Post by Preedy1978 on Apr 28, 2004 11:51:53 GMT
A knock at the main hatch of the houseboat woke Karl from his sleep. Events of recent days had left the albino tired, and he was sleeping more as a result.
"Alright, hang on, I'm coming!" Grumbling, he put on a shirt and trousers and made his way to the hatch.
Upon reaching it, he threw the door open, and to his surprise, Zachaz, a one time lodger of his, was standing at the entrance. "what the hell do you want?" Karl breathed, face creasing with a certain amount of disgust at the sight of Zachaz. "Nice to see you treat 'old friends' with such hospitality Karl!" Zachaz replied with an oily tone to his voice. "I would have thought you would be pleased to see me!"
Karl snorts "What do you want Zachaz, skip the pleasantries and skip to it, I dont like having my rest disturbed unless it is for good reason, as you well know!"
"Ahhh, straight to the point I see Karl, very well. May I come in? Thank you." Zachaz brushes past Karl with cat-like agility with no pause for reply from Karl. Sighing, Karl shuts the hatch behind him, and steps back into the main room, where Zachaz has already sat down, drumming the fingers of his skeletal hand upon the arm of a couch.
"Good to see you are well Karl, I had wondered, as we all did, about your safety. I take it Mala was pleased to see you?" A small smirk appears upon the features of Zachaz's face.
"No, I haven't seen Mala yet Zachaz."
"Oh really? Why is that? Too busy to see her? Or not interested eh? " A mocking chuckle accompanies the last of his words, which sounds more like a stuttering hiss.
"None of your business Elf!" Karl roars at the necromancer, clearly losing his temper. "The reasons are mine, and mine alone!"
"Of course, of course, dear man! I did not mean to imply otherwise! Its just that you must be just 'dying' to see your children! Surely that is so?" A mock innocent expression appears upon the face of the elf, accompanied by a slight sneering smile.
"Look...Mala broke up with me, ok? She made it quite clear how she felt. Even though I had the best of intentions, those intentions were not good enough for her, ok? As for the children...." Karl pauses, and a look of sadness creases his face "I will see them...I am just...not ready to do so yet."
"Of course, of course. But I am not here to chat family with you my dear friend!" Once again, the mocking tone in Zachaz's voice is paramount. "I am here to talk about something else."
"Oh, what is that?"
"Its about this cult, Karl." Zachaz's voice was serious, and this caused Karl to hold back a sharp retort. "What about it now? "
"Karl...its more about these 'Words Of Power' that they are trying to re-aquire" Once again, no sign of sarcasm in the voice of the Necromancer.
"Ok, I'm listening." Karl was now very intently looking at his unwanted guest with sharp icy blue eyes.
"They do NOT originate from this isle Karl, surely you must know that....they are a summoning 'aid'. To help in the aid of summoning powerful creatures from specified places. Now..you know that they intend to summon Damien Swift using these words dont you?"
Karl nods once, with a feeling of dread slowly growing stronger within him. he had never seen Zachaz so intent, or serious before in all the time he had known him.
"Well...they dont need the papers they are written on...these papers are the words yes, but they are also...something else as well..."
Karl's face must have showed confusion, because Zachaz explained: "Look, when the ritual is cast, using these words, the actual parchments containing the words arent needed, anyone who can read these words can committ them to memory fool! You can bet all the money in the King's treasury on the fact that this Cult already know the words, they merely seek the words for the 'other' power that each scroll contains!"
"You serious! They can cast this ritual at any time? Why havent they already then? I remember Dorsis all too well, but even he didnt know why the ritual wasnt cast already! Damien released and mass carnage was there goal!" Karl was now pacing, with a rather worried cast to his face.
"Like I said, Karl, its the 'other' power the scrolls each contain...each scroll has the power to summon a 'mirror image' of the original they are trying to summon...but only if they have all 6 of them.....do you understand what that means Karl?"
Silence filled the room for a few minutes, with Karl finally breaking it: " So, with these scrolls in there hands, they can summon SIX more Damien Swifts!!? How is that possible?!"
" It is an adaption of an old, outdated mirror image spell, albeit a MUCH more powerful version. But that is irrelevant, what is relevant is that these versions can be controlled by whoever summoned them. Six controlled Damien Swifts, with no minds, but with the raw power and abilities of the original...think how strong that would make this cult then Karl....they would be unstoppable."
"What if they dont have all of these Words of power? I know that they are missing 2 of them."
"Then they can use the scrolls that the words are on to open up a portal to a random plane for a small time, with no control over who or what comes through it. That would be bad, but not as bad as the alternative."
Another silence fills the room, the rushing sound of the tide can be heard from where they stand, with the soft chirruping of birds, calling out the start of a new day. Once again, Karl is the person to break the silence. "How do you know so much about thses words of power?"
"Why Karl...who do you think made them?"
"YOU made them?!"
"Yes, a long time ago...long before I even knew this Island existed, I made them with the intention to bring back someone dear to me. They did not do what I wished them to, so I sold them to the highest bidder."
"You did what?!" Karl reaches for his sword lying on the table. "I should run you through for such an act! You have caused much trouble for what you have done! People have died! This cult has caused so much harm!"
Zachaz raises his skeletal arm "Silence fool, I could kill you with a mere touch now if I so wished it! A mere WORD and you would be dust!!" Karl backs away uneasily. "But no.." Zachaz continues as he rises "I will not...i came here to warn you, and to fill you in on these words I created, that is all. Good day Karl Yarrik, I hope for all our sakes you and your friends can thwart this cult!" With that, Zachaz gestures, and fades quickly from view completely, as if he was never there at all.
Karl sits down upon the edge of his bed in the same room for a long time, thinking over what the necromancer said, and what he can do to prepare for what is to come.
"Alright, hang on, I'm coming!" Grumbling, he put on a shirt and trousers and made his way to the hatch.
Upon reaching it, he threw the door open, and to his surprise, Zachaz, a one time lodger of his, was standing at the entrance. "what the hell do you want?" Karl breathed, face creasing with a certain amount of disgust at the sight of Zachaz. "Nice to see you treat 'old friends' with such hospitality Karl!" Zachaz replied with an oily tone to his voice. "I would have thought you would be pleased to see me!"
Karl snorts "What do you want Zachaz, skip the pleasantries and skip to it, I dont like having my rest disturbed unless it is for good reason, as you well know!"
"Ahhh, straight to the point I see Karl, very well. May I come in? Thank you." Zachaz brushes past Karl with cat-like agility with no pause for reply from Karl. Sighing, Karl shuts the hatch behind him, and steps back into the main room, where Zachaz has already sat down, drumming the fingers of his skeletal hand upon the arm of a couch.
"Good to see you are well Karl, I had wondered, as we all did, about your safety. I take it Mala was pleased to see you?" A small smirk appears upon the features of Zachaz's face.
"No, I haven't seen Mala yet Zachaz."
"Oh really? Why is that? Too busy to see her? Or not interested eh? " A mocking chuckle accompanies the last of his words, which sounds more like a stuttering hiss.
"None of your business Elf!" Karl roars at the necromancer, clearly losing his temper. "The reasons are mine, and mine alone!"
"Of course, of course, dear man! I did not mean to imply otherwise! Its just that you must be just 'dying' to see your children! Surely that is so?" A mock innocent expression appears upon the face of the elf, accompanied by a slight sneering smile.
"Look...Mala broke up with me, ok? She made it quite clear how she felt. Even though I had the best of intentions, those intentions were not good enough for her, ok? As for the children...." Karl pauses, and a look of sadness creases his face "I will see them...I am just...not ready to do so yet."
"Of course, of course. But I am not here to chat family with you my dear friend!" Once again, the mocking tone in Zachaz's voice is paramount. "I am here to talk about something else."
"Oh, what is that?"
"Its about this cult, Karl." Zachaz's voice was serious, and this caused Karl to hold back a sharp retort. "What about it now? "
"Karl...its more about these 'Words Of Power' that they are trying to re-aquire" Once again, no sign of sarcasm in the voice of the Necromancer.
"Ok, I'm listening." Karl was now very intently looking at his unwanted guest with sharp icy blue eyes.
"They do NOT originate from this isle Karl, surely you must know that....they are a summoning 'aid'. To help in the aid of summoning powerful creatures from specified places. Now..you know that they intend to summon Damien Swift using these words dont you?"
Karl nods once, with a feeling of dread slowly growing stronger within him. he had never seen Zachaz so intent, or serious before in all the time he had known him.
"Well...they dont need the papers they are written on...these papers are the words yes, but they are also...something else as well..."
Karl's face must have showed confusion, because Zachaz explained: "Look, when the ritual is cast, using these words, the actual parchments containing the words arent needed, anyone who can read these words can committ them to memory fool! You can bet all the money in the King's treasury on the fact that this Cult already know the words, they merely seek the words for the 'other' power that each scroll contains!"
"You serious! They can cast this ritual at any time? Why havent they already then? I remember Dorsis all too well, but even he didnt know why the ritual wasnt cast already! Damien released and mass carnage was there goal!" Karl was now pacing, with a rather worried cast to his face.
"Like I said, Karl, its the 'other' power the scrolls each contain...each scroll has the power to summon a 'mirror image' of the original they are trying to summon...but only if they have all 6 of them.....do you understand what that means Karl?"
Silence filled the room for a few minutes, with Karl finally breaking it: " So, with these scrolls in there hands, they can summon SIX more Damien Swifts!!? How is that possible?!"
" It is an adaption of an old, outdated mirror image spell, albeit a MUCH more powerful version. But that is irrelevant, what is relevant is that these versions can be controlled by whoever summoned them. Six controlled Damien Swifts, with no minds, but with the raw power and abilities of the original...think how strong that would make this cult then Karl....they would be unstoppable."
"What if they dont have all of these Words of power? I know that they are missing 2 of them."
"Then they can use the scrolls that the words are on to open up a portal to a random plane for a small time, with no control over who or what comes through it. That would be bad, but not as bad as the alternative."
Another silence fills the room, the rushing sound of the tide can be heard from where they stand, with the soft chirruping of birds, calling out the start of a new day. Once again, Karl is the person to break the silence. "How do you know so much about thses words of power?"
"Why Karl...who do you think made them?"
"YOU made them?!"
"Yes, a long time ago...long before I even knew this Island existed, I made them with the intention to bring back someone dear to me. They did not do what I wished them to, so I sold them to the highest bidder."
"You did what?!" Karl reaches for his sword lying on the table. "I should run you through for such an act! You have caused much trouble for what you have done! People have died! This cult has caused so much harm!"
Zachaz raises his skeletal arm "Silence fool, I could kill you with a mere touch now if I so wished it! A mere WORD and you would be dust!!" Karl backs away uneasily. "But no.." Zachaz continues as he rises "I will not...i came here to warn you, and to fill you in on these words I created, that is all. Good day Karl Yarrik, I hope for all our sakes you and your friends can thwart this cult!" With that, Zachaz gestures, and fades quickly from view completely, as if he was never there at all.
Karl sits down upon the edge of his bed in the same room for a long time, thinking over what the necromancer said, and what he can do to prepare for what is to come.