Cerdinak, Leeches, Guardians and a Cleric

[Cerdinak]

Cerdinak was thirsty and dusty after traipsing through the desert between Milltown and the Great Wall. He'd thought about wandering over to the Oasis while on his way, but he'd decided to save time and go straight there. After climbing each of the steps upward inside the wall, he paused at the top to take in the view. It never grew old, looking to the east and west and marveling at the difference between the environments on the two sides of the wall.

He wondered, as he often did, of who had built the wall so high and strong, the why's and who's and how they lived. Was the wall built in a frenzied terror trying to keep something out, or an attempt to keep the endless desert in. Heh, constructing an end to the endless desert. Who said you couldn't find irony everywhere.

Pulling one of his few remaining picks from his belt, he worked his brand of magic on the door and slipped inside to the landing. Smiling to himself as his thoughts wandered and his eyes adjusted to the darkness that tried to envelope his glowing weapons and armor. Once his eyes had adjusted to the gloom, he started to head down the stairs to begin an afternoons winnowing of the soul leech population. It wasn't too tiring and he could earn a few coins to add to his dwindling supply of healing potions. Up and down he climbed, slaying the dark works and stuffing the glowing stones in his pack. It was almost as if he became an automaton, his arms wielding their weapons, scraping the gore from his armor every so often and only pausing to finish carving open the leeches for their stones and then casting their carcasses aside.

His mind was growing numb as the tenth marcs turned into quarter marcs, the quarter marcs turned into half marcs, which turned into marcs as the time passed. He wasn't sure how many cycles it had been, but his pouch was growing fuller, the old man at the top of the wall was increasing his collection of stones, and soon he could travel to Fartown and buy a few potions and an extra lock pick or five. His thoughts were of the Inn there and dinners by the fire with a woman he once knew, and had even loved for time, when he was suddenly jolted out of his reverie by a blow that sent him stumbling across the room and almost down the stairs to the floor below.

He turned in a fit of anger at the opponent which had surprised him, drawing his blades up before him and running his finger across the hidden toggle which coated his knife blade with a nasty venom.

"Why do you harvest my children?" said a giant soul leech that was five times the size of the rest and at whose back stood a pair of red guardians who seemed to silently glower at him, a hint of light showing through their bodies from the crystals which lay at their core.

"Because they threaten my friends, waylay strangers, and mostly because the old man at the top of the stairs buys their stones for a half decent price and the fact is, I need the money to cover my expenses."

"There is no challenge in what you do, just mindless slaughter for profit." the giant leech replied with a slight rasp to her voice.

"Exactly!" he replied. "But the moneys good even if I'm not really learning anything new in my craft. A rogue's got to eat, and they really frown on cutting purses and stealing from the shopkeepers or adventurers in town. That kind of limits my options, so here I am!"

"You're getting a challenge now, you greedy barbarian!"

Cerdinak looked to the heavens briefly, expecting a bolt of lightning from the heavens to smite the evil creature for his slander, but it seems he was on his own. "All right, let's dance then" he cried out in return as his blades wove intricate patterns in the air before him.

It seemed like an eternity before the battle was finally over, and in the end, all Cerdinak had to show for it was torn and ripped armor covered in several different colors of blood and ichor, a dull crystal, a glowing soul stone that looked just like the ones he collected from the others he'd killed, and a glowing red crystal. "Now hopefully that will turn out to be worth something. I have to find something to repair this damage."

Just about that time, a cleric started to clank down the stairs and saw the carnage before him. He glanced barely brushed over Cerdinak as he took in the scenes of the battle which had just finished. He cried out at the sight of the two red crystal guardian corpses shattered on the floor. He turned in a pique of rage at the rogue and cursed him with a high, reedy voice. "You.... You... You.... GUARDIAN HOG!!! I've been looking for guardians for MOONS and you get two and you're just a filthy rogue who can't cast spells!" He started to sputter on about something else, but Cerdinak just crouched down against the wall in a small clear space and started to pull some of the few healing potions he had left out of his pack.

If he wasn't going to ask or say anything about healing, the rogue really didn't have anything to say to the cleric. Obviously he must be a cleric of Ben with all the bluster and battle frenzy. The just don't train clerics like they used to, Cerdinak thought to himself as he remembered some of the clerics he had known in his younger days.

The cleric started to wind down as the rogue managed to rise up from his crouch and watched as his wounds healed and the potions took effect. Raising a bloody blade in a wry salute to the cleric, he headed back to the top of the stair to empty his pack before he tried his luck with the crystal and the machine. The last thing he heard as the door started to close behind him was a muffled shout from the cleric as a rust monster tried to devour his face and he found the door locked behind him, barring his retreat.

Maybe if the cleric had paused for a moment in his anger and self righteous rage and thought about healing him, Cerdinak might have been a little more inclined to pick a lock for him and let him back in. As it was, he thought a little reflection at a life monument might do the cleric good, and the quiet in the meantime would do him good. The door to the top of the wall clicked shut behind him and the rogue took in the hot, dry air as he laid his goods before the old man.

Hmm, the way the day was turning out, he might decide to go on that cannon ride from Fartown after all.

[malik378]

Anyway, my idea right now is to collect "what if?" style stories based on particular scenerioes... these stories won't actually exist in character as I plan on basing them on potential future events that have yet to occur within in game history so there is a bit of flexibility for what can happen.