CHAPTER SIX: THE DECK OF MANY THINGS

"There it is, the Deck of Many Things."

The other adventurers followed Regdar into the room, their recent battles forgotten at the sight of the legendary artifact. Only a few of them even noticed the stone door that slid silently shut behind them, so engrossed were they in the object in the center of the chamber. Such a small thing, so perilous, yet so tantalizing.

"Spread out," said Regdar, reminding his awestruck companions they were still in a dangerous place.

The room was orthogonal in shape, with walls of smooth gray stone and no adornment besides the pedestal containing the Deck. On the floor around the edge of the chamber was a ring of arcane symbols. There were twenty-two of them.

"The same as the number of cards in the Deck," Jozan said, fingering the holy symbol around his neck, but pointing ominously at the runes.

"So, this is the thing the gods made," Lidda said in an awed voice. She removed her hand from the hilt of one of her many daggers. Never afraid to tempt fate, she stepped past the cleric and the warrior to examine the Deck more closely.

It was a simple thing, seemingly a neatly stacked pile of tiles, shaped like the cards used by gamblers and fortunetellers, but this Deck was no game. Each card, it was said, bound powerful magic, released for good or ill on the one who drew from the deck. The powers of wealth and misery, of might and weakness, of life, death and undeath were somehow contained within the Deck.

"How long has it been here, I wonder?" Lidda asked.

"Don't touch it yet," Regdar warned, grabbing the halfling by the shoulder and pulling her back.

She scowled at him and muttered something about being overprotective.

"I don't think there is any danger in looking at it," Mialee said, stepping forward. The wizardess felt a chill run up her spine. Merely being in the presense of such an artifact awakened her curiosity- as well as her ambitions. The wild-haired mage peered at the Deck for a moment, then glanced back over her shoulder. ""It is said you must announce your intentions of how many cards you wish to draw before doing so. I don't think that door will reopen until we've all made our choice, and drawn."

"Make way," growled Tordek, shouldering his way to the front. "Let me see this thing we've travelled so far to see." His eyebrows bristled at the sight of the minor artifact, but what the dwarf was thinking, none of the others could tell.

"I'll draw once," Lidda blurted, reaching a hand toward the Deck.

Regdar, alarmed, grabbed the thief by the wrist. "Now you've gone and done it, Lidda."

"I'll draw once, too," added the dwarf.

Regdar sighed, and looked to Jozan for support. The cleric could only shrug. "So much for caution," Regdar muttered. "All right," he said, looking around at the others. "Since we're probably committed now, I'll draw once, too. What about the rest of you?"

"I will draw one card," Mialee said, her eyes eager.

"So will I," said Jozan.

Regdar nodded and looked gravely at the last two. "Alhandra and Soveliss, what about you?"

"I for one won't draw," Alhandra said, folding her arms. "This thing is an abomination, a toy made by evil gods. I'll not rely on the whim of some slumbering power and risk my soul, merely for a chance at riches." She glanced at Soveliss.

The elf paused a moment, considering her argument. Alhandra had a point, but she saw things differently. He flipped his cloak over his shoulder. "I, too, will draw one card."

"Your greed will bring ruin upon us all," Alhandra protested, gesturing at all of them.

Soveliss narrowed his eyes- he was proud, and not used to being reprimanded by a human. But Regdar raised his hand and intervened. "No one is asking you to draw from the Deck, Alhandra, but it IS why we came here- you knew that when we set out."

She clenched her fist. "We should leave, now. This is not right."

"We've not come this far, only to turn back," Lidda said.

"There is no turning back, now," Mialee reminded them, eyeing the sealed door.

"Then we should destroy it," Alhandra said, reaching for her sword.

"We don't have a chance in the Nine Hells of doing that," Mialee said. "It would take an archmage or a high priest to even attempt to destroy the Deck."

"She's right," Jozan added. "This thing is an artifact of a different era. I'm sure Pelor brought us here for a reason. If it had been our fate that we come here to destroy the Deck, the gods would have first provided us with the ability to do so." The cleric spread his hands. "But we have no such means, so it must be Pelor's will that we use it, not destroy it."

"I'll wait here until you're done," Alhandra said, turning away. She leaned her back against the wall.

"Right," Regdar said. He took a deep breath, and slapped Lidda's hand, which was reaching towards the cards. "I'll go first, in case something bad is going to happen."

Jozan looked at his friend. "Are you sure you want to draw first?"

The big warrior nodded, with a sidelong glance at little Lidda. "Yeah, I want to do it."

"Good luck, Reg," Lidda whispered.

With Jozan making a holy sign for luck over his shoulder, Regdar bent closer to the cards. Carefully, he removed his gauntlets and tucked them in his belt. "Heh, my palms are sweating," he chuckled. But there was no mirth in his eyes. He reached out a hand towards the Deck. Gingerly, he drew a single card, and held it. The back of the card was a pure, glossy black, with silver trim around the edges.

"Turn it over," Lidda said.

Regdar gulped, and turned the card over in his hand, revealing its face- a large, silver star. He shrugged. Then, the fighter's eyes went wide, and he straightened. The card disappeared from his hand, and he arched his back. His hands flexed.

"Regdar!" Lidda cried out, but Jozan grabbed her and held her back.

"Wait!" Mialee hissed.

Regdar was relaxing again, a look of amazement on his face. He held his hands up in front of his face, turning them back and forth in disbelief. The others looked on nervously. Then, Regdar grinned, and flexed his muscles. "I feel ten times stronger!" He jumped up in the air, perhaps testing his newfound strength, while Lidda and the others gave a sigh of relief. Still grinning, Regdar nodded for Lidda to take her turn.

Lidda went next to the grey pedestal with the Deck. Like Regdar, she carefully removed her gloves, and brushed a strand of hair from her eyes. Without hesitating, she drew a sleek, black card from the Deck and turned it over. There on the face of it was a human figure, clad in brown leather armor not unlike her own. The figure seemed to be dancing, or running, and smiling with mischievous glee. "A rogue!" Lidda exclaimed, beaming. But then, the card disappeared from her hand, and she frowned. "What? Wait a minute, I don't feel any different! Nothing happened!"

"Beware, Lidda," the wizardess said with a crooked smile. "Not all of the cards powers manifest immediately. You may be in for a surprise when we depart this place."

"I don't like the sound of that," Lidda said. "I don't know whether to feel disappointed or afraid." She moved aside to stand next to Regdar and Alhandra. "I'm glad you at least got something you deserved," she told the warrior. "I thought for sure that when I'd drawn the rogue card, it would have been SOMETHING for me. But that's just my typical luck- get all worked up, only to be let down."

Regdar put his hand on her head and ruffled her hair, smiling. "Don't worry, Liddie, I'm sure it was something really wonderful. Yours just didn't happen immediately like mine."

"I'm next," Tordek said, leaning his axe on the pedestal and taking his place before the Deck. The pedestal came up almost to his chin, but the dwarf could clearly see the ominous cards. With a silent prayer to his grim deity, he reached out and drew one card. "A key," he announced, holding the card up. The others caught a glimpse of the silver and gold symbol on his card- unmistakeably a key. Everyone held their breath.

Suddenly, the card winked out of existence, taking its place back in the Deck, like the ones before it. In its place, Tordek held a tattered scroll, and in the other, a strange dagger. "By the Fiery Orbs," he swore, looking at his newfound items in amazement.

He held the dagger up for the others to see, and it was like no knife any of them had seen before. It was like a curved shard of crystal, translucent and obviously very sharp. "Looks like a giant fang," Tordek said, eyeing his curious prize. "Hardly the weapon a dwarf would choose. Still, I guess it might be useful some day." He shrugged. Tucking the crystalline knife carefully in his belt, he unrolled the parchment in his other hand and examined it. "Wonder what this is?"

"What is it?" Lidda asked.

The dwarf furrowed his brow and mumbled to himself, trying to decipher the scroll. Then, his eyes lit up with joy. "It's some sort of treasure map! A map to none other than the Mines of Myrah!"

"The Mines of What?" Lidda asked, intrigued.

At the back of the room, Alhandra stirred. "The mines of Myrah," the paladin explained, her voice also curiously interested. "Legendary resting place of the Mead of Verses."

"Why, wait until the lads hear about this! That Mead was lost long ago, when we hid it away to keep it from the giants-"

"Your folk stole it from the giants in the first place," Alhandra reminded him.

The dwarf went on as if he'd not heard. He was nearly giddy. "My folk have been seeking the Mead for centuries. Why, if this map is real-"

"I am certain it is," Mialee said, a little impatiently. "Can we get back to the business at hand?"

"Yes," Soveliss added. "We can examine the treasure map, or whatever it is, later. But there are still three of us left to draw from the Deck."

Jozan took a step closer to the pedestal. "Mialee, you seem most eager, why don't you go next?"

The wizardess nodded. Her face was a mask that betrayed no emotion. Swiftly, she reached out and drew a card from the Deck and showed it to the others. There on her card was a drawing of a crumbling castle, overgrown with weeds, slowly being destroyed by the ravages of time. "Ruin," she said, her voice barely a whisper.

"That can't be good," Lidda said aloud.

The card disappeared from her hand. If Mialee was afraid, she hid it well, for not once did she seem concerned- only her usual calm, aloof self. But then she swallowed hard. She patted the pockets of her skirt. Finding them suddenly empty, she reached frantically into her other pockets, tore open her pouches and rummaged through her pack, even checking down inside her boots and a secret pocket in her cloak none of the others had known about. "All my gold," she said. "It's gone!"

"All of it?" Tordek gasped.

"Every last copper. And every gem, every jewel, everything with any monetary value." She was ruined.

Jozan was alarmed- he knew the power her spells lent the party. "What about your spell components?"

"They're still here," Mialee said, relieved. "At least, those which aren't worth anything." Obviously disgruntled, Mialee moved away from the Deck, making room for the others.

"Don't worry about that, Mia," Lidda said. "That's one problem we can solve as soon as we get back to town." She grinned and rubbed her palms together.

"We'll see about that," Alhandra sniffed, looking disdainfully at her roguish companion.

"Well," Jozan said, trying to sound cheerful. "That leaves just you and I, Soveliss. One card apiece. Who shall it be?"

"I will draw next," the sullen elf answered, glancing at Alhandra.

"Don't sneer at me, wood elf," she shot back. "Just take your cursed turn."

"As you wish, my lady." With a mocking bow, Soveliss went to stand beside the Deck. He removed his archer's gloves and reached for a card. Turning it over, the elf's eyes widened and his face went pale. There on his card was a symbol of such obvious menace the others gasped in fright- a black ball of pure darkness- the Void. A chill came over the room. Soveliss' eyes went blank, and the normally lithe ranger just stood there like one stricken dumb. His companions rushed to his side.

"Soveliss!" Jozan called out, shaking him. But it was no use- the elf's spirit had been ripped from his mortal body, leaving only a mindless automaton. Lidda choked back tears, and Mialee averted her eyes. The others were shaking.

The card vanished from his hands. But this time, instead of returning to the stack like the others, there was an audible "pop" and the entire Deck of Many Things winked out of existence.

"What the-"

"By the Frozen Hells-"

"The whole thing's gone!"

"But I didn't get to draw," Jozan protested. Somehow, the power of the evil card Soveliss had chosen trumped the other rules of the game. Jozan would no longer be required to draw from the Deck, nor would he be permitted.

In the far wall of the chamber, a second stone door slid upward without a sound, revealing a secret exit from the ruins. Sunlight flooded into the empty room.

Regdar felt a lump in his stomach as he looked at Soveliss' vacant eyes. He saw the stricken look on his companions' faces and reality dawned on them all- the insidious hand that the elf had drawn. "Let's get out of here," Regdar ordered. "Tordek, you take the lead."

The dwarf nodded and dashed out, as he'd done countless times before. The others followed silently, none daring to look into the soulless eyes of the elf. Jozan looked especially shaken. Alhandra gently took Soveliss' hand, and led him towards the door.

With a last look around the chamber, and at the now empty pedestal where once the Deck of Many Things had sat, Regdar turned to Lidda, who was waiting beside him. "Don't worry, we'll find a way to restore him. You'll see."

The little thief paused and looked up at the big warrior.

"What is it?" Regdar asked.

"I'm still wondering what MY card has in store for me."