Cabal: Siena the Queen Story Teaser

To make things more interesting, the GMs from Cabal EU have posted a story about the new dungeon, Altar of Siena B2F.

With a backstory to an awesome new dungeon, players can at least have a feel of what mystery lies behind the doom and gloom of the menacing dungeon.


Siena the Queen




"Humans."

The voice was quiet, and low enough that I could feel it rather than hear it.

"You dare to step into this place?"



Our giant adversary stood calmly in the middle of the room, a huge armoured figure that was easily three times taller than the big warrior standing to my left. The giant hefted the strange weapon it was holding in its left hand, and rested it against its shoulder.

"You dare to challenge... me? Six of you, when an army would not have been enough?"

It looked down at the wreckage between us, the strange greenish blood and the broken bodies of the Sha that ambushed us only moments before the giant appeared, with an apparent disinterest. It was already very clear that this opponent was going to be far tougher than any we had faced thus far in this corrupted temple.

"Come then." Its weapon made a whistling noise as it swung through the air and came to a stop pointing straight at us. It appeared to be a massive spear, but the blade that tipped it was bigger than a GreatSword, and glowed with a disturbing orange light. I would not wager on anyone being able to survive a direct hit with that monster, and that was without even considering the fact that we had no idea of the capabilities of our opponent. My two blades seemed almost weightless in my hands as I stepped forwards, my companions spreading out behind me.




4 hours earlier...




I detest the Mutant Forest, as it was popularly known. It reminded me more of a jungle than a forest, with near-constant rain and a humidity that my Desert background struggled to adapt to. The weather was terrible, and the various mutated beasts that infested it were not particularly dangerous, if you knew how to handle them. They were persistent though, and every single one of them considered humans as prey. The damned weather, combined with the constant threat of a sudden attack put me in an absolutely foul mood, and I guess my companions sensed that, so they wisely kept quiet. Oh yes, and I did not want to be here. Old loyalties and old promises had however conspired against me, and thus I found myself compelled to lead one half of an expedition to the very heart of the Mutant Forest. Luckily the first part of the journey was almost completed, but the real fun was only just beginning.

"We are getting close, now." One of my companions, a follower of the style of the Force Shielders, or simply Shielders, spoke. She appeared far too young to be here, but that was not my decision to make. Besides, the heavy scarring on her right arm was a memento from one of the near-constant battles in the war between Sage Procyon and Sage Capella, so she was used to combat.

"I recognise these ruins," she continued. "This is the area of the Entrita, so we should be careful."

"I am more worried about those who we are about to meet." My other companion, a Force Archer, was a tall, quiet man that had barely spoken since we arrived at the entrance to the Mutant Forest.

"We have our orders." I replied, ending that particular discussion. I did not agree with those orders, but as I said... Old loyalties, and old promises, can compel a man against his will. I really did not care to join forces with a group of Capella soldiers, and I wondered how that arrangement had been made. We were enemies, fighting a war half a continent away, and yet here we are... Some deals were obviously made behind the scenes, and it was not for the likes of me to question why.

We managed to make our way through the broken walls and shattered paving stones without attracting the attention of any of the giant Entrita that roamed this place, our Astral Bikes moving silently above the rubble. The Entrita were big and vicious, and some part of whatever twisted force drove their mutation had made them immune to most of the common stun abilities. They were not that dangerous, but I had no particular desire to fight one if I did not have to.

"Welcome." We heard the merchant before we saw him, a small figure in a dirty hooded robe, almost hidden in the shadows of the huge ruin behind him. I wondered why he had taken up residence in this corner of the ruins, in the middle of the forsaken Mutant Forest. A dealer in cheap Mithril parts, trash that served well enough to impress the gullible but had as much use in real combat as did training armour. It was rare, I will admit, and I had no idea of what his source was for the crafting components that he dealt in, but I could not imagine anyone buying this. Then again, perhaps the younger idiots who fought their way through to this hole was impressed enough to spend the money, who knows? What sort of a being chose to live here, in this hell? And more interestingly, how did he escape the notice of the Entrita?

I kept the disgust from my voice as I acknowledged his greeting. "I was told that you would be expecting us."

The disgusting creature nodded, smiling happily. "Yes, yes, I supplied the previous party as well, but this is better, much better, I was wrong about the previous ones," he stopped, spat something into the thick undergrowth behind him. "These will work, that I can almost promise you, my reputation was damaged by the previous set, but how was I to know? I would never enter that place by myself, oh no, but you can go and see for yourself."

I looked at my companions, and the confusion must have been clear on my face.

"He is probably talking about the previous expedition. They found something in the ruins," she pointed at the massive structure rising out of the plants and trees behind the merchant, "something big. We just got the name, Siena, and it involved the Plant Clan. I know they tried to kill it, but they could not enter deep enough into the ruins-"

"That is correct."

I spun around, ready to unsheath the twin blades from their scabbards on my back. Three people appear to have snuck up behind us, while we were dealing with the merchant. Their armour had the very distinctive blue-white colouring of Mithril, with the purple markings identifying them as ranking Capella. One Warrior, one Wizard, and one Force Blader. Pure luck, to have one of each of the six major fighting styles, or was this part of the arrangements? I could feel my companions moving behind me, and the tension was obvious in the thick, humid air.

The Capella wizard had stepped forwards, holding her hands out. "You are here for the same reason we are. I am very sure you don't like this any more than we do, but we all have our orders. Siena was determined to be a much greater problem than originally thought, based on the reports from the previous expeditions. We all know we cannot be seen working together, but this is a danger on a scale that will threaten all of Nevareth, and it needs to be stopped before it can be allowed to grow to a point where it cannot be contained any more." She smiled, but there was absolutely no warmth behind it. "So here we are, some of the best as I understood it. We don't have to like it, but we do have to follow orders."

The big warrior behind her stepped to the front, and looked at the little merchant with the same distaste that I felt. "You have the items? The ones you claim will allow us entry past the warp that leads into the deepest part of the ruin?" It was obvious that he did not believe that the merchant could possibly produce anything useful.

"Yes, yes, I have those. Indeed I do, you know me, these ones are not the promised, but they will lead deeper inside, perhaps, how was I to know the others would not work-"

"Just hand them over." The warrior cut off the merchant's rambling. I smiled, for a moment almost forgetting that we were enemies. The merchant sullenly produced 6 strange, glowing green orbs from a rusted crate half-hidden nest to him. "These better work, after the previous little mistake of yours."

I motioned my two companions back. "Keep an eye on these three. They are not our friends, that is very sure."

"That big guy," the Shielder pointed at the Capella Warrior, "Look at his rank. They are not messing around with this, sending someone of his rank out here."

I looked at the purple sigils indicating the rank, but I've been out of the conflict for too long. "Praetor something or other. It's all the same, everyone and his dog has the Praetor title-"

"Praetor of Brilliance. He is ranked just below the Quaestors. The Wizard and the Force Blader are ranked as Praetors of Will, but I have never seen someone of his rank out in the field." The Archer's voice was tinged with respect. "They are taking this seriously."

"So what does that make you two then?" I made no secret of the fact that I considered the ranks to be meaningless. I myself was without title at the moment, from choice, and I paid no attention to the various ranks.

"Knight of Valor, and he's a Knight of Devotion." I nodded, as if that information meant anything to me. "Good. Let's form up and get started then. Stay sharp, because I don't trust these people, and I definitely do not trust this little worm with his 'special items'."

They nodded, and I allowed my personal shields to fade for a moment, and checked and refreshed them. The movements, and the flow of Force was a second nature to me after all this time. One shield up, another, reinforcing the first. I extended the Force through my legs and arms, increasing my reaction time, making me harder to hit in battle, and then as a last measure allowed the Force to flow from me into the two bound blades on my back, increasing their attack power. I could see my companions and the Capella soldiers going through the same motions, each using skills and techniques from their specific battle styles. There was another brief moment of tension when the Capella Warrior extended one of his skills to include myself and my two companions, before I lowered a part of my defences and allow him to strengthen us as well as his companions.

I moved to the still-silent merchant - apparently he was offended, but at least he was quiet now - and took three of the strange green orbs. They were uncomfortably warm in my hands, a damp heat and a smell that reminded me more of decomposing plant matter than anything else. Perfect for this hellhole. Just perfect.

"Let's go."

The six of us approached the huge ruin, wary of the surroundings and of each other. There was a small gap at the base of the ruins, that I did not notice before. Strange. It appeared to be covered a field similar to that at the entrance to the common warp gates, but with a sickly green colour. I could feel the orb in my hand grow warmer and warmer as I approached, and it was a most unpleasant sensation. I took a deep breath, and stepped into the field.




5 days ago...




"You will, of course, go."

I stood without answering for a long moment, admiring the view from the big private residence. That statement, coming from the Sage himself, was not a suggestion. The Sage did not make suggestions, he gave orders. Damn the man. He had found me where I had thought myself comfortably hidden in obscurity, removed from the war, the fighting, the politics, but somehow his people had found me. Or, it was more likely, he had always known where I was, and simply allowed me the illusion of obscurity until he needed me. Damn him. He knew me, and he knew that whatever else I might be I was loyal, unquestioningly so. I owed him my life, many times over, and he was well aware of this. So he had reached out from here, in this office, given some orders, and here I was.

"You will meet with some Capella," his voice did not even change as he mentioned the name of his most hated enemy, "and you will join forces with them. If these reports are to be believed this Siena is behind the recent activity of the Plant Clan in the Mutated Forest. We cannot divert a large force to deal with this, and any overt actions in there will draw a reaction from the Capella forces. Going by the reports of Heill himself we need to take care of this matter before it becomes a real problem. It was him who suggested this impromptu alliance, and I can understand the logic behind his suggestion, distasteful as it may be."

I nodded, wondering not for the first time why he had found me and brought me here. Surely he had more than enough people that could go, that would be happy to go.

He must have sensed the direction of my thoughts, or something in my face betrayed me. "You are still one of the best. I know you will be able to do what must be done here. You are not filled with hate like so many others that I might have called on, and you have... other attributes that are very well suited for this role." I silently completed the sentence.

...and you are expendable, should anything go wrong.

Well, what could I do? There was no choice here.

"When do I leave?"


Credits: Cabal EU