The Forum Quest of Eternia

"Randall!" A young barmaid came running up to him, a look of concern on her face. "Someone help him, please!" she cried. "Who would have done this?"
Across the room, sitting in a dark corner, Sven watched the others, those not too drunk to function, help the girl carry Randall to a chair. Sven knew who had done this. It was the raiders from the moutain caves, but, since when were they so daring as to create an amush on a Royal Guardsman? Something had changed. Sven gathered his things and began to walk out.

As Sven left, one of the men who had carried Randall examined his injuries. He stepped back and sighed. "I can heal him," he said, "but it will take some effort. Kindly grant me space to work."

Slowly the crowd which had gathered moved back, leaving a small ring around the two men. The man took a dep breath, held his arms out towards Randall and starting whispering in a strange language. A bright light started to shine from his hands, and Randall's body lifted into the air, surrounded by white.

Before anyone could react, the light burst out, blinding everyone, and then it was gone. It took a moment for the people's sight to return, but when it did, they saw that Randall had not a scratch left upon him. The barmaid rushed forward and threw her arms around him, tears in her eyes as she did so. The man who had healed him stood still for a moment, before stumbling outside, visibly weakened by the effort.

There was light, a blinding white corona at the edge of vision, and a feeling of weightlessness. He knew he had been hurt, badly hurt, but he now felt nothing.

Then everything seemed to explode, but there was no noise! Randall felt a tremendous wave of energy surge through his body, and he leapt to his feet, marvelling at how good he felt. His shoulder, which had been throbbing in pain from the twist, now felt as strong as any of his muscles.

He saw Becka running toward him, and part of him rejoiced. But his mind was searching for the connection he had briefly felt, a connection to a mind of great intelligence and power. He scanned the room, looking for a face that would match his vision of that other presence...

The man stumbled outside, confused at what had just happened. In all his years, he had never linked with another person in such a manner! In his dazed state, he wandered into the street, not noticing the warrior who stood before him. Bashing into him, he fell to the ground, lapsing into unconsciousness as he did so.

The warrior turned and looked down at the figure beneath him. His dark-coloured clothing and white hair did little to identify his status. For some reason though, he felt an overwhelming urge to help him. Despite his better judgement, he knelt down and flung the man over his shoulder. Although he knew some magic, it was limited at best. There was a healer not far from here - perhaps he would know what to do.

Stupid woman, Sven thought as he muttered a curse. Becka would always tell him how wonderful he was, how much she enjoyed their nights together, but whenever Randall was around, she insisted they keep away from each other. No big deal, Sven had a few girls on the side, but Becka was his favorite.

He found himself at the base of the mountains without knowing he had arrived, and he heard a faint humming that seemed to come from the rock itself! "Strange," he remarked, "I have a funny feeling about this." He wondered what could be making the noise; it sounded as if it came from deep inside the mountain.

He looked over his weapons. He had two long daggers, a crossbow, and some regular and poison-tipped arrows. He was usually given a non-threatining, if unfriendly, welcome in the raiders' cavern, probably because they knew he was a fierce and merciless fighter. He tried to move around the kingdom as discreetly as he could, but occasionally a young warrior who knew of Sven's reputation would find and challenge him. He had left the last one in 4 bloody chunks.

But something told him that this time there would be no welcome. There was evil magic behind the morning's ambush, magic, he could sense, which dwelt inside the mountain.

Meanwhile on the other side of the mountain, Janus was in his daily meditation. "I haveth caused enough pain on this mortal world, it is far time for me to go now. I should have done this along time ago!" he said, reaching for a knife, "NO! I ... can't..." he muttered again. "You fool! You could have ended all the pain and misery of the world at that very second! WIth you gone, there would be nothing left in the way of the world's ressurection!" He yelled at himself, in such a manner that would scare small children to see. "The ice ages were my fault. The extinction of the dinosaurs were my fault. The creation of man was my fault. If I had not created this world with such flaws, then it would not be in such a rut it is now" He said, staring at this reflection in a pool of his own blood "I wonder, can I die? I wonder if I could, it would be a strange thing if I did. My soul holds the earth together, it would be such an unfortunate thing if I could not die? And create a new world in my afterlife?" He said again.

"Such a shame, I cannot leave this world to create a new one, nor can I destroy this one." He said. "But of course I cannot wonder: Is this world beyond saving?" he said, walking back to his hermit hut.

"I have done all I can for him. The rest is for the Gods to decide" said the healer in a heavy voice. The healings had cost the warrior a great deal of gold, and he had expected to see it repayed. No such luck. He moved to examine the man lying on the table before him, but the healer stopped him.

"He must rest. Leave him be."

The warrior looked to the healer, then thought otherwise. He walked over to the door. Opening it, he turned back to the healer. "Should he awaken, I will be in the Tavern. Ask for Kylock." And with that, he left.

Strange, the old healer thought. I had to use my powers twice on this poor lad. That means... Spirit Poison.

Of course! Someone had coated the arrows with spirit poison! NO. That meant the raiders were in league with... no, that was too horrible of an idea to entertain. If He was up in the mountains, everyone in the valley was doomed.

"Uuuuh." The young man they had called Randall moaned in his sleep. The old healer put a soft hand on Randall's brow. "Rest now, boy. Soon, you will need to fight. Gods, soon we all must fight."

"meh. Strange how we all live in our own little world."

Kylock had downed his fifth mug of ale when he heard it. Only his finely tuned senses could hear it, and he had been lucky to catch it amongst the rabble of the tavern. He placed down his mug with a gold piece to cover the tab and quietly stepped towards the door. He could clearly hear something, but what?

His behaviour had not gone un-noticed. The man who had been healed, Randall he believed his name was, got up from the attentions of the barmaid and walked over to meet him. "You hear it too?" he whispered.

Kylock nodded. "It sounds..."

Randall opened the door and looked out. All appeared normal. He closed it again and placed his hand to his forehead in concentration. "I feel I know this... or at least, the other man did."

"Other man? White hair and dark clothes?"

Randall nodded. "He saved me from certain death, but somehow we..."

Kylock opened the door once more. "He is at the healers. Come, I shall show you."

He snorted impatiently in the darkness. It had been over a week since the savages had fed him, and he was becoming very restless. He had told their leaders to provide him with fresh meat every five days, and to make sure it was young; sicknesses and age made the meat taste terrible.
A sound made him look toward the entrance of his lair. Someone was walking through the long cave passage that led to his lair, a young woman, by the smell. He began to salivate.

Relia wandered through the dank hall her ancestors had hewn from the wet mountain rock. She felt honored to be the concubine of her tribe's new god; her father had argued furiously with the chief, but she had said she would be most happy.
The passage led into a large open area, nearly pitch black except for a guttering torch by the entrance. Relia held her mouth and nose; the smell was awful! Briefly, she wondered what kind of a god would live in such a place. She had expected an elegant throne, tapestries on the wall, huge platters of meat and fruit. But there was only slime covered stone and the stench of something rotten.
"Hello?" Her eyes searched the dark for her god.
"Relia." She spun to see who had spoken, and froze.
It was a man, the most beautiful man she had ever seen, dressed in elegant silk robes. She felt giddy. This must be her Lord, she was certain of it. She dropped to her knees.
"My God, I have come to do as you command, and to please you in whatever way you wish"
He laughed. "They said we were to conjugate?" He sounded very amused. She only looked puzzled.
"They told you we would fuck, yes?"
She blushed furiously and gave a tiny nod. She knew what that word meant. "Yes," she replied.
He threw his head back and roared laughter.
Confused now, Relia asked, "My God, am I not to be your fleshmate? My chief told me I would be." She felt dissappointed; she would have gladly given herself to this amazingly beautiful God.
"You are to give yourself to me," he replied, "body and soul."
Pain, terrible agony shot through her gut. Looking down, she saw a huge, pulsating tentacle ripping through the skin of her stomach, and she looked up.
Her God's face had changed to a hideous, insect-like visage. She tried to scream, but when she opened her mouth, blood poured out in a flood. The pain was awful, it was her whole world. The last thing she saw clearly was her lower half flying across the room as the thing which fed on her innards slurped and gibbered.

He swallowed a huge chunk of the girl's intestines, and smiled. He would have preferred a small child from the village in the valley, but the girl's blood was sweet, her flesh nourishing. Soon, he would be strong enough to possess the bodies of these mountain men. Then he would destroy the people of the valley, whose forebearers had tried to kill him, so long ago.

Both Randall and the white-haired man screamed out in a howling pitch. Kylock looked round to the healer, but he was on the floor, covering his ears. The screams were deafening and Kylock could barely think. Then, just as suddenly as they had started, they were both silent.

Randall tried to speak but was unable to, but the other man sat up and spoke for him.

"The pain... the sheer agony... that poor girl..."

Kylock shook his head clear and faced the now standing man. His eyes betrayed a horrible madness within them - as if this was not the first time he had suffered such an event. He looked down to Randall, who had collapsed into a huddle on the floor.

"Help him to the slab", the man said. "Somehow we are linked, and he is not at all prepared for my sufferings."

Kylock lifted the shivering mess that was Randall with ease - as if he weighed nothing at all. Somewhat disturbed, he layed him on the slab. The white-haired man placed his hand on Randall's forehead and closed his eyes. Finally, Kylock realised that this man was a Transmuter, and one who was obviously skilled at that. The man opened his eyes and faced Kylock.

"Something... horrifying has happened. I shall heal this man, and then I must find out what that something is. I feel I shall need a great warrior like yourself, and I can pay for your services. Will you join me?"

Every instinct in Kylock's body scremed out "NO!", and yet... he could not help but feel some empathy towards the man. Transmuters were not granted the greatest respect in this part of the world, and for some reason he felt an obligation to aid him. Despite his better judgement, he nodded. The man half-smiled as thanks, and returned to Randall.

The healer stood up, crossed over to a chair and sat down. It was going to be one of those days.

The door of the tavern burst open and Nathan half fell in. He was clearly either very excited about something or very drunk. The youngest son of a well-respected nobleman, his one ambition was to become a warrior in the king's service.

"Raiders! Out ... the road ... arrows ..." it took some time for him to get across that he had just seen two raiders lying dead on the road, shot in the chest with arrows. Quickly some beer was brought for him. Meanwhile some of the older warriors quietly slipped out of the tavern.

They found the spot where the raiders were lying, not dead as young Nathan had assumed but badly injured. "help ... " stammered one raider. The warriors drew their swords. There was little friendship between warriors and raiders in the kingdom, and usually they would be more interested in fighting them than helping. "You want help from us?" they laughed back.
"not me ... please .. the king .. we made ... big mistake ... king ... in danger ... "
The warrior drew closer.
"we .. Randall ... poisoned ... evil spirit ..."
At this the warriors grew interested. None had forgotten Randall.
"help ... evil ... king ... not safe ... "
The warriors looked at each other, unsure what to believe. Then Sven stepped forward.
"This is no cowardly trick. I can sense something dark is going on, and not of the raiders' design. Come help me bring him to the healer, he may be able to help us."

Randall sat up, blinking furiously. He looked at the white-haired man. "Where am I?" he asked, shaking his head as he did so. The transmuter smiled.

"You are at the healers, Randall. And somehow, through some means I have yet to understand, you and I share a connection... a connection which links us to each other. As you are no doubt aware, this also means that you share my pain - something you are woefully prepared for."

Standing up from the slab, Randall looked around. He saw Kylock and remembered that he had brought him here. He turned back to the other man.

"Alright, that I will accept. But what am I to do now?"

The man smiled again and ran his fingers through his hair. "I am starting on a journey north with Kylock here. You are welcome to join us - I shall teach you to understand these new abilities as we travel."

Randall looked at the man and thought for a moment. "I have matters to tend to here." He turned towards the door. "Allow me to deal with them, and then I shall accompany you." As he approached the door however, he froze. Somehow, he knew what would happen if he opened that door. He knew the death that would ensue. He knew.

The other man knew as well, and turned to the healer, still sat in his chair. "Is there a back way out of here?"

"Yes", the healer replied.

"Where is it?"
"Out the back."
"Kylock, Randall, we muyst leave. Now."

The three made their way to the back of the store. As soon as they had left, another group entered from the front, carrying another wounded man. The healer placed his head in his hands and sighed.

N'gai knew something terrible was planned for his tribe, but he would not stay in the caverns to find out. The evil thing which called itself God would not get him like it had gotten Relia, like it had gotten her father last night. N'gai had been wandering through the deeper parts of the mountain, and had heard the man's muffled screams; when he awoke and noticed Ren missing from breakfast preperations, N'gai knew it was time to leave.

Now he almost regretted his decision. Up here near the raiding trail, the path was rocky and littered with patches of ice. Even wearing a thick headpiece, the snow got into his eyes, making his descent that much more difficult.

And thinking of poor, sweet Relia blurred his vision further. So many times he had tried to tell her how he felt, how he sometimes dreamed of the two of them dancing and laughing. How he had burned for her! But IT had eaten her, just like IT ate the children the older warriors had kidnapped and brought to the chief.

Suddenly, N'gai was gripped with terror. He should have guarded his thoughts; IT was in his head! His mind was suddenly flooded with horrible visions of death and suffering, and in the midst of it all was a vast, ancient presence, an abomination born of the cast-off misery of dying warriors. N'gai screamed at the horror of the thoughts the vile thing was forcing into his head...

And just as quickly, the visions were gone. Coming to his senses, N'gai wiped blood from his nose, and continued down the mountain slope.

"Look, I've got to call you something!" Kylock protested as he led the group onwards through the forest. The group had been travelling for several hours now, and they had been silent up until a few moments ago with Kylock's outburst. Randall and the white-haired man had been silent throughout the journey, and it had disconcerted Kylock.

"I have many names. Create another."

Kylock sighed and quickened his pace. He should never have agreed to accompany the man. Everything about this felt wrong. And yet here he was, stuck with him.

"Sarn."

The white-haired man looked over to Randall with a surprised look. How had he known?

"Your name is Sarn."

It was all he could do to nod.

"Sarn?" said Kylock. "Hmm! Suits you."

Sarn looked over to Kylock with a face that would scare the dead before turning back to Randall. "You read my mind," he said with a smile. "We'll make a Transmuter out of you yet."

Randall looked up at what little sky poked through the trees. "It's nearly nightfall." Kylock stopped and faced the two. He looked up as well, and nodded his agreement. "We'll set up camp here... I'll grab some wood for a fire." He walked over to another tree and drew his sword, ready to chop some branches off. Suddenly, he stopped. He crouched down to the ground and felt it with his hand, all the while listening for the slightest sound.

"We're not alone" he said as he moved towards the others, his sword at the ready.

As Kylock moved towards the others, everybody noticed someone running. From a pack of beasts. So much for a night walk, as the person thought to himself. Asking the group of people he just stubled upon, "Am I interupting something? I could use a little help getting rid of these beasts. Jo'suke's the name."

"Greetings there, Jo'suke. Here's hoping we survive for more formal introductions!" said Kylock as he swung his sword at the nearest beast in a threatening manner. The beast barely flinched. Kylock turned and examined the battlefield. At least ten strange, almost unholy creatures had encircled them in a matter of seconds. Sarn had his eyes closed and was muttering something under his breath while Randall and Jo'suke were looking scared and confused. Kylock drew a pair of daggers from his belt and handed them to the two. "Better safe then sorry."

The creatures inched forward, slowly contracting the circle. Suddenly Sarn opened his eyes and thrust his hands forward. Fire burst forward from him and slammed straight through the nearest beast. It screamed in pain, howling madly into the night. The other monsters took this as a sign to retreat - they were dealing with things more powerful then they could deal with.

The group stood alone in the middle of the forest with a smoldering corpse. Kylock took a second to make sure they were indeed alone, then took one of his chopped firewood and lit it from the corpse. He looked over to Jo'suke and smiled. "Welcome to the party."

"Thanks alot. I usually go walk during the night, but it looks like I'll have to be quite a bit more careful now...", as Jo'suke said. He then let down the hood of his cloak, revealing short, black hair, and something else. That something was an apprentence wizard's necklace. Surprised, Kylock asked the following question, "If you're an apprentece wizard, then why didn't you destroy thoses beasts with magic?" Jo'suke replied, "It would help if I remembered how to do that kind of magic. Sure, I've nearly learned all of the healing magics, but I'm just starting to learn both the Holy and Dark magic spells. The best I can do is either a purifying spell or a simple bolt light...."

Sarn smiled. "Looks like I have another student." Jo'suke paused for a moment, then returned the smile. He hadn't considered staying out all night with this group of strangers, but he had to admit it was probably safer then being on his own tonight. Plus the other member of the party seemed as confused as him, and for some reason that comforted him.

Sven looked at the healer as he went about his work. The healer silently nodded. This was the second time he had had to master all his powers to cure spirit poison. "So he truly is back", he sighed. Sven paced around the room while the wounded raider groaned. "It is time, I think, to gather all the old crowd. Maybe together we can act before all hell breaks loose. I will travel north myself."

"You go, I will remain here. I have a feeling my powers will be in great demand soon. There are but few of us left that could cure this kind of wound."

It had taken him a while, but Kylock had managed to build a rough shelter for the night, and the group was finally asleep, except for Sarn, who had agreed to take first watch. His eyes scanned the forest back and forth, making sure nothing was coming. He was disturbed by Randall, who came up and sat beside him.

"I felt it. Everything you said, everything you thought... I felt it all." Randall shivered. "Will it always be like this?" Sarn shook his head and made to say something, but instead closed his eyes and concentrated. Suddenly, Randall found the words appearing in his mind.

"The first thing I will teach you is to close your mind. After that, the only way you will read mine is if you will it."

Randall turned to Sarn. "Don't do that... it's really freaky." Sarn smiled and stood up. "I'll let you take over. Just think really hard if you see anything." He barely had time to dodge the friendly punch from Randall as he went inside the shelter.

Jo'suke woke up as he sensed something happening. He scribbled a note saying that if he wasn't back soon, don't wait up for him. Casting a haste spell, he ran off to get his spell book. Once he reached his home, he greeted his familiar, Neko. Now that he got his book, he put his familiar on his shoulder and ran back to the camp site to see the sun rise...

Kylock had been the first up, and he saw Jo'suke arrive from the forest. "Good morning," he said in a quiet voice. "Slept well?"

Jo'suke stared at him for a moment, not sure if that had been a joke or a threat. The question was answered when Kylock smiled and waved him closer. "Get some rest," he said, drawing his sword as he did so. "I need to catch some breakfast." He walked past Jo'suke into the forest, he hair brushing past his familiar as he did so. Jo'suke looked out at him, then shook his head. He wasn't sure why, but there was something about that man...

...but he had no time to think over that, as he was being telepatically contacted.
What? You need help now? Allright, I'll have to leave this world...

By now Randall was awake and was wondering what Jo'suke was doing. Before he even spoke, Jo'suke asked Randall to take care of Neko for the time being. Randall was a little surpirsed, but before he could say anything, Jo'suke started an incantation.

"D-WARP"
With that he disappeared to another world to help his friends

with that said, I'm going to try to do a crossover betwen our RPGs...

With a start, Randall woke up. 'D-Warp?' he wondered to himself. 'What in the name of the gods was that all about?' He shook his head in an attempt to clear it before getting up and getting dressed.

Moments later, he left the makeshift tent to see Jo'suke playing with what he assumed was his familiar. He noticed Kylock over to one side and walked over to him. Kylock turned to him and smiled. 'Cute, isn't it?' Randall smiled, but before he had time to ask, he heard a voice in his head say 'He calls it Neko'.

Turning round, he saw Sarn behind him. 'I thought I told you to stop that!' said Randall. Sarn just smiled and turned back to Jo'suke and Neko.

I've finally updated! Since the crossover didn't work, I've nuked the idea - and no offense, but our quests are pretty different, so could we keep them seperate? Also, if you could tell us what creature Neko actually is, it'd be a great help.