FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Well, it appears 300 years of work to protect Faerun's wilderness ended in failure. The region I'm in is scorched by what almost looks like it could have been Hellfire and Brimstone. Supposedly directly northwest of here across the Neverwinter border Mount Hote-now erupted... And yet that does not explain the strange magical fires that appear through various parts of the badlands ahead. I should probably do more than wander across the safest looking path towards a different sanctuary... I should without a doubt consider searching this fortress Cathedral for its surviving inhabitants and acquiring aid...

Considering I have my freedom and my imaginary crimes are no longer being thought of, I should probably try to convince some of the paladins and clerics in lending me things for the journey ahead and in return I will continue to fight evil I cross upon. It should work... shouldn't it?

Apparently not too well... they don't trust me enough to give out any of their remaining unused armor and weapons to a stranger... I do not serve Tyr, Torm, or Ilmater, and I still have had a bad reputation with Tormites and their God. They would be willing to part with that which would be of the least of use of them... should I be willing to perform service on my own. "How much aid could I possibly provide with nothing but these robes and my bare hands? I may be able to cast a spell or two, but few of my spells are capable of harming any form of life, let alone the abominations and undead that wander these wastes..." "But you are a werewolf... right? And you have the claims that you can control your power, and these claims have been proven true... you even have a... companion... yup... just go out there and do us a service... a guard tower we normally would have a patrol venturing to the nearby farms has been deserted for a few years, the farmers, most of them are dead, those that are not wander into the wastes to try and scrape together what they can to better survive, becoming cursed and turned into the Abominations... if that guard tower was secured, in that the creatures around and in it were killed, we could search the farms for survivors, maybe there is more than save than ourselves with what time is left..."

I look at Ebeis, "I think that this is the first time I get permission for me to shapeshift from these civilized folk, and a chance to do some good in the process of using my power too... maybe there is still good I can do without my belongings.." Ebeis responds, "But they must have some things that belonged to you, maybe after you help them, they can help find your things!" I nod. Me and Ebeis look outside the Cathedral... it's horrific... even shapeshifted it will be a task that will require more endurance than I posses naturally... I decided to long around the more ruined parts of the Cathedral for things I can salvage, I'm certain they'll let me re-purpose the salvage into useful things...

I manage to gather some cloth scraps and bolts of wool, some pine wood, and some scrap iron... this might not be much... but I could re-purpose it all into more useful object... I try going to the part of the Cathedral where their craftsmen tend to make stuff for their order... but am interrupted in the process... "This part of the Cathedral Fortress is off limits." a guard says. "Why?" I ask. "Some of the outer parts of the Cathedral Fortress are heavily damaged... even worse is that of the parts that are damaged, undead and abominations get into those spots time and time again, its too much work to fight them off over and over, and as such to ensure safety we've blocked off the areas and made them off limits... then again... you aren't one of us, and you aren't liable to listen to my warning... but if your in trouble, we won't be coming to get you..." I sigh... it seems just more bad luck... but perhaps this can be an opportunity. "If I am able to clear out this section, will others be able to repair the walls and seal it off from further attacks?" I ask. "Yeah, if there were people willing to run in and do the repairs while you fought these beasts... simply put, people would need faith in you, people who give orders would want to organize that. You can try talking to our Paladin Captain... but he might not listen to you until you manage to do something first..." I realize getting to and securing that guard tower may be my only chance to further help this place.

I go back, and look outside again at the arid badlands that stretches for miles. There was once trees and grassy hills here. Now it is desolate and ruined. It is a painful sight... but I hope I can undo at least a fraction of the damage that has happened. First, to purge the undead and abominations that plague this once beautiful land... I stay on the road and travel straight to the guard tower, making little effort to avoid the road. I occasionally see walking figures in the distance, but they tend to be oddly hunched over in rags, some of them larger than what would be a human. I shudder at the thought of undead trolls and ogres. I arrive at the guard tower. They were right, undead are at the tower. It appears some had recently slain some sort of creature, its mangled body half eaten... it's almost human... maybe a mutated farmer? This is the perfect time for a surprise attack on these zombies while they feed.

I shapeshift, gaining strength, while sacrificing my ability to wear heavy armor (I have no armor, no worries there). Ebeis uses his/her Invisibility power, and remains outside of sight of the zombies, but in close enough range to cast spells. I charge the group of 5 zombies. I get two hits as a ranger of my level, and an additional hit for each hit (two more) with Ambidexterity. I easily shred the first zombie to pieces with my assault, thinning the horde. Ebeis casts a Chromatic Orb, mildly injuring one of the zombies. Ebeis is no longer invisible. I maintain my attacks the zombies near me. I claw and shred another undead creature to death... they are as fragile as I can hope. The remaining zombies strike me... oddly... I only get hit twice... they both left me a mild injury. I shred another zombie... and apparently only one is left by me... which leaves me in horror... I quickly look to Ebeis, and the second I do Ebeis shrieks for help, as Ebeis has apparently been flying around in a circle, too fast for the zombie to hurt him/her, but too slow for Ebeis to even try stopping the thing. The zombie gives me a giant punch across my face and a bite on my arm while I pay attention to my companion. I quickly claw the thing until it dies its final time as well. I then rush towards Ebeis's defense. Ebeis is not harmed... but is pretty scared. I kill the zombie while it is still stupidly in the process of trying to grab Ebeis.

I have defeated these monsters... now I need examined them for anything of value... I find that some have copper coins... figures if they were peasants in life... they would be just as poor in death. The clothing is damaged and rotten beyond usability... as clothing... I decide to gather wool scraps together... the total is about 20 copper coins and 5 wool scrap of use in crafting... not much... but my injuries are so minor it is worth it. I can tell that Ebeis is as starved as I am. I can hardly believe I'm reducing myself to eating undead flesh, but it's probably going to take too long to find food to survive to the next day... damn those paladins for their mistreatment of us... after we both eat a small amount of Mort Flesh, we decide this is too poor to even keep us going for more than a few hours without risking poison if we have more... I store 5 scraps of Mort Flesh on my hands for Alchemy. Maybe it will be useful... or not...

The tower is right there... I look at the door... even though it is closed... it is so badly damaged I would be surprised if undead couldn't open it. I decide to kick down the damn door... it shatters into three usable Wood Scraps for crafting. Not surprisingly... I realize how bad an idea to kick down the door once the undead behind it turn around and hobble towards us. I quickly go and ready myself to fight, by backing up slightly. The undead will be forced to go one by one through the doorway, rather than us running in and being overwhelmed... or us running away and being surrounded later... there appear to be almost a dozen of them... some have armor... others are only clothed... this means more than those holy warriors went here... and they all died it seems... Zombie after zombie is slain... and zombie after zombie with armor manages to do a slight bit of harm to me... Ebeis can only stand by and watch the fighting... but it soon ends... and the doorway is quite blocked by zombie corpses... 9 of them... I scavenge some things of use... 5 wool scraps... 4 iron ring sets... and 4 iron plate sets... I could make a suit of iron armor with all this... I look inside the tower... it seems that there are things here... I salvage a quiver and arrows, I salvage a wooden short-bow, I salvage a wooden small shield, I salvage a iron mail coif... I go up the stairs... only to find it heavily barricaded on the top floor... I look in... it appears there are two dead paladin recruits... both archers... both long dead... a shame... it makes me wonder why the Cathedral Fortress abandoned this place if it was important, yet so easy to acquire. I bang on the wooden barricade twice to see if the skeletons respond... they are not undead... I choose to leave...

On my way back to the Cathedral Fortress, I feel much more confident and secure in my ability to survive. I am nearing the gate to the Cathedral Fortress, when I notice a few Shrubs and sprigs outside the Cathedral... odd that I didn't see them leaving... a nice bundle of green on the blighted landscape outside of the Cathedral... apparently there is Witchwood Shrubs growing here as well as Brightleaf Herbs... both these plants are important for many crafts... and in such number and health... this small spot could become quite important... not only for nature... but also for the Cathedral Fortress... if this spot is tended to...

In the Cathedral I report on my success. The Paladin thanks me for my service, and compliments me on my well earned gear. "Thank you, salvaging this stuff will certainly aid me in future endeavors... but I'm interested in what you said you could give me for helping your Order with this problem." the Paladin frowns and says in response, "I'm afraid you would ask for a reward... and yet... as a reward all we had for you was a helmet of our Order, yet you've already acquired a helmet... I'll have to consider what else we can offer if you do not wish this gift." I reply, "I remember having my own things upon agreeing to come here with your men many years ago. It was all taken from me, the Mithral Chain-shirt, the Scimitars, a Bone Dagger, a Ironwood Club, a Holy Symbol of my god Silvanus..." "Wait, you had all those things... you sound more like a druid than some bloodthirsty beast ranger... ugh... I'm not sure if we have any of those things except the holy symbol... wait... that is something we can get you... I'm sorry about everything else... it was probably important... if we kept it all you could even be of great good to both us and your god... we have... all made mistakes..." He responds is dismay... however... regardless of this... he still gives me the helmet... "Take this at least... something from our order for the service you provided and a sign of good will... we made a mistake with you. If you'll wait here we'll get your Holy Symbol back to you."

I receive my Holy Symbol... and I can tell it's mine... it's made of Weirwood... a wood resistant to even magical fire... The helmet has a symbol of Tyr on it, and it's made of Silver... yet... it's not magical... and protects like an Iron Helm... I decide I should wear the Iron Coif as a hood and the Helm over it... the wear the Symbol of Silvanus proudly...

Now I need only find a way to secure the Craftsmen's Guild from the creatures that poured in there... with such done I can use all I acquired to make even more equipment so I can safely travel beyond this place without fear of dieing in these vast wastelands... I seek out the Paladin Captain, who isn't hard to find, as he is nearby the Paladin who rewarded me. I talk with him extensively over the importance of reclaiming the place and how I can aid in such being done. I also mention I know of valuable resources nearby his Order's craftsmen can make use of... he is convinced all is willing to allow me to perform the task... in the morning... "With it being nightfall at the moment it will be more dangerous than ever attempting to resecure that place now as it is... I know that you probably don't have anything to do or anywhere to go... but if you want... you can rest up at the servant's quarters... oh... considering how thin you are... I might as well make sure you eat before bed... might as well send something when you wake up too... we lack good rations to give out to everyone but I'm sure it'll be better than nothing." I nod, and as I walk away with Ebeis I let out a sigh. Ebeis looks at me, "This is a good thing, these people trust you more now and are beginning to like you... plus we'll get food! Yay food!" I turn to Ebeis and let out a smile, I only realize now how bad things are everywhere. These people probably have been eating as bad as we were the past year... they probably can't offer anything more than they offered us... I wait at my bedroll... and get a rather decent serving of porridge, some bread, some water... yup, they are doing poorly... but at least they seem to have one addition to what they eat. Ebeis was given a bone and some water... as if Ebeis is a dog... I share my porridge with Ebeis... we enjoy what we can... and soon we fall to sleep... our dreams beckon us...