 Posted:
Mon Aug 09, 2004 4:04 am |
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The Tavern was alive with the noise of its patrons. The Holy Avenger, leader of the Light Paladins, stood against one wall and tsk'd at Karine who was all but passed out. A “merchantâ€Â, known as the SpyMaster, sat opposite the Prince arguing vehemently with him over the building costs of the realm. The drunken Prince glared at the merchant, "For the last time, you will pay my costs or find someone else to do the contracting!" The merchant kicked his chair back and stood up, his infamous gaze fell upon the Prince "Beware the drunken words you speak lest-" suddenly a trumpet pierced the air in a loud fanfare cutting off the Merchant's words. The Tavern quickly emptied into the streets hero and peasant alike lining the Baron's Boulevard as a parade of knight's and Baronial guardsmen marched by. Everyone craned their necks to get a look at the royal coach. A finely dressed Rogue leaned over to his brother and whispered "You’re the SpyMaster, what's going on?" the merchant jabbed him in the ribs and hissed back "I am not omniscient, this can't be anything terribly important otherwise I would have heard by now." The paladin chuckled and turned to towards a large armor clad warrior, "Strange things are a foot when the SpyMaster is not in the know." The stoic warrior merely grinned and didn't let his eyes leave the coach. As the crowd followed behind the procession, a ranger came running up breathing deep but regularly. He pulled up to a walk next to the paladin and said "I have followed the royal coach from the edge of our lands and have seen many strange things coming from it." The paladin quirked a brow at this and asked "What sorts of strange things?" the woodsman replied "Magic, powerful magic." The paladin glanced over at the warrior and the rogue; her eyes continued to pan but she saw the SpyMaster was gone. As the coach ambled along suddenly it turned short of the Mansion, down Arcane Avenue. The warrior grabbed the paladin’s arm and pulled her down an alley. "Hey! What are you doing!" she exclaimed, to which the muscled warrior replied "Cutting off the crowd, they go to the Tower." The paladin grinned as they jogged their armor clanking softly.
As they reached the Wizard's Tower they found that it was indeed the destination of the royal coach. For someone was just about to emerge from it. Since they had taken the shortcut they were in a relatively good position, and what Baronial Guard would dare try to stop them from looking? The figure emerging from the coach was dressed in glistening white robes with arcane symbols stitched into the fabric. A gnarled oaken staff held in one hand seemed to support the aging figure. As everyone waited for the wizard to enter the tower, he turned. The crowd seemed to all draw in breath simultaneously and take a step backwards. He again stepped up on the running board of the coach and exclaimed "Well, no time to waste is there? Who would like to volunteer for the Great Milton's latest experiment?" The Baronial Guards stepped back, leaving the ranger, the paladin, the warrior, and the rogue standing. The rogue glanced around quickly for his brother, and the friendly shadows. The warrior clamped a hand on his shoulder and pulled him back to center. "Now now, let's not be running off, the merchant, come, we go to adventure again." The merchant suddenly emerged from the shadows "C'mon big guy, you sure about this? I don't like messing with magikal experiments, no money in it" The warrior chuckled heartily slapping the merchant on the back; the assassin struggled to appear unmoved by the blow. "Come now SpyMaster, how many times have we found rare and valuable treasure?" The merchant grimaced and nodded. "Tis true, but perhaps we should prepare a bit better for this trip." The merchant deftly moved his fingers in a pattern. A certain shadow seemed to get a bit lighter and a breeze wafted through. The merchant grinned "We would be wise to bring some holy magic along with us on this trip I think." The paladin raised an eyebrow at the merchant "Holy? HOLY? You!?" she exclaimed poking him in the ribs. The merchant chuckled "There are those who do not share either my realm view nor yours Paladin, but strive for balance." As if on cue the Matriarch of the Priest guild and High Priestess of Osiris appeared in the crowd, struggling to free her arm from a shadowy figure's grasp. "Unhand me you miscreant!" she exclaimed. The merchant’s fingers moved deftly again and the figure released the priestess and melted back into the shadows. "I am sorry at the impolite way that was handled Matriarch, but time is of the essence, and I thought it best to explain after you were here." The priestess frowned and replied "Explain then." The merchant smiled slyly "We are going on an adventure, some experiment of this new mage Milton." The priest smiled, straightened her Halo a bit and stepped up with the group of Hero's. Shoulder to shoulder they entered the Tower, following Milton. He didn't even pause, but whisked past the servants and apprentice magi as he headed to the stairs. The Librarian came running up to him sputtering a welcome, but Milton just dismissed him with a wave of his hand, and the entourage marched up the stairs. All the way to the top floor where Radrighe stood in his doorway ready to welcome the new colleague. "Welcome to Tyr we are-" Milton cut him off with a scowl and headed across to his own room. "Well I never!" complained Radrighe. The warrior poked him in the ribs "Mind your own business mage." Radrighe blanched and glided back into his room shutting the door. The merchant and the rogue snickered as the Hero's entered Milton's room and closed the door. The room was completely empty, but Milton produced a large bag from within his robes, clinking with the glass of bottles. "Now, who shall be the first?" asked the mage, "Perhaps if we knew more about what it is you wish of us we could know..." the rogue grumbled. "Oh! I completely forget sometimes that people don't know as much as I do," Milton smirked "This realm, as in many other realms, is connected through the fabrics of the universe to different planes of existence, and I have recently solved the problem of reaching one of the major one's." Milton drew a potion out of the bag and approached the warrior. "Here, you will need this to return, the Astral Plane is not specifically connected in any physical way to the prime material plane, however it will cost you 5,000 gold coins." Milton nearly dropped the bottle as the warrior yanked back his hand, "What? You said nothing of costs!" Milton looked startled "Sorry I didn't mention that, of course I can send you there with no way to return for free..." The warrior grumbled and loosed a pouch from his belt, dropping it to the floor and snatching the potion from Milton's hand. Likewise all the Hero's threw down bags, pouches, and the merchant, especially irritated at the thought of spending money merely dropped the coins in a pile on the ground. Milton then gripped his staff and began chanting and waving it about wildly. Suddenly the stone room blurred in their vision and arcane forces grabbed their souls and flung them into another plane. Milton's last words barely registered in their disoriented minds "Beware the Dimensional Shamblers..."
A floating nothingness surrounded them all, the surreal landscape bending the mind of each. The warrior said "Well, let's do a bit of exploring." He drew his mighty sword and began to walk off to the east. The merchant drew his twin stilettos, the rogue his dagger, the priestess loosed her mace, the ranger drew his spear of Ice, and the paladin her Holy Avenger and they all followed the disappearing figure of the warrior. After an hour of finding nothing but "Nothingness! We're surrounded by nothingness! This is the most boring adventure I've ever been on!" the rogue complained. "Perhaps there is more to this place than meets the eye," the warrior replied and slung his backpack to his feet. He dug out a yellowish looking potion and grinned. Slinging his backpack up onto his back he chugged the potion in one mighty gulp his eyes shinning with magic briefly. "What’s that?" the Ranger inquired, "Not much, something I had Kraunn cook up for me, supposed to see through certain magiks," the warrior replied as he scanned the area. "Hmmm, a bit dark, we'll have to keep trudging around." The bored band continued on, till a few minutes later the warrior stopped suddenly and walked around a space in the nothingness looking at something that no one else could see. His eyes gleamed, "what a pretty ring, our first profit SpyMaster," the large warrior breathed as he swung his sword at the empty space. Suddenly his sword seemed to strike something and then a glowing sprite burst into view with a howl of pain. The Sprite struck back at the warrior, stinging him with her attack, viciously darting in and out of his swings. All the adventurers jumped to the warrior's side and begin attempting to strike the flitting creature. The merchant spun and twirled his stilettos in a blinding display as he made it seem near impossible to dodge all his attacks. The rogue nimbly crossed over till he was relatively behind the Sprite and tried to backstab it, nearly cutting his own finger! As the rogue tumbled into view of the Sprite, the paladin leapt in front of him bringing her shield up to block the Sprite's attack. The priestess had already dropped to her knees and was praying fervently. The ranger used the opportunity to strike the Sprite on its thigh, plunging his spear in deep again and again. The warrior roared a might battle raged bellow in the Sprite's face and swung again. The Sprite, bleeding and wounded, looked for an escape, only to find she was surrounded with the merchant and the ranger behind her, and the warrior and the paladin in front. So with one last futile attempt to attack the merchant, she breathed her last. Several weapons pierced her body as it fell lifelessly to the shimmering surface. The warrior reached down and plucked the ring from the creature's finger and stuffed it in a pouch. The priestess finished praying and a holy glow filled the area, sweeping around and threw the group. Everyone's wounds were closed and mended. The merchant and warrior grinned yet the paladin frowned, "You don't think that was a creature of light do you?" The warrior chuckled "Hard to tell babe, hard to tell." he replied as he wiped his sword on his thigh and moved off again, the others following. As the band moved about trusting the warrior to point out more invisible creatures, suddenly there was a roar from behind ad a whistle of wind as claws ripped into the merchant's back. He screamed in agony and rage, as he rolled and came to his feet he slashed at the awful creature's ugly visage. The creature seemed to laugh in a horrible way and merely clawed the deft elf across the chest again and again. The warrior knocked the merchant to the left taking his place in front of the beast just as the merchant was able to get out a warning "Dimensional Shambler!!" The beast clawed the warrior across the chest and face, he tried to parry and block but was no match for the creature’s awesome speed. The priestess began praying pointing her hands at the warrior's struggling form. The rogue, the merchant, and the ranger jumped to his side, attempting to strike through the tough skin of the beast just as the paladin let out a yell "There's another one!" She lifted her shield to have it smashed into her face by the powerful blow of the second Shambler. Her battle-hardened instincts made her swing her sword lopping off one of the creature's arms, as it squealed in pain she stepped back and prepared for the next onslaught. The priestess finished her prayer of healing and the warrior's wounds healed, the blood drying to his clothing. The warrior and the paladin stood back to back with the other adventurer's to their sides attempted to fend off the beast's together, to no avail, blow after blow rained down upon them. "We can't take much more of this, even with the Matriarch's healing magic; we are doomed to lose this battle!" The mighty warrior bellowed. "Milton's potions! Drink friends, that we may live to fight another day!" The merchant called to his friends, deftly sheathing his stilettos and bringing the bottle from his belt to his lips in one swift motion. The other's drank and began to disappear until only the warrior, bleeding and mangled stood between to the two Shambler's snarling with rage, "I shall return you abominations! And I shall slay you as I have so many other things." As the Shambler's closed on him he drank Milton's potion and disappeared, leaving the beasts momentarily confused till they again shambled off into he nothingness.
The warrior opened his eyes to find himself in Cheuntelia's Temple standing with his fellow adventurer's as Selerne the age old priest wandered about healing with the priestess the many wounds in the group. He threw back his head and cackled with glee, the merchant jumped to his feet and spun the ranger around in a jig "WooHooO!" he shouted. The other adventurer's raised their eyebrows and peered at the pair "What's with you two?" The rogue asked. "New places to conquer, new foes to fight, new treasure to find!" the warrior exclaimed. The merchant twirled away from the ranger and brought his hand up to high five the priestess so hard it jostled her Halo! She giggled and smiled. The paladin smiled "Next time, it'll be different," she said as she bent her knees and began drawing with her finger on the ground, the adventurer's gathering around to plan their next trip.
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Written by: Opacus Xophoros
Edited upon request by: Dhe |
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Anonymous
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