Exiting the portal to a beautiful serene forest with large pine trees skyrocketing to the heavens. Sounds of wildlife with many un-discernible animals. A pathway stretches forward, littered with tree branches and foliage. Orpheus shakes off all hesitation and begins down the naturally formed pathway.
Reaching a door surrounded by foliage and the degradation of time. Indented into a large structure at the centre of the forest. Orpheus looks forward, spotting strange runic decorations surrounding the door. The centuries-old language was carved at the top along with decorative patterns elongated done the sides and centre. Orpheus smiles at the site of this centuries-old structure, reaching for his belt. He had portaled to the right location, affirming his memory was on point.
Opening the zip of his bag he reaches down further than physically possible. Reaching down almost up to the elbow. Riffling through various objects that sound like they shouldn't fit. Finally, he tugs onto something, slowly pulling out a book. "Ah there you are, I really should organise this one day." He carefully extracts a plain grey book, with unrecognisable language printed on the front. "Is this the right one, I kind of flunked runic languages, it's umm... The Chronicles of the Hagavard Dynasty, I think?" Thinking to himself before desperately trying to translate the runic text. His mind calls back to the half-remembered language he studied at the academy.
He opens the book to a bookmarked page, displaying an old drawing. It depicted the very structure he has arrived at. "Well, I guess I'm in the right place." Orpheus places the book back in his bag and proceeds towards the structure.
He stops just short of the entrance, looking up at the carved letters atop the door. He tries desperately to translate the words. "Damn I have no idea what this means and it's obviously an incantation to open this door." Expressing his frustration out loud, he inspects the door for a way to open it. Pushing the door with both hands in a futile attempt, to no avail. "Ah screw this!" He shouts before giving up on his prior test of strength.
He shuffles several steps back, lifts his right hand and stares at the enchanted ring. "Well, this might work." He thinks before thrusting his hand forward. Raised with his fingers pointed towards the sky he aims carefully. His palm facing the doorway, he chants in the arcane tongue. "Ignis." A small fire manifests, as he continues his chant. "Augeo." The fire engorges into a raging flame, sprouting outside the boundaries of his hand. "Adtono." The fireball propels from his hand at an incredible speed. Its impact is a large explosion leaving only debris. Following this, the doorway is obliterated.
Orpheus peers at the destruction with clear indifference. It was if he had seen this level of destruction a thousand times. "Well, that worked. So much for the enchanted door that requires a centuries-old runic language to open." He gleefully announces in an almost self-congratulatory manner. He smirks with utter disdain for the traditional methods of opening old runic tombs.
Stepping towards the entrance he ducks down below the debris, passing through the doorway. Moving into the structure he is greeted by a pitch-black tunnel. His vision would be obscured if not for the sunlight cascading in. Walking down the lit tunnel he is greeted by a connected room. Two corridors at the end diverge to the left and the right. Moving further, the light from the doorway starts to dim. "It's getting dark." He mutters before chanting in arcane. "Ignis." A fire sprouting from his hand illuminates the room as a skull appears before his eyes.
"Ah shit." He exclaims, realising that the skull is connected to a skeletal body. Which happens to be wielding a runic sword and shield. The skeleton is clearly in an attack position, with his weapon raised. Five other skeletons behind him, wait for their turn to skewer the intruder.
The first skeleton is wielding a sword and shield along with an iron helmet. He strikes down at Orpheus, aiming for a killing blow. Jumping backwards on instinct, he dodges the blade's reach just as the sword descends to the ground. Visibly rattled by this sudden turn of events as he only just entered. "Well, isn't this just a crappy situation I just got here, well I didn't expect this would be easy, Augeo Subvolo." Chanting, the fire increases in size, levitating above his head. Engulfing the entire room and revealing the location of the skeletal group.
The group of skeletons consists of three swordsmen, one pikeman and an archer all with light armour. They begin their advance just as the skeleton archer draws back his bow and takes aim. The others slowly shuffle forward, weapons raised. An arrow loosed from the bow directed at his head, whistling through the air. Only a few centimetres away from his face, he chants. "Contego." A green ethereal barrier appears in front, snapping the arrow on impact. Leaving Orpheus visibly unaffected by the strike. "Huh, nice try but you're going to have to do better than that." He declares with a smile as the skeletons continue their advance. The archer undeterred from its failure draws another arrow.
With the enemy's advance, he stops for a moment, readying himself. "Hmm I wonder what I should do, I could incinerate them all with an advanced fire spell. But that is quite a mana-costly spell. Wait I've got an idea, If I can't generate a fire hot enough to burn them to cinders. I'll just rely on the explosive impact of a lower-tiered fire spell." He internally strategizes his next move to defeat the attacking skeletons.
Raising his palms towards them, he aims directly at the ground below their feet. "Ignis Impulsum Adtono." Large fire sprouts from his hand, propelling directly at the skeleton's feet. Reaching them in moments, an explosion rings out, smashing the ground in front of them. The impact pushes them back into a wall. As they crash against it, their bodies crack and fall apart. Leaving nothing but a pile of bones on the ground.
"Huh well, that worked." Sighing in relief just as his plan worked out so effectively. He then peers around the now-illuminated room. The area is quite large with two tables on the left and the right. Upon each table is various degraded paraphernalia. Sighing in disinterest he walks past the remains of the skeletons. Passing beside them he hears a quiet rustle from within the bones.
Turning around he spots the last remaining skeleton rising up from the rubble. The still clinging to unlife skeleton has only one arm grasping a sword. Without a second thought, it raises its weapons above its head, ready to strike down its foe. The sword rains down, but before it can split his skull, he quickly grabs its wrist. The skeleton screams a hollow shriek, pushing the blade forward.
Orpheus appears unfazed by this sudden turn of events and casually resists the meagre pressure. "Contengo." Chanting a spell, green barrier sprouts from thin air. Amassing in all directions, the barrier passes through the skeleton's wrist, slicing its hand off. The sword with a hand still grasping, tumbles to the ground with a clanking sound.
The skeleton looks down at his arm, no longer wielding a hand or weapon. Turning back to Orpheus with a sense of confusion. This of course could have been expressed if it had a face. "A bit emasculating, but I suppose that's not an issue with..." Trailing off for a moment before coming back. "Wait were you a man or a woman before your untimely demise." The skeleton glanced back, more confused and unsure of what to do next. Eventually deciding to charge from the short distance that remained. As they are about to collide, Orpheus grabs its skull and ferociously pulls it down on his knee shattering it.
The headless body shutters and falls back like a puppet with its strings cut. "Ouch damn, that hurts... but it looked cool I bet." Orpheus grasps his knee, pain vibrating across the bone. Ignoring the pain, he settles on the thought of how incredible he looked at destroying an enemy's skull. "Wait a second how did the skeleton scream if he didn't have vocal cords or even a tongue? Obviously magic of course." Speaking out loud, confused but ultimately resigning to the mass capabilities of magic.
Looking down at the runic sword, grasped by skeletal hands. He reaches down to pick it up for inspection. Raising the blade, the hand falls to the ground. "Huh, nice sword... decent weight ratio and the metal I dare say it is capable of enduring a middle-tier enchantment." The blade he so admires is a short steel sword, with a black leather handle. Below the grip is small greenstone decorating the hilt. Along the blade are runic symbols, carved into the centre and minor decorations to the side. "Nice you mind if I keep this?" He queries the shattered skull, returning no response. Nodding to himself, he picks up the scabbard. Sheathing the blade, he secures it to his belt, just under the cloak.
Satisfied, Orpheus continues on down the hallway. The levitating fire was still above him, illuminating his surroundings. Making his way through he decides to turn right down the corridor. His path is encumbered with walls decorated with ancient symbols and depictions. Like the gaudy decorations of the academy, he pays them no mind.
Eventually, he arrives at a door, opening it, and he finds it leading to another room. Immediately he is greeted by the horrid scent of sulphur and decay. Realising the potential danger, he waves his hand and the flame evaporates. Now plunged in darkness, he chants another spell. “Assiduo Lux.” With those arcane words, a light pierces the darkness, driving away all shadows to the periphery. The spell manifested a ball of light floating at his side, bathing the room with its radiance.
Bodies of heavy and light armoured men littered the ground. At a glance, he could see various manners of death, displayed on each of their corpses. Some were stabbed, others with arrows impaled in their torsos and some were just charred corpses. Looking down at them he starts inspecting them. "From the looks of them, they seem to be bandits. Had the same idea as me huh." Smirking in satisfaction, understanding they both had the idea to search this tomb. Also, in the fact that there dead and he is still breathing. "Hmm, I wonder how they died... Perhaps the group of skeletons that I defeated earlier, yeah that would explain the arrows and stab wounds, but what about the charred bodies?" Questioning the room, he looks to the right and left, examining everything closely.
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
Having his fill, he steps forward, taking a closer look at the bodies ravaged by fire. "They look like burn marks made by a fire spell or perhaps some other method of intense flame. Hmm, I should be wary, there could be other undead that can command magic, skeleton mage or possibly an elder lich." Orpheus looks around to inspect the rest of the room. It seems to be just another chamber with degraded shelves and books on the verge of falling apart. A table occupies the centre, with a body slumped over it and an arrow in its forehead.
Various documents are strewn about, along with some weapons and a map. Reaching for the documents he wipes off the dust and starts reading. As he reads, he discovers a map of the tomb depicting a route to the centre. It was indicated to be a throne room from the personal notes. "Well, this definitely makes this easier, I was thinking I would have to search the entire day. Thanks, dead bandits." Nodding to himself, he thanks the corpses with a smile.
Shifting towards the door on the other side of the room. He prepares to follow the directions of the map; he memorised before placing it in his belt bag. Once he is about to open the door, he hears a rustling from behind. Turning around he spies nothing wrong and turns back around. "Rise!" A voice rings out throughout the room as if amplified and cast through the entire tomb. The voice was deep, somewhat crackling, indicating a person of great age. The voice came from below, an origin deep underground. As the words rang throughout the tomb the dead bandits began to rise.
Rising from their eternal slumber they stand on their own. "Ah this would explain the presence of undead here, I guess there is a magic caster around? I'd love to meet him we could swap notes." He muses to himself as if the situation was any old day of the week. The zombie bandits rise, visibly scarred and with wounds no longer affecting them. Orpheus is unafraid, remaining composed in the face of brain-eating monsters. Contemplating his new predicament, the zombies slowly arm themselves. "So, there are around seven of them, three swordsmen with decent heavy armour, swords and shields. Two archers with fully stocked quivers, but light armour. Behind them looks like magic casters from the look of the staves." Assessing the situation as quick as thought. The zombies successfully equip themselves, shambling forward with deadly intent. The swordsmen raise their weapons as if they recall swordcraft. The archers draw back their bows, taking aim. The magic casters raise their staves, glowing red.
Taking stock of his situation he begins to assess further. "From the looks of those staves, they seem enchanted similar to my ring. Perhaps they have Elementum magic. Well, I guess I'll take out the swordsman first in close quarters. But I'll have to keep the ranged opponents off me for a little while." Finishing his thought Orpheus raises his hand, aimed at the encroaching undead archer and mage. "Contego Murus." Sprouting forth a large green ethereal barrier, it manifests in front of the archer and mage zombies. Placed behind the sword-wielding ones, effectively cut them off from each other. The archer releases an arrow, impacting the wall and snapping in two on the hard surface.
Orpheus shifts to the right, spotting a blade incoming, aimed at his chest. As it is about to skewer him, he dodges to the side. "This is my chance!" After the zombie swung wide, his side was exposed. Orpheus draws his sword with his left, severing the zombie's arm. Launching forward while simultaneously grabbing its face with the right. "Ignis Impulsum." Chanting in arcane, the zombie's head explodes within his grasp. The explosion rains blackened blood on all its fellow comrades, unfazed by the carnage.
Orpheus steps back from the two swordsmen, just as they charge him, one from the left and the right. "One down two to go, but it looks like the barrier won't hold for very long." The two undead mages charge their staves with mana. Chanting their spells, intent on destroying that which opposes them. Orpheus plans his next move, eyeing the two immediate threats. "So that barrier will only last a few minutes. That's all I need to deal with these fools, then make a break for it." Contemplating his situation, he steps back slightly, grabbing the door handle, concealed behind his back.
Rattling the handle to assess its feasibility as an exit strategy. "Locked perfect, I guess I've got to get rid of this door quickly." With dismay at the lack of an easy exit, he places his right hand up against the door and chants. "Ignis Devorat." The door becomes engulfed in a fire, burning away its wooden foundations.
Peering back at the two shambling undead shuffling towards him. His smile grows ever larger with the thought of crushing them all. "Bring it on!" He roars in a loud battle cry as he readies his sword on his left and spells on his right. The undead swordsmen charge with all due ferocity, undeterred by their enemies' zeal. They slash at him, simultaneously landing both blades down upon him. Orpheus responds by lifting his sword in a defensive manner. Planting his feet firmly in the ground, just before the swords are about to clash. Orpheus chants, his focus on his own blade. "Contego." A barrier coats his sword, branching from the hilt to the tip of the blade.
His enemies' swords fall upon the barrier and snap in two. Clashing with its almost impenetrable surface. The undead clearly dumbfounded by this sudden turn of events. Orpheus merely smiles and draws his offhand to take aim. "Bye, bye." Imparting a farewell, he leans into his next move. "Ignis Augeo Adtono." A large fireball manifests instantly before propelling towards the enemy. Engulfing them both in fire and reducing them to charred bodies. Instead of ceasing the fireball continues, heading towards the barrier ready to destroy it's already diminishing foundations.
Orpheus quickly performs another chant. "Siccatum." The fire evaporates in a circular motion before it can reach and destroy the barrier. Orpheus smiles at the flawless plan before turning around to leisurely inspect the door. It is utterly reduced to rubble just in time for the next phase. "See yeah zombies, sorry no brains for you." He speaks in a patronising manner, as they claw at the barrier. The mages send a barrage of low-level fire spells in an attempt to destroy it.
He nonchalantly walks through the charred doorway, a look of glee on his face. Little do they know his thoughts reveal something different. "I should totally make a run for it, they're going to break through that barrier any second now, and I'm running low on mana." A shattering sound rings out, preceded by an undead moan. Turning around he witnesses the barrier spell destroyed and the undead taking aim. "Well, that's my queue to run." He declares before sprinting down the stairs with his levitating ball of light.
Turning a corner, he waves his hand to pass the light into a corner. Stationing himself up against the wall, lying in wait for the inevitable. Shuffling sounds can be heard as the undead descend the stairs, poised to kill. Shutting his eyes, he focuses on moving his mana into his hand, readying a powerful spell.
The undead reaches the bottom of the stairs, turning the corner. All three in a line shoulder to shoulder, the mages charge their spells, chanting in deep voices. "Veni Forth Elementum Ignis." Orpheus still preparing his magic, pays them no mind. The archer drew his bow, taking aim at his head. The mages reach the end of their spells, chanting in unison. "Augeo." Just before they can incinerate him. His eyes open, his preparations complete. Smiling with glee, he raises his hand towards the undead on his right. "Imperium Corpus." An energy field radiates around the undead arm, wielding the staff.
With a flick of his wrist, the staff violently shifts to its comrade's head. "Adtono." A large fireball propels from the staff, directly into his comrade’s unsuspecting face. Completely incinerating the undead from the neck up. Passing further through the fireball incinerates the archer a second later.
Their lifeless bodies fall to the ground, followed by a loud thud, tumbling down the stairs. The last remaining undead is dumbfounded. It desperately tries to move its arm but it won't budge or listen to its commands. Glaring back at Orpheus, he only spots a smile on the man's face. His right arm is directed by the puppeteer. "Confused, I understand... It's not a well-known spell but it is quite useful, it allows me to control an enemy's locomotive function. But enough of the exposition, I've got things to do." Orpheus walks up to the undead, still barely able to move from the effects of the spell.
Narrating the events to him, he draws his sword and plunges the weapon through his face. Bringing death to an already dead being. "Rest in peace, thief." Withdrawing the blade, the undead stumbles to the ground. Wiping away the black blood on the undead's cloak. He holsters the weapon, turns around and continues down the staircase.
With the levitating light close behind, he explores various rooms. Eventually reaching his destination, indicated by the map. He comes upon a large door almost three times the size of the tallest man. It is decorated with more runic symbols and carvings. The door depicts a man with a crown standing on a large stone. He is wielding a staff as others bowed down before his feet. "Hmm well this imagery seems rather pompous to me, but I admire the craftsmanship, perhaps this is how I'll be revered in the future." Orpheus remarks just as the door opens slowly without assistance. As it opens, it reveals a throne room stretching out a hundred meters across. Various pillars dot each side with flags adorning them. Every single flag possesses unfamiliar crests.
He looks further and spots a gold and silver throne elevated above a short stair. The throne is encrusted with precious stones, with gold interlacing the sides. The gold cascades down towards the armrests. Seated upon the throne is an elderly dishevelled man, wearing a crown and blackened royal garb depicting a faded crest. "So, you must be the one responsible for all these undead." Orpheus queries before nonchalantly stepping forward, towards the throne.
Seeing that the man, is not just a man, but a seated corpse. The thrones occupant is wielding a staff, similar to the one depicted in the mural. "What the!" Orpheus utters, visibly surprised by this revelation. "Another undead perhaps?" He mutters to himself.
The corpse lets out a soft, faded breath. "Who dares enter my resting place!" A cold icy voice rings out from the hunched over corpse. It then lifts up its head to greet the intruder.
"Huh I've never heard an undead speak before, could you possibly be an elder lich?" Orpheus responds to his question with one of his own.
Silence pervades the throne room. "That is none of your concern... who are you and why are you here. Speak now so I may determine what manner of death awaits you." The corpse raises his already terrifying voice higher and with greater anger fuelling every word.
Orpheus reacts to his statement with his typical indifference and meets his reply. "Well, if you must know, my name is Orpheus and I've come for the staff." Orpheus points, indicating his desire to relieve him of the weapon.
The staff is described as a tall metre and half silver rod, holding a crimson stone at the top. " The staff of Desolation, my most prized possession, no I can't allow you to take it." He stands up from his throne revealing his face. That of a degraded corpse with white flowing hair, a golden crown rests loosely upon his head. "You must die for your insolence!" He roars in anger, raising the staff in the air. "Resurgemus Inmortuae." Chanting a familiar spell, the staff glows brightly.
Light envelopes the room originating from the embedded stone. Immediately following, the coffins concealed behind the pillars begin to shake. Orpheus is unfazed, and remarks softly. "Hmm, this should be fun."