This is the tale of our quest. There were three of us
journeying together, Myself (Prince Vladimir Kugesdorf) and my companions Dr. Villhelm
van Burro and Nicola.
I was an outlaw from my native state, Streslau, in the province
of Estavia, but I should have been its ruler. I was once the crown prince of
Streslau, but then, when the day of my coronation came, I was put under a
trance. When I awoke it was over, and a changeling sorcerer who had assumed my
image had been crowned Prince of Streslau. I tried to force my claim, but I was
stopped, declared a pretender and an outlaw and forced into exile. After that I
wandered the world. I managed to leave with a sword and armour from the royal
armoury, and I had since learned to bend metals with magic. By working for the
guild I hoped to one day find a way back to my rightful throne.
My companion Dr. Villhelm van Burro, the moustached 16
year old, was an expert in explosives and also possessed some power with fire
magic, while Nicola was a mage powerful in art of illusionist shadow magic.
Hired from all corners of the world and all walks of
life, our band had been despatched by the guild to hunt down an outlaw in the Village
of Elbion. On arrival things had quickly got a lot darker. We searched the
local archive which led us to a suspicious abandoned farm outside the village.
While there we found a diary by an occupant named Harrison, who seemed to have
had a run in with our original target, a fellow named Aaron, we also found a
rather odd crystal. These discoveries led us to another farm which is where
Aaron supposedly lived, but on arrival the darkness thickened.
We were immediately attacked by a flock of crows, most of
whom we killed but a couple fled, flying for the mountains to the north.
We found a barn filled with mutilated bodies and covered
in blood, and on entering the house we found a blood soaked altar in the
basement with the words ‘praise Idaion’ scrawled across the walls. We also
discovered a wisp floating around the house – proof of the dark goings on.
We decided to head after the crows. This led us into the
mountains where we followed a figure into a mountainside tomb. We caught him.
He proved to be Harrison, but he was completely out of his mind. We ventured
further into the cave and were attacked by a black robed figure, we tried to
fight him, but, after taking the crystal from us, he disappeared into thin air.
On further questioning it seemed that Harrison had been
out of his mind since first finding the crystal, that he, under its influence,
must have killed Aaron and his family and scrawled those words in the altar
room. We headed back to the house.
We journeyed through the night, but suddenly we found
ourselves surrounded by ten wolves. One leapt towards me, but I beat its jaws
back with my buckler and took out its stomach with a swipe of my rapier. In the
ensuing fight, I slashed my way through five wolves, while Villhelm threw a
bomb, killing two, before fleeing up a tree. They snapped at him, but he leapt
back down, spade out, killing another. Nicola struck down two others. There was
a strange feeling of dark magic about these creatures, but we had killed them
all, so we journeyed on through the night.
Heading back we felt uneasy, Villhelm began planting a
trap bomb in the doorway while Nicola entered the house. On entering she was
suddenly bowled over by a great black shadow. Fumbling to finish his bomb, Villhelm
suddenly set it off by accident. The explosion hurled him through the air and
knocked me off my feet. It had blown a great hole in the side of the building,
through which I could see the dark creature reeling from the explosion – I got
to my feet and darted after it.
But on my arrival in the hall I could not see it.
Suddenly it fell from the ceiling knocking me flat. I managed to throw it off
as Nicola staggered back into the hall. I hacked at the creature, but it seemed
to do little damage. It leapt at me again, but this time I was ready. I fended
it off and lunged again – this time I skewered it. It burst into a cloud of
shadow and evaporated.
We left. Villhelm had only just regained consciousness and
was terribly burnt with several broken bones, so we carried him back to the
town
On entering the town there was great commotion. We spotted
a strange fellow from Atoria, you don’t see many of them in these parts so he
stood out. We approached him and began talking. We revealed what we knew about
the crystal, which it turned out this fellow was also searching for – he called
it a sky crystal, and told us that the dark creature we had fought in the house
was a spirit, in this case the wisp, twisted by dark magic. His name was Avir
and he now took us inside the town bar to meet his master. He introduced us to
a woman dressed all in white and a short fellow in a conical hat. Both were
from Atoria as well. They were called Careko and Rakanas. We talked with them
about what we had discovered.
But suddenly the captain of the town guard rushed in. The
local town of Marlborough was apparently in flames, the smoke clear from here.
We three quickly decided to go with the guards, Avir decided to come along with
us. On our way out Villhelm asked Careko to heal him and as she waved her hand
we all felt rejuvenated.
We rushed out and down the road, together with the town
militia. More wolves appeared on our path, but we charged them, quickly
brushing them out of our way.
On entering the town we found the whole place in flames,
bodies littering the streets. But seemingly no one about. However as we walked
closer the bodies began moving, re-animating. Soon we were faced with a town’s
worth of zombies! I rushed forwards with the town militia, while Avir stood
sword drawn in the middle of the court. Villhelm and Nicola rushed over towards
a house on the right. I led the militia in our fight, hacking through corpses,
severing spines and splitting bones. Meanwhile Villhelm had started setting up
a bomb, ready to detonate. He and Nicola lured the zombies towards it, before
diving inside the house behind them, two zombies followed them in as the fuse
burned and several other clawed towards the house. The bomb detonated. All the
zombies around it were blown apart, while the blast caused the roof and front
of the house to collapse. Nicola and Villhelm rose from the rubble, very
battered, but with all the zombies around them destroyed.
The militia cut down the last zombie, and we looked about
us. All but two of the militiamen had been killed in the fight. We headed for
the mysterious feeling chapel. We entered. There were three of the strange dark
spirit creatures climbing around the rafters so we advanced cautiously, the militia
with their spears upraised. As the creature climbed down to face us Villhelm
chucked another bomb. It exploded, blowing apart the back end of the chapel,
and seemingly killing the three beasts under a pile of falling rubble. We
approached. Suddenly a new creature burst from the rubble. The three had melded
into one! We rushed for it!
In the ensuing fight another of Villhelm’s bombs blew it
into two creatures one of which I killed, though only after it had struck down
the other two militia men, while Nicola took down the other.
With nothing else to see we returned to the town with our
news.
(Our representative models (Wilhelm is the Tuscan-clown...) fighting the beasts in the blown out chapel)
On our return Careko invited us to join her party on this
quest and, after sending word to the guild of our findings, we agreed. We journeyed
with the three of them, heading north to a ruin they thought may prove a lead. We
had to traverse a graveyard on our way. Zombies attack us there, clear sign
that we were on the right track, and we saw the fighting prowess of our
companions.
We at last reached the ruin. The entrance was sealed with
magic, but Careko quickly taught Villhelm a spell to break seals and so Villhelm,
Careko and Rakanas held open the entrance, while myself, Nicola and Avir rushed
through with our weapons. Coming into a great hall, we were approached by two
figure, a male warrior and female spellcaster. I questioned them, they were
from the Nightingale guild, but they would not tell me their business, so I
threatened them. Having no luck that way, I rushed to the attack. Roots
suddenly grabbed me, and a third figure appeared behind us, attacking Nicola
with two knives. A fought the warrior, while I fought the roots.
A was struck down and Nicola was having a hard time. I at
last broke free from one of the roots, only to be faced with a wolf summoned by
the spellcaster. Things looked bad, but at last we got the upper hand, and
after another while of bitter fighting, I managed to kill both the warrior and
spellcaster, while Nicola struck down the other, and we killed the wolf twice,
as the spellcaster, clearly a necromancer, had raised it up again.
By the time the other three had destroyed the seals and
come through we had cleared the room. But as we ventured further we saw the
caped figure, who had stolen the crystal from us, again! He was standing over a
kneeling figure and holding the crystal.
Suddenly the person changed into someone else and he
started questioning them. We watched in a state of shock. But then I ran
forward, sword raised. He produced a scroll from his robes and disappeared in
the blink of an eye and the kneeling figure, now completely transformed turned
to fight us.
We tried to kill it, but whatever damage we did just
reformed. At last our companions undid the magic, and the original figure
dropped to the floor dead. There was no sign of the dark figure. But from their
conversation we now had some idea what was going on.
So it seemed that the shadowy figure was using the
crystal to resurrect people in his search to bring back the great necromancer
Idaion who had, several centuries ago, brought the entire world close to
destruction with his undead army.
We travelled on with them. On our journey they taught
Nicola, and Villhelm spells, while I sparred with their finest swordsman Avir.
Rakanas also gave Villhelm some of his transporting knives.
Hearing of increasing rising tensions between the people
of Tanlore and Caledor, Careko headed to the peace conference as an
intermediary between the two sides. I went with her as her secretary, since I
had been trained in the art of state craft in preparation for taking the throne
that was rightfully mine. Our other companions accompanied us.
On arrival we gathered that Tanlore was accusing Caledor
of harbouring dark guilds and demanding that they hand over the town of Shala
where the guild was supposedly hiding. Caledor accused Tanlore of warmongering
and demanded the return of several border towns they had occupied.
I proposed an idea to B of how we might help to resolve this.
We three would travel to Shala and search for these dark guilds. If we found
anything we would destroy it and if we didn’t then so much the better, either
way we would report back that there were no dark guilds in Caledor, and so solve
the dispute. Careko thought it a good idea and so we set off.
On our arrival the presence of darkness was obvious. The
town was abandoned and still burning in parts we went to the mayors’ office and
found his papers. They showed that he had indeed been helping the nightingale
guild. I copied down the most important bits in a code of my own invention and
then destroyed the originals.
We headed across the town to the chapel. There we found
those words – praise Idaion – scrawled across a wall in blood. We decided to
rub out all trace of them. But while we were doing this we felt a strong
magical force growing closer, but it was not necessarily dark.
We peeped out of the chapel doors as it arrived in the
town. A blast of lighting tore the doors off and revealed us. A bright figure
stood in the square. He began questioning us.
He turned out to be Caspian, living saint of Caledor, one
of the nine living saints, the most powerful light wizards, of which Careko was
also one. He was here for a similar reason to us, to find any trace of dark
guilds, and he was most displeased to find that we had destroyed all trace of
them. Though he was a bit more pleased when I showed him my notes, and even
complimented me on my code.
We all four searched the chapel again, and this time we
found some papers from the Nightingale guild telling of how they had bewitched
the town’s mayor. These could avert war! I thus pocketed them.
Caspian said the Caledonian legion was on its way to the
border, where it may start hostilities with Tanlore, he thus persuaded us to head
for the legion with our evidence. I persuaded him not to show the general our
evidence and instead just to try and persuade him as a living saint to put off
the general from hostilities.
As we travelled Caspian told us of Idaion and Telimir the
two cousins who had reduced the world with their necromancy, and of Paladin,
the warrior who had killed them and then disappeared, thus saving the world.
I also asked him of the living saints of Estavia, for I
wondered whether these powerful beings might be able to help me defeat the
changeling who had stolen my throne. He said there were two, an Ice Wizard
named Illara and Sebastian the illusionist. I asked him whether they could
divine truth and he said Sebastian probably could, but he was a bad tempered
eccentric who had not been seen for many years.
We at last arrived at the camp. The general of the legion
was suspicious and argued with us, but was willing to believe Caspian. However
we were sent to high command with our evidence. I however, though I would show
them my evidence, refused to entrust them with it. After much debate we were
sent back to the legion and they promised not to attack Tanlore.
We headed off for the conference with our evidence. I had
also thought of a great idea to solve the dispute between Tanlore and Caledor
forever! But then a rider appeared on the track, much distressed. He said there
was a dark wizard on the track up ahead. We rushed off with Caspian to deal
with it, I told the messenger to tell the general of the legion not to advance,
for we had this dealt with. He told us he would take his orders from the
general.
As we advanced we saw that same cloaked figure with the
sky crystal, and another figure kneeling before him, both up on a cliff before
us. Suddenly the figure again changed – this time into a warrior, wrapped in
lion fur, with lacquered armour, a katana and large chain hanging from his
belt. I quickly turned the metal of his blade and chain into shackles to bind
his hands, but he seemed not to notice. They began talking.
We decided to shout and throw stones at them to try and
keep them from talking, but they ignored us and we soon stopped. From their
conversation we realised that this new warrior was Telimir, cousin of Idaion.
Having gathered all the information he needed from
Telimir, the shadowy figure again drew out a scroll and disappeared. But then
we heard and saw them. A whole battalion of Caledonian cavalrymen coming up the
path and charging straight for Telimir. As the approached he snapped my bindings
and threw himself into their midst. It was slaughter. Telimir ripped through
their ranks. We decided to approach. He had finished tearing apart the
battalion as Caspian approached to fight him. The two fought, but Caspian was
quickly beaten back. I turned the metal bindings into a snake, which Nicola
made fly and Villhelm made breath fire, we tried to distract him with this but
it didn’t work. So we rushed in to distract Telimir, but he hurled us back and
beat Caspian once more. We decided the best thing to do was run.
We began running, but Telimir used magic to tear great
boulders the size of houses from mountains around, hurling them down at us with
magic. Caspian caught one with magic, but another was flying fast towards us!
It would surely all be over. But suddenly Rakanas appeared beside Villhelm! He
had used one of the magic knives which he had given Villhelm to transport
himself to us. He grabbed hold of all four of us and we vanished, reappearing
in the conference room beside Careko.
I presented our evidence to Careko and told the assembled
delegates about Telimir, but they would not believe us. The entire Caledonian
legion had apparently been destroyed and the Caledonian minister would not
believe that it had been destroyed by Telimir, claiming that the Tanlore had attacked.
Both sides would not listen to my evidence, and though I pleaded they would not
step off the war path. I condemned them to their warmongering and gave up, all
thoughts of my idea for eternal peace between them gone. With Tanlore and
Caledor now at war there would soon be plenty of dead for Telimir and Idaion to
create an army from.
We headed off with Careko and Rakanas to join the rest of
their party in the great city of Paladin. We had no idea about how we were to
stop Telimir or the shadowy figure from bringing Idaion back – the world’s
destruction seemed certain.
We arrived in the city and met the rest of their party,
including their lightning dragon slayer and the young Sage Tel-Marin. We
inhabited the bars mostly, myself telling anyone who would listen that I was
the rightful prince of Streslau, I even duelled a man who insulted me over it.
We were at a loss when Villhelm suddenly had an idea! We
should summon all the nine living saints to a council and they would bring back
Paladin! He alone could save us in this hour! Caspian and Careko thought it a
great idea and so they set about summoning the other six living saints whose
whereabouts were known.
There was only Sebastian the illusionist of Estavia whose
whereabouts was unknown, and so we three set off to find him. It was my great
wish to find Sebastian and plead with him to help me recover the throne of
Streslau from the changeling wizard who had stolen it! Thus I saw in this
quest, not only the saving of the world, but also the return of my throne!
We headed to my homeland of Estavia. We went to the last
town where Sebastian had been seen and asked the rather old and odd
inhabitants, who seemed to think Sebastian was rather odd. We realised he must
be very mad, but there was no lead. But then Villhelm had another idea, and so
they persuaded me to return to Streslau. I was none too keen on the idea, but I
went with them. In Streslau we decided to approach the palace and ask the
‘prince’, what a rascal, if he knew where Sebastian was. I entered the palace
with my face covered in a great hood – I was an outlaw here.
We asked the guards to let us in, and they went to ask
the prince. While they were gone we decided to go in anyway. We approached the
guards, including the first, on the door of the prince’s hall. Seeing us they demanded we halt, but we began
running. They caught myself and Nicola, but Villhelm got through. Running up to
the prince, he bowed. The prince demanded why he had been admitted, but Villhelm
continued. He asked the prince if he knew where Sabastian the illusionist, the
living saint of Estavia, was. The prince paused awkwardly, before repeating
what we had already heard, that Sebastian had disappeared. Villhelm was bundled
out by the guards, but we knew enough now.
We were locked in the prison, but it was easy work to get
out as I turned the metal bars to liquid and we stepped out. The two guards
outside started in surprise, one falling backwards off his stool. We darted
upstairs before they could stop us. We again ran for the Prince’s chamber. This
time Villhelm and Nicola were tackled by the guards, but I got through.
I rushed up to the prince and through back my hood. “Yes
it is me,” I shouted, “I know who you are, Sebastian!”
He glared at me. “How clever of you!”
I then asked him for his help in saving the world. He
asked why he should want to leave this place, where he was very happy living as
a prince. I said he could take a bigger kingdom, he said this one was a
comfortable size. I said that when Idaion came back he would destroy
everything, even tiny Streslau. He sighed and changed into a white haired old
man. I had my throne back.
I commanded the guards to let my friends go. I showed
them my ring, telling them that this was the symbol of the Prince now. After
re-equipping myself from the palace armoury, the three of us left my kingdom
with Sebastian, heading back to the living saints.
But as we rested on our journey, Nicola had a dream in
which a voice told her that the plan would not work. Paladin could not be
brought back, instead there was an Antirian ruin outside Paladin where we would
find the key to defeating Idaion. We decided to follow it.
We arrived in Paladin and were directed to the pyramid.
It was a dark place. We entered and began crossing a great stone bridge over a
chasm. Suddenly there were dark spirit creatures pouring up the sides, we
rushed forwards to fight them. We hurled them from the sides of the bridge, and
stabbed at them, yet more kept coming. Villhelm decided to blow the bridge. He
blew the first part, sending several of the creatures falling, but more kept
coming. We ran on. Nicola turned herself into one of the creatures to try and
blend in. Villhelm blew another part of the bridge. But there were more
approaching from the other end. This looked to be the end, and there was a dark
shadowy figure approaching us from along the bridge. However he seemed to be
sucking up the dark spirits – absorbing them. The rest fled from him.
The figure declared that he was Legion, the head of the Fallen.
He was the voice in Nicola’s head he said, and he would defeat Idaion. He did
not feel dark or light, instead a perfect balance of the two.
Legion told us that to defeat Idaion we must help him. We
must go to the Vampire isles and recover a young vampire girl there called
Reign. She was possessed of great power which, to defeat Idaion, Legion must
absorb from her. He said that we need only tell her brother that Legion had
sent us and he would send her back with us.
(the three of us (and Sebastian on the far left) fight off the spirits. Villhelm has blown the bridge and Nicola (top) is disguised as a creature)
So we left. Villhelm and Nicola were terribly suspicious
of Legion. They did not believe he was good at all, and so we decided that we
would go along with his quest, get Reign, but take her to the living saints,
rather than to Legion.
We made for the coast, and there we charted one of the
few ships to the Vampire isles. It was a pirate vessel captained by an old
pirate who had lost both his eyes and legs pirating, so we set sail.
But as we were on the sea a ship approached rapidly. It
was a vampire pirate vessel and they attacked us. Nicola tried to fly a barrel
of gunpowder over to their ship but dropped it. I tried to rip the metal hull
apart, but didn’t manage it. We told them who we had come for as they
approached, and they promised not to kill us three, but they would kill all the
pirates. They attacked. Their leader, Harlock, charged forward and I rushed to
attack him, but he threw me back knocking me unconscious, before slaughtering
the rest of the ship’s crew.
We woke up in a dungeon. The bars were not metal and
there seemed no way out. We asked to speak to Reign and she was sent down. She
was a young girl, about 9 years old. We tried to flatter and impress her with
great bows and gestures, we made my belt buckle into a flying fire breathing
snake, which amused her greatly. I then formed this into a rose shaped bracelet
on her wrist, and we asked to speak to her brother Antaris.
He came and we told him Legion had sent us. He sighed,
but at last we were let out. He said he would travel with us and rain to
Legion. I tried to pretend that Legion had said Rain had to travel alone, but
there was no fooling him, he had known this day would come and he knew what to
do.
As we travelled back towards Legion’s pyramid, there
seemed no taking Reign to the living saints with Antaris with us. As we rested
we talked about killing Antaris and having Nicola pretend to be him to keep
Rain in the dark as we took her to the living saints, but Nicola wouldn’t do
it. We decided then to tell Antaris everything.
He then revealed to us that he was one of the fallen, and
also that he had no intention of handing his sister over to Legion who he did
not trust either. He said there was a plot between him and another member of
the fallen to destroy Legion, Rain was to be the bait. There seemed little else
but to go along with him. But we wrote to Careko and Caspian of what was going
on.
We headed into Paladin where we found Caspian and Careko
hidden and waiting. We also saw the fallen entering the temple, Antaris and Reign
went in, and there to our surprise was Rakanas as well.
We waited outside. Suddenly however there was the noise
of fighting from inside. We rushed in.
The ceremony was going on – Legion standing over Reign,
but the fallen were rushing to fight. Telimir and the shadowy figure had
appeared in their midst and were trying to fight their way through to Reign!
Careko and Caspian now appeared. I ran with them to attack Telimir, who was
fighting off some of the fallen, while Nicola pulled Reign away from Legion and
over to her with her mind. Villhelm followed me as Nicola raced out of the
chamber.
Telimir as before fought us all off, throwing us back
with his great chain, but then one of the fallen, a very strange creature with
green gnarled skin, blasted him with magic, hurling him through the wall. We
raced after him. On the otherside of the chamber, Rakanas chased the shadowy
figure down a corridor.
In the Labyrinths confusion ensued. Myself, Careko, Antaris
and Caspian raced one way, while Villhelm, having blown up a wall, raced
another, straight into Telimir who was fighting hard. Nicola had in the
meantime hidden Reign behind a pillar down a passage and shapeshifted into her.
Legion and Telimir were in the midst of
a thunderous magical battle, while Rakanas and the shadowy figure were still
fighting somewhere else.
Telimir smashed down several walls of the labyrinth as I
found Reign and Nicola turned back. Things were getting very chaotic.
Legion seemed to have multiplied himself and the fallen
were now fighting us. The shadowy figure and Rakanas had disappeared while
Telimir was still hacking three of Legions bodies.
We fought of two more of Legion’s avatars and his Fallen
Allies, Villhelm blowing several up, before killing his last opponent with his
spade.
At last we seemed to have cornered Telimir. The last body
of Legion was fighting, while we began blasting him with magic and trying to
unseal him. He seemed impervious to our magic, and before we could make much
headway Legion had broken off from the fight and fled into the underground
maze, Leaving Telimir with us. Suddenly his flashed, leaving a wall of black
flames before us and with that he departed. The labyrinth was at last silent. Reign
was safe, and there were just us, Me, Villhelm, Nicola, Careko, Caspian and
Antaris standing in the silent ruins. Only Rakanas and the hooded man were
unaccounted for.
And so the quest continued!
