Dalamar Majere

[DoM Archive]

Date: 1/6/99 12:47 AM Eastern Standard Time
From: DalamarMaj

Part 1
Dalamar takes up residence on Twilight Island
He waited until most of the others had gone for the evening. He had fought several arduous duels that night and was very tired, but his excitement was keeping him awake and alert. Seeing most had left the island, he started on his journey down the beach. He could have displaced there, but he wasn't quite sure where 'there' was. So he walked. With luck, he would be there before anyone missed him. With luck, he would find what he sought and claimit as his own. The Island never seemed this big before. Several hours had passed and he was just reaching the remote part of the island where his search could begin. Leaving the beach, he approached the forest. It was so thick and overgrown, he had to use several sets of wizard blades just to get started. Once through the outer edge of the forest, it thinned out a bit and he was able to move about a little easier. Several hours into his search, he started to get that familiar tingling sensation that could mean only one thing. "I must be getting close. I can feel the magical radiation in the air. It's power must be even greater than I imagined." He began to move faster, tearing his robes on the brush as he went. He didn't care. He just had to get there as fast as he could, his excitement pushing him forward, the tingling sensations growing with each step. He was moving so fast he didn't see the ravine open up in front of him, nor did he see the fallen branch on the ground in his path. He hit the ground with a thud and he started to slide. Branches and rocks tore into his robes as well as his flesh as he slid down the side of the ravine. He couldn't stop himself. There was nothing to grab on to. He reached out only to have small plants tear out of the ground and fall with him. When he finally hit bottom, his head landed on a rock and everything went black. He dreamed while he lay there. He dreamed of magic long forgotten. And, he dreamed of a monster. A creature so horrible, so terrible, so hideous that it had no name in this or any other world. He woke at dawn with a scream that would have scared the dead. He grabbed his staff and jumped up. He looked around waiting to be attacked at any moment. The attack never came. Seeing blood run down his arm, he realized he was injured. He tore off what remained of his robes and began to tend his wounds. Upon completing this the best he could, he donned the spare robes he had brought and sat down. He was tired and his body tingled, both from loss of blood and the magic in the air. He laid back and looked up into the night sky. It was then that he saw it. A tower loomed above him. It was made of black marble and rose several hundred feet in the air. There were no windows, and the only visible entrance appeared to be a pair of massive black steel doors that were right in front of him. "This is it. It has to be. It is just as it is described in the tomes I have read." He approached the tower with caution. When he reached the door he stopped. There was no handle, no way to open the enormous steel doors. He pushed to no avail. He even tried knocking. No answer. He placed his hands on the door and cast a simple spell. The doors began to glow with an eerie blue light. "So, they are magically sealed. The books said nothing of this." He walked over to a large rock and sat down. He searched through several large books he pulled from his pack. "Hmmm.....I don't remember that.....Interesting.....Well.....I can try." He approached the doors again and placed his hands on them. " Ast Tasarak Sinuralan Kyrnawi Kenturak Miageon Flamplas " There was a rumbling sound, then an explosion and a wave of energy shot from the tower in every direction. He was blown back several dozen yards and landed in a bush. When he stood up and looked around he saw that the landscape had changed. Gone were the scattered trees and bushes. Gone were the chunks of rock and the under brush. In there place now stood rows of trimmed hedges, benches, and well kept trees and flowers of all kinds. A flowing marble fountain now stood near the entrance where a pile of broken marble pieces had been just seconds ago. The tower was now polished and bright in the sunlight that had, moments ago, not been able to shine through. He was amazed at the beauty of the tower. For moments he could not speak. Then he felt something was wrong. He heard nothing but the fountain. No birds. No wind in the trees. No anything. And the doors were still closed. He could attribute the lack of sound to the explosion, but the doors should have opened. He approached them and gave them a slight push. They opened a little. He laughed to himself and pushed them open all the way. They opened with a loud booming sound and a puff of dust. Then something jumped out at him. He heard a terrible ripping sound and felt a great pain in his shoulder as he was knocked down. He grabbed his staff, jumped up, and turned around as fast as he could. He was struck dumb at the sight before him. It had to be at least nine feet tall and was covered in matted down black fur. It's claws had to be a foot long as did it's teeth. It's eyes glowed red and were looking right at him. It was the creature from his dream. He threw a mage bolt without even thinking about it. It hit the creature's shoulder and left the fur smoldering. It leaped at the mage but it missed it's mark and hit the side of the tower instead. It turned only to find three razor sharp blades flying from the mage's hands. They bounced off of it's hide as it ran forward at the mage. The mage was ready for the charge and brought up a wall of black flame as the thing ran at him. It howled in pain asit's fur caught fire and started to burn away the flesh. The mage went down as a clawed hand got him in the arm and tore open the flesh down to the bone. He screamed in pain and displaced to the other side of the courtyard. The creature charged at him again and was hit by a blast of chill arctic air that brought it to the ground. It began to get up but was hit by a bolt of energy from the mage's forehead. The creature disappeared. He slumped to the ground and leaned against a tree. Using what little strength he had left, he displaced over to the fountain and bandaged his arm the best he could. He was on the verge of passing out, but he forced himself to stay awake just a bit longer. He opened his pack and brought out several large vials. He found the one he was looking for and placed the rest back with his things. It looked just like most other potions he had seen in his life, but this one had been made particularly for him by the Druid, Eros, and his wife, Topaz, as well as several others he had yet to meet. When it had been given to him he had been told of several possible side effects, but at this time he didn't reallycare what happened as long as he lived. He raised the vial to his lips and gulped down about half of the liquid. It wasn't the greatest tasting liquid he had ever had, but he had been told as much. He closed the vial and set it down just as the wave of dizziness came over him. The last thing he saw before blacking out was that most of his minor wounds began to close up. The sun was just beginning to set when he woke up. He wished he knew what day it was. He examined his wounds and found most of the smaller ones were no longer there. His arm had stopped bleeding and was starting to close up. Over all he felt pretty good. He even noticed that a small wart that had been on the back of his right hand had vanished. "That is truly some powerful stuff. I must tell Eros that it out did my expectations." He drew outthe vial and drank some more. After the dizziness had passed he stood up and headed toward the tower doors. They were once again closed. He opened the doors with extreme caution, even going so far as to jump to the side after he pushed the doors open. Seeing nothing exit the tower he looked into the doorway. The door opened into a long hallway that lead straight to a room at the center of the tower. He followed the hall and, finding no doors or halls leading off of the on he was in, entered the room. It wasn't a room. The center of the tower was not much more than an hollowed out cylinder. He looked up and saw stairs winding around from the floor to the top of the tower. There were door at regular intervals going up the stairs. At the top of the tower, in the ceiling, was a giant glass skylight that was letting in quite a bit of sunlight dispite the time of day. He made his way up the stairs and began to explore each floor as he came to it. The lower floors appeared to have contained little more than basic living quarters, but it was hard to tell as there was no furniture to be found. The middle floors looked to have been devoted to some sort of library and study rooms. Rows of empty shelves lined the walls. He found several old books lying on the floor. He bent down and picked one up. He frowned. It was just a book on forest creatures, interesting reading, but not what he had been hoping for. He put it, and the other books, in his pack and continued on through the tower. The upper floors were just as he thought they would be. Laboratories used for experiments and for the development of new spells. Again empty shelves lined the walls. There was some broken glass on the floor, as well as some broken pieces of lab equipment. In the back of the rooms there were several large steel cages. Seeing these he shuddered, not wanting to think about what they had been used for. Seeing nothing of immediate value, hecontinued to the top floor. Reaching the door he frowned. It was locked. He pulled out some lock-picking tools he had brought with him at set to work. Not being too good at such things, he was still at it after several hours. Then he heard a small click. Once again he was struck in his badly wounded arm by several darts that shot out of the wall. Before he could pull them out, he fell asleep. The sun was beginning to set once more as he woke. Pulling the darts from his arm, he grumbled something about how the tower might not want him there. He was about ready to give up when he noticed that the door was open just a smidgen. He stood up and (after checking for any more flying darts) he entered the room. This was the private chambers of the Master of the Tower. Unlike the other floors, this one was not bare. The living quarters had chairs and tables and even a lovely fireplace that was somehow burning and giving warmth to the room. The bedroom and a large comfortable bed and a closet that was full of robes of every color for all occasions. It had its own personal library which was full of books of every shape, size, and type. There waseverything from books on plant life to powerful spell books he couldn't begin to understand. There was even a laboratory that was stocked full of fresh plants and bottles of colorful liquids and powders. He at last came to a room sealed with a steel door. It seemed to be some kind of vault or giant safe. There was no handle or visible way of opening it so he left it for now. He sat in an overstuffed chair by the fireplace. There was a glass and a bottle of elven wine on the table beside him. He poured a glass and sat back to rest a bit. Then he heard a womans voice. " You are not Lord Nystul. How is it you come to enter the Tower?" Somewhat startled he answered. "I opened the Tower doors and defeated the beast that guarded them. Who are you?" " I am the chair you sit in. I am the table you set you glass on. I am the fireplace that warms you. I am the Tower." At this the elf jumped up and grabbed the glass of wine. The voice giggled and spoke again. "There is no need to stand. Please sit." He slowly sat back down but kept hold of the glass. "How is it you are able to speak? What is it I should call you?" "There is no need to call me anything. I can tell when you are speaking to me and when you are not. As for your other question, it is a long story. I will gladly tell you at another time, but first I have some questions of my own if you don't mind." The elf smiled at he voices politeness and replied. "Very well. I shall give you what answers I am able." "First, where is Lord Nystul? Has he sent you ahead of him to prepare his quarters?" A puzzled look comes over his face as he hears the question. "I am sorry M'lady, I do not know anyone by the name of Nystul. If you speak of the last Master of the Tower, I believe he has died. That was long ago. If he has survived somehow, I know not where he is. As for the quarters, it would appear that you did a well enough job taking care of them." There was a long silence before the voice spoke again. "I believe you speak the truth. It has been long years since he left. It is possible hehas died. Is it your intention to take possession of the Tower? "That was my intention M'lady. However I did not know you were a living being. I think that decision now lies with you. I don't believe it would be right for me to just come in and take over without you having any say in the matter. I am truly sorry if my earlier actions offended or harmed you in any way." With this he stood up and bowed towards the fireplace (not knowing where else to bow to). Again the voice giggled. "I think I would like to have you around. You amuse me and are great company. You may stay as long as you wish. Please rest. I must take care of a goblin that has just wandered onto the grounds." Hearing this he looked up. "Please don't hurt it. I am sure it means no harm." "Very well. I shall send it back to the rings where it belongs. You are a wise mage indeed." The elf finished his wine and stood up. He headed to the bedroom to lay down. He drank the rest of Eros' potion and smiled as the pain in his arm left and the flesh began to heal once again. "Truly amazing." He undressed and laid down on the bed. He was so tired he was asleep in no time. The last thing he heard before falling asleep was the voice of the Tower asking him his name. "I am sorry. Did I not say before. My name is Dalamar. Dalamar Majere."