LogFAQs > #898896482

Level 2
Deep Tunnels

Life begets mana -- one of the first lessons the instructors at all of the academies imparted to all students of magic. Mana begets magic -- the second lesson. A spell is the shaping of magic into a specific form -- the third lesson. Life, then, is the source of magic, implying that the absence of life is the absence of magic, but those lessons do not tell the whole story. The existence of a positive necessitates the existence of a negative. Death, then, is not the absence of life. Death is a force unto itself. If life gives rise to magic, then death must do the same. Death is the source of black magic, the source of necromancy, and necromancy is the origin of all things Undead.

The black stone that created the Pit of Periphetes had long been rumored to be the single strongest source of black magic to exist. Several scholars suggested that it might be the source of all black magic, and that the Undead did not exist in the world of mortals before the opening of the Pit. That theory had been disputed since its inception, but there had never been a doubt that the Pit had always been full of the Undead.

Guy and Mead encountered them first. Zombies, not yet decomposed, most of them lepers from the encampment above that had been tossed into the Pit after dying, had started to emerge into the tunnels, shuffling their feet, their long-nailed hands reaching for any flesh they could touch, their eyes empty, though also filled by a supernatural spark that made them seem almost focused. Guy had to summon up a ball of fire to keep them at bay, and he had to keep his attention on them at all times despite the fever that had started to burn inside him. He had no time for Mead, and the Dwarf used his axe to knock the zombies aside as he continued his descent into the tunnels.

Jen, staying close to Larry, thought that she spotted Belicia, but the Cleric had nothing to fear from the Undead, since the same white magic that she used for healing also kept the zombies a safe distance from her at all times. Jen, unfortunately, had to resort to brandishing her lantern as she herded Larry through the tunnels. He had his uses, perhaps, but he had already started to feel like a liquor-scented burden to her.

Adamec had been tracking Grillga as soon as he had noticed the Orc in his section of the tunnels. He had managed to avoid Cyborg, but he suspected that he might be able to handle a single Orc. After all, in his days as a soldier, putting Orcs to the sword had been his business, and he had been good enough at it to survive multiple raids. It helped that the zombies had started showing up, and the noise they made concealed his movements as he approached Grillga in the darkness, his broad sword ready.

He reasoned that the tunnels might be too cramped for the Orc to swing her flamberge, and she seemed to be handling the zombies by using the flat of the weapon to beat them backwards. He doubted that she could react to his presence quickly enough to put him down if he attacked her, and he did not hesitate. One quick movement -- she turned her body, and that saved her life, but Adamec still managed to stab her in the abdomen, and blood dripped from his blade as he ducked back into the darkness, leaving her for the zombies. If she had been human, he might have questioned his methods, but Orcs, in his experience, did not deserve the same mercy as humans.

(Cont.)
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-- I Abibde / Samuraiter
Laughing at Game FAQs since 2002.