Posted on uo.com

Mother Lode of Mages
Draconi Nov 22 2006 12:47PM

It was an unusual night at the Encyclopedia Magika, Moonglow’s premiere meeting hall for the local mages. A fair-sized crowd had gathered around a rather odd looking mage and his apprentice. He looked odd, at least, to the other mages, because he wore neither robe nor pointed hat, and instead preferred trousers and a short sleeved shirt. His apprentice was often quick to point out that due to the nature of their experiments it was easier to replace shirts and trousers than a fancy robe. Robes caught fire rather easily.

“All right, everyone! Calm down then, that’s right!” Kronos the mage was guiding people towards some seats or indicating good places to stand. Dexter, his apprentice, was hastily arranging the table upon which sat the object of their discussion. Dexter hadn’t seen it yet, since he’d only just arrived and his master had covered it with what he hoped wasn’t the guild’s silk tapestry.

“Oh, there you are!” a pleasant voice called out in the bustle. He turned to face a pretty young woman, robe slightly askew, heading towards the table.

“Melissa! I’m so glad thou couldst…”
“Ah! Melissa my dear!” Kronos cut in unexpectedly, quite oblivious to his apprentice.
“Thou’rt up to something, eh?” she coyly teased the mage, and he kissed her cheek.
“Ha! Well, you’ll see, you’ll see! There we are now… excuse me!” He had turned towards the crowd, “Everyone! Excuse me!”

“First, I’d like to welcome each and every one of your to this most auspicious occasion. I certainly have a bit of a surprise for you.” The crowd had respectfully quieted by now, and Dexter moved closer to his master.

“Before we begin, I’ll tell you where this object of interest came from. Now, I do admit, the story is secondhand, but it’s quite entertaining! So do listen, please.”

“It would seem a miner of no particular renown had made his way deep into the Lost Lands recently, a foolhardy venture, of course, considering recent events with the Ophidians, but who can understand how a menial worker thinks?” Dexter grimaced at the slight to non-mages.

“Anyways, apparently, he ran into a cache, no, dare I say, a mother lode even, of a most rare and curious geological specimen. What treasure digging story would be complete without a twist, though, eh? Haha. Well, it seems that the area was guarded by beasts most foul! He couldn’t even identify them, that’s how strange they were. But he still managed to make off with a rather large piece.”

“Ah, but that wasn’t all! Ha, no. Wherever the miner went, there would come a time where he’d run into animals and monsters that would attack him without cause! He fought a few, but pretty soon made it to the little town of Papua. Figuring the thing was cursed, he sold it off to a jeweler and left town. Well, my friends, that strange, mysterious object is with us today!”

Kronos turned to Dexter and said with an obviously conspiratorial tone: “Cost a pretty penny though, mind you!” The crowd seemed amused so far by the story, and Kronos walked to the edge of the table and caught a grip on the table covering.

“And so, my dear friends, here is the moment you’ve all been waiting for!” With an unusually dexterous flick of the wrist the silk cover slid off the object it’d been hiding.

“Oh!”
“…”
“Aha!”
“What on…?”
“Is that…?”

The varied gasps and murmurs of the crowd couldn’t have been more pleasing to Kronos. On the table sat a rock, not unlike obsidian, yet somehow darker. It was a blackness that seemed to attract the light, and, rather than reflect it back at the viewer, preferred instead to absorb it. Dexter couldn’t well tell, but it made the edges seem fuzzy.

“Master, what is this?” Dexter had pushed forward, eyes wide.
“Blackrock my boy, blackrock. Largest piece I’ve ever laid eyes on.”
The young apprentice shot Kronos an incredulous look.
“I can see that, master! But by the virtues, look at the size of it!”
“Aye! I barely believed it myself, but here it is, for truth.”

By now the crowd had surged around the table, and everyone from arch-mage to alchemist was trying to edge in closer for a good look. The lucky ones were already poking at it, a few even casting incantations under their breaths trying a few divinations.

Dexter grabbed Kronos by the arm and pointed roughly at the stone, his voice lowered to a hiss.
“Hence the ‘Art thou mad?’ tone to my voice, master. How many times hath this substance exploded in our experiments!”
Kronos idly replied, “I think… almost every time, I should think, yes.” Melissa had managed to get behind the table and he was trying to get her attention.
Dexter was unperturbed: “And how large were those pieces?”
“A pebble’s size, I suppose. Some a bit larger?” Kronos had sidled up to Melissa, arm still clenched by Dexter who’d followed along.
She had just noticed him and was halfway into a compliment before Dexter’s next question hit home.
“So, this rock, note I say rock, not pebble, shouldst it explode, how much more powerful will it be?”
“About a town block, I suppose, I don’t have my abacus here at the moment or I’d…”

The room had become rather quiet by that point, and Kronos looked up into a sea of worried faces. “What? Just nobody cast anything silly, alright?”

Someone should test it. Probably do best in the Star Room, right after a champ has been killed.

Posted on the UO.com Britannia News Network page:

Into the Mother Lode
by Anderson the Scribe Dec 1

"That poncy mage was right that's a LOT of blackrock," Vincent said, hefting his pick.

"And that's a very LARGE elemental, I hope the mage is as rich as he is poncy," Peter replied. He unslung his axe and rolled his shoulders. Turning to his companions, he said, "Marcel, thou hast the sharpest eyes keep watch all around. Theo, Jaxon, flank the beast and wait to loose until we have its attention. Faustus, thou and I must make the kill."

Faustus muttered something unintelligible. When Peter glared at him, he shrugged. "Come on, brother mine. 'Tis as good a day to die as any." With a roar, the fighters charged the blackrock elemental. The three archers waited until they were fully engaged, then sent arrows whistling over the fighters' heads. Most of the missiles bounced off harmlessly, but some of them seemed to penetrate and bits of blackrock rolled from the creature's head and shoulders.

Vincent circled wide, heading for the outcrop of blackrock. He was still several paces away when he saw something at his feet. "By the Virtues, it's everywhere!" he muttered. He dug his pick in the sand, unearthing a large chuck of blackrock, as large as the one the mage Kronos had displayed. He glanced up. Peter and Faustus were circling the elemental warily, dodging its heavy blows. Peter's axe seemed to be loosening the heavy stones that made up the creature's torso, and Faustus' war hammer blasted smaller bits off with every stroke. Vincent kept digging in the soft sand beneath his feet. He pulled up several more chunks before Marcel called to him.

"Vincent! To me! There are more creatures coming!"

Vincent didn't hesitate a moment before fleeing behind the archers' ranks. When he risked a look over his shoulder, he saw two hideous creatures, dark as the night; one a terrifying vortex of energy, one a misshapen blob that appeared to be the living essence of pollution. "Peter! Faustus! Hurry!"

Peter heard him and looked past his opponent at the approaching beasts. He turned and swung his axe at the elemental so fast he was able to sever its leg and sink the blade into its chest before it had time to react. Vincent watched wide-eyed as the creature slumped to the ground, separating into rubble as the energy that bound it together dissipated. He started to dash forward to gather some of the precious blackrock, but Peter grabbed his arm and pulled him into a headlong run.

--

"Oh, for a bottle of ale and a friendly barmaid!" Faustus sighed. The group had made it clear of the blackrock mother lode and was slogging through the desert on its way back to Papua.

"Amen, brother," Peter said. "I will be happier by far when we're safe in town."

"Safely drunk, thou shoudst say," Faustus retorted. "That was a fight I do not care to remember." He paused and squinted at Peter. "It was a nice bit of axework, though. Didst thou use a Double Strike to kill the elemental?"

"I did," Peter said, sounding slightly surprised. "I didn't think I would be able to manage that technique for some time yet, but apparently fighting that creature was "instructive."

Vincent frowned and peered at the chunk of blackrock he had been examining. "Perhaps not the creature, I felt a strange energy while I was digging; like every motion was slowed so I could understand it more deeply." Vincent said. "Blackrock is said to have many strange effects... and the Mother Lode must be a very high concentration indeed."

Faustus shrugged. "I for one prefer a slower training method, with less chance of a messy death."

Peter laughed. "Come on, lads. To Moonglow!"