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The day was warm as the midday sun shone high above the grassy plain. In fact, it was so warm that Karnosh felt rather overheated in his chain mail. He had removed his helmet some time ago, but still the air about him continued to warm. He glanced about him in search of some shade in which to rest and eat his lunch. However, even the rolling hills to his east were not high enough to throw any shade across the ground at this time of day. Except for that small rock outcropping on the north side of that hill, Karnosh noted. He walked over to investigate.

*************

As he walked through the damp caverns, Gelgama looked into the amber crystal. It's glow warmed his withered hands, as he stared into it's swirling depths. He knew not how long he had been walking, nor where he was, nor what had happened. His feet bled from walking on the rough stone, but Gelgama did not see the blood. His eyes were fastened on the amber glow, as they had been for days. He turned a rocky corner, eyes still downcast, and continued walking through the tunnel.

*************

It was shady here, Karnosh observed. But what was this small hole here? Moved by curiosity, he widened the hole and cautiously climbed down. Surprisingly, it was quite spacious here, though the walls were merely rough cut stone. He had heard rumors of these tunnels, reputed to hold both great wealth and great danger. He briefly wieghed the advantages and pressed further withing the caverns. He had hardly rounded the first corner when he noticed a faint trace of light reflecting of a vein of quartz in the wall. At this he rested his hand on the comforting hilt of his sword and checked to ensure it would draw smoothly. As he procedeed, he observed the amber light slowly growing stronger. He sprang around the corner, weapon half-drawn.

*************

Gelgama heard a clang of metal on stone as though from a great distance. For the first time he could remember, he tore his gaze from the crystal, and slowly lifted his eyes torward the intruder.

*************

Karnosh felt somewhat embarrassed as he realized that he had just startled what appeared to be an elderly cleric. He started to stutter out an apology until he noticed the tattered condition of the elderly wanderer. As he looked questioningly at him, their eyes locked as Gelgama uttered "The curse is spreading". The icy fingers of fear stabbed into Karnosh as he felt his soul being ripped and sucked into the swirling depths of the amber gem. His last reflexive action was to hurl his sword into the torso of the cleric. He noticed the gem again, and picked it up, feeling his hands warmed by it's glow. He started wandering...


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Saere was walking along, strumming her lire absently. She was naturally avoiding what everyone called 'Keldrin Mines' but really belonged to all sorts of nasty goblins, gnolls and orcs. Then she heard a ring of metal, similar to a sword being drawn from the sheath. For an instant, she saw a man wandering around inside. Her curiosity aroused, she went closer to the entrance. A dull thump reverberated out of the mines, amplified by the narrow enclosures. Then she saw the man again, eyes focussed on some kind of gem. Eyebrow raised in perplexity, she yelled a greeting at the man.

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Silver had been walking around all day. He had travelled as far as Fort Ethren, and was getting pretty tired as he neared the mines. He was about to walk past it and head home to Keldrin City, When he heard an enchanting voice shout a greeting. He Turned around to see a beautiful woman standing at the entrance to the mines. She was yelling into the entrance.
How Odd, he thought to himself, and walked closer.

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The man inside the mines continued to wander. A clank of armor behind her startled her into whirling around. A man was climbing the hill behind her.
"Hail, stranger! I believe that man may need your help!" she shouted, noting the effect it had on the man.

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Silver made his way to the entrance of the mines and saw a man walking around with a gem in his hand. "Weird things today" he muttered. He looked at the gem. it was beautiful. It was perfect. Suddenly, Silver felt the need to go closer...Closer....Closer....

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Saere saw a strange look develop on the newcomer's face, almost like greed. She wondered if he was a thief, wanting to steal the man's jewel.
"Sir! Hey, you! STOP!" she yelled desperately at the man's back.

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The shout woke Silver from his sudden trance. He turned his back on the gem, and got out of the mines.
"What is going on? What is that gem?"

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Saere sighed in relief as the man turned around and exclaimed something that was lost in the echoes of the mine. A pattering of feet was heard, and Saere glanced behind him and shrieked.

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Why me? Silver thought as he reared around and saw 4 goblins approaching. He began to unsheath his knife, but a rock hit his arm and blood started to gush out. A Goblin with a sling. He pulled his knife out and made small work of the first goblin. The Second one tried to hit Silver, but the rusty knife clanged off his armor. He stabbed this one right in the heart. He fought the other two at once, and got a couple more cuts on his arms and legs. Once they were finished, he turned to the one with the sling, who was laughing.
"Run!"

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Saere watched the battle from the entrance, a panic slowly growing within her. She was unarmed, save for her lire, which would do well as a weapon at all. The man with the gem sat down in the hallway, behind the goblins who were attacking the newcomer. She panicked and ran forward. An errant slice from a goblin narrowly missed her playing hand, and she hastily withdrew. The knight lunged at the one with the sling, who stepped back from the sight.

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Silver panted, and watched blood drip from his arms. He lookeed up, and saw the goblin put his sling away and get out a knife. The Goblin began taunting him. Silver's Mind flashes back to the children of Keldrin making fun of him about him being an orphan..
Silver Lunged Forward with all his might...

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Saere winced at the sight of the knife plunging deep into the goblin's neck. The sight of blood made her faint.

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"Hes Dead, lets head back to town." sighed Silver.

The pair began walking back to town, leaving behind a pile of dead goblins and a man with a Gem.

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Karnosh distanly noted that the voices where gone. The voices mattered naught to the gem. Niether did the goblins, who seemed to know the import of the amber glow. Karnosh was sufficiently entranced to fail to notice that he had been subjected to accelerated aging since taking possession of this strange jewel. His helmet and sword were both far behind him, and his armor was already aging. Suddenly, he felt an urge to leave the caverns. The gem had decided to seek the open air once again...

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Waking and stepping out of bed, Silver noticed the woman laying on his guest bed. The memories of yesterday flowed back into him, and he remembered the man with a gem. At this thought, he picked up his armor, put it on, and walked out. It Was still early, the goblins would be asleep. Just in case, he grabbed his knife as he walked out the door. He felt rejuvenated from his rest, and ran the whole way to the mines. Upon arriving, a sense of dread awashed over him. He knew something was wrong. He looked in, and knew what it was. The man with the gem was gone.

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Saere found herself in a warm bed, with slightly coarse sheets on top. Not exactly the estate, she muttered, feeling slightly homsesick for her luxurious room. She pushed it into a back corner of her mind, and got a determined look on her face. I am NOT going back there! she said to herself. She looked up, across to where another bed was stationed. The sheets were wrinkled and tossed. Last night was a haze to her, and she struggled to remember it. I hope I didn't do anything brash,

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Silver began walking home, events of the night beofre pounding in his mind. Why didn't the Goblins kill that guy last night?, he wondered. Who was that girl?. The Girl. He ran home, and found her to be waking up. "By Phens robe, who are you?"

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Saere wiggled out of bed, finding herself still in her white clothes from yesterday. Breathing an inner sigh of relief, she stood straight and tall. "I am Saere-ly Earenda of the Traders. Who are YOU, sir?" she said, with a haughty tone.

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"I am Silver of Keldrin." Silver said in his manliest voice. He noticed she has not one cut on her body. This reminded him of a question he needed to ask her. "May I ask who that man was we saw at the mines last night?"

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Saere raised her eyebrows in confusion. "I don't know. I'm just a minstrel. He looks like a warrior to me, if a little past his prime." She looked around the duly appointed room. An open window was to her left and the door was blocked by the knight in front of her, Silver of Keldrin.

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Silver followed her eyes and saw the open window. He drew his knife. "Saere, I hate to do this, but you aren't going anywhere till my questions get anwsered."

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Saere's fear welled up at the sight of the weapon. Her bow was in her bag at the corner of her bed, but it was too close to the man's knife. Her lire was on the table next to her, and she grabbed at it. She played a discordant loud note and made a desperate leap for her bow...

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The note was deafening. Silver dropped kis knife and cupped his hands over his ears. He looked up again and saw Saere had her bow ready to fire right into his left eye. "Before you kill me, please let me explain what I saw this morning while you were sleeping..."

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"I have no intent of killing you," Saere said weakly. The idea of killing this noble man made her feel sick. He brought me into his home. she realized. Dropping the bow an inch, she allowed the man to step away from it. She drew back the string hesitantly, and then dropped the arrow. "What did you see?" she asked, noting the extreme relief in his eyes.

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Wow That was close Silver thought. Best anwser her question before she puts that arrow back on. "The man....with the gem....he is not in the mines any longer." Silver glanced out the window, trying to think of how to ask her for her help. What he saw out the window scared him. "Get Down!"

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Saere looked at the window. The first thing she saw was a rock, then a hand guiding the rock into the window at her head. She shrieked and dropped the bow and her lire. The stone just missed her head, denting the knight's shin-armor, who staggered back. The man she had seen yesterday was outside the window, still clutching his stone. But he looked about 50 years older then he had been.
"The curse! The curse is spreading!" the man yelled, through the hole in the window. Saere refixed the bow and shot. The arrow bounced clumsily and missed the hole entirely.

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Why does this kind of thing always happen to me?, Silver thought. Then he realized his imminent danger. He crawled across the floor and grabbed his knife. Another rock thumped dully into his side and a crask was heard. Silver grabbed at his side and found a large hole bleeding profusely, he also found a broken bone sticking out. He looked up at Saere and passes out.

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Saere saw the rock arc down at the knight. She heard the crack and covered her ears. Silver looked up at her and fainted. Saere ran across the room and grabbed a chair. She hurled it at the window.
By now, a few people had gathered to watch the spectacle from below in the street. They saw the man breaking up the window. Then the glass broke completely OUTWARDS, and the chair smacked into his chest. He emitted a terrified howl and fell 10 meters to the ground, where he lay still.

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The sound of glass breaking and screams woke Silver up. He looked over and saw Saere crying. He then looked and saw his window was completely broken out. Slowly, he crawled over and looked out. The man with the gem was laying in the middle of the street, unmoving. Six men were fighting over something beside him. He saw an amber glow coming from the middle of the fight.

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Saere looked away from the window as the man plummeted to hs death. She found hot tears running down her cheeks. I killed someone. He didn't even need to die.
Silver had crawled over to the window, as sounds of fighting got louder and louder. A scream punctuated the air, and her crying redoubled.

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