Maldar, the Magnificent

[MongoJerry]

MALDAR: ACT V, THE FRIGID HIGHLANDS

The five barbarian prisoners, stripped of their protective outer clothing, shivered in the chill of their outdoor cell. Their faces were raw from the icy wind blowing down from the snow-capped peaks and through the primitive prison wall made of wooden spikes held together by massive iron chains. But the barbarians shivered less from the cold than from the contemplation of their fates at the hands of the demonic army that had captured them. Hordes of vile archers and spear throwing cat-like creatures guarded the plain where the prison was located, but worst of all were the huge club carrying blunderbores who only spoke in grunts but always seemed to have death and destruction on their minds.

The prisoners had about given up all hope of rescue when a deathly silence fell around them. Their normally loud, obnoxious, and horrifying guards stood still and seemed to peer out unfocused into the distance. Suddenly, two great barriers of bone rose on either side of their prison cell and a strange figure unlike anyone they had ever seen began shooting balls of white light at the cell door, knocking it down.

Then they heard a loud roar behind them and saw Sharptooth Slayer, the vicious warden of the prison camp, charging toward them, unaffected by whatever was afflicting the other demons. But he suddenly found himself entangled in a prison of bone and all he could do was rage at the stranger who had so brazenly walked into the middle of his camp.



"I am Maldar," said the stranger. "Take this portal to Harrogoth before it's too late."

The first stirrings of the demonic guards around them removed any lingering resistance the barbarians had to following the stranger's instructions. Even if the portal was a direct link to hell, it would be better than staying in that prison cell. The five prisoners entered the portal and found that the stranger had been telling them the truth. They arrived safe and sound in their home of Harrogoth. They were free!



Meanwhile, Maldar continued his mission of rescuing all of the barbarians who had been taken prisoner. The meeting with Qual-Kehk had gone well. The breaking of the siege brought renewed hope to the despairing population of Harrogoth, and the name of Maldar, the Magnificent, was on everyone's lips. Qual-Kehk told Maldar and Cain all he could about the deployments of both enemy and friendly forces and the intricacies of the local terrain. Malah had said that the war was not going well. That was putting it mildly. In fact, the barbarian army was on the verge of collapse.

At the end of their meeting, Qual-Kehk told Maldar that with the breaking of the siege his thoughts had turned to his men taken prisoner on the battlefield. He hated to think of what Baal's demons were doing to them and asked Maldar if he would look for his men on his journey up Mount Arreat and rescue them if he could. Maldar couldn't decline such a mission of mercy and gave his word that he would do everything in his power to rescue the men.

Back in the Frigid Highlands, Sharptooth's roar attracted the attention of the other demons on the plain and soon the entire camp was alerted to the presence of a mysterious intruder. Sharptooth's minions tore down the walls and prisons of bone, but the intruder was nowhere to be seen.

Maldar quickly made progress through the camp by dimming the visions of the monsters in his path. When he came upon the second prison cell, he allowed the guards to see him in order to draw them away from the cell. Then he blinded them and again threw up bone walls and prisons to keep the guards from interfering with the rescue attempt. Maldar broke down the prison door, started up a portal for the prisoners, and soon five more barbarians prisoners found themselves back home in Harrogoth.



Next door, Maldar found the third and final prison cell. He again drew off and blinded most of the guards and threw up bone walls to protect the prisoners during their escape. A small group of vile archers spotted Maldar and started shooting at him over a low wall, but Maldar was able to blind and imprison them before they caused too much harm. The last five barbarian prisoners entered the portal Maldar had opened for them. Maldar had completed his mission of mercy, and he turned his attention toward the assent of Mount Arreat.



Maldar did run into one issue when traveling across the Frigid Highlands. There were many barricaded doors and walls in the demon camp and if Maldar destroyed some of them, he could travel more quickly. However, Baal was known to frequently imbue inanimate objects with the spirits of demons, so Maldar couldn't know if he was merely wrecking an inanimate object or murdering an innocent living being. Just in case, he tried not to destroy any of the walls or doors. However, one long complex of walls and buildings in the Frigid Highlands had no open path around it or through it, so Maldar was forced to destroy one barricaded door to make any progress. He hoped that the door was merely made of reinforced wood and wasn't imbued with a demon spirit.

After making his way across the Frigid Highlands, Maldar portaled back to Harrogoth to rest and restock his supply of potions for the journey ahead. The people of Harrogoth thanked Maldar profusely for rescuing the prisoners. As a sign of his appreciation, Qual-Kehk gave Maldar a set of magical runes that he said could make a powerful shield. Maldar accepted the runes with a smile and didn't tell Qual-Kehk that he had better runes stored away and that his own shield was much better than the shield that the runes would make.

Maldar needed to rest, but first he headed toward the halls of healing for Malah had sent word that she had something urgent about which she needed to speak with him.