AN: The world of Exile/Avernum (in particular, the Great Cave, Almaria and the residents Rhiannon, Ramone, Dexter, Julio, and Bevan, and the Castle) belongs to Jeff Vogel and Spiderweb Software. Persons and places belonging to the game will be put back unharmed when I'm done.
It had taken nearly a month of travel, but they reached the entrance to a huge cavern. Ahead was a truly amazing sight--beautiful and terrifying at the same time. The cave floor sloped down toward the center, yielding an excellent view, despite the mist. In the center of this cavern was a large lake, apparently coming from some sort of spring. Its runoff led south to a huge lake of magma, where with eardrum-searing hisses, the water boiled away. In the end, the cavern was not only noisy, but filled with a thick, choking white mist, the humidity providing the basis for a wide variety of fungal growth.
As they traveled through the mist, suddenly a group of bats, spitting fire, came through the mist at the group.
"Look out!" said Ansel, as one of the bats seemed to be dive-bombing him, and he got his shield in place to save him from serious injury just in time.
"I've got just the thing," called Jynx, as a bolt of ice left her fingertips, striking one bat squarely in the middle, and it fell to the cave floor.
"Good we spent that gold in Formello," said Rudel, taking the time to tease Ansel as a bolt of ice left his fingers.
Finally, the strange fire-spitting bats lay dead, and after quickly tending to their burns, the companions continued. They left the steamier cavern, to find a new breathtaking sight to their west: a cave--the largest any of them had ever seen, larger than it seemed a natural cavern could be. The light from the ceiling fungus was exceptionally bright, revealing a huge vista to the west dotted with farms and small towns. The cave was moist, steamy, and warm, like most of Avernum, the mushrooms thriving. It seemed the ceiling was so high in this cavern that it might even occasionally rain.
A sign posted read: "Great Cave. Almaria 30 miles west."
"Well, this certainly wasn't mis-named," said Jynx. "I've never seen anything so incredible--even up there."
As Almaria was still a good day's travel at best, the companions set about looking for a place where they might rest, finding near one sheltered lake a small community of farmers. They were a pleasant, dull folk--long separated from the violence and strife that was the constant state of affairs in the north. The news of the constant warfare with the nephilim and slithzerikai did not seem to worry them.
The night was a pleasant one--much mushroom ale and fried cave fish, conversation, and finally some rooms within the barn--the dour fellow who showed them to the rooms clearly intended no hanky-panky, although such intentions were bound to go by the wayside as Duncan and Rudel took one of the rooms. The man seemed innocent, however, and didn't realize that he had just enabled the very thing he had hoped to prevent. While Jynx and Brynja were originally in one room, Brynja gave a sigh as soon as the man had gone back to his house, and swapped with Ansel.
"At least there'll be quiet in our room," she said, giving Brother Theo a smile.
As they were about to leave the next morning, one wiry woman pulled them aside, and with a smile muttered, "You're adventurers--I should know. I used to be one. When you get to Almaria, ask Dexter if you can see his tools. You won't regret it."
"Thanks," said Ansel, and they set out again, passing numerous farms with pale people tending mushroom fields, pale cows, and near-homicidal giant lizards.
Finally, they arrived at the gate of Almaria, and were about to cross over when a guard poked his hand through the window and said, "Greetings, friends. The toll for the bridge is five gold."
A buzz of conversation could be heard, and then a captain stepped out and said, "Many apologies. Feel free to pass our gate whenever you want."
"Thank you," said Ansel, not realizing that the news of the groups' exploits had already reached the town of Almaria.
The city of Almaria seemed quite prosperous from the looks of it--their position had made them a trading hub for this area of Avernum, everyone crossing the river seemed to stop in Almaria, and those tolls must have added up.
"We could stand a bit more food, couldn't we?" said Ansel, as they passed a shop whose sign indicated it was 'Jasmine's Fine Foods'.
"I suppose so," said Duncan.
They walked into the shop, where a stunningly beautiful woman in a plain dress stood behind the counter, her beauty marred only by the number of scars running up and down her arms.
"So, what you sell here?" said Ansel.
"I sell rations. You may buy them for prices I'm sure you will find quite reasonable," replied Jasmine, with a smile that turned quite vicious. "It causes me no sadness to see the lizards go."
"Don't have much love for your lizards, eh?" said Brynja.
"Not really. Before I came to Avernum, I tended sheep. Nice animals. Never tried to kill me. Lizards are very useful, sure. They provide leather and decent meat. But they're stupid and vicious," she said, holding her arm to display some of the scars more openly. "Vicious, vicious, vicious."
"All right," said Ansel, and he took some of the gold and traded it for the meat that Jasmine had prepared. "Thanks."
Moving past the pond in the center of the town, they came to the city hall. Here, a very large bearded man dressed in embroidered clothing sat behind a desk, juggling figures on sheets of crude Avernum parchment.
"Hello," said Ansel, "are you the mayor?"
"I am the Lord Protector of Almaria. I take care of this city and the surrounding area," replied Bevan. "And I can do it just fine without a bunch of adventurers such as yourselves butting in. The last thing we need is adventurers. You won't get a token here, fellow."
"That's ok," said Ansel, "we already have a token."
"Ah, I see. Well, that's a different story. I don't have patience with foolish adventurers, but there is one way you can help us."
"Sure, name it," said Ansel.
"To the west, along the south wall of the Great Cave, there is a nasty infestation. Several basilisks have taken up residence there. Deadly creatures. If you could kill them for us, I would pay you two hundred fifty gold."
"Sure thing," said Ansel, and sensing that Bevan did not wish to prolong the discussion, beat a hasty retreat back to the streets of Almaria.
"You thinking of doing that?" said Duncan. "Basilisks?"
"Why not?" said Ansel. "Coin is good, isn't it?"
"Why don't we stop there," said Jynx, pointing at the inn. "Then, plan out where we're going and all."
"We can do that," said Ansel, "but might as well get a little more shopping in. Never know when you might hear something in a shop gives you more ideas."
"Well, if it's ideas you're after," said Rudel, "let's visit this Julio, Sage Extraordinaire." He gestured to another shop sign.
"Sounds good to me," said Ansel, and he led the way into the shop where a tall, muscular man sat behind the counter, surrounded by piles of books.
"What sorts of things might you sell?" said Ansel.
"Mainly, I deal in potions and such. You can buy potions from me, if you'd like," replied Julio. "Also, the things I have learned in my extensive explorations enable me to identify items with some accuracy."
"You make potions?" said Brother Theo. "Can you teach me any recipes?"
"I'm afraid not. My recipes are the source of my prosperity," replied Julio. "Such secrets are rarely, if ever, given to mere adventurers. No offense."
"Could you tell me where I might find some potion ingredients at least?" said Brother Theo.
"No, definitely not," said Julio, sounding increasingly offended. "Knowledge of the rare ingredients is the alchemist's greatest resource."
"Where have you explored?" asked Brynja, sending Brother Theo a daggered look, hoping that the change of topic would make Julio more friendly again.
His expression darkened even more, and he said, "I was thrown down here for--shall we say--opposing certain excesses of our town officials. I spent my first five years in Avernum looking for a way out. I found many blocked tunnels and came close to death many times." He sighed, and his expression softened, and he said, "Finally, I gave up. But I do have a guess about that exit."
"Really? What's your guess about where the exit is?" said Brynja.
"I explored the eastern tunnels and wandered the caves of the north and south. No luck. But there are many areas to the west that humans have rarely, if ever, trod. A system of caves this large must have an escape route somewhere," said Julio. "If it is anywhere, it is west. And when someone finds it, I'm going. Even if I'm ninety."
"Well, there's a couple things we found, we haven't figured out what they're good for," said Jynx. "Can you help?"
"Sure, let me take a look," said Julio, taking the coins and then studying them. "Just as well you sought out what they were before trying to use them. Cursed."
"Figures," said Jynx. "Well, I guess thank you anyhow."
"I'll be happy to help with anything else you might find," he said. "And a good day to you."
"Thanks," said Ansel, leading the way out. "Hey--I remember that name," he said as he led the way into Dexter's fletchery shop.
Sunk down behind the counter was a man who was so skinny he might be near invisible if he were standing sideways. Sparse, wispy hair was arranged on a rapidly balding head, and he smiled at them in a disturbingly toothy manner.
"Good day," said Ansel. "What supplies might you sell?"
"I sell archery stuff. Mainly," said Dexter. "Let me know if you want to purchase something."
"You have any tools?" asked Jynx, remembering the woman's words.
He laughed and checked to make sure the store was otherwise empty before saying, "Yes, I sell certain--well--tools. And believe me, nobody is more adept in their use than I. Whenever you want any tools, just remind me you're an adventurer."
"Might you have any jobs for us?" asked Ansel.
"There is a little service you could perform for me, actually. In one of the homes in the northwest corner of the city of Blosk, a certain fellow owns a ring shaped like a snake biting its own tail," he said. "It's not magical, but a certain lady has offered me a sum if I could get it to her. Obtain the ring for me, and I will pay you handsomely."
"Thanks," said Ansel, "we'll look into that when we get there."
Deciding that they had followed up on all the most interesting prospects, the group made their way to the inn, settling down by an archer sitting at the table with a half empty bottle of wine in front of him.
"So, what brings you here?" said Duncan.
"I'm on leave," he replied. "Name's Ramone, and I been running raids against the sliths."
"What do you think about the sliths?" said Duncan. "We only seen one."
He hawked and spit on the floor for emphasis, and said, "Vicious bastards! Tough as nails, and smarter than the kitties. We've been trying to raid this fort they have in the swamp. It's like some major sacred temple, though. We couldn't get near it. Ach, I don't know how we are ever going to hit the island."
"What island?" said Brother Theo, rummaging through his maps.
"The slith island! The slith leader, this ... oh, I can't pronounce it--big slith, lives on an island to the northwest. King's looking for someone to hit it. Fat chance." He paused, thinking for a moment before adding, "I met someone who saw the island once. Name was Chuck. Probably dead now. If you ever meet him, ask him about it." Ramone returned to take another hefty swig of wine, and said, "We'll win this war, but it'll be a bloody, bloody business."
"Yeah, we will," said Ansel.
By this time, a tall thin woman with long brown hair had come over to take orders for food, and then showed the group to the common room, as the merchants had already filled the private rooms.
They spent a long, painful and restless night--surrounded by the loud, drunken merchants on the Dharmon-Silvar run. The beds contained a number of fleas which had hitchhiked to Avernum on the backs of humans and Nephilim.
Leaving Almaria, Ansel turned toward the south wall, saying, "Let's hunt some basilisk."
"You think that's a good idea?" said Rudel.
"Why not?" said Ansel. "You heard the mayor or lord protector or whatever he wants to call hisself."
Several hours of travel brought them to the southern wall of the Great Cave, where they saw a group of fat, slow lizards--no doubt the basilisks they had been told about in Almaria, and while the creatures looked harmless, Rudel and Jynx had explained to the others just how dangerous basilisks were.
It had been a fierce battle, and after the basilisks were dead, lizard steaks carved from the corpses, and a night spent camping, Ansel suggested that they return to Almaria to let them know about the basilisks, sure that the people would be grateful.
"We took care of those basilisks for you," said Ansel.
Looking surprised, Bevan said, "You did it? You actually killed them? Good heavens--I just gave you that task to get rid of you. Still, I suppose that a bargain is a bargain..." He sent a secretary off, who soon returned with a heavy pouch of copper coins.
Handing the bag to Ansel, he said, "Still, assassins are not welcome here in Almaria. I hope you're thinking of moving on soon. Now, I am very busy ..." Clearly nervous, he returned to his papers.
Nonplussed, Ansel led the way back onto the street, and said, "Guess they weren't all that grateful."
"Let's go on to the castle, then," said Duncan.
In agreement, then, they made the two day journey from Almaria to the castle--the place was unquestionably as impressive as Thairl had said, and they reached a very heavily manned guard post. Fortunately, it seemed their good reputation had preceded them, and with a grin, the guards let the group pass on.
Standing at the north end of a gigantic stone outcropping on the edge of the plateau, commanding an awesome view of the Great Cave was the grounds of the Castle. At the edge of the plateau, to the south, stood an amazing sight--a full-fledged castle, formed of gigantic slabs of stone, guards visibly watching from the parapets, and a drawbridge open over a huge chasm. The companions made their way along a narrow, twisting path that led up to the top of the plateau. Constantly, in the distance to the south, they could see the large, spired stone building.
So this is the castle, thought Jynx, aware that it was the largest structure in Avernum--even larger than the Tower of Magi, which had been impressive in its own right, and the center of leadership down here, where King Micah did what he could to keep everything from falling apart.
For the first time, they entered the Castle--the capital of all of Avernum. It was an amazing structure--beautiful and filled with rare craftsmanship. For example, it was the first building they had seen in Avernum with wood floors. Somewhere inside, they knew they would find King Micah, and could only hope that the token was sufficient to grant that he would see them.