To All of the Shadow Court,

There is an urgent task I need all members of the Court - past and present - to perform. We may include others, but please; only those who respect the protection of the magical craft should attend; not those who would seek to acquire for personal gain.

I require the hearts of 5 shadow iron elementals.

I require 40 sheets of frostwood, 40 sheets of oak, 40 sheets of bloodwood, 40 sheets of heartwood.

I require two dark sapphire stones hewn from the darkest stone and one white pearl, retrieved from the deepest sea.

I require 5 keys, crafted of exquisite quality, blessed in the distant corners of the land.

I require 2 pieces of blackrock (these will be returned to the donator, as I am simply using the essence, and will 'test' them).

Finally, I require these items to be taken to a powerful confluence of magical energies where I shall attempt to weave a ritual about the ingredients.

I believe this would be the time for me to request official assistance from Gorthyn to form his cadre of Shadow Courtiers who will protect and assist in the gathering of these items, and in making sure that we are not interrupted while executing the final stage of this process.

While I will not reveal the exact reasons at this time, the work here should protect us from some... interesting times that are coming.

Signed,

Muldran.

All,

I would seek a meeting with all Courtiers tonight; I need to collect these items, and then prepare the ritual.

Bertrand had managed to mine through several nasty columns of dirty rock to gain a prized dark sapphire - and Chippy had brought a tourquoise gem, which she thought may have been some use.

Graham had nearly sunk the Shadow Scourt in the act of retrieveing a white pearl, according to Bert. Graham had also pursaded Ivor to collect the wood that was required.

That left the hearts of the Shadow Iron Elementals. Roxanne, Chippy and Bertrand together with Mul managed to get the hearts of two elementals, after venturing into Felucca. So we still need a few more...

And as for the keys? Well, we're still trying to find a good tinkerererer.

...and with a little more work, Muldran collected a heart of one more shadow elemental.

Judging carefully what he did next, Muldran tracked down and imprisoned a Crystal Elemental, and gathered it's heart, next to one of the evil Nether Vortices.

The five keys turned out to be simple, as Emma Emalene handed him five finely tuned keys.

And so everything was prepared... and on Wednesday, it looks like Muldran's going to drag people down into a hidden place, where he's going to call upon many different types of magic in an effort to safeguard people from Blackrock.

But what's he going to do? Try and precipitate the end of the world?

...going to be starting 8:30pm ish; I have to make food...

Muldran's expedition to create several black boxes had been a success! Well, sort of. Since the boxes were not black, but red. And they hadn't actually tested them. And Muldran's one was stolen by a rogue demon. But apart from that everything had gone well.

The start of the expedition saw several different groups come together - Muldran, of course, and Bertrand and Graham of the Shadow Court. Taggart and Philip Augustin of the Knights Templar. Flame and Mord Mhor from the Bloodguard. Gwen of the Elves offered her assistance. Cerys and Ultimor Slowtree. Kaelyn, Natalie and Ivan the cook, Tane Darkbane, Stewan Seagull, Sir Hawk, Garrison Darker, Lann'Al and the mysterious Doyle Stormraven (and, eventually, the equally enigmatic Na-Pa-Sa-Ram.)



Listening to Muldran's rather rambling explanation, the group soon found out that they would be escorting the slightly energetic mage to the Wisp Dungeon, where he would perform a ritual to summon some 'black boxes' - things that he hoped would prevent the effects of blackrock from harming people. As the group pointed out, it would have to be very small people to fit them in boxes, but Muldran did state that everyone had to start somewhere...

Within the Wisp Dungeon, the group were confronted and confounded by Muldran's stunning lack of direction sense, but to the surprise of Courtiers Graham and Bertrand, Muldran managed to lead the group to the chamber known as the remembrance room, without any of them being clocked by the creatures.



When there, Muldran performed the ritual, using the items that he had gathered with the Court in the previous week. And with a shimmer of light, the boxes appeared. Muldran counted five of them... But it was only a brief moment before Cerys pointed out that the black boxes were... red.

Muldran wondered if this was to do with a lack of a concentration of evil energy. Flame suggested an alternate location; the Void Chamber where many people had fought and died against a seemingly unstoppable foe.

The expedition then set out for the other side of Ilshenar, and soon found themselves (with only Muldran's boots worse for wear) in the Void Chamber.



Dropping the boxes in the strange 'rift' Muldran seemed satisfied that the boxes had received enough energy to charge them up... and that they could now be used to guard people against the effects of Blackrock.

Of course, he needed a way for the boxes to actually be tested - and what better way than by those who were already present.

With reluctance, Kaelyn accepted one of the boxes. Flame seemed more than happy at first, but as Muldran revealed that he wasn't sure how the things actually worked, she began to look a little upset. Taggart took one without question, his trusting nature not entirely eroded by years of Muldran's madcap schemes. Lann'al took the fourth box, and Muldran kept the fifth after offering it to Cerys, who politely refused. Who said she hasn't learnt anything from the Umbra University lectures!

Muldran reminded everyone that his method to protect people from blackrock was only one of several; he noted that Callum Fitzhugh seemed to have a plan to protect people from the Blackrock, but he indicated that he didn't think it would work... but he did encourage people to track down the elusive Courtier, and offer their help to him.

Returning to Trinsic, the group found a dead body - and a potential reason as they approached the gates. A huge demon stood there, and as Muldran stepped forward, he was accosted by the creature and it's minion (the demon referred to the minion as 'Lurtz') and the fifth box was stolen as Muldran fumbled it trying to cast a spell.



Throwing spells at the Demon (and not damaging it that much) Muldran managed to get the thing to retreat, but it had the fifth box. Muldran suggested that people test out the boxes, since he'd need to craft some more (after being reminded that he could make more by Lann'al - seems the absent minded old mage is suffering from blackrock-poisoning!)

As Kaelyn came to the nasty conclusion that Muldran had somehow had an involvement in the demon's appearance, the creature showed up again - and Muldran took that moment as a great way to make an exit, summoning a gate, and slipping away.

Leaving a group of very confused people, in possession of several magical boxes, and no doubt, the nagging suspicion that the seemingly harmless mage might have stitched them up...

If I've missed anyone out, my apologies! Please post your names, and write anything that you think may be useful in your research and examination of the boxes...