Xavius Creel

UP: Pacific

    T’was a bright sunny day yesterday and a cool refreshing breeze came in from the bay as I sat down in the Cat’s Lair in Britain. Thanking my waitress for the warm bowl of tomato soup she put in front of me, I began to relax from a long day’s walk from the mountains of Minoc. Halfway thru my bowl of soup I heard a woman yelling outside, by the First bank of Britain. Curious as to what might cause such an alarm, I walked outside towards the lady and noticed that she was a local town crier.

A crowd started to form rather quickly around the young lady, curious as to what was happening. The lady began informing the crowd of news from Covetous that an undead lich lord named Raziel had returned from his grave to seek out his revenge on the people of Britannia. From that point questions started to fly, questions like “Who was Raziel”, and “What revenge did he want” began to be shouted by the large crowd now forming around her. After the further discovery that the lich lord Raziel was seen on the third floor of the dungeon Covetous, many of the gatherers decided to test their courage that day and fight this evil undead lord.

I decided to take another route as I headed to my home in the nearby woods to prepare myself for battle, knowing that all of Britannia’s families would be in peril with this lich lord running about. Retrieving my trusted longsword, I headed off to Covetous to fight the lich lord Raziel. After a long trek I finally reached the lich’s lair. Tired and afraid, I walked into a scene out of nightmares! Bodies laid everywhere, some disfigured, others cut in half or with limbs removed. I tried hard to keep my lunch, but I could not hold it any longer. Retching my midday meal into a nearby corner, I took solace in the fact that I was still alive. That thought soon changed as I glanced up I saw three bone knights charging at me without a care in the world. In the heat of battle I lost count of the amount of friends and foes alike I had seen fall during that battle ‘til at last I heard the triumphant call that we had won, and that the lich lord Raziel had been slain.

Our victory was short lived that day, for soon after the lich lord had been slain, a spirit appeared to warn us of Raziel’s real intent. The spirit claimed that the lich lord we killed and the armies sent with him were nothing more than a hoax, a distraction to buy the real Raziel time to complete his incantations. The spirit went into further detail explaining that Raziel sought revenge for the disturbance of his sleep by the constant battles taking place in Covetous, and that Raziel intended to call forth all of the undead of Britannia to destroy the human annoyances once and for all. The spirit quickly told us that Raziel’s real lair was in the world of Felucca within the same confines we had just done battle. Grabbing hold of my courage, myself and the other warriors still in the chambers grouped together and prepared for the final battle against Raziel and his undead minions.

Passing through the gate I blinked and as my eyes focused I thought I was seeing things, for what stood before me was a towering daemon with fangs as long as my arm. Glancing over my shoulder I noticed the other warriors just now passing thru the gate and seeing what I had seen. With a quick glance between each other, we darted off in different directions, taking cover from the foul beast. With a bellowing roar Raziel screamed, “Caine, Lord of the Abyss, I command thee! Destroy our enemies! Leave not a single soul to live to retell this day!” And with a deafening roar the great daemon sprung into action. The battle that ensued lasted for what seemed to be years.

Wounded and covered in blood I did not hear the cheers of victory at first. All I felt was the numbing sensation of exhaustion, but after a few minutes I regained myself and took part in the celebration. After the battle against Raziel was complete, the warriors who had managed to pick a few gold pieces during the fight offered to buy us all rounds at the Green Gryphon. Most of us merrily accepted the offer and headed to the Gryphon to retell the tales of the two battles, though few of us realized how close we had come to death that day.

Returning to my home later that eve, a bit intoxicated but none for the worse, I began to wonder. Had we really stopped Raziel the second time or was that also just an illusion? And if we did stop him, did we stop him before he cast the spell we had all feared so deeply? I suppose only time will tell – but, as for me, I will be lighting an extra candle this night and saying an extra long prayer as I go to sleep, in hopes that this would be the last time I would ever see Raziel again.

From the Town Cryer - The Journal of Ultima Online, Wednesday, June 28th 2000