The Path of Death, Destruction, and Mayhem Chapter Two
The Path of Death, Destruction, and Mayhem

Chapter Two: Death

After arriving at Qalaba'r I immediately lifestoned and headed out to the south east mountains. I could not tolerate being in that city a moment longer than necessary. The noise, the crowds, and the smell were enough of an excuse to find something to kill as anything else. And Talon had mentioned this as one of the lesser populated cities. Lovely.

A very short distance from the lifestone I found a series of spawns that proved challenging. I determined that when I developed skill to not worry about death from these spawns, I would move on. The first few days were filled with purple spiraling portals and the lifestone occupied my dreams. I spent more time moving from the lifestone to the spawn locations than anything else. Mattakars, Lugians, Gromnies, 'Dillos, and Golems. All were able to kill me but all fell to me in the end. All save that one Iron Golem. For three hours he and I battled, my speed keeping my deaths to 3, but his magical resilience preventing me from causing him more than brief and minor injuries. As I left for town to restock my spell components I vowed I would one day have my vengeance.

For a month I hunted in the mountains outside of Qalaba'r. After awhile I ventured farther out, beyond the Old Mines and into the rolling foothills between the mountains and the coast. By this time I was capable of casting spells of the third level with no problems, but spells of the fourth level still failed more often than not. I used the IV's to protect myself and the III's in combat, when I couldn't afford failures.

I determined I had progressed in power enough that this place was no longer ideal for me. I sought more dangerous prey, for I had become a more dangerous hunter. Using the portals and my feet, I made my way to Mayoi where there was rumored to be an entrance into the dreaded Direlands. The journey was much less intense than the previous run to Cragstone, and in no time I found myself lifestoned near Mayoi and standing in front of a swirling green portal headed straight into the Dires. Fear threatened to break me as I cast my protective buffer spells. I cautiously made my way towards the portal, then heard a spawn materialize behind me. Without looking to see what it was, I hastily stepped into the portal.

(To Be Continued)


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