Erastria - 10 years later
The broken husk of the once mighty Bastion of Khamiz’arq loomed over the ashen Rastern plains, the lands surrounding it still broken and dead after the forces of the Priestesses and the corrupted Taint had met and drenched the land in blood.
Allaith moved across the blasted plains carefully, sticking to the smaller piles of rubble and furrowed earth that dotted the landscape and yet were still large enough to hide her, her [sneak] and [quiet steps] skills synergising to make her as unobtrusive as a soft breeze. The smaller piles didn't have enough cover for her to move as unseen as she wanted and the bigger piles tended to hide predators that had a tendency to have big teeth and bigger bellies. The plains were blasted flat from spells, with only a few stunted trees here and there, somehow surviving in the lifeless dust. The danger came from all the craters and trenches that littered the whole area, creating hidey holes for any number of abominations.
She slipped silently into a ditch, deactivating both [sneak] and [quiet steps] with a small sigh of relief, the piled earth on one side of the trench showed that it was probably used to create a defensive wall and the charred and chewed bones piled in the corner indicated that it didn't serve its intended purpose very well.
She gingerly shifted a human skull out of the way as she settled in to watch the structure in front of her through a gap in the earthen wall, waiting for her [Guardian] to return. The mighty walls still loomed over the landscape even in their broken and battered state, the setting sun throwing deep shadows across the plains.
She took the small break to look over her skills, just to keep in mind the tools she had available to use.
“
Name
Race:
Class(es):
Skills:
Titles:
Allaith – (15 yrs.)
Elf
Thief(Lv. 11), Scout(Lv.6), Rogue(Lv.1)
[Guardian Link – lvl.3], [Sneak – lvl5], [Quiet steps – lvl 5], [Quick fingers – lvl.7], [Dash – lvl 4], [Cat’s lives (9/9) – lvl.MAX]
N/A
Skill name
Type
Description
[Guardian Link]
Rare/Racial
Creates link between a master and familiar allowing for communication between any two species and boosting some abilities.
[Sneak]
Common
Makes one unnoticeable and quieter.
[Quiet steps]
Uncommon
Makes less noise from walking on any surface
[Quick fingers]
Common
Fingers are more dextrous and can be manipulated faster and more efficiently.
[Dash]
Uncommon
Activates to allow a quick movement on all surfaces. (cannot be slowed when active)
[Cat’s lives (9/9) – lvl.MAX]
Epic
Heals one fully when on the verge of death. Activates automatically upon final breath and transports user to 7 metres above current location. (only open air is calculated, matter is not calculated as part of distance)
She loved the Epic skill she had received when she had merged her classes a few weeks ago. An Epic skill that had unlocked at max level! It was unbelievable, and more than made up for having two similar skills, [sneak] and [quiet steps] – though those two did synergise quite well. The church preached that the skills you received were based on how beloved you were by the Gods, but she personally thought it was just a random lottery, somewhat based on your actions and needs.
A shimmer in the air appeared over the wall of the bastion shooting upwards in an arc aiming for the elven woman. She drew her dagger out of her sheath slightly, her other hand holding her necklace, watching as her friend flew towards her…well it could be her friend. The problem was these lands had so much taint on it that it could easily be a figment of her imagination or something a lot more vicious that she didn't really want to think about.
As he grew closer she signalled at him using a dim orb on her necklace to which he flashed back a bright purple proving his identity. The coloured ball of gas landed in front of her, compacting until it looked like a slightly hazy figure of an old man.
“What's the inside look like, then?” Asked Allaith, keeping her voice low and aimed towards the side of the wall she was hiding behind so the noise wouldn't carry across the silent plain.
“It looks clear enough in the first few rooms though I dared not go any further in. There's not much cover and the Taint is much too thick for me to keep my gaseous form without having it disperse me.” The familiar replied.
The elf looked again at the structure, wondering if it was worth the risk to go inside a structure that probably still had demons in it just for the sake of her reputation. But the potential gold, of course, was the thing that cinched the deal. Most other treasure hunters feared the Taint too much to risk going inside the Cursed Bastion.
She got up and activated both [sneak] and [quiet steps] as she used [dash] to dart across the short gap that separated her from the walls, keeping low as to not attract attention. It was all well and good relying on [skills] but she made sure to keep good habits for whenever she ran out of the spiritual energy required to keep those [skills] active. She slowly moved to a gap that had been melted through the walls and cautiously snuck in.
The courtyard was a mess of broken armour, gnawed bones and deep gouges filled with rubble. A seemingly empty suit of armour stood on top of a massive chunk of rock that the siege trebuchets had fired in. It had no helmet and an entire leg was missing, yet it stood in a heroic pose overlooking the long abandoned battlefield, holding a mighty zweihander up in defiance of the heavens.
A sudden blue spark erupted from it, sizzling sluggishly through the air causing the elven thief to scurry back behind the wall, peeking around it to check if it had moved. She let out a sigh of relief when it hadn’t made any moves after a full minute.
“Aeron, what the burning bush is that?!” she hissed at the familiar.
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“No idea, Mistress.” He muttered back fearfully, peeking around from behind her head where he had hidden when the armour had moved. He activated [Truesight] to take a better look at it “I think it might just be some lingering enchantment”
She nodded in response, taking a closer look at it. It looked to be in good condition, if you looked past the missing pieces and obvious enchantment malfunction. She probably wouldn’t be able to sell the armour as it was but enchantable material was still valuable.
She took another look around the courtyard, but there were no other pieces that looked to be as salvageable as that one. The rest seemed to be run of the mill armour, if a little higher quality than the norm. It was a shame that she had a limited weight that she could take with her. She’d have to come back for it on a second trip.
The armour she wanted was in a pretty awkward place to get to seeing as the chunk of rock was easily as tall as her and smack dab in the middle of the courtyard. She made a note to grab it on the way out. Aeron, meanwhile, was keeping an eye on the surroundings. He tapped her on the shoulder, getting her attention away from her looting scheming. “We should get moving, things are starting to notice us” he said, pointing at the crows that had started circling above them, disturbingly silent.
She nodded in agreement and crept in. The convenient chunks of trebuchet ammunition lying around the ruined fortress did a good job of providing cover as she made her way to the nearest building.
The squat structure that she headed towards looked like it had performed the role of a kitchen in its previous life, if the number of chimneys and convenient access to the well was any indication.
Aeron directed her towards the roof, flying in front of her, she only had [sneak] active now to conserve her energy, she easily scaled the wall of the building and headed to the hole in the roof. A quick glance inside showed it was empty and Aeron phased into a wispy gaseous form and scouted around before waving her in. A quick look around showed that the kitchen was trashed and empty of anything even vaguely valuable. Dim light shone through the crack in the walls and roof, though it looked to get darker deeper in.
This first foray into the Bastion was in the hopes of getting the juiciest loot first. Mostly due to the fact that she needed the money quick, and second because it was inevitable that others would learn of her new looting site soon enough, gain courage since she had gotten out alive, and steal her loot.
She headed inwards towards the centre of the structure where the Head Priestesses rooms were. This was where the best loot should be considering that both forces were wiped out and the land left to fester when external issues started cropping up.
The main hallways were narrow and made to be defensible, just wide enough to let two people walk comfortably, or wide enough to let four people stand and defend side by side. The hallways also sloped upwards creating another advantage to the defenders. The lighting came from enchanted mirrors on the ceiling that reflected the light from the Sun no matter the time of day or night, originally a symbol of purity for the Bastion. Now, the mirrors were cracked, barely lighting up the hallways, though still somehow working despite that fact. Allaith would have tried to loot them as well, but they were worthless without the enchanted rock the Bastion was made of.
All the rooms to the sides only had the one entrance, with steps leading down to the ones below the level of the ascending corridor. Zero consideration was given to comfort or even utility, the entire design was for defence. The hallways spiralled gently upwards rather than have any stairs allowing for massive stone balls to be rolled down crushing all entering from below. She walked past one such gruesome example as she made her way ever inwards, more cautiously than ever. The bones littering the hallway had deep tooth marks on them.
They entered through a door that she hoped was the head priestesses room. It was slightly larger than the other ones that she had already passed, though this was not really any indication of status with the Priestesses who were notoriously single minded in their pursuit of cleansing the world of taint, though she figured a head priestess had a need to have more space for hosting visitors.
The room was disappointingly bare and not at all what she had been hoping for when she took such a risky and dangerous gamble. There was a simple looking door on the far wall, hidden behind a small curtain that Aeron found to have some faint enchantments on it. The room beyond was much more to her tastes, the luxury was far beyond anything else she had seen thus far. The thick lush carpet swallowed her boots, and the everlasting flames in the sconces softly lit a warm, wood panelled room. The far side had some cabinets that she made her way towards. “Score!” she crowed happily as she uncovered several pouches stuffed full of platinum coins, the highest currency in circulation. Her greed activated she looked around for more. “Now, Aeron, what type of rich person just leaves so much coin lying around?”
“I don’t know, one who doesn’t find them valuable?”
“Exactly, my dear familiar!” she said excitedly, “now where would someone hide their true valuables in this room? And more importantly; how valuable would these valuables be?”
She looked around more carefully, finally noticing a small patch of carpet that looked to be ever so slightly fainter than the gleaming lustre of the carpet surrounding it.
She made her way to that patch of carpet and started looking around,
Aeron flying higher than her and looking at the walls while she searched the floor for any evidence of hidden trapdoors. It was Aeron who found something first. He knocked on a single panel of wood which made a solid think sound and then knocked the one next to it which sounded hollow.
“You found it! good work Aeron!” she praised making her way to the second panel he had knocked on. But before she could touch it he stopped her. “I think it’s a trap. I can sense an enchantment on it. Allow me to concentrate” he phased his hand into the wood, his little face scrunched in concentration, as he activated [Truesight]. “Yes, a neat little enchantment, but I saw straight though it” he preened. “It seems that the noise is transferred so that the solid sound comes from the hollow space and vice versa.”
“Good catch”
They popped open the hidden cache surprisingly easily.
A small inconspicuous little black box lay there innocently. She looked disappointedly at it and turned away looking to see if there was anything else there was that she could loot.
Aeron stared uncomprehendingly at his mistress as she didn’t even peek at the hidden box.
“So…are you going to open it then?”
“Huh? Why would I open it? It’s obviously worthless” she waved him away.
“Let’s see if there’s anything else we can loot. You go that way.”
“But it was hidden! Shouldn’t you at least try to open it?” he exclaimed flying after her. “It’s probably just charmed to look inconspicuous, you should at least open it.”
She scrunched her forehead in confusion as the words made their way to mind. She shook her head to clear it and turned around going back to the box. She stared at it for a while, not really wanting to open it, in fact she just wanted to close the hidden cache back up and leave it.
Aeron prodded her cheek, wondering why she had stopped, just staring.
“Uh, Mistress… are you okay?”
She snapped out of her funk and threw the lid of the box open without thinking of anything. the quick action opened the box with no resistance, the lock seemed to have not been locked.
It had three small orbs inside it, two were dull grey, while the third was a bright gleaming grey-blue colour.
She picked up the shiny one and held it closer to her face, wondering what it was. ”What do you think this is, Aeron?” she asked.
He took it off her and inspected it closely, the orb was the size of her fist and looked comically large in his hands, but he seemed to have no problems holding it as he pressed his face into it, looking into it.
“It looks to be some sort of modified mana stone, maybe some sort of soul trapper?” he said, thinking out loud, “we probably could sell it to the temples” he said, anticipating her next question. “They would pay a lot to know what the Taint is up to, and this could be a clue. They might even have a way to read the soul inside.”
She stuffed the hopefully precious orbs into her little bag, making sure to put it on top of the gold she had found so the fragile seeming orbs wouldn’t get crushed. They had to leave the box behind as it was hard to resist the temptation to just dump it as useless, hopefully she would be able to get some enchantment cancelling bags to hold it so she could loot it next time. She was sure it wouldn’t go for much money, being so ordinary.
“I think we are done here, now. Let’s get out, grab the armour from outside and leave. Hopefully we can keep this quiet so others don’t come and loot it. Maybe from this haul we get enough so next time we can rent some golems to do the heavy lifting and grab all the armour lying around.”
They moved out of the fancy room moving into the big office. It was especially jarring going from the softly lit extravagance of the carpeted room into the dark ruins of the old building. As she moved towards the entrance, the shadows seemed somehow darker, deeper, and more menacing.
“Ooh, mistress, look, I found something!” Aeron, whispered excitedly from where he had been scouting ahead. He was looking at a chunk of metal that had somehow managed to imbed itself into the wall.
She moved closer to see what it was, the darkening corridors making the shadows deeper as the sun set outside, the enchanted mirror system losing the power producing the light. It looked to be a gauntlet of some sort, nothing special to her eyes, though by the excitement evident on Aeron’s face it was much more special to his eyes that could see magic. “What is it, then?” She asked expectantly, hoping it was going to be something good. So far the loot had been good, but nothing so spectacular as to make up for the risk she had taken, depending on how much those weird orbs would go for and the armour outside was just as risky depending on the faulty enchantments in it.
Aeron started to remove the gauntlet from the wall, reaching in with his hand slowly turning misty, the now gaseous hand easily flowing around the small gaps around the gauntlet and he pulled it out with a small grunt. He looked a little more transparent than before, but he held the gauntlet out proudly. Allaith grabbed it and looked it over, by the way the light shone off the shiny surface after almost a decade it could be little else apart from Mithril. One of the most sought after materials in the world.
She held the gauntlet that Aeron handed to her, trying to shift to into better light, so she could look at it properly. It was a finely crafted piece of work, as most mithril objects were, due to the fact only high levelled crafters could work with it. It was a simple looking gauntlet, all things considered, smooth and without any other decoration than the simple elegance of the craftsmanship. Every joint was smooth and without any gaps. This simple piece was more than worth the risk of coming all the way here. She opened her bag to put the piece inside, carefully lifting the orbs out so that the weight of the gauntlet wouldn’t crush them by mistake. She should really try and find another box to put these orbs in, surely there was one lying around here somewhere…
BANG
The world spun as she suddenly flew through the air, arms swinging around wildly as her body automatically tried to stop her flight in vain. She crashed suddenly into the wall, having been thrown three metres across the corridor into the wall. Her vision had blurred from the impact, her leather hood having done little to blunt the knock to the head. She saw what looked to be a squid advancing on her, it’s luminescent tentacles somehow causing it to blur in the darkness, rather than illuminate it.
She vaguely wondered how she could have missed the damned thing as it was glowing bright enough to put the moons to shame. As her vision cleared, she saw it stalking forward towards her more cautiously than before, obviously wondering how the scrawny looking meat sack had survived its initial attack. Aeron weakly popped into existence next to Allaith, his form nearly transparent from the energy expenditure of activating [Gaseous Barrier] protecting Allaith from the creatures attack and subsequent collision with the wall.
“RUN!” he screamed frantically at Allaith as he tried to pull her uncomprehending body up from the floor, “It’s a Demon! We need to leave, now!” The glowing squid slowly advanced, slowly becoming brighter as it gauged the threat level. Aeron’s frantic pleas finally made their way through to Allaith, and she reacted by instinctively throwing the stone that was in her hand at the monster, before scrabbling to her feet and running.
The blue orb that had been thrown at the monster sailed lazily through the air, time mattering little for such a thing, the unique sensation woke up the soul that had been trapped inside of it, which luxuriated in the new experience that had come to it after so long of sitting in a box. Then it hit the monster, the sudden deceleration and resulting force cracked open the soul storage device. The ensuing explosion ripped apart the flesh of the monster, sending chunks of its body flying through the air and allowed the soul to escape.