From: mneylon@jupiter.cse.utoledo.edu (Michael Neylon)
Newsgroups: rec.games.moria
Subject: REPOST: Exploits II, Part 1
Date: 5 Jan 93 14:51:39 GMT

/* Now that I am back from Xmas vacation, I am ready to continue the Exploits, 
so I will repost the first three parts, and on Friday I will release the next
portion of the story.  */



Nivolis knew he had pushed the steed too far as he neared the edge of the
forest.  A small branch laid across the path, but instead of dodging or
jumping it, the horse stepped directly on it, causing it to trip.  The
collapse sent Nivolis ahead into the dirt, his gold pouch spilling over
the ground.  He quickly sat up, but ignoring the gold, ran over the horse
and grabbed a large bag from its saddle.  Nivolis then turned back in
the direction he was headed and ran.

A few moments later, a large party of bandits reached the fallen horse and
the gold coins.  The largest being, a hooded man on a stallion, scanned 
the area, and quickly pointed to the tell-tale signs of footsteps along the
path.  He then motioned to a figure behind him.  He was short, ugly-looking,
and armed to the teeth.  The hooded one pointed along the path, and said one
word.  The short one nodded, mounted his steed, and raced off in the 
direction indicated.  The rest of the party waited, then returned back
along the path they had just taken at the signal of the hooded-one.  Before
leaving the clearing, the hooded one spoke a word, and suddenly, fire
encased the fallen horse and the gold.  Moments latter, the smell of 
burnt flesh and molten metal filled the area, but there was no sign of the
horse, gold, fire, or hooded figure anywhere.

Nivolis broke through the edge of the forest, barely stopping to examine
the valley that he had just entered.  He continue down the path that lead
into a small village at the center of the valley, glancing behind him every
so often.  Eventually, he raced in the town itself, to the surprise of
several townsfolk.  Seeing an inn to his left, he immediately entered it,
slamming the door behind him, panting like a large dog.  Fortunately, the
inn was relatively empty of people, and he went unnoticed.  Asking the 
barkeep for a glass of water, he turned to scan the occupants of the bar,
noticing only a old man that seemed to be sleeping in the corner.  Finishing
the glass of water, and thanking the barkeep for it, he was about to leave
when the old man called over to him annd asked Nivolis to sit down.
Hoping that it wouldnt take long, Nivolis obliged, and waited while the old 
man resettled himself.

'So why are you running?' he asked.


'Running?! Why do you think I was running?'
'We dont usually get alot of teenagers that are out of breath in the middle
of the day in here.'
'Oh...So I was running, who cares...'
'What from?'
'Um....a small band of theives.  I was carring a lot of gold and....'
The old man suddenly became more alert.
'Thieves!?  Quickly, boy! Tell me about them!'
'Well, um, there was about 10 of them, the leader was much larger than the
rest and was hooded...'
'Wait! Do not speak further....you must come with me, and quickly.'
The old man stood, threw a handful of gold at the barkeep, who nodded
and continued with business.  The old man grabbed Nivolis's wrist, and 
dragged him into the back room of the inn.  Nivolis, although he had
many questions to asked, knew better to keep quiet.

Meanwhile, the bandit had ridden into town.  Many of the townsfolk, upon
seeing him, quickly fled to the shelter of homes.  One poor fellow was
unfortunately trapped on the street.  The bandit approached him, drew his
sword, and placed the tip at the man's neck.  'The young newcomer?' he asked.
The poor fellow nervously raised his hand, and pointed to the inn.  The
bandit grinned, quite evilly, and drew the sword away, skillfully leaving
a small trail of blood on the man's neck.  Once the point of the sword was
removed, the man scampered for an alley, ignoring the wound.

The bandit dismounted, and tied the steed to a overturned wagon.  Upon
reaching the inn, he kicked in the door, completed shattering the old
wood of the door.  The barkeep, the only person in the room, glanced in
his direction, but said nothing.  The bandit stomped over to him, grabbed
the keep by the shirt, and breathed heavily in his face.  
'Where is the boy?'
'Boy? We have had no customers this entire afternoon.  'Tis the middle of
harvest season, and most of the men are out in the field.'
'You must know of a stranger in town?'
'No, I have no idea we had visitors.'
The barkeep reached behind the desk, and pulled a small bag out.  Dropping
it on the bar in front of the bandit, it made a slight click that the
bandit took notice of.  The bandit froze for a bit, then dropped the
keep, grabbed the bag, and stormed out of the bar.  The keep returned to
the task of drying ale mugs.

		* * *

Nivolis listened intently at the door, but could not make out the 
conversation.  Meanwhile, the old man had been tinkering with the lock
on the door at the other side of the room.  Finally, a click came from the
lock, and the old man motioned to Nivolis to hurry.  Stepping through the
door, he found himself in a alley.  The old man followed on his tail, and 
told him to moving quickly.  After several twists and turns, they 
approached the back door of another inn.  The man approached the door, gave
two sharp rasps, and waited.  Soon, the door swung opened, and a chubby
woman who seemed to be the proprietor of the inn appeared.  She quickly
recognized the old man, and motioned them both inside.  It was much darked
in here than outside, and Nivolis had a hard time of adjusting to it.  
Following the old man, he was lead up some stairs and to a room with 
no windows.  Nivolis heard the door close, then suddenly blinked as a
candle was lit.

'Now, tell me how this all got started', the old man asked.

Nivolis proceeded to explain his life story.  Born of two mixed-raced
parents, he was wanted by no race, and had problems adjusting to
the demands of others.  Fortunately, his parents were wealthy, and he
was able to get into a good school.  He was taught many things about
the history of the land, but one figure stood out in his mind - the
reign of King Masem.  He took the throne about 40 years ago, and 
lead most of the country to prosperity.  However, several of his 
oppenents pointed out that he was a member of the Theives Guild, a
very evil group that was undermining the wealth of the common folk.
Then, about the same time Nivolis was born, Masem disappeared.  No one
had a clue to his whereabouts.  Both his opponents and the Thieves Guild
refused to give information.  Masem had left no hiers, so the throne was
passed to a distant cousin.  Things were never the same, and Nivolis would
dream about the Golden Age that he would have grown up in as opposed to 
the strict curfews and schooling that he had.  Then, about 3 weeks ago,
he was exploring the library, and found a interesting work.  It
was a book of spells, aimed for priest usage.  However, the back of the
book was well worn.  Turning to that section, he discovered the tale of
a young Masem in his quest to enter the Thieves Guild.  It involved the
killing a 'Great Evil' in a series of caves well below ground.  From the
point of view of the book, it would show that Masem only joined the guild
as a job until he retired, and took over kingship a few years later.  
Nivolis tucked the book away, and took it home with him.  Telling his
parents of the find, they looked at him, and told him to go to his room.
The next morning, he was woken up early and told to ride west on the
family horse.  He was given a small bag of money and provisions, and 
only allowed a few personal items.  His parents took him to the
edge of town under the moonlight, and quickly mounted him.  There were
no goodbyes; Nivolis rode west as his parents said.

There were no problems until a day ago.  As he awoke from camp, he saw
a large group of men in black approaching him.  Quickly disassembling
his camp, he mounted and rode the horse aways off the road, and waited.
Hours later, he saw the group still behind him, and closing the distance
fast.  Nivolis spurred the horse into a quick gallop, and rode for
over a day.  Then the horse slipped, and he continued running on foot until
he reached town.

The old man though for a bit, then spoke.

'Do you still have the book?'
'The book?  Of course! My parents specifically said to bring it.'
'Pull it out.  Turn to first entry from Masem.'
'Ok.  Now what....'
The old man proceeded to repeat exactly the entry as written.
Nivolis was astoundished. 'But how would you know that? This book has
been stuck on a shelf, forgotten for years, in the capitol's library.'
'Unless I actually wrote it, son.'
'But you didnt write it, Masem did .... '. Nivolis stared at the old man
for a moment.  'You're....you're Masem!'
The old man nodded.  'Yes, thats me.'
'But what happened to you all these years?'
'Well, you remember how I was given a necklace made of the Evil's teeth?  
I still have it...here take a look.'
Masem pulled the necklace from a pocket and handed it to Nivolis.
'YOW! Its hot!'
'Yes, exactly.  I talked with a few historians.  It appears that I really
didnt KILL that Great Evil back then, only kept it inactive for a bit.'
'But what brought it back?'
'I'm convinced that my opponents and the Theives Guild did it together.
Probably were going to bring it about to rampage the country, make me
look REALLY bad.'
'Has it come to the surface yet?'
'No its still down there.  Mostly due to my presense here.  I was able to
keep it below with a few spells that I know.'
'So can you kill it?'
'Noooo...I cant kill it.  Too old, too slow.  But YOU can.'
'Me!? Im only a lowly student in the art of magic.  Im only 15!'
'You've seen the history.  You know what will happen if they get it to
the surface.'
'Yea...but cant you keep it down there forever?'
'No.  Those bandits you saw? The hooded fellow is the head neuromancer of 
the Guild.  Hes coming, and he gains more power as he approaches the
being.'
'Oh, damn!  I DO have to do something!'
'Good! I didnt think you would refuse to help.  I know where the location
of the caves, and I can help you get started, but that is basically it.'
'Do I need to start immediately?'
'No, you can start tomorrow morning.  However, you must destroy the
beast before the neuromancer can reach it.'

Nivolis spent the night, thinking how strange this day had been.  He had
met his hero, and yet had decided his fate in a short time.  He slept
very uneasily that night.

    * * *


The scout returned to the camp of bandits, set up just within the forest 
limits.  He was obviously not happy to return, for he quickly dismounted
and tried to mingle with the other bandits.  Unfortunately, word of his
return had reached the others, and soon, a large hand grabbed him by the
shoulder.  'Come,' the deep voice said.  Knowing that worst things could
happened if he didnt obey, the being followed the hooded one to his tent.

'And the boy...', the hooded one asked once in the privacy of the tent.
'T.t.t..the boy?  Um....he must've had continued through town, and I
couldnt locate his tracks outside of it...'
'Come now! I know better than that!  You lost him, didnt you?'
The smaller creature was obviously nervous, for he was continually moving
towards the entrance of the tent.  'Yes, but it was that damn bartender's
fault! He...'
'He got you agian! You fool! Let me see what he gave you THIS time...'
The bandit reached in his pocket, and threw the bag to the hooded one.
The bag spilled out in front of him, and several gold and silver pieces
rolled out.  The leader reached down, picking up a few coins, and uttered
a word of arcane magic.  The coins glowed for a moment, then crumbled into
dust.
'Fake again!  Why do you need to be so greedy!?'  the leader yelled.  He
threw the dust at the bandit, and reached into the robes that he wore.
The bandit backed quickly to the door, but fell and landed on his back.
He began pleading for forginess. 'Not that again!  I promise, Ill go
to town, and search for the boy!  I promise!'
The robbed one withdrew his hand, revealing a copper wand.  Aiming it
at the bandit, he released a large amount of acid strike the being in the
side of the face.  With the smell of seared flesh, the bandit crawls
backwards out of the tent, and a commotion could be heard outside.

The hooded one kicked the bag of worthless coins across the room, spreading
the junk across the floor.  Replacing the wand in a deep pocket of the
robes, he moved his hand to the amulet he wore.  It wasnt much to look at,
only a emerald encased in a silver band, but nonetheless, he continuously
wore it.  Gripping it, he felt a slight warmth to it.  Speaking to 
no one in particular, he said 'Follow him tomorrow.  Make sure he follows
the boy into the caves.  Kill him if he doesnt.'

The emerald glowed for a moment, then a slight breeze blew against the
side of the tent.  The being released his gripped, and sighed heavily.

    * * *



-- 
Michael Neylon   aka Masem the Great and Almighty Thermodynamics GOD!
      //         | Senior, Chemical Engineering, Univ. of Toledo
  \\ // Only the |   Summer Intern, NASA Lewis Research Center
\  \X/   AMIGA!  |         mneylon@jupiter.cse.utoledo.edu           /