Author notes:
I do not by any means own Avernum. Anything written in this story is simply written for fun with no intention whatsoever of making money.
Well I've finally decided to write my own piece of fiction regarding a horribly underrated series of games Avernum. This is my first fic however constructive criticism is welcomed. And now without further delay the story:
Legends tell that Avernum is the gateway to the underworld, from which the dead never return. Avernum is also a real place with many miles and caverns far below the surface. The empire rules the entirety of the surface and when they discovered it a perfect use was found … A prison. Everyone who didn't fit in: the rebels, the disliked, the antisocial … They were teleported to Avernum never again to see the light of day. With no hope of returning to the surface whatsoever they were forced to live underground and endure a miserable worm-like existence. However the Avernites were not inactive. They built subterranean cities, studied magic and of course they learned how to fight. They built their strength and when they were ready they got their revenge. The all-powerful arch mage Erika made a portal to the surface and sent in a group of assassins. These brave souls faced the empire forces in an all-out battle. Emperor Hawthorne who ruled the surface with an iron fist was slain during this. They were victorious however four years later the empire invaded. Despite the desperate struggle the Avernites were out manned and out gunned. To make matters worse barriers of pure magical energy suddenly appeared and split Avernum into pieces. These were the result of the alien Vahnatai. Again a group of adventurers was sent to negotiate with them and in the end found them as an ally. The moment they took action the tide turned. Avernites along with the help of these strange species managed to drive back the empire. Five years passed and nothing was heard of the empire. The people of Avernum decided to take action and build upper Avernum. A new series of tunnels just below the surface, much smaller than the lower area, however it was the foothold where the Avernites would reenter the world they once knew. First they sent out a group of adventurers which were very talented and very skilled. Even so they were not heard from again. This made them go to their backup group. Four young, inexperienced greenhorns, with barely any skill or knowledge of what awaits them, were sent to explore the surface. These four were:
-Karl a berserker formerly a leader of a small group of brigands. He is a mountain of muscles and not to be taken lightly despite his inexperience. Even among the bandits he is known for incredible strength and skill with the blade. He was taken prisoner and gradually became a tool of war. Perhaps he will be able to repay his debt to Avernum this way.
-Nepurr a nephil scout. The nephilum are a race of cat like people with extraordinary sight and skill with bows. He however, much to his tribe's disappointment, rather became a mercenary. He has a very systematic and uncommon way of thinking allowing him to quickly gain reputation as a mechanic specializing in traps. This alone was enough to get him assigned to the explorer unit.
-Teressa a slithzerekai war priest. The sliths are a race of lizard like people with a naturally hardened body, resistance to heat and a natural affinity for pole weapons. She like many of the other and Slith priestesses and warriors wished to see the world of the humans. After one day saving the life of a human soldier, who happened to be a high ranking official, she got her chance.
-Pollux a sorcerer who left the tower of magi in pursuit of riches and fame. He was born with two things: First was his enormous potential as a mage being able to naturally read the flow of magic. The second was the misfortune of being born in a family that was hated by a mage. One thing led to another and he ended up being cursed at birth. His potential and a recommendation letter from one of the more influential mages brought him aboard the exploration crew.
It was early in the morning. Perhaps not however in Avernum you could never know for sure. Fort emergence is the gateway fort between upper Avernum and the surface. Here in one of the rooms in the north east end our group adventurers was awakening. The first to rise was Nepurr who eagerly jumped out of bead in sheer anticipation of what they will find. He was probably the only person in the entire fort that was this eager to begin work. His armor had been prepared for the upcoming journey. It was a leather armor that barely had any protection and absolutely no enchantment whatsoever. Regardless he got ready in a hurry. The leather was all but pleasant against his fur however it is a feeling he got used to some tie ago. Beside his bead were two more things: a wooden buckler and a stone short sword. Both of them were not in the finest shape but for an adventurer like him money was valuable. Along with living expenses and training fees there was also the medication. In the end all of the people in the room had a similar problem. From a box made out of fungal wood he took out three lock picks that he constantly carried with him. With all the movement it was no wonder he would wake someone up. And that was the aspiring mage Pollux who got up with a groan. He was the last to arrive and was still in his robe and sandals when he got up.
"Good morning ..." he managed to say while yawning. He snapped his fingers and produced some light in the form of a ball flying just above them. This was quite possibly a bad idea as the man sleeping next to him rose up revealing a very annoyed man. Karl just shot him a glare saying 'You made a bad move.' and eventually got up. The mage was almost ready to shoot a fireball at the warrior but Nepurr managed to stop them by standing in between. Lastly on the last bed some movement was heard. It looked like some worm or snake crawling below the cover. Soon a scaly green hand grabbed a spear and used it to help the person (or creature stand up) much to Polllux's disliking it was a slithzerekai a female at that..
"Isss it time to go yet already?" She hissed and got up as well. For a moment tension filled the room. It was apparent that Karl and Pollux had a rough start. Also some racial differences between Teressa and the mage would be a problem in the nearby future. The ex bandit noticed he had stepped on a piece of paper seemingly of some importance.
"Uh pardon me but could you passsss that over." Said the Slith in a friendly tone very uncommon for one of her race. The warrior lifted his foot and picked up the scrap of paper. It was soon passed to the priest who read what it said out loud.
"Pick up your supplies and come see me as soon as possible. Anaximander." She then turned the page around so everyone saw the map drawn on it. There were three places marked one saying supplies, a mark for where they were and the last one said my office. Without words each of them checked their equipment. Karl checked how much liquid was left in a flask he had strapped to his belt, Teressa was packing up some rations she had in a sack under her bag, Pollux was still in the process of getting up and Nepurr carefully put the lock-picks into a satchel on his belt. In about 10 or so minutes they left the quarters. They stepped into one of the many cavernous halls of fort emergence. The corridors were eerily quiet. Only a small fraction of the troops that will be stationed here have arrived. As they walked through the hall a young, scrawny man with sandy short hair bowed respectfully as they approached.
"Greetings to you adventurers! i am Gordon." It was obvious he wasn't anyone of importance. Pollux merely scoffed and thought of the man as a nuisance. The servant robe indicated he was in fact working here preparing meals, cleaning and other such matters.
"Do guests here always get their own servants?" asked Nepurr surprised that guests in this fort would be given their own servant. Compared to the housings he had been used to this was a pleasant change.
"Well when important guests such as yourselves arrive here they expect to be treated well with as much luxury as we can summon. Alas there is one problem ..." He looked down for a moment. Again the nephil asked:
"We are important guests?" The man looked at them as if they were royalty or something similar. His eyes almost sparkled with expectation of what tales the party would bring down in to the depths.
"Why of course. You are some of the first people to be sent to explore the surface. Oh to see it and maybe even live there ... I truly envy you for that." He almost shouted that making the mage annoyed to no end. The Slith however noticed something earlier. He said he had some sort of problem.
"What exactly was the problem you mentioned?" She asked from behind. The man just noticed her and looked a little scared. There are many in Avernum who still fear the Sliths and would like nothing better than to be rid of their lizard-like neighbors even if time and time again they proved to be a valuable ally.
"We are still trying to get the fort ready for the troops that will be stationed here. But we are not ready yet. Please don't try to get me into trouble! it's not my fault if anything goes wrong. I just sweep." Gordon said as if his mouth was on fire and his face showed signs of fear.
Pollux now completely annoyed with the servant stormed out of the room. His ally's had to follow him leaving the man beck to his work. The next chamber they entered was all to familiar with both Nepurr and Karl... The training hall. The day the two arrived the trainer Yanmitho eagerly beat the two half dead with her absurd physical training. The main problem with her was the view she had on covert operations (the group all four of them worked for). She had very little respect for anyone with such a profession. By her words covert operations is a ragtag band of untrained adventurers, amateur spies and mixed hangers-on. In her mind all the covert ops do is aimlessly wander about and demand respect. Much to her dismay the king decided to give the mission of exploring the surface to covert ops and her mood has been bad ever since. As they passed through Teressa noticed a unused bottle filled with some liquid that was pulsing out slight magical energy. With a nod from the trainer she took it. The next room was a barracks pristinely clean and completely unused. No soldiers were brought to fill them yet and likely that wont happen soon. On the opposite end the floor and wall in the corner are incomplete and some of the furniture is still on its way. From there they entered the west end of the fort. This place is one big laboratory filled with all sorts of plants and herbs native to the surface. The Avernites have forgot much of the flora and fauna of the surface and it all has to be relearned. Here the mage Mazumdar briefed all of them one at a time to make them at least comprehend what a tree is. The triad (the three greatest mages of Avernum) have limited the amount of material provided in order to secure it from falling into empire hands. The only other person there is a person Pollux refers to as the old fart. His name is Berra a mage that has no end to complaints about the lack of materials in the fort that could be used for any sort of magical studies. With a kind smile from Mazumdar they passed it. Next they were almost at the exit to the courtyard when they passed the last of the rooms dedicated for study. Here a smell of animal dung welcomed them. There were cells in the room with different types of surface animals in them probably there to study. A woman in priest robes welcomed them. Her clothes had bits of fur and animal dung on them but she (in Karl's eyes) still looked quite nice.
"I am Eva. Welcome to the fauna study chamber." She said as she brushed off any dirt and fur on her robes.
"So what do you do here?" Teressa curiously asked as she looked at the nearby animal called a sheep o the surface.
"Well i study the fauna from the surface that spies occasionally bring. If that is insufficient we summon them here magically. If they are damaged i heal them and usually write down the anatomy of these creatures." She explains and gestures to stay away from the cells.
"What you just saw is called a sheep a very stupid surface creature used in farming. Next to it are wolves surface carnivores. They are smaller and less dangerous the the giant lizards down in Avernum. Beware worgs tho They are vicious and dangerous wolfs bread for huge size, ill temper and a malevolent inelegance. We have also contacted bars a potentially dangerous race of carnivores that usually would be more than happy to leave you alone. Be watchful of the Ursagi however. They are very aggressive creatures. One we captured nearly picked the lock with its claw ... Oh my i was giving you a lecture. Please forgive me wasting your precious time." She said with a speedy tone and showed the four of them out of the room. Finally they exited the eastern side of the fort. Te courtyard was filled with carts and giant lizards who pull them. Massive piles of supplies ship in and out of the fort. All of the settlements in upper Avernum are still a work in progress. Fortunately , despite Karl already drawing his sword, There was nothing to fear from them as the merchants constantly kept dulling their claws and teeth.
"Easy big guy They wont attack." Pollux mockingly tapped Karl's shoulder and continued his way west.