A Song for Winter: Pavia, World of Stone Deserts

William practically tore the doors off their hinges as he angrily stormed out of the adventurers’ guildhall. If they weren’t willing to open a portal for him, he was going to do it himself. The required amount of magic to pull it off made it very dangerous for William to attempt it on his own. However, William had more than enough raw power to complete the task on his own. After gathering all of his gear and marching a safe distance away from the civilization, William began the preparations for the ritual. Using his witch knife, William carved an intricate series of runes on the ground, each of which was filled with animal blood from a  flask, gold, or strong ale. 

“Allfather, please take me to Jaina,” William prayed as he began to gather raw magic  around himself, “please take me to my daughter.” Whistling notes from the Winter Song while making elaborate motions with his talisman dagger caused raw magic to gather in a  tremendous storm around William. Standing in the eye of the storm, William finished whistling and motioning as he stabbed the ground with his witch knife. The magical storm struck the runes on the ground, igniting them in a magical glow as a ragged unstable portal tore itself into existence as if tearing through the very fabric of reality itself. Sheathing his witch knife and adjusting his eyepatch, William walked through the portal without a second thought. 

Transitioning through the portal was unlike any William had gone through before. Vertigo struck him like a charging animal, causing him to lose all sorts of dizziness and nausea.  Horrendous sounds painfully pierced his ears as if harpies were screeching directly onto his eardrums. Every healed wound and scar radiated pain anew for what seemed like an eternity.  Finally, darkness fell inside the portal, cloaking William in shadows that seem to move despite the lack of any lighting. Suddenly a spark of flames illuminated a vaguely humanoid eldritch figure with strange limbs and eyes. Recognition struck William for a moment and then in an instant the being was gone. 

Thunder sounded loud as William walked out of the portal and into some sort of tavern. The walls were made of earth and stone, and all sorts of different travelers and adventurers ate and drank as a rainstorm beat down outside. William listened to the conversations around him to gather information on where the portal had put him out at. This place was called Pavia and while it normally was an oppressively hot stone desert, the rainy season had just started.  Questioning locals, most of them remembered seeing a purple-eyed lioness that looked like  Violet with a small girl matching Jaina’s description but didn’t know where they were now.  William was about to move on till he saw a white wolf with red canine teeth coming down the stairs to the tavern. The wolf saw William and tried to run for the door but William managed to grab him and throw him through the door in one swift motion. Hitting the ground in the pouring rain, the wolf didn’t have time to recover before William picked him up and slammed him into a  wall.

“You know what I want you Bloodfang scum,” William growled with his eyes full of hate  and rage, “tell me where they are!” 

“It doesn’t matter if I tell you or not,” the wolf asked defiantly as the rain drenched the pair, “you’re gonna kill me either way. You think you’re some kind of hero on a noble quest to avenge your fallen family but you’re not! All you are is a killer and that's all you are ever going  to be!” 

“Maybe you’re right,” William smirked as he stabbed the Bloodfang wolf in the right kidney, “perhaps all I’ll ever be is a killer but I owe it to my daughter to try to be a father for her.  Now for you, the question is do you want to die here and quickly or slowly as I make you into a  blood eagle and make sure you don’t die for several weeks?” 

  

Having heard the story of what had happened last time William made someone a blood eagle was all the wolf needed to know his threat was serious. The wolf told William about how a group of Bloodfang had taken Violet and Jaina to a cave to the north that they were using as a hideout. Information gathered, William roughly threw the wolf to the ground. Lightning flashed as he buried his ax into the back of the Bloodfang wolf’s skull, killing him instantly. Prying his ax free, William set off in the rainstorm towards the north. None of the onlookers were brave enough to try to apprehend him for what appeared to be a random murder. 

Having traveled three days to the north in the pouring rain had thoroughly soaked  William to his core. He found the cave right where he was told it would be, but it was very well guarded. Bloodfang warriors and some sort of draconic creatures patrolled the cave entrance.  Remembering something William overheard at the tavern he knew these creatures were called  Chlorosaurs and could be quite fearsome if trained as war beasts. Odds were steeply stacked against William as it were, plus the wind and rain from the storm, made his wind radar not work correctly, effectively cutting off half his vision. Creeping close to the cave, William prepared for what was sure to be quite the fight. 

“Allfather grants me guidance,” William shouted as he cut the throat of an unaware guard. The rain and wind seemed to slow as the othala rune on William’s eyepatch glowed with divine white light. William now not only had a full field of vision but also could see moves before they were made. Gold-handled daggers erupted from the throats of the next two guards to notice William. A charging Chlorosaurs met William’s ax, quickly finding itself headless.  Sweeping through the guards with ease William brought his witch knife up with its hard light shield active to deflect a thrown spear. Throwing his ax, William killed a Chlorosaurs rider before stabbing the beast itself till it fell. Feeling the Allfather’s divine gift leave his body,  William collected his weapons from his fallen enemies and set off deeper into the cave.

Shielded from the weather outside, William was able to use his wind magic again.  Narrow cavern tunnels made it difficult for any Bloodfang member inside to mount any sort of adequate defense with no room to swing a weapon. The few that tried quickly found the air sucked from their lungs by a sharp whistle leaving them to asphyxiate on the stone floor. All the tunnels eventually opened up into a large cavern lined with makeshift jail cells along the back wall. Inside the cells, men, women, and children of many different species were being held captive. Amongst them were Violet and Jaina. Guarding the cells was a single large black wolf much taller and muscular than William. With fangs dripping fresh red paint the black wolf drew a massive white metal greatsword decorated in glowing runes. 

“So here you are at the end of your path of vengeance,” the black wolf addressed  William with a casual tone. “You finally stand before Diederic Bloodfang, Grand Chief of the  Bloodfang tribe, and yet you still don’t know the truth of everything that has happened do you,  Ragnar?” 

“Don’t call me that,” William shouted, drawing his ax as rage filled his veins. “You aren’t allowed to call me that! Only my father was allowed to call me that!” William launched a series of ferocious attacks that Diederic easily blocked. Laughing Diederic ripped the ax free of  William’s grasp and smashed it on the ground. 

“Still just an angry child like your father,” Diederic laughed, kicking William into the wall.  “We came to your father and offered him a chance to join us and help prepare the worlds for  her arrival but he rejected us.” The pummel of the black wolf’s greatsword struck William in the stomach knocking the air out of him. “You could have been her avatar Ragnar but your father  had his morals so we had to wipe you all out.”

“I don’t know who this bitch you’re talking about is,” William cursed, gasping for air as  he pulled himself to his feet, “but if you call me that one more time I’m going to shove that  sword up your ass.” Sword drawn quickly, William tried to launch another offensive only to find his attacks easily parried. Runes ignited on Diederich's sword as he counterattacked with a fury that shattered William’s sword when the folf tried to block it. Desperate, William threw his two gold-handled knives at his foe who easily dodged them. Fists raised, William stood his ground ready to fight till the bloody end.

“Not going to call to your god, Ragnar,” Diederic taunted, readying to cut down William,  “afraid he’s abandoned you here in the dark?” 

“You call me Ragnar because all you see me as is my father’s son,” William answered, reaching  for his witch knife, “but it was my mom who named me William, and I’m her child as well.”  Dodging the crushing sword strike from the bigger wolf, William began to whistle loudly and quickly. Diederic laughed and said something William wasn’t paying attention to. The metal shards of his broken ax, shattered sword, and gold-handled daggers began to swirl around the chamber as William continued to whistle before snapping his fingers. With the snap, the metal shrapnel rocketed into Diederic, finding arteries where they struck. Falling with a thud the  Bloodfang chief's blood quickly pooled on the floor. 

“The... m... sh... needs... yo... heart,” Diederic coughed before finally dying. William ignored him as he tore open the cells in the room. Wordlessly he picked up Jaina and led everyone out of the cave. Storms still raged outside so William threw his cloak over his daughter and set off into the rain.

“Jaina, I know I wasn’t there for you for several years but I’m never going to leave you again,” William promised as he stepped over a dead Chlorosaurs. 

“Can Violet come with us,” Jaina inquired looking toward the lioness. 

“If she wants to,” William smiled looking toward Violet. 

It rained for the complete journey back to town. Leading the group of survivors made the trip take twice as long. Once back in town, William braced to be arrested but was rather greeted as a conquering hero. Turns out the Bloodfang tribe was a menace that had been kidnapping people from all over the world. William was given the best room in the fanciest inn in town. William elected to sleep in a chair in the room leaving the bed for Jaina and Violet. On the second day after returning, the rain stopped, allowing the sun to come back.  Immediately a festival broke out engulfing the streets in the Cloud’s End Celebration. Vendors took to the streets selling various oddities but local and foreign. Festival games and contests were to be found around every corner. During the days William worked on forging a dagger and small ax from fragments of his shattered ax and sword for his daughter. At night he would take to the streets with Jaina and Violet to partake in the celebrations. On the last night of the celebration, Jaina pointed out a fighting tournament that was about to take place.

“Father, are you going to enter the fight,” Jaina asked looking up to William, “you could  probably beat all of them.” 

“Sorry my dear but I think my days of fighting are behind me,” William answered his daughter with a smile. “My vengeance is quenched and we are back together. That is all I  desired from my journey so I think I’m done with all of that.” 

  

“Sounds like your father is just afraid he’s going to lose to me again,” Violet cut in as  Jaina was about to protest. “I’ve already entered but if you’re too afraid I understand.” William looked from his daughter and to the smirking lioness before sighing in defeat. Making sure his entry number made it so he wouldn’t fight Violet till the finals and borrowing a wooden sword and shield, William entered the contest. William and Violet easily swept their rounds despite the tournament’s rules against magic. Both of them were dangerous combatants without the use of their arcane gifts. 

William walked into the arena holding a borrowed wooden sword and shield at the ready. Violet entered with a wood version of a straight-bladed war scythe similar to the one she had always used twirling it in elaborate patterns. Wasting no time at all the two charged each other. War scythe met shield as the two met in the center of the combat field. Violet nimbly dodged a sword strike as William spun into a counterattack. Having fought each other several times before each knew the other’s moves and was prepared to counter them. That was until  William decided to try something new. After gaining a small bit of distance he threw his shield at Violet’s feet, tripping her as she tried to avoid it. With his now free hand, William wrested the war scythe from the lioness’s hands as she fell and put his blade to her throat. 

“Well, that wasn’t a very honorable move,” Violet laughed as she signaled her  concession, “tripping a lady like that.” 

“Man who fights with honor dies with his honor intact,” William answered, offering his  hand to his fallen foe, “but a man who fights without honor lives.” Pulling the lioness to her feet there was a moment when they were eye to eye and affection passed between them. A loud booming sound ruined the moment as Jaina ran to her father’s side. Portals opened all over the city from which an army of many species wearing red armor poured forth. At the forefront of the army was a coyote with several piercings in his ears that leaned heavily on his walking stick to steady himself as he limped along with a magitech right leg. 

“By the authority of The Matriarch, I declare these lands to be under her control and protection now,” the coyote announced in a voice that echoed across the city. “All portal travelers and adventurers are now required to surrender their talismans and be registered for our holy majesty’s service. Any of those who decline to do so will be dealt with as traitors.”  William picked up Jaina who was beginning to cry as Violet looked at him nervously. A sudden despairing realization hit William as he dropped the safety sword. 

“This was never meant to end,” William whispered to himself in a cold tone. Spells exploded all around the city as this invading army moved in. Lost to himself William didn’t hear  Violet call for him until she shook him. 

“William,” the purple-eyed lioness called to him, “what are we going to do?” Looking around at the chaos the folf stopped to think for a moment before kneeling next to his daughter.

“Jaina, I need you to go with Violet,” William instructed his daughter, “you two need to get our gear from the inn and meet me at the place the locals call Strata Spires. Bring as many  people as you can with you but don’t risk your lives.” 

“But father,” Jaina started but was quickly cut off. 

“There’s a dagger and ax in my pack for you,” William explained to Jaina. “If anyone  tries to take you I want you to stab them and not stop until they let you go.”

With that William stood, nodded at Violet, and took off towards the main group of the red armored army. Figuring the coyote with the ear piercings to be the leader William made him his target. Tearing his witch knife from its holster and activating the hard light shield, he began to whistle a flurry of notes. As the notes flew a powerful sandstorm kicked up around the main group of the invading army blinding and confusing them. Using the confusion to his advantage  William stabbed and bashed his way to his target the whole time wishing he had bothered to reforge his weapons. Finally within reach of his target William charged forward catching the coyote in the heart with his talisman dagger lifting him into the air before throwing him to the ground in a spine-shattering slam. 

As black ichor dripped from William’s witch knife the sandstorm began to die down.  Thinking this fight to be over he was slowly releasing the spell as it was no longer needed. That brief moment of victory was interrupted by a burst of maddening laughter as the coyote lifted himself to his feet whole and unwounded. Shocked William readied to strike again only to be waved off by the coyote as he leaned on his walking staff. 

“There’s nothing there to stab,” the coyote laughed as he motioned towards where the dagger had entered his chest, “or anywhere else for that matter. Since you were the one I  was supposed to find I’ll be courteous and introduce myself. My name is, um well... shoot I  don’t remember. Guess that is what happens when a lich lives way past his expiration. Most  people just call me the Necromancer.”

With another cacophony of laughter, the Necromancer slammed his staff into the ground unleashing a torrent of magic. With the last remaining bits of the sandstorm dying down, William could see the bodies of those that he had killed starting to get off the ground with jerky unnatural movements. Using a sharp whistle William pulled an unattended sword into his free hand and started to fight these undead abominations. No matter how he hit them though they wouldn't stay down as the Necromancer laughed in the background. Deciding that this was not a fight he could win, William used a summoned gust of wind to knock aside some of the undead enough for him to escape. 

“Toodles,” the Necromancer gayly called after William, “see you again soon. The  Matriarch won’t give up until she has you.” 

It wasn’t easy fighting his way out of town with the red armored army down each street and alley. At every stop, William saved who he could and told them where to go. Eventually, he made his way out before setting off for the Strata Spires. Traveling all night and into the early morning before the multicolored striped rock towers came into view. Other escapees from the town had made it out this far as well and were cautiously moving through the mazes of jutting rocks. Having heard the rumors about how unstable these rainbow towers of rocks could be,  William moved quickly and cautiously through them until he reached the other side. Upon emerging he found Violet and Jaina with a large crowd of people.

“We need to get out of here,” William informed Violet as he hugged Jaina tightly, “we need to go home. This is an enemy we can’t fight at least not until we know more about them.” After explaining everything he had seen, William gathered all the magic users he could find in the crowd of refugees. Using himself as a conduit the folf concentrated the flow of magic around himself as he carved the runes into a nearby rock wall. As the final rune was carved all the magic from the ritual’s participants was forced through the runes. There was a brief moment of silence as nothing happened but then a stable portal appeared. Grimly William led everyone through to the ruins of his old clan home.