A booming echo of the door knocker radiates and rang through out that keep of Lord Yhaull while outside a youth waited holding a large box in hand and looking around more nervous then most.
The door opens, a swarthy male of indeterminate age stands behind. He appears to be wearing loose-fitting garb similar to desert nomads. His accent is heavy, perhaps Flannae, though his common is quite good. His brow arches. "May I assist ye' Ye seem lost."
The boy stepped back with a darting glance around following. "I...um, I was asked to deliver this to a" Pausing to read the name on the label. on the large burdensome package. "Lord Yhaull. Is this his residence Sir?" "Ah, yes. Come." The male figure glanced around behind, his amber eyes slightly obscured due to the hue of the witch-lights hovering about in columns lining the road into the rock base of the spire. He beckoned him forward. "I shall take ye to the magic gate that will take ye to the sitting room whilst I summon Master Yhaull." "Ah, um well can't I just leave this with you mister" I got a lot of other deliveries to make this evening." Suddenly the messenger's eyes were wide with terror at the very idea of entering the ominous looking establishment and in fact it was the last thing he wanted to do. His voice was without humor, and devoid of all other expression. "The master is expecting you..."
Some nights just didn't pay to be a messenger. No matter how much gold one offered to make those less then pleasant deliveries but to his credit, the young lad took a deep breath and then stepped inside. Certain he was heading towards his own doom. "Think we can make this quick Mister" I have several packages to deliver before the clock strikes twelve and that doesn't even include the array of flowers and candy." "I shall express your urgency for the master, for I am sure it is of the utmost importance that ye interrupt him from his work to deliver to him a mere package." His tone was highly sardonic, and very cold, as he turned his back on the boy. "Follow closely, and beware straying too far behind. The shadows here are ravenous."
Since he was a smart lad and didn't stray at all. Stayed up close enough to the male leading the way just short of crowding him and kept his mud brown eyes fixed upon the man's back also. This messenger didn't want to see any such things as ravenous shadows thanks. They soon entered the putrid-green light of the gate after the servant produced what seemed to be a tone key - having struck it against the wall to activate it, and with a bit of a tingle, and a with dizzying speed, were teleported into the waiting chamber. He gestured to a spot near the center of the rather ornately decorated, though windowless room before moving toward the door. ?This should be over quickly, my boy. Just remember to breath."
That said, the gate stopped glowing after the servant exited, and with great effort, shut the boy in behind a thick, stone door. Light flared around its edges as the five-foot thick stone door began to fuse itself to the stonewall beside it, becoming part of it. The sound of water came suddenly. Through eight holes strategically placed around the circumference of the room.
The illusion of tapestries, furniture, and ornate decorative items faded, revealing the bloated, waterlogged corpses of many others who had been fated to meet their end here. Yes, the room was swiftly filling with water, and so...it would soon dawn on the boy "so this is what he meant when he said to remember to breath."
Damn! He knew he should have just dropped the box at the front step. He had stupidly promised to make sure it was delivered and took his work seriously. As water filled the room the box was dropped as he looked for something to hold on to and settled on a nearby pillar, muttering darkly. "I don't get paid enough for this drek. Damn!" And so this night marked the passing of the new cycle. A sacrifice to the coming of the New Year. The boy would be absent, never mind late, in delivering his package. This is perhaps why people feared this place as they did. As legends go, those who stray too far into the Black Wizard's domain are never seen again.
The package in question was a fairly large burden. Wrapped simply in now soggy brown paper. Inside there was another one of course. One festooned with colorful bows and ribbon and a card that read "Merry Solstice." The heady scent of cinnamon was all the dangers it might house. No traps or spells were placed upon it, yet it did carry a faint, but obvious sense of magic about it. What the mage would find within should he dare to open it it of course, was still a mystery.
The door opens, a swarthy male of indeterminate age stands behind. He appears to be wearing loose-fitting garb similar to desert nomads. His accent is heavy, perhaps Flannae, though his common is quite good. His brow arches. "May I assist ye' Ye seem lost."
The boy stepped back with a darting glance around following. "I...um, I was asked to deliver this to a" Pausing to read the name on the label. on the large burdensome package. "Lord Yhaull. Is this his residence Sir?" "Ah, yes. Come." The male figure glanced around behind, his amber eyes slightly obscured due to the hue of the witch-lights hovering about in columns lining the road into the rock base of the spire. He beckoned him forward. "I shall take ye to the magic gate that will take ye to the sitting room whilst I summon Master Yhaull." "Ah, um well can't I just leave this with you mister" I got a lot of other deliveries to make this evening." Suddenly the messenger's eyes were wide with terror at the very idea of entering the ominous looking establishment and in fact it was the last thing he wanted to do. His voice was without humor, and devoid of all other expression. "The master is expecting you..."
Some nights just didn't pay to be a messenger. No matter how much gold one offered to make those less then pleasant deliveries but to his credit, the young lad took a deep breath and then stepped inside. Certain he was heading towards his own doom. "Think we can make this quick Mister" I have several packages to deliver before the clock strikes twelve and that doesn't even include the array of flowers and candy." "I shall express your urgency for the master, for I am sure it is of the utmost importance that ye interrupt him from his work to deliver to him a mere package." His tone was highly sardonic, and very cold, as he turned his back on the boy. "Follow closely, and beware straying too far behind. The shadows here are ravenous."
Since he was a smart lad and didn't stray at all. Stayed up close enough to the male leading the way just short of crowding him and kept his mud brown eyes fixed upon the man's back also. This messenger didn't want to see any such things as ravenous shadows thanks. They soon entered the putrid-green light of the gate after the servant produced what seemed to be a tone key - having struck it against the wall to activate it, and with a bit of a tingle, and a with dizzying speed, were teleported into the waiting chamber. He gestured to a spot near the center of the rather ornately decorated, though windowless room before moving toward the door. ?This should be over quickly, my boy. Just remember to breath."
That said, the gate stopped glowing after the servant exited, and with great effort, shut the boy in behind a thick, stone door. Light flared around its edges as the five-foot thick stone door began to fuse itself to the stonewall beside it, becoming part of it. The sound of water came suddenly. Through eight holes strategically placed around the circumference of the room.
The illusion of tapestries, furniture, and ornate decorative items faded, revealing the bloated, waterlogged corpses of many others who had been fated to meet their end here. Yes, the room was swiftly filling with water, and so...it would soon dawn on the boy "so this is what he meant when he said to remember to breath."
Damn! He knew he should have just dropped the box at the front step. He had stupidly promised to make sure it was delivered and took his work seriously. As water filled the room the box was dropped as he looked for something to hold on to and settled on a nearby pillar, muttering darkly. "I don't get paid enough for this drek. Damn!" And so this night marked the passing of the new cycle. A sacrifice to the coming of the New Year. The boy would be absent, never mind late, in delivering his package. This is perhaps why people feared this place as they did. As legends go, those who stray too far into the Black Wizard's domain are never seen again.
The package in question was a fairly large burden. Wrapped simply in now soggy brown paper. Inside there was another one of course. One festooned with colorful bows and ribbon and a card that read "Merry Solstice." The heady scent of cinnamon was all the dangers it might house. No traps or spells were placed upon it, yet it did carry a faint, but obvious sense of magic about it. What the mage would find within should he dare to open it it of course, was still a mystery.