Lost

Lost and Kalsipher retrieve the blood diamond   Beset on a quest Lost and Kalsipher set out to find the blood diamond amongst many other travelers and adventures attempting to do the same. It was rumored that this singular diamond of deep crimson held extraordinary power. Some even believed it could raise the dead.   Their first step was to find the powerful gem was to decipher a hidden message. “a forest with no trees, a river with no water, a town with no citizens, and tower with no walls”   After traversing the lands of Flatlick Falls and finding several locations that could fit the descriptions of the riddle, no results came of it. There appeared to be no connections that they could gather in correspondence with the riddle. After consulting the map to see if there was anything they may have missed, they made a discovery.   Upon closer inspection of the map, they found lines and markings that appeared out of place. They slowly came to understand that all over parchment there was some sort of language written. This realization came with another revelation, the answer to the riddle was indeed a map. It depicted all the things in our living world without the physical presence of them.   While attempting to piece together what the text was and what language it could have possibly been in, another group of adventures wandered over to Lost and Kalsipher to ask if they could see the map. Once they laid eyes on it a dwarf in their group recognized the script.   “it’s written in ancient dwarvish”   Together the two groups sat down and put their heads together to decipher the messsge left for them. After few hours of checking references of other texts and slowly chipping away at the writing, what it had hidden was revealed. “The element that grows life and drowns it all the same, hides below the treasure you seek”   Water. Water was the answer. There was a river in Flatlick and both groups set out in an instant. following downstream they checked under rocks and turned over logs. The slid sheets of shale and investigated any potential divot or alcove that could be hiding anything. Traveling and searching for hours lead the two groups of adventures to Flatlicks namesake, the waterfall.   Lost and Kalsipher were astonished at the shear size of the falls. Over 100ft in height and at least 40ft wide. The shear volume of the water crashing to the reservoir on the bottom made it difficult to hear their own thoughts. It’s at this point the other group of adventures decided to pack it in.   “This is just a wild goose chase to a fake treasure” said the dwarf.   “Let’s call it. Clearly this is the end of the line and we couldn’t find it” agreed another member of the group.   The second group of adventures, disgruntled and defeated, turned around to begin the long journey back to town. Lost and Kalsipher also perplexed at what to do next spotted something interesting. It appeared that there was a very precarious path that could possibly lead to the bottom of the waterfall. The riddle did mention the treasure would be found “below”. The two looked at each other in agreement and began their dangerous traversal.   The walls around the roaring water were steep and jagged stone. Below the area surrounding the reservoir was the same. The cliffs seemed to lend a ledge just wide enough to shimmy along the wall to the bottom. Lost and Kalsipher nodded to each other and made their way to the ledge as slowly and cautiously as possible. Once they made it to the slight sliver of stone sticking out of the wall it became clear how small the margins for error was. The true height of the falls became evidently clear to the both of them as they tried not to like down. Few proper handholds showed themselves to the two adventures along the way.   With one slightly hasty step, the rock under Kalsiphers right foot gave way. In a moment of panic and quick thinking Lost tightened their grip on the small handhold they had in their left hand and snatched Kalsiphers belt in their right. This shift in momentum gave Kalsiphers enough time to reattach himself to the jagged wall that stood strong in front of them. A mouthed “thank you” came from Kalsipher to Lost as it was still hard to hear anything but the beating of their own hearts in their throats.   After a time of extremely tense and minute movements they had made it to the bottom of the beautiful natural sight. Here they began their search again for this illusive treasure. While standing on one of the jagged rocks shooting out over the surface of the reservoir something caught Lost’s eye.   “There is something metallic down here. It appears to be rusted in spots. Might be what we are looking for!”   Kalsipher, with even more caution than he showed on the cliffside, made his way over the spires and sharp sediment that was in between the two of them. Deep in the water and buried in the dirt and rocks did appear to be a sheen of some metal.   “Let’s hope that’s what we have come for” Kalsipher spoke with a raised voice. He began to take off the protective leathers he was wearing and drop his weapons to the ground.   “I’m gonna go under. Whatever is down there might be heavy so grab my feet and if I give a tug, pull as hard as you can” determination in his eyes.   “Give me your belt. I’ll use it to anchor myself to the rocks.” Directed Lost.   Yet another nod led Kalsipher to dive headfirst in the crystal waters and Lost to tighten their grip around the belt and Kalsiphers ankle. Making his way down his fingers found what was showing itself through the surface of the water. Digging his digits in the dirt to wrap around whatever this item was. it was a rusted chain. He gave it a tug but it only shuttered slightly. Wrapping both hands around the chain now he gave a stronger pull and a chest wrapped in chains became uncovered. Kalsipher gave his leg a tug to signal to Lost to pull. Kalsipher started to rise to the surface when all of a sudden the chest got snagged by a rock Jutting out of the side of the reservoir.   Lost felt their arm go stiff as Kalsiphers ascent had suddenly come to a halt. They gripped the belt even tighter as they strained all the muscles in their upper body. Kalsipher tugging and pulling couldn’t seem to get the chest loose. Lost let the tension go for a moment only to yank as hard as they physically could. This powerful movement broke the top of the rock and the unrelenting upward force freed the chest from its lodged state.   Kalsipher Breached the waters surface presenting the chained chest to Lost.   “Thank you.” Trying to catch his breath. “Think you can crack this open?” Asked Kalsipher.   “A smaller lock I could, But this might need some more expertise than I currently possess. Let’s try to find a safer way back to town” Lost stated.   “Agreed” Kalsipher said with a smirk.   After a much longer journey than the one that took them to the falls, they made it back to the town they were currently staying in. To avoid prying eyes, they removed the arrows out of Lost’s quiver and stashed the chest inside. Kalsipher just held the arrows in the meantime. They needed to find someone who could help them open this chest. They also needed to make sure they would stay quiet about what they found.   Spending some time conversing with a few of there contacts lead the two to an accomplished antique dealer. Although they have a clean reputation now, that was not always the case. Lost and Kalsipher entered her gallery where there appeared to be no patrons currently. They called out to see if anyone was present and a voice appeared to come from a room in the back.   “Do you have no respect for precious and beautiful things? Lower your voice as there is no need to yell.” She emerged from her office in the back.   The two apologized and proceeded to ask if they could speak in a private location. The antique seller brought them back to the office which she just came from. Once the door was closed they pulled the chained chest out of the quiver and presented it to the collector.   “Are you looking to sell? What is it?” She inquired.   “No we need your help opening it.” Lost stated. “We are unsure what is in it, but we’re told you might be able to crack it.”   “Don’t worry we will pay you of course” Kalsipher chimed in quickly.   After coming to terms on proper compensation, the collector pulled a lever hidden under her desk. This revealed a secrete compartment in the top of the desk. Out from it she pulled a toolkit of sorts. She opened it and began to work on the large lock holding all the chains.   A couple minutes of tense silence passed, broken only by the occasional feint sound of a tumbler clicking. Once the last click sounded the chains dropped to the desk in a heap.   “Mind if I do the honors?” asked the collector.   “Sure, you did open it.” Relented Lost   Kalsipher took the agreed upon gold out of his coin purse and placed it on the table. A nod of acknowledgment came from the collector. She released the latch on the chest and slowly lifted the lid. Reaching her hand in she revealed a sealed piece of parchment. A forlorn look shot across her face as she opened the letter and began reading.   “To the first person reading this. Your hubris and greed has lead you to a terrible end. By breaking this seal and reading this note you have been cursed….”   Before she could read any further Lost swiftly grabbed the chest. In a moment the two were heading out the door of the office. The moment they breached the threshold they made a break for it. quickly putting the chest back in the quiver. They exited the front door and ducked and weaved between alleyways and businesses.   They returned to the inn in which they were staying and hastily made it to their room. Locking the door, they finally took a second to breathe. A smile crept across their faces. They set the chest on the table in the room and slowly lifted the lid. A deep red glow came from inside. Lost stuck their hand in and grabbed the cold, slick jewel. Raising the weighty diamond high, they both quietly but excitedly celebrated their victory.