Necromantic 2 Journal
You do not need to read this file, but I believe it will
add to your enjoyment of the map.  Read the introduction
first, then proceed to the map, and return as instructed
by events.


Introduction:  A twist of events

When last we saw William, he was storming the monastary.  Maleck, the
high priest responsible for the death of not only William's parents,
but his entire people as well, is anxiously waiting inside.  And so,
we return...

The monastary was more like a fortress than a place of worship, but
your troops kept pushing forward until the walls finally cracked, and
fell.  The fighting continued through the inner walls, into the central
keep.  You have to admit, Maleck's troops fight relentlessly, and more
bravely than any you have seen thus far.  Finally, you approach
Maleck's inner sanctum.  You rush to the front of the horde, and
approach the door.  You begin to hear a strange rumbling sound, and
the walls start to vibrate.  The door is bolted shut, but with the help
of your men you begin to force it in with a battering ram.  The rumble
has turned into quite a roar and light begins to pour out around the
door frame.  Finally the door gives way, taken fully off it's hinges,
and falls to the floor in front of you.  You rush in to see a blinding
white light filling the room, and can feel the air pulling you in.
Just as your eyes adjust you can see a great portal which consumes most
of the east wall, and Maleck halfway through it.  Maleck turns, smiles
evily, and tosses a scroll back into the room before disappearing into
the void.  You watch the scroll, tumbling through the air, and it
bursts into a ball of fire.  Glancing to your left and right, you see
that the room is full of hundreds of other scrolls, some of which are
fireballs, but most are scribed "armageddon"!  Before you can think, a
lich grabs you, and lifts you completely off your feet.  Before you can
object, he tosses you through the portal, just as the room explodes
into a great ball of fire.  You see a blinding white flash, then
everything goes dark......

Proceed to map, read chapter 1 when instructed.







Chapter 1:  A short rest

You set up a small camp near the shore.  You have very limited
resources, and although you could build a castle, you will need a boat
so you may search the surrounding area.  In the morning you will set
out to find the supplies for a castle, but tonight you will rest, and
reflect.  You ask one of the skeletons why the lichs to the north are
so resistant.  He tells you they are suspicious of your motives.  They
are loyal to the king and queen, and are afraid you are trying to raise
a force against them.  He tells you, if you overpower the lichs, they
will be honor-bound to help you.  You ask where this king and queen
are, the skeleton looks suspicious, but tells you they live in a great
castle far north of here.  Their southern palace is on an island just
east of here, you could probably learn more there.

There is another palace on the island beyond that which holds the
summer palace, but no word has come from them in months.  You may want
to investigate this as well.  Either way, you are growing very tired,
and retire to your chamber for the night.

Return to map, read chapter 2 when instructed.







Chapter 2:  A tighter twist of events

As you emerge from the dense jungle, you come across a great castle.
Just as you are preparing to set upon yet another battle with your own
kind, you notice something impossible.  At first you think you are just
tired, and longing for home.  But, the closer you look, the more things
become clear.  You see the same rocks, the same trees and marshes you
saw before.  This is your parent's castle!  This can't be possible, you
saw the ruins yourself.  After quite some time standing with your mouth
open, one of your underlings clears his throat and points.  You follow
the direction he is indicating, and a see a lich who has apparantly
been standing next to you the whole time.

You shake off the confusion and ask him where the king and queen are.
He tells you they entered a portal in the nearby cave some time ago.
Then he tells you about the cave in, and says the king and queen were
trapped on the other side.  You stop him there, you know the rest of
the story.  It seems the knights have already cleared the cave in, but
the order to destroy the castle has not yet been given.  Obviously the
portal was not designed to take Maleck to another place, but another
time.  Now, instead of answers, you have more questions.  Where did
Maleck exit the portal, where is he now, and what is he planning to
do?

Return to map, read chapter 3 when instructed.







Chapter 3:  Things are never as simple as they seem

You sit in the main hall as your commanders file through, giving their
reports from the torture sessions.  Suddenly, one drags in a man who
is wearing a robe with the markings of the church.  You recognize the
marks as the sign of a high priest.  You can't help but smile, and he
returns the smile, obviously thinking your are being friendly.  You
wipe the smile off your face and throw the man to the ground.  After a
short interrogation, which leaves the priest wimpering in the corner,
you have the information you need.  You had always wondered how your
parents were killed so easily, the church was shown exactly how to do
it.  Apparently, the portal Maleck came through also leads to another
part of the world ruled by a creature named Kiolon Vas.  He is like
you, a necromancer.  He was unable to defeat your parents himself as
the spell used would have killed him as well.  Now, with them out of
the way, he intends to take over their empire.  Well, you may just have
something to say about that.

He is the one who was assisting the barbarians in the south, and was
probably fueling the necromancer revolt as well.  The portal lies on
the spot where Maleck had the monastary built in your time.  There is
one problem, Koilon's captain of the gaurds is extremely powerful.  His
name is Del Sat, and even Koilon has trouble controling him.  Koilon's
castle is protected by a barrier, the sage who holds the key to the
barrier is just north of here, but there is no way of telling if the
barrier is still in place.  It would be wise to avoid Del Sat, and
Kiolon for that matter, until you have a very powerful force.

Return to map, read chapter 4 when instructed.







Chapter 4:  Into the heart of death

You step out of the portal, and into a barren land.  It appears to be
the remains of a swamp, but everything is dead here, even the
vegetation.  It is as if something sucked the life right out of the
land, but what could do that?  Through the dense mist you see a
village.  As you walk closer you see tall spires, with unfortunate
victims impaled on the ends.  As you walk further you look up at a
newly "propped" victim, and to your dismay it is Maleck.  At least he
got what he deserved, but you wanted to be the one to defeat him.

This just strengthens your resolve to take revenge on Koilon, and his
followers.  You can only hope that you are strong enough to defeat him.
You had thought the struggle for power was a human trait, but it seems
all creatures are capable of evil, it plays no favorites.

Return to map, read the epilogue after finishing the map.






Epologue:  And the truth shall set you free

The castle fell, a little easier than you thought, perhaps you have
become to used to battle.  It does not matter, for the war is over,
the last battle has been fought.  You order your guards to bring the
fallen leader before you.

Kiolon Vas, the most powerfull necromancer in the known land, looks up
at you with a fear in his eyes like he has never known.  You almost
feel sorry for him.  He pleads for you to spare him, and offers to tell
you about your origins if you let him live.  You hesitate, you never
did learn who your people are, or where they came from.  You tell him
death is too good for him, he will rot (literally) in the dungeon for
the rest of eternity.  But, if he tells you, his stay could be a little
more bearable.  He agrees.

It seems the necromancers were all once human like the Bourillians.
Actually, your parents were the King and Queen of Bourillia in their
former lives as humans.  When humans die, that is the end of their
existance. Your parents found a way to cheat death, necromancy.  They
brought others through the dark veil of death with them.  Kiolon was
their cheif captain of the guards.  He hated them for what they did,
he just wanted to die, and go to wherever great knights go when they
pass.  Over time they brought more and more spirits over, only the most
noble of humans was allowed to pass into this new existance.  They
built their great castle close enough to watch over Bourillia, but it
was apparently too close, for the humans managed to find it.

You want to yell at Kiolon, to tell him he will pay for his heresy, but
you know it is all true, you can feel it.  He offers you one last
piece of information, the knowledge of how to create portals like the
ones that brought you here.  You motion for the guards to take him
away but, gently, you say.  So, you have a great deal to think about.
Do you stay here, return to the future, or go further into the past to
try to piece all of this together?  You decide to take care of cleaning
up things around here first, the past and future can wait.

The End
