Need this issue or any comics? Consider using my Affiliate Link.
Warriors #5
(Note: Shadolok’s story – is actually never continued. Warriors was supposed to continue beyond issue #5, but unfortunately things changed, and this became the final issue of Warriors, which leaves Shadolok’s story in the Baal Prison Mine unfinished… We know he escapes, because there is mention of it in Adventurers Book II #2 when Nightwind makes mention of Shadolok having been a slave in the Baal Mines, with the footnote in that issue explaining that the story happens in Warriors #4-7).
This issue splits three stories, between: Shadolok, Bladehelm and Tarrus One-Eye.
The first story begins with Shadolok now a prisoner of the Baal, headed for the mines. A woman, unable to march any further collapses, but Shadolok is there to catch her. When a warrior of Baal threatens Shadolok to drop the woman; and that if she can’t walk she can die, Shadolok vows that he will kill the Baal warrior before he can get near her. Shadolok and the other slaves of Baal are brought to Kubis’ slave camp where he begins branding the slaves. Kubis makes a speech about how the slaves are nothing, and Shadolok speaks out against him. Shadolok rebels against his keepers, telling the other slaves to join the rebellion because they outnumber the slavers; but none of them move, fearful of the consequences, and thus Shadolok is eventually overwhelmed, and Kubis vows to make Shadolok’s life a living hell in the mines.
Unfortunately, with this being the final issue of the series, we never learn just what Kubis does and what else Shadolok endures. We do learn that he eventually escapes, because the events of The Adventurers, Book II take place after the events of Warriors #4.
The second story focuses on Bladehelm who is wandering towards the town of Festrunk, in Northern Anoria. He discovers that the town is having a King of the Festival Contest, which he enters. The first contest is to fire a bow; he asks if he can use his crossbow, but that is against the rules. He attempts to fire a bow, but the arrow doesn’t go far. Arnau, competing against Bladehelm easily wins the first match. The next contest is an axe throwing contest, and Bladehelm uses his battle axe, and wins the second round. The third round is a balancing fight on a log over a small stream. Arnau once again defeats Bladehelm, mostly because Arnau’s assistant hits Bladehelm in the back of the leg with a dart. The next contest is a king of the hill, which Bladehelm wins by running up and throwing dirt in Arnau’s eyes and then kicking him down the hill. The final contest is to climb a massive tree and cut down the top. While Arnau climbs the tree (the only one with climbing equipment; because previous contests had never gone this far, so there was only ever one set of climbing equipment ever made), Bladehelm takes to cutting down his tree and brings it down before Arnau can complete his task of cutting off the top portion of the tree, making Bladehelm the winner. Bladehelm is greeted by a voluminous woman wearing diamonds around her neck. Later, Bladehelm is walking down the road and sees Arnau and his assistant broken down on the side of the road. He gives them coin to fix their wagon, and leaves; with little concern about money, because he has the diamond necklace that the voluminous woman had been wearing, in his hands.
The third story comes from the memoirs of Tarrus One-Eyed, taking place on a summer night in 3384. A storm rages outside as Tarrus deals with several political issues; it’s just then a man runs inside and explains that a woman named Josella is calling for him during the birthing of her child. Tarrus runs with the man and eventually gets to Josella’s home; where it is revealed he is not the father; but that he suspects that Josella, a beautiful woman, undoubtedly dallied with a council man who found her low-born an embarrassment and would not have her as a wife, when she discovered she was pregnant. Josella dies during the birthing process, swearing to take care of the child; which turns out to be a demon who whispers, “Remember your promise… father.”
Like us on Facebook