Legends of Tarthirious: The Complete Collection

by Zachariah Dracoulis

  “When we…” I trailed off as I remembered that Gerry wasn’t there, “When I found his hideout it was well protected. It took a fire drake to just find the door, and even then it was covered in symbols and runes I didn’t understand.”

  The look on Lyrias’ face was absolutely priceless, “Do you think you could lead us back there?”

  I nodded confidently, “Definitely. I made sure to make a note of it on my map when I found it.”

  For a while Vilor and Lyrias shared excited looks as if they were communicating telepathically before Vilor finally looked to me and said “Well, you’re certainly going to need more than you’ve got. Wait here, I’m going to go and fetch some things.” and then he was gone.

  I thought I’d be given the opportunity to miss Gerry some more, but instead Lyrias came pretty much nose-to-nose with me and stared into my eyes, “Your magical skills have improved greatly recently, although you could use some more in the terms of spells.”

  Before I knew what was happening Lyrias was waving her hands around me and I was draped in a shower of blue light.

  Learned Heavenly Smite.

  “It’s a rune spell. Some place it on the ground, others on hammers or even their own bodies. I’m sure you saw Derrian using it on his fists during the battle.” she said mournfully, “He was an incredibly talented mage, and I only wish I were up there to help protect you.”

  I got over the excitement of learning another rune spell, I love rune spells, and gave Lyrias a concerned look, “Why weren’t you?”

  The Grand Master reflected my confusion, “Why would I have been? My position is down here, studying and channelling mana into the college. If I’d have known an attack was imminent I would’ve come of course, but as it stands there was nothing I could do.”

  I gave a silent sigh of relief that there wasn’t some creepy backstory where Vilor locked the Grand Master underground and made her fall in love with him. Speaking of which, “So, you and Vilor,” I said as I walked around Lyrias toward her bed, “you’re… close?”

  Lyrias smiled and nodded cutely, “Yes, we’ve something of a history together. I was actually the one who allowed him through the door before I became the Grand Master.”

  “Are you sure that’s all?” I asked with a cheeky smile and a raised eyebrow.

  For a second I was worried I’d decreased her respect for me again, her stare and unsure expression only adding to the fact, but then she looked away and smiled, “Well, I suppose you could say we were a bit closer than the average long-term friendship.” she practically giggled.

  +1 Speech Skill.

  Progress: 11/100.

  +10 XP.

  Progress: 2750/3500.

  I decided against pressing for more information as Vilor came through the door with something wrapped in hide in his arms, looking between the two of us as we tried to hide our smiles, “What’s going on here?”

  “Nothing at all Vilor,” Lyrias lied, “just a little druid joke, I’m sure it’d be lost on you.”

  Vilor shot her a fake serious look then strode over to me, “Very well. Armelia, put out your arms.”

  I did as I was bid and waited as Vilor unwrapped the hide and took the contents out, “These are for you, a gift for your perseverance in the face of adversity, and for completing your training as a true mage.”

  Received Robes of the Journeyman: Weight: 5(-5), Durability: 100/100, Enchantment: Journeyman’s Buff (+5 Wisdom).

  I couldn’t believe my eyes, they were absolutely gorgeous. They were blue and brown, with linings and strips of gold all over.

  Unequipped Student Druid Robes.

  Equipped Robes of the Journeyman.

  They felt so flowy, like they were made of pure silk, and from the moment they’d slipped over my head I could feel the robe’s enchantment energy fusing with me.

  “Thank you so much Vilor.” I said with a low and respectful bow.

  “You’re most welcome Armelia, you’ve earned them. And I can’t have you fighting by my side with whatever simple things you were wearing.”

  The jab at the druid robes hurt a little, but I wasn’t going to say anything, no, that was Lyrias’ job, “I’m sorry Vilor, simple things? From what I remember you quite like my student robes.”

  Vilor rolled his eyes and looked over to the very unimpressed Lyrias, “You have the frame to make any form of clothing look appropriate Grand Master.”

  Lyrias was still clearly slightly annoyed at Vilor’s disrespect toward her heritage, but decided it was an argument for another day and returned her attention to me, “Armelia, are you ready to rid Tarthirious of the foulest necromancer to walk the planes?”

  It felt weird that I was going to do it without Gerry, we’d set out on the bounty together and I didn’t want to edge him out. Shouldn’t have taken me so long to figure it out, but I realised I could just go ahead and get to the doorway and wait for him to join me before busting it in.

  With the doubt in my mind gone, I gave a nod, “Sounds like a plan to me.”

  Mission Started: The Necromancer’s Fate.

  Objective added: Go to Aldok Dethrisr’s Hideout.

  “Are you sure you wouldn’t rather bring someone else along?” Lyrias asked Vilor pointedly, “Wouldn’t want to be surrounded by druids, would you?”

  Vilor rolled his eyes, “Well, she’s one of the few druids that has my respect,” he said, pointing his head at me, “yourself and Flari being the other two.” Vilor said with a flattering smile.

  “Glad to hear we meet your standards.” Lyrias said with mock sarcasm, “Let’s begin the journey. Armelia, would you care to lead the way?”

  I smiled and started for the door with a bit of a pep in my step, “Of course.”

  Looking back on it, it was actually kind of nice to be in that environment with them for so long. No attacks, no surprise quests, nothing that could cause me any kind of stress, just talking. I know it’s probably bad of me to mention, you know, detracts from the ‘realness’ of it all, but the lack of constant game updates made me forget I wasn’t talking to real people.

  Sure there were the predetermined dialogue options, but I felt like that in life half the time anyway. To me that exchange, finding out that Vilor had a secret lover, that secret lover was the Grand Master, all of it, it was the type of social experience that I could handle because I knew I could log off at any time.

  Anyway, enough of me talking, am I right? Let’s get back to the party.

  Heh, it’s funny because I meant party as in fun event, but party also means a group of people in an RPG environment.

  What do you mean it’s not funny if I have to explain it?

  You’re a meanie.

  Armelia: Chapter 14

  I reached the top of the stairs with the others in close tow and immediately realised a problem with me being the first in line, “Vilor, I’m unsure as to how to open this…”

  “Just put your hand on it,” Vilor said coolly despite having slipped up the stairs a few times since leaving Lyrias’ room, “anyone can get out, you only need special permission to get in.”

  The parts of my mind that ran the ‘caution’ centres of my brain said to not touch it, mostly because if it didn’t open I felt like it would mean I was impure and unworthy of the blessing to exit the Grand Master’s chambers. Vilor hadn’t taunted me in a while though, so I took the chance and placed my hand on the wall.

  Grand Master’s Chamber Secret Door activated.

  The wall lit up as it had before and opened to reveal that morning had come since I’d last been outside. I took care to make sure I wasn’t spotted by prying eyes as I stepped out of the side of the staircase, and was taken pleasantly aback that not a single soul noticed the three of us coming out, or that the door lit up once more as it closed.

  “Quickly,” Lyrias said when we reached the front of the stairs, “we must get to Aldok’s hideout before any more tragedy can befall Tarthirious.”

  I was interested i
n the change she made from being inside the safety of her chambers as opposed to the way she was in the outside world. Her posture, surprising as it is, was even better, and she had a very boarding school headmaster look about the way she held herself and spoke.

  “Alright,” I said as I started to untie Shadow-Stal, something that instantly cheered him up, “as you saw on the map, we have to go to the Lukithir Mountain Range.”

  The obvious solution would’ve been to simply fast travel, but that would’ve meant sitting around the mountains for a good long while as they trekked using the hoof express without the help of horses. Hells, even with riding Shadow-Stal I’d probably have been stuck up there for ten, fifteen minutes.

  Didn’t matter though, pretty much the second Shadow-Stal was free he bolted, forcing me to turn around and see the group of five hooded necromancers in heavier looking gear than the others stepping out of a fresh new portal next to the fountain, one of which kicking aside one of the bodies in his way.

  A group of Elite Necromancers are attacking.

  5x Level 18 Elite Necromancers, HP: 1750/1750.

  “Good to see you again, old Master.” the obvious leader said without the need for backup singers, “It’s been too long.”

  “Pretius,” Vilor seethed, “I see that Aldok hasn’t made you his puppets, at least not in the literal sense like your fallen friends here.”

  Pretius chuckled and pulled back his hood as the others formed a line with him, and revealing he was actually quite handsome, aside from the glowing dark green eyes of course, “No, we are the ones who brought him back after all, why would he feel the need to control us when he knows where our loyalties lie?”

  “How can you side with him?” Lyrias asked disappointedly, “He is the one who turned you into the… thing that you are now.”

  “Thing?” Pretius laughed evilly, “You mean one of the most powerful beings in Tarthirious?”

  “I think she means the foul beast that you’ve become.” I spat, deciding it was my turn to get in a few snipes.

  “Ha! Would you look at this my brethren? Vilor’s gotten himself another druid whore. I thought you dark elf filth at least had some standards.”

  “You have no right to speak to her in that way,” Vilor growled, “she is ten times the mage you ever were before you turned over to the darkness.”

  “Is that a fact?” Pretius asked in a way that made me regret drawing attention to myself as his hands began to burn with an intense green flame, “Well, let’s see if she’s powerful enough to-”

  Shadow-Stal had finally engaged in combat, an incredible kick to Pretius’ head being his first move, one that drove the cocky necromancer into a pile of his fallen friends.

  That’s when I realised how bad our location was, we were surrounded by dead bodies, dead bodies that, with all of the mana they’d once stored, would be a very big problem in the wrong hands.

  “Well, looks like you’ve got yourself into a spot of bother, doesn’t it?” a familiar and welcome voice laughed.

  “Where’d you come from Gerry?” I asked as I charged up a lightning bolt, using my weakened sword seemed like a bad idea, and waited for the attacks to start, Pretius was still trying to get to his feet and it seemed rude to kick him while he was down, something Shadow-Stal had no problem with.

  “Lunch,” Gerry said as he came to stand beside me, “got an hour and that’s it. I see you got into the- Oop, here they come.”

  The four other necromancers had grown tired of waiting apparently, and started their combined spell to bring back the bodies around us. A sickly green layer of mucous started to form throughout the battlefield, the ectoplasm being a side effect of using such incredible amounts of magic to bring back the dead.

  Where they could, bodies came to stand, while the amputees simply rose into a floating state as their limbs slowly grew back.

  “Riiight…” Gerry trailed off before snapping his body into a fighting stance, wood coating him at the exact same moment, sending bark everywhere, “This is gonna be rough.”

  I said nothing for a moment, mesmerised by Shadow-Stal running back and forth as he tried to pick a target, “Why? Go for the necromancers, take them out and the bodies fall.”

  “A lot more difficult than it sounds.” Gerry said before starting his charge, which the rest of us joined.

  “What are you talking about?” I laughed, hitting a particularly grabby risen corpse with my bolt before it could get too close, “These guys… oh.”

  Yeah, they weren’t as stupid as the other necromancers, and instead of projecting into the bodies of the undead, they stayed right in the comfort of their own, each pulling out what appeared to be a serrated dao and getting ready for us to smash against their ranks.

  I wanted to start placing sigils, maybe even chuck a few on my fists as Derrian had, but I was already in the thick of it, the undead and fully reconstructed corpses shambling toward me with horrifying speed.

  “Do that thing like with the wolves!” I shouted as I watched Gerry send a group of undead guards flying toward the edge of town with a tree.

  He didn’t need clarification, instead slamming the ground as soon as he was finished brutalising a few more corpses and surrounding all four of us in the protective wooden barrier.

  “Okay, what’s the plan?” I asked as I looked around at our fast cracking shield.

  “Your mission,” Gerry laughed excitedly, “your decision. Were you really going to do the bounty without me?”

  I laughed and shook my head, “Nah, was just gonna get there and hang around until you decided to wake up. Seriously though, I’m up for suggestions as to what to do about this whole invincible, undead thing we’ve got going on.”

  Gerry looked at me through his thick armour and shrugged, “I’m sorry, I haven’t got anything.”

  I pulled out my sword and started repairing it, figuring I’d at least make sure my gear was good and ready for when they broke through.

  Cast Reficere.

  Repaired Sparky McStabby-Stab.

  The ground beneath us started to rumble and crack, clearly the necromancers had grown tired of waiting. Thinking that the shield was about to collapse, I got into a fighting stance and got ready to take some of the bastards with me.

  Imagine my surprise when the block of land below us and the shield started getting lifted into the air, the sounds of the undead slipping away as we did.

  “Are the other mages helping us?” I asked Vilor hopefully.

  He shook his head and tried to keep his balance, “I doubt any good will come of us being sent into the sky, druid.” he said spitefully.

  “Bite your tongue,” Lyrias snapped, “I know you’re concerned, but we mustn’t start a squabble amongst ourselves. What can we do?”

  I made a pained expression and looked to Gerry, “What goes up…”

  Gerry gulped and his armour grew another layer, “This is gonna hurt…”

  Armelia: Chapter 15

  I’d managed to tuck into a ball just before we were thrown, but it didn’t really matter. We crashed through the front of the college and the protective shield collapse around us.

  I thanked the Gods that I got through it unscathed, contextual events rarely kill, but as I climbed to my feet I was met with the irritating sight of the five severely weakened necromancers climbing through the portal, leaving their minions to slowly shuffle toward us.

  The Elite Necromancers have fled! The Portal remains open!

  Time until Necromancer Portal closes: 30 seconds.

  The Risen Undead (Vulnerable) are attacking.

  15x Level 10 Risen Undead (Vulnerable), HP: 1200/1200.

  Shadow-Stal was nowhere in sight, but I was confident he was safe, so I decided that I had two choices, stay and fight and get myself some XP, or lead the charge for the portal and see what the necromancers were hiding on the other side.

  “Get to the portal, now!” I shouted, using my sword’s power to teleport to the undead mage near
est the portal and stabbing it in the back as I had with the necromancer.

  Critical Hit!

  It felt wrong abandoning the other mages to deal with the mess we left behind, but the other option was letting the necromancers go, and I had a feeling they were much more worthy of my limited time with Gerry.

  The rest of my party were on my heels, Gerry using a tree to launch himself over while the others simply used some kind of super jump to vault the undead.

  I was the first through the portal, appearing in a desolate field not unlike the one the gnome had sent Gerry and me to.

  Time until Necromancer Portal closes: 20 seconds.

  The others joined me in the unnaturally stormy plane on the other side of the portal while I silently cursed myself out for making the stupid mistake of thinking that the portal would close behind us.

  Undead started flopping through the portal, and we did what we could to hurt them before they could get to their feet.

  “Gerry,” I asked as stabbed a guard in the chest and jumped back before he could hit me, “you reckon you could make a wall or something? Block up the portal?”

  He shook his head, “I can’t do anything beyond basic spells, my mana’s being sapped.”

  I checked my stats and noticed it was happening to me too. The necromancers had taken us somewhere that clearly wasn’t friendly toward either the light side of magic or simply magic in general, whatever it was, it was bad, and it was my fault we were there.

  Necromancer Portal closing in 3… 2… 1…

  Necromancer Portal closed!

  Critical Hit!

  +1 Singlehanded Blade Skill.

  Progress: 25/100.

  +10 XP.

  Progress: 2780/3500.

  ‘You’ve grown stronger in the art of the singlehanded blades, and as you slice through the air you hear nothing, the tell-tale sing of a novice flailing their sword against the current long since behind you. Your strikes while sneaking with a blade will no longer draw the attention of those around your target, and your use of the blade as an extension of yourself has taught you how to hit the weakest points of your enemies with more precision.’