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We appeared on the dirt path that lead towards the Encyclopedia Magicka. We've been here before to speak to the alchemist, but as we rode up towards the entrance something was different.

The sun began to set as we rushed to the entrance and dismounted our horses.

"Something's not right. Something is not right here", I said as I walked inside.

Books were broken, scrolls were missing and all the sages had vanished. Smeared reagents wafted up from the floors and there were footprints leading to a back door to the building. As we followed the footprints, we noticed a pool of blood.

"Somebody's injured, Look around", I said to Mordak as I lit a torch and began looking around.

We heard a faint voice in the corner calling to us. It was the sage we met earlier before talking to Zurol. He was hiding behind an alchemist's table, wounded. A large gash on his face continued to spill blood, his robe and cloak had been burned by fireballs.

"Who did this to you?!" I exclaimed as the sage was attempting to get up on his feet.

"I led the others out the back exit when it arrived. It attacked us suddenly, without warning. I tried to stop it, but it struck me with its dagger and tossed a fireball at me. I hid behind this table to seek cover but it didn't follow me"

"It? What are you talking about?" Mordak asked.

"Some cloaked figure. I don't even know if it's a human or elf. It didn't talk, just attacked."

Mordak helped the sage get to his feet and began casting heal spells on him.

"Zurol....go to Zurol. He's in trouble. The cloaked figure might still be there. Don't let it get away!" the sage said.

Mordak hoisted the sage's arms over his back and began dragging him out the back door. I was already racing up the staircase, being sure to remain quiet at the same time.

As I reached the top, I saw Zurol in a pile of blood, with a death grip around an old book. I immediately noticed the deer pelt on the book's cover. In the corner of the room I saw a figure, cloaked in black. It was the same mysterious figure we had seen the night of the meteor.

I pulled my butcher knife out of my pocket. The gold handle gleamed as I yelled "consecrus arma"!

I ran as fast as my legs could take me towards the black figure. The black figure did not move, although it was evident it knew I was about to attack it.

As I prepared to stab the cloaked figure, it quickly jerked its arm into the air. I felt a sharp pain as cold steel sliced through my flesh. I let out a cry of pain. My butcher knife was no longer in my hand, it was now spinning on a sandstone tile several feet away.

I hit the floor, crawling away from the cloaked figure as I wrapped a clean bandage around my wrist to stop the bleeding. The cloaked figure stared at me for a moment, eyes burning. I feared for my life, but as the cloaked figure turned its head away from me, it was clear that I was not the one it was after, I was just a mere nuissance.

I began to get up to reach my knife when the cloaked figure turned to me again. It wasn't about to play fair. The cloaked figure placed its dagger on the alchemy table. I heard a clinking noise as the cloaked figure picked up a potion from the table. It launched its arm forward and let the bottle slide out of its fingers. I could only stare in horror as the purple liquid enclosed in glass landed at my feet. There was a terrible BOOM and I felt airborne. The room flashed with light momentarily as I sailed across the sandstone tiles and made a hard landing against a wall. I lay against the floor, motionless.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could still see the cloaked figure and Zurol. Rather pleased with itself, the cloaked figure returned to Zurol. It retrieved the dagger from the table and stabbed Zurol in the chest. There was a terrible cloud of green smoke, Zurol cried out in immense pain. His grip loosened on the book as he collapsed to the floor, a greenish tinge visible on his face.

The cloaked figure's fingers curled around the book. It held the bloody dagger in its hand, with its arm hanging loosely at its side. The figure stared at Zurol for a moment, then walked away slowly.

I stared in fear as the cloaked figure slowly made its approach towards me. I stared at the dagger, fearing it would soon be run through me and I would not be able to do anything about it.

The dark figure was now standing over me, silently. I could see the dagger clearly now, dripping with Zurol's blood. The cloaked figure raised the dagger in the air and flicked the blood off of it, onto my face. I felt a pulling on my cloak as the figure wiped the blood from the dagger. Several seconds later, I saw the black dagger hanging on its side, perfectly clean.

The figure raised the dagger again, but this time, the blade was not pointed towards me, but was pointed in the opposite direction. I silently breathed a sigh of relief when I heard a soft "shikt" noise as the dagger was returned to its holster. The message was clear: "Stay out of my way".

The cloaked figure vanished from sight and I heard soft footsteps, slowly fading, as it descended down the stairs, book in hand.

I lay there for what seemed like eternity. I must have drifted off into a state of dream as I was being shaked by Mordak.

"Wake up Jacob....wake up!" He was saying. I responded to his voice and found a bottle of yellow liquid approaching my lips.

"Drink this, you'll feel better" he said as I downed the heal potion.

He helped me to my feet. I felt a bit wobbly, but was content to be standing again, no longer feeling vulnerable. I retrieved my knife from the floor and we both raced towards Zurol.

"It's too late" Mordak said as he tried in vain to heal Zurol.

"He's dead, lethally poisoned and massive blood loss" Mordak responded in a sorrowful tone.

I held Zurol, placing him flat against the sandstone tiles and crossing his arms.

"A gift" I choked. "A gift, do we have a gift for Cythloth?" I cried to Mordak.

Mordak pulled a ring off his finger and handed it to me.

"No, it's silver. It must be gold" I said as I reached into my pockets, discovering a heavy object.

It was the golden pendant. I suddenly recalled why we were on our way to talk to Zurol. We were too late and Zurol was dead now. Our quest was lost.

As I placed the pendant in Zurol's hands, Mordak stopped me.

"We might still need that. We'll find somebody else who can tell us about it" Mordak said.

But what other gold object did we have? Cythloth would deny Zurol's passage to the afterlife without it.

"Your butcher knife, the handle is real gold".

I agreed with Mordak's words. It was a gift from my mother before her death, a worthy gift for Cythloth.

I placed the dagger in Zurol's hands as Mordak casted a curse to prevent thieves from stealing it.

"What's that in his pocket?" Mordak inquired as he reached in and pulled out what appeared to be a stack of paper. He passed them to me.

"I can't see what's on it. We'll head outside. Hurry, in case that figure comes back".

We walked towards the staircase. I took one last glance at Zurol's body and wished his soul well before heading down the sandstone steps.

Archived topic from AOV, old topic ID:3320, old post ID:22364

We looked around outside for any evidence of the strange figure. It was gone, but I had no doubt in my mind it wouldn't have planned on staying to finish me off. It got what it wanted, no reason to stay.

The sun had almost completely vanished. All that was left was a tiny orange line that was noticeable across the ocean. Mordak pulled a lantern out of his pack and lit it so we could see better.

"Did the scribes make it away safely?" I asked.

"Yes, we reached the moongate. They're staying at the healer in Skara Brae. Zandofir was very grateful for our help."

"Zandofir? Who's Zandofir?" I asked.

"Oh, that's the sage's name. I was talking to him in Skara Brae before I left." Mordak said.

"What did he say?"

"Not too much. He kept talking about the figure that burst in and how he feared for Zurol's life. He and Zurol were good friends apparently." Mordak said.

My heart sank. Zandofir would soon hear that his friend Zurol was dead. I didn't want to be the one to break it to him.

Mordak shone the lantern in front of my hands as I uncrumpled the pages he found on Zurol's body. We took a look at them and were greeted by familiar images. They were the pages from the book Zurol showed us. The familiar lumbering elemental like creatures and skeletons surrounded by large balls of fire.

"We've already seen these pages, but why would Zurol have ripped them out of the book?" Mordak asked.

"Wait....there's more. Look on the back of the papers. We didn't see that side." I said, quickly turning the paper over.

There was a close up picture of an elemental. The big, lumbering thing looked like a shadow iron elemental, but was a lot larger and darker in color. I read the page out loud:

Blackrock Elementals are a rare sight. They were introduced to the lands of Sosaria in the early ages when natural meteors hit the islands of Sosaria.

They were born from the power of the meteors and contain cores of pure blackrock to give them life and power. Although they are called "blackrock elementals", they are comprised of 85% shadow iron, 10% obsidian and only 5% of their body actually contains blackrock. The blackrock gives them incredible power and they were once hunted for it by powerful mages who hoped to use the power of blackrock to call meteors to the land or to attempt to devastate Sosaria with Armageddon.

Blackrock is a mysterious reagent that has been known through the ages to be the cause of many catastrophic events. Blackrock elementals were feared by the citizens of Sosaria because they were powerful. Their blackrock cores protected them from all spells and even the most powerful creatures such as dragons, could not damage them.

The only effective way to destroy one was to use weaponry with high energy damage to harm the blackrock core in the elementals. Even this was risky as the core would reflect damage back onto the attacker.

Once the elemental was killed, warriors would search for the core and travel to the middle of the waters to dispose of it before it fell into the hands of those who would use its power for devastation. Because there is no effective way to destroy blackrock, sinking it to the depths of the sea was the only way to ensure that it would never redeemed.

Upon reading the last sentence, I realized Zurol's purpose.

"Zurol ripped out the pages for us to find. He wanted us to know the weakness of the blackrock elementals so we could defeat them. That book may have revealed more secrets and history of blackrock, that's why the figure stole it." I said, reaching into my pack and pulling out the chunk of blackrock we had shown Zurol earlier.

"This is why he was terrified. He knew the meteor would create blackrock elementals and cause chaos in Sosaria once more. He wanted us to destroy it before it came to life." I said once more.

"We should find Karl Xen. If they fight the blackrock elementals, they could be in danger!" Mordak said.

"There's no telling how many came out of that meteor either. The pages don't say if only one can be created from a meteor or if it could potentially spawn a dozen of them!" I said, glancing at the piece of blackrock in my hands.

I began to feel the power of holding the blackrock chunk again. It felt good, like I could take on the world. The longer I held it, the stronger I felt. Suddenly, I began to feel ill. I dropped to my knees, tossing the stone out of my hands. My health returned.

"We need to dispose of this evil rock." I said, picking it up and proceeding to place it back into my pack.

"Wait! Let me take it. I'll take my boat to the serpent pillar in Skara Brae and drop it into the sea forever" Mordak said.

"Alright, take it. Don't touch it, it's not safe." I responded. Mordak shook his head in agreement and placed the stone in his pocket.

"I'll look for Karl Xen and the Council of Mages to warn them of the elementals." I said as I headed towards the moongate. I would find them at their base no doubt.

Mordak waved goodbye as I entered the moongate and vanished out of sight.

Archived topic from AOV, old topic ID:3320, old post ID:22442

As not everyone has a forum account, I will be posting books in the casino recapping all the storyline thus far. As new storyline is created, there will be more books. You can find them in the casino. The storyline will contain key information that players will need to use during events. The players who immerse themselves in the storyline will do the best at these events and get the best experience out of the scenarios.

Archived topic from AOV, old topic ID:3320, old post ID:22464

The air grew cold as I emerged from the glowing blue sphere and stepped foot on the grassy land of Magincia. I was surprised to see that I wasn't alone. Over 40 men and women, dressed in dark black and green clothing, were standing by the ruins. I noticed one of the men sitting on a horse which was covered in green armor. As I approached, I heard shouting coming from the other side of the barricade.

"Turn around and take your men with you Reputin. You know this area of land is off limits. You don't see us wandering around the yew crypts do you? Take your shadowlord members and get off our island" Karl Xen yelled as Lord Kane and a bunch of his men stayed back with bows ready.

"We heard there was a meteor that landed near your base. Such a shame it didn't hit it though. We have a right to see this "meteor" I think. After all, the base may belong to you, but the meteor doesn't." Reputin said.

Reputin began to move forward when Karl Xen began to signal his men with his right arm.

"I'll warn you one last time. Turn now, or we will attack." Karl Xen said. His face held strong and serious. Karl Xen was not one you would want to mess with.

Reputin looked beyond Karl Xen, noticing how many COM members were behind him. Surely he'd be outnumbered.

"No use spilling blood for a stupid meteor." Reputin said as he signalled his men to turn away.

As they slowly began heading back to the moongate, Reputin called:
"Not like you can hold us off forever. We'll take a look at that meteor, you'll see".

The shadowlords vanished from sight, and I found myself with the leaders of COM and their devoted members.

"Did you find the meteor?" I asked.

"Not yet, but we've found some clues as to where the elemental might have gone. We will venture out later tonight to continue our search."

I nodded to Karl Xen and Lord Kane. They gave me a smile, indicating their appreciation of my help.

"Oh, there is one thing though..." I said before I prepared to leave.

I told them about the pages I found on Zurol's corpse and how it explained about the blackrock elemental. I hoped they would be able to use the information we found to their benefit. Unfortunately, it came at the expense of Zurol's life.

"We will be sure to pay our respects to his family and friends, a wise man he was." Karl Xen said. I stared at Karl Xen for a moment and realized his head of white hair suggested he could have been as old as Zurol was. Whether he knew Zurol or not was a mystery to me.

I began walking back to the moongate, noticing it had gotten exceptionally dark out. I lit a lantern to see the way.

As the flame rose in the agapite casing, I recalled the lantern Mordak had lit so I could see the pages Zurol hid in his robes. I wondered if he had returned from the serpent pillar from tossing the blackrock into the murky depths of the sea.

Archived topic from AOV, old topic ID:3320, old post ID:22511

It was late at night when Karl Xen and the council of mages located the blackrock elemental. Luckily, it left a trail of blackish stones which made it easier to find. The council of mages made their way to the sacrifice shrine in felucca, where they first noticed it.

The blackrock elemental stood in front of a tree, banging it with its large fists of stone. The tree instantly uprooted and fell to the ground with a mighty crash. Several pieces of stone fell from the elemental as it walked away.

Karl Xen raised his arm in the air.
"Remember its weakness! Charrrrrgggge!" He yelled as a fleet of fighters took down the elemental.

The battle was fairly short as the elemental became overwhelmed and was delivered a final blow by an unknown person who went by the name of "Lady of the Abyss".

Lord Kane went up to examine the corpse.

"Thought he would be a lot more brutal. Jacob made it seem like these were quite the threat" He said.

"Yes, but we shouldn't get cocky. There was only 1 this time. There's no telling what an entire group could do." Karl Xen replied.

"We must clean up this mess of stone it left behind. Some of it could be dangerous blackrock. It might create more of these blackrock elementals, or it might attract more of them" Karl Xen said as he picked up a few pieces of the elemental's corpse and placed them in his bag.

The group continued throughout the night to pick up the pieces of blackrock so that they could get rid of it.

"We'll toss them into the sea, where the seabed will consume them over the years. Hopefully none of these contain blackrock..." Lord Kane said as he grabbed hold of a rather large stone.

Behind him, a fellow named Redstar was helping collect the stones. He was able to fit 172 stones into his bag before saying "That's all I can hold, I'll bring them off to get disposed".

Redstar vanished out of sight with a few council of mage members. Lord Kane and Karl Xen had returned to the council of mages base.

"Why were the shadowlords here?" Karl Xen asked Lord Kane.

"I don't know. I was thinking the same thing. Why would they be so interested in the meteor? We haven't heard from anyone else after all. If it were so important, why haven't the True Britainians and Followers of Minax showed up to investigate as well?" Lord Kane responded.

"It all seems a little suspicious to me. They suddenly show up at our door. Maybe they wanted to take blackrock pieces from the meteor?" Karl Xen asked again as he hung a white lantern on a lantern post to illuminate the bridge to the base.

"We will investigate it in the morning. If the shadowlords are hiding something, I want to know. Gather the troops and prepare. We will be heading out early tomorrow."

"Yes, my lord" Lord Kane said as he walked inside the council of mages base, an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach.

Karl Xen began to light another lantern, blue this time. As he placed it on another lantern post to illuminate the entrance to the bridge, he caught sight of something from the corner of his eye.

"Who's there?" He asked, as he pulled his radiant scimitar out and brandished it towards the shadows.

For a moment, he stared into the darkness. He could not make out what it was, but shivers ran up his spine, knowing that they were both staring at each other through the dark veil of the night. Karl Xen felt its eyes burning on him, filled with anger and hatred.

A strong gust of wind flew by, snuffing the lantern's flame. Karl Xen became distracted as he struggled to return the light to the lantern. There was a crackling noise in the distance. As he turned his head to where he was gazing earlier, small blue sparks flew through the air and vanished.

"Is everything alright my lord?" a council member said as they approached the bridge on horseback.

Karl Xen stared at the darkness again, but he was sure the figure was no longer staring at him and had vanished with a recall spell.

"Yes, I am alright. Thought I saw something" he said as he walked slowly back to the base.

Archived topic from AOV, old topic ID:3320, old post ID:22593

While the council of mages searched for the blackrock elemental and worked to pick up the pieces they suspected to be blackrock, Jacob rushed back to his house in Jhelom.

He opened the drawer to his cherry armoire, placed the golden pendant inside and quietly locked it.

Jacob climbed the stairs to his log cabin and grabbed a few rolls of bread and some apples from a bowl on the yew table that sat there. Reaching into a wooden crate, he grabbed a few torches and headed out the door, making sure his sword was hanging on his side before leaving.

As he rushed out of the log cabin, it began to rain. He passed a familiar town peasant, shooing her 2 daughters into a nearby straw house.

"Jacob, best get back home soon. Storm's on its way" Lydia said as she rushed to her porch.

Jacob had known Lydia all his life. When his mother died, he would often visit her and her two daughters and play the harp for them. She was very kind and nurturing, always giving Jacob great advice. This time though, Jacob would not take her advice.

He shook his head. "Mordak is out on the sea, he should have been back hours ago. Something bad might have happened to him." he said as he rushed towards the dock.

It had started to pour now and puddles were already starting to form. The bottom of Jacob's robe became soaked as he splashed through a puddle of water to get to his boat.

"It's dangerous, please don't go out there. Wait until the storm dies down, Mordak will be fine" Lydia begged but Jacob ignored her.

Lydia sighed when she discovered her attempts at convincing Jacob not to go had failed. Jacob was already on the boat, pushing it off the dock with his foot.

There was a crackling noise in the background as lightning illuminated the dark sky. Jacob tried in vain to light some torches but the rain water wouldn't allow it.

"Here, I have a few lanterns" the tillerman said. "I still don't think we should be out here sir...." he responded in a worried tone.

"I can pay you generously in gold" Jacob responded as he pulled his hands out of his pocket and placed a pile of shiny golden coins into the bony fingers of the tillerman.

Not a word was uttered from the tillerman as he turned around to control the boat.

"Head for the serpent pillar" Jacob yelled to the tillerman over the crash of thunder.

They were far away now, and it was hard to see where they were going. The few lanterns that were spread out across the boat were the only source of light on this dark night.

"We're almost at the serpent pillar sir" cried the tillerman.

"What's that in the distance?" Jacob asked while squinting his eyes. As he squinted, the storm subsided briefly and everything became eerily quiet.

There was a boat in the distance, surrounded by lanterns. A figure shrouded in black was sitting on the boat.

"Approach slowly" Jacob said as he pulled his sword out of its sheath and gripped the handle tightly. Rainwater dripped from his soaking hands as he tossed his drenched hair back out of his face to get a clearer view.

What was that cloaked figure doing here? Why is it everywhere disaster seems to smile upon? First the meteor, then Zurol, now this. Well this time, the cloaked figure wasn't going to get away.

As they approached the ship, the cloaked figure got up and turned towards them. Jacob was relieved to see that the robes he once thought were black, were being illuminated by the glow of the lanterns. They were brown, the robes Mordak wore.

"Thank goodness, it's just Mordak. Are you alright there Mordak? We worried something happened to you so we came to check and make sure everything was alright" Jacob said as the ship continued to approach.

Mordak didn't respond. Jacob got a chill up his spine as he stared at Mordak. He was holding the piece of blackrock in his hand. His skin had turned an unnatural blackish-green tinge.

"What happened to you?" Jacob asked, a sudden cry in his voice as he stepped back.

Mordak pulled down the hood from his head. His face was blackish green, and his eyes burned a sinister red color. Mordak yelled a spell mantra and a large orange fireball sailed towards Jacob. Jacob hit the deck to avoid the fireball as it made contact with the ship's sail. Splinters of wood flew through the air, showering over Jacob's face. Jacob stared in horror as the sail began to catch fire. Luckily, the damage was minimal and the rain had doused the flame.

"Go back to skara brae" Jacob ordered the tillerman. "I'll take care of things here" Jacob yelled.

Jacob ran across the deck of his boat and leaped into the air. He rolled with a loud crashing noise as his body landed on Mordak's ship.

Jacob got up and stared at Mordak, who was now advancing towards him, gripping the chunk of blackrock tightly in his hand.

"The power.....is wonderful. I can do great things now Jacob" Mordak said in a shrill voice as he began muttering another mantra. A fireball hit Jacob with incredible force as he sailed across the boat, hitting the mast.

Jacob cried in pain, but managed to get to his feet to face Mordak again. He looked to his left to see that his tillerman had sailed his boat away from Mordak's.

"What happened to you? That blackrock! It's corrupting you. Drop it into the sea now Mordak!" Jacob pleaded.

"I like the power. I can feel it flowing through my veins now. I won't let you take it from me." Mordak said as he casted another spell. A large lightning bolt missed Jacob but caused a huge hole to appear on the boat's deck.

"Mordak stop! It's evil. Throw it away, can't you see what's happening?" Jacob cried again as he watched Mordak cast another spell. It was no longer Mordak standing in front of him, Mordak would never attack him. The blackrock had turned him into a power hungry monster.

As Jacob dodged an energy bolt and hid behind the mast, he knew he would not be able to convince Mordak to stop. He realized he had no choice now. He would have to kill Mordak, before he could kill him.

Archived topic from AOV, old topic ID:3320, old post ID:22635

The storm continued to rage. Rain poured out of the clouds, drenching my clothing and quickly cleaning my face of blood. I could still feel the sharp stings of splintered wood on my cheek.

I lay flat on the deck of the boat as a whooshing noise sailed passed my ear. The side of my face felt a brunt of heat as a large fireball tore passed me, causing a massive splash in the sea.

I got up to my feet, sword ready.

I lunged at Mordak and pinned him to the ground.

"Snap out of it Mordak, you're still in there. I refuse to believe you've become such a monster" I yelled.

I stared into Mordak's red eyes. He snarled and barred his teeth as he began muttering another mantra.

I felt cold piercing me as the drenched robe I was wearing began to crystalize into ice. I staggered back with my blade slicing at Mordak as I backed away. The blade sliced Mordak's leg spilling red and black blood on the deck. He didn't flinch in pain, but continued to approach me, still clutching the piece of blackrock in his hand.

Lightning boomed overhead as a large bolt made contact with the serpent pillar. Mordak maniacally shouted "In Vas Flam" as I ran to the back of the boat to seek cover.

As I ran to the very back of the boat, I was shocked to discover that the tillerman was completely charred, his skeleton would forever hold the shocked face. If Mordak could kill his tillerman, he would kill me too.

As I stared at the corpse, I realized that I would have to double my efforts.

I ran up to Mordak who began muttering a rather large mantra. Suddenly, a swarm of meteors sailed towards me. I concentrated on my blade as white sparks circled around me. I was surrounded by a shield as the meteors crashed against it. I continued running towards Mordak as I evaded more spells.

A magic arrow pierced through, but I continued on, shouting "Consecrus Arma" as my blade glowed white. I tore down the deck of the boat as fast as my legs could take me.

I reached Mordak who was in the middle of trying to summon a demon. I would not allow it. With all the force I could muster, I swiped my blade in the air towards Mordak.

I felt warm blood against my face and heard a splash in the distance. Mordak stood motionless for an instant before falling to the deck in puddle of thick blood. He scremed in pain, wrapping his arm into his brown robes.

The blackrock chunk had sunk to the depths of the sea, still clutched in Mordak's hand, which was no longer attached to him. As much as I hated attacking a friend, it was him or me.

I didn't let my guard down. I pointed my sword towards Mordak's throat and prepared to slice through it.

I halted.....

"Wait a second, you feel pain" I said as I pulled my sword away, remembering how the blackrock's grip on him suppressed his ability to feel.

***

The rain turned into a light drizzle as I pulled the rudder in the direction of Skara Brae. The wind was still strong and the waters were a lot smoother than they had been that night.

Mordak laid on the deck of the boat, motionless. I wrapped the stump of his arm in bandages. His skin was still a pale blackish color from the blackrock infection.

Mordak's boat hit the dock with a loud thud, alerting the town folk of our presence.

A fisherman rushed up to me with concern in his eyes.

"Is he alright?" He asked, placing his fishing pole on the ground and rushing up to the dock.

"He needs to see a healer" I said as I picked Mordak's body up from the boat and hoisted it over my shoulders. The fisherman grabbed Mordak's other side and we both dragged him off to the healer hut.

I could see Lydia in the distance with a look of shock on her face. I stared into her eyes and continued walking towards the healer's hut. Her face said it all as I smiled weakly towards her, she was glad I chose not to take her advice this time.

"What happened to his skin?" The fisherman said as we entered the healer's hut.

"Long story...." I responded as we placed Mordak on a bed and waited for a healer.

Archived topic from AOV, old topic ID:3320, old post ID:22699

I was there for several hours. The healers tried everything they could, using their ancient knowledge of herbs and reagents. None of them knew what to do.

One of the healers approached me with a look of sorrow.

"We've done all we can to keep the infection at bay, but we do not know how to cure it. This infection is unlike any we've ever seen. Its roots are ancient and unheard of." The healer said as I rocked quietly in a nearby chair.

"Will he die?" I asked the question that had been burning in my mind the whole time. Mordak couldn't die. I had known Mordak since I was a child and bonded with him during the time of my mother's death. It seemed unfathomable that he would die.

"He's very weak but our medicine is slowly helping. We do not know how long we can make it last. There is a chance his infection will clear, but there's also a chance it will continue to get worse and will eventually consume him." The healer said.

The healer's robes were splashed with juices and herbs. His hands were red from grinding garlic and ginseng in a mortar and pestle. I smiled at him weakly as I knew he was trying his best to cure Mordak.

I got up from the chair, took one last look at Mordak, and exited the healer's hut. I continued my long treck home to Jhelom and arrived late during the night. I entered my log cabin and sat on the edge of my bed with my hands in my face.

"I shouldn't have handed him the chunk of blackrock. I knew what it did to him and how he didn't have the power to turn away from it. Then again, if I had transported it to the sea, the same thing could have happened to me."

I unlocked my drawer to retrieve a few candles to light the hallway when I noticed the golden pendant. I picked it up in my hand, my grip tightening against the golden chain as my eyes burned at the black stone.

"Blackrock.....cursed blackrock" I yelled as I stormed out the door with the golden pendant dangling from my hand, a lit candle in the other.

I marched towards the sea, the full moon illuminating the dark waters.

"You've caused me nothing but grief, now this vile substance threatens the life of everyone I care about."

Jacob prepared to throw the pendant into the sea but as he swung his arm, his grip remained strong against the golden chain.

He hated what blackrock did to Mordak and how it brought disaster and death to everyone around him. Why couldn't he rid himself of the pendant too?

Jacob stared at the pendant, muttering a soft "No" to himself.

"There's something different about this pendant. I can't wrap my mind around it. Why would anyone make such lovely jewelry from such a vile stone?" Jacob whispered to himself.

Staring back at the sea again, he finally decided not to toss it. His anger subsided as he walked back to his log cabin, the pendant still clutched firmly in his hand.

Archived topic from AOV, old topic ID:3320, old post ID:22839

As the sun slowly began to cut the darkness of the night, the Council of Mages began marching from the yew moongate. The white and blue banners they held in the sky flapped madly in the wind. Marching towards the yew crypts, their boots were instantly cleaned by the fresh dew on the grass.

Karl Xen and Lord Kane spied the crypts. Karl Xen turned back to his army yelling "Do not attack until I give the word."

The loud booming noise of his voice and the pattering of the army's march awoke the Shadowlords from their slumber. Out of the ancient crypt underground poured several soldiers covered in black and green, holding various dark tomes, polearms and blades. A nearby skeleton felt the wrath of a green maul as an unamused Shadowlord member took his rage out on the vile undead after having been woken up so abruptly.

A man emerged from the crypt, wearing a crown encrusted in perfect emeralds and dark sapphires. Karl Xen instantly recognized him as the Shadowlord commander, Reputin, who had been nosing around their turf the day before. Having battled with the Shadowlords on many occasions, Karl Xen knew Reputin and how his anger and arrogance often started bloody battles.

Reputin grabbed a torch from one of his men and shone it in the direction of the Council of Mages. Upon seeing flags of blue and white, his lip began to curl.

"What in Sosaria do you think you and your group of mongbat are doing setting foot on our turf Karl Xen?" Reputin said, pulling out his nunchaku and holding it loosely at his side.

"We could ask your lich crew the same thing! You started this when you appeared at our base. Why so curious about the meteor? The followers of Minax and the True Brittanians never showed....got a guilty conscience or plotting something there Reputin?" Karl Xen called out. The strength of his voice boomed and echoed.

"We have a right to see what's going on. How dare you accuse my clan of causing that meteor. Do you think the Shadowlords would resort to that when we know full well that cold steel and hard wood would work better?" Reputin called out.

Karl Xen's blood boiled. Reputin was lying, he knew it. The guilty always show up at the scene of the crime.

"Stop this. You're lying and we know it. Confess and back down, otherwise we will not hesitate to attack you." Karl Xen said, removing his scimitar from its sheath and awaiting Reputin's response.

Reputin's eyes burned red. He flailed his nunchucks in the air, yelling a loud "In Bal Nox" as the rest of the Shadowlords let out their war cry. Revenants materialized out of midair and the dew at their feet crystalized into ice as wither spells were muttered.

The Shadowlords were quickly greeted by balls of fire and flames of heat. Shadowlords and Council of Mages members dropped like flies. The battle had started but would the best man win?

The battle continued for hours, as blood soaked the ground. Reputin raced after Karl Xen with his nunchucks. The wooden handles smacked against Karl Xen's hands, leaving them numb. A bolt of lightning returned feeling to his nerves, one which was not pleasant.

Karl Xen cried out in pain but continued to fight with merciless ferver. His blade struck Reputin across the arm, causing a deep cut that bled profusely. Reputin staggered back, calling "An mi sah ko" as a nearby Council of Mages corpse turned white from getting the mystic energy sucked out of it.

Karl Xen and Reputin raced at each other, interlocking their weapons. Reputin's nunchaku wraped around Karl Xen's radiant scimitar, and he threatened to pull it from his hands to disarm him. Beads of sweat ran down Karl Xen's face as he fought against Reputin's strength. He tried to kick Reputin, but he quickly dodged the blow. With equal strength and rage building up inside, it seemed as though Reputin and Karl Xen would battle forever.

Suddenly, a whistling sound could be heard nearby, followed by an earth shattering boom. Karl Xen and Reputin fell to the ground, both still trying to free themselves. Karl Xen pulled his scimitar up, slicing the chain to Reputin's nunchaku clean in half. Reputin got to his feet and staggered back, grabbing a mace from a corpse on the ground and waving it towards Karl Xen.

"What just happened" Karl Xen exclaimed, confused. He looked around to see shocked faces as the battle continued. "Stop......stop fighting." Karl Xen yelled to his members.

"Call your men off Reputin, something crash landed behind your base" Karl Xen said as he pointed behind Reputin where great fields of fire were leaping over the stone crypt.

Reputin stared at the flames in shock. "Halt. Shadowlords halt the fighting!" Reputin said as he ran towards the fire, Karl Xen following behind him.

It was Karl Xen's worst nightmare. A meteor, twice the size this time, had landed right next to the base of the Shadowlords. The cloaked figure stood in the distance, on top of another crypt, Zurol's book in its hands.

Archived topic from AOV, old topic ID:3320, old post ID:22939

Karl Xen stared at the cloaked figure, his eyes burning. What did it want? Why was it summoning these meteors?

"This is the culprit behind the meteors Reputin. You wanted to see ours so bad and now you're in the same boat as us. If you were wise you'd halt this battle and look at the bigger picture." Karl Xen yelled at Reputin.

Reputin's lip curled. His eyes burned with rage and defeat, knowing that Karl Xen was right. He lifted his hand in the air, yelling "Capture the cloaked figure!"

Dozens of black and green robed men and women charged towards to cloaked figure, who did not flinch the slightest as an army made its way towards its location.

"My men, surround the perimeter in case it escapes" Karl Xen said as he ran in the direction of the cloaked figure.

Before they could reach the crypt where the cloaked figure was standing, there was a terrible earthquake. Several horsemen were dismounted as the meteor that had landed began to tremor wildly. There was a flash of light and sparks of flame soared into the skies as several blackrock elementals emerged from the meteor.

The elementals showed no mercy and began to kill everything in their paths. Members from both factions dropped like flies as they were crushed by massive arms of rock or their blood boiled by intense steam.

The elementals managed to cause quite the distraction as the cloaked figure summoned a blood red skeletal steed and began to escape. Karl Xen, Reputin and Lord Kane chased after it.

Lord Kane fell to the ground with a flash as a blackrock elemental struck him from behind. He inflicted a nerve strike with a silver bokuto to stall the elemental. Karl Xen looked at him as he brandished his overseer blade at the elemental.

"No.....give chase. Get the cloaked figure. Do not worry about me Karl" Lord Kane said as he dodged a massive blow from the elemental that had regained its ability to move.

Karl Xen began to summon his great blue charger, Reputin, who had already mounted his green steed was, racing after the cloaked figure.

The cloaked figure raced off into the distance but suddenly fell into the trap of the COM barricade. Hundreds of Council of Mages soldiers blocked the path to the yew moongate.

Karl Xen raced ahead of Reputin, catching the cloaked figure off guard with a well executed bladeweave. The cloaked figure's mount vanished in a puff of smoke as it was dismounted, its body rolling along the ground, the book flying out of its hands.

Karl Xen and Reputin raised their weapons at the cloaked figure.

"We caught you now. Who are you and why are you spreading chaos in Sosaria?" Karl Xen bellowed.

The cloaked figure did not speak.

"If you can mutter mantras, you surely have a tongue! Speak vile creature or be killed" Karl Xen cried out again.

The cloaked figure sat on the ground, staring at Karl Xen and Reputin, but again, did not respond.

"Let's find out who you are then...." Karl Xen said, as he prepared to pull the hood from the cloaked figure's face.

Archived topic from AOV, old topic ID:3320, old post ID:23038

Karl Xen reached out to grab the hood from the cloaked figure, but it had been planning for this to happen all along. The cloaked figure launched its arm forward and swiped at Karl Xen's throat with its black dagger.

Karl Xen instantly fell to his knees, blood pouring from his throat as he gripped it with his hand to stop the blood from flowing.

"Kill, kill......" Karl Xen gurgled but before anyone could fire, the cloaked figure raised its arm to the sky. Lord Kane caught a glimpse of an icy blue bracelet around its arm seconds before energy released from the charm allowed the cloaked figure to escape.

"A bracelet of travel, THAT's how it keeps getting around so quickly." Lord Kane exclaimed. Kane raced to Karl Xen's side.

"The wound, let me see the wound" Lord Kane said as he knelt down beside Karl Xen. Several council of mages members were holding Karl Xen and applying bandages to his wound.

Lord Kane observed the wound. The thick slice was still pouring blood, and Karl Xen grew paler by the minute.

"What is this green smoke wafting from the wound?" Lord Kane asked.

"It appears to be some kind of poison, the cloaked figure cut and infected the wound too so that it wouldn't heal." A mage said.

"We can cure it, get Illinid here" Lord Kane said.

Lady Illinid, an assasin for the council of mages, rushed over and attempted to cure the poison. Try as she might, the poison was too strong.

"I have never seen a poison so foul. This poison is not the product of nightshade, it doesn't behave the same. The poison is sapping him of his life." Illinid said.

All hope was lost, they could not save Karl Xen.

In his last breath, Karl Xen turned to Lord Kane and whispered to him:

"Warn the other factions, there's a force at work here, greater than we've anticipated. Give this to my wife"

Karl Xen pulled a small pouch from his robe and handed it to Lord Kane. Minutes later, He breathed his last breath.

"Take his body back to our base. Kill all those who try to interfere" Lord Kane said as he rose to his feet, pocketing the pouch.

Reputin and several Shadowlords arrived at the scene to discover that Karl Xen was dead. Although the council of mages were their sworn enemies, Reputin did not praise Karl Xen's death.

Lord Kane looked into his eyes and could feel his grief, yet he did not understand why his enemy would care of Karl Xen's death.

Lord Kane turned towards Reputin to thank him for helping try to apprehend the cloaked figure. Reputin continued to stare at the group of council of mages members who carried off Karl Xen's body. He snapped back to reality when Kane spoke a second time.

"This changes nothing between us, you are our sworn enemies. Leave now lest we continue this battle" Reputin said as he turned back towards his base, continuously looking back at Karl Xen's corpse.

Archived topic from AOV, old topic ID:3320, old post ID:23213

I awoke early in the morning, with troubling thoughts. I could not help but think of Mordak and the others, their lives were in danger. I felt responsible for dragging them all into this mess. Then again, I couldn't be too hard on myself, I didn't cause the meteors to fall.

I sat on the edge of my bed, fingers pressed against my temples. I rubbed them and concentrated hard. Who was the cloaked figure and why would it attack the base of the council of mages?

I soon realized that there was not much I knew about the figure. It never spoke which I found to be odd. Was it mute? No....it couldn't be. The figure would have had to mutter a mantra to cause the meteors to fall, but nobody was ever close enough to hear its voice.

The cloaked figure was doing a good job of masking its identity. The cloak to cover its face, remaining silent and making sure that everyone was aware of its presence without getting itself into sticky situations.

Could it be somebody we knew? Perhaps it was the same girl I had seen when I wore the blackrock pendant!!

I rushed towards my cherry armoire and opened the drawer to retrieve the blackrock pendant. Upon placing it around my neck, I once again saw the figure. She was not familiar to me but the expression of innocence on her face quickly disproved my theory.

"No....couldn't have been her." I said to myself as I removed the pendant.

I placed the pendant in my cloak and was on my way outside to gather some firewood.

As I opened the door, I was surprised to see a figure before me. It was Lord Kane.

"I thought I'd find you here. I have some bad news" Lord Kane said, hanging his head low.

"You had better come in and have a seat then" I said, motioning Kane towards a table.

************************************************************

"So the cloaked figure killed Karl Xen? I don't believe it."

"Yes, it also dropped this before fleeing" Lord Kane said as he placed a book on the table.

I instantly recognized the deer pelt covering. I quickly rose from my chair, sending it crashing to the ground.

"That's the book Zurol showed us before he was murdered by the cloaked figure!"

I filtered through the pages excitedly, looking for information about blackrock and armageddon.

"Nothing....." I said as I began closing the book.

"Wait wait....what was that?" Kane said as he grabbed at a page before I was able to fully close the book.

I read the title of the entry. It appeared to have been written in some kind of blackened ash.

Using the Power of Blackrock

"This must have been why the cloaked figure wanted the book! It wanted to know the secrets of blackrock!" I exclaimed.

I looked further down the page, a frown growing on my face.

"It.....it stopped. It's not in english anymore".

"Beg pardon?" Kane asked as he grabbed the book and began reading it.

"Hmmm, you're right. Only the introduction paragraph is english, then it turns into some kind of ancient runic dialect" Kane said as he tried to decipher what the book said.

"Can you read it?" I asked.

"Not even close, but it appears to be written in ancient mantric....my great grandfather once told me about this kind of language. It's the same language where spell mantras and their words of power originate you know...." Lord Kane said.

"Is there anyone in your faction that can read it?"

"No, they would have to be pretty old to have lived in the age when mantric was much more common. In fact, I don't know anyone alive who would be able to read it." Kane said as he continued to filter through the pages

"ZANDOFIR!!!" I yelled as the thought came through my mind

"Who?" Kane shifted his eyebrows

"Zandofir....an old sage we rescued from the Encyclopedia Magicka when Zurol was killed. He might know how to read it. He should be in Skara Brae.....let's go"

I grabbed my war axe and prepared to exit, but Kane did not follow.

"I'm afraid I have some business at the other factions. Karl Xen's last request was to inform them of possible danger. I will be unable to accompany you as we are heading towards the Minax base then to Britain to spread the word." Karl Xen said

"Alright, well good luck. I will meet up with you later. Hopefully Zandofir can give us some answers."

Karl Xen nodded his head in agreement.

Archived topic from AOV, old topic ID:3320, old post ID:23519