Recent content by Vardan

"If thou'rt desirous of a story," Vardan said, "Crawl back into hell and seek out thy mother." With a withered grunt, Vardan propped himself up slightly on his elbows. Insects were feasting on the blackguard, who was yelling and carrying on and invoking the names of ruinous powers. "Nnngh...

Vardan harrumphed and muttered unintelligible. Something about "the commons" and "King Grichen" were barely audible. The old lich strained to look up from his position. Past Afanas and the scarred knight to the broken corpses of the Eldyr Tree's guardians. He knew them well, those old the...

"Bloviating, mongrel lamprey, get thee from my branch," Vardan said languidly. The lich hardly stirred, except to scratch idly at some of the ornamentation on his cuirass with a single, bored finger.

Vardan watched the malformed wayfarer hack pitifully at the tree. "That is all?" He rolled onto his back. The cheap metal of his cuirass creaked as it pressed back into the wood. It seemed it would be a while longer before someone worthwhile appeared. "Thine axe is a mite too small for the...

"Aheheh, ekh..." A dry and rattling laugh came from above, doubtlessly at Shrike's expense. Not too far above Shrike, on a low but quite sturdy branch of the Eldyr tree, it a skeleton loafing about. It wore a dusty, ornamental cuirass atop scrapped and stained black finery. Funeral raiment from...

Sir Nathaniel | Khasmina Zvonimir Zasz died his fool's death, and Vardan watched the rest of the proceedings with his hollow sockets. He idly kicked his feet in light motions, waiting for them to leave. His eyes fell upon the book and he watched it get slipped away. Perhaps he had some...

Khasmina Zvonimir | Sir Nathaniel Vardan made no move as the wave of earth rolled towards him - not even a peep. It bowled him over, and by the time the earth settled, he had been utterly buried. There was no sign of him for quite some time, but even a couple feet of dirt couldn't spare him the...

Khasmina Zvonimir | Sir Nathaniel Two more of the Graveguard tried to advance, and they likewise had the magic shriven from their reanimated forms. They collapsed into inanimate bones, weapons and armor clattering noisily into the stone beside them. Time permitting, perhaps Vardan would return...

Sir Nathaniel | Khasmina Zvonimir "Ill-mannered clod," Vardan continued to fume, stalking around the mausoleum, occasionally kicking small rocks or pieces of rubble as he happened upon them, "Had I my retinue..." Arriving back at the front of the mausoleum, he was surprised to find the...

Khasmina Zvonimir | Sir Nathaniel The old lich sat in silent disbelief for a long moment, until finally the blackguard's words sunk in and he entered an indignant rage. "Impudent, wretched fool," Vardan snapped, "Presumest thou to command me? I am not some low-bred scullion to be ordered...

It had been quite some time since Vardan had accepted tribute from anyone. His head titled slightly to one side and gingerly accepted the tin, giving it a shake as well for good measure. Confections rattled around noisily inside. "Nnnh... Yes, this will do," he decided, "My thanks, dear...

"Vardan," said the lich with the same name, "It is thy pleasure, yes." He pointed to the brooch, "Crush the mark with thy heel in an hour of need, and I shall appear with haste." "Appear" was a very strong word and perhaps did not capture the intricacies of the enchantment. Still, a closer...

Khasmina Zvonimir | Sir Nathaniel Vardan stood in the doorway, then made a gesture as if he were cleaning out one of his ears. "Nnnh, lower thy voice, blackguard. The dead are already quite awake..." He laughed at his own joke - a dry, rasping staccato - as he meandered further into the crypt...

Vardan's skeletal jaw swung open and he held Mr. Sneezy up for close inspection - even in these magical times, talking pets were not terribly commonplace. "Fret not on thy guilt," Vardan chided Shiloh, eventually setting down Mr. Sneezy once he was satisfied, "It was thy desire to stop the...

Vardan seemed to forget about Shiloh for the moment - he stooped over to pick up Mr. Sneezy and stroke him gently behind the ears. The pebble passed through the pumpkin-horse like a crossbow bolt through paper - causing it to wobble precariously before pitching over and smashing into the...