When his second step did not immediately trigger any traps or attacks Xavier released the breath that he hadn’t realized he had been holding. The room flared with illumination. Sconces lining the walls blossomed to life with ethereal flames flooding the room with a haunting light and giving the shadows in the corners of his vision a macabre mockery of life. The strange illumination only heightened the unsettling distortion of the corrupted version. This switch caused Xavier to hesitate, and he crouched tightening his grip on his weapon while he scanned the room for threats. His heart beating loud in his ears briefly before he realized that despite the ominous presence of the room the shadows were just shadows. Ella came down off the steps to stand at his side and Valkra started padding about their ankles.
“If it didn’t keep changing from pristine to destroyed it would almost be soothing and calm,” Xavier commented. “Given the life ley line was in a garden, this must be a crypt. It makes sense for the death ley line.” He looked to Ella. “I guess we can expect undead here.”
Ella made a sour face as she turned to look at him. “Just so we are clear, I hate undead. They give me the creeps, but you are probably right.”
Xavier moved over to one of the statues and looked up at it. This one appeared to be an animari, one of a species he hadn’t seen yet. Glancing at the others he noticed that they were of all different races and both genders. Once again, a balance in their representation. “Odd, I had thought the Sylmyrians were a race, but this makes it look more like a people or kingdom.”
Ella responded off handedly. “It was one of the ancient empires several epochs back in history. The Sylmyrian Dominion, the Arathorian Empire, the Thanik Empire, the Phoenix Empire, Darnathian League, and the Ilvani Theocracy.” She recited ticking each off on her fingers. After she did so she froze and looked at Xavier. “At least that is what I have read. Nothing but ruins remain of any of them, however. They all fell long ago.”
“Why didn’t the history book we found in Bramblegate list them? I found mentions of the others but not the Sylmyrians. The only place I have seen anything of them has been here and up above in the ruins we’re building Rynthavael on.”
Speaking as if she hadn’t heard him Ella muttered, “Gods I do not like this place,”
“That makes the two of us,” Xavier started to reply when he heard a small whine at their feet, “Make that the three of us.” He finished as he reached down to comfort Valkra.
Now that the room was illuminated, he could see several archways leading from the chamber that had been previously hidden in the darkness. Crumbled statues and debris, in this version at least, of the chamber made the approach to all but one difficult.
Motioning to the open hallway he asked, “Do we try that way, climb the rubble to try one of the others or wait for the next change to test our luck?”
“That seems far too easy,” she replied. “As if it was guiding us to a trap. I think we should wait, or better yet go back and see if we can help Emily and purify the life ley line. Maybe it will help improve things here since they are supposed to be balanced.”
Xavier thought about her words before he had a sinking feeling. “I don’t think they are meant to be one and then the other. Everything we have seen has indicated balance like you said. I think we are supposed to do them both at the same time. I bet purifying one without the other makes things harder.”
She winced and nodded. “Yes, you are probably right. So, who goes back and who stays here?” Her look to him was hopeful and it was clear she had no desire to remain in the crypt.
He sighed softly and scooped up Valkra right as the thrum happened again. The chamber reverted back to its pristine walls and decorations, opening the other pathways to easy traversal. The spectral lighting made the change in environment even more stark as the corrupted version had a sickly purplish hue whereas this new lighting was a soft incandescent blue. Handing the shadowmane cub to Ella he spoke. “I’ll try and solve this side. You two go back to the grove and see what you can do.”
Ella smiled, though briefly and leaned in to kiss his cheek before she cuddled Valkra closer turning back to ascend the stairs and head the other way. Xavier touched where her lips had brushed a moment in confusion then pushed action from his mind as he looked back to his options. Picking the far hallway, he hurried through the room before it changed and was blocked once more.
The spectral torches illuminated ahead of him as he walked, only heightening the sensation of being a lamb led to the slaughter. The hilt of his dagger was soaked with a cold sweat as he adjusted his grip on it before passing through the archway. Behind him the sconces went dark and plunged the room into the vague half-light it had before. Ahead of him there was a long hallway with alcoves indenting on either side at regular intervals. Each alcove held small empty platforms. Gritting his teeth Xavier moved into the hall. The fact the hall was lit didn’t ease his concern in the slightest as he moved towards the first alcove.
As he drew near it a form coalesced on the small dais. It was of a statuesque but ghostly human male he held a forge hammer in one hand as he looked serenely down upon Xavier. “Sul’mir yn durn’vyr, vael yn kal’dormis.” Xavier’s gift that had granted him an understanding of Ancient Sylmyrian translated the words instantly. “Death gives rest, life brings motion, balance binds them.”
A few moments later the pervasive hum thrummed once more, and the hall shifted. Cracks ran through the marble walls filled with dark purplish veins of light. The plinth the specter stood upon appeared to be more crumbled ruin than a platform. It was the specter that held the most unsettling change, however. Gone was the serene image, now replaced with a rotting horror. The vision leaned forward; one desiccated hand reached out seeking Xavier as he recoiled. Instinctively he lashed out, the blade of Vaeltheris caught the outstretched hand of the vision and it winked out of existence. Shuddering, he looked down the hallway and the number of other alcoves it held.
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Ella raced down the passageway dodging around the overgrown flora as she did so. She had set Valkra on the floor and the cat easily kept pace with her as they ran. The taint to the plant life they had noticed before seemed to have ebbed somewhat the closer they got to the underground garden. Soon it was apparent why, however, as they came out of the tunnel onto the overlook and the cavern had drastically changed. Whereas before they could look down upon the chamber and see the pedestal that held the core of the life ley line and Emily or look about the chamber and see some of the detail of what the overgrown plant life hid. That view was gone, the chamber seemed to have grown in size and life. Odd trees filled the area nearly to the cavern ceiling, vines hung thick and heavy, scattered throughout the canopy and from stalactites. Fungal groves fought with deciduous bushes for dominance of the pools of sickly green water that was visible.
Ella groaned. She may have picked the worse option of the two, but at least it was less likely to have undead. Movement below caught her eye, and she ducked down by the edge of the cliff to avoid being seen. Her sharp gaze watched as what she had previously mistaken for another bush shifted, its now clearly feline shape stalked out of the undergrowth and between a set of tree trunks. While she watched the thrum of sound that had marked the transition from pristine to corrupted and back in the crypt filled the air and the plant life surged growing visibly in the chamber below. The surge elicited another groan from Ella as she realized she had to move now, waiting would only make the challenge more difficult. She rose and hurried down the ramp into the vegetation below to try and find Emily and figure out what needed to be done to free her and purify the ley line.
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Back in the crypt, Xavier was moving once again now that the hallway was whole once again. Each alcove he hurried past held another vision from the past, a spectral dwarven woman in robes, a huge ghostly bearkin Animari wearing what looked like plate armor, and even a small waiflike girl with an intensely intelligent gaze in a third. Each one he passed uttered a phrase. The child uttered “Draen’vir os val’sul, thyrris os yn nol’myrin.” Meaning “Strength lies in unity, the balance of flame and water.” And the dwarven lass spoke “Nol’ys varrith, sul’nar eyl’ar’mirael.” Which translates to “At twilight’s breath, stone and air find peace.” It was when the bearlike figure spoke “Nor’thar sul’nol, vel’ys mir’nar.” Xavier realized yet again the symbolism of balance was being preached by the visions when he translated the words “In the cycle of dusk and dawn, harmony prevails.”
As he came to his realization the thrum filled the hallway, and the visions warped into sickening corruptions of what they had been. Each moved to step down off their broken stones, the armor of the bearkin now rusted and with a large bloody hole as its fur sagged and collapsed showing the flesh beneath. The dwarven woman’s eyes were missing and skeletal hands reached forth, her robes once elegant hung in tattered rags about her frame. Most horrific was the child, her eyes now glowed with the ominous purple light and a long tongue lashed back and forth between needle-sharp teeth in her overly large mouth.
Xavier fought down the urge to flee, but instead, he started backing slowly away from the more animate visions as they approached. He held the dagger before him trying to keep the blade between his body and whichever apparition was closest.
The spirits still whispered to him, their voices hollow, rasping or gurgling now. “Essence… cycle broken… death claims… silence reigns. Harmony… lost… shadow overcomes. Harmony… fractured… all fades.” The pervasive corruption tainting not just their forms but their very message as well.
Crying out Xavier lunged towards the hulking mass of the undead-looking bearkin, Vaeltheris slashing through its outstretched hands and flashing a pure light as it drove back the corrupted vision. When the blade pierced the torso of the creature it flashed out of existence but the chill of its presence remained hanging heavy in the air as Xavier passed through it towards his next target.
He moved with determination now, desperate to banish the visions and their perverse twisting of what had been. Though the nature of Vaeltheris seemed to drive them back and dissipate their forms they were not harmless themselves. The waif’s claws dug deep into Xavier’s other arm and her teeth sunk into his hand before he could turn his weapon upon her. His health dropped rapidly from the deathly cold of her touch and bite. Oozing blood rose from wounds that already had dark lines starting to trace away from them as her body vanished leaving only the dwarf remaining. He held his wounded arm tightly to his chest as he swung his blade desperately to keep her skeletal fingers from his body. She didn’t recoil from the blade, each pass of it removing bony digits from her hands until he was finally able to drive it into one of the empty sockets of her head and the apparition winked out of existence.
Gasping in pain, Xavier looked at his wounds. Pus was already starting to ooze from them as if they had long since gone infected. He quickly sheathed his blade and dug around in his belt pouch for some of the forest sage. They hadn’t yet been able to find anything stronger to help heal wounds than the herb and he quickly began to chew some of it praying that it would help.
As the next thrum restored the hall he dashed down its length anxious to be free of it and its visions before the next turn of the cycle. He rushed through the archway at the end and came into another large circular chamber. Once again the sconces flared to life filling the room with the soft blue glow of ethereal flame. Seeing nothing but two other archways at the far side of the room across a shallow, still pool of water he sighed in relief. Moving away from the archway that led back into the hall of horrors he crouched near the water and took time to inspect his wounds. They were ever so slowly closing but the corruption lingered as pus continued to rise to the surface. The dark lines of infection seemed to have slowed spreading up his arm but he knew he was far from safe. He would need to hurry and solve the trials of this crypt so they could save Emily and return to the surface where hopefully one of the healers in the village could save his arm.
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Ella cried out in effort, her spear wedged in the chest of yet another plantlike animal form as she pinned it to the ground, its movements finally ceasing. Nearby Valkra also pinned her own adversary to the ground, her sharp teeth ripping at its throat as her twin tails lashed forward driving their sharp tips into its body. The garden had taken a decidedly deadly turn from when they first had seen it.
Every step they fought through the now labyrinthine maze of flora was filled with either aggressive animals made of vegetation, hostile animate mushrooms, or deadly snapping plants with whipping vines, and that was just the parts they could fight back against. They had to retrace steps to avoid tainted pools of water that hissed and bubbled as they dissolved the unfortunate vines or branches that hung into them or escape clouds of spores that caused them to hack and wheeze while their throats seemed to want to swell closed with irritation. Unlike the trials Xavier was fighting through, the thrum did not offer occasional reprieve but only made the overgrowth worse.
Pulling her spear from the now unmoving corpse Ella panted softly glad for the fact that nothing hung in the air after this fight. The pair of humanoid mushrooms she and Valkra had taken down last erupted into one of the spore clouds when they expired making them flee blindly down the corridor of tree trunks. Moving to check on Valkra she smirked at the fierce little cub. “I take back my earlier complaints, I would much rather have some skeletons or even ghouls instead of these things.” The panther purred in agreement as it pressed into her hand. “Come on we need to hurry. This place is getting more dangerous, and I am worried about what might lie ahead.” She retrieved her spear and the two moved deeper into the maze.
They skirted around another acidic pool, hugging close to the trees that made up the walls of the pathway, and turned the corner. There in the center of a new clearing, they finally found the pillar with the core of the ley line. However, there was no sign of Emily now. Ella cried out in fear that they had been too late, and something had taken the child when she heard a noise from one of the trees that surrounded the platform the pillar was on. As she moved closer a small form nestled in the roots of the tree lifted its head. Emily stared up at Ella from where she sat against the tree. Her eyes glowed with an inner light of emerald green similar to the tether that had been seen tying her to the pillar previously. She looked worn and tired as if she had gone for days without food or rest.
“You came back for me.” The child spoke though her voice had a much richer timbre than her frail form would suggest. “I knew you would.” She smiled weakly and held her arms out towards Ella.
The woman knelt next to the child and gathered her close. As she pulled the child into her lap she spotted the tether once again, now much thicker and robust as it tied the child to the ground near the base of the tree.
“I cannot leave.” The girl whispered into Ella’s ear. “I am bound to this place, if I leave it will die and so will I.” Her eyes flared brighter and her voice grew more resonant. “We need the child, her life sustains us, the balance is amiss and it will destroy us.”
Ella sat back, still holding Emily but more at arm's length now uncertain of what she was grasping. “Who are you? Why are you hurting her? She is just a child.” Her tone was a mix of anger and worry. Something had taken over Emily.
“We are what your people called the ley line of life. Without us, this forest would wither into nothingness and the land would die, death would take hold and all would fall into darkness. We do not mean to hurt the child but we must live.”
Tears welled in Ella’s eyes at the seriousness of the situation. Emily had become a sacrifice for the greater good but she could not accept that. There had to be a way to save the child and the Ley line. “No, there must be another way. Please, what can I do?”
The child grew silent for a while and Ella despaired that there was not another way. After several long minutes, the garden thrummed surging in growth once again and the child stiffened in her arms. As the growth slowed Emily looked up to Ella once again. “There is but one way, balance must be restored. As the death ley line requires sacrifice so to does life. Each requires its own energy to revitalize the paths.” The young girl raised her arm and pointed deeper into the garden. “You must pass through the maze and find the dying tree. Though corrupted it still retains a seed, return the seed and plant it near the pillar. It will restore the ley line and provide energy to stabilize it. Hurry though, time grows short.”
Emily’s eyes faded slightly, and her face took on the tired appearance it had when Ella found her. “I am so sleepy.” She sighed. “You are not going to leave me are you?”
The woman smiled gently to her as she wiped away tears with her free hand. “No Emily, I will stay close. Rest for a little bit I need to go check something but will not go far.” She set Emily back down and the child curled up next to the tree once again. Her eyes closed and soon the peaceful stillness of slumber took her once again. Valkra padded over and curled up next to the sleeping child, her feline eyes turning to watch Ella as the woman rose and hurried off into the maze once more.
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Back in the crypt, Xavier was gazing into the pool studying his own reflection briefly as his mind raced with what had happened. As he did so the thrum filled the chamber and his own visage in the water shifted.
Dead eyes stared back up at him from the water, the image now a grotesque mockery of his own visage. Its jaw hung loose only attached at a single joint while the flesh of his face rotted. The image of his body had taken on an emaciated and nearly skeletal appearance, and he recoiled from the water. This was getting to be nearly too much for the young man as he ran his hands over his body and face trying to reassure himself that he was still alive and whole. His mind wrestled with what his hands told him compared to what his eyes had, and he slowly pushed back the paranoia.
“FUCK I HATE THIS PLACE.” He screamed out to nobody in particular. The light had once again shifted to the eerie purple and made the shadows dance and shift causing him to jump every so often.
He rose and skirted to the right around the reflecting pool, careful to avoid looking in it again, not wanting to see his dead features once more. As he came to the next archway he ducked through it and hastened down the hall glad to leave yet another horrible room behind. The hallway soon opened up once again and a new chamber lit as the sconces burned with the corrupted light. In the center sat a large skeletal obelisk. The walls were covered with intricate bone arrangements forming geometric patterns, each embedded with faintly purple glowing runes. Their forms cracked and brittle as if they had been left to the elements for decades and were on the verge of crumbling to dust. On the opposite side of the room stood a large pair of sealed doors in another archway.
Not seeing any obvious threat Xavier moved carefully into the chamber and noticed concentric rings surrounding the obelisk. Each ring had a set of runes etched into them and there was an empty ring with slotted areas between them. Opting to try and avoid anything to do with the room, Xavier stayed near the wall and moved warily around the rings and obelisk. When he came to the giant doors, he pushed gently on them only to find them unmoving. Bracing both hands against the door he pushed harder and still the doors resisted any movement. Sighing he looked back at the center of the chamber.
Warily Xavier moved closer to the obelisk and rings to study them. The outer ring was etched in harsh jagged runic symbols, each representing concepts of death and decay. Thar’nok, Ven’vaalith, Syr’noloth, Durnan, Erlath, Vorin, Sul’varis, Ilyn’coris or Void, Decay, Shadow, Wither, Rest, Corruption, Dust, and Drain in the common tongue. Conversely, the inner ring held smoothly flowing runes representing ideas of life. Si’alenth, Solah, Illuvah, Vythalir, Na’vylah, Arin,var, Ren’talah and Nalu’varis stood for Seed, Growth, Light, Vitality, Flourish, Spark, Renewal and Purity. As he studied the mechanism the thrum sounded once again, and the chamber shifted. Whereas previously the rings, obelisk, and walls were worn and damaged to the point of unintelligibility they were now whole and pristine. The mosaics of bone on the crypt walls are revealed as hauntingly beautiful murals that portray the eternal cycle of life and death. One mural depicted a field of vibrant flowers blooming in radiant colors, only to wilt, shed petals, and decay into soil. Another showed a shimmering river teeming with life, gradually diminishing into a barren, cracked riverbed. A final mural featured golden light illuminating a lush meadow that fades into creeping shadows.
Around the base of the obelisk Xavier found the inscription, “Vytha yn thar’nok, vael yn ren’talah, solah yn valithar.”
Speaking softly to himself he read it aloud in common, “Life to dust, spirit to renewal, growth to decay.” He looked back to the runes in the circles an idea forming. He crouched between the two rings and tested each carefully. They both shifted easily at his touch spinning back and forth. Further inspection showed that the tiles holding the various runes were able to be slid out of the rings and into notches in the blank area between them enabling him to pair different ones together between the ring of life and the ring of death. A slow smile touched his lips and he quickly moved around the circle slipping a rune out from the life ring and in from the death ring, before long the central ring held matched pairs of concepts and he stood up looking over the work. He looked about the room curious as nothing seemed to happen, scowling, he looked back to the pairs. He was certain they were correctly matched. Just in case, he moved to the doors once again and tested them. They remained as immobile as before confirming something was still undone. He spent the next several minutes testing various combinations of the runes to the same results. Nothing changed and eventually, the room thrummed once more and took on a decayed and ruinous appearance. As Xavier tried to adjust the runes once more he discovered that they were immobile, the damage and age locking their supporting tiles into place where they were. Frustrated, Xavier stood back up and resignedly moved to return to the room with the reflecting pool and see what could be found down the other passageway.
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Ella fought fiercely as she moved on from the center of the maze. Her progression was lackluster, however, as the growth continued to expand with each thrum. The small plant-made creatures she had fought on her way towards the ley line had only grown in size and ferocity. The catlike creatures that had been roughly the same size as Valkra were now the size of small tigers, their wooden claws now small dagger-sized and even twice as sharp. She bore several cuts and gashes along her arms and legs where they had caught her by surprise and the forest sage had not managed to close them yet.
Currently, she was circling a large beast, nearly the size of a small bear. Its great head was seemingly carved from a solid block of wood for all the damage her spear was able to inflict upon it. As it raised up on its hind legs, raising both forepaws to bring them brutally down on the defiant woman, she rushed forward driving her spear upwards and into its open mouth. There, the wood was softer and the weapon bit true, sinking deeply into the beast's head and causing it to still suddenly as whatever animated it lost its power.
She wrenched her spear free as it fell barely saving it from being snapped in two by its weight and collapsed to her knees beside its lifeless body. She wiped the sweat from her forehead as she wondered how Xavier was doing, prayed that she would be in time to retrieve the seed and save Emily, and just survive the ordeal itself.
She actually was not afraid, she had been near death countless times in her life and had always managed to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, but this was on a scale far beyond anything she had faced before.
Her breath caught once again she levered herself up with the shaft of the spear and continued down the path hoping that this one was the correct one this time. The dead ends she had discovered so far had eaten away at valuable time and concern had caused her to rush more than she normally would, hence how the plant bear had surprised her.
Rounding the next corner she cried out in surprise as the ground gave way beneath her, she landed roughly on her backside and slid down the uneven slope ultimately bouncing off rocks and tree trunks as the slide ended up a hectic cartwheeling tumble.
Ending up in a crumpled pile of bruises, aching muscles, and a wrenched shoulder, she moaned softly in pain at the bottom of the hill. She didn’t dare lay there for too long considering her scream and the noise of her passage likely gave her location away to anything predatory in the near vicinity. She rolled over and found where her spear lay, thankfully still unbroken, and reached out to grab it. A low hiss escaped her lips as her shoulder exploded in mind-numbing pain as she realized her arm was hanging limp, her shoulder was in truth dislocated in the fall instead of merely wrenched.
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She fell back to the ground as her free arm grasped her misshapen shoulder trying to hold it still. Biting her lip she knew it would have to be reset if she had any hope of continuing on, let alone saving Emily. Slowly she sat up and got her knees beneath her so she could force herself upright. Hobbling over towards a small y-shaped sapling she ground her teeth together before delicately lifting her arm and wedging it in the crook of the tree. Closing her eyes she twisted suddenly bracing her limb against the tree to keep it still while she forced the joint back. Her world went dark as she collapsed, her mind overwhelmed by the agony of the action.
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Xavier skirted the pool once again. He did not want to revisit the image of his rotting visage for a second time. His mind already recoiling from the memory of what the water had shown him. He ducked through the only remaining archway and hastened down its short tunnel to find what else this house of horrors held.
He found himself in another circular chamber as the thrum pulsed through the ruins once again restoring them to pristine conditions. This chamber was different, however. In the very center stood a small pillar that supported an orb of pure shifting energy. He watched fascinated as black, green, gold, and purple shades fought and twisted across the surface of the orb. Through gaps in the energies, he could make out that there was a small object that undulated evenly between the four colors and was held aloft but had no way to reach it.
Pulling his attention away from the pillar and its prize he looked carefully around the room, each corner had a smaller pillar standing in it. Near each of these four pillars, a shaft of light shone from the ceiling but instead of a strong steady light they surged and faded, unstable in their flow. He stepped into the chamber and the archway behind him snapped close, an unseen shutter slamming down from the top of the passage to seal it closed. He heard the sound of stone grinding and several more columns rose up from the ground. Angled and polished reflective surfaces topping each of the eight new uprights.
Studying the new developments Xavier had a sinking feeling. This reminded him of similar puzzles in several of the Massively Multiplayer Online or MMO games he had played back on earth. He was going to have to figure out how to reflect the beams of light in the correct order and intensity onto the columns. Or at least that is what he was assuming. The problem was determining which light went to which column. There were no identifying marks on any of them and besides the various pillars and shafts of light, there was nothing else to provide any clue or hint as to what was needed.
Walking over to one of the new reflective columns he touched it gingerly, afraid of triggering a potential trap, and sighed in relief as it moved under his touch, able to shift it around in a clearly defined section and twist the column to adjust both the angle and direction that the reflective surface faced.
Experimentally he shifted the column over to the first shaft of light, the golden one, and angled it so the light shone directly onto one of the pillars. As soon as the light struck the pillar directly the room exploded in blinding light and he fell to his knees covering his eyes. The flash of light was accompanied by a blistering flash of heat and he felt the small blisters form on his skin almost immediately. He shoved the column quickly, knocking it from where it was and the illumination and heat vanished as soon as the light no longer touched the pillar.
Xavier gasped in pain as his body cooled from the sudden flash searing. He had only a small amount of forest sage left in his pouch, and he was wary of eating it in case it would be needed for something worse than the blistering heat.
He looked at the three remaining colors and quailed at what a mistake with each of them could bring. Weighing his options he looked back to the orb of energy, he had no doubt that simply reaching into it and trying to pull out whatever was inside would be beyond stupid. As he studied the contraption longer the thrum pulsed once again and the shafts of light faded to nearly vanishing. Each of the columns supporting the reflective surfaces fell to dust and the pillars in the corners cracked and shifted leaving great chunks of them to fall to the floor. The only thing untouched by the desolation was the central shaft and its orb of energy. It stood impassive and undiminished in all of its glory.
Xavier shook his head. “Of course, it wouldn’t be that easy. Damn, magic and traps. Why did everything have to be so hard.” He complained to himself. As he did though he moved to look at the broken pillars, hoping for some sort of change that might help him solve this problem. The first one he inspected remained, other than being broken, as it was. A shaft of dark black stone rose from the ground ending where it was cracked and split. He touched it carefully with the tip of Vaeltheris so as to avoid possibly burning, freezing, or who knew what other sort of damage to his bare fingers. When nothing happened he touched it gently and found inert cold black rock.
It was when he moved to the second column that he found something different. This column, like the first was black stone however there were fine tracings of golden material throughout the interior of the column. A grin breaking out on his face he rushed to the next column and found something similar but this time a deep purple. The final column had the same tracings but in what looked like emerald fibers. That had to be the key. Each shaft of light had to be shone on the right pillar.
As the thrum returned and restored the room Xavier quickly moved sliding a reflective post into each shaft of light and directing it towards the pillar with the matching latticework inside of it. The room brightened slightly but as the energy in the orb fluctuated it the pillars pulsed, and the burst of energy pushed the reflective columns askew once again. A wave of cold sapping energy flooded the room and Xavier once again felt his stamina bottom out and he collapsed to his knees exhausted. Luckily this time it did not seem to touch his constitution and after a short rest, the green bar started to refill once more.
“Ok,” he muttered, “I seem to have got part of it right but now I have to account for the fluctuations in the orb.” He searched about the chamber looking for what he might have missed the first time. Hesitantly he touched the column that was pure once again, wary of the necrotic pulse or flash of light as he did so. The column itself didn’t react to his touch though so he tried to push it as well. It didn’t move as he expected, however, but twisted in his grip becoming more porous as it turned. He narrowed his eyes and crouched to look at it closer. Sure enough, it had changed from being solid stone to something more resembling lava rock, with larger and smaller holes covering its surface. Experimentally he twisted it while watching the holes and discovered he could change their size depending on how he turned it. Realization crept into his mind and he glanced at the orb. Noticing how the darker energy shifted through the others he estimated it accounted for the third largest amount of energy pulsing through the sphere.
He watched the energies play about each other for a little while longer making certain he knew their order of magnitude and that it didn’t shift until the thrum came again. The pillar he was next to once again cracked and broke and the rest of the room fell into disrepair. The only reason he noticed the other change was because he was still staring at the orb. The energies shifted. The dark energy now made up the primary strength and they danced over the surface. The whole order he had so carefully determined was cast asunder and he threw his hands up in consternation.
Kicking the broken pillar he yelped in pain as his toes responded to the abuse. He hopped on one foot for a moment holding onto his damaged foot before he sat roughly down to wait for the next change.
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Ella slowly stirred. Her shoulder screamed in pain but it was a far less severe pain than what she had felt when it was dislocated. She opened her eyes to find herself still hanging from the tree, held up by her wedged arm. The shoulder, thankfully, was back in place though it didn’t stop the agony from the dislocation or resetting, merely reducing it to something she could better tolerate. She stood gingerly and lifted her limb from the crux of the tree. Moving it about slowly she ensured that she had range of motion once again and it no longer hung like a lifeless noodle at her side.
Satisfied that she could use both her arms once again she moved over to where her spear lay and picked It up. Looking at her surroundings she wondered how long she had been unconscious and was thankful nothing had found her while she was.
Her gaze traveled back to the slope she had tumbled down, and she pondered, for a moment, how she was supposed to scale it when she found the seed. Dismissing that as a problem for the future Ella, she turned and noticed that the near solid walls of the maze from up above had diminished, thick undergrowth replacing them, navigable if slowly. She took a deep breath and plunged into the brush using her spear to press through the clinging branches and vines, shifting them up or to the side as needed to somewhat clear a path forward.
The struggle was hell on her shoulder, every press or shift causing a new surge of pain and near-blinding agony. She soldiered on though and drove deeper into the growth. Eventually, she found it lessening and becoming easier to traverse until suddenly she broke through, almost falling on her face at the sudden disappearance of vegetation.
Ahead of her, in the heart of a faded and devastated grove stood the tree she sought, its silhouette reflecting its forlorn nature and pale contrast against the vibrant overgrown life she had emerged from. Its bark, once golden and smooth to the touch stood cracked and seemed charred. A putrid foul tarlike substance oozes forth from the rents glistening in the false light as if shadows given liquid form. As she approached the tree, the air grew thick and stifling as it carried the acrid scent of decay, this foul odor mingled with the faint sickly sweetness of the rotting vegetation of the grove around it. Even its roots were not lacking its morbid transformation, their gnarled forms clawed and clutched to the ground like the skeletal fingers of a desperate long dead, and buried giant.
The remains of an ancient grove, once alive with vibrant golden and emerald hues of life were now a shell of its former self, Brittle branches and remains of leaves crunched beneath her feet as she moved carefully closer. As she moved she glanced down and found the skeletal remains of proud limbs crumble to dust and rise into the nearly still air, an embodiment of ghostly whispers of their past. The suddenly oppressive silence of the grove was only broken by the groan and creek of the great tree's branches as they swayed, reluctantly, as if by some malevolent force as there was a complete lack of any natural flow of air this far below the surface. Even the light around the tree seemed to have taken on the corruption. Muted and lifeless, much like the surrounding vegetation, it cast faint shadows that undulated and twisted, mirroring the unnatural movements of the tree across the blighted floor of the grove.
Seeing the befouled giant of nature she almost collapsed in anguish, but for a faint pulse. A hint of pure ancient magic that, unlike the thrum that surged the growth of the forest behind her, thrummed in a rhythmic beat. A faint and muffled heartbeat almost smothered by the layers of choking disease and darkness. She leaned closer and could hear the beat. A faint and almost mournful hum issued forth from the very heart of the tree. It rose through the layers of twisted wood as if the tree were singing its own dirge.
Ella moved to the tree and through one of the deep rents in the center of the trunk she spotted it. A softly glowing tiny point of light well within the consuming shadows. She could clearly see its smooth surface, traced with veins of brilliant green and radiant gold that seemed to pulse in time to the faint heartbeat. The pulse was weak itself, the final vestiges of the life it represented almost extinguished entirely. As she gazed upon it, the seed seemed to tremble with the weight of its burden. The promise of hope for the rebirth of the essence it carried within.
It was then she noticed a subtle yet profound scent lingering in the air. A mix of spring blossoms, fresh summer rain, and rich earthy fertile soil stood in stark contrast to the pungent miasma of the decay and rotted grove around her. Hesitantly she stepped closer to reach for the seed and the tree moved. Its great branches swayed and swung suddenly towards where she stood, only her quick reactions moved her back, the thunderous crash of the descending branch barely missing her as it slammed into the ground.
The ancient tree, corrupted by the foul energies that sought to subsume the ley line had gained a low level of awareness. Still rooted in place and unable to follow its prey, it sensed at a deep level that the seed in its core was both the bane of its existence and the vital spark that gave it remaining life, knowing such it would destroy any who dared try to remove its heart without hesitation.
Ella continued to dance and weave, narrowly avoiding the crushing blows the tree rained down on her as it tried to smash the little verminous threat to its existence. She dropped her spear doubting it would be able to do any actual harm to the monster and caught one of the offshoots of a branch as it slammed into the earth beside her. Clinging to the rapidly moving wood she shimmied up its length trying to get to the center mass of the tree. Pelted and whipped by the smaller limbs she continued to drag her protesting body further into the depths of the wild mass until her fingers touched the corrupted sap where it rose foully from the gaping split she had seen the faint glow of the seed within.
The sap felt like it set her skin ablaze wherever it touched her. Clinging to her hand with a viscous resilience despite her efforts to wipe it away. Gritting her teeth in pain she plunged her hand deeper into the ruptured bark until her questing fingers touched something warm and wholesome. Closing her digits around the smooth seed she wrenched her arm back pulling it free in a single quick motion. It had the effect of ripping the heart out of a living beast as the tree bucked once, shuddered, and then its limbs seemed to sage, hanging limp and lifeless, once again mere dead wood. She slid down the now still trunk clasping the faintly glowing seed to her chest and hurried across the detritus of the grove, pausing only to scoop her spear from the ground as she rushed back towards where she had left a young girl, possessed by the essence of the life ley line, sleeping and fading.
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In the crypt, Xavier stood, almost patiently, waiting for the next thrum of sound to bring change to the room he occupied once again. When it finally happened he moved with a sense of urgency, aware of how much time had already passed even if he had no way of really tracking its passage. He studied the glowing orb for several long moments until he spotted the pattern of coverage then dashed between the columns twisting each in turn as he adjusted their openings. The golden one widest open to match the majority of the sphere’s coverage, that was followed by the column representing the dark purple light, then the emerald, and finally the plain black stone one. Once he thought he had those set he moved to the once again risen reflective columns and carefully moved them into the various streams of light, deftly twisting them to cause the shafts of radiance to fall upon their respective pillars. As the last one slid into place, the golden light striking the openly porous column the light in the room intensified. It was not the blinding burning light of his first attempt however but a warm comforting glow still causing him to close its eyes due to its brilliance but not in pain.
After a few moments, he heard the sealing slab retreat opening the passage back to the reflecting pool, and then further noises echoed through the halls as well. Carefully opening his eyes, he looked towards the pillar that stood in the center of the chamber, gone was the shifting orb of energy and all that remained atop the column was a small stand supporting an ornate miniature version of the ouroboros symbol he recognized from outside of the crypt.
Reverently he moved forward and picked up the small item and a prompt screen filled his vision.
You have discovered:
Sigil of Balance
Item Class: Epic
Item Quality: Mastercraft
Weight: .25 kg
Durability: 500/500
Traits: This wrought sigil depicts the ancient understanding of the balance between life and death, darkness and light, and the rest of the elements.
It almost felt as if it moved within his hand, its surface seeming to twist and writhe as a serpent would though it never loosed it tail and remained in the infinite twisting eight shape. He knew this was important. Between its aura of power and the trials he had gone through to retrieve it there was no way it wasn’t. The rest of the room, however, was empty. As he had lifted the sigil from its stand the four flows of light winked out and all of the columns and pillars around the edges retreated into the floor with a soft grinding sound. Lacking anything else to do Xavier returned to the pool room and paused noticing a faint light now shining from the other hall with the mechanism he had abandoned previously.
He hurried around the edge of the pool, noting briefly that when the crypt was pristine his visage in the water was returned to normal and his own unblemished face stared back up at him.
Stepping through the archway into the ossuary he noticed a significant change. Though the twin doors were still closed the rest of the room had a faint glow to it. The runes on the floor almost seemed backlit by the soft radiance. It turned out the noise he had heard was the room shifting and returning back to the position he had originally found it in.
He slipped the small item into his belt pouch and moved into the room once more. He began moving about the obelisk, shifting the rings to align the runes as he thought they should be paired. As each pair slid into place in the central ring they sank slightly with a small snick of sound, unable to be moved once more. Xavier slowed as he moved to the final pairing of Ren’talah and Sul’varis; Renewal and Rest were beneath his hands. He closed his eyes and gave a silent prayer to Danu that he was right and pulled the two tiles from their rings into the center one. They slid together with another snick and sunk into place. For several moments nothing happened then a soft voice filled the room. “Yn valithar si’vytha. Yn ren’talah si’vael.” Xavier sagged in relief mentally translating “In harmony, life flows. In renewal, spirit rises.”
The sound of stone grinding on stone filled the room and Xavier turned to find the two great doors parting slowly inward. A deep purple light poured forth from behind them and he beheld the heart of the crypt itself.
The room was massive in comparison to the rest of the rooms he had been in. It held one key feature, however, a central pillar stood of jet-black stone. Its sides were covered in a latticework of purple veins all rising to flow into the core imbedded in the top of the pillar. Having seen the core of the Life Ley Line, Xavier had no doubts that this was its counterpart, the Death Ley Line core. As he laid eyes on the core, he realized he was not done yet. Reaching the core would be no effortless walk as he beheld large swaths of the room bathed in that eerie purple light that had sapped his energy before. He could see no clear path through them and had a suspicion that being trapped, exhausted in one of them would be fatal.
Xavier nearly screamed in frustration. To be so close to his objective yet still unable to reach it was beyond aggravating. He moved to the doorway and leaned in as far as he dared and still able to avoid touching one of the patches of necrotic energy. He shifted to look to either side, searching for some way to advance. Failing to notice any sort of clue he groaned and started to stand upright once more when his eyes fell upon the pillar supporting the core once again. Even from the distance, he could faintly make out etchings of the ouroboros on its surface. He got a wild and somewhat reckless idea. Pulling the small sigil from his pouch, he held it forth and carefully advanced into the room. Gritting his teeth he gingerly stretched his arm towards the closest area saturated by the draining light. As soon as the sigil breached the edge of the light it faded from view leaving just the soft blue glow of the ever-present sconces behind.
Xavier could not help himself and he let out a small whoop of joy before he moved determinedly forward towards where the core rested. As he came up to the pillar the light in the room surged and the entire chamber was fully illuminated. It was only then that he spotted the small throne near the rear of the room. Atop which sat a perfectly preserved corpse. Xavier moved past the ley line core to study the corpse closer. It was that of an elderly human male. Robes hung ancient and fragile about his shoulders giving him an air and mien of authority. His hands rested on the arms of the throne gently and his head hung slightly, eyes closed as though he had sat upon it and fallen asleep, never to wake. Xavier knew the crypt, though he was sure it housed other dead as well, was designed for this long-deceased individual. He knelt reverently before the throne bowing his own head in silent homage to the dead before he rose and moved back to the ley line core. Placing his hand atop the purple glowing gem his vision went blank and he froze in place.
Inside Xavier’s mind time stood still. He found himself standing in a small rendition of the chamber he had been in. His hand was still on the gem atop the pillar and beyond that sat the throne, its occupant no longer bent and deceased. The seated individual raised his head and its eyes glowed with the purple of the ley line.
“By what right do you defile the sanctity of this crypt?” Its voice was thunderous and hollow at the same time. It filled Xavier’s senses completely nearly driving him to his knees.
“I… I…” He stammered trying to rally himself to face this being of great power who sat before him. “I come to awaken this ley line and restore its power to the Syr’Vailen” He finally forced through nearly paralyzed lips.
The being rose from its throne slowly and paced toward the entrapped man. Xavier found he could not lift his hand from the gem and panic began to rise within him. The being walked slowly around Xavier studying him with those glowing eyes before stopping in front of where Xavier stood trapped. “You bear the aura of Aelriva and the mark of the Ard'Maelor.” A slight smile turned up the edges of the being’s lips. “My name is Kintral Amerit, I was the first Ard’Maelor of the Sylmyrian Dominion. It has been millennia since I last beheld that mark on a new individual. Do you have the power to awaken the core young lord? It has faded to near extinction, and I can feel its corruption even through this tenuous bond with you.”
Xavier didn’t respond immediately. The question felt stilted to him as if his answer would set things into motion that could twist the outcome beyond his ability to control if even survive. He thought back to everything he had seen and been through in the crypt, every lesson pointing to balance. Lifting his eyes to the radiant purple orbs of Kintral he spoke softly. “I do not. But there must be a balance struck to stabilize it. Can you guide me towards what must be done?”
Kintral smiled genuinely at Xavier’s words and nodded. “Death requires death to energize it just as life requires life. The two cores must be balanced when they are revitalized, or one will overwhelm the other. I sense another returning to the life core, carrying the essence of life though weak to try and restore it. What would you sacrifice to this core in balance?”
Kintral’s gaze was all Xavier could see. He couldn’t turn away from the being now and felt trapped like a fly in amber. His mind raced as he struggled to find anything, think of anything that could be offered. Then he knew, but before he could speak Kintral did.
“Are you sure young lord? Your predecessors in the past would come here to speak with the dead and learn from their wisdom. The dead know many things, see many things, and hear many things. You could learn much and grow rapidly if you followed their path.”
Xavier swallowed hard, he could feel the power and knowledge radiating from the being before him and oh how he wanted to tap into that font but he nodded slowly. “I am sure, it is the only safe way to restore the core.”
Kintral bowed his head approvingly to the young lord as Xavier’s hand came free of the gem. Suddenly Xavier was back in the grand crypt room, his hand falling away from the core of the ley line. Purple light swelled within the room though its touch did not sap Xavier the way it previously had. The illumination drove all the shadows from the room and a tether of energy surged forth from the core and struck the corpse of Kintral where he sat atop the throne. The body slowly started to glow from within the light swelling and taking on the shape of the corpse until it shone with radiance for a brief moment and collapsed to dust.
The core of the ley line shone brightly before fading back to a soft steady glow. The rest of the crypt lit up as all the sconces flared back into life at once filling the halls with the gentle blue glow. Xavier knew, however, what was lost. He placed the sigil of balance into a small indentation in the pillar, the ornate symbol fusing in place and lighting with a soft purple radiance that slowly traversed the body of the dragon. Part of the balance was struck. Xavier walked slowly back toward the entrance of the crypt. The halls that once held visions, voices, and advice from the past were silent and empty. The dead were gone, sacrificed to power the ley line and weigh one side of the scales of balance.
You have completed a quest: Echoes of Eternity
Weakened and corrupted the core of the Ley Line of Death required sacrifice to restore its vitality. You were given a choice though unknowing of the consequences you sacrificed knowledge and power, the wisdom of the dead who had long advised your predecessors to the needs of the core choosing to forge ahead unguided as opposed to risking your own final death. Kintral seemed to approve of this choice before he vanished, a final guidance to a new lord. What will this choice do for your fledgling settlement, what was lost in this sacrifice? Only time will tell young lord. Remember choices have consequences even if they are never known.
Rewards: Purification and revitalization of the Death Ley Line. Access to Death Magic. +1000 Experience. A final piece of wisdom from the past.
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At the same time Xavier was working through the puzzles and meeting with the spirit of Kintral, Ella was rushing back to the center of the maze. She held the seed tightly to her chest in a hand still burning with the acrid sap of the corrupted tree, afraid to treat her wounds and lose the seed or be too late in returning to Emily.
She had managed to find a vine hanging down the side of the slope she had tumbled down. She slung her spear in its carrier alongside her bow before she wrapped her free hand in the vine’s length. Carefully pulled herself up the treacherous terrain, pausing to wedge herself against a rock or tree before shifting her grip further up the vine and continuing upwards. Rolling over the top of the slope she lay on her back briefly sucking in air as her body rebelled against the exhausting work. Her stamina slowly refilled and she pushed herself up to her feet and set off running again. She moved deliberately, feet retracing the path she had forged to avoid getting stuck in dead ends again or falling into one of the myriad environmental dangers that filled the maze.
Her memory served her truly well however and it was not the same hours her trip to the tree had been but a fraction of the time before she found her way back to the pillar and the life core.
Ella’s presence caused Valkra to bound to her feet and the cub's movement roused Emily from her slumber. Emerald glowing eyes opened and oriented on the woman as she drew to the side of the child where she rested. Kneeling, Ella held out her hand and carefully opened her damaged fingers to reveal the softly glowing seed cradled in her palm. Emily smiled warmly seeing the seed then her face took on the stoic mien from before and the resonant voice sounded from her lips once more. “The seed must be planted and nurtured for it to feed us. We did not know how weak it had become. The corruption was far greater than we suspected.” The voice softened a sad tone filling it as it spoke next. “The child will not survive the transition. The seed will need her vitality to survive and renew the core of life.”
“No,” Ella gasped, she had gone through too much to lose the child at the very end. Xavier and the villagers would never be able to accept that loss. “No, there is another way, I am certain of it.” She cupped the cheek of the girl and leaned closer resting her forehead against the girl’s. “Do not worry Emily. We promised we would get you home, Xavier and I both made that promise and we will not fail you.”
Rising to her feet she moved back towards the pillar that held the core. She found a small patch of rich earth near the base of it and dug her fingers into the soil turning over enough to make a sizable indentation into the earth. Gently she placed the seed into the bottom of the hole and covered it completely. As she finished, she received a prompt screen of her own. Looking past the edge of it towards Emily, sitting in the tree's roots and holding her soiled little teddy bear, Ella smiled warmly to the girl and made her choice.
The screen vanished from her view, and Ella collapsed atop the freshly turned earth. On the other side of the first level of the deeps, unseen in its sheath as Xavier was lost to his vision with Kintral, Vaeltheris surged in radiance briefly then faded, diminished from what it once was.
You have completed a quest: “The Seed of Renewal.”
Weakened and corrupted the core of the Ley Line of Life required sacrifice to restore its vitality. As you were given a choice so was your companion, Ella Bree. Her choice freed the child Emily from her fate but at what cost? Return to the Life Ley Line core to retrieve Emily and Ella Bree so you may complete Echoes of Innocence and Balance Restored.
Rewards: Purification and revitalization of the Life Ley Line Rescue of the missing child Emily. Access to Life Magic. +1000 Experience. Insight into the unknown.