Black Zenith [Adventure RPG / Chapter Four: Fires of Heaven]

Failure upon failure, upon failure, Myra just wasn't doing anything right- when her comrades needed help the most now! She was sure to be covered in bruises and scratches from all of this crashing around- her pride among them, considering how her favorite spell was stolen twice over. She lay there on the ground, staring ahead at the two spell thieves, wondering if she should legitimately consider this theft in the first place. And would that make Renzo a double-thief, or a hero, for stealing her spell back?

She had little time to ponder on it as the great dragon bellowed for the group to get to the caverns, witnessing some of her allies following suit straight away. "That's all I wanted to know from the start," Myra groaned as she helped herself up, "If I'd known that earlier, we could have avoided this!" The ravenfolk quickly shook her body loose of its complaints as she muttered one more of her own, "Should've just scried," before dashing to the target location. She called behind her to Nehron, "You heard the dragon, you should get out of here too!" Onwards down the mysterious staircase!

Nehron watches you silently for several moments, then gives a toothy smile, seeming satisfied.

"You are resilient to have resisted the wrath of the winds so. I salute you, raven's kin. May the wind be ever in your favor."

Then he is gone in a gust of wind, blowing far and away as a howling gale.

Renzo harrumphs at Savannah's brashness, and straightens out his ruffled mustache. The gall of this girl!

Renzo heads into the caverns with the group, pondering about that crown and who it belonged to and why it is here. Luckily, his oraclestone can answer that question. And then he takes the crown for himself, because it's beauty is simply too luxurious for some of the baser tastes of this party. Save maybe Watson, but the gems don't really go with his complexion now do they?

You invoke your oraclestone, and see in your mind when the recently-deceased king placed the crown upon the throne several hours ago, then left. Prior to this, great destruction had been visited upon the inhabitants of the city, slaying all but those within the tower and a few stragglers trapped in the city. Realizing that he now reigned in a dead city, the king left the crown behind as a testament to his failure.

The oraclestone also reveals that the crown is not magical, which in itself is unusual as it is common for royalty to place their greatest magical protections upon the artifacts that represent their sovereignty, be it crown, scepter or jewelry. The large flawless sapphire inset at the brow also indicates that this crown may have been intended for a similar use, but the enchantment was never completed. A skilled artificer might yet remedy that.

Regardless, this particular crown has been known as the royal symbol to many throughout Tanalein when it was immortalized over twenty years ago at king Amond Varangian's crowning, where his father the former king, Matheous Varangian, presented the newly-forged crown to his son. The old king died within minutes of having completed the crowning ceremony, having completed the last task left to him in the world. Apparently, he was found dead sitting in a chair with a smile on his face. Such an event is not easily forgotten in the minds of a people, as the old king was well liked despite the steady decline of the kingdom prior to the new crowning.

King's Crown
Wearing this, you command the people of Tanalein - provided they are inclined to listen to you.
A crown with a simple, traditional design. It is made from burnished silver and inset with a large, cloudy sapphire at the brow, with an inscription circling the setting of the sapphire, reading 'Alrie - Val sora cuebiyar'.

Watson does not adhere to the upper upper class's bad taste in crowns and gemstones like SOME BOURGEOIS SNOB *COUGH* RENZO *COUGH*. Watson can cut much finer stones. The magnificently hewn gems would then be melted together to create a whirlpool of color in a small sphere. He would implant that in place of someone's missing eye AND THEY WOULD BE GRACIOUS TOWARDS HIM AND ALL WHOM BEHOLD THEIR CRYSTAL-EYED COUNTENANCE.

Watson does like the robes though and takes those after he eyes the dead mage.

Is that silk? It better be silk. He will not settle for anything less. Watson has a goal in mind and he must meet it!

If they are silk, he'll find some way of incorporating them into the tapestry. And if he finds any sort of item on the dead man's garb, he'll pilfer for them for the party. He won't need them where he's gone.

With some trouble, you haul the massive wooden beam out of your way and get to looting, trying to ignore how the dead man's bones are quite obviously horrendously broken. As it turns out, it is indeed a silken robe, although you'd need to get rid of some of the fancy pattern thats been stitched into the backside of the robe and across the shoulders in something resembling a stylized wing pattern. The robe is also blessedly free of blood, save for a single stain near the neck where blood had leaked from between the man's lips.

Beyond the robe, you find a signet ring bearing a flame symbol you dont recognize, and a gold-and-ruby pendant. You also find a pouch containing 46 gold coins. You dont know that it contains 46 coins because even Watson isnt mad enough to stop and count damn coins in a situation like this, but maths.

"Trust me when I say I didn't exactly ask for this frigid garbage anyway." Savannah flexes her fingers, staring down at the tiny snow flakes that slowly melt on her skin, even in the heat. "And believe me, I don't want to fight you or your... I'zith again. I've had enough fire to last a life time."

As she begins to walk away, however, Savannah turns back to Sa'ron with a blank expression. She fishes that sphere Miquel gave her, showing it to the fire spinner. "If you see rocket boy again, tell him he's gonna have to pry this device from my cold, dead hands if he wants it back."

And with that, she's gone, running for the 'safety' of the entrance hall. It doesn't take long before she's caught up with Renzo and Watson, two dolts who she really doesn't want to deal with.

"Catch you guys later. Better hurry it up if you don't want that lady to rip out your spine and suck all the marrow out of it." Savannah dismisses the two with a flip of the hand, heading down the staircase behind the throne.

Sa'ron gives you a respectful nod, replying, "Not all fire consumes. It can be the nurturing warmth of life aswell as the raging wildfire bringing death. It is disparity, becoming what you make of it. Do not forswear it simply because you have been burnt once too many, for it may yet bring warmth and comfort to you one day."

With that, he turns and trudges away, heading for the north gate, seeming too exhausted to move any faster. Likewise can be said for the others remaining, the inhuman Rashagor stumbling away not far behind Miquel, who is still smoking slightly from the dragons fire despite whatever magical protection saved him from being consumed in the flame. Only Enzu remains behind, and he seems to have been enveloped in a luminous glow while you werent looking.

Mayor continued to make his retreat, clumsily hammering his chest piece back into place with one hand as he ran, ignoring any dents he causes to make in his hurry. He made a passing wave towards Belarion as thanks for saving his hide a second time, as he rushed around whatever was left of the maze and rubble to make his way to the tower.

Bohw snarls as Thunderpaw takes another hit, pushing him to the edge to keep running as she quickly brought up another rune. She was far too concerned about the damn rabbit's health to care about anything else, breathing some of her life into the glowing green rune as it found and bound itself to Thunderpaw. If giving him some of her energy would of kept him alive long enough to answer some of her questions, Bohw wouldn't mind the extra pain she was putting herself through now, almost throwing Thunderpaw down the stairwell as she hurried down after him.

You sacrifice some of your vitality to boost Thunderpaw, who seems sluggish and lets you drag him along, his song dying as the glowing light that had enveloped him fades, the bow in his hands returning to its former broken state with a discordant snap.

The group files down the dark stairwell for several minutes, the descent brings with it a drastic increase in latent magical energy in the area. Eventually you emerge in a small underground cave, which is lit with a wavering red glow originating from an unusual sword that seems to be stuck in a tomb at the center of a small shrine placed off to one side on the cavern floor. Beyond the shrine is a bend in the cave wall which seems to lead further down.