Skylord Nexus
Dabbler in the Dark Arts
Silas took a second to look down an the world below, everything looked so small and insignificant from up here. He imagined that if there were people at the base of the vats mountain range they'd look like ants... well, more so than they did normally. Regardless, the view was spectacular and it made him wonder why anyone would build a temple up here instead of a palace or fortress, it seemed like such a waste. Then again getting up there in the first place had been a challenge in of itself, even with the tomes instructions. Normally the young mage would have simply used magic to scale the rocky edifices of the mountains, unfortunately there seemed to be some kind of spell woven into certain areas of the path up which blocked all magic, meaning if he had chosen to to simply fly up, the young man would have likely met a sticky end at the hands of gravity.
Treacherous journey and possible demises aside however, he was here at the temple and that's what mattered! The structure looked much more run down than how the tomb he'd stolen from the restricted section of the academy library had said, however given the amount of time that had likely passed since the book was written, it was hardly a surprise. Never the less, the young mage couldn't help but marvel at the stone work, admiring the intricacies of the masonry that still stood out despite the test of time. Of course over the years he had read plenty about temples and ruins like this scattered across the continent, but this was the first time he'd ever seen one of them in person! It only served to light the obsessive fire within him as he approached the doors.
Except there was no door, not exactly at least. Where a door would logically be there was instead a set of three stone rings caved into the wall, each either many different symbols of some lost language. Approaching the carvings, Silas gingerly reached out to touch one of the rings, before channelling a small trick of magic into it, allowing him to rotate it. With a smirk, the young drow consulted his stolen tome once more and flicked to the page where different phrases were translated. At first he tried aligning the rings so that the phrases were set in straight lines going inwards, but that didn't get him any results. His eyes then glanced down to the centre of the circle where a circular blab of rock stood with a spiral caved into it... that gave Silas an idea. He instead moved the rings to the phrased were set out in a spiral moving inwards lined up with the centre.
For a second nothing happened and the ambitious young man wondered if the information the book had been wrong. However his train of thought was cut of by the sound of rumbling as the rings began to spin and the whole wall began to descend into the ground, leaving him with an open entrance.
"Huh... well that's certainly ONE way to design a door i suppose... Oh well. Onwards!"
The interior was dark although that was no issue for the mage as with a wave of his hand, small balls of fire shot out, igniting braziers lighting up the interior and three possible paths which was already suspicious to the mage because the tome only spoke about one, central path, with nothing about the two side route... though perhaps that made sense. The small section of the tome that covered the subject of this temple seemed to focus on what was contained inside and how to get there, but it stood to reason that such a large structure likely had more to it than just this sealed entity. Yet while the temptation to explore such an ancient and untouched place was difficult to resist, Silas knew he had to. His focus was on the being trapped within the temple first and foremost, there'd be time to explore afterwards. Plus there was no knowing what traps to be laying in weight down the other paths, unlike the central one.
With that decided Silas continued on, ignoring side doors and rooms and the occasional trap, until eventually he ended up at his next obstacle, a complex weaving of magical barriers and wards designed to be rather 'unpleasant' for anyone who tried to pass through or disarm it without permission. Unfortunately for Silas, permission was something he lacked... however fortune smiled upon him as the tome outlined a weakness of the barrier: If someone could fine the weakest spell within the barrier they could slowly destabilise it and cause the whole barrier to break down for a short while... assuming they had the expertise to perform such a feat... How lucky then, that the noble, in fact, did.
When he was younger and a student at the academy it was how he'd sneak into the restricted sections of the library and other rooms. They were always protected by many different spells linked together, and while it took practise, Silas learnt how to find the weakness inherent in such protection and pull on it to allow himself entry. Of course this barrier now was different than that of the Academy's, much deadlier for one, however he was confident that he he just found the correct protection to pull on, he'd be in!
It took several minuets work of poking and prodding with his magic before he found the weak point, a simple enchantment designed to confuse any intruder who tried to break through. Basic magic hidden within a wall of immense magic... perfect to exploit. With pin point accuracy Silas located the spell and pulled on it, slowly ripping it from the web of other protections, and just like pulling on a thread, the whole barrier unravled allowing him entry for a sort while, while it rebuilt itself. With that in mind the mage smugly hopped through the doorway and looked upon his prize.
A single book on a pedestal in the middle of a large room. Once upon a time it likely would have been guarded, but those days were long past, how all that remained were echoes of a past long gone and the evil contained within the pages of the book.
"Now then. Let's see exactly what you are and how i can use you."
Smirking and brimming with confidence, Silas marched forth to the book and grasped it in both hands, unaware at the time that in doing so he would set forth a series of events that would bring the continent and every nation upon it to its knees.
Treacherous journey and possible demises aside however, he was here at the temple and that's what mattered! The structure looked much more run down than how the tomb he'd stolen from the restricted section of the academy library had said, however given the amount of time that had likely passed since the book was written, it was hardly a surprise. Never the less, the young mage couldn't help but marvel at the stone work, admiring the intricacies of the masonry that still stood out despite the test of time. Of course over the years he had read plenty about temples and ruins like this scattered across the continent, but this was the first time he'd ever seen one of them in person! It only served to light the obsessive fire within him as he approached the doors.
Except there was no door, not exactly at least. Where a door would logically be there was instead a set of three stone rings caved into the wall, each either many different symbols of some lost language. Approaching the carvings, Silas gingerly reached out to touch one of the rings, before channelling a small trick of magic into it, allowing him to rotate it. With a smirk, the young drow consulted his stolen tome once more and flicked to the page where different phrases were translated. At first he tried aligning the rings so that the phrases were set in straight lines going inwards, but that didn't get him any results. His eyes then glanced down to the centre of the circle where a circular blab of rock stood with a spiral caved into it... that gave Silas an idea. He instead moved the rings to the phrased were set out in a spiral moving inwards lined up with the centre.
For a second nothing happened and the ambitious young man wondered if the information the book had been wrong. However his train of thought was cut of by the sound of rumbling as the rings began to spin and the whole wall began to descend into the ground, leaving him with an open entrance.
"Huh... well that's certainly ONE way to design a door i suppose... Oh well. Onwards!"
The interior was dark although that was no issue for the mage as with a wave of his hand, small balls of fire shot out, igniting braziers lighting up the interior and three possible paths which was already suspicious to the mage because the tome only spoke about one, central path, with nothing about the two side route... though perhaps that made sense. The small section of the tome that covered the subject of this temple seemed to focus on what was contained inside and how to get there, but it stood to reason that such a large structure likely had more to it than just this sealed entity. Yet while the temptation to explore such an ancient and untouched place was difficult to resist, Silas knew he had to. His focus was on the being trapped within the temple first and foremost, there'd be time to explore afterwards. Plus there was no knowing what traps to be laying in weight down the other paths, unlike the central one.
With that decided Silas continued on, ignoring side doors and rooms and the occasional trap, until eventually he ended up at his next obstacle, a complex weaving of magical barriers and wards designed to be rather 'unpleasant' for anyone who tried to pass through or disarm it without permission. Unfortunately for Silas, permission was something he lacked... however fortune smiled upon him as the tome outlined a weakness of the barrier: If someone could fine the weakest spell within the barrier they could slowly destabilise it and cause the whole barrier to break down for a short while... assuming they had the expertise to perform such a feat... How lucky then, that the noble, in fact, did.
When he was younger and a student at the academy it was how he'd sneak into the restricted sections of the library and other rooms. They were always protected by many different spells linked together, and while it took practise, Silas learnt how to find the weakness inherent in such protection and pull on it to allow himself entry. Of course this barrier now was different than that of the Academy's, much deadlier for one, however he was confident that he he just found the correct protection to pull on, he'd be in!
It took several minuets work of poking and prodding with his magic before he found the weak point, a simple enchantment designed to confuse any intruder who tried to break through. Basic magic hidden within a wall of immense magic... perfect to exploit. With pin point accuracy Silas located the spell and pulled on it, slowly ripping it from the web of other protections, and just like pulling on a thread, the whole barrier unravled allowing him entry for a sort while, while it rebuilt itself. With that in mind the mage smugly hopped through the doorway and looked upon his prize.
A single book on a pedestal in the middle of a large room. Once upon a time it likely would have been guarded, but those days were long past, how all that remained were echoes of a past long gone and the evil contained within the pages of the book.
"Now then. Let's see exactly what you are and how i can use you."
Smirking and brimming with confidence, Silas marched forth to the book and grasped it in both hands, unaware at the time that in doing so he would set forth a series of events that would bring the continent and every nation upon it to its knees.
