“Hey guys, sorry about that.” I apologized as I came back to the group.
“Does this mean we get paid now?” Illyora asked. “Cuz I could use some gems and things.”
“Yes, we get paid. Unfortunately, we didn’t get everything I wanted from the vault. I’ve got some legendary items, some forbidden spells, and some scrolls for each of you. First up, a legendary gem.” I said, holding up the topaz and sending the description to everyone. “We also have ten vials of dragon’s blood and a set of demonic armor. The bonuses require the race to be a demon, so we are going to be hurting there. For the spells, we have three that are forbidden. Whiteness, Deo Noct, and Absolute Zero. You all get a scroll of meteor, as a group we get to choose two summon scrolls.”
“May I see Deo Noct?” Jon asked. I reluctantly handed it over, as that was one that I was hoping to learn. “Damn. Who would have thought that a third tier monster wouldn’t have the required intelligence to learn this spell?”
“Seriously?” I asked. “How short are you?”
“Not sure exactly, but it says I only meet 25% of the requirements.” Rocky whistled at that.
“Let me see Absolute Zero, if you guys don’t mind.” Nobody objected, so I handed the book to Rocky.
“After you learn the spell, the writing will disappear for a year and a day. The drow get to keep the books.” I mentioned. Shrugging, Rocky picked up the book and looked at it. As soon as he opened it, the temperature plummeted and a ray of blue light shot out of the book and focused on his eyes. Without any movement on his part, the pages started flipping faster and faster until the book slammed shut.
“Whoah, that’s a rush.” Rocky muttered, blinking repeatedly.
“So, what’s the spell do?” Jon asked.
“Here.” He answered, sending us the sheet.
Absolute Zero
Forbidden Ice Magic
Drop the local temperature to absolute zero for a period of 30 seconds in a circle with a radius of ten feet. Everything within the spell takes freezing damage, as well as increased chance for shattering.
Damage: 1600 freezing
Frostbite: Organic enemies take 150 frostbite damage per second for 30 seconds
Shatter: Enemies that receive a blow that delivers enough blunt damage may shatter entirely or lose limbs.
Cooldown: 72 hours
Mana cost: 750
“Wow.” Jon said, summing up all of our feelings. “So, Rocky gets the spell, Illyora has her gem. How were you planning to split the rest?”
“I was hoping to take the other two spells if you guys don’t mind. I managed to get the drow to bring Rocky along to some planes he hasn’t visited yet, so he can drop a few anchors there. I figured the majority of the scrolls would go to you and Illyora.”
“And the dragon’s blood?”
“Turn someone into a variant. I’m hoping it would give a massive boost to mana regen.”
“Sounds like fun. I’ll volunteer for that if you don’t mind hun?” Jon asked while looking at Illyora, who was still staring into her gem. “She’s fine with that. Why don’t you learn those spells before she changes her mind?” Nodding, I pulled out the spells, and learned Whiteness and Deo Noct.
Whiteness
Forbidden Light Magic
Create a sphere of pure white light, that encompasses an enemy. The light is so powerful that it burns away all identity, turning everything white.
Damage: 1600 light
Does 3x damage to undead
All equipped gear loses 75% durability, or 7,500. Whichever is higher.
Cooldown: 48 hours
Mana cost: 750
Deo Noct
Forbidden Shadow Magic
Banish all sight from an area for 5 minutes. Only the caster and their allies can see in the spell effects.
Damage: None
Light elementals are obliterated.
No sight of any variety unless an ally of the caster.
Cooldown: 48 hours
Mana cost: 500
System announcement! Return of the forbidden spells!
Two players have recently learned forbidden spells! These incredibly powerful magics can turn the tides of battle, so beware! Simply by learning these spells, a massive pulse of magic has traveled through the ether. The other forbidden spells have released a resonant pulse! Those who are sensitive to the pulse now know the general vicinity of several spells. Certain trusted individuals may be tasked with retrieving these spells. Be aware, should you be lucky enough to be chosen, that these spells are well hidden and well-guarded.
“Leave it to Angus and Rocky to kick a hornet’s nest.” Jon chuckled as we read the notifications. “I’m sure the light side guilds are scrambling to check with magical leaders right about now.”
“At least they didn’t name us this time.” Rocky chuckled. “I’ll bet the boards are blowing up with speculation.”
“Alright, so we have the spells and scrolls figured out. You guys want to split up the money? I’ll take a smaller share, I’ve already got a good amount of money on hand.”
“You sure?” Jon asked.
“Yeah. You guys use it to upgrade your gear. I know custom made stuff is rather expensive. While you guys do that, I need to finish up a quest with Thanatos. Jon, you want to become a variant after that? It’ll seal your mana for 24 hours.”
“Yeah, sounds good. Meet you where?”
“Alchemist shop. Portals in there.” Nodding at Jon, I headed off with Inkler in tow. It was odd, knowing that he was close to me but not being able to see him. Sure, there was a shimmer, like heat waves over hot asphalt, but that was all that gave him away.
“Greetings brother.” I heard as I entered the church. “And your pet. I don’t believe we’ve been introduced.”
“You can sense him?” I asked, rather shocked.
“Yes. My branch can sense souls, and I sense him burning brightly.”
“I see. Inkler, drop your camouflage. Meet the Cardinal of Thanatos. Cardinal, this is Inkler, my mirage stalker companion.”
“Welcome to both of you. Are you ready to turn in your quest?”
“I am.” I nodded, heading to the altar and placing the dagger on it.
Divine quest completed!
The lich of the desert has met his final death at your hands. You even managed to set free several beings enslaved by the lich. Congratulations.
Quest
Rewards
Next quest
Slay the lich, Zandkazaar
Ten levels of experience.
Death’s Shroud
Death comes for all IV: Deep in the depths of the Underdark, a vampire commits atrocities against the gods. Forcing his enslaved priests to summon angels for him to feast upon, you are charged with ending his life.
Death’s Shroud
Legendary Cape
Death is only seen when he wishes it, and with this cape your abilities will come close.
+50% harder to detect
+15% chance to dodge
Stealth skills accrue experience twice as fast
Equipping the cape, I slid the fabric through my fingers. It was silky, and the color was more a deep green than a black. No matter the color, looking at it draped over my arm definitely broke up the outline. It wouldn’t stand up in direct sunlight of course, but if I were relying on it like that the situation was dire indeed.
“You like it?”
“I do. Do we know anything about the location of the vampire other than the Underdark?”
“I’m sorry, but I don’t. You’ll probably have to consult with the drow, possibly head out from Menzoberrazan.”
“Thank you brother.” I said with a nod, as I picked up the dagger. “I’ll have to check in with them before they head back.” Business concluded, Inkler and I headed out to meet with Jon at Djarleen’s shop.
“Are you sure? With a possibly prehensile tail, some of the more intricate potions would be a lot easier. Tiamat knows how many times I’ve wished for a third hand when stirring things.” Djarleen was talking with Jon when I walked in.
“Taking on a new apprentice?” I asked.
“Ever since my last one went and made master alchemist without talking with me, I’ve been looking.” Djarleen said with a glare.
“Sorry, I was in the desert and had the opportunity to evolve Inkler. I couldn’t pass it up.”
“I’ll forgive you if you manage to convince your friend here to join up. That tail could be useful.” Said friends tail was twitching behind him, obviously nervous.
“Say Jon, how are you controlling your tail?” I asked, as I had never gotten mine to truly do anything that was outside of instinct.
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“Later Angus. Let’s get this ritual done first, kay?”
“Sure. Sorry Djarleen, we’re off to the guild.”
“No you aren’t.” She said with a smug smile.
“Huh? Sure we are, just have to use the transport in the back.”
“And you aren’t listening to me. You declared war on the light siders. The guild has forbidden us access.”
“Damnit. That puts a cramp in my plans.”
“Luckily, Mardigan happens to like you. He knows about the desert transmutation circle, and switched the locations of our transport. I would hurry back though, you have a lot of things that need to be done if you are going to be ready within a month.”
“Point. Thanks Djarleen.” I said, dragging Jon behind me to the transportation circle. “This will leave you a bit nauseous, sorry in advance.” Sure enough, once on the other side Jon flopped onto his knees and started dry heaving. “Like I said, you can’t really get rid of that issue. Take your time, we should -.”
“Angus! That better be you!” Mardigan stormed into the back of the store. “Oh, you brought a friend. Cool. Angus’ friend, I’m stealing this guy for a minute.” He said, dragging me by the arm. Once we were in the front of the store, he forced me into a chair and stared right into my eyes. “You ballsy son of a bitch, you went and declared war on the world without me!” Bursting into laughter, he backed off a bit. “Oh you should see your face right about now. You’ll have to do better ya know.”
“Yeah, yeah. Sorry about that, but I had to take drastic steps to prevent retaliation from Pelor.”
“Seriously? Oh man, you’ve got them on the run my friend! He’s probably at his weakest in centuries.”
“How so? And how do you know?”
“Look, the guild keeps track of all the major powers. Pelor was one of the stronger light churches, being the patron of most humans. But in one night you took out his pontiff, his main church, and sowed a lot of doubt among his faithful. Not only that, but word is spreading about that innkeeper, and the other light churches aren’t too happy with him, not to mention the entire grey pantheon. You would be hard pressed to find someone to have stepped in a larger pile of dragon dung.”
“I see. Any info you can pass on about the other players? How are they taking the news of my threat?”
“Well, that is a different matter entirely.” He said, pulling up another chair and getting far more serious. “You’ve left your threat vague enough that people have no idea what you have planned. So a lot of kingdoms are running scared. They don’t want to pay assassins to hunt you down, especially since they have no idea the abilities of that dome of yours. So they are putting all their power behind the adventurer guilds.”
“Any guild a favorite?”
“To the contrary, they actually got the Big Three to band together.” I sat back, shocked at the thought. The Big Three. Common name for the three strongest of the guilds. Magical Mayhem only accepted magic classes, though hybrid classes were accepted. They had far and away the highest DPS ever recorded on a single raid, and managed to nuke a three boss golem raid in under ten minutes. Dukes of Destruction had a more balanced build, though they went with beefed up heavy tanks as their frontline. With some of the most adept healers in the game, they had defeated nearly every raid boss they set their mind to. Thread the Needle was the last guild, and they kept a much smaller, core group. Their specialty was tactics. If there was a weakness, they exploited it. If there wasn’t, they made one. While the other two groups had won more than their share of battles against monsters, Thread the Needle was the undisputed champion of PVP group combat.
“The Needlers have been impressed watching your assault on Pelor.”
“Serious? Well, that means I’ll have to find entirely new ways of combat then, as anything I have used in that battle will be obsolete. How are they managing to work together?”
“From what I have heard, they took three of the Needlers for tactics, twelve from Mayhem, and the rest of the raid will be Dukes. Needlers are in charge, and they are practicing on the toughest raid bosses out there.”
“Glad they are taking me seriously, but a small part wanted them to underestimate me.”
“So you have to think up entirely new battle strategies and master them in a month? Piece of cake.” Jon said with a manic chuckle as he came out of the back.
“WE.” I corrected him. “I was hoping to have the three of you all join in the dungeon as minibosses.”
“Oh? Well, that could be amusing. I’d love to see what those guys have when it comes to Rocky. He’s not even max level and he’s going to be a tough nut to crack.”
“Who’s this Rocky fella?” Mardigan asked, gleam of battle in his eye.
“He started as a troll. Evolved to eldritch giant and now is a Son of Ymir.”
“Oh I so have to fight him!”
“NO!” Jon and I both shouted, then started laughing. I continued, “Maybe after the big showdown. We have a lot to do to get ready, and little time to do it in. You ready Jon?”
“Yeah. Let’s get going.” We headed into the streets, not bothering with disguises. It was rather nice to have most crowds part around us when they recognized me, and I declined several requests for duels. We arrived in record time, Salmahim greeting us with open arms.
“Friend Angus! Welcome, Welcome!”
“Salmahim! Good to see you again.” I answered. “This is my friend, JonnyBGood. Jonny, this is Salmahim.”
“A friend of Angus is a friend of mine. Greetings JonnyBGood.”
“Please, just call me Jon.” He said, shaking hands.
“Of course. So, Jon, Angus. What brings you out our way so soon? Coming to make us all famous?”
“We need to borrow the circle, if that’s ok with you.” I said. “Wouldn’t want to not be our best at the showdown, now would we?”
“Of course, come right this way.” He said, leading us down into the basement.
“How are Endrian and the others getting along?” I asked on our trip.
“Excellent! Endrian has been instrumental in helping the other elementals recover, and with each one the land heals even faster.”
“I’m glad to hear that. If there’s anything we can do to help, send word through Mardigan.”
“You have done more than enough my friend. Besides, these other adventurers have come in droves to aid us. We will be fine, don’t worry.” By this time, we had passed through the dining area where almost everyone bowed to us. “And here we go.” Salmahim said with a flourish, presenting the transmutation circle.
“So how does this work?” Jon asked.
“Simply sit in the middle of the circle. I’ll add the dragon’s blood around at certain points, and grab the two probes sticking out of the pedestal there. You’ll get a third person view that you can move freely, and afterwards we won’t have any mana for a day.” He nodded, and sat down in the middle cross legged. His tail wrapped around his waist automatically, and we got started. Once again the lightshow proceeded, and while it was fun the first few times I saw myself getting bored with it. Soon enough it was done, and I received a notification that my alchemy had increased one rank. I guess the gaps once you reached master rank in a skill were huge.
“So, how do you feel Jon?” I asked, and he sent me a view of his new stats.
Simian king, dragonblood variant
A special evolution of bugbear, Simian kings resemble the ancient Chinese myth of the monkey king. Enhanced by the blood of dragons, this variant enjoys a massive boost to magical abilities.
Curses are 30% more likely to take effect
Curses are 15% stronger for the same mana cost
Mana regeneration increased by 10%
“Not bad. I know we were going for a better boost to regen, but this is pretty close. Now I just need some gear to boost my AoE range, and I’ll be set.” Jon said.
“Not a bad idea.” I said as we started heading back. “You know, there’s going to be a family of Drow enchanters at Nemesis for the next month, you might be able to get them to enchant your gear. That way you aren’t looking at tracking down a decent set.”
“I like that.” Jon said with a nod. “Speaking of at Nemesis, any idea what you want to do with the guild?”
“Guild?”
“Yeah. That crown of yours, it lets you start a guild, right? You should found one. The first monster guild.”
“I hate guilds though.”
“Guilds aren’t that bad.”
“Oh, sure. When they are small, and only good friends. I don’t think I could do it outside of you, Phoebe, and Derrick. If I was in charge, people would start getting kicked. Then there’s the planned raids and such.”
“Well, at least as monsters we don’t have to worry about raids once we evolve. Can’t form parties with - .”
“IN THE NAME OF THE LIGHT, I WILL SMITE THEE!” We were almost to Mardigan’s shop when some adventurer with a spear yelled at us. Of course, I caught a glimpse of Pelor’s symbol on his armor. Jon and I both dropped into combat crouches and separated, but this was going to be annoying without mana. “NOW DIE! [PIERCING LUNGE]!”
As he started lunging forward, I saw a black line of mana go slicing through his lead foot. As he was mid lunge, he could do nothing to stop his fall flat onto his face. Strolling forward, I kicked his spear away from him. “As you attacked first, without provocation, I really have no qualms about this. Count your blessings that I am sacrificing you to Thanatos, and not Lolth.” I spoke calmly, keeping a foot in the middle of his back to prevent him from getting up. Winding up, I let loose an overhead swing, easily piercing his helm with the scythe.
Thanatos finds your offering acceptable!
For slaying an acceptable offering, you gain 20 favor.
For slaying a higher level player, you gain 120 favor.
Total favor: 549/25000
Elites killed: 0/25
Heroic killed: 0/10
Weekly kills: 1/50
Jon and I continued walking, keeping quiet. Several spectators were commenting about how they hadn’t even seen me move at first, and wondering about penalties for being sacrificed to a god in game. We kept silent and simply headed through the streets and Mardigan’s shop.
“Ugh, we need to make sure that our training is away from light siders.” Jon said once we were back in Nemesis.
“Yeah, I hear that. Perhaps we can get Rocky to open portals for you guys. I have to go back to the Underdark with the drow.”
“That’ll be fun. Before we go and get leveling areas settled, have you thought about the guild?”
“Look Jon, I’m going to level with you. I have no interest in starting a guild. I don’t have the patience to deal with politics from it, I won’t be willing to go out partnering with other guild members, I’m a lone gamer. If you want to start a guild, go for it. I’ll give you the crown.”
“Will you join?”
“No.” I said, shaking my head. “Nothing against you guys, it’s all the people who will join after. If you need me, you can always just ask and I’ll come running.”
“Alright. I’ll talk it over with Phoebe, see if she wants to start one up. We can talk about the miniboss thing at the café tonight. You up for that?”
“Sure, sounds good. Before you go, here.” I opened up a trade window, offering Jon the crown in exchange for one copper.
“One copper? Seriously?” He said with a chuckle before accepting the trade.
“Hey, can’t have a trade without the other side giving up something. Alright, I’m off to speak to the drow, see you guys at the café tonight.” I said with a wave, turning towards Final Homecoming. Once there, I had to spend a few silver to convince the innkeeper to go and see if the priestess would be willing to meet with a visitor.
“Back to visit so soon?” She asked with a purr as she came into the dining area. Her bodyguard glanced around for threats before walking around behind her and taking up a guard position.
“Well, it seems I need to be making another deal with the drow.”
“And what can we do for you this time?”
“I need to head deep into the Underdark for a hunt. I was hoping to use Menzoberrazan as a base while I was down there.”
“Hmmm, I would need to know more about this hunt, as the drow do not welcome outsiders. If it is something that threatens our might, I could work with that.”
“Know of any rogue vampires down there?”
“Plenty. They often make decent trading partners.”
“I see. Any of them feeding exclusively on summoned angels?” She hissed at that and the guard instantly had a blade pointed at my throat.
“You would hunt Lucifer?”
“Is that his name? All I know is that Thanatos has decreed his death for enslaving priests and having them summon angels for his feeding.”
“Yes, that is Lucifer.” She said, gently pushing on her guard’s sword. He took the hint and removed it from my throat, but refused to sheath it. “Do you wish to know what you will be going up against?”
“I can guess. Probably abominations from him trying to turn angelic beings into undead. A brood of other vampires that he keeps under his thumb. Probably ghouls and other failed experiments.”
“At least you aren’t ignorant of most things. Have you given any thought as to how you are going to destroy a master vampire that is immune to light?”
“I have something to take care of him, don’t worry about that.”
“Very well then. What do you think you could offer to the drow to make us willing to tolerate the presence of an outsider in our city?” In response, I showed her a trade window that I felt she would be incredibly interested in. Judging by her boisterous laughter, I was right.
Pontiff of Pelor Robes
Legendary unique
These robes mark the office of Pontiff for Pelor and his followers. There can only ever be one of this item, and it is invested with a significant portion of Pelor’s power. This allows the pontiff to perform one major miracle per week.
Pelor’s Signet ring
Legendary unique
This ring is used by the church of Pelor as veracity for urgent messages. The bearer of this ring will receive the full cooperation of anyone associated with the church, and his words will be taken as the words of the pontiff.
“Oh, this is absolutely beautiful!” She cried. “To think that you took the time to loot the body of the Pontiff while we were there. Yes, this would be more than enough to guarantee your acceptance by the drow.”
“Excellent. I am going to need you to spell out exactly what I am getting for these two items, and sign a magical contract with it.”
“That caution will do you well in the city. Very well. One week of unfettered access to the city.”
“Oh, how sweet that you think I would trade two legendary items for a week of city life. A month unfettered access to the city, food, lodging, a training space, and a guarantee that I will not be enslaved, arrested or detained from my mission in any manner.”
“Access to the city until your mission is complete, training space, and the guarantee that the drow will not hinder you without reason.”
“Access to the city until my mission is complete and I have passed through on my return to Nemesis, a training space, a recommendation for food and lodging, and a guarantee that the drow will not hinder me. Should there be a dispute, we will let Thanatos determine reparations.”
“Not Lolth?”
“As much as she seems to like me, no.”
“Very well. I shall have the contract drawn up tonight, and we may sign it in the morning. Acceptable?” I nodded, and we shook hands. Deal done, I headed back to my house and logged out for the day.