PAXLAIR - February 8, 1999 - Arik,
Grandmaster Smith
Last night whilest in the town of PaxLair, Valen was
speaking of the actions of "N" and informing the local citizens of his evil
nature. These were the words from his song, a song that captivated all time
and time again. As soon as I showed up to the mass of people, I was cursed
at, spit at, and even threatened to be torn apart by the Black Knight
Darius. At first he was simply a panther talking to me telepathically, but
then he transformed to his hauntingly powerful human self.
After making quick apologies, I hastened away from the group but still
within ear shot. Valen spoke of the Lycaeum holding a clue to a ritual being
performed this eve. The mages from the CMT (Chesapeake Mage Tower, a new
powerful group of mages) provided gates to the island of Moonglow. A monk
was found and we spoke to him about N and were told that he had a map
recently. When asked to see it, he promptly told us that the map had been
stolen by the evil Dark Omen moments earlier, but that he had been copying
it at the time. He handed us a partial map which held small clues. Four
libraries were mapped and we felt certain that these held clues to the
ritual planned for tonight. Visiting the libraries we came upon the
following text:
"Shattered is the book, that holds the key. The parts were sown
across the land to bear fruit one day again. My work was not in vain! The
fault will not repeat itself and I will be redeemed. All will see how useful
my work is, even Lord British!
Safety is of utmost importance, this time all will go well. I will wait
for the right constellation of stars. When the planets align and the comet
hits our sun, I will open the gate.
The maze I build around the gap to the netherworlds will prevent any of
the servants to escape and the fence will hold the ambassador back. I will
force him to give us the servants and bind them to my will!
With these hundreds, maybe thousands of servants, I will rebuild our
world into a garden of joy and all will thank me! To prevent anyone from
getting all the clues needed to open the fence, I put them all over the
land. The map will remind me how to recover them when the time comes.
Constructor of a new age."
Four other passages were found, but I will explain those a little later.
Reading that text had us believe that Relvinian's Maze was next to visit.
Again the CMT gates us there and immediately we were attacked by swarms of
undead (a tell tale sign of N's work). These skeletons, zombies, spectres,
were led by three lich lords and a few lesser liches. 'Twas a dangerous
battle with two friends falling in battle. I was almost killed myself if it
weren't for the brave actions of Hume. He rescued me from that horrible
fiend.
Alas, after the undead were slain (again), we went off in search of
clues. To the far southwest we found bodies of Earth Elementals. Remembering
one of the phrases: "Wound the earth with the only weapon it can be
hurt. Burn it with the force of fire." We believed we needed to use a
pick axe on the creatures and gather the ore from them. We then brought it
to a forge that we had found just north at the Library. Saying the phrase,
we smelted the ore.
The next phrase: "Forge the heart of the earth into a weapon. A
weapon to defeat the very air itself." I then forged the metal into a
razor shard bardiche, a weapon powerful enough to cleave the air in two, but
yet quick enough to keep pace with it. Once that was done, we heard the
calls of an eagle on the other side of the hedge. We thought we needed to
use the bardiche on the eagle. One of the fighters hefted the weapon and
brought it down crashing on the squawking bird. No blood came, but the beast
lay still. On its body was an empty pitcher. As soon as the bird was dead,
air elementals surrounded the party. They attacked ferociously but none of
us were killed. They were dispatched neatly and swiftly.
Valen was there chanting another of the phrases: "Use the vessel of
air to trap its sister. Bind the water to your will." He suggested we
take the pitcher and fill it from the baths to the south. This we did
chanting the phrase. I drank from the pitcher, not knowing the effect it
would have. I felt compelled to do this. In front of us a water elemental
appeared. It glared angrily at us then summoned more of its brethren to
defend its resting place. Hard pressed we were backed into a corner but
again we prevailed.
Valen chanted the next phrase: "Douse the flames with the blood of
the water. The death of fire will tear down the walls." This we knew
what to do. We went back to the forge where I forged the blade to cleave
air. I chanted the lines and poured the water on the forge. It erupted with
towering flames and was gone. In its place were dozens of fire elementals.
Again I was brought to near death but the combined efforts of good managed
to slay the beasts before I myself was burned to a crisp. Thank the gods for
my long years at a hot forge, for I was able to endure their searing blasts
for quite some time.
After that, the Library was seen to house the groups of Dark Omen and a
Necromancer, Zerces Hrathmor... The Grand Liche. They began bickering and
then The necromancer began chanting an unknown spell. The leader of Dark
Omen bade him to stop or ill would come to them. N had apparently forbid
them to use that spell. It was a summoning spell, but a summoning spell of
what? The necromancer kept glancing at a book in the corner, A Book of Dark
Magic...
N's voice appeared from the still air. Threatening them, goading them: "You had your revenge, necromancers, they will fear you now and maybe
even respect you. Although i am not that sure you will enjoy your new
popularity. *cackles* Yet, enough is enough. I warned you not to cast this
part of the spell, for there are evils mortals should not meddle with... nor
immortals. An Vas Rel Ort Por, An Vas Ort Bal-Lem!" With the last echo
of N.s spell, many things happened at once. The gate to the netherworlds
began to close, hindering the Great Evil from gaining access to our world,
but with a last attempt to doom us, it spew out hordes of undead. I used
that as my chance to redeem myself for my horrible deed committed months
earlier. I begged him to release me, and laughter erupted. As the sealing
spell finished, the fence weakened and I used my years of building strength
to tear one from the hinges.
Dark Omen left, abandoning their once ally in the Necromancer to his
fate. Demons appeared as N. finalized the last word of the spell. These were
appearing quicker than we could kill them and many did die in this brutal
final battle. Braving the spells all around and the hurled missile weapons,
I reached the book to secure it from evil. Taking it in my pack I slid back
outside. Sandler opened a gate back to PaxLair as the last demon was killed.
As soon as I stepped through, I began looking for Atlan, who I found at
the benches in front of the Mage Tower. I spoke with him silently and handed
him the book. We then went to his shop where he could copy it and begin
working on it. He handed copies to me (to give to my brother Justarius) and
others to powerful mages that accompanied us. The CMT will be working on
translating it also.
After this there was much celebration. Many came up to me to state that I
did good, and I had redeemed myself in their eyes. I thanked them but I felt
I needed solitude to work out my own matters. As I was walking out the door,
Atlan yelled "Arik, as easy as it is for us to forgive your deeds, you
must know that only once you learn to forgive yourself, will you know peace
of mind and heart. Nay be so hard on yourself, you art truly a good man. You
were tricked, and thus was not acting on knowledge of the outcome. You didst
simply not know what would happen. Forgive thyself, and thou shalt know
peace."
To this day I sit in a church basement pondering those words, but can I
truly ever know peace?
NOTE: This is part of a continuing PaxLair Player Quest, not a Seer
Quest.
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