MM1-5M: There May Be Worse Waiting For Us by zaqxsw
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No AI - This artwork was created entirely by hand or with traditional digital tools.
Description
“I don’t know of anything else that could be a threat… other than the vault’s defensives, and I’ve already shared everything I know about them with you.” Zharilee asserted.
Although he still doubted that she had told them everything she knew, Coran stepped away, turning toward the buried door with Tessele and Katerinin in his wake.
Roryn and the others had cleared away the remaining of the debris blocking the door, and the dwarven rogue was carefully examining the lock when they approached. Looking away from his work as they approached he declared; “The lock is pretty simple and there aren’t any traps or wards that I can detect.”
“There wouldn’t be any,” Zharilee announced as she arrived with Ysabel in tow. “The catacombs would have been accessible to allow my family to pay respect to our forebearers. We will not encounter anything dangerous until we reach the vaults.”
The lock proved to be little problem for Roryn; leaving the three warriors form the temple and Nykodaemous, who’s empathic link with Zharilee would alert her to any danger, to stand guard over their only way out, they descended the stairs, which were in remarkable condition and completely clear of debris… but below they could see flicking lights.
“There’s someone here,” Roryn whispered from the front of the group as they neared the bottom of the stairs, ahead of them was a labyrinth of arches and niches, each of which contained a small dais topped by a burning brazier.
“No… those are the urns of my forebearers, the continual flames represent the light of their eternal spirits,” Zharilee advised. “It was a common practice several centuries ago.” Then, after consulting her map of the catacombs, she started off into the maze announcing; “The vaults are this way.”
Following what appeared to be a nearly random series of turns, they final arrived at what the moon elf announced was the entrance to the vaults, although it appeared to be nothing more than just another burial niche. Reviewing the clues, she had uncovered regarding its defenses, Zharilee, Roryn and Ysabel all began careful examining the area. They were able to identify and disarm several physical traps, one of which would have unleashed a torrent of alchemist’s fire, while another would have dropped a massive block of stone weighting several tons on top of them. But the final trap was potentially the deadliest, a glyph of warding that would invoke a blade barrier, which both Zharilee and Tessele separately tried to dispel. A detect magic spell suggested that they had been successful, but there was no sure-fire way to determine that they had found all the traps, other than trying to open the hidden door.
“You should move back… just in case we missed something,” Roryn warned, taking a deep breath to steady himself.
Ushering Tessele, Zharilee and Katerinin toward the nearest corner, Coran noticed that Ysabel remained by the dwarf’s side, but before he could call to her she announced; “Two rogues are better than one… I’ll keep watch for anything we missed while you focus on the lock.”
Nodding his appreciation Roryn turned his attention to his task, while the tiefling continually scanner the perimeter of the door looking for any sign of a trap being triggered, as Coran reluctantly withdrew to cover with the others. After several minutes an audible click and the grinding of stone against stone announced the dwarf’s success, drawing the others out in time to see the entire niche slide to one side, revealing a dark passage beyond.
“Nothing to it,” Roryn announced with more than a hint of arrogance. “Hardly worth all that fuss.”
“That’s just the door,” Coran warned, turning a suspicious eye toward Zharilee. “There may be worse waiting for us.”
Comments (53)
very well Story.
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Very beautiful building and always interesting story
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Something a little different for me, but I needed an image to fill in this part of the story.
Very well done!
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Klasse story super building!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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I've been trying all the time to decipher what's in the bowl ... Until I realized it was supposed to be a flame ... Somehow I'm pretty out of my mind. LOL Super story and interesting render.
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Unfortunately the flame prop I have to use isn't very realistic.
Excellent!
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Ominous. Good work.
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Interesting story! Good work.
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Yeah, that was probably too easy - I'd be more than a little concerned.
Great page and a great illustration. It really communicates the environment they are in.
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I don't usually do images without a "character", but I needed something to carry the story forward.
if I had a 1/4 of your story telling imagination, I would have far more than I have
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All you need is an idea of where you want the story to go, an idea of what characters you want to have involved, a huge amount of rewriting and a thesaurus!
Excellent storytelling!
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Excellent
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Wonderful!
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Very nice work.
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well done
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Splendid storytelling as usual.
I did not know about that "portable hole" being fairly common. Well, I am not into the magical realm much :). But very interesting idea nevertheless.
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Since the inspiration for most of my series, like this one, is past RPG campaigns. I like to try and hold to the rules and description in the D&D rulebooks... Although I admit I've taken more than a few liberties here and there.
great story and I like the room. You're a writer. You're allowed to take creative liberties.
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I used an old set from DM that was sold under the name "Once Upon a Time" and stuck several of the "rooms" together.
Good story. We'll have to see what's beyond the door.
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Another terrific page. This is really a great story my friend! Can't wait for more!
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Unfortunately, this is where I'm hung up on the narratives... I know where the story is going and I have all the images done, but I'm tangled up in some of the details... Hopefully I'll find my way through my own plot twists soon.
Great story!
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nice job and story!
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Nice work .
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And now the fun truly begins!
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Unfortunately I'm still hung up on the remaining narratives... I know where I want to go with them, but I'm having trouble getting there.
Superb story and illustration!
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Wonderful render and story. I love how the different ways around the chambers reflect just what's going on with the characters trying to find their way. :)
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Great story and scene!
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The story is very interesting and your narrative catches the reader's attention immediately. The image is an excellent work and is very well described.. Image and text complement each other perfectly.
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Let's see, proceed ahead or turn and go back. Ha, ahead of course! :)
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Fantastic Image,
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Stunning.
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