View Single Post
Old 12-04-2009, 11:01 PM   #412
Abe Sargent
Hall Of Famer
 
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Catonsville, MD
When at last the destruction ceases you find yourself trapped in the narrow triangular space between the heavy portcullis and the wall. Your quick thinking has saved you from physical injury, but, as far as you can tell, you are now buried in a collapsed level of the temple, hundreds of feet below the surface. Confident in the knowledge that, at worse, your stamina and Kai skills alone can keep you alive for several days, you begin the slow and laborious task of digging your way out of this subterranean tomb.


For fifteen days you tunnel through a solid wall of earth and broken rock, using your weapons and bare hands, sustained all the while by little more than your indefatigable spirit and will to survive. You are near to giving up when, mid-way through the sixteenth day of your internment, you suddenly break through into a passageway that is free of debris. Weak but alive, you drag yourself into this empty tunnel and collapse on the damp, fungi-covered floor.

(I set my current EP to 15, I ate all meals in my pack, plus used my Laumspur)

Many hours pass before you regain consciousness, and although your terrible ordeal has left you physically weakened, your mind is still as sharp and resolute as ever. You are determined to find a route to the surface and continue your quest, for even though Magnaarn now has Captain Prarg and the Doomstone of Darke, there may yet be a way you can defeat him. Before he entombed you in the passage he admitted that you alone posed a threat to his quest for victory over Lencia. Now that he thinks you dead and buried, you feel sure you can turn this to your advantage.

You stagger to your feet and peer along the gloomy passageway in either direction, east and west. You are anxious to pursue a route that will lead you quickly to the surface, and when you detect cold, damp air wafting from the west, you hurry this way. But you are soon disappointed. The passageway ends abruptly at the edge of a vast chasm, formed by the same destructive powers which buried you alive. At the bottom of this great fissure is a river of black water, and high above, you glimpse a few rays of winter daylight filtering through a tiny rent in the darkness. It looks so far distant that you abandon any thought of reaching it from here and return along the passageway.

A few hundred yards beyond where you emerged, you discover an octagonal chamber that is bathed by an eerie green light. This light is emitted by fungi which blanket the walls and ceiling and illuminate a strange circular door that has an octagonal lock. You have been in the chamber for no more than a few seconds when your senses detect something is wrong. Invisible fumes are rising from the fungi, which, in your weakened state, are making you feel dizzy and nauseous.

(I’ve destroyed a wielder of a Doomstone before, in Kazan-Oud, and then his stone)

(I do not have Grand Nexus)

You feel yourself awakening; all you wish for is to sleep. But your senses warn you that to fall asleep here could prove fatal. You know you must do something, and quickly, if you are to avoid unconsciousness.

(I do not have Oede or Sabito)

Fearful of what may happen if your stay in this chamber any longer, you retrace your steps and make your way swiftly to the place where you first emerged from the collapsed passage. You pause here to catch your breath, then you continue along the tunnel until, once more, you find yourself standing at the edge of the chasm. You scan this vast and dismal fissure, hoping to find a means of escape from this grim subterranean prison.

(I use Kai-Alchemy)

After several minutes you notice a ledge which juts out from the chasm wall. It is located fifty feet or so directly above the place where you are currently standing. Close to this ledge you see a dark shadow. It marks the entrance to another tunnel, one that hopefully may lead all the way to the surface.

With renewed optimism, you recite the words of the Brotherhood spell Levitation and at once you feel gravity losing its grasp. Assisted by this magic, you climb the rough chasm wall with ease and quickly reach the ledge above. Here you cancel the spell before hurrying into the new tunnel in search of a clear route to the surface.
__________________
Check out my two current weekly Magic columns!

https://www.coolstuffinc.com/a/?action=search&page=1&author[]=Abe%20Sargent
Abe Sargent is offline   Reply With Quote