Mizor (Chapter 3)

Template:Mizor nav Ah, another day, another endless series of death and bloodshed. Slaughtering the minions of evil gets to be a little monotonous after a while, they just keep coming back for more, one after the other, you can whack them, maul them, set them on fire or freeze them solid, they don't seem to care. I mean, when you kill a demon, where does it go? Back home, and its master summons it up again later. Makes you wonder if there's any point to the whole business, or if it's all just a big waste of time, they'll keep coming and there's nothing you can do about it. Maybe this Cain guy would have some answers, Akara said he was very wise.

It took time, but Mizor managed to ask Cain about it, and he had a ready answer. Yes, the greater demons simply bring their followers back; they quickly return to full strength if given any respite. Which is exactly why you need to kill the greater demon lords themselves; no one can bring them back once they are banished from the world. And the biggest demon lords of them all are the Three, one of whom is roaming the land and causing all of this misery. But to reach him, you first must find your way through the hordes of lesser evils he has left in his wake, and challenge him alone.

Clearly, Mizor had his work cut out for him, so he and his entourage returned to the dark wood. Moving quickly, they cleared a path to a black and greasy marsh, full of walking skeletons and goats on two legs. The goats might have been tolerable company if they weren't trying to kill him, but they had no sense of humor, or even much dignity; they made ridiculous noises as they died. How even a demon could live without dignity was unimaginable. In the middle of the marsh was a big, burnt-out building, with nothing inside but a ladder leading down to the cellars.

The building, Paige said, was the castle of a Countess who had lived there ages ago. She was an evil woman, who drank and bathed in the blood of a hundred virgin girls before she was sealed alive in the basement of her tower, which was then burnt to the ground. Ah, Mizor recalled, that must be what that odd tome he'd found in the stony fields was talking about. Strangest book, when he opened it, some guy started reading from it aloud, and Mizor couldn't find him anywhere. So, a decadent noble was killing young girls in the olden days. Why kill her by putting her in the basement, and then burn everything above the ground? Shouldn't you put her on the top story, then burn her tower? Sometimes, it seemed that the people in these lands lacked all common sense.

However... Mizor had learned that demons liked to hide in dark caves, and they often had useful things. That basement was as good a place as any, so Mizor led everyone down. At least, he tried to; bears don't do well on ladders. The bear-shaped imprint in the basement floor was a good warning that he was coming, but judging by the smell, there wasn't much alive in there. The place was completely empty, except for some treasure chests and stairs leading to another level of cellar. How many cellars would even a countess need? There couldn't be many.

On the next cellar level, they found all the monsters who were missing from the first level. Right by the stairs, there was a big nasty goat with a bunch of friends. When Mizor tried to move past them to get a little elbow room... there were ghosts down there! A powerful ghost was spitting lightning, and howling like a banshee!

Named Ghost: "We want blood! We want blood! The countess took all of ours!"

Mizor: "Whagarooloorss?!" (What do you want with blood? You have no use for it!)

Named Ghost: "We want blood! We want blood! You have some! Give it to us!"

Mizor: (Points to Named Goat) "Aahhm!" (What about him?)

Named Goat: (Brains Paige with a hammer.) "Hey, don't get me mixed up in this."

Mizor: "Ahhksrrsh." (I think you're being very selfish.) (Mauls Named Goat repeatedly.)

Named Ghost: "We want blood! We want blood! Ouch! Nice doggy!"

Wolf: "Yip! Whine!" (Sizzles with lightning.)

Mizor, Paige, and Oak Sage: "Yip! Whine! Not the Lightning Enchanted beastie!"

Everyone but Mizor died. Mizor lost every inch of fur on him, and again really wished they had something besides leathers in town. Leathers smell just terrible when burnt. Strangely, when he visited Kashya, she wasn't upset about Paige getting flash-fried to a crackly crunch. For a few thousand (a paltry sum, given what Mizor had in his war chest) she could resurrect her and send her into the fight again! Gosh. The veil between life and death was very thin in this part of the world. And Charsi had metal armor for sale! Scale mail, much better. Mizor bought a suit for Paige too, and returned to the forgotten tower.

On the fifth level below ground, Mizor finally found the Countess. She was alive... sort of... even after all this time. Surrounded by ghosts, goats, but no ghosts of goats, and a number of nearly naked nubile nymphs (try saying that when you're a Werebear) the Countess had grown fangs, a pallid complexion, and an unhealthy fondness for Anne Rice novels. She had gone beyond life and death... but not beyond having her arms ripped off by a claustrophobic Werebear. Who'd need five levels of cellars, anyway? No one has that much wine to store. But she did have money, a lot of it, and after leaving tower, Mizor could see another large building, almost within spitting distance; the monastery. He didn't like the look of it one bit.