Tales of the Duke Nightmare Revenge Squad

Scene 1

Place: Parts Unknown

Principle Characters: the Time Bandit (TB) and Artimus, Thief of Tartarus (A)

TB: thank you for meeting me

A: the pleasure is entirely yours

TB: I have something information to offer and in exchange all I want is in

A: in on what? If you want to join my thieves’ guild just because yours fell, well it is just not that easy…

TB: no not that, I know all about who you work for. No I want revenge on the Avatar of the god of the Church of All

A: so what makes you think that I am working on some kind of revenge on the petty temple holdings of this land?

TB: see, I do know something you don’t

A: fine, it is well known that the figure calling himself the Sword Mage (oh dear reader you know him as the Second Sword Mage) is hiding out in the Gaping Maw (layer 88 of the Infinite Abyss)

TB: now was that so hard? I am ever humble oh master thief and I do part with just a simple word to the wise

A: save your pleasantries, what do you have to tell me?

TB: well then, go back to the hole you crawled out of and see that Duke Nightmare is dead but more importantly who is running the Underground Forest

A: Duke Nightmare is not dead and besides his minions will carry on under that god you seem so scared of from the Church of All

TB: I received word from an associate of mine (the White Goblin) that Duke Nightmare was defeated by the Hydra just days ago

A: fine, so Duke Nightmare fell fighting a powerful blood monster, I guess I will check out the Underground Forest more closely to see what is going on there. But tell me how did you come across this information?

TB: You think you’re the only one who knows about the Underground Forest? Huge hauls of grain, wood, ore, and other goods flow to that stupid coliseum everyday. Daily troll fights? Come on, those trolls got to be coming from somewhere.

A: so you are not as stupid as you seem

TB: careful with your words, I tangled with a proxy for a god

A: a lesser god, you know who I work for

TB: yes, let us part friends

A: good

Scene 2

Place: The Underground Forest – the Castle of Duke Nightmare

Principle Characters: Artimus, Thief of Tartarus and the Old Man Avatar of Uranus #1

Setting: Artimus sneaks into the Underground Forest from the surface world thru small twisted passageways known only to him. Artimus has made this journey dozens of times during his adventures in the land of Cerilia; using an ancient portal that lies in the Underground Forest. When Duke Nightmare claimed the Underground Forest as his own; Artimus simply avoided Duke Nightmare and his troops.

But unfortunately today Artimus decided to take the Time Bandit’s advice and check out the Castle of Duke Nightmare. And what Artimus finds is fantastic to say the least. Besides the castle lie several pits with all sorts of foul and awful atrocities occurring in them and a small but growing city of monstrous-humanoids. Artimus can slink about and discover many interesting sites: statues to dark gods, a temple to the many dark gods of the Church of All, laboratories for alchemists and wizards, and the breeding pits for trolls and ghouls.

But the real shocking and damning discovery lies in the castle itself; where Artimus finds something that he would never believe unless he saw it for himself. Conducting court in the Throne Room of Duke Nightmare is the Old Man Avatar of Uranus. The Old Man is discussing various lists and reports with a task administrator genie and the room is full of monstrous-humanoids. And that is when the Old Man notices Artimus. No matter Artimus’ skill; no manor of deception can hide one from the Avatar of the Elder Sky God. Artimus tries to flee but the Old Man can catch up and surpass the would-be intruder to conduct a little business. And this dear reader is when we catch up to Artimus and the Old Man as well.

OM: I can tell who you serve and now it is time you die

A: oh spare me, great Elder Sky God. And know that if any knew of your existence that the heaves themselves would again bow to you…

OM: Do not try to appeal to me, thief! The heavens will bow to me again; in time…

A: yes, time. Another thief, a mortal like myself, was the one that told me to search here. Please spare me and I will help you find this thief.

OM: The Time Bandit

A: *gasping* (probably figuring out that the Old Man is reading Artimus’ mind)

OM: I will track down this Time Bandit and kill him myself if needs be. And I will kill you too.

A: oh wonderful and powerful Uranus spares me and I will serve you instead of my wicked master so that you might slay him and assume his throne

OM: You would dare think that I would rule from his throne. I will once again control the very cosmos and to start I will smash you like the bug you are

A: *death wail*

Scene 3

Place: The Gaping Maw – outside of the Second Sword Mage’s Tower

Principle Characters: The Second Sword Mage (SM), the Time Bandit (TB), and the Mind Flayer #2(MF2)

Setting: The Time Bandit was trying to approach the Tower of the Sword Mage like a master thief but the Mind Flayer (#2) “caught” him. The Second Sword Mage was summoned by the Mind Flayer and then the pair would intercept the Time Bandit and have a little bit to chat about for us dear reader.

TB: And the Avatar of the New Dark God destroyed the thief’s guild of el-Hadid.

SM: Most of us had other power bases besides our assets those creatures like Duke Nightmare destroyed or took away from us.

MF2: an ogre servant of Duke Nightmare killed my brother in the Tower of Zagig

SM: yes, everyone of us has a story very similar to that. Duke Nightmare tried to kill me to sell my soul to a demon prince

TB: yes these others, I would like to meet them. I want revenge on any who serve the New Dark God!

SM: true, we all do but it is hard for each of us to want to trust one another. That is why we have been meeting in a pretty neutral location; the city of Hopeless in the Outlands

MF2: I can take you there, but you should not stay there fore too long. That wicked city has a way of changing mortals. Probably the strong pull of Hades

TB: good then it is set; we are to unite to defeat the likes of Duke Nightmare and the New Dark God of Cerilia!

And that dear reader is the start, or maybe the middle, but definitely not the end of the story of the Duke Nightmare Revenge Squad. We can look back to past stories of how Duke Nightmare with the Monster’s Society and the High Cleric Kareem with the Royal Flush Gang squeezed the Lich Zod and the Mind Flayer (#2) out of the Tower of Zagig. We can look back to time that Duke Nightmare and the High Cleric Kareem supposedly killed the Second Sword Mage and kidnapped the Sword Mage’s wife only to be tricked by the Second Sword Mage but not before stealing several magic items from the Second Sword Mage. We can look back as see how Duke Nightmare and the High Cleric Kareem were both betrayed by the humble henchman known as the Shark.

Maybe dear reader, just maybe during the next meeting of the Duke Nightmare Revenge Squad in the city of Hopeless; the Old Man will lead a strike force against those that would seek to undue the union of Dark Gods trying to form a pantheon in lands of Cerilia. Who could stand in the way of the Old Man’s thirst for vengeance? Not even the Kool-Aid Man himself could offer the Old Man enough thirst quenching enjoyment that the Old Man could have from ringing the very necks of those that could reveal him to the universe.