Massacre at Smurf Village Xyden, the Ancient Black Dragon, was restless. He had tried, time and time again to subjugate Kemo, for he who rules Kemo rules all of Landsverge. However, Kemo is also known for its huge adventurer population. Each and every time his armies had been sent to Kemo, the damned heroes of the city would beat them back, sending them, howling and with thier tails between thier legs, back to his tower. He was sick of it. Kemo, by all rights should be his. If not for the accursed adventurers. He contemplated contacting Tiamat, his associate, and try once more. For although his armies always got beaten in battles, the casualties on Kemo's side were always higher. But then he thought, No, that won't do. He put his claw to his still-tender ribs where he had been bludgeoned by an newbie adventurer's Avalanche. The newbie had made a deliscious snack, but he had fought like a cornered, rabid dog. Silently he cursed the Kemo adventurers once more. They could not kill him, for he would simply rise again. But, by the GODS, they tried. Besides this, Xyden was getting on in years. There was much truth in his title, "Xyden, the ANCIENT Black Dragon". He was getting too old to battle Kemo again. No, he needed easier prey. Then he had a thought: What if I bring the adventurers to ME? He cogitated. The month before, a hunter by the name of Ganthar had almost succeded in capturing the Canyon Elemental. But what made his work almost a success was the fact that he had -Death Dogs. The thought came to Xyden immediately. It was a thought so delisciously evil that a grin came to his dragon's face. It was SO good, in fact, that he sat there, atop his hoard for the better part of the day, afraid to carry out his plan because he was afraid he'd botch it up somehow. Finally, as the gears in his head came to a grinding halt, and his plan produced, Xyden stood on his haunches, and still grinning, stretched. He went to the top of his tower, took up sword, shield, armor, and fang, and took wing towards the Smurf Village. Those that looked up as his massive frame would swear later that they heard a sound from him--a sound that made thier blood run cold. It was Xyden, giggling madly as he flew. All was well in the Town of Kemo. I had just finished slaying the White Court and pulled my new sword of Nosferatu, a gift from Cyberchrist, from the White King's heart. "Checkmate, fool," I said as I nonchalantly cleaned its slender black blade of the White King's royal blue blood. It was 9 o'clock pm, on the Day of the Moon, 21st day of the Month of the Grand Struggle in the year of our Lord Kil'rath'as, 194. A shadow passed overhead, but in the night sky it was more of a blackness silhouetted against the black sky. However, I knew Xyden when I saw him; the Dragon wearing armor was unmistakable with my infravision. I wondered what he was up to, and vowed not to have any part of it. Let the Heroes fix him. Upon arriving at my guild for some much needed R and R, I heard it. "MWAHEHEHEHHAHAHAHHAHAHAAAA!!" A manacal laugh. That was Xyden, alright. Xyden humming, then: "I'm killing smurfs, la da dee da dum. Come and stop me if you can, hahaha." Smurfs! The little blue creatures mostly annoyed everyone with thier singing and different personalities. Many an adventurer had stayed clear of thier small, mushroom-house village. The smurfs were only three apples high. Thier houses were small and easy to step on. When they were stepped on, though, the Papa Smurf would come out, blasting fireballs at the poor person as he went. I went there sometimes, if only to kick my heels up and a few smurfs, too. But what Xyden was doing was just cruel--he was a big black dragon, and the smurfs had no defense against him. I trekked back to the Temple of Kemo, the adventurer hangout. There were many people at the temple, most notably Kroog, his brother Krill; Arioh; Darksol the fallen Diety, and Zargon. They were all deciding what to do about the situation. Weasel, the Xyden disciple, wished for the Smurfs to die at Xyden's teeth and claws. Many people seemed to share this idea. But in the end, however, cooler heads prevailed, and Kroog decided to see what could be done to help the smurfs. He took Krill with him. I stepped out of the temple and onto the Temple Square, to refill my water condensation unit. I happened to glance up at the Message Citadel, where general Info, the gossip, and the bell that sounds the TickTime is displayed. What I saw made me gasp in astonishment. \c02INFO: Krill has been slain.\c00 I knew Krill would be alright, he would just pop up again, brought back by the vapors from the cloud of life; but the situation must have been critical in order for Krill to have been killed. Kroog was well know for his jaunts Xyden Tower, leaving behind blasted bodies in his wake as he ascended to Xyden himself, placing his Thunder Hammer between Xyden's eyes and generally trouncing Xyden like, a fruit loop. Krill would be behind his big brother, offering Kroog heals when neccccasary. This should have been a routine thing for the both of them. But, there it was, posted on the message Citadel, in neon pink. I felt I'd better go into the temple and check on him and get the prognosis on the situation. Kroog was there, telling the peoples at the temple of the horrors he saw. It turned out that Kroog had been ripped to shreds by Death Dogs. Death Dogs! Unwilling flashbacks poured into my mind as I thought about the month before, when I had my first encounter with them (see: The Hunt of the Heroes; pp. 20-24). I had no intention on meeting one of those hellish hounds again, if I could help it. My shoulder still bled at times from where the hounds' serrated teeth bit me (they have these teeth that tear instead of pierce). I decided that it would be most wise to sit this one out. After all, this adventure had Mat, the Killer QuestDiety, all over it. Mat could be nice at times, but as the patron saint of quests, he was a real daemon. I went down the stairs to the quest room and shut the door. Twiddling my thumbs, eating a magical pizza, I heard Darksol, the former God, saying how he would go and liberate the Smurfs. Quite predictably, he went off and now rests inside the belly of one of those mongrels. Enter: Arioh. Arioh was-is- an assassin. He is not only an assassin, but he is the best. He is skilled enough to slit a man's throat from ear to ear without him knowing it. I have seen him kill a man five times before the man knew he was dead. Arioh is the essence of assassin. So it was Arioh-alone and unaided as of yet-who snuck to the smurf village and deftly placed his weapon in Xyden's back. But that was all it took-- the Death Dogs were all over him like white on rice. Xyden calmly massaged his injured spinal column back to health and casually picked up a fleeing smurf and ate it. At this time, Kroog was back, with Enmesharra (a mage of a power that surpassess even -mine-), and the two launched an attack. But the Death Dogs had beaten Arioh to the point where he had fled. Enmesharra died first, Kroog followed shortly after. Presently I was still below ground. I rose up out of the Quest Room. What I saw in the Temple of Kemo was a sad sight, indeed. The adventurers that had ventured out thus far--namely Kroog, Krill, Enmesharra, and (this guy amuses me) the everpresent JWV, were moaning and groaning about the injustices that Xyden and his Dogs had done to them. It pains me to pen this, but this was probably the lowest I have ever seen Kemo's adventurers. All were bleeding between the cracks in thier armor. They looked haggard. But what shocked me the most was the fact that they were talking about giving up; letting Xyden have his way with the Smurfs. (Important Note: If the Adventurers of Kemo had given up at this time, Xyden's plans would have come to naught.) It was astonishing to see how low they had sunk. I had promised myself that I would have no part in it. But seeing how Arioh, who was the only man up against Xyden at this time, needed help, I decided that the time for watching had passed, and the time had come-- to act. I reprimanded everyone there on thier cowardice. I told them all that if they were going to sit here and whine, then I would go with Arioh. This story would have a happy ending yet. I relocated through the dark mystical energies to the desk of Chief O'Hara. Grinning, I killed him and took his handgun. I also bought a Sentry's Spear from the friendly auctioning daemon. Thus armed, I made my way back to Kemo, and back to the Smurf's Village. Kroog had once agin entered the fray, as did Enmesharra and now Picard and Rydia. I stopped a ways from Xyden and cast a spell of Invisibility on myself, and palmed the handgun. Creeping closer, I took careful aim. I raised the gun--then lowered it. Something was going on there. I crept slightly closer, and did behold a sight. Arioh was fighting the Death Dogs. He had dispatched three of them. The remaining two, however, were giving him a run for his money. I watched, awed, as his blade carved bloody gashes in the flesh of the final dogs. He had set up a pattern of attack: Feint, thrust, circle, attack, feint, thrust, circle, attack. Watching Arioh fight the Death Dogs was like watching the ocean flow. Xyden watched, amused, chewing thoughtfully on Gargamel. Arioh might have defeated the last two Death Dogs had Xyden not assisted them. Xyden is a sight to behold--tons upon tons of gossamer black, scaly dragon ;adamant claws sharp as razors, teeth bone-white. He advanced upon Arioh, Black Sword flashing in the moon's rays. Arioh saw Xyden coming, but could do little--he was busy with the Death Dogs. Blood flowed freely from his wounds where the Dogs had bitten him. But he was on a roll--a few more passes at the Dogs would have been the end of them. If not for Xyden. "Flee, Arioh!" I whispered from my hiding place. He didn't. It happened in slow motion, and still gives me nightmares: Down, down, descended Xyden's blade, like the sun setting behind a hill. And still down it came. Then, all too suddenly, the Black Sword cut through Arioh's defenses and neatly cleaved Arioh in two. I jumped up from my hiding spot, handgun leveled. Gritting my teeth, I fired, hitting two of the dogs. They rushed me. My last action before fleeing was to throw my spear at Xyden. It missed. I fled, with tears in my eyes. As I did, I passed JWV, who went to see what was going on. Seconds later, I heard the Message Citadel state: \c02INFO: JWV has been slain.\c00 I also passed Kroog and Zargon, who also died seconds later. This was getting to be a massacre. I stopped for a second, catching my breath. Arioh passed me by, on his way to try yet again. \c02INFO: Arioh has been slain. INFO: Enmesharra has been slain.\c00 I heard a growling behind me, and that was all I remembered. Presently I came to, and descended the cloud of life. I ran back, only to be greeted by another dog. I threw a fireball at it, and it jumped me. As I descended the cloud once again, I cautiously went back to regain my equipment. Xyden, by this time, was laughing rausciously. I once again attained a handgun. Running back, I leveled it and fired. The bullet flew through the air, striking Xyden in the mouth. A fang flew through the air and at my feet. Xyden, seeing red, rushed me, leaving his dogs behind. At this time, Kroog arrived. Xyden, enraged by the loss of his fang, went in to a berserker rage, and tore into me hard. I jabbed my sword of Nosferatu into his neck. He let out a roar of pain. That was all it took for me to retrieve a scroll of recall from my heart shaped box. I almost died there; for when I next looked up, Xyden's gigantic maw was descending towards me. The smell was enough to put me to sleep. However I did not, but all I could do was stare, my elvish blood frozen with fear, at what seemed to be a yawning pit of eternal blackness. "Stand aside!" That was Kroog. He bumped me aside and atomized the left side of Xyden's jaw with that hammer of his. Xyden's left jaw disentegrated, and I actually heard the blood spill; it was like a one-second rain shower. However, I did not have to be told twice--I recited the scroll of recall, and managed to reach the Temple of Kemo, where Nitres, Dark Priest of Kil'rath'as, healed me. I noticed much activity at the Temple. The apprehension was still there, but it was mainly Weasel, preaching about how cool Xyden was, that caused it. Warriors paced back and forth. Clerics healed those who were returning. I was the only mage present, as Enmesharra had apparently died and not come back. Assassins--Arioh. Where was Arioh?? I had not heard from him in some time. I could only pray that he was safe. As I stumbled to my guild, I heard someone shout: "They're DEAD!! ARIOH killed them!! Xyden's ALONE!!" -that was Picard. Arioh had killed the Death Dogs, and had started on Xyden. Xyden fled the scene then, closely followed by Rydia, Kroog, JWV, and Picard. The four tracked Xyden to one of the Smurf's houses and downed him as they had so many times before. Rydia is still a master assassin. Kroog and Krill still sometimes run up to Xyden's Tower, just to paint the town (and Xyden's antechamber walls) red. Picard once again bashes monsters and stamps out evil wherever it may be, all the time in search of a wife. JWV, who was the person responsible for all this was sold some cursed marbles for a large sum of money. Enmesharra, Zargon, and Darksol were not rewarded, as they did little more than end up as meals for the Death Dogs and Xyden. And me? Why, I still walk the paths of evil, but am slightly leaning towards neutrality, which Kil'rath'as has assured me is a Bad Thing. I still kill good creatures for the sheer joy of killing. After the quest was over, I went back to the Smurf Village and leveled it. And finally, Arioh--whom we could not have done this without. Arioh, who took a stand while everyone else sat scratching thier bum. Arioh, who, to my understanding, got a small reward--he should not. His part in the quest was pivotal. Without Arioh, Xyden would have surely won. Xyden still sits in his tower, watching Kemo for any show of weakness.