Outis Lightheart concept art (3)

 

Double E, Attorney At Law! concept art

 

Ange Hardy/ Red Phantasm concept art (3)

 

"The Treasure of The Lost Dwarven Kingdom"

“The Treasure of The Lost Dwarven Kingdom”

by Anthony Joseph Buffa

    Lucas, it is time that I tell you what I have kept secret from you for years. It is about your father and his passing. It was before you were born, when your mother held you in her womb. Of course, your two older brothers, may they rest in peace, were already born at that time, but they were too young to understand or know what your father did for a living to keep food on the table.
    Your father, Nicholas, including your uncle Holt and myself, were not perfect people, you see, but you must understand that we did what was necessary to help and feed our families.
    We were mercenaries once. We were paid to do some terrible things that we weren’t proud of. We’ve killed people, no matter if they were innocent or guilty, protected nobles, even hustled and robbed people, whether they be nobles or peasants.
    Besides being mercenaries, we were also treasure hunters. It brought excitement to us to find long-lost treasures hidden throughout Caravan, besides getting paid by clients to search for those treasures, of course. These treasures we found over the years were sadly less than a century old and they ranged from hand mirrors to rings, that sort. Although we were awarded a pretty penny for finding these valuables, which were sometimes encased in bronze, silver, even gold, these astray elven forges were nothing compared to the amount we would’ve gotten with dwarven treasure, pure-blooded gold elven treasure, hell, even human treasure.
    However, we all sought for that same treasure that our father told us about years ago. It was a tale as old as our people, the once proud tribe of the Gauls, before the empire came and took over our land, even destroying everything that we stood for such as our traditions and culture. We’ve been after it ever since our father told us this tale a long time ago when we were young and naive lads. It was the treasure of Carpathia, one of the ancient underground dwarven kingdoms that was lost to time centuries ago during the Black Death.
    Once inhabited by dwarves, it was rumored that this ancient dwarven kingdom had a huge chamber that once held and guarded millions of the finest riches you could imagine. Like our pure-blooded elven ancestors, these dwarves liked to show off their craftsmanship through the arts of forging valuables worth more than all the wealth of the dukes of Estonia, from armor and weapons to silverware and heirlooms. Unfortunately, one day, an evil, spirit-like demon known as an ifrit invaded the cavernous dwarven kingdom of Carpathia, slaughtered all the dwarven citizens and soldiers, even their great king, and took the treasure for itself.
    My brothers and I remember that story as long as we lived, even as we grew up to be fine and strong men like our father. That night, we swore an oath to find the lost dwarven treasure of Carpathia ourselves and retire with all the lire we earn when we find it. Like all children, we were so young and filled with hope and opportunity. We did not know any better, but we were family and we were always going to endure no matter what laid upon us.
    Years passed since we swore an oath to find the lost dwarven treasure of Carpathia and we had already become young adults at that time. Of course, your father was the eldest child in our family, so he was the one who inherited our father’s belongings, including our family’s heirloom, the battle axe of Laurens, our great Gaul ancestor. Eventually, we got married and had some children of our own and we all lived happily for a while.
    Unfortunately, we, as well as the rest of our people in our hometown, fell upon harsh times. Our economy was low, even our food and supplies which we get from trading with the Estonian Empire were becoming scarce.
    My brothers and I had discussed many means of what we should do to help our families endure during the recession. We’ve thought of raiding our neighboring duchies in Estonia, stealing as much food, ammunition and supplies we could carry back to our homes, but we knew by doing so would put our families at risk. Our wives, even our children, would suffer severe punishment by the Empire should we have taken that route. It wasn’t like the old days when the duchies were once their own kingdoms, when we, the Gauls, performed the habit of raiding kingdoms that neighbored Gaul, our home, even Delphia and Viken. Unfortunately, now that the old kingdoms of Estonia have become duchies belonging to the Empire, and Delphia and Viken became provinces of the Empire, it would be very bad news for us to commit an act made illegal by the Empire.
    We thought our luck and family bloodline had finally lost its course, but we still remembered our oath that we made since we were young lads.
    It was then that we decided to become mercenaries and treasure hunters. We would set out from our homes, traveling from town to town in Gaul, even to some of the neighboring duchies, to find work that would give us enough money to buy supplies and be able to feed and care for our families. We’ve performed many mercenary jobs over the years. It didn’t matter if we were proud of it or not. We still did them to help support our loved ones. If you ask me or your uncle Holt, neither of us regret choosing that life for us.
    As I mentioned, we were able to find treasures, but they were a century old and were not as rare or uncommon as any other treasure that people, even those of our profession, spoke of. Despite all that, we still sought for clues and rumors about the location of the lost dwarven treasure of Carpathia, but to no avail.
    Then, one day, we were approached by a nobleman around our age in Gaul who happened to be a member of the House of Welf, the wealthy family who ruled Gaul for centuries. Like us, this nobleman sought the lost dwarven treasure of Carpathia and he was willing to hire us to find the treasure for him in exchange for a wealthy amount of lire. The nobleman heard about this dwarven treasure in the first place long ago from his grandfather, his father’s father, who knew and told him of the location of the lost dwarven kingdom of Carpathia. Of course, it was an offer we couldn’t refuse. We’ve been waiting our whole lives for an opportunity like this.
    After we accepted his offer and the terms of the contract with the nobleman, he told us that there was an entrance to the lost dwarven kingdom hidden in plain sight somewhere west along the Blue Ridge Mountains just south of Gaul. The nobleman even gave us an ancient page with a drawn picture of the entrance. The paper’s age showed that it was more than a couple centuries old. The drawn picture was of the entrance engraved in these ancient dwarven etches that make a small gate. There were also some runes underneath the drawing of the entrance that we could not read. The nobleman pointed out that those runes were the written language of the dwarves long ago. Luckily, the nobleman never forgot what it translated to thanks to his grandfather. It said: “When the moonlight shines upon Demeter, there you will find the entrance to the kingdom of Carpathia which lies west below the mountains of the Blue Ridge.” We had no idea what it meant, but we knew that it was somewhere west along the northern part of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
    Although we still have no clue where exactly the entrance to the dwarven kingdom was along the Blue Ridge Mountains, we consulted a friend of ours from the local tavern of the town just a few miles from our homes. When we met up with him and told him about the entrance, as well as showed him the ancient page, he, unfortunately, also had no idea where this entrance could be. However, he knew of this spellsword-mercenary who could help us. He did not know his name, but this mercenary came by this tavern yesterday and he had been approached by a number of clients with many job offers, but he refused them all. He left the next day in the morning. Our friend said that he could be a valuable asset for this job of ours. He overheard legendary tales and feats about this mercenary from some of the employers and locals who came by the tavern to see him. We asked him if he knew what this spellsword-mercenary looked like, but he did not remember apart from his face that looked like that of a “bright and fair young boy.” We asked a number of townspeople if they’ve seen this spellsword mercenary yesterday and remembered what he looked like and where he headed off to. Once we got the information we needed out of them, we headed north to Vogtland like the townspeople said.


    Along the way, we’ve searched every town we came across in Vogtland, asking the locals about this spellsword-mercenary, but they didn’t see anyone by that description come by here. We then decided to head to Vogtland’s capital city known as Linz to find the elusive mercenary.
    There was a festival that took place when we arrived. They were celebrating All Saints’ Day for the saints of the Cathol faith. I still couldn’t believe that the same people who once worshiped the pagan gods of Caravan like us now worshiped a bunch of dead people. Of course, no one who lives in Estonia can even pray to the old gods nor worship the Elven faith because the Empire outlawed and banned that practice, the damn bastards. Anyway, we looked everywhere in Linz for the elusive mercenary, even the local taverns.
    Then, we headed toward the city square where many people gathered to dance and to feast. It was there that we finally found the man we were looking for. We had our eyes kept on the lone young astray elven mercenary who was sitting at a table with a stern, stoic look, eating and drinking as he watched the people of this city laugh and dance during their feast.
    His appearance was exactly as the townsfolk in Gaul described him. His physical appearance was that of a cat, sharing more of the cunning and agile physics of a cheetah rather than the muscle-bound mass of a jaguar. His dark brown hair was tied back, revealing dark hazel eyes of a face that was that of a bright and fair young boy. The young man was dressed in light armor, wearing only a brown gambeson overneath his light brown tunic, black wool pants and black turnshoes.
    What caught my eye was his unusual-looking sword that was sheathed on the right side of the young man’s belt. Below the sword’s crossguard that rested on one side of the blade was a sculpted-face that looked as if it was screaming in agony, and it wore a small red gem on its forehead like it was a third eye. It was unlike any blade I’ve ever seen before, and by the looks of it, I thought it was just for show, meant to scare off anyone who dared approach this lone mercenary. I thought that the young lad had never actually used this blade before and only held it on him to ward off people like my brothers and myself who merely wanted to ask him for a favor.
    I started to have second-thoughts about our decision to try and recruit this young lad, and I tried to talk your father out of approaching him, but he wouldn’t listen, being the brash and arrogant man that he was. Not even my brother Holt helped persuade your father otherwise before he suddenly walked over to the mercenary right away without giving us a signal or a plan. We quickly followed your father’s lead as he sat down next to the young lad while we stood behind and surrounded the young lad, preventing him from leaving right away. Your father introduced himself to the mercenary before trying to strike up a conversation with the stranger.
    “Nice night to be out here during the festival,” he said. “How’ve you been, lad?”
    The mercenary did not answer, ignoring my brother as he continued eating, but your father persisted in talking to the young lad, asking for his name.
    “I’ve only heard grand tales about you from many people back where I’m from,” he said. “Maybe you could tell me all about your adventures. You know how folks sometimes exaggerate the real truth, so I thought I would hear about them from your perspective.”
    Then, the mercenary finally answered coldly, “It would be wise for you to leave me alone. I will not be held responsible for your deaths should you continue to pursue me.”
    Your father wouldn’t back down. He shrugged off the mercenary’s warning and told him that he’s willing to offer him a job if he’d only listen to him.
    “See, there’s this dwarven treasure that me and my brothers here are looking for,” he said, “and we thought we’d ask for your help.”
    “I’m not interested in fairy tales,” the young lad answered before getting up from his seat.
    When my brother Holt grasped the young lad’s shoulder, the mercenary quickly pushed Holt away from him and reached for his blade, almost unsheathing it, before my brothers and I retorted by bringing out our axes.
    As we surrounded him, making our stance, the young lad warned us again, “I will not repeat myself again. I warn you to leave me be now.”
    Your father persisted again to the mercenary that we only ask for his help and that this job would be worthwhile to him.
    “You’ll earn a ton of lire from this nobleman who hired us,” your father told the young lad. “He seeks the dwarven treasure as much as we do. You help us and you’ll get your fair share in the payment.”
    The young lad was silent for a moment, looking at us, then at the people at the festival who still danced and never noticed that our weapons were drawn. Despite the young lad’s persistence to refuse our offer, he gave his answer by sheathing his sword, knowing that we’d keep following him around like dogs to the ends of Caravan, and accepted our offer.
    Your father rejoiced and we all sat down at the table to have our feast to prepare us for our journey.
    Holt then asks for his name.
    “I didn’t accept this job to make friends with the likes of you,” the young lad answered coldly. “Once I get my payment, I’ll take my leave.”
    Holt insisted on telling us his name if we were to cooperate on this job.
    “Besides,” Holt said, “the nobleman who hired us would want to know your name as well.”
    After some hesitation, the young lad told us that his name was Vali.
    Your father rejoiced once again, welcoming the young lad to our group and promising him that he won’t regret helping us on the gig before we had our filling for that night.
    It was the next day when we headed out from Linz and began our journey. It took us most of the day to travel on horseback to Baden, just south from Gaul, and arrive at the northern part of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The secret entrance to the hallway that led to the lost dwarven kingdom of Carpathia was supposedly hidden in plain sight to the west along the Blue Ridge Mountains.
    It was already dusk when we started searching for the hidden entrance along the mountains, but we came across no such luck.
    We set up camp to rest for the night and already planned amongst ourselves to search for the entrance to the dwarven kingdom again tomorrow night when our young companion Vali requested to look at the ancient page. He examined that piece of paper for a while until he said he figured it out. What the ancient page meant was that the entrance to the lost dwarven kingdom would only be revealed when the moonlight shines upon our earth Demeter, including the lands of Caravan. Luckily, the moonlight was still shining upon the lands, making our task to find the hidden entrance possible. Unfortunately, we noticed that the clouds in the sky were closing in on the moon and we had to hurry before it was too late. We abandoned camp, searching for the location of that entrance. Our young lad said that, like all civilizations, the dwarven kingdoms were built along rivers and lakes, so he suggested that we go find the Caspian River where the entrance would most likely be.
    Minutes later, with the clouds nearing closer to blocking the moon’s light upon Caravan, we were able to stumble upon the mountain slot where the Caspian River ran between the crevices of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Vali beckoned us to follow him and so we did until we reached a small waterfall. To the right of the mountain side close to the waterfall was where we found the hidden entrance, its markings glowing as the moonlight shone upon it. We quickly investigated the entrance, myself using the ancient page as a guide to find a way to open the door. I was able to find the hole to grip onto and slid open the door which revealed a cavernous hallway that led to nothing but darkness. After we lit our torches, my brother Holt checked the surroundings near the entrance for any traps before assuring us that it was alright for us to come inside unharmed. We ventured down into the tunnel, knowing little of the impending evil forces that awaited us.


    Walking along the dark cavernous tunnel, it felt like an hour before my companions and I finally reached an open cavernous area. The area we stumbled upon looked to be an abandoned town, filled with houses or buildings made of hardened clay. Before us lay an empty town square filled with merchant stands. No doubt this place was once the home of the dwarven citizens of the kingdom of Carpathia centuries ago. There was nothing to close the carved openings of the windows and doorways. The carvings of all sides of the buildings and houses were made to look as if they were made of wood. There were enough homes in this area to fill more than a hundred dwarven citizens. Along each house or building were lanterns that were installed on the wall next to the doorway. Each lantern contained candles that were already melted and withered.
    As we walked along the carved streets of the town, my brother Holt suggested that we check inside the houses to see if we could find any valuable loot. When we did look inside the house through the windows of a few buildings, there was nothing but furniture, plates and silverware that were all made of cheap wood.
    With no map, we were worried that we would find ourselves lost in this ancient and lost civilization. We didn’t even know where to look to find the lost dwarven treasure. Luckily, Holt made a quick map of the area and would keep track of our directions and the area. My companions and I continued onwards, walking along and sightseeing the same house or building made of hardened clay.
    Finally, we reached near the border of the town, spotting a long bridge that stretched out into the shadows of the unknown. When we looked down near the edge, even with our torches, all we could see was an empty, bottomless pit filled with darkness. We crossed the bridge to the other side, only to be greeted with another cavernous tunnel.
    We walked inside and along the cavernous tunnel until we entered a large mine with rows of ladders, ancient equipment such as shovels and pickaxes that looked like they haven’t been used in centuries, even small houses of its own that were also made and carved out of hardened clay.
    I approached your father and noted that we could mine for some valuable minerals that would be worth a hundred lire each, but your father decided against it.
    “We’re only here for the forged treasure,” he said. “Nothing more.”
    Before I could argue further with your father, we suddenly heard a sound like something sharp was dragging itself along the rocky floor and we all froze and stood silent. The sound was getting closer as a mysterious shadowy figure suddenly showed itself, walking out from one of the dark tunnels that led to one of the mine shafts, blocking our path forward. The figure was looking down as it dragged a pickaxe along the floor, making that awful and unsettling sound. The figure inched closer to us, appearing more corpse-like as the shape of the figure was beginning to illuminate by our torches. It looked like a dwarf that almost looked as they did in the fairy tales my father told us of. Short, stocky and long beard that grew from its face. When it looked up, we saw the corpse’s glowing blue eyes as it made an unholy howl at the mere sight of us. There were many dwarven liches that came out of the homes and other mine shafts, surrounding us as they were too many to count. When the dwarven lich howled, it called upon many of its dead kin, warning them of the intruders such as ourselves.
    Like cowards, we ran for our lives, running to the right and escaping from the dwarven lich mob. There was another tunnel and we entered without hesitation, running along in darkness with our torches in hand. Exiting the tunnel, we entered another strange place where a huge fortress was blocking our way. There was a gate that we tried to open, but it wouldn’t budge. That was when Vali used some sort of strong wind spell to blow open a hole that was big enough for us to step through. However, we stumbled upon more of the dwarven liches. This time, they were armored and readied with swords, axes and shields. The place that my companions and I had stumbled upon was an old military barrack and we had stepped into the exercise field where the liches were armed to the death and ready to spill our blood. Behind the small army of dwarven liches was another gate that was located on the other side of the barracks, so we had no choice but to fight our way through the liches. We fought and sliced apart the small dwarven lich army in the exercise field, but were quickly overwhelmed, so we had to move away from the liches. We fled once again and ran up the stairs located on our left, climbing up to the top of the fortress barracks. The barracks were not too tall for it to break our knees or legs, so we jumped off on the other side of the barracks, appearing in yet another abandoned and ancient town. We ran along the streets as the liches from the barracks jumped off from the top and chased after us until we came across a hospital building with two double doors at the front. With no other options, we headed inside and barred the gate shut from the inside. However, the liches were trying to tear their way through the gate with their axes and swords. Suddenly, we heard some sort of mechanism from the next chamber behind us. When we looked, we saw a portcullis lifting itself up, revealing an elevator for us to escape in. It was Vali who found the lever and opened the elevator.
    “This way!” Vali said to us and we all rushed inside the elevator.
    There was another lever on the floor of the elevator and Vali pulled it quickly. The portcullis closed in front of us and the elevator moved, descending deeper into the cursed dwarven kingdom of Carpathia.


    The elevator continued to descend further. Finally, the elevator ceased its descent and the portcullis of this floor opened. When we stepped out of the elevator, we were in a long, large and empty cavernous hall with pillars that repeated far and wide along the hall, supporting the weight of the cavernous ceiling.
    “Where did you take us?” your father asked our young companion Vali.
    Vali did not know, but he saw that there were numerals etched onto the indicator that were numbered one to three. He guessed that we were on the third floor of this kingdom.
    “Let us not ponder where we are now,” your father said. “Let us continue onward and find the treasure.”
    We did not speak of the dwarven liches whom we escaped from as we ventured along the cavernous hall. There was a bridge that we crossed and still, we saw more of the same repeating pillars that beamed upward onto the ceiling. We crossed another bridge to the same cavernous hall until we stumbled upon a hall that was narrow, yet the height of it was half as tall as the pillars, making it fit for a giant to walk through there. We continued down the narrow hall until we reached two double doors. Your uncle Holt wondered if that was where the treasure was stored. Your father didn’t waste any time and proceeded to push one of the doors open, but it didn’t move. He struggled and used all his strength as he tried to push one of the open until we joined in and helped your father. It took all four of us to finally push open the damn thing, revealing a large and luxurious chamber filled with piles upon piles of dwarven treasure made of gold and jewels. The lights that were hanging from the ceiling made the treasure shimmer and glow, almost blinding us with all of its beauty and glory. The lights on the ceiling were not lit up by candles or of that sort. This strange technology that the dwarves forged was far too advanced for me to figure out how they got those lights working without any sort of material that would illuminate the chamber so brightly.
    At last, my brothers and I found the dwarven treasure of Carpathia that we sought for years. All of us, except for Vali, were so thrilled that it was hard for us to not cheer and jump for joy. We looked around, sight-seeing at all the treasures we came across that were all piled up high and tall.
    Holt reached his hand out to one of the treasures when Vali shouted at him to not touch it, but it was too late. As Holt held onto the golden goblet, there was a large, roaming fog that emerged in front of us. The smoke took shape in the form of a monstrous and hairy creature with teeth as large as stakes and three horns protruding from its head. The monster towered over us as it snarled and growled at our very presence. Then, all of a sudden, it went and attacked my brothers and I. We quickly retaliated as we dodged its swinging fists, slicing at the monster’s skin, but none of our weapons left any cuts or marks on the creature’s furred skin. The monster swung and smacked away Holt and then myself. Your father dared to continue attacking the monster. It barely missed Nicholas by a hair and he tried to cut at the creature’s skin with no such luck. Then, the creature grabbed your father, picking him up and trying to crush him with his hand. That’s when Vali finally stepped in, standing before the monster that towered the young lad, and he challenged the beast to a duel. I could not believe it when it happened, but the beast turned to Vali, having heard his command and threw aside your father. The beast turned toward Vali as the young lad confronted him.
    “I know what you are,” Vali said to the beast. “You’re an ifrit. I know of your kind. Once a warrior challenges you to a one-on-one duel, you cannot refuse. What is your name?”
    “I am Magnus,” the monster answered, snarling at the young lad.
    After Vali introduced himself, he asked what the ifrit was doing down in Carpathia.
    The beast responded that he lived down here, guarding his horde of treasure for centuries since the days of the Black Death. It recounted what my father had told us years ago from that age-old tale; that the ifrit had heard stories of dwarves that forged hordes of golden treasures and it sought to keep it all for itself. The ifrit named Magnus invaded Carpathia, killing all the dwarven citizens that stood in its way and protected his treasure from trespassers ever since. The ifrit informed us that we were the first to trespass into his domain. Vali assumed to the beast that it was also responsible for the resurrection of the dwarven liches, noting that the stench of the ifrit’s musk had the power to raise corpses and turn them into the undead. The ifrit confirmed this to Vali and chuckled. Vali continued and informed the ifrit that its kind must stay true to their word when challenged to a duel.
“If I win,” Vali said, “then I get my wish. If I lose, then you are free to kill all of us.”
    Your father thought that the young lad was crazy, as did myself and Holt. I tried to talk to him out of the duel, but Vali simply told me to trust him.
    Vali unsheathed his sword and the duel began. Vali kept dodging the ifrit’s attacks as it swung its fists and claws at the young lad. Finally, when Vali tried to take a stab at the back of the ifrit’s legs, the ifrit Magnus turned and swung at Vali and smacked him away onto one of the piles of the dwarven treasures. The young quickly got up and dodged the ifrit’s punch and, to our surprise, was able to make a cut upon one of the beast’s legs with his sword. The ifrit wailed and screamed in pain after Vali sliced and made a cut upon his leg. It was just as surprised as we were when Vali managed to make the beast finally bleed, but once it gave a look at the young lad’s sword, it suddenly made a sinister smile. The ifrit was surprised at first that a mortal blade managed to make him bleed, but it pointed out that Vali was not wielding an ordinary blade, but a divine weapon.
    “I’ve heard tales of that legendary sword known as Methuselah,” the ifrit Magnus said. “It is said that the red gem welded onto the blade holds the goddess of death herself, imprisoned by her siblings many eons ago.”
    The ifrit was pleased that the young lad carried such a weapon, adding that it shall prove to be a worthy challenge for him and would make it all the more satisfying once it kills Vali and adds the sword to its collection.
    The young lad and the ifrit Magnus attacked each other once again. The beast’s claws narrowly missed Vali each time it tried to strike at the young lad and Vali made a few more cuts at its skin, making it bleed more and more. Vali suddenly stumbled and fell backwards onto the floor and it looked like the beast finally got the drop on him, but Vali managed to dodge the ifrit’s attack by just a hair as it smacked its fists onto the ground. The young lad got up and delivered a cut so severe at the ifrit’s arm, the blade narrowly sliced into the beast’s bone. The ifrit cried out in great pain and fell on his knees. Before Vali could finish off the beast as he aimed his sword at stabbing its chest, the ifrit cried like a baby, begging for mercy at the hands of the young lad. Vali daringly risked sparing the ifrit and reminded it of their bargain. The ifrit Magnus, undoubtedly very upset that it lost to someone as skilled as Vali, permitted the young lad to make one wish. Your father requested Vali to wish the dwarven treasure to become theirs, but the young lad silenced him, noting that ifrits were great tricksters, and they were more than capable of granting wishes that could prove fatal.
    “Any wish that I request,” Vali said, “given the poor choice of words, will backfire and grant the ifrit a window of opportunity that would cost our lives dearly.”
    Vali looked over to one of the piles of dwarven treasure and spotted an oil lamp. Picking up the treasure, Vali wished for the ifrit to be trapped and sealed within the oil lamp for eternity. By the look on its face, the ifrit Magnus was surprised to be outwitted by the young lad and reluctantly did as he commanded, sealing himself within the oil lamp. Vali stored the lamp in one of his bags strapped to his utility belt.
    The dwarven treasure was now truly ours.
    Suddenly, the whole chamber started to shake as the ceiling and walls slowly collapsed all around us. Within the oil lamp, the ifrit Magnus laughed sinisterly. Although it was imprisoned inside the lamp, it still had enough power to bury us all beneath the rubble of the cursed dwarven kingdom. Vali told us to grab as much treasure that we could carry and hurry out of the chamber. Storing some of the dwarven treasure, enough that wouldn’t slow us down, we quickly fled and made our escape from the chamber.
    When we reached the bridge, our pathway was blocked when we saw that the other side was already infested and crawling with the dwarven lich horde and already making their way across the bridge. Vali rushed past us and stood in front of us, summoning and casting a fireball within the palm of his hand and threw it at the dwarven liches, setting their corpses ablaze and leading some to fall off the bridge into the black abyss. The young lad casted two more fireballs at the liches, but there were too many to destroy as they inched closer to the companion’s side. Holt pulled out a hand grenade and told Vali to light the fuse on it.
    “Are you mad?” I told Holt, objectifying his plan.
    “We have no choice,” your father said. “Light the fuse now Vali, or they’ll disembowel us!”
    Vali lit the fuse and Holt threw the hand grenade at the liches rushing along the middle of the bridge, demolishing them as well as the whole bridge in the explosion. Vali then told us to follow him, assuring us that there are other bridges to our right that we could cross and we would find another elevator on that side. Without questioning the young lad, we followed him to the other side of the pillar-filled hall. We arrived at the next bridge, but there were more dwarven liches standing by on the other side and some had already made their way to the middle of the bridge. We continued onward as the dwarven liches reached to our side and gave chase behind us. As we ran along the edge, I saw the young lad pull out the oil lamp with the imprisoned ifrit Magnus from his bag and throw it across the edge and into the dark abyss below. We’ve finally reached the bridge and made it across to the other side with the horde of dwarven liches still at our tail. Another horde of the liches were running along the pillar-filled hall far from us to our left, chasing us down. All of us managed to reach the next bridge and as we crossed it, Holt gave Vali another hand grenade to ignite. After Vali lit the fuse as we crossed the bridge to the other side, the young lad threw the hand grenade toward the middle of the bridge, destroying the bridge in the process, which bought us more time to reach the elevator before the dwarven liches caught up to us. However, when we reached the other elevator, it had already collapsed under the debris. We were stranded here and the only elevator, the one we used before, was on the other side, along with an army of dwarven liches that blockaded our path. Luckily, Vali pointed to a passage just to the right from the elevator, assuring us that there should be stairs that would lead us back to the first floor of the kingdom. We quickly headed inside through the passage and ran up the stairs. Debris fell all around us, from the walls to the ceiling, even the stairs behind us started to crumble and break down as the whole ancient dwarven kingdom continued to shake. All of a sudden, the steps collapsed and fell apart between me and Holt, and Vali and your father. We stopped and turned to look for Vali and your father amidst the smoke and dust. When it cleared, Vali and your father were hanging onto the edge of the broken stairway. Vali was able to climb up from the edge and ran up the stairs toward us before the stairs behind him crumbled and fell along with your father. I tried to run down the stairs to see if he was still alive and attempt to save him, but Vali and Holt held me back, telling me that your father was already gone. Holt told us to hurry up the stairs before the rest of the stairs collapsed. When all three of us reached the top of the stairs and exited the passage, we found ourselves in a salt mine. Using the map he made, Holt said that we should head south where the exit should be. We came back to the abandoned town before, running along the empty streets as the ceiling continued to fall apart and destroy the buildings and streets with the debris. We reached the tunnel and finally escaped back to the secret entrance to the dwarven kingdom before the rocks collapsed and closed the entrance off.
    I was furious with the young lad, confronting and accusing him of letting your father die. I saw with my own eyes that he did nothing to save Nicholas when he had the chance. Vali said that he would’ve died too if he went back to save Nicholas from his inevitable doom, and I punched him, knocking him down to the ground. The young lad quickly got up and unsheathed his deadly sword, ready to strike me down with it. As I tried to arm myself and duel with the young lad, Holt stepped in between us and warned me to back off. Holt said that we had enough treasure to gain a lot of lire that would help support not only our families, but also Nicholas’ as well. He told me that I shouldn’t risk throwing my life away quarreling with the young lad, knowing full well that I would lose to him and would’ve left my wife widowed and my children fatherless as well. I heeded Holt’s warning and stood down, but not without saying to the young lad that I will never forgive him for your father’s death.


    After all three of us returned to the nobleman in Gaul with the dwarven treasure, he rewarded us handsomely for our efforts. I remember that Vali tried to give me some of his share that would go toward Nicholas’ family, but I reminded him that giving away his share of the reward wouldn’t change anything, not even between me and the young lad. After we left with our money, Vali departed from us without saying goodbye. We never saw him again after that.
    I still didn’t and never will forgive the young lad for what happened to your father, but it was a sign that Holt and I should quit the mercenary and treasure-hunting life after we found and brought back some of the dwarven treasure from Carpathia. With all the lire we gained from the nobleman in exchange for the treasure, it was enough to last for a few years and we’ve been better off leaving that life of danger and cruelty behind.
    Now you know what happened to your father and who we were back then when we were young, naive and full of life, but we did what we had to do to ensure the survival of our family legacy and the bloodline of our people.
    Now, I leave the family heirloom, the battle axe of Luarens, to you. It was passed down to your father by our father, as well as our father’s father and so on. Remember, Lucas, no matter what you must do, despite any shortcomings that you, even your family will endure, as well as the consequences of sacrificing our morality, you must do it to ensure the survival of those you hold near and dear to your heart. You must do what is necessary, not for selfish reasons or desires, but to keep the legacy of our people alive and to give birth to future generations who will continue to pass on the torch of the Gauls.

Tony C Rants #2

The Metal Gear games are the worst stealth games ever made.
Terrible writing and storytelling from overrated hack Hideo Kojima aside, the stealth in these games, with slight exceptions to Metal Gear 1, 2, and MGS 5, are not the best compared to what other stealth games have excelled at.
I don’t think I consider these Metal Gear games as stealth games at all due to how primitive and clunky the controls and stealth mechanics are. It’s almost like these programmers didn’t know how to program a stealth game, developing the stealth mechanics and gameplay inadequately without checking out other stealth titles, including ones that came out the same year as MGS1.
Even after MGS1’s release, they still used primitive and wonky controls, thinking it qualifies as “good and immersive stealth,” taking style over substance with amazing graphics, but keep ignoring to improve the gameplay and stealth mechanics.
I can’t believe how many shilled, misinformed people, especially journalists from gaming websites and magazines, call MGS1 the “best” and “defining” stealth game ever made when there’s games that came out the same year as MGS1 like “Thief: The Dark Project” and “Tenchu: Stealth Assassins” that knocked it WAY out of the park and were way more immersive in terms of actual stealth.
Every stealth game has recognizable mechanics or tropes that define the stealth genre. Thief and Splinter Cell have light, shadow, and sound. Tenchu has feudal Japan style ninja skills and equipment, as well as timed executions on enemies. Assassin’s Creed 1 used discretion and direct approaches to assassination. The Hitman games have disguises, as well as multiple choices to how to kill your targets, direct or indirect. The Metal Gear games, however, have nothing to offer compared to what other stealth games have already done after MGS1 besides weak gameplay, weak stealth mechanics and gadgets for “espionage” that Splinter Cell did way better, and none of the immersion that makes stealth games engaging to play through.
At least they learned their lesson when they made MGS5, but it was already many years too late, even after the stealth genre faded from mainstream attention.

Tony C Rants #1

 

  

The Assassin’s Creed franchise sucks balls. This series as a whole shouldn’t have been a franchise in the first place.
The only Assassin’s Creed game that exists in my eyes is the first game. Just take out the crappy future story with Desmond and the rest of the snarky forgettable cast, maybe make the Apple of Eden something that isn’t about aliens, and Ubisoft would have a great one-hit wonder game in their catalog of games.
AC2 and Brotherhood should be their own games, like a mafia GTA-style game with the same parkour gameplay minus tailing missions and collectibles are complete cancer and terrible game design, and it’s about Ezio, with help from the Medici family and Machiavelli, seeking revenge against the Borgia family for the deaths of his father and two brothers.
As much as I like 2 and Brotherhood, growing up and playing these two games a lot, they shouldn’t be Assassin’s Creed games. The same goes for AC Black Flag, especially since the stealth in that game is god awful or just implemented in there for interior decoration, which the same can be said about most AAA games with stealth mechanics shoehorned in and written off as “new” or “innovative”.
As for the rest of the games in the series, forget about them. They are the definition of games that everybody buys but is left on the shelf to collect dust for years and years after wasting God knows how much of your time and life to play something that’s a bore and makes you feel like you’re doing chores instead of playing a real video game. AC Unity is the slight exemption to this, which I think is decent despite its poor launch and overload of samey collectibles and missions, although it shouldn’t be an AC game either.
The big lesson that game companies, especially the big corporate ones, need to take away from series like AC is to not make annual franchises out of them (like Call of Duty and other garbage franchises for example). One-hit wonders, especially a two or three game series, whether it be the Sly Cooper series or the Legacy of Kain games, give a lasting impact and high replay value. Each game should bring something unique to the table, gameplay and mechanics that make the game fun. Just look at the Nintendo games like Mario or Metroid.
Also, they should’ve let Patrice Désilets make 1666: Amsterdam like he wanted to all those years ago when he worked on this project under Ubisoft. That would’ve been an awesome game, especially the idea of roaming around 17th century Netherlands while doing all these necromancy spells and killing crooks.
You screwed up big time, Ubisoft.

Outis Lightheart concept art (2)