Arix walked slowly through the dark corridors of the underground tomb. Once he got into the sunken crypt he lowered himself down deeper into the giant hole in the floor of the crypt. Once he was underground he discovered that directly below the crypt was a tomb. The underground tomb also belonged to the Hidonon family. It was rumored that the family held many secrets and Arix was determined to find out what they were.
As he walked he heard faint whispers and sounds of footsteps deeper in the tunnels. Either some other adventurer got here before he did, or he was going to have to deal with another monster/creature that wanted to kill him. Oddly enough he was hoping it was a monster. It was much easier to deal with a cave creature than it was competing for glory with another adventurer. Having another adventurer around made the whole area seem less dangerous and took the thrill away also Arix wouldn’t be able to say he was the first one to explore the tunnels under the crypt. So he walked on, keeping his torch up and scanning the darkness for any sense of danger or competition.
The tunnels were lined with engravings and coffins that slid into little doors built into the walls of the tunnel. The engravings were mostly just peoples names and how old they were when they died, normal stuff you would find on a tombstone. Arix kept an eye out for mysterious warnings or any sign of hidden secrets. All of the tunnels eventually led to one central point. It was a giant underground room, built like a stadium but looked more like a sacrificial chamber. Arix held his torch up high as he looked at giant room. The walls were made of carved stone, all with incredibly detail images and writings. Strange symbols, skulls and arcane writing stretched over every wall. Arix had a feeling this was the secret he was looking for. At the center of the room was three torches, the fire was purple, blue and green, one color slowly fading into the next as it burned.
Arix walked closer to get a better look at the torches when suddenly heavy smoke spewed from the flames. The smoke circled around and finally took on a form. A tall thin man, wearing black robes now stood in front of Arix. “come to join your friend?” asked the man. Arix looked confused but then noticed further into the room was the body of another adventurer. “Damn, someone DID get here first” Arix cursed under his breath. Then stopped to think “oh, also hes dead” Arix added grief adding to his voice. He knew adventuring would be dangerous, but never thought that other people might also be adventurers and never came back. But seeing the dead man on the floor made his fathers warnings seem more real. When Arix looked back, the thin man was smiling. “Yes, you’ll do. Your so full of life, your soul will feed the fires” Then the man lifted his hand and skeletons came up from the ground to grab Arix.
Arix whirled around and bashed his torch over the head of one of the skeletons. The undead minion burst into fire and crumbled to bones. The second skeleton kept a slow pursuit as the frightened adventurer ran for his life. “Why are you doing this? Who are you?” Arix asked as he ran in circles around the Arena like room. As he ran more skeletons appeared to capture him. “I am Arlend Hidonon, the founder of the Hidonon family and immortal necromancer” Replied Arlend. “so you kill people to stay alive?” Arix asked. He reached into his back and pulled out his hammer, which is more for practical uses, but used it as a weapon by hitting one of the skeletons with it. The force of the hammer cracked the skull, releasing a tiny-trapped spirit. “I take the souls of every Hidonon who has ever lived and died, also the soul of anyone who stumbles into my tunnels. There are many entrances to this location and I draw in the occasional grave robber. But this place is built to harness souls of the dead, not so I can stay alive, but so I can return to life. I am no more than an echo, a shadow of my former self. With enough souls I will be reborn as the most powerful wizard in the world!” Laughed Arlend.
“Using those torches and this stadium” Arix said as he smashed another skeleton. “Yes, exactly” Arlend replied in delight. “Thanks for clearing that up” Arix replied. He reached into his bag, pulled out his fire bomb gun and shot at the three standing torches. The small explosion and the fire that spread from it, toppled the torches and broke them on impact. Souls started to rapidly escape, rising up from the floor and leaving for the afterlife. Arlend screamed and his skeletons all collapsed. Arix fired another shot at the engravings, disfiguring the ancient text and hopefully ruining any chances to restart the soul harvest. Arlend faded away, though Arix wasn’t sure if he was really gone or not. Either way, it was time to leave. He quickly made his way back through the tunnels. He didn’t have enough explosives to destroy the stadium, but he hoped he ruined enough to stop Arlend.
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