Ambrosia Software Web Board: Witch Hunt - Ambrosia Software Web Board

As they approached the great pyramid town, DF explained several different uses for the zetacomb that he had learned in his time with the dark spirit. Avatara held the zetacomb out and looked over it, making sure to listen fully to the words DF was saying. Though it was cryptic, Avatara grasped enough of the concept that he felt he could handle the power.

The three of them approached the main gate, but something seemed unsettling. There seemed to be more guards around than usual. Most of the guards recognized Avatara and DF and they stood aside, letting them in. "Good luck," one of the guards muttered as they passed by.

"That was a little odd," Avatara remarked after they had passed through.

"I don't know" DF responded "But this place seems to get weirder everytime I visit." With that, DF nodded at his companions and started off down the hall. "Good luck you two" DF called back before he disappeared.

A patrol of guards passed by, seemingly rushing off towards something important. However, aside from them, the halls seemed devoid of life.

"Something is definitely going on here, this place should be teeming with people at this time of day," Avatara remarked, suddenly becoming suspicious at the lack of activity.

"Perhaps we should split up, see if we can find out what's happening," Saria suggested. A pair of young mages rounded the corner up ahead, the only people they had seen wandering the halls aside from all of the guards.

"Will you be all right on your own? I don't think you've been here before," Avatara asked.

"I think I'll do just fine," Saria nodded in the direction of the young mages staring at her.

"Be careful," Avatara started to turn away, then stopped and looked back. "Oh, and make sure you keep a low profile on this. There's enough tension around here as it is; we don't want to attract too much attention." He left Saria to the devices of the male student body and went out in search of some familiar faces he could query.

The first significant detail he noticed was the heavy numbers of guards patrolling the hallways and stationed outside the main rooms. The other remarkable detail that caught his attention was an abnormal amount of activity in the restaurant. A crowd of students had gathered around something, all shouting at once in a riled up manner. As Avatara looked closer into the crowd, he noticed that DF seemed to be in the center.

"Oh, for the love of..." Avatara sighed.

DF quickly made it to the one spot that many could have predicted. The restaurant. Being led around by his stomach had its advantages, but it wasn't lost on him that there were far fewer people around than should be at this time.

DF approached the restaurant counter with all the grace of an angry bull.

"Gimmie something good" DF demanded, staring straight into the eyes of the man at the other side. After a few seconds of the man staring at him, he barked "What's taking so long?"

"Not with those manners" The man snarled, matching DF's gaze "You're an outsider and I am offended by your manner, leave now."

"What?" DF cried "All I asked for was some grub!"

"Learn some manners next time and perhaps you will get some" the man replied, not backing down one bit.

"Old man, I'm just here for some food" DF indignantly replied. "I have not the patience for..." DF didn't get to finish his statement before he pulled back by a guard.

"Back you whelp, the owner has demanded you leave" another guard chimed in, shoving DF.

"Just stop that now," DF growled, finally shoving back.

The action wasn't taken lightly by the man guard as he started to swing upon DF.

"If you wanted a fight, then you should have just asked!" DF barked, pulling his hands into fists and started to block the oncoming assault.

At this time, in the other side of the hall, Sideline and the Scribe look up from their own conversation to see Paris, the restaurant owner, in a shoving match with a vaguely familiar man.

"Now this isn't expected" Sideline frowned as the pair watched the actions a bit closer.

The two men fought for a few more seconds before a woman appeared, followed by a shriek that brought the attention of a few nearby students who were more tense than usual. They quickly joined the fray on the side of the guard. DF fought them all. Swinging his arms like large logs, but keeping restraint on himself by leaving his swords in their sheaths, DF knocked the few combatants around like rag dolls. It was only after the nearby guards noticed their comrade fighting that DF decided that it was becoming too much for him.

"I dont think 7 against me is a fair fight" DF grinned "But I guess if I must teach you a lesson, I should do it fairly quick."

"Tough talk from a punk like you!" one of the students barked back.

With that, DF ignited his shadow powers. As he pulled all the energy he could, he noticed that something felt...lacking. It was as though his power wasnt all there. Despite this, he pulled all the energies he had around him and started casting them at those surrounding him. One blast threw a guard into a wall, pushing him out of the battle temporarily, but this drew a nasty side effect. The other three guards now drew weapons and started at DF...

Hearing the mage, Selax hesitated. He needed to gather the others and fast. He considered his options; he had no idea where anyone but Wizard was. To look for the others with time so short would be risky.

He would have to grab Wizard and go.

"Where is Lindus?" he demanded of the mage.

"In Master Pheres's quarters." the mage whispered. "They moved him there so he'd be able to have constant access to a healer. Don't tell anyone! It's supposed to be kept quiet!"

"See if you can find the others who accompanied me here. Tell them to go there as soon as possible."

Not waiting for a reply, he turned and jumped over to the set of stairs down the hallway. Then, he flew up the stairs.

As he passed the guards (who were somewhat surprised when a flash of black hurtled up the stairs toward them), he muttered, "Urgent business."

To avoid attracting any attention from the students, he turned invisible, making him much harder to detect (although it could still be done if done correctly). Selax continued to fly, figuring that there wasn't enough time to get around by more conventional means. He just wished that Wizard wasn't in a class. His job would be much easier.

His wish was granted. Wizard was in between classes, when he felt Selax approaching him in a terrible hurry.

Selax flew over to him, settled to the ground, and became visible.

"What is it?" Wizard questioned. "Has Lindus woken up?"

"Yes, we must hurry. We don't have time to stop for the others; I've sent a messenger to get them," Selax responded.

The two of them turned and raced for the set of stairs nearest the master's quarters. The guards recognized Wizard and let the two go down. At the bottom of the stairs, they almost ran into Gin.

Before Gin could say anything, Selax said, "Lindus is awake. We don't have much —too little to gather everyone. We must hurry."

Wizard nodded in agreement, and the three continued to race along the hall.


As they ran, Wizard quickly told them what he had learned about the circumstances surrounding the attempt on Lindus's life. It turned out the attempt had been made at a student assembly to celebrate this year's graduation. Lindus had been speaking on the stage when a dart had struck him. Most students agreed that it had come from the audience; most also believed that it had been poisoned.

By the time that Wizard had finished his hasty account, they had reached the door to Master Pheres's quarters. There were guards around (this wasn't considered strange to the students—every master had guards around his quarters now), but the three were expected and were quickly admitted. The other masters were already gathered.

Lindus was in the back room, on Pheres's bed. He looked bad. He was pale and seemed painfully thin. But his eyes were open, and he struggled to speak when he saw them. Seeing Lindus's condition, Wizard quickly stepped forward and put his hand on Lindus forehead.

"Show me," he said quietly, "you're in no condition to speak."

Lindus's eyes remained open, but he didn't attempt to talk. After a few seconds, Wizard moved his hand and Lindus's eyes closed, as he let him fall back asleep. He had sent his message.

"What did you learn?" Selax asked Wizard in a low voice after Pheres had ushered everyone out of the room.

"Lindus spotted the assassin just as he threw the dart. What's more he recognized the man."

Everyone looked at Wizard.

"The assassin is a freemage called Dolophonous, and Lindus believes that he is still in Pnyx."

Gin stared at Lindus, it was the first time he had seen the mage. The condition of the mage scared Gin, Upon hearing who had done it he tensed up but waited impatiently until talk had spread, then he walked up to Wizard "I would apreciate a picture of that man." Wizard obliged showing him a mental picture of the free mage, "I belive he was practicing in the arena when we first arrived." he informed The Wizard and then quickly left the hall. Gin walked around not quite sure what to do first. He dicided to check the training ground first. what he saw was the wizard they were after, but only breifly and once he got through the crowd of students the man was gone "Damn." Gin muttered to himself. Hhe went in search of Wizard and when he found the mage he informed him simply "He's here, or was fifteen minutes ago, I'm afraid he's going to slip out of Pynx," Gin hurried on towards the front gates, once he was there he asked the gaurds if anyone had left in the last 15 minutes. Both of them told him no one had come out of the front gate, upon hearing this news Gin shrank into the shadows waiting for his query.

This post has been edited by Kentonis 417: 01 December 2005 - 01:36 AM

Sideline and the Scribe viewed the pandemonium in consternation.

"We can't afford any entanglements with the guards," Sideline stated worriedly. "At the same time, I don't really want to see anyone badly hurt."

"Surely this Desert Fox can take care of himself?" the Scribe queried.

"Who said it was DF I was worried about?" Sideline grinned back. "Those soldiers are too dumb to know when they're outclassed. Look, either way, we need to get out of here. Head for the door, and I'll make sure Brianna gets out. And if you think of anything that'd help, jump right in."

Fortunately, the fight was at the opposite end of the room to where they'd been sitting, so the only obstacle the Scribe had to overcome was the odd guard rushing in to join the fray. In a very short time, he was peering back into the room from the safety of the corridor outside.

He thought quickly, searching for some way to assist in bringing hostilities to a close. "Hmm, entanglements," he mused. "That gives me an idea, but I'll have to wait until Brianna and Sideline get clear." He began to gather his magical energies.

Moving straight across the room, in a direct line to where Brianna was pressing back into the corner, would have taken Sideline right past the growing numbers of combatants. Rather than risk being drawn into the fight, he worked his way around the inside wall as quickly as he could, all the while doing his best to maintain the air of an innocent bystander. He snagged a loaf of bread on his way past the counter, dropping a few oboloi into Paris' hand as he passed.

Brianna saw him coming, and began to work her way towards him. He had almost reached the young elven ranger when the merest wisp of the wake of one of DF's shadow bolts grazed her. The result was startling. Her eyes rolled back in her head until only the whites showed, her whole body stiffened, and she began to shake and quiver as if she was having a seizure.

"Not good," Sideline muttered. He closed the final distance, scooped her up over his shoulder, and made his way out of the room as quickly as he could.

As soon as they crossed the threshold, the Scribe cast his spell.

"Onar ía'lo baugliv!"

Ignoring the result, he knelt next to Brianna. There was nothing he could do until the fit ended, but he still felt better holding her hand and speaking to her softly.

Leaving Brianna to her grandfather's care, Sideline looked back through the door to see what effect the Scribe's spell had had.

A large, semi-transparent and glowing plant had appeared in the middle of the room. Periodically, a frond whipped out and around the waist of someone nearby and lifted them high overhead, where they dangled uselessly. Sideline doubted that it would be enough to finish the fight, but by reducing the ranks of the combatants, it might serve to cool things down a bit. On the other hand, it might make things hotter, as the residents of Pnyx grew more desperate. Maybe DF could manage to sneak away, while most people's attantion was on the plant? Sideline doubted it. Once DF got going, it was mighty hard to get him to stop.

He turned back, and saw that Brianna was recovering. Her body visibly relaxed, and stopped shaking. Her eyes fluttered closed. Whe they reopened, they were their usual emerald green.

"How do you feel?" the Scribe's deep concern for her was evident in his eyes and voice.

"I... I beat it," she mumbled. "Hard... so much harder..."

"Rest, dear girl." The Scribe passed a hand in front of her eyes, and she slept.

"She gonna be all right?" Sideline asked.

"In time, my friend. In time."

"That spell you cast - what did the words mean?"

"Nothing dangerous. 'Birth from the void, a constrainer.' It was something of a party trick, back on - back home. Nobody will suffer any lasting effects from it, I can assure you of that."

Sideline pulled out his lead-filled sap, and examined it thoughtfully. "Maybe I should go back in there, and bop a few heads."

This post has been edited by cache22: 01 December 2005 - 02:40 AM

The brawl was starting to get out of hand. The guards had drawn their weapons and DF had drawn his. Not only that, but DF was casting spell after spell, blasting back one combatant after another.

Avatara mused at the fact that if DF was fully recovered, those blasts might have meant the deaths of those fighting him, but quickly buried those thoughts when Sideline joined the small conflict. Though not knowing Sideline's full abilities, Avatara knew that both he and DF stood to be injured in this one. Not to mention the fact that not only this little problem was flaring up, but there seemed to be more and more guards with each flying body.

Avatara tried to find a way out of this but he couldn't. It was then that his hand brushed across the zetacomb. He looked down at the artifact, which very much resembeled a clear stone now. He felt its power at his hands and knew if he could control it, he may just have a solution to his problem.

DF fought on with renewed vigor. He slashed at his adversaries, which were growing in number, and started to worry about his remaining strength. There were mostly just guards fighting him now, but a few unknowns came into the fray attempting to restrain him. DF slashed back and forth, casting a spell here and there to throw his adversaries off a bit. After a few more moments of this, DF felt his magical energies being lifted from him. Stunned by this new development, he attempted to call back his power, summoning all of his willpower to bring it back to him. All the while trying to fend off attack after attack. He felt panic start to rise within him when suddenly it happened.

Avatara struggled to pull DF's power away from him to cloak him. This way, he would disappear, leaving only a group of soldiers who didnt know what was going on. Only problem was that DF was struggling with him. Avatara put a lot of energy into the zetacomb and was trying valiantly to control the energy it was trying to withhold when suddenly, everything seemed to crash.

DF looked around him as he fell to his knees. It felt like a great weight had just fallen upon him, and it looked as though it had fallen upon all others in his general vicinity. He tried to summon the strength to do anything, but it failed him utterly.

Avatara looked on the scene stunned. The moment he lost control, the power went crashing to the ground, and the whole hall seemed to be stunned on the ground. As the immediate danger subsided, he noticed to his surprise that Sideline was one of the dazed combatants. As if he could sense he was spotted, Sideline glared back, attempting to get up but not having much success.

"What were you thinking?" Avatara hissed at DF as he began dragging DF's limp body away in a hurry. Once outside in the hallway, they could hear the shouts of guards and heavy footfalls on the stairs not far off. "Snap out of it!" Avatara clouted DF across the face, "We have to get out of here!"

DF groaned in reply, but managed to be forced to his feet. Half-staggering, the two managed to find their way to the entrance to the underground chamber and throw themselves down the stairs, closing the door behind them.

"Wake up already, they'll find us if we stay here too long," Avatara said, pulling DF back to his feet and further away from the stairs. "So much for keeping a low profile."

Drake Thern clenched his teeth. First the mess with Lindus, now a disturbance in the dining hall. He rounded the corner and strode into a scene of disorder. The men he had brought with him quickly fanned out and began assisting the wounded, as they had been trained.

Several of the outsiders were grouped together off to one side, while his men were helping their comrades and some dazed students to their feet. Tables and benches were overturned and broken, strewn about a rough circle which appeared to have been a battleground. A giant plant was in the middle of the room, holding a number of limp guards and students in its clutches. The owner, Paris, was tending to his hysterical wife. While Helen's injury appeared to be minor, it was obviously causing her an unusual amount of anguish.

"What happened here?" Thern addressed the aging owner as he kneeled down to inspect the wound on her wife.

"Some troublemaker came into the restaurant with no manners and rudely demanded service," Paris told the captain. "And when we tried to remove him, he just...went berserk."

"It wasn't one of the students?" Thern asked, noticing a man that he didn't recognize.

"No, there were a few patrons here earlier that are helping with the investigation, but they were all well-mannered, and one of them..." Paris indicated the man Thern was observing, "...even tried to help."

"They're assisting the investigation? Since when?" Thern frowned. His assistance seemed to be helping, Helen eased into a calm sleep.

Paris sighed in relief at his wife's improving condition. "Most of the headmasters seem comfortable with the idea of having outsiders be a neutral party to all of this mess. After all, you're probably quite familiar with the growing division among the students."

Thern didn't reply. There was a growing rift among the students, he knew that all too well. The assassination attempt had served only to deepen the rift, and it was only a matter of time before open hostilities broke out.

His musings were pushed aside when one of his newer soldiers came running into the room. After a bit of confusion, the soldier spotted Thern and rushed over. "Sir, Lindus has just named the assassin."

Thern tightened his expression and stood up. Pointing to most of the guards that were standing he bellowed, "Follow me. We'll deal with this later."

Gin waited. He waited while the gaurds changed, he waited until everyone had forgoten about him. Then when everything was still while the gaurds were alert a man threw something Gin didn't move and was half blinded by the flash, thankfully one of the gaurds was between the object and himself. Gin jumped out of the shadows into the man's path, drawing his sword and yelling for help. The man turned and ran. Gin deciding that he had nothing to lose followed the man

Gin saw the man dart down the stairs into the catacombs and followed

He looked around looking for anything that was familiar. Gin had chased the mage throughout the catacombs until the devilish man had given him the slip and after that Gin became hopelessly lost. He wondered around in the dark tunnels for days not knowing what to do, finally after exaustion and lack of food or water took its toll he fell asleep infront of a locked door, with ancient runes upon it.

He woke up and the first thing he noticed was the door. Gin was still half dilerious and so unawars he tried to open the door, it was locked.

The creature had resided in a cell in these catacombs for millenia, frozen in a giant stalagmite of ice. When the human creature suddenly came into reach of its mind it seized control and guided it to the door which opened into its prison.

Gin didn't know how he knew but he slowley manipulated the runes until they glowed in a certain pattern. the giant door swung open and enthralled by the creature he walked forwards twords the column of ice, drawing his sword.

The creature moved its arms and legs, moving about streatching like a great feline, "freedom." it hissed a devilish grin spreading across it's face, "free to take my revenge upon those damnable mages who imprisoned me here eons ago." the creature then looked over to the human which it controlled and being a being of less than solid form it entered into Gin's body and mind, taking compleate control.

Gin walked up to the cafeteria, "May I beg some food off of you?" he asked producing several obli (SP).

After a ravenous meal Gin walked up to the student quarters they had been asigned slipped into his room and fell asleep, To everyone, even Wizard and the scribe it seemed as though all that had happened was him wondering around in the catacombs delireously until finally finding his way out, begged food off of Paris and then coming to sleep in his temporary quarters. Though there was something either Wizard or the Scribe would notice slightly odd about Gin as though he was almost subconciously asleep all the time however that would be the only thing seeming out of place and it seemed to fade with time.

As Saria left Avatara to his own devices, she decided to wander around and see if she could find one who may be able to assist her in her quest. She started first with the group that she had spied when she first entered the city, but they only seemed to want to try and impress her with tales of their training.

Saria wandered down several halls, asking one person after another the same thing, getting the same basic responses and then the same exact lines. She was starting to get annoyed with the prospect of asking these people anymore when she spied a small grouping of mages down a hall.

Exchanging a few pleasantries, Saria learned a few things of the pyramid's basic structure and even of some disturbing recent events. When she brought up the wraith, nobody seemed to know what to make of it, but were willing to point out a suspicious person on the southern level in the northeastern side.

She was about to continue on her way when one brought up a very recent incident...
"Do be a bit careful" one of the students bid "There happened to be an attack in the mess hall just now, Uldine just saw it"
"A couple outsiders apparently attacked the guards and students in the mess hall not but a few minutes ago." Uldine went on "the guard captain has issued a general hunt for the pair at fault. I am sure glad I wasnt involved in that mess. Heard a good many people were sent to the infirmary"
"I will be careful, thanks!" Saria exclaimed as she left the group

Always has to be something going on wherever I go Saria groaned to herself I should probably find the others now that I have a lead

As soon as she thought that, her mind started to race again. It had been like this since the magic was taken from her. It was like a gnawing thought in the back of her mind. Though she had only been able to use it for a short period, it was long enough to gain a want and a need for it. An addiction of sorts.

As she tried a bit more to conjure it up, a sudden poof of shadow magic came into existance and she nearly fell over from the shock of it.

This must be why DF didnt seem all there when he first got up Saria concluded I must still possess a portion of his magic. Might just be a residual bit, but it might work to my advantage

She started to focus her mind on her task, like she did when she was hunting game out in the forests around her home. She was so intent on her search that she didnt notice the guard round the corner start looking at her.

She finally caught wind of the guard when he was right next to her.

Albeit a bit startled, Saria put on a big smile and chatted for a bit with the guard. She asked if he had seen her companions and went about describing them, but unfortunately the guard was unable to help. After a similar warning to be careful, the guard detached himself from conversation and continued on his rounds.

Saria continued down towards the dining hall to see the carnage that had the students in gossip mode and the guards on even tighter security. When she came upon the area, she saw an older man right outside the doors of the dining hall talking with a guard. The man had gray hair and had an odd insignia on him. This, she pondered, might indicate a higher rank, and she tried to evesdrop on his conversation as they came towards her to pass down the hall.

"Was there any indications as to who it may be?" the older man asked the younger guard who kept in step with him
"I b-believe that the person was named, but I was not in the company that heard it. I was only sent to fetch you" the soldier responded, a bit bewildered by the pace of events that were going on
"Well, we will conclude this new business at hand, then come back to help clean up the mess in the hall." motioning to another guard, the older man gave an order "Leave a couple here to help fix up the damage and take any furthur injuries down to the infirmiry. Tell me when that plant thing is finally gone. Lord knows how that came to be"
With that, the guard turned back and went into the dining hall.
Saria quickly passed by the entrance of the hall, taking only enough time to peek through the open doors. She saw the tables and benches strewn about in a fashion, broken and not all over the place. She saw a group of young mages trying to dispell the giant plant that seemed to take to swiping them up with its tendrils.

As she continued down the hall, she spied an odd piece of cloth sticking out of the ground. She swore it looked somewhat familiar and bent down to pull it out of the stone it had caught itself in. As she brought it up to see, she quickly recognized the cloth by the base scent it held. It was DF's alright. but why would there be a scrap of his out here unless... Saria looked around a bit closer and saw a few droplets of blood here and there, as though DF had been struck around here.

Im getting a bad feeling about this Saria frowned as she thought of where he may go. She saw tiny droplets of blood, as though a small trail left behind by one running away, and she followed them. After a couple moments, she thought more of it, and looked around. Nobody was paying her any mind at all, so she started to rub the blood spots away with her foot as she went along.

She continued this way until she reached a door. She made sure to look around her before opening and passing through the door and onto a stairwell that led down. She quietly made her way down. Having a highly developed night vision helped her not to trip around, but as she stood around in the darkness, she could not discern anywhere her companions could have gone. Hearing a movement, she turned, only to see nothing.

She knew she had felt another presence somewhere down here, but was unable to discern where it was. She heard faint signs of movement, but the echos made it hard to pinpoint their location. She crept along slowly for a small while, trying to discern where the other steps were coming from when she suddenly faced a blade.

"Im tired of playing games, go back upstairs and you will not be harmed" a voice ordered from the darkness.
"Oh, just kill him" another voice chimed in, a bit weaker
"You got us into this mess with that attitude, so you dont have any say in how I get us out of it" the first voice answered back sharply.
"Oh, I dont believe this" Saria started laughing aloud, bringing the second figure up to his feet
"Saria?" the second figure said aloud "Damn, I guess I am out of line"
"I should have figured it to be you two, but from the looks of it, DF was the one who caused it, am I correct?" Saria queried, with a half smirk on her face.
"That would be a correct assumption," Avatara answered with a glare at DF "I got involved only because I could see it becoming very dangerous and deadly had it gone on any furthur"
"How did it all get started?" Saria asked, concerned about the whole situation.
"I dont want to talk about it now" DF looked away.
"Also, we dont really have the time to explain just yet" Avatara concurred "There already have been people following us, and this location doesnt seem quite safe anymore."
"That I might be able to help with" Sideline appeared at the top of the stairwell "Your little stunt caused quite a lot of havoc in this area, but now they are on alert for some other reason. The guards have been pulled back to Lindus' quarters and it affords you a place to go"

Avatara eyed Sideline suspiciously but shook his distrust off for a moment, the information he was providing was quite valuable. The 4 of them quickly darted down the hall and into the area Sideline had described a bit ago. As he had stated, it was deserted, and an exit lie just ahead.

"Since im not at risk right now, I will go back and try to investigate furthur" Saria stated as she turned away from the rest of them "Ill find a way to meet up with you all later. Hopefully ill be able to flush out the wraith while im at it"

And with that, she darted down the hall and away from the rest, who continued towards the exit.

As they walked out into the area around Pynx, Avatara stopped the rest.
"Ok, why did you help us?" Avatara asked "It wasnt intentional, but you were blasted by that magic just the same"
"It seemed you two were in the most need of help at this time" Sideline responded "I wasnt trying to fight DF, just keep him from slaying all those people"
"I wasnt intending on slaying them" DF chimed in, a bit downcast
"The intent wasnt there, but it would happen if it kept up" Sideline noted and then drew a loaf of bread from a satchel he carried "I brought this along for you. I heard that this all started because you were hungry enough to eat Pnyx, stone by stone"
"Words cant describe my thanks for this" DF said as he took the bread and began devouring it.
"I sense this is as good a place as any to set up camp. Sorry to have dragged you into this somewhat, Sideline" Avatara apologized
"Its nothing, I chose to be here, there would have been no other reason for me to follow" Sideline smiled
"Where are the other two?" Avatara asked as DF wolfed down the bread.
"Brianna's sleeping, we took her back to her room. Her grandfather's looking after her."


Unknown to the group, though, was a dark presence lurking in the shadows nearby. Icel had tracked the trio as it was to the city, but stayed along outside.
Its all coming together Icel grinned from ear to ear as he thought up a plan Though that wench isnt around, they seem to have come up with another fool. I sense the wraith nearby, but with my new power, I should be able to take these fools out before I take it over
With that, Icel started thinking over a strategy...

Most of the young mages attempting to deal with the strange, ephemeral plant in the cafeteria had given up, and drifted off to more entertaining things. Only two remained, apart from the dozen or so people dangling up near the ceiling and bobbing about as the plant swayed, restlessly.

"What else can we try?" one mage said to the other.

"Um, I'm not sure," the other replied. "We've already covered all the standard stuff. Maybe something a bit more experimental?"

"Not like that time -"

"No, no, nothing like that. At least, I don't think it'll explode..."

"Suit yourself, but I'm going to watch from behind that counter, OK?"

"What, don't you trust me?"

The other mage shot a pained expression back over his shoulder, and climbed behind the service bench.

"OK, I'm ready."

Suddenly, the plant stopped moving.

"That's it," called the second mage from behind the counter, "looks like it's working!"

"But I haven't started, yet," the first mage replied, bewildered.

The ensaring fronds began to droop, then abruptly let go. There were a few grunts and yelps as people hit the floor, but noone appeared to be too much the worse for wear. The plant vanished with a sharp 'pop'.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

The messenger was distinctly short of breath. He wasn't as young as he used to be, and he'd been running all over the Pnyx, trying to find a group of people that appeared to have vanished completely. He decided he'd check the rooms they'd been assigned one more time, then call it a day. There was only so much they could ask of him, after all.

He knocked on one of the doors, expecting no response. He was very much surprised to hear someone answer.

"Yes?" a precise voice called out.

The messenger gently pushed the door open, and peered around the door. A young woman, dressed all in green, was lying on the bed. She appeared to be sleeping deeply. An old man was sitting in a chair next to her, both hands leaning on the head of a short staff, and gazing back at him over the top of a pair of gold-rimmed spectacles.

"What is it?" the old man asked, imperiously.

"Oh, uh... one of your group... Selax... sent me to... find you all," the mage panted. "Something to do with... Lindus waking up."

The Scribe thought for a moment. "Very well, I'll be right along. I just need to leave a note in case my granddaughter wakes up. Did you have any luck finding any of the others?"

"No, I'm afraid... and I've... run out of places to look."

"A pity," the Scribe sighed, as he finished scibbling the note, "but so be it. They'll just have to make their own way whenever they receive the word." He levered himself to his feet with his staff. "Well, what are you waiting for, man? Lead on!"

The messenger stifled a groan.

This post has been edited by cache22: 03 December 2005 - 02:20 AM

||OOC|| Please tell me if I do anything wrong in this post, I'm still kinda new round here ||BIC||

While the messenger was leading the scribe down the hall they came upon the body of a mage. He was laying on the floor against one wass and there was a great deal of blood covering the walls all around. The man's throat was ripped out and there were four holes in him, one in each sholder and each leg, there were matching holes in the wall.

Gin awoke and blinked several times, he had been on his way to tell Selax that he thought he had chased the assasin into the catacombs when he had blacked out.

"Selax?" Gin walked up behind the elemental. "I belive I found the assasin and chased him into Pynx's catacombs. All I managed to do when I tried to follow him was get hopelessly lost." Gin tottered slightly "I'm sorry but I need something to eat I'm starving."

Two young mages walked down one of the less frequently used halls and came upon one of the masters. He was killed in the exact same way as the other mage had been. The two imediatly run to tell the masters. Once informed of the accident and after investigating security got tighter than ever and everyone was soon talking about the mysterious killings.

This post has been edited by Kentonis 417: 03 December 2005 - 01:42 AM

Several hours had passed since Lindus had named the assassin.

During that time, Selax had worked with the guards to check the exits out of Pnyx, question the student body, and look for the others. He and Wizard had entered the mess hall immediately after the plant had disappeared and had been told the story of how the brawl had started. Selax had his suspicions about the origin of the plant but said nothing. Instead, he and Wizard began looking for Dolophonous all over Pnyx. At last, they located him in the garden upstairs.

By this time, the Scribe and several more guards had caught up with them and had told them of the new killings. They had all agreed to catch Dolophonous before they investigated the new incidents. After several minutes of planning, the guards and mages blocked both entrances, making it was only a matter of time before they found him. Then, they put the plan that they had come up with into action. Selax was just about to enter the garden when Gin came up behind him. Hearing what Gin had to say, he turned.

"You have been in the catacombs? By yourself?"

Gin nodded.

"Did you see or hear anything strange?"

Gin shook his head.

"I was too focused on catching Dolophonous to pay much attention to anything else."

Selax pondered this information for a few moments before nodding and turning his back to Gin. Without another word, he stepped into the garden.


Dolophonous was indeed in the gardens. Hidden in a small grove of trees, he plotted how best to escape Pnyx. His plan at the moment was to cast a variant of Direct Nexus; if successful, he would be teleported safely out of the mage city. Then, he intended to wait until the hunt had died down a little before returning.

At nearly fifty, Dolophonous remained a freemage, filled with bitterness and hatred for his fellow mages. He was short, balding man. He had grown up believing that his obviously sterling qualities would make him a master overnight. Of course, such an event had not happened. Dolophonous, however, saw no fault himself that it had not. In his twisted mind, he blamed the other mages—particularly Lindus—for this. When he had first been approached and offered a chance to kill Lindus, he had jumped at the chance.

He had been supplied with a weapon and given his instructions; he carried them out to the letter. Much to his dismay, Lindus was not dead--yet. In his opinion, the poison was taking too long. He'd finish the job himself.

But, just as he considering how best to do this, Dolophonous heard a voice singing. It sounded like a child...who was coming closer.

Growling irritably to himself, he prepared to move deeper into the concealment offered by the trees. However, when he turned around, he found himself looking straight into the eyes of Niobe—the daughter of the owners of the restaurant. The girl didn't seem at all surprised to find him here.

"I had a dream about you," she said in a knowing voice.

For an instant, Dolophonous was startled, but he quickly recovered. "Beat it, kid," he ground out.

"Won't you play with me?" she asked him, seemingly oblivious to his increasingly agitated manner.

"NO!" he yelled. Calming himself, he spoke again, "Why don't you just run along now?"

"You're Dolophonous aren't you?" she asked him, still seeming oblivious to what he said.

"Where'd you hear that?" he said in a startled voice.

"Why, they're looking for you, didn't you know?" Niobe said in a surprised tone.

Oh, so that was it, was it? Then, this kid knew. Well, he would just have to put her out of his misery. He stepped closer to her raising his staff as he did so.

"I'm sorry, kid. You've seen too—"

Something smashed into his stomach, sending him flying into one of the trees. At the same moment, his staff was ripped from his hands. The impact caused stars to flash before his eyes, and he was certain that he felt several ribs brake. Winded and gasping, he fell to ground. He looked up and his jaw dropped.

The girl still stood there, but now she held his staff in her hands and looked at him with a calm expression. He was incredulous. Had she just hit him that hard?

"Perhaps, it is you who have seen too much, young one," she sighed in a deep voice which was clearly not her own.

Leaning on the tree, Dolophonous pulled himself to his feet, somewhat shaken. Clearly, this was not Niobe, nor was it probably even human. He decided quickly that his best bet was to get it talking so he could charge a spell.

"What are you?" he panted, still leaning on the tree for support. It shook its head at him.

"I think you have thing reversed, young one. I will be asking the questions—not you," he (at least Dolophonous assumed it was a he—it sounded like it) responded. Dolophonous didn't reply; instead, he quickly raised his hand to cast a fireball. Before he could so, however, something hit him hard in the head, and he fell and for time knew nothing.


Selax looked down at the prone body of the freemage. Resuming his normal form, he bent over and picked the man up. Given the man's nature and some help from Wizard (to make Selax's simple deception complete), it had not been difficult to fool him, making his capture fairly simple. He emerged from the doorway in the midst of the guards and several of the mages. He nodded to Wizard.

"Wake him."

Wizard put his hand on Dolophonous's head. After a few seconds, he straightened up. Dolophonous was already beginning to stir. He looked around wildly. There were far too many people around for him to hope to escape. The area had also been sealed off to keep any students from wandering in and seeing anything.

"What?! How?!"

Selax leaned over him. "That is unimportant," he stated in calm voice. Dolophonous's eyes widened in realization.

"You..."

"Yes, me. That hardly matters now though. What matters is that we have you, and that you will now answer our questions. Do you deny that you tried to kill Lindus?"

"Why should I?" Dolophonous answered proudly. "That old man has had it coming." He looked around at them and laughed unpleasantly. "You may think that you've won just because you have me! But you haven't!"

"What do you mean? Are there others?" Selax asked him intently.

"Of course, there are—"

Abruptly, something small and shiny flew out of the darkness of the garden. Dolophonous straightened up then slumped over. Guards raced into the garden, but it was too late. The assailant had somehow escaped. Selax bent over Dolophonous; clearly, the man was dead. After several seconds, he gingerly removed a small dart from the dead man's neck.

He turned to Wizard and the Scrive.

"Come, we must have this analyzed and meet with the others in the restaurant."


By now, word of the two killings had spread all throughout Pnyx. There was widespread suspicion among the student body that some student or group of students. Rumors ran rampant. Maybe even a master was responsible! Already, camps were starting to form; each with their own opinion about the murders and who was responsible. Several of these groups were already planning to demand that Selinus hold the election for interim headmaster as soon as possible.

This post has been edited by Selax: 06 December 2005 - 07:24 PM

The day after the capture of Dolophonous another student was killed. It was obvious that whoever was doing the killings had decided to be a little less discreate about it; instead of leaving the body in a hall way the student's body was hung against one wall in the caffetirea. Words were written behind the mage in his own blood. "You held me captive in a prision of ice for a thousand years. In retribution I shall take a thousand lives." the message was blasted in the stone, presumably by magic.

This post has been edited by Kentonis 417: 06 December 2005 - 08:10 PM

A storm was brewing over Pnyx. Even before the adventures from Cademia had arrived, there had been ominous clouds to signal the approach of snow. Now, the clouds had let loose their carge, piling snows in great drifts against the sides of the city. The snow continued to fall fast in large flakes. The temperature outside dropped rapidly, but the mages' talents kept the inside of the city fairly warm and secure.

They could not, however, do anything about the storm that was brewing inside the city and among its inhabitants. The body of third victim had been found in the cafeteria only forty minutes ago. Seeing the message carved into the wall, Wizard and the Scribe had decided to do research in the library to see if they could find anything. They agreed to meet there later that day.

Selax had headed straight to Charax and had retrieved the analysis on the dart. The result had been just what he feared. After finishing his talk with Charax, he had rushed to the Council room and had entered into an urgent talk with Selinus, Tros, and Pheres. At this moment, they were still deep in discussion.


Meanwhile, Alaric and the elementals had their hands full preventing anything from entering Cythera from the void.


In the void itself, the two huge armies continued their reckless battle. Every creature among them knew that they were waiting for something and knew that it was rapidly coming toward them.

Brianna awoke with a suddenness that belied the depth of her magically induced slumber. Hr sharp hearing suggested that the room was unoccupied, but she scanned the room with a sweeping glance, just in case. Years of ranger training, and hard won experience, had taught her to take few chances.

She quickly read her grandfather's note, which simply informed her that he would be about the Pnyx somewhere, and not to worry. She smiled fondly at his concern, although it irked her that he still treated her like she was the child of fourteen with whom he'd left their home world. The worlds they'd travelled in the thirty-one years since had been both harsh and challenging, and neither of them would have survived if she hadn't learned her lessons well. He was loath to admit it, but he'd come to rely on her as much as she did on him.

Her muscles still ached from the tension of her earlier ordeal, so she limbered up with a few quick stretches before slinging her ever-present bow over her shoulder, and exiting the room.

The atmosphere of Pnyx had changed. Before, there was tension. Now, there was abject fear. People skulked along the corridors, almost always in twos or threes. Suspicious looks were exchanged openly. Guards were stationed at key intersections, but there hardly seemed to be enough of them to cope if anything serious were to happen.

Brianna meandered aimlessly down random passageways, wishing she were back in the forest, where she could easily have tracked the source of the malaise to it's lair. Here, in a city, her skills were far less useful.

She felt a faint twitch at the edge of her mind, and became instantly alert. It was the first warning sign, one she usually missed - she only sensed it this time because she was being so introspective. But to attempt to impose the change again, so soon after her last attack? That wasn't normal.

"Shadow magic!" she gasped. Someone nearby was emanating only the slightest trace of dark power, but her experience with DF had already shown her how little it took to tip the balance.

The mental twitch grew stronger. Whoever it was, was getting closer.

"No!" she thought. "I won't allow it!" She made a left turn down another corridor, and began to run. To her great relief, the dark shadow diminished. She slowed to a walk, and turned another corner. Among the people walking along this corridor was a young woman. She wasn't dressed like a mage, Brianna noted, which was probably why she stood out. She carried a bejeweled bow that reminded Brianna a little of Trinias' Opal Sting.

Brianna was shocked to sense the seed of shadow energy within the woman, the merest instant before a wisp of the power slammed her against the wall. She fell forward onto her hands and knees.

"Are you all right?" a concerned student asked, approaching cautiously.

Brianna's head snapped up. The student jumped back, startled. The eyes that stared back at him were no longer elven. They were the eyes of a cat. A low, feline rumble emanated from deep in Brianna's throat. She sprang at him, nails outstretched to claw at his eyes. In mid air, she morphed gracefully into a large black panther. If the student hadn't been scared out of his wits, he might have considered it a rather beautiful display of transfiguration.

Instead, he bolted, followed immediately by practically everyone else in the corridor. The panther lunged after them madly, snarling and swiping at their heels.

OOC: Let me know if you want me to change this DF/Selax BIC:

A mental message shot into Icel's mind. What are you doing here? I have a operation at stake. Talryn waited for a reply as he walked through the halls of Pynx and arrived around the Restaurant. By now, most of the benches and furniture have been cleaned up. Talryn sat down at a table after buying some food and thought. He knew now that the Death King would really like to know this. Talryn cast a small spell, which created a spying "bug". He rose to leave just as Tej walked in.

Talryn quickly disguised himself, and walked past Tej. The Druid stopped as he felt a familiar dark force. He had an idea of who it was but when he tried to trace it, it was lost among the groups of students moving around. Tej didn't have to wait that long for other members of the group to start appearing.

Tej pulled out the wood creation he was working on, and begun to materialize the next bit of it. When the rest of the group arrived, he stopped and put it away.

----

Talryn slipped into his room, and locked the door. He drew his powers back to him, activated the "bug" and created a portal. He walked through and appeared before the Death King. "They here" Talryn said before being mentally linked with the DK. He also created a window from which the DK could listen/watch what the "bug" saw/heard.


-Dark

Although it wasn't late, it was fairly dark outside due to all of the clouds. The wind had slowly been increasing over the last 2 days or so and the rain was just starting. Medoc was traveling around the outside of the Pynx for the past few days, he felt more at home out in the wild, not supprising he spent many years in a small village, is where is learned to fight, hide and survive. Medoc knew that the storm was starting to get to the point where it was about to burst lightning and really start raining, not just the little spitting. The guards at the enterence of the Pynx, knowing what was comming he errected a tent off to one side of the enterence. Of course they were eventually going to have to retreat into the Pynx when it started raining, being caught in the snow in a tent is not the best of ideas. As soon as Medoc entered the Pynx he sensed a different atmosphere, fear is one of the most obvious and easly detected emotions and it seemed that everyone he encounted had been stricken with the same fear, what ever it was it had gotten to everyone. When they first arrived, most of the mages walked alone, seeking solitude and a quiet place to think, now everyone was moving in groups. Medoc was still confused be the notion of what was happening around him, he decided to go get something to eat, he had fun eating what he found outside the Pynx but wild animals can sense the weather better than humans so they had already found a nice dry place to stay, makes it difficult to find food. Medoc knew where the restaurant was so it didn't take too long to get there, the Pynx is a big place though. There were two guards standing outside the enterence to the restaurant, one of the turned and saw Medoc and started walking towards him. When he was getting closer he moved his hand towards his sword hilt, Medoc was about to turn and run when he noticed that the guard was going for a piece of parchment in his belt. The guard handed it over and went back to his post, the note read:
'We couldn't find you, if you get this note before we find you we are in the restaurant, the guards will let you in. Something is afoot, discuss rest in private.'
The note had been written in hast, Medoc was standing about 15 feet away from the restaurant door, he looked at the guard and thought to himself Why didn't you just tell me. Medoc walked into the restaurant and noticed that everyone was there studying some writing on the wall.

[OOK]
Any problems with this post, mail me.
Sorry it took me so long to post, I was on a holiday last week and it seemed that everyone wanted to post so I had a lot of reading to do, taken me ages to finish reading all the posts but I finally got there
[BIC]

Selax stepped out of the Council chamber. His long talk with the masters had been most satisfying—he had achieved exactly what he had intended to achieve. Now, he had other goals in mind.

Selax had not been in Pnyx for the better part of several hundred years. To him, this was a very short time, but he supposed that the layout city had no doubt changed, even if only in small ways. He had not had much of a chance to familiarize himself with the city's layout (and he wanted to be ready), nor much chance to investigate. Turning, he headed for some of the other hallways that he had not yet explored. For a some time, he simply wandered the halls, observing changes and cataloguing anything he deemed important.

His rounds were rudely interrupted when several students darted out of a door to his right and ran right in front of him, narrowly avoiding a collision. The students didn't even seem to notice him; they were too panicked. Curious, he plucked two students from the mob.

As he opened his mouth to question them, one of them burst out in an almost hysterical voice, "What are you doing?! Let us go! We need to run! Don't you understand?! RUN!!"

"Calm down," Selax said in a tranquil tone, "In answer to your questions: I'm asking you why you are running and causing undue disturbance. No, I don't understand; I was hoping you could explain."

"It's a panther...trying to kill us!" the student screeched, somewhat out of breath.

"A panther?" Selax asked skeptically. That seemed unlikely, yet the student seemed to be telling the truth. "And where did this panther come from? In a coherent manner please."

The student quickly related the events in the hallway surrounding the emergence of the panther. Selax would have been inclined to disbelieve them had there not been the sound of a panther's yowl down the hallway. The other woman from their story sounded familiar . . . He turned his attention back to the students.

"You go the tell the guards, if they haven't already heard what you have just told me. I do not want them to kill this panther," he said to the first student and released him. "Now, you," he turned to the other one, "go find an older elf and older human who should be in the library. Tell them this account and get them down here as quickly as possible."

Both students raced off as fast as their feet would carry them. Selax turned to the doorwar and stepped inside.

As he did so, the panther emerged from the doorway at the other end of the hall. For a moment, the two stared at each other.

Then, the panther snarled and began to move toward him. Something about this one disturbed it; he didn't seem like the others it had chased.

"Stop," Selax said, not really expecting it to. Indeed, the panther lunged at him. Selax was not really worried about the panther's claws or teeth. Physical attacks could overwhelm if there were enough at once, but he doubted that could happen here, as there was only one opponent. He was afraid that it might have some sort of magical powers. In which case, it was in his best interests to end this as soon as possible. He lunged at the panther.

Selax smashed both his fists into the cat's face. Both combatants dropped to the ground and rolled to their feet. The panther was dazed and somewhat uncertain what it was facing, having never encountered something quite like Selax before. It shook it's head and snarled again. Before it could attack again, Selax dove at it. The panther was fast; it jumped out of the way. It was surprised again when Selax turned in midair and grabbed it's tail. The panther yowled in fury, twisting around to reach the elemental.

Selax braced himself, tightened his grip, and swung the cat into the wall—hard. However, the panther managed to twist enough to brace it's feet on the wall and shove off of it, breaking Selax's grip. It lunged at Selax again; he rolled off to the side. This time, the cat was expecting something like this and turned it's head to bite at him. Again, he smashed his fists into it's face. For an instant, the panther was dazed. Selax moved in and, altering his form to achieve his desired result, smashed all four of his limbs into the cat's face and side. The panther managed a clumsy leap away, in an attempt to get it's breath back.

Selax managed to grab it's tail again, as it flew past. Again, he lifted the cat and swung into the wall. After he had done this three times, he let it go. The panther sagged to the floor, unconscious.

Behind him, he could hear people entering the doorway. He looked down at the prone form and thought, interesting...


The Death King looked at Talryn.

"Good. Keep them there and kill them. Soon, the portal will close. When that happens, I want you and your partner to finish your job on your own. I will be too busy to deal with you. Go."

A gaggle of panicked students burst into the library, slamming the door behind them. The Wizard looked up in annoyance.

"Do you mind? People are trying to do research, here."

"Sorry... there was a wild cat... and it was chasing us-"

"A cat, you say?" the Scribe interjected, suddenly taking an interest. "A large black cat, by any chance?"

"Yes, that's- how did you-"

"Aha'i'avatharie*," the Scribe lamented. "Where was this?". Various people called out varying sets of directions which, somehow, the Scribe was able to interpret. He pushed roughly through the huddled group. "Make way, make way," he commanded, shooing them away from the door. "I must look into this," he called back to the Wizard, as he disappeared out into the corridor.

He found Selax standing thoughtfully over the subdued panther, just as it began to stir. He crouched beside it, gently touching its head.

"Peace, peace," he softly whispered, over and over again. The cat blinked up at him, and moaned in pain. Its eyes slowly drooped closed, as it drifted back into unconsciousness.

"I have been led to believe that this is your granddaughter," Selax commented. "If that is true, then I apologise for my rough treatment of her, but I had little choice."

"Of course, of course," the Scribe replied. "The safety of others must always be our concern. Brianna has been exibiting great control of her affliction, I can't imagine what could have happened that would cause this."

As they spoke, the outline of the cat began to slowly waver and shift, until it was replaced by the form of an insensate girl. Brianna began to stir, then sat up in panic as memory returned.

"Oh no, not again! What did I do? Is anyone hurt?"

"Relax, my dear," the Scribe soothed gently, "you're quite safe, now. Can you tell us what happened?"

"Grandfather! It was shadow magic! There are more here that are touched by it than just Desert Fox! They also lack his control!"

"Indeed?" Selax quirked up an eyebrow. "I heard about the altercation Desert Fox had in the dining hall. This 'shadow magic' sounds quite potent."

"Indeed it is," the Scribe responded. "This information may be of importance - or it may not. This is most frustrating! It's like Sideline said to me earlier, there are so many pieces, but no telling if any or all of them fit together in any way! What do you think, Selax, should this be followed up, or should we be focusing our efforts elsewhere?"

*rage of the shadows

Icel watched them eating through the foliage. One man sat apart while the other two were busy tinkering with the zetacomb. Despicable! Such a waste! They were like children poking sticks at a fire, none of them knew what power they held within their grasp. But they were all capable of holding onto it tightly, enough so that as much as he despised the very notion of it, for now he'd have to leave the zetacomb in their care.

What are you doing? Stop interfering! The voice came back to him again, ever so persistent. He ignored the foolish wimper, the time of playing a pawn was behind him now. Icel caught himself stroking his new arm again, enjoying the touch of it. Its rough texture nicely contrasted with the weak flesh covering the rest of his body. He was hungry, he wanted to taste the delicious flavor having even more power would bring him.

Icel had finally learned how to keep his hunger under control, to let it build up over time, waiting for the final moment when he could let loose and ravage the next treacherous wraith. He could almost smell it now, the reeking beast dangling just outside his grasp.

A realization suddenly struck him: he could sense the wraith, and it was nearby. A little investigation led him to suspect the wraith was in the vicinity of Pnyx. Scowling once more at the three fools hoarding the zetacomb, Icel turned to Pnyx, promising himself his hunger would be satiated soon enough.

After looking around the grounds of Pnyx for most of the day, Saria went to the dining hall to strategize her next course of action as she thought it over, again and again, she slowly fell asleep.

Waking up the next day, she had the good nature to look a little sheepish when the dining hall chef approached her as she started to stand.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..." Saria started to explain when the man put up his hand.
"Its no worry, ma'am" the man said "My name is Paris and I run this dining hall. There have been far too many problems today, and you seemed so tired from the moment you walked through the doors"
"I appreciate your kindness" Saria politely responded "Id stay for a meal, but I really am late now"
The man laughed "Heh, a bit more than you know, you slept clear through the night"
Saria smiled as she gathered her bow and quiver "Thank you again, I may be around later"
"Come by anytime"

With that, Saria crept along the halls of Pnyx again. She made her way down to the northeastern end of the southern level by asking her way every few guards that she ran along. Though curteous, these guards seemed to be a bit involved with whatever they were doing, and didnt pay her any extra attention. As she made her way along, she spied an eerie man with a dark presence around him. She got the chills when she reached out with her remaining powers and knew this was the odd man she had heard about earlier. She decided to go along the halls as another person, though she knew she stuck out like a sore thumb.

As she continued in this fashion, she noticed an odd looking woman staring at her for the briefest of moments as she made her way along. Due to this, Saria ducked in with the small crowd that was moving along the halls.

Quickly moving along down the hall, she started to hear a few cries from behind her and noticed the pace was significantly increasing.

What could it be now? Saria wondered to herself as turned her head to spy on what was going on. What she saw flabbergasted her. A largish panther was attacking in the halls, and the crush of people started to surge forward, forming a human stampede. Regaining her wits, she turned back and doubled her pace, keeping her eye on her prey.

The surge kept on going through the long hall, and before long she saw her quarry duck into a adjoining hall. To her relief, he wasnt the only one, and she wouldnt look suspicious if she followed.

The temporary relief she felt was quickly squelched as she saw a growing gathering in a widened part of the hallway. There were many angry people here, and they were lashing out loudly against magic in general.

Slowly making her way into the crowd, she heard one speaker after another angrily speak out against those who use magic. Whether it be for benefit, for battle, or just ordinary healing use. They cursed it as unnatural and weird, and lamented with one another on how it would bring about full ruin of them as a whole.

Then the one she was tracking stepped up to the helm.

He was a gangly looking fellow. A bit thin, scrappy clothes, and a sharp face. His skin was extremely pale, but he had a dark pallor about him which made it seem more an ash gray.

I can feel its darkness Saria shivered at the mere appearance of the creature, It disguises itself quite well

The man started a long tirade about the need to rise against those who use magic, if one hoped to survive. To strike them down before they became too strong. She listened for a short while and started to notice the anger pouring out from the rest gathered in the crowd. This seemed to be more than just an ordinary rally. This seemed to be a call for blood.

She checked her quiver and gladly grasped the three arrows DF had crafted back at camp. She had been out for a bit, and was more than happy to know she had some additional firepower. As she started to draw an arrow, she noticed an errant glance or two turn into stares around her. Thinking over her action at this point, she let the arrow go, hearing it slide back into the quiver. Not the best time Saria thought as she went about getting out of the crowd.


If I am to kill this thing, what will become of me? Saria suddenly thought. She looked over the whole crowd and started to believe that if she were to strike now, she wouldn't be in the best of positions. She quickly made her way out of the crowd and on down the hall. Her sense of direction would lead her back later. Hopefully the crowd will be less than it was currently.

A few hours later, Saria returned to the area. There were just a few people left now, and the man was still shouting out his tirade about the dangers of magic and its masters. The people seemed to lap it up, shouting in agreement on every point, no matter how silly it seemed to her.

This man must be garnering a lot of support Saria frowned If I were to kill him, people would assume it was done by a mage and it would further divide the people. If I were to let it live, though, it would become part of Icel, and fully embody the danger these people so desperately believe in

She hated a hopeless situation, but she knew the path she had to take. She had travelled with DF for a long while at this point, and a bit of his thinking had rubbed off on her. 'If the enemy is evil, but cloaks himself in good, he is still evil. Destroying a evil thing disguised as good might not appear to be right, but it doesnt mean that it isn't.' She had heard him say this once, and knew it to be true. With that, she drew two arrows at once, and before anyone could stop her, let loose the two arrows.

The wraith, suddenly fully aware of the danger, resorted to using dark magic to try and stop the arrows, which drew a gasp from the crowd. The shadow arrows, though, would not be stopped, and both struck the beast hard. The cries of the wraith knocked everyone around it to the ground, clutching their ears in agony.

Saria, similarly affected by the cries, knew the danger she was immediately in, and dashed down the hall and out of danger. Though she was out of sight at the moment, she still didnt feel quite at ease yet...

While DF and Avatara tinkered with their toy, Sideline sat and thought. He wasn't sure he'd done the right thing, leaving Pnyx to help out these two, but since he couldn't see any way forward with the investigation either, he figured he'd do best to just help out where he saw the greatest need.

He picked idly at a patch of moss on the rock he was sitting on. It broke away, revealing what appeared to be some kind of marking carved into the stone. Sideline examined it closely.

"Do you guys realise where we are?" he asked. "This is an old cemetary, probably dating back to when Pnyx was first founded. Doesn't look like it's been used in over a century."

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
273 years earlier...

Two young men crept nervously into a clearing in the jungle, not too far from Pnyx.

"Morteus, are you sure you want to try this? That book you found looks full of the forbidden arts, to me."

"You're worrying about nothing, Gildor. You know how the Masters like to keep stuff to themselves. Their 'I know something you don't' smugness makes me so mad. Well, now it's our turn. We've found a book of ancient knowlege that no one else knows about. We'd be fools not to study it, maybe get a bit of leverage of our own!"

"I don't know, Morteus. I really don't know."

"Well, now's your last chance to chicken out, 'cause I'm going to do it!"

Gildor's expression became defiant. "You can call me chicken all you want, but my instincts tell me not to have anything to do with that book. And I don't think you should, either."

"You won't talk me out of it, Gildor."

"Be it on your own head, then. I'm going back to bed." Gildor stalked off toward Pnyx, but couldn't resist one last parting shot over his shoulder. "Don't come crying to me if you burn off your eyebrows!" And with that, he disappeared into the jungle.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

Sideline cleared away more of the lichen from the archaic text on what he now realised was a gravestone.

"Heer lays
Morteus Bonaparte
His starre showne brite
but burned too faste

LET ALL BEE WARNED BY HIS FOLLEE"

"Wonder what his story was?" Sideline mused.

This post has been edited by cache22: 16 December 2005 - 05:33 AM

Gin was walking down the coridors alone when several of the protesters jumped him. His form imediatly changed his wings of bone shooting out of his back, that day seven of the protestors were found dead in the same manner as the former mages, and one of the protestors had gotten away from him and was now no doubt spreading his discription, Gin or Zacarutu rather knew that his cover would be lost soon but also knew he was still to weak to leave the body he was in.
____________________________________________________________________
many years in the past

for years they had been attacked and killed by this demon known as Zacarutu. For years he had sought revenge upon them. He had killed hundreds of thousands and would not stop. His goal it seemed was to kill every mage in all of Cythera. He had been suceeding and had killed most mages outside of Pynx, but the city of mages was his finaly hurdle, one that proved to be too high.

He had killed 10, 15 mages before he was found and managed to evade the mages several more times by inhabiting different humans. In the end, it was the creation of special talismans that brought about his imprisionment. For these talismans kept Zacarutu from inhabiting the bodies of the mages...

The mages gatherd around him and had spread a globular shield of magic around him. He pounced at the shield his wings slashing at it and his sword slashing. He managed to rend a hole in the wall but it would close before he could hope to escape, then the barrier began to close moving inwards

"Finaly" a mage panted looking at the demon that was now sealed in and icy stalagmite. "Yes, no more mages will die by his hand." Another added in. The apparent leader of the group, and at that time the headmaster of Pynx, stepped forward "How many has he killed?" the man asked, a mage that walked through behind him sighed and told him that the death toll of mages alone was in the hundreds of thousands and there were probably fifty to sixty non-mages and who knew how many others.
___________________________________________________________________

Gin had gone back to his room and was pacing furious with himself for using his wings and allowing somone to get away. It would be as last time, they would bring out thier talismans and hunt him down until they had him and then would freeze him in ice and put him back in that damned cavern. But, he would wait, and he would leave the mages of Pynx alone, for a while.

OOC Sorry for any spelling mistakes you might find BIC

Selax studied the Scribe for several seconds before speaking.

"No, I think we must continue to focus our efforts here for the moments. From what I have heard, it sounds as if Sideline has joined Desert Fox and Avatara to deal with this venture. For the present, we will leave it to them." Turning to Brianna, he was again silent before speaking to her. "I must warn you that I fear that you are now in grave danger. I fear that whoever is behind all of this is now aware of your affliction—I fear that they may also know what brought this about and how to duplicate it. You must be on your guard."

He turned again to the Scribe and began to speak more rapidly.

"I wish to know more about this situation but not here—not now. Wizard and I will come to you later. I understand if you are unwilling to tell me anything, but, let me say, that, although I am no mage, I have traveled widely and might be able to help you. In addition, Wizard might be able to aid you in some way."

Selax leaned closer to both of them and whispered, "I think we may need a cover story to explain this—at least for now. Your safest bet may be to blame it on the incident in the restaurant. Regrettably, this would put more blame on Desert Fox and Avatara, so if you can find something that works better you'd best you it."

Then, before either of them could respond, he turned and rushed out of the hallway.

Within minutes, Selax arrived at the archives to find Wizard looking over some tomes that he'd found on the top of a shelf. Quickly, he explained what had happened and his plan to speak with the Scribe about it later. For a few minutes, the two conversed quietly before Wizard got up and left. Selax had asked him to locate Saria. He was certain that it was she whom Brianna had seen.


Subsequent events unfolded quickly.

After several hours of searching, Wizard had been narrowing in on Saria when he came across the protesters and saw the wraith die. Seeing that the man had been some sort of dark creature and guessing that Saria had killed him, he sent at once to Selax and the others. In the confusion, Wizard missed Saria.

Everyone, except for Gin, arrived just in time to find the room in a panic. Wild theories were being thrown about, and rumors had begun to run rampant. Most people seemed to be concluding that mages had somehow been responsible for the whole thing.

Guards had almost managed to calm them when a man staggered into the room screaming something about a monster and how it was going to kill them all. Again, the room exploded into panic. After a few more minutes of chaos, Wizard and a few other mages, who had just arrived, put most of the crowd to sleep.

Soon, the man had calmed down enough to tell his story and had claimed Gin was at fault. Wizard had verified that the man told the truth, and Selax had sent several of the guards on errands. Some had gone to the masters to tell them what had transpired; some had to gone to rally more guards and mages and to meet outside Gin's quarters. Selax and the rest of those that had responded to Wizard's call all headed that direction as well. On the way, Selax asked the Scribe and Wizard if they had found anything in the archives.

When Mages knocked on Gin's door he knew why they were there. He opened it, deciding that he would play innocent "You don't think somone could have faked my identity?" he asked after being accused, "Besides, do you see anything growing out of my back?" he asked. Zacarutu managed to keep the mages busy. He knew that his disquise wouldn't fool Selax or the Wizard and he didn't know exactly what he should do.

Zacarutu knew that his only escape was a window in the corner and pretending to pace he moved closer and closer to the window, eventually one of the mages yelled at him, though he was too late and Zacarutu had already launched himself out of the window and was winging his way to the roof of the place, trying to find a place that was relativly inexessable.

Moments Later Selax, The Wizard and The Scribe arrived. To find the window broken and nothing more, none of the mages were hurt in any way. On the rooftop Zacarutu had lost some of his control over Gin and it was draining his strength. Not much, but it was a start.

This post has been edited by Kentonis 417: 21 December 2005 - 01:46 AM