Cythera Chronicles: The taking of the Undine strongholds: Part 1

The taking of the Undine Strongholds: Part 1

from the journal of Hector, captain of Alaric's guards.

The Undine strongholds were the most despised settlements of Cythera. Sadly, they were not destroyed when the hero from another land came to cure our lord Alaric ten years ago. These two fortresses were on the western slopes of the Tyrant's Spine Mountains, far to the north of the pass. The strongholds were settled by evil undead beings that used to dominate the land in the time of the Tyrants.

As I said, there were two of these strongholds; one was to the northeast of the other. The one to the northeast was "disappearing", as they say. It was not as heavily guarded as the other, but was inhabited by skeletons and Liches. The other stronghold to the southwest was very heavily guarded, and it was said that to enter, one needed to be undead, and if they weren't they needed to posses the right artifact to enter.

Now I, Hector, captain of the guard in LandKing hall, and also former companion to the hero, have decided to go against this lesser stronghold, kill the evils, and take the treasures within. I take with me the two other companions of hero whom I traveled with. The first was Timon, headmaster of Pnyx since the mysterious disappearance of old Lindus. The second was Melegar, the personal guard of the judge of Cademia. With me, I took the legendary Sword of Heroes that I wrested from the Hydra in Scylla temple on my former journey. With it, I needed no torch. I armed Timon with the Mystic spear, and Melegar used the gauntlets that were found in a dusty chest in the basement of Pnyx. I also used other artifacts such as the Mystic armor, the cloak of Heracles, and the gator boots, among other things, to equip our party. Now I felt sure we could conquer the stronghold.

And so we set out. We went north of the LandKing hall around the mountains, then south to the first stronghold. Now we stood at its dark door. I took a moment to remind Melegar and Timon about why we were doing this. Then we all grasped our weapons and walked in.

Through the door, we found ourselves in a low hallway. There were many metal and wooden doors on either side of us, but we continued ahead into the heart of the stronghold. At the end of the hall was a heavy metal door. I nodded to Melagar, and he bashed the door open with his gauntlets. Inside, we saw a skeleton in a large purple robe. It was a Liche, the dreaded undead wizard. Timon cast a lightning bolt at it, and it responded by creating an earthquake. I rushed forth and smashed it with a bone-crunching sound with my Sword of Heroes. I then dealt it such a blow that it was ground to dust, and nothing remained but a pile of bones on the floor.
We now looked around the room. There was a large table on the west wall, and there were five chairs behind it. The center chair stood upon a large platform. To the north was a stairway down to a lower level, and to the south was a wooden door. I decided to check the door first. Inside was a room lined with bookshelves, and another Liche. We disposed of this Liche in the same way we did with the first one. We then looked around the room. Unfortunately, none of the books were of interest to us.

I then gave my companions the order to route out the first level, killing all undead, but sparing anything alive.
In the many passages and rooms we found many skeletons, undead, and a few golems, but nothing alive. We did not find any treasure, either. We took a short break to eat some of the food we brought, and then we decided to go down the stairs and attack the lower level.

We went down the stairs, and we counted 50 steps until we were stopped by another Liche. I used my few magic skills to craft a Rune of pain, and luckily the Liche didn't notice it and stepped on it. Several bone-crunching strokes and terrorization spells later, the Liche lay dead at the steps.
We counted 50 more steps down, so the staircase had one hundred steps. At the bottom we found ourselves in a hallway. There was a wall ahead of us, and another wall to the left. In the corner, however was a small table. On that table was a purple glass sphere mounted on a platinum stand. I took the ball and quickly put stowed it with the other items we took. Now we continued our journey in an easterly direction down the hall. We came to a place where there we two doors on each side. We tried the southern door first.
We were in a carpeted room, which had a bookcase on the south wall and a table in the center. And on that table was the last thing we, or anyone, ever wanted to see. A demon.

I don't know what happened next, for I didn't think about it. We just fought that demon until we became red with heat. But I do know that in the end, we killed it. Then I looked in the bookcase and discovered a red leather book, which was labeled Tavara's Journal on the cover. "Ah", I thought, "so this is where it came to rest!" Tavara was an important historical figure, and this journal could unlock many secrets about Cythera's history.

We now left the room and entered the northern door. This room was empty except for a coffer by the west wall. And sitting on that coffer was another Liche. This Liche was weaker than the others we met, and it was done away with quickly. I opened the coffer, and inside was a single diamond ring. I slipped it on my finger and got a strange feeling. I realized that this was what would let me, a living creature, into the second stronghold.

We were about to leave the room when I heard the sounds of meow, meow coming from the northwest corner. I went over to get a look at it. There, in the corner, was a small black and white kitten. It looked like it hadn't eaten in weeks. I picked it up, pet it, and gave it some of out cheese. I then handed it to Timon and he put it into his pouch. I decided that I would take this cat back to LandKing hall, and raise it as my own.

So we left the room, and continued to the end of the hallway. There was only a ladder going up. We climbed it, went through a trapdoor, and found ourselves outside in front of the second stronghold. I knew I wasn't ready for it yet, so I cast Directed Nexus to return us to the LandKing hall. I was glad that my taking of the first stronghold had succeeded, but I wouldn't rest until the second, stronger fortress was emptied of evil creatures.

-Hector, 10 PR (10 years post-restoration)

To be continued...

[This message has been edited by Avatara (edited 12-24-2003).]

I think Avatara has covered it pretty well. Good effort, and I hope to see more!

Just, for an example or two,

Quote

Then I looked in the bookcase and discovered a red leather book, which was labeled Tavara's Journal on the cover. "Ah", I thought, "so this is where it came to rest!" Tavara was an important historical figure, and this journal could unlock many secrets about Cythera's history.

Quote

There were several books on a bookcase, and I pulled out a red one that caught my eye. It was old and tattered, like a historical relic. On the front, I could barely make out the words: Tavara's Journal. "Ah," I thought. "So this is where it came to rest!" I opened the book, eager to discover what secrets it might unlock

Quote

I knew I wasn't ready for it yet, so I cast Directed Nexus to return us to the LandKing hall.

Quote

Unsure of our abilities, I took out my grimoire and brought us back to LandKing Hall in a flash of purple light.

I think they sort of hammered the idea of "showing, not telling" into us back in middle school.

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[~%] ssh localhost
The authenticity of host 'localhost (127.0.0.1)' can't be established.
RSA key fingerprint is 93:33:b4:fc:b8:03:b4:45:15:31:99:1a:a3:1f:a5:ac.
Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no)?

[This message has been edited by Pallas Athene (edited 12-26-2003).]

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