A/N: The world of Exile (Avernum) remains the property of Jeff Vogel and Spiderweb Software, not me. I promise, following this bit of non-profit fun, to return to the game unharmed the following persons: Marjorie, Kendra, Geoffrey, the Ratbane Clan and Mrrmrrrr, Bohen-Ihrno, Abra, Miranda, Rabellino, Black, and Terak; and places: Lorelei, Calloc, the Defiled Crypt, the Remote Cavern, and Erox.
Returning to Lorelei, they enjoyed another night in their house—despite Marjorie's grumpiness when she brought them their breakfast.
"Someday, I'm going to have to look into whether it's necessary for the caretaker to be a particular person," said Anicka, once Marjorie was safely out of hearing distance.
"Who would you get?" said Phaedra.
"I don't know," said Anicka. "But someone who doesn't act like her."
"Lots of luck," said Angarahad.
"I mean, she can't live forever, so it has to be the case that someone would be able to fill the shoes," said Anicka. "Oh, well—that's something for someday when we're done saving the world. We need to go visit the Guild again."
Breakfast finished, they left the house, finding the streets of Lorelei a little more populated than they had been at first, and no more regular bombardments of boulders. They walked into Kendra's unbusy glove shop, and closed the door to the street outside.
"We've a need to visit the Guild again," said Anicka.
"No problem," she said, reaching under the table and pressing something.
Geoffrey smiled as he saw them return, and said, "How may I be of assistance to you?"
"We've been about, and we'd like to purchase the right of passage," said Anicka. "Even though we're really not ready to go yet ... Is there an expiration, and we should wait?"
"No, no, you'll be fine," said Geoffrey. "Permission once granted is permanent. Barring certain misbehavior."
"Understood," said Anicka. "We'll buy the permission, then."
"The tunnel is in a secret valley, about sixty miles east of Blackcrag Fortress," said Geoffrey collecting the cash. "Enter, and the thieves there will explain where to go. And good luck when you do."
"And about pretending to be Anama members?" said Anicka. "I know we don't really want to buy into their freak ways, even though I heard it was easy to con our way in."
"I've got a set of rings," said Geoffrey. "Do you have the gold?"
"Yes," said Anicka. "We'll buy the rings."
He handed them each the ring after the money was given, and they tried them on, only to find they didn't come off again.
Geoffrey laughed, and said, "No returns!"
"All right," said Anicka. "Thank you."
They left Lorelei then, and began exploring to the northwest, finding a band of pitiful, starving nephilim fleeing into the hills.
"Suppose we can help them?" said Anicka.
"We can try," said Frrrrrr. "They may see me and decide we're not a threat."
However, the nephilim remained hidden, and they moved on, finding a tunnel with a tangible sense of unease about the place.
"No animals have sheltered in here," said Frrrrrr. "That's odd."
"This place just seems ... wrong," said Angarahad.
They continued in, and found two vahnatai sitting around a fire.
One vahnatai stood and bowed deeply to the group, and said, "I am being pleased to see you. I am named Bohen-Ihrno."
The other vahnatai, however, looked extremely ill, and coughed, and said, "I am Abra."
"I'm surprised to see vahnatai here," said Anicka.
"I am being pleased you be having you here. We were knowing Avernites were up here," said Bohen-Ihrno, "but were not expecting them to be visiting this site."
"Aren't you worried about the monster plagues?" said Daniel.
"No. None of them come in here," said Bohen-Ihrno. "None come in here. Living things stay from here."
"Are you unwell, Abra?" said Angarahad.
Abra looked at them with glazed over eyes, and said, "I and Bohen do missions for our people. At times we go where it makes us weak."
"What sort of missions do you do with Bohen?" asked Nathan.
"For many years, she and I have been going from place to place, reviving sleeping vahnatai, killing hydras and such. But this mission has been the worst," replied Abra. "Every few centuries, we vahnatai hibernate to let our caves replenish ourselves. A few years ago, our clan's hibernation ended, and we went to help revive our people. In fact, a few humans aided us on one such occasion. They were the first humans to be visiting our lands. It was being a great honor."
"Where have hydras been a problem?" asked Anicka.
"Hydras live in our caves, and are always being pests," replied Abra. "Sometimes, they must be controlled."
"So, why is this mission the worst?" said Daniel.
"The surface is awful, no place for one of us," replied Abra. "Worse, we want to find what is in these caves, but there are many monsters. Vahnavoi and hraithes, vahnatai evil undead, who must have been in these ruins for the many centuries, they have been here. We don't know who made this place, but we suspect it was for the imprisonment of dark souls. But we will not know without someone helping us."
"What about the surface disagrees with you?" said Phaedra.
"The heat! The lack of pressure in the air! The oddness of the air. We cannot go outside, because your sun burns us agonizingly," said Abra. "Every moment is a difficulty to us. We wish to return home."
"What is this place?" said Angarahad.
"It is being a great mystery. It is a vahnatai ruin, but at the surface of the world, where our people are thought to have never been," said Bohen-Ihrno. "It is greatly ancient, and greatly interesting."
"Do you have any clues to what this place is for?" asked Anicka.
"Know nothing more so far. We vahnatai are always having great need to know of our ancestors. For them to have been here is one of the greatest things we may have been wanting to be knowing," replied Bohen-Ihrno. "Unfortunately, there is a problem, and if you will be helping us, perhaps you can be rewarded."
"Sure," said Anicka. "We'd like to help."
"This ruin may be invaluable to us, helping understanding our ancestors and give us incredible new knowledge. We are supposed to report it back to our people, but alas, there are undead inside which are of no use to us," said Bohen-Ihrno. "Go in there, kill undead, and find if anything of value to us is in there, and we will reward you."
"So, what do you think of Avernites returning to the surface?" said Phaedra.
"We were having much pleasure in our allies returning to the surface," said Bohen-Ihrno. "In fact, it was Avernum spies who were detecting this site and reporting it to us so we could visit."
"We'll see what we can find," said Anicka.
They went inside, piercing the barriers, and recognized the ruins as vahnatai architecture of an archaic design. Judging by the age, the reasonably good shape of the room suggested enchantments were at work.
Exploring here, they found a few of the hraithes and chitraches, along with a peculiar platinum key. Then, they moved into the honeycomb of narrow twisting passage, a soft whispering, words beyond discerning, could be heard.
Moving through the honeycomb, they managed to deal with the damaging icy cold and whirling blades which alternately filled the air, along with the undead crypt guardians. At last, they came to a door with a small platinum keyhole, despite the age, completely uncorroded. Anicka carefully fit the platinum key in, and the door unlocked.
Beyond, there were a series of vahnatai crypts, oppressively old and radiating some sort of dark energy, the sounds of hissing and moaning in the distance.
"I never would've thought they'd come up this close to the surface," said Angarahad.
"I know," said Anicka. "I was surprised to hear they were in Upper Avernum."
They continued searching, fighting off the undead vahnatai, and finally found several crystals on pedestals. They were large, blue, and beautiful, but seemingly inert. However, on closer inspection, a tiny light was flickering inside each one, and it sounded like something was whispering.
"There are ancient vahnatai spirits in here," said Angarahad. "We will have to tell Bohen-Ihrno and Abra."
"Well, let's go back and tell them," said Anicka.
Returning to the vahnatai by the fire, Anicka said, "We've explored the crypt a bit."
"What have you found?" said Bohen-Ihrno.
"There were six crystals, and they seemed to have spirits in them," said Angarahad.
"Now that we know something here is valuable, it is time for us to report to our people. We must depart," said Bohen-Ihrno. "You have done us a great good. As a reward, any other treasure in there is now yours. Also I will trade know for know. I will teach you some of our lore, the knowing of magic can help you."
After several hours of listening to Bohen-Ihrno, Daniel asked, "When will you depart, then?"
"Yes, it is time for us to go and report. Soon, our learned can explore and learn our past," said Bohen-Ihrno, and she and Abra joined hands, and Bohen cast a spell and in a moment, they were gone.
They left, and continued explorations, finding an isolated cluster of farms far from any town or fort. The farmers, suspicious and reasonably armed, came out to greet the group, and finally became guardedly friendly. The folk provided an excellent home-cooked meal as the farmers explained that they had been motivated to move to avoid the Empire's control, while Anicka related the news from the rest of Valorim. Refreshed by the meal, they left the farmers to their lives.
Finally, they found their way into Calloc. In one corner of the inn was a woman sitting and watching the group silently.
"Hi," said Anicka, as they took a seat.
"Greetings, I'm Miranda," she replied.
"This is a dangerous area to live in, isn't it?" said Anicka.
"Agreed, but Footracer Province was worse," replied Miranda.
"Was it?" said Anicka.
"Yes, it is a ruin now. To the north, walled in, abandoned by the Empire. It was my home. My family lived there," said Miranda. "All gone, lost to the monsters."
"So what do you do in Calloc?" said Anicka.
"I wait, I plan," said Miranda, "I seek a purpose."
"Why do you need a purpose?" said Daniel.
"Because my old life is gone. I was a hunter in Footracer province. I hunted dangerous monsters. But then more monsters came than we could ever handle, and we had to flee. Those of us who weren't killed, that is," said Miranda. "And now I wait."
"What do you wait for?" said Anicka.
"I wait for a way to get back into Footracer Province, to break through the walls and fight the alien beasts again," said Miranda. "To reclaim my home. I can't do it alone, though."
"I see. That's a sad tale," said Daniel. "Best of luck to you."
"I need luck. All fortune has abandoned me, abandoned all of us," said Miranda. "I wish you safe travels."
Angarahad looked to the innkeeper, who was also wearing a mayor's sash.
He said, "I'm Rabellino. Welcome to the beautiful town of Calloc."
"What can be had here?" asked Angarahad.
"Well, we have fine luxury rooms for only twelve gold for the night, and delciious steaks for five. Or," he said with distaste, "are you here on mayor business?"
"We'll take the meal," said Angarahad.
"Need help with anything?" said Anicka.
"We could use more adventurers around here," said Rabellino. "The army deserters cause no end of trouble. And worse, we had the trouble with raiders."
"What sort of raids have there been?" asked Daniel.
"We've had lots of trouble with people coming in and stealing our food," said Rabellino. "Are you interested in helping us deal with them?"
"Sure," said Anicka. "Tell us more about your situation."
"For months, our crops have been torn up, and our animals have been stolen. We know what's causing it now. One of our farmers was out at midnight, and he saw nephilim around his crops," said Rabellino. "These foul creatures must be dealt with! Their clan lives in the mountains to the northeast. Deal with them, and we will pay you."
"And would you need our help in dealing with the Empire deserters?" asked Anicka.
"No, that's for the Empire to deal with. It's understandable, really, what with the monsters everywhere, some of our so-called protectors are more than willing to turn coward and run, looting and stealing the possessions of good citizens," said Rabellino. "Gut 'em all, that's what I say."
After spending the night, they met a mage who looked ill, but she was nonetheless working on a long, intricate scroll.
"I am Black," she said, coughing heavily. "Welcome."
"What are you working on?" asked Phaedra.
"Just some notes. Some thoughts I have about different ..." she was again interrupted by her cough. "Excuse me, I'm not well," she said, and coughed again. "I teach magic."
"If it's not too much of a drain, could you teach us some magic?" asked Phaedra.
"Not to your kind," said Black with a pointed look at the Anama rings they were wearing.
"Have a good day, then," said Anicka, leading the way out, as she didn't want to go through the process of explaining that the rings were fake.
Continuing around town, they saw a group of Empire soldiers, and moved to greet them before noticing the state of their armor and weapons. According to rumors, they had heard many Empire soldiers had fled in the face of the waves of monsters, and that the penalty for doing so was slow, painful death. Undoubtedly, that was the reason these soldiers went immediately on the attack.
The soldiers were defeated, and they reported this event to the mayor, who expressed no sorrow at the death of the deserters. Then, remembering what he had said, they left Calloc and searched for the fierce nephilim they had been told about. What they found, however, were thirty unarmed, mostly underfed nephilim huddled around a bonfire eating thin stew.
The moment that they saw the group, they started for the hills, while a pathetic force remained behind to fight the group of adventurers. Then, seeing that no attack was forthcoming, one moved forward.
"I am Mrrmrrrr, the chief of the Ratbane clan. As you can see, our clan has fallen on hard times. Why do you come to speak with us?" said the nephilim.
"Well, the people of Calloc said that you were raiding their crops," said Anicka, doubt in her voice.
Looking alarmed, Mrrmrrrr said, "Raiding Calloc? That would be our clan's final suicide! No, we were hunting, tracking several bears whose spoor we had found. We found the bears eating crops by Calloc, however we dared not attack. The bears were led by ursagi! They were too smart and fierce for us, so we fled, but not before the humans saw us. We followed the ursagi, and they live a little east of Calloc. They are the ones you hunt, not us."
Asking a few more questions, they learned nothing more of significance, except that the chief planned to lead his clan elsewhere if Calloc were sending out bounty hunters after them.
"Perhaps we can help," said Anicka. "If we prove that the ursagi are the problem."
"We may try," said Frrrrrr.
They followed the directions, and found a foul, stinking cave entrance, well-disguised by the pile of dead brush.
They returned to Calloc, and reported to Rabellino, "Turns out that ursagi were what was raiding," said Anicka. "They're dead now, shouldn't have more trouble."
"Wonderful! And indeed the raids have stopped," said Rabellino. "Pity you couldn't have killed those stinking nephilim. Pests, the lot of them."
"Those are the breaks, I guess," said Anicka. "We wouldn't want to kill innocents."
By the time they returned to where they had met the Ratbane clan, the nephilim had indeed departed for parts unknown. They continued wandering, and in a small clearing, found a filthy man huddled by a small fire.
He jumped up and screamed, "No, I will not go back!" He started to run, but then he paused, recognizing them. "Wait! You aren't with the army. You're those adventurers who've been wandering around. I heard about you before I ... I ... ended up here. Friends, I need money. For one thousand gold, I'll tell you a secret."
"It better be good," warned Anicka.
"Thank you, friend. Now I can get myself established again," he said, putting the coins away. "Now, for the information. I knew an Empire captain. He did some looting. Well, theft. He hid it in Vila, in the back room of the inn. Then a wight got him. This was years ago, when we were trying to save that island from the undead. I can't go to Vila, but you can. Look for the treasure. That's all I can say. Now, I must go."
Before they could react, he had run off.
"Where's Vila?" said Anicka.
"Dunno," said Daniel. "Let's look over our maps."
"Don't see Vila anywhere," said Anicka, grumbling. "Thousand gold for nothing useful."
"We'll find it," said Daniel, and they continued wandering.
Further along, they found a band of refugees huddled about a fire, and in talking with them, learned that these refugees were from the vicinity of Lorelei. The group told the tale of their raid on the giants, and the destruction of the barrier, thus re-igniting the war between giants and troglodytes so that the humans were nearly left alone.
The refugees listened in awe, gazing upon the members of the group as though they were divine or some sort of immortal. Some began to strike camp, and others asked for more details and embellishments on the tale, and after an hour, the refugees' pitiful belongings were safely packed, and they began to head for home.
It was in this area, that they stumbled upon the cave which, after a very short time, they realized was the cave of the black halberd map from Masok, and following the instructions of the map, they then fought against many rakshasi—a very difficult fight given the rakshasi invulnerability to magic, and finally found the black halberd tucked away in a well-protected chest. Gathering their loot, they left the cave to continue their explorations of Valorim.
A local militia met them and greeted them as they continued wandering just at the start (or end) of a road.
One of the soldiers said, "If you need a place to rest, go to Erox. It's not far to the south. The inn there is cheap and comfortable."
The guards seemed to be watching them with awe, and they could just overhear the whispers, "That's them! The warriors from Avernum. It's really them!"
They continued down the road to Erox, finding the place abandoned, with a peculiar sweet smell in the air.
"There's something terribly wrong here," said Angarahad. "I just don't know what ..."
"I know," said Anicka. "Maybe not such a good place to spend the night."
Oddly, there was a man within what appeared to be the inn, and he smiled and greeted them.
"I am Terak," he said. "Welcome to Erox. Would you like a place to rest?"
"Not many people about," said Anicka. "What are you doing here?"
"Well, not much. I just look after Erox, what's left of it," said Terak. "I can offer you little hospitality."
"Can you offer any hospitality?" said Nathan.
He grinned toothily and said, "The inn has a room you can rest in if you want. The northern one. I sleep in the southern one. And if you're interested, plenty of wine and food got left behind. It's so lonely to drink alone. Some of the finest wine you'll ever taste is in the chest behind the bar. Help yourself! It's all free. Same with whatever food you see."
"Why is Erox so empty?" said Daniel.
"We're a port village, pretty isolated, as you've seen," said Terak. "We depended on the ships that passed by. We used to have lots, they brought goods, and paid for use of our little safe haven. Then the quarantine happened. No ships can go from here to the rest of the Empire. No more ships means no more supplies coming here. No supplies, no Erox. Most people abandoned our little village."
"That's a shame," said Frrrrrr.
"Can you blame them? No supplies and no ships? Totally isolated?" said Terak, waving toward the north, "Vulnerable to whatever nasties may be out there?"
"I see your point," said Anicka.
"Good. Never knowing when one will wake up to feel the teeth sinking lovingly into your throat? That's if you're lucky! Now the gazers, they'll delight in your agonies for days before mercifully devouring you," said Terak. "No, I can't blame people for leaving!" Terak started to laugh, almost on the edge of a hysteria.
"I keep smelling something," said Phaedra. "Do you know what it is?"
"I don't smell anything," said Terak with a shrug.
They moved into the room, posting a guard when they rested. However, as the night wore on, the sweet smell seemed to dull the senses, and even the guard drifted off. Then there was an amazing stroke of luck—the first creature in stumbled over a chair, waking everyone.
After defeating all the rakshasi lurking about the abandoned village, they managed to get their rest in the room, and after eating, decided to head out.
"That militia might not be what they seemed either," said Angarahad. "We should be very wary if we meet them. How could they not have known what had befallen Erox?"
"You're right," said Anicka. "Bet you anything that they'll turn out to be rakshasi in disguise when we see them again."
Indeed, as they set out on the road, the group which had seemed to be militia proved to be three rakshasi in charge of the group. There was no time to find out if the regular men were under some sort of mind control, as they were fully intent on killing the group of adventurers—and soon rakshasi and human alike were dead, and Anicka's group tended to the dead and continued on their way, deciding that the best course of action now was to make haste for Lorelei for some well-deserved rest.