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gregorypenman · 8 years ago

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The Mad Wizard: Part 5

It had been many weeks since the last report had been sent out by Gregory. Since then, much has taken place. The paladin, suffering greatly from his role as commander of the Sapphire Crusade, had taken to isolation from the others and focused his time and energy on tracking down the evil wizard who plagued him and his friends. He would not rest until the enemy had been brought to justice.

In his absence, all seemed calm as there had been no news of the wizard’s activities. While Captain Pyrestone and Arthur Arkarium were relatively brought back to safety, the two were still in the grasp of danger. The Captain’s body and soul continue to be separate as there was no means to bring her together again and Arthur’s tattoos remained a mystery to all. Though their afflictions were not a major threat, in other words not the issue of the public, they weighed heavily on the mind of Gregory.

A month earlier, Gregory had sent Jaylhe away to collect herself after her outburst and destruction of Sapphire Crusade property. Her frustration and sorrow warranted a need for time off. With Arthur and Jaylhe both gone, Gregory had made the decision to put the rest of the Crusade on leave, leaving only himself still in the fight.

Doctor Dewfall, at the call of his sister, summoned the forces of Redsteel and the Sapphire Crusade to a luxury home near the territories of the Blood Elves. According to the witch, Cierce, this was a summer home she and her mother used from time to time. However, during the time of the mission, it had become a base for the wizard the party had been hunting. With this knowledge and the guiding eye of the witch, the group set forth to retake the home.

The heroes were stopped at the entrance by a group of thugs supposedly hired by the wizard to keep the place guarded. After a moment of “witty” banter from the rogues, combat ensued. The heroes made quick work of the hired swords, leaving most of them alive to be taken into custody by Stormwind’s law. The group pressed on with haste to meet with the wizard.

One horror after the other came at them as they walked through the halls of this palace like place and through trials and tribulations, they succeeded. Finally, coming to the final room of the palace, they were met with one last obstacle. Something no one could have imagined. The last line of defense of the wizard’s army was none other than the mother of Doctor Dewfall who has become a mind controlled puppet.

Stunned at the sight Cierce stumbles back before collapsing. The Doctor places himself between her and his mother, defending his sister from the incoming attack and calls for the party to surround the area. At his command, they did so. A battle engages and the heroes are pelted with a barrage of arcane energy that near shatters their defenses. The doctor’s mother seemed nearly impossible to defeat, but they had come too far to fail now. With a call to the light, Gregory empowers his shield, the Kanters’ Legacy, and sends it flying into the arm of the mind controlled mage. The shield manages to stop several arcane missiles from harming him and the others as well as ending her constant attack. It was with this window that the doctor stepped in to sedate her and end the encounter. In the distance, an explosion is heard and a man on a flying contraption can be seen fleeing the scene. The Wizard had gotten away again. However, this time the heroes had won and have rescued the doctor’s mother.

With mission successful and everyone out of the hands of the wizard, Gregory focused on a matter that had been troubling him but had not the time to address. Jaylhe had been gone for a while and had not once sent word of her status. Feeling responsible for her plight, he took to meeting with her brother in his office in Dalaran, hoping to shed light on her disappearance. The meeting ended with both men confused as to the whereabouts of the enchantress and an agreement to notify the other with any developments.

Returning to the Sapphire Headquarters, Gregory sat at the top of the steps with his head hung low in exhaustion and frustration. Though their mission was successful, the cost was high. Arthur, a man he’d considered a brother, had been taken from him without even so much as a goodbye and worse still, has no memory of their time spent together over the year serving the Light. Captain Pyrestone, a party neutral to the events who had been commissioned to join their ranks as a captain of a ship, had her life torn to pieces, and Jaylhe, the second in command of the Sapphire Crusade and more important to Gregory, his adoptive bratty sister, had gone missing.

Feeling the intense lose, Gregory took in the situation in his isolation. He dared not go to his beloved sister and former master Lillian Aherys for fear of upsetting her and his lover, Beathas, had been busy with her work as a teacher of the arcane arts. Feeling the cold hands of sorrow taking hold, he thought on of his master, Jeca Kanters. Her wisdom would keep him from falling into the deepest pit of despair and help him to keep strong in his times of pain.

Feeling his spirits lift, he brought his head up and took a deep breath. In the distance, he could see two familiar faces by the newly repaired fountain which had once been reduced to gravel by Jaylhe’s anger. Arthur and Doctor Kanters seem to have stopped in for a visit. Excited, Gregory rushed to meet them. Arthur, still unsure of who Gregory or why the paladin knew the mage, had come to Gregory under the passive orders of Jaylhe who had contacted the mage sometime after her disappearance. He explained that Jaylhe had been made into a wrath-like creature by some form of malicious magic and needs help. However, he could not find her and hopped that Gregory could assist in a location spell. Without hesitation, Gregory agreed and the two were off to find their friend, Angela in tow as she were the one with the most experience with this kind of power.

The three found Jaylhe hiding in Dalara, but fear had kept her at a distance. After a while of talking and getting nowhere, Gregory gave Angela to Arthur to hunt for Jaylhe and find a way to save her. In the meantime, Gregory would try to find a way to reverse the magic that had effected his friends by hunting the wizard that had cursed them.

One week passes and Gregory has had no luck in finding the wizard, nor has Arthur reported any news on Jaylhe. To make matters worse, while everyone had gathered at the Sapphire Strong hold for a quiet get together, Doctor Kanters rushes in with news that Ceirce had been kidnapped by the evil wizard Ruthkar. Gregory, filled with the fury of the Light and fueled by the sorrow in his heart, hurried all who had gathered to arms. He would see the wizard brought to justice. The heroes arrive at the workshop of the wizard, and make haste to meet with him. Across a bottomless pit stood the madman and a squirming sack. Leading the charge, Gregory rushed forward around the circular room. The group were met with hindrances in the form of summoned experiments who the wizard brought forth to buy him time to perform his ritual. As the heroes came close, he smiles and tosses the bag into the void of the pit before vanishing into a portal.

From the pit came a horrific being of darkness and evil. A being that brought Doctor Mahlar Dewfall to his knees. The ritual performed by Ruthkar had turned his sister into a monster. The heroes readied for combat as the monster had come into full view. Grifyn Redsteel commands the others to use non-lethal means if at all possible. It was at this that Doctor Kanters’ inner magic took form and met the beast head on. As this new form held the beast at bay, she commanded the others to enter it to find the host and undo the magic. They do so and find themselves in a land of shadows. Gregory and the other soldiers stood ready to face what would come at them while Mahlar and, for some reason, Mirianda Redsteel, the Lady of House Redsteel and cousin-in-law to Grifyn Redsteel, and Auralaith, Priestess of House Redsteel and Grifyn’s Lover, were chosen to meet with the hosted form. While the three were taken, the others fought on against twisting shadows that outnumbered them ten to one.

The fighting seemed endless until suddenly a chime of angelic tones came through the shadow and with a warm brush, an aura of holy light filled the room. This brought an end to the shadow and transported the heroes out of the realm of darkness. Everyone had gotten out safely, Doctor Mahlar holding his sister in his arms, cradling her in his protective embrace. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Everyone save Gregory who had brought his exhausted form to the spot where the portal had been that Ruthkar used in his escape. A frustrated roar exits his body as his anger and helplessness builds. He flings his greatsword, the Sapphire Crusader, into the darkness below before falling to his knees and breathing heavily. He could not believe the wizard had escaped again. This was a lesson in ill preparedness. He would not be caught off guard again.

Demanding a portal from Beathas, Gregory set back to Stormwind to prepare for the next encounter with Ruthkar. He would not let him escape again. First, he would need to find a way to bring Jaylhe and Arthur back then he would have the strength he needed to face the foe. He needed supplies. Thus, he went to the apothecary of the Mage District to stock up on needed reagents. His actions in that moment made some of the people present upset. However, explain as he did, they would not understand the hell he is in. Gregory, once again, returns to isolation. Preparations needed to happen and he would not be weighed down by the ignorance of others.

@lillian-aherys @rider-of-slaughter @grumpdargon @syliune @moxie-bravo @miriredsteel @letdownsahoy

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