Patch 17 (Realm of Arkon) by G. Akella, Mark Berelekhis Page B
Authors: G. Akella, Mark Berelekhis
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mage fit into just two inventory slots: Archmage Altus' Skull and Archmage Altus' Bones. My eyes shifted and stopped on a stick that seemed vaguely familiar. I walked over and picked it up.
You've accessed the quest: Finding the Staff.
Quest type: epic.
Deliver Archmage Kyam Altus' staff fragment to the rector of the Mages' Academy in Rovendum.
Reward: one of four elemental staves to choose from: Scorcher, Giant's Step, Ice Reaper, Peal of Thunder.
My capacity for surprise had been overfilled. The reward for an epic quest was, at the very least, an epic item. Not only that, I had two quest items in my bag, and who knew what they might turn into? A beast like that wasn't likely to drop anything trivial. RP-17 or whoever was overseeing Demon Grounds must be giving me all these quests because I was here alone. Not that I objected, mind you. Stashing the rune-encrusted and singed staff fragment into my bag, I started toward the exit from the gorge.
The sloping hill between the gorge and Lamorna was some ten yards high and fifty yards in diameter, with an even peak covered in yellow-brown prickly grass. The ground at the top was hard, and the apprentice's staff made for a bad shovel. Still, after two-three hours of loosening the earth with the staff and scooping it out with my hands, I'd dug a hole about a yard deep. After gently placing the archmage's remains inside, I filled up the grave with earth. I didn't know any prayers, but standing there in silence somehow didn't seem appropriate, so I softly recited a poem by Rainer Maria Rilke.
Before us great Death stands
Our fate held close within his quiet hands.
When with proud joy we lift Life's red wine
To drink deep of the mystic shining cup
And ecstasy through all our being leaps—
Death bows his head and weeps.
Then I fished the archmage's staff fragment and plunged it hard into the ground at the head of the grave. Then I opened the menu and abandoned the Finding the Staff quest. Over the many years the staff had been with its owner, it had become part of his soul and it didn't feel right taking that part with me.
This felt right—the dead mage and his dead staff put to rest side by side. I put my balled right fist to my heart and bowed my head, then spun around and started briskly toward the nearby village.
After reaching the bottom of the hill, a gust of warm wind hit me between the shoulder-blades, playful-like, bringing with it a scent of lilies, as my ears picked up sounds of a waltz. I turned around and froze, stupefied, tears forming involuntarily in the corners of my eyes. On top of the hill—suddenly emerald-green with a large branching tree—stood a frail elven female in a jade mantle, a white lily in her chestnut hair, next to a dark-haired human male in a plain waistcoat. The woman's arms were around his neck, and he was looking back at her with a deep intensity, unblinking. The elf turned toward me, smiled and gave a friendly wave. Finding the strength to take his eyes off his woman, Altus followed with a friendly nod and a wink.
Attention! You have garnered the attention of a higher being. The Goddess of Justice Setara is friendly to you.
You received a racial skill: Setara's Shield.
Setara's Shield dispels all hostile spells and protects you from all types of damage and curses for 10 seconds.
I waved back at the vanishing vision, thinking that this world was probably far more than just the one I'd come from, if only because it had an actual goddess of justice.
Chapter 3
Change in life is inevitable. Man changes, as does his environment. "Don't be afraid of change," urge the psychologists. "The world is changeable, and he who has grasped this fact is onto something." But there's an ancient saying that disagrees: "Better to be a dog in times of peace than a man in times of chaos." So, where is the truth?
Something has got to change, I had resolved at one point in my life, already in America. I thought
You've accessed the quest: Finding the Staff.
Quest type: epic.
Deliver Archmage Kyam Altus' staff fragment to the rector of the Mages' Academy in Rovendum.
Reward: one of four elemental staves to choose from: Scorcher, Giant's Step, Ice Reaper, Peal of Thunder.
My capacity for surprise had been overfilled. The reward for an epic quest was, at the very least, an epic item. Not only that, I had two quest items in my bag, and who knew what they might turn into? A beast like that wasn't likely to drop anything trivial. RP-17 or whoever was overseeing Demon Grounds must be giving me all these quests because I was here alone. Not that I objected, mind you. Stashing the rune-encrusted and singed staff fragment into my bag, I started toward the exit from the gorge.
The sloping hill between the gorge and Lamorna was some ten yards high and fifty yards in diameter, with an even peak covered in yellow-brown prickly grass. The ground at the top was hard, and the apprentice's staff made for a bad shovel. Still, after two-three hours of loosening the earth with the staff and scooping it out with my hands, I'd dug a hole about a yard deep. After gently placing the archmage's remains inside, I filled up the grave with earth. I didn't know any prayers, but standing there in silence somehow didn't seem appropriate, so I softly recited a poem by Rainer Maria Rilke.
Before us great Death stands
Our fate held close within his quiet hands.
When with proud joy we lift Life's red wine
To drink deep of the mystic shining cup
And ecstasy through all our being leaps—
Death bows his head and weeps.
Then I fished the archmage's staff fragment and plunged it hard into the ground at the head of the grave. Then I opened the menu and abandoned the Finding the Staff quest. Over the many years the staff had been with its owner, it had become part of his soul and it didn't feel right taking that part with me.
This felt right—the dead mage and his dead staff put to rest side by side. I put my balled right fist to my heart and bowed my head, then spun around and started briskly toward the nearby village.
After reaching the bottom of the hill, a gust of warm wind hit me between the shoulder-blades, playful-like, bringing with it a scent of lilies, as my ears picked up sounds of a waltz. I turned around and froze, stupefied, tears forming involuntarily in the corners of my eyes. On top of the hill—suddenly emerald-green with a large branching tree—stood a frail elven female in a jade mantle, a white lily in her chestnut hair, next to a dark-haired human male in a plain waistcoat. The woman's arms were around his neck, and he was looking back at her with a deep intensity, unblinking. The elf turned toward me, smiled and gave a friendly wave. Finding the strength to take his eyes off his woman, Altus followed with a friendly nod and a wink.
Attention! You have garnered the attention of a higher being. The Goddess of Justice Setara is friendly to you.
You received a racial skill: Setara's Shield.
Setara's Shield dispels all hostile spells and protects you from all types of damage and curses for 10 seconds.
I waved back at the vanishing vision, thinking that this world was probably far more than just the one I'd come from, if only because it had an actual goddess of justice.
Chapter 3
Change in life is inevitable. Man changes, as does his environment. "Don't be afraid of change," urge the psychologists. "The world is changeable, and he who has grasped this fact is onto something." But there's an ancient saying that disagrees: "Better to be a dog in times of peace than a man in times of chaos." So, where is the truth?
Something has got to change, I had resolved at one point in my life, already in America. I thought
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