Malrik walked slowly through the doors, marveling at the beauty in front of him. The entrance hall was a grand circular chamber with polished obsidian floors that reflected the faint purple glow from hovering arcane lanterns. Massive statues of hooded robed figures lined the walls, each holding a shadowy transparent orb in their hands that pulse with dark energy.
Upon his observations, he noticed shadow pools. They were dark still pools of liquid shadow, and were placed in symmetrical fashion. Malrik approached one of these pools and poked the liquid. No ripples would follow his touch, instead a small whisper of smoke was absorbed into his skin. He could feel that this was a restorative or healing factor.
Suddenly, a voice behind him calmly said, “Go ahead, stare into the liquid.”
Jumping in surprise, Malrik looked behind him. It was a woman with a blindfold around her eyes. Her hair was straight and black, her robes tighter than most, showing the curves of her hips. He realized he hadn't met somebody with these robes, but she certainly was within the chain of Zaryth’s people.
“Who might you be?” Malrik spoke aloud, speculating.
“My name is unimportant, but I am simply a maiden of Zaryth. Us maidens help keep control of the shades outside, as well as keep the interior in top condition. Again, peer into the pool.”
Malrik listened and didn’t question the intent of the woman, he trusted his god and knew he wouldn’t allow harm into his sanctuary. As he placed his hands on the stone edges of the pool, he hovered over it, staring at his reflection. The same smoky mist came and rose, then it depleted back into the pool. The vision of his first ritual in Veingard appeared in front of him, and then it faded to the battle with the wolves. Shortly after, the face of Kazik appeared which gave him the creeps as he looked away. That man truly looked terrifying in nature.
“You met Kazik. Well then, I believe you should follow me to the trial chambers.”
“Yeah, alright, let's go.”
The maiden opened the next set of doors parallel to the entrance. The room was massive with pillars that rose to the ceiling. In between the pillars were statues on rectangular cut stone with informational plates attached to them, telling the names and positions of the fallen covenant members. Behind them, large shadow projections of their bodies were casted to unrealistic proportional size as they simply bowed their heads for eternity.
“This is the hall of remembrance, a room for Zaryth and followers to remember the deceased.” The maiden said.
Halfway into the room, there were doors straight ahead, to the left, and also the right. “We must go right,” the maiden spoke softly, “the trial chambers will be down the stairs past that door.”
As she opened the gold plated doors, Malrik couldn’t help but realize the room was small. All that could be seen was a winding staircase leading down and paintings that were hung on the walls.
“So I just go down there and then what?” Malrik asked.
“I cannot help you from this point forward, everything will become clear to you as you proceed.” She responded.
Malrik nodded and stepped into the room. The same torches from before were lit up on the walls, and the door behind him shut with elden force. He decided to tackle his task head on and descend the winding stairs. Small square holes were cut out of the stone walls, holding candles that could only be assumed to burn infinitely since no marks of its melting could be seen. After what felt like multiple stories of endless steps, a wall led him into a seemingly dead end. Malrik investigated the area and found that one of the stone bricks on the wall was a button to open the wall.
As Malrik proceeded, he found himself in a large open room. Lanterns hung on the walls, braziers were lit in the corners of this square room, but nothing except the stone tiled floor was in front of him when suddenly the flames were extinguished. The door or wall behind him shut and the sound of them being sealed could be heard with a resounding echo. A voice began to boom from the depths of the room.
“Malrik, you have chosen, or perhaps, the fates have chosen for you, the trial of the blade in the dark. Only those who can navigate treachery, subterfuge, and the chill embrace of the unseen are worthy of becoming Whisperbound. This trial will test your cunning, endurance, and resolve. Should you succeed, the path to shadowcraft and manipulation will open to you. Should you fail… your soul shall join the eternal temple caretakers. Do you accept?”
“I do.” Malrik responded.
“Ready your greatsword, as I have temporarily removed your sense of vision. Rely on your senses, reach the end of the room, and defeat my animated shadow of a bandit.”
An otherworldly blue glow began to illuminate intricate carvings on the walls, outlining the symbol of the Umbral Covenant. Voices could be heard in Malrik’s head telling him which way to go, it seemed as if there were two voices from his left and his right. He would have to fight their deception as he realized it was like a game. One may tell the truth as to where to step and the other would lie. It was clear to him that there were traps in the room.
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*Roll a d20*
13
The voice on his left told him to take five steps forward and two to the left, while the voice on his right told him to take four steps to the right and three steps forward. Malrik listened to the voice on his left, and it didn’t lie to him. A clashing sound could be heard, and the booming voice from before spoke again, “steps one of three are clear, two more to go.” He had to listen to the voices two more times, but would they switch truth and lies? This much Malrik had to wonder, but he didn’t want to become too trusting of the left voice.
*Roll a d20*
1
The voice on his right told him to take six steps forward, and the voice on his left told him to take four steps forward and three steps to the right. Malrik pondered his choices and ultimately decided to listen to the voice on the right. As he stepped on the last tile, a mechanical sound was heard and a dart shot out from a wall, grazing his left leg.
Malrik’s HP: 13 > 10 hp.
“Fucking liar.” Malrik grunted. One more time listening to these conniving voices and then he should be to the bandit.
The voice on his left told him to take five steps to the right and five steps forward, and the voice on his right told him to take eight steps forward.
*Roll a d20*
17
Feeling betrayed by the voice on his right, he listened to the voice on his left. Malrik took the steps that the left voice recommended and found himself unscathed. The booming voice returned, “congratulations on completing the first half of your trial. Hopefully you see the point in this trial, as one voice lied everytime and the other didn’t at all. If somebody goes out of their way to speak the truth the first time, they’re more likely to continue to do so. Now, you shall battle the bandit with disadvantage, good luck Malrik.”
*Roll a d20 for initiation*
Bandit - 11
Malrik - 13
Malrik could hear the sound of the bandit getting into a battle position, he used this to guide his steps and swing his greatsword at mid-level. As he swung, the bandit attempted to dodge but was caught completely off guard with the randomness of Malrik’s swing. With a roll to hit of 19 Completely slashing through the body of the shadow bandit, Malrik defeated the foe.
Bandit’s HP: 11 > 0 hp.
XP Gained: 25 (150 XP NEEDED FOR LvL 2)
“Congratulations on completing this trial, Malrik.” As the voice was heard, Malrik’s vision came back to him. He saw that he was on the opposite side of the room, he also spotted the dart that had struck him before laid out near the center of the room.
“May I see who you are?” Malrik asked.
“Yes, turn around.” The voice responded.
Directly behind Malrik stood a man in grand robed attire. His skin was snow white and he had a pointed beard. He knew right then and there that he was in the presence of the god of shadows, Zaryth. Malrik quickly sheathed his greatsword to his back and took his honorary knee, respecting his god. “You may stand, my boy.” Zaryth spoke.
He removed his hood and looked straight into Malrik’s eyes. Zaryth had slicked back black hair and deep purple eyes, it became obvious that black and purple were the colors of the Umbral Covenant for a reason. “You have chosen to become a Dark Paladin, and you have also completed your trials here today. Where many have failed, you have succeeded. This puts trust from me to you, your affinity with me grows. I hope you accept my two gifts that I have for you.”
“Two gifts?” Malrik asked.
Zaryth took a step back and placed his hands together, a dark energy pulsated in front of him. After a few seconds it became evident that Zaryth was materializing Malrik’s chainmail. Upon completion, it was infused with shadows, and bore a title plate on the left breast that read “Seeker of Shadows”
“This chainmail shall give you advantage in battle while you are in darkness, allowing your strikes to become more effective. As for my second gift, I shall grant you experience points to further strengthen your skills.” Zaryth placed his hands on the sides of Malrik’s head, his hands emanating a shade mist. Malrik could feel his body grow in strength until the energy stopped and Zaryth’s hands were removed.
Main Quest Finished: Reach The Temple of Zaryth - Complete Your Trial
XP Gained: 150 (You are now LvL 2 - 600 XP NEEDED FOR LvL 3)
Malrik Soulthorn:
Class: Dark Paladin
Race: Human
Lvl: 2
HP: 22
Weapons & Armor: Greatsword & Shadow-Infused Chainmail
Armor Class: 16
Abilities: STR (18) - DEX (13) - CON (16) - INT (5) - WIS (9) - CHA (16)
Actions/Spells: Basic Combat Actions, Healing Touch, Healing Pool, Cleanse Poison, Smite of Shadows, Shadow Flame, Thaumaturgy, Attack of Opportunity
(To view detailed information regarding actions and spells, please review their individual tabs.)
“Now if you recall the pool you were peering into earlier, I shall assign one to you so you can use your spell Healing Pool. This will allow you to pull energy from it anywhere in the world to heal up to 10 hp. Speaking of the pool, your visions. I see you met Kazik, my most irritating traitor.” Zaryth said.
“Yes, he spoke of a dark path that I was on and how I would essentially regret it. He spoke terribly of you my lord, and I refused to believe any of it.” Malrik replied.
“Interesting. Malrik, I have a long-term task for you. Here in Catadros, we have my temple and the Shrine of Mei, a place of worship and power for my last demigod. As you may know, and if you don’t, she is no longer with us and I haven’t assigned a new demigod to work alongside me just yet. With the constant war with Lioris on our southern border, I haven’t had much time to evaluate and appoint somebody. The Shrine of Mei is a central point for us to communicate to each town and Critwald’s army. I believe that Kazik and some of his bastard traitors have taken over the shrine, as I haven’t heard word from there in over a month. Malrik, I need you to return to Veingard and prepare for a treacherous journey. You are to get stronger, complete quests along Catadros and take back the Shrine of Mei. Should you do so, I shall speak to you again to appoint your next main quests. Zay’thum.”
Miscellaneous Quest Finished: Speak to Zaryth About Kazik
Main Quest Added: Conjugation of Traitors - Defeat Kazik
“Zay’thum.” Malrik replied. They both nodded to each other and Zaryth disappeared. The hidden door that Malrik entered the room from opened back up. He would exit the temple and begin his journey back to Veingard.
