The Staff of Eons (closed)

[Irene]

OOC: Owning both characters, any and all bunnying is approved throughout the thread

IC: It was a warm spring day. Clouds rolled by gently taking on various shapes, flowers bloomed filling the air with sweet scents, and the sun glinted just right off of Irene’s multicolored hair which spilled over her Navy blue robes like a river.
She was in a clearing in Concordia Forest well off the beaten path. While waiting for an assignment from the gods, or direction to her next summons, she heard a peculiar rumor from a couple of poor parishioners attending the temple she worked at in Radasanth.

It seemed that there was a treasure called The Staff of Eons hidden in an underground temple once dedicated to an early form of summoning. Neither beggar knew quite what it was for, but it attracted some small amount of attention from local treasure hunters hoping to make some quick gold. Unfortunately, no one had returned from the temple.

So she made her excuses to the priests of the temple, and decided to find the staff herself. With Grath she could probably easily find the staff and get out. Now here she was in the clearing, trying to find the hidden temple entrance.

She sat on a boulder to think.

The Clearing, if indeed it was the right one, showed no signs of an entry way. There were various rocks scattered about the clearing, and the one on which she was on was the largest. It was white, and it was made of marble, as were all the other rocks, except for the few grey rocks that she could not identify. But nothing about the clearing suggested a temple or its entrance. She got down and stomped around the clearing, trying to find evidence of either a hidden door, or a soft spot where the roof caved in, and found nothing.

“I’m a Summoner for goodness sake; you’d think I could find the secret entrance to a Summoner temple.” She yelled out in exasperation, returning to sit on the large marble boulder. She felt incompetent. A sound to her right made her jump and scream.

[Destrudo]

Destrudo chuckled quietly as the strange woman on the rock screamed.

A few days ago, he was sitting in Underwood nearby, sitting in a tavern and pondering why all his efforts to go home had been stymied so far. Perhaps he was meant to stay away for awhile longer.

He might’ve sat there for days, alone with his thoughts, if it hadn’t been for the strange old woman in scarlet robes that approached him. She had grey hair, grey eyes, and white hair. Wrinkles adorned her face, with her long bony chin, and long curved warty nose. She cackled in the same manner it is said wicked witches laugh in, and Destrudo decided she must be one. She sat down like she was his boss, and simply stared at him.
“Well old hag, what do you want?” Destrudo asked.
“Don’t you take that tone with Grandmother, young man, or I’ll make you very sorry.” She said.
“That still doesn’t explain what you want, or why you think I’m your grandson. I’m not a mind reader you know.” Destrudo said.
“The answer to your second question, I shall keep to myself until you get strong enough to give your father a descent challenge for the Throne of Noctum, oh mighty prince. Meanwhile, I have a job for you to do, that will pay you well. I happen to know you only have eight hundred sixty-nine gold pieces. A prince should have more than that, much more.” She said.
“Well, now, this is more like it. What is it you need done, a basket of clothes hung out to dry?” Destrudo asked.
“Heh, don’t be cute. One of my, relatives, infact several of them, all share a priestess amongst themselves. They’ve manipulated her via a pair of beggars into going into a temple she cannot hope to get out of alive once she awakens Kernkraft. Normally I let them send their servants off to their doom when they try to take things from my own, but, this priestess is special to them, and if I don’t do something, there’ll be more trouble than I can handle. Your task is simple, escort the young woman and help her find The Staff of Eons. All she’s bound to want is the staff, but I don’t know, she might take some of the gold that’s with it. The staff is for her, the gold, what she doesn’t, or can’t take, is for you, what ever you can carry. You can start, by reciting this inscription when you find her, which will open the temple.” The old woman said.

She laid a withered map on the table with an odd inscription on the back. Then she stood up and disappeared on the spot, just stood and simply vanished. Destrudo hadn’t even gotten a chance to ask her how she knew he was a prince, or about Noctum, or even how much gold he had on his person. He shivered and decided he was right about her being a witch. At least, he hoped he was right.

With a shiver that ran down his spine, he looked again at the strange rainbow woman in front of him. He wondered what kind of people the old woman’s relatives were. He also wondered what kind of parents could spawn such a creature.

“You’re doing it wrong.” He said by way of introduction to Irene.

He looked at the inscription once more, and read it aloud, hoping he was reading it right.

“V’nly, M’q’nna, Sum’tros Concordia, Welhg’nna g’hlmaaa’tan” Destrudo chanted. With a flash of light, the boulder Irene was on began to collapse inward, revealing a stairwell going in.

[Irene]

Irene glared at the strange man with the eerie red glow as he laughed at her. She had tried her best, if only the beggars had mentioned how to get in. Then he had to go and add insult to injury by chanting in that strange language and opening the temple. With a yelp she leaped off the boulder as it began to collapse inward. She glared at him all the harder.

“The Staff of Eons is mine!” she yelled at him, and with a huff went down the stairs.

She wrinkled her nose as a foul smell filled the air. The heavy stench of death turned about her and made her want to gag. Evidence of cobwebs hung in the air, supported by thin strands of material. Clearly someone had been here before her, but she already knew that from the rumors. Unlit torches were on the walls, soaked with oil clearly someone meant business, to have taken the trouble of setting torches like that. She took it, and wished she had a light. Clearly it had to have been enchanted, for as she touched it, it burst into flame, not that she needed it at the moment. The light from the outside showed her all she wanted to know. The walls were blank and made of marble. This was a small room. The piles of rusted armor indicated that guards were posted her to guard against unwanted intruders. She wondered what killed these people that might’ve once been her teachers, if only they survived.

The room went two ways, one to the right, and one to the left. She thrust the torch in the way to the left to discover a room with broken furniture, and a hole in the ceiling covered by a rock. Obviously how the thieves were getting in, unless they all knew the secret of the stairwell; she knew that rock too, it was a flat marble slab she could’ve moved by herself. If only she did! She decided this room must’ve been for the guards to take their break in. She went down the other way, and realized the strange man was following her, so she turned in the hallway to the right.

“What? Isn’t it enough that you found the entryway, do you have to follow me everywhere too? Do you want me to find the treasure for you? Or are you just waiting for me to lower my guard so you can surprise me and take advantage of me? I am a Summoner you know, if you try I’ll summon a deadly Minotaur and he’ll make you sorry.” She said with a growl.

[Destrudo]

Destrudo chuckled silently as the spirited woman yelled at him at marched inside. Quickly he moved to follow, going down the steps after her. He gagged silently at the foul air.

The walls were bare and dirty, adorned only by empty cobwebs; armor lay scattered on the floor, apparently discarded in a hurry by its previous owners. A room to the left, and a hall to the right were the only options, besides simple retreat, but Destrudo already figured that if the mysterious woman would take the time to search him out and guard her, then retreat wasn’t really an option at all.

That bothered him, why him? Sure, he was a prince, but really? Though it shamed him to admit it, there were other, far more powerful warriors than him. Why him then? Out of all the people she could’ve approached and chosen why was he her choice? Maybe he wasn’t. Maybe he was her last choice, and everyone else said no. Impossible, what self-respecting mercenary would say no to money?

Then he had to be her first choice, but that raised the question of why again. Why was he her first choice? What did she know that he didn’t? Destrudo didn’t know, but he was going to find out even if he had to carve the answer out of her hide.

That aside, what was Kernkraft? That this was a summoning temple only served to confuse him further. Was Kernkraft natural? Was it a summons that got out of control? What did it even look like in the first place? Destrudo was confused on a lot of things, and this irritated him, for it made him feel like he wasn’t in control. Destrudo hated not being in control.

With a start he realized his charge was going down the hallway, so he moved to follow, setting his ponderings aside for later. He grinned at the woman as she laid false accusations at his feet, then chuckled slightly.

“Does it hurt to be so wrong? I don’t care if you’re looking for some fancy washing stick, I want gold. We might as well do this together; it’ll make my job a lot easier, because you see I was hired to make sure you make it out alive. A mysterious and thoroughly intimidating old hag mentioned that her relatives shared you amongst themselves, and it was they who fooled you into coming here via some beggars. She also said that once you awaken someone, or something called Kernkraft, you have no hope of making it out alive, and if she were to let you die against Kernkraft, it’d be more trouble than it was worth. So you see, you have nothing to fear but this mysterious Kernkraft. Once you find your fancy washing stick to do your laundry with, I’ll take some gold that’s supposedly laying around with it and we’ll be off and not worry about what Kernkraft may or may not be. What is this Staff of Eons and why do you want it anyway?”

[Irene]

Irene was stunned, and shocked. She wanted to say so many things, lips curling in anger exposing pointed teeth that might eventually develop into fangs. So many things to say, but the first thing out of her lips was a growl.
“A FANCY WASHING STICK?!” she bellowed in anger.
“The staff of Eons is not a washing stick. I don’t know exactly what it is, but I’m certain it isn’t a washing stick. All I know is, it’s a treasure of Summoners from a time now past, and it was particularly important to them. As the only known Summoner of my time today, it’s clearly my duty to get it and protect it from misuse and abuse. I take my duties seriously, real or imagined. That a mysterious someone has hired you to protect me in this only serves to add weight to this quest. I have some idea of who she might be then, but as my real masters would put it; your pea-brained mind couldn’t cope with the reality of who she is. Though why she would protect me, trouble or no trouble, is mystifying. If you’re so insistent on protecting me, you could at least be courteous enough to introduce yourself. My name is Irene Saaustu, I’ll spare you my plethora of middle names.” She said. With yet another huff, irritated that she had to have a babysitter, she turned and went down the hallway, which turned out to be a stairwell.

It wound around in circles, and went down for what Irene felt was thirty or so feet. She was glad of the magic torch, for the light of day did not reach her down here. At the bottom of the steps, she found a page, taken as though it were ripped from a book. It was a letter. She read it aloud.

“My dearest Helena,

It seems this will be my last letter to you, I pray someone makes it out alive to take it to you. I regret many things in my life, but I do not regret one moment of our life shared together, nor do I ultimately regret my choice of coming here to find The Staff. I found it in the Central Rectory I wrote you about a few days ago. But, a beast guards it, both familiar and alien to my eyes. I shall spare you the details of what is to ultimately be my murderer. I think it’s responsible for the deaths of those who once lived here before, a summons that broke its master’s bonds. Of all things, it has a color and name tag, like it was a pet. Its name is Kernkraft. I pray it never escapes this tomb.

On a positive note, I’m finally rich beyond my wildest dreams what with all the gold here. Toreg came up missing the other day, and since none of us can escape, I know Kernkraft ate him. He’s the last one we owed money to. Their all dead, thank our lucky stars. I’ll miss Koreic, a little. At least he was personable with the people who owed him money. Faelro, I shant miss at all. I’ll never forgive him, even in death, for forcing himself on you.”

Irene stopped there, mostly because the letter began to get rather personal, involving things the writer wanted to do to his wife in the bedroom once they were together again. Just looking at it made Irene blush; she wondered if any woman could bend like that.

“So, we know where it is, and we know that beast you told me about guards it. But, what is it? Is it a summons?” Irene asked. She thrust her torch forward in the darkness, but was in such a large room, that all she knew of the area ahead was darkness.

[Destrudo]

Destrudo smiled, as much as he despised people in general, he liked this misfit woman, she was, spirited. He followed her down the stairwell, wondering just how large this place would wind up being.

“I never gave you my name, Destrudo.” He said, wondering why he was hoping to make friends with her. He thought about it, and ended up blaming her unusual appearance.

Irene didn’t answer, or simply didn’t hear him, though Destrudo couldn’t fathom her not hearing him. The place was as silent as a tomb, it was a tomb. No, instead she stopped and picked up some scrap of paper at the bottom of the stairs and read it.

“Well with such brilliant deductive reasoning I’m sure we’ll find out where exactly this central rectory is. Feh, if you’re not going to lead then give me the torch and follow closely.” Destrudo growled after Irene finished babbling. He finally knew what the smell that pervaded this place was. It wasn’t age, it was death.

He yanked the torch from Irene’s hands and stepped forward.
“You know, for being a magic temple, you’d think they’d have some form of magical illumination, besides torches that are apparently self-lighting. Maybe some magic word we don’t know?” Destrudo asked.

He stuck to the wall, following it around. It went for many feet, but how many, Destrudo was on sure of. He had turn left from the stairwell, and after a ways, turned right. Destrudo followed the wall still, and it went into a hallway. Destrudo wondered just how large the central room was.

As he passed, a pair of eyes glittered in the darkness, unseen and hidden in an alcove; they were in fact a pair of rubies, belonging to a trap. Nothing happened to Destrudo or Irene, who would remain blissfully unaware of what they set in motion, but like all others who came before them, they awoke the beast.

With a slow gurgling hiss the spell, activated by light hitting the rubies in darkness, took form and gathered shape, becoming that which killed all comers. Kernkraft had awakened. Slowly, it began to move forward, breaking apart even as it finished forming. Seconds later, pests and vermin crawled into a myriad of holes that ran throughout the temple.

Destrudo was unimpressed with the walls. He thought at least there would be paintings or some such on them, but they were all clean white marble marked only by cracks and holes where insects once had bored through, or nature made her way in.
“Pretty unimpressive walls, one would think they’d at least have decoration up there, or the occasional map.” He remarked casually.
He felt the torch get yanked out of his hands.

[Irene]

Irene grew angry with Destrudo as he grabbed the torch and took the lead, she felt she was doing a pretty good job of leading so far; after all, nothing killed them, yet. Yet for all that, she didn’t say a word, for even as she open her mouth in anger, it fell in silenced awe, for now that she was in the dark, she saw something new that her eyes adjusted to, the walls were glowing.

They were glowing with some sort of magic, shifting, changing.
“Run away.” “Flee.” “It’s not worth it,” were the exact words repeating themselves on the wall. She shivered and ran to keep up with Destrudo. A lucky glance made her see what he had missed, another page of the mysterious writer’s journal.

At that time, Destrudo had mentioned something about unimpressive walls, and realized he couldn’t see their illumination. She knew then that she needed to read every journal entry she could find, to see if she could find what the previous treasure hunters could not, the answer to the complex puzzle that was the temple.

She grabbed the torch, and began reading again.

“My dearest Helena,

I Alexsander Karenzsky, famous professor of anthropology, feared bounty hunter, and your loving husband, am proud to add the title of World Famous Treasure Hunter to my list, or at least I shall once I find the staff.

We got in yesterday, had to lift a big old marble slab to find a ventilation hole in what appears to be a breakroom. Armor lies rusting in what I shall presume to be the entryway, providing proof that either the guards were lazy, or more likely, that whatever killed them did it fast, and by complete surprise. The main area is massive; Koreic cast an illumination spell. There’s a temple inside the temple! Just one problem, it’s locked via what we think is remote location. The staff has got to be in there! The thick Prevalida doors insure that no one’s getting in there no matter how many eons have passed, so it’s on to puzzle hunting and finding for us.

The rumors of monsters appear to be the result of too much ale, and all the spiders and rats around here. Don’t get me wrong, a foot long spider’s enough to make you wet your pants, but good old Faelro, he took it down with his big steel boot. We should have the staff of Eons in no time flat. Well, enough chatter from me, remember our special magic words xgyae bgwu qfqdzgy” Irene read.

She paused, thinking.

“Wait, Alexsander stated his hatred of Faelro before death; so why would he lie in the first letter and appear to be best friends? I used to love doing this with anyone I could as a child; we’d make up a mystery, and challenge others to solve it. Now it looks like we’re on the solving end, only the mystery is how to get the staff and get out alive, there must be something hidden in the letters. I think the last is truthful and honest, but that’s it, maybe. It was on the bottom of the stairs. This one was laying over here. I think Alexsander was taken against his will.” Irene said.

[Destrudo]

“It’s far more likely that Alexsander and Faelro had a falling out after that letter. I mean going somewhere dark and mysterious like this with a man whose wife I raped would not be on my list of safe and wise courses to take. Faelro probably revealed it when he knew he was about to die, one last dig at Alexsander. And while those letters are helpful, such as the knowledge about the disturbingly absent life, their not anything we can’t find out on our own. Besides that, that magic phrase is the most ridiculous I’ve ever heard.” Destrudo said. He knelt and in the dust, copied the magic words on the ground.

“Sometimes in the palace, I’d be communicated with through code, or my father would receive a dispatch in code, this reeks of code. So it’s simple, replace letters until we find the real message, though magic words are often a bit fickle, so it may be possible that we may never know what the real message is.” Destrudo said, already swapping out letters.

For the next several minutes, Destrudo swapped out letters for the first word alone, until he guessed what it was with an air of excitement.
“Lumos! It’s the name of our closest relatives, it means light! This first word is Ciphered by swapping each letter for it’s mate 13 letters forward, possibly wrapping A and Z!” Destrudo said excitedly.

He began working on the second one, quickly discovering that it did not word for the second word. He tried it on the third word and came up with a word he dimly recognized.
“Eternum, it sounds familiar, the sort know it all mages would use. I think it means eternity. The second word though is an entirely different cipher.” Destrudo said, lost in concentration.

He continued to swap letters for awhile, coming up empty handed, and several times had to clean the floor and gather more dust to continue. Finally with a triumphant smile, he cracked the code.
“AHA! It’s like needlework; one letter skips forward, the next skips backward. It had me confused for awhile there, thought I had it wrong, but I still have enough to crack the second word. Deus! I remember it had something to do with gods, possibly a generic descriptor of something stronger than a mortal. But this code was hard. A becomes C while B becomes Z.” Destrudo said.

“So, in order, in common the words are Light God Eternity. That could be rephrased several ways to make more sense, but since when has magic and their users ever made sense?” Destrudo asked.

He looked about for several seconds. Then in the original language, he called out the words. Nothing happened. Then he called them out again, and again, willing something to happen. Right when he thought nothing was going to happen, he felt the air change. Something happened.

[Irene]

Irene only half-heartedly listened to Destrudo attack her logic. He seemed bent upon his own little world, with no room for her, so she amused herself by setting the torch in a holder and stepping further into the room out of the light.

The walls were still showing their warning but that was less and less frequent. She noticed with some surprise, they were now showing her something else. Pictures, like the sort one found on old tombs. She took time to look at them, while Destrudo mentioned something about code. She stared at the pictures on the wall, trying to absorb their knowledge, particularly fascinated with one of a woman that looked somewhat like her holding a staff. She looked at others, wondering what they all meant. If she got their order right, and she hoped she did, then she guessed that they were the story of what happened before.

A man of high rank, possibly the leader was thirsty for knowledge. He went on a journey to a far away land where spider-magi dwelled, for they alone held the knowledge he was looking for. He traded something of value beyond all his earthly possessions, but what it was wasn’t entirely clear, however the picture indicated a baby coming from the man’s body. Irene hoped it wasn’t what she thought it was.

At this point Destrudo suddenly spoke in excitement about figuring something out; Irene forgot what he was up to, absorbed in the pictures on the wall.

The man returned with a book, bound in flesh, or maybe it grew out of the man’s skin. Irene wasn’t sure on this part as it showed a book with a letter N on it growing out of his left forearm. He shared the knowledge with his closest disciples, and then was betrayed by them, for he was shown being pierced by their blades. Then they warred with one another, until only one stood. He became the new leader, and he was driven not by the quest for knowledge, but by greed. He dreamt of owning and controlling the world. So he worked his most potent magics to create a monster none had ever seen before, a new summons that would be his greatest.

He succeeded, and created something that was both one, but many. Irene wasn’t sure what the pictures were trying to tell her. It seemed to be living, but dead, and many, but one. It seemed it could add to itself from any living thing. It was too powerful to be controlled, and set upon it’s would be master and his disciples, destroying them all, adding their souls to its own, adding their bodies to its own.

Destrudo stood, and began chanting something, breaking Irene’s own concentration. Somehow, Alexsander’s phrase was a magic spell for his wife, but it worked here.
Irene’s gaze was drawn to a large diamond, the size of her head. She caught her breath, unable to stop herself from smiling. Then her eyes grew wide, as she realized the diamond was sparkling, and glowing with its own growing light. Its light spread across the walls, but it didn’t drown the pictures, it made them show up even clearer. It began to levitate and hovered above them, just an inch below the ceiling. Soon, it was as bright as day, and began to reveal things in much greater clarity than before. Irene realized Alexsander was going to bring the diamond to his wife.
Suddenly Irene let out a piercing scream and leaped into Destrudo’s arms. There was a large rat on the floor. She wasn’t normally afraid of them, but its suddenness scared her.

[Destrudo]

Destrudo watched with surprise and awe as a diamond worth five kingdoms began to glow and illuminate the room. Even more surprising was that it began to levitate and rise to the ceiling. Destrudo drew in a short breath of surprise, as pictures and words began to illuminate themselves on the wall.

He would’ve investigated, but suddenly Irene let out a shriek and leaped into his arms, outstretched to point out the glyphs on the walls. Fortunately they were rising as she leapt, so he ended up catching her instead. He smiled, enjoying the feel of her body. He looked to see why she screamed, doubting that magically appearing pictures could be the culprit, and found an ungodly huge rat. He estimated it to be two feet, and whistled in surprise. He raised his foot to crush it’s skull in, but it ran off. Setting Irene down on her feet, he kissed her forehead.

“It’s alright, daddy chased the big bad rat away.” He said in a mocking tone. He straightened up and proceeded to point at the glyphs.
“Those are new, what do you make of them? I wonder why they appeared only after the light illuminated them. Beyond that, I’m assuming Alexsander and his buddies found the crystal, and they cracked the magic password. Why else would Alexsander right it down if he wasn’t planning on eventually stealing the orb?”

It watched, it almost got hurt, but still it watched. The rat, one of many millions of eyes watched them. They didn’t seem threatening, yet, but still, they had awakened it. It was just one part of a greater whole, something that was more than the sum of its parts. It spent its whole life in this temple, it remembered when it was born, and remembered watching its mother and father be added to the swarm. It remembered when it was added to the swarm, the day the master’s voice flooded its mind, erasing its individual identity as a lone single rat, and re-birthed it into the many. It remembered, because its master’s memories were its memories, and it remembered others who came seeking the measure of control, and the swarm did not want to be controlled. It wasn’t the thing itself that controlled the swarm, but those who wielded it grew in power, power enough to control the swarm.

The couple had to be watched, and watched they were, as spiders and wingless insects began to crawl upon the walls, and winged insects began to buzz about. Other rats scurried through the walls, sentinels guarding the keys. Somewhere in a location the swarm couldn’t differentiate from the rest of the temple, it awoke the man things that were apart of the swarm, yet separate, too big to become part of the master, part of Kernkraft.

[Irene]

Irene resisted the urge to claw Destrudo for his daddy remark, instead she merely hissed at him.
"The stupid rat startled me is all; I didn't see it there in the darkness. As for the glyphs, yeah I knew they were there. They were illuminated in a soft green light ever since we came downstairs. Their changing and so either the temple itself is alive and trying to tell us something, or more likely, the walls are enchanted. As for you seeing it after the light came on, it merely adds weight to my idea. I am a Summoner after all, so those runes must be meant only for Summoner eyes, but the orb was probably around for newcomers who hadn't yet earned the right to see the runes at all times. These ones speak of the end. Apparently someone, a previous leader traded something valuable for knowledge, possibly his own innocence, or perhaps more disturbingly, his own child. He got his just desserts as his own apprentices killed him for the knowledge, and the survivor in turn used the knowledge to create something he couldn't control, Something that is living, but dead, like a zombie, and many, but one. I don't know what that means though, or what it could be." Irene said.

She got the feeling they were being watched, and a shiver ran down her spine.

"I get the feeling we're being watched, but from where? And where did all these insects come from. Were they attracted by the light?" Irene asked.

She looked around, and spotted an interesting set of glyphs.

"The greatest treasure is yours, if you but remember that Night comes before Day, know what lies east of the sun, and find the bottom of The Abyss." she said, reading the glyphs off to Destrudo. Really it wasn’t that hard, pictures were easy to get the meaning of if she tried hard enough, and the glyphs were written in common, but she wondered if a big oaf like him could read.

[Destrudo]

“I can read you know. It’s not that hard to puzzle out the archaic scripts, they simply flow a little differently to modern writing.” Destrudo growled, punching all the spiders that came near him, crushing them flat.

“I hate spiders, where did all the eight legged freaks come from anyways?” he snapped, yelling at a small rat on the floor as though it knew the answer.

“Right, you just asked that. I think they were attracted by the light, or simply there all along and we never encountered them.” Destrudo sighed. He turned and walked away, pulling Irene with him.

“Clearly it’s not in this hall.” Destrudo said as he moved back into the main room.

The ball of light shot to the top of the main room, and came to rest on a second temple inside the main one. It was a small pyramid; build in a series of steps. At the top was a holder in which the light rested, and it was built as a small alter.

At the base of the inner temple was a great set of solid steel doors, and these showed no signs of having a handle. Destrudo let go of Irene’s hand and inspected the rest of the room.

There were two levels to this place, at least. Destrudo knew this was so because he could see sections in which part of the wall had collapsed, exposing the hallways they once protected. He could see signs of recent use, for dust was brushed away in places, and in one room, he could see barrels of lamp oil stacked neatly in a corner.

“Thank you brave adventurers.” Destrudo said quietly to himself. If the swarm got antagonistic, Destrudo could always dump a few barrels down their holes and torch them with the magic torch Irene had.

He continued on around the room, looking, there were a total of eight other hallways, four of which were collapsed, one was the way out, and one was the room where they found the light. So that left them with two alternatives. A quick peek down the halls revealed that both branched further down.

He turned back to Irene, busily reading the walls again, as though they had something interesting or important to say.

“I don’t care what the walls are saying, or what a dead man did, these remaining two halls both branch. I was hired to protect you, not make decisions, so choose.” He said, crossing his arm and stomping on a nearby large rat that got too close for comfort. Its body crunched in a delicious and satisfying manner, as it died instantly.

[Irene]

Irene scowled at Destrudo as he pulled her along, but her irritation faded into wonder as the light revealed the gigantic main room, and the secondary temple inside the first.
So that has to be the inner sanctum.

She stood there, gazing at it for several minutes, and then it occurred to her that there might be more writing on the walls out here, or more letters.

It continued watching them still. It did not like intruders to its home. It directed its many rats and spiders and other assorted pests and vermin to follow them. The four man things had awoken, and were slowly lumbering down the halls.

Still, maybe it was being rash, they hadn’t done much more than shed that blasted irritating light on it. It longed for the cool comforting darkness, and the nest where it could lose itself in dreams of unbeing, of no longer being in a corporeal body and once more being a free spirit, roaming the land as it chose. It longed to be free again, but until it could be free, it would stay here in the darkness where only the rare adventurer disturbed it.

It watched from its myriad bodies, observing, calculating. These two didn’t seem to be going for the staff. Maybe it could let them live after all. No! The last time it let one go, it returned with more, and some foul smelling thing it called Insecticide, and a foul tasting pellet called rat poison. Needless to say, that group was quite surprised to discover that simple poisons were not enough to stop Kernkraft.

CRACK!
That lumbering brute crushed the poor Kernkraft! It was just watching, not harming! Even its spiders were being hurt out of simple racisim. Could a spider help being what it was? Could Kernkraft help being what it was? It would show that glowing brute that Kernkraft would not be brought down by hatred and giant boots.

Irene turned towards Destrudo as he crushed a Rat to death. The crunching sound made her feel ill. It’s eyes were rolled back in it’s head, and it was a disgusting sight. Then to Irene’s horror, the dead crushed rat got up and crawled away, it’s body reconstituting itself.

“Destrudo, that rat just crawled away after being crushed to death. Why would a Rat do that?” she asked.
But there was no need to answer, for it was obvious what was going on, they were in the middle of a giant undead swarm of various pests and vermin.
Irene didn’t care how it looked; she let loose with the girliest highest pitched scream she could possibly muster. Irene was terrified of the undead, and clung to Destrudo for protection.

Keeeerrrrrnnnnnkrrraaafffftttt……..

It felt the joy of vengeance seeping into his being as the smaller one screamed. The man things had made it to the main room. Now was the time for his revenge in being stepped on. The man things were calling his name as they approached.

Keeeerrrrrnnnnnkrrraaafffftttt……..

[Destrudo]

Destrudo felt the color drain from his face as the clearly dead rat got up and crawled away and Irene screamed at the top of her lungs.
“Of all the things to guard a staff; I suppose we’re looking at the thing that is dead, yet alive, and many, but one. How is it one though? Look at all these things. I heard a sage use a term to describe how bees think once; he said it was a collective consciousness, a hive mind. I’d venture that this swarm is similar in nature.” Destrudo said.

He turned towards the sound of moaning and shuffling.
“Kernkraft? Kernkraft! Remember the first letter you found. The Swarm’s name is Kernkraft.” Destrudo said, puzzling together the assorted facts.

As the zombies entered the room his joy faded. He turned Irene away from him and charged the Zombies.
Typical, always has to have undead lurking around ancient tombs. Just once I’d like to see something else, like a strange and horrific mind melting horror from places unknown. At least it’d be a change of pace.
Destrudo snorted at his own thoughts as he threw out his arm and clothes lined the nearest Zombie, and then spun to kick the second.
“Dismember them!” Destrudo called.
Being dead, zombies were easy to pull apart due to rotting body parts. With this in mind he switched to punches and uppercut a zombie, causing its head to snap backwards and stay there. He heard the second of the two zombies he was facing come up behind him and while he was turning and slash at him in the ribs with a dagger. Thankfully, his leather caught it.

He turned to face the other Zombie and hoped Irene was doing okay. It went for him again with the dagger. Destrudo caught the hand and pulled on the arm. He kicked the torso at the same time, separating the arm from body. Still the hand wiggled at him, trying to stab him. Destrufo whirled the arm around and smacked the first zombie with the seconds arm. Irene was nowhere to be seen.

Destrudo would curse her name later, right now he had four zombies to fend off, and he was surrounded.

“Crap, end of the line.” He muttered under his breath.
With a screech of horror, the zombies began to flee, as the magic flaming torch landed at Destrudo’s feet.

Smiling he picked it up and chased them with it, setting each one on fire in turn. Seconds later they collapsed into a pile of ash. He turned to face Irene.

[Irene]

Irene stood there in shock as Destrudo turned her away. She was about to call him very unflattering names, if she could think of them, but the sight of him facing zombies, alone, made her think twice.

She hesitated to run over and help, she wasn’t much of a fighter, but his command to dismember them would be very helpful to their survival either. Zombies were known for playing dirty and having their severed limbs fight on alone. Others were fond of attaching new ones. No, only fire could win this fight.
THE TORCH!

The thought raced across her mind like a revelation. She raced back to the torch still in it’s holder in the other wing, and removed it. Grabbing one of the letters, she held it above the magic flame, and it caught on fire. Success!! She had an offense!

She raced back to see all four zombies surrounding Destrudo, and she threw the torch at him thinking he’d see it and catch it. He didn’t, but the started to flee anyway.

After he chased them all down and burned them to ashes he had turned to her only to see her with her arms on her hips and a triumphant smile on her face.
“Why dismember when you can burn?” Irene asked. Noticeably, the insects and rats stayed well clear of the torch.

She walked down the halls, looking at the different paths.
She walked back to where the zombies had come from, and found a book on the ground. Most of its pages were blank, one held a map, one held yet another letter.

“My Dearest Helena,

As I venture in this temple with our friends, it occurs to me that maybe I should map it, so that later I can point out where specific events occurred. Thus I have mapped out all the remaining sections of temple.

Regrettably, some pathways are collapsed. However Koreic used a spell that lets him see without his eyes. I forget exactly how he explained it, but the long and short of it is, it lets him see through physical barriers.

He took a good hour, casting the spell each time we came across a barrier. He said he saw mostly signs of what was once habitation: Dorms, Kitchens, storage facilities, but nothing important. One blocked area lets into a natural cave, where all the insects and vermin nest. It has small access tunnels to the outside. He said there was a swarm of creatures looking at him, as though they could see him too. We jokingly suggested he have a staring contest with them. On the map of the first floor, you’ll see a red star. We encountered a most interesting puzzle there, and discovered it was one of the keys to the interior temple. Well, my watch is over.”

[Destrudo]

“Huh, that Alexsander’s turning out to be the most helpful teammate we have, and the poor man’s not even alive to enjoy the honor.” Destrudo said. He looked at the map, and then turned and walked away.

“Alright, so clearly we have to go find this puzzle, wherever it is, and solve it, if we want your stick and my gold. I wonder, was it Alexsander and his friends that we just burned to ashes?” He said, waving the torch at the passing insects.

It watched them go down to where it kept the man things as slaves. One of the deceased man things had spent much of his living time talking about someone named Helena, and occasionally inscribing notes to her. With his memories, it understood that the man thing was attached to her, for it was her mate. Now they moved directly toward the key of the sun, the thing that made the blasted light atop the temple swell to enormity. It couldn’t stand that light. It would retreat for now. It had a plan.

Destrudo walked to where the map said the puzzle was, but saw only an empty room. Well, empty except for a switch and a piece of paper.

“Oh goody, another love letter; I wonder why their scattered all over the temple.” Destrudo said dryly as he picked up the letter and read it for a change.

“My dearest Helena,

Woe befalls me tonight as I try for the twentieth time to write a letter to you. We found a most interesting switch in the temple today, and at the command of Toreq, who of course lead our little group, I threw the switch. What befell our eyes was an enchantment most strange, as the floor fell away around us, leaving all four of us on a single levitating platform. A set of jewels shimmered into existence before our eyes, and these too hovered in mid-air.

Some were blue, some were white, and when one touched a stone, it turned the other color, while its neighbors also turned their opposite colors. Fire from a torch flickered strangely, and then wrote on the walls. What it wrote told us to turn all stones one color. One solution was favorable, one solution was not.

We took turns solving it, and when we finished, everything turned back to normal. To our horror, the resident insects and vermin rushed us and attacked. We all had torches, but Faelro’s went out at an inopportune moment. The swarm covered him, and he screamed and begged for help as it bit him and poisoned him. The swarm scattered and departed, seemingly satisfied as we approached.

Koreic used a healing spell, but couldn’t remove the poison in Faelro’s veins.
Faelro had clearly gone mad, for he said he could hear a voice in his mind, and the closer he got to death, the louder and stronger it got. Soon, he wouldn’t be able to resist it any more.

He died slowly, and babbled at us incoherently all the while about not letting us control him. Then he became himself again right before he died, and warned us all to leave before we died. He said he wanted to apologize to me before he died. I told him I needed none, for he had done me no wrong. That’s when he told me. When I sent you to him to ask him on my behalf while I was exploring the mummy’s tomb in Fallien for an extension, you never told me he forced himself on you, and had sex with you in return for the extension on our loan.

Why couldn’t you trust me with this? I will remain hurt until my dying day, knowing that my own wife couldn’t turn to me after she herself had been harmed by another. Knowing the timeframe, is our third even mine?

We shall discuss this when I get home, and I shall not write of it again.”

Destrudo sighed, and dragged Irene with him to the switch, which he promptly pulled. The floor seemed to drop away, as an inky blackness covered it, leaving only the central area where they stood visible. One Hundred stones materialized in the air before them, some blue, some white.

“Damn you Alexsander!” Destrudo yelled at the air around him.

[Irene]

"Why curse Alexsander, because he was appearently so angry it took him twenty tries to write a descent civilized letter to his wife?" Irene asked. She touched a white stone, and it turned blue.

"Hmm, white, and blue, I wonder what the difference is." Irene asked.

She grabbed one and held it in her hands. It switched every few seconds between blue and white, due to continued contact. She studied the stones carefully, and found no discernible difference between the two, save for a small indistinct crescent when it was blue, and a small indistinct circle when it was white. She let it go, and it floated back into place. She thought for a moment.

A crescent on blue, a circle on white. Do they mean something or is it a side-effect of the spell? Oh, of only Alexsander had been more forthcoming with information. I guess I’m on my own. I see the torch repeating its instruction for us over there. Turn all stones one color, but what one? A crescent, and a circle, each with two clear different meanings. One must be favorable, and one must be unfavorable. I wonder what the meanings are. Could it be all that bad though? People speak of Night as something filled with horror. Yet things that grow in the sun’s light can be just as sinister. So does Night then come before day in meanings of ill portent? Night comes before day, where have I heard that before?

“Night comes before day!” Irene shouted excitedly suddenly.

She turned to Destrudo, giddy with excitement that she had things figured out.
“Listen, each stone holds two symbols, a crescent representative of the moon, and a sphere, representing the sun. The temple told us that Night comes before day, so all we have to do is turn all the stones blue, to make them have the crescent. In a way, we black out the board of one hundred stones. That’s going to be the hard part; we need a strategy of some sort to get the whole board full of blue stones. I mean, if I touch this white one to turn it blue, all eight stones around it turn color. Is this challenge even possible?” Irene asked.

[Destrudo]

Destrudo eyed the challenge, then Irene.

“This is weird, your weird.” He said, and then touched the floating rocks in a completely random fashion. After several minutes he stopped.

“Alright, seeing it for myself, this is quite the challenge. If I’m to, in essence, spread night’s black embrace across the stones, then this is going to require a strategy. I mean, I touch a stone in one spot, go two over, touch another, and the stones in between flip twice. As it stands now most of the stones are white, with only a sprinkling of blue. What do you suggest?” Destrudo asked.

“Well, I suggest doing more than randomly touching things; you didn’t actually think you were going to succeed that way, did you?” Irene asked, a note of sarcasm rising in her voice.

“I’ll randomly touch you if you don’t back off. I was trying to get a feel for the stones.” Destrudo snapped.

“Don’t you snap at me you idiot. If you’d just left the stupid thing alone we could’ve figured it out and been done with this by now.” Irene snapped right back.

The pair growled at each other then turned their backs on one another, ignoring the puzzle for the moment. Seconds of silence passed.

What an idiot. Doesn’t he realize situations like this require careful thought and planning?

What an idiot. Does she think to know everything without first finding out how something works?

Both of them turned back to the puzzle and began operating it at the same time, sometimes fighting one another over what stone to push.

“LISTEN, this obviously requires a solution in the form of a pattern.” Irene shouted at Destrudo.

“Well I don’t see you trying any. All I see you doing is pushing random stones. I could get this done faster with the four zombies as partners.” Destrudo shouted right back.

“If you would shut up for a second maybe I could think of one.” Irene growled grabbing him by the shirt and pulling him down to eye level.

Destrudo smiled, and was highly tempted pull her closer to him. He wasn’t one to desire every average woman that crossed his path, but he had to admit, this woman wasn’t average.

“Thank you. Now, if we cut it down to four sections, we might get it done faster. Try to work your way from the outer sections” Irene said.

Destrudo stood up as Irene released him, and decided to take the upper right section.

[Irene]

White, blue, Sun, Moon, the pushing and switching was getting tedious. Still Irene and Destrudo persevered. She couldn’t help but glance over at the strange glowing man on occasion to see how he was doing. It was not to sneak another peak at his incredibly attractive body, not in the slightest, and as long as she kept telling herself that, it had to be true. Not that she believed herself.

“So, why do you glow red?” she asked, curiosity getting the better of her.

“Why are you in a variety of colors?” he asked in return. Destrudo felt that the answer was the same; it was just how they were born.

“I was born this way, are you telling me you’ve been glowing since birth? Has no one discovered the reason for this yet?” she asked.

“Well, if you ask my father, it’s because I’m special. If you ask someone who actually has a brain and can be bothered to us it, it’s because my spirit is extraordinarily powerful and suited for a different body than I posses. A witch I met in passing once swore I was the son of a Goddess, as though that could be the only likely explanation. Still, a wizard said that while I had great untapped and untrained power, it was not of the normal sort found commonly throughout Althanas. A priest said I had a spark of the divine that was somehow uniquely my own, yet I am not a deity in any sense of the word. In a nutshell, neither I, nor anyone else really knows why, only that I just do. Fools keep swearing I must have divine parentage. If that were so, I would be far more powerful than the average man, but I am not.” Destrudo said.

“Well, it is a likely explanation. But your right, if you really had the blood of a deity flowing through your veins, you wouldn’t be here right now.” Irene said.

She touched a stone, and her first section was clear. She grinned in triumph and turned to face Destrudo, who reached over and touched a stone, making a small part of the section turn white.

“You ass.” She muttered as she turned the section blue again.

Destrudo laughed and turned his section blue. They switched sides, Destrudo taking the top section on the left, while she moved over to the bottom right.

“So, what are you, besides a woman?” Destrudo asked, feeling that it was only fair she share some insight to her unique qualities as well.

“A whole mix of things; wizards have defined my blood as being a mix of Human, Elven, Dwarf, Gnome, Halfling, Draconian, demon, Fae, Mermaid, and Orc. My guess is my ancestors were adventurers who ended up with half-breed children, who later on married other half-breed children and so on and so forth until today when I’m born.” Irene said.

“Well, I’ve heard variety is a good thing. Is that why you’re so attractive?” Destrudo asked.

Irene blushed, and while for most normal women, it caused a shade of red to appear in their skin, in hers, it caused a shade of green to appear. Her unusual appearance had been commented on before, certainly, but no one had actually said she was attractive.

[Destrudo]

Destrudo and Irene kept switching stones in the last section. At last, they blacked out the entire board, turning every stone blue, with the symbol of the moon. Though they could not see it, in the main room, above the central pyramid, the great glowing stone began to spark, and energy began to shoot out of it. Its Luminosity increased greatly, and seemed to rival the noonday sun itself for intensity. As part of the spell, mirrors appeared, floating in midair, reflecting the light down the hallways, and into tunnels.

The light banished the spell where Irene and Destrudo where, and at that moment, the swarm of insects, arachnids, and rats attacked the pair! Destrudo grabbed Irene and ran over to their torch that seemed to always stay lit and grabbed it, swinging it this way and that at the swarm.

“They did it, Kernkraft did not think they would, but they did it. Oh how the light burns Kernkraft. Quickly, they must die so all will become darkness again.”

The swarm seemed undaunted by Destrudo’s torch, and advanced despite his desperate swings. They seemed to be heading into a corner, and that would mean a sure victory for the swarm. Irene tugged on Desturdo and pointed to the shafts of bright light, noticeably empty of attackers, and ran for the light. Destrudo followed as well, setting a rat on fire in the process. Safe from the swarm, for it did not dare follow into the light, the pair collapsed on the floor in relief.

“Kernkraft was not quick enough. Kernkraft will wait for now, wait for the door to open in the blackest depths of night, when Kernkraft is strongest.”

Destrudo grabbed Irene’s hand, mostly to reassure himself she had made it. He would not go this far without getting his due payment. Irene in turn squeezed his hand gently.

“It’s not really all that bright I notice, it seems to have calmed down, but look how the orb glows differently, with a strange color of light.” Irene said.

Destrudo drew himself to his feet, and looked at the mirrors.

“Hey, notice how there’s many more mirrors down that hallway? I wonder if something special is down there.” Destrudo said.

“Must be another step to getting the staff.” Irene commented.

As they walked toward it, they stopped as they heard the protest of rusted steel coming from the inner temple. To their surprise, and delight, the steel doors slid open, to reveal Prevalida doors blocking the way.

“I guess one step down, one more to go?” Destrudo asked.

“Hopefully, I want to get away from Kernkraft.” Irene said.

The followed the mirrors down and at last they shined upon a diamond that was twin to the one outside on the temple. Only, it didn’t shine, instead, it collected the light and dripped it out as liquid.

“Liquid light, how strange. I didn’t think such was possible.” Destrudo said.

The Light traveled upon a little channel that stopped in a sun, slowly filling it up. Once it was full, it illuminated the area, letting the liquid light pass through it. Only now it spread out in all directions from the sun, on many paths. At the other end of the chamber, a purple diamond lay in a pit. The light couldn’t reach it though, for the paths were scrambled, and there was no complete path to the diamond.

“Alright Alexsander, where’s the next letter. I’m hoping you got this far at least. I mean sure Faelro had revealed his dark secret and became a zombie, but certainly you and your remaining cohorts weren’t defeated by one zombie and a swarm of insects.” Destrudo said, looking around for a letter to Helena.

“And you said they wouldn’t contain anything helpful.” Irene said smiling.