What Lurks Beneath IIIThis is my account of what happened under Rhiassa on Dec 2, 1011.Lord Sir Aeston asked us to go underneath Rhiassa and investigate the sewers. A young boy had been killed there by the trolls and goblins that keep popping up under Rhiassa. After he had been raised, he told those who found him the monsters were talking about “the big day.” We started in the section of tunnels that we had stopped in last year and went forward. As we fought our way through the trolls and goblins we saw a barrel labeled “TNT” and a rope on fire leading to it. We tried to get to it but the rope burned away and the barrel exploded, killing myself and everyone around me. When I was raised I saw we had fallen into an incredibly deep tunnel under Rhiassa. When I say deep I mean DEEP; so deep in darkness Aurora had a hard time sending us help. Our weapons, armor, and spell foci were missing as well. Fortunately some had kept their spell foci and started raising the rest of us. The way ahead of us was blocked by a thick slab of rock with the word “SPEAK” carved into it. It took some time, but Bright found a piece of paper with a phrase written on it. Once he read the phrase in front of the rock it opened and we were able to continue. It was in this next room we started finding our lost things. I was lucky in that King Sir Cecil found my spell foci in this area, so I was able to start healing people early on. As we pressed upwards we saw the trolls and goblins were using our weapons, so it became routine to search every new part of the tunnel for our missing things. As far as I know we got all of our stuff back by the time we left. We went through several rooms, fighting our way back up to the surface while facing wave after wave of enemies. There were more doors and more phrases that had to be read in a certain order. As we reached new levels we found doors we had to unlock. After we unlocked the first door we found this barrel that spoke. It was a recording by the Bronze Expedition. After unlocking all three doors we heard the full truth about what had happened to them and why they had been there. The Bronze Expedition thought that Rhiassa was built on top of a once great civilization. Their goal was to find this civilization and spread knowledge of it to the Realms. What they found was The Great Eye. It is some kind of evil that has been ordering around all of the trolls and goblins that we have fought for the past three years under Rhiassa. The civilization that once lived under Rhiassa fought The Great Eye. They lost and the few survivors left their city and lived as savages instead of living in the wealth and splendor they once had. It should be noted that this civilization was supposedly more powerful than any current nation in the Realms. They created spells to try and stop The Great Eye, and either Dame Faelinn or Baledor has their spellbook. Although the civilization lost, whatever they did made The Great Eye go to sleep. When the Bronze Expedition realized what had happened they also realized that by being there they had started waking up the Great Eye. To stop The Great Eye and it’s minions from leaving the underground the Expedition came up with puzzles and made several locked doors to keep the creatures from escaping. The same locked doors we had been opening to get out. The members of the Expedition all died, trying to slow this thing down. They were scholars who wanted to find knowledge and bring it to everyone. When they realized what they had done they spent what time they had left recording what happened and making gates to slow the Great Eye down. May Aurora and Justari look kindly on their souls, for they died doing what’s right. The more doors we unlocked, the more we found out about the Bronze Expedition and what they went through. Soon it became clear that by getting out we were letting evil out. There was a debate between Eagle’s Rook and some of the other adventures if continuing onward was actually the right thing to do. Other ways to try and get out were considered. Then we found out the longer we stayed the more we were waking up the Great Eye. So by staying we were doing more harm than good. As a compromise Sir Vawn asked everyone to swear to come back a year later and deal with the evil we were setting free. Only one person said no, and that was because the darkness of the tunnels made him weak and taxed his mind. He did promise he would help from the surface as much as he could. Luckily the Bronze Expedition had found out something important. If we said all the phrases we had been finding backwards we would be able to harm the generals of The Great Eye. In the final room there was a Troll Shaman and a large, red Troll in a circle of thick brown rope. There was also an exploding barrel like before and sticks of dynamite (I think that’s how it’s spelled. Tara was the one who taught me the word). There were also these white boxes which we had to use to surround the barrel and dynamite so we wouldn’t all die like the first time. We did that, said the words backwards, and then ran down the monsters and their lackeys. We also found the remains of Acolyte Samuel. He had been told to get an artifact of Justari to Sir Aeson. He died in the tunnels, but Dame Faelinn, Lord Chan, and I buried him and Dame Faelinn put him to rest. The artifact is currently in Dame Faelinn’s possession. If anyone who reads this worships Aurora, Justari, or any god of good; please say a prayer for the Bronze Expedition. They died doing what’s right. I don’t know how I will accomplish this, but I will find a way to make sure their souls have been/will be put to rest. They deserve at least that much. They said their sorry for what they awoke, yet they all died doing everything they could to slow it down. The only crime they had committed was being in the wrong place at the wrong time. As far as I’m concerned, they’re Heroes. |
Created by Valerie Hart (Victoria Zukas) at 12-05-11 07:53 PM
Last Modified by Valerie Hart (Victoria Zukas) at 12-05-11 07:53 PM