reimprisoning Bavastatner and Renvesharhialisv were the Gish Trio, Galandir, Tereman, and Blendegad.

Tracy cheerfully introduced herself to the Gish Trio and the four agreed to a partnership in their mutual goals of ending the threat of the Githyanki and the blue dragons. Galandir, Tereman, and Blendegad were accomplished warriors and magicians. Additionally, they had the most experience out of anyone in fighting the Githyanki. Tracy was a trickster thief of legend and could call on the resources of Nomingburg and Crafterton to help their struggle.

Continue reading →

The First Vampire of Cimmeria Part 3

Mister Ed Dungeons and Dragons, Writing , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Harssafs look like sand demon people

Previous: The First Vampire of Cimmeria Part 2

The Blue Dragon Cult had gotten closer and closer to the Blue Dragon Orb in the years since it was sealed away. They knew it was in the Shacklack Desert. They even knew which region of the desert, but that region belonged to the Harssaf people who violently repelled any intrusion.

The Githyanki provided the power the Blue Dragon Cult needed to reach the Orb’s resting place. The Lich-queen sent her best troops, the sarath, to assist in the Blue Dragon Orb’s extraction. They cut through the Harssaf warriors with ease and reached the dungeon containing the Orb. Powerful magical defenses prevented the sarath from safely penetrating the dungeon. Rather than risk their own lives, the sarath sent members of the Blue Dragon Cult ahead to their grisly deaths. With this trial and error method the Githyanki reached the inner sanctum of the dungeon. There the sarath defeated the plant and golem defenders placed by Bigby and Tentineh. With that, only one barrier stood between the villains and the Dragon Orb, Bavastatner, the blue dragon patriarch set by Tentineh to guard the Blue Orb.

Bavastatner tore through the Githyanki sarath, killing many and forcing the others to retreat. They reported their failure to the Lich-queen. She sent one of her most powerful servants, an adlishar, to capture the Blue Orb. The adlishar entered the minds of the surviving sarath to study their battle with Bavastatner. He determined that the dragon was beyond his ability to defeat. Instead of fighting it, the adlishar stole the Orb and teleported away. The Orb would not be safe for long though. Bavastatner had a powerful connection to the Orb’s magic and could sense its location. The Githyanki and the Blue Dragon Cult would have to act fast in their plan to destroy the Blue Orb.

Continue reading →

The First Vampire of Cimmeria Part 2

Mister Ed Dungeons and Dragons, Writing , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Previous: The First Vampire of Cimmeria Part 1

Galandir, Tereman, and Blendegad split the work of investigating the Githyanki. Galandir inspected the unusual silver swords the Githyanki wielded. He discovered that they somehow attacked the body, mind, and spirit simultaneously cutting through every aspect of their victim. Tereman used divination magic to probe the other side of the dimensional portal the Githyanki used. He saw the void of the Astral Plane where the Githyanki made their home on the titanic corpse of a dead god. Blendegad examined the various alchemic items the invaders brought with them. He determined that they could be used to collect some form of energy from the Githyanki’s captives. Galandir, Tereman, and Blendegad’s investigative and adventuring work together would earn them the name “The Gish Trio.”

Gish is a word in D&D that refers to a character who is good at using magic and fighting in melee combat. The term originally described the Githyanki style of fighting! Over the years gish came to refer to all D&D characters that know how to swing a sword and cast a spell.

While the Gish Trio did their work, the Githyanki spied on the Material Plane and their eyes fell on the dragon cults of Cimmeria. After the Dragon War groups of the Draconic side’s followers began to worship the primordial beings as gods. These dragon cults ultimately sought the return of their gods by destroying the Draconic Orbs. Applying the old saying of “the enemy of my enemy is my friend,” the Githyanki began building an alliance with the dragon cults. Trading arcane knowledge and information about their two locations made both sides stronger.

Continue reading →

The First Vampire of Cimmeria Part 1

Mister Ed Dungeons and Dragons, Writing , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

When the Olympians moved east they gave the Cimmerians additional magic power. These powers provided great entertainment for the Olympians, but were not without their costs. The Greek gods occasionally came into contact with other pantheons, most notably the Persian and Goblin pantheons. The additional power of mortals in Cimmeria attracted the attention of another semi-divine entity, the Lich-queen of the Githyanki.

The Githyanki come from a place between dimensions known as the Astral Plane. They wield strange psionic magic and are led by an immortal despot, the Lich-queen. While immortal, her power still pales before a true god’s. She constantly hungers for more power. Any Githyanki who rise above a certain level are summoned to the Lich-queen’s court to be consumed by their monarch. She absorbs their power into herself, becoming stronger by inches as she comes closer and closer to godhood.

The Lich-queen observed the growing power of the mortals in Cimmeria and sent a squadron of Githyanki soldiers to investigate. They attacked the small town of Shalerton, kidnapping several residents to torture and interrogate for information about the new dimension they had invaded.

Continue reading →