Stackman's Adventures (Chapter six)

[bsftcs]

The Mastermind Behind

Being the sixth chapter of Stackman’s adventures

In which the assassin makes a good impression on a certain young lady and in which the party turns to graverobbery.

Stepping into the next room the party encountered a grotesquely disfigured person. It was the missing wizard Scabban, and it was apparent that he was ill. Very ill. And not just physically. He told the party of his experiments with the dead and of the four apprentices that had helped him. The zenmaster vividly recalled how he had fried the apprentices at Toad Village. Having talked with Scabban their quest to find him was complete. Having not yet sworn any oath to persevere and not to conquer (not that it would matter anyway) the party deemed it safe to follow an old Forum tradition that would give the party experience points and rid the Gael Serran of another meglomaniac (as stated by, among many others, Legendary Wyvern on Page two of the Best Tips (reply named “Here's a quick shortcut to NPC discussions”)). In relation to the “Scabban” quest given by Roendalf, though, disposing of Scabban would be a superfluous action since the quest had already been carried out by uttering the word “cure”, and as stated by many distinguished members of the Forum: Killing the trigger triggers the action thus triggering the completion twice. The warlock gave the Scabban a taste of the firestorm spell anyway, and soon the flesh and mud constituting the wizard’s body was seeping through the floor planks.

Behind the spot where Scabban had stood another elusive lever was placed. Pulling the lever retracted the bars from the sewer opening below. Plunging into the surprisingly transparent waters the party started to swim through the sewage drain. Eventually they wound up in a long corridor with four gates above which inscriptions revealed the fact that they were tombs of mighty warriors. Opposite one of the tombs lights and humming emanating from a window disclosed the fact that they were back at Rethpian’s chamber.

Diving into the waters of the sewer the barbarian soon recovered Rethpian’s lost key, and pulling yet more elusive levers next to the closed grates that had previously barred their way, the passage was made clear to the room with the pool of water just outside Rethpian’s room. The party had finally made their way back almost to the entrance.

The party now went to investigate the tombs. Unlocking the tomb to the north using Rethpian’s key, the party came upon the tomb of Arthos. By the withered bones of the warrior’s body the party found a crusader helmet. The west tomb was the tomb of Mastus. Here the party found a dragon shield and the fabled Sword of Mastus that Smitty had sent them out to retrieve. In the tomb to the south a group of crypt bats inhabited the tomb of the unknown warrior resting there. Among those of his belongings that went to the grave with him an ankh was pulled from a treasure chest. His skull also lay there.

Only one tomb remained: The tomb of Nivius, the tomb Gareth had urged them to seek out. In the dim light pouring into the tomb, the party saw a fluttering figure inside. The Spirit of Nivius it was. The spirit of the old warrior told the party of the sacred oath, and soon they had pledged the oath. The Signet of the Mavin was recovered from swaddled body. The first major step in the journey had been taken, and now began the next.

Stepping outside the crypt the adventurers took a deep breath of the fresh air. It was pitch black and rainfall soaked the party on their way back to Valeia through the darkened woods. Encountering only a few randomly spawning trolls they made it back to Valeia and lodged at the inn for the remains of the night. The next morning the party went to the armoury and delivered to Smitty the Sword of Mastus. This was the first quest involving retrieving a quest item, and the party now had the opportunity to exploit the quest item bug and keep the item while still getting credits for the quest (as explained by legendary Sazerac on Page two of the Best Tips (reply named “Saving Quest Items”). Thus ended the third and last quest given by the Warrior’s Guild of Valeia. The party then went to the temple and delivered the Ring of Saints, or that is to say: Formally they did. Here they also exploited the quest item bug. Thus ended the third and last quest given by the Priest Guild of Valeia. In the Wizard’s guild they received their reward for completing the Scabban quest and undertook the “kill Tevik Teporn” quest. Thus ended the first of three quests given by the Wizard’s Guild of Valeia.

Meeting with Sir Elgar at the town hall, the valkyrie handed over quite a number of skulls almost equalling the collection of the former leader of the Cambodian Khmer Rouge, Pol Pot. Although this was an ongoing quest in the sense that they could always return with more skulls, this was formally the conclusion of the first quest given by Sir Elgar, since it sparked off his giving them another quest: The “kill Juba Thobers” quest.

The party set off again riding the horse they had found by the wrecked cart. The horses of the Gael Serran are a particularly sturdy breed. They can carry six persons on their back at the same time without so much as riding slower than they would have with just one. They must also have gills, although no noe has been able to locate those, since they can stay indefinitely under water without drowning making them particularly suited for water polo. First they went back to the mill to revisit Kerielle. The assassin in particular had been looking forward to this meeting. So much even that he forgot to decloak. This did not matter, however, since friendly NPCs react to the character’s proximity. (Although some would argue they have thermal vision).

Taking off his cowl the assassin walked up to the young woman and produced from his pocket Algamesh’s necklace. He gave the necklace to Kerielle and she stood silent quivering for a moment. Then she burst into tears and embraced the assassin. The assassin calmly patted her back while her tears ran down her cheek, further down the assassin’s neck and underneath his Shitagi +14. When her crying had stopped Kerielle reached into her pocket and produced a small bottle of elixir which she gave to the assassin and urged him to approach the Serpent Temple with care.

The necklace could be purchased or pickpocketed from Kerielle again. Either for keeping for its effects or for giving back to her producing even more potions (as explained by legendary Bungleau on Page seven of the Best Tips). It could also have been sold to her not making her joy of receiving it any less. It could even have been sold to her at a higher price than one could have bought it back and furthermore sparking off her giving away another potion thus creating an infinite money-making machine (as is also the case with a number of other objects in the game such as certain arrows and bolts as explained by Ziggy on Page five of the Best Tips). But the assassin had no need to do so, and he certainly had no intentions of doing it. Knowing that the valkyrie already had more potions from previous games, he kept the small flask as a reminder of the beautiful Kerielle. Thus ended the fourth out of seven small quests given by NPCs in the Wilderness of Valeia.

Soon the party broke up once again waving goodbye to Kerielle. She was soon hidden from view and the party walked north following Snake River once again. The assassin walked in his own thoughts for the rest of the day occasionally fingering the small flask. He mostly stayed cloaked.

By nightfall the party camped in the forest and dined. Underneath a cloudy sky, in the open air, the bard struck his lute of tranquility and sang to the delight of the others. Suddenly a figure came out of the woods and joined the six adventurers by the fire. It was Stackman. “So! That was your first dungeon this time around!”, he said. “Yes it was, and how did we do?”, the valkyrie asked, hoping he would shed more light on the relation between their adventures and the celestial Forum. “Actually not bad”, said Stackman, “I have received many positive responses concerning your exploits”. The valkyrie’s heart throbbed. “So that means the deities at the Forum get to know about us?”. “Yes”, answered Stackman, “I posted your most recent adventures just this evening. I would have posted them earlier, but apparently Ziroc was online making a few corrections, so I could not enter the Forum”.

Being the most well versed in ancient Gael Serran mythology, the barbarian and the warlock looked up startled hearing the name Ziroc. They recognized this name as being the Gael Serran equivalent of the Greek Chronos. It was a deity who rarely interfered with the world of men, and played no major role in everyday life at the Forum, but it was he whose skills kept everything, even time itself running. Knowing that if Stackman knew of Ziroc, and if the Forum would somehow bring them in connection with Ziroc, this was much bigger than they had originally thought. This was incomprehensible. Agitated they all found it very hard to sleep that night.

NPCs encountered:

Scabban reacts to following words:

Cemetery, Graveyard, Crypt, Asylum, Scabban, Cet, Sickness, Cure, Experiments, Contagion, Apprentices, Mavin, Anephas, Kerah, Dark Lord, Pharaoh.

With “cure” being the word that triggers the completion of the quest.

The Spirit of Nivius reacts to following words:

Ishad N’ha, Crypt, Nivius, Cet, Sickness, Mavin, Anephas, Kerah, Sacred Oath, Watcher, Holy Signet, Destiny, Oath, Fate Gael Serran.

(These words can only be said if one declines to swear the oath right away. The words “oath” and “sacred oath” will once more bring Nivius to ask one to pledge the oath).

[whiteknight]

....what can I say...to be one of your characters right now would be so cool..your story telling is brilliant,tranlating from game into an adventure is a blast seeing as I know exactly where you are and the characters you encounter...as you storm ahead ridding gael serran of it's unwanted fiends with your band of kick-butt adventurers you will pass my weary band of adventurers as I am on my way to the temple as well(I will explain soon)..keep the fingers typing and the adventure hot and strong....

p.s....does valkyrie date ...my dwarf needs date to the ish'na ..kick the bard dance .... [img]smile.gif[/img]


whiteknight

[bsftcs]

I hate to tell you this, but on previous occasions she and the bard have had something going. Do not be surprised if this little known background story somehow finds its way into the adventures. [img]graemlins/hehe.gif[/img]

Oh, and thank you for your kind praise of my story. That goes to all of you out there. I really appreciate the positive responses I have received.

[ 07-21-2003, 11:58 AM: Message edited by: bsftcs ]