Beyond the mortal realm, a tale of Dungeons and Dragons

The start of something greater

Chapter 26, Old friends and new enemies

The court ruling had been given, a fine of 8000 gold had to be given at the end of the month, else Shleeth, and the rest of us would be considered enemies of the city and be hunted like dogs. Argus tilted his head at the sound of this.

We also spoke to the king, who told us of Malcer Semlin, the mage assassin who attempted to take the king of Gogotol's life. He told us all he knew, which was significantly less than what we already knew, except that Malcer was seen to be heading west towards the dark forest.

An image flashed through my head at those words, darkness stole my mind. My body was dragged through the clouds, above a mountain where I was thrust deep beneath, passing through the stone until reaching a room, deep beneath the earth. A large forge, an anvil the size of a giant with a large man behind it, ironically slender and thin. His head bald, his eyes black, his arms covered in runes of power.

A block was placed on the anvil, a solid block of a dark metal. His arms and runes glow purple as the metal begins to morph and form creating what appeared to be two short swords. The vision fades an shows a view of the dark forest, and the forgotten temple within. The vision faded, bringing me back into the room.

Little happened in the weeks to come. We did some digging around about the temple but found nothing... Until, one night when Mort used an orb of some description to find Malcer. I'm not sure of the magic behind it, but he knew we were watching, and he dispelled the magic. He was in the forest, and we had to act. We left immediately for the dark forest, readying ourselves for anything. All we found was a temple. Shleeth recognized it, and so did I. It was the temple from my vision.

We entered and had to solve riddles, puzzles, and pay a price in blood. Ultimately, I found the swords from my vision before the place started to flood and we were attacked. We ran out of the danger and rested for the night, giving me time to acquaint myself with my new tools. It was then that I discovered something powerful about them. They were made of Obsidious. The blades emminated Darkness and I could summon them to my hands at will. Unless summoned, the blades will not appear upon my person. The perfect tool for my line of work.

We left the temple, revealing a meeting with Malcer Semlin, the man we had been tracking. Suffice to say, we were about to die, until I captured him in my bands of Bilaro. They could not restrain him. He was powerful, and his sword, the eye... it is something unholy. It terrified all of us, he is a monster.

He let us live. He wanted to show us he was no man to be trifled with... we got the message, now we know he needs to die. As such, the search continues...