Seeking the Dark Magician

The night was still and extremely quiet but the moon was shining brilliantly over the bay. The trio of the vampire, the tomb king, and man in large spiky armor got several stares from the mostly deserted night streets. Looking out over the bay Seros displayed his intimate knowledge of astronomy. The trio waited as if expecting something to happen as the moon gleamed off the bay. A sudden cloud passed in front of the moon bathing the landscape in complete darkness.

It took several minutes for the cloud cover to pass. In the middle of the bay was a small raft with a dark robed figure floating peacefully in the waters.

The Tomb King Zaket VII waited for the the dark cloud to pass by; it revealing the cloaked sorcerer on a small raft in the bay. To this the Old King was confused momentarily. Did this mage expect him to traverse the bay to seek his information? Surely such an insult was not intended. Had the instructions presented to them included the necessity of a water craft the Great King surely would have had one constructed by his servants. To this he did look to his companions for their thoughts, oddly recalling a myth regarding vampires and moving water.

Somewhat unimpressed by the figure's mode of transportation (A raft? Really? Was he trying to give the impression of power, or of utter poverty?), Seros contemplated how he could acquire the magic necessary to conjure a floating Disc for himself. Until such time, he supposed, this figure would have to come to them, rather than the other way around.

The figure waved at the group and motioned for them to enter the water. It was clear as the raft moved closer that it was not the same figure as before. This one was much more frail and didn't have any of the ritualistic arcane tools the previous one possessed. He pulled the raft in a good thirty feet from the dock and motioned once more for them to come to him.

How infuriating.

The Tomb King Zaket VII would have none of this. If the intention was to meet in the bay the invitation of his presence should require a sea vessel. To this the Old King did mutter to himself a curse not spoken among the commoners of his age; a curse usually reserved for on the royalty of court so as all in the room would understand just how serious one might become in reaction. It was only to the King’s benefit that his companions lacked the knowledge of his language, for if they did they may have understood how serious such a minor situation had become to the Whispering King.

To this the Tomb King Zaket VII looked about the port, spotting a man tying his small fishing raft to one of the many docks. “Ushabti, secure us that vessel. And should the man refuse, inform him of the sailor you once had the pleasure of meeting.” To this loyal Ushabti walked to the fisherman docking his boat. The man stood on the dock, inspecting Ushabti for any weakness in its threat. Ushabti did make a motion from the boat to the three standing a few yards away. The man glanced carefully at the three noting the lesser noble, the fruity elf, and the far too serious Chaos Man. To this the proud sailor profusely shook his head; there was to be no deal.

Ushabti to this grievance did turn his eyeless head so slightly, inspecting the man and remembering the words of his Lord. To this Ushabti lifted his breastplate to the man, revealing what appeared to be the sewn together mass of a sailor the fisherman once knew as a raider. His limbs had been tied together around the abdomen of Ushabti creating a sort of belt of flash and bone fused with Ushabti’s already great mass. The rotting face of the raider remained firmly planted within his abandoned, tiny scarabs eating away at the rotting flesh that remained of the face, insects of all sort working their way in out of the face’s mouth. From this did the face speak, “Kill . . . Me”.

The sailor, now weighing his adjusted options quickly handed rope to Ushabti, “Just bring her back in one piece lad. I don’t want none of what’s going on in there” he pointed to Ushabti’s chest. Ushabti seemed pleased with his progress and uttered a sort of clicking sound reminiscent of two knuckles popping from their joints. The sailor did walk a brisk place to his place of residence; Ushabti delivered the small vessel to his master.

The Tomb King Zaket VII looked to his companions, “Ushabti has a way with people, a close connection to everyone he meets.”

The three plus Ushabti loaded themselves on the boat, Ushabti rowing them out to the craft.

Seros watched impassively as the Ushabti acquired a vessel for them, noting with some interest the horrifying mass of flesh in its chest. "I believe I may have known that man," he said to Zaket as he boarded the small craft. "James, something-or-other. Not a terribly adept thug - probably more useful now that he has found a greater purpose. Or, now that a greater purpose has found him, I should say."

The stolen boat brushed up gently against the black robed man's raft. The man gave a slow clap as they approached.

"Excellent you have passed the first test of intelligence." He chuckled. "You'd be surprised how many folks simply jump into the water for a swim. The monsters that lurk beneath the waters surface make short work of them he said pointing to the water tracing a twisting pattern. Looking into the water glimpses of a dark shape could be seen before it suddenly vanished. "Now that you're here it is time for the second test. Do you each have the map?"

"Do you each have the map?"

Seros reflected on this question briefly. They did not, in fact, each have the coin to which this frail servant no doubt referred - there were two coins between the three of them. But that hardly mattered, and Seros was unaccustomed to being tested by his lessers, or indeed anyone (not that he recognized any distinction between those two categories). He produced the coin disinterestedly, letting the moonlight reflect off its crescent moon engraving.
"Would we be here if we did not, minion? I came here to speak with an equal - " (Seros struggled to keep a straight face at that last word) " - not to be interrogated by his attendant."

The Tomb King Zaket VII continued to be displeased; a test of intelligence for the Whispering King? Clearly in the last several centuries the populace of this world had lost their talent at riddles and mysteries. Should the true test of intelligence be whether or not an idiot should swim to a broken rafter then perhaps this dark mage was not worth seeking after all. To this the Old King wondered momentarily.

“Do you each have the map?”

The Tomb King Zaket VII made attempt not to disclose his position. Ushabti however did quickly look to and from Seros and Maelkur knowing that his master did not actually possess a coin. Thoughts streamed as a river of possibilities did make their way through the Great King’s mind; tiny streams wondering of the many possibilities which could occur should he choose. In one he simply grabbed the apprentice and debowled him on the spot, another he gave Maelkur his blessing allowing him a free attack and possibly a pet from the apprentice, still further he imagined whispering to Seros mind influencing him to attack Maelkur at the benefit of them both; securing a coin for the Old King. Ushabti stood ready.

Seros could be heard," - not to be interrogated by his attendant."

The Tomb King Zaket VII spoke, “What use are maps when we are already here?” He let a moment pause, “For that matter, what use are you now that we have already arrived?”

Almost impassively, Maelkur had watched his companions solve the riddle of the water for him. Not that he had not arrived at the same conclusion, but to reveal that he had was not something that he saw need to do. Both Zaket and Seros were competent enough individuals to decipher such a test and Maelkur had felt secure enough in letting them do it. After all, he could simply have secured the raft himself once they failed if it came to that. Bringing his left hand up to rest on the hilt of the magnificent blade he carried sheathed at his waist, Maelkur considered the attendant's question, if he was indeed an attendant. It was a sword he'd been inspired to aquire after seeing the blade that Ushabti carried with him-- a wicked kopesh. Quicksilver, lord of the alleyways and streets, got what he wanted and quickly.

Maelkur wondered with a sly smile if Seros, the one who claimed lordship of the docks and port, knew about his interesting import. Few would be wielding a blade of such notoriety in the city, which is of course why Maelkur decided that Quicksilver should be seen wielding one. The exoticness of the weapon would heighten his mystique and wonder; one must have a weapon without compare to be a swordsman without an equal. Seros might know, he might not. It was unlikely though. Seros might control the docks but there were few places that the beggars and criminals of the lower city could not go unnoticed. Their type of scum existed almost all over the city and was surely no uncommon sight. Thus did the eyes and ears of Quicksilver, and by proxy Maelkur, extend further and wider then most, perhaps all, would suspect.

"I might have a map." Stated Maelkur, his voice almost flippantly mirthful, "But then I might have something better then a map. Or nothing at all. It would depend entirely of course, on who was asking and why they would ask for such a thing."

<OOC: Man we are all going to end up murdering each other are we not?>

Only after everyone else is dead.

After the last group member entered onto the raft the man pushed the small boat back sending it towards the dock as the chaos worshiper immediately spoke up.

- not to be interrogated by his attendant."

"Interrogated? Bah I am doing nothing of the sort. My role is merely an initial test to see that each of you are worthy before approaching the master."

The tomb king spoke next. “What use are maps when we are already here?” He let a moment pause, “For that matter, what use are you now that we have already arrived?”

"What use are the maps? Where do you really think you are exactly?" The man laughed. "Well luckily I am kind enough to tell you. You, good son of Khemri, are on a tiny raft in the middle of the water filled with all sorts of nasty monsters more than willing to eat up even your bony body. And as for what use am I? Well for starters I am the only thing keeping this raft and your lives, by association, safe above water. Also I am taking you to the next place you need to go if you seek the masters power." He pointed a finger at the So watch your tone, I choose who gets by the first test and who does not. Trust me you all need him a lot more than he needs you." The man began to paddle the raft towards the port wall. "And lastly you'll need one of these if you want to survive." He said passing the tomb king one of the moon shaped coins.

The vampire spoke next. "I might have a map... but then I might have something better then a map. Or nothing at all. It would depend entirely of course, on who was asking and why they would ask for such a thing."

The robed man smiled revealing a large toothy smile. "I like this one. Keeps what he knows and doesn't secret. His type will live long here. I hope for your sake you do because I'm only giving out one."

"But who knows, I could be hiding all kinds of useful things, always need an ace in the sleeve so to speak." He gave a loud sigh looking up into the night sky. "In the darkness of Tameria information is power. And you despite your impressive display of arrogance have very little of it. Therefor I am considerable more powerful than all of you."

<Also impressive that all 3 of you posted while I was working on my post.>

*I'll be posting more tomorrow fellas*

"Are you now?" Remarked Maelkur as he took a sweeping step forward to get a better look at the robbed individual. "An interesting assertion. Information is power aye, but only in the way that kindling is fire. That is to say that it is potential power; and only in a position where you stand to gain from it's application or exploitation."

Maelkur only grinned right back at the robed figure. Information was indeed power but information alone would get you little. One also needed the guile and cunning to know where and how to use said information or else it was like a paralyzed man in possession of the Sword of Khaine-- a powerful weapon made useless.

"Logically the question now becomes; just what is it that you stand to gain from this? Perhaps the demise of three rivals, powerful in magic? Or perhaps the loyalty of said rivals." The robed vampire continued, his words laying out a handful of possible scenarios before the group, "... then again, what folly is it to trust the word of a man whom stands before you robed and without admission of identity? My associates have seen my face, though none of us can say the same of you. Perhaps you should deign to share with us some of your information that we may understand each other better."

"My associates have seen my face, though none of us can say the same of you. Perhaps you should deign to share with us some of your information that we may understand each other better."

The man laughed. "You wish to see my face. Very well but it will do you little good." He pulled his hood down revealing himself to be an elderly man with a shaved head. Spotty patches of facial hair dotted his face and he was smiling revealing a set of surprisingly white teeth with about half the amount that should be present. "As for my own motives. I serve my master who wishes to share his power." He laughed again. "I probably have other motives as well but it's no fun if I just tell you."

As he paddled they reached the edge of the pier but he continued paddling underneath. "As for more information you seek? My master wishes to share his power but I have no such desires." He sighed. "You must understand while his power grows the more he shares while mine wanes immensely. Possessing secrets does no good once they cease being secrets."

The raft entered an area of almost complete darkness. The moon's light shielded by the wood above. Only small slivers of light beamed through the tiny cracks in the boards. After moving about fifty feet inland the raft reached a small rock wall.

"Here we are. Hope you all have your maps, keys, whatever." He pointed to small circular hole in the wall. "Well now off you go. One a time please. I can assure you that you wouldn't want to try it any other way."

Seros briefly considered allowing one of the others to go first - this could easily be a trap, after all. But, his impatience far outweighed his caution (as it often did), and he proceeded to place his coin in the small circular hole.

Amongst the many names the Tomb King Zaket VII had listed in his mind he found few who irritated him as much as this man. For the sake of the Triumvirate he would hold his hand at striking down this apprentice but clearly he had been marked for death sometime in the near distant future. He had all the qualities of men that made them weak, and what appeared to be a excusable sense of loyalty to his master; neither qualities were valued.

The Tomb King Zaket VII followed Seros in toe, he would see the mage for himself.

Maelkur merely smiled knowingly at the apprentice with a curt nod of the head, a curious gesture for the vampire who was rarely at a loss for words. The apprentice sounded unhappy with his position, perhaps even bitter of his master who's power sounded as if it had no ceiling to reach and would only continue to grow. The race of men were ever envious of those who had things in vastly greater supply. Jealous of the Elves whom have more time, jealous of the dwarves whom have more gold, jealous of their peers that have more land... always bitter and jealous. He tucked away the piece of information of the apprentice's bitter tone and filed it under "interesting tidbits". Such a morsel would make interesting spending. Giving an informal but sweeping bow, Maelkur would follow behind Seros and Zaket; giving the apprentice a sharkish grin all the while.

Seros placed his coin into the small opening there was a click as a section of the wall opened up. As he moved towards the robed man stopped him. "Don't forget your coin lad." Seros picked up his coin and looked at it. The moon symbol had vanished now replaced with the image of a black serpent. Seros stopped again once he realized there was nowhere to actually go. Zaket and Maelkur both placed their coins into the slot with the same effect. Looking down into the passageway revealed only more water.

Seros turned to the man. "I am taking your raft now old man"

The old man grinned. "Suit yourself. I was planning on leading you in but it'll work better this way." Holding the paddle he stepped off into the water. Amazingly he stayed afloat his feet resting on the water like it was solid ground. Giving the boat a small push with his boot the raft floated on into the passage. "There you go lads. Have fun, good luck, all that stuff." As they began drifting along without a paddle the old man waved at them as they floated into the darkness. "Oh I forgot to tell you fellas something you might find important." Three angry glares turned towards him. "There are angry blood god worshiping fellers I let in there a little earlier. They wanted me to take them to the master to gain his power... or was it kill him I forget. Anyhoot they won't be able to get any further so they are probably pretty mad for being stuck in a rocky cavern for three days." He shrugged. "Oh well. I'm sure you guys will be fine."

He waved once more holding the paddle in his other hand and skipped off back towards the middle of the bay.

As the walls closed behind them setting off the trap that was to be their next test the Tomb King Zaket VII thought it wise to vocalize.

"Fellow allies, I will not offend each of you with the pretense that this alliance will last for any amount of relevant time, however here and now I make a vow in which I hope you both join; that the man who was just in our company be slain in some horrific fashion."

To this the set forth his Talon Staff in a gesture to the Vampire and the Chaos man.

"I have added him to my list, I assure you. Right below that insufferable prophet."

The trio floated down the passageway in complete darkness for quite some time. How long to say was impossible. Soon however a metallic banging sound could be heard from further up the passageway and a dull white light could be seen further down the tunnel. As the raft slowly reached the source a muscular figure could be seen banging on the what seemed to be a large circular door at the end of the tunnel. The door stood directly in the path of the stream and the water seemed to flow ahead underneath it.

The muscular man turned around revealing red tattoos and markings all over his face. The man was clearly from the northern tribes. He was shirtless, and his long beard was twisted and unkempt. He drew a large cutlass and pulled his wooden shield from his back and yelled pointing towards the trio as they floated into the chamber. "Khorne has rewarded our patience. Blood for the blood god!" Three more figures emerged from the rocks. The first and second came from the right wielding a heavy axe and shortsword, and oversized cleaver respectively. The one from the left emerged with a large pile of spiked chain with skulls and shrunken heads dangling from several of the ends.

Initiative- D100 + 2* Ag
Marauder 1 (Cutlass + Shield) 36 +68 = 104
Marauder 2 (Axe & Sword) 36 +10 = 46
Marauder 3 (Cleaver) 24 +40 = 64
Marauder 4 (Spiked Chain) 50 +100 = 150
Seros 20 +7 = 27
Zaket 20 +5 = 25
Maelkur 40 + 75 + 49 = 164

Initiative Order
Maelkur
M4
M1
M3
M2
Seros
Zaket


Battlefield

_____	______	_____	_____	Seros Maelkur Zaket	_____
	M1	M2/M3			M4

Maelkur grinned eagerly at Zaket's proclimation and nodded his head in assent. While the elf-vampire held no animosity towards the apprentice for his misguided beliefs on knowledge and the power that it held, he felt particularly prickly about being locked in a hole full of Blood God worshippers. The followers of Khrone were well known for being highly resistant to magic, which was Maelkur's most formidable weapon despite his ability with a blade. Letting the raft float on, Maelkur was the first to notice the marauders as they launched their attack due to his keen elven senses which were only honed further by his undead curse. As the marauder appeared from the skull pile, the vampire turned and pointed a single finger at him, whispering a single word of destruction from the High Lore to summon the marauder's demise from the winds.

<Actions>
Cast Khaine's Fury on M4.

Casting Roll
50+40+5(HA)-30= 65<57 Failed to cast.

Miscast
90<52 No miscast.

The words faded from Maelkur's lips as quickly as they came. This dark cavern seemed to be interfering with the normal winds of magic. Maelkur cursed silently as it would be difficult to cast here.

The marauder wielding the chain laughed as the vampire failed to summon the winds of magic against him.

"Khorne protects me!" He yelled swinging the chain around and launching it towards the adventurers riding the raft.

(Attack Seros- Weapon has reach)

Hit Roll
30-25+50=55<99 Hit

Wound Roll
12-24+50=38<39 Wound!

Critical Strike Chance
95<32 Normal Strike

5-8 + S-T/5 - 5
6 + 2 - 5 = 3 damage.

The spiked chain flew out piercing the thick armor of Seros's thigh. The spiked tip lodged itself deep into his flesh, blood beginning to pour from the wound.

Status
M1 Perfect
M2 Perfect
M3 Perfect
M4 Perfect
Seros 15/18 Good
Maelkur 20/20 Perfect
Zaket 21/21 Perfect

Marauder 1

*Dash 2 zones right*

The marauder leading the group ran forward. Charging towards the raft he yelled a warcry inciting the others to follow suit and move forward.

Marauder 3 & 2

The two other marauders followed the first one. The one with the sword and axe clashed his weapons together yelling challenges in the speech of the northmen. The berserker with the great axe began to spin the blade in large circles around his head.

*Maruaders 3 & 2 pump themselves up (Temporary +10S bonus) and move forward one zone.*


Battlefield

_____	______	_____	_____	Seros Maelkur Zaket	_____
			M1 M2 M3		M4

Seros and Zaket your up.