The Man Behind the Mask

Charon noticed his arm pulling in the direction of the door. The ring desperately wanted to see it's master again, and Charon decided he wasn't going to stand in the way. He slithered towards the door, found his sword on his waist, and smiled enough to show fangs. ~I haven't seen that look since last time you killed a man.~ "And I shall do so again. No doubt from my different changes in behavior, these guys will be warry of me. Besides, we naga have always been known as deceivers, tricksters, and back-stabbers. No reason to let them think any less." The ring shone bright as Charon followed Jal and the masked man.

[Jal-Koon]

Now that they were outside flies and hornets began to converge around Jal's feet, attracted by the rank odor from the sludge. He kicked around slightly to no avail, after trying in vain to rid himself of the insects he turned to Charon. "So where exactly is it that we're going? I would guess some faraway necropolis, or an ancient mausoleum?"

Charon studied the ring intently, conversing with the demon within. ~So tell me...where would we find your master?~ ~You really think I would help you find and destroy him? I will have you know that I am far from stupid, snake-man. He would never entrust lowly demons such as myself with the knowledge of where to find his kingdom.~ As the ring droned on, Charon searched the demon for anything useful. At last, he came upon the name Second City and a few images of the place. "The most I can pull is the lich's home is in a place called Second City. Since the lich is a powerful spell-caster who refused to die, I can only assume the city's name has something to do with giving people second chances at life while becoming his slaves. All I could see were streets filled with undead, death knights patrolling the gates, and..." His eyes widened as he realised what the final image was. The image of a dragon made of bone and rotting flesh danced in his mind.

[Jal-Koon]

"A city full of undead slaves, sounds like my kind of place..." Jal extracted a book from his pack and began to leaf through the pages. He paused to read briefly. "So we sort of know where this lich's lair is, but we should probably find what he bound his soul to first. If we find that and destroy it, then we can actually kill him." He noticed Charon's wide-eyed gaze. "Um, you okay?"

[DungeonMaster]

The man in the mask paused a second, and then a wide grin corssed his face, "I... think I know the place. I walked that way long ago as a child, but... there was... a beast there the likes of which I had never seen before. Made of bone and rotting flesh... it flew by some magical means. I barely escaped the thing with my life." The words of the next sentence were barely muttered loud enough for his own ears to hear. "Some kind of undead dragon..."

Charon looked to his masked friend. "That is the final image I saw! It was a kind of undead dragon, but I don't believe any zombie dragon would be good enough to stand guard there." He wracked his brain to find the correct name. "Dracolich...yes, that's what it was. They are dragons who, like lich's and death knights, wanted to further their own power and live forever. Only, a dracolich is much worse. This creature must be working with my lich for some kind of personal gain. Otherwise, I wouldn't be concerned in the slightest." ~Not so courageous and determined anymore, are we?~ Charon was, indeed, now nervous about this journey. He could handle any zombie, skeleton, or other undead. The dracolich, on the other hand, was not something he would ever choose to tangle with.

[DungeonMaster]

"Who knows? Perhaps we may encounter this pure hearted man along our journey and persuade him to not only slay this dracolich, but to remove this accursed mask as well." He paused a moment, and a voice echoed within his brain.
~You know that if we find this man, you would sooner have him destroy the dragon and die to save you all than to have him remove me.~ The mask whispered to him. Heaudibly growled, and came back with a sharp reply that made the mask shut up, however, he said it out loud, and all present heard the words, "I would never condemn a fellow companion to death. I myself would die first! Leave me in peace you infernal piece of head gear! Cease your nonsensical chattering in my brain. Speak with me no longer!" The mask did as he commanded, and he stood still for several moments, pulling at the mask frantically, clawinmg at the front, raking it with his fingernails, and tearing at his flesh on the edge of the mask. All was for naught, and after several minutes, he fell exhausted to the ground. "It is hopeless. This mask will never leave my presence."

OOC I for one vote that we move the locale of this thread to the "Other Worlds" subforum, being that we have exitted the TSB&G, but that is up to the rest of you and the moderator. Also, I would like to make a note that chronica has not posted in quite some time, and that we might want to be considerate and wait for her. After all, she already has like... 2 pages of catch-up... almost.

ooc: That's fine by me, and looking at the thread, I've noticed that we kinda did blaze on in Chronica's absence.

[Cain]

((OOC: Yeah she kinda disapeared after her wedding, which was about 2 months ago almost exactly now. I'm wondering wether her and her new hubby are takeing a long honeymoon, dont have internet, or she's just busy with other things. As for the move I get that done in a jiffy.))

((Edit: Done))

[Jal-Koon]

OOC: Ho boy! Good thing I remember how this place works, I almost panicked when I couldn't find the thread...