[OPEN] Scary Tower

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WANTED: Adventurers, mercenaries, and soldiers of fortune whose coin purses are lighter than they’d like.

Exploration and excitement are knocking at your door! Ancestral ruins housing magical splendor are ripe for the taking. All we need are a few brave souls daring enough to tread into the darkness! You will be paid handsomely so long as our associate survives and returns the artifact to our care.

If you are interested please meet our associate by following the winding road west of Valintal, when you get to the Ro’an Creek bridge take a left on the side road and follow that until you come across a gargantuan twisting red oak that divides the path. We meet at midday.

- Arcane Elven Historical Society

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Lilly’s eyes scanned the document from top to bottom once more. This bulletin looked much better than the last few. Very official, it had a decorative stamp with a red seal and everything. Parchments with fancy red seals always looked important. Hopefully this one was convincing enough to get a few more experienced blades so she could get her hands on the prize she had been seeking for the last two months. She had passed the news around to every tavern in Valintal and posted the bulletin on as many sign posts as she could find.

“Ancestral ruins” sounded much nicer than “ancient archmagus tower that fell into disrepair centuries ago.” She also didn’t mention the nest of hobgoblins that prevented her from proceeding beyond the first story of the tower. Or any of the dangers that likely awaited the would-be explorers on higher floors of the tower. Traps, magical fields, demons, or possibly even spider webs… there was no way of knowing what horrors lay ahead.

After her first expedition with that elven bard who claimed to be the “best knife chucker in Raiaera” she had grown more and more desperate. They hadn’t proceeded more than two feet into the tower when one of the hobgoblins was alerted and subdued the so-called famous bard. Lilly barely got out with her life and was reminded once again of how miserable bards, particularly elven ones, made her.

The second try went a bit better. A band of three brothers claimed they would get her whatever object the tower held. They managed to actually slay a few of the goblins before the eldest two brothers were murdered horribly. Their youngest sibling lost an ear and wouldn’t stop crying to Lilthis about how much it hurt. Humans were much worse than bards or elves. At least elves lived past the age of fifty. And they had the decency to not sob in front of a dark elven lady.

“Third tries a charm I guess,” the young woman muttered as she leaned against the oak. The midday sun gleaned against her charcoaled flesh and radiated off her snowy white hair. She was staring at the tower just across the field that lay before her. That tower would be conquered. It’s secrets would be revealed. And Lilly would claim the illusory stone and the archmage’s schematics for herself.

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Mikael Leviasi ia Saiph
Location: By the Great Twisted Red Oak Tree

The dirt path held a rather melancholy sight as Mikael rode across, the ground showed little use by that of travelers on foot or by horse-back a sharp contrast from all the previous roads he had traveled. Mikael himself minded it little though, less travelers meant less interaction, and he already had enough interactions in the form of conversations as it were to fill an entire month's worth. Seated on his horse, he turned his attention to the guide papers, they were elaborate and detailing something fascinating to the Elf . Mikael never fancied himself a book worm by any stretch of the imagination but the lack of experience of knowing anything past the walls of Tor Elythis convinced him to look for more hands on experience. The Noble Elf had found himself wishing he had paid closer attention to his tutors all those years ago though on the descriptions of Artifacts lost during the Corpse War.

Not unlike his own brother, from when they were younger, Mikael had a growing sense of wonderment of the world around him; if not the people that inhabited it less so in rather different regards. News written of some ruins proving to provide a sort of nest of knowledge was what drew Mikael, he held one of the documents in his hands and while he held a certain skepticism of how strange it looked at first glance, Mikael dismissed it as due to age or poor quality of how it was kept or distributed. Regardless, Mikael continued forward as whatever artifact that was left within these ruins was certainly something that intrigued him.

Riding slowly as he approached the red oak detailed on the document, Mikael slid off his horse and tied him to the tree, his hand gently rubbing the creature’s neck before giving it a quick pat of assurance. He had checked his short bow and quiver, as his left hand brushed against the hilt of his own sword, the young High Elf had decided to wear a more leather based protection, guessing much of the exploration would require his full range of motion and freedom to move with ease. Stepping around the great oak tree, Mikael walked closer to where he read he would meet the associate indicated on the document.

The dark, near black skin, contrasted by the white locks of hair similar to Mikael’s own hair in both look and length, the sharpened ears told him enough as he stopped short. He knew of the Fallen Elven-kind that shared the land of Raiaera they both call home, Dark Elf. . . Mikael was unsure how to approach this new situation. He had always heard the Fallen were opportunists, and while relations after the great war were tense, Mikael of course wasn't certain of how the Dark Elf would think of himself.

All the same, not who I was expecting to see here. . .

Pointed onyx ears absorbed the sounds of a horse trotting down the dirt pathway that intersected the massive tree she leaned against. Her initial reaction was to jump to attention and peak around the tree to see what sort of mercenary had arrived. But she resisted this urge. Need to play it cool Lil, you’re supposed to be a professional.

Lilly had reasoned that a young New Elf with almost no combat experience would be a prime target for banditry or betrayal once the schematics and gemstone were discovered. However, if the mercs she was hiring believed that she belonged to a formal organization that was monitoring the situation then it may provide her with a thin veil of protection. The inventor needed to relax, play it cool, let the hopeful explorer come to her.

As the horse was hitched the sound of hooves was replaced by footsteps. Lilly leaned forward and turned her gaze over towards the new arrival. Pale blue eyes looked up and down at the applicant before her, trying to size him up. Truth be told it was not exactly a skill she possessed, judging someone’s mettle purely by appearance. Still, she wasn’t exactly impressed by an elf in leather armor with a little bow and sword. Looks can be deceiving though.

One thing that she did notice, almost immediately, was his look of shock.

It made sense, the plain skinned elves didn’t interact much with dark elves. They liked to look down upon her kind, calling themselves ‘high elves.’ Lilly had learned to deal with it back when she traveled with that cabal of mages.

“I uh, hi there,” she let slip before reminding herself, be professional, “I assume you are responding to the advertising bulletin we issued?”

With no hesitation she continued, “well, let’s get a few things out of the way. Yes, I’m a dark elf who’s hunting a magical artifact within that tower,” a slender black hand gesturd towards the aging spire across the field. “Yes, most dark elves hate magic. No, I am not going to explain how my gauntlet works.” The brass and copper assortment of gears mangled around her left hand was usually the first thing strangers questioned her on.

The porcelain haired woman paused briefly. She was much more assertive when she was pretending to be someone else. It was a fun change of pace for her. “I’m uh… my name I mean is Lillian Svalesin, but please just call me Lilly.”

She nervously cleared her throat, fiddled with a loose thread from her cloak, and then stared back down at her boots. Pausing long enough to allow for the leather clad elf to respond.

“I can brief you on our task when you’re ready, I’ve had limited success so far,” that last statement was a bit more somber. Despite her naivety the drow understood the risks, she recognized that she was lucky to be unharmed after the past two failures. There was no telling if this time her luck might run out.

Mikael Leviasi ia Saiph
Location: By the Great Twisted Red Oak Tree

Mikael felt inclined to take a step back when the Fallen Elf started to speak quite suddenly but remained still regardless. Though it was clear by her response that she was hardly bothered by his presence, if anything she was practiced and well rehearsed whenever approaching another elf kind. With a single nod of understanding, Mikael listened patiently as she quickly explained herself and her purpose, in no uncertain terms was she being rather vague and simplistic with her responses. Not that Mikael minded such answers, but the questions he had were gnawing for answers, for the moment he would settle with what was given.

“My name is Mikael Leviasi ia Saiph.” Mikael introduced himself, his head and upper body bowed in customary greeting of his home. His arms remained by his side during his bow but Mikael folded them over his chest to listen further.

Lillian explained this was not her first attempt, and the mention of limited successes gave Mikael slight pause. Mikael’s cerulean eyes remained steady on Lillian’s own and his ears perked upwards to learn more of these ruins. Certainly these ruins were more than hiding some ancient artifact, magical or otherwise perhaps his choice of accepting this quest was done under too little time. Or rather too little information.

“I would be appreciative of your experiences in the last attempts to search these ruins.” Mikael spoke, his voice was curious and his eyes skeptical but he held back further questions. The Fallen Elf, Lillian’s, Lillian’s gauntlet gave Mikael slight pause but figured it was better to let her offer an explanation then press the issue personally. Being unaware of what kind of contraption her gauntlet was made Mikael wary but until it grew from a passing curiosity to an actual concern of safety, the ruins up ahead were to be his primary focus of concern.

“Specifically on the factors limiting your success that you had just mentioned.”

While Mikael was of the mind that such information should have probably been provided on the posters intially, he was willing to give Lillian the benefit of the doubt for the moment. He carefully took a step forward and eyed the direction of which tower was and wondered slightly on what could have been lurking within, he had prepared his glyphs that were inscribed onto his sword but curiosity remained if his preparations were enough. Maybe I should keep my horse close by. . .

“Right, nice to meet you Mikael,” the dark elf replied with a grin. This was going well, she’d practice her entire speech a few dozen times inbetween treks to the tower and a strange confidence had built up inside of her as a result. Surely this chance would be the one in which they’d conquer this damned tower.

Lilly’s left hand extended out across her forehead, wiping away the shimmering sweat that had accumulated on her brow, caused by equal parts hot sun and nerves.

Stepping closer to the older elf her eyes narrowed and she stated, “we haven’t gotten past the first floor.” She let out an exasperated sigh and crossed her arms. It wasn’t just a bit embarrassing, it was extraordinarily frustrating.

“On the first level is a den of hobgoblins. It’s dark but I’d guess there’s around seven or eight still left,” she explained a smooth cadence. Her pale eyes widened and her face took on a more serious tone as she continued, “I do not know how many floors there are and I do not know what awaits on the upper floors.” The elven maid swayed to one side, staring at the structure itself, “we paid for a mage to assess it and he believed that there were likely arcane traps or diversions within.”

Batting some of her white hair away from her face the elven employer attempted to re-assure her potential employee, “I understand a thing or two about magecraft, I may be able to disarm anything like that but if there are more creatures or any hidden traps I could use help tackling them.” Finally, she gave her ultimatum, “the pay is 350 gold and it will be rendered when we safely exit the building with artifact in hand. You will take up the front. Are you in?”

Mikael Leviasi ia Saiph
Location: By the Great Twisted Red Oak Tree

Mikael took a moment to focus on the Dark Elf, Lillian Mikael reminded himself yet again, on Lillian to see if she was going to include some good news. The claim that a ruined tower held forgotten magical items made Mikael rather dubious of the assertion that such prizes still remained within, but with the reveal of hobgoblins perhaps none wished to hazard a trip into the tower. The presence of such dangerous inhabitants drew a skeptical gaze from Mikael but this was born from an understanding that such claims were not made clear on the poster. Perhaps this is karma.

Unlike their smaller cousins, Hobgoblins presented an issue of strength and while Mikael held to his own belief that he could emerge victorious with dueling one such creature. Multiple hobgoblins stretched the realm of possibility towards impossibility for Mikael. The goal was to seek out and acquire these special magical items, and removal of these dangerous inhabitants could be avoided if at all possible. Mikael turned his attention to his satchel but paused at the mention of payment. With a quick nod, “Three-Fifty Gold for the acquiring of the artifact and making it safely outside. The deal sounds perfect.” Mikael agreed.

“With our disadvantage coming to numbers when against the Hobgoblins, I suggest we attempt to sneak around. Perhaps lure them outside, where we can either thin them out one by one or simply just sneak past them.” Mikael explained, he could inscribe runes upon any object and could create enough lights at night to grab anybody’s attention. “-And we can scale down the side of the Tower with rope to escape.” He added briefly. Without much clearer understanding of the tower’s layout, he could only guess but he himself wasn’t confident about free-climbing up the tower itself. Though that would be rather quick and far easier than sneaking and or fighting our way through the tower.

Mikael looked back to Lillian and gave her a curious look, “-You’re the lead here, so what’s your plan here?” He assumed she must have learned something from her previous attempts, maybe what type of Hobgoblins they were or from which tribe or clan. His left arm remained by his side as his right grabbed hold of his satchel and waited for Lillian’s response. He had not exactly intended to be too focused on combat, but he wouldn't shy away from it should it come, I would rather just have the advantage when it comes to combat situations.