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Old 01-02-2004, 12:32 AM   #1
Bungleau
40th Level Warrior
 

Join Date: October 29, 2001
Location: Western Wilds of Michigan
Posts: 11,752
While in Brimloch Roon, Sensei Asami stood in amazement at Missy’s collection of the four Tomes of Creation, and offered to train her as a Zenmaster. While she’d been an assassin far longer than many who have plied that trade, Missy felt ready for a change, for a different purpose in life, and accepted. After the usual few minutes of practice, she was soon fairly skilled, and returned to the pyramid.

She soon passed the lich again, who merely raised his head and cackled. A part of her felt no pity for him, but her recent passage as a zenmaster helped her realize that life truly is a circle, and all that one does comes back... again and again. Ending the lich’s misery would change her own karma for the better, or at least that’s what she thought. Ultimately, time would tell.

She swept past, a woman on a mission: finding the heart and finding out the more about this winged mermaid who plotted to have her killed before she was born.

Stone fiends, ice fiends, and tiny fire fiends blocked her way more than once, but they fell to a stroke or two of her blade. The treasure they dropped was worth nothing to her, and she left it behind. She soon rounded a corner, beset by a demon lord who sought to curry favor with Cet... in short order, he was currying naught but a place to rest up before his next life began.

Heading again, she soon found herself at an inner pyramid... a stack within the stack. Gazing up, she saw that it reached deep within the heights of the pyramid... if she saw Stackman again, she’d mention this wonder of wonders. She decided that the best way to proceed would be to head to the top of this inner pyramid, and then work her way down. Her ears detected the sound of stone rubbing against stone, a grinding sound that seemed to resonate through the chamber.

Dispatching a pair of pit fiends and a mummy who had wandered across her path, she began wandering around in search of the source of the noise. She soon narrowed the grinding down to a small area, but elevated higher than she could reach. She realized with a smirk that the fabled Stackman would have saved some of his adversaries, to be stacked and raised as a primitive ladder, but she had no such patience... and an appetite for the unusual.

She circled around, eliminating fiend after fiend and climbing on narrow ledge after fiery lava bowl, until she found herself across from the area where the grinding was coming from. Reciting the mystical mantra of “Save early, save often” yet again, she coiled and leapt out towards the wall on the other side, landing with cat-like agility.

Searching around, she saw nothing but a wall of stone. The noise seemed to come from there. Approaching, she saw that it was in fact moving... when it arrived, she stepped forward gingerly and rode it to the top, where she saw a platform and stepped off. As the giant wall dropped back down, she reflected for a moment... it was similar to the giant elevator she’d seen in the area underneath Anephas’ Shrine. Perhaps the same architect was responsible for both of them.

Another wall slid down, and she realized that it was a double-elevator. Jumping forward, she missed her opportunity as the second lift went upwards. Waiting a couple of minutes, it returned and she hopped on.

As the elevator reached its zenith, she stepped forward and saw a raised platform with a small dish on it. Just the place to store a heart, she thought, and stepped forward...

... to a blinding flash of magic and swirling steel! Cursing her own foolishness at being so caught up in her goal that she forgot the world around her, Missy rolled forward and to the side in one of the new moves she’d learned from Sensei Asami. The magic just bounced off harmlessly, thanks in part to Jathil’s Gezurite mind tricks and the protective enchantments she’d added to her jewelry. As she prepared to lay waste to the enemy that attacked her, a voice bellowed out from the shadows.

“HOLD!”

Missy stopped for a moment, calling on the assassin’s tricks of hiding in the shadows while her eyes adjusted. She saw the Great Dane in front of her, the giant barbarian who was the lead meat shield for Stackman’s group of adventurers. Swiveling her head, she saw the rest of the Danes.

“We meet again,” said Oxy Dane-t, the assassin. His hands were never clearly in sight, but she recognized their placement near sources of hidden weapons.

“So we do,” said Missy, standing up and sheathing her blade quite visibly. No sense in alarming the whole party; she meant them no harm. “I am looking for something; perhaps you’ve seen it?”

“What might that be?” asked Dane Fogelberg, the bard. “We’ve seen many glories and wonders... perhaps I can regale you with their tales.”

“I’m looking for a heart,” said Missy, eyes beaconing from side to side to cover the entire party. She hadn’t missed the assassin’s attempt to slide behind her. “A lich’s heart, to be specific.”

At this, the Danes seemed to draw protectively together. “What you want with heart?” asked the Great Dane.

Missy looked up at him. “It’s simple, really. There’s a lich who needs to tell me something, but he won’t unless he’s about to die. And I need him to die, so I can punish she who killed my father.”

Pry-Dane Defense, the valkyrie, strode forward. “We have found this heart. But easing the pain of a soul is a valkyrie’s mission. I don’t know that we can let you just have it.”

Missy eyed the valkyrie, then stepped sideways. Bloody assassin was still trying to sneak behind her, and she definitely didn’t want him there right now. “I would not take your duty lightly, nor would I keep you from it. But I need information from that lich. And he will not give it up until he is about to die. And I’d rather that he be the only one to die in this discussion.” Her eyes flicked knowingly toward the assassin.

The valkyrie nodded. “You have a great need, I can see. As long as the lich is put out of his misery, my vows will be maintained.” She reached into her pack and pulled a slimy bag, dripping with black ichor. “Here is the lich’s heart. End his misery, and find your answers.”

Missy accepted the heart. “I will end his misery and keep your vows. After that... my father’s death will be repaid.” She headed toward the elevator, and Stackman’s party followed behind.
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Old 01-02-2004, 01:14 AM   #2
Lord
Ma'at - Goddess of Truth & Justice
 

Join Date: June 3, 2003
Location: New York
Age: 39
Posts: 3,302
Great chapter! Can't wait for the next one [img]smile.gif[/img] .
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Old 01-02-2004, 06:14 AM   #3
bsftcs
Red Dragon
 

Join Date: January 23, 2003
Location: Denmark
Age: 45
Posts: 1,577
So THAT was what came up the elevator! You know, being on the sheperding side of my party, I sometimes forget how daunting they might seem.

I am still laughing even as I write these lines.

Truly a great chapter. Really well written. [img]graemlins/thumbsup.gif[/img]

[img]graemlins/thewave.gif[/img]
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Old 01-04-2004, 04:32 PM   #4
Wyvern
Ironworks Moderator
 

Join Date: January 7, 2001
Location: Rural Paradise, MI
Posts: 5,701
ooooooo this just keeps getting better and better! And I still have more to read!!! Lucky me!!! [img]smile.gif[/img]

I can hear the mantra chanted in my head:
Save early, save often
Save early, save often
Save early, save often
Save early, save often
Save early, save often
Save early, save often ...


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