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The Infernal Tower (homethread)
#410930 - Fri Oct 31 2003 10:09 AM
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Dominor Malum's belltower is an impressive structure. It stands upon a hill that raises it slightly above the surrounding forest, offering a distant view. It is a stone tower, liberally decorated with hideous gargoyles. The topmost floor is mostly open to the elements, and a keen observer on the ground can see the giant bells underneath the stone-tile roof. A heavy, dark wooden door is the only entrance to the tower. The door has no handles, but it does feature a huge, hideous door-knocker.
Inside, the first floor is dedicated to living space, and the front door opens up into a cozy living room, complete with blazing fireplace. The furniture, though fine in quality, is mostly covered in a thin layer of yellow dust. Stone stairs lead up to the laboratory above. The entire tower smells vaguely of sulfer.
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Quantus tremor est futurus
Quando Judex est venturus
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Interesting. Makes my squat little shop seem fairly boring. Maybe I ought to give myself a few extra floors, just to be more impressive? Nah, might scare away customers, and would be too much effort to synth anyways. I don't fancy putting the building in low-grav that long, it'd be draining.
These are Rakeela's thoughts as he approaches Malum's tower, following the directions he had previously received in his shop. (Shameless plug: Rakeela's Mage-Smithing Services!)
He lifts the knocker and drops it with a resounding, echoing THUD. He then snorts, clearing his nose of the sulphuric smell that clings to the tower.
After that, he simply waits patiently for someone to answer the door.
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There is a pause before the door shudders, and slowly grinds open, revealing the quaint living room with its ever-burning fireplace. Malum's voice comes from up above. "I'm up here in the laboratory. Please let yourself in." Then, as an afterthought, he adds "Unless you're a demon, in which case I warn you against entering."
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Rakeela notes the self-opening door with a raised eyebrow, then calls up.
"Last I checked, I wasn't, so I ought to be fine."
He walks in and sits on a chair... an action accompanied by a cloud of rather foul-smelling yellow dust.
Where follows an abrupt and violent sneezing attack.
In between sneezes, he yells up to the laboratory. "Malum! *sneeze* Ho-ha-*sneeze* Can you *sneeze* Ca-*sneeze* you stand *sneeze* all this dust?"
Regaining control of his nose, he says in a rather pinched voice, "I'll wait down here, wouldn't want to interrupt anything important."
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"Nothing important," Malum says, coming down the stone stairs. "Just finishing applying a seal to a bottle." He smiles as he sees who his visitor is. "Hello Rakeela. I promised you tea, didn't I?" Malum props open the door leading to the tower's small, medieval kitchen, and starts rummaging around. "Sorry about the sulfer dust. It falls from the bell above. I tried keeping it cleaned away for a few months, but it didn't do much good." Malum steps out of the kitchen with a kettle in his left hand. He sets it on the fireplace mantle, and a previously invisible pattern on the stone begins to glow. "They called it a side-effect. I call it a reminder."
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Quantus tremor est futurus
Quando Judex est venturus
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Rakeela snorts a bit, clearing his nose, but then talks normally again.
"Sorry about my rather ingracious entrance, and yes, tea would be greatly appreciated, thank you. But what is the dust a reminder of, and why should it fall from the bell?"
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Malum frowns slightly. "As I may have mentioned, I am a summoner. I can call to me animals, beasts, men, even objects. But my specialty is in extra-planar creatures, particularly demons. I've made a special study of demons over the years."
"If you know what you're doing, trade with demons can be quite profitable. Not unlike the bartering between normal merchants, you can learn how to recieve more than you give. The lens-box you repaired was one of my more profitable aquisitions. The bell that rests in this tower is another."
The kettle begins to pipe, and Malum pulls it off the heating sigil. Conveniently the kettle is rigged to be lifted by his hook. He poors the hot water into a quaint english teapot. "The lens-box was fragile. I've looked over what I negotiated for, and found the mistake that allowed for that. It was just an inconvenience, but the demon in question did it in the hopes I would try to contact him again." He smiles slightly. "A quick study revealed what a bad idea that would have been. Fortunately for the demon, plenty of summoners would have been angry and hasty enough to try again."
"The bell, which possesses various powers that I'd rather not explain, for security reasons you see, also has 'accidental' side effects. It has a narrow planar tunnel leading straight into one of the Hells, so it constantly snows sulfer." He carefully pours out two cups of steaming red tea. "I think they intended it as a reminder." He grins wickedly. "They think they're taking me back with them to Hell, you see."
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Quantus tremor est futurus
Quando Judex est venturus
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Rakeela is fascinated, as he always is by such discussions. A moment ago, he'd thought he was perhaps too forward in asking questions so soon. Apparently, this isn't the case.
"Very interesting. I regret I couldn't do a better job on the lensbox, and thank you very much for enlightening me. I had worried myself as too forward. In any case, I can help you in this too, and do a better job of it. One other question, though. What would have happened if you had went back to the demon?"
He stands up, and his eyes unfocus as he talks. He's probing the area around him for distortions of the usual fabric of space - distortions such as might be caused by the aforementioned tunnel.
"I can collapse the tunnel, but it really depends upon how much of the bell's abilities are drawn from it. If you're fairly certain it wouldn't hurt anything, I could easily stop this sulphuric mess."
His eyes refocus again, and he notices for the first time the cup of tea. He picks it up and looks curiosly at it. His eyes briefly unfocus, but only out of curiosity - he doesn't really expect to sense anything unusual in a cup of tea. "Why is this tea bright red?"
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