The Tale of Tulor the Terrible Snicker headed south through the streets of Usk. It was a new town for him. Since the mists had lifted, several new towns had been discovered, and it hadn't taken long for the people of the realm to populate them. Not always without incident. The elves and giants who had remained hidden behind the mists allowed the humans to settle into their towns, but had remained cautious of them. One town seemed much like another to Snicker, and he had soon grown tired of this one. Thus he was headed south...the quickest route out of town. The southern border of Usk soon gave way to the colder climate of Winter Wold. Only a short distance into the woods, Snicker came across what appeared to be a cave entrance. A small wooden sign had been hammered into the dirt out the front. Snicker walked up to it. 'Beware of Tulor the Terrible!'. "Now who in all the Realm is this Tulor?" Snicker said aloud. He was startled when a vaguely familiar voice answered him. "Tulor the Terrible. Once a chosen of one of the gods. But is now forced to remain with these caves." Looking around, Snicker saw the old man he had once spoken to in Academy Arcanus several months ago. He was seated on a rock a short distance from the cave entrance. "Aye lad, it is I," The old man said. "I had a tale for you that day, and I have another if you'd care to hear it." "About Tulor?" The old man nodded. "Aye. Take a seat and I'll tell you the fate of Tulor and his ladies." Snicker rested himself on another rock near the old man and waited patiently for him to begin. "Now it's important for this tale to begin with who Tulor is. Or rather was. He is not human, or elf or giant. He was a being closer to a god than a mortal. And it was indeed a god that he served. It was to Duach himself that Tulor owed his allegiance and his soul. If soul he has. He served the evil one in his own abode, and not down here. There were far better creatures down here who could carry out the strife and mischief that Duach desired. But in some ways you could say that Tulor was a general. And his army was all of the evil that Duach spawned. The mightiest of daemons heeded the words of Tulor, and did his bidding in the name of Duach." Snicker shivered at the mention of daemons. He'd had a bad experience in the Barrens recently when a flame daemon had attacked him. Only the protection of the dragonscale plate armor he wore had stood between him and death. He had survived that fight, but not without being shaken and badly injured by the battle. The old man seemed to read his thoughts. "Duach has a host of such creatures at his disposal. If not for the work of the other gods, they would over-run every inch of the realm and lay waste to all they encountered. But I digress. Suffice to say that if Duach ever had a friend, Tulor would fit the bill. Though such things as friendship are beyond a being of pure evil such as the dark god. But he allowed Tulor more than any other person or creature that he had in is service." Snicker nodded solemnly. "What happened to change all this?" "Well, there was an incident. It might seem minor to the likes of us, but it enraged Duach beyond anything that had happened in the past." "An incident?" The old man nodded. "Let me set the scene first so that you may understand what took place. Duach, although a god, had evil lusts like the most base of men. He would scan the realm regularly for the most beautiful of women, and would take them for his harem. He would never have more than 20 or so however. When a girl had served her time, Duach would cast her out, back into the realm. Occasionally though he would give one to Tulor as a reward for his work. For the most part Tulor was happy with this arrangement. Until he fell in love." Snicker snorted. "Love? What would a servant of Duach know of love?" The old man chuckled. "Maybe it wouldn't compare to the pure love those who walk in the light know, but it was a love of sorts. And to Tulor it became an all consuming passion. She was a beautiful blonde haired lass. Duach had added her to his collection only recently. Tulor lusted after her from the moment he first saw her." "Lust sounds more appropriate," Snicker said, his voice full of disgust. "Maybe so. But this was no passing fancy. At first Tulor was content to wait. His work in Duach's name was sure to earn him such a reward when Duach tired of her. But as more time went by, the more his impatience grew. Until finally he could wait no longer. One night, Tulor gave in to his desires and took the girl for the night." "Did she not scream or call for help? And what about guards? Surely they were guarded." "No and yes. It is no small thing to be so close to a god. Especially an evil god such as Duach. Most succumb to madness at their first meeting with him. They withdraw into themselves, never to come out into the light again." A look of sadness crossed the old man's face momentarily. "As for guards. Yes there were guards. But all knew of Tulor's position amongst the servants of Duach, and paid him no heed. Duach would often ask Tulor to select one of his harem for him, so his actions caused no alarm that night. And Tulor had taken the precaution of garbing her in a hooded robe, to mask her features." "So he wasn't discovered?" Snicker asked. "Not immediately, no. But Tulor succumbing to a madness himself, cut a small lock of the girl's hair to keep with him, knowing he could not risk seeing her again after that night." "A lock of her hair? Why?" "I could not possibly answer that question. As I said, in his own way, Tulor loved the girl. Perhaps he wanted a momento to remind him of her. Whatever his reasons, that lock of hair proved his undoing. For the next day, Duach learned of his visit to the harem, from a chance remark by one of the guards. Duach was enraged. The unfortunate guards were killed on the spot, and sent down here to serve him as undead. Tulor was then summoned to appear before him and the lock of hair discovered. Duach's wrath at this betrayal was endless." Snicker looked perplexed for a moment. "I don't understand. Why would Duach care about what happened? He had many women, you said. And added more regularly. Surely he didn't have feelings for this particular girl." The old man laughed. "Feelings? Of course not. But loyalty was something he understood. And betrayal. Duach expected betrayal from all his servants, even Tulor. So he wasn't surprised when one of his own turned on him. But when it did happen he always dealt with them swiftly and without mercy. In this instance however, Tulor had dared to take something that belonged to the god himself. And it was for this reason he was so enraged. The object itself was irrelevant. It could easily have been a loaf of bread or a mug of ale. No-one took anything that belonged to Duach and went unscathed." Snicker shook his head in disgust. "So what did Duach do to him?" "The first thing he did was to send for the woman whose hair matched the lock Tulor had cut. But when his guards returned they had four girls with them. Each with almost identical blonde hair. Duach himself couldn't tell to whom it belonged. He even tried looking into their minds, but all he found was madness. Reading Tulor's mind proved just as fruitless. Tulor had grown accustomed to being in Duach's presence, and had long ago learned to keep his thoughts hidden from his god." Snicker laughed, despite himself. "Did he ever learn who the woman was?" The old man shook his head. "Nay. But in his rage he transformed all four of them into furies and banished them along with Tulor to spend eternity inside these caves." "Furies?" Snicker asked. "They are some of Duach's most powerful servants. They retain the shapes of the women they were, but they are made strong by his magic. Almost nothing can harm them. Even their claws are poisonous. You would do well to stay clear of them, lad." Snicker looked at the entrance. "How long ago did all this happen?" "Centuries ago," the old man said. "And he's still down there? Even now?" The old man nodded. "Aye. Even now. Tulor and his ladies are still in there. He cannot leave. Duach sent three of his strongest daemons down there with him. Tulor thinks of them as his elite guards. But in reality they are there to keep him in, rather than to keep others out." The old man stood up and stretched. "And so ends the tale of Tulor the terrible. Now I must depart. Safe travels my young friend." Snicker stood up quickly. "Wait! Twice now we've spoken and I do not even know your name. Or who you are." The old man smiled. "Names are not important. As to who I am...let's just say I'm a lot like Tulor. Or like he was, at least. But my mistress is far kinder than his master." Reaching into a pocket in his robes, the old man drew out a small silvery cross, and handed it to Snicker. "Here. Give this to the priestess at my mistress' temple. She will reward you with a gift that may be of use to you." Snicker accepted the cross and studied it closely. "Who is your mistress?" he asked, looking up again. But the old man had vanished. Page 1 of 1   Thank you for reading The Tale of Tulor the Terrible. If you enjoyed this story, or even if you didn't, please feel free to send me your comments.   Return to Index   This page hosted by Get your own Free Home Page