The Town with The Tomb

In the world of Erdenes, there is a place in the south, where the winds are strong with the smell of the seas. This place is known as The Hidden Lands and it is home to a great number of secret treasures and hidden adventures, waiting for someone to stumble upon them and make their name known across the world. Within this place is a bustling harbor town on the northernmost point of the continent called Glory’s Coast that is home to all of the most ambitious adventurers that Erdenes has ever seen. All of these adventurers come to this town with one goal: to find the hidden secret of The Tomb of The Sands of Time.

When the town of Glory’s Coast was first built, it was an adventurer that gave up on finding the Tomb’s secret who built the first shop. An adventurer who was too injured to continue searching built the first house in the town. An adventurer who saw the sudden growth of the town built the harbor to bring in more adventurers. The first mayor of the town was an adventurer named Sevi Windstep, but that was over twenty years ago. Now, the town is bustling with commerce, filled with the sounds of both adventurers and the people who call Glory’s Coast their home.

On one day, the fifth day of Highbright, in the middle of the summer, there were four new would-be adventurers who had made it their goal to finally discover the Tomb’s secret. In a well-furnished tavern known as The Sea’s Embrace a tall half-orc in very fine, blue and red clothing sat impatiently at a table with a glaive and shield beside him. Before him were assorted papers and a small chest. The table had three other chairs that were empty, but as the sound of a bell rings and the door opens, the half-orc stood up suddenly to look toward the sound, only to sit back down, dejected. This man was Hal Sevenoaks, and he had come to Glory’s Coast to gather a group of strong adventurers to discover the secret of The Tomb of The Sands of Time. Hal was by no means a pushover, himself, though. His glaive and shield, despite their pristine appearance had saved Hal in a number of encounters with the deadly wildlands outside of Sal’tera, Hal’s hometown on the continent of N’daro.

Hal’s appearance, in general, would make most of the adventurers in Glory’s Coast take a second glance. Hal’s clothing was surprisingly fine, though not on the same level of quality as the nobles on the continents of Kohr or Aki-Jura, but would make most think he came from a wealthy background. He also wore a ring on his hand and a circlet around his head. Combined with the glaive and shield which showed no obvious signs of battle, the average adventurer would never think that Hal could even make a serious effort at trying to delve into the tomb that they all hoped to clear.

Hal, himself, had noticed the stares from the other adventurers in the tavern. He heard the chuckles from the corners of the room where the more experienced adventurers sat and drank. The worst of it came when a barmaid, a kind, older human woman, came and asked Hal which merchant guild he belonged to. It was clearly small talk, but after the hour he had spent being ogled at like a pixie in the desert, Hal finally felt like his time in Glory’s Coast would be a waste. Luckily, he finally found one of the people he had met earlier in the day who would help him achieve his goal.

As the door opened with a ring, a woman in crimson clothes walked in with a small bat-like imp on her shoulder. Hal had seen her in the streets of the town earlier that day, and after noticing the large book by her side and the imp with her, had invited her to join him for a business opportunity. Hal had, of course, also noticed the large, curling black horns, the black eyes with red irises, the golden skin, and the occasional pulse of dark, black blood flowing through her skin, but to Hal, the most important feature of this woman was the glowing, golden, celestial symbol on her forehead. Hal recognized it from a book he read as the mark of a child of an archangel. When he saw her out there, buying rations and adventuring supplies, he knew that she must be an adventurer, but even more so, that she had lived a life that would be told of in the greatest stories.

As she saw Hal, she approached him, sat her bag down from her back, set the imp down from her shoulder, and went to pull out a chair. Hal quickly stepped in to pull out a chair for her. The woman was slightly surprised by this and said in a small voice, “Thank you.” Hal could hear sadness in the woman’s voice, but he could also hear how she wanted to make her voice seem cheerful. Hal was raised on stories of all the greatest heroes that Erdenes had to offer and all of those heroes had one thing in common: pain. After hearing this woman’s voice, Hal knew that she would be a perfect adventurer.

Hal decided to speak up, asking, “What’s your name, then? My name is Hal Sevenoaks.”

The tavern suddenly got quiet at the mention of the name Sevenoaks. Hal had expected this, so he quickly continued, “I do think that we could make a great team, along with the other two that I have made offers to.” The woman spoke, but she was no louder than a whisper. “My name is Asyr, Asyr Moonriver. I hope that we can try and discover the Tomb’s secret, together.” She looked around shortly, then spoke even softer than normally, saying, “Are you actually one of the Sevenoaks? Everyone’s heard stories about Nathaniel Sevenoaks, but I didn’t know that he had children.” Hal was quiet for a moment. He eventually responded in a similarly hushed tone. “I am the youngest son of Nathaniel Sevenoaks, but I want to make my name on my own, not based on my father’s name.”

“So why don’t you use a different name than Sevenoaks?” Asyr asked.

“I could. My mother’s last name is Redwind,” Hal replied quickly.

“So why don’t you, if you don’t want to be connected to your father’s name?” Asyr asked after a pause.

Hal waited another pause before finally saying, “I have my reasons to use the name Sevenoaks, but I also have my reasons to not want to be associated with my father,” but Hal paused, eventually continuing, “I don’t feel comfortable getting into my past with you quite yet. I do hope that someday, I can tell you more about me and my past, but that day hasn’t come quite yet.”

Asyr sighed. Hal recognized it as a sigh of relief, rather than a sigh of disappointment, to which he responded with a similar sigh. Asyr then noticed the papers and chest on the table. She asked, “What are these papers, if you don’t mind me asking?” Hal grabbed the papers to clear some space, quickly tapping them in a stack on the table before placing them beneath the chest. He then added, “They’re a business contract. If we are able to make an agreement today, everyone can sign this contract and it will make things more official.” He noticed her confusion at his formality, then reassured, “I’m just doing this for my own sake. I want to make sure that everyone gets an equal share of the reward when we discover the Tomb’s secret.”

It was at this point that Asyr noticed that the room had remained silent until this point, when there was a small chuckle from someone in the corner of the room at Hal’s confidence. The rest of the room finally went back to their own conversations. Asyr looked down at the table. Hal noticed the way Asyr couldn’t meet his gaze, but he decided to move on. He called out into the tavern, “I’m ready to order some food over here!” The same older woman from earlier came over to the table. Hal then turned to Asyr and asked, “Do you want something to eat? I’ll pay.”

Asyr had clearly been spaced out, but snapped back when Hal mentioned food. She shook herself out of the distraction and turned to the woman to say, “I’ll have something simple. Do you have stew?” The woman nodded, turning to Hal. Hal thought for a moment before asking, “Asyr, does your companion over there need anything to eat?” Asyr was caught off-guard by Hal for the third time that day. First, when he asked her to meet with him about adventuring together. Second, when he pulled out her chair for her. Now, this. She glanced over at the imp that was now staring at Hal with one eye open. Asyr then turned back to Hal and responded, “Some fruits, if you can. Ulyx just ate before we got here, but, knowing him, he’ll find more room.” Hal turned back to the barmaid and ordered some fruit for Ulyx, the imp, a bowl of stew for himself, as well, and a pitcher of water and four glasses.

When Hal turned back to Asyr, he noticed that she had a slight smile on her face since mentioning Ulyx, her imp companion. He was going to ask about the imp, but the door opened with another jingle of the bell. The one who walked through the door this time was in very different gear than Asyr. Asyr, who wore fairly plain, common clothes with little armor, was in a different world than the one who walked into the tavern now. The first thing that people noticed was the sound of clanking armor. Then, as they looked to see where the sound came from, would notice the armor was of the finest quality and almost always limited to nobles or warriors of the Holy Erdeniin Church, the dominant religion across all of the four continents. Next, people noticed the holy mace that was being carried by this figure and the way that it glowed with a slight blue light. Finally, as the person approached, they noticed that this woman was a half-elemental, a person with the blood of the elemental planes. She had, specifically, the blood of a water elemental. Her appearance reflected this fact, with deep blue skin on her hands, but with slightly paler blue skin on her palms and head. Her hair was pulled back in a bun, but was long and wavy, with the color of the sea just before night, a slight, bluish purple.

The first thing Hal had noticed when he had seen this woman on the way into town, earlier that day, was the way that she carried herself with her eyes first. Most day laborers carried themselves with their feet first. Most nobles carried themselves with their chest first. Most adventurers carried themselves with the top of their head first. This woman, unlike most others, was always searching for something, and that intrigued Hal.

The first thing that Asyr noticed about this woman was the fact that she was already standing next to the table that she and Hal were sitting at. She had immediately walked over to Hal, and by the time that Asyr had processed her appearance, the woman was already talking to Hal. “You told me earlier that you would, without a doubt, discover the truth of The Tomb of the Sands of Time. Do you still intend to do so?” The way that the woman spoke was with a self-assured confidence. Asyr was still processing the woman’s statement when Hal responded, “Yes, I do. This is Asyr, who I hope will also be one of my compatriots. I’m Hal, if you would do me the honor of telling me your name.”

The woman took a slight pause, looked over the two sitting at the table, set her mace and the buckler on her back onto the floor, leaning against the table, like Hal’s spear and shield, then pulled out a chair and sat down, causing Hal to reach out, though he was too late to showcase his chivalry again. When she sat down, she reached her hand out to Hal, saying, “My name is Isha Arashi. Please call me Isha. Some within the church will call me Lady Arashi, but please do not call me that.” Hal reached out to grab her hand and shake it. He then said, “We only have one other person that we should be waiting on. In the meantime, is there something that you would like to eat or drink?” Isha thought for a moment, then raised her hand, causing the barmaid to come back over to the table, bringing the water and fruits on the way.

“Do you have any steamed fish dishes? I understand that it’s not as common on this continent, but we are on the coast.”

The barmaid seemed confused, but replied, “I’ll see what I can do, dear.”

“If not, whatever fish dish you suggest will do fine,” said Isha, unfazed by the clear denial of her request, “and if you have any alcohol from Aki-Jura, that would be lovely. If not, a large mug of ale, thank you.”

The barmaid then seemed confused in a different way. She had assumed that this woman was under pious oaths, so the request for alcohol hit her like a troll’s fist. The barmaid, however, had been working for a number of years at this point, so she just kept going with her business, setting the fruit over by Asyr and the pitcher of water by Hal. “The stew should be out soon for the two of you,” the woman said as she left, taking one final curious glance at Isha before she walked away.

Since Isha had entered the tavern, Ulyx had been hiding behind Asyr, away from the eyes of the holy woman, but when the fruit sat down on the table, his better judgement left him and he began to hungrily devour the fruit. Asyr gave a small laugh at the sight of Ulyx abandoning his fear of the church’s warrior for a plate of fruit. It was a laugh that seemed momentarily free of the sadness that was behind her eyes. Hal couldn’t help but smile at the sound of that small laugh. Hal finally asked, “You said that this one’s name is Ulyx, right?” Asyr responded, still watching Ulyx with a small grin, “Yes. We met each other…” Asyr trailed off, mid-sentence, before eventually finishing, “We met each other in a place that I don’t want to remember. We’ve been together for years now,” she giggled slightly, before continuing, “and there are some times when I don’t think he knows how important he is to me.”

Isha, at that moment, decided to speak up. “This is a lesser imp, correct? Diaboli minima? It- He is quite fascinating. May I examine his wings?”

Asyr picked up Ulyx, who by this point had gorged himself on various berries and was sleeping, and handed him to Isha. “Please be careful with his wings, they’re pretty fragile.”

Isha extended one of Ulyx’s wings to examine it, noting its bat-like appearance, but also noting that the skin had the red color and high temperature common among devils, even the lowest ones, like imps. Isha then carefully handed Ulyx back to Asyr, saying, “Fascinating. Do you happen to know how he reacts to extreme temperatures?”

Asyr thought for a moment, before saying, “He seems to be fine with heat. There was one time when he was sleeping, hanging from my mother’s fireplace. As for the cold, he doesn’t like it, but no more than me.”

At this time, the barmaid returned with two bowls of stew, a plate with a whole grilled fish, a large mug of a golden ale, and a basket of bread. Hal turned to the barmaid and handed her a gold coin, even though he could clearly tell that the coin was more than double the cost of the meal. The other two began to eat and drink, but Hal held off, clearly watching the door, waiting for the final member of the group to join them.

Isha noticed this and asked, “This final person, what are they like? What kind of skills do they bring to this group?”

Hal turned back, beaming brightly. “His name is Dorak “The Fist” Risei. He’s an adventurer now, but when I first saw him, he was a pit fighter in the town of Izek’s Pass. I saw him fight four or five times and he never lost any of those fights. One of those fights, he knocked out his opponent in the first minute of the fight. When he punches, his opponents will sometimes get burned or frozen. He also has a staff in the posters, but he never uses it in his fights.” Hal then noticed how close he had gotten to the other two and sat back down, sheepishly. “I apologize, I was a bit too excited and overstepped. I should have remained a bit more calm.”

Isha and Asyr, however, were staring at the seven-foot-tall half-dragon with bright red scales, dressed in monasterial attire with a staff on his back that happened to now be standing behind Hal’s chair. The man, who was clearly Dorak “The Fist” Risei, spoke up. “So, you happened to see me fight, huh? That’s why you clearly knew that I would be the greatest adventurer to ever live.” He spoke in a very boastful manner, but when his fists lit up with the glow of flames, ice, sparks, and wind, the people around him couldn’t help but wonder if he was actually everything that he said he was. Dorak grabbed the final chair, spun it around and sat backwards in it at the final spot at the table. Dorak called out, “I’ll get a roast chicken over here. Fancy boy over there’ll be paying for it. Bring out a bottle of Kohr Firewhiskey, too!”

Dorak then turned to the other two at the table, took a quick look up and down at their gear and asked, “So what do you two do? You with the horns, you look like you can probably cast spells, then Blue Girl over there looks like one of those church freaks, no offense.” Isha looked past Dorak to give a judging glance at Hal, then said, pointedly, “I can conjure lightning and wind just as well as you can. I also see that you learned very little from your time at Dao Shu. I don’t think you have earned the right to wear those robes.” As if to punctuate her statement, her mace at her side began to glow brighter and spark violently. Ulyx also had woken up and was glaring at Dorak from beside Asyr. Hal was about to speak up when Dorak leaned back in his chair and sighed.

“I can see that my words were a bit much. I didn’t mean anything bad by what I said, but I get that they were taken poorly.”

“Your words were more than ‘a bit much’, they were an indication of your character,” Isha said, her words filled with contempt.

“Hey, just because I don’t speak all fancy like you, Sparky, or like Fanboy, over there, doesn’t mean that I don’t deserve to wear these robes. I did my time at Dao Shu. I earned these robes. That said, I understand that the two of us just don’t mesh. I’ll just let my skills prove that I’m a valuable ally.”

Hal interjected, “That’s a great point that Dorak made earlier, though. What can everyone else do in battle? I have my glaive and shield. I typically try to be up in the front, protecting people and drawing the enemy’s attention. In a pinch, I’m also a good fighter. In a fight against a single big enemy, though, I prefer to use my shield.”

Asyr finally took the opportunity to speak up. “I can cast spells, like Dorak said. I can mostly do fire magic and holy magic. In a pinch, I can do some minor healing. I could do blood magic, but I hope things will never come to that.”

Dorak narrowed his eyes at the mention of fire magic, but then chuckled and said, “Fire magic, huh? If Sparky over there can do wind and lightning, then all I have left are just punches and ice.”

Isha jumped in to add, “I can conjure ice, as well. Storms, as I said.”

Dorak heartily laughed, “Then all I have are punches? You’re making me look useless, Sparky! Well, at least I know that I won all of my fights with these two fists. What else can you do, Sparky? Can you fly, too?”

Isha thought for a moment, then said, curiously, “I believe I could, if need be. Most of what I do, though, is holy magic. I also prefer to be on the front lines, if my armor and weapon were any indication. This mace isn’t simply for casting my spells.”

As Isha was finishing her explanation, the barmaid came over with a whole roasted chicken and a red glass bottle filled with an amber-colored alcohol. Dorak, to Isha’s and Asyr’s surprise, thanked the barmaid and, to no one’s surprise, grabbed the entire chicken and began tearing pieces off of it and hungrily munching. Isha muttered something about Ulyx having better manners than Dorak, but he didn’t hear it over the sounds of gnashing teeth and the glugs of alcohol.

Hal, then, opened the small chest he had set beside him. Inside it was a scroll and a bag. Moving his bowl of stew, which he had apparently finished during the time Isha and Dorak were arguing, he unfurled the scroll on the table, using the bag to hold it open. Asyr took a look at the contents of the scroll and gave a small, shocked gasp.

Hal, after a quick glance around the room, whispered to the table, “I got us some inside information about the tomb.”

Dorak gave an intrigued look in between chomps of chicken. Isha also took a moment to examine the scroll.

Hal then continued in a whisper, “As far as my information reveals, there are three main things to worry about in the tomb: traps, monsters, and the time limit. Everyone who enters into the tomb, from an outsider’s perspective, appears to immediately exit the tomb, typically covered in wounds. However, there have been no known fatalities of adventurers exploring the tomb. The reason this happens is because the tomb contains a powerful enchantment: the Sands of Time.”

Asyr asked, confused, “So the Sands of Time are real? I thought it was just a name because of that big hourglass door in the front of the tomb.”

“Apparently, the tomb has this enchantment and it will reset everything that happens in the tomb after an hour has passed since that door last opened. This means that the people who explore the tomb spend an hour in it, but after that, the tomb ejects them.”

Dorak interjected, “You mentioned something about monsters. What kind of monsters are we talking about?”

Hal pulled down a different sheet of the scroll. “Adventurers have been exploring this tomb for more than twenty years, but only one group has ever been able to clear the first three floors. No one knows how many total floors there are, but there are at least four and on each of the first three floors, there is a single, large, unnatural monster.”

Isha had been thinking deeply about what Hal was saying and asked, “Do you have any information on either the monsters or the traps that you had mentioned?”

“That’s our biggest issue. No matter what I did, no one would give me any information on the traps or monsters. That said,” Hal pulled out the stack of papers that he had placed under the chest earlier, then continued, “if we all agree to work together, this contract will also sign us up for the local Adventurer’s Guild. Once we are signed up as an adventuring party, we will be able to share information and discuss with other parties who have reached the same floor as us.”

Hal could see the wariness on the faces of the others, so he took out a pen and pot of ink and signed his name on the contract. Isha reached for the pen, but as she grabbed it, paused and asked, “Is there anything in this contract that we don’t know about that you plan on exploiting?” Hal reassured, “You can read the contract and rip it up if you find anything you do not fully trust.” Isha nodded, “I will hold you to that,” before signing her name below Hal’s.

Dorak snorted indignantly, “I don’t trust people who put their faith in a piece of paper, but I also understand this situation. I’ll sign this, but none of these words control me.”

The only one left was Asyr. She was deep in thought, but eventually asked while signing, “If we’re going to be an adventuring party, we clearly need a name.”

Dorak jumped to his feet, shouting, “I know, what about Dorak and the-” before receiving a death glare from Isha and backing down.

“We need a name that will be told in all the stories. Something that inspires others to be heroes, but also something that is uniquely us,” said Hal, looking at the others for something that they all had in common. Before him, he saw a plain-looking demon magician girl, a highly accomplished dragon brawler, and a wise warrior of the church. On the inside, Hal still saw a child who would do anything to be a hero. They were all too different. They had different goals, different pasts, different skills, but what was the same? Nothing?

Isha could practically read Hal’s thoughts on his face. She muttered to herself, exasperated, “Zhukiro! Atuo dao saisho yurasha!” No one else at the table could understand the language of the Tosho Islands where Isha grew up, but Dorak could understand one word that she had said.

“Yurasha.” Dorak said that single word and Hal and Asyr looked at him, confused. Isha clearly understood what the word meant, but the momentum of the moment was against her.

“What does that mean, Dorak?” asked Asyr.

“It’s a word that means heroes. I recognized it from a book from Dao Shu. I don’t know the rest of what she said, but we’re clearly heroes, right? It’s a perfect name for us!”

“That is perfect,” responded Asyr.

“Then that will be the name of our adventuring party! Yurasha!” said Hal, writing it on the final spot of the contract.

As the three were excited at the prospect of their new party’s name, Isha sat back in shock at what she had unwittingly created. None of the others had understood what she said. Worst of all, Dorak understood the one word of the phrase that had nothing to do with its meaning. Somehow, more of her focus was spent on the fact that she was now in a party with three idiots. As she thought this, the phrase only continued to ring true.

Zhukiro! Atuo dao saisho yurasha!

Despair! These are the world’s heroes!