1-73 A house of secrets and magic

Jaina clutched the spider to her chest so tightly that he squeaked before she crawled through the doorway to the unknown beyond. She was amazed at how it felt like breaking the surface of water as the other side appeared like magic before her eyes.

She crawled into a stone brick room filled with books piled along the walls and tables set against the walls. In a corner was the skeleton looking far more imposing than Heather had made him sound. He was unnaturally tall, with a girth that made him look intimidating. His armor was made of black metal and full of sharp spikes. It looked slightly corroded and aged as if he had been buried for a hundred years and had just crawled out of the grave yesterday. What was most unnerving about it was the green fire that burned in its eyes that she could swear were watching her. Thankfully the creature didn't move, but several others did. There were four goblins in the room, standing around what looked like an egg the size of a large watermelon. It was nested in a ring of blankets as one of the goblins cast a spell over it that made it glow for a moment.

It took her a moment to overcome her shock, but when she did, the artifact captivated her attention. “So this is the artifact?” Jaina asked as she was drawn to approach it. Before she could get too close, a goblin woman stepped in her path and waved a finger at her.

“No touch egg,” she insisted as Jaina stepped back.

“This is Umtha,” Heather explained. “She is more or less in charge of protecting the egg on behalf of the goblins. She is also a dear friend and leader of one of the goblin villages.”

“I see,” Jaina replied as she stepped around the goblin woman who stared at her with a suspicious gaze. She met Heather on the other side of the room, where an open door led to a hall beyond.

“I thought you said this was a magic room?” Jaina asked as they arrived at the arch.

“Oh, this is a magic room,” Heather explained. “And this door is the magical one we were talking about.”

“This is a magic door?” Jaina asked as she reached her hand through. “I would swear it was just any other door in a hall.”

“That's how we want it to appear,” Heather said as they all came through

“It's neat, isn't it?” Quinny asked from the room beyond. “You can't even tell those two rooms are thousands of miles apart.”

“No, you can't,” Jaina gasped as she stepped into yet another room with no exits. This one held a few chests and a sizable pile of gold coins and jewels. Heather explained that this was a hidden treasure room whose door only appeared when the magical command word was used. “This is impressive, Jaina said as she looked about. “So your lair is literally just a few steps away no matter where you are?”

“And we have a second portal that takes us to Gwen’s city hidden in the garden,” Heather said.

“You could visit your mother any time you want,” Jaina laughed. “Roric really needs to get some of these doors.”

Jaina marveled at the magic on display as Breanne spoke the word, and a hole appeared in the wall, showing a hallway beyond. She couldn't believe the power Heather had at her fingertips and was impressed when they stepped into a well-lit hall. It had a soft rug runner of red and gold that ran beyond a series of doors. Heather gave her a small tour, pointing out her, Breanne's, and Quinny's bedrooms, all conveniently beside one another.

She took Jaina through an intersection and decided to show her a massive natural cave. The sight of space enthralled Jaina but what caught her attention most was the skeleton of a dragon curled up in one corner. Heather said it was here when they found it and didn't bother much with this space. They went to another room where a massive fountain was fed clear blue water from a stone carving of a dragon's head on the wall. The basin was practically a swimming pool, and the room was furnished with all manner of plush benches, towel racks, and cabinets to hold goods. There were even massive metal bowels filled with softly glowing red coals, heating the space to a comfortable warmth. A few stone planters lined the wall just under what looked like large gems that glowed with bright light. In these were planted colorful flowers whose scent was strong enough to permeate the space.

“This is where we bathe,” Heather explained and walked across the space.

Jaina still clutched Webster tightly as they walked through the domed space whose arched ceiling was high enough for a giant to walk under comfortably. Breanne explained how all this was here when they found it, but Heather was able to take ownership of the space and decorate it to her taste.

“Very impressive,” Jaina said and was whisked away to another room. This turned out to be a dining hall with a single massive oak table covered with a silk runner, set with silver plates, crystal goblets, and of course, a centerpiece of flowers. Huge round metal chandeliers full of magic candles hung from thick wooden beams that crossed the ceiling. The walls were polished smooth, and decorated with stock artworks of landscapes and flowers.

As Jaina entered the space, she could smell something delicious cooking and was summarily brought through the next door to a large kitchen. A second table that served as an island stood in the middle of the room. Along the walls were cupboards, pantries, and cabinets of a dozen sizes. A large hearth had a low fire over which hung a metal grate suspended from chains. Some variety of meat cooked in that warm heat, filling the space with a smokey barbecue-like scent. A woman with short dark hair wearing a white apron hurried up a stairwell and paused when she saw the group.

“Hello, my lady,” Monica called happily. “Will you be having dinner soon?”

“Not yet,” Heather said as she walked to the end of the table where what appeared to be a warm pie was cooling. Beside it was freshly baked bread, some whipped butter, and soup that looked full of chicken and vegetables.

“This is Monica,” Heather explained. “She is my NPC cook.”

“You have your own cook?” Jaina laughed as she made her way through the room as Quinny ran to one side and threw open a metal box.

“Don’t you dare eat all the cookies!” Heather scolded as Quinny pulled out the plate and held it out so everyone could take some.

“You have an unlimited supply of cookies?” Jaina asked.

“No, it runs out and doesn’t refresh until the morning, but somebody always tries to eat them all,” Heather said and glared at Quinny.

“What? I like cookies,” Quinny said with a shrug as she took four more.

“Shouldn't you be eating brains or something?” Heather grumbled before explaining how the fridge was magical and the items inside respawned every morning. She opened the door to show Jaina how it was filled with sweets, from the plate of cookies to delicious-looking cakes. There were also bottles of milk, cream, and what appeared to be juice. Jaina was beginning to feel as if Roric had no idea how to travel in comfort. Blackbast's girls had access to a whole lair of goodies filled with treats and even a cook to make their meals.

As if all this weren't impressive enough, they passed down a tunnel and through yet another secret door, arriving at what appeared to be a more modest tower. Heather explained that this was the tower built with her recluse class and was intentionally made to look more normal. However, the rooms were full of decorations and furniture meant for comfort as Heather led the way to a final large door and out to a breathtaking sight.

Jaina stood at the rail high above an expansive graveyard with a misty swamp far in the distance. A waterfall rumbled to her right as cold mist occasionally splashed at her skin. The tower was set into the cliff face, so it almost looked carved from the stone. Their wide balcony curved around the face and went right to the waterfall. The water splashed in a basin on the balcony, pouring down four deep channels before cascading over the side to a river below. There were stone benches along the wall, and magical lamp posts were set every dozen steps to light the space. The tower soared up another few levels, and perched on its wall high above were several leering gargoyles.

Below was a broad road of smooth bricks that separated the tower from a massive graveyard beyond. The road ran to the right, reaching the river created by the falls, where it crossed a gothic stone bridge with an arch in the center. Beyond that were miles of dark forest whose canopy was so dense Jaina suspected very little light reached the ground. The graveyard was so vast that she could barely make out where it ended in the distance, and an expanse of water began. Graves of every shape and size protruded from a mist that crawled across the ground as if alive. Gnarled trees, old mausoleums, and small areas of dark garden broke up the acres of stone markers. Smaller stone paths led through the yard, and hedge walls created isolated areas. The whole expanse was crawling with zombies, skeletons, rats, and other creatures best left to a Halloween movie.

“This is amazing,” Jaina said as she looked in every direction while still holding Webster. “You all live here?”

“In various parts of it,” Heather said. “The forest belongs to Quinny, and Breanne haunts the swamp.”

“Two different goblin tribes live in the mountains, but they all like Heather,” Quinny added.

“I can see you are surrounded by mountains,” Jaina replied as she squinted to see them fade away in the distance. The region was so vast that Jaina couldn't see the full expanse of it. She thought of what Heather had said before that this home was far to the south, almost on the other side of the world. That was exactly where Roric was thinking of looking for a new home, and this looked promising. He wanted mountains to hide his camp in, and they needed relatively flat land to build Evalynn's magic forest. Jaina squinted to see into the distance, trying to decide if there was enough land, but it was impossible to tell from here.

“Is there any room in them for a camp?” she asked.

“What kind of camp?” Heather replied.

“Roric has been searching for a good place to build his camp,” Jaina explained. “We tried putting it close to a major city, but players kept coming to raid it, and it caused nothing but trouble. So now he wants something more secluded and hidden.” Jaina didn't want to explain why players were raiding it or bring up how they were being targeted by slavers. She hoped this location would be far enough away that they could leave all of that in the past and finally build the home they dreamed of.

“I bet Gwen would be ok with that,” Quinny said and then looked at Breanne. “Grumosh might like it too.”

“Will you please not talk about him,” Breanne groaned. “I don’t need to be reminded.”

“Touchy,” Quinny laughed and came to the railing to point out how Breanne had a maze of islands in the swamp.

“Can we go down and see it?” Jaina asked as she leaned over the railing, desperate to see more. In truth, she wanted to scour the far reaches of their lair, hoping the land was suitable, but she would settle for getting closer. “I want to see the graveyard and the swamp.”

Heather readily agreed and led Jaina down the floors of the tower. Jaina was delighted to see more of her home and was rather shocked to see how heavily defended it was. One room was a barracks of normal human guards, but there were enough of them to repel a dozen players. Below that was a massive arched tunnel with a hoard of skeletons wearing armor and brandishing weapons. They stood In lines before a second inner door that Heather explained went to unexplored caves and tunnels full of dangerous traps.

They went out through an open set of doors and onto the road Jaina had seen from the tower. Heather led the way through an iron gate into the graveyard, explaining how all this was Franks. She described how much he loved to build things and even had a series of tunnels underneath that were meant to be a small adventure. She then talked about how Frank had plans for an even larger graveyard that stretched as far as the eye could see.

It was a lot to take in as Jaina squeezed poor Webster to her chest like a stress doll. She was unsure about approaching the undead at first, but the creatures took no notice of her. Quinny explained it was because Jaina was with them, but they would add her and the others to their friend lists later.

It took a long while to cross the misty yard, where there was something new to see around every corner. Finally, the water's edge came into view, and Jaina could see it was dense with tall swamp reeds and other plants.

“Very impressive,” Jaina said as Heather steered them to a stone causeway that acted as a bridge to a mist-shrouded island in the water.

“From here, this is all Breanne's,” Heather explained and led the way across the bridge. They arrived at the large island, complete with Breanne's massive mausoleum. It was an imposing monolith of dark stone polished to a mirror finish and cut with nooks and artwork that resembled celtic crosses. Jaina reasoned that it must have several floors up and probably a few below, but the metal doors were shut, and Heather didn't take them in. Instead, they passed around the stone wall that separated an inner yard from the rest of the island. Here Jaina was delighted to see gardens cut up by hedge walls tall enough to make private areas. Small beds of flowers, stone benches, statues, and the occasional grave helped decorate the areas to make them interesting.

Breanne explained how she liked to haunt these areas, strolling through her gardens and into the swamp to recreate the legend of the banshee. Jaina wanted to know more about her banshee stories, but they soon arrived at a relatively clear edge of the waters where several long, narrow wooden skiffs rested partly on the shore.

“You use boats?” Jaina asked as they gathered at the water's edge, looking out over a misty swamp.

“I don't because I can fly,” Breanne replied. “But the others need them from time to time. The nearby goblin tribe has giant water spiders that can run on the surface they use for mounts.”

“Ha, I bet that has to be terrifying to behold,” Jaina said and looked at the boats as she wondered what was hidden beyond the mist. “Is there anything to see in the deeper swamp?”

“Just a few small islands,” Breanne admitted, then tapped her chin. “Though there is that haunted house.”

“A haunted house?” Jaina asked with a tilted head, as this was unexpected.

“Well, I say haunted because we don't know what it is,” Breanne replied.

“It looks like a player home,” Quinny said and then described how it changed locations and when Heather threatened to set it on fire, it ran into the swamp.

“It ran?” Jaina asked with a confused expression as she wondered how a house ran into the swamp.

“It sort of melted and flowed away,” Heather said with a shrug. “I don’t know how else to explain it.”

“I think it's a mimic, but Frank says it's too big to be one,” Quinny said.

Jaina felt her heart skip a beat to hear Quinny suggest it was a mimic. What were the odds there was another mimic here in the swamp, and could it be another player? It was so unlikely, and yet how Heather described its movement only made it more plausible. Jaina couldn’t pass up the opportunity to find out and nearly crushed Webster in her glee.

“I want to see it,” Jaina said excitedly. “Please, can we go?”

“I don't even know if it's still there,” Heather replied and looked at Breanne.

“I haven't checked since the night it ran away,” Breanne admitted. “But it won't take long to get there.”

“Then let’s go see,” Heather said with a shrug and suggested they get into one of the boats.

Jaina boarded with a nervous bounce as the boat wobbled a bit. The others climbed in behind her, and Quinny took up a long pole, using her impressive zombie strength to push them along. It was an exciting ride as the small craft silently glided across the undisturbed dark water. The fog was so dense in some places that Jaina could only see distant islands as dark silhouettes, giving the place an air of danger.

Jaina spotted odd lights moving in the distance, dancing about as if trying to catch her attention. She asked what these were, and Breanne explained they were willow wisps, lost spirits that haunted the swamps and lured people to disaster. Jaina made a note to avoid them, but Breanne explained all you had to do was ignore them and not stare too long. Their dance had a hypnotic quality to it and created the suggestion that the view should come closer. The boat ride took them through a maze of dense plants around muddy islands or moss-drenched ancient trees. Eventually, the mist parted, and the far shore to the road appeared and to everyone's surprise, so did the house.

“It's still there,” Heather said as they headed for the shore.

Jaina stared in wonder as the structure slowly appeared in the fog. It looked to be nothing more than a log hunting cable with a small wooden porch and two large windows to either side of a door. It looked as if it had been built recently and showed none of the decay you would expect to find on a building in a swamp.

Quinny guided them in, and Breanne stepped out first, followed by Jiana, still carrying Webster. Heather helped Quinny out, and the two followed behind, holding hands as the group approached the mysterious house.

“This has to be a trap of some kind,” Heather said. “We saw it melt away and run through the water. So how is it back?”

“I don’t know,” Breanne said nervously as they came to a halt a safe distance away. “But be careful around this place. We saw shapes moving around it the last time we were here but could never catch them.”

“I do not doubt that you did,” Jaina said as she dared to step closer. She was fascinated by the size and complexity of the structure as it appeared to be nothing but an empty cabin. However, she was a morphic, and one of her abilities allowed her to sense the presence of another morphic, or in this case, a mimic. Whoever this was, they were much higher level and had absorbed a great deal of mass, adding it to their size.

“Sorry, buddy, I know you're enjoying the ride, but I need to put you down,” she said to the spider nestled in her breasts. Webster chirped as she set him down and scurried to Heather. Jaina then walked boldly toward the house that seemed as empty as always.

“Jaina, don't get too close,” Heather urged, but Jaina walked up to the porch, heedless of the danger.

“You can stop the charade now,” Jaina said loudly. “I know what you are.” She waited for a response as this mimic obviously knew what she was as well. Jaina assumed it would be willing to converse with another mimic, but nothing happened.

“Fine, have it your way,” she muttered under her breath as her form suddenly melted.

“What happened?” Heather said in alarm as she witnessed Jaina’s body become fluid and gray.

“Jaina is a morphic,” Quinny reminded. “I think she’s changing shapes.”

They watched as Jaina became a roughly humanoid mass of gray ooze that spoke with a gurgling tone.

“Show yourself, or I will try to absorb you!”

Suddenly the wall along the front porch shifted, and to everyone's surprise but Jaina's, a woman's face appeared.

“Why are you ratting me out?” the woman asked angrily. “Would you like it if I gave you away?”

“What the heck?” Heather said as she looked at Quinny and Breanne for an explanation.

Jaina turned about as her form solidified and colored until she was once again her naked, dark-haired self. She took a confident post before the face that stretched out on a long rope of flowing mass.

“This,” Jaina said as she pointed to the house. “Is what I will eventually evolve into.”

“A house?” Heather asked in confusion that Quinny and Breanne shared.

“That’s not a house,” Jaina laughed and turned back to face the woman. “That is a player mimic.”