by C. M. Carney
Passive Power (2):
Sure Strike: This reduces the effectiveness of an opponent's Dodge and Armor skills by 0.5% per level of Short Blades Mastery.
Active Power (1):
Vorpal: This blade has vorpal qualities that enable the user to increase the chances of earning a Critical Hit by 50% when activated. The user will have daily uses equals to their tier in Short Blade Mastery.
NOTE: Argent’s Talon has been paired with a cane/sheath that obscures its nature from others. As long as it remains in the sheath no chthonic being will sense its true nature.
Argent’s Talon was an incredible weapon. Had Gryph not already owned the War Stave of the Elven King, he would have cinched this sword to his waist. But he did own the spear and had invested heavily in his Staves/Spears skill. Plus, he hadn’t even swung a short blade since coming to the Realms, so the impressive powers of the weapon would do him little good. It would be pure, short-sighted greed if he hoarded the blade.
He extended the hilt to Vonn, whose uncharacteristic look of surprise and gratitude made Gryph sure he was the right man to wield the blade. The half-elf Templar was so overcome with gratitude that words failed him and he bowed to Gryph.
“You’re welcome.” Gryph cast a sideways glance at Lex, expecting his NPC to complain, but he surprised everyone by clapping Vonn on the back in congratulations. Perhaps there’s hope for him yet.
Gryph turned his gaze on the Soul Reliquary but knew before the Identify prompt filled his vision that it would stay in his soul bound bag until he could safely secure it in Dar Thoriim’s vault. Never again, would a Scourge of Souls threaten the Realms.
You have found a Soul Reliquary (Soul Magic).
Item Class: Artifact - Item Category: Passive/Active.
This necklace contains a gemstone resembling a large jet-black opal but is actually the densely compressed remnants of consumed souls. It has been imbued with the power to absorb willing souls into a pocket dimension where they are then imprisoned and enslaved. These imprisoned souls exist in a collective state, known as the quintessence and will obey the commands of the user.
Passive Power:
Coercion: The user can target the weaknesses of anyone it is attempting to assimilate into its quintessence.
Active Power (1):
Power of Many: The user can tap the Skills, Perks, Tier Abilities, knowledge and memories of any soul contained within the quintessence. Managing this many disparate skills and personalities is difficult but will improve with experience.
NOTE: A soul must willingly agree to join the quintessence, but the user of the Reliquary is under no obligation to be truthful with their promises. Intimidation, pain, threats to family member, etc. have all been used effectively to coerce victims.
The Soul Reliquary was insanely powerful and despicably evil. It had Aluran’s fingerprints all over it. Holding it made Gryph’s stomach churn. A part of him wanted to destroy it here and now, but something at the back of his mind suggested he would find a use for the device. He slipped it into his bag.
It surprised Gryph to find no other magical items on the man. He had assumed, after seeing the man's abilities, that he had a vast arsenal of magical trinkets. To think that every one of his abilities was a Skill, Perk or Tier Ability of one of the many souls that had made up the Scourge was terrifying.
Gryph refused to let the thought sour his mood, for there was one more thing to loot, and this one was all his. He tapped a small, familiar, icon in the corner of his vision. Having been stuck for a week in a decelerated time dilation field paid dividend.
You have defeated the Scourge of Souls and are presented with an Assimilation Opportunity.
Do you wish to use your Divine Perk Assimilation?
YES?/NO?
Gryph smiled and tapped Yes. He closed his eyes and a chaotic multitude of options exploded into his vision. The onslaught of potential skills surprised him, even considering the Scourge had dozens of souls residing inside him. The range of options made him gasp.
Assimilation had always sifted through the options and selected one or two candidates for Gryph to consider. This time, there was no less than two dozen options floating around him. He filtered out many of the standard martial options. Some, like Small Blades, were at a staggering high level, making Gryph wonder if he’d jumped the gun on giving the Scourge’s blade to Vonn.
That twinge of regret lasted mere moments as he pushed a large percentage of the displayed options away. He had long believed that knowledge was power, and rare knowledge was the most potent. He eliminated a host of skills until three remained. Each one was rare or powerful or both.
There was Fire Magic. Gryph wouldn’t have even considered the common magical skill, but the Scourge was a staggering level 72. If he chose that skill he’d instantly become a level 24 fire mage. Just thinking of the havoc he could unleash made his mind go a little mad.
The second option was Mystical Weaving, a crafting skill that allowed one to imbue ordinary and mystical cloths with incredible powers. The Scourge possessed that skill at Level 42, meaning Gryph could become a level 14 user. Could I repair the Magebane Aegis?
The third was Ritual Magic. The archon had said that knowledge of that skill was hoarded by one
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group, the legendary, nearly mythical, Dragon Mages. The Scourge’s level in Ritual Magic was 58, meaning Gryph could assimilate it at level 19. While there was no guarantee he’d ever discover a rune-form, the potential power could be a game changer. And if I have it and Aluran doesn’t, it just could turn this war in my favor.
Gryph selected Ritual Magic.
You have learned the skill RITUAL MAGIC.
Level(s): 1-19 - Tier: - Base - Skill Type: Active
Ritual Magic is an ultra-rare skill that enables the practitioner to create and wield rune-forms. These patterns are used to harness, control and unleash quantities of mana far greater than any mortal could normally channel.
Ritual Magic practitioners can draw mana from others to power these rune forms, making it possible to wield magic on an epic scale.
One of the Colonel’s mantras bubbled to the surface. Well planned long-term strategies nearly always defeat creative new tactics. Well done.
Gryph did not get the chance to dwell on the thought, for a sudden startled squeal from Lex brought his attention back to the room. He turned just in time to see the Scourge’s body lurch up into a sitting position and open its eyes. The solid black flecked with silver that had marked the eyes of the Scourge were gone. In their place were orbs of a solid, pale blue, interlaced with angular white lines. The archon looked up at the others and an odd, forced smile crossed his face.
“I have found the location of Brynn. She is in the Crag,” the archon said in a voice that was an odd amalgam of his own and the one the Scourge had threatened them with.
“The Crag,” Sean said in alarm. “If that’s true he should really stop smiling.”
“Why’s that?” Gryph asked.
“Because the Crag is nearly as difficult to break into as the Pit was to break out of.”
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The gang made their way back to the Morphic Dungeon, thrilled to see it was still bunny free. To everyone’s surprise the archon had insisted on joining the mission, claiming their goals were still aligned. The mechanical man immediately proved his worth by powering down the damaged chaos generating device, easing a tension Gryph hadn’t even been aware he’d been carrying.
Seeing the face of the Scourge walking alongside him as an ally was unnerving, but Gryph knew it could have been worse. The archon had walked from the tower with nothing but his underclothes until Lex suggested that the tower generate gear. A moment later a simple gray robe had flowed around the onetime automaton, making everyone feel more comfortable. The archon also armed himself with a wooden stave topped with blue-white crystal.
“I have a request,” the archon said as he locked the chaos altar with a complex logic-based cypher. All e
yes turned to him. “Now that I am biological, I feel the desire to have a name, but I do not understand mortal naming concepts adequately enough to choose one. Would you choose an appropriate designation for me?”
The group thought for a moment, but then Lex blurted. “You’re totally a Data.”
“Data,” the pale man said. “That is surprisingly à propos.”
“Yeah, but maybe a little too on the nose.” Lex brought his hand to his chin as he considered. “How about Roy Batty, or Bender, or Wall-E, no, no, wait, I got it… Bishop.”
“Bishop,” the archon said, his head cocked to the side. “It sounds authoritative. From now on, please refer to me as Bishop.”
“Good to have you with us, Bishop,” Gryph said and clapped him on the shoulder, noting how odd it felt chumming it up with the body of a creature that had tried to claim his soul.
After consulting the Nimmerian map, Gryph discovered a Port Gate buried beneath the Crag. He hoped the gate was intact, or Sean’s warning that the Crag was impossible to breach would become a reality. Gryph seeded and powered the Port Icon.
The energies built inside the gate and a point of light appeared inside the arch. So far so good, Gryph thought. Then the light blinked out and the Port Gate powered down. A wave of panic flowed through Gryph and his stomach dropped.
“Um, what was that?” Lex asked.
“Failure,” Ovrym said flatly.
Several runes blinked alarm red on the surface of the gate. Gryph accessed the knowledge cache and soon translated the meaning. “Something is blocking the archway on the other side. The gate cannot form a stable doorway.”
“Not a surprise,” Vonn said. “Aluran is no fool. Even though nobody has used the gate system in millennia, doesn’t mean somebody couldn’t one day. He probably blocked the archway.”
“Or destroyed it,” Lex said.
Gryph hung his head and breathed deep calming the anger and disappointment threatening to surge inside him.
“So what’s Plan B?” Lex asked.
“We don’t have one,” Ovrym said.
“Maybe we do,” Lex said, turning to Sean. “You broke out of the Pit. So we do what you did, but in reverse.”
“Yeah, about that,” Sean said, rubbing his neck and scowling. A few minutes later Sean had finished telling the tale of his grand escape from the Pit. The faces of the group had all grown grim.
“You killed yourself,” Lex said in shock. “Some Houdini you are.”
“Well it worked, didn’t it?”
“Yeah, I guess, but it’s just a wee bit …” Lex twirled his forefinger round his head in the universal, at least on Earth, motion for crazy.
“Gryph did something similar to beat the Barrow King,” Ovrym said flatly.
“What?” Lex sputtered.
“I did,” Gryph said. “Ovrym even did the honors.”
“Indeed,” Ovrym said and mocked slipping his blade into the back of Gryph’s head.
Lex threw his hands in the air and paced. “You guys are all nuts? I’m the only sane one in this gaggle of effing whack jobs.”
“That does not seem very likely to Errat.”
“The question is, can we make it work again?” Gryph asked, turning to Sean.
“Assuming I’d want to, maybe.”
“Let’s assume that you do,” Vonn said.
Sean scowled at the half-elf, but then sighed and nodded. “Fine, I’ll kill myself… again, but if we survive this crazy mission I want first pick of the loot.”
“Done,” Gryph said.
Sean nodded like a man who wished he’d never got out of bed that morning. “I’ll need to retrieve my old spawn point. I hid it after escaping, in case Aluran’s goons caught me before I got away and I had to kill myself again.” He paused, a dour expression crossing his face. "That may be the most depressing sentence I've ever uttered."
“Where did you hide it?” Gryph asked.
“In a tavern in the shadow of Aluran’s palace.”
“Of course you did,” Lex grumbled. “Question is, can the gate get us close, or are we gonna have to stroll around Avernia like we aren’t the top dogs on Aluran’s most wanted list?”
“Errat thinks we should all find hooded cloaks. Hoods are very good for hiding.”
Lex eyed the huge warborn, mouth opening to make a snide remark, but then shook his head. “Better than anything I got.”
“It’s a good thing I’m here then,” Vonn said and handed the pair of Mimic Stones to Gryph. “They each have one charge left. You'll need to imprint them, but my gut tells me you'll make good use of them.”
“I think I should get one,” Sean said. “The Scourge was after me.”
“Maybe I should get one too,” Lex said, raising his hand. “Don’t forget, Aluran wants me dead too.”
“I doubt he is alone in that desire,” Ovrym said.
Lex eyed the inscrutable xydai. “Oh, I get it, you’re being funny.”
“Not to my knowledge.”
“Enough,” Gryph said. “We will use the stones if and when they are needed for the mission.” He nodded his thanks to Vonn and stashed the magical disguise stones. “We're not going to waste them playing dress up.”
“That is sad. Friend Lex could be pretty like stones made Errat.”
“Thanks dude, that means a lot coming from you.”
Gryph laughed, closed his eyes and turned his gaze inward, accessing the Nimmerian knowledge cache. In moments he found the closest gate address to Sean’s tavern, hidden under the city in yet another research outpost, one that had been there since before the founding of the city.
“Those dudes sure liked research,” Lex muttered as the gate powered up.
“The Nimmerian’s were great lovers of knowledge and were tireless experimenters,” Bishop said. “They spent millennia delving into the hidden truths of the Realms.”
“As a repository of hidden knowledge I feel like those guys would have been my peeps.”
“They were arrogant and reckless,” Bishop said.
“Live on the wild side baby.”
“They tried to tap power from the Realm of Chaos and unleashed a doom that devastated the heart of their empire,” Bishop retorted and looked at Lex. “I see many commonalities between you and them.”
“Thanks, wait … that wasn’t a compliment, was it?”
“You’d think you’d be able to tell by now,” Vonn said.
Gryph ignored them and dialed the rune address for the research outpost. As the energies swirled through the Port Icon, Gryph felt the mood of the group grow heavy. They were about to enter the literal belly of the beast, one that could well consume them all. A pinpoint of light formed at the center of the gate and expanded, revealing a wall of rotten wood. Using the butt of his spear, Gryph pushed on the most solid looking plank. It creaked as he pushed, and then the entire wall fell into the room beyond.
The group stepped through the gate to discover they were in a long-forgotten storeroom and the wooden wall was a stack of moldy old crates. Lex poked around and found a filthy old wedding gown. He held it up in front of him and turned to Vonn, swaying side to side. “Don’t tell me I can’t play dress up.”
“That proves it. You are the ugliest bride of all time.”
“Dude, way to make a girl feel bad, and on her wedding day.”
Gryph smiled, for once appreciating the stress relief provided by Lex’s idiotic sense of humor. They fanned out and confirmed that apart from a few squealing rats, they were alone.
Several tunnels led from the room, but ancient cave-ins blocked all of them. There was only one exit, a staircase that led up and ended in a solid, wooden door. It was locked from the outside, but a mighty heave by Errat got them through. They spent the next hour traversing a warren of old tunnels and decrepit passageways.
Gryph used the time to cycle through some prompts and his jaw dropped.
You have ended the Scourge of Souls (Soul Wraith).
You have
earned 500,000 XP.
You have completed the Hidden Quest Free a Lost Soul (x53).
You have earned 530,000 (10,000 x 53) XP.
You have freed 53 souls from bondage inside the Soul Reliquary. They are now free to move on to whatever fate their actions in life have earned them.
Gryph was ecstatic and surprised. He’d had no idea when he’d used Emancipation to free the souls trapped in the Reliquary that it would earn him a reward, it had just been the only tactic he’s been able to come up with to weaken the Scourge. Getting rewarded for moral actions made him feel better about whatever force powered the Realms. Perhaps the Source is real.
Then his mood soured.
You are offered the quest Scourge the Scourge.
You have been tasked with destroying the artifact known as the Soul Reliquary so that no soul, innocent or otherwise, will ever be forced into eternal enslavement.
Difficulty: Incredibly Difficult - Reward: Unknown - Penalty for Failure: Unknown. XP: Unknown.
Great, another weapon of mass destruction that needs destroying.
You have reduced Raathiel’s XP Deficit.
You have reduced Raathiel’s XP deficit by 1,030,000 XP. Current XP Deficit: - 1,570,000.
A wave of guilt crashed over him. In all the chaos of the last week, or one day from his perspective, he’d forgotten all about Raathiel. He felt a sudden desire to speak with her and considered waking her, but then remembered her warning.
I must rest. Until my experience deficit is erased, even this conversation is quite taxing. I fear, if I exert myself too greatly, I may never awaken again.
Gryph looked deep inside himself and found the tiny mote of shining energy. Rest, my soul companion. He may have imagined it, but the mote of golden light seemed to flare. He smiled and returned to his prompts.
