The moonlight cast a soft glow over the vast cemetery known as the Field of Tears as the soft hooting croak of a Frowl could be heard in the distance. Toron sat behind a tombstone and looked over at Algor, crouched in his heroic full-body form next to a large stone cross. They had been in the cemetery for hours trying to lure an especially angry Banshee Spirit [15] that had been terrorizing the nearby crossroads for weeks, and beyond the sounds of life all around them, Toron could hear none of the wails these creatures were known for. Suddenly the moon was obscured by clouds and a scream that would render a normal being to a quivering pile of fear echoed across the dark cemetery, and in the dark of the night Toron could see the spectral form of the spirit floating towards their decoy slowly.
As she approached Algor rushed forward sword in hand and yelled at Toron “Get the net!” as he leapt onto her back swinging wildly with his blade. The Banshee tossed him off into a statue of some long-dead Baron or Count smashing it to pieces. Algor scrambled to his feet and grabbed his sword as he stood across from the Banshee who was snarling at him. “ Ready Tor?” he asked Toron who was off to his left. “Always Al, let’s get this nightmare and head to the tavern for a pint…I’ve got a powerful thirst brewing.” Toron replied. As the Banshee tensed up preparing to charge, Algor cast a spectral duplicate spell and sent it toward her side. When she turned to attack the shimmering form Algor charged and took a mighty swing with his sword. The Banshee let out half a shriek before her head was separated from her body and both pieces fell to the ground.
Algor stood up and brushed himself off “ Well bud I would have preferred to get the bonus for capturing her alive, but at least travelers in the area can rest easy knowing this particular spirit won’t be bothering them anymore,” he said to Toron who was inspecting the damage to the statue that had been smashed in the tussle. Suddenly a scrap of paper in the rubble caught his eye. “Hey Al, check this out!” he said as he picked up the rolled-up paper and handed it to Algor. Looking it over Algor could see a lot of ancient Jalldoonian writing on the scroll, but a name stood out to him “The Reliquary of Karnok?” he said out loud to no one in particular. “Not the THE lost Reliquary of Karnok…no way!” he continued. Toron shuffled over and took a look “Well Al, it looks like we may be on the cusp of solving one of the oldest mysteries of Jalldoon. That reliquary is supposed to be filled with the most powerful artifacts of the first Emperor of Karnok, and if this is what it appears to be we may be able to use them in the fight against Boshak” Toron said before adding “Now can we PLEASE go get a drink?” as he shuffled off towards the Crossroads Tavern. Algor stuffed the Banshee’s head into a sack and started off after Toron, but neither Slime noticed the pair of eyes watching them from the darkness.
Algor being one who loves to make an entrance kicked the tavern door in as they got there and slammed the sack with the head in it down on the bar “Here you go Brock, as promised one Banshee Spirit taken care of. I had hoped to take her alive for that bonus, but you gotta take what you can get when not being killed by a Banshee I guess” he said to the bartender with a laugh. Brock peered into the sack and looked at Algor “ Well at least I can mount the head here in the bar to show people she’s been taken care of, but damn if I didn’t want her alive” he said to Algor. “Yeah, but what were you planning to do with it once I brought it back anyway?” The Prince asked as he watched the barkeep count a stack of gold coins for his reward. “What do you think I was going to do? I was going to put it in a cage and charge people to see the Crossroads Banshee in person, and maybe make some coin while doing it.” Brock replied with a smile. Algor shook his head and laughed “Jeez Brock, we’d have to come back here in a week once she broke out and killed everyone. Thank goodness for small favors I guess” he said as he grabbed the sack of gold and ordered two Karnokian Grogs for him and Toron. As they sat down, Toron noticed his old friend the Ranger Merrick across the tavern and made a motion for him to come over. Merrick made his way to their table, and as he sat down he pushed his white hair out of his face before asking “Hey Tor, how’s tricks buddy?” as he tipped his drink to the two slimes.“Merrick you scoundrel you still mothering baby Battle Mages for the Syndicate instead of doing real work?” Toron said with a chuckle. Merrick looked mock offended “Algor how can you stand traveling with the crusty old sack of slime telling you his war stories all day?” he said as he slapped Algor on the shoulder to which Algor replied “It’s not easy Merrick I can tell you that” as he took a long swig from his tankard. All three of them had a laugh before Merrick asked “What brings you boys out here this late at night?”. The Slimes told him all that had happened, and Merrick’s face lit up “The Lost Reliquary of Karnok? This could be HUGE” he exclaimed before adding “You gotta let me in on this guys”. Algor and Toron realized they could use a few extra sets of eyes and hands, and having someone they knew on board would be far better than hiring someone to help so they agreed that Merrick and his charge (a Battle mage in training named Crowfoot) could come along. Algor bought them all rooms at the Inn before he summoned a magical bird to bring a request for Slugs to the Emerald Caverns to be used to travel to Karnok the next morning.
The next morning Algor woke up early to find his friend and Mount Ziggy waiting for him with two of his slug siblings. Algor scratched Ziggy on the back of his neck as he drank a steaming hot mug of slow-brewed spiced grape weed to start his day. Shortly after Toron, Merrick, and Crowfoot came down from their rooms ready to start the journey to Karnok. Algor gave Merrick and Crowfoot a few tips on how to ride the Slugs. As they left the stables Algor could see Crowfoot worrying about how slow they were going, but he clearly wasn’t familiar with the high speeds a Kandanian Land Slug can get up to. He spoke in the language of the Slugs for Ziggy to take them to full speed, and soon they were nearly flying across the ground. After arriving at Karnok they left the Slugs at a stable on the outskirts of the city and headed to the Faulty Compass a famous tavern and inn that doubles as the base of operations of the Jalldoon League of Explorers, an organization dedicated to exploring the planet and helping other explorers get ahead.
As the group made their way through the busy mid-day streets of the bustling city to the Compass Algor explained what they had found to Crowfoot who seemed starstruck by the whole experience, and would have gone along with a search for anything at this point. As they entered the Faulty Compass nearly everyone in the tavern perked up seeing Algor. As a member of the Explorers League, Algor was one of their real celebrity members so they all needed to shake his hand and talk to him. After far too long Thaddeus Crumblepot sat down with Algor as he showed him what had been found. “Thaddeus, this is a map towards the Reliquary of Karnok…it has to be, look at all this ancient Jalldoonian! I’ve translated some of it already based on what I know and it appears to be located below the sewers” Algor said as he pointed out the start of the map. Thaddeus looked shocked for a minute before responding “What do you need to make this an official League operation my friend?” Algor thought for a moment “ We’ll need some torches and packs to carry things back with, and any possible Slime artifacts become instant property of the Slimes NOT Emperor Pullo or the League.” he said as he reached for a glass of punch brought to him by Oliver, the Gatonian barkeep of the Faulty Compass, “oh and Merrick and his charge are with us as well so they’ll need to be amply rewarded for their part too” he added quickly before finishing his drink. “ Of course, I’m sure none of that will be objectionable to the Emperor for finding such an important piece of Karnok history,” Thaddeus Crumblepot said as he got up to grab some torches and packs for the party. Now fully equipped for a delve, they left the tavern and headed towards the sewers of the city.
Once they reached the entrance to the sewers Algor and Merrick had to use their blades to pry the rusted gates open. Merrick chuckled “So much for Karnok sanitation doing their jobs right?” They lit their torches and descended into the rank sewers. Sludge covered every surface, and the light of their torches made it glisten and appear to move constantly. The stink of the Sewage of thousands of people was almost too much to bear, but the prize at the end promised to be well worth dealing with the smells. As they made their way down tunnel after tunnel they came across the alcove marked as the entrance to the vault on the map, and Algor spoke the ancient Jalldoonian phrase written on the map. As the wall slowly slid open it revealed a staircase twisting off into blackness, and as the group descended Toron wondered aloud “ You know we’re going to have to fight something down here right?” as Merrick nocked an arrow into his bow, and Algor gripped the sword hanging from his belt. As time stretched on it became apparent that this stairway went quite some distance underground, and as the party descended Algor and Toron entertained Crowfoot with stories of their adventures. Once they finally reached the bottom of the stairs they stood at the entrance to a long hallway as Algor checked the map “This is the beginning of the Vault of Karnok. The Map ends here” he said, but quickly added “Watch out for traps” as he searched the wall next to him. Glistening in his torch light Algor could see a small copper handle which he turned 3 times, and a slight hiss traveled down the hallway as either side lit up warmly with torches. “Gaslight!” Toron exclaimed loudly as he put out his torch “Thank the Great Slime we’ll at least be able to see down here, right son?” he asked Crowfoot with a nudge as he went off to look at the carvings on the wall. Algor ran his fingers along an ancient carving of what appeared to be an ancestor of a Bog Giant [20] as they walked down the hall, and after a short time, they came to a fork with a door to the left and a door to the right. Merrick looked at Toron “We’ll go right you lads go left” he said as he opened the door to the right.
As the two Slimes headed down the left hallway they came to a room that had a strange pattern on the floor with two openings on the far end. Algor took a step in and immediately regretted his actions as the entire room started spinning closing off the way they came. Algor grabbed Toron and dashed through the opening on the far right side of the room before the spinning wall closed them off entirely. As they picked themselves up they saw they were in a cavernous room with tunnels leading off in many directions with statues dotting the floor in strange poses. “I don’t like this Al” Toron said with a grimace as he inspected the statue closest to him. Algor had seen something like this before “Toron, I don’t think these are statues…these are people turned to stone! There must be some kind of enchantment in this room” he said as he took his shield from his back and rolled it out to the middle of the room. Sure enough, a beam of light shot out of the ceiling and turned the metal of his shield to stone. Algor decided to try inching along the perimeter of the room “If I get stoned go and get help buddy” he said to Toron before he started out. As he passed he could see each “tunnel” leading off the room was just a walled-off dead end until he got to the opening directly across from the entrance which led to what appeared to be a door made entirely out of gold. Having crossed the room safely he signaled for Toron to make his way over, and soon they were both before the golden door. Algor pulled the map from his belt, and as he unrolled it pointed at a picture on it “Looks like we found the door to the Reliquary Toron” he said as he read the writing next to the picture of the door. He spoke the password written on the ancient map and the door swung open with a loud clang as it hit the wall.
They couldn’t believe their eyes as they got their first glimpse into the fabled lost Reliquary, there were items piled up everywhere “It’s going to take a year to go through all this stuff Al” Toron said as he picked up a jewel-encrusted goblet and turned it around in his hand. Algor wasn’t paying attention as he was drawn to a large chest in the corner “You hear that sound?” he asked Toron and he held his ear to the chest. Toron listened closely “It sounds like a Slime!” He exclaimed as Algor opened the chest. His eyes grew wide as he picked up a tablet made of living slime out of the chest, and there were two more of them in the chest along with a parchment. Algor looked at Toron”…these can’t be…this…this can’t be what I think it is …can it?” he asked bewildered as he grabbed the parchment which read “Gift from the Slime Kingdom for safekeeping: The Slime Tablets of Creation.” Algor’s head swam as he held something most Slimes only thought to be a legend, but he was brought out of his revelry by the sound of a wall collapsing at the entrance to the room. He recognized the evil trio coming out of the hole in the wall as Master Boshak’s evil minions Jelgon, Delgon, and the Slime Fiend himself. The evil Slimes had apparently tunneled through the walls to get at them “ How did you jerks find us?” Algor asked as the Slime Fiend stepped forward “Alllllllllgooooorrrr I can find you any placccccccccceee you go, and we’ve been following you sinccccceee the Cemetery” it hissed. Delgon changed shape into his Villainous full-body form as his brother Jelgon formed a large sickle, and the Slime Fiend raised his hammer in his skeletal arm as the Evil ones charged forward. At the same time, Toron jumped into the air and formed a shield as Algor slid his arm through the straps on his friend’s new form and drew his sword. The Slime Fiend landed a hard blow to Toron’s shield form “damn this guy hits like a rampaging giant Al!’ he yelled as Algor rolled out of the way of Delgon’s wild swing of his weapon. Delgon managed to grab Algor’s sword from his hand, and as the prince recovered from his roll he noticed a large axe leaning against the wall across the room. Breaking into a full run he grabbed the axe, and as he did it started glowing with green energy.
The slime Fiend ran up and quickly turned into a puddle as Algor swung the axe at him, but once he took his full form again Algor landed a brutal kick that sent him flying out the door. Delgon stood glaring at Algor as he caught his breath, and he tightened his grip on Jelgon’s handle ready to strike until they all stopped at the sudden screams of thousands of creatures flooding down the hall in front of them. “DUNGEON DEMONS!!!!” Toron yelled as he formed a grappling hook which Algor tossed up to the ceiling and quickly climbed up, but it was too late for the Slime Fiend as he was enveloped by the Red creatures with their glowing purple eyes. Algor looked on in horror as they swarmed over the Fiend’s body, but then became even more horrified as he saw the Fiend devouring the Demons crawling all over him. As the Fiend took on the color of the Dungeon Demons the remaining creatures retreated down a hallway with a few of them running directly into the beam turning them to stone in the room before the Reliquary. The Slime Fiend charged forward throwing his hammer at Toron, and the power of the blow knocked both him and Algor loose from the ceiling. Algor landed on a pile of golden trinkets as Toron rolled into a barrel laying on its side. Jelgon was slithering across the room in a flash as he wrapped himself around the barrel, and smiling he smashed it into a shelf which rained splinters and artifacts down upon poor stunned Toron. As Delgon and the Slime Fiend backed Algor into a corner the Prince noticed an engraving on the long axe he held, as he read the ancient script a large explosion of light emanated from the axe knocking the evil thugs back. Algor swung with the axe and severed half of the Slime Fiend’s torso causing the creature to retreat in his puddle form out of the room. As Delgon stumbled about dazed from the blast, Jelgon ran to his brother’s side, but Toron pulled himself from the rubble he had been buried in and hopped into Algor’s hand as a cannon. As Delgon’s head cleared he looked up just in time to see a giant cannonball of slime flying at his face which only knocked him out even further leaving Jelgon to drag his helpless brother out of the tunnel they had entered from as quick as he could. Toron hopped to the floor “Well Al, let’s see where this tunnel goes shall we?” he chuckled as he started off down the tunnel the evil Slimes had made. Algor quickly stuffed the Slime Tablets of Creation into a sack and filled up another few sacks with intriguing items before running after Toron. They found the tunnel led almost to the entrance of the sewers and had skipped all the traps along the way. Algor laughed “Those idiots, they made getting all the loot out of that reliquary much easier than it would have been otherwise, and did you see that cut I got on the Fiend man?” he asked Toron. “Yeah Al, I did, but he’s going to be furious about that next time we run into him you know?” Toron replied with a frown. As they were leaving the sewers they came upon Crowfoot, Merrick, and a detachment of the Emperor’s personal guards who ran over to them with excitement. As the Slimes told them what had happened the Emperor himself pulled up in his lavish carriage. “Algor my boy! You’re undamaged as usual eh son? He asked giving Algor a hug. Algor slapped the Emperor on the shoulder “Always sir” he said with a smile. The Emperor looked at Toron “ Master Smelg, how much is the boy’s father paying you to look after him these days? Not enough I’d wager eh?” he laughed as Toron replied “It’s never enough is it Titus?” with a chuckle. Algor explained everything to the Emperor, and they agreed that a thorough inventory of the Reliquary was in order. The Emperor sent for more guards as he paid Merrick and Crowfoot to remain quiet about what had transpired in the sewers, and made his way down to the reliquary with a few of his guards in tow. Algor whistled a soft tune, and in a heartbeat, Ziggy was there by his side. He slipped a note to his father the King of the Slimes to make his way to Karnok immediately, and as he sent the Slug home he started off to the Faulty Compass to rest while he awaited the arrival of his father as his mind swam with the legends of the Tablets. The Lost Reliquary of Karnok had at last been found, and Prince Algor added another notch to his long list of achievements.
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