The History of Hellbound [Part 2]

[pa40]

Still, Darion's army will do everything possible to defend the Steel Citadel's energy source. The general will dispatch his staff officer Hellinark to the Enchanted Megaliths, who then uses his considerable magical powers to summon Naia Failans, cactus-like crystalline beings who can cast evil curses on anybody whom they feel is threatening them and their master. In addition to that, Hellinark has a great number of Failan's Guards at his disposal. But now the united front of the natives, the "newcomers" and the Caravan is strong enough to attempt an attack on the Enchanted Megaliths. Once those are taken, the invisible barrier isolating the Battered Lands will fall and the Chimeras living there can be eliminated. For this purpose one first needs a magical bottle which can be obtained from Kief, who has now set up his command post in the central building of the village, for 20 Scorpion Poison Stingers. When a Chimera has been beaten almost to death and only 1/10 of its life energy remains, the magical bottle can be used to capture its life force: Dim Life Force or regular Life Force from the lesser Chimeras and Dim Life Force, regular Life Force or Contained Life Force from Celtus, their leader. If an adventurer has captured 80 units of regular Life Force and 20 units of Contained Life Force, he or she can exchange the Life Forces with Hude at the Caravan Encampment for a Premium Caravan Certificate. The owner of such a Certificate can then purchase from Hude recipes and parts for truly excellent equipment. The monsters on the island will upon their death occasionally drop an old book, the famous "Ancient Tome of the Demon". If one opens such a book, one will obtain, purely at random, a Demon Contract Fragment, a Hidden First Page or a Hidden Second Page. Hude will exchange his recipes and equipment parts against those pieces of paper, similar to the Luxury Shop in Giran, which takes D- and C-Grade Crystals. Thus well equipped, the resistance fighters will in their now unstoppable march sooner or later reach the outer gate of the Steel Citadel. Again, defeating the Enceinte Defenders is not easy. Some of them can take out single attackers over a long distance, both with magical and physical methods, while others can wipe out whole groups with one single strike in close-hand combat. But well-trained adventurers with good experience in coordinated fighting will eventually prevail. Once the Outpost Captain, a fierce horned devil using dual swords, is killed, the gate will open and the resistance fighters can proceed to liberate the slaves Beleth keeps at the oasis within. But everybody should be aware that Beleth's forces have very good intelligence. If adventurers have not yet forged strong enough bonds with the native Resistance Movement, the Outpost Captain will know it. While he, being an example in discipline to his soldiers, usually firmly stays at his post and pulls any attackers to him by magic, he might then rush out at a single enemy, trying to drive a wedge in the fragile front of the resistance fighters while at the same time satisfying his own personal bloodlust.

 

 

Turning south after the gate, one soon arrives at a little lake, with two trees and tents put up in their shade. The slaves living there are far from home. For their dangerous journey back to the west of the island they absolutely need those travel permits general Darion has given out. If adventurers donate five of Darion's Badges to a slave, this will help a lot to ensure his safe return, and it will also raise the level of trust they enjoy with the Resistance Movement. This oasis is the place where the legendary blacksmith Shadai can sometimes be met. He visits only occasionally, staying in one of the tents, but since he can change the armour adventurers have acquired from caravaner Hude in a way that best fits their needs - making it stronger but a bit heavier for Dwarves, lighter for archers etc. - it is worth waiting for him.

 

 

After talking to Kanaf, adventurers can then enter the market town that was supported by the oasis before Beleth arrived, getting both its food and its drinking water from there. Now this once thriving center of civilisation has changed. People who have been there have described it as "more like an instance of hell" - which is why Kanaf will only permit groups of two or more adventurers to enter the town. The natives there are being kept under control by Torture Expert Amaskari, a classical, red-skinned devil. Most of them are heavily traumatized; if one tries to talk to them, they just disappear, screaming that guards would be coming. After the victory at the Enchanted Megaliths a native commando unit of the Resistance Movement had tried to sneak into the town and free their brethren. But within a short time they were discovered and fierce fighting ensued. The major part of the commando was killed, while the rest were taken prisoner. Amaskari has succeeded in terrorizing the prisonerss to a degree where they will instantly do his bidding, no matter what it be. If adventurers are courageous enough to take him on, he will tell a great number of the broken men to attack those who have only their well-being in mind, even if it should cost them their life. As soon as Amaskari is dead, however, they are free and will run away. Once the natives in the town have been liberated, the Resistance Movement can start taking possession of the Steel Citadel itself.

 

 

First the prospective demon slayers must find a Keymaster in the town - he is often hiding inside of a building - and kill him, which should not be too hard. If they are lucky, he will have carried a Key of the Evil Eye, engraved with words in an ancient, dark-looking demon script. Walking to the northern end of the town, the adventurers must then insert this key - one for each group will be sufficient - into the little keyhole at the bottom of the Moonlight Stele they will find there in front of the Citadel's gate. After five minutes the whole group will be teleported inside. There might still be monsters in the town, intent on killing anybody they perceive as an intruder. So it pays to be carefull during those five minutes and occasionally look back over one's shoulder. Right after they have entered the Steel Citadel, a Body Destroyer wielding a double-bladed axe will be waiting for the intrepid adventurers. The name "Body Destroyer" is fully justified: he can curse attackers, predicting their death, and if he is not killed within 30 seconds thereafter, the cursed person will suddenly have only one single drop of blood left. Therefore it is necessary that the members of the group concentrate all their forces and eliminate the Body Destroyer as fast as possible, while those who got hit by his curse should immediately retire to a safe corner, sit down and try to recover their strength. There is a reward: Body Destroyers frequently carry on them a Forgotten Scroll where it is recorded how to call up an intelligent Cubic, a skill many knights and summoners are interested in learning. Apart from that, these particular officers often also carry other spellbooks.

 

 

Of course, defeating the Body Destroyer and the Soul Dominators under his command is not easy. It should only be attempted by really well equipped fighters and mages. Anybody who has not yet acquired top-grade weapons from Merchant Hude should, before they enter the Steel Citadel, direct their steps back to the Hidden Oasis. There they will now find the caravaner Jude. Unlike his colleagues, Jude is not only interested in commerce, but also in producing things, in adding value to raw materials. Jude is especially fascinated by the so-called "Evil Weapons" used by Darion's soldiers. He has already seen some samples and was really impressed by their excellent quality. Now he plans to study those weapons in detail, hoping to find a way to refine them, remove their evil aura, so that he can sell them in Aden at a great profit. For this purpose Jude needs in particular the weapons carried by the Lesser Evils and Greater Evils roaming the grounds of the Anomic Foundry, at the eastern end of the island. For 200 Evil Weapons he will give an adventurer a recipe to craft a truly excellent Icarus weapon, and for every 5 Evil Weapons he will pay with 3 Icarus parts. Only the best Warsmiths can craft weaponry of that level. They need 2 recipes and 18 parts as well as an enormous amount of material, and then there is still a chance of one out of three to fail. In addition to that, Jude gives out his recipes and parts at random, so an adventurer might end up with 3 Icarus Trident Pieces and 3 Icarus Wingblade Pieces. But since Hellbound is only suitable for groups anyway, everybody can combine their resources and together craft several weapons. Entering the Steel Citadel without the very best equipment is tantamount to suicide.

 

 

On their way back to the Steel Citadel adventurers might want to talk to the Dwarven architect Matras at the oasis behind the Enceinte gate. Matras was responsible for several of the buildings in the market town, but then, when Tully came and built the Steel Citadel, he was confronted with a whole new dimension of architecture. Matras' curiosity was aroused. After doing some research he came to the conclusion that the Steel Citadel might possibly have been built by several, independently working parties. That sounds certainly strange, but Matras was not able to find complete blueprints of the Citadel, and this was the the only way he could explain that phenomenon. At the moment Matras is searching for additional information. He has already found out that the Demon Prince and Ranku in the Tower of Infinitum might have blueprints of the Citadel, but the Body Destroyer and his Soul Dominators in the entrance hall won't even let him into the Base Tower, which has to be crossed to get to the Tower of Infinitum. Matras promises a rich reward to anybody who will procure the blueprints for him, and since Ranku and the Demon Prince have to be defeated anyway to reach Beleth, adventurers should by all means agree to help the Dwarf.

 

 

To aid them in their quest, Matras will provide his assitants with six pieces of Rough Ore, namely Rough Ore of Fire, of Water, of Earth, of Wind, of Darkness and of Divinity, which can be applied to equipment like regular Attribute stones. If someone is lucky, those ores will increase an existing Attribute of their weapon by 5 and an Attribute of their armour by 3, but, as with regular Attribute stones, there is a chance to fail. Experienced adventurers say that there might be a greater probability of success if one applies the Rough Ore only after entering the Steel Citadel. This may or may not be true. In any case, Matras is, apart from the blueprints, also intereted in the Red Stones the monsters in the Base Tower are carrying. The Base Tower is a two-storey labyrinth infested with Body Destroyers, Soul Dominators, Labyrinth Watchmen, Labyrinth Mystics, Labyrinth Captains, Labyrinth Seers, Passageway Captains, Passageway Guards and Passageway Mystics. Any of them might carry those Red Stones. Once somebody has collected 744 Stones, he or she can bring them back to Matras and receive a nice reward.

 

 

As mentioned above, the Steel Citadel is a complex structure consisting of three towers and Tully's Workshop. First of all, the resistance fighters must force their way through the labyrinth of the Base Tower. This labyrinth can be entered through two doors, the Door of Destruction and the Door of Darkness, on the left and the right side of the entrance hall. The monsters in the entrance hall will upon their death occasionally drop keys for those doors. The labyrinth itself, with shoulder-high walls, is at first a bit confusing, but if one keeps going in a general northerly direction, one will sooner or later arrive at a long, upward-sloping corridor - the exit of the labyrinth. Some people may be in doubt whether they should enter the labyrinth through the Door of Destruction or the Door of Darkness. If one enters through the Door of Destruction, the way is relatively short, while the way from the Door of Darkness through the labyrinth is a bit longer. Strange as it may sound, but adventurers intending to progress through the Steel Citadel might want to take the long way. First, because this gives them more opportunities to collect the Red Stones for Matras, but mainly because the monsters roaming the labyrinth will on occasion drop a key to the Door of Blood that will be needed later on.

 

 

The long passageway is also infested with monsters, but there is no more danger of getting lost. It is a simple matter of storming straight upslope and killing anything that dares stepping in the way. A great, vaulted hall, dimly illuminated by little lamps giving off a greenish, phosphorescent glow marks the half-way point. Then, after another length of corridor, there will suddenly be a suspicious-looking Human mystic who calls himself Sailiang. He claims to have waited in this spot for a long time (how could he have survived among all those monsters?), only to tell adventurers that they must disguise themselves as demons if they want to survive the following trials. This disguise is achieved by showering onself with the warm blood of monsters. The Captains, Guards and Mystics living in the passageway the resistance fighters have just come through will sometimes drop whole bottles of blood. After a few seconds the blood will evaporate, therefore everybody has to be quick to pick the bottles up. Once they have stored them in their packs, the blood will keep. Then, when every member of the group has a sufficent supply, they just have to pour the blood over their heads and Sailiang will teleport them into a mysterious room with a tightly closed door at the end. Unfortunately this door is guarded by a "Cosmic Scout", a monster which is very skilled in using paralysing magic.

 

 

Only after this guardian is killed - which is very hard - the Tower of Infinitum can be entered, where the Demon Prince and, on the third floor, Ranku reside. It is those two who carry the blueprints of the Steel Citadel the architect Matras is so much interested in. First the Demon Prince has to be defeated. Although in the Underworld he is a noble in his own right, here in the Steel Citadel he is taking orders from Darion, who has made him responsible for all defence measures in the Tower of Infinitum. The Demon Prince is able to plant a Dark Seed in the body of attackers which will gradually eat up their life force and, once it is fully grown, paralyse them. If attackers should escape his Dark Seeds or his scythe-like wings and push him too hard, the Demon Prince can use a spell that will greatly increase his resistance against physical and magical damage. While this Ultimate Defence is in effect, he will not be able to move, but for such cases he has his fiendish minions who can in turn Root attackers, then curse them so that they will easily surrender to their master's next Dark attack, or, as if that would not be enough, pummel them with close-distance physical attacks. But if adventurers should succeed in overcoming the Demon Prince, they will not only be rewarded with a blueprint of the Steel Citadel and other valuables he is carrying on him (like for example pieces to fashion an Arcana Mace), but also with a so-called "Transform Sealbook" that will it make possible for them to assume the outer shape of the Demon Prince for half an hour, while also being able to use his amazing combat skills.

 

 

When the Demon Prince has fallen, a magical crystal will appear, which teleports the adventurers up on the third floor of the Tower of Infinitum, where Ranku and his Eidolon minions are living. While the central column below was surrounded by greenish circles of light, the glow here is yellow. Ranku has signed a contract with Beleth at the same time as Darion, in which they both were hired to help the "Devil" during the planned invasion and conquest of the mainland. But since that might still take some time, Ranku serves at the moment as security officer, with orders to prevent any intruders from penetrating deeper into the Steel Citadel. Ranku is a formidable fighter: with his heavy sword he can stun any attacker, only to destroy them immediately afterwards with a Dark Explosion, while his minions will use an evil spell to raise the attackers' magical energy consumption and then finish them off in close-hand melee fighting.

 

 

The next challenge is Tully's Workshop, where not only the crazy Dwarf himself and his Banshee minions are living, but also a large number of his Devotees and Apostles. Tully may not be the greatest fighter, but he and his minions are quite skillful in slowing attackers down, even stunning them into immobility, so that they can finish them off at their leisure. Quite a different kettle of fish is general Darion, who has set up his command post in Tully's Workshop and is personally trying to make a last stand against the rebels. Darion and his officers must be defeated, only then will it be possible to proceed to the Tower of Naia and take on Beleth himself. But everybody should keep in mind that here, deep in the lair of the "Devil", the magic is very strong. They must conquer each room, which is guarded by an Epidos, within a certain time limit, otherwise all their efforts will have been in vain. Originally there had been a large number of elemental spirits on the island, which Beleth, who tolerated no force beside him, had imprisoned soon after his arrival in the basement of the Tower of Naia. In the course of time, these spirits were ever more affected by Beleth's magic permeating the building, until they coalesced und were transformed into four humanoid warriors - the Epidos. They have an unstable shape and mind, but they are still slightly conscious of their previous nature as elemental spirits. Each of the Epidos sees itself as a representation of an element: Fire, Water, Air and Earth. They can be discerned by their slightly different colour and they also use different elemental magic: Surrender to Fire, Surrender to Water etc. Everybody be warned: the Epidos are incredibly strong adversaries.

 

 

It is only after all four Epidos have been killed that a teleportation crystal will appear, by means of which the whole group can reach Beleth's throne room. Beleth has had a lot of time to further refine the mirror magic he had already used at the Battle of the Wastelands to kill Summoner Sejarr. Now he is able to create 16 images of himself, not just optical illusions but physical copies which can surround and autonomously attack anybody daring to disturb him. Apart from that, he has of course mastered the control of fire. He and all of his copies can incinerate whole groups of attackers with fearsome balls of flame, even if they are spread out over a wide area. But Beleth is wearing valuable jewelry with magical properties, so it might well be worth it to take him on - apart from the moral obligation everybody has to remove this "Devil" from the face of the earth.

 

Credits to: Lineage2Media  ;)