The Power of Greed part 1

[Zivix]

I demand your presence.

The powerful mental voice drove Xylthrin from his meditations. It was a voice that could not be ignored; at least not yet. As he opened his eyes to his personal study his facial tentacles writhed agitatedly. That he had to answer to what was basically an over-sized brain-in-a-jar still got under his usually temperate demeanor. It was HIS plan that brought them to the place through the underground caverns that HE discovered, HIS plans that were currently now unfolding to enslave the locals and take over this kingdom, and HIS plan to pick up the pieces once the inevitable war to the north came to its conclusion. Unfortunately the other ilithids who a part of this master scheme still believed in the old ways that required obeisance to a Mother Brain.

Xylthrin was a paragon of his race; the pure shining example of what an ilithid was supposed to be. More intelligent, more ruthless, more cunning, more powerful. Were it not for the presence of the Mother Brain, these lesser mind-flayers would have flocked to him and revered him like a god. Normally he would have eliminated any threat to his supremacy, but destroying the Mother Brain himself would have turned all the others against him, and, as powerful as he was, the sheer numbers would have overwhelmed him. No, he must find another way.

As he left the confines of his study one of his thralls approached him. Head down appropriately and completely subservient, mind completely crushed by his ilithid master, he spoke in a dull, inflectionless voice.

"Master, your spy is here."

As if the day couldn't get any more interesting. Xylthrin's spy was a human who approached him, having managed to slip past all the forces and telepathic watchers that looked for intruders into their new realm, and offered his services to provide information about the neighboring kingdoms. All he wanted was payment, a true mercenary, and as the mind flayer was able to pick up from his thoughts, revenge against someone who had grievously wronged him. He was very intelligent, and while Xylthrin usually preferred to deal with thralls, this one's mind was too useful to be subsumed. And he was good at his job.

Xylthrin waved his long, rubbery fingers at the thrall in a gesture of dismissal and continued on his way. His spy fell in step with him, staying a short distance back and to the right.

"The ones you asked me to keep track of have crossed the river and are making their way towards the sea to the south, although as you surely know, Master, they did double back and burn Yaris to the ground."

"I am aware," Xylthrin said. "Do they seem to have any intent on returning?"

"It does not seem so, Master, but the strange one seems to have attracted some thralls of his own. And it seems to me you could use the destruction of Yaris to your advantage."

"If you mean by using it as proof that It cannot control what happens in its own borders? I have thought of this...it will just turn it around and blame me. No, I need more. What of the north?

"The barbarians continue to gather their numbers. War seems imminent. Maybe you will get lucky and someone else will take care of your problem for you."

"I do not believe in luck, and if you open your mouth about my problem again, I will have your brains for dinner, even with as useful as you are. Understood, slave? Now go back out and continue your duties"

"Yes, Master"

The human bowed his head and stepped back into the shadows of the palace through which they walked. He preferred to enter and exit unseen. Xylthrin continued on his way to the shaft that would lead down to the depths where the Mother Brain waited, but he was a little troubled. Something the human had said made a certain amount of sense. What if others could be lured to do what he dared not? Then the other ilithids would turn on them, not him, and he could lead the charge to destroy them personally. But how to draw the proper individuals? Promises of money? Power? These are things he would have to think on, but first he must clear his head lest some thought slip in the presence of It. As he called upon his reserves of mental energy and slowly descended down the shaft, he failed to notice the shadow that had followed him down the rest of the corridor, as it detached itself from the wall.

The spy smiled down at the shaft, and as he did his visage rippled and shifted as the human form faded away to be replaced by tiefling countenance. Zivix chuckled under his breath slightly and disappeared.




The two figures stood on a mountain top and looked down upon the campfire burning below. Even from this distance they could see the seven figures clearly.

"It seems your troop has grown old friend," said the figure on the right. He was an old man by appearance, with a long beard and bald head; the symbol of Sardinal tattooed in gold on his forehead.

"Yes it has Qwau, and this is only the beginning," said Zivix, Lord of Thieves. "Do you know what the real truth of greed is my friend?"

"I am sure you would know better than I," replied Qwau.

"Greed is a disease, the most insidious of all. Everyone is infected, even if they don't realize it. There is not a person in the entire world who does not lust after something, whether it's power, money, or a goal of making the world a better place. Know what to offer and you can manipulate anyone. No one is immune."

"Except perhaps Sammy," replied Qwau with a little smile.

"I think Sammy's just too insane to really know what he wants, but I haven't talked to him in a while. He's still a little sore over the Deck of Many Things incident."

"I'm still a little sore over that thing if we're being honest," replied Qwau.

Zivix chuckled. "Time to get other balls rolling my friend. Take what I gave you to Hearthome and have a good time. Lark is already in motion, and I will take care of Enchantrisol myself."

"So you are really going to do this?"

"I am."

[Zivix]

Zivix sat with his eyes closed, listening to the rumble of the buildings as they moved once again. In the massive sprawling city of Vix, everything was constantly moving: the buildings, city streets, the outer walls, Zivix was at home for the time being. He comes here once in a while to completely to gather his thoughts and sort through all of the intrigues and irons that he has in the fire. The rumbling, grinding sound of the moving buildings helped him to concentrate. Through the avatars he had spread across Severall and Katrall, he knew many things were afoot, some involving him some not, but the most important game, at least to the Lord of Greed's mind, was just getting started. The board was laid out, pieces placed, and now all that was needed was a nudge to get things moving. He decided to check on one of his important pawns, or perhaps it was a back row piece...possibly a knight or a bishop. Who could say?

The tiefling god stood and with a though vanished from his chaotic city and appeared in the mountains just north of the Southac Sea. From this vantage point he could see the young Elan's party had grown considerably, even in the absolute darkness that existed out here away from city lights. He easily noticed the four young fighters, the priestess of Shal-Tsu, the displacer beast skeleton, and the almost laughed at the rogue who was hiding and keeping first watch. Just as he was about to summon his agent in the group, he noticed something. It was very subtle at first, but when he turned to see what it was it wasn't there. Interesting. Using his divine power, he disappeared and reappeared closer to where he noticed whatever it was. The ground here was wrong somehow. The patterns in the rock formation were twisted, not at all in the normal patterns the should be. Plants grew at strange angles and seem to have twisted themselves into random formations. Interesting indeed. Some experiment of Sama'el's perhaps? He decided to investigate further.

Taking to the air, Zivix flew up and farther into the mountains and that's when he realized what had caught his attention and disappeared. There was a spell here actively trying to prevent anyone from noticing what it covered. Zivix concentrated on seeing through the illusion and it parted to his divine will, allowing him to see what was concealed beyond. This was not godly magic, but easily some of the most powerful mortal magic he had ever encountered, and Zivix was no stranger to powerful mortal magic. After all, he played, well used to play, chess with Kasryn Doth'dakar, Emperor of Lark, and quite possibly one of the most powerful wizards in the world. Kasryn has had his own troubles lately. Ah well, the game Zivix was playing now was far more interesting.

Behind the Screen spell was a small city. The buildings were still all intact, although the architecture looked ancient, and it seemed to follow an orderly pattern like most cities, at least in the center. The farther away from the center you got the building placement and design seemed to make less and less sense, until it made no sense at all It reminded Zivix of home without the movement, and it almost looked like time hadn't touched this city at all. From his aerial vantage point Zivix could notice a few things that were immediately of interest. Although not a wizard himself, Zivix knew a great deal about magic and how it worked. The first thing he noticed is that there appeared to be a circle inlaid in the ground around the outskirts of the city with lines radiating in towards a building with a large pointed steeple in the very center. No matter how chaotic the layout became, no building ever touched those radiating lines. The top of the steeple had a ball of some material...wait! Zivix sharpened his gaze...that ball was made of aellium! It had to weigh at least 3 pounds! The sheer gold....Zivix shook his head to clear that thought. That's not what he was here for...at least not yet. He looked again at the circle and the lines radiating from it. They appeared to be lined with aellium as well. There was a fortune in aellium here! This was one powerful spell.

Pulling a scroll from a pouch at his side, Zivix began reading the lines to a Greater Arcane Sight spell, allowing him to see the enchantments and their power levels in the areas where he looked. When he completed the spell, he was almost blinded by the sheer assault and brightness of the different spells around him. It looked like arcs of different colors cascaded from the ball on top of the steeple to the circle around the city and were then fed back to the center building from the lines in the streets. There was color pulsing up and down in the middle building as well. Zivix concentrated and could notice abjuration, conjuration, transmutation, and universal schools of magic. What the heck was this?

Flying down to the center building through the dome of magic, he could feel some tug at his mind, but he shrugged it off. It seemed there was a spell here to make someone want to leave if they first noticed the place and tried to enter...more interesting by the minute! As he landed outside the building he notice what appeared to be a large statue made of iron stationed right outside the entrance. Zivix didn't need his Arcane Sight to know that this was a golem, and would be triggered on him entering the building. Deciding that reconnaissance was what he really needed here, Zivix pulled on his Trickery domain and cast a spell. All of a sudden the entire world seemed to slow down to the point where it was standing still, though actually Zivix had sped himself up to the point where time seemed to stop for everyone else. He walked into the building, releasing the golem that would have no target since he would be long gone before it could activate.

In the center of the floor was a pedestal that had a rectangular pyramid on top of it. All the lines from the city terminated at this pedestal and it looked like the pedestal transferred the energy to the pyramid, which shot it up to the ball on the top of the building to start the process over again. It was a self sustaining spell; perfect for his plans, and made one more step easier! Why spend the time and energy to create what you could just as easily steal? He wasn't sure what the purpose of the spell currently was, and didn't really care. He must have this city! An instant later he disappeared. Outside the golem came to life briefly, looked around for the intruder that it knew was there since its ward had been breached. When it failed to find anyone it reverted to its guard stance.

__

Reedus!

The human with the mismatched eyes woke to a call that entered his dreams. It was really too bad too, since he had just though of some more great jokes for his act that were sure to kill, once he could get away from this assignment and back into town. But you went where your god sent you. Speaking of which, where had that voice come from? Mouthing the words of a spell quickly he created a small ball of light in his tent and almost fell backwards in shock as he noticed the figure at the end of the tent.

"Surprise," the figure said, laughing.

"My Lord," Reedus stammered. Usually never at a loss for words at any time, he was practically speechless now. A divine presence could do that to you.

"I have a task for you. In the mountains to your north is a city. I need you to take Timotheus and his entourage there. It will be hard to locate, but I have done something that will help you. Explore, take what you can, and clear what you are able. I have need of this place"

"Of course. He is more easily manipulated than he thinks," replied the cleric/bard.

"Good. Soon your part of this assignment will be over." And with the that the God of Thieves vanished.

"Finally...a chance to get away from the bugs, creepy undead and dampness."

Reedus Vee fell asleep thinking of cities, ale, and women.

[Zivix]

       Lights flared through the cracks of the domed building in the heart of the ancient crumbling city, revealing buildings much in need of repair. In response to the light, beings began to emerge from these broken-down habitations and began to move towards the central building. Some, like the ilithids, walked on two feet, but many others didn't have that luxury, needing to crawl, slither, or levitate their way to the dome. Even among the mind flayers themselves were many variations: some seemed to flit from shadow to shadow, some looked almost human except for the tentacle "beard" that they didn't bother to hide in their city, and then the hulks that not only towered above the rest of the populace, but who had somehow managed to graft weapons to their arms. Not just mind flayers were present either.  Almost every horror and twisted thing that the mind could come up with seemed to be moving towards the center of the city. This was a true procession of nightmares come to life.

    

    Chythyk knelt before the stone tablet that rested in the very center of the floor beneath the dome.  This tablet was made of some form of black stone that seemed to resist the weathering of the centuries.  On the table was writing in some ancient script that had also passed the ravages of time unmolested.  In fact, any attempts to deface the stone in any way had failed.  All Chythyk knew is the lore that had been passed down since the time that the city was founded; that this tablet was somehow connected to the reaching the Outer Realms.  Supposedly after its creation, the founder of this sect of aberrations left the world altogether and was never seen again.  Every month on the day of his departure, every monster in the city met here and focused what energies they could...psychic, arcane, or otherwise on the tablet, hoping for some glimmer of information.

    As the last creature, a huge slug-like monstrosity with canisters running down its back that contained some sort of green slime-like substance, finally made its way into the building, Chythyk stood.

    "Now is the time my brethren.  We who are descended from the Old Ones again wait for the sign that our time has come.  May the Lords of Madness speak to us today."

    With that he turned and focused his not inconsiderable psychic might on the stone.  He could feel the power emanating from all the others in the room as well.  As much as he hoped for a sign, he feared it would be like all the other times.

    Suddenly, Chythyk's concentration was shattered by a shout from the gallery.  He looked at the tablet and saw a black mist had formed over it and was slowly growing in size until it was almost 7 feet tall and seemed to be shaped like a cloaked humanoid figure.  Then it spoke, and its speech was a low hiss that seemed to be heard throughout the entire chamber.

    "You who serve the Lords of the Outer Realms, listen to their words.  Know that this day there are some on the surface who are currently striving to unearth a power strong enough to grant them passage to this world.  You will be able to find them near the southern sea where chaos has bled through to this plain.  You can take this power from them, but you will need the ancient tablet to succeed.  Now go, procure us our place!"

    The figure seemed to turn itself inside out as tentacles burst forth from beneath the robes and bent backwards on themselves, getting smaller and smaller as they rolled backwards until the form disappeared from view.

    Chythyk stood then and turned to the assembled host.  "You have heard the word of the Lords of Madness.  Make preparations.  We leave to take our place!"

    One of the ilithids appeared in a shadow next to Chythyk. "We will send someone through the tunnel that Xylthrin took to the surface and tell him what we have found. Perhaps he can tell us more about this place where chaos touches this world."

    "Do it," Chythyk replied. "We will stay clear of his endeavors until such time as we need him to join us.  If this group is as powerful as the harbinger says they are, we will need all the power we have."

    The second ilithid's tentacles quivered in response as he vanished.  Chythyk watched the assembly filter out of the central building.  Finally, our time is coming, he thought.

    Leaning against a stone wall, Zivix, Lord of Thieves, watched the procession filter out as well.  That went better than I had hoped, he thought to himself. One more piece in play. Now the game truly begins in earnest.  Zivix reached into one of his many pockets, pulled out a coin and flipped it.  When it hit the ground he was gone, and the sound of metal ringing on stone echoed through the empty dome as the coin slowly came to rest with its jester faces up, then it too slowly faded away into nothingness.