h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Things have been fairly quiet around here...a good thing, possibly, but quiet none-the-less. Has anyone seen Greeman recently? Surely something lies lurking behind the Mage's closed laboratory doors or in the forest so deep even the elves don't go there. Anyway...just seems like the calm before the storm.

Many a thing lies in the deeps of the forest ox....no-one's even discovered the ruins yet.....

The ruins? I'd completely forgotten about them!

So had I until very recently...but there sitting out there, waiting to be found....

I suggest an expedition...

Hurrah!!

*ox ponders the new information* Ruins? There must be great power there to have been cloaked in silence for so long. Of course anything darkly magical, trying to regain it's power, wouldn't be able to get strength without everyone feeling the malevolence grow. Whatever is hidden there must have great value and power. The elves probably know the way but may be too sensitive to certain subtleties of magic on the purely physical plane. They may be easy slaughter to a fiendish spirit.
What do you know about the ruins? We might be able to prepare ourselves enough to at least begin a plan of approach.

You know, the elves did seem preoccupied while building the Gables... Perhaps this evil is on the rise. I need some time to get away from planning the dinner, to which you all will be invited when such aforementioned plans have come to completion, so may I join the expedition?

Nothing like an adventure to whet the appetite, Lady Anne!
As we organize ourselves I'm going to harvest some vital roots and medicinal herbs from this area of the forest as well as some potent roots dug from deep in the swamp.

Adventure? To the ruins? This sound like something I do not want to miss. Allow me to quick run back to my lab and retrieve my spellbook.

I'm happy to see you all getting excited, but there is no need to assume the ruins are evil...this much can I tell you : They have existed since the dawn of this very forest, and indeed the one was created out of the other. Powerful magic does indeed surround them, however this magic is neither good nor evil....it exists for it's own purposes, and it's power lies in the hopes, the fears, and the spirit of all those who enter within it's shadowy bounds. Take nothing of evil in with you, and you will find nothing evil. Enter with any but a pure mind, and you will face the worst of yourselves ere you get near the ruins.....

*ox had at least hoped for some treasure*

A ravenous power that feeds on the emotive energies of those who enter? Existing for it's own purpose? Is this then an entity to be destroyed? An energy to be harnessed? What form of phantasmagoria can it possibly create in one's mind?

If I was to answer all that, you may as well stay here.......and I haven't told you just what may be found amongst the ruins.....

Tell me more, oh King...I'll light a fire in the stone fireplace and brew some tea. There may be some mead around here, too.
*ox pulls several chairs near the hearth and lights a fire with fragrant orange wood. The night air is chilly and the moon is nearly full*

*draws up a chair before the fire*
Well, legend has it that the ruins house the spirits of the former occupants of this land. These beings were horrendously rich, who toyed with the lives of the less fortunate around them. The forest was literally planted around them, and they were consumed by the mighty pines. They have long departed, but the energy of their malice remains; though anything of actual malice has long since disappeared, the psychic power of the ruins is incredible, and so it acts an an amplifier of the spirits of any of those who enter. None have ever attempted a full scale expedition into their centre, and I know not what may now be found therein.....but I can say this much - though I shall shortly be leaving the Kingdom for 2 weeks, and cannot go with you all the way, still shall I render you any assistance in my power, and the worker elves shall be at your disposal, whilst the Queen herself shall, of course, be ever present......

*ox sits by the hearth and listens intently as the King tells the known history of the ruins, nearly forgotten and buried in time. A lush and greedy culture, cruel and power hungry. After the King finishes speaking all that can be heard in the lodge is the crackle of the fire and an occasional bubble from the tea kettle*

Well...*ox finally stands and walks over to a window* there's something out there unknown and fascinating. I must decide before the dark of the moon.

So? What say you all?

I say let's go!

Onward!

Let us journey forth!