Located below is the ending to the quest from our C-Term 2016 Writing for Games: Characters course at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Each student had their own character, and everyone had to write their own ending to the story. Hearing more than 20 different endings to the same initial story was something that we can't forget. With their quest so close to completion, the members of Treacherous Pass are now confronted by the very individuals they threw off the cliffs of High Reach, risen by the nefarious evil mage who had been in pursuit of their allies, the Miscato Mosquitos. Now as the sun falls below the horizon, the armored soldiers begin their assault upon Jurmund and the four members of Treacherous Pass.
With the horde approaching, the four enter their formation; their vanguard comprised of Eclipse, Scielle and Tryne, with Pleasant and Jurmund supporting from the rear. With the gap between the two forces rapidly closing, Tryne mutters something to himself, and the air around him begins to shimmer with an ethereal aura of hostility. Eclipse and Scielle immediately begin to distance themselves from Tryne, knowing all too well that that the phantasm does not easily differentiate between friend and foe. At the same time, Pleasant begins chanting in a guttural language, but with a lack of fauna in the desert it is unclear how effective his magic will be. The clanging of steel can be heard ringing from all sides of the Hexagon, with the occasional flash of light or explosion off to the east. However, the members of Treacherous Pass have little time to worry about the other guilds, as their battle is decidedly once-sided. Even as one of the strongest guilds when it comes to combat, fighting when outnumbered seven to one is a bit much to ask of anyone. Even so, Eclipse and Scielle are holding their own fairly well, though neither of them has managed to deal a significant blow to their opponents. Tryne on the other hand, has summoned forth a cloud of smoke and shadow to conceal himself from his opponents, clearly going for a defensive approach until he can manage to find an opening. While the three are fighting off the horde, Pleasant and Jurmund can be seen slowly skirting around the edge of the battlefield toward the Hexagon. As the battle rages on, it is clear that the risen soldiers have no sense of fatigue, as they continue their onslaught with as much energy as at the start. Pleasant pays them no heed however, as he is confident in his comrades’ ability to survive, and instead focuses his efforts towards the puzzle in front of him. Engraved into the ancient door is an intricate puzzle of dials gears, inlaid with an ornate pattern of gold and lapis. While he would have loved to solve the riddle laid before him, Pleasant instead reaches for his harp; with a frame carved from a fallen branch of the Drowned Valley’s eldest oak, and strings spun from mane of a lion, it is Pleasant’s only material possession. Once again chanting in the guttural language of the forest, Pleasant begins to play on the harp. After a few seconds, a small tendril begins to worm its way out of the sand towards the edges of the door. However, the actions of the duo caught the attention of one of the soldiers from the group, who begins to lumber towards them. Jurmund’s warning cry from causes Pleasant to turn around and much to his surprise, the man charging toward him is the lumberjack who tried to cut down one of his favorite trees. However, Jurmund steps into the man’s path, clearly intending to stall the man so Pleasant can finish his work. With a slight nod, Pleasant returns to chanting, and the small tendril once again continues to weave its way into the door. As the axe descends towards him, Jurmund sidesteps the swing with surprising agility for his age. The lumberjack only has an instant to be surprised, as Jurmund’s blade slices through the air, severing the man’s head from his body. However, the now-headless lumberjack shows no sign of stopping its assault, and Jurmund then realizes why it’s taking so long for his other three allies to meet up with them at the entrance. His train of thought is interrupted as the hulking body takes another swing with its axe, and he returns to the fight at hand. A cry from Scielle causes Eclipse to quickly bash his opponent away with the pommel of his sword. Looking over, he sees her kneeling with her blade locked in a fight with a man nearly twice her size. As the man parries away her blade and raises his sword for the kill, Eclipse charges at him. The blade whistles as it descends, but Eclipse’s sword catches the blade, throwing the man off balance. Seeing her opening, Scielle grabs the knife hanging at her belt, and severs the tendons in the man’s shoulder with several experienced thrusts, and then proceeds to kick him in the gut. He attempts to say something as he falls to his knees, but the words are lost as the door to the Hexagon is launched towards them with a boom. As Scielle dives to the side, the door slams into the man separating his torso from his lower body. Without looking back, the two hurry towards Tryne, who is still locked in battle with the remainder of his opponents, as well as those who Eclipse left behind in order to assist Scielle. It wouldn’t be an understatement to say Tryne’s movements weren’t human as he expertly dodged and parried the incoming attacks with his blades. However his dagger and short sword lacked the reach to land any significant blows on the majority of his opponents, and so he restrained himself from getting in close until his allies were able join him. While he had managed to avoid the majority of injuries due to his skills, he had several small cuts on his legs, and his upper body was mainly protected by the ethereal cloak of the phantasm. Except for those few small injuries, Tryne was fairly unscathed, though the use of his illusion magic and the extended duration of the battle were taking a heavy toll on his stamina. He had already managed to immobilize several of his opponents by attacking their shoulders and knees. The few remaining enemies however seemed to have been learning from the battle and were using the longer reach of their blades to keep him at bay. With the remaining soldiers still focused on Tryne, Scielle and Eclipse approached quickly from behind with the intention of catching them off guard. However, the remaining soldiers suddenly went limp as a loud cheer erupted from somewhere on the other side of the Hexagon. Somehow another guild must’ve managed to defeat the dark mage who had revived the fallen of High Reach. The trio quickly made haste to the Hexagon where Pleasant and Jurmund would be waiting. As the three approached, Scielle made a soft whistle at the carnage from Jurmund’s fight with the lumberjack. After a quick exchange of words and a comment about Pleasant’s fish drying out, the five headed towards the interior of the Hexagon. After several minutes of walking, the quintet arrive at a large central chamber with a spiral staircase leading down to another area below. Within the chamber sit the members of the Miscato Mosquitos and Equoriba, while Metea and Asha are conversing a few meters away. The other group notices the approaching members of Treacherous Pass and wave them over. The ensuing conversation while they wait for the other guilds attempts to touch upon the challenges each guild had to surpass in order to enter the Hexagon. Koal enthusiastically mentions something about a holy sword rising from the sand but Arthur quickly cuts him off, and Equoriba refuses to comment on their battle with the frost dragon. It is clear than none of the guilds wish to share the exact details on how they vanquished their foes, and so the night begins to drag on as the hours pass in silence. After several hours, Jurmund suggests that the guilds start searching the surrounding area in the cavern, but warns them not to descend the stairs without everyone present. But none of the guilds can find anything of meaning in the area, as the only writing and symbols were on the doors that guarded the entrance to the Hexagon. Just as the sun begins to rise above the horizon and light enters through small windows in the ceiling, footsteps can be heard echoing throughout the tunnels. After several minutes, two guilds emerge from opposite sides of the cavern with their wounded. As they draw nearer, the members of Myrish and 3D can be made out. However the members of Monocle Emporium have yet to arrive at the central chamber. As the guilds tend to the wounded, Jann jests to Jurmund about Tom taunting his guild’s opponent in a deadly game of tag. Jurmund attempts to dismiss it, but can’t hide a slight smile. After another hour of waiting, heavy footsteps that signal the approach of the final guild echo throughout the chamber, and a short while later the members of Monocle Emporium lumber into the chamber, carrying heavy sacks filled to the brim with heavy armor, gold, and swords. They clearly had been unable to resist looting everything in sight after the battles had ended. While clearly exhausted from carrying their burdens, they were given no time to rest as the guilds rose together and began to descend the dimly lit stairs into the cavern below. The stairs seemed to descend for a millennium, as the guilds spent more than an hour on their descent, and Jurmund cursed letting Monocle Emporium lead the way with their sacks full of loot. As the group reached the bottom, they entered an enormous cavern, of which the walls were engraved with hundreds of magic circles from various magical sects. In the center of the room was an enormous Hexagon inlaid into the ground, with a pedestal at each corner. In the center was a small cube on a stand. The guilds watched in stunned silence as each of their charges approached a pedestal and picked up the object laying on each in sync. Raising them above their heads, the six began to chant together, as an ominous cloud of smoke rose from the ground beneath the cube. However, their chant did not stop, but instead increased in tempo and volume until it approached a loud drone. As the chant continued the magic circles on the walls of the cavern began to glow, as their runes were brought to life after many years of inactivity. The glow from the circles began to permeate the cavern and the intricate pattern inlaid onto the floor began to glow as six doorways with the appearance of a liquid began to form and crystalize near the six chanting individuals. Suddenly the chant halted as quickly as it had begun, and the six approached the cube in the center of the hexagon. Metea simply bent over, plucked it off the ground, and started fidgeting with the object. The other five turned towards the group that had assisted them on their journey and said nothing. Just as Jacob went to speak his mind on the entire ordeal, the cavern began to shake violently and the ground began to quickly rise. The walls began to change form, and daylight streamed in through cracks in the ceiling, which then began to unfold like a large flower. As the roof opened, so did gaps in the walls, to which the entire structure was left supported by crystal columns. Left in the wake of the cavern was a town with buildings made of onyx and lapis with a large cathedral on the horizon. The six doorways in the center of the room were now alight with a substance similar to water, from which the guilds saw each of their home towns. The Hexagon had connected the six towns through magic, people of different beliefs, morals, lifestyles, and standing could now easily meet and travel between the towns quickly without fear of danger on the roads. As the guilds stood there in disbelief, each of their escorts approached them and drew their guild aside. And so they began the tale of the Hexagon. Throughout the decades mages from each of the six realms of Valeria had met in this location and worked to create the magic circles in the cavern below, all for the eventual purpose of creating an easy form of travel between realms. However, the mages grew ambitious and wanted to do more than just create a hub for the portals, they decided to create a seventh realm in the rift. As the scope of the project grew, the years went past, and the mages passed the task along to their apprentices. However, the six here today did not have the magical power to complete the task at hand. Instead they had to sacrifice the abilities they had spent their entire lives culminating and perfecting in exchange for the power to complete the magic circuit, a task that they had been given, not chosen. Now with their task complete they pass along the duty of overseeing the realm of the Hexagon to those adventurers who had helped them along the way. Speechless at the revelation of the secrets of the Hexagon, a question still remains for the members of the guilds. If their task was to complete the magic circuit of the Hexagon, why were there beings in pursuit of them throughout their journey? Before any of them are able to ask, a flash of light streaks down from the sky, and standing in the center of the hub, is a single figure cloaked in robes as dark as the sky during a new moon, embroidered with glowing runes. The figure radiates an aura of pure power and hatred. Jurmund and Jann curse their luck and glance at Metea who is still fidgeting with the small cube in their hands. The two rush at the robed figure, who simply laughs while waving their hand. The two are instantly launched backwards towards the group of stunned adventurers. As they try to prepare themselves for yet another fight, the adventures stop upon a single shout from Asha telling them not to interfere. Jurmund and Jann rise with a helping hand from Deri and Tom, while Asha moves to stand in front of Metea. The ensuing battle was decidedly one-sided, to the point where it can’t even be called a battle. Every attempt to approach the figure was foolhardy, as without a strong source of magic power, there was no way they could get within five meters without being launched back toward the adventurers who had helped them get so far. While laughing hysterically, the figure lowers their hood, revealing a featureless face branded with the symbol of a Hexagon. As his gaze slides over the fallen, he suddenly stops when he catches a glimpse of the cube in Metea’s hands. The cube which had once been dull and featureless now glowed a different color on each side, each with a different symbol: a monocle, a flower, a book, a cliff, a mosquito, and a leopard. Suddenly Metea’s voice booms over surrounding area, “Adventurers, can you sacrifice a portion of that which is precious to you for the sake of the future of Valeria and defeat the evil mage Rubik, seventh mage of the Hexagon?” In unison James, Buttercup, Jacob, Eclipse, Arthur, and Hana rise from the group and slowly walk toward Metea. However, the rest of the adventures grab their wrists, and stand up in unison. Together the remaining twenty-two adventures form a circle around Metea, and extend their arms. As the cube begins to grow brighter, Rubik attempts to back away, but the crystal doorways of the portals act as a magical barrier to keep him from fleeing. As he curses his fate, the cube separates into twenty-seven segments and surround him, slowly drawing closer and closer together. As Rubik utters a final cry, the cube snaps back together, and quickly begins to shuffle itself so that no side is complete, forming an intricate puzzle that will serve to imprison the mage and dumbfound Valeria’s population for millennia to come. As to what each adventurer sacrificed that day, it has remained unsaid. Some may have sacrificed their powers, others their material possessions and relationships, but only several returned to their old homes. As the man sits drinking his beer in Scaleport’s Tavern, a woman sits down next to him. “You’re a tough one to find, spending your days traveling and sharing legends. Do you ever regret it Tryne?” Tryne turns to look at Scielle, “If I did, it wouldn’t make for a very good story would it?” “I suppose not.” “I’m guessing you’re not here for a reunion?” “Nope, apparently the old fool opened up hell’s gate again.” “Jacob’s done this how many times now?” “Six. The rest are already waiting at the Hexagon.” “Guess we’d better get going.”
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