The Progeny of the Damned Saga
Page 1

But such was not to be. In the room the adventurers had left Ovarin in was now... nothing. Mathurin saw nothing. Zaishalla saw nothing. Smitty saw three beds and Ovarin's statue, but when he tried to jump on the beds, he realized he was going right through them! They weren't there! Even Muric, after falling right through Ovarin's statue twice had to admit that what he saw was an illusion where no illusion was before. Ovarin and the beds had been taken out of the room. Mathurin used Skye to take a look outside... there was the statue of Ovarin, being carried off by a caravan of humanoids. Therefore, the adventurers rushed to the room with the blue etched circle, in the hopes they would be able to escape the tower, get past the behemoth and black dragon... what? Skye sees that the behemoth has killed the dragon, and now a chimera was approaching it? This was not good.

The heroes at this point were wary of entering the blue etched circle, so they pushed Muric through first, then followed one by one. They came out in a curtained closet, dark and ominous. Ovarin and Smitty peeked through the curtain into a wizard's study, where a shadowy figure lurked, floating from desk to loft and back to desk, as if guarding the room... Then Muric and the others attacked, Smitty and Zaishalla first with their laser guns, which went right through the beast, then Muric with his axe, Ovarin with his silver longsword, and Mathurin with his quarterblades, all trying to dismember and destroy the evil creature. Smitty and Zaishalla abandoned their guns and switched to blades, Smitty with his dagger, and Zaisha with her claymore. The creature was difficult to defeat, but the heroes prevailed, as Zaishalla wondered, "Why didn't my claymore harm it?"

A thorough search of the study gave the learned Mathurin more than enough evidence in any court to accuse Zinsaber of insanity. Among the papers on the desk were several spells designed to destroy a god, a map of the Woulf Sea with a circled island, books on the elven goddess Anala, summoning spells, a book of the rules of the Realm of Dreams. The Realm of Dreams? Mathurin knew he had heard of such a place before. Could the circled island have something to do with this myth? Muric suggested a spell to show the correlation, but Mathurin argued that he had no such spell. Or did he? Mathurin began to think of the spell, the energy of magic began flowing through him, and before he knew what was happening, a projection of the planet jumped from his outstretched fingers into view. This sent a shock down Filitus' spine, and an age-old prophecy came to his mind: "An elf who knows not his own mastery of the mana..."

On the map, a glowing red island came into view against the green wireframe of the map. Ovarin pointed out that the island was in the same position in the Woulf Sea as the one on the map found on the desk. Then, Filitus asked Mathurin aside to talk to him about this power the elf had displayed. Filitus asked if such a power had flowed through him before, and Mathurin admitted that, yes, he had been able to fly without knowing the spell to do so (see page 2 of the Goblin Invasion Saga for details). At that moment, while Smitty was investigating the nearby fireplace for hidden loot, a troll swung out of the chimney and attacked! Mathurin instinctively cast a spell to burn the ugly creature, but instead of burning hands, he cast an aura of fire around the creature, which distracted it long enough for Zaishalla to slice off the creature's head. Muric then took a torch to the body and burned it thoroughly in the fireplace.

The threat put to rest, all attention was now on Zaishalla for her wonderful kill, while Filitus again was shocked by the power emanating from the elven mage. Filitus told him the prophecy of the chosen one, the one destined to replace Anala as God of Magic, the Forest, Peace, and the Balance. "An elf who knows not his own mastery of the mana (the energy used by magicians to create magic) is Anala's chosen to rule over her domain..." Filitus explained further that Mathurin was manipulating the actual mana of magic without focusing on the spell, which needed to be memorized before casting. The drake cast spells the same way. It was possible that Mathurin, because of this ability, was Anala's Chosen One. Mathurin, after this revelation, relayed this information to his friends, who agreed to accompany him to the Realm of Dreams.

Now that this was decided, all that was left was to get out of Kerkaulk Tower. Of course, Smitty and Zaishalla, being thieves, wanted to give the chamber a once-over, to make sure they had missed nothing. As they moved the desk to check behind it, a portal opened underneath the loft in the room! The portal led out of the tower, and into the waiting arms of the behemoth, with the chimera watching it closely. Filitus then suggested that Mathurin distract the behemoth with his newfound mastery of mana. Mathurin tried twice, the first time failing to lift the desk to hurl out at the monster (in fact, he was blown back into a wall because of it), but the second time he was able to do so, throwing the desk magically into the behemoth's face. The chimera, sensing the monster's distress, immediately attacked it, giving the adventurers a chance to escape.

The heroes began trailing the caravan spiriting poor Ovarin away. As they neared the edge of the forest, however, the sky turned black as pitch, the sun fading into a blood-red moon. The land began throwing itself in convulsions, throwing up the caravan into the air. Mathurin and his company were entangled in the trees... After sheer moments of chaos and terror, the land relaxed to its former state, though the darkness and the blood-red moon remained. Ovarin fell from the sky and crumbled into dust, under which was his living, breathing, quite healthy form. Mathurin, however, walked up to his companions, and stated, "It has begun."

Meanwhile, another familiar face was feeling the same effects in Gritton. Irana Starjay pulled herself up from the six-inch indentation her landing had caused, and looked up... into the face of beauty itself. Anala. The goddess spoke long with the ranger, speaking of the balance and how an assistant had been created for her by her brothers Dartal and Shalstor. However, the assistant was too chaotic and unpredictable to compliment the Goddess of Nature, and had resolved many, many years ago to not only help her, but take her place. Zinsaber had spent his whole life stealing the life energy of others to supplement his task, which accounted for his millennial life span. He was now twice as powerful as any of the gods, with the exception of Mithril, and was able and willing to destroy Anala in combat. Irana begged her deity to fight Zinsaber with all she had, to which Anala answered with her father Mithril's wish that Anala not fight to the death. Anala then told Irana that the fight was near, for Zinsaber had already cast the spell known as Daxar's Great Cataclysm to enter the Realm of Dreams. The ranger was to board a boat and head for Selsgurd, the island entrance to the Realm of Dreams.

Farther north, Mathurin and his group were already heading to Lindaton to secure a ship. They had to stop by in Selvan first, where they found their fame preceded them. They were treated like kings and heroes, Muric being identified as the current King of the Dwarvenlands by several of the dwarves. He was told that while Lindaton was under Gritton's control, Selvan now owed allegiance to the dwarvenlands. Muric, in return, requested the reinstatement of the Dwarven War Council as the official dwarven government, and added that the new capital would be Strogitston, his stronghold. The townspeople were happy to oblige, and gave the adventurers everything they could for the coming journey. The adventurers, restored and resupplied, stayed the night, then made their way in what they hoped was morning to Lindaton.

The way to Lindaton, though uneventful, was spooky at best because of the blood-red moon in the sky and the strange way the ground felt beneath their feet. It took them the entire day to reach the city, and entered as the Gritton High Council was holding court. It seemed that the High Council's diplomatic representative Jesalien and King Peltor of Fastague had just finished signing a peace agreement between Gritton and Fastague. Muric jumped in as King of the Dwarvenlands (he obviously expected a seat on the Dwarven War Council) and offered peace agreements to both of them. Then Jesalien and Peltor told of the insanity that had plagued the city after the first signs of the cataclysm, though they knew not that Zinsaber had caused them. Mathurin and Ovarin told them about Zinsaber challenging Anala, which sent Peltor into a fit of laughter, he believing only in the human deities, Alfadon and the Triple Goddess. The adventurers insisted that this was happening, and asked the elven diplomat for a ship to sail to the island they had seen on the map in Kerkaulk Tower's study.

Another figure entered the court chamber, an elf dressed in black...

(At this point, Geoshitties cut off my page again, as they did with the previous, so I will do a *REALLY QUICK* plot synopsis, as I did with the "Summary")

The black-clad elf's name is Daxaranathein, a well-noted mage from 50 years previous. He tells the group to come with him to the island previously mentioned. The group agrees, leaves Lindaton by boat, and embarks on a voyage to the island. Meanwhile, the ranger Irana, Emmaeai, and Llael and Renee the clerics meet north of Lindaton, and embark on a voyage of their own to the same island. After several misadventures including a ghost ship and jumping bounties put on their heads by Zinsaber, the groups reach Selsgurd and reunite. They then journey into the heart of a great volcano and into another dimension using "Daxar's Great Cataclysm" spell, and duel the Dimensioner Zinsaber at last. After long hours, Zinsaber was at last defeated, and Mathurin was remade as a god to aid Anala. Muric, sadly, died in the struggle.

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