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My Last Will and Testament

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MilkN2Sugars

MilkN2Sugars

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The Last Will and Testament of William Daniel Harvey
-----------------------------------
Pray you will forgive the somewhat inelegant prose and errors of spelling that you will find within these pages, adventurer, for I am writing these words alone and half mad in what will almost certainly be the final hours of my life.
My name is William Daniel Harvey, and my tale began some 4 months ago, in the grand city of Varrock.

Through a stroke of luck, I found myself working as an apprentice under the revered historian Reldo Trimmly in the palace's great library. Although I was little more than an aide, sending messages, sorting through the books and so forth, I relished and delighted in my time spent there; for although I have always been physically weak, my mind is sharp and wildly curious.
With an almost childlike excitement, I would spend my nights reading the leather bound books by candle light, long after Trimmly had allowed my leave and retired to his own home in the east of the city. Novels, histories and diaries all found themselves under my inquiring gaze as I filled my mind with amazing tales of past ages and grand adventures that were found within.
It was during one such night that I happened upon the book that would, quite literally, change my life forever.
It was clearly very ancient, bound in scuffed green leather and with torn yellowing pages... It looked like it had been left untouched for many hundreds of years. Adorned in ornate lettering and printed in cracked gold ink, the title read ‘The City of Ilkarnek’.
Although fading, the text was still legible. It was written in an antiquated foreign tongue that I found myself able to understand, albeit with some significant mental strain. Proud leader of The MaSoRS . A skilling and community clan, founded 2003.

15-May-2011 21:51:52 - Last edited on 28-May-2011 16:02:48 by MilkN2Sugars

MilkN2Sugars

MilkN2Sugars

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Intrigued, I pulled up a wooden chair and began to read in the flickering candle light – indeed, doing so until the volume was finished and my trains of thought were just beginning to be interrupted by the chatterings and chirpings of early morning songbirds.
The book had weaved a tale like no other I had ever set my eyes upon. It told of the grand city of Ilkarnek, which for over one thousand years stood tall and undisturbed during what today is known as the second age of Gielinor.
It told of majestic towers so high, the upper floors were bathed in the mists of the clouds themselves. Of wide bustling streets, paved with rare metals and polished stones that would glimmer in the bright morning sunlight. Of wise scholars, who filled great libraries larger than the city of Varrock itself. Of wizards and alchemists who cast powerful spells, unbeknownst to any man today.
It told of how in two years, the city had become deserted. And how in two centuries, it was little more than a ruin.
Yet, despite this… it did not tell of why.
Perhaps though, most importantly, the tome contained within its yellowing pages a map, depicting Ilkarnek and the surrounding regions. It showed where the city once stood, in what is now swampland; south of the kingdom of Morytania, and east of the scorched sands of Al Kharid.
I could not tell you of what drove me to do this, adventurer. Perhaps it was restlessness after years of straying no farther than Lumbridge or the Barbarians' Village. Perhaps it was the desire to become one of the epic explorers that I had read about so much in lores and novels. But my mind was set. I was to find the ruin of Ilkarnek, and the secrets that were hidden within. Proud leader of The MaSoRS . A skilling and community clan, founded 2003.

15-May-2011 21:52:03 - Last edited on 28-May-2011 15:40:49 by MilkN2Sugars

MilkN2Sugars

MilkN2Sugars

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Pray do not think of me as foolish, adventurer, for partaking on such an expedition – I spent many weeks beforehand researching the area and its history. Although it seems that nearly all accounts of the city were lost during the God Wars that ravaged these lands all those centuries ago, I did manage to find a more contemporary map of the area. By cross referencing these two charts, I managed to build up a somewhat accurate idea of where the city once stood - and how I was to reach it. I also made several short incursions into the southern swamps, and despite being choked by vegetation, I found them to be largely devoid of any intelligent life, bar some simple insects that crawled along the ground.
And so on a crisp autumn morning two months ago, I set out on my journey.
Clad in sturdy leather boots and thick overalls to keep out the worst of the damp, and carrying a large pack with my maps, a compass, and provisions to last several weeks, I made my way to the east. Reldo had graciously allowed me leave from my duties, although I had told him nothing of my true intentions from fear that he would prevent me from undertaking such a treacherous expedition.
I found my map to be largely accurate. It showed not streets nor paths, but areas where the ground was firm enough as to make it possible to walk on, between tangled marsh and pools of repulsive bubbling liquid. Although difficult and most tiring, I figured it would take some ten days to reach the ruin if I continued at a steady pace. Proud leader of The MaSoRS . A skilling and community clan, founded 2003.

15-May-2011 21:52:14 - Last edited on 28-May-2011 15:43:12 by MilkN2Sugars

MilkN2Sugars

MilkN2Sugars

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Progress was problematic, and only a few days into my excursion I was already having the mind to set back. In areas, the ground had the consistency of thick sludge which stuck vilely to my boots, and I often had to use my short iron sword to hack away at the vegetation and clear a path through its hideous tendrils, which would tower many feet higher than my own head.
The sky was covered by thick grey clouds which blocked out the sun, providing little more than a dim haze even during what I calculated to be mid-day.
Nature seemed to be doing battle with itself; dark green vines strangled putrid looking trees, small bushes seemingly clambering over each other to reach the life-giving sunlight above.
Indeed, so entirely unfamiliar and miserable were my surroundings that you would be forgiven for thinking that I was on a completely different realm… How could Guthix allow such an ungodly place to exist?
I felt incredibly alone, and gained little sleep as I lay down at night beneath a sheet strung between two trees. My dreams were vivid and terrifying. Images of foul creatures flashed across my mind, the blood curdling screams of men and women.
Most nights I would wake startled and covered in a cold sweat, the drive of discovering the lost city being the only thought that could keep me going.
It was on the ninth day that I stumbled upon the ruins. Half buried in earth, and covered by putrid green mosses; hunks of large, dark grey stone were scattered across a muddy grassed clearing. I did not believe them to be part of the main city – there was far too little debris. The outskirts, perhaps? Proud leader of The MaSoRS . A skilling and community clan, founded 2003.

15-May-2011 21:53:10 - Last edited on 28-May-2011 15:43:50 by MilkN2Sugars

MilkN2Sugars

MilkN2Sugars

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A glinting caught my eye, and I walked over to investigate what appeared to be a large tablet, some three foot wide and tall and a foot deep, in amongst the bits of scattered stone and masonry. It was striking, and made of a shining black mineral the likes of which I had never encountered before - even in writings. Chiselled into it were strange markings, which I made out to be an ancient language, all but extinct now for over four millennia.
Working slowly, I began to decipher the intricately carved symbols. From what I could make out, it seemed to recount how the alchemists of the city were experimenting with a newly discovered form of magic… necromancy perhaps… or altering of the human body? The exact wording I was not able to fully understand.
It was difficult to interpret the glyphs, with their sheer age and the wear on the stone tablet, which in areas was worn away and wholly impossible to read. I saw references to death, panic, torture…
My thoughts were suddenly interrupted by an odd noise… a sort of wet slapping. I looked up -- and there I saw it. A creature so shocking, adventurer, I find it difficult to describe to you in words.
It was no dragon – for the dragon is strong and beautiful. Nor was it a demon, for the demon is powerful and cunning. No, the creature that stood before me was foul and hideous. A disgusting mass of quivering, grey, gelatinous flesh, vaguely humanoid, and some two or three inches taller than the average man. Membranous wings protruded from a hunched back, ripped and torn by splintered protruding bone. A mangled face looked towards me, a single bloodshot eye staring into mine, a foul, black, oozing pit sitting where the other should reside.
There it stood, some 20 feet from me. A putrid smell made me gag and wish to vomit, but I simply stood there, frozen. Proud leader of The MaSoRS . A skilling and community clan, founded 2003.

15-May-2011 21:53:23 - Last edited on 29-May-2011 08:20:11 by MilkN2Sugars

MilkN2Sugars

MilkN2Sugars

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I clutched my short iron sword. I was paralysed, my mouth dry. I attempted to speak, managing only a few hoarse sounds in my vain attempts to produce words…
It screamed - a blood chilling, hideous sound.
It bared repulsive, sharp, black teeth, which seemed to cut into its mouth causing thick black blood to drip out as it proceeded to make yet more indescribable sounds... A screaming, a wailing, a crying...
It moved towards me, large fleet slapping on wet mud.
I backed away, and watched in horror as the creature raised its hands. Thin, crooked fingers and long, curled, black claws. With a jerky movement, it ripped the tablet out of the earth and flung it into a pool of vile liquid some five feet away. How could such a hideous, deformed creature live… let alone possess such strength?
Lumbering towards me, it slashed at my face. I was blinded for a moment, as warm blood poured down into my eyes from a deep cut to my head. Desperately trying to clear the blood from my eyes, I managed to see the form of another of the creatures approaching… and another… and another…
I ran - as quickly as I could, back in the direction from whence I came. Through pools of foul green liquid, under trees, over bushes. I screamed and screamed, and when my mouth was hoarse and my breath thin I laughed madly and wept quietly to myself as I sprinted and stumbled through the treacherous swamps. Proud leader of The MaSoRS . A skilling and community clan, founded 2003.

15-May-2011 21:53:37 - Last edited on 28-May-2011 15:51:56 by MilkN2Sugars

MilkN2Sugars

MilkN2Sugars

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I don’t know how long I ran for, I must have blacked out… perhaps from exhaustion, or shock.
I found myself here, in a small grassy clearing, bordered by large trees and bushes. My pack lay half submerged in a pool of the foul water. Searching through it, I found my maps and food to be all but destroyed, and was only able to salvage my compass and a few scraps of paper.
I don’t know if what I saw was real, or my mind playing cruel tricks. But no sword nor spear will protect me from these creatures should they be they be reality, and no drug nor herb will be able to blank my mind of such terrible visions should they be a dream.
Perhaps these heinous creatures are the descendants of the city’s inhabitants? Twisted and transformed by some ancient spell gone terribly wrong? What were the alchemists doing... something so important, its story was preserved in that strange stone tablet. I shall never know the true secrets of Ilkarnek, or its downfall, and I fear that these are secrets that should not be known by any mortal man should he wish to keep his sanity.
Something terrible happened in this place all those years ago, turning the city to ruin… and the entire area to desolate swampland.
And so, after writing this account and wrapping it in my leather overcoat to protect it from the damp, I shall use my sword to take my life and free me from the cruel torments of this world.
Gods, I can hear them now, all around me… Proud leader of The MaSoRS . A skilling and community clan, founded 2003.

15-May-2011 21:53:52 - Last edited on 28-May-2011 15:13:17 by MilkN2Sugars

MilkN2Sugars

MilkN2Sugars

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You have found this note, adventurer, and will be stood in this small clearing, along with whatever is left of my earthly remains.
All I ask is that you now fulfil my one last wish... and run. Return now from whence you came, before those ungodly creatures come for you too… evil lurks in this place. Escape with your life… and my spirit shall rest easy, knowing that at least one innocent soul has been saved from suffering the same hideous fate as I. Proud leader of The MaSoRS . A skilling and community clan, founded 2003.

15-May-2011 21:57:51 - Last edited on 28-May-2011 15:52:37 by MilkN2Sugars

MilkN2Sugars

MilkN2Sugars

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Thank you for reading - I really hope you enjoyed it. :)
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15-May-2011 22:03:26 - Last edited on 15-May-2011 22:05:51 by MilkN2Sugars

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