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Today i saw the evil Drakhen Vorkalion, and when he offered me power and immortality for joining him, a part of me inside wanted to reach out and accept his offer. It was like there was someone inside of me, trying to control me. This feeling was magnified even more when he told me how easy it was to obtain this power and showed me a potion which could grant me this power if i did his bidding...

This is not the first time i've felt this, i've had this for a long time now, a feeling that there is someone inside me who is not really me. Whenever i cast a spell, i get this feeling that there is something inside guiding me, helping the movement of my arms, and increasing the power of my spells, making it more powerful, and destructive.....

I have always thought that i saught the necromancer for revenge, but now i am beginning to think that it is because whatever is inside me wanted to learn his power. I am further led to believe this because after seeing the powers of Drakhen Vorkalion, i have become less intrested in the necromancer's weaker powers.....

There must be a part of me inside who is not really me.....

Dont forgett, my Master,...think of Love, and think of all your Friends, dont let the evil Win the race,...we need your Power in this Fight!

Don´t forgett us!
Yours Cosma

Yes we need you Dyluck,
as friend.

I hope your soul is strong enough.

Don't worry Dyluck, we are here to help you remember what it is that you seek and to keep you away from what it is that wishes to destroy you.  You are a worthy mage as you are, let the greater powers be for the lesser powers are what make us who we are.  It's your weakness' that show who you are, not your strengths.  May you find that which you seek.

Brother Necro-Hunter! We will vanquish this evil which plagues the planet!
Lets stand side by side and pummel him into the dirt!
With the power of friendship and courage, no task is impossible! Remember that!
I will train you in the arts of swordfighting if you train me in the arts of Ice.

Hey Dyluck

I´m on your side. Old friend.
Dont move to the darkside. pls

If you feel yourself losing this fight, Master Dyluck, seek me out...as a friend I will end your life and ease your pain.

It seems i have made it through this day without being drawn into the darkness for now thanks to the support of all my friends, but who knows when evil will return again. There is definitely something not right about me, and I must find out what it is before something bad happens. Recently I have been spending some time in a secret underground library that contains many books which tell of times long before any history book or person has recorded. I don't know who put these books here or what purpose it has, but the knowledge contained in these books would be dangerous if it fell into the wrong hands. I have found many strange and interesting books. Here is a diary entry of an Academy Student from long ago...

"57SA Time of Golden Leaves 7th day:

Today I finally transferred to the Magic Academy in the Magic City of Ghalaveius. The city is just as beautiful as people said it would be. I was so excited to be here. Already, I have met a new friend, his name is Eltaren. He seems to be interested in research just like me, except that I mainly focus on potions and he focuses on spells. Eltaren tells me that there are lots of talented students at this Academy. That is how Ghalaveius got the name Magic City, because of the Academy. He tells me that someone called Tanya or something is so talented she can create a blossom from a drop of water! Wow! Then I heard this other person called Morgan or something who once made a corpse of a dead person get up and walk around. It scared the hell out of half the students! I hope she did not get suspended or anything hehe. Everything went well today, I hope the rest of my days at the Academy will be just as smooth."

That city was logged to be totally destroyed since about a thousand years.
if you manage to breath water you may find some ruins.

we dwarfs have legends about that city...
long ago, before "Balrog the Big" (the first dwarfen king) we where a trading race...
i dont know much about the legends... only that it was a rich land, with knowledge and magic almost god-like...

dyluck... you sit on very poverful magic... hide it... it may only make the gods angry...

Hmm...could we really be talking about the same city? I've never heard of it or read about it before. But then again I'm no great historian, I seem to have amnesia and humans live short lives. I will not let the knowledge contained in these books fall into the wrong hands, but I think i can find something here that will explain my strange behavior and the history of the Academy. I have found another diary entry and judging from the handwriting and material it is written on, the author is the same person. I think i will continue to find this person's diary entries...

"66SA Time of Great Fire Star 25th day:

I am very happy today. Ever since Eltaren and I obtained the rank of Spirit Knight, we decided that we would start focusing more on our research and spending more time in it. Today our seeds have finally bore fruit. I have just discovered a more powerful healing potion and Eltaren discovered a new spell that could move magical power from one person to another. We were both given awards by the headmaster and we had a huge celebration. This beer really tastes good..."

A grey clothed person enters the library room, puts an old book into a shelf, mumbles something like "A rarity. Here, it's safe." Then, he magically binds the book to its shelf and leaves, whistling.

I to know of this ancient lost city, from the knowledge past down in my family.  It was once a great magical city of beauty and power, but threre were so many there that sought to unravel even greater power that this city was destroyed.  This I have read in my family journal past down from generation to generation.  There is more that I still have to reed in this journal, but in time I hope to find what power it was that destroyed this city.  Maybe then Dyluck I may even be able to understand that which is unknown and is slowly consuming you.  I am a friend and ally.  I will not let you down.  

I propose we should seek out this city, as it may hide secrets to why Dyluck is acting strange.
Of course, he also may be feeling funky because of those yellow potions...
Anyway, maybe the city holds a strange yet evil power which engulfs the minds of mages!
If this is true we must search out the city and stop whatever is causing trouble to our fellow Mage!

Hmm so many people have legends about this city that I've never heard of. I guess i should brush up on my library research skills :biggrin:
I have found another diary entry from our writer, this one tells of a battle and the first ever Ascended Guardians...

"68SA Time of New Blossoms 54th day

This morning, the city was mysteriously attacked by a swarm of very strong monsters. No one knows where they came from or what their purpose was, except destruction. About 30 people died today, what a tragedy. Even more would have died if it weren’t for the heroics of a handful of students. Among them, 5 students really stood out, they defeated the most powerful monsters that no one else could slay and they saved hundreds of lives. The headmaster has titled them as the first ever Ascended Guardians for their skill and bravery that they displayed. I think one of them was that girl Tanya who made blossoms out of water. That Morgan person contributed a lot too, he would have been titled Ascended Guardian too if it weren’t for a certain incident. A huge powerful fire breathing monster was about kill a group of helpless children on the playground. One of the brave but weaker students charged at the monster in desperation. The monster ignored him and prepared to use his flaming breath on the children. Morgan saw it and knew he had to use a powerful blast to kill the monster, but the blast would kill the student as well. He blasted the monster and the student along with it, in order to save the children. The headmaster considered the killing of a fellow student a dishonorable act. Not only did he not receive the title of Ascended Guardian but he was punished as well. Morgan was furious..."

Hmmmm...  I have been reading alot more into my family journal, though I am still puzzled as to what it has to say about me, I have found more on the topic of the lost magic city.  Here are the words of one of my ancestors, atleast i believe they are.

Journal day 23 of the 1037 year of the gods.

For 3 months I have been recording the events since the first monster attack.  In that time the city has encountered numorous smaller attacks.  So far we have had a total of 73 deaths and many more wounded.  Most attacks seem to be planned and at certain points on the city outskirts.  I myself have kept secluded from he rest of the city while studying these attacks.  I could swear that while I watched one of the attacks I saw a man farther back in the forest talking to one of the monsters.  I couldn't make out his features but he wore the robes of a Gods mage.  My assumption is that he may be the one leading the attacks.  I wished to get a closer look but I too came under attack by some of the monsters.  Luckely I was quick enough with a blast spell to take some of them out and disorganize the rest so that I could get away.  Of course my use of the spell also let the other mage know that I was there.  

Journal day 25 of the 1037 year of the gods.

I had a visit from a Gods Mage from the eighth temple today who wished to ask me some questions.  I'm not sure but he might be the one that I saw the other day.  He said his name was Theril Venolis.  The whole time he was in my room at the Inn he seemed to be a little jumpy.  That brought me to the thought that he wasn't the mage I saw but another that was in on what was going on.  I answered his questions, but can't really say that I told him the truth, hehe.  Since he has left I decided to work on my carving again.  It isn't much but it's an expensive piece of rock to carve out of.

This is as much of the journal that I have read to date that shares any info on the city, sorry I couldn't have been more help.

Don't worry about it Makabius, I'm sure I'll find something on my own soon...
Meanwhile here's the next diary entry i found....

"70SA Time of Golden Leaves 31st day

Eltaren and I had an argument today. A disagreement began when we were discussing certain topics and theories on our research. I stated that eternal life could only come from drinking a special potion, while Eltaren said that something as incredible as immortality could only be gained by means of a magical spell. I hope Eltaren and I will be able to put aside this dispute soon."

I seem to be feeling more like myself lately, but I can only hope it will stay that way...I must continue finding more information. Here is an older entry I found that I seem to have missed before...

"66SA Time of Great Fire Star 92nd day

Today Eltaren and I travelled to the annual Magic Fair in the city of Correlus. My new healing potion and Eltaren's new magical energy moving spell attracted a lot of crowds and i got numerous orders to buy my new potions, what a sucess. There were a lot of other great new items and spells as well. I saw an amulet magically made from pure ice, a harp that could put anyone to sleep instantly , a crown that could make the person wearing it completely obedient to the command of others, a pendant that can absorb magic attacks so that the person wearing it won't even feel a thing, a ring that can sense the presence of evil spirits, a dagger that could penetrate any kind of material, a potion which makes things lighter, a spell for a bigger and more explosive fireball, and a spell that can instantly create food. Some of these things seem pretty dangerous, i hope they don't fall into the wrong hands..."

At the same time, a grey cloaked figure stands in a kind of small Museum. Different things lie in vitrins, crowns and rings and totally weird looking stuff, very old books stand in locked bookcases, a weird looking, glowing rune at the place of every book and at every showcase. The person walks to a kind of workplace, and looks at an old book there, hanging over some weird glowing liquid with the pages spread apart and attached to a kind of frames.
"Good, it is dried. One can read the old writings again. Hope it was worth the work...."
The person carefully unattaches the book, and puts it down, then puts on some seale leather gloves and de-attaches the framework. After half an hour, looking through the book, the person grins.
"Almost totally reconstructed. Every sentence can be read again, and the pages are flexible, conserve and now a bit more fire-resistant. Nice old diary book..."
He puts the book on a desk, and opens one of the rune-secured bookcases. insie stans a half-rotten book with some fire traces.
"Oh man, this will be a lot of work... let's see what can be one here..."
The person, with the leather gloves on, carefully moves the book to the workplace, and casts a kind of spell on it, then on every single page. Then, he carefully attaches some thin frames to every page, the pages now glowing a bit, seeming to be held together by a kind of energy. Then, he carefully ataches the framework and the book to a holing construction, and sinks it into the glowing liquid.
After putting the gloves off and carefully washing his hands and arms in a water pot, he pours the water out of the pot, and fills in new water from one of several nearstanding cans. He grabs the before reconstructed book, and, whistling, walks out of the room, locking the hidden door behind. Then he walks to a shelf in another room, greets a person there, and puts the book into a bookcase title with "Diaries, Time : Emperor Zarus II - chaotic period".
Whistling a happy tune, he walks away.

Dyluck stands at the edge of a cliff, looking out into the horizon. He looks up into the sky. A snowflake falls onto his nose He closes his eyes. The silence is broken by the faint sound of footsteps behind him. Dyluck turns his head around. It was the old dwarf, holding a broom dusting the nearby rocks. "There's no need to clean outside, it'll just attract more attention. You've been working for quite a while now, why don't you take a break." The dwarf nods and walks away.
Dyluck turns back around, the snowflake on his nose had melted. He wipes the water with his hand and closes his eyes again. What's taking so long? I hope something bad didn't happen. The silence is broken by footsteps again, but this time the footsteps were lighter. It was the lizard, at last. The lizard curls up next to the campfire and put its tail into the cold water. Why does it always do that? Lying next to the warm fire while sticking its tail into ice cold water. I never did understand. But then again there are a lot of things I don't know about this lizard, not even whether its male or female or its name. I thought it was female but I wasn't sure, so I called it a name that could be for both.
"Did you find it?"
The lizard replies..."It was around, but me couldn't find where exactly..."
"So...you didn't see her then?"
The lizard shakes its head.
Dyluck sighs. The lizard is a bit playful, but I know it tried its best
"We'll try again another time, get some rest now."
The lizard smiles and then closes its eyes and falls asleep.
Dyluck turns around and looks out into the horizon again. Another snowflake falls onto his nose. I'd better get back to the books...

Meanwhile, in a nearby cellar.
A murmuring sound is to hear from one of the cellar rooms. Thick stone walls, shielded and secured by thick rune-encarved metal plates and carriers. Several small holes in the ceiling, the floor, obviously lying deeper in this room, filled with sand. A Heavy wooden table stands in the front middle of the room, with several handwritings on it, all marked with "copy". The room itself is long, at the end of it stands a burned and almost wrecked, but still solid target thing.
Two large buckets with water stand on the table, one filled with fresh spring water, the other with saltwater from the sea. between them stands a cage, with several frogs in it.
Damien sorts his descriptions, and carefully puts them out of the room.
"Now, perhaps this experiment will have a matching result..."
Damien grabs into the cage and pulls out a frog.
"For your own sake, please do not move now..."
"Quock."
"I said, do not move..."
"Quock." (the frog tries to escape from the table).
"Argh... yeg kel..."
A small explosion-like sound is to hear. An exhausted and heavy breathing... perhaps coughing ? frog lies on the table. Damien grabs some yarn and binds its little arms an legs to a small wooden construction ( seemingly especially made to bind frogs ). The frog looks helpless around, and somehow seems to be a little upset by the fact that in a shelf (in front of the room door) are lying several other frog-plates, and in a corner of the room burned and/or wrecked rests of old frog-plates...
Damien, finishe with the frog-binding, grabs a small note, and reads from it, then carefully puts it away. Then, he grabs a small magic wand, points at the frog with it, an murmurs some words. With a poof, the frog turns into a fish.
"Dammn. Too much water influence ? Or should i have let out the creature, or better the morphing phrase ? Hmmm..."
Damien grabs the fish, and after a closer look, he throws it into the salt water bucket. "At least, i know what lunch will look like. Now another trial, this time without the morphing phrase, and perhaps with some more fire influence..."
He grabs another frog and ties it to the "frog plate". Then, he starts murmuring some words....
NUUUUUKE.
The sound of the explosion sounds too mean and too long to be described any other then "nuuuke".
Water starts to pour out of the holes in the ceiling. A coughing Damien with a wet working cloak comes out of the room, holing a fish in one hand, and a ruine "frog plate" in the other, with some frog rests still on it. He throws it in the junk corner.
"Enough experiments for today. At least, the first frog was able to breath water..."
Damien leaves the place, and puts his working cloak on a hook at the wall. then, he starts to search for a frying pan and a good fish recipe...

It seemed like years since she had seen her beloved and her newfound friends.  Everynight her tears washed her cheeks pelting the floor with thier sorrow. She never wanted to be here again.. this agony and fear she felt was unbearable. Despite it all she knew the killing would continue if she had not obeyed.. she couldn't watched her friends get hurt on her behalf.

"Oh what Jhereg is thinking now" She sighed hoping he held onto her love and that perhaps he will one day understand. It was he and Dyluck and Sleepy who crossed her mind in the day. Her heart hoping each of them shall remain safe and prosper in life... at night she was filled with nightmares to horrid to recall.. all except the eyes. They burned with intense hatred sinking into her soul as if tearing her open to find her and calling her.

The door opened, it was him again. A good thing he was a gentleman for her wounds pained her yet numb against the pain she felt in her heart. She'd not cried out this time which infuriated her master.. she hoped death would come before his whip again.. though as she looked to her bare finger a feint smile curved oin her lips.

"Hope" she whispered. She would not forget and it was in that same instance a terrible calamity was heard downstairs!

"dum-dee-dum..."
With a fish in his hand, Damien puts a frying pan on the fire. He cuts the fish head off, then opens the fish and puts out some.. inner stuff.., then scrubs away the fish scales, an throws the fish into the frying pan, along with some herbs. Whistling a little tune, Damien stands up to throw the smelly fish parts away.
Outside, he takes a deep breath of the fresh air - and stops in it, his elven ears catching a kind of scream from somewhere.
"Now what's that again..." his eyes turn back to the frying pan. "Perhaps some monster. Well someone will taka care of that." Another scream echoes again. "Hmm, what the..ouchy." With the scream, Damien's fine senses catch some sort of feelings. "Hey now... strong empotional things. Someone really has fear there. Is one of these trolls trying to eat somene ? Well, dammn.. lunch ready... there are many good fighters around, they will do something..." Damien watches as several villagers grab their swords and run into the scream direction. He nods to them, an suddenly hears another sound out of the frying pan - a kind of "poof".
"Oops, the fish may burn..." He steps back in, grabs the pan an looks into the pan. A skinned frog without inner things and without head lies in it. "Dammn." He throws the stuff away, grabs his staff, sword and shield, and walks out of the door. "Well what monster ever caused this trouble, maybe i can eat it after..." He follows the other people in direction of the scream.

Dyluck sits waiting on a rock near the cliffs, looking out into the horizon again...waiting. Footsteps come. The lizard has returned, late again as usual.
"Did you find her?"
The lizard replies "Yes, i did"
"Is she the one?"
The lizard nods.
Dyluck gives no reply or expression on his face. He turns back around to the horizon. Another snowflake falls onto his nose. He wipes it off.
I'd better head back now...

Sitting at a small round wooden table lit by a single candle, Dyluck closes the books and yawns after a long day of research. He sits there silently, at starts to reminisce and think about past events and people. As he looks at the candle, his eyelids start to droop, and before he falls asleep, he thinks of someone he had not seen in a long time, Sabrina...

Sabrina was sitting there alone, in a cold dark damp room, curled up in a corner, with her arms around her knees. Her eyes were filled with tears and fear. Her clothes were torn and ripped from whips and she had cuts and bruses everywhere. Then the door opens, and man comes in, holding a whip. Sabrina pulls herself more tightly into the corner with terror in her eyes as the man walks towards her. The man winds his whip and an evil grin appears on his face. Then there was a scream.

Dyluck awakens with a jolt, a bead of cold sweat running down his face. It was just a nightmare. But where is Sabrina now after all this time? What if all this was true? It must have been her evil master, he must have finally captured her this time.
Dyluck clenches his fists in anger.
If only I could save her and be able to protect my friends from harm
If only I were stronger
If only I were more poweful.....

After much searching I have finally found another entry from our anonymous writer...

"71SA Time of White Sand 101st day

Ever since our argument, Eltaren and I have talked and seen each other less and less everyday. He seems to be no longer interested in being my friend, or anyone else for that matter. We both still continue our research, but Eltaren does his research alone and spends many hours confined in his laboratory. I hear that he is working on a spell that can move the spirit or mind from one body to another or something like that. I am working on a potion that can prevent the ghost of the dead from slipping into the next realm. I heard there was a third person who was also doing research on gaining immortality, but no one knows what type of methods he is using. I wonder any of us will really succeed in our research..."

Covered in the dark of night, Dyluck heads north past the desert to the cave where the demons and their pets reside. When he got to the entrace, two badly wounded dying lizards come crawling out of cave. He heals them both back to health and they express their gratitue.
Dyluck nods and continues on into the cave.

Inside, Dyluck looks around, as if searching for someone or something. A demon and a wyrm was roaming around and getting in the way, so he decides to put them inside a cage made from a bunch of rocks. 'Maybe if I don't hurt them, they won't hurt others' Dyluck thought to himself. 'Love and peace.' He then walks around, looking at the walls, the floors, the pillars, and the coffin. Then he walks back to the cage with a dissapointed look. 'The wyrm looks hungry' Dyluck thought to himself. 'Might as well feed it something so it doesn't eat someone.' Dyluck throws a apple into the cage.

Just then, another lizard appears and sees the demon and wyrm. The lizard proclaims that the demon and the wyrm are both evil and that he hates them. Dyluck thought this lizard was probably a friend or relative of the other two lizards earlier and came to take revenge for them. The lizard stomps furiously over and kicks the rocks aside destroying the little cage. The lizard proceeds to slay the demon and the wyrm, and then marches out of the cave, not looking much happier than before. 'So much for love and peace' thought Dyluck.

With a disappointed look, not having found what he came for, Dyluck climbs out of the cave and heads back home...

All these different stories and events are all over the place, and they're not directly related to each other except that they all somehow involve me, but in the end it'll all make sense.

ooc: yup, we'll make that sure hehe...

Some screams, an sounds of a kin of fight. amien arives at the place where a monster fought several people. Some wounded, but no dead ones. Of course, a dead monster.
Arriving at the place, Damien casts two or three healing spells, and promises to repair a villager's armor for free. Then, he manages to get to the monster. It looks like a troll, But with an axe instea of a club, an wearing some kin of roughly made leather armor (too big for a human or elf of course).
"Who's been giving this primitive an armor ?" One of the persons around asks. Damien takes a closer look. "He himself. Someone told him how to do. See these stitches ? The sewing... "technic" is the same with the normal troll hides they wear. Well, no real technic with a very big needle. It was not human made."
Damien's stomach rumors a bit.
"Dammn. I hoped it would have been a monster one can eat. A wild pig perhaps, or some killer sheep. Or perhaps a beholder. But... hmm..." Looking at the troll's body, in thoughts severing it into steaks and other meat pieces, Damien realizes that some people look at him a bit amazed. "Oh, of course i'm not going to eat an intelligent being - but i'm dammne hungry. Could eat a cow..." Damien walks away, thinking of who might teach trolls to wear armors and make them forget their old behaviours, an thinking of something to eat. He stops at some traders selling fish and different vegetables.
Picking some coins out of his pouch, Damien buys some of the food (quite a large amount) and immediately starts to eat one of the apples, walking off to the fireplace near the library.

After eating (a lot), Damien thinks it might be a good iea to get some sleep. He goes upstairs in the library, and resting a bit, falls asleep, while thinking what might have happened if the Lich, Drakhen Vorkalion, woul have succeeded in his ritual...
Damien dreams...



(heavily modified screenshot hehe)


"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah !!!"

Better not start uncomfortable thoughts with a full stomach before sleeping...
A little angry, Damien gets up, and gets himself a little drink.

(Edited by Damien at 3:37 am on Sep. 20, 2001)