Chapter 11: Three Lord's Behest
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We must always be mindful that no matter how powerful we grow, there are things in the world that are stronger still. Only through hard training and experience could we become greater than we were before. After another year of harsh study and training with the Guild, we became stronger and our magic users learned yet more spells.
Clerical Spells: Level 6
6-1: Moon Ray - The beneficient and mysterious powers of the stars above Varn is focused into a glowing aura that damages each enemy by 3-30 points. At the same time, this same aura heals every party member by 3-30 points. Were it not for the lame Outdoor-Only restriction, this would be one of the greatest spells in the game. (Costs 6 SP + 4 Gems)
6-2: Raise Dead - Although normally a task better left to the hands of groups of skilled healers at a Temple, a powerful enough cleric can lay on hands and restore life to the recently deceased by themselves. There is risk, however. In the remote chance the spell fails, the Almighty backlash will reduce the body to ashes, Eradicating that character. (Costs 6 SP + 4 Gems)
6-3: Rejuvenate - The magic of rejuvenation is the secret to the long reigns of Varn's lords. With this magic, a cleric can reverse the harsh effects of aging--both natural and unnatural, trimming 1-10 years of age from a person's body, down to 18 minimum. In the event of failure, it has the opposite effect, aging them 1-10 years prematurely. (Costs 6 SP + 4 Gems)
6-4: Stone to Flesh - Reverses the curse of living stone, restoring petrified allies to health. (Costs 6 SP + 4 Gems)
6-5: Town Portal - Conjures a portal to any one of the five cities on Varn. Works even within dungeons, which makes it a little less unwieldy than the combination of Surfacing and Flying. (Costs 6 SP + 4 Gems)
Sorceror Spells: Level 6
6-1: Dancing Sword- Conjures an ethereal blade that cuts and slices its way through all enemies, dealing 1-30 damage each. The damage can not be minimized by any resistances, however there is still a remote chance that an enemy may dodge it. A nicer mass-attack spell than Moon Ray, since it doesn't have the Outdoor-Only restriction. (Costs 6 SP + 4 Gems)
6-2: Disintegration- A spell of eradication disrupts the bonds that hold an enemy together, reducing them to ashes in an instant. This spell is at times the greatest spell in the game and at other times the worst. It seems to have a low chance of hitting overall, on the order of about 20 percent for me. On the other hand, there are -no- enemies in the game immune to it. If it connects, it'll destroy a Battle Rat as easily as Lord Archer. (Costs 6 SP + 4 Gems)
6-3: Etherealize- The party is dispersed into an incorporeal form and moves one square forward before materializing. The short distance is outweighed by it's utility. Just about any locked door or magic barrier in the game can be bypassed by this spell, making it more useful in those situations than teleporting. (Costs 6 SP + 4 Gems)
6-4: Protection from Magic- Increases resistance to all manner of magic until the party next rests. Useful for avoiding sleep and paralyze spells. (Costs 6 SP + 4 Gems)
6-5: Recharge Item- Restores 1-4 charges to any magic item with a finite number of 'uses' in your inventory..whether it's a skill potion, cactus nectar, magic herbs, or anything of that sort. There is a remote chance that the item will be destroyed instead. (Costs 6 SP + 4 Gems)
We had been to see Lord Hacker early on in our quest. Residing in his halls at Blackridge South, Lord Hacker was making a mysterious potion and refused to disclose its effects to the rest of the wizarding world. Such forays into secretive magic could only be the sign of experiments with forbidden powers.
We cared little. The idea of a mere potion, no matter its power, causing great threat to Varn was unlikely. When last we had contact with him, he had requested a specimen of Belladonna, which we had no trouble locating now that we were well-travelled between the five cities.
After these more simple ingredients, Lord Hacker's requests became increasingly complex. Next, he wanted the head of a Medusa, the eye of a Wyvern, and the tooth of a Dragon. In turn, Faulkner was persuaded to part with each of these grisly trophies he had stashed away in our many quests. Each of them were accepted greedily by Hacker, who measured out careful bits of them to add to the smoking broth in the cauldron while his alchemists stirred it carefully. Finally, he requested one final ingredient--the ring of Okrim the master wizard.
I was hesitant to part with it. I had, after all, been eradicated to dust and revived to gain possession of it. However, my brother Faulkner urged me to give it up. He told me that I was mighty enough without such silly trinkets. How could I not be swayed by an argument like that?
Taking my hard-won ring from me, Hacker stirred it carefully with a sample of the murky liquid from the cauldron--it sputtered and smoked...slowly, the ring dissolved into it, and finally--the churning liquid came to a standstill.
Hacker threw back his head and cackled with insane glee. Finally, his brew was complete! He had no further use for us and gave us one final reward of Experience before sending us away and telling us to not bother him again.
Ungrateful madman. All that work, and in the end he had acquired nothing in the way of clues for our search for the Inner Sanctum.
Indeed, all the Lords' quests reward you only in XP points. Visiting Hacker again after his quest chain is complete results in him taking all of your items and casting you into "the pit of peril", which teleports you into one of the lower levels of Castle Dragadune. A deadly place to wind up trapped if you are low level.
Here, Lord Inspectron ruled and held a keen interest in exploration and information. He fancied himself as the next Corak and was seeking explorers to help him chart out Varn's landscape.
He inquired first about the Quivering Forest, located just below his castle here in B1, and asked about the wizard's lair there. We described in great detail what we found in Okrim's lair and how the wizard had since been slain by our hand.
As we described our journey's around Varn he was taken by our description of Blythe's Peak in the sea to the southwest, where from that great vantage we could see many important landmarks in the nearby sectors. He rewarded us handsomely for it and vowed to someday construct a lookout there.
He was curious about the nomads that wandered the desert to the east, wondering what they traded from their trading post. We delivered to Inspectron a jug of the cactus nectar we had received from them and described it's life-giving properties that could sustain such people even out in the hot sands.
His curiosity remained on the eastern desert awhile longer. When we talked of the undead town of Dusk, he was eager to hear about this old birthplace of the longlost hero Ozkar, and was delighted to hear about the shrine we had discovered there for him. He next wanted to know if the decrepit castle Dragadune still stood and if the fabled fountain within still ran. We had not yet seen the fountain personally, but he was satisfied enough that the castle still remained to be explored.
Finally, when we discussed the strongholds we had seen, he took a keen interest in the Gray Minotaur's stronghold in the enchanted forest, where he had heard of a mysterious "Riddle of the Ruby". When we described finding the hidden entrance with the ruby whistle and assaulting the gray minotaur at the top, he was satisfied and rewarded us handsomely.
All the while as we talked, scribes numbering in the dozens were recording all of our answers and observations. In the end, I feel Lord Inspectron learned much more from us than we did from him. Yet he was not inhospitable like Lord Hacker. Regrettably, he had no information to give us about the Inner Sanctum. In truth, he admitted, he wasn't sure it actually existed. But bade us visit Castle White Wolf to see the last regnal lord, Lord Ironfist.
He was known to be impatient and to-the-point. At times with a reputation for being cruel, although at other times people were thankful he kept some of the fiercer greater demons and devils from making their home in the sector. The Queen Succubus of Portsmith excepted, of course.
His chief concern was with pursuing the schemes and plots that would strengthen his own ends. Right away, he desired information on two possible threats to his rule. He wanted to know the location of Lord Archer's lair, which we freely gave to him since we had already had our fill of that awful place. Next, he wanted to know the location of the exiled Lord Kilburn.
Sam was hesitant to reveal the location of Kilburn, for fear that Ironfist wished harm upon him. However, the rest of us convinced him that Kilburn was more than familiar enough with Varn to hide himself away whenever he wanted. We gave up the area we had last seen him near the Wyvern Peaks, where he had given us his map of the desert.
Next, we wanted to know what was afflicting the town of Portsmith, for the news of the disappearance of the menfolk there had disturbed him. When we described our horror at discovering a succubus queen was ruling the city, Ironfist only nodded and folded his fingers across his lap as if pondering this new turn of events deeply. Whatever his plots, he did not reveal them to us.
He asked about the buried treasure of the long-dead pirates that roamed the seas. We showed him the treasure maps we had acquired from the lone hermit and described the gold and gems we found buried in the A1 sector. He did not ask to see the treasure for himself but took us at our word.
He smiled with glee at our tale of discovering the shipwreck of the Jolly Raven and laying to rest the undead pirates of the ghost ship Anarchist. Such a display of fortitude pleased him.
Lastly, he asked us to defeat the Raven's Lair stronghold. And this we claimed our success in. For although Lord Archer and his entourage were too dangerous for us to combat ourselves, we had in fact succeeded in storming and plundering the rest of their lair and it was unlikely they would remain so long as their secret hideout was revealed so.
At this, he was satisfied and rewarded us with a blessing of experience. Like the two other lords, we came out on the better end of our engagement. Thus, we had finished meeting with each of the regional lords, and among them nobody had any clues as to where we should finish searching for the Sanctum.
We were starting to reach the end of our rope. And more than once, we had to gather as a group and discuss the possibility that the Inner Sanctum did not truly exist.
Such defeatist thought though could not be convincingly carried long though. There were still a few corners of Varn we had not yet explored. In the far northwest of A1, the mountainous peaks still challenged us and we had not explored the castle we could barely glimpse on the horizon there. To the east, we still had not yet explored the desert sands.
The desert, it seemed, was our next destination. For we already had our map in hand. It was, after all, what Lord Kilburn had asked of us. To explore the desert. To report our findings to the other Lords. To make them understand. But understand what? What was it that Lord Kilburn saw out there when Alamar suddenly (allegedly) ravaged Dragadune and Dusk? What was it that Corak saw when he travel led there himself and rediscovered the place?
We purchased some extra supplies to trade with the nomads and rested for the night. Tomorrow, we would find out.
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