<div class="quoteheader"><div class="topslice_quote"><a href="https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=225517.msg11128060#msg11128060">Quote from: Blinkin on 03-04-2015, 18:02:01</a></div></div><blockquote class="bbc_standard_quote">The party was hired to travel to a castle in the middle of a vast swamp to...  do what?<br/></blockquote><div class="quotefooter"><div class="botslice_quote"></div></div><br/>Discover how the castle didn't sink into the swamp?<br/><br/>Hm...  I think my holy grail references are too subtle.  :)<br/><br/>*  *  *<br/><br/>Anni, the daughter of Count Roogan ,was the fairest maid in all the land.  As her seventeenth birthday approached, suitors came from far and wide to court her.  Minstrels sang under her roof day and night.  A band of swords women was hired to guard her, for Roogan feared for his daughter’s purity and didn't even trust his own guardsmen...<br/><br/>Before the girls Roogan hired arrived, a minstrels song was cut off, leaving a gurgle, then nothing.  A band of ogres smashed into Roogan's estates and carried the hapless maiden off into the swamps.<br/><br/>It had been known for some years now that a dangerous and hideous crown with green skin and nails like iron was the master of a castle in the depths of the swamp.  Vile and cruel, she was known for eating any who came too near, and sending her loyal ogres to carry away travelers.  The swamps were dangerous, and since she never struck against locals who did not intrude, Roogan had yet to send men after her.<br/><br/>He didn't know that the Hag was so hideous that she couldn't bare the sight of true beauty.  The ogres had carried her off for Annis to see for herself—and destroy.<br/><br/>Discovering that their charge had been taken just hours before their arrival, the shieldmaidens rushed into the swamp to rescue her.  Following the ogres trail, they found their way to the castle.  By skill, cunning, and art, they vanquished the five ogres while the maidens screams still rang out across the swamp.<br/><br/>They confronted the Hag in her throne room, where the maiden hung before a mirror.  The hag was expertly marring her body with a lash, stroke after stroke after stroke.<br/><br/>The swords woman went after the vile thing with all their remaining strength and she was slain.  A few spells of magical healing and many nights of tender affection did much to mend Anni, but a pale scar lingered on her cheek.<br/><br/>Upon seeing this, most of the lords who'd sought her hand turned up their noses and left, but young Adrian the Learned, future Baron of Midenheim, proved that his love was true and pure.  He wed her without a care for the marks, and Anni found happiness and true love in his arms.<br/><br/>*  *  *<br/><br/><div class="quoteheader"><div class="topslice_quote"><a href="https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=225517.msg11130286#msg11130286">Quote from: Blinkin on 04-04-2015, 11:43:26</a></div></div><blockquote class="bbc_standard_quote">Mornin' Muse. Now, I need to go back to sleep. *chuckles* Maybe I can get back into my dream where Faith Hill is standing at my door wearing nothing but a trenchcoat... Damend dogs and going out at 4 in the morning.<br/></blockquote><div class="quotefooter"><div class="botslice_quote"></div></div><br/>*laughs*  If my dreams were that cool I'd probably sleep more!