Then everything went black.
Epilogue
I awoke to a hard bump that caused my head to leave the ground and come smashing down into the hard wooden floor, making me groan in pain as I slowly regained consciousness.
“Ugh.” I tried to reach to grip my head, only to find my hands coming to an abrupt stop as cold metal bit into my wrists. “Wha…?”
“He’s coming around,” a vaguely familiar voice called out, followed by the rustling of moving bodies. “Lazarus, can you hear me? It’s me, Sawyer.”
“Sawyer,” I repeated the name while opening my eyes to the dark room around me and pulling myself up off the floor, which I now noticed was vibrating as if we were moving. Blinking weakly to clear my eyes, I slowly looked around, spotting Sawyer sitting beside me and Ransom directly across from me. “Ransom? Where are we? What happened?”
“A lot has happened while you were out,” Ransom answered, his voice sounding completely exhausted. “Not all of it good.”
“Did the portal close?” I asked, feeling a sudden spike of panic shoot through me, as I remembered something hitting me before I stepped through the portal.
“Yeah,” Sawyer confirmed, allowing me to breathe a sigh of relief. “Thankfully things aren’t that bad.”
“Thankfully,” I echoed in complete agreement as I recalled my last few seconds in Avernus, remembering the voice that had yelled at me the moment I had touched the artifact. “Hey, where is the artifact?”
“Captain Fontaine took it from you after you fell through the portal and had it close behind you,” Sawyer said slowly.
“Captain Fontaine was there?!” I twisted my head to look at Sawyer, who simply continued to gaze forward, since he couldn’t see in the dark like I could. “Why was he there?! Wait, where the hell are we right now?!”
“We’re in a prisoner wagon,” Sawyer replied dejectedly. “The good captain and about forty of Eberia’s finest arrested me the moment that I stepped through the portal and wouldn’t believe a thing I told him…at least not until you fell through the portal with a poison-tipped Ascendancy arrow in your shoulder and Dorian’s head in your hand. Right now, we’re guests of the Eberian City Guard until further notice.”
“I was hit by a poisoned arrow?” I said in disbelief as I tested the shoulder that I had felt the impact in before stepping through the portal, not feeling anything amiss.
“That’s what they said,” Sawyer told me with a shrug. “I just saw you fall out of the portal and throw up the second you hit the ground.”
“That may have actually been the artifact,” I said with a bit of embarrassment that faded, given the alternative consequences of the portal remaining open. “Speaking of the artifact, Ransom, you were right…it did talk. Hell, it recognized me the moment I touched it!”
“That’s a great deal more than it did to me,” the half-orc replied wistfully as he rubbed the stump where his arm used to be. “All it did was keep repeating itself.”
“We’ll have to find a way of getting it back from Fontaine,” I said, my mind already moving forward, despite the sheer exhaustion that I felt. “Do you have any idea what happened to the other Thief Lords?”
Ransom shifted uncomfortably as he nodded his head towards the far end of the wagon that I couldn’t see due to the way that Sawyer was positioned.
“I survived,” Stroud’s flat voice echoed through the wagon, followed by a rattle of chains.
“Stroud!” I called out to the Thief Lord, torn between the relief of having him with us and the concern that he, of all the Thief Lords, had been caught. “Did anyone survive the battle?”
“The guilds suffered severe losses, the Crimson Rats especially…after Sable fell,” Stroud answered, with a hint of sadness in his voice. “I do not know what happened with Smiling Jade; she entered the mansion before the battle was finished, likely to come to your aid. If you didn’t see her…then she must have been caught in the blast that destroyed the mansion.”
“Hold on.” I looked back towards Ransom and Sawyer. “The mansion was destroyed?”
“Almost completely,” Sawyer replied, shaking his head back and forth in the dark. “I don’t know what happened when the artifact pulled us through…but it took the majority of the building with it, much more than we saw in Avernus…and knocked down the rest. The majority of the thieves outside were buried alive as it fell.”
“Did Isabella survive?” I asked, unsure if I wanted to hear the answer.
“I believe so,” Stroud answered, his voice uncertain as he spoke. “I was fighting up the main steps of the mansion when it came down on top of me. Isabella was minding the rear of the battle, along with the bulk of the guildmembers. I and a handful of others ended up buried in a pocket of debris and had to be pulled out by the Guard after the fact. I am inclined to believe that once the mansion fell, Isabella pulled back to preserve what numbers we had left.”
“Hopefully they did,” I replied sympathetically. “If Molly and Quinn can find her, then they should all be able to lead a rescue party directly to us once we stop moving.”
Both Sawyer and Ransom took a sharp intake of breath as I mentioned our groupmates.
“Lazarus,” Sawyer began with a hesitant voice. “Neither Ransom or I can feel Molly or Quinn via Party Sense. Not since they died.”
“What?” I felt my heart flip as I suddenly realized the same thing. Both of them were still in our party, but I couldn’t sense where either of them were. “They could be somewhere where Party Sense doesn’t work.”
“Maybe,” Ransom said gently. “But try sending one of them a message, and see what you get back.”
Feeling my heart begin to race, I composed a message to Molly and sent it, seeing a message prompt appear in my vision.
The Player you are trying to message is currently not on your plane of existence. Please try again later.
“They respawned in Avernus,” I whispered as I read the message, my blood going cold. “We left them behind.”
“We don’t know that for sure,” Sawyer offered. “There’s so little we know about the game so far…they could just be somewhere out of reach.”
“But it didn’t even go into a queue…it was just a flat-out…rejection,” I said softly as I tried sending another message, followed by yet another message, continuing endlessly until there was nothing else filling my vision, the conversation going silent as we continued our ride towards our destination my thoughts spiraling endlessly.
I don’t even know Molly’s real name to look her up in Reality, I thought to myself as I hung my head downward and stared at the floor. She was so resistant to telling me anything about her real life, despite our relationship. Why didn’t I try pushing harder?!
I don’t know anything about Quinn’s real life either, I continued talking to myself silently as the wagon began to rock back and forth sharply. Until today, we’ve just been passing acquaintances.
What are the odds that I’m going to see either one of them again?
Closing my eyes, I tried to pull myself out of my mental spiral, trying to think of anything to distract myself from the endless rejected messages that filled my vision. Catching a blinking quest alert in the corner of my vision, I brought it up, hoping that it would keep me occupied and off of Molly and Quinn, if only for a little while.
Quest Complete!
No Honor Among Thieves!
After an epic battle on the plains of Avernus, you and your companions have managed to defeat Dorian, recover the artifact, and seal the portal to Eberia, forcing the Ascendancy army to turn back in shame! Congratulations!
Kill Dorian: 1/1 (Complete)
Recover the Stolen Artifact: 1/1 (Complete)
Close the portal before The Ascendancy arrives: 1/1 (Complete)
(Optional) Recover Memory: 0/1
Reward: (Granted to all group members)
Experience Points: 14,000
Renown: 1500
Infamy: 1500
Special: Due to your actions, your reputation with The Holy Ascendancy of Eligos has plummeted. Your current reputation level is: Kill on Sight.
Great, now more people want to kill me, I thought bitterly as I dismissed the quest update with a sigh, feeling the wagon shake violently as it hit another hard bump, followed by the sound of a heavy door slamming. A rush of footsteps sounded outside the wagon as someone slid open the lock on the wagon’s door and pulled it open, causing bright light to pour into the interior.
“Good, you’re finally awake,” I heard the familiar voice of Captain Fontaine echo through the wagon as I shielded my eyes from the light. “Get them unlocked and out of there! She is waiting for us already! Double time!”
Before I could say anything, a pair of city guards practically leapt into the wagon and began unlocking all of our shackles, rudely shoving us out of the cart the moment that we were free. Stumbling out of the cart, I found myself surrounded by nearly twenty city guards, all of whom had blood covering their armor. Grabbing my arm in an iron grip, Captain Fontaine chopped his hand forward at the guards before him, causing them to spin on their heels as they led us out of the room.
The next few minutes passed by with blinding speed as Captain Fontaine and the guards led us through a network of hallways and rooms at a breakneck pace. Twice I asked Fontaine what all this was about, but the only response I got was a tightening of his grip on my arm, until the pain forced me to abandon my efforts.
Eventually we burst into a wide-open room, Captain Fontaine and the guards angling us towards a tall, dark-haired woman, dressed in a pure white robe, standing by herself, silently inspecting Dorian’s head that had somehow arrived before us and now rested on a stone pedestal.
“My Lady,” Captain Fontaine replied formally as the entire retinue came to a halt and forced the four of us into a line a short distance away from the woman. “We have brought the Adventurers and Thief Lord I informed you about.”
“So I see,” the woman replied, despite keeping her attention focused solely on Dorian’s head as she continued to inspect it.
Silence filled the air as we waited for the woman to finish her perusal of the dead devil’s head, all of us watching her patiently as she walked around the pedestal, her loose robes billowing behind her as she moved. Minutes passed before the woman was satisfied with whatever she saw in the grisly trophy and turned her attention towards us.
Glowing blue eyes regarded us coolly as she stepped away from the pedestal and began to slowly stalk towards us, her bright gaze alternating between each of us. Lifting a hand away from her billowing robes as she approached, I saw her holding the familiar, broken shape of the artifact, now completely dormant. Part of me wanted to reach out and take it from her, to find out more about the voice that I had heard screaming at me, but the vicious grip that Captain Fontaine still had on my arm made me doubt I’d be able to take a single step forward without his approval.
“I thought there were five Adventurers?” the woman asked, her expression unchanging as she fixated her attention on me.
“There were, my Lady,” Captain Fontaine replied smoothly, inclining his head towards us. “According to them, two died during the…incursion. We have no way of knowing where they may have returned to life.”
The woman nodded as she digested the captain’s words, stopping her approach less than an arm’s length away from me and looking up into my eyes. Her bright azure gaze bored into me with such a piercing intensity that it caused a shiver to crawl down my spine.
“My name is Matriarch Emilia Denarius,” she said, her eyes flaring as she spoke. “I have received word that nobles are killing one another in the streets. That the Thieves Guilds are in open war between one another. That House Phineas has been completely destroyed. And most importantly, that the Holy Ascendancy of Eligos has just tried to invade Eberia, failing only by the slimmest of margins.
“All of which brings one burning question to the forefront of my mind.” Emilia took a step closer to me as she spoke, bringing her face inches away from mine. “What the hell have you Adventurers done to my city?”
W
“Ah!” Creativity exclaimed in pain as she ground her teeth together, focusing intently on her task before the opportunity passed her by.
Working desperately, she fought to ignore the biting pain of the black thread as she pulled it loose from the golden strand that it had woven itself around. Glowing blood poured from her fingers as the writhing thread sliced through her flesh and dripped onto the Tapestry below, causing the threads that it touched to grow bright and vibrant.
Stifling a cry, Creativity drew the black thread as far away as she could from its place, her other hand looping a single silver thread to the now exposed gold one. The two threads quivered as she tied the final knot, the silver one beginning to shake defiantly as it resisted its new place in the Tapestry.
“I’m sorry, I know you’ve been through so much,” Creativity said softly as she let the black thread go with a sigh of relief, watching it rewind itself against the golden thread tightly, save for a single gap where the silver thread was now attached. “But this is where I need you the most right now.”
Taking a step back from the Grand Tapestry, Creativity brought her wounded hand close to her chest, oblivious to the fact that it had already healed itself as she inspected her work with trepidation.
Things are moving faster than I could have ever anticipated, Creativity thought as she watched the Grand Tapestry weave itself at blinding speed. Every day, there were more and more silver threads joining the Tapestry, which would only cause events to move faster and faster as they shaped the world below.
It was only a matter of time before everything came to a head and chaos took over. Creativity hoped that the foundation she had laid would be enough to keep the Tapestry intact. Only time would tell just how successful her efforts had been.
Giving one final look at the Grand Tapestry, Creativity nodded to herself, satisfied with what she saw. With a gesture, she dismissed the work from her sight and looked out to the starry night that surrounded her.
“It’s your move now, sister.”
Lazarus’s Character Sheet at the End of Hell to Pay
Lazarus Cain – Level 13 Bruiser
Half-Giant/Half-Elf Male
Statistics:
HP: 800/800
Stamina: 800/800
Mana: 275/275
Experience to next level: 22136/25200
Attributes:
Strength: 79 (92)
Agility: 65 (73)
Constitution: 49 (54)
Intelligence: 10
Willpower: 10
Abilities:
Sneak Attack II (Passive) – Attacks made before the target is aware of you automatically deal weapon damage+35.
Bleeding Attack I (Passive) – Enemies who take sneak attack damage will continue to bleed for 5 seconds, taking 40% of the sneak attack damage dealt.
Power Attack II (Active: 50 Stamina) – You slash viciously at the target, putting extra strength behind the blow. Deal weapon damage+25.
Ambush I (Active: 60 Stamina) – You ambush your target, striking them in a vulnerable location. Deals weapon damage+125. This ability can only be used on a target unaware of you.
Kick (Active: 20) – You kick your enemy for 10-20 points of damage, and knock them back 1-2 yards. Depending on your Strength/Agility score, you may also knock down the target.
Shoulder Tackle (Active: 40 Stamina) – Stun enemy for 1-2 seconds with chance to knock enemy down based on Strength and/or Agility attribute.
Deadly Throw I (Active: 30 Stamina) – Throw a weapon with extra strength behind it. Deals weapon damage+15. This ability has a chance to interrupt spellcasting if thrown at the target’s head, force them to drop their weapon if thrown at target’s hands, or slow their movement if thrown at target’s legs.
Skills:
Weapons:
Unarmed Combat – Level 12 – 63% (Increases knowledg
e of Hand-to-Hand fighting and improves related Abilities.)
Swords – Level 13 – 22% (Increases knowledge of Sword fighting and improves related Abilities.)
Daggers – Level 11 – 47% (Increases knowledge of Dagger fighting and improves related Abilities.)
Crossbows – Level 12 – 22% (Increases knowledge of Crossbows and improves related Abilities.)
Throwing – Level 10 – 36% (Increases knowledge of Throwing Weapons and improves related Abilities.)
Other:
Stealth – Level 12 – 97% (Decreases chance of being detected while attempting to stay hidden. Improves related Abilities.)
Lockpicking – Level 12 – 89% (Increases knowledge of lock mechanics, allowing you to pick harder locks.)
Wordplay – Level 12 – 89% (Increases chance to persuade others, resolve differences, and/or get information.)
Perception - Level 13 - 11% (You are skilled in spotting hidden creatures and places. Depending on your skill level, hidden creatures and places will be highlighted in red.)
Tradeskills:
Blacksmithing – Level 11 – 12%
Cooking – Level 10 – 34%
Alchemy – Level 12 – 11%
Leatherworking – Level 12 – 17%
Racial Ability:
Titan’s Might (Giant) (Passive) – Your Giant ancestry has given you the ability to wield large weapons in with exceptional strength. All damage dealt by two-handed weapons is increased by 3%.
Keen Sight (Elf) (Passive) – Your elven ancestry has given you exceptional eyesight, granting you the ability to see twice as far as normal in all lighting conditions. This ability also grants you Darkvision.
Darkvision (Elf) (Passive) – You are able to see in daylight conditions up to 100ft in total darkness.
Traits:
Sigil of Rage – A magical sigil written in the Primal Tongue has been carved deep into your flesh, causing it to pulse with an unfathomable torrent of energy. When activated, Primeval Rage suffuses your body granting you +10 to Strength and Agility. While this ability is active, you are consumed by burning pain and your body is burned from within, dealing 10 points of damage per second. This ability scales per level.
Hell to Pay (Ascend Online Book 2) Page 35
