[Post here first] Northern Mountain Range

Zaræn whistled a merry tune as he makes his way into the Land Tillers Expanse. The international food festival! He was so excited to be participating, even if he wasn't serving any food. The only thing in his large wagon were barrels upon barrels of his home brew. So many barrels in fact that he needed a team of six oxen to pull his wagon. He was also excited to have a chance to talk to people again. The last few days had been lonely just him and his new golem.



The golem was acting as Zaræn 's body guard and was one of his finest works. A light weight mithril exoskeleton covered in runes for increased strenght, animated by a powerful air elemental. Zephyr, as the golem had been dubbed was fast, strong, durable, flight capable, and able to manipulate the winds. Unfortunately he was not very bright, elementals were more creatures of instinct than intelligence. The construct made an excellent body guard but a poor traveling companion.

Four goblins pulled along a structure resembling a heavy metal barrel supported by four wheels. Ashley led them along before motioning them to stop once she saw the mountaintops. She ordered the goblins to arc the barrel upward before climbing into the opening and saying "Alright, fire."

One of the goblins lit the fuse on the back of the device before stepping back. An explosion shot out of the barrel, firing Ashley over the mountains and into the Land Tiller's Expanse.

Out on the ledge of a mountain a figure can be found at peace within the wild winds and blowing snow.

Tamdoran Itcun meditates without worry of harm by the elements.

Suddenly he stands "That is enough of this mountain" he says "The world is full of wonders, and as master said 'they are ours to discover'" With that the man walks back from the ledge and makes his way down the mountain, to go into the great wondrous world and explore.

With each footstep, the creature boomed through the mountain pass. Despite its great size, it moved with astonishing speed and power. It had an inordinately long neck, massive, sweeping tail, and large muscular legs. Galloping on all fours, it careened through an entire village, causing massive damage. Its body overflowed with a dark aura, and there were unnatural spines on its back.

The creature was known in a foreign land as a mokele-mbembe. Once hunted to near extinction, some of them were abducted by a dark entity and then trained for combat. After that evil warlord was defeated, the remaining creatures either sought new masters or went into hiding. Many of them lost their dark energy and returned to their normal animal state. Apparently this one is still possessed by darkness.

The creature had not gone unnoticed. Land-Tiller forces had been dispatched and General Sangilak of the Saskatoon was on her way to silence the creature's footsteps. However they would not be there for some time, and meanwhile the creature would continue to cause havoc.

(This is a timed quest. I'm giving anyone who wants to capture the creature five turns before it is destroyed by the Land-Tillers.)

The creature, enraged by sheer agony and lack of stimulation, began ramming its massive, ropey neck against some nearby trees, felling them with ease. It swung its devastatingly powerful tail around, smashing boulders and sending them flying. The creature cried out towards the mountains with a loud, shrieking roar, as if the entire mountain range was its territory and it anticipated a challenger.

It had not yet sensed Zagarus. In fact it appeared distracted.

Meanwhile, several miles down the road, General Sangilak was galloping towards the sound of the roar on her battle yak. Her body was already starting to build up earth energy. (Charge 1) The creature did not sense her presence yet either, nor was Sangilak aware of Zagarus.

The creature continued to bellow towards the mountains when it felt a slight breeze go by...

Darkness?

Darkness?

Old master?

Enemy?

Familiar darkness...

What possessed the creature was the remnant of an ancient and powerful evil which once tried to control the world. The creature's former master embraced this darkness for a time before he disappeared. Now the creature was without a master, but not free of the darkness. It was an evil of the worst kind, the kind with no mercy towards anyone and anything, only living to fulfill its own carnal need to inflict pain and destruction. It was debatable whether or not the creature itself was evil. But the darkness that currently possessed it was pure.

Sensing something odd, the beast groaned and turned its head towards Zagarus' location. It still didn't know he was there, but it knew something was. It started walking towards the outcropping hidden by trees.

Sangilak meanwhile was riding through a destroyed village. The people were upset. Some were crying out and some were grievously injured. Luckily Sangilak's ritual would not take much longer. (Charge 2) She could hear the loud booms being made by the creature's wrath, though it was still out of sight.

The creature grimaced with pain as it was tormented by dark thoughts which should have been beyond its intellectual capacity. It groaned and swayed its head from side to side. After a few moments, the creature seemed to center itself and focused on the outcropping, where it began to charge. It still might not have seen Zagarus exactly, but it wanted to destroy the trees and rocks to expose whatever was there. At the moment its only thought was to destroy anything sentient.

***

Further up the road, a very protective, very angry Sangilak was still riding towards the sound of the creature when she came across yet another destroyed village. Angry she had her battle yak double the pace. As soon as she was passed the village, she swung one of her arms out. "EARTH ART: CORUNDUM TITAN!"

One of the mountain sides suddenly exploded, and through the dust and debris a large creature began to walk forward. It was vaguely humanoid, with long, crystalline boulders for body parts. The stones were mostly greenish and speckled with bits of pink. The creature itself was about 35 meters tall. It completely dwarfed perpetrator of the destroyed villages. It kept pace with Sangilak's battle yak, which at this point was galloping at over 30 miles per hour.

***

In the distance Zagarus would probably hear a loud crash as the titan appeared, though he still wouldn't see it. There was at least one more bend before the titan and Sangilak became visible. The crash would be followed by booming footsteps which were becoming progressively louder.

The long-necked beast would ignore the crash and focus on Zagarus' position.

(This is turn 3. Two turns left.)

Zagarus would not be interrupted. Instead the creature would howl at him. His presence was now obvious even if he wasn't completely visible. The creature's howl was something of a challenge. It was close enough so that he could hear its breath and the earth being clawed at with its sharpened hooves.

Of course, the creature's roar could be interpreted as an opening...

Sangilak would appear just around the corner of the road. Zagarus might question what a middle-aged woman riding a yak was doing in the area, until he would notice she had a shield raised in the air that was brimming with earth energy. A few seconds later the titan would appear. They were heading straight for the beast.

The creature roared as it strained against the darkness. But at the same time an odd sort of contentment washed over the creature. Darkness resonated with darkness, and it wouldn't be long before the creature submitted to Zagarus' will. This was good news, because the titan had stopped within a few dozen meters of the beast. Had Zagarus taken a second longer to incapacitate the creature, it liked would have been crushed into a meaty pulp...