Hero Quest, episode sixteen
The King of the Faceless, part three
Character Sheet
Race: elf
Class: bard
Background: scholar/street urchin
You look at the bust in your hand, then back at him. He seems uneasy and uncertain. You brandish it and he recoils. What is the bust’s significance? Was this the visage he bore long ago? You wonder what leverage it might give you.
“Now will you negotiate?” You ask.
He hesitates, then nods. “If you wish.”
You’re almost taken aback by his sudden meekness. You look at your brother’s faceless body, then his face etched into the wall. “You will hand over my brother’s face and in return, I’ll hand over yours.”
“Hand over mine first.”
“No.”
“…Very well.”
He steps reluctantly over to the wall and places a hand on your brother’s face, then pulls. The face changes from stone to sickly grey flesh, wreathed in spectral light, and comes free of the wall. It hangs loosely in his hand.
He walks over to you. From your hand, the bust gazes up at you menacingly. You shiver.
He stops several paces from you. “Now what, mortal?”
“Now you’ll reunite my brother with his face, then we will leave.”
“And the bust?”
“When we’re safely outside, I’ll leave it at the entrance. You can retrieve it from there.”
He hesitates, before stepping up before you and your brother and reaches for him. Then the king twists, cracking you over the head with a gauntleted hand. Pain explodes through your temple. Stars swim in your vision. The chamber spins and you’re on the ground. You clutch the bust, but he bears down on you, grabbing at it. His strength is unbelievable.
“Give it to me,” he howls. His voice reverberates through you.
You struggle in vain. Your brother’s body stands still, making no move to aid you. Nearby, the brazier burns brightly. You cannot get out from beneath him.
He grabs at the bust, pulling. You manage to slip it into your other hand, yank your hand free, and toss the bust into the brazier.
“No!” He roars, chasing after it.
It lands in the midst of the fire and begins crackling. He goes stiff and rigid. “What have you done?” He murmurs, with his back to you.
You stand, looking around. Where is the face? No longer in the king’s hands… there, discarded the hall’s far back corner. He must have tossed it aside when he attacked you.
Within the brazier, the bust glows red, smoking and sizzling. It cracks and sparks erupt upwards. The king begins smoking as well. He turns. Where once was the void of his face, is now a churning maelstrom of flame.
“What have you done?” He roars in a voice like a raging inferno. As he speaks, a wave of blistering heat washes over you.
Cracks form in the walls and floor, issuing forth smoke and heat. The hall is suddenly so hot. Sweat prickles your brow.
The king steps forward, and a deep rumbling arises from the depths. Tongues of flame flash from the growing cracks.
The king reaches for you. His gauntlet glows with molten light.
Thank you for joining me on this adventure.