The Cradle of Souls - Chapter 9: A Deal with a Devil

Tishori era, or rather Calgan Period ruins shed much light on the society of our ancestors though discovery and research within such ruins can hindered by the presence of vengeful spirits. Evidence taken from the less active ruins indicates that we settled on Naltrim escaping war in the East. Some experts theorize that this war was driven entirely by wizarding clans, though other evidence suggests our ancestors left the lands of Thistol Narod when monsters became more prevelant.

Archeological evidence shows that despite the restrictions to magical powers enacted by the Council of Magi, those with the gift of magic continued to practice; summoning beings from other realms to help them gain an advantage over others. The most dangerous and arguably most effective means of getting information is to summon a demon...

- Lord Savant Helick Gaunt, Council of Magi – School of Conjuration

The journey took the stalwart adventurers two days to complete. As they traveled along the rutted roadway the treeline finally opened into a field. From the hilltop they could see a dig site. Partially uncovered buildings stood silent watch over the scattered tents and wagons of the Brend-Forman Society's dig. Workers trudged out of one of the buildings bearing wheelbarrows of dirt, their weary bodies sagging. The smell of burning wood and cooking ham wafted to their nostrils, welcoming the travelers into camp.

“This is stupid.” Anya-Star muttered as they descended the hill.

“But its a ruin!” Krueller answered her.

“Just because its a ruin doesn't mean there are ghosts...”, she snapped back at him, but the group already had their minds made up.

Ulias approached the the Dig Leader, causing the man to pale at the unexpected arrival of his boss. After explaining that they had come to take a look, the man told Ulias they were welcome to explore the ruins. They could even conscript the assistance of some of the women who dusted in the ruins by day, while the men rested in preparation for the next nights dig. They would not be able to see too much, since some of the passages were still blocked by dirt and rubble, and some of the halls had a strange phosphorescent mold that glowed during the night. Studies had not yet been conducted into the nature of the mold though a Druidess was presently investigating below.

They descended into the ruins and in short order discovered the Druidess and another woman assisting her as they scrapped samples of the mold off of the walls for further study. Ulias demanded that they identify themselves. The Druidess was Katniss and the other woman called herself Sharina. After talking with them for a moment, Altherton stepped in and convinced them to assist the group as they went deeper into the ruin.

“You can't go any futher.” Sharina explained in a dry monotone. “The passage is blocked.”

“That isn't a problem,” Krueler said as he magically formed a dimensional door and stepped through it to the other side. Not to be outdone, Sharina also displayed her own powers and followed the wizard to the other side. Krueler frowned, recognizing that the power the woman displayed was not magic. He pointed this out to her quietly but did not pursue the topic. It was not his place to ignite Arambashian prejudices against those with psychic abilities.

In the meantime, on the other side of the rubble, Ulias Brend prepared his own display of magical prowess, drawing up his sleeve and unleashing a mighty spell that liquified the stone and dirt, causing it to solidify along the edges to form a perfect passageway while keeping the ruins intact. Awed by this feat, Sharina decided not to test her luck with the old man, and begrudgingly followed as they stepped deeper into unexplored ruins.

Following a stairwell that was uncovered by Ulias's magic, the group reached the bottom of the steps and entered into a larger chamber. In the center of the room was a pit that dropped into darkness. Suspended above the pit appeared to be a metal platform held up by wooden braces that looked like they were in need of love before they could be used to support lots of weight. Glorving assessed the lift, and made some quick adjustments that would enable the group to use it if they so chose.

Wanting to know the depth of their descent, and how long it would take them to fall to their doom if the lift did not work, Krueler took a lit torch and cast it down the crevasse. The torch fell, lighting its decent until it was little more than a dot in the darkness below, where it struck a surface and bounced out of sight. Still uneasy about going down there, the group clambered onto the creaking metal contraption and began to descend under the direction of Glorving and Kaden. After a long drop, they reached the bottom.

Now hundreds of feet below the surface they were shocked to discover more ruined buildings. These structures looked much older and were lined with cracks from age. A dome structure built of stone stood before them, an open doorway beckoning them to enter, while rows of unexplored buildings and caves extended to either side. They opted to enter the dome, passing by its pillars that cast long shadows in the torchlight. Stepping within their lights caught a golden glint as it bounced off the floor. An image of the sun was cast upon the floor, made of gold. At its center was the silhouette of a dove, the symbol of the goddess Estridae. None dared to desecrate the sacred depicting, and they passed by it without another though.

The next room was much larger, designed to hold dozens of people for the purpose of worship. A window frame still held a stain glass depiction of the White goddess, unblemished by the passing of time. In one corner sat a font of water that glowed with divine magic. They took several flasks of the water before Kaden discovered a broken out window leading into an immense cavern. The group quickly followed him into it.

As they explored the huge expanse Kaden pointed out that the place looked to have been magically protected by a barrier, for the stone that had crushed many of the structures behind them was mold perfectly along the edges of the cavern. As they searched further, they came upon a raised throne with an inscription: You who are condemned, be judged. The throne looked down upon a small stone chair, clearly not designed for comfort. Specator seating surrounded the little chair. As they entered inside the ring, the air became much colder and they thought they could make out a figure in the chair. The figure looked up at them, the torchlight catching on its eyes, making them seem to glow red as they drew closer.

Krueler stopped and pointed the figure out and the rest of the group stopped as well.

“I thought I heard something,” the figure said, its voice sounded male and somewhat slavic, or perhaps Trasylvanian. “Have you come to let me go?”

The approached more hesitantly, the torchlight bringing his features into greater focus. It was indeed a man, with unkempt, ratty hair that hung low over his shoulders. He sported a rough goatee and had pale skin. His eyes were not red, but in fact a strange blue, chestnut mix. Iron chains and shackles bound his arms and legs to the chair.

“Who are you?” Krueler asked tentatively.

“I... I am Asptricollette. Yes. Asp to my friends. You are friends right?”

“What are you doing here?”

“They brought me here. To sacrifice me I presume. But I don't remember. Everything is so hazy. You will free me from here will you not?”

Sensing something was amiss, Glorving took it upon himself to detect the presence of evil in the room. As his sense grew stronger, Asptricollette began to emit an evil presence so strongly he could identify just what it was. A devil, summoned from the Nine Hells. He told the group, and they took a step back.

“Very good Paladin,” the devil spat. “Before you finish me off, you should know... it is the destiny of you and yours to release terrible things on this world...” Misidentified, Glorving stood stunned for a moment, but the dwarf quickly pulled out of it and told the creature he was not a paladin. The devil relaxed and leveled with the group. He was indeed a devil, or rather a demon summoned from the Blazing Eternity to aid a man in getting a woman more than a thousand years before. He was capture and bound, and he wanted to be freed.

“Why should we let you go?” Gloving asked him.

“Because I can tell you how to find what you need. You are bound to an Artifact, am I correct? One that is eating away at your being? One that requires you to harvest the souls of the dead in order to survive? I can tell you where you can find the waters that will heal you. I am a devil. Knowing these things is what I do. But you have to do something for me first. You must free me.”

Knowing something needed to be done, and realizing that they had not encountered any ghosts yet, Kaden thought back to his own teaching in religeous matters, recalling that devils typically honored the deals they made. He told the group as much, and they asked what they needed to do.

Blood. The blood of elven maidens; had to be rubbed across the shackles in order to break the binding spell. It would not take much, just a rub of fresh blood over the chain. The Katniss and Katria stepped up to the challenge and cut themselves, rubbing the blood over the chain. Sure enough, they broke as the demon had told them.

“Now it is my turn to return the favor.” Asptricollette told them, licking the elven blood from the broken shackles and quivering in pleasure. “I require a blade, and your assistance dwarf.”

Katria drew her sacrificial blade from its sheath and handed it to the demon. Asp poised the blade above a finger and told Glorving to smack the dagger with his warhammer when he told him to. To Krueler he ordered a map of the area to be pulled out to point out where they needed to go. Once the map was readied, Asp gave the word and Glorving swung. The hammer struck home, driving the dagger through the demons finger, cutting it clean off. Asptricollette howled in pain, blood spattering onto the map, and forming a bubbling pool of primordial goo on the ground. The blood moved freely on the map, filling in the details of the druidic land of Resonn beneath Arambashia.

The demon dipped his injured finger into the primordial pool, and as he withdrew his hand, and new finger sat in its place, still like liquid but firm as stone. He plucked his own finger from the ground and tasted the blood that remained on it before dropping it toward the map. The claw of the finger buried itself in the newly formed area of Resonn.

“There is where you will find what you seek. My finger shall serve as a compass for you, pointing out what you most desire. Consider yourselves lucky mortals, for many would love to have a living demon's finger. If you should need assistance in the future, just call my name.”

The demon snapped his good fingers together and the room burst into flames. The fire consumed the group, forcing them to close their eyes from the heat. They could feel it beating on their eyelids, but when they opened them again it was only the glare of the sun, now in its midday height, beating their brow. The map lay still unrolled on the ground, a hole where the demon claw had struck. Hovering above them in the air was the demon's claw, urgently pointing them to their next destination.

Previous Chapter

Next Chapter

Return to Cradle of Souls