Marco Colombo, the famed Trantian explorer who claimed to discover Lustria even though the Skeggi Norscans got there long before him, entered the recruiting inn in Port Reaver. Ever since his ship was raided by the vampire pirate Luthor Harkon, Colombo has been in search for some muscle to help him replace the wealth he lost. Fortunately, Mr. Harkon seemed to be of two minds about things when he boarded Colombo’s ship. He had Colombo at point blank range and could have shot him then and there, but his attention seemed to fade the moment Harkon discovered the lizard trinket he was looking for and left the ship. In addition to escaping with his life, Colombo was able to conceal a map in his suit which laid out a path through the ancient temple city of Itza to a great hoard of treasures located in its central pyramid. The inventory that was listed on this map was incredible, identifying treasures taken from all over Lustria and the Southlands but above all other items was something truly unique, the Aster Feather itself. This small diadem may look inconsequential to unknowing eye but it holds unparalleled value to the Elven nobility of Ulthuan for it was the tiara worn by Astarielle, the first recorded Everqueen, on the day of her wedding to Aenarion the Defender, first of the Phoenix Kings. It is said that when the Slaaneshi invasion of Avelorn led by the mighty Keeper of Secrets named N’kari came, Astarielle begged the treeman ancient Durthu to save her children Yvraine and Morelion from the scourge of chaos via the world roots, accepting that a terrible fate would befall her people one day because of it.

That was the day Astarielle died in battle, going down with all the powers she had at her side until finally N’kari slew her. However, as a last act of motherly love before saying goodbye to her children, Astarielle had given her tiara to Yvraine, promising to her that the two would find each other some day. Centuries passed until finally the diadem was lost under the watchful eye of a now centuries old Yvraine the Everqueen. She scoured all her realms for it but never found her mother’s final parting gift, before concluding it must have been swallowed up by the sea. The tiara had somehow ended up on the beaches of Pahuax in the clutches of the Lizardmen, who far from realising its political significance had instead opted to keep it due to the way its prominently-located central diamond reflected light and according to this map, the Lizardmen moved the tiara to the city of Itza where they used its shine to reflect the light from their telescopes onto the many star charts the Slaan and Skin Priests use to uncover the Old Ones’ intentions. The lizardmen may not know of the value this crown holds, but the High Elf nobility certain would. Perhaps he could sell it to the current Everqueen, she would be sure to pay him handsomely for her ancestor’s relic.

But how could Colombo break into a temple city like Itza, especially when the fighters in the recruiting inn constantly turn him down when he mentions that he has nothing to pay them with upfront? He can promise the world from the loot they will take in Itza, but who is going to believe that one man with a fancy hat and a crossbow can get them in and out of a Lizardmen city safely? A new set of agents and mercenaries were in the inn today and one by one, they all turned the explorer down for his ridiculous ambitions. However, there was one fighter at the end who seemed to actually be listening to him, a tall elf with long, dark hair who wielded an immense greatsword and a heavy set of armour which he recognised as that of a Har Ganeth executioner. Colombo couldn’t believe this man would take him seriously as he explained his plan to break into the vaults of the central pyramid of Itza under the cover of night, wade through their hoard of wealth, steal the Asur tiara and escape the city without being caught. He expected the elf to turn him down as all other mercenaries but instead, the executioner answered “When do we leave?”

Colombo stood in disbelief as the elf explained that he thought the plan sounded unbelievable but he had nothing better to do and if he did die, it would at least be a good death. Colombo was slightly hesitant that his new companion seemed to have a death-wish but with nobody else taking up his offer, what else could he supposed do? Colombo asked what the elf’s name was and was told he was called “Tullaris” in return, not that Colombo would recognise any Druchii soldier’s name any way.

A few days later the two of them boarded Colombo’s ship and the crew moored up just off the coast as Marco and Tullaris rowed to shore, mounted their horses, rode to the city and tied their horses to a tree far away enough from the city to not be noticed by the Lizards. When the sun began to set, the two of them made their way to the Temple City, Colombo using his map to navigate through the jungles and the city itself. Patrols of Saurus and even Temple Guards passed by regularly but the two managed to stay hidden within bushes until the patrols had passed. At one point, a skink on lookout actually saw them and was about to blow through a horn to alert everyone else only for Colombo to shoot it with his crossbow first and for Tullaris to drag the Skink’s body into the bushes before the patrol cycled round again.

In front of the Pyramid they had to enter they saw an entire regiment of Temple Guards. “Does that map of yours have a way for us to avoid those guards? I don’t see us being able to take them all on.” Colombo smirked in response as a firework suddenly went off back where they had hidden the Skin’s body. As Colombo had hoped, the Lizardmen soldiers sprang into action and all but 5 of the Temple Guard moved to go see what was happening. Sensing the opportunity, the two thieves attacked the Temple Guards, with Colombo shooting one with his crossbow and the other 4 being killed by Tullaris, whose sword cleaved into them with the masterful skill and grace that a chosen executioner of Khaine would wield. Colombo had never seen such impressive fighting prowess before and became a lot more confident about this mission. The temple guards were far too large and heavy to hide in bushes like they had the Skink without wasting too much time so they just left the bodies there and descended into the pyramid’s underground levels. Most dwellers of the pyramid travelled upwards towards the viewing platforms and celestial “workshops” (not sure if they have a name, I mean where you have the weird energy convergences between the pyramid levels) rather than staying in the vaults so the route down there was relatively safe with only a few skinks getting in their way.

Eventually, the two had reached the lowest level and entered the vault to the treasure room. However, rather than having the time to take in the wondrous room of treasures that stood before them, the two had no time to waste as several horns were blown on the ground above. The two hurriedly scuttled across the room looking for the tiara and luckily were able to find it relatively quickly while discovering that it was still in excellent condition thanks to the fact it is difficult to break something made from diamonds. The two turned around towards the entrance they had come in by, Colombo scooping up heaps of gold in his arms in the process, only to discover they had been found. Gor-Rok, the Great White Lizard of Itza stood at the entrance of the room and did not look pleased….

– Love React: Gor-Rok swung violently with his club at Tullaris as he evaded the brute’s attackes in turn and made several small but precise incisions in the lizard’s scales. The more times the lizard was cut, the angrier it became but Tullaris was skilled enough to continuously dodge the lizard’s attacks. Finally, Colombo had reloaded his crossbow and raised it to fire. Gor-Rok lifted his shield to block the bolt but in that exact instant Tullaris achieved an incredible flip over the lizard and in the process cut off the hand which was grasping its shield. As the shield fell, the arrow flew by and pierced the White Lizard’s left knee. Gor-Rok fell onto his other knee in pain as Tullaris completed his flip, twirling as he landed to behead the llizard in a single swipe of his sword, The First Draich. With Gor-Rok defeated, the two left the temple the way they came. The temple guards had clearly expected them to be going upstairs, perhaps to assassinate whichever Slaan or high-ranking Skink Priest lived here. When they saw a gap, the two fled the temple pyramid and under the cover of bushes and the now dark skies, the two were able to escape the city, mount their horses, row their boats and return to Colombo’s ship. Colombo sat in his quarters, having ordered his crew to chart a course to Ulthuan, and admired the wealth they had stolen. He asked Tullaris in advance if he would like to be dropped off back at Port Reaver since Druchii and Asur aren’t known for getting along but interestingly, the former Har Ganeth Executioner seemed to want to stay on board for future adventures.

– Laugh React: The albino saurus charged at Tullaris and the two began trading blows with each other. While doing this, Tullaris called out to Colombo, asking if there was another way out of here. Colombo consulted his map and before long shouted that he knew another way. Tullaris left combat and ran with the human explorer through a network of corridors while being pursued by the immense saurus who had a tendency to crash into walls when going around corners. After running through 4 or 5 hallways, Colombo motioned for the two of them to enter a room to their left and as they ran into the dark room which Colombo believed held some kind of tunnel to the outside world, they pushed an immense boulder-shaped door into place behind them to stop Gor-Rok from getting inside. Colombo lit a torch and the two looked at the map until they heard a creeking noise inside the tunnel. Colombo lit the way until they came across the corpse of a slaan. Tullaris gasped at its sight which confused Colombo. “It’s just a frog” Colombo said as he poked its flesh to check it really was dead. Tullaris ran back to the door and began desperately trying to pull the door open but it simply wouldn’t budge, almost as if there was an oversized saurus on the other side of the door that was making sure the door stayed closed. “That’s Lord Kroak! You’ve doomed us both!” Tullaris yelled as green energy seeped into Kroak’s mask and began to boil up. The Deliverance of Itza had come and as the two desperately tried to escape the room by finding this secret tunnel, the cast came to a breaking point and exploded. Shortly afterwards, Gor-Rok pushed the boulder-door aside and Ten-Zlati, the Oracle to Lord Kroak who acted as the deceased Slaan’s carer, entered the room to check on his master. Lord Kroak was unharmed (aside from being dead of course) and only 4 signs that the thieves had ever existed remained in the room: 2 bloody puddles of guts and gore, the curved tip at the end of the First Draich and interestingly, the Aster Feather which had been left as untouched by the spell as the corpse which casted it. Ten-zlati was fascinated by this and took the tiara away with him to investigate if it could hold greater use in discovering the will of the Old Ones than the Lizardmen of Itza first realised.

– Angry React: Gor-Rok attacked the two intruders, charging the warm-blood in the ridiculous hat first. Before Colombo had even prepared a single shot, Gor-Rok had charged straight into him and crushed him into the wall behind him. With the human pinned against the wall, Gor-Rok lifted his shield and planted it through Colobo’s throat into the wall behind him thanks to the 2 sharpened ends of his shield. The explorer’s decapitated body fell to the floor in a mangled shape as his head sat atop Gor-Rok’s shield which was still firmly planted in the wall. Gor-Rok turned his attention to Tullaris and the two commenced into an intense duel. For every two slashes Tullaris took at Gor-Rok’s scales, Gor-Rok responded by hitting the elf once and his club did a lot more damage to soft elf flesh than Tullaris’s sword did to hardened scales. Before long, Tullaris was barely able to stand as more and more of his bones snapped from the lizard’s attacks. Gor-Rok jumped on Tullaris, pinning him to the ground and proceeded to beat the ever-loving daylights out of him with his club. Gor-Rok returned to his duties upstairs, tossing the diadem back into the treasure heap and content that he had killed the intruders.

– Sad React: Gor-Rok and Tullaris fought for some time, the Lizard hitting with intense blows while the elf struck with precise stabs from his sword. However, the comparatively undisciplined saurus left itself open at one point while duelling which resulted in Tullaris cleaving his sword through Gor-Rok’s ankles. The saurus stumbled for a moment which gave the thieves the chance to escape through the entrance they came from. The two escaped under the cover of darkness and by the time the weakened Gor-Rok had reached the surface, Colombo and Dreadbringer were already mounting their horses to escape. When they got to the coast, Tullaris removed his helmet in relief and proceeded to walk up the gangway to the ship only to suddenly be shot near his neck by Colombo’s crossbow. Tullaris stumbled in pain and fell off the plank into the waters below as Colombo laughed in delight now that he wouldn’t need to split the loot with an elf. The ship set sail, hoping to restock their resources at Port Reaver before travelling on to Ulthuan. With his heavy armour and an arrow stabbing him by the neck, Tullaris was weighed down and consumed by the sea waters below.

– Wow React: Tullaris and Gor-Rok fought for an extended period, parrying and evading each other’s attacks until Colombo had loaded his crossbow and shot Gor-Rok in the knee. As Gor-Rok fell to his knees, the two adventurers left through the entrance they came in through. However, they were quickly spotted as they left the pyramid which resulted in lizard troops being deployed to counter them. Ten-Zlati, The Oracle of Lord Kroak, flew high above in the sky on his terradon alongside several other terradon riders. The two intruders attempted to run until Colombo was hit by a dart fired by Ten-Zlati, which harboured the lethal venom of the firefly frog, and began writhing in pain on the ground. Tullaris turned to Colombo while himself being fired. Fortunately, his armour allowed him to resist the poison darts as he picked the explorer up and attempted to carry him….only to immediately drop him and take the bag that contained the Aster Feather for himself when he saw a pack of cold one riders charging at him. Tullaris readied his blade and cut through two riders before mounting one of their cold ones himself. His cold one of course tried to throw him off but he was far from the first Druchii to bend a cold one to his will under a dire situation so he was able to get the mount to bring him to where his horse was located. He dismounted the cold one, stabbed it in the chest and untied his horse from a tree which he proceeded to ride away on, leaving Colombo’s horse still tied up and at the mercy of the cold one riders. Tullaris rode his horse all the way back to the ship (since horses as usually faster than cold ones) and proceeded to set sail before the lizards could reach him. Tullaris ordered the sailors to take him back to Port Reaver, keeping his loot to himself.

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