Editing Tomb Raiders

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{{TErow| 1 | Henrietta's Expedition | {{h|Frederick|0=}}: Four years have passed since we defeated Dargem’s pirates. Much has changed in Burton, what with all the new inventions, new allies... and new, previously unfamiliar faces.<p>Sorcerers who had once been in the service of Archibald Ironfist began to appear more and more often in the cities of the Wastelands, now a haven for the rejected of this world. I remember well how I met Wrathmont during the battles with the pirates, but the influx did not end with him.<p>Not long ago, we heard rumors that the famous warlock Agar himself had come to the wastelands, supposedly settling in the western mountains and setting up a laboratory there. I was pretty sure that Agar had turned into a lich and then been destroyed. Didn't matter. Something completely different was really important now...<p>Soon after Agar had settled in the west, disturbing reports began to arrive in Burton. At first, it was news of rockfalls and landslides in the mountains, but we didn't pay much attention to them. Landslides are not uncommon in such a geologically heterogeneous landscape. Later, however, we found out that Sandworms might be involved. These creatures had been around for a long time, occasionally bothering farmers, but they were rarely seen. Most witnesses spoke either of wide furrows in the ground seemingly dug up from below, or of mysterious holes that caused posts and fences to fall, but there were no direct confrontations. However, the creatures of which recent rumors spoke were different: not only larger, but much more aggressive—they attacked mining camps, devoured herds, and attacked trade caravans and lone travelers.<p>Everything indicated that those were no ordinary worms. Those creatures were not plain animals—no, they looked like the product of someone's keen mind.<p>At the Burton town council meeting, the task was set to find Agar at all costs and to find out if he had anything to do with the strange worm attacks. Henrietta immediately volunteered to go on the expedition. Without wasting much time packing, her scouting party left Burton. Days, then weeks, passed, and it finally became clear that something had happened to her expedition. Any attempts to follow its trail were futile: constant rockfalls and earthquakes caused the road through the western mountains to keep changing like an enchanted labyrinth.<p>Then I realized what we needed. Airships, stopping at no obstacle—that was our solution! I had been doing other, albeit very important, things for too long, but it hurt me to see my favorite project stalled without any development.</p>}}

{{TErow| 1 | Frederick meets Kastore | {{h|Frederick|0=}}: I was on my way to Volta, a free city west of Burton. The recent earthquake had destroyed the factories there, but I hoped to find companions among those involuntarily out of jobs. This town was the last place Henrietta and her party were seen. That afternoon I boarded a ship at the port of Orca's Maw: I intended to round the first mountain range by sea and reach Volta, whence my air expedition would start.<p>Imagine my surprise when, just before we set sail, a messenger caught me and announced: "Kastore, the King of Deyja, intends to pay a visit to Burton to establish and strengthen economic ties and wishes to meet with Frederick."<p>The Deyjan King? Here? Of course, news had reached me of how a certain Kastore had come to power last year in that land of necromancers and dark sorcerers, but I had never been interested in those squabbles. Coups are commonplace in Deyja. But what would he want here, and what economic ties could there possibly be when there wasn't even a single port city in Deyja? And how did he know my name? On the other hand, the world of magic is small, and the artificers’ world, even smaller. I ordered a fast brig to go out and ask the captain of the Kastore’s ship to call at Volta instead of Orca's Maw. I was running out of time, but the preparations for the expedition were to last a few more days, and I hoped that the meeting with the unexpected guest would not take too long. I didn't want to ignore the visit of the ruler of Deyja and make a new enemy in him—too many powerful wizards were already on the list... and who knows, maybe Kastore would turn out to be an interesting conversation partner?<p>I was struck by the view that opened up as we approached the port of Volta. From afar, I saw a great ship under gray sails, easily capable of carrying an entire army. How fortunate that we had dredged the port the year before so that heavy ore freighters with a large draft could unload here.<p>That was when I first saw Kastore. An elf in shining armor stood at the gangway of the giant ship with his hands behind his back. On either side of him, multi-armed serpent women stood frozen like statues, armed to their teeth. Nagas are a common sight in Bracada, where they can be found in the service of many wealthy mages, but I knew that any skilled sorcerer could summon those fearsome creatures. It was harder to get them to obey commands, though, something only the most powerful wizards could do.<p>My arrival did not seem to make much impression on the lord of Deyja. Without even turning his head, he said dryly:<p>{{h|Kastore|0=}}: “I expected to see you, but you kept me waiting... Frederick, right?”<p>{{h|Frederick|0=}}: “That is right," I answered. “What can I do for you?”<p>Kastore turned to me leisurely.<p>{{h|Kastore|0=}}: “Word of your inventions is spreading to every corner of Enroth. Deyja is no exception, of course. You know me only as the ruler of a distant land, but I would like you, Frederick, to think of me as a colleague. I am an inventor of sorts myself.”</p>}}

{{TErow| 2 | Conversation with Kastore | {{h|Frederick|0=}}: Kastore surprised me. Maybe I'd expected a lavish procession that would accompany the sovereign from the port to the city... or dark spirits hovering around the king of the Necromancer land. Kastore, however, was on a very ordinary horse, riding with enviable horsemanship beside my steed, all by himself. The Nagas were gone, but I had no doubt that, should the king be in danger, they wouldimmediately appear out of thin air. Everything in Kastore’s way of moving his body, in his stance on horseback, and in his skill of noticing even the smallest details around him, told me that he was an experienced traveler with many adventures under his belt. I did most of the talking, Kastore only occasionally asking for more details about this or that aspect of our life in the wastelands, and being particularly interested in how we'd gotten here. I was careful enough to keep some of the details to myself. He wasn't the least bit interested in my tales of demons falling from the sky with the stars, but my theory about the moon, where I assumed those demons had dwelt before, seemingly amused him. When it came to our airship journey, Kastore raised an eyebrow, looked me in the eye and asked:<p>{{h|Kastore|0=}}: “Can I hope to see your marvelous aeronautical machines? If they are even half as good as you describe them, it won't soon be a problem for even the scantiest knight to get safely to any point in Antagarich, and a wealthy, modern-minded merchant will be able to spread his customer network to cover the whole world!”<p>I couldn't believe my ears, but Kastore… it was as if he read my mind and saw my dreams in the palm of his hand. It was a risky decision, but the prospect of a powerful ally who could make the glory of my inventions known to the world was too tempting. I said yes.<p>{{h|Frederick|0=}}: “Of course. In a few days I’ll have to bid you farewell; my assistant and apprentice Henrietta, of whom you already know from my story, is in trouble, and I plan to depart from Volta in search of her, precisely by airship. I have a few test flights to make with the new model before that, so I invite you to join me and see for yourself.”</p>}}