Ascension Stories

[bsftcs]

A Heart’s Tale

Being an ascension story

In which we meet Stackman’s adventurers prior to their embarking on their most recent and much celebrated mission and in which the valkyrie to-be thwarts the most diabolical schemes and plans of both the League of Megalomaniacs and the entire Gael Serran pharmaceutical industry.

Having seen the look and heard the pleas of the tormented lich G’Ezzered Ra, that his heart be thrown in the black fire thus ending his ordeal which had been more than excruciating, the young paladin, touched to the core, had made a pledge to put an end to the peculiar man’s misery. It was her duty as a paladin to defend and help the noble and the pure of heart, and although the deeds of the lich had been far from noble, and although his heart (judging by the smell) was far from pure, she believed that he deserved peace, and she was going to give it to him.

So there she stood, surrounded by her brave and noble entourage, in deep thoughts atop a pyramid within a pyramid – a most demonic and obscure place in the deep underground, close to the molten lava lakes of the Isle of Sands. Her way to the depths and then to the top had been fraud with many dangers, and many more lay in wait for her. This was not her concern at the moment, however. She stood long and gazed at the putrid heart she was holding in her hand. It was still throbbing vibrantly – its Keith-Flack’s node indifferent, refusing in any way to even acknowledge the fact that the afflux of blood had long been cut off and that the heart itself had been pierced on the tray.

The elevator, which had brought the adventurers to the top of the small spire just underneath the ceiling of the pyramid, gave a clank, suddenly yanking the paladin out of her thoughts. She looked at her fellow companions looking almost as if she was in distress. She looked again at the heart pondering her dilemma while the monk and the warlock cooperated to finish off a flying demon imp who had just at that moment incidentally made his way to the top of the pyramid.

She had sworn to herself that she would help G’Ezerred Ra by destroying his heart thus staying true to her obligations as a paladin and as one who had sworn the Oath of the Mavin. But at the same time she knew that the oath was for all practical purposes null and void since the god who created the Gael Serran in the beginning of all times – one D.W.Bradley – had forgot to institute any consequences for breaking the oath. She looked at the Mavin which she, being the party leader, was carrying. The special blade was eerily aglow with the Black Fire. Formidable to look upon, but for most any purpose practically as worthless as a walking stick in comparison with the enchanted weapons she was also carrying.

But there were sinister forces about seeking to keep the heart intact. Take for example the League of Megalomaniacs. Of course leading forces within the League such as Scabban and Kol the Heretic had recently perished, but still the league was strong. And to outsiders it was impossible to know who was a member and who was not. The paladin suspected that leading forces within the League of Sorcery were playing a great role with the megalomaniacs, but she had no proof. (This was of course some time before Missy Hissy uncovered Sabastio’s dual role). Agents from the League of Megalomaniacs were probably this very minute searching for the lich’s heart. Disguised as Cet’s minions they were surely lurking somewhere hoping to claim the eternal heart which, considering the highly sophisticated transplantation techniques evolved in the Gael Serran in recent years, would render the League practically invincible.

And then there was the conspiracy involving the pharmaceutical industry. The manufacturers of the many potions scattered throughout the Gael Serran were also hoping to lay their hands on the heart before any others. The heart would be an invaluable asset in their research into the subject of immortality which would give the industry a tremendous advantage in the ever continuing race to produce the most sophisticated, state-of-the-art pharmaceuticals. Their research would probably eventually mean destroying the heart, but it would take time, and the heart would not be destroyed in the Black Fire thus possibly not putting the lich out of his misery. The paladin had received numerous offers from the industry offering her quite a considerable bribe should she be willing to retrieve the heart for them. She had turned down all offers even though she was tempted because any amount of gold pieces placed either on her bank account or in her inventory would not be reset by the pressing of the “Reset Adventure” button.

Then, of course, there was Cet. He certainly had the incentives to keep the lich alive. But the young paladin was in no way afraid of the obscure pharaoh whose head was the only remaining part of his body. In fact it was a ridiculous situation having a head who insisted that someone else’s heart should not be burned, and the paladin was in no way going to be influenced in her decision by his plans.

The final and least predictable factor she had to take into account in this dilemma was Stackman. The party’s tutelary patron and benefactor, about whom little was known since he would usually stay within his habitat at the Ironworks Forum and seldomly set foot on Gael Serran soil. What were his wishes? It was important to know since it was he upon whom their entire existence was dependent as he could easily wipe them out with the dreaded “format: C” command. The paladin knew there was a special role of valkyrie attainable. It was only attainable for characters who completed a special though unknown quest. She was pretty certain this was it. Perhaps Stackman wanted a valkyrie in his party… But then again: Perhaps not. And how could she be sure her own personal ambitions were not clouding her judgement. The paladin wavered for a bit. This was her dilemma: To destroy or not to destroy G’Ezerred Ra’s heart.

Suddenly a mellow look flashed across the young paladin’s face. She turned and jumped over the edge of the pyramid landing on the floor more then hundred metres below. The rest of the party followed. With their high athletics skills no more harm than the loss of one, perhaps two, hitpoints coming to them. The paladin led the party to the Black Fire, and a loud scream, almost as if from relief, was heard from G’Ezzered Ra as his heart was swallowed by the black fire. The lich slowly dissolved down to pixel level. For performing this deed the paladin would eventually be promoted to valkyrie upon visiting Sinsei Asami at the Bushi Dojo. She had made a brave and noble choice, and that had made her what she had become: The perfect leader for the perfect party.

Dubious critics would later claim that it was not the paladin (now valkyrie) who had made the actual decision rather than it was Stackman who had controlled her actions using some sort of keyboard. But that is a different story. And besides, those allegations are obviously so absurd that they are not worth commenting on.