Krogoth Historical Analysis, Part III

After the adventure in Threshold, Krogoth lingered with his newfound friends. His journal records from the time between his first and second “adventures” include frequent references to human culture, but they contain almost no practical value. At this point Krogoth had yet to realize that Kagyar’s will had directed him to help form the nucleaus of the Champions, so he tried to justify his continued presence with a more indepth description of the area.

Fortunately, we need not rely on the readability of Krogoth’s scholarly writing.

His next adventure was his first against the dreaded Blackguard, despicable doers of evil and our foes in the Black War. Naturally, our interest in Krogoth’s career is heightened by the realization that this foreshadows the Black War. The themes of corruption and redemption that run strong throughout the history of the conflict begin here.

I was hanging out with my new friends when a messenger came for Aramil Korrelin. He had been summoned to perform a great task for the Order of Karameikos. Naturally this excited us all a great deal- we all wanted to help our friend pass his tests for initiation into the Order. We gathered ourselves together in a great host and went off to meet the head of the Order, General Zulanov.

Krogoth gives a detailed description of the General. While he never formally admits it, it seems fairly clear that he had a crush of sorts on her. Obvious this never diminished his faithfulness to his wife, but it seems clear that Krogoth had a great deal of respect for Zulanov’s paladinhood and her fairness in her position of power. It is also possible that all of his time in human lands let some of their standards of beauty rub off on him.

Our mission, should we choose to accept it, was to proceed to a remote village in northern Karameikos called Grenville and destroy an obelisk errected by the Blackguard. Zulanov was not certain about what its purpose was, but an object of adject evil can hardly be a good thing. Complicating things was the presence of Nizarael Corenthia a fallen cleric and servant of the Blackguard associated with their fel leader, the Black Wraith himself!

Fortunately, our skills had increased greatly since the adventure in the house of Gunter Weiss. Although I hardly noticed any difference in myself, Kerrick the Death Cleric wielded powerful new magicks that greatly aided our adventure. Also joining us was Sir Michaels, a knight of the Order who was to aid us on our mission.

The adventurers traveled north for several days on borrowed horses. In an amusing twist of expectations, Krogoth and his horse became fast friends. Here we also see the divergence of the goals of the party members. Aramil and Krogoth, two of the more zealous party members, speak frequently of glory and their desire to fight evil. Others, however, took a more pragmatic line. Regardless- the party was united for this fight.

It is also worth noting that this adventure marks the introduction of Octo, Sir Korrelin’s wolf companion. More than once Octo proved his worth as a fierce companion, eliciting more concern from the party than their ally, Sir Michaels. As the party arrived at the village, they noticed it was in poor shape.

Smoke rose from the ruined village. Aside from the dark fortress with the obelisk, it seemed devoid of life. As we pondered our next course of action, we were greeted from behind by a friendly looking halfling, who proceeded to lead us towards the refuge the surviving villagers had formed. Only after we arrived did we notice his crossbow- he had been ready to kill us if we were agents of evil. Fortunately, the villagers’ resourcefulness allowed us to mount an attack on the fortress while it was still being constructed.

The numerous individual battles were so minor that they hardly warrant much mention, aside from the fact that our heroes proved victorious. Most of the random battles against skeletons were easily won. Interestingly, Octo the wolf began to develop a habit of seeking pelvises. By Krogoth’s count, he must have destroyed fully twenty skeletons by ripping out their pelvises. Krogoth did not do nearly so well, losing his grip on his hammer several times. Eventually, they rescued a pair of imprisoned villagers who had been forced to build the fortress and found Nizarael Corenthia.

Corenthia wore black steel armor and had a look of sheer menace to him. We exchanged words and attempted to persuade him to become morally good. Obviously that failed and we came to blows. He nearly slew Sir Michaels with the first swing, throwing the rest of us into near-terror of his might. Fortunately, Kerrick froze him in place with his magic, giving us time to rally our spirits and finish him off. However, we couldn’t land a blow on him to save our lives and very nearly perished for it. Corenthia laid his hands upon Octo and seared the flesh from the poor wolf’s body, nearly killing him. Sir Michaels then swung, and as lightning crackled, connected with Corenthia’s neck and beheaded him!

Immediately after the battle, we crowded around Octo and tended to his wounds. In hindsight we might have shown more attention to Sir Michaels’ wounds, but the noble soul ne’er complained about them.

Sir Michaels proved his nobility once again, sacrificing his holy sword to destroy the obelisk. With the village restored to normal, the party returend to General Zulanov and Aramil was promoted to Knight-Probate of the Order of Karameikos, one of his proudest moments. The party continued to stay together, although their next couple of adventures involved small groups of them. This adventure also caused Krogoth to realize that Kagyar intended him to fight the rising evil in Karameikos with this group.