Champion of Wasps

Messages for the Barbarians' Guild
Alioik
Posts: 28
Joined: Thu Jun 14, 2018 5:53 pm
Guild: Barbarians

Champion of Wasps

Post by Alioik »

There was an incessant buzzing all around Alioik as he plowed underground into WCC. At first it was annoying, but after five minutes, it became deafening. It was at this point that he started to question whether going after wasps for his Champion task had been worth it. He thought back to how he ended up in this, for lack of a better word, hive of noise.

He has been having a drink in the Barbarians guild, thinking about what creature to pursue for his next task. He thought maybe Sherabas, the spider, would be worthy prey, not just because she was challenging, but because her loot would help out the younger Barbarians. As he was musing to himself Kurgan stopped by the bar for a drink. Alioik asked the gatekeeper his opinion. Kurgan then told him about the island of Zir and its many difficult to kill inhabitants. This really piqued the interest of Ali. He had only stopped by the island briefly to drop of some items to its inhabitants; never had he been hunting there. Kurgan banged his tankard on the bar to get Alioik’s attention back, and told him of the giant wasps that make WCC their home. Kurgan said they were powerful foes, not only in strength but also in number. There were possibly several million of these wasps, and if they ever made it to the mainland there would be no stopping them. This made up Alioik’s mind. He would seek out the queen of this hive of wasps and bring her down. He set out immediately from the guild taking with him his throwing axes and his regular axe. He also stopped by some of his old hunting grounds and grabbed a quick hydra heart, for he didn’t know if these wasps even bled.

A long journey led him to his destination of Zir’s Island. It was very easy to get lost on the wide ocean, but his instincts served him well. He took a small break on the island, and proceeded to WCC. Even before he made it into the caves he could hear the maddening sounds of the wings beating the air, but he had made up his mind, so he headed deeper into the cavern. He was surprised by several things that he found down there. First it seemed like the wasps were smarter than the ants he had found earlier in his life. The first time he found a wasp that tried to cast spells on him, he was shocked. Obviously the wasps had language. This worried him greatly. He was not just facing mindless masses, but creatures capable of strategy and tactics. Another thing that worried him as he cut the waspwizard down is that his suspicions had been correct, they had no blood. There was only a thick yellow ichor. He tried his blood ritual with some of the ichor, but it just left him feeling rather ill. He was glad that he had brought that hydra heart with him because he was going to need its blood. After several hours inside the caves and having killed many wasps, he came to an area where the sounds of the wings was louder than ever before. It was either from a larger number of wings or a set of wings that was quite a bit larger than all the others. Unfortunately for Ali, it was the latter.

As he got closer and closer to the sounds of the wings he started to ready his implements of battle. He thought he would start with his throwing axes, if he could injure the wasps enough to ground them, finishing them with his melee weapon would be easy. He ran forward, the beating wings getting louder and louder. He readied his throwing axes as he came into the largest cavern he had encountered. The sight before him was shocking. A giant wasp was hovering before him, as well as several score of wasps flying around her chanting in their language. He heard, “Ith’lass, Ith’ass.” He knew that this was the name of the giant wasp, and that it was indeed their queen. So deeply were they in their ritual, they didn’t notice the Barbarian running into the cavern amongst them. Alioik thought that he had the element of surprise and took a moment to line up a throw with his axes, then threw! He grunted in dismay as his axes rebounded harmlessly off of the queen’s thick carapace. The queen quickly turned towards him and let forth a shriek that sounded like the world was ablaze. All the wasps in the room turned towards him and started dive-bombing him. It was all he could do to swing his melee axe as quickly as he could, they fell before him like wheat for harvest, but the numbers quickly became overwhelming. It was at this point he felt the first stinger enter him and release its poison into his body. It burned him. He felt as if his whole body was on fire, but he continued to swing his axe. Several more times he was stung, but he still wouldn’t give in to the poison. Several times he almost blacked out, but he had not completed his task. Naria could wait to greet him later. His limbs became heavy and his breathing become more labored. He was having trouble swinging his weapon now. His swollen fingers could no longer grip the handle of his axe and he fell, his field of view narrowing, then went dark.

Some time later he came back to himself, he opened his eyes as much as he could, for they were still swollen. He looked around and saw several hundred wasps around him, dead. He wondered how he was not already dead, why had Ith’lass not come to kill him herself. He turned his head, his nerves screaming from the effort and saw the queen hovering close to him, but not moving to attack. Instead she seemed to be in a trance. Alioik slowly reached into his pack, trying not to rouse the queen, and pulled out the hydra heart he had brought with him. Getting his fingers to respond to his commands was difficult because they were swollen and full of poison, but through sheer willpower he was able to pulp the heart. He used the blood from the heart to paint his face. Each movement was agony, but he was able to complete the ritual. He took a deep breath, and felt his strength returning to him. It was like a cold tidal wave was crashing over him and putting out the fire that was burning him. He quickly stood, and took up his axe. He moved cautiously towards the queen, ready to spring into action if she started to move again. As he inched closer he heard what sounded like muttering coming from her maw. He realized that she was speaking. While he could not quite make out what she was saying, he did hear something. The sound was growing louder and louder, it sounded like a hurricane. He suddenly realized what was happening! The Ith’lass was summoning the rest of her hive to her, the sound was millions of wings, and they were coming closer! Alioik had to act, and act quickly. He clambered to the top of a pile of dead wasps and readied a strike. He jumped from the wasp queen and brought his axe down as hard as he could. The strike contained the strength built up from cutting down thousands of trees and dispatching thousands of monsters. It was as strike strong enough to kill hundreds of dragons, hydras, trolls, ogres, demons and giants. He felt the axe sink deeply into the back of Ith’lass, and yellow ichor sprayed everywhere. He wrenched his axe blade out of the wasp queen’s back. More ichor sprayed out from the open gash left there. The queen screamed in her language as she plummeted to the ground of the cavern. He felt elation fill him as the queen lay dead at his feet. However, that elation was short-lived, for he still heard the beating of a million wings closing in on him. He twisted from the corpse of the queen and ran, and as he did he turned to look behind him. It was a sight that would make even the strongest in the land shudder. Behind him were thousands upon thousands of wasps each ready to give their lives to avenge their queen. Alioik quickly pulled his guild ring off of his finger and squeezed it. The ring warmed in his hands, then it crumbled into dust.

He opened his eyes and the sight of his guild greeted him. He quickly went to the bar and ordered a drink, he needed to rid himself of the taste of ichor. As he took a swig he hurt loud laughter behind him. He turned quickly and saw Kurgan pointing and laughing at him. He was about to jump to defend himself, but then realized what he must look like. He was covered from head to toe in thick, sticky, yellow ichor. He also had a giant stinger sticking out of his arm that he hadn’t even noticed. Apparently he didn’t get away from the swarm without the wasps touching him. He joined in with the gatekeeper’s laughter. This had been one hell of a task and he was glad that it was over. He bought Kurgan a drink and started in on his tale...
vampirss
Posts: 213
Joined: Sat Apr 26, 2014 2:09 pm
Guild: Barbarians
Temple: Dread

Re: Champion of Wasps

Post by vampirss »

She went to the guild hall after hearing a ruckus from her office. Satyana stood there a moment looking at others pointing to the floor. It was streaked with a thick yellow ichor that had an horrible stench. She pointed to a few young barbarians and told them to get it cleaned up. They headed off to do the task told to them and she went on to follow the ichor trail, looking to find the culprit who made the mess. It didn't take much, as the mess stopped at the bar. There she stood at the door and listened to Ali tell his tale to Kurgan. She stayed hidden in the background and listened to the entire thing, shaking her head from time to time. Stifling a chuckle, she caught Kurgan's gaze and nodded to him before heading off. Upon entering her office, she scribbled a quick note and then left it on the notice board so it wouldn't be missed.

Well done, Alioik. You are a testament to young barbarians to keep trying no matter what. I look forward to seeing you soon.
Night Empress Satyana
Cardinal of Dread
High Lady of Twilight, House Umbra
Barbarian Guildofficer
Torturous Temptress
Vicious Vampiress

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