An Aesthetic shows you to a small reading room.
Stories of Ansalon from the view of Alexandros.
A little gully dwarf runs by and says 'Wordwrap is at 65. You change? Off 65 80.'
The gully continues 'Eyes hurt? Turn Color OFF!! (regular story dates)
Astinus says 'Enter the main library here to view only the author list.'
Astinus gently places a pulp magazine on the table in front of you.
You note the spine bears the word 'Alexandros' scribed in unearthly blue ink.
Author: Alexandros
Date: Mon May 26 19:36:23 2008
Subject History of Alexandros Dimakis
Generation upon generation of the Dimakis family have lived out
their lives on Northern Ergoth. For the most part, they lived
their
lives as minor nobility, gathering lands and building estates to
pass
on to their children, occasionally training as a cavalier or
Knight in
their younger years to preserve the honor of the Dimakis family.
Galite Dimakis became a Knight of Solamnia just prior to the War
of
the Lance and traveled to the mainland to fight against the
forces of
Takhisis, leaving his young wife and child, Alexandros, in
Northern
Ergoth. Following the war, Galite found he did not wish to return
to
his home in Northern Ergoth. He sold his estate and move his wife
and child into a beautiful home in Palanthas.
During his father's absence, the young noble Alexandros had
traveled through much of Northern Ergoth, especially to the
capital
city of Gwynned. In Gwynned, Alexandros first witnessed true
magic
and, becoming fascinated, frequently traveled to Gwynned to
secretly read texts of magic history and philosophy in the city's
libraries. After several weeks of trekking back and forth between
his
home and Gwynned, the barely-teenage nobleman fled his home
during the night with all his possessions to stay in the city as
long as
possible. He sold everything, including his horse, to purchase a
basic
spellbook and a week's stay in an inn near the library. He
studied
day and night, hoping to master the mysterious words scribbled
across the pages.
Upon moving to Palanthas, Galite learned of his son's magical
ambitions. In contrast to many of the prejudices of Northern
Ergoth
and the Knights of Solamnia, Galite had seen first-hand the
benefits
of magic during the War of the Lance. Respecting its power yet
fearing it in the wrong hands, Galite apprenticed his son to a
local
mage of Solinari named Gillian, the brother of a mage that had
supported the Knights during the War.
Alexandros was initially thrilled to finally have formal
instruction in
magic. He progressed in his spellwork quickly, too quickly in
fact,
and started to worry he would never reach his potential because
of
his instructor. Many spells in Alexandros' spellbook were deemed
"inappropriate" for a young mage and for some Gillian suggested
he
would never be willing to teach the mage - saying the spells had
no
potential to promote good in a civilized world. Alexandros was
frustrated at the seemingly arbitrary boundaries placed on his
Art,
but was so pleased to finally be formally instructed that he
remained quiet. During the evenings, he still traveled secretly
to the
libraries of Palanthas to practice his spellwork in secret,
including
those spells that his instructor would not aid him with.
As time progressed, Alexandros began to not only question his
instructor's teaching but also his philosophy of magic.
Alexandros
had recently begun unlocking the secrets of his darker spells
including combat magics and curses. It was then that two of
Alexandros' peers traveled to Wayreth to take their Test. Neither
managed to pass the Test where failure meant death.
Alexandros was infuriated. If they had been permitted to learn
magic of any kind without needing to justify its need, Alexandros
knew they would still be alive. They needed to have been more
focused on increasing their own strength, on gaining power, and
perfecting their Art. And with the restrictions they had allowed
to
be placed on them, Alexandros believed that was simply
impossible.
It was then that Alexandros realized there were no rules, there
was
only power. And magic was power. Alexandros knew which god
shared this philosophy - sought the secrets of magic as an end in
and of themselves, placing magic before all other concerns.
Alexandros knew he would dedicate himself to Nuitari, the
Devouring Dark.
For some reason, Alexandros did not feel lost. He knew his
direction
as if, in the back of his mind, he had always known what his path
would be. He calmly removed his white robes, gathering all the
ink
he could find and poured the black stain over as much cloth as he
could, smearing the liquid with his hands to cover the entire
garment. It was imperfect, but it would do for the time being.
Alexandros threw the still-wet, black robe over his body and set
out
into the night. Without looking back, Alexandros left Palanthas
and
followed the black moon across the sky for many days.
Eventually he reached Neraka, his new home, where he continued
his studies for several months until he felt prepared. Then
Alexandros set off for Wayreth Forest to find the Tower of High
Sorcery. It was there that future lay
Author: Alexandros
Date: Thu May 29 04:28:31 2008
Subject SQ - Riddles In the Dark
Alexandros leaned wearily against the wall, sucking in deep
breath
after deep breath. He was worn out and exhausted after having
traveled
by foot across much of the continent - that and the strain of
having to
quickly drag a body into the brush outside. His breathing finally
began to
slow, his head began to ache less, and he began to focus in on
his
surroundings again.
There was little to see, for Alexandros was resting in the secret
caverns used to shelter the thieves' guild near Solace. His eyes
took in
the tunnel's rough stone walls, the occasional mat-covered
doorway,
and crowded sleeping quarters filled with napping thieves. He saw
no
indication of any magical staff, which is was one of the items
Alexandros was seeking for his teacher and Master in the
Conclave.
Alex looking sharply towards the entrance of the caves as a man's
startled voice shouted from outside. They must have found the
body
already.
Alex sighed and continued to casually stroll through the tunnels,
running his left hand along the cool tunnel wall. The shouting
behind
him became more distinct, a deep baritone voice calling the
thieves to
search the guild for intruders and to be wary - one of their own
had
been killed. All along the tunnel before him, Alexandros watched
as
matted doorways were flung open and figures began to pore out
into
the tunnels, searching. Their sheer numbers should have worried
Alex - if not the fact that they carried wicked knives and short
swords - but the young adventurer seems perfectly at ease. He
slipped
amongst their searching forms silently, summoning his magic to
make
his form invisible to all.
Though he was not visible to the naked eye, small worries began
to
intrude upon Alexandros's peaceful mind. The sounding of an alarm
really had made his task more difficult. He could not longer risk
inspecting each and every room searching for the staff he sought,
he
might bump into someone in the dark and give away his position.
Hoping to regroup and replan, Alexandros quickly crept along the
wall and into a side room, letting the mat covering the doorway
fall back
into place for privacy. The room was empty, which suited
Alexandros perfectly, for he would have to break his silence for
the
actions he was about to perform.
Drifting to the corner of the small sleeping quarters, Alexandros
closed his eyes and whispered the words of an incantation he had
learned weeks before. He allowed the magic to overtake his senses
and
search out the many tunnels and caverns of the Thieve's hideout,
searching for a specific item, a staff. To Alexandros' relief,
the staff
was still here. He saw images of a woman resting on a pallet in a
nearby
room, watched her hand drift casually to an oak staff leaning
against the
wall near her, took in the room around her including several
other rings,
weapons, and pieces of armor near the staff. "Alindra," Alex
suddenly sensed. "Her name is Alindra. And she is guarding the
treasury."
Again confident that the end of his quest was near, the young
mage
crept to the doorway, slipped through a space between the wall
and the
mat, and slid back into the hallway. In the minutes since the
alarm had
gone off, the thieves had apparently decided that the intruder
had run
off - afraid of being caught by the many thieves within. Only a
single
thief was left guarding the hallway. It was almost too easy as
Alexandros slipped invisibly behind him, pressed his knife to the
guard's neck, and whispered "Be silent or your death is assured."
The young thief, probably only sixteen or seventeen years old,
gasped in
shock and fear as the invisible knife pressed against his throat.
He
managed to nod though, remaining silent. "The treasure, boy, I
seek
the treasure. Where is it?"
The boy's frame shook as he took in a quivering breath. He
whispered
back "We do not know where the treasure is. We are searching. All
we know is this: 'There is a Crossroad that brings West, East,
and
South Together. There is a sign post' Torrin swears he's heard
that
there is decaying to the North, but the others haven't heard the
same."
Expecting a simple answer, Alexandros was annoyed by the riddle.
He wondered how the boy, so clearly terrified, was able to give
such a
mocking response as a riddle in his situation. It mattered
little,
Alexandros was not in the mood for games. Pressing the knife
harder against boy's throat, Alexandros heard a pained gasp as
the
knife began to cut into the skin. "No riddles, boy. I know your
treasure
is near and that Alindra guards it. If you play with me again you
die."
The boy paused in confusion and whispered, "Oh, the treasury is
just
beyond that mat there." Alexandros whispered a few words in the
language of magic and felt the boy's head fall backwards in a
magical
sleep. He would not need to die unless he had lied. Tossing the
boy
roughly to the ground, the young mage walked up to the mat the
boy
had indicated. His vision, enhanced by magic, perceived the
outline of
Alindra in the room beyond. Smiling, Alexandros fired a lightning
bolt through the mat, killing the woman instantly. He swept
quetly into
the room and grabbed the staff, slipping out into the tunnel and
then
out into the forest beyond.
Something bothered the mage. The staff in his hands was magical,
yes,
but the magic Alexandros felt tingling his fingertips was weak.
He
would need to find a more powerful staff to present his Master
with.
The entire expedition had been a waste. Alexandros sighed,
knowing he would most likely need to travel for several more days
before finding a staff powerful enough to present to his teacher.
As Alexandros mulled over his trip in his mind, he puzzeled over
the
words of the boy. His first response had made no sense. He was
clearly
not trying to protect the Thieve's treasure, he had given up its
location
easily enough. And his answer made no sense - there were no
crossroads in the tunnels, and although their odor was less than
perfect,
there was nothing he had noticed that he would classify as
'decay.'
Maybe the Theive's had another treasure, a larger treasure, that
they
stored away from the caves? Alexandros decided he would
investigate when he had completed the tasks set before him by his
master.
Author: Alexandros
Date: Wed Jun 11
02:57:48 2008
Subject Fire and Water (Pt1)
Four
monotonous days spent in the library of the Tower of Wayreth had
yielded little results. The spell component that Jendaron,
Alexandros'
Master, had sent him to restock was clearly very
rare, too rare to be found
described in the dozens of common
tomes the young made has skimmed for
information on the item.
However, late into the fifth night of research,
Alexandros found
a brief mention of fire salts as a necessary component for
fully
realizing some of the most powerful arcane fire magics. Scrawled
on
the side of the page in the messy script of an unknown mage
was a brief
enchantment that claimed it could make glass
impervious to heat. Below
that, the words "Sea Caves of Zeboim"
were written and underlined twice.
With nothing more to go off
of, Alexandros had left the early the following
morning. Under
his Master's instructions, his magic had grown dramatically,
and
he was able to open an extra-dimensional portal directly from the
Tower entrance to the City of Palanthas, a journey that had
taken weeks the
last time the apprentice mage had left to
fulfill some task of his Master's.
Alexandros lamented the fact
that he could not gate directly into the caves.
In fact, he had
tried many times, but something prevented his gate from
forming.
Possibly the herself Goddess protected these caves from such easy
invasion. Regardless, weighed down with a pack of food and
drink, a small
bedroll, spell compoenents, and an enchanted
glass bottle, Alexandros left
Palanthas heading west out of
Palanthas along the Coast.
The trip was long, at least two days
since the mage travelled on foot, but his
strides were long and
steady. Alexandros had been greatly ashamed of how
easily he had
tired, physically, on his last 'adventure' and had vowed to
hone
his body as well as mind before next he left the tower. The vow
paid
off as Alexandros had already traveled what he thought to
be two thirds of
the distance to the Caves before the sun began
to dip down below the
horizon.
Not yet ready to call it quits
for the night, Alexandros paused upon spotting
a clearing by the
side of the road. A small stream bubbled merrily at the
edge of
the clearing before flowing back into the woods that bordered the
clearing. Allowing his pack to slump to the ground, the
apprentice mage
pulled his canteen from the bag and walked
towards the stream to refill it,
slowly rolling his shoulders
and neck to diminish the tension the heavy pack
had caused.
Dipping the canteen into the stream to fill, Alexandros
wondered
at how different this clearing was from the city of Palanthas
just a
few hours down the road - how peaceful and silent, as if
it had never been
disturbed by another before Alexandros had
happened upon it.
Movement caught his eye. Something was moving
in the water. No. A
reflection was moving across the water.
Someone was standing right behind
him!
Alexandros dropped the
canteen, spinning in place as his army whipped
about him to
point towards the assailant. The mage felt his veins light on
fire as raw electrical energy flowed down his arm and focused at
the tip of
his finger. This bandit, or rougue, or noble Knight
of Solamnia had happened
upon the wrong clearing this night, and
he was about to pay for it with his
life. Just as the lightning
bolt lept from his finger, Alexandros locked eyes
with his
opponent. They were oddly beautiful - a brilliant emerald green.
Something in Alexandros' mind panicked and he realized something
was
wrong. His hand jerked and the lightning bolt arced into the
surrounding
woods, devastating a large Oak about fifteen feet
into the clearing. His
'opponent' was a young
girl.
Author: Alexandros
Date: Wed
Jun 11 02:59:12 2008
Subject Fire and Water
(Pt2)
Alexandros' mind, which a moment before had been
focused only on the
kill, was now simply frozen. He knew there
was a girl in front of him, he was
even able to register that
she was speaking to him, but he simply couldn't
force himself to
understand what was going on. The girl sighed, clearly
annoyed
that she was going to have to repeat herself, and spoke again.
"Hi,
I'm heading this way, too," she pointed offhandedly in the
direction of the
Sea Caves. "Mind if I tag along?"
Alexandros
shook his head from side to side in the hopes that it would
clear.
He was sure he had misheard her. "Mind if I tag along?"
was not a phrase
that should follow nearly being obliterated by
a lightning bolt. Or maybe she
was in shock and she had no idea
what she was saying, Alexandros
reasoned.
Seeing that he was
not going to answer, the girl rolled her eyes, spun on her
heels
and began to walk for road outside the clearing, whistling to
herself as
she went. The apprentice watched in silence as she
walked the entire ten
seconds before reaching the edge of the
clearing. He was still acutely aware
of the fact that nothing
here made sense, but he suddenly realized that he
did not want
her to leave. There were too many unanswered questions, too
many
mysteries, and he was unwilling to let her slip away into the
night and
leave him haunted, trying to understand what had
transpired here and why.
"Wait," he said in a near-whisper that
no normal girl could have heard. But
she had. Her whistling cut
off, her feet paused at the edge of the clearing,
and she looked
back at him with one eyebrow raised, pretending she had
not
understood. The mage felt foolish for having spoken. He should
have let
her go, she was of no use to him. In fact, she might be
dangerous for all he
knew. But nothing else had made sense in
this encounter, so he felt no
reason why he should be the only
rational person present. "I travel to the
caves by the sea. You
can travel with me as far as you would like in that
direction."
She smiled, considered the proposal, and turned her back on
Alexandros as
if to continue walking away. Alexandros' raised
his hand to protest, but
before a word had left his mouth she
had spun around walked back into the
clearing in a motion so
fluid that Alexandros worried his eyes were playing
tricks on
him. She smiled brightly and looked around the clearing. "Very
well
then, as far as I'd like in that direction. Now if you
would be so kind as to
light a fire, I have some food we can
eat."
The mage turned and confidently walked off into the
forest. He glanced
quickly over his shoulder and chuckled at the
confused expression on the
girl's face. He was significantly
happier now that he knew she could also be
caught off guard.
Stopping before the remains of the Oak, he picked up
some large
burning pieces and brought them back into the clearing.
"There,"
he said, mocking pride. "I have fire."
Author:
Alexandros
Date: Wed Jun 11 03:00:57
2008
Subject Fire and Water (Pt3)
The girl had held
up his pack questioningly. Alexandros nodded, curious as
to what
she was planning. She had rummaged through his pack, removing
some tin pots and cups, and filled the largest pot in the
stream. Placing the
pot next to the fire, she had allowed it to
heat, meanwhile pulling a fist
sized brown cloth bag from her
bag. She poured half the contents, which
appeared to be a
mixture of herbs, rice, and dried meat, into the warm
water and
waited for the contents to boil before serving the soup in two of
the tin cups.
Alexandros had unfurled his bedroll near the
fire and rested upon it. She
talked as she worked, pausing now
to invite the mage to speak although she
clearly did not expect
him to. Alexandros was happy to just listen, and
watched her as
she spoke. She was young, maybe nineteen or twenty years
of age,
and rather small. Alexandros guessed that, had she been standing,
her head would only reach five feet off the ground. Maybe
another inch or
two more. She had shoulder-length auburn hair
which framed her face,
contrasting with those same sparkling
green eyes the mage had first seen.
Her face was youthful and
very pretty, with delicate, refined features.
Alexandros thought
he had seen similar faces before, but could not place
where.
More than her physical features, her face was characterized by
her
expressions - for they were so animated. As she spoke, her
face would
flicker from a bright smile to a musical laugh to a
subtle smirk - so on and so
forth until Alexandros had
completely lost track.
She was dressed quite simply in a red
shirt that matched her hair. It was
clearly designed for someone
both taller and wider than her, so she had
used leather cords to
bind it more securely around her narrow waist. Since
the shirt
was too long, the part extending beyond the waist had been folded
beneath the cords to appear as a matching red skirt, beneath
which she
wore tan cloth leggings. In addition to this, the girl
was covered in crystal
jewelry. Around her neck she had a gold
chain linking bright red and green
semi-precious stones. Around
each of her wrists were at least three
bracelets featuring every
colored gem imaginable. She even had bright
green crystals
matching her eyes hanging from each ear.
While preparing the
food, she had happily monologued away, talking
excitedly about
how warm the weather was for this time of year, how
traveling
these roads at night was becoming more and more dangerous, and
telling stories of some festival that had recently taken placed
in Palanthas
during her last stay. She offered no real
information about her self nor
requested anything of Alexandros,
which the mage was fine with. He had
spent so many weeks
traveling alone that he simply enjoyed listening to her
voice,
if not the words - it was light, musical, and happy - a voice one
would
never hear within the Towers of High Sorcery. Plus,
Alexandros had given up
the talking tonight. He was still rather
at a loss for what was going on,
especially why she wanted to
travel with him, so he decided to remain silent
and start fresh
tomorrow. Hopefully with better luck.
Half an hour after they
had finished eating, the girl curled up by the fire and
fell
asleep. Still suspicious, Alexandros laid awake for hours,
looking for
some sign of danger from the small figure across the
fire from him. Late into
the night, tired and bored - the girl
hadn't moved in hours - his eyes shut
and he drifted off to
sleep.
Alexandros awoke early the next morning to the sight of
the young girl
already packing up camp, humming happily to
herself as she went. She
moved with such grace that the
apprentice wondered, not for the first time,
if she might be a
professional dancer. Having packed up everything else, she
skipped next to the mage and nudged him with her foot. "Scoot!
We've
been here so looong. Wash up and I'll pack your stuff."
Alexandros' laughed silently as he rolled off his bedroll,
thinking about how
familiarly this girl treated him when they
had not even exchanged names. As
she began impatiently rolling
up the bedroll and closing up his pack,
Alexandros walked to the
stream, splashing the cold water over his face and
using his wet
fingers to pull his dark hair away from his face and back
behind
his ears. He turned around to see the clearing empty but for the
girl
and their two packs. He threw his over his shoulder and
they walked to the
road, turning to head towards the Sea
Caves.
Author: Alexandros
Date: Wed
Jun 11 03:03:01 2008
Subject Fire and Water
(Pt4)
As soon as they were back en route to the Sea
Caves, the girl began
speaking again. She seemed to have a
severe aversion to silence, and
Alexandros was surprised to
discover he didn't mind. She quickly introduced
herself as
Crystal. The mage's eyes shifted downward, once again taking in
the earrings, necklaces, and bracelets of brightly colored
stones. Noticing his
gaze, she smiled and held her jeweled right
wrist up closer to the
apprentice's face. "My mother was a bit
of a collector," she laughed. "When
I was younger she made this
for me," she indicated a bracelet of brilliant red
and green
crystals. "She said they were the only Crystals beautiful enough
to remind her of her daughter." Lowering her wrist back to her
side, she
shrugged offhandedly and said "I've been collecting
them ever since then.
And you are?"
"Alexandros," the mage
said. He smiled, pleased at how simply he had
answered. Crystal
paused, waiting for more, and then seeing nothing was to
follow
continued talking herself. For the remainder of the day she spoke
in
her musical voice. First relating stories of her travels
around Palanthas, then
her travels south near Solace, and
finally her attempted excursion into the
elven lands of
Qualinesti. She gave vivid descriptions of the places she had
seen, the people she had met, and related multiple funny stories
from each
location. During one such story of a villager who
swore his goat could
control the weather, Alexandros found he
could remain silent no more.
Laughter erupted from his deep
inside him and from then on he shared his
stories with the girl
as well. He had traveled to most of the places she had
mentioned
and more, often seeing people and places that others couldn't
with his magic. The conversation became animated and remained
that way
for hours, keeping the two entertained until they
stopped late in the night
on the second day to sleep.
On the
second day, Alexandros didn't try to remain silent. Waking to
find
camp once again packed, he peppered Crystal with questions.
Why was she
so eager to leave each morning? She had trouble
keeping still for too long,
she said sheepishly. Why hadn't she
run off in terror when he had nearly
killed her with a lightning
bolt? She didn't scare easily, she laughed. Why
had she traveled
to so many places? Traveling was a family pastime, she
said with
a subtle wink. Why didn't she mind traveling with a mage of the
Black Robes? She chose to judge people based on how they treated
her, not
based on the what organization they claimed loyalty
to.
Between his questions, she responded with questions of her
own. Mostly
she asked why he traveled to the Sea Caves (on a
quest for his master) and
why he simply didn't teleport to the
caves. As Alexandros tried to explain
the magical barriers that
prevented him from simply gating into the caverns,
Crystal
questioned him relentlessly on extradimensional travel. How does
it
feel? Is it fun? What was the strangest place he had ever
gone? The mage
answered her questions as best he could, though
sometimes his answers
were clearly less exciting than she had
hoped for.
Midway through answering why she wouldn't be able to
gate even if
Alexandros wrote down the spell's words for her, a
gust of wind blew from
the coast into the travelers. Crystal
giggled happily as her hair and clothing
fluttered about her.
Alexandros found himself laughing along, mostly due to
just how
excited she was rather than the wind itself. Then he saw panic
touch her eyes and her hands flew up to pull her hair down and
around her
neck. It was too late, the mage's observant eyes had
seen what she had
meant to hide beneath her hair - pointed
ears.
"Your mother or your father?" he asked. She tried to
feign ignorance, but
there was no longer a smile on her face.
"What about them?" Alexandros
wondered if he wanted to push the
subject, but he had suddenly realized
the answer. Her mother was
a bit of a collector. "Your mother was a
Kender?" Her face
crumpled. "Please, you don't have to leave. I'm only half
kender." The mage was shocked at how afraid she was of being
thought of
as a kender. He suspected that travelers in the past
had been less than open
to continuing with her once they learned
of her heritage. Wanting to
assuage her fears, Alexandros
launched into a story of his recent adventures
in goblin lands.
Crystal remained timid for a minute, but was soon smiling
and
laughing again.
The sun was about to drift below the trees on
the third day when the road
stopped. A half mile ahead they saw
the earth rise around the sea, forming
large cliffs that hung
over the frothing waves below. One could barely make
out small
dark circles against the rock indicating entrances to the caverns
within. Alexandros began to set up camp, planning to enter the
caves after
resting in the morning. He turned to Crystal. "Where
do you plan on going
now?" With a musical laugh and a subtle
wink she said "Into the Caves. You
said I could go as far as I
want in that direction, and I want to go with
you."
Author: Alexandros
Date: Wed
Jun 11 03:06:24 2008
Subject Fire and Water
(Pt5)
They had been traveling through the caverns for two
hours. Alexandros
thought he knew which way they had come from,
but he was never entirely
sure they weren't walking in circles.
The caverns were immense, burrowing
deep into rocky cliffs in a
maze of tunnels that branched not only in the
three-hundred-and-sixty degrees around them but also upwards and
downwards. The highest levels of the caves were dry and not
entirely dark.
The occasional hole in the rocky ceiling splashed
light through the caves,
providing at least a minute amount of
light to the upper levels. The further
down they traveled,
however, the caverns became darker until they was no
natural
light at all. The tunnels also became moist as wonder condensed
on
the cool caves walls and ceiling. Alexandros knew that
further down, below
sea level, the cavers would become partially
or entirely filled with water.
As they traveled deeper, Crystal
remained uncharacteristically quiet and
close to his side.
Alexandros was unsure whether this was because she was
being
cautious or because there was simply because they had not yet
come
across anything within the caves to comment on. As they
rounded one
corner, deep within the caves, the mage heard
Crystal gasp. Unsure of what
had caused this reaction,
Alexandros pulled her against his body with one
arm and thrust
the other out in front of him. A glimmering field rose up
around
their bodies as the shield spell took affect, and the mage
extended
the range of his light spell to see what had caught the
girl's attention.
To his surprise, the cavern was filled with
massive lizards. They looked like
deep grey iguanas except for
the fact that they were nearly three feet tall
and probably more
than a dozen feet long. The lizards, there were four of
them in
this cavern, didn't move in reaction to the light in any way. In
fact,
Alexandros saw their eyes were milky white. He doubted
they could see
anything at all. Worried that the lizards might
rely on hearing instead,
Alexandros whispered a few words and
gestured towards their shoes. For
the next few hours their steps
should be silenced by his. They walked slowly
through the room
and passed the lizards, Alexandros keeping his body and
magic
between the lizards and Crystal at all times.
Once they had
safely entered the tunnels beyond, Crystal giggled and tilted
her head back to look at the mage. "Do you always use giant
lizards as an
excuse to handle young girls this way?" she asked
as she tapped on his arm,
still pulling her tight against him.
Slightly flustered, he let her go. If he was
judging their
progress correctly, they might still have several hours to go
before reaching the bottom of the caves and, if the giant
lizards were only a
first warning, he would need his wits about
him. Silent again, even their
footsteps, the two continued
deeper into the caves.
---------------------------------------------------------
Two
hours later, Alexandros was exhausted. After passing the lizards,
the
caverns had quickly filled with water. At first only high
enough to wet their
feet, the two had now been wading through
thigh-deep pools of salt-water
for nearly an hour. Alexandros
would have stopped to rest, but he sensed
they were getting
close to something and his excitement prevented him
staying
still. A powerful magic permeated the air ahead - maybe powerful
enough to belong to the elusive Fire Salts he sought. The two
entered a
large circular cavern. The ceiling was so high that
the mage's magic light
couldn't even reach it. In contrast to
the tunnels they had just left, the
edges of this cavern were
solid ground for a good ten feet all around the
room, offering
them the chance to walk easily about the cavern. All along
the
walls were exits in different directions, tunnels heading north,
south,
east, west, upward, and downward into the surrounding
rocks. In the center
of the room was a massive pool of water
nearly probably three hundred
feet across.
Crystal was lying
on her stomach on the solid ground, her hand lazily tracing
shapes in the edge of the giant pool. That's when she noticed
the glowing
lights coming up from deep within the pool. She
called excitedly for
Alexandros who studied the pool
academically. He didn't know anything
about Fire Salts other
than that they were somewhere in these caverns, that
they were
used in powerful fire spells, and that they burned so hot that
they
would need to be stored in the magical glass container he
had built
specifically for the task. It was possible that the
light far below was
eminating from some reserve of Fire Salts
deep below the water's surface.
Furthermore, he sensed magic
within the pool. Powerful, ancient magic.
They had finally found
the Fire Salts, now the only problem was getting to
them.
Then he noticed Crystal's hand swishing through the water. He
knew
something was missing something wasn't right. The water
should be
scalding hot if it contained Fire Salts, and Crystal
seemed to be completely
unbothered by the temperature of the
water on her hand
The cavern shook, Crystal leaped up onto the
balls of her feet in shock, and
an eerie sound echoed throughout
the circular cavern - something similar
to the sound of a whale
call. Alexandros took a step back from the water
while Crystal
leaned over the water in curiosity. The mage shouted for her
to
step back, but his call was drowned out by the eruption of water
in the
center of the room. As salty water sprayed through the
air and into his eyes,
Alexandros hoped his vision was flawed,
because he saw the massive
reptilian head and long flexible neck
of a sea serpent rise quickly from the
frothy waters.
(To Be
Continued... in a day or two)
Author: Alexandros
Date: Thu Jun 12 03:03:25 2008
Subject Fire
and Water (Pt6)
The massive sea dragon was annoyed. He
was a solitary creature, preferring
to explore the deep recesses
of the caves and the surrounding sea,
occasionally traveling
further out to capsize a merchant ship for fun. But the
Sea
Queen, Zeboim, had threatened to expel him from these caves
unless
he fulfilled her will - protecting the powerful secrets
of the Caves from
mankind. So the Dragon wasted no time as he
set about destroying the
pathetic mortals that dared to invade
the caves. They had even made it easy
by remaining so close by -
he might not even need to leave the water.
The Dragon's claw
whipped out of the water towards the young girl. So
startled was
she seemed to be making no attempt to dodge the attack. A
tenth
of a second before his claws dismembered the girl, his claws sank
into
the flesh of some unseen creature. The invisibility spell
broken, Alexandros'
servant flickered into view - a thirty foot
tall swirling vortex of magic forced
by powerful enchantments to
take physical form as a shimmering energy
dragon. The energy
dragon screeched in pain but began grappling with the
Sea
Dragon, trying to pass under its claws and bite at its
now-exposed neck.
The Sea Dragon, though at first surprised by
the this other creature's
sudden appearance and bizarre looks,
was far more powerful. With a single
swipe of his arm, he batted
the energy dragon back and toppled the
creature to the ground
with his superior weight. With a roar of pleasure, the
Sea
Dragon's head swooped down, massive teeth cut into the energy
dragon's neck near the base of the head, and the energy dragon
vanished in
a burst of blinding light.
Glancing around the
cavern once more, the Sea Dragon growled in
displeasure. The
young girl had finally found her legs and had started
running
for the exit, the black robed male was further from the exit, but
also
attempting to flee. Cursing Zeboim bitterly, the Dragon
darted through the
water in an attempt to block the exit. The
girl was getting close to one of
the small tunnels leading
deeper into the caves, and the dragon was too
large to follow.
In a desperate attempt to finish her quickly, the dragon
lunged
forward, partially leaving the water as his head snaked towards
the
girl, maw snapping viciously. But the girl was more agile
than he had
expected. She leapt in the air as he lunged, just
barely passing over his head
and somersaulting gracefully into
the protection of the tunnel beyond like a
trained tumbler.
The black robe was, however, trapped.
---------------------------------------------
Alexandros had
known, even as he had dashed for the exit, that he would
never
make it. So, as he ran towards the exit, he tried to desperately
to
think of a less conventional escape route. He had tried to
teleport away
from the caves along with Crystal while the Sea
Dragon was dealing with his
pet, but the magic of the caves
trapped them in just as assuredly as it had
kept them out. The
only way to escape was to physically walk back through
the
tunnels, and that involved passing by the Dragon.
The
apprentice's magic was powerful, more powerful, in fact, than he
had
ever imagined it could become. Yet Alexandros knew full well
that he would
be optimistic to believe his spells could even
delay his reptilian opponent.
Not only was the dragon
unthinkably powerful physically, he had most likely
been trained
in for thousands of years - both arcane and draconic.
The
dragon lunged for Crystal and Alexandros' heart skipped a beat.
But the
girl's kender-blood carried with it a knack for
self-preservation and the
agility attainable only by the
diminutive race. In a flurry of brilliant auburn
hair and bright
red cloth, she had leapt into the safety of the tunnels. By
the
time the dragon had recovered from his lunge, Alexandros was
ready for
him. Well, as ready as he could be.
--------------------------------------------
The Dragon turned
to the mage in disgust. One of them had managed to
escape, he
would not fail twice. Lunging forward again, the dragon brought
a massive clawed hand around to strike the mage from the side.
The claw,
again, struck something unexpected - an invisible
barrier of magic
surrounding the mage. Unable to kill the mage
immediately, the dragon
encircled the protective sphere with his
claws, trapping the mage within. In
a mixture of words and
hisses, the dragon began to recite a spell that would
sap the
protective magic of their power, eventually allowing him to crush
the wizard within.
The human, realizing what was happening,
closed his eyes in concentration,
whispering his own spells over
and over in an attempt to keep the shield
powered. The Dragon
smiled. The mage was not powerful enough to
overcome him. The
shield would fall.
Even as he thought this, the Dragon's claws
began to bend the magical
barrier, reaching inwards towards the
exposed mage. Noticing this, the
human mage gave up on his
shield, but before the spell broke utterly, he
shouted a short
phrase in the words of magic and thrust his arm forward
towards
the dragon's head. A jet of caustic acid flew forth, hitting the
dragon on the left side of his face and splashing into both
eyes. Screaming in
rage and pain, the dragon clutched his claws
together as hard as he could.
The ragged shout of pain told him
his claws had pieced the shield and bitten
into the mage.
Writhing in pain and unable to see if the mage still lived, the
dragon hurled the body across the ground. To make sure, he
opened his
mouth and spewed forth a cloud of poisonous fumes
that would soon
spread and fill the entire cavern. He then
turned away and slipped into the
water to wash away the acid and
heal at the sea floor.
Author: Alexandros
Date: Thu Jun 12 03:07:10 2008
Subject Fire and
Water (Pt7)
Alexandros laid shattered on the cavern
floor. His right had been mangled
by one of the beast's claws.
The skin and muscle had been torn for nearly
half the length of
the arm and the bones within had been crushed. When he
had been
thrown by the beast his head and been knocked hard against the
ground and although he was too numb to feel pain, he knew he
would at
least have a concussion. That was when he noticed the
gas. The mage had
been around enough creatures capable of
expelling poisonous gas to realize
what was about to happen. He
took the largest breath he could as the
noxious green vapors
approached him and held it in. He had no idea how
long he would
have to wait before he could breathe.
Dizzy, disorientated, and
injured, Alexandros couldn't manage to stand. So
he half-crawled
half-rolled towards an exit. That's when he saw Crystal
running
towards him, hand over he mouth and nose, to help pull him into
one of the side tunnels. He thought back to stories of warriors
who had
been pulled from battlefields by "angels," and although
the mage didn't
believe Crystal to be one, he finally understood
how another man might
have made the mistake.
As Crystal helped
drag his body a few hundred feet into the safety of the
tunnels,
the adrenaline coursing through Alexandros' veins faded away and
was replaced by unspeakable pain. Every movement of his mangled
arm
caused him to give a ragged shout and his eyes smarted with
tears. Finally,
when neither of them were able to move any
further, the mage collapsed
against the cold stone floor. His
powers completely depleted, the magic
light that surrounded them
dimmed and went out. Exhausted, cold, and
losing blood,
Alexandros fell unconscious to escape the pain.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Alexandros woke. Images of eight inch claws ripping him apart
played
before his eyes. He screamed and then moaned in pain as
something tugged
at his arm. A musical voice whispered in his
ear "Shhh, It's all right. I'm
bandaging your arm." Strange
music echoes from off in the distance. The
pain becomes too
much, and then there is darkness
----------------------------------------------------------------
Alexandros awoke and shivered. It was cold, his clothes were
damp, and he
had lost a lot of blood. He feels small arms
wrapped around him in the
darkness in an attempt to keep him
warm. Every few minutes, someone
places a water skin to the his
lips and forces the contents to trickle into his
mouth. He lays
in the dark shivering and listening to soft music that fills the
tunnel. After what seems like hours he drifts off to sleep.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Alexandros wakes shivering again, but now he feels his skin is
burning. He
must have caught an infection. His throat is dry,
his mind is dull, but he can't
stay in the dark any longer. He
wants to move. He tries to stand up, but he's
pushed back down
before he gets an inch off the ground. The musical voice
is
whispering in his ear again. "It's not time to leave yet. Stay
here until
you're better. With me." Alexandros gives up and
slumps back against the
floor, lazily listening to the eerie
music that echoes through this cavern.
----------------------------------------------------------------
After what seems like weeks, Alexandros is able to remain awake
and
cogent, although he's still burning with fever. Though weak,
he worried he
will soon forget what colors look like. Whispering
a few words, the tunnel is
filled with soft light and the mage's
head is filled with bright green. The
tunnels walls are as dark
and black as the darkness, so he had focused
instead of the
brightest colors in front of him - Crystal's brilliant eyes.
Alexandros tried to speak, but only a hoarse whisper escaped his
dry throat.
Face filled with concern, Crystal lifts a water skin
from the ground pours a
small amount of the contents into his
mouth. The mage drinks them
greedily and whisperes " more" but
from the saddened expression on
her face he knows there is no
more. He chuckles. "I thought you had trouble
staying still? How
long has it been?"
Crystal smiles to see him speaking
intelligibly, but the smile doesn't reach
her eyes - they're
still filled with concern. "You needed me. How could I
leave?"
She either hadn't understood that the mage had meant it as a joke
or had chosen to ignore that. "As best as I can guess, it's been
four days."
Nodding slowly, Alexandros took stock of himself.
His arm is expertly
bandaged with bright red cloth - the extra
part of Crystals too-large shirt.
His blood blends in with the
fabric, so he is unable to tell if or how badly he
is still
bleeding. A large bump is on the back of his head and his arms
and
legs are covered in small cuts and bruises. His muscles ache
from fever and
dehydration. But he's alive.
Suddenly,
Alexandros hears eerie music echoing through the tunnels.
Though
the memories of the last few days are sporadic, he recalls having
heard this music repeatedly for days. "Crystal, where is that
music coming
from?"
She looks started by the question. "I
don't know. I haven't checked that
out."
"You've heard music
playing at the bottom of these caves for days and you
haven't
bothered to determine from where?"
She looks reproachfully at
the mage. "I never left your side. You might have
been
-dying-."
Smiling apologetically for slighting her care-giving
with these questions,
Alexandros struggled to his feet. "I guess
we'll explore it together?"
Author: Alexandros
Date: Thu Jun 12 03:11:34 2008
Subject Fire and
Ware (Pt8)
The sound of the music grew louder as they
traveled through the tunnels.
Alexandros was still unable to
walk on his own, so he dragged his feet slowly
forward one after
the other, alternating supporting his weight on the cavern
walls
or Crystal's small frame.
As they near a large cavern, the
'music' reaches its loudest. Clearly the
sounds are coming from
the cavern room before them. In the soft magical
light,
Alexandros sees Crystal tilt her head back and smile at him.
"I've heard
music like this before," she said. "In Solace a man
in the Inn occasionally
filled bottles with different amounts of
water, and when he blew over the
tops of them, they played
music." Not really understanding, Alexandros
nodded anyway.
They cautiously entered the large cavern room and looked about.
The room
was empty and uninteresting at ground level, but the
ceiling fascinated the
mage. The ceiling was covered with holes
of various sizes ranging from the
size of a fist to the size of
a small cart. They burrowed through the cavern
wall all the way
to the cliff face, where the sea winds constantly blew across
the rocky wall. As a result, the winds played different 'notes'
depending on
the size of the hole and the notes had combined
into chords and music that
had echoed throughout the lower
levels of the caverns.
Alexandros is awed by the majesty of the
room, finally believing that,
wherever the Sea Goddess was, she
leaves part of her presence here
always.
Having exerted
himself too much to reach this cavern, Alexandros suddenly
stumbles on his feet and slumps back down the cavern floor.
Crystal pries
her eyes from the network of musical openings and
ruches to his side,
helping to prop him up while she checks his
head and arm for signs of
bleeding. Alexandros knows she will
find none - his exterior wounds were
beginning to heal. It was
the disease ravaging his interior that would most
likely kill
him in the next few days. Crystal walked to a nearby pool of sea
water, dipped a folded cloth in the water, and returned to his
side, pressing
the cloth against his forehead to cool the burn
of the fever.
As Alexandros begins to black out, he wonders
again at how angelic the
young girl is. Ever her face appears to
glows in the darkness. No, her face is
glowing. No, he corrects
again, the tunnel to the right is glowing and the
light is
reflecting off her face. And then the mage turned and saw it -
the
soft, pulsating, flickering glow that could only be made by
a great fire.
Author: Alexandros
Date:
Thu Jun 12 03:14:41 2008
Subject Fire and Water
(Pt9)
Excitement and adrenaline once again course through
the mage's body,
giving him the strength to lurch up from the
cavern floor and across the
room, tumbling to the ground as he
enters this new cavern beyond. The
cavern they have entered is
orders of magnitude larger than any they have
seen before, as
well as unbearably hot. Instead of dark grey rock floors
covered
in pools of cool seawater, this room is filled with pools of
molten
rock, glowing brightly in the otherwise dark cavern.
Wandering aimlessly through the room is a creature Alexandros
once read
about but never imagined he would see during his life.
Born from the forces
of Chaos, upon the creation of Krynn pools
of magma formed together and
were given humanoid form, life, and
thought. Mortals refer to them as fire
sentinels. The
unspeakable heat of the creature fuses the salt from the
nearby
seawater with the rock of the cavern floor, forming fire salts, a
powerful spell ingredient. As they watch, the footprints fade
from a brilliant
white to a pulsing, angry red. From his
reading, Alexandros knows they
would never cool beyond that
point.
Alexandros, still on the verge of unconsciousness,
staggers and falls back
against the cavern wall. Delerious with
joy, he pulls an enchanted glass
bottle from his pack to fill
with the rare spell component, along with an
ornate silver
chisel and small silver shovel. Too weak to rise himself and
fighting off unconsciousness once again, Alexandros being to
lose his grip on
reality. He calls out to his pet, the magical
energy dragon that had died
combating the Sea Dragon nearly a
week before and does not notice when
nothing responds to his
calls. He continues to bark orders into the empty air
- take the
glass bottle and utinsels, chip the fire salts from the cavern
floor
using the chisel, and place them in the bottle using the
ornate shovel.
Crystal no longer understands what Alexandros
wants, but decides to follow
the instructions in place of the
deceased pet. She approaches the mage's
slumped figure and takes
the three enchanted items, slowly approaching
the closest set of
glowing footprints, kneeling down to begin chipping at the
cavern floor.
Alexandros hears a soft shriek as some of the
fire salts spray with the chisel
impact and land on her arm,
burning her. The shrieks tear the mage from his
fever-induced
delirium and he suddenly realized that Crystal is the one
fulfilling his order and just how much pain she must be in. The
mage wants
to call out to her to stop, to just let the salts be,
be he doesn't. Crystal
doesn't shriek again, but the occasional
whimper tells the apprentice that
she is burned at least four
more times.
The sound of chisel on rock stops, and several
seconds later Crystal appears
before Alexandros. Small
glistening tears rest in the corners of her eyes and
her arms
are pock-marked with small but severe burns. She carries the
glowing bottle filled to the brim with fire salts which she
stores quickly in
Alexandros' pack. "Can we go now?" she
whispers hopefully.
Alexandros nods, to tired to speak. With
her help he stands, takes two
steps, and then falls hard to the
floor. Weak, starving, and dehydrated, the
immense heat of the
room has sapped him of his few sips of water and the
burst of
adrenaline that had sustained him, leaving him weaker than ever.
His vision begins to darken, but this time he's not sure he will
ever wake
again. Somehow, Crystal sees this too. Tear forms at
the corners of her large
almond-shaped eyes, one slowly rolling
down her left cheek towards her
chin but drying halfway down,
leaving a trail of salt that glitters softly in the
light of the
magma. Looking into Alexandros' eyes eithout blinking she
whispers "I wish I could do something to help you."
"You've
done everything you could," he replies, and Alexandros knows that
this is true. Never has he met any kinder soul, willing to give
anything
without asking in return, even to a near-stranger.
Alexandros knew she
would carry him to the exit of the cave
herself if she could
And then Alexandros knew that she could.
Reaching out, he softly cups the
side of her face with his hand,
gently rubbing away the blemish left behind
from the tear. He
once again marvels at how angelic her face seems here in
the
soft glow of the molten rock. He would want to remember her face
this
way, lovely, radiant, and full of care. He closed his eyes
and sighed.
Suddenly Crystal choked, then shuddered. Alexandros'
kept his eyes tightly
shut.
Though he couldn't see anything,
he felt her small hands reaching up to try
to pull his away from
her face, but he was much stronger and her frantic
hands made no
headway. Realizing this, she clawed at his hand with her
nails.
Alexandros cringed, but he knew it was nothing next to the pain
she
was currently experiencing. Even though his eyes were
closed, he could
picture exactly what was happening in his mind
- he had seen it done to
others before. Where his hand gripped
her face, a web of powerful dark
magics would spread outwards
just beneath the skin, leaving deep purple
scars. The web would
drain her body and soul of life. Her body would
wither, her skin
would dry and crack, her hair would fall out, and her eyes
would
dim - all before she died. Such was the horrors of a powerful
energy
drain spell.
Alexandros knew the spell was near
completion when her nailed hands
stopped clawing at his hands
and feel limply to the floor. He heard a last
rattling breath
escape the young girl's lungs and then silence.
Eyes still
closed, Alexandros removed himself from her tangled limbs. He
was still weak, but her energy would allow him to travel for a
few hours -
enough to escape the caverns with magically enhanced
speed and gate back
to the Towers for proper healing. He threw
his pack over his back and
double checked that the bottle of
fire salts were firmly secured. Satisfied, he
prepared to leave.
Almost out the door, he stopped. While averting his eyes,
he
reached down with his hand and found Crystal's arm. He carefully
removed one of her many bracelets - the one of red and green
crystals
given to her by her kender mother - and fastened it
around his own wrist. A
second later, he was
gone.
Author: Alexandros
Date: Mon
Jun 16 02:09:48 2008
Subject SQ - Of the Master's
Neglect
It had taken two days after leaving the Sea Caves
of Zeboim for
Alexandros's wounds to full heal, even with the
use of clerical magic. But
he had accomplished the impossible -
the fire salts had been found,
collected, and successfully
returned to the Tower of High Sorcery. Walking
up the stairway
to his Master's chamber, the apprentice walked tall,
shoulders
pushed back - confident. He had completed many tasks for his
Master before, but this was something that most full mages could
not
even claim to have read about.
Coming to Jendaron's study
atop the flight of stairs, Alexandros knocked
on the door. The
three sharp taps echoed through the corridors. The room
within
was completely silent. A passing black robe mage - Alexandros
couldn't recall his name - informed the apprentice that Jendaron
was not
at the Tower now, but that he had been instructed to
receive the fire salts
on Jendaron's behalf.
Alexandros's
heart sank. Even now, after everything he had done for his
Master, he would not be permitted the satisfaction of presenting
his
success personally. In fact, the apprentice suddenly
realized he hadn't
even seen his Master since he had first been
accepted as the High
Archmage's apprentice. The confident smile
that had just graced his face
fell into a sneer. Roughly pulling
the enchanted jar of fire salts from his
pack, he thrust it hard
against the other mage's chest. Caught off guard, a
small gasp
escaped the other mage's lisps as the wind was knocked out of
him. Spinning on his heel, Alexandros briskly left the corridor
to return to
his quarters.
The entire situation was
ridiculous. It was almost as if Alexandros didn't
have a Master.
Consumed with his private studies and the current
workings of
the Conclave, Jendaron left his apprentice without guidance or
supplies. As a result, Alexandros had nearly lived in the Tower
library,
training himself in whatever spells seemed useful at
the time. At first, he
had gone to other Apprentices for help
when he got stuck, but this proved
too degrading. Not only did
the other petty black robe apprentices then
feel that Alexandros
needed help, they also felt that he was too weak for
his Master
to pay proper attention to him.
But Alexandros had dedicated
himself twice as much as the other
apprentices, and now, even
without the aid of a mentor, had mastered a
larger number of
more complex spells than any of the apprentices in his
'class.'
He had come far enough that any Master should have been
impressed, but Alexandros doubted Jendaron even knew to what
extent
his apprentice had advanced during his absence.
Reaching his small quarters in the Tower, Alexandros threw open
the door
in his anger. If his Master would not acknowledge his
apprentice's merits
willingly, Alexandros would have to force
him - He would locate the
treasure of Shinare. The Apprentice
had stumbled upon several clues
during his adventures, learning
of the treasure through the Thieves
outside Solace and then
finding further proof in the form of a Blue Seal
outside Neraka.
Alexandros would follow the clues, obtain the treasure,
and when
he was in control of the wealth and magic that this treasure
must possess, his Master would probably suddenly take an
interest in him.
Having just returned to the Tower,
Alexandros's pack was still full and his
travel clothes
scattered across his bed. He threw them together and left
the
Tower, not to return until the treasure of Shinare was in
hand.
Author: Alexandros
Date: Mon
Jun 16 23:16:37 2008
Subject SQ - Beneath the
Ice
It had only taken Alexandros moments to understand
that the second seal
of Shinare's legendary treasure would be
found in the Icewall. It took him
nearly a month longer to
actually find it.
Even being forewarned of the Icewall's
extreme temperatures, Alexandros
had arrived unprepared. The
polar winds cut through even his thickest
woolen robes and
cloaks as if they were threadbare. Fortunately, the
mage had
stumbled upon a village of arctic barbarians and had rested
there, trading skins and pelts for clothing more suitable to the
icy
environment. The barbarians, however, knew nothing of
Shinare's
treasure, so Alexandros resupplied and set off again
into the blinding snow
blowing across the ice fields.
Alexandros spent the next two weeks venturing across the snow
and ice,
searching human and thanoi villages for information,
delving deep into
hidden mines for possible hidden passages, and
battling a group of frost
giants and a sorcerer that had taken
refuge in an icy tower. None of them
- living or dead - had
provided any clues as to the location of the next
treasure
seal.
The mage refused to give up, however, his desire to find
the treasure
fueled equally by his disgust at failure and his
ambition to gain his
Master's respect. Three weeks into his
search, he stumbled upon a small
hut far from any of the other
villages. Sick of the snow and ice, the
apprentice gladly threw
open the door and entered the dark room beyond
in order to warm
his numbed face and appendages indoors.
The hut was, of course,
not empty. A truly ancient man rested in a chair by
the fire in
the back of the room, calmly observing the young mage that had
just barged unannounced into his house. He waited for the mage
to close
the door before asking "You also seek the Seal?"
Alexandros lowered his fur-lined hood and pulled his long black
hair back
behind his ears. He smiled widely, finally finding
someone who might help
him. He spent the evening with this man,
a sage of the icewall, to learn all
he could of the area -
secrets of the barbarian and thanoi villages, the
origins of the
hidden mines that the mage had explored earlier, even
stories of
other adventurers that had stumbled upon this hut also seeking
the Seal. Exasperated, Alexandros pressed the sage further.
"I've see all
these places, searched the mines and villages
myself. There is nothing
there. You must know of some other
place - a place you try to hide from
us adventurers that have
invaded your icecap, though I know not why."
The old man
smiled. "I hide it for your own safety. The item you seek is in
a very dangerous place indeed - deep underground in collapsing
tunnels
of ice guarded by an ice serpent that can destroy entire
villages in one
breath." Alexandros opened his mouth to protest,
but the old man raised
his hand to silence him. "I have warned
you now. If you still seek to go, I
doubt there is little I can
say to prevent you from searching these ice fields
until you die
from cold. If you are willing to accept the risks, I will direct
you to what you seek."
Two days later, Alexandros was deep
underground in tunnels clawed into
the icy floor by a giant
beast. From his discussions with the sage, he knew
this was the
lair of a white dragon. The tunnel opened into what must
once
have been a truly massive underground chamber, but the snow and
ice from the ceiling above had collapsed inward, not only
filling the
majority of the chamber but also crushing the back
half of the giant white
wyrm that lay there, watching the young
mage as he entered the
chamber.
Alexandros was weary of the
massive dragon, knowing that even pinned
to the ground it could
most likely kill him here with its breath alone, but it
seemed
not to take any interest in him. Too long had it been trapped
here,
half-buried in ice and slow, to care what happened.
Everything of value to
it was lost beneath the snow and ice. Or
so it had always thought.
Suddenly, the dragon's head whipped
upwards, staring at Alexandros. The
mage stepped back
defensively, preparing to raise defensive spells in the
hope of
escaping the dragon's breath alive. But the dragon did not
attack.
It's eyes scanned the young mage's face, his clothing,
and his pack. Finally,
it spoke in a low, powerful voice. "The
Ice Orb! You carry the Ice Orb! Give
it to me - allow me to free
myself and I will give you anything you wish. All
I want is the
Orb."
Alexandros stared calmly at the dragon, processing this
unexpected turn
of events. It was true, he did carry the orb. He
had pried it from the dead
hands of the sorcerer inhabiting the
tower with the frost giants not
knowing that it would be
anything more than an unusually trinket to study
back at the
Tower of Wayreth. Now, maybe it was his ticket to gaining the
second seal.
"You have great treasure hidden beneath this Ice,
dragon. You may keep
it. I want but a single item - a green seal
imbued with magic from the
Goddess Shinare. Give me this item
and I will give you your freedom."
Greedily the Dragon
accepted, using the Ice Orb to lift the snow and ice
from its
body, then to clear the many tunnels of its underground lair. It
stood, possibly for the first time in many years, and stretched
- a feline-
like purr of pleasure rippling through its massive
throat. "Go, human. Find
your Seal. But know that if you touch
anything else, you have forfeited
your life."
Bowing his head
in acknowledgment and respect to the great beast,
Alexandros
walked beyond the dragon and into the tunnels beyond.
Glowing a
soft green on the ground was the second seal.
Author:
Alexandros
Date: Tue Jun 24 02:52:11
2008
Subject A Task of Great Importance
Alexandros
had been searching for the next lead to Shinare's treasure for
barely a day when the summons had arrived - a small black imp
had
greeted the mage in the depths of Thorbardin, handing him a
rolled scroll
before disappearing into the darkness once more.
Alexandros unfurled the
note and looked within. He had only seen
the handwriting scripted within
a few times, but he knew it
belonged to his Master Jendaron. The message
was simple - "I
await you in my quarters." Alexandros sighed as he
realized he
would have to give up on finding Shinare's treasure for now.
If
the summons were for what he had been waiting for, there would
no
longer be any need. He would finally have the chance to prove
his worth.
Smiling beneath his black hood, Alexandros whispered
the spidery words
of magic. His body blinked out of existence,
reappearing across Krynn
before the Tower of Wayreth.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
The black-robed apprentice had waited confidently to enter his
Master's
chamber. He had seen some of the other mages being
assigned tasks in
the last few days, and he was about to be
handed his. The fact that his
Master was assigning his in person
could only mean something good -
Alexandros could count the
number of times he had spoken directly to his
Master on one
hand, each time being reserved for only the most
important of
messages. Maybe Jendaron had noticed his progress, maybe
he was
considering allowing his apprentice to take the Test.
As
Alexandros contemplated, the door to his Master's chamber swung
open as a result of some invisible force. "Enter." Pulling his
hood back
and sweeping his black hair away from his eyes and
behind his ears,
Alexandros did just that.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Their encounter had started quite well. Jendaron had actually
praised his
apprentice from some work completed in earlier
quests and had offered
to instruct Alexandros personally on the
proper refinement of Fire Salts
when he had time. As far back as
he could recall, Alexandros had never
been offered the chance to
learn with his Master personally and had
therefore stubbornly
taught himself from the Conclave's vast library.
But Jendaron
returned quickly to business, informing his apprentice that
he
had several tasks of great importance to the Conclave - tasks he
would
be entrusting to Alexandros. Alexandros kept his face
composed, although
his mind raced with excitement and
anticipation. Finally, he would be
doing something worthy of his
new skills. Or at least the task this time
must be something
more inspiring than collecting common spell
components. Jendaron
leaned forwards and began. "You must begin by
travelling to
Lemish where you must collect two spell components"
Alexandros
was barely able to keep the disappointed sigh from escaping
his
lips...
Author: Alexandros
Date:
Fri Jun 27 00:20:26 2008
Subject Collecting
Components
By this point in his career as a mage,
Alexandros had become a bit
skeptical when it came to questing.
Regardless of how simple a task he
was assigned, there always
seemed to be some unexpected setback that
made the quest more
challenging - and usually more interesting.
However, completing
the first of Jendaron's recent tasks had been as
simple as can
be. Magically vanishing outside the Tower gates, Alexandros
had
appeared in the Lemish graveyard a moment later. He carefully
collected various leaves, roots, and minerals that were known to
grow
there and (for some reason) only there. Although the task
was less than
exhilarating, Alexandros made sure to take his
time and collect only this
highest quality spell components. It
would be embarrassing to be
chastised on such a simple task.
With roots, leaves, and a sickly grey ooze from within the
graves
collected, Alexandros vanished once more - returning to
the tower to
drop off his collected items and prepare for the
next task - finding, killing,
and dissecting a blue dragon. This
task would be far more interesting
Author:
Alexandros
Date: Fri Jun 27 01:34:16
2008
Subject Within the Temple, Gerighelm
Erin
groaned and leaned back against the marble wall behind him.
Renald,
the Captain of the Gerighelm Watch, would give him a
thirty minute
lecture on slouching if he were caught, but Erin
was getting older and his
back quickly began hurting under his
heavy steel armor when he was
forced to stand watch long. Plus,
his current post didn't make him any
more comfortable. Even
though he knew the large blue dragon was safely
secured in the
pit behind him, a mysterious feeling of fear and unease
continuously gnawed at him whenever he had to guard the Temple -
or
rather, as it was now, the blue's prison.
On a theoretical
level, Erin understood why the beast had to be guarded.
Some
troublesome Dragon Army spy or glory-seeking adventurer might
try to release the dragon. But realistically, Erin felt his
guard post was
ornamental. Nobody ever came down this road. The
temples had been
heavily damaged, many of them were to false
gods, and then there was of
course the knowledge that a dragon
was hidden somewhere on this
street. The combination tended to
make his job easy for him - no
passersby meant nobody to guard
against.
Erin cursed his luck as he suddenly heard footsteps
outside the Temple
door. It must be the Captain. Nobody ever
came down here. He tried to
push quietly from the wall and
return to his proper stance, but his armor
shifted and clanked
loudly with his movement. He cringed as he realized
he was about
to be lectured again. But nobody entered the Temple, no
more
footsteps were heard, and gradually Erin leaned back against the
cool Temple wall.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Alexandros smiled as the old guardsman looked about himself in
confusion. Using his magic to befuddle the common folk had
become all-
to-easy lately. Hopefully this new task would prove
different.
Slipping slowly between massive, enchanted iron
bars, the mage secretly
entered the Dragon's cell and prepared
for what was to take place. From
the look of the beast, killing
the Dragon would be easy. Though he was
large, he was young. His
breath weapon would be weak and his magic
even weaker. The
challenge would be in killing and dissecting the massive
lizard
without bringing the entire city guard down on his head. And for
that, Alexandros would have to proceed carefully.
The Blue's
nose quivered as the mage's scent hit his nostrils. Though
unable to hear or see the mage, the beast's head turned
knowingly in the
apprentice's direction. Cursing, Alexandros
reacted before the Dragon
could make a sound. Whispering the few
short syllables that would send
its target into a magical
slumber, the mage was surprised to see the
Blue's eyes shut and
his head slump slowly to the ground. Weeks of
imprisonment
within this cell must have weakened his defenses greatly.
Using
a series of enchantments and curses, the black robed apprentice
set about preparing the dragon for dissection. Once he had
stripped the
dragon of its strength, its senses, and its ability
to move, Alexandros was
able to finish it off without causing
too much damage to the lizard's
innards. The mage had summoned a
large elemental formed from the
very earth itself. Placing its
stony foot where the dragon's neck met the
base of its skull,
the elemental had shattered its upper spinal column and
crushed
its windpipe.
Dismissed, the elemental seemingly dissolved,
returning to the earth it
had been born of, leaving the mage to
remove the important organs the
Conclave needed for their coming
task. Setting to work with an
enchanted dagger capable of
cutting the Dragon's thick hide, the mage
carefully proceeded
until he finished over an hour later.
Erin was never able to
explain to the Captain how the Dragon had been
mysteriously
disemboweled during his watch, but none of the peace-
loving
citizens of Gerighelm ever held it against
him.
Author: Alexandros
Date: Wed
Jul 2 01:09:29 2008
Subject Alexandros's Test
(pt1)
The apprentice Alexandros was lying lazily on his
bed, flipping through the
pages of his spellbook without even
glancing at the words. He had spent
too much time over too many
days studying these spells - he knew every
aspect of their
casting, their most potent applications, even the histories
of
how most of the spells had come into existence. The mage sighed.
Maybe it was time to take another 'adventure' outside of the
Tower since
he had exhausted so much of what he could do within.
If only he were
allowed into the libraries and laboratories
reserved for full mages
*Knock Knock Knock*
Three perfectly
timed raps on the door stirred the mage from his
daydreams.
Waving his hand absently, the door swung silently open.
Expecting to see one of the other apprentices come to ask for
help on a
'new' spell, Alexandros was surprised to instead see a
pair of floating eyes
in his doorway.
"Alexandros Dimakis,
report to the base of the Black Tower for your
Testing."
The
eyes turned to leave, not waiting for any response. Alexandros
could
not have given one anyway - he was at a loss for words.
--------------------------------------------------------------
The apprentice waited at the base of the Tower. His hands lay
calmly
folded in his lap except for when he occasionally combed
his dark black
hair behind his ears. He had not been waiting
long when a familiar voice
spoke from the darkness. "Follow me,
Alexandros. We will speak as we
walk." The apprentice rose and
joined his Master, heading towards the
spiraling stairway as
Jendaron's figure materialized besides him.
"Whatever you wish,
Master."
"It barely seems as if time has passed since we first
met, three years ago
when I accepted you as my apprentice. But
you have grown much since
then. You are no longer the naive
young mage - you have grown cynical
and self-serving, necessary
qualities in a Black Robe."
Alexandros considered his Master's
words. "I have become only what I
must become to survive in this
world - it is not a kind one for our kind,
especially a follower
of Nuitiari."
The apprentice couldn't see his Master's reaction
beneath his ever-raised
hood. Nearly a minute passed between the
two as they walked silently up
the stairs. Halfway up the
tower's stairs, Jendaron spoke again. "Have you
fear?"
The
apprentice paused before answering, searching for the right
words.
"No, I have waited too long and trained too hard to have
fear of this
moment. I trust in my abilities."
"You have trust
in the abilities our Lord, Nuitari, has chosen to grant you,"
Jendaron interrupted. Alexandros simply nodded, conceding the
point.
"Three years ago I took you to the top of this Tower to
the Shrine of
Nuitari. Then you were given just a small glimpse
of the power the
Devouring Dark controls. Tonight I will take
you again, but this time for
your Test." And with that, the two
mages reached the top of the stairway.
As the older mage pushed
open the doorway to the Shrine, Alexandros
entered the room he
had seen in three years.
Nothing had changed in that time. The
shadow room of jet black stone
was nearly empty. A black stone
alter rose in the center of the room,
small objects resting upon
it - a black hilted dagger, a pulsing black rock,
and a dark
wooden wand with ancient runes inscribed down the side. As
Jendaron followed his apprentice into the Shrine, he closed the
door
silently behind him. "Tonight, Alexandros, is about you and
your
decisions. We are only here to observe."
Alexandros
looked about the chamber once more in confusion. Other
than
Jendaron and himself, there was nobody present - physically or
otherwise. "We, Master?"
Jendaron said nothing, but Alexandros
sensed him smile beneath his
heavy hood. The High Archmage
nodded his head towards the objects on
the altar. "It is time
for you to decide."
Studying each of the three items carefully,
the apprentice lifed the pulsing
black rock from the altar.
Turning back to question his Master on what to
do next,
Alexandros stumbled and the room swirled with an unnatural
darkness. Jendaron was gone, but in his place was a black-haired
young
man in simple black robes. Though nothing about the man
indicated he
was special in any way, Alexandros knew he was in
the presence of his
God, Nuitari, the Devouring
Dark.
Author: Alexandros
Date: Sat
Jul 26 21:26:31 2008
Subject Battle with the Lich, Lost
Artifiact
In the darkened hall at the top of the decaying
Tower, Alexandros
staggered slightly as he turned to face his
opponent again. The mage had
entered the battle knowing the Lich
might be the most formidable opponent he
had ever had the
pleasure of engaging in combat but until that point he had
never
truly considered the fact that he might die. Now -- physically
and
mentally exhausted, defenses stripped away by the Lich's
magic, and spells
nearly depleted -- Alexandros knew not how he
would escape with both his
life and the precious artifiact he had
been sent to retrieve for his Order
and former Master Jendaron.
Reflexivly, he clutched the simple silver chain
-imbued with
unknown but potent magic powers- in his hand, as if his
flesh
might possibly protect it from the elements the Lich so
skillfully wielded.
Fortunately, the lich seemed to be in a
similar predicament. Having lived
for hundreds of years in its
undead state, the undead mage feared nothing
more than the end of
his hollow existance. And though it was his greatest
fear, the
Lich knew there was nothing he could do to prevent it. His
black
robed challenger had no idea, but the Lich was completely
had cast his every
protective or combat spell. Backed into a
corner atop his own secluded
Tower, the Lich studied the young
black robe that had come to challenge him.
Though his memory of
mortal life had long since faded and slipped away, the
Lich felt
he understood exactly what drove this man to seek and protect
that
wretched silver chain -- this human mage needed that to
bring that chain to
another. And maybe he would give his life to
do so.
The Lich began to whisper the spidery words of the arcane
language yet
again. Had he been able to make out the words,
Alexandros might have been
able to identify the spell, but the
black robe's head was swimming and his
ears where filled with a
persistent ringing. Regardless, Alexandros knew the
target of the
spell was not himself -- in his hands, the chain began
to
vibrate, then hum, then glow. The vibrations became more and
more powerful,
and Alexandros knew if he did not act quickly the
artifiact would be
destroyed in a matter of seconds. Desperate to
prevent the spell from
succeeding, Alexandros hurled a series of
lightning bolts into the Lich's
body. As the lances of electrical
energy pierced his body, the Lich did not
even flinch. His
concentration was so strong that Alexandros knew he could
not
kill the creature quickly enough to prevent the
inevitable.
Sighing, Alexandros glanced at the chain in his
hands. It shook so violently
that it seemed to have a life of its
own and it glowed so brilliantly that
its afterimage was seared
into the mage's vision. The black robe knew not
what powers it
held, nor why his former Master had requested he seek it out
as a
final favor -- and now the mage knew he never would. Smilingly
darkly,
the Alexandros raised his eyes from the silver chain to
the Lich standing
barely 25 feet away. With a flick of his arm,
the human mage sent the chain
hurling through the air. When it
was inches from the Lich's concentrating
form, the glowing,
vibrating artifact errupted in a massive explosion. The
burst of
pure magical energy was awe-inspiring, blasting apart the top
of
the enchanted Tower into bits of stone.
When the smoke and
debris were cleared, there was no physical trace
remaining of
either the Lich or Alexandros. The Lich, inches from the
source
of the explosion, had been completely discintegrated.
Alexandros had not
stayed behind to watch the fireworks, having
spoken a single word the mage
had teleported deep into the ruins
of Xak Mahyar.
Author: Alexandros
Date:
Sat Jul 26 21:31:03 2008
Subject Lost Artifact, New
Enchantments
Following his battle with the Lich,
Alexandros sent no word to the Tower.
Most would assume he had
died in the explosion, but Alexandros had faith
that at least his
former master Jendaron would know better and could locate
him if
need be. Before his journey to confront the Lich, Alexandros had
read
of a powerful enchanter of the White Robes who had
inhabbited Xak Mahyar, .
This very mage, Alunius of the White,
was credited with creating the lost
silver chain Alexandros had
attempted to retrieve from its undead captor.
Most believed that
this enchanter, Alunius, and his research had been lost
during
the Cataclysm and the resulting destruction of Xak Mahyar,
but
Alexandros had recently read a mage theorize that Alunius
would have
protected his laboratory with powerful protections.
According to this
author, maybe even enough to protect it from
the the forces that had ruined
the rest of his city.
During the
following six months Alexandros was not seen by mortal men.
He
refuses to speak of his exploration of Xak Mahyar to anyone,
even his former
Master. In the dead of night two hundred days
after his disapearance, the
black robe silently entered the
ornate gates of the Tower at Wayreth. The
mage passed several
black robed colleagues on his way up the stairs towards
his
former Master's chambers. Many gasped in anstonishment - at
first
because all had heard the rumor of the death of Alexandros
Dimakis, but also
because they could sense the mage had become
far more powerful since his
disapearance. Alexandros smiled in
amusement wondering at how little they
knew of him now.
Reaching
the top of the stairs, Alexandros found the doorway to
Jendaron's
room closed. A black robed attendant was dutifully
waiting nearby to take
messages. This mage had the composure not
to gawk at Alexandros as he
approached, but even he could not
stop from catching his breath when
Alexandros dropped a small
silver chain into hand and closed it.
"For Jendaron," Alexandros
stated simply before turning and walking away.
In confusion the
black robed attendant looked from the chain to Alexandros
and
back again. "But, sir, Jendaron was sure this artifact had
been
destroyed the day you... dissapeared."
Alexandros did not
pause as he replied, "Anything that was made can be made
again."
[OOC - My character has decided to specialize as an Enchanter
following his
completion of his Test of High Sorcery. If you are
interested in an RP that
requires a Master Enchanter, send me a
note and we can talk about how to go
about it.]
The Storytellers of Ansalon, The DragonLance MUD
Astinus points to the massive wall of books behind him and bids you to make a selection.
Authors:
All|
A|
B|
C|
D|
E|
F|
G|
H|
I|
J|
K|
L|
M|
N|
O|
P|
Q|
R|
S|
T|
U|
V|
W|
X|
Y|
Z
Astinus sighs as he recants 'We saved 868 books from Ansalon
from before the great Cataclysm through today.'
\n
