Approaching the Crunch

By the time that Astra arrived, Exotica's cell was quite crowded. Belboz and Captain Artur were still there, and his subordinates had by this time returned to report their failure to find the crown in any of the cells. "That just leaves your quarters to search then, Belboz," the captain said. "Just a formality, of course. I will come with you and carry out the search myself." He turned to his men. "The rest of you may leave. Wait for me outside the dungeon. This should only take a couple of minutes."

The necromancer turned dungeon master's quarters were quite close to Exotica's cell, which was fortunate as otherwise Belboz would never have had enough time to get there and hide the crown. Not that it was as well hidden as he would have liked, but he'd only had a moment. Had the crown been any ordinary artifact he could have cast an illusion spell on it good enough to deceive the captain. Unfortunately the magic of the crown's gem was strong enough that its red glow would pierce through any illusion - though luckily not through opaque material objects.

Reluctantly, he led the captain to his quarters and unlocked the door.

1. He manages to prevent the captain from finding the crown, whether by distracting him or by using magic.
2. The captain finds the crown and has Belboz locked up. Now Astra and Exotica are stuck.
3. The captain finds the crown and has Belboz locked up. Now Astra and Exotica are stuck. It occurs to Exotica that continuing to pretend to be Astra and marrying Fred might not be a bad idea, so long as Reaibn doesn't twig her true identity.
4. The captain finds the crown and, in a panic, Belboz kills him with a spell. Then in desperation he wants Astra to pretend to be the captain.
5. The captain finds the crown and, in a panic, Belboz kills him with a spell. But he's a necromancer, so can reanimate him.
6. The captain finds the crown, but Belboz manages to strike a deal with him.

Add New Option

Go Back

View Forward Story Tree
View Back Story Tree