Underdark- Forelorn Depths Region
Unknown
Jacob groaned as he tried to roll over, but the pain all over his body stopped him. Everything hurt and a bunch of De-Buffs plagued him. Jacobs' memory was slightly fragmented, he remembered taking the Fortress of Thongulor, but then something had happened. Jacob could see a half-dozen corpses of Mind-Warped Drones, some had been cut, others were broken similar to how he felt. All of them were dead. Based on the low ceiling and closed in walls he was in a tunnel of some sort. Jacob quickly read the De-Buffs plaguing him...
Battle Alert...
De-Buff Scrambled Thoughts: Due to a Massive Psychic attack, your thoughts and memories are fragmented (Duration Unknown)
De-Buff Concussed: Skills/Abilities have a 25% of misfiring, Spell cast times increased by 50% (Duration 30 Minutes)
De-Buff Broken Legs: Movements Speed slowed by 75% (Duration 15 Minutes)
De-Buff Broken Ribs: Stamina Regeneration decreased by 25% (Duration 15 Minutes)
De-Buff Internal Bleeding: 30 DPS (Duration 20 Minutes)
Battle Alert...
Jacob dismissed the information and opened up his Inventory and pulled out a Medium Healing Tonic and Medium Healing Potion. Based on the lack of blood everywhere, Jacobs passive abilities and skills had done everything they could to keep him alive, now it was up to him Jacob thought as he downed one potion after the other.
Jacob strobing Health Bar stabilized and disappeared as he grunted as his legs and ribs healed. All the De-Buffs slowly disappeared but the Scrambled Thoughts stayed, not surprising. Jacob took his time and took stock of the situation as he rolled a broken body off of himself. He still had all his armor and Moonlight was laying nearby. His shield was on his back and probably the only reason why he had not received a broken back. Jacobs two spare knives were still strapped in place, one in his boot and the other to his belt.
He had two paths before him and his map was covered in the 'fog of unknow' in other words, he had never been here so he had no idea which way to go. Jacob tried to send a message to the raid, but raid, guild, and PMs were blocked. Wonderful Jacob thought as he chose a direction and started walking. He had plenty of water, food, and blood in his inventory, so he would be ok for a while.
Jacob considered summoning Star, but he didn't know if the 'One' was capable of dominating his mount. Immortals were not as immune to the Mental Magic or Psychic abilities as Jacob hoped. Hopefully whatever the 'One' had done, had only been aimed at Jacob and no one else.
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About an hour later according to his clock, Jacob emerged from the tunnel into a huge cavern. A large body of water dominated the chamber, several waterfalls dumped their contents into the lake that had a small island at its center. What caught Jacobs attention though was a group of Orcs and Goblins fighting a group of Mind Warped Drones and Guardians backed by an Illithid Enslaver.
Jacob activated Leap, soaring through the air and slammed into the Illithid from behind. Even though the mob was an Elite, the surprise attack did massive damage and sent the Illithid staggering away from Jacob. Jacob was a whirlwind as he continued his assault, giving the Illithid a moment to recover might be a death sentence for him. Somehow the creature had managed to draw a tulwar and nasty looking dagger.
The Illithid thrust its hand forward and Jacob was sent reeling back and causing him to snarl in frustration. Jacob could almost swear it was smirking at him until Jacob's hand darted out and a barrage of Shadow Bolts shot out and slammed into it sending the Illithid reeling from Jacobs attack. Jacob gave the Illithid a feral smile as he sprinted toward it before activating Piercing Lunge. Moonlight ended up buried where Jacobs stomach would be on the Illithid, but Jacob kicked the creature back as he triggered Triple Slash.
The Illithid reeled back dropping its weapons and clutching at its chest as its lifeblood poured from the open wounds. "Tell your, master, I look forward to seeing him real soon." Jacob snarled out as he activated Shadow Strike and Power Slash as Moonlight cleaved through the creatures ribs and bisecting the Illithids body. With the loss of their leader, the coordination of the Mind Warped Drones and Guardians dropped off and the Orcs and Goblins systematically destroyed them.
Jacob quickly looted the Illithid and moved away from the Orcs and Goblins that eyed him but left him alone overall. Jacob kept an eye on them as he moved to the water and cleaned Moonlight with the water before shoving it into its sheath.
"Who might you be?" An Orc asked as he approached Jacob. He wore leather armor with a spear and bow strapped to his back.
"Jacob and I am trying to find my way back to my friends. I was attacking the ruins of this fortress with my guild, then my memories kinda get hazy. The next thing I know I wake up in a tunnel surrounded by dead Mind Warped Drones. What is your story?" Jacob asked as he studied the water and pulled out some jerky from his inventory and started to shred it.
The Orc looked back at his party as they argued among themselves, "Our War Band was exploring a forbidden area of the Underdark, we became lost and those creatures started attacking us at random intervals until we found our way here.' Jacob nodded as he cast all the shredded meat into the water and watched it. 'We have lost over half our War Band to these Mind Warped creatures and we could try and fight our way back, but we could lose the remainder of our War Band in the effort." Jacob nodded as he studied the floating food but nothing took the bait.
"Which way did you and your people come in?" Jacob asked as he started throwing his armor into his inventory while removing his two knives and strapping them to his leg and waist.
The Orc gestured in the opposite direction Jacob had arrived from and the Vampire cursed himself. He had gone the wrong way, he would have to backtrack the whole distance. "What are you doing?"
"I saw an island in the middle of the lake, I am going to swim out there and see if anything is on it before coming back," Jacob replied as he dove into the cold water. Jacob's eyes scanned his surroundings as he plunged through the water. Except for an occasional benign fish, nothing caught his attention as he swam toward the island.
About halfway to the island, he broke the surface to recover his Stamina and take a breath. He could see the Orc continued to argue and the one that had been brave enough to talk was stripping out of his armor and weapons before diving into the water. Jacob snorted, this might be a one-way trip, Jacob had no idea if anything was there. If anything dangerous lived on the island, Jacob stripped of his armor would quickly be sent to respawn. All this crossed his mind as he took a deep breath and dived back under the water as he continued to swim toward the island.
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The next time Jacob broke the surface the island was less than ten feet away. From what Jacob could see the island was one solid pillar from the base of the lake, it was a sheer drop off so the depth of the water did not change around it. The Orc appeared suddenly next to Jacob, "What are you waiting for dude?" Jacob frowned and Analyzed the Orc.
Name: Jason Tombstone (Immortal)
Level: 32
Class: Rogue/Scout
Health: 1825/1825
"Dude, what the fuck? Why did you Analyze me?" Jason asked.
"Sorry, thought you were a local back there. Now be silent, I am seeing if anything alive is on the island.' Jacob replied as he closed his eyes and breathed slowly in and out, letting his senses stretch. After a few moments, he moved forward and climbed up onto the island. The only heartbeats nearby were Jacobs' and Jasons'. 'Let's go and explore. Hopefully, we don't find any nasty surprises."
Ruins were prevalent on the island. The leftovers of three buildings were present and based on the familiarity of the Obsidion Kingdom, it had been Dwarven built. Interesting enough, some had writing engraved into them. Jacob took pictures of everything because he could not figure out what any of it meant.
Some of it though was readily apparent. They were similar to ancient human cave drawing from earth depicting Dwarves coming to this cavern and something attacking them. What had attacked them was an unknown though.
Secret Quest Updated: Origins of the One
Description: Somehow you ended up in the Underdark at the edge of the Obsidion Kingdoms borders. Worse you might have found the very cavern the 'One' originated based on a rough translation of Dwarven images. Explore the cavern and find the threat they unleashed.
Clues Found: 1/?
Rewards: Unknown
Jacob dismissed the information and looked over at the Orc who was looking around, probably looking for loot and having no idea what he had stumbled upon. "Jason you need to listen to me. You need to go back the way you came. What lays the way I came will kill all your War Band if they keep going if they are lucky. If they are not lucky, they will end up as puppets for something that will enslave them. I have to go back that way to get to my people, you don't" Jacob told the other Immortal as he dove into the water to explore the depths under the island.
Less than a minute later and nearly a quarter od his Stamina he was looking at the muck, grim, and vegetation of the bottom. Other then a giant pillar, the lake seemed natural and not Dwarven made. So what was he looking for Jacob mused as he slowly swam over the bottom of the lake? His Stamina was steadily draining away so he only had a limited amount of time before he had to swim for the surface.
Suddenly Jacob stopped and turned back. Something about the rocks he had swum over was odd. Silt and plant life grew all over them. It was six giant boulders, but how and why were they there? Leftover building materials when the Dwarves had constructed the island Jacob wondered as he swam for the surface. Jacob looked back and Jason was still studying the various ruins, so Jacob put him out of his mind and dived back down.
Knowing where he was going this time, Jacob quickly made it back to the boulders. He quickly took a picture of the outcropping before moving closer. One of the boulders appeared hollowed out and silt and fauna filled it Jacob observed as he moved closer too it as he studied it and the edges of the boulder. He touched it and jerked his had back. The edge of the boulder was harder on the very edge of the outside while the layers closer to the center were softer!!! Jacob pulled the knife from his waist and started cutting through the rock. Once he had a big enough section he tried to Analyze it.
Spoiler: Spoiler
Name: Unknown Egg Shell Fragment
Level: Unknown
Durability: 50/50
Description: This shell fragment is a remnant of an egg. Its origins are unknown and until it is identified you cannot find out its properties or what it can be used for.
Jacob dismissed the information as Origins of the One updated. Jacob quickly checked his Stamina and he had just under half of it left as he moved to one of the other eggs as he shoved the fragment into his inventory.
Approaching the nearest egg Jacob saw it had been cracked in multiple places and a large corpse of whatever had resided within was lying halfway out of the egg and overgrown with plants. Jacob touched the corpse and tried to will it into his inventory.
Alert...
The object you are trying to place in your Inventory is...Monstrous.
No more than...1...Large item can be placed in your inventory.
Alert...
Jacob dismissed the Alert as he moved around the corpse and found its head. Jacob slammed his knife into the base of the skull multiple times until the backbone cracked. Jacob immediately shoved the skull into his inventory and an Alert popped up saying he reached the maximum amount of Large Items he could carry. Considering the head was nearly five feet long and four feet wide, it was not surprising. Also, the Origins of the One updated again but Jacobs time was up as he swam for the surface.
Jason waved him over as Jacob broke the surface, "What?" Jacob asked as he made it to the island. Jacob pulled out another piece of jerky and tore it in half tossing one half to the Orc as he started eating his half.
The Orc sniffed the meat before he tore into it. "What were you talking about earlier and what did you find below?"
Jacob gave the Orc a cold smile, "I found some stuff that is related to a guild quest I am working on. As far as what I said before...I wasn't joking. Push back the way you came and some of your War Band might survive, if you push forward the way I came, they will all die or end up Mind Warped. Unless your War Band has a Mind Mage or someone with powerfull mind abilities, they are fucked."
The Orc frowned but nodded, "I assume that is the way you are going?" Jason asked.
"Yeah, I don't have a choice in the matter. I need to find my way back to the raid I was a part of and I hope nothing happened to them while I was gone." Jacob replied as he dived back into the water.