Tuesday, February 2, 2010

pt 34 The Lich Kings cruel joke

I don't know who I am. I don't know where I have been, and I don't know how I got here.

The frozen halls of Icecrown Citadel chill me to my bones. My tattered robes do little to keep me warm. All around me I see the battered and sundered remains of both the living and the undead. The blood, though already frozen, decorates the walls and floor in violent, macabre spatters.

I have been slowly making my way through the gloomy fortress for several hours now. I am tired and very hungry. The bulk of my time has been spent traversing a massive open pit mine called the Pit of Saron. It took so long because I had to be careful to avoid the gaze of a massive eye floating above the center of the pit. I recognized the eye as a scrying portal of the Lich King.

Now, I am making my way through a place called the Forge of Souls. It is a massive chamber deep in the citadel, its purpose can only be guessed at. All around the room are metal walkways hanging from chains, crossing from one platform to another. Scattered across each platform are more corpses. Each one has been picked clean for usable material. Nothing left to help me.

I dare not linger for too long in one place, but I need to rest. I think I have frostbite in my feet. It is a tough decision to make, but in the end fear and loathing drives me onward. I may have no idea how I got here, but I do know that I don't want to die here. If I could just reach Dalaran perhaps I can get some help to clear my head.

Up ahead the metal catwalk gives way to a frozen stone walkway. Beyond, I can see a doorway. Perhaps it is an exit. Hope lends my poor muscles strength and I begin to run.

As I pass through the doorway and turn a corner I see a metal portcullis blocking the passageway. Beyond it, I hear the murmuring voices of guards, and the flickering of a fire. I can feel its warmth from here.

My knees feel weak and my body shivers as I creep forward in the shadows. You would think I was a rogue instead of a mage with the way I have been hiding. As I reach the portcullis I look into the room beyond. Scattered about the rooms are human gueards. They bear a strange white tabard emblazoned with a kind of star or a cross.

Suddenly, I get a strange feeling like I am being watched. My skin crawls and the chill of this horrid place bites into me. As I turn around I see a sickly green floating skull in the hallway behind me. It is moving slowly towards me. I guess my skills as a rogue were not as good as I thought.

Panic overtakes me and I can't help but whimper like a child as the horror comes ever closer. I have come so far through this place and been so careful. Now it seems that I will die here.

"Hey!! There is someone at the gate!!" one of the guards yells out behind me.

The clatter of heavy boots and armor rattles up behind me to the gate. Yet, I am transfixed on the skull as it slowly edges towards me with a slow and steady purpose.

"Open the gate!" someone yells, and the piercing groan of metal on stone fills the air as the portcullis is hoisted up.

Suddenly, I feel a strong arm grab me from behind and pull me away from the horrid skull. As I pass through the gate the rattle of chains jars me and the portcullis crashes to the floor once again. As it does, the green skull comes to a halt and stares at me balefully through the bars of the gate.

"Are you okay m'lord?" one of the guards asks me.

"DIOGENES!!! THERE IS NO ESCAPE FOR YOU!! YOU BELONG TO THE LICH KING!!" the skull screams out.

I feel my body begin to convulse with the horrific realization. The skull begins to laugh at my terror. All I can do is cling to my saviors and cry like a baby.

"Get Devos in here immediately" one of the guards calls out "We need to get this mage a portal to Dalaran."

It all comes flooding back to me. I am Diogenes, mage of the Kirin tor. I came in here yesterday as the Tauren known as Calmfury. We fought a bone giant in a room and somehow I came into being. Through the power of the Lich King I am alive. The lord of death gave me life!! But, am I real or a copy? Was I separated from Calmfury, or am I just a cruel hoax?!?

"He looks to be in bad shape Sergeant. Nevertheless I will open a portal."

I hear the familiar sound of a spell being cast. The incantations ring in my ears, and I can't help but mouth the words of the spell as it's being cast.

"I am Diogenes" I manage to say weakly as I am carried through the portal into the warmth and safety beyond.

If I am a hoax then the wizards of the Kirin Tor will decide my fate.