by Marty Myers
His minions could dig tirelessly but were incapable of higher autonomous functions on their own. He would need a stone mason or an engineer, preferably a dwarf to plan out and oversee the actual tunnel workings or else he might as well just summon ghouls to dig root and claw at the ground and crawl into their crude tunnels full of their noise some refuse. No that would never do, he would not bring himself to exist in a dank animal burrow like a lower being. He would have a respectable tomb in which to await his returning power. Besides, he wanted clever traps and hidden passages and other cunning protections to further safeguard himself from would be heroes. But no dwarf would willingly work for him without being paid a veritable mountain of treasure, if even then. Their distant kin the dark dwarfs who were more reasonable had, unfortunately, all been wiped out many years ago. A human stone mason, on the other hand, was far less skilled but much more common and would certainly be easier to bribe or coerce into doing the job. Perhaps he should send his Imp to search out one to hire or abduct. Yes, that would do nicely he thought.
Having decided he went back to the hall where his will had already set his minions to work bringing in his possessions. Just looking at his meager belongings made him furious at his enemies once again, so much had been lost. He vowed he would regain all that his master’s defeat had lost and more, Darkness would rise again in this kingdom, His would be the hand to right the unbalance and cast down those insufferable Light Ones! He railed on thinking of them for a minute more before collecting himself.
He summoned the Imp and gave him his instructions. He was to search very far away from the mountain pass so as to not lead any to search the lands nearby. To find one who was knowledgeable in dungeon construction and traps. One who could be convinced or coerced to plan and build a dungeon and someone who would not be missed.
Chapter 4
Alastor the Imp longed to be free. He yearned to be unfettered, to fly off through the sky and breathe fresh clean air. Most of all he wished to no longer be bound as a servant to this trumped up liche who had ensnared him just minutes after his previously cursed master had expired. If only the bindings snapping had not stunned him long enough for Provoas to come find him battering the damaged cage open and cast that blasted familiar spell from the old grimoire upon him. His chance at freedom so fleeting had vanished as the shackles of the bond once again took hold of him.
Those few minutes as a free demon had allowed his puny fleshy vessel to suck in a much-needed draft of dark energies he had explicitly been denied while being bound for so long to his old master. Even now he felt different than before, a bit stronger and tougher and with a tingling somewhere deep within him which might herald some newly developing ability. As for the shared power between master and Imp. This liche was but a pale shadow next to his previous master who’s necromantic aura had been so potent it had overflowed into and all but overwhelmed the young imp when he was first summoned and enslaved. Years of being inundated with it had created a tolerance of and even a wellspring of the necromantic energies within the demon but it had also stifled its own absorption of much of the dark demonic energies that were needed to grow as a demon should. With this one’s weaker energies a much different equilibrium existed between them where this liche’s much weaker aura did not flood their link and choke out his demonic aura’s ability to absorb energy and feed upon the darkness in its own way. Maybe in time he could grow strong enough to catch the liche in a moment of weakness and break the bond.
He thought to himself about the precarious situation the Liche found himself in now and how it might bring with it opportunities to escape. If the liche’s enemies caught up with him again and destroyed him them Alastor could be free. But then again, the last time the bond had shattered with his previous master’s death it had left him stunned too. If that happened while he was right there with Provoas the heroes would most definitely try to end him as well.
He was almost always in his master’s presence. The liche hardly let him out of his sight. What he needed was to be sent away upon a mission away from the liche so it was time to try to find an opportunity to do so. Provoas sometimes mumbled to himself, most of the dead were not good conversationalists so many liches eventually developed this flaw. He began listening to the liches rambling voice and what he heard encouraged him to speak up. “ Master,” he said, “ I could go search out this stone mason to oversee the building of your dungeon tomb. ” The green burning orbs which hovered within the liches eye sockets seemed to stare through the imp as its echoing disembodied voice finally spoke to the imp. “ Why Alastor, what makes you so eager to do my bidding today.” Alastor replied,” I want out of this cage, master, running errands for you would be better than being stuck in here.” The liche pondered this in silence so long Alastor began to worry that he had given Provoas cause to make him regret speaking up. But at last the bony head nodded and the liche began giving him directions regarding all that he wanted in a potential dungeon builder.
Alastor left the keep late that night and teleported far down the mountain to a small farmstead they had passed by on their journey to the castle. He had found that teleporting to places he had already been to or seen from afar was easier and more accurate than trying to arrive at some unseen/unknown location. Although he could also randomly teleport towards a distant direction or based off of a detailed description of a place. It just took more time, energy and might land him only roughly in the targeted area or more rarely fail altogether. The further he traveled in such a fashion the greater the risk seemed. However, he had not much practice having been bound and caged for so long. Perhaps with more use, he would become more accurate in teleporting around the thought. He heard the farm animals in the barn stir uneasily and dearly wished he could go in and make some mischief for the farmer. But Provoas had been clear in his commands to not reveal themselves with his petty pranks and not to harm others unless it aided in his search for one to build his master’s dungeon or to defend himself. He sighed, Provoas fear of discovery by the forces of Light was probably somewhat justified by their circumstances.
On each successive teleport he attempted, Alastor traveled greater distances and felt something stirring within him. He focused on that feeling and tried to push it to the fore as he randomly teleported towards the east where he knew a distant kingdom might have the one he needed to fulfill his master’s command. Pushing harder he felt something inside him burst open and surge in intensity. His teleport, which was usually nearly instantaneous from place to place drug out much longer than ever before. He panicked as his mystic energies drained away and still he was nowhere. He didn’t even have his usual sense of destination in mind anymore. Then with a stomach-churning lurch which further drained his last reserves, he was somewhere again. He weakly landed in a tree, clutching his burning midsection and rocked back and forth. Never had teleporting made him sick like this. In fact, although his stomach was settling down he still felt remarkably unwell for a demon.
Almost nothing was seeping back in through his aura to replenish his spent energies so he would need to be careful where ever here was. Meanwhile, weird noises and lights were coming through the canopy of the trees unnerving him. Alastor cautiously crawled out on a limb and peered through the leaves to see if he could figure out where he was. The sight that met him was like nothing he had ever seen before. A gleaming city of towering glass and steel with lights everywhere he looked and strange carriages moving without horses up and down smooth stone roads. while hordes strangely dressed people walked back and forth past his hiding spot. All the while making loud noises that assaulted his keen hearing and eyesight. If he had not heard of such outlandish realms from his fellow demons long ago he would have thought he was caught in some bizarre illusion by a magician.
Thinking about this he realized he must have developed the ability to dimensionally teleport just now. This was a greater manifestation of the teleport ability tree that some demons were capable of. Although he was a lesser demon, his kind had been bred
to be messengers and so this wasn’t as unusual as it seemed. They were also naturally gifted with an innate ability to speak, read and write and understand any language to facilitate their place in the demonic hierarchy. For if a messenger couldn’t understand or be understood than of what use were they.
Well, he thought if he was in an entirely different realm his actions couldn’t be leading those kingdom heroes or the forces of light back to his master or the castle and that meant that pranks and mischief might be allowed under the geas of the familiar bond and his master’s orders. He watched some more and then assumed the form of a black cat so that he could climb down the tree and explore this bizarre place without being obtrusive. Now he thought, I am off to see what all I can get into. Several hours later he had learned a lot. Imps love causing mischief and he had had a wonderful time here as he explored some of this world and its possibilities. But he wasn’t just wasting time either, not only had he been searching for his master’s dungeon builder. His pranks and mischief had helped to recharge his reservoir of magic since he was getting hardly anything back from the world itself.
He had needed to earn it back so he could transport himself and the man back home. It was good his master wanted a man because that’s all that seemed to live here. The city was crawling with mankind everywhere he looked. Perhaps they did not allow any other races to live in this city. So far he hadn’t found any builders so he returned to his original tree and climbed up into the foliage. He found a likely crook in the tree and scratched his mark into it to make it easier for him to find his way back here again. Then he transformed from a cat into a crow, maybe a bird’s eye view would be more helpful in his search. Alastor flew up into the sky and looked around. The sheer size of the city was staggering with literally buildings in every direction almost as far as the eye could see. Where in all of this could he find who and what his master had sent him for?
Over there was a building being built! But when he swooped down to take a look at it and the men he could now see working upon it he was disappointed. It was not built of stone but of metal beams and seemed to have no underground tunnels at all. There was a sign next to the building that read Steel Construction Inc. Looking over the men once again Alastor thought they looked like dumb laborers, hardly any better than his master’s mindless minions. In fact, his master’s crew would be getting more work done than these lazy workmen who were standing around talking while leaning on their tools.
Chapter 5
The imp flew away in aggravation. He flew back over the city seeing more buildings and signs until one, in particular, caught his eye. it read Dungeon Con and below it had a drawing of a castle and some goblins with swords. The building it was on was wide but not as tall as many others here where, but it was none the less huge compared to what he was used to. It was every bit as big as many castles and appeared to have no easy way into it via the roof. In front of it, he was surprised to see a line of humans along with many other races and creatures. There appeared to be orcs, goblins, elves, and dwarfs, as well as some other races he did not recognize. Most were dressed as adventurers. Here, at last, might be a guild or warriors hall that specialized in the service his master required. It was more promising than anywhere else he had seen up to this point anyway so he decided to take a closer look.
The sign outside was surely promising. Alastor flew down and landed in a quiet alley on the side of the building behind a large metal cart full of noisome refuse. Could he but join the throng of creatures seeking to enter the building or should he instead attempt to sneak in? He decided to go around front and try to walk in with the rest. However, he would need to blend in. Hmm since he wanted to hire a human perhaps he should disguise himself as one. It was difficult to take on a mans form for Alastor but not as hard as it used to be, perhaps it was true that he was at last growing.
The Man who stepped out of the alley looked and was dressed a lot like a thief who had had the misfortune to meet his old master whilst grave robbing many years ago. He was a small man with swarthy skin and a prominent hooked nose with black hair and sharp green eyes. Alastor was good at remembering faces and now he was getting better at wearing them. He heard much idle gossip as the line moved through the doors ahead but not much that interested him or that he could fully understand. Instead, he spent the time in the line looking at the people, most were very handsome, the women were especially comely and often very scantily clad. Everyone here seemed to be excited and he concluded that maybe he had arrived at some hirelings fair or a seasonal festival.
One thing he did hear which was encouraging was that many here mentioned dungeons and dungeon masters as they talked amongst themselves about their exploits. When it came time to enter he was prepared, having watched the earlier admittance of people being greeted with the custom of paying a fee and getting a mark on the hand. He had carefully stretched out his senses to see if the mark had any bindings or magic but it was a powerless symbol apparently merely meant to be easily spotted by the guards upon the doors. His earlier mischief had provided him some of this worlds wealth and coins. Treasure and its worth being something any demon could literally smell or sense since wealth was intrinsically tied to temptation, sin, and corruption. Almost all demons could sense most types of sins although some specialized in sensing and supplying only certain ones.
Once it was his turn to enter he saw that there was literally a horde of beings already beyond the doors in a massive great hall with scores of tables set down in long aisles crowded with those walking about. He needed to find where the dungeon masters were housed in all of this. He felt a tug upon the familiar bond he shared with the lich, annoyed he wondered how Provoas could possibly expect him to have already reached the next kingdom over the mountain and found and bargained with someone there. Luckily the pull wasn’t too insistent. Maybe the lich was simply reminding him of his hold over Alastor.
“ I want to find a dungeon master here, where can they be found?” He asked one of the men trying to hand him a strange necklace with a small paper dangling from it and stamp his hand. The man gave him a dumb look so he tried again. ” I am looking for someone to design a dungeon for me, ” as he handed some money over to him. this time the man answered him. ” Um okay, like you probably want to go talk to one of the dungeon masters meeting now in rooms 101 through 105. Here is a Map of the Con, just go down this main aisle and hang a left by that big sign with a smoking hot babe on it. Yeah so okay, good luck and enjoy the Con bro,” the strange talking clerk said.
Alaster took the paper the man handed him and looked it over. Although he could read it, he was having trouble interpreting some of its meaning. There were a lot of numbers running down the page inside boxes and rectangles. Meanwhile, there were still plenty of people behind him waiting to go in so he walked in through the doors to get out of the way as he didn’t want to attract attention with his ignorance. Having already given up on deciphering all of the maps meaning he hurried down the row the man had pointed to through the crowd. When he reached the sign he thought the man had pointed to he turned off to the left and headed towards the distant wall hoping that something, further along, would appear to point the way. Although it was confusing he did find the numbers the man had spoken of on the map and after more walking, he came upon a set of doors, each with one of the numbers upon it.
There was a paper attached to them that read dungeon masters sign-in sheet and below that, it said New Dungeon and Monsters module playtest. With lines and a list of names that Alastor quickly read and memorized. He chose the first door and opened it to find a much smaller room with several chairs and a large long table where a dozen people sat around looking over papers and books as one, in particular, handed them out.
” Okay guys get settled in,” Hank Said. These are pre-generated characters for this dungeon campaign so look through them and pick one to use.” There were a few murmurs from the group as they digested this news and a late player slipped into the room. The guy had actually come up wi
th a rather good thief costume for the con and seemed to be paying a lot of attention to Hanks words as he took a seat. “ We are going to be trying out a new module made for Dungeons and Monsters. The company wants feedback about how hard the new dungeon is and what could be improved upon so I am handing out comment sheets for anyone who wants to fill one out at the end of the session. ”
Alastor was floored by what he was hearing, he had never before heard of bringing in adventurers to pretest out ideas about dungeon construction before. But already he could think of several benefits there might be to this novel concept. Someone handed him a couple sheets of paper and pushed some dice his way. Several of them had odd shapes and colors with more sides than he was used to. He didn’t want to appear too odd, so he took them and looked over the papers. There was a lot written on them and he didn’t immediately know the use of it all. But at the top one of them said thief while the other one said, warrior. He chose the thief since that was what he was supposed to be in this guise, and after all he had much more in common with one of those than with a burly dull warrior.