Council of Oblivion

Chapter 1: Hidden Conspirators

Malak made his way through the night skies over the deserts of the western lands. He was used to the sights of the desert by now; while he hadn’t made the flight frequently, he had done it enough times, and the path never changed. Between how high he was flying and the darkness caused by the dead of night, he could see very little, but it was enough to know the path.

He always traveled by night in the lands west of Al Kharid. And he always traveled in his bat form. The western lands weren’t accustomed to the sight of vampires. They were too ignorant to know how fearful they should be, especially of Malak, a member of the nobility. Furthermore, if those he were associated with were caught dealing with a vampire, that could ruin their reputation. Malak didn’t care much if his acquaintance lost his power, but that power was something Malak needed as well. Malak was indeed powerful, just not all-powerful.

It wasn’t long before Malak reached the city of Lumbridge. He could already see a light on in the castle. He recognized that window. It was the one he always went towards. His partner was waiting. Malak flew into the window and transformed into his vampire form. As always, Duke Horacio was there to greet him.

“Your messenger said you had something urgent to discuss,” Malak said.

“Indeed. Our plans have taken a turn for the worse,” the duke replied.

“I suspect the recipe didn’t work?”

“Yes and no. The recipe succeeded in partially reviving the Culinaromancer. Unfortunately, the circumstances prevented him from carrying out the assassinations as we wished.”

For a moment, Malak was not sure what to say. The revival of the Culinaromancer was only a partial revival, reducing his powers a great deal, but even in such a state, the Culinaromancer should have been more than a match for any beings this side of the Salve River, especially the leaders who had shown up. Those leaders had little to no fighting abilities whatsoever. “Where are the others? Why am I the only one here?”

“I requested their presence as well. But you know how stubborn they can be. I’m sure they’ll show, and I’ll relay the same message to them. Besides, us two are the most intelligent of the group, I’d say. Our decisions will likely be as good as anything the group could obtain.”

“Yes, that’s probably true. But the leaders, their fighting abilities are next to nothing. How could they defeat the Culinaromancer?”

“That’s the problem,” Horacia replied, “it wasn’t the leaders. It was a passerby adventurer.”

“A passerby you say? How could you possibly have let a passerby join in on your little 'meeting?' The goal was to assassinate those so-called leaders at once to cause chaos in the leadership. There was no reason to get anyone else involved.”

“I know that. It wasn’t by choice. I gave my castle’s cook the task of cooking a simple meal, which I told him was of enormous complexity. It was really the partial revival recipe for the Culinaromancer. Unfortunately, the twit couldn’t even pull that off. Apparently, he asked some passerby to help with the simple task. As a result, my cook told the passerby to stay for the meal. He ended up defeating the Culinaromancer.”

“You’re telling me it was a human that defeated him? Even in his weakened form, that’s quite a surprise. Do you happen to know the name?”

“Yes, he was quite a braggart and let his reputation be well known. His name was Thyker.”

Malak snickered. He recognized the name. “Thyker you say? I’ve encountered him myself east of the Salve. He’s quite powerful for a human. He even managed to defeat an old vampire of nobility when his weaknesses were exploited. That’s an impressive task.”

“Indeed, he is a powerful warrior. I’ve had my dealings with him,” a third voice said as a billow of black smoke appeared in the room. Such appearances had confused the two leaders before; now they didn’t even pay it a second mind. They knew who it was. A cloaked figure stepped out of the smoke. The cloak was made of a dark gray cloth they had never seen before. not on anyone but her, at least. The cloak looked as if it had been through hundreds of battles, though it was unlikely such damage occurred while she was wearing it. As always, she carried the strange, crooked staff.

“Please, Ansa, feel at home. Take your hood off,” said Horacia. “But tell me, I’m curious, where exactly have you dealt with Thyker before.”

“Oh, I’m afraid that’s something I’d rather not discuss,” replied Ansa, removing the hood of the cloak to reveal her face. Horacio opened his mouth to discuss the situation but was stopped by Ansa. “Don’t worry about explaining the situation; I’m already aware of the happenings with the Culinaromancer.” That’s another thing that made Horacia nervous about Ansa: she seemed to know nearly everything.

“Yes, a tragic turn of events indeed,” replied the vampire.

“So, I assume the assassination attempt is canceled forever?” asked Ansa.

“Not quite,” replied Horacio. “The Culinaromancer isn’t quite defeated yet.”

“Oh?” replied the mysterious lady. “That’s good to hear, I was afraid I was going to have to change my part of the plan. Well, if that’s the case, I’ll be leaving now; that’s all I wanted to know. I’ll be in contact.”

“Wait!” said Horacio. “Don’t you need to hear…” But Ansa disappeared in a puff of black smoke.

The two remaining leaders paused for a moment. Then Horacio asked, “Can you remember…” Malak shook his head. He didn’t need to hear the rest of the question. For some unknown reason, neither could ever remember what Ansa’s face looked like. That was another thing that made him nervous about Ansa. Horacio knew as a human he was susceptible to magic. However, vampires were supposed to have great magical resistance. So either Ansa was indeed a very powerful magician or knew some other forms of trickery. Either way, it was unsettling. And the very fact that Ansa chose to hide her face from their knowledge made things even worse.

“I don’t trust her at all,” Malak eventually said.

“Yes, I know. But let’s face it. She’s a powerful ally. We can use her to our benefit for now. We’ll take care of her when the time comes.”

“You said you knew of some way to revive the Culinaromancer?”

“Oh, yes. I was about to say that to you when we were interrupted. See, the recipe given to my cook was only that of a partial revival of the Culinaromancer. As a result, when he was defeated, he wasn’t actually destroyed. The problem is, a partial revival will not work again. We’ll have to perform the full revival, and it will be very difficult to obtain all the necessary ingredients, even for two persons as powerful as ourselves. Furthermore, we’ll have to kill Thyker first. He’s likely to go sticking his nose in our business again. It will be very difficult to perform the revival if he does.”

“Perhaps there’s a better way…” replied the vampire.

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve dealt with this Thyker before, as have you. Surely you know he’s rather powerful. He also has a penchant for adventure. We could get him to gather the materials for us.”

“Theoretically that’s good. But he’s rather of a goodie-goodie. He’s not necessarily a perfect hero, but he would never assist in something this sinister. Especially not after being the one who destroyed the Culinaromancer.”

“Yes, this is true. But Thyker has a weakness. If you dangle the right reward in front of him, he’ll often do what you want without questioning why. We’ll never tell him why he’s gathering the ingredients; only that we want them.”

“That’s all good, but what reward could possibly be that enticing?”

“Heh,” replied the vampire, “don’t worry about that. Do you have a servant you could part with for a few weeks?”

“Indeed I do.” Horacio rang the bell in his room.

In a few minutes, a young boy came running in. “What can I do to please you, lord.”

“Look at me for a moment, child,” said Malak. Without thinking, the boy turned to look at Malak. It took him a few seconds to register that he was looking at a vampire. However, before he could react, it was too late. Malak’s eyes glowed in a bright red color. “Mind possession!” he shouted.

The boy slumped into a deep trance, still standing on his feet. Malak walked over and touched his hand to the boy’s head. “Boy, tomorrow morning, you will begin a journey scouring the countryside. You will seek out the adventurer known as Thyker. You are to deliver a message to him. Canifis is holding a tournament to determine the best human warrior alive. Any human may participate. Thyker’s presence has been specifically requested due to his exploits. You will tell him no further details related to this. When I release you, you will go to sleep. In the morning, you will begin your journey.” Malak released his hand from the boy’s head. The boy immediately darted out of the room. “I’m afraid I must be going,” replied Malak. “I prefer to fly in the dark. Besides, I have some business to attend to in Canifis.”

Chapter 2: Taking the Bait

“Canifis is holding a tournament to determine the best human warrior alive. Any human may participate. Thyker’s presence has been specifically requested due to his exploits.” After completing that phrase, the boy just stood there. Again.

"Come on, you’ve said that like 8 times. If you need to say something else, say it. If not, then leave.” Nothing. “At least tell me you’re name.” Nothing. “Or who sent you.” Nothing. “So that’s all you have to say? How about telling me when the tournament is, at least?”

“Canafis is holding a tournament to determine the best human warrior alive. Any human may participate. Thyker’s presence has been specifically requested due to his exploits.” That made 9 times… or that’s what Thyker thought, at least.

To make matters worse, Thyker was presently in Ardougne. While he’d been to Canifis many times, Ardgourne was a long distance away. And he had no clue when the tournament started. If he took too long, he could get there too late. That left him with only one option.

Thyker walked to the nearest bank he could find in Ardougne. Luckily for him, the banks seemed all inter-connected somehow; what was given to one bank was miraculously obtainable from another bank. And they never got paid any money. Thyker had always thought it must be some kind of scam to run so efficiently. However, they’d never done any wrong to Thyker, so Thyker saw no reason to complain.

“Good day sir, how may I help you?” asked the banker. Darn, he had forgotten to do it the quick way. Oh well, might as well go through the motions.

“I’d like to access my bank account, please.”

“Certainly, sir.” And with that, the banker brought forth all the possessions Thyker had stored in any bank. Amongst them, Thyker found what he needed: a small vial filled with a strange greenish fluid, the ectophial. It had been a gift from a friend on the ghost town of Port Phasmatys. The thought of a town filled with ghostly inhabitants put Thyker on edge, but given the option of staying away from the town or missing the tournament, Thyker’s decision was easy.

Thyker poured the greenish fluid onto the ground and was quickly sucked into it. He felt like he was being pulled through a greenish slime, but within a few seconds, he landed on solid ground outside of the ghost town. Thyker shivered. He hadn’t even brought his ghost-speaking amulet, so he had no means of communicating with the ghosts. Not that he really needed to. The only ghost in sight was Necrovarus. Thyker didn’t need to talk to him to know what he was thinking, nor did he really want to. So he quickly refilled the ectophial and ran towards Canifis.

*****

In Canifis, near the pub, a puff of blackish smoke appeared. A figure clad in a battered, gray cloak holding a twisted staff stepped forward. She had felt Malak’s magic here. She was sure of it.

Understanding the most likely cause, she walked straight towards the bar. She scanned the room, not only with her eyes, but with her magical senses. She needed to find the location where the magic permeated from. It wasn’t very difficult; Malak had little ability to hide his magical traces, nor would he have likely tried, even if he could. She walked over to the right side of the pub, where a man sat at a table.

Sitting down at the table, she stated, “My name is Thyker.”

Immediately, the man launched into a speech about the legendary brothers of Mort’ton. She listened to everything he said, but the only information she could obtain was related to the brothers and their legendary armors. Of course, Malak tried to keep those under his Mind Possession from saying too much.

So, she stood up from the table without even saying goodbye. It’s not like the possessed man would have comprehended anything she said, anyway. She muttered to herself, “So, it seems like Malak is trying to tempt Thyker to obtain a piece of the legendary armors. But why would he bother? He knows that every set of armor was taken by someone long ago. There’s no way he could get a piece of the armor now. What’s his game?” She pondered over it for several minutes. “Ah, of course. That must be it. Well, if that is his plan, I think I know a way to make things a little more interesting for all of us.” She knew where she had to go. If she predicted the course of events correctly, then she didn’t have much time. With a puff of smoke, she left for where she needed to go.

*****

Thyker ran through the entrance to Canifis. The way there had been full of difficult terrain, but luckily, he was agile enough to get around the obstacles quickly. Thyker scanned the town. He didn’t notice anything abnormal. Either he had missed the tournament or he was days early. Either way, he had to know which. The good adventurer always knew that when information was needed, there was one place to go: the local bar, a nest for the local gossip.

Making his way to the bar, Thyker looked around for the one man he needed to talk to. The pub was a passageway of all gossip, and the bartender would speak to almost every person in the bar. He spotted Rovar near the counter.

“Hello there!” Thyker said.

“Greetings traveler. Welcome to the ‘Hair Of The Dog’ Tavern. What can I do for you?”
“I need some information on the tournament.”
“…Greetings traveler. Welcome to the ‘Hair Of The Dog’ Tavern. What can I do for you?”
“The tournament for humans.”
“…Greetings traveler. Welcome to the ‘Hair Of The Dog’ Tavern. What can I do for you?”
“Is that all you can say?”
“…Greetings traveler. Welcome to the ‘Hair Of The Dog’ Tavern. What can I do for you?” “My name is Thyker! I was invited to take place in the tournament.”

“I’m afraid there is no tournament, pal” said a man sitting to the right side of the pub.
“What do you mean!!!!” Thyker shouted as he darted across the room. “What do you mean there’s no tournament?”
“Well, some punk has been spreading some rumor of a tournament. The bottom line is, most people in this town just don’t like humans. I guess he thought it would be a funny joke to bring lots of humans here.”
“Oh yeah… I forgot, you guys really don’t like humans. So, why are you talking to me?
“Well, we don’t all hate humans… just most of us. Anyway, I hate to have seen you come here for nothing, so I want to give you a little challenge.”
“Is this challenge like a quest?”
“Sort of. Have you heard of the legendary Mort’ton brothers?”
“Yes, Torag, Guthan, Verac, Ahrim, Karil, and Dharok. They’re mythical.”
“Oh, I guarantee you it’s no myth. Down south of the swamp, in the land of Mort’ton, there exists a barrow gravesite. They’re legendary armor still exists. Should you travel down there, you could get a piece of it for yourself.”
“That would be great. I’ve always admired the legends of Verac. See, I’m kind of a prayer-warrior myself…” The two continued to talk for nearly half an hour, as the man described directions to the gravesite, instructions on what to do there, and so forth. When Thyker had learned everything he needed, he left there in a great excitement. “I guarantee you, Thyker will get a piece of Verac’s armor!”
Unfortunately, Thyker didn’t stay long enough to hear the speech his last statement triggered. “I’m afraid there is no tournament, pal…”
Thyker ran to Canifis’s bank, obtaining the items he would need. A platebody made of runite, the strongest material built by man. Leggings and a square shield made of adamantine, nearly as strong as runite, though not quite. And his most prized possession: a short sword made of the mythical dragonite, a material not of this world. Having obtained what he needed, Thyker ran into the Mort Myre swamp, heading south to the barrows of Mort’ton.
As he left, Malak made his way into the pub and to the man at the right side, reciting a speech to nobody. “Silence,” Malak commanded. At that, the man went silent. “Tell me everything you heard…”

Chapter 3: Barrows and Barraging

Janrok made his way through the wilderness areas. He was deep; there was no doubt about that. But for Janrok, the more dangerous the wild, the better. In the wilderness, humans were not bound by the laws of man, and would kill each other simply to take their possessions. This was a practice Janrok did not appreciate. Janrok’s job was to stop as many as possible. He was an avenger.
As people got farther away from civilization, people seemed to become more cruel in who they would attack. That is why Janrok had to go into the deepest depths of the wild. Of course, he had an advantage. Janrok possessed the mythical armor of Karil, a set of gear would gave him incredible powers in the form of long-range weaponry. He had owned it for many years. Most people in the wild were aware of it. They would flee as soon as they saw him; it didn’t matter. Being an archer, he could take them out from a far distance.
Janrok made his way towards the icy plateau in front of him. He could see the Ice Warriors and Ice Giants in front of him. He stopped. Any closer and they might attack him. Not that he couldn’t handle them. But he might be injured in the process. Not to mention, he would waste precious ammo. Supplies were short in the wilderness. It was better to avoid unnecessary confrontations. Anyway, it didn’t look like anyone was on the plateau. Janrok turned away. He knew of a spot east of there full of red spiders. Bandits often plagued the area due to the fact that precious runite could be mined there. The bandits were particularly ruthless there. They wouldn’t even restrict themselves to one-on-one fighting.
As Janrok turned, he found himself face to face in a cloaked figure with a crooked staff. It startled him; he hadn’t heard the person at all.
“Who are you?” Janrok asked.
“Me? You can call me Ansa. I take it you are Janrok.” It was a girls voice. She didn’t say anything else.
“You’re well-informed. Do you have some business with me?”
“Yes,” she replied. “I want your armor. If you give it to me, you can live.” She took a step forward.
“You must be one of the person-killers that frequent this area! If so, I must take you down myself!” Janrok pulled forth his crossbow. “I have to admit, though, I’m surprised. I recognize those robes you’re wearing. Those are Ahrim’s robes. I can’t understand why you would need a second set of the mythical Mort’ton armor, but now you’ll get to see the power that Karil’s possesses.” Janrok quickly shot three crossbow bolts in rapid succession. Ansa didn’t move. As each bolt approached her, a shimmer of light appeared, and the bolts bounced away as if reflected by some unseen force field.
“Some kind of barrier! Well, then let’s try something a light stronger.” Janrok reached into his pouch and pulled out a special bolt. He placed it into the crossbow and it shimmered with light. “I’m sorry it has to come to this, but you should be flattered. I don’t have to waste such powerful bolts often.” Janrok unleashed the glowing bolt, but it too bounced off some unseen shield.
Janrok paused for a moment. “I see… You must know some prayer which can protect against attacks. But even such a prayer shouldn’t be able to completely reflect a power bolt. Still, if I’ve been schooled correctly, that prayer will only protect against long-distance attacks.” Janrok pulled out a dagger made of runite and charged at Ansa.
Ansa reached into a pouch at her side, pulled out somethings, and showed them to Janrok. Janrok recognized them instantly. Runestones. 4 death runes, 6 water runes, and 2 blood runes to be exact. “You should be flattered. I rarely come in person to kill someone.” Janrok stopped in confusion. Janrok had learned all modern arts of magic. Even being a ranger, such knowledge was necessary to survive in the wilderness. There were no spells that used that combination of runes. Had she just pulled out a random stash and hoped for the best? Then Janrok remembered a spell he had seen once. A long time ago. But she couldn’t possibly…
Janrok looked up. No, it couldn’t be. Dozens of ice crystals floating in the sky. Suddenly, they all came crashing down like lightning. The next thing Janrok knew, he was lying face down on the ground. It felt like a few ribs had been broken. He could feel blood, but he didn’t know where it was coming from. Janrok used his little remaining strength to sit up. He couldn’t stand.
Ansa had walked closer to Janrok and was holding the same combination of runes again. “I gave you a chance to live.”
Janrok put his hands together and looked towards the ground. “Please, oh merciful one, I beg for redemption.”
Ansa paused. “I’d like to give you it. But unfortunately, once I get started, I enjoy the fighting. I can’t stop now.” The runes began to disappear, as Janrok continued to mutter pleas. The ice crystals came crashing down in a similar fashion as before. When it was over, Janrok lay face down on the ground. Silent. “Pity he couldn’t have lived. He was good at groveling. Oh well, time to get what I came for.”

*****

Thyker walked into the land of Mort’ton. The land wreaked of death. It might have actually been worse than Port Phasmatys. Luckly, the man had given Thyker very specific directions; he didn’t want to talk to the undead inhabitants of the town. They didn’t seem quite dead, but they were almost… zombies.
It was long before Thyker found the ancient burial ground. The only sight worth seeing was a crazy old man tending the field. Normally, Thyker wouldn’t have talked to such a weird person, but it was the first truly alive person he had seen in a while. Besides, the gravedigger might have some kind of advice.
“Ahahahahahahaha,” cackled the old man. Thyker was taken back. He hadn’t even said anything yet. “I assume you’ve come here to rob the graves?” Thyker wasn’t sure what to say. When he put it that way, it almost made him feel guilty. Regardless, he gave the old man a nod. “Ha ha, I see. People go down into the ground, becomes a bigger grave. Here’s a shovel for you. Do what you want.” Thyker wanted to ask the old man questions, but thought better of it. Getting involved with crazy people usually makes your life worse.
Thyker searched around the field for a few minutes. Near the center, he found a huge mound of earth that looked like it had been dug through hundreds of times and subsequently buried over hundreds of times. Well, if the old man’s babbling had been true, this was probably the spot. Thyker stuck his shovel into the ground only to find that the earth gave way around him and dumped him into the grave.

Above ground, the hooded Ansa watched from the shadows of the barrows. Thyker had been too busy to notice her; of course, she was well hidden too, so that wasn’t necessarily his fault. Behind her stood a large demon. Any monster expert would have recognized it as one of the greater demons; for some reason, one of its horns was broken off.
“It appears you were right,” the demon stated. “He did come here. But will you tell me now… why did you go through the effort of getting those Karil robes for him?”
“Oh, it’s rather simple actually,” replied Ansa. “If he can’t survive the trial, then he’s too weak to be of use to me. And if he does survive, Malak will try to control him, and that armor will help me to destroy that control should I ever need to. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves; I’m quite curious to see how he does.”

Thyker landed on a hard mound of earth below the field. Luckily, his falling-through had made a hole in the roof. He could see very little in the darkness; without the hole, he likely would have seen nothing at all.
“Choose what you would like. But beware the consequences,” boomed a voice.
Thyker looked around, but there was no one to be seen.
“Choose what you would like. But beware the consequences.”
“Ok, ok, I heard you,” Thyker said. Thyker saw a long table at the end of the room. On it lay one set of armor. He recognized it as the mythical Karil armor. “Well, some choice this is.”
“Choose what you would like. But beware the consequences.”
“Ok, ok, stop saying that. I heard you… yuck, I hate range.” Still, there weren’t many other options. Thyker touched the Karil armor, but as soon as he did, a figure solidified in it. He took several steps back in surprise.
“I am the ghost of Karil. Do you wish to possess my armor… my abilities?”
“Yes, sir, that is why I have come here.”
“To use this armor, you must prove your worth. You must accept a trial... a battle. Once you begin, there will be no going back. You either defeat me in battle, or you die in battle and join the rest who have failed down here. Are you sure you wish to accept this trial?”
Thyker thought about it for a minute. This did seem like an awfully big risk for a set of armor that would help him with a form of combat he didn’t like. Still, Karil was a ranger. Thyker was a meleer, so he had the natural advantage over Karil. Besides, it wouldn’t be the first time he risked his life for fantastic treasures. “I accept.”
“Very well,” Karil said. “Then let us begin.” Without further waiting, Karil pulled out a bolt which glowed in the air. Thyker was surprised… he had never seen a bolt glow before. He was too far away to counter-attack… he would have to use strategy to get closer.
Karil launched the glowing bolt at Thyker. Thyker jump out of the way, but the bolt scorched through the earth and showered rocks towards him. It was a good thing Thyker decided to dodge that… had he stood still, he would have been sliced in two.
Karil quickly launched a second bolt at Thyker. He was off-balance from his previous dodge, but luckily, this bolt wasn't glowing. Thyker raised his shield, hoping this bolt wouldn’t have the same explosive effect as before. The bolt bounced harmlessly off the shield. Success!
Karil had no more bolts ready. This was Thyker’s chance! Thyker went to run forward, only to have the world spin around him. What was wrong with him?
Thyker tried to take another step. He felt nauseated. He thought he might throw up.
“What’s wrong?” Karil stated. “Is that the limit of your abilities?”
“What… what have you done to me!?!?”
“Yes, it’s one of the innate abilities I possess. My shots will cause confusion and loss of balance. Even a strike against your armor, such as the one that bounced off your shield is enough. I’m afraid that your agility is quite useless against me.”
Oh no! Thyker’s agility had won him many battles. Especially against rangers. If he couldn’t move quickly, he could very well die here. Thyker still had a chance though. The bolts didn’t seem capable of penetrating his shield. He might be able to move slowly and deflect the bolts with it.
Slowly, Thyker took another step forward. The world spun, but he kept his balance. Karil let off another shot from his crossbow, but it bounced off of his shield. Of course, by now, Thyker knew that the bounce wasn’t harmless.
Thyker took another step forward. This time the spinning was worse. Karil carelessly let off another shot. It bounced off Thyker’s shield. The world started to spin, even when he wasn’t moving.
“This is bad,” Thyker though. “I’m not sure if I can survive another hit like that, even against my shield.” Karil, possibly sensing this, let off another shot. Thyker jumped out of the way. Unfortunately, his agility was even worse than he thought. He dodged the bolt, but feel flat first on the ground in the process. His shield went sliding across the floor.
“Well, it appears your now both unable to move AND defenseless,” Karil said. “I think we should end this.” Karil reached into his pouch and pulled out another one of the glowing bolts. The one that could split Thyker in two. Thyker couldn’t move a muscle. If only he could get twenty seconds or so. Then he could recover and move again. Then he’s stand a chance.
“Karil, may I say a few last words?”
“No stalling,” Karil said. Drat, he was clever. Karil pointed the crossbow at Thyker, and the glowing bolt hurtled in the air toward him.

Written By: Shadow7
Submitted By: Serpentis
Proofreaded By: Knil
Coded By: Hoof NoobQuest