Chapter #1171

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                       +      THE ADVENTURERS      +
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                           +      Epic VI      +
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+     Many of the locations, non-player characters, spells, and other     +
+   terms used in these stories are the property of Wizards of the Coast  +
+   which has in no way endorsed or authorized their use.  Any such       +
+   property contained within these stories are not representative of     +
+   Wizards of the Coast in any fashion.                                  +
+     The player characters depicted in these stories are copyright       +
+   1991-2024 by Thomas A. Miller.  Any resemblance to any persons        +
+   or characters either real or fictional is utterly coincidental.       +
+   Copying and/or distribution of these stories is permissible under     +
+   the sole condition that no money is made in the process.  In that     +
+   case, I hope you enjoy them!                                          +
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+                                                                         +
+   Kronos         ancient lich wizard                                    +
+                                                                         +
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+   Date:          7/9/586 C.Y. (Common Year)                             +
+   Time:          late morning                                           +
+   Place:         the Black Crown, within the Corusk Mountains           +
+   Climate:       cold                                                   +
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+   "I don't have to make a plan.  Because I already made one."           +
+     - Agent May, from _Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D._ episode _Face My Enemy_  +
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                   MCLXXI.  Plans Within Plans





  While others of the Bright Alliance have been dealing with various
matters, the lich Kronos has spent the last two weeks in his remote
fortress atop a high peak within the frigid Corusk Mountains.

Kronos:  (standing at a large table full of scrolls and notes)

  The first significant thing the lich had done upon returning to this
place was to utilize the powerful Throne of the Gods to determine the
location of the Scorpion Crown.  After that feat, he had needed a full
three days to recover his strength...time in which he had pondered a
number of topics.  First and foremost was the now-revealed (to him, at
least) destination of the wizards' next quest - and it would be a major
campaign indeed, with the goal of recovering the Scorpion Crown.  The
cursed artifact was indeed in Shattados' palace, which (as theorized
by some) lay within the half-buried ruins of Utaa, capital city of the
former Empire of Sulm.  The exploration of that place would be a great
challenge, as it spanned a vast expanse of land which was mostly buried
beneath the shifting desert sands.  The group would need to carefully
plan this endeavor...but first, Kronos wanted to speak with the ancient
sorceress Shemeya, trapped in time inside her strange tower - a tower
which would next appear three days from now.  Kronos, with his mastery
of time-related magic, was the only one of the wizards who could safely
enter that structure during the short time it interfaced with this world.
He did not plan to inform her of his knowledge regarding the crown, but
would rather bargain with her for the information and confirm that it
corresponded what he had learned on his own.  He strongly believed that
Shemeya would do whatever she could to help, since destroying the crown
would free the desert from its curse - and allow the sorceress to return
from her magical exile and once more walk the world of Oerth.
  Aside from that, there were the damaged artifacts that only Kronos had
the knowledge and power to repair.  The skyship, which he had created in
the past but which had been used by Belphanior and his team, had crashed
into the ocean several years ago.  Kronos had retrieved the wondrous item
himself, and brought it back here...where it had rested untouched ever
since.  He simply hadn't had the time to work on it, nor did he have the
time now.
  That applied to the other mighty artifact, the Loom of Ages, which had
been damaged during the great battle with the Crimson Blades at the weird
nexus known as the Center of Time.  Prior to that, Belphanior had employed
the item's powers to peer into the past and gain knowledge needed to help
him win certain battles.  Kronos wasn't even sure he could mend the broken
parts of this artifact, but even the attempt would require time and focus
that he didn't have, and hadn't had for a while now due to the events in
the Bright Desert.
  It had been an eventful year or two, to be sure - a span capped by the
battle with Rary, and the subsequent formation of the Bright Alliance.
As with the Cabal before it, the lich had initially had his reservations
about joining any effort or group at all.  He had historically been quite
iconoclastic and unwilling to be bothered with the problems of others.  At
the same time, he did monitor events in the outside world, and in the far-
distant past - a long time ago - he had been responsible for the welfare
of a significant number of people.  The possibility that he could now, in
modern times, again join forces with others and work toward common goals
had intrigued him no matter how hard he'd tried to disregard it.  After
much deliberation, he had made the decision to join the Cabal, and then
subsequently, to join the group known as the Bright Alliance.  The latter
was basically the former except not cloaked in secrecy...rather operating
in the open, some of its deeds and accomplishments apparent to others in
the world.  The deciding factor had been the power involved - eight other
archmagi (not to mention the associated wizards of somewhat lesser power
like Hope, Skektek, and Neera) meant an almost unfathomable amount of
collective magical experience and ability.  Not to mention that the group
would have the opportunity to consider and perhaps enlist new members in
the future, such as Tenser or possibly even Shemeya one day.
  To be sure, there had been other, similar groups in the Flanaess in the
past - and some of them were still active now.  Hundreds of years ago, an
alliance known as the Company of Seven had roamed the world (and even some
other worlds) and accomplished deeds whose effects were still felt today.
More recently, the adventuring group that became the Citadel of Eight had
eventually given way to the current Circle of Eight, whose membership had
been somewhat fluid over the last two decades.  There also existed a Ring
of Five, although its membership and motivations were the topic of much
debate (and most who thought they knew the answers were wrong).  And then
there existed other groups that could have become active players shaping
the events of the world, but never had; these included the Slayers of
Feuerhauch (a number of whom Belphanior or his various acquaintances had
encountered over the years) and Belphanior's former adventuring band as
well.  Last but surely not least were the patently evil groups...whether
the inactive or destroyed (such as the occupants of the former Fortress
of the Nine led by Xusia, or the more recently-defeated Crimson Blades).
While Kronos knew about all of these, he had never dabbled much in any of
their affairs until recent years.  His dealings with Belphanior, Parekh,
and the others had been an anomaly for the lich, but the results of those
collaborations could not be denied.  And so, after hiding from the world
for perhaps far too long, Kronos had decided to emerge from the shadows
and once more participate in events that might shape the world.
  And now...one such event would likely take place in the near future,
once the wizards had the information they needed and came up with a plan
to find the Scorpion Crown and wrest it from whoever or whatever guarded
it, beneath the deadly sands of the Bright Desert.  Kronos had previously
considered venturing into the long-buried Necropolis of Unaagh - a place
which was almost certainly filled with undead - and somehow recruit them
as footsoldiers for the eventual incursion to recover the Scorpion Crown.
Kronos likely had the means to bend other undead to his will, thanks to
the Book of the Dead given to him by Belphanior several years ago.  That
dark and powerful tome held many secrets, including means of influencing
various species of undead.  The elf had actually lied to his companions,
telling them he had destroyed the book; in reality, he had traded it to
the lich for assistance in other matters.  At any rate, while gathering
undead troops from the sunken necropolis would have been a grand idea,
Kronos now realized that there wasn't time to explore this option before
the impending quest for the Scorpion Crown.  At some point, however, he
did want to see exactly what lurked within that ancient burial ground; in
recent weeks, one of the alliance had jokingly asked about him possibly
knowing someone within the place.  It was far from a joke, however; about
two thousand years ago (it had become difficult to keep exact track of
time after all these centuries) Kronos had in fact spent some time in the
empire of Sulm.  This had been during his first life, before the strange
and unusual lichdom he had eventually attained; in Sulm, he had studied
magic and history for several years, and made the acquaintance of more
than one of the empire's accomplished wizards during his stay.  Despite
the vast amount of time that had passed since those days, it actually was
possible that Kronos might know some of the survivors of fallen Sulm...
assuming any indeed survived within the necropolis.
  There were other potential sources of undead - as well as treasure both
monetary and magical - beneath the desert sands.  Two such promising sites
were the ruins of Darkbridge Temple and the Pits of Azak-Kil; while those
bore further investigation, and would experience it eventually, the main
priority in the short term would be the Ruins of Utaa.  Although, Kronos
mused to himself, the others didn't yet know it.  Since he did, and would
validate the crown's location within the week, he was already thinking
toward ground forces other than ensorcelled undead.  Like many members
of the alliance, the lich had his own personal guards - everything from
white dragons...to huge skeletal warriors fashioned from the animated
remains of giants...to special iron golems with superior armor and weapons
and fire-breathing capability...to cloud golems...and more, some of which
none of his recent guests and allies had ever seen.
  But, he thought to himself, all of this was yet ahead of him and the
others.  The next step - which he would prepare for before returning to
the Bright Desert - was a second audience with the time-trapped Sulmish
mage Shemeya, in three days' time.  As before, he would predict the exact
location where her tower would reappear...and as before, he alone would
venture inside and confer with the imprisoned sorceress.





next:        Shemeya!
map:         http://www.peldor.com/world/atlas/bright_desert_1156.jpg
www:         http://www.peldor.com/download.html
homepage:    http://www.peldor.com/
email:       tmiller@peldor.com
released:    10/11/2024
notes:       This is not canon yet, but here's the rough intermixed
  timeline of Sulm and Kronos, which I created and used for reference
  while writing this episode:

rough year    how long ago?    event
------------------------------------------------------------------------
-1900 CY      2500 years       empire of Sulm came to prominence
-1500 CY      2100 years       Kronos born, lived, became a lich
-1450 CY      2050 years       Kronos visited Sulm at some point
-1400 CY      2000 years       Sulm began to decline
 -700 CY      1300 years       Sulm was cursed, became Bright Desert
  -50 CY       600 years       Kronos battled Al-Arakara, goes into coma

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