October 12, 2008

An Afternoon at the Keep
by Pode

"Lich? What is a Lich?!" I asked.
"..uh..you know..the, uh..an undead thing somewhere in the Keep.." replied Antony.
"Let's slice through their defenses for old times' sake and see what's happening with the Fire Giants since no one else seems to be up to anything," he said.

So with wreckless abandon, that began our adventure that afternoon leaving the safety of the city gates of Trellor in search of some fun. Antony insisted we must be quick. We raced into the wilderness southbound to find this "Lich".

Excitement overwhelmed my senses on this mad dash to infiltrate the Keep. We swiftly dashed through the lush green wilderness south of Trellor following the coastline until we hit the rocky slopes signature of the Fire Giant's territory. Upon seeing these familiar slopes a tickling shiver leaped down my spine. Once there we conjured numerous spells of protection and awareness before rushing headlong into the darkness. Sneaking about the pitch black and keeping a tight grouping we passed as the breeze by the Fire Giant guards. Without a hitch we suddenly found ourselves deep into the keep. In our search for the Lich in the deep darkness we found masters of unique talents who, albeit put up a fight, fell to our powerful blows.

They were no match for our superior equipment nor our intimate knowledge of combat. We subtly became comfortable in this most dangerous of places. The feelings of excitement and fear were tamed by confidence and pride in our equipment and wit.

Soon we made our way to the Lich and immediately began showering an assortment of magical attacks towards it. We quickly realized the Lich wasn't going to go down easy like the other beasts we had encountered this far. We became so intently focused on our tactics that we did not notice the great mage Makaveli until he was upon us.

Fear sent a shocking cold paralyzing jolt in all my muscles. I quickly realized that Antony and I were in quite a predicament. Makaveli had a legendary malediction and here we are in mid-combat being wounded by the Lich. Without so much as a word, Antony and I reacted as one by fleeing the room and healing each other of the damage dealt by the Lich.

Before we finished healing each other's wounds a brilliant burst of energy smoldered the air and sent intense vibrations throughout the room. After the initial confusion it was clear Antony had taken a malediction; one of the mage's strongest spells. From Makaveli nonetheless! I quickly renewed my efforts to heal Antony's gaping wounds. Seeing that Antony had survived, Makaveli fled to retain his mana and focus.

Antony and I quickly made full preparations for battle with Makaveli, Including breaking out every scroll, staff, or anything we had to give us an edge. Soon we tried to track down Makaveli but this proved futile. We decided to continue on with the original mission of killing the Lich while we had the chance.

In the meantime Makaveli had his clan member Zodac rush to the Keep to join the fight. He quickly met us too at the Lich. Now it was Antony and Pode verses Makaveli and Zodac with all of us trying to be the first to kill the Lich or each other.

Antony and I quickly recited a series of deadly scrolls and wand attacks towards Zodac which nearly killed him before even he realized what was happening. Zodac, being a skilled hero, casted teleport out of reaction and immediately appeared in the nearby wilderness and was saved at the last second! This left just Makaveli left to deal with. Unfortunately we had just expended our scrolls and wands on Zodac and did not expect Makaveli to hit us with another massively powerful malediction. This time the malediction blasted Antony covering him in blood and horrific wounds but he still lived. He turned to me and said, 'Kill the Lich!' like a dieing man and in one quick gesture he casted teleportation the same as Zodac had done earlier.

This now left Makaveli and I standing together in the darkness. I could tell from Makaveli's facial expression that he was still recovering from the mere act of casting the powerful spell of malediction. Not wanting to waste all the time Antony and I had spent in this Keep, I raced back to the Lich where I cast everything I knew at it. It seemed like an eternity before the Lich died. When it did die I was so sure Makaveli was behind me about to cast malediction on me that I nearly forgot to loot the equipment from the charred corpse. Fortunately I remember to quickly snatch the necessary items and phase to Antony where he lay resting on the rocky slopes looking pale as a ghost and nearly dead.

Antony said not a single word until after I had finished attending to his wounds with my magic. Then he said, "That was fun. Those guys were a good fight!"

And so, this is my story of how a short battle in the dark of Fire Giants Keep lead to four players having found respect for one another. We now are all members of the Visions of Glory clan and are always waiting for the next thrillseeker we may encounter in on our adventures throughout Medievia.