Raiders of the Lost Orc
The party celebrated the new year as best they could. Kavan produced a bottle of wine from his pack, and they took turns at it – except Xu, of course – while telling each other stories of the previous year. Of course, they had been together for most of those tales, but reliving those days was still pleasant.
Once, in the midst of the revelry, Arrie stood up and walked a short distance away, staring out at the bright southern star known as Silko’s Eye. Kyle followed her a moment later, tapping her on the shoulder lightly. She seemed slightly surprised when she turned her head to look at him.
“I was expecting you to be Autumn,” she said.
“She’s still sitting next to Tolly,” Kyle replied. “Is everything okay?”
“Yes… no… I’m not sure. A thought just hit me while I was sitting there. It’s a whole year gone by… one year gone from my time before I have to go back to Herion.”
Kyle nodded. Arrie’s life as an adventurer was being led on borrowed time; she had been married to the elven prince since she was fifteen, but had negotiated with him to be allowed time to ‘see the world’ before settling fully into her role as a lady of the Elven Court. Herion had given her ten years before she was obligated to return to Noxolt.
“It probably just hit me because it’s only my third year away. Well, closer to four, really – my birthday’s only three months away. I’m sure after a couple more years it won’t be so hard to think about. And Herion’s a good man, he really is. The fact that I’m even here now says that much.”
“True enough,” Kyle agreed, “and you’ve had other things that’ve been bothering you lately, too.”
Arrie smiled slightly. “Right, there’s that too.” She patted Kyle’s shoulder. “I’ll be fine in a second. Tell everyone the wine hit me funny after days of drinking orcish spiced beer.”
“Sure. And Arrie? I’ll do what I can to make the next few years as long and tedious as possible.”
Arrie’s laughter followed Kyle back to the campfire.
The wine was gone all too soon, and the reality of the moment settled in slowly. They were in the middle of the Haran Desert, preparing to enter the tomb of an orcish warchief who was considered so wicked among a race of generally evil beings that his name was stricken from their records and all were forbidden to come to his resting place. Slowly, they began settle in to bedrolls and tents for a chance at a few hours’ rest.
For Kavan, however, sleep did not come easily. It wasn’t the tomb of the
karrak that worried him, it was what lay in store afterward. Tolly had said that once they had the diamonds that supposedly lay in this tomb, they would have to take them to the Cathedral of Eminent Order in M’dos. Though he was certain that Tolly was excited to see the city where the leaders of his church resided, for Kavan the thought held no joy for him. His memories of the City of Temples was not of the seemingly endless spires of stone and glass and crystal jutting into the azure sky; they were of carved mahogany bedposts. Closing his eyes did not bring back the scents of burning incense and sacred oils, but of cheap perfume, sweat, and the cloying musk of spent passion. His ears did not echo with the tolling of bronze bells or the cries of priests calling their faithful to worship; instead they heard the inanity of forced conversation, the grunts and gasps of exertion, and always… always the jingle of coins exchanging hands.
Kavan became aware that he was breathing fast, and forced himself to calm down, thankful the others were asleep. Thinking about his past always made him feel so small, and so angry. Angry with the women, too many to name, who had used him as a salve for their own empty lives. Angry with himself for allowing it to happen, and enjoying it. But most of all, angry with the architect of his emptiness.
Kavan’s jaw clenched as the image of Elessar’s face came unbidden to his mind. Unable to even affix the label ‘father’ to the image, Kavan banished the hated face by focusing on Kyle’s familiar, Violet, whose silhouette he could just make out inside the tent. The outline of Erito’s sacred bird helped calm him, reminding him that he had a new life now, one far removed from Elessar’s brothels.
But what Kavan feared was running into those who might not appreciate his new calling, who might only remember the old Kavan Ar-Feiniel. Some of those encounters might only be uncomfortable, others embarrassing. But Kavan had left behind his fair share of jealous and angry husbands when he fled M’dos, and some of those had tempers that still might not have cooled, even after five years. Of course, there was always the risk of encountering his father or some of his associates, though they were rarely in the habit of frequenting the Temple Ward. But they wouldn’t likely be spending their entire stay in M’dos in the Cathedral of Eminent Order; to find lodging they’d have to go to the Market Ward, where Elessar’s escorts would be thick.
But there was one person in the entire nation of Medos that he dreaded seeing more than any other – the one person he knew he would have to seek out. The list of women who might have borne his son was not as long as some might have guessed; though it would take some time, Kavan was sure he could find her. He needed to know all he could about Marrek.
Kavan tried to turn his mind to more pleasant thoughts. Immediately, the image of his mother’s smiling face sprang into his inner vision. Kavan smiled as memories came back to him, and he tried not to think of how many decades it had been since she had fled from her husband, taking his brother Finrod with her to keep him from being corrupted as her eldest son had been.
Dear Erito, Kavan thought,
Finrod will be turning seventy soon. He wished that he knew where his mother and brother now lived, so that he could see them again, and talk with them, and be there as his younger brother reached adulthood. Most of all, he wanted his mother to know that her firstborn had not been lost after all.
Kavan must have drifted off into a trance as his mind wandered, because the next thing he was aware of was a gentle stroking sensation on his ears. He opened his eyes to see Lanara looking down at him, running her fingers gently over the points of his ears.
“Time for your watch, sunshine,” she whispered.
Kavan motioned as if to bat her hands away from his head and put a scowl on his face. In truth, the sensation was exquisite, and he loved it when the bard broke him out of trance like that. He feigned annoyance at it, though, knowing it was the best way to make sure she would keep doing it. Deep down, Kavan knew that Lanara could see through his ruse; it had become a little game they played – two sensual creatures engaged in a dance of pseudo-intimacy. For Kavan, the game held reminders of his past, when his entire life was lived for such pursuits of the flesh. But Lanara had transcended the baser nature of the flesh, and emerged as a whole being; there was a purity to her carnal nature, one that Kavan doubted other people could even see. It gave him hope that one day he too could attain such purity.
Kavan rolled out of his bedroll, being careful not to wake up Kyle, who slept next to him. He bid Lanara good night as she retreated to her own tent, and then pulled his pack out to retrieve his armor and weapons. He glanced at the sky as he dressed himself; still several hours until dawn and morning prayers. He looked across the horizon to the east, where the sun would rise.
To the east, where Medos lay waiting.
* * *
It was late in the morning by the time they were ready to go. The party led their horses down the dune toward the area of the tomb, but as the animals approached they became nervous. Kyle’s familiar Violet squawked loudly, her cries echoing off the large stones surrounding the tomb. As the horses became more and more skittish, the party eventually decided to leave them just outside the stone circle, placing them on the northern side to give them some degree of shade. Then they proceeded on foot, making a direct path for the yawning tomb entrance.
Steep steps carved of sandstone seemed to drop straight down into the sand. At the bottom, Kavan could make out a very faint light. The party paused to prepare themselves, casting a few preparatory spells and unpacking light sources. Kavan knelt down near the entrance to the tomb, eyes closed, softly chanting. After a few moments, he stood and looked at his companions.
“The flow of time around this place has been shown to me,” he said. “This place has stood for at least eight centuries – that’s as far back as I can see. In that time many have come, but none emerge once they descend those steps.”
“Treasure hunters?” Arrie asked.
Kavan nodded. “And undead as well.”
“What kind of undead?” Autumn asked, drawing her sword.
“All kinds. The most powerful type that I saw was a wight, that arrived here nearly five hundred years ago. Most were of lesser types – skeletons, zombies, and the like.”
Autumn frowned. “A sword is little use against skeletons,” she said.
Tolly unhooked the heavy mace he kept as a spare weapon and handed it to the sentinel, who took it with a smile and nod of thanks.
They proceeded slowly, with Osborn taking the lead, scanning the steps and walls for anything unusual. The stairs opened up into a large chamber, the other side obscured in darkness. The walls were sloped inward, making the chamber feel like a shallow pit. They could barely make out four square support columns spaced evenly in the chamber in a box pattern. Their best guess put the chamber at a little over a hundred feet square. Dozens of corpses, some of them centuries old, littered the floor throughout the chamber, but were heaviest in the center. Torches burned in sconces mounted on the columns. Osborn peered at the closest torches, and realized that the flames were not moving, as if the fire itself were somehow frozen.
Kyle glanced around for a moment, but quickly squeezed his eyes shut. He blinked and opened them slowly. “This whole place reeks of magic,” he said quietly. “Too much for me to make anything distinct out until I get used to it.”
As the rest of the party milled about, uncertain of what to make of the strange torches, Arrie and Osborn moved forward down the center of the chamber, the warrior covering the rogue as he looked for traps or ambushes. As they moved, carefully stepping around dried bones, they made out four smaller pillars between the support columns, two on each side, creating the appearance of a grand hallway leading to the back of the chamber.
Osborn caught a flicker of movement out of the corner of his eye to the right. Trying not to give away the fact that he’d seen something, he tried to inspect the source of the movement surreptitiously. Just barely within the glow of the torches, he saw some humanoid shapes shuffling against the wall, their flesh peeling and gray. The four shapes seemed to be sliding back along the wall, moving for the back of the chamber.
“We’ve got movement,” Osborn whispered to Arrie.
Arrie began unfurling her spiked chain. Autumn, noticing the movement, began to walk up next to her sister. As she drew closer, her darkvision allowed her to see the humanoid forms, and she drew her sword as well. Arrie and Osborn both began to move toward the back of the chamber, hoping to intercept the skulking creatures.
As they crossed the midpoint of the chamber, two things happened at once. One of the gray humanoids suddenly turned its head and hissed at the three intruders, its long curling tongue positively identifying it as a ghoul. At the same time, the four smaller pillars began to shift and warp, melting into the forms of armored female warriors wielding large bastard swords. They began moving about the chamber, one heading toward the ghouls while another moved toward Arrie and Osborn. The other two took up positions in the center of the room, confronting the remainder of the party but not moving forward, waiting for the tomb’s defilers to advance.
Tolly sucked in his breath. “Cataryid columns,” he said loudly, remembering a reference to the guardian constructs he’d read in a book his mentor in the church had him study. “Very dangerous! Weapons shatter on their skin!”
“I’ll keep that in mind!” Osborn shouted, as he rolled out of the way of a bastard sword. Arrie retrieved an orcish shotput and hurled it at the cataryid that had attacked the hin, but it bounced off harmlessly. Kyle pulled out a wand and launched
magic missiles at the two cataryids blocking their path, but the magic dissipated harmlessly around them. Kyle looked crossly at Tolly. “Were you going to get around to mentioning the resistance to magic?” The sound of Lanara’s singing drowned out the cleric’s curt reply. Kyle pointed his wand again and tried to target the cataryid next to Osborn and Arrie, this time succeeding in getting a few missiles through.
Kavan, not wishing to risk his sword against the hard stone of the cataryids, instead drew his bow and let arrows fly, though the shots went wide. Autumn, deciding to try a different tactic, approached the two cataryids guarding the tomb and nodded deferentially to them. “You have vermin,” she said, pointing with her sword at the ghouls. “We wish to help you rid this place of them.”
If the two stone women heard Autumn or understood her, they made no sign of it. Instead, they raised their own swords and attacked. Tolly rushed forward to assist her, striking one of the cataryids with his hammer. It felt like he was hitting a boulder.
Osborn scrambled away from the cataryid attacking him, letting Arrie take the charge in his place. She’d dropped her spiked chain and instead brandished a two-bladed sword, not willing to risk her favorite weapon against the constructs. Arrie wielded the weapon more like a crowbar than a sword, trying to wedge the blade into tiny cracks and literally pry the cataryid apart. Looking around, and realizing that his combat skills were almost useless against both constructs and undead, Osborn slipped a ring on his finger and promptly vanished.
The ghouls swarmed the cataryid on the far side of the chamber, though their ragged fingernails were nearly useless against the stone warrior. It was only a matter of time before the construct would eradicate them. The other cataryids squared off against Arrie, Tolly, and Autumn respectively, while the rest of the party moved around to try and help. Xu dashed around quickly to intercept a ghoul that had broken away and was trying to flank Arrie, but upon getting close she was overcome by the putrid stench coming off the body. Suddenly reminded of her horrific experience falling into the sewage pit underneath Noxolt, her stomach turned in knots. Despite her discomfort, she was still easily able to avoid the ghoul’s claws.
Kavan moved around close to the combat between the ghouls and the cataryid, hoping he could damage them all at once and end the combat sooner. He unleashed a blast of sonic energy that sent all four combatants reeling. Then, moving forward further, he raised his holy symbol and sent out a pulse of positive energy, hoping to weaken the ghouls further. Unfortunately, he’d forgotten to account for the magical enhancement Kyle had placed on him that improved his force of will, and the blast disintegrated the ghouls into ash. As the now unengaged cataryid turned toward Kavan, he stepped back uncertainly.
A sword came around in a blur, slashing deep into Tolly’s arm. A similar blow penetrated Autumn’s armor. Kyle, switching strategies, ran forward and summoned up a spear of force that stretched out across the distance and struck the cataryid fighting Autumn in the chest with it, sending spiderweb cracks across the surface. Another swift jab caused it to shatter, sending stone fragments flying. The others were making slow but steady progress, chipping at the cataryid’s hard skin. Xu dispatched the last ghoul, and moved to help Arrie, pulling out a pair of seldom-used nunchaku in order to spare herself from punching rocks. When that proved ineffective, Xu switched to a more cunning plan; she moved behind the cataryid and used leverage to knock it to the ground, allowing Arrie to pound on the female statue without mercy.
The battle became one of attrition, which normally would have favored the unliving constructs but in this case was an advantage to the more numerous and better-equipped party. Kavan managed to take down his cataryid single-handedly, his flaming sword seeming more effective than expected. Kyle’s magical spear jabbed into the cataryid that Arrie and Xu were fighting, sliding into a weak spot caused by Arrie’s last attack and crumbling it to dust. Finally, Tolly managed to pulverize his opponent, even as Lanara stepped up behind him and used her magical instrument to heal some of his wounds.
Tolly glanced over at Arrie as he shook stone dust off his hammer. The warrior was gleefully twirling her two-bladed sword in the air. “Would you like for me to enchant that for you?” he asked.
“You can enchant any weapons for me you want,” she said. “I’ve got an orcish double axe you could work on. Or a double bow?”
“Where’s Osborn?” Autumn asked, looking around.
Osborn removed his ring as the party began looking around and calling his name. He was sitting on the stairway leading down to the next level. “I’m ready when you are,” he said.
“Hey, Kyle,” Arrie said, “what was that you were using?”
“
Thunderlance,” he said, grinning. “First chance I’ve had to cast it, too.”
“It was pretty cool,” she said admiringly. “Can you make them for other people?”
“Sorry, Arrie. You’ll have to limit yourself to the twelve weapons you already have.”
The party gathered themselves and proceeded down the stairs. They emerged into another square chamber, much like the one above but smaller. The four massive pillars they had seen above were here as well, apparently running down through the entire tomb. The effect was that of an inverted pyramid. In the center of the room was a large, circular dais carved with strange symbols, which seemed to glow with an ethereal blue aura. The dais seemed carved from a single block of stone. Arranged around the dais were eight small stone pedestals, and past those on the same line were eight bronze torch stands, the entire arrangement resembling a wagon wheel. Like the chamber above, the torches in the stands appeared frozen in place, but unlike the others, these burned with a cold blue flame. The entire arrangement lay within the square delineated by the four support pillars. There was no apparent exit from the chamber.
The party looked at each other apprehensively. “More cataryid columns?” Autumn asked Tolly, pointing with her sword at the pedestals. He shrugged in response.
“Perhaps, but they seem too small for that.”
Arrie decided to chance it and stepped forward. When nothing happened, she began to look more closely at the carvings on the dais.
“Hey, guys?” she said. “These carvings look like letters from the orcish alphabet. But it’s like they carved one letter on top of the other, all the way around, several times. It seems like they should say something if we knew the individual letters, but they’re too jumbled together to make out.”
“Any indication of what order they were carved?” Tolly asked.
“Nothing obvious,” Arrie shrugged.
“Let me take a look.” Kyle stepped forward and looked at the carvings closely, followed by the rest of the party. After a moment, he stood and turned to Lanara. “You can cast a
comprehend languages spell, right?”
“Yes, but I already speak Orcish,” she pointed out.
“Yes, but I don’t, and maybe if I could, I could use my big, throbbing wizard brain to figure it out.”
The party laughed aloud at Kyle’s euphemism. Lanara had to suppress a snort to finish the spell. “Okay, I’ve always wanted to see your enormous… brain in action.”
“That’s the first time I’ve ever heard that euphemism used in… that way,” Arrie said. “I’m very disturbed, Kyle.”
“I do my best,” he said, grinning, as he began studying the carvings again.
While Kyle worked, Arrie began wandering around the dais. She noticed that on the inner surface of the smaller pillars were bolted small bronze plaques. Looking closer at one, she saw that the plaque was carved with a stylized image of a flame.
“Hey, Kyle, what do you make of this?”
Kyle looked up at the plaque, studying it for a moment. He glanced around, then walked around to each pedestal, looking at the plaque. Then he looked around again.
“Each of the flame images on these plaques is slightly different,” he said. “And look here.” He walked over and pulled one of the frozen blue torches out of its stand, bringing it over to one of the pedestals nearly opposite it. “See?” he said, holding the torch close to the plaque, “they match.”
“Well, I’ll be,” Arrie said. “Everyone, grab a torch and see if you can find the matching plaque.”
It took a minute or two, but eventually they matched each torch to a plaque, sliding them into the stands corresponding to each pedestal. As Kavan was about to drop the last torch into place. Kyle grabbed his wrist.
“Hey, we don’t exactly know what this will do, if anything,” Kyle said. “Why doesn’t everyone stand back against the wall, and I’ll drop this in.”
The rest of the party edged back close to the stairs, taking positions just behind the support pillar. Gingerly, Kyle slipped the torch into place.
Slowly, the blue flames began to move, twisting and flickering in their stands. Then, unexpectedly, the flames began to melt, dripping to the floor like candle wax. The glowing liquid flowed toward the dais, and then ran up the side and into the carvings. The liquid fire filled in one of the sets of letters carved in the dais. Kyle read aloud as the words formed.
“Turn my head, and you go where you want,
Turn it again, and you stay till you rot.
I have no face, but I live or die
By my crooked teeth, who am I?”
Osborn sighed and shook his head. “A riddle,” he complained. “they really didn’t want any orcs getting past this room, did they?”
The party began to discuss the meaning of the riddle. Some, who felt the exercise was outside their skills, began to search the room for signs of an exit. Lanara stood near the group trying to solve the riddle, nodding at their comments. But after a moment, she stopped nodding. Then she began scowling. Then she began tapping her foot. Finally, she shouted something in Orcish.
The blue liquid fire drained out of the carved letters, crawling back up to the torches. There was a sound of stone sliding on stone, and the entire dais shifted over, revealing a stone staircase spiraling down.
“What did you say, Lanara?” Kavan asked.
“I said, ‘the answer is a key’,” she replied.
“When did you figure out the answer?” Arrie asked.
“Oh, I’ve heard this riddle before. I just wanted to give someone else the chance to feel smart. But you all took too damn long. Now, who’s going down the steps first?”
The party made their way downward again, Osborn in the lead again followed closely by Arrie and Autumn. The stairs dropped down into yet another square chamber, as expected smaller than the one above. This chamber, however, was featureless except for the four support pillars. Again, there was no apparent exit.
The party spread out at the base of the stairs and began to look around for anything unusual, half expecting something to suddenly materialize and attack them. Thus when they heard a sudden rumbling, they all drew weapons. But the sound came from the ceiling above them, as the dais swiveled back into place, sealing off the stairs leading up.
“That’s not a good sign,” Lanara said.
Kavan’s ears perked up suddenly. “Did you hear that? It sounded like sand shifting suddenly.”
There was another grinding of shifting stone, and suddenly from each wall a slit opened up, a foot tall and four feet wide. Sand began to pour into the room from all four sides, spilling out onto the floor.
“That’s an even worse sign,” Lanara said, as sand buried her feet up to the ankles.
Osborn looked around, stepping high as he walked to keep his feet from being buried. He ran over to one of the pillars, grabbing on for support as sand cascaded past him. He scanned the surface carefully, and soon found what he’d suspected would be there; a chunk of stone slightly off-color. He pressed on the odd stone, and it slid in with a click. On the wall to his left, the slit began to close.
“Search the pillars!” he shouted over the hissing sand. “Look for an odd-colored stone and press it!”
The party fanned out quickly, coughing from the dust that was swirling around them in clouds. Though it took them longer to spot the odd stone than it had Osborn’s trained eye, eventually all four slits slammed closed as the triggers were located. They were safe, but no exit had presented itself yet, and the room was still a quarter full of sand. Xu considered trying to slip through one of the sand slits, but decided that it was too narrow, and there was no guarantee that it would lead anywhere.
It took Osborn several minutes of inspection and experimentation, but eventually he figured out that the stones that had deactivated the sand trap were actually double switches, and by pressing them again in the same order, a new mechanism would be activated. When the party did so under Osborn’s instructions, the sand in the room suddenly vanished through holes in the floor, like water evaporating in the sun. A larger panel in the floor slid open, revealing a stairway. The dais above the spiral stairs in the center also slid away to unblock the way up.
“That’s what we call a little hin magic,” Osborn said, clapping his hands together to remove the dust.
Again, the party gathered and proceeded down the stairs. They walked into a smaller square chamber like they expected, but the support pillars were absent in this room. The air was noticeably warmer down here. Fully half of the room was bare, and a thin, glowing red-orange line cut the chamber into two sections. On the other side of the line there appeared to be lavish living quarters of some kind for a being of some size. All of the furnishings appeared to be made of stone and metal. In one corner stood a huge metal practice dummy, its surface dented and scorched as if it had seen extensive use. Sitting on a metal chair was an enormous creature with crimson skin and a leering grin. Its entire body seemed to smoke, and there was a visible heat shimmer in the air around it. The being and the party stared at each other in silence.
“Hey, guys?” Lanara said quietly, “can we go back to the room with the sand now?”
“Efreet,” Kyle sighed, “why did it have to be efreet?”
Even as Kyle spoke, the efreet stood up to his full height and raised his arms menacingly into the air. Palpable waves of heat washed over the party.
“Beware, mortals!” the efreet roared. “I am the great and powerful Ali Azrahad Mazhuir…” the efreet unexpectedly trailed off mid-sentence. Then, even more unexpectedly, he sighed, and sat back down. “You know what? Forget it. It’s been too long since I’ve had visitors. Have a seat, make yourselves comfortable.” He waved his hand, and on the party’s side of the room several simple chairs appeared around a long table. The group looked at each other uncertainly.
“Look, let me just say this from the outset,” the efreet stated, holding up one finger. “I am bound here as a guardian. Just don’t cross the line, and we won’t have any problems. So, why are you here?”
“Diamonds,” Autumn stated. The party had begun to move toward the table, but no one had sat down yet.
“So,” Kyle whispered to Kavan, “who wants to tell him that we’re here to cross the line?”
“Would you like anything?” the efreet asked.
“Well, for starters, what do we call you?” Lanara asked.
“Can we call you George?” Kavan asked.
“No,” the efreet said flatly. “but I doubt any of you could pronounce my real name, and the translation in Common takes about a minute to recite. You may call me ‘Ali’.”
“Well, how about some water, Ali?” Lanara asked.
“I could never turn down a fine wine,” Kavan said.
“Okay, some wine for Kavan. Oh, and Xu there will probably want tea.”
Ali waved his hand again, and flagons appeared on the table. Most were filled with water, though the flagon in front of Kavan held wine. Ali picked up one of the flagons, and stuck his finger into it. The water was boiling within seconds. He set the flagon on the table, and it slid toward Xu, stopping next to a small brass pot that she discovered held tea leaves.
“Anything else?”
“Some diamonds, perhaps?” Tolly said, only half-joking.
Ali shook his head. “For diamonds, you would have to offer me something more substantial in exchange. Food and drink I am happy to provide in exchange for conversation and news of the world. It’s been over a century since I’ve seen anyone intelligent down here.”
“Is there a particular region you’re interested in hearing about?” Autumn asked. When Ali shrugged his shoulders, Autumn began reciting off all the history she knew. After about two minutes of her fairly dry recitation, Lanara interrupted her.
“Perhaps you’d like a more lively rendition?”
“I am always willing to be entertained.”
The cansin immediately launched into a stirring epic rendition of events in the last century. She included the party’s own exploits in her accounting. It took nearly twenty minutes, but when Lanara’s last note finished echoing through the chamber, Ali smiled.
“You have been busy,” Ali commented. “It seems there are many things afoot in this world.”
“It certainly seems that way,” Lanara said.
“The world never stops moving,” Xu added.
“It does down here,” Ali said bitterly.
“So, how were you chosen for this duty?” Tolly asked.
“I was the last one to step back, so to speak,” Ali said. “I have been bound here for almost twenty-five hundred years.”
“That seems an awfully long time to be cooped up down here,” Lanara said.
“Are you bound here forever?” Kavan asked.
“Yes, or until the end of the world. I hadn’t expected it to take this long.” Ali sighed. “I’m not only supposed to keep others away, but I’m supposed to keep him from getting out. He tries, maybe once or twice a millennium. I just pull his arms off and throw him back down the stairs.”
“If someone were to destroy the
karrak, you could go, right?” Kyle asked.
“Yes, but my contract states I’m supposed to stop anyone from doing that. Kind of the whole point of his punishment, you see, is to not be able to die and go back to Grabâkh.”
“But if someone were to do it…” Osborn prompted.
“Then yes, I could leave. But the stairs are on this side of the line, and like I said, if you cross the line…” Ali flexed his massive biceps, and cracked his knuckles to make his point.
“Who wrote the contract?” Kavan asked.
“The priests of Grabâkh that summoned me. They summoned me and bound me with some explicit terms.”
“I suppose that in twenty-five hundred years you’ve probably looked for a loophole or two?” Lanara asked.
“Oh, there are plenty. But none that I can exploit directly, and my contract forbids me from revealing any of the flaws in the contract.”
“Well, why not just tell us what the rules are, then?” Lanara asked sweetly.
Ali nodded. “I am bound here for all eternity to guard the
karrak. None may set foot beyond this line. If the
karrak attempts to emerge from the chamber below, I am to send him back. I may not destroy the
karrak, nor by my direct action cause his destruction. I must act immediately should either of these two events occur. I must fight any foe to the best of my abilities, save that I cannot destroy the
karrak.”
“I assume that when he does come up, you toy with him a little?” Lanara asked.
He shrugged in reply. “What else is there to do?”
“Well, besides sparring,” Lanara gestured toward the metal practice dummy. “I noticed your partner.”
“As did I,” Xu said. She had studied the patterns of dents and scorch marks on the dummy, and could tell that Ali had undergone extensive training as a monk. She did not recognize the style, though she assumed it could be one unique to his home planet. “I am quite envious.”
Ali glanced at his sparring dummy. “It’s a little big for you,” he said.
“Xu always enjoys a challenge,” Lanara quipped.
“Indeed? Well, I’ve not been with a woman for nearly three thousand years.”
The rest of the party turned to look at Xu, awaiting her response. When none was forthcoming, Arrie chimed in.
“Well, it wouldn’t work anyway. Xu can’t cross the line to your side, and you can’t cross the line to hers.”
“Who said I couldn’t cross the line?” To prove his point, Ali stood and stepped quickly across the orange line, then stepped back and resumed his seat. “I cannot leave the tomb, but I can go where I wish inside of it.”
Finally, Xu spoke. “I do not think I would be interested in… that type of sparring.”
“So, Ali,” Kyle said, quickly trying to change the subject, “what stops you from just pulling this guy apart and scattering him around the tomb so he can’t go anywhere?”
“He is a death knight,” Ali explained, “and has access to some ability to channel negative energy. He can use it to restore damage he has sustained. Scattering him about would only cause him to take longer to reform.”
“So, he can’t be destroyed?”
“Of course he can. His ability to heal himself is one of conscious effort; much like the healing spells your priests use. The
karrak can be destroyed as can any other undead.” Ali leaned forward in his chair. “All this talk about that fool is unnecessary. If all you desire is diamonds, then I can provide that. Of course, you would have to offer something worthwhile in return. And, before you ask, a few minutes of pleasure with her,” he flicked his finger toward Xu, “would not be adequate.”
“I do not think they were going to suggest that,” Xu said with forced calm.
“I don’t suppose you’d be interested in a used pair of magical boots, would you?” Lanara asked. Ali shook his head.
“Could your contract be renegotiated?” Kavan asked.
“Only if a priest of Grabâkh chose to do so,” Ali said.
“Hey, Kavan, doesn’t Gell owe you a favor after you helped her with her, um, security issues?” Lanara asked. “Maybe she’d do it.”
“Unlikely,” Ali stated. “The priests of Grabâkh placed the
karrak in this tomb for a reason. To defy the will of the Eye is blasphemy. Besides, what you’ve heard about ‘no orc may approach the tomb’ isn’t just idle gossip. Orcs tend to explode, quite messily, when they set foot here.”
“Perhaps there’s a way to make your servitude more tolerable,” Kavan tried again. “A pet, perhaps?”
Ali snorted. “I’d probably eat it.” Seeing Kavan’s shocked expression, the efreet smiled. “Understand that I would outlive the creature, and then it would be of no use to me.”
Kavan sighed. “I would think that after twenty-five hundred years stuck down here, you would have contemplated suicide.”
Ali frowned. “Let’s just say that death for beings like myself is… different than it is for you, and leave it at that.”
“You know, folks, let’s not forget something here,” Kyle said. “Ali’s here for a reason, like it or not. If we get him out of this, then the undead orc warchief under our feet is free to wreak havoc on the land again.” Kyle turned to Ali. “What was he like, back then?”
“He was… I’m not sure your tongue has words to describe it. In Ignan, the best word would be
d’kwahd. He was a corrupter by nature. He cared not what he defiled. He violated priestesses of Grabâkh, he poisoned wells and oases, he somehow learned to bind diametrically opposed spirits into weapons and forced them to work in unison to serve him.”
“What if we could arrange it so he couldn’t come out again?” Lanara asked. “Then could you leave?”
“How?” said Ali with contempt. “I’d really like to hear this.”
“A magical compulsion?”
“Not against undead.”
“Seal him in stone?” Tolly offered.
“It was tried. It took him a hundred years, but he broke free. He has infinite time, and no need to eat or sleep.”
“A binding or ward of some fashion?” Autumn suggested.
“No way,” Kyle answered for Ali this time. “We have nothing in our possession that would last long enough, nor be strong enough to hold him.”
“So, it seems your only choice would be to kill him,” Ali suggested.
“But again, the problem with the line,” Arrie pointed out.
“Could we fight him up here?” Kyle asked.
“I’m obligated to send the
karrak back down to his chambers the moment he sets foot up here,” Ali said.
“What if we were assisting you in that task, and by accident destroyed him?” Xu asked.
“Well, that might have worked, but now that I’m aware that’s your intent, I can’t allow it. In order for you to ‘help’, you would either have to cross the line, or I would have to allow him past me to get to you, which means I took direct action that led to his destruction.”
“Perhaps we could leave, and return later when we have something that you would find suitable as compensation for some diamonds?” Lanara asked.
Ali laughed and shook his head. “Well, you could do that, but then the poison I placed in your drinks would surely kill you.”
The party fell silent and stared at Ali, who shrugged. “The fact that two and a half millennia of servitude has cooled my thirst for indiscriminate violence does not change the nature of who I am,” he said. “In you I have a means to an end. If I can do that with you willing, so be it. If not, then I have no problem applying leverage. And should you prove stubborn, well, your agonizing deaths will prove entertaining. As I said before, I am always willing to be entertained.”
After a moment of quiet shock, Autumn spoke. “This is why I despise dealing with evil outsiders.”
“Well, aren’t you supposed to be smiting him or something?” Lanara asked.
She shook her head. “Though the desire is there, the truth is that an efreet’s primary nature is that of fire, not of evil, thus my vows to keep all evil outsiders out of Aelfenn are less clear in regard to him. Besides, he is too formidable a foe for me to defeat in combat. I would rather think of a way to release him from his servitude here, as once free he will most certainly return to Karakor. I have no problems with outsiders that stay on their own planets.”
The party conversed quietly for a few moments, trying to think of either a way to circumvent the efreet’s contract, or to offer him a suitable price to get diamonds from him directly.
Suddenly, Tolly looked up. “Ali, how far below us is the
karrak’s chamber?”
“It is just below your feet,” he replied. “The tomb is, as you probably already have figured out, nothing but an inverted pyramid. The
karrak resides in the room below, which still possesses some of the trappings of his former life.”
Lanara’s face brightened as she realized what Tolly was getting at. “Tolly, do you think you can…”
“Maybe,” Kyle interrupted, “we should discuss this outside of the efreet’s hearing, so that he’s not aware of our intentions.”
“Hey, can we make a big hole in the floor?” Osborn suddenly shouted out to Ali. Kyle shook his head.
But Ali only smiled. “I care little what you do on that side of the line. I just can’t allow you past the line to the stairs.”
“See, Kyle? He says its okay!” Osborn beamed at the wizard.
“How thick is the stone between the two chambers?” Tolly asked.
Ali held up large hands to indicate a depth of about two feet. “I can make a hole large enough for us to fit through,” Tolly said, “but only one at a time.”
“Well, what are we waiting for?” Arrie asked. “Let’s go!”
“Excuse me?” Kyle said, a bit exasperated. “I realize everyone’s excited at jumping down a hole to get eaten by an undead orc, but maybe we could plan this a little better?”
“You have a point,” Tolly said grudgingly.
“So, Ali, what can the
karrak do?” Kyle asked.
“He is a death knight. He has the abilities of an unholy warrior; not unlike those possessed by your sentinel companion, but obviously devoted to different ends. He favors a double scimitar; he has done something to it – even I cannot explain it – that gives it both a holy and unholy power. He wears field plate armor at all times. I know that he has the power to unleash a ball of unholy fire; he tried to use it against me once, early in his imprisonment. It… tickled. He is not terribly clever.”
The party withdrew to a back corner, discussing their options and resources. Finally, a plan was developed, several preparatory spells were cast, and the party gathered around a spot on the floor. Tolly cast his
stone shape spell, creating a large circular hole in the floor.
“So,” said Xu, “if we are able to destroy the
karrak, and free you from your servitude, will you provide the antidote to this poison?”
Ali thought for a moment. “All right,” he said. “A fair bargain.”
Lanara studied the efreet closely, looking for signs of deception, but saw none. “Great,” said Lanara, sticking the end of a wand of fireballs she’d obtained from Keth’s spoils into the hole and trying to speak the command word. But the wand fizzled, only emitting a few sparks.
Osborn was the first down the hole, hidden by his ring of invisibility. The chamber was nearly bare, except for an enormous bed in one corner and an armor stand on the opposite wall, both riddled with dust and cobwebs. Standing motionless a short distance away, near the stairs leading to Ali’s chamber, was a fully-armored figure that could only be the
karrak. He was holding his double scimitar at the ready, clearly expecting trouble. Obviously, a hole opening in the ceiling and sparks raining down was not an everyday occurrence.
Arrie came down next, stepping squarely on Osborn’s toes as he scrambled out of the way. She, like the rest of the party, had been warded with a
hide from undead spell from Tolly, but her landing was not as soft as the hin’s. The
karrak came to sudden alert, raising up his double scimitar and turning to face the center of the room rather than the stairs, scanning the room with glowing red eyes. Arrie immediately charged in, swinging her spiked chain and connecting with a solid blow that wrapped the chain around the death knight’s legs and pulled him down. But the spell that hid her from the death knight’s vision was dispelled by the attack, and the
karrak retaliated, standing up quickly and slashing at Arrie with his double scimitar. Her flesh seemed to twist and tear as the blade sliced across it, as a strange mix of both positive and negative energy tore through her.
Autumn, Xu, and Kavan were next to drop down into the chamber, as Lanara’s bardic song began to echo down through the hole, and Osborn moved back by the large bed to get out of the way. Autumn and Xu moved in to support Arrie, while Kavan angled away and drew his bow, shooting one arrow at the death knight that bounced off the ancient armor. Autumn landed a solid blow, denting the
karrak’s shoulder plate as her blessed sword came down. Xu also pounded on the undead orc, cracking millennia-old bones.
There was a loud crash as Tolly dropped down the hole, and then the sound of his deep voice shouting words of faith. A deluge of acid enveloped the
karrak, causing his armor to smoke and hiss. Kyle dropped down immediately after, moving around behind Kavan and casting a
shocking grasp through a
spectral hand he’d cast earlier. The ghostly hand connected, but the death knight seemed unaffected by the jolt of electricity that blasted him. At the same time, a hail of thrown daggers came toward the undead abomination from Osborn, which all bounced harmlessly off his armor.
The
karrak stepped back toward the stairs, now aware of all of the enemies in the room, and suddenly pointed one gauntleted hand toward the center of the room. Instantly, the room was filled with a blast of unholy fire, scorching everyone in the room. Only Osborn and Xu were able to avoid the hellish flames, the first by diving behind the large bed, the latter by ducking behind the armor stand. Everyone else was forced to drop flat to shield themselves from the blast, save Autumn, who was hit by its full force. Only her innate resistance to fire from her celestial blood kept her on her feet. Taking advantage of the respite his hellfire had given him, the death knight began to flee up the stairs, seeing he was outmatched.
Autumn, her head swimming from the blast of heat, made out the
karrak’s armored form trying to retreat from the battle. Anger clouded the sentinel’s vision as she remembered other foes that has slipped out of her grasp; the shadar-kai, Sauroth, Xerxes. Anger turned to grim purpose; this enemy would not be added to that list. Summoning forth the righteous power of her order, Autumn stepped forward and swung with all her might, severing the death knight’s left leg at the knee. Suddenly off balance, the
karrak was unable to defend himself as Xu stepped up, pulling off his breastplate and punching straight into his chest, snapping ribs. With a scream of rage and hatred that had burned for centuries, the
karrak crumbled into dust, his armor falling with a clatter to the ground.
In the chamber above, Lanara looked up to see Ali grin suddenly. With a flourished bow, he vanished. All of the ornate furnishings in the chamber also vanished, save for the long table, upon which rested eight slender vials filled with a purplish liquid. The glowing orange line that bisected the room faded, then disappeared.
A thorough search of the lower chamber turned up a stash of the
karrak’s treasures, which included a coffer filled with many large gemstones. Tolly picked out four large, white diamonds and set them aside, then returned to packing up the death knight’s plate armor. Autumn reached down to pick up the double scimitar, but as soon as her hand closed around it waves of numbing energy went up her arm, sapping her strength. She quickly released it and backed away. Arrie stepped over and retrieved the weapon herself, and was seemingly unaffected by the weapon’s aura.
“I think that weapon is evil, Arrie,” Autumn warned.
“I’m not so sure,” Arrie said, twirling it in her hands. “I felt it hit me, and it was… odd. Like Ali had said, it was both good and bad at the same time. I think it affected you because you’re a holy warrior. I don’t feel a thing.”
The party finished looting the tomb and made their way back up to the surface. The various devices and traps they’d encountered now seemed inert, and the strange frozen torches throughout the tomb had gone out. The party emerged, blinking, into the mid-day sun. Waiting in a line outside the tomb were a unit of twenty orcs on horseback, their lances leveled at the party. The group recognized some of them as the ‘honor guard’ that had escorted them out of Keth’s camp.
“Thanks for waiting for us, gentlemen,” Lanara said calmly.
“Thank you for bringing us so much treasure,” the unit commander replied.
“Who said you get it?”
The orcs tightened their grips on their lances. “We do.”
Tolly glanced at the line of orcs, and then at his companions. They had fought too long and too hard to simply give up on his quest at this point. Looking around, he saw that his friends agreed with him.
There was a loud roar from the horizon just as the party drew their weapons. Streaking across the sands, trailing fire behind him, Ali suddenly rushed toward the lancers, blasting them with beams of white-hot fire. At the sight of one of Grabâkh’s mighty efreet servants, the orcs scattered and fled, certain that the wrath of their god was about to fall upon them for defiling the tomb.
“We told you it was ours!” Lanara shouted after them.
As they disappeared over the dunes, Ali laughed heartily. “Ah, that felt good!” he roared. “That service, I give to you for free. Now, I feel like chasing down some orcs and eating their heads.”
“Just leave Keth alone, please?” Lanara asked.
“Ah, the warchief of whom you spoke. Indeed, I think that after slaughtering these score of orcs, I shall be satisfied, and return home to Karakor.” Ali bowed again, and then ran off into the desert, quickly vanishing.
Lanara glanced over at Arrie, who was grinning wickedly as she continued to twirl the
karrak’s double scimitar. “Hey, Kyle?” the bard said quietly, “I think you might need to do something to Arrie before she hurts someone with that thing.”
Tolly, who was standing nearby, pointed at one of the curved blades. “We may not need to do anything. Look.”
Small spots of rust had appeared on the blade. As they watched, the splotches grew larger, as if the weapon were corroding from within. Within minutes, the weapon had fully disintegrated, except for the central section of the shaft. From either end of the section came two ghostly serpentine shapes; one seemed to be made of shadow, and the other of rainbow-colored light. The snake-like apparitions floated into midair, curling around each other in bands of light and darkness. Suddenly they spoke with a single voice.
Thank you for freeing us from our vile servitude. It will be joyous to return home, but sad to be parted after so much time.
“May I ask your name?” Tolly said.
It has been… too long. Our identities have been lost. We shall regain our selves when we return home to heal. In gratitude for our freedom, allow us to restore that which you have spent.
Beams of gray light shot out from the eyes of the twinned spirits, touching each member of the party. They felt their wounds closing, and their spirits refreshed. There was a flash of light, and the spirits were gone.
The party was left standing alone, outside the tomb, the silence broken only by the occasional bark from Rupert, who was waiting by the horses.
“So… now what?” Arrie asked.
Lanara took one last look at the tomb, then at Tolly, who had the diamonds he’d been commanded to retrieve in his belt pouch. “I’m tired of the desert,” she said at last. “Let’s get out of here, shall we?”
