Demon's Winter: Part 2 - SSI/US Gold

......we hurtled through the doorway, past the body of the dead
hobgoblin, and found ourselves in a black room. In front of us
was a ghostly, white figure, Remondadin. Lone led the attack,
and the five of us, working together as never before, finally
defeated him. With Remondadin dead, the black room was
strangely silent.

On our explorations under the Temple of Gamur, we had already
noticed a group of wizards praying in the underground temple,
but not to Gamur - they were praying to the evil Xeres. Clearly,
these catacombs were only part of a small cult that worshipped
Xeres, the demon who had destroyed Ildryn. It was also clear to
us that we must find Xeres himself before he found us.

We left the black room through a doorway to the south and found
ourselves back in the main Temple. However, Clarence reminded
us about the man in the glass case and pointed at the mallet
that Fidget was carrying. So we returned to the morgue.

With one swing of the mallet, the case was shattered and we
could see the man more clearly but he still didn't respond.
Izzy looked closer. "He's in a deep trance ...... I wonder ...."
and reaching into his pocket he pulled out the two vials of
serum that Clarence had found in the laboratory and given to
him. He examined the man, who stared vacantly into space. "I'll
have to risk it" he said, and gave him a mouthful of the blue
serum.

Suddenly, the man sat up., a wild expression on his face.
"Qoorik!, I've seen it!" he cried and grabbed at Izzy's
shoulders in a frenzy. "They tried to shut me up, but I've seen
it! Its entrance is hidden in the forest to the north-west of
Idlewood." As if his body had given up the last of its strength,
he slumped back onto the slab. Izzy shook his head and sighed.
"He is still alive but only barely; we will get no more help
from him. Leave him in peace" and, with sadness, we left the
room, vowing to avenge the poor wretch who lay within, bereft of
his senses.

No-one tried to stop us as we left the Temple. We headed towards
the south-east of the island where, on our previous 
explorations, we had noticed another tunnel heading out under 
the southern sea.

Not far inside, we found ourselves in a large cavern, filled
with the sound of rushing water. A message carved in the floor
read 'Pirates' Cove - enter at your own risk'. "Them's fighting
words" said Lone and Fidget went a sickly shade of green.

Passages led off north, south and west. Along both north and
south passages, Fidget found and disarmed traps and soon after,
in each case, we were attacked by thieves who we quickly slew. A
College was at the end of each tunnel, Disarm Traps in one and
Detect Traps in the other. Having no need for either, as long as
young Fidget was with us, we retraced our steps to the main 
cavern.


At the end of the western tunnel, over a stretch of water, we
found the town of Pirates' Cove. Surprisingly, despite the
warning at the entrance and our rough reception in the other
tunnels, we were completely ignored. But, in the pub, an old man
was telling the tale of Malifon, so we paused a moment to
listen, though we had heard the tale before, many times.
"....and Malifon made the Earth his home", said the old man,
"but soon the Ancients became angry at him and, in a great
battle, banished him inside a volcano to live till the end of
time". He finished his tale and picked up his tankard to take a
draught. Lone tapped my arm. "Sometimes, my friend, with all the
things we see and hear, I get the feeling the end of time isn't
too far away". Somehow, I had to agree with him. Malifon's
volcano might be the last thing any of us saw.

We left the Cove and tried to decide where to go next. While we
were deciding, we visited two of the Colleges. Fidget had died
and been resurrected twice during recent battles, so the small
man decided to improve his skills and took a course in
fighting with the mace. Lone learnt beserking, which he felt
might give him the edge in a tight scrap. At a nearby town,
Fidget purchased a morningstar then we took another trip to the
Guild at New Gleon and found we had advanced enough to gain
another few levels.  Hereafter, we visited Guilds whenever we
came across them, to check on our progress.

We bought a ship in the docks and set out to sea. I had also
learnt hunting skills, so between us, Lone and I kept the five
of us well supplied with fish on our long sea voyage. We
travelled to various islands along the coast, but never straying
too far from the main island where we had started our travels.
We also investigated the small islands in the inlets along the
coast.

Lone enrolled at the College of Armoured Skin which Fidget said
sounded disgusting. However, this skill gave him even more
protection in battle. At Dragontooth, we heard a rumour in the
pub that someone had found the Shard of Spring a few months
back. The Shard had disappeared 200 years ago and no-one had
seen it since. It is said that if anything happens to it, we
will all be destroyed by the winter that will follow. While we
were in Dragontooth, Clarence enrolled at the College of Mace
and later at the College of Persuasiveness at Chandris. It would
help us get a better deal when we purchased new equipment. 

All this time, Izzy had been using a +1 crystal dagger that we
had collected earlier. Our other fights had gained us some more
useful equipment and I had a mace, constant speed +2. We also had
some other weapons that we had collected and since our ship now
needed considerable repairs, pirates and sea monsters having
taken their toll, we sold our spare weapons at a local
marketplace. We had also gained two cursed axes which we got rid
of as soon as possible!

To the south, we found two islands, and on the furthest south of
these, the town of Idlewood, mentioned by our friend in the
glass case. We bought a lantern in the marketplace and visited
the inn where we learned that deep within the ancient demon city
of Qoorik, there is a place called the Amber Vault where one

can seek guidance in the flaming runes. The dungeon entrance,
invisible till one stepped into it, lay a short distance away.

We descended into the depths, Fidget checking for traps once we
reached the bottom of the staircase.  To the west, we found a
great, black archway covered in runes and south of that, more
passages and rooms led off.

In one room to the far east, we entered a room where three slaver
demons attacked us. The fight was long and hard but when it was
over, Fidget spotted something in a far corner. It was a black
metal wand. "I'll take that" said Clarence as he reached past the
thief and tucked the wand into his robes.

We returned to the corridor and travelled south, then west. A
doorway beckoned; Lone moved to the front and shouldered the
door open. It was a blacksmith's shop. Inside, the blacksmith -
an old troll, his face disfigured so that one eye was permanently
closed - gasped as we entered. Then he seemed to compose himself,
smiled and spoke. He said he had been working on a new weapon,
designed for the ones who wish to kill Xeres. Lone stepped
forward, thanked the troll and took it. It was a jewel-encrusted
broadsword. However, I cautioned him not to use it until we had
identified it properly. My caution was well justified; it turned
out to be cursed!

Heading back towards the stairs we had entered by, we went
through a doorway and found ourselves in a stately mansion with
three doors leading off the main hall. In a bedroom, which looked
as though it hadn't been used for a long time, Fidget
investigated a bed with a straw mattress and emerged grasping a
pair of spectacles. He perched them on his nose and said "these
make me feel smart". Lone laughed. "They must be magic if
they make YOU intelligent" he said. The dwarf made a face, pulled
off the specs and passed them to the wizard, who patted Fidget's
shoulder to try to cheer up the small man.

We also collected a blank piece of papyrus and in a library, we
came across a tome, the only book that was left. Izzy tried to
read it but failed till he wore the spectacles. Then he told us
that it was about some gods called the Ancients who created
everything but died out many eons before man ever walked the
Earth.

In the corner of the library was a bookcase. Lone and I moved
it and behind was another room. Black runes were carved on the
walls and at a desk, a skeleton, its skull shattered but its hand
still clutching a quill pen, caught our attention. I saw a piece
of paper on the desk which read - Ymros is mine! - and pointed
out to the others that the arrangement of the runes matched the
number of letters on the paper; five runes, a space, two runes,
space, then four more. "I'll memorize the runes" said Clarence,
with a glazed look in his eyes.

Two doorways back on the main floor had so far been barred to us.
One, a tunnel from which the stench of death blew out, turned out
to be, apparently, a dead end. The other, the entrance to a dark
temple of red stone, was also impossible to enter; the sense of
evil permeating from it and an unseen force both combined to push
us back. "There must be another way in" murmured Izzy. "Clarence?
Do you think the wand might help?" The cleric shook his head.
"There's nothing here to operate it on" he said "but perhaps, the
arch we saw when we entered? That was black and covered in
runes...."

We retraced our steps to the arch. Clarence took a deep breath (I
think we all did) and used the wand. The next thing, we were
transported to a small room. A door lead south. Quietly, Fidget
pushed it open and we crept through. A corridor on the other
side was the entrance to the Demon's temple. The entrance was not
unguarded though - in front of us stood a level 6 mage, a level 8
fighter and an evil spirit......

To be continued in a future issue of SynTax.