BOOK 3 | CHAPTER 1: HORGELON THUNDEREGG

Fig. 1

Horgelon Thunderegg was a retired wizard and built a Tower on a slight hill. The Tower contained the wealth and artifacts of Thunderegg. Thunderegg was benevolent and a town grew around The Tower. The Tower and the village were near an excavation site. The excavation site unearthed an ancient building. Thunderegg studied relics discovered at the excavation site.

Fig. 2

Thunderegg protected The People of the Town. In The Tower, Thunderegg taught The People of the Town about artifacts in his collection and relics from the excavation site. The People of the Town who learned from Thunderegg were The Students. The Excavator arrived with the Half-Human worker who carried a large satchel. Thunderegg was angry at the interruption. The Excavator spoke excited words. Thunderegg became excited.

The Students gathered around the table. The Half-Human worker emptied the satchel on the table before Thunderegg. The satchel contained a large wooden box reenforced with iron studs and bands. Thunderegg spoke strange words and moved his wing. The air in the room was difficult to breathe. There was the sound of metal twisting and a loud noise. The air became as normal. Thunderegg lifted the top off the box.

Fig. 3

Inside the box was another box. The box inside the box was made of unknown metal. Thunderegg spoke strange words and the air became hot. The Students could not breathe. There was the sound of metal tearing. The air returned to normal and The Students breathed. Thunderegg lifted the top off the box.

Fig. 4

Within the box were The Three Spheres. The Spheres sat on a bed of broken swords. The Spheres were made of gleaming black glass. They were opaque. The Students thought they could see faint light in the center of the spheres. Horgelon lifted the largest Sphere. The light inside the sphere glowed. A bolt of blue electricity sprung from The Sphere and struck the forehead of Horgelon. The bolt of electricity flowed between The Sphere and Horgelon. The Sphere hovered in the air next to Thunderegg. The Sphere possessed Thunderegg.

Fig. 5

When Possessed Thunderegg spoke his voice was different. He said he was imprisoned but now possessed a tool on this plane. He said he would dominate this plane. The Excavator tried to flee the room. The Sphere shot The Excavator with a ray of light in the shape of a screaming demon. The ray of light went through The Excavator's chest.

Fig. 6

Sithi, of The Students, spoke words of distraction to Possessed Thunderegg. Sithi said she would serve The Sphere Who Possessed Thunderegg. Metis, of The Students, stole the other two Spheres and put them in his pants. Metis was careful not to let the Spheres touch his flesh.

The Sphere Who Possessed Thunderegg spoke through him and said unknown words. A ball of light formed in the room. The ball of light grew and a tear in reality opened in its center. The Students could see beyond the tear's threshold a purple sky over ground of gray mist and gray dirt. A shape appeared in the mist. Through the tear came The Despairer.

Fig. 7

The head of The Despairer was covered in fur and had a long snout. From the mouth of The Despairer protruded two segmented antenna. Its body flesh was covered in a black exoskeleton. The Despairer was mounted on a large maggot. The Despairer stabbed The Students with its antenna and they died. Other students were afraid.

Sithi said again she would serve The Sphere. The Sphere determined she was lying. The Sphere swung itself at the head of Sithi and missed. Sithi and The Students ran out the door and down to the ground floor of The Tower. The Sphere Who Possessed Thunderegg and The Despairer pursued The Students. The Despairer spat liquid from its snout and the liquid cut a hole in the flesh of a Student. The Student bled to death.

The Students ran into The Gardens. In The Gardens was shrubbery sculpted in the shapes of strange creatures. The creatures were likenesses of creatures Horgelon encountered on his adventures. Matis the Halfling Student, hid behind a sculpted Wrather. Sithi, the Human Student, hesitated. The Sphere Who Possessed Thunderegg and The Despairer killed her.

The Three Cubes exploded out of the side of The Tower above. The Largest Cube was The Cube of Dufnarl. The Cube of Dufnarl confronted The Sphere Who Possessed Horgelon which was The Sphere of Selloc Dur. The Sphere of Selloc Dur said to Dufnarl, You could never defeat me.

Fig. 8

For it was Dufnarl, an ancient hero of might, trapped the consciousness of Selloc Dur, The Seventh Dominator, in The Sphere to sleep for all time. The minions of Selloc Dur, Rumlocknov and Ness'r, were also cast in Spheres. Dufnarl and his comrades, Symkar and Allywave, volunteered to have their minds placed in The Cubes. Spells were woven so Dufnarl and his friends would awaken in their Cube Form should the mind of Selloc Dur ever emerge from its slumber.

The Spheres of Symkar and Allywave confronted Metis, who carried The Spheres of Rumlocknov and Ness'r in his pants. Metis presented The Spheres.

Fig. 9

The air around The Cubes and The Spheres bent. The Cube of Dufnarl collided with The Sphere of Selloc Dur. The Cubes of Symkar and Allywave collided with The Sphers of Rumlocnov and Ness'r. The area was enveloped in energy.

Metis, the Halfling Student, awoke on a stone glyph. On one side was a jagged piece of crystal. On the other was The Despairer, unconscious. The stone glyph was at the bottom of a giant crater of fossilized magma. The clouds above were purple and pink. Above the clouds were shadows of flying creatures. The flying creatures were like snakes.

Fig. 1 "A Young Horgelon Thunderegg Battles an Orc," Benjamin Marra

Fig. 2 "A Retired Horgelon Thunderegg," Benjamin Marra
Fig. 3 "The Spheres Revealed," Benjamin Marra

Fig. 4 "The Sphere Who Possessed Horgelon Thunderegg," Benjamin Marra

Fig. 5 "The Death of The Excavator," Benjamin Marra
Fig. 6 "Sithi Swears Service to The Sphere of Selloc Dur," Benjamin Marra
Fig. 7 "A Despairer, with Mount, Arriving from The Plane of Dysphoria," Benjamin Marra
Fig. 8 "Dufnarl Battles Selloc Dur, The Seventh Dominator, In The Penultimate War," Benjamin Marra 
Fig. 9 "The Final Confrontation of Cube and Sphere," Benjamin Marra