A Lucky Find

By: Chryenth Posted on: January 20, 2011

It had been a bad day's hunting. I hadn't managed to kill nearly half what I'd set out to, and I had a fresh set of scars courtesy to an angry vampire. The priests at the shrine to Pandemonium had been very kind, laughing only behind their sleeves and when my back was turned. Frankly, I don't blame them. Much. A score of goblins doesn't fair well against dragons and Ur'Vampires and Death Knights and whatever else the top brass were bringing in.

I was, therefore, in a foul mood when walked into the pitch-dark, empty Deli of Disaster. I fairly threw my staff to the floor, which would have shocked anyone that had seen it - I'm normally pretty calm. As it hit the floor there was a poof and flash of light, and my staff turned to dust. The power holding it together dissipated instantly and a slight breeze blew the remains away as I watched.

I was settling down at a table, clutching a pair of shot glasses with which to drown my sorrows, when a glint caught my eye. A piece of jewelry, left on the table by some visitor to the Deli, perhaps? A ring, to be precise - the sort one sees all the time on the hands of the elite, gold with a tiny gem on top. I thought it might bear some mark of ownership, so I reached over and picked it up. Perhaps I could give it back, get a reward or something.

As soon as I touched it, my mouth went dry. Almost without my telling them to, my hands slipped the ring over my right index finger, and a faint tingling sensation ran up my arm and through my entire being. Almost instantly, the wounds on my face which I hadn't bothered to fix, the throbbing pain of recently-healed broken limbs and the pounding headache that accompanies any trip to the Underworld all began to fade. I watched in some awe as a gash in my arm seemed to close, seal up and vanish before my eyes. Within moments, I was back on at the top of my physical form.

With some care I took the ring off, and the feeling faded. I looked closely at it's surface, half expecting to find... Yes, there was a tiny, beautiful engraving of a dragon encircling the ruby-red gem. A Ring of Draconic Vitality, in other words. An exceptionally expensive and powerful artefact. I tried to recall the price the last time I had been in Delos - four million gold sovereigns? Five? More? Such a treasure was far beyond the meager reach of my humble bank account, for sure.

I stood there for a long, long moment, waging an internal war. Conscience against the pull of combat, reprisal from on high against harsh vengeance. Then a voice whispered in my ear... 'For Strife...' I span around, clutching the ring guiltily, but the Deli was still empty. A sign from the gods? Someone hidden from view? Either way, I thought, they made a good point. I slipped the ring back on, summoned another staff and strode out of the Deli and into the pitch-black night, ready to get back in the field.

Surely the ring's owner wouldn't miss it for one evening...