“The New Neon Knights and the Valley of Needles”

“The New Neon Knights and the Valley of Needles”
A tale of _#SundayAMSwords_

Opening eidolon: http://st.gdefon.com/wallpapers_original/wallpapers/388941_art_pejzazh_bashni_ushhele_tuman_reka_kamni_1680x1050_%28www.GdeFon.ru%29.jpg

In the Valley of Needles at the bidding of the Wizard-Whales, to deposit a pearl of great price at the top of the tallest needle.

Emerging from cave. The knee-deep water under the algae floor. Fibula hovering on enchanted wicker board. Malivrax tripping over submerged obstacle, finding silver helmet of fellow Neon Knight, Lord Malinth. Remains of a fallen comrade, felled by foul fate. Looking into empty eye-sockets, seeing friend’s last moments: The valley as the city it was. The 3-headed guardbeast. Malinth defeated the first, stumbled before the second, defeated by the third.

Fibula alighting the rocky shore. Tibia, her fox, finding a series of small openings in the rock face. Not an opening, a maw! The fox swallowed. Let the little guy go first.

Three  heads rise, with needle teeth like moray eels. A rocky body with a hundred centipede legs. Each mouth enough to swallow a rouge in one bite.

Malivrax dragging himself on rocky perch. It is the beast! Tail squeezing armor.

Taryb leading one head on merry chase, betwixt its legs. A monster trips itself in its enthusiasm. Body crashing upon Taryb—rocky above, slimy below.

Fibula arranging symbols of bone. Holding forth staff and half-understood chant. Bones melting into the earth, then growing as needles, piercing the beast.

Taryb levering off the massive bulk. Spindly legs piercing solid stone, weakening the foundation. A hidden entrance!

Malivrax removing his helmet. A needle of pink-purple light piercing the sky. Cue the screaming guitars! Lord Malinth’s helmet will not be borne. Malivrax laid low.

Fibula weilds Malivrax’s Unbending Light. The beast butchered, but no fox to be found. Where do things consumed by the Guardian(s) end up?

Partway up the needle, an open colonnade with balcony above. Wardrums! Archers! A warning—shouted and shot. Malivrax—headless, wearing the two helmets chained like a mantle—bellowing his laughter of old. Climbing the tapestry to the balcony. Bearing arrows like porcupine quills.

The Captain dropping unharmed from the balcony. His breastplate of Lord Malinth. A foe armored in a fallen comrade. Bearing an orange Unbending Light. “I warned you once to leave this—” Taryb swinging salt-encrusted lock upon sash to take off his head! A sash of punishment used as a weapon. Dropped like a punk.

From the balcony, the shape of a fox with the colors all wrong. Antifox biting Fibula’s arm. Tapped nose and spoken word. The antifox sicced on Fibula’s foes.

In the balcony, four more Neon Knights helmets. Grim trophies made of the helmets of fallen comrades. An archer seizing the two chained helmets like a mighty flail. Malivrax rising. A beam of solid purple light sweeping the battlefield.

The cold, dead hand of the Captain gripping Taryb’s ankle. What happens to Lord Malinth's armor now that it has no human head controlling it? Taryb climbing with the great weight below. Smashing Malinth’s helmet on its headless shoulders. Helmet bound to shoulders with kelp-green sash. A sickly brown light oozing from the armor.

In the valley, a raucous funeral dirge for the fallen knights. The knight that was and might yet be Malinth unable to hold a sword. Can the knights rise again from such a state?

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Lord Malivrax portrayed by Epidiah Ravachol​​​  . Taryb portrayed by Keith Stetson​​​ . And introducing Fibula, portrayed by Jim Crocker​​​  I was overplayer. Our virtual tabletop: https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1g5N14KaF7kxAOSQ3cuKupDTVt4rttZaw70_VJNmK-cc/edit?usp=sharing