Thinking over what I had just witnessed, I walked towards the mage’s residence located in one of the castle towers. It sure was nice having the Big Atlas of AlexOrder in which everything was marked… no need to search for anything. I walked along the wall, and past a few yawning guards, until I reached a long spiral staircase that led me to a large red door. Next to it, I saw the magician's bodyguard looking bored. I was already familiar with this guy, hefty, with twirling blond hair. He studied me for a few seconds glaring, and then nodding, he stood aside to let me in.
Throughout the years of his service, the mage had changed and rebuilt the round room inside the tower, dividing it into several floors, where he lived and practiced magic. It was light inside. Everything showed exemplary order. Gray and red velvet curtains covered the walls almost entirely. The racks glowed with polished wood, laden with thick books, and a small telescope on a copper tripod stood near one of the curtains, gleaming with bluish lenses.
The mage sat at a large wooden table and was writing something frantically. As he spotted me, he looked up and indicated with his gaze one of the soft, deep armchairs.
“You don’t happen to be a man of Kandames, HotCat?” He asked me in place of a greeting. “Or are you from the Combat Temple? Though, you don’t look like a Dogonian…”
“I’ve no idea what you’re talking about,” I replied, having gotten comfy in the armchair by the table.
“Never mind…” the mage said, studying me carefully. “It’s odd…” His fingers drummed frantically on the table surface, highlighting his large diamond ring.
“What’s odd?”
“What’s odd is that you came to see me and not the Lily and Sword Order, for example. Their paladins are nuts about the Seven Brothers legend and their fire weapon made of star metal.”
“I’ve never heard of it, or the Order for that matter,” I said with confidence, thinking about what I had just heard, quietly blown away by it. The Seven again, and now some kind of fire weapon. In-game data had nothing about that, yet here was an NPC telling me these things openly. I need to dig deeper.
“I’ve personally always thought it to be nothing more than a children’s fairy-tale.” The mage went on. “Seven Brothers defeating the Night, dispersing it with fire! Dark tales for the ignorant!” He snorted with humor.
“But then, one day, a young Player brings me a sword made of star metal! Looking the spitting image of Daiya Light of the Seven from the old tales!”
I was listening to him silently, afraid to interrupt. It looked like I was about to get a new quest. The sword was pretty beyond cool.
“Can I see it one more time?” I indulged his request. The blue blade with the silver hilt lay on the table. The mage carefully ran his palm along the length of the blade.
“I will help you identify this sword, young HotCat, but the price will be great. Nothing in this world comes for free, especially this kind of request. In order for me to produce the Great Identification Scroll, I need a special… ingredient. If you bring it to me, I will be able to help you understand the qualities of what has come into your possession.” The NPC went silent, looking at me in anticipation.
“I’m ready! Whatever it takes! Where do I go? What is the ingredient?”
“Somewhere in the Northern Islands, in the Sea of Winds. They’re also called the Calcedonies. There’s one ancient kurgan burial there. Well, actually, there are five, but you need the largest one. There’s a dungeon where the ancient necromancers are buried. You will have to find the grave of the dark mage Fokial. Inside, look for a small, locked box. I’m sure it is there, somewhere. Then, I will be able to help you. And there’s something else. If you bring me back Fokial’s Spell Book and ring, I will reward you handsomely.
You have been offered a new quest: ‘Necromancers’ Tombs’
Note: Task class: special, factional, rare!
Failure will result in a significant decline in your reputation among the faction!
Bring Sage Nealite, court magician and stargazer for the heir of Eyre, the contents of Fokial the necromancer's tomb: his ring and spell book
Reward: Great Identification Scroll, XP — variable.
Note: task for a group of at least 6.
“Under no circumstances should you open the box,” the mage continued to instruct me. “And don’t look inside the book if you find it. It’s very dangerous!” Not a big deal, just dig through the necromancers’ kurgan burial in the Chalcedonian Islands and bring back a few items in exchange for a Great Identification Scroll worth fifty thousand? I sighed in relief and accepted the assignment. This is gonna be easy.
CHAPTER 12 TOMBS OF THE NECROMANCERS
The small island where the Tombs were located turned out to be stony, empty, and deserted. The waves were roaring, the seabirds were screaming above the foaming crests, and the gusts of icy wind made me shiver.
“Thank you, Lucifer,” I told one of the Varangians, who had brought us to the island on the birdies.
“Nothing to thank me for,” St. Lucifer joked, still in his Opinicus’ saddle. “The tombs are over there, in the valley. If anything happens, Alex can write us in the alliance chat. We’ll be in touch!”
The tombs were not as high as they had once been, and the path that led to them was overgrown with dense brush. Four tombs had lopsided menhirs on top that had long since fused with the thick soil. The fifth tomb was dug up halfway, and grey boulders were strewn around it.
AlexOrder confidently led our team to the central hill. It seemed intact, despite the growth all around it. A wide passageway opened invitingly before us; it had a stone arch with strange runes engraved on the rock.
“We won’t go that way,” he said, pointing at the passage. “There’s a trap...when you pass the arch, a curse falls upon you that can only be removed by a true cleric or at a temple in town. It also summons a powerful ghost.”
“The guardian?” Helga asked, flaunting her expertise.
“Yeah. It also appears during moonless nights and patrols the hill. If there’s no moon tonight, or if it’s cloudy, we’ll have to kill it.” Alex looked up at the sky. “I hope we won’t have to, though. It’s a real brute. All right, follow me.”
We went around the tomb, coming closer to the top. The map showed that the instance started inside the hill, as close as a few steps away from us, just below the surface.
Alex led us towards the shallow slope. Lots of intricately carved ancient stones were lying there, broken and overturned.
“I think it’s over here.” Alex said, stopping next to a big flat stone half-grown into the earth, its inscription facing downward.
“Take out your shovels and crowbars,” he chuckled. “We’ll need to raise this stone and dig a hole below it.”
So that’s what the entrenching tools are for. Together, we dug out the tombstone. Valkyrie cleaned away the moss and dirt that covered its front side revealing weird runes and sketches. Eyes, people, monsters...
“Dig!” AlexOrder commanded, smirking, and pointing at the spot below the stone. In the meantime, he backed away and started a fire, after producing a kettle and supplies.
Flame and I took turns. When the hole we had dug was more than a foot-deep, the lip of my shovel clashed against a rocky surface. After widening the hole, we cleared out a flat stone slab also covered with engravings. The picture was covered in dirt, but under Alex’s guidance, we cleared it well enough to see that it showed the moon in different positions: something like a lunar calendar.
“So what’s next, Alex?” I asked my friend, who was carefully removing lichen and earth from the carvings.
“Next? Nothing, so far. We’re waiting until nightfall,” he said and shrugged. “Come to the campfire, have a rest and eat. Summon your thief, Cat. Let’s get to know him.”
The jade statuette in my bag had been waiting in the wings for some time now. I selected Decompress Artifact, and the red-haired halfling adventurer with the sling staff appeared next to the fire, rub
bing his eyes with his fist and yawning desperately.
“Hey! I was sleeping!” Clover Richie said reproachfully. “Whatever. Hello everyone! Name’s Richmond, but you may call me Richie. So, where are your necromancers? Is it fun here? Here we go!”
He deftly somersaulted backwards and made a formal bow in front of the entire team, all the while glancing at his surroundings.
“A hobbit?” AlexOrder said surprised. “Cat, tell me I’m dreaming! You hired a hobbit thief?”
“I hired someone I could afford,” I grumbled, beginning to realize that I had done something wrong. “I couldn’t tell you if he’s a hobbit or a halfling. So what?” Alex responded by covering his face with his hand. In the meantime, Richie cartwheeled around us and in a dignified manner retorted, “I’m a professional adventurer and no thief, so there! Sorry, ma’am...did you drop this?” The halfling handed Valkyrie a round pendant on a chain that I could have sworn hung from her neck just a minute before.
“He has all the skills you’ve told me about...” I continued and could heard chuckling coming from under the hand that lay across Alex’s face.
“This is going to be an unforgettable expedition!” he said, giggling hysterically. “For everybody!”
Richie really was a bundle of unlimited energy, even if he was just an NPC. While we were drinking tea brewed in the kettle, he managed to run around the hill several times, look under every boulder, hit a huge crow with a rock, and find three ancient skeletons, a strange blue gem, a rusty key with an elaborate bit, and a half-decayed purse.
“Those creatures are batshit!” Alex chided me. “They are totally unruly and feather-brained, insatiably curious, and have a finger in every pie. They’re unstoppable! And they are hopeless kleptomaniacs!”
“I can hear you!” Richie’s voice reached us from far away.
“And they run their mouths off like magpies!” AlexOrder said, disregarding him. “I wouldn’t be surprised if his master sent him to the guild for cheap because no other fool was stupid enough to hire him for more!”
“Somebody’s howling inside another hill! Come take a look!” Richie said as he ran up to us. His blue eyes were burning, and he grinned, showing us his teeth: the halfling was having the time of his life.
“No ‘let’s not come and take a look’!” Alex said, all strict. “It’s getting dark already, and the moon is high... We’re going to delve into the tomb. Cat, give me a mirror. Hope you’ve brought it.”
“There’s just one thing I don’t get, Alex,” Valkyrie said prudently. “This seems to be a hard instance, judging by the description. Won’t we have a healer with us?”
“We don’t stand a chance without a healer,” my friend chuckled. “Guess it’s time to introduce you to Elle!” An almost translucent jade figurine appeared in AlexOrder’s hands. I had no idea he had a “pawn” of his own! He carefully placed it on the ground, and in a second, Elle stood before us. Actually, her full name was Elvatara. She was an elf, slender like a nymph. Her silvery blue dress accentuated her figure and her shiny black locks fell onto her gorgeous face. In her hand, the girl held a thin wand with a glowing gem on top of it. Her stature was proud and haughty.
“Hello, Elle,” Alex said in a somewhat groveling manner. “See, we’re…” The elf girl snorted derisively and brushed off a speck of non-existent dust from the hem of her dress, then looked us over and said,
“I didn’t expect anything better. Another dirty dungeon?” Alex threw us a warning look, then stepped over towards Elle and started telling her something in a hushed voice. The elf nodded with a mocking expression on her face, pursing her pretty lips and adding remarks we couldn’t hear. The bliss was broken by Clover Richie, who came running.
“Somebody’s howling inside another hill! Come take a look!”
“Oh Melissa, help me! You have a halfling?” Elle’s face paled. “What have you gotten yourself into, Alex? Noobs, again?” I smirked. NPC henchmen who spend a while accompanying players eventually start using slang and swear words. That said, I hadn’t expected my friend to have a pawn with such a personality! Elle turned out to be a priestess of Melissa and a “white cleric”—a pure healer, one of the best support archetypes.
Our group was complete. We approached the hole that Flame and I had dug before and stood around it, but Alex gestured for us to stay back and allow the light of the rising moon to fall through into the hole. It was dark already, and long shadows were cast down onto the earth from the light of the stars in the sky. I felt a little tense in the twilight when we all heard a howl from the neighboring, half-opened tomb.
With the mirror I had given him, AlexOrder quietly cursed while fussing over the edge of the hole. I figured out what he was trying to do: use the mirror to catch moonlight and reflect it toward the stone slab bearing the picture of the moon. When he finally succeeded, the slab disappeared, revealing a steep stone staircase that lead down into the darkness of the tomb. The entrance was shielded with a rainbow screen indicating an instance. At least, we had found the way into the Tomb of the Necromancers.
“Listen here!” AlexOrder said taking a deep breath. “Pay attention to me.”
“All right. This is the Sphere, guys. I don’t know for sure what’s going to happen inside the dungeon. Each time a new team enters, everything is generated randomly. The mobs, the traps, even the boss’ behavior—it’s always different. So, we’ll have to adapt. Follow me and do as I say, even if I give a weird command. There’s always a reason for my words! Do as I say, or we’ll die here.”
“And not just the once!” Richie added his own two cents worth, a wide grin on his face.
“We need to keep QUIET!” Alex continued, looking at him menacingly. “There’s lots of traps here, curses, diseases—whatever you like. It’s a tomb. Don’t even think about touching anything without my command! A thief should scout out ahead and disarm traps. Richie! Turn on Perception, Detect Traps, and be very careful. Don’t trigger anything! After we clear a room, check it with Find Treasure! Got it?”
“I got it, but I repeat, I’m no thief, I’m an honest adventurer. Please stop accusing me!”
“As for the roles, Flame, you’ll be tanking. I’ll be buffing and debuffing and also protecting the healer. Elle, you know what to do. Cat, assist the tank. Helga, after you finish singing, try protecting Valkyrie and help in melee as much as you can. As for the halfling...”
“My name’s Richie! Clover Richie!”
“The halfling will keep to the side and avoid combat. Only disarm traps,” Alex finished.
“Everybody ready? Let’s buff and go in. Cat, torches! Helga, sing the hope song!”
* * *
Helga was a lute player, and a pretty good one at that. The nimble fingers of the taciturn blonde touched the instrument, producing a few clear chords, and then we heard her quiet lovely voice. Uncertain at first, it grew in strength with every syllable. Helga was singing an old ballad by an unknown poet, melodic and resonant.
In Sphere, bard skills were designed in such a way that only a person with an ear for music and a nice voice could become a good minstrel, otherwise, it was hard to sing the lines in the necessary tone and activate the corresponding powerful and long-lasting buff. It kinda reminded me of karaoke.
You are under the effect of Legend of the King. Your Hope is increased to 2/10. All attributes increased by 20%. Duration: 20 minutes.
AlexOrder grunted, throwing an approving look toward the bard, who was putting her well-polished lute into the case on her back. In turn, he needed just ten seconds to buff each of us with three enhancing runes.
You were affected by Rune Algiz. Resistance to all types of elemental damage increased by 25%.
You were affected by Rune Teyvaz. All attributes increased by 10. Critical chance increased by 10%.
You were affected by Rune Logr. You are under the effect of Spectral Shield and cannot be stunned, charmed, or dazed.
Meanwhile, I prepared the torches. They were sp
ecial, too. Each cost ten gold apiece and couldn’t be quenched. As soon as I made my first steps down the staircase, following Richie and Flame, I realized why we needed them: the darkness inside the tomb was no simple absence of light. It was thick and almost liquid, blanketing us in blackness and filtering out both non-magical light and elven darkvision. The torches’ magic fire was white, like a sparkler, and dispelled it easily.
I also understood why Alex had asked Helga for the hope song; the level of Horror inside the dungeon was 2/10, so the buff allowed us to keep our standard stats. The staircase was narrow—we could only go in single file—and winding. Richie, who was leading the way and holding one of the torches, made a warning gesture, pointing at the walls. In the failing light, we saw that they were covered by a multitude of sharp protrusions and spikes—bone, from the looks of things.Yecch!
A few minutes later, the narrow manhole with a piece of starry sky in it were left behind, and we continued our descent. I had the impression that the staircase was like a corkscrew, but after a minute of careful climbing, it suddenly stopped, and I bumped into the dwarf’s armored backside. We came across a door. It looked ancient and was reinforced by rusty iron plates, and had a big handle in shape of a goat’s head. Richie raised his arm in warning, carefully probing the surface in front of him with his hoopakh.
“There’s hollow space,” he told us some time later. “Maybe a trap...let’s check.”
His testing method was simple. He jumped toward the door and returned with a backflip, fast enough that I could only spot the green flash of his vest. We heard a scraping noise and the sound of falling rocks—as many as ten square feet of floor collapsed, revealing long rusty sword-like spikes at the bottom of a deep punji pit. A skeleton in rotten clothing lay among them.
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