The wind sang through the branches of the trees in Morgunborg Wood as they swayed peacefully making Grar’s whiskers twitch instinctively. The Gatonian had been sent to investigate the Tree of Love, the supposed home of the Goddess Dragostia the Divine. A few days earlier the excitement at Hawkstorm Keep had ramped up considerably, Prince Algor had apparently returned from space with a ball named Terry, the mighty Quazarec had shown up possessed by some kind of Daemon, and apparently, Baron Dracktholme was…stealing Gods? The Slimes had summoned all their allies to the Keep and explained the situation. To fight this evil they would need to spread across the planet to try and find some of the Gods that remained if any.
Grar had been paired up with a new friend of Algor’s, the odd vampire hunter Friar Lovac who was proving to be a very interesting companion to the Gatonian thief. Broken out of his thoughts by the sound of the ghost monk returning to his armor Grar stood up “ How’s it look Friar?” he asked, pulling a pouch of dried fish out of his belt. Lovac’s glowing red eyes turned to Grar “ I have found the Tree my boy, and it appears to be deserted. I believe it is safe to approach” he said with the slight ghostly echo of his voice trailing off into the wind of the enchanted wood. Grar popped a handful of the small dried fish into his mouth from the pouch, and as he licked the salty deliciousness off his lips he grabbed an arrow from the quiver on his back “Well then let’s see if we can’t meet with the Goddess of Love then eh?” he asked, nocking the arrow in his bow.
The tree of love was aptly named to be sure, it was large, covered in carved hearts, and even the large pink leaves resembled hearts. The leaves seemed to be dripping in a dust-like pollen that gave the whole clearing the tree sat in the middle of a dreamlike quality. Grar took a big sniff, he couldn’t smell anything nearby, and his senses seemed at ease. Sliding the arrow back into his quiver he unslung his pack putting it on a rock as he rummaged through it. He pulled out a parchment and a small box. Flicking the latch deftly with his claw he popped the box open removing each item. A small parchment, a metal rod, a small glass vial, and a jar of some kind of meat. He placed the items around the base of the tree and began to read from the parchment “ Oh Goddess, I invoke the power of your unending font of love. I present the totems of my love. The hearts of mated Shengquins represent my lifelong commitment to my love. A vial of tears cried over the scant light of a Glowberry Candle representing my devastation of being separated from my love. A rod of unbending metal representing my unbreaking devotion to my love. Oh Goddess please I beg you grace me with your divine light. My love exists as great as your power over the hearts of all beings for all eternity!” as Grar spoke the pink dust of the clearing swirled all around him, and a light seemed to shine down from the underside of the branches upon the Gatonian. A voice rang out from nowhere and everywhere “ My child, what does thine true heart desire” it asked as the light grew ever brighter. Grar’s tail swung back and forth behind him as he looked up at the light “ Great Goddess, we come today in fear of your safety. We believe that someone is trying to subdue the Gods, and we hoped to find you here well so we may warn you of the evil approaching.” he said as the light dwindled and the dust settled.
All was quiet in the clearing for a moment. Friar Lovac looked all around, and just as he was about to speak a crack of light appeared on the Tree of Love splitting down the middle. The light faded leaving a door in the tree which slowly swung open “ Enter then children” the voice rang out once more. Grar looked at Lovac and shrugged “Into the…tree then I guess buddy?” he asked with a smile slightly baring his fangs. Lovac chuckled “Even for a vampire-hunting ghost monk this is new territory, my boy, after you,” he said sweeping his hand towards the door in the tree.
A staircase carved into the very wood of the tree itself brought them down to a large room inside the hollow of the tree. Wood adorned with hearts stretched up into the darkness above, and surrounding the stone floor was a bubbling moat of clear water. Various fish and plant life could be seen bobbing in the moat as Grar and Lovac crossed the small stone bridge leading to the center of the room. On a large wooden throne that appeared to be growing from the ground itself sat a beautiful human woman. Her skin gave off a white glow, and the pink dust from the clearing seemed to emanate from her green hair as she spread her arms wide ” Welcome to the lair of the Goddess of love boys!” She exclaimed with a wide smile which only increased her glow. She bound from the throne her long purple dress flowing all around her, and with a flick of her wrist a table, three chairs, glasses, and a full spread of fruit. Dragostia popped a berry into her mouth, and slowly chewed before speaking “ You see boys, the Gods rarely assemble or speak unless it’s the most dire of emergencies so…” she was cut off by Lovac “What could be more dire than the disappearance of the Gods themselves?” the friar asked her slamming his fist down on the table shaking the entire bowl of fruit. Dragostia laughed “Sweet Friar, it is in fact a most dire situation. I just meant the Gods do not keep each other abreast of what happens normally beyond our infrequent Congress of the Gods meetings. I will however try and contact them” she said, popping another berry into her mouth.
The Goddess stood up and walked over to an alcove on the side of the room. She rubbed her hands over an orb that seemed to be filled with smoke, and after a moment she frowned “ Nothing. Not one reply. That’s not good boys” Her hair released a cloud of pink dust as she turned back towards the table. Grar took a sip from the cup in front of him, some kind of sweet milk stuck to his lips “ Well….this milk is spectacular by the way….we were made aware of this by Terry, the assistant of..” Grar was cut off by Dragostia “ Oh I know Terry very well. He’s always with Jah Dume during the congress, and he’s a very likable little robot to be sure” The Goddess was smiling again as she herself took a sip from her glass “ As for the milk, you’ll find everything here to your liking…the realm of love is pretty good at giving you what you enjoy.” She said, placing her hand on the Gatonian’s shoulder gently. The odd trio talked for a while and came to the conclusion that if Dracktholme was detaining Gods nothing good could come from it. They still had no idea how the Baron could entrap a God however Dragostia had an idea about who they could talk to about that. She explained they’d need to travel to an access point of the Northern Asylum hidden on Jalldoon, and as they prepared to leave she waved her hand in front of her. The flowing purple dress was replaced with a simple purple hooded robe, her glowing skin faded into a pale white, and her various bangles and necklaces shifted to a simple medallion around her neck. She held her hand out, and a large wooden staff flew to her hand “ Ready boys?” she asked as she circled her hand in the air opening a glowing portal in front of them. Grar’s tail flicked about absentmindedly behind him as he looked at the portal “As we’ll ever be I guess” he said following Dragostia into the portal.
They exited the portal in what Grar knew to be the Taonga Coast region. Standing alongside the sandy road the sun was beating down, and it was a beautiful day on Jalldoon. Dragostia smiled “ Now we proceed to Fort Redding where the entrance is.” she said, starting to walk towards the coast. Fort Redding was constructed ages before even the Great War and had fallen into disrepair long before the Gods added a portal to the Northern Asylum there. The Fort was haunted by many angry spirits which kept folk away from the area, and the inherent power of the location itself helped seal the portal away from prying eyes. As they walked Dragostia explained that in order to secure the various portal sites around the planet they would never appear directly at their locations. Making their portals nearby so they could be sure not a soul could follow them into the Asylum. A small ways down the road they saw the looming ruins of the ancient fort as Dragostia spoke “Friar, unfortunately, this is where we part ways. Spirits are not able to use the portals into and out of the Asylum for many reasons. I can create a portal for you to any place you’d like on the planet. You may also wait for us here at the Fort if you wish, but the cursed spirits here will not take well to an unchained spirit such as yourself which could create…problems.” The infectious smile left her face as she said this. Lovac chuckled “ No. I don’t think I shall stay here. I can already hear these ghosts howling for me. Why don’t you send me back to Hawkstorm Keep so I can let our friends know what is happening my dear.” his otherworldly voice trailed off as the restless spirits haunting Fort Redding continued to scream for his head. Dragostia beamed “ Very well my friend. I send you off with love. Spread it as far as you are able” she said gesturing to open a portal. The Friar paused for a second before entering “Thank you, my dear. Grar be careful friend, and both of you go with God.” stepping inside the shimmering doorway he disappeared as did the portal. Grar laughed as Dragostia looked at him “ What did he mean go with God? Of course, you will….you’re with a God” She asked puzzled. Shaking his head Grar responded “ He’s a weird guy. Worships what he calls the one true God, but he seems nice enough. We need all the help we can get, and who am I… a thief… to judge anyone based on their beliefs?” the Gatonian said laughing. The wide smile returned to Dragostia’s face “Oh Grar, I can see inside anyone’s true heart. You are a good man no matter your profession, and the side of good is lucky to have you!” she exclaimed, rubbing behind his ear gently. Despite his gruff nature, Grar couldn’t help but let out a slight pur at her touch and kind words. They made their way down to the lowest levels of the fort, and in the center of a large room, Grar saw a stone arch covered in runes. The arch was made of some kind of obsidian type rock, which stood in stark contrast to the redstone of the keep. Dragostia ran her finger along the runes “ Once we enter the Asylum we won’t be able to use any portal except the one we come through, and to get where we need to go we will have to walk a bit. Keep your wits about you Grar.” she flipped her green hair over her shoulder as she said this. Raising her arms high she said one word “Armure”, and her entire body was bathed in glowing white light. When the light faded Dragostia stood fully adorned in wicked-looking armor. The torchlight danced off the purple metal and gold trim, a short sword hung from her hip and on her back a quiver of arrows with a bow rested. Grar was stunned “…Nice gear,” he said to her noting the extreme similarities in their choice of equipment with a smile. Dragostia winked at him “You’re looking at the best archer in existence, I can promise you that Grar” she said with a grin. Grar laughed “When this is over we will see about that one my dear!” He was truly enjoying his time with the Goddess of love.
Dragostia spun a finger from each hand over the runes, and as they lit up one by one the portal opened “Quickly! Go!” she gestured Grar through. On the other side of the portal things seemed…exactly the same, and if he hadn’t known otherwise Grar would assume they were any place else on Jalldoon. The Gatonian’s brow furrowed “I thought the Northern Asylum would be…different somehow?” he asked Dragostia. The Goddess smiled wide and put her hand on his shoulder “Trust friend Grar, there is plenty of strangeness in the Northern Asylum that would melt your fragile mortal mind. There will be plenty of time to talk about all that after we figure out our current problem” she said. Grar’s heart raced at the thought of spending time with her after this, but they needed to focus on finding whoever or whatever they were here to see. As they walked Dragostia spilled secrets few mortals knew. Telling Grar how Jalldoon acted as a strange anomaly in the entirety of existence, existing itself outside of all space-time. With the rifts constantly dropping things on a planet acting as a sort of cosmic storage bin for things that were once useful to whatever was responsible for reality. This meant that the entire spectrum of time itself was represented on the planet, and as such the man they were going to see had at one point ruled the entire Universe for millions of years until the very stars had burnt out. His hunger for knowledge and power had helped him to amass one of the finest minds ever known, and if anyone could figure out how to trap a God it would be him. However this man was one of the few beings willingly sequestered in the Northern Asylum, and Dragostia was skeptical he was involved in the actual capturing of the Gods. They approached a simple wooden fence along the road and turned into a small farm at the gate. Small rows of vegetables grew on either side of the path as they walked up to a small farmhouse. A man sat in a chair on the porch, smoking a pipe, and stroking a black cat sitting on his lap. He looked up with a smile “Dragostia the VERY Divine, to what do I owe this gift of your presence beautiful?” he said putting down his pipe on the small table next to him. Dragostia shook her head with a smile “ You scoundrel, we’re here on a very important mission. Somebody is kidnapping Gods, and I wonder if you happen to know anything about that?” she asked him. The man tapped the cat on its head gently “Go eat you little chub” he said as it yawned awake stretching its paws out wide. The cat looked up at him “ Oh yeah…I’m the fat one here…sure. How many sandwiches did you eat again last night? Was it three or four?” it asked jumping off his lap and stretching one more time before walking inside chuckling. The man stood up, his grey hair and beard gave him a stately appearance, but it was his one glowing green eye that was really striking. He scratched his head “Kidnapping Gods? Certainly not my bag my dear, but I’ve got a few ideas on how it could be done. Any idea how it was achieved?” he asked. Up until this point Grar had been taking it all in silence “Apparently it was some kind of orb of light imprisoning them” he piped up. The man trained his glowing green eye on Grar “Ahh thank you Gatonian. Ok…a hard light containment orb is pretty standard stuff, but with the strength to hold a God? I’m going to need some time here Drag.” he said opening the door and holding it open so the cat could walk out. Dragostia hugged him “ Ok, but this is serious so we need to know as soon as possible. Please” she whispered in his ear as they embraced. She knelt down and scratched the cat behind its ears “You know how to reach me. I’ll be helping my new friend here save the Planet while you’re tinkering away in your lab.” She chided him jokingly.
As Grar and Dragostia walked away all was silent for a moment until they cleared the exit of the farm. Grar was the first to speak” Who WAS that guy?” he asked. Dragostia shook her head “Well that is a long story. You see…” she was cut off by a buzzing sound coming towards them. She grabbed Grar’s hand “Come on!” she shouted while starting to run into the woods bordering the road they were on. Two small hover platforms manned by strange armored lizard creatures appeared and followed them into the woods. Dragostia stopped in a clearing “Looks like there are only six of them. We got this right Grar?” she asked, drawing her bow and nocking an arrow. Grar noticed for the first time her arrowheads were shaped like hearts. The girl had a theme that’s for sure he thought to himself as he readied his bow with a smile. The platforms floated into view, and they could hear one of the creatures speak “ Find them for the glory of the Kung-Los Empire! Bring their heads back to the Witch, and she will…” The creature was silenced as a heart-tipped arrow punctured his neck. As his lifeless body crumpled the platform he was driving lurched to its side and ground to a halt in the ground with the two remaining soldiers on it scrambling to fire their blasters at the Goddess and the Gatonian. Dragostia jumped into the air and fired off three arrows at once which all found their marks in the approaching second platform. With all three of its occupants dead it flew into a tree with a burst of fire and smoke. Grar fired an arrow at one of the remaining soldiers, and it lodged itself deep in the unfortunate being’s eye socket as it fell to the ground in agony. The last soldier had Grar dead in his sights, and as he started to squeeze the trigger he felt a sudden rip on his throat. His rifle dropped harmlessly as he clutched his now slit throat, turning around his last sight was the Goddess of love smiling with her sword covered in his blood. Grar looked around, he had killed one of six. In the span of a few moments, Dragostia had cleared almost the whole group out. He picked up one of the discarded rifles “ Never knew the Goddess of Love was such a fierce warrior” he said tossing the rifle behind him. Dragostia smiled “Love is a battlefield, my dear,” she said with a laugh. They made their way back to the place where they had exited the portal, and once back at Fort Redding Dragostia looked at Grar with a smile “Where to now?” she asked. Grar’s tail twitched slightly “ Hawkstorm Keep. We need to alert the others to what we’ve found,” he said as his heart raced at the thought of spending more time with the Goddess. As Dragostia opened a portal that would bring them to Hawkstorm she looked back at Grar “Well then…let’s go cutie!” with a smile and a wink. Grar had faced many interesting things in his life, but flirting with a Goddess was a spectacular new high for the Gatonian. Even with the prospect of approaching evil Grar couldn’t help but let himself feel immense joy as he stepped through the shimmering portal.
Continued in Chapter 16
This brings you up to date with the Main Story, but there is plenty more action to be found in the Lore Section
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