The Warlords of Krahl - A Collaborative Writing Adventure

Leon slipped through the dark tunnels. The soft glow of a magelight barely illuminating the smooth stone walls. Every so often he stopped to examine an engraving on the wall or a crack in the floor before shuffling down another tunnel mumbling to himself. John trudged uncomfortably behind him. The tunnels had not been designed for someone of his bulky build. He was forced to hunch painfully occasionally scraping his shoulders along the wall as the two pushed deeper and deeper into the maze of tunnels. "Professor, do you know where we're going?" John asked, carefully avoiding a painful collision with a low archway. "Don't worry my boy!" The professor replied cheerily, "I'm sure these signs must lead somewhere." "But WHERE?" John hissed in exasperation. "You keep telling me we're making progress but you have no idea where we're going! We could be walking in circles for all we know!" "Aha! Now here's something!" Leon replied cheerily. "I told you they would go somewhere, see this symbol, 'Armory' I'm sure the contents of this room will be useful!" Leon made a few passes over a rune and the wall before them shifted aside. The room they were presented with was not what either had expected. Light runes struggled to illuminate the area, flickering on and off irregularly. A thick layer of dust had settled over everything, floating up in great clouds as the pair moved through a scene of desolation. Skeletons were scattered throughout the room. The room was littered with weaponry. Some conventional, some obviously arcane. Some were held in the hands of the dead, some remained on decayed and broken racks, others were scattered haphazardly upon the floor. Burn marks coated the walls and the entire room held a wavering magical charge, as though some great catastrophe had once swept through it. Very few things seemed to be in order, One was a statue, vaguely humanoid and coated in dust standing at the back of the room. The other an orb, resting upon a pedestal in the center of the room, even through the dust a myriad of colors danced across its surface in an almost hypnotic display. Leon stumbled in, surveying the scene with awe and barely contained excitement. John held back. "Professor..." he said tentatively. "We should leave, head somewhere else..." "Whatever for John? Look at this place, what a story it could tell us! All that we could learn" He stepped towards the orb, watching the colors shift. A skeleton rested below it, A bony hand stretched out towards the pedestal, a bolt resting between its broken ribs. "hmm" the professor mused "Someone didn't want you touching this orb, I wonder what could be so important..." "PROFESSOR!" "What?" "We should really go, I have misgivings about this place." "Just a moment John, I just want to see something" Leon slowly extended his hand, reaching for the orb. He pressed his palm against its surface, and at once a jolt ran through him. It felt as though every particle of his being was being pulled towards the orb, his very essence being sucked away. This wasn't strictly accurate, Leon had come into contact with draining spells before, he knew it was only forcefully pulling magical energy from his body. This, however, did not stop it from being immensely painful. "AAAAAAGH!" Leon cried, trying desperately to pull his hand away from the cursed sphere. "PROFESSOR!" John rushed to him, pulling him away with all his might, but it was too late. The professor fell backwards suddenly released from the enchantment, and exhausted. For a moment all was still. "Professor! Are you alright?" "Just a bit...tired...nothing to wor-" Suddenly the orb sprung to life, a bright green glow emanating strongly from its center. The dust that previously surrounded the orb was lifted and held balanced around it. There was movement in the darkness. The statue shifted. "Authorization received" A voice echoed from the darkness, "Destroy the invaders." The statue stepped forward, dust blossoming around it as it moved for the first time in centuries revealing a bright red coloring across its stone form. Its arm lifted, a large sword held in its stone hands. John quickly retrieved a large blade from the ground and stood in a ready stance. There was a clash of metal against metal, and Leon slipped into unconsciousness. All across the dungeon, walls slid open, bodies of clay, stone, and metal moved once more to carry out orders delivered in centuries past. The legacy of their ancient creators had awakened this day, once again ready for battle.