“Gather ‘round children,” a tired looking old man dressed in little more than rags spoke while gesturing for several young children to get closer. The greying old man sat on a rock in the cave filled with moss beds lit by small green glowstones held by cages of iron built into the walls. The children gathered at the man’s feet as he shifted to better hold onto his iron cane, his smile highlighting the many wrinkles on his face. He needed the cane to be able to move about considering his somewhat mangled right foot could hardly support him. The children that were normally so loud and energetic quieted as they found a comfortable spot to listen. Story time was their favorite part of the cycle and none of them were willing to ruin it.
“Today I am going to tell you the tragic final tale of Selyra the Adventurer and her group of brave companions.” The children cheered in excitement, the story one of their favorites. It was one of his as well. It was one of the few stories he was allowed to tell that gave the children some base knowledge about how magic actually worked. His smile widened in response to the children’s joy as he continued.
“This is a tale of the greatest surface dwellers who ever lived and their heroic efforts to save the world from doom. There was the mighty Rezkas, a lizardfolk or Baiga warrior whose augmentation magic boosted his already impressive strength that he used to wield a massive sword and crush countless foes. Next was Arilae, the elven distortion mage, who’s powers could twist the very fabric of our world allowing her to bring her friends anywhere they wanted through teleportation. No less powerful was Vekiah, the fairy prince, who could throw fire and lightning while protecting his allies with magic barriers as a practitioner of conjuration magic. There was of course Jorah, the beastfolk manipulation master who was unmatched in her control of wind and stone, bending the natural elements of our world to her whim. She had long ears on the top of her head and a short, bushy tail akin to one of the most dangerous creatures in the above world. A rabbit.”
The children gasped at the mention of the terrifying creature known as a rabbit, their imaginations running wild as the old man smiled. He had made that part up after hearing the story from an old man when he was a child. He had no idea what a rabbit was but he remembered the story well and didn’t think it would hurt to embellish a little. “Now we mustn't forget the mysterious Ogart who was the most gifted illusionist that ever existed. Ogart could send your head spinning and it was said if they got close enough to touch you they could trick you into falling asleep right there on the spot. They say Ogart appeared as a human, then a beastfolk, an elf, a fairy, a baiga. Ogart could appear as anyone, man, woman, or animal so no one knew their true form. Ogart was a mystery, even to their friends.”
“However, Selyra was the greatest of them all with her invocation magic. She could summon all manner of flying blade spirits and would use them to slice apart every enemy and obstacle in her way. Her summons were many and supernaturally sharp while also being perfectly under her control. She was an unstoppable force made greater by the friends around her. Under her masterful leadership they never failed to defeat a monster, never had to retreat, and never lost a single battle.”
He paused for a moment to let the children’s imaginations run wild. His smile nearly faltered as his eyes flickered to the far side of the room. He felt a twinge of sadness at what he saw but it wasn’t his place to interfere. “They were each masters of their respective magics and heroes to the people as they bravely fought off the monsters that crawled out of those insidious labyrinths. They could take on the biggest and deadliest of foes from the most dangerous deep reaches of the world. For years they traveled together, challenging the living labyrinths, fighting monsters, dodging traps, and claiming treasures. They were the best the world had ever seen and were set to live the rest of their lives in luxury and happiness.”
He paused again, briefly this time so that the children only had time to dream of luxury and didn’t have time to consider how they would never obtain it. “Ogart wasn’t satisfied with that being the end of their tale. They wanted to end the threat of the labyrinths for good and they believed that if anyone would be able to complete the task it was them. Ogart believed that they just needed to destroy the biggest and most dangerous labyrinth, and all of the others would fall soon after. The rest of them disagreed. They didn’t know if it was even possible to do such a thing or if it would even affect the other labyrinths. They collectively decided not to go and Ogart was left bitter and angry.”
“Disappointed by the friends who they had believed shared the same dream, Ogart began to scheme. Using the illusion magic that could affect the very minds of people they touched, Ogart abused the very bonds of friendship that tied them all together in order to trick them. One by One he made each of them believe that the others changed their minds and wanted to delve into the depths of our world to end the threat of the living labyrinths once and for all. Unaware of Ogart’s treachery, Selyra and the rest were fooled into making an attempt on the Great Labyrinth. Even though they had noble intentions, Ogart knew that they had betrayed their friends and feared what would happen when they all found out.”
The children all looked at him with wide eyes, as if they were hearing the story for the first time. He wanted to glance away again, to see across the room and offer assurances but it wasn’t the right moment. It wouldn’t do for him to associate anyone with this part of the story, even by accident. You couldn’t mention betrayal and then look at someone with any kind of intention unless you wanted people to misunderstand. And the children were just so malleable that it was a simple matter to accidentally influence their behavior. He shook his head sadly, partly for the story and partly due to his regret at being unable to do anything for that poor boy across the room.
“Selyra and her adventurers couldn’t see Ogart’s conflicted feelings on the matter as their face remained as fake as ever. They proceeded into what they hoped would be the last labyrinth anyone would ever have to conquer. They entered the most terrifying, deep, and deadly place that has ever existed. Jaktal Labyrinth. Down, down they went, fighting harrowing monsters every step of the way, dodging wickedly devious traps when they thought they were safe, and having hardly a moment’s rest. “
It took them many hard weeks to travel to the depths of that hellish place. They were exhausted and beginning to question if they should retreat but it was too late at that point as they had gone too far to turn back. They needed to defeat the labyrinth or they would likely perish while trying to escape. Finally, they reached the guardian, a powerful monster unlike any other and just when they were about to fight it, Selyra began to realize what had happened. She began to realize that Ogart had tricked them”
Stolen story; please report.
“Are you listening to me boy?” The voice was loud enough to interrupt Darrik’s train of thought and he could see poor Gek was thrown out of the story happening across the room from him. Darrik had been sure to speak loud enough that the boy could hear him as he knew the story was one of his favorites but he was afraid that his story had distracted the poor boy who so loved adventure. Fortunately, the teachings of his grandfather were usually the same, with some variation on the story behind why or the exact wording the grouchy man liked to use and the boy quickly recited a response while Darrick continued with the story so the other children wouldn’t hear any nonsense.
“Don’t trust anyone unless it’s impossible for them to betray you. Don’t talk too much or else you will reveal your weaknesses or give others power over you. Don’t fight unless you are guaranteed to win.” Gek threw out a few more examples of what Grandfather usually spoke about before subtly turning his attention back to the story. He had become quite skilled at pretending to listen to his grandfather, his attention slipping back and forth between the stories old Darrik told and the harsh lessons from his grandfather. The tall old man narrowed his eyes at Gek but snuffed and continued droning on about trust and why you shouldn’t. Luckily, it seemed the boy wouldn’t have missed too much of the story.
“Tired and unwilling as they were, they rushed into the fight with the Guardian only to discover that they were unprepared. The Guardian was far stronger than anything they had ever faced and they were not capable of facing its overwhelming might. Rezkas was the first to fall, crushed by the mighty tail of the fell beast as he tried to cut through its scales to no avail, outmatched in strength. Vekiah was next, his barriers torn asunder by a single swipe of the monster’s claws, his magic too weak. The beast seemed to see right through Ogart’s illusions, his magic entirely useless. Not even Selyra herself was unable to hurt the creature fast enough to stop it. The monster spat lightning and even the fierce Jorah was too slow to escape.”
The children all looked sad and some were on the verge of tears as they continued to listen to the tragic tale. “Arilae used her magic to escape with Selyra and Ogart at great cost, too slow to save the others who had all fallen within moments of each other. They barely managed to return to the surface, their bodies torn and each of them near death. They held a funeral to mourn the loss of their friends. Ogart admitted to what he had done and attended the affair in chains. Selyra wanted to kill Ogart for what he did, so she summoned a sword with which to execute them. She demanded they drop all illusions so she could look them in the eye as she delivered the punishment for their great betrayal.”
“When Ogart followed her instructions she saw a boy no older than 18 and she didn’t believe that he was showing his true self until she saw him weeping. He had to have been a mere child when he first joined them and Selra was conflicted. He apologized, agreeing that he was wrong and never imagined that it would turn out how it did. He was ready to accept his punishment in order to atone for killing his friends. Selyra couldn’t do it. After losing three of her friends she couldn’t bring herself to kill a fourth, no matter what he had done. Instead she demanded that he spend every moment of his waking life atoning for the deaths of his friends. He swore that he would do so.”
The children looked sad and some had started to cry, one child biting their lip to stop herself from loudly sobbing. Darrik smiled and altered his tone of voice to be more soothing and encouraging. “From defeat and tragedy, good things can come as well. Don’t fret children. In some ways this story still has a happy ending. There is always hope.” The children nodded, wiping their tears with determined looks. They would be brave and finish the story.
“They went their separate ways after that, unable to look at each other without remembering the deaths of their shared friends. Arilae founded a school to teach magic to hopeful mages and it became the greatest school for learning magic anywhere in the world. With the cooperation of every kingdom South of the Dravareth Mountains, Selyra founded a small country around the labyrinth that had taken the lives of the people she most cared about. The country was built solely for dealing with the threats that escaped from below, accepting donations from other countries to assist with the task. To this day Selyria stands guard, training great warriors and keeping the world safe.”
“Ogart, for his part, fulfilled the promise he made, creating the famous guilds and sold everything he owned in order to fund them until they were able to sustain themselves. The purpose of the guilds was to train delvers who were brave enough to enter and destroy labyrinths, keeping them in check and saving many lives. They would teach delvers how to stay alive, protect themselves, and protect the people that relied on them. They would share information and come up with a system for evaluating how dangerous their enemies were so that what happened to them wouldn’t happen to anyone else. Ogart’s guild system is still used to this day and has saved countless lives.”
“Ogart regretted what he had done but he regretted more that they had failed. He feared that if the guardian of Jaktal Labyrinth was ever released it would be unstoppable. If the labyrinth let loose its most fearsome creation upon the surface, it would be the end of the world. His only hope was that eventually heroes would rise from the ranks of the guilds and do what his team could not. Now it is up to future heroes to save the world.”
The old man grinned at the wide-eyed children, their eyes sparkling with the dreams of adventure. His smile faltered only a moment as he glanced once again to the far corner of the room where another old man sat with a single small boy. That boy would soon be hearing other stories and learning different lessons from the bitter old man now that his story was over. It was cruel what the man was doing to the boy but they were family and it really wasn’t his place to intervene. He shooed off the children, feeling that it was okay to let them dream a little longer, to imagine a life full of possibility.
He didn’t tell them that it was too late for heroes to rise from the guilds, that the hope to destroy Jaktal labyrinth had already been discarded centuries ago. He didn’t tell them that they would never experience adventure for themselves or join a guild. The cruel realities of their lives as serfs of the Underdeep Kingdom of Modyr would catch up to them eventually.
He turned to stare across the room with a deep look of sadness in his eyes. The bitter old man hadn’t quite crushed the dreams of Gek but he hadn’t let him think anything so great could happen to him. The children didn’t have much of a future at all, but he thought it was okay to dream, to have hope that something would change one day. He knew the boy dreamed of adventure and magic, desiring greatness and freedom. The boy however, only had the teachings of a bitter old grandfather and nothing good would come of that.
