The night started much like any other night.. It seemed as though there would be little or nothing to do. So Auldrek, Morgoth, Tyl, and I all gathered at the hall. Thing got crazy from there. I made a foolish mistake, tried to Blade Spirit a Lizardman, 4 times. The Blades did not go after the Lizard, but only after me. I died. Twice. After that, learning my lesson, I went back into the hall. Things in the hall started to get nuts also. With nothing better to do, we were all e-bolting each other. Auldrek and I were doing the most casting.

Then something happened.. Auldrek heard through the ether that something was up in town.. Rumors of Guards fighting each other. I volunteered to check it out. Arriving in town, I checked out the mage shop… nothing. I checked all the mage shops… nothing. That is where I heard that the fighting was going on, but I could not find anything, so I decided to check Lord British’s Castle. Odd.. It was locked, both doors. I went for Blackthorn’s.. Same.. Locked… I even teleported up to the balcony to check those doors. Locked up tight. I knew something was up.. The only other time that I have seen both castles locked were the two other times I have seen Zendella in town.

Running around some more, I decided to go back to the Mage Shop <I am not sure the name of it, it is the large one just below Blackthorn’s Castle>. And there, in the back was Zendella Kxris! But it was different then all the other times I have seen her, she was not surrounded by a crowd, it was just her.. She was looking a bit dazed.

Talking with her a bit, she mentioned that she could not remember anything since after she got the last piece of blackrock. She said that she thought that she was held captive, but she was not sure. She also said that she thought that the one holding her prisoner was none other then Lord British. She was sick though. She mentioned that she needed to be healed, and asked me for a rune to Destard. I did not have one on me, I thought I had one at the bank. She asked me to fetch it. I was heading out to the bank, when Auldrek and Morg came in to talk to her. I am not sure of the conversation they had, but once I got to the bank, I realized I did not have a Destard Rune.

Finding a Destard rune was not hard. A word for the wise, if you ever need one, just run around the bank yelling "Buying Destard Rune 1000 gold!" and you will have one in 10 seconds. <grin>

Once back at the Mage shop, she seemed pretty rushed about getting to Destard. We did not actually need to go to Destard, but slightly SE of it. Actually, quite a ways SE. We went upstairs, I opened a gate, and we were off, Morg, Auldrek, Zendella, and I.

The trip from where the Rune took us to Zendella's coordinates were pretty uneventful. She said that she had gotten the location from a strange healer, but could tell us no more about him, for she did not know. All she knew was that this location should help her present condition. Once we arrived, there was nothing. Just an empty spot in the forest. Then it happened...

Undead started attacking. Not a huge force, but it was still undead. A lich, a few Zombies, and a few skeletons. Was not anything difficult for us highly trained warriors to handle, plus, I still had my newly acquired Silver Crossbow in my pack <grin> That helped greatly. After the undead were dispatched, a group of Brigands popped up! Once again, no problem.

Then Zendella started a ritual. She spoke all of the Mantras, INCLUDING that of Chaos. A Black Pentagram appeared on the ground in front of us. Zendella was weak at this point, stepped on the Pentagram, and collapsed. She then told us she was weak, and would return shortly. At this point, the message had gotten out to Tyl and Niall that something was up. I marked a rune, went back to the hall, and gated them there. There were now 5 of us there.. The TDD was looking good… <grin>

Again, more Undead attacked. This time we got Gazers, and Gargoyles, and even an Elder Gazer <which I believe was what nuked Tyl> Okay… One of us was dead, and we were being attacked. Auldrek was preparing to Resurrect Tyl, when his ghost stepped on the Pentagram. HE WAS ALIVE! The Pentagram resurrected him.

We then waited for a while. Nothing really happened for a good bit. Then Auldrek decided that he must leave. Shortly after that Niall left for help, he brought back 3 Elves. Then after a little bit longer, Tyl left. Almost immediately after that, Zendella reappeared! She mentioned that "her sickness was spreading" and she needed me to perform the ritual at another location. She gave me the coordinates, and then the largest attack of undead we have seen so far came. Several liches, skeletal knights, zombies, skeletons, everything attacked. Zendella asked us to go quickly, and we did.

Once arriving at the other location, no undead greeted us. There was nothing there, but a black pentagram. I performed the ritual, as she told me <speaking the mantras, in no order, and lastly that of chaos>. Nothing happened. Then I tried it from ON the pentagram. Nothing happened. I then spoke the ritual, word for word, nothing happened.

We waited a while, and the only thing we saw was an Ettin and a Skeleton. Finally, we broke for the night. Morg and I were the last two there. And after a while, we also decided to leave.

No one is quite sure what the Pentagrams mean. Whether they are good or evil. But one thing is for sure. The TDD was there from the beginning of this, and is now a part of Ultima History!

-Trazal Memornix

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Last modified: 11/24/98
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