There once was an ancient tomb, a tomb darker than night and
so abandoned that no human eye has seen it centuries. Arix the young adventurer
pushed over a stone slab from outside the tomb. The slab fell inward creating a
booming noise that echoed through the ancient tomb. Tomb had not been
disturbed, felt sound or sunlight in centuries and Arix the adventuring youth
introduced light and sound to the tomb in one motion. Light beamed in from the
bright midday sun, banishing the darkness and causing small, nocturnal
creatures to scurry away in fright.
This was
the lost tomb of Mul’din, a great and fierce king of old. Mul’din was kind to
his people and brutal to the rest of the world. His armies were vast and he
would dominate and destroy all who did not join his Kingdom. The Kingdom of
Mul’din stretched over a quarter of the world and his riches stretched on as
far as the eye could see. Mul’din didn’t just acquire treasure from conquering,
he also sent out bands of pirates and raiders to loot and pillage in his name.
Mul’din’s raiders would regularly harass and land that couldn’t be conquered
and through his looting and conquering he had a treasury stuffed with rare
items from around the world and more gold than anyone could count.
Arix had
spent years trying to find this lost tomb. While he explored other ruins and
new lands he always kept an ear open for anything that related to Mul’din. Arix
even spent a fair amount of the treasure he found in other tombs just for info
about Mul’din’s tomb. Finding this tomb would give Arix recognition,
opportunity to join the explorer’s guild and befriend famous adventurers and
Arix also had the possibility of finding Mul’din’s treasure and being
incredibly wealthy.
Arix crept
carefully through the tomb holding a blue gem that let out a soft light. The
light was faint enough so that Arix wouldn’t be immediately spotted by
predators but bright enough to see inside the pitch black tomb, the gem also
sent light out further than a torch would. The gem was the size of a small
apple and glowed through Arix’s hand. The sunlight from outside illuminated the
first room, but the darkness won out as Arix walked deeper inside.
The tomb
was silent and every light step that Arix took sounded like heavy boots
stomping on the stone. As Arix walked he heard a faint voice calling from deep
within the tomb, the voice was followed by a purple fog that reflected the
light of the blue gem. The fog floated through the tomb, in and out of only
certain rooms. The fog started looking like a trail and Arix wanted to find its
source. Arix’ curiosity got him into trouble more times than he could count and
he knew that the strange voice and purple fog could be luring him into a trap.
It was possible that Mul’din’s ghost was trying to tempt a greedy treasure
hunter and lure him into an ambush. Arix had experience with the undead and was
overly confident with his ability to get out of bad situations.
The fog led
Arix to a large room that was full of bottles, tables and small trinkets. As
Arix entered the room torches lit themselves and the voice calling out grew
louder. “Help please!” cried the voice. “Where are you?” asked Arix “I am
trapped in this bottle, please open it!” The voice called out. Arix now knew
the voice belonged to a mystical creature, as a mortal could not survive being
trapped in a bottle and sealed in a tomb for centuries and would have to be
shrunken down to even fit in a bottle in the first place.
Arix
followed the voice and looked through a table full of dusty bottle of different
sizes. Finally Arix touched the right bottle and the small glass bottle glowed
with purple light. “Please release me!” Cried the voice. “I want to know where
Mul’din’s treasure is first, then I promise to release you” Arix said. The
voice was silent for a few seconds then finally spoke. “Mul’din acquired
mountains of gold but when he died he did not keep any of it. He loved his
subjects so much that he told his royal advisor to give everything to the
people of his kingdom. He did not see the point of storing it or burying it. He
gave the largest portion to his sons but he told them to use his riches to make
their own riches. He was a wise man. This tomb was built in his honor and while
many of his prized possessions were buried with him, none of those possessions
were gold or jewels” Explained the voice.
Arix was
disappointed but didn’t completely believe the voice. “How did you end up here?
And how do I know you aren’t lying to me?” Asked Arix. “I wouldn’t lie and risk
my first chance to be free in centuries. I am a djinn, a wish granting spirit
who has been trapped in this bottle by the king. I do not care about the king
and if he had gold I’d help you find it. This is my punishment for not being
able to bring back his dead wife” Explained the Djinn.
Arix
figured that gaining the favor of a wish granting spirit might be even better
than gold and so he opened the bottle. The bottle had a cork, which was covered
in a cloth, and the cloth had ancient writing all over it. Arix twisted the
cork and pulled open the bottle.
Purple fog
sprang forth from the bottle. It flooded out and filled the large room, then in
a second it all was pulled toward a single point in front of Arix. The fog
swirled around and the Djinn appeared before Arix. “Thank you so much, kind
master” Said the Djinn. The Djinn was dark purple, had yellow eyes with no
pupils, had a torso and head but his arms were partly transparent and his legs
were missing, he was completely made up of purple fog from the waist down.
“So I am
your master now?” Asked Arix. “Yes, you
are. But before you start trying to make wishes, let me make a deal with you.
If you do not like my deal, you can wish for any one thing” Said the Djinn.
Arix was intrigued and figured it wouldn’t hurt to listen to the spirit. “What
is your deal? I was hoping for a mountain of gold in this tomb, so your deal
better be worth the time and money it took to find this place” Arix explained.
“The deal
is, you bring the bottle outside of this tomb and use your one wish to free me.
Once I am free I will be able to join the wind and cloud spirits in the sky. I
will never bother a single mortal and after being stuck under ground for so
long I will probably never even want to leave the clouds again. In exchange for
my freedom, I will leave all of my magic in the bottle in the form of a potion.
This magic potion will cure any disease, ease all pain, emotional and physical
and it will give you energy like a night of restful sleep” The Djinn explained.
Arix liked
the sound of this magic potion but was still cautious. “What is the downside,
there is always a downside” Said Arix. The Djinn grinned “Well of course. I see
you are no fool. All magic comes with a price. Even those who wield magic must
suffer a burden of it. The potion will do just as I say it will but if you use
it too much or become too reliant on the magic, then you will suffer from it.
Mortals cannot handle magic in large amounts or consumed too frequently”
Explained the Djinn.
Arix
figured that he was as careful as anyone and would only use the potion in dire
situations. So Arix agreed and the Djinn led Arix out of the tomb. They talked
as they walked through the dusty ruins and Arix felt more confident that the
Djinn was telling the truth about all he said.
Once they reached
the exit, Arix took a step out into the fresh air and held the bottle open as
he said “I wish you were free from this bottle and live peacefully in the
clouds away from mortals” Arix wished for a very specific thing just in case
the Djinn wasn’t as friendly as he seemed. Arix hoped that the phrasing would
bind the Djinn to his word and force him to be peaceful. Arix didn’t want to be
responsible for unleashing a terror on all humanity.
“Thank you
human!” Said the Djinn as he started to turn into purple fog. A thin blue chain
appeared. The chain led from inside the bottle and was wrapped around the
purple fog that struggled to break free. Finally the blue chain shattered into
a thousand pieces and each piece puffed up into the air in a ball of smoke. The
Djinn was finally free and shot up into the air as fast as he could “Remember
my warning human!” called the voice of the Djinn as he disappeared from sight.
Arix knew
he would heed the Djinn’s warning and put the purple glass bottle into his
adventuring bag. Arix might not have been rich and famous from the trip into
Mul’din’s tomb, but he did gain a magic healing potion, which in his line of
work was priceless.
Arix also
decided to not tell anyone that he found the tomb, not only was there no gold
to share but owing a magical cure all potion and telling people about it would
drastically decrease his life span.
