Saintess Summons Skeletons

The ring was in the first of the two small boxes they opened. The other box was locked. There wasn’t much in there. The coveted ring sat wedged in a notched round pedestal thing made of gold, which had three more empty slots. So we’re missing two rings.

[‘You Elsewhere Be’ Charging Port] : This complex magical item was designed to restore the spent spatial properties of enchanted blue glass.

Item level : 0. Grade : Regular.

Besides that was a neat stack of seven sealed letters and a hollow glass ball with a needle floating inside it, and layers upon layers of ritual circles engraved on the glass. As well as what looked like the stamp that had been used to seal the envelopes, and a tiny mithril key.

Sofia identified the glass ball first.

[Key-Ring locator] : A Key-ring locator. Infuse with mana to cycle the currently tracked ring.

Item level : 0. Grade : Regular.

Looks like we can actually find all the rings. Trying it out, the needle switched between the ring in the box and the ring on Alith’s finger. Either there’s no more or it cannot find the other ones. Might have to do with being in this weird void. Or they’re too far.

Sofia finally identified the ring on the ‘port’. It was the exact same description as the one they already had, and it had all its uses left.

It was lucky that she was already sitting on the floor or she might have keeled over. Finally it was absolutely certain that she could escape. She wiped the teardrops that had begun to form in the corner of her eyes, and picked up the stack of letters. They all bore the same wax seal of a limbless dragon biting its tail.

Each of the envelopes had a single line on the front, Sofia read them out loud.

“To Iriadell. To Zhǎng Erellan. To Zhǎng Zhēn. To Zhǎng Adriell. To Alkorm D. To Terrible Limping Drunkard Richard.” Sofia had to stop reading to chuckle. That’s the name of the infamous Arch-Lich, over level 400, master of storage items? The terrible limping drunkard, Richard?

I wonder if it would be dangerous to deliver this letter. And I guess Alkorm D is the Dragon? And the others are for his wife and kids. So the last letter…

“To my savior.”

“Aight, this one is for us, open it already,” Alith urged her.

Sofia broke the wax seal and opened the envelope. It contained a single folded sheet of clean paper, covered in a tightly packed but refined handwriting.

‘

12.09.1758 from Zangdar, The margin.

To you, who are reading this. Thank you.

You may take everything from the storage and the castle, I only humbly request that you do not open the other envelopes. And that, if you are so inclined, you see that they reach their recipient. See it as a last favor to a dead man.

I’m sure that you have many questions, many of which you may find an answer to if you peruse the books in my study, for the rest, I will explain it here.

The first thing is the reason why you found me like you did. Let me explain the history of Zangdar. Me and my team had uncovered a massive cave network full of Midenicite. Motivated by the zeal of one of our Dwarven companions, we eventually established a ‘city’ there. Originally only intended to be used by our thirteen member group. Glorious times. Iriadell was our leader, she had this castle built in the center for herself, though I eventually moved in.

Things got out of hand as commerce developed around the minerals, and a messy outer city grew, surrounding our original abode. Home to humans, dwarves and elves alike.

The real troubles started about fifty years later. When a mining operation burst into a new unknown cavern, much deeper than where the city was situated. Inside we uncovered two things, the blue crystalline ruins of a civilisation long gone, and a set of tablets. These are in the locked box, if you did not yet open it.

A long series of events followed. Eventually what was meant to be the ultimate line of defense of the city became its undoing. The rings meant to take us back to the main realm didn’t work, there wasn’t enough mana. Worse, we had unknowingly brought a spawn of the attacking aliens with us. We escaped the main threat, only to succumb to its weaker form.

Panic spread in the outer city. There was nothing I could do. Mana in this realm was too scarce for me to even defend myself. As I write this, it still is pretty scarce.

I couldn’t accept my own death. Like a coward, I hid in the castle, while the inner city was still safe. I was powerless as all my citizens struggled and died, while the aliens multiplied in the outer city. I couldn’t even let them in, the mana being too little to open the doors. I thought of many plans, but by the time I could do anything, everyone was dead.

The outer city was now teeming with alien life. It was only a matter of time before they got me too. I worked hard on finishing the experimental power cores and spreading them around the inner city, encased in Midenicite so they would be safe from the aliens. It was grueling work, the only mana available was my own, with its terribly slow regeneration, but I had no other choice.

Luckily I managed to get enough power cores ready before any alien reached the inner city. They ran on low power, but the numbers would make up for the lack of mana. It was enough to cut the aliens’ perception of the castle, and that was enough for them to let it be when they finally climbed the walls.

I was safe, trapped, and alone.

Without the rings to serve as anchor points, nobody would ever reach here from the outside. And even if they did, they would be trapped here with me. So I hatched up a plan to increase this realm’s mana. I had some preliminary success, though it wasn’t enough. The ambient mana dissipated as fast as I could produce it, it seemed the air bubble that was meant to be around the city wasn’t as efficient as I had expected it to be. And tinkering with it wasn't an option anymore.

I tried and failed to leave three times. The rings left by themselves. The first one was the prototype, it wasn't even halfway charged, so when it disappeared, I thought the final and fully charged ones would work. But they didn't. They also left me empty handed in this realm. It turned out they had access to enough mana to activate but not enough to take me with them. I do not even know where they landed.

I realized my mistake. If someone comes here with the rings I lost, they would be trapped too, even worse, they would appear at the preset locations in the swarmed outer city.

I have wasted too many lives already. You who read this letter. You know what I did, you know how I will end up today when I enter my laboratory for the last time.

I have been rotting away here too many years already.

I have no hope to leave anymore.

If the grafting goes well, this realm will have enough mana for you to safely leave, this will cost me my life. But I can at least allow the unlucky stragglers who stumble upon my rings to not suffer the same fate.

I do not know why you pushed through to come and meet me, when your ring could have taken you back to where you’re from, but I thank you.

I pray that you go and retrieve the two other rings with the device I’ve created if you can, so that no one else finds themselves here. The device should be able to track them down as long as you’re within a thousand kilometers… I realize how much of an impossible task that is. Sorry. There is nothing in it for you. But I can go with a lighter mind knowing that you will at least have the option.

Finally, now that you killed me, I must warn you that your time to leave is counted. Since I am no longer here to produce it, the mana will eventually run too thin to leave again. This might take anywhere from a few months to a year.

If your regeneration isn’t less than half of what it used to be in the physical realm, that means there is still more than enough. But I urge you to not come back unless your natural regeneration (in an environment deprived of mana) is over two hundred mana points a second.

May you meet my family, I beg of you, please let them have my letters.

I would advise not sharing the knowledge you find on the tablets with anyone, for your own safety, it might even be better not to look at them. But I could not bring myself to destroy them. Indulge in this forbidden knowledge if you wish.

As a final note I would also advise against entering the castle’s underground floor. This is where the plane crossing device is. It is also what keeps the city afloat and the air breathable. Do not go near it, unless you seek to destroy what’s left of Zangdar.

That is all.

For putting an end to my self imposed misery, I can never thank you enough.

Zhǎng Lú’

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