Extra Credit
Page 42
The human priestess gestured and the beacon from the Trial of Wisdom appeared in the air above Leilani, who had somewhat recovered from the boss’s spell. “Leilani Starshadow, when the veil has been parted, you must light the beacon to drive out the darkness, but the darkness is a greedy master.”
“So, you,” Sir Tarek continued and gestured to Cedric. “Sir Cedric Lightstrider, must become a bastion against its hunger, you must grasp the darkness and endure the pain it will bring, resist the temptations it may offer, and keep it from fleeing to another host for as long as it takes for the light to destroy it.”
The sage spoke again, “Will you assist us in this, our final task?”
I looked around and saw we were all nodding, expressions resolved. Leilani chugged a large mana potion and her mana shot up close to full and I did the same while Kelikk and Ced gulped down healing potions.
“Good,” said the Knight of Dawn. “Then be prepared. The time to act, is NOW.”
The dome over Brother Marcus cracked and burst apart as he stood, the fragments of light disappearing in a flash.
Kelikk dashed in and wrapped him in a bear hug, trapping his arms at his sides as the boss struggled. The muscles of Kelikk’s arms started to bulge with the effort of containing the shadowy boss and I could see his stamina draining in the party window.
I stepped forward, still exhausted from my breath attack but more than capable of using an item. I laid my hand over his heart and triggered the Pierce the Veil ability from the sage’s necklace.
The darkness washed away from the man’s chest in a ripple, exposing a very real, flesh and blood body.
I narrowed my eyes as a blinding light appeared behind me, sending the shadows into full retreat. The darkness peeled away from its host, forming into tendrils that reached towards the cold stone of the dungeon floor in an attempt to escape the light.
Cedric reached down and took hold of the tendrils of darkness, pulling them up like weeds from the stone and holding them steady in the light.
The shadows ceased their struggle to escape and instead wrapped themselves around the Knight’s form, flowing over his armor in an attempt to find cracks that they might exploit.
He grunted in pain and closed his eyes as the darkness started to squeeze, his health bar starting to drain. His pained expression lessened as he activated a skill and a soft glow emerged from his skin.
Leilani’s mana was draining quickly, but the light was definitely having an effect. The edges of the shadowy tendrils were losing their crisp edges as bits and pieces broke away and dissolved into ash.
Marcus was shadow free, the entirety of the shadowy substance focusing on claiming a new host.
The light started to dim as Leilani’s mana dropped towards zero, and Kelikk’s stamina had long since been expended. Luckily Marcus was now limp in his grip.
The shadowy substance surged over Cedric and I thought for a second he had given in, but with a scream of pain, he pulsed with an inner light and the darkness covering him dissolved into dust and slowly floated away.
Cedric and Leilani both collapsed to the ground, their respective pools exhausted from the effort, and Kelikk laid the unconscious body of the former boss monster on the altar.
The spirits gathered around us as Marcus’s eyes blinked open and took in his surroundings. Something in his eyes changed when he caught sight of the spirits looking down on him, and he began to weep.
The sage reached down and cupped the man’s cheek. “Rest now brother, your nightmares are over. It is time to go home.”
The man looked up at the spectral forms, a soft smile touching his lips as the tears streamed down his face. A whisper passed from his lips, carried by his last breath. The words were barely audible, but their meaning reverberating throughout the tomb. “I’m sorry.”
The life faded from his eyes as his body aged before us, the weight of hundreds of years all coming to bear in a few seconds, leaving only dust.
A glimmer of light appeared before the altar and transformed into the form of a small boy clothed in a simple robe bearing the device of the order.
The boy stood there, looking lost and afraid until another spirit arrived, the Lady of the Dawn phasing into existence as she approached from the entrance.
The boy jumped in excitement and ran to her, leaping into her arms with a joyful squeal.
“Is it really time to go, Aunt Ali?” the child asked. “Do I really get to see my mom and dad now?”
The lady smiled at the child and answered, “Yes, Marcus. It’s finally time to go home.”
The child climbed down and turned back to us, giving us a happy wave as he and the lady walked hand-in-hand towards the temple entryway.
With each step that they took, the entire tomb seemed to vibrate and shake. The bits and pieces of the fallen undead and their broken sarcophagi slid across the ground to reform in their original locations.
The ground beneath us shifted and I gasped as the cavern ceiling above us started to ripple and shift, and I felt that pseudo-weightless feeling of being in an elevator as the cavern disappeared altogether, revealing a bright blue sky.
A beam of pure sunlight reached down from the sky to caress the spirits of the Lady of the Dawn and young Marcus, taking them to whatever afterlife awaited them.
I turned back to my companions and the other spirits, tears streaming down my reptilian cheeks. Traces of the same adorned my companions’ faces as well, although Cedric had tried to hide the evidence in a typical teenage boy fashion.
The four guardian spirits turned to us once again and started to fade, their final words floating on the wind.
“Thank you, brave adventurers. We have completed our charge and must now move on to whatever the light has planned for us. This tomb will be our legacy, and we hope that one day the hard lessons learned by our order can prevent others from making the same mistakes. Within the prison chamber you will find your reward. Go forth, and take with you the light.”
And then they were gone.
QUEST COMPLETE: The Forgotten Tomb [D]
The Tomb of the Blazing Sun has been cleansed of the darkness that dwelled within, and in turn a soul was redeemed. Once a symbol of hope, and a formidable force for goodness, the Order of the Blazing Sun has been reborn again into the world.
You have gained 3000xp!
ACHIEVEMENT: UNIQUE INSTANCE COMPLETE – The Forgotten Tomb is a static instance. Your cleansing of the Tomb has returned it to the surface where it will remain as the Tomb of the Blazing Sun. Former members of the order will be called here to reestablish the once proud temple, and its enemies will seek to bury it once again.
NEW NPC FACTION UNLOCKED: Order of the Blazing Sun.
You have gained 2500xp!
Your status with the Order of the Blazing sun is now Ally.
GLOBAL ANNOUNCEMENT: Rejoice, forces of the light, for today a lost order has returned to the world of Argos. The Order of the Blazing Sun has been reborn again to stand strong against the forces of darkness!
CONGRATULATIONS! You have reached Level 15!
You have gained 2 Intelligence!
You have gained 3 Attribute points and 17 Skill points!
Your Hit Points, Mana, and Endurance pools have increased!
The insane amount of experience from the quest and the bonus for completing the unique instance was enough for us all to reach our next level, and the pulse of bliss was at least a small band-aid for the massive kick to the feels that the quest had delivered.
I looked around at my companions and grinned, motioning to the back room. “Ready to see what kind of loot this puppy’s got?”
***
57
We headed to the back room where the broken sarcophagus had transformed into a large, golden banded chest.
Cedric rushed over and was about to pop it open when I called out to wait.
“Huh,” he said in confusion. “Do you want to go first?”
I shook my head and took out
the Cat’s Eye Key and held it up so the others could see. “Think this will work here?”
Kelikk’s face split in a giant smile and he gestured to the chest. “There’s a keyhole, so I don’t see why not.”
I put the key inside and turned it. The key dissolved and a small, slot machine view appeared above the chest with a single reel that was already spinning.
As the symbols spun by, I could see that there were stops with stars, blanks, and every so often an elusive double star.
There was a small button floating in front of the reels that read “stop.”
With a smile for my companions, I closed my eyes and looked away from the reels.
“No whammy, no whammy, no whammy… STOP!” I yelled and pressed the button before turning back to the reels to see what we had won.
The reel was still spinning as its momentum played out. Blank, Star, Star, Star, Double Star…. finally coming to rest on a single star.
“Damn that was close,” Kelikk said with a heavy sigh. “But one is better than none! Let’s see what we’ve got!”
I opened up the chest and whistled. For me, there was a set of black robes almost identical to those worn by the Sage of Midnight.
Cedric got a bright white tabard with the order’s insignia, and Kelikk received a new cloak dyed to match the color of the rising sun.
Leilani received a cloak as well. Hers was bright white with a golden sun emblazoned on it.
Kelikk, whispered into my ear, just loud enough to make sure the others could hear him, “Watch out Kababala, there are Whitecloaks nearby.”
His wife glared at him, and Cedric looked clueless, once again revealing his lack of proper geek culture.
I chuckled. “At least it’s not a rainbow stole, then I’d be doubly screwed.”
Kelikk burst out laughing. “See! See! He gets it!”
Leilani sighed and said, “Yeah, well, not everyone has read those books, hun.”
The dwarf and I shared another laugh as we finished up looting. In addition to our unique items, we each received a nice collection of coin, gems and potions.
I traded my coin and potions with the rest of the party in exchange for their gems, scoring an Exquisite Cut Aquamarine and three Rough-cut Emeralds.
And the robes. Oh, the robes… were GLORIOUS.
< Robes of Midnight >
Crafted for the Sages of Midnight, the scholarly branch of the Order of the Blazing Sun, these robes were imbued with enchantments to assist the sages in their pursuit of knowledge.
Properties: +10 Intelligence, +10 Wisdom, +10 Perception, Comprehend Languages (3x per day)
Comprehend Languages: When invoked, this spell allows the user to read and understand any non-magical written or spoken language for 30 minutes.
“Wow,” I said, looking up from my item to see a similar expression on my companions faces. “Epic?” I asked, and they slowly nodded, except for Cedrick who shook his head.
I gave him a reassuring smile. “Sorry, Ced. You did make out like a bandit earlier though-”
He shook his head and whispered, “Not Epic… Unique…. It was Sir Tarik’s own tabard when he was a Knight Bastion before the fall. It’s a scaling item. Right now it gives a plus nine to Strength, Constitution, and Charisma and a five percent threat generation buff, but it’ll get better as I level.”
Kelikk slapped his nephew on the shoulder as we all congratulated him on his awesome loot. “That’s gotta be the best piece of gear I’ve seen in the game! Congrats man!”
Leilani’s cloak gave her a big bonus to her Wisdom and a smaller one to her Intelligence and Dexterity, as well as cutting the cool downs of her crowd control and bubble spells by half. And Kelikk’s cloak gave a big boost to his Strength, Dexterity, and critical hit chance.
We had made out like bandits.
When we left the prison room, the changes to the temple were almost complete. All of the broken bodies of the former accursed were now lying in state, their glass-topped sarcophagi allowing the rays of the sun to once again reach the faithful.
The prison dissolved into nothingness and was replaced by a small chapel, leaving no trace of any damage whatsoever.
I collected my minions’ gear and shoved it into my bag, cringing at the rips and tears that were going to cost me a pretty penny to repair before my minions would be ready to rumble again.
The two laeshhound skeletons I’d set up earlier and not used were gone, swallowed up in whatever changes were overtaking the temple.
“I think that if I ever meet the man who wrote that dungeon, I’m going to be faced with a hard choice,” I said, looking out over the almost fully restored temple as we left it behind.
“Huh?” Cedric responded, looking at me quizzically.
“Well, I have to decide if I want to punch him for making me go through that or hug him in thanks for the emotional rollercoaster there at the end. Or both,” I replied.
Finding our way down off the mountain was easier than I expected, the developers having taken mercy on us and providing a convenient roadway down to the area close to the cave entrance.
About halfway back to town Leilani paused and her gaze went distant for a second as she read something. A look of irritation crossed her features and she sighed.
“Sorry Kababala,” she said. “You’ll have to make it the rest of the way back on your own. We have to log out. My mom’s car broke down on the freeway and we need to go and pick her up.”
Cedric sighed and looked to his sister. “Can’t I stay on for a bit longer?” he asked with a hopeful look in his eyes. “I’ve got all these new skills, and we just leveled…”
She gave him a sad shake of the head, “Sorry bro, you know the rules. No solo play ‘til you get your GPA up. So sayeth the supreme Father and Mother.”
“Fine,” he said in the way that only a teenager could say it and logged out.
Leilani gave me a small smile and faded away as well.
Kelikk chuckled and looked at me. “I feel bad for the kid. He’s finally found something he really enjoys, and he’s struggling through school, so he may end up losing it. He knows it too, and its probably not helping things,” he said with a sigh. “You going to be OK getting back to town?”
“Yeah. I’ll be fine,” I said, empathizing with his situation. “If Ced needs help with his schoolwork I’d be happy to help. As I said before, I am a teacher by profession and while I may not be a Rhodes scholar, I do know my way around a high school curriculum, and a coach’s whistle.”
Kelikk gave me a thoughtful look. “Maybe someone the kid admires will be able to get through his thick skull. Your tip already helped him pass his statistics class. I’ll talk to the wife and see what we can do.”
We shook hands, and the dwarf flickered out of existence, leaving me to make my way back to Sommervale on my own.
With a shrug, I activated my belt and took to the air.
***
58
I arrived back in town and went about my rounds. I sold what was left of my minions’ armor for scrap. The bronze armor wasn’t really on par with their level anymore. The smithy didn’t have a large selection of iron armor, at least not at a price that I wanted to pay so I decided to see what I could find on the auction house.
Mistress Valynwood was still hard at work researching what I had given her, with no end in sight, so I cut my visit short so as not to raise any more questions about how much I’d been neglecting my studies, sticking around only long enough to restock my potions before making my way to the auction house.
The clerk handed me a tiny sack of coins in return for my receipts and I looked at him strangely as I opened it up. The remaining bronze had all sold, and instead of handing me a bag of gold the clerk had elected to pay in platinum.
Seventy-six platinum and six gold filled the pouch. I glanced around to be sure no one was watching before tucking them into my pouch. I had no desire to put a target on my back.
My minions still needed armo
r, so I hopped on to one of the Merchantrix kiosks and started my search. After a bit of digging, I found a set of auctions with a name attached to it. Apparently one of the perks you could get as a high-level crafter would let you sell items under your brand on the auction house.
Normally the auction house was kept anonymous to prevent griefers, but Mr. Balin Skoggison had quite an enterprise going on.
I was able to purchase full upgrades for my skirmishers in iron for twenty-five gold a pop, and a full set of iron plate for my next zombie tank for fifty gold. It hurt my soul to spend so much, but if I was going to be taking on the monsters near the iron mines, I’d need every advantage I could get.
I decided to keep their weapon forms but was only able to find mauls in iron. Big blunt weapon. Same difference; minions smash.
After collecting all of my new goods from the clerk, I started towards the guild house to see if there were any new abilities to learn but paused. Let’s see if it’s worth the walk, I thought and took out my new book.
I flipped through the pages until I found the section on Necromancy and there it was, Greater Create Undead; a spell most definitely worth the trip.
I did a drive by on my guild master, staying just long enough to learn the spell and then heading out. I had things to do, bodies to find, and undead to raise.
You have learned “Greater Create Undead.”
Create Undead has been upgraded to Greater Create Undead
Range: 30 feet
Type: Animation
Requirements: Somatic, Verbal, Material (Required): See Below.
Rank 10 Perk: Minions Archetypes.
-Animate Skeleton: Animate the skeletal remains of a creature of size
---Special Abilities: Versatile.
---Required Material Component: Skeleton
---Minion Pool Required: Small[1], Medium[2], Large[3]