A girl, no older than fifteen, walked warily through the gates of the Rogue
Encampment of the province of Ensteig in the Western Kingdoms. Judging by
her apparel, a short green skirt, shirt, and carrying a staff, any person
with a grain of knowledge could have recognized her to be a sorceress, a
female mage of the elements. The pounding rain caused her to shiver
uncontrollably and she thought back to the warm, lush jungles where she had
been training with the Zann Esu mage clan since she was seven; ever since
her village was massacred by the onslaught of the Prime Evils. A salty tear
trickled down her face, mingling with the rain. She had no friends and no
family, with no one to support her. She wiped the tear away, preparing
herself for anything that stood in her way of killing Diablo, the Lord of
Terror, which might as well lead her straight to the bowels of the
underworld.
"Who are you," demanded a woman with flaming red hair. "Who are you," she repeated, "and what is your business here, outlander?" The woman, Kashya, was the leader of the rogues in battle. She tapped her foot impatiently, waiting for an answer.
"I." the girl stammered, "I'm Athanais Rivinar, of the Zann Esu. I've come to battle the evils plaguing this land." Athanais towered over Kashya in height, but she was feeling like a little girl now, timid and afraid in the midst of an intimidating figure. Although she was 6'2" and Kashya only 5'10", Athanais stepped back, as if admitting herself as inferior.
"Oh," said Kashya sarcastically, "another brave and valiant warrior has come to free us from our doom!" She sneered at Athanais unpleasantly. "You'll die along with the rest," Kashya then smiled, "Run along, little one, maybe Akara will baby-sit you. Of course, she always has better things to do."
Athanais walked over to Akara. It was better, in her opinion to just to whatever Kashya said. It was always better than risking a fight. She looked at Akara and opened her mouth to say something, but stopped when she noticed that the old woman was praying. She decided to survey the camp from where she stood and leaned against the wall.
As Athanais looked over the small camp, she saw some people sitting by a campfire, conversing. There was only one girl, with three other men her age. When she looked to see who was there, she could've sworn she saw a young man her age looking right back at her.
"He doesn't look bad," thought Athanais to herself, "Maybe I should introduce myself." Her dark green eyes flickered merrily and she brushed back her long, dark brown hair.
"Hello," said Akara suddenly. "I am Akara," she continued on, "the high priestess of the Sisters of the Sightless Eye and welcome to our camp." Athanais snapped back to a reality at her voice. She blushed when she realized that Akara had been watching her when she was deep in thought.
"I'm Athanais Rivinar, a sorceress," replied Athanais as casually as she could, while pulling back her hair from her face. Her hair blocked her sight since the rain had made it wet and it covered her eyes irritably.
"See that man dressed in blue by the chest? That is Warriv and he'll take you to Lut Gholein once the passage is clear. Charsi, our blacksmith, with repair your weapons and armor, and Gheed. Well, Gheed sells some wares and is willing to let you gamble all your gold away." There was an obvious hint of hostility towards the mentioning of Gheed, but Athanais just made a mental note of the people's reactions, not wanting to get on the bad side of anyone. "Your first quest," continued Akara "is to clear the Den of Evil in the Blood Moor outside of camp. Those people by the camp will be joining you."
Athanais nodded her head in respect and walked to the small group huddled around the fire. She walked slowly, trying to figure out what to say and not wanting to make a fool of herself in front of these people.
"Hello," said Athanais quietly, "I'm Athanais Rivinar, of the Zann Esu mage clan. I was told by Akara that I should be accompanying you." She mustered up all her confidence and smiled, hoping for them to smile back.
"Hi," grinned a girl with bright orange hair, "I'm Aiffe Melliach." Aiffe walked up and shook Athanais' hand. She was an Amazon, from a group of islands in the Twin Seas. Aiffe's hair was pulled up in a tight ponytail that swished back and forth in the wind, even though it was raining.
"Hey," greeted a young man even taller than Athanais, "I'm Arrestes Sindahir, a protector of the light, or a paladin." He smiled and Athanais realized it was the same person that was looking back at her when she was waiting for Akara. He had dark brown hair and green eyes, like she did and carried a short sword. She felt the heat rising up in her cheeks when she realized she was staring. She could've hit herself for blushing like that, but the thought only made her cheeks redden more.
"Hello," said a pale man with silvery-blond hair, "I am Khaal Semiah, a priest of Rathma." Athanais noticed the looks that Khaalid was giving Arrestes and vice versa, but that was only natural and after all, most people associate the priests of Rathma, or Necromancers, with evil. His clay golem bowed at Athanais.
"Hello there," boomed a large bald man, "I'm Morecai Berchid from Harrogath." He was tall and burly, but not nearly as tall as Arrestes. He was obviously, a barbarian from the Northern Steppes. What really surprised Athanais, was that they were all her age. She would've expected older people fighting.
Akara walked up to the group grim-faced, with Kashya by her side acting like some kind of bodyguard. Kashya smirked and Athanais remembered what she said about her "dying like all the rest."
"So, I see you have all been introduced to each other," said the old woman, "so it is now time for your first quest." Akara took out a small scroll and handed it to the group. "That is a map of the area outside of the Rogue Encampment." Akara said, "Although it might be a bit different now, after the corruption of our land."
"So," said Aiffe, pointing to a dark spot in the map, "that'll be where the den is, right lady Akara?"
"Yes," replied Akara with a smile, "that is the den and when you are finished I will give you all a reward, but remember, once you step out of these walls, we can no longer protect you."
The group walked out of the encampment, thinking they were ready to fight whatever evil was in store for them. However, Athanais felt more vulnerable than ever. It eventually stopped raining, but it was so foggy that she could hardly see a thing, let along any monsters. Faint groaning and sharp hissing could be heard around the area, but they thought nothing of it until they were surrounded by the undead zombies. Beside her, Athanais saw Aiffe ready her bow in preparation to shoot.
"Ahh!" cried out Athanais as she was jerked and pulled to the ground by a cold hand, "No.Get off!" She screamed and cast a ball of fire into the thing's chest. Athanais cast another fireball and the zombie's upper torso disconnected with the rest of its body and fell into two pieces on the ground as she watched in horror.
Athanais stood up, panting as the last zombie fell with a swing from Morecai's ax. All that was dropped was a small yew wand, which was promptly picked up by an extremely pleased Khaal, who, using his new wand, formed a skeleton from the zombie remains.
After walking around for another ten minutes, they found the den, but were reluctant to go in. Everybody wanted Morecai to go in first since he was the strongest, but he steadfastly refused. Finally, Athanais went down absolutely terrified. A few moments later, the rest of the party went down.
As they went deeper and deeper into the cave, more than just zombies attacked them. Groups of red demons, called Fallen, were everywhere, with shamans to resurrect them. They had to make a mental note to kill the shamans first. Next, there were the Gargantuan Beasts, huge yeti-like creatures, who almost smashed in Morecai's skull.
The moans and jabbering of monsters filled the cave, reverberating against the walls eerily. The dripping water only accompanied the moans, like a horrible song with no end to it. Athanais sighed. She wanted to get out of this place as soon as possible, but at least it was better than being in hell right now. They had been walking for ages, it seemed.
Suddenly, a shuffling sound was added to the array of noises. Athanais whirled around and sent a fireball spinning at a glowing zombie, Corpsefire. It groaned slightly, but other than that, didn't budge. It was like she never attacked him at all.
"Why won't it die?!" yelled Morecai angrily as he hacked at it with his ax furiously. It didn't really affect the thing much at all.
Corpsefire shifted a bit under the blows and decided to attack someone who couldn't defend themselves as well. It went after Khaal, but since zombies are particularly fast, it gave him enough time to form a skeleton to keep the slow-witted thing busy.
Athanais had just fended off a zombie and leaned against the wall, too tired to fight. She only had one healing potion left. She closed her eyes for a while and her grip on her staff loosened. Then she felt a pair of cold, rotting hands grab her and throw her on the ground. Her eyes opened, wide with shock as she looked up into the empty sockets of Corpsefire. She looked around. Her staff was on the ground, but she couldn't reach it.
A sudden pain shot through her arm and Athanais bit her lip to keep from crying out in agony. The zombie had bitten into her arm, to the bone and blood splashed onto the floor of the cave. She desperately tried to push it off and even managed to shoot some fireballs without her staff into its stomach. It was getting slightly weaker, but so was Athanais.
"Oh no, this is it." thought Athanais to herself, "I'm done for."
Suddenly, the shining tip of a sword appeared, sticking out of Corpsefire's neck. Athanais stared numbly, unable to do anything and too shocked to even move. Corpsefire groaned so loudly that it echoed throughout the cave. It released Athanais and turned around to face its attacker, Arrestes.
Athanais fumbled with a healing potion. She drank it and the pain subsided a bit, but she was still bleeding. She tightly wrapped up the wound with a piece of cloth to staunch the bleeding. She stood up, slightly shaken and drew in the energy around her and prepared to shoot a fireball, but instead came out three small bolts of lightning. She stared at her staff, but regained her senses and sent another fireball and a few more bolts of lightning at Corpsefire.
Finally, the zombie fell as Arrestes severed its head and a soft light filled the cave. It had dropped a small shield, a hand ax, a hunter's bow, and a long staff. Athanais bent over to pick up the staff, but winced as pain flowed through her leg. She turned around and saw that there was a long cut along her leg. She managed to pick up the long staff and discard the short one, but she couldn't walk.
Khaal opened up a small blue scroll, which activated a blue, swirling portal. Arrestes supported Athanais as she limped into the portal.
At first, nothing could be seen except for the same swirling figures that surrounded the portal, but eventually the Rogue Encampment came into view. She walked out, with help from Arrestes and sat down on a log.
"I never got to thank you," Athanais said softly, "for saving me back in the Den."
"Think nothing of it." Arrestes replied with a smile, "really, it's okay."
"I see you are back," said Akara. They both turned around and saw Akara standing by them with a twinkle in her eye. "Athanais, you need to get those wounds cleaned or you'll get an infection."
Arrestes helped her over to Akara's tent and left her there. Athanais lied down in her tent and her wounds were tended to
"It was good of you to clear that den, and now my heart can be at ease for a little while." Akara continued on inside the tent. "For your reward, you get this." She handed Athanais a scroll. "Study it and you will learn a new skill to aid you in your battles."
A while later, Athanais sat down in her own tent and reflected on what had happened earlier in the Den and she was glad to have people she could trust again, even if that only lasted a short time, it was a happy thought. The battle was a small one, and the war against the Prime Evils had yet to be won.
"Who are you," demanded a woman with flaming red hair. "Who are you," she repeated, "and what is your business here, outlander?" The woman, Kashya, was the leader of the rogues in battle. She tapped her foot impatiently, waiting for an answer.
"I." the girl stammered, "I'm Athanais Rivinar, of the Zann Esu. I've come to battle the evils plaguing this land." Athanais towered over Kashya in height, but she was feeling like a little girl now, timid and afraid in the midst of an intimidating figure. Although she was 6'2" and Kashya only 5'10", Athanais stepped back, as if admitting herself as inferior.
"Oh," said Kashya sarcastically, "another brave and valiant warrior has come to free us from our doom!" She sneered at Athanais unpleasantly. "You'll die along with the rest," Kashya then smiled, "Run along, little one, maybe Akara will baby-sit you. Of course, she always has better things to do."
Athanais walked over to Akara. It was better, in her opinion to just to whatever Kashya said. It was always better than risking a fight. She looked at Akara and opened her mouth to say something, but stopped when she noticed that the old woman was praying. She decided to survey the camp from where she stood and leaned against the wall.
As Athanais looked over the small camp, she saw some people sitting by a campfire, conversing. There was only one girl, with three other men her age. When she looked to see who was there, she could've sworn she saw a young man her age looking right back at her.
"He doesn't look bad," thought Athanais to herself, "Maybe I should introduce myself." Her dark green eyes flickered merrily and she brushed back her long, dark brown hair.
"Hello," said Akara suddenly. "I am Akara," she continued on, "the high priestess of the Sisters of the Sightless Eye and welcome to our camp." Athanais snapped back to a reality at her voice. She blushed when she realized that Akara had been watching her when she was deep in thought.
"I'm Athanais Rivinar, a sorceress," replied Athanais as casually as she could, while pulling back her hair from her face. Her hair blocked her sight since the rain had made it wet and it covered her eyes irritably.
"See that man dressed in blue by the chest? That is Warriv and he'll take you to Lut Gholein once the passage is clear. Charsi, our blacksmith, with repair your weapons and armor, and Gheed. Well, Gheed sells some wares and is willing to let you gamble all your gold away." There was an obvious hint of hostility towards the mentioning of Gheed, but Athanais just made a mental note of the people's reactions, not wanting to get on the bad side of anyone. "Your first quest," continued Akara "is to clear the Den of Evil in the Blood Moor outside of camp. Those people by the camp will be joining you."
Athanais nodded her head in respect and walked to the small group huddled around the fire. She walked slowly, trying to figure out what to say and not wanting to make a fool of herself in front of these people.
"Hello," said Athanais quietly, "I'm Athanais Rivinar, of the Zann Esu mage clan. I was told by Akara that I should be accompanying you." She mustered up all her confidence and smiled, hoping for them to smile back.
"Hi," grinned a girl with bright orange hair, "I'm Aiffe Melliach." Aiffe walked up and shook Athanais' hand. She was an Amazon, from a group of islands in the Twin Seas. Aiffe's hair was pulled up in a tight ponytail that swished back and forth in the wind, even though it was raining.
"Hey," greeted a young man even taller than Athanais, "I'm Arrestes Sindahir, a protector of the light, or a paladin." He smiled and Athanais realized it was the same person that was looking back at her when she was waiting for Akara. He had dark brown hair and green eyes, like she did and carried a short sword. She felt the heat rising up in her cheeks when she realized she was staring. She could've hit herself for blushing like that, but the thought only made her cheeks redden more.
"Hello," said a pale man with silvery-blond hair, "I am Khaal Semiah, a priest of Rathma." Athanais noticed the looks that Khaalid was giving Arrestes and vice versa, but that was only natural and after all, most people associate the priests of Rathma, or Necromancers, with evil. His clay golem bowed at Athanais.
"Hello there," boomed a large bald man, "I'm Morecai Berchid from Harrogath." He was tall and burly, but not nearly as tall as Arrestes. He was obviously, a barbarian from the Northern Steppes. What really surprised Athanais, was that they were all her age. She would've expected older people fighting.
Akara walked up to the group grim-faced, with Kashya by her side acting like some kind of bodyguard. Kashya smirked and Athanais remembered what she said about her "dying like all the rest."
"So, I see you have all been introduced to each other," said the old woman, "so it is now time for your first quest." Akara took out a small scroll and handed it to the group. "That is a map of the area outside of the Rogue Encampment." Akara said, "Although it might be a bit different now, after the corruption of our land."
"So," said Aiffe, pointing to a dark spot in the map, "that'll be where the den is, right lady Akara?"
"Yes," replied Akara with a smile, "that is the den and when you are finished I will give you all a reward, but remember, once you step out of these walls, we can no longer protect you."
The group walked out of the encampment, thinking they were ready to fight whatever evil was in store for them. However, Athanais felt more vulnerable than ever. It eventually stopped raining, but it was so foggy that she could hardly see a thing, let along any monsters. Faint groaning and sharp hissing could be heard around the area, but they thought nothing of it until they were surrounded by the undead zombies. Beside her, Athanais saw Aiffe ready her bow in preparation to shoot.
"Ahh!" cried out Athanais as she was jerked and pulled to the ground by a cold hand, "No.Get off!" She screamed and cast a ball of fire into the thing's chest. Athanais cast another fireball and the zombie's upper torso disconnected with the rest of its body and fell into two pieces on the ground as she watched in horror.
Athanais stood up, panting as the last zombie fell with a swing from Morecai's ax. All that was dropped was a small yew wand, which was promptly picked up by an extremely pleased Khaal, who, using his new wand, formed a skeleton from the zombie remains.
After walking around for another ten minutes, they found the den, but were reluctant to go in. Everybody wanted Morecai to go in first since he was the strongest, but he steadfastly refused. Finally, Athanais went down absolutely terrified. A few moments later, the rest of the party went down.
As they went deeper and deeper into the cave, more than just zombies attacked them. Groups of red demons, called Fallen, were everywhere, with shamans to resurrect them. They had to make a mental note to kill the shamans first. Next, there were the Gargantuan Beasts, huge yeti-like creatures, who almost smashed in Morecai's skull.
The moans and jabbering of monsters filled the cave, reverberating against the walls eerily. The dripping water only accompanied the moans, like a horrible song with no end to it. Athanais sighed. She wanted to get out of this place as soon as possible, but at least it was better than being in hell right now. They had been walking for ages, it seemed.
Suddenly, a shuffling sound was added to the array of noises. Athanais whirled around and sent a fireball spinning at a glowing zombie, Corpsefire. It groaned slightly, but other than that, didn't budge. It was like she never attacked him at all.
"Why won't it die?!" yelled Morecai angrily as he hacked at it with his ax furiously. It didn't really affect the thing much at all.
Corpsefire shifted a bit under the blows and decided to attack someone who couldn't defend themselves as well. It went after Khaal, but since zombies are particularly fast, it gave him enough time to form a skeleton to keep the slow-witted thing busy.
Athanais had just fended off a zombie and leaned against the wall, too tired to fight. She only had one healing potion left. She closed her eyes for a while and her grip on her staff loosened. Then she felt a pair of cold, rotting hands grab her and throw her on the ground. Her eyes opened, wide with shock as she looked up into the empty sockets of Corpsefire. She looked around. Her staff was on the ground, but she couldn't reach it.
A sudden pain shot through her arm and Athanais bit her lip to keep from crying out in agony. The zombie had bitten into her arm, to the bone and blood splashed onto the floor of the cave. She desperately tried to push it off and even managed to shoot some fireballs without her staff into its stomach. It was getting slightly weaker, but so was Athanais.
"Oh no, this is it." thought Athanais to herself, "I'm done for."
Suddenly, the shining tip of a sword appeared, sticking out of Corpsefire's neck. Athanais stared numbly, unable to do anything and too shocked to even move. Corpsefire groaned so loudly that it echoed throughout the cave. It released Athanais and turned around to face its attacker, Arrestes.
Athanais fumbled with a healing potion. She drank it and the pain subsided a bit, but she was still bleeding. She tightly wrapped up the wound with a piece of cloth to staunch the bleeding. She stood up, slightly shaken and drew in the energy around her and prepared to shoot a fireball, but instead came out three small bolts of lightning. She stared at her staff, but regained her senses and sent another fireball and a few more bolts of lightning at Corpsefire.
Finally, the zombie fell as Arrestes severed its head and a soft light filled the cave. It had dropped a small shield, a hand ax, a hunter's bow, and a long staff. Athanais bent over to pick up the staff, but winced as pain flowed through her leg. She turned around and saw that there was a long cut along her leg. She managed to pick up the long staff and discard the short one, but she couldn't walk.
Khaal opened up a small blue scroll, which activated a blue, swirling portal. Arrestes supported Athanais as she limped into the portal.
At first, nothing could be seen except for the same swirling figures that surrounded the portal, but eventually the Rogue Encampment came into view. She walked out, with help from Arrestes and sat down on a log.
"I never got to thank you," Athanais said softly, "for saving me back in the Den."
"Think nothing of it." Arrestes replied with a smile, "really, it's okay."
"I see you are back," said Akara. They both turned around and saw Akara standing by them with a twinkle in her eye. "Athanais, you need to get those wounds cleaned or you'll get an infection."
Arrestes helped her over to Akara's tent and left her there. Athanais lied down in her tent and her wounds were tended to
"It was good of you to clear that den, and now my heart can be at ease for a little while." Akara continued on inside the tent. "For your reward, you get this." She handed Athanais a scroll. "Study it and you will learn a new skill to aid you in your battles."
A while later, Athanais sat down in her own tent and reflected on what had happened earlier in the Den and she was glad to have people she could trust again, even if that only lasted a short time, it was a happy thought. The battle was a small one, and the war against the Prime Evils had yet to be won.