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( CHAPTER 4 : "Rewriting history from lore" )

Vasman asked, "Should we go down, or check-out the other two exits?" I knew he wanted to go down, so I gestured to the stairs below, while drawing my swords from their mounts. Plaster had no opinion, but after another long journey without any fighting, I am sure he would have also suggested that we should head down the stairs. The only part of the floor that remained was the edge along the perimeter, giving them access to the two other corridors and the stairs down, which were on the other side of the large room. These stairs which were formed from the lowering floor, led to a large corridor that continued to spiral downward around the core pillar. Not one creature, savior, or creator could be seen or heard, but the low humming of a strong magical orb could be heard as we traveled deeper.

Having traveled down several thousand feet, the corridor began to show signs of being crafted, rather than having just been carved from the earth. Rough steps turned into long slabs of crafted glossy marble, like the floors in the neutral room above. Walls contained fluted columns of glowing stone, similar to the dead-end room I had found under Torchlight. The ceiling, though still rough, began to take an arched form that was uniform across the width of the corridor. Chilling thoughts came to my mind, as I remembered trying to use my magic, which ended-up doing more harm than help. I brought this to the attention of Vasman, as we continued. He simply told me not to use any magic down here. He didn't anticipate that we would need it, from the stories within the book.

He went on to explain that the book said the saviors had no problem stealing the plans from the creators. They described the creators as crippled and defenseless against physical persuasion. They had magic, but it could only offer them defense against other magic. He hoped that the saviors took the plans back down with them, joining the creators, and falling to the same fate as the creators themselves. The lack of bodies on the way down here, suggested that they were still down here. However, it is doubtful that they are still alive, and if they are, they would be just as crippled after four thousand years. I understood that, after seeing how time had taken its toll on the mimic. They are usually a real tough creature to defeat when they are healthy.

We came upon some tall carved windows on the inner edge of the spiraled halls. Through the window we could see a blue orb in the distance, and the unfinished remains of what would have been a town surrounding it. This path seemed to form the outer walls of a giant arch. Like a snail's shell, connecting the top to the bottom. It was too dark to see how much further we had to travel, but that was a clue that we still had much further to travel. This was obviously not a commonly traveled area by anyone. Perhaps this was the only way to get the original town's people down here eight-thousand years ago, when they moved the orb down here. Though, it does not look like they got that far. If they did, something obviously happened to them since then.

We passed a few balconies which gave a better view of the city below the orb. The orb seemed to be supported from above, not below. Vasman explained that the attraction of the orb to the large crystal above would be responsible for its need to be supported from above, down here. If the orb was above ground, it would have been supported from below, as it pulled towards the crystal below. A platform rose up to the orb, but was offering no support. We both assumed that the creators that the book talked about were located there, to stay close to the orb. We continued down, stopping for a moment at every balcony, to look for signs of life below. Nothing was seen until we arrived at the end of the corridor.

Reaching the end of the corridor, we were greeted by a man in a long white gown. His form was like that of Nora's, thin and lacking in natural form of someone his age. With an old dialect almost forgotten, he introduced himself as Gourad. Vasman quickly interrupted Gourad's introduction by asking, "Gourad of Ruse?" Stunned by Vasmans's quick reply, and even confused, Gourad asked, "Ruse, it is still there? They remember us?" Vasman reached into his pack and removed the book of lore that had led us here. Gourad's eyes and fingers eagerly flipped through the book, to see what was written. His face showed signs of joy, then confusion, then near anger as he progressed through the book. He dropped the book on the ground, and asked that we follow him. Obviously, he was upset at the ending of the story, or perhaps he was reminded of the actions that they had forgotten over the centuries.

He refused to speak to us after dropping the book. We had no choice but to follow him, if we were going to get any kind of resolution to this mystery. Leading us to the center of town, he pointed up a spiral staircase which wrapped around the center platform under the orb. He told us not to show the book to them, but said nothing more. Could he be talking about the creators, or the other saviors? We headed up, and Gourad returned to his post as town greeter. What seemed like a ghost town, his job might have been punishment, not one of true necessity. Hopefully all this would become clear once we have a chat with the people at the top of these stairs.

Plaster trailed behind us as we headed up the stairs. The view from the center of the city was amazing as we neared the top. Even the unfinished buildings looked like they could be lived-in without discomfort. The giant blue orb supported above, as if it was an alien sun. Plaster's impatient growls kept us moving up the stairs at a steady pace. We were not here to enjoy the views. However, it could not be ignored from our position as we ascended the stairs. This wonder was built to be seen, even if it could only be seen by the creators.

Once we reached the top, we headed towards the center of the room. Markings on the floor suggested that this is where we should be situated. Like a king's chamber, there were tall chairs all around this main room's perimeter facing towards the center. Only two chairs were occupied, on opposite sides of the room. Unsure which person to face, we greeted both in turn, offering our names and where we were from. This felt appropriate to the situation at hand. The younger looking person pointed at Vasman and gestured for him to come closer.

Vasman approached the man and paused at his feet. The man reached out a hand, turned his palm up to the ceiling, and created a small grape-sized orb. He gestured for Vasman to consume the orb as if it were food. Vasman didn't hesitate to consume it, knowing that it must be of importance to continue. There was an immediate and unspoken trust between those two, which I would never have. Vasman's body began to glow with a pale yellow light, mostly around his head.

The man who gave him the orb began to speak in a tongue which I had never heard. Though he was the younger of the two by looks, he was surely the eldest in time. Vasman listened intently for three hours before the man paused. Without filling me in on the details, Vasman simply replied, "Yes.", to the man. The conversation turned back to the man speaking again, with Vasman listening intently before they both turned to look at me. Though I had heard what was said, I was unsure what they wanted from me. Vasman quickly intervened and said, "He wants to know if you are willing to help save him, in exchange for knowledge and a gift."

I waited for a signal from Vasman, but it was apparent that this was a question posed to test my own desires. I rightfully replied, "I need to speak with Vasman before I can reply." The glow around Vasman faded, and he fell out of his trance. Vasman approached me and I asked him what was going on. He asked me, through you, if I was willing to help him in exchange for knowledge and a gift. Vasman said, "Sorry, that was me asking, not him. Let me fill you in on the situation. We do want to help them, but you will see that after I explain what he said."

Vasman continued to say...

His name is Ina, and he was sent here to keep the orb alive, so it balanced out the evils in the embers above. Each of these chambers, there are hundreds of them, have an orb and an orb creator. He is not the original creator of the orb, just one of the creators in time. He has been here for over six-thousand years. The original creator had been down here for two-thousand years, after having ruled above for four-thousand years before the move. When the orbs were moved down here, after the wars, they built the town below to house everyone who originally lived in the town above the surface.

However, his town was completely destroyed by creatures that came once the orb was moved underground. Only the two creators who were originally left to tend the orb as it moved, unable to leave its side, had survived. The saviors in the book were all here at one point in time, and agreed to help restore balance, but many have passed-away over time. The orb is failing to sustain all these lives, without life living above. When the saviors came here to help, they originally deceived the creators, after they agreed to help. Instead of helping, they built gates around neutral zones, stopping all organic energy from feeding the orb. This killed the original creator, leaving only Ina to sustain the orbs power.

This triggered the ultimate destruction of the town above. With no energy coming to sustain the orb and the creator, the power of the ember rose into the town. The savior's returned to the surface, but found that all the defenseless people were being slaughtered by the creatures, and being turned into creatures. They rushed back down and opened the gates, doing as the creators originally asked. They pushed all the creatures into the neutral zone to be consumed for orb energy. The balance returned, but it was too late. The town had been destroyed and no-one ever settled there again.

The saviors had no chance to return after the mines closed, and now, the two saviors that still remain cannot leave the proximity of the orb. Over time, the weakest an eldest of the saviors had died as the orb failed to sustain them. Soon, the orb will fail to sustain the three remaining people. The creator and two of the original saviors depend on our help to survive. The mines have been open for the past three decades, but no-one has come until now.

They need us to find links to other mines, and direct some creatures into the neutral area. They are not asking us to make human sacrifices, or to bring innocent people here to become turned. There is one other entrance to the mine, which seems to be blocked at the moment, near the neutral area. Plenty of creatures are there within the mine, already turned, but trapped out of reach. They want us to kill all the creatures, and then open a special portal that only creatures can use to get them into the neutral zone. Killing them will make them stronger, consuming more of the bad ember energy and making them give the orb more good energy.

Once that chamber is empty, that should give them enough energy to maintain the orb for another four-thousand years. Now that there are only three people left to feed, it may last even longer. However, they are too weak, and confined below the neutral area. For doing this task, he has offered to show us how to create the filtering orbs for the ember amplifiers. He is also going to give us a chamber-stone, used by the original creators to move from chamber to chamber, before we became so dependent on the orbs.

The two remaining saviors will be the next in line to replace the creator, once he can no longer keep the orb alive. The orbs work by giving life and taking energy. However, they require a host, which they support and that also supports them, as they also require the ember and life around the ember. At the time when the original creators decided to split the good from the bad in the ember, it seemed like a good idea. They were not entirely sure how it worked. Once everyone made it common practice, the orbs were created all over the world. Until the wars began, that is when they saw the irreversible damage they had done.

He also said that he knows a few more locations that the chamber-stone can lead them. Besides leading back here under Ruse, there was also Torchlight, Morak, Heil, and Olis. Torchlight was originally a city called Wurth. Morak was a large city of magicians, one of the first cities with an orb, and one of the first cities to be put underground. The entire city made it underground safely, so the city above might still be there, and large. Heil was one of the last cities to be moved underground. Little is known about that place. Olis was never a city, but it was a location of the last discovered focusing crystal. The treaties demanded that an orb chamber be built, but he was unsure if it was ever populated with an orb and a creator.

Vasman waited for a reply from me...

I replied, "Yes, we can do this. I am sure this will help give us an upper-hand at Torchlight too." Vasman returned to Ina and consumed another mind-orb, to continue the conversation with him. Again, Vasman turned to me and asked the same question as before, to which I replied with a firm, "Yes." Another brief lecture from Ina to Vasman, and we were then sent on our way. Vasman stopped to speak with Gourad before we left, but Gourad was unwilling to talk. In a sign of good faith, Vasman reached into his pack and removed the book of lore. He set it on the ground, opened it up and creased the pages so they stood away from the dense covers. Then he lowered his torch to the pages, setting it ablaze. Before walking away, he said, "My town will remember you better."

As we started to walk away, Gourad shouted, "Wait, please, take this. It will show you how powerfull the orb is getting. We originally created it with bad intentions, to see when we had extinguished the orb. That crystal can be used to see the power of any one of these orbs. All you need to do is cast a silence orb around the gem, after casting a reflect orb inside the chamber orb that you want to monitor. I... We regret having those deceptive actions in our past. We were told the creators were witches, using tricks to steal our souls. We didn't realize they were the reason our lives were actually peaceful. We could have saved so many more lives, our families, if we had just followed the instructions within the paintings on the walls. I wish the entrance down here was never left open."

Vasman replied, "Wait, you didn't open the floor entrance?"

Gourad continued, "No. This was the third room we found, but it was the only one open. We first came down here to find the two creators sitting up in the platform, after exploring the city below. We found plans for the city, for the other chambers, for the orbs mounts, and other documents. However, we could not read them, so they were taken to someone who could translate them. He guided our actions, and now we know his truth. He is the one who told those stories written in that book. They are not our stories, they are his. His intentions became our intentions, until we talked with the creators. He filled our heads with lies and used the powers of the ember against us. When we saw the destruction above, we returned to the creators for help, but we had already killed one, and the other was near death. We all swore to help restore what we had destroyed, but this was all we could do."

After a pause, Gourad added, "Ordrak was the wizard's name. He is the one who caused all this trouble for us. He had all the original documents, and the real translations."

I followed Gourad's final statement by saying, "I have already killed Ordrak. He was within the mines under our town, not too far from yours. He had taken the form of a dragon, turned to the ember. Perhaps his knowledge of the chambers is what made him settle in a place that didn't have a chamber. His knowledge was not enough to save him from my blades."

Gourad reminded me, "He is not truly dead until the chamber consumes him. He will arise like the others, each time more powerful than the next. You will see him again, I am sure."


To be continued...