"Well, I'll take an empty chest over another one of those creatures any day," said Alice cheerfully.
The group went to the northern exit of the north pit room and found a dead end. They went down the east path and found a winding chamber of hallways that led to a room with two beautiful emerald statues, both of a previous Isis ruler. They proceeded until they found a staircase going up to the next floor.
The next floor was made up of a series of thin hallways. As the group navigated through some of the hallways, they came across a blue bag with eyes and a mouth along with three humanoid creatures covered completely in bandages, save for the eyes and mouths with large teeth.
"Here we go again!" yelled Ron.
Alice sent a stream of fire at the bandaged creatures, killing one and seriously wounding the remaining two. The blue bag moved around in a very strange fashion, and a star of green light left Alice and sailed off. Alice felt as though she had just been drained of something.
Meanwhile, the two bandaged creatures did not act as though they had been wounded. Both of them ran up to Ron and struck at him with their arms. Ron was surprised to find claws hidden in their bandages as he took a scratch to the side. He dispatched one with a terrific blow to the shoulder and the creature fell. Suzanne ran the other one through with her sword. Thomas ran at the blue bag and tried to stab it but the creature somehow jumped over his attack.
The creature followed up by casting a spell and the group was covered with the familiar purple mist of an illusions spell. Indeed, it now appeared as though there were a dozen of the bag enemy. Suzanne cast her own stream of fire spell, though weaker than Alice's, while Thomas sent a strong cutting wind at the creature. It died from the force of the two spells.
"Damn! That thing drained some of my magic!" complained Alice.
"What?" asked Ron. "How is that possible?"
"It's a skill some creatures have. I actually know a spell which can take magic from other creatures and use it to restore mine. It looks like I'll have to start using it," Alice explained.
"So what were those things, Alice?" asked Suzanne.
Alice looked at the bag's remains and shook her head, "I don't know what that is. The bandaged things are called mummies, though. They're apparently undead that were buried here to guard the treasures and the bodies of the rulers."
Ron had been examining the bag and suddenly jumped up excited, "Hey guys! This thing actually has money in it!"
The group went over to examine the creature's remains and found it had hundreds of gold inside of it.
"I'm guessing that it's a bag that the people animated to life," Alice theorized.
"So they animated a bag of money to guard this place?" Ron asked. "Seems kind of strange to use treasure to guard treasure."
The group continued searching the floor they were currently on. They found more enemies along the way, but dealt with them without too much trouble. They found two staircases, one going down and one going up, along with another empty chest. They went down the descending staircase first only to find a couple chambers with a total of three empty chests.
"I'm starting to think the looters already took what we're looking for," Thomas said grimly.
The group backtracked to the staircase they found going up. They were greeted by a group of four mummies. These, however, had a blue hue to their bandages. As the four mummies came at the group, Alice made them pay with her stream of fire spell. The creatures kept going, however.
Suzanne and Ron both took on two apiece. Suzanne found herself clawed on both sides but finished one of the creatures by running it through with her sword. Ron managed to block and duck under both attacks aimed at him and then came up with his axe right into the gut of one of the creatures, causing it to fall. Thomas came over the assist Suzanne with a stab to the torso of another creature. Suzanne went over by Ron to finish the last one off.
"I'm running out of magic guys," Alice said. "We may have to come back another day if we don't find the key soon."
"Those mummies were tougher than the others," observed Suzanne.
"It's said that some of the rulers' exceptional bodyguards became more powerful undead to protect their masters," explained Alice.
"Such loyalty even in death," said Ron thoughtfully.
"It's not loyalty," said Thomas angrily. "They're undead. They no longer have minds. They do what they were created to do." Thomas hated undead more than most.
The group found several more powerful mummies throughout the floor. Alice had to start conserving her magic which caused the group to take more wounds with every encounter. As a result, Thomas was running low on magic as well.
The group found two staircases leading up along with a passage in the middle that was blocked by a huge boulder. In the southwest and southeast corners of the floor they found two buttons each.
"Wait, I might know what to do here!" exclaimed Alice, suddenly with an idea. "I was hanging out with some of the kids last week and they taught me this old Isis nursery rhyme. 'Oh which to try? Oh which to test? First to the east, then to the west.' Maybe if we hit the east-most button and the west-most button something will happen!"
"I don't know Alice," said Ron. "Couldn't we just go up the stairs? I'd think the key would be higher up anyway. Your idea might just trigger another trap."
"Actually, Alice may have a point. If the people who built this wanted someone to go through, they'd want it to be one of their own people," Suzanne theorized. "As such, they would have left clues on how to get through. This nursery rhyme may have been a discreet way to give such a clue. It's imbedded in their culture but nobody would think about it since it's a kid's song. Let's give it a try."
The group went and did as Alice said, pushing the east-most button and then the west-most button. They were greeted with the loud sound of the boulder moving. The group returned to the middle chamber to see that it was indeed gone. Inside were two chests.
"They could be more of those things," said Thomas grimly.
"Thomas, Alice, do you guys have enough magic to handle one more battle and an escape?" Suzanne asked. The two nodded in response. Suzanne motioned for Ron to try the chests. A strike to each chest produced no odd results, so he opened both of them. One of the chests had a purple seed in it while the other had a gold key with a ruby imbedded in it.
"Is this it?" Ron asked as he handed the key to Alice.
Alice examined the key a little bit. "It's got some magic in it," she said. "I don't know if it's what we're looking for, but it could be."
"Put the seed back," Suzanne said to Ron. "Her Majesty said we should only disturb what we must. It looks like we got what we came for."
"Thank goodness," said Ron. "I hope we never have to go through so much trouble for a key ever again."
Chapter 10: Hostage Situation
The group had returned to the Romaly-Portoga border with their new key in hand. As they entered the building they found the same man they had met before sitting at the same desk doing paperwork. Once again the man paid no attention to the group as they entered. Suzanne took out the magic key and tried it on the lock. Tiny blue magical sparks came from the key as it broke down the enchantment on the door. The door was unlocked and could now be opened.
Now the man finally looked up at the group. "How did you do that? Where did you get that key?" he asked, now standing up and walking over to the group.
"You said that if we could open the door we could go to Portoga, didn't you?" asked Suzanne.
"Yeah but, they've never given the key to that door to anyone that I know of. Are you some sort of Portogan ambassadors?" the man returned, clearly confused.
Suzanne started to the stairs on the other side of the door. "This leads to Portoga right?" she asked.
The man just stared at her for a moment and then answered, "Yeah, I think so. I've never seen anyone go through, so it's only a guess."
The group proceeded down the stairs, which led them to a hallway underneath the river. In
the middle of the hallway was a door to the left. After finding that the door was locked, Suzanne tried to use the magic key on the door. However, the key was unable to break the enchantment on this door and it remained locked.
"Damn it!" cursed Ron. "We better not have to go through there to reach Portoga. I've had enough of these doors and their keys!"
"Settle down, the hallway goes on a ways. We'll probably still reach Portoga," said Alice cheerfully.
The group proceeded down the hallway and found a staircase leading up. They found themselves in a building almost exactly like the one on the Romalian side of the border. However, this one did not have a guard in it. The group went outside and found themselves on a tiny island with a bridge going to the mainland. Alice confirmed that they were now officially in Portoga.
It took a day and a half to get from the Romaly-Portoga border to get to the castle town of Portoga. They spent the rest of the day at the inn and, the next morning, were going to set up an appointment with the king when they found they were being summoned by him. In traveling the country, the people quickly noticed the group as outsiders. As the border with Romaly had been closed off, and all other outsiders came by ship to the land and thus were located on the coast for the most part, the group quickly attracted attention. Word of their coming reached the king almost the same day they made it to the castle town.
The group made the trip from the inn to the castle. They took in the scene as they walked to it: the castle actually was out on a tiny island in the ocean connected to the town by a large bridge. The group made their way to the throne room of King Saldor, ruler of Portoga. The king was significantly older than Emperor Vilisik or Queen Calasta. He looked as though he were in his late seventies or maybe even his early eighties. After bowing and curtsying, the king began to speak.
"I have heard rumors that you come from across the Romaly-Portoga border," the king began. "Last that I checked, the border has been sealed by magic. By your coming here, am I to take it that Emperor Vilisik has forced open the border?"
"No, your Majesty," replied Suzanne. "We acquired the means to get through the border by our own power."
"Acquired the means by your own power? You must have gone to quite some trouble to get through the border. Such trouble would suggest that you needed to accomplish something here. Might I ask what they something is?" the king conjectured. From his tone, the group could tell he did not believe they were not with the empire.
"Actually, we came to talk to you over an important matter. Since we are already in meeting, would you mind if we began our piece on the matter?" Suzanne answered.
The emperor nodded and Suzanne asked, "You have heard of the Archfiend who lives in southern Tarasia?"
"I have heard the rumors yes. If Emperor Vilisik has worried you over this Archfiend, I can assure you the rumors are exaggerated," King Saldor said.
"What makes you say that?" Suzanne asked.
The king laughed, a cold laugh of mockery, "If your story is true, you do not know Emperor Vilisik well. He is a young, foolish ruler of an even more foolish nation. Nevertheless, the empire has shown its cunning in the past. If he's not making a big deal over nothing, than he is exaggerating facts to get after something."
"He says that the Archfiend has wiped out humanity on the southern side of Tarasia," Suzanne said.
"Lies and exaggerations," the king said dismissively. "I will not believe such a claim until I see proof. Is this the entire point of your meeting with me?"
"Not entirely," Suzanne answered. Knowing that getting the king's cooperation was a long shot, she hesitated before she began again, "We have been convening with different nations and we are hoping to build an alliance against the forces of the Archfiend. You may find the Archfiend's threat exaggerated, but what if it is not? Would you not be more secure standing next to other nations in defiance of what this monster might do?"
The king listened to Suzanne and then laughed his mocking laugh again. "Young miss, do not try to scare me. Perhaps you do not know your history, but I do. I know what happened the last time someone went around uniting the nations against some 'great threat.' I fought in the Second Great War almost fifty years ago. I am not about to let that happen again."
Suzanne kept her cool, even though she could see this was a lost cause, "Think more on the First Great War than the second. Think of the devastation that resulted from that war."
The king was very annoyed now, "More exaggerations. Almost all of humanity wiped out by some smarter-than-normal monster? Impossible. Being the greatest struggle of the time, I am sure the historians exaggerated its effect. I saw the effects of the Second Great War with my own eyes. I know the results of that one."
The king then began to calm down a little bit. "Your plea is very similar to another group of travelers that came here. Interestingly enough, the leader was from the sealed land of Aliahan. Unfortunately, he met with little success in his quest. Have you met with anymore success? You said you had been convening with different nations. Which ones have agreed to your claims?" the king asked thoughtfully.
Suzanne hesitated before answering, "The Romalian Empire and the Kingdom of Isis."
The king laughed his mocking laugh once again, "So you have met with more success! Impressive! But you must forgive me if I do not immediately join the side of my enemies and their allies all because of some big scary monster that everyone has been whispering about."
"If we could give you proof that he is a threat, would you join this alliance?" Suzanne asked.
"I might," the king asked. "But how will you get such proof? From all reports I have seen, this Archfiend makes his home in the Necrogond Mountains. How will you even reach the mountains, let alone find his castle? Do you have a ship?"
"No we don't your Majesty," Suzanne answered.
"Well then, I may have a business proposition for you," the king said. "Black pepper is a fine delicacy in this country. The people like to say that it is worth more than its weight in gold. Unfortunately, we have run out of this fine spice and increasing monster activity over the seas has made it impossible to procure some more. We get this pepper from a town called Baharata, to the east of the empire. Since you can go through the empire, your journey would be shorter. Get a significant amount of black pepper, and I may reward you with a ship."
"That is a generous offer, your Majesty," Suzanne admitted.
"There is a tunnel underneath the mountains to the east of Assaram. This is the best way to Baharata. However, the tunnel is blocked and can only be navigated by use of a secret passage. An old friend of mine, Norud the dwarf, knows the passage. I shall give you a message to give to him. May you return with a great deal of black pepper," the king continued.
The group thanked him for the information and prepared for another journey.
"Well, we seem to have a knack for attracting the attention of rulers," observed Ron.
"Too bad half of them are less than willing to listen to us," Suzanne said.
"Well we expected that when we set out," Alice chipped in. "After all, we are from the sealed land of Aliahan. All in all, I'd say we're doing pretty well."
"I guess you're right. And if King Saldor does give us a ship, we can go from country to country until we find another one to join the empire and Isis. Each one that joins us will add up. Plus, if we can scout out the Archfiend's forces, King Saldor will have to believe us," Suzanne said.
"Flyers!" yelled Thomas.
Coming at the group was a party of four large bees. These ones were colored purple and blue. As was usual when going against aerial enemies, Ron, Suzanne, and Thomas formed a protective circle around Alice. Alice sent the weaker of her two stream of fire spells at the four, hoping to conserve her magic. The bees were all horribly burned, but still able to fight.
Two of the bees came at the protective circle only to be cut down by the blades of the three front-liners. The other two hung back and cast spells at the group. Surprisingly, the group found two streams
of fire engulfing them, giving them noticeable burns. Realizing the danger of these foes, Alice sent another stream of fire at them. They fell to the ground, dead.
"It seems like our foes keep using stronger and stronger magic," Suzanne observed.
"We'll have to remember to take those things out early from now on," Ron suggested.
The group had been traveling for one day, including going through the tunnel that the king had mentioned. As promised, Norud the dwarf let the group through after seeing the king's note. They found themselves sandwiched between two mountain ranges, though the one they passed through was replaced by a large river after a while. In between the two ranges were hills and forests. After two more days of traveling, the group came out of the forest they had been traveling through. It was another day before they made it to the town of Baharata.
"That's odd, there's nobody at the counter," Suzanne observed.
"Excuse me," Alice said to the other man in the pepper store. "Do you know where the storekeeper is?"
The man sighed and said, "Like me, you're out of luck. It seems the store is closed since the shop owner's granddaughter has been kidnapped."
Alice gasped, "Kidnapped? By who? Why?"
"Couldn't tell you who. As to why, that's easy," the man replied. "The pepper business is booming right now. I hear the king of some far off land places in large orders for pepper. The stuff is gold. You'd be able to get a king's ransom from the owner."
"Thanks for the information," Suzanne said to the man. Then she turned to the rest of the group, "Let's find the owner and see if we can do anything to help."
After asking around for a little while, the group soon found the owner of the shop, an old man looking to be in his seventies, at the beach of the large river that ran through town. Standing next to him was a man around the same age of the group, with a sword hanging on his waist. Both looked to be in quite a bit of distress.
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