Jordan's Page of Useless Babble



Chapter 4: The Beginning of the Ending

As the heroes finally approached the monastery the morning after the attack in the mountains, they were ambushed by Great Bull Demon, who wielded the legendary Green Dragon Crescent Blade of Guan Yu. He declared that he was the last remaining powerful demon protecting Ming, Brother of Purity from his enemies.

As the warriors faced off against the terrible might of Great Bull Demon, Tran spotted a flying feathered serpent high in the sky that swallowed the sun whole, shrouding the land in darkness. That didn't stop the heroes though, as they were able to fend off Great Bull Demon's attacks and slay him, thus gaining entry to the monastery.

The interior of the temple was dark and cold and the ground was littered with the battered bodies of dead monks. The echoing chants of Buddhist prayers could be heard from deep within.

As the heroes continued on, the vengeful spirits of some of the monks rose and attacked in a blind rage, not knowing that they were not striking at those who had killed them. With heavy hearts, the heroes dispelled the ghost and kept moving forward.

Finally the party made it to the monastery's dawn reflection hall. Ming sat at the far end of the hall facing away from the entrance to the room, his head bowed over the open Buddhist scrolls, with the Gjallarhorn at his side. The heroes crept silently towards the monk, attempting to take him by surprise, but they were discovered and Ming calmly turned to them and asked them respectfully to give up and let him cleanse the world and remake it in his design.

The heroes refused and attacked, trying to keep Ming away from the Gjallarhorn. They were successful in that, but the monk was strong in body and mind, and lashed at them with his powerful kung fu and with mental attacks as well. Finally, the heroes were able to strike him down for good.

Ming, Brother of Purity slowly died, never realizing the truth: the Gjallarhorn was a tool of destruction, not of recreation. The Jottenheim and demons had clouded his mind with promises that he would be able to remake the world in his image when in truth, it was only they who would do so.

With Ming dead, a figure strode into the monastery. The heroes were surprised to see that it was the mysterious foreigner, miraculously healed of his injuries. The outlander outstretched his hand and the Gjallarhorn flew from the ground and into his possession. Finally he turned to the heroes and with a slight accent explained that he was in fact a deity named Heimdall, who was tasked with keeping the Gjallarhorn safe. He would be the one to blow it, but only until something he called Ragnarok had arrived.

Ming had somehow learned of the Gjallarhorn and travelled to Heimdall's land in search of power. Using trickery and his mental powers, he stole the artifact from the deity. Heimdall had been in a chase to catch Ming, a chase that the heroes stopped for him.

Heimdall thanked the heroes for stopping Ming from beginning the apocalypse early, and revealed that their own deities were considering rewarding them by ascending them to devas upon their deaths. The outlander then left the heroes to return to his lands and take his accursed artifact with him.

As the sun reappeared and warmed the land again, the heroes started to leave the empty monastery, bound for the Imperial City of Kaifeng and their earthly rewards for a job well done.

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