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Yes, I'm not very original with names.

Hi, I'm obviously WizardStar, and this is my second story. All Jagex rules apply blah blah blah. It's probably going to be a tad bit longer than my other story, Runescape Revealed. Please post, if only to show you read it!

TOC

Prologue: Post2-3
Chapter1: Post3-5
Chapter2: Post6-8

NOTE: Some of you may realise that, while otherwise very detailed, my stories give little to no description on the main characters. This is partly because I forgot to, partly because I don't want to, and partly because it lets the reader imagine the main character to be whatever they want.

My last story started with a general lesson about life in Runescape. This story will start with an ant.

----Prologue----

At the end of a deep, dark, tunnel in the middle of a mountain, the ant ran quickly. It could smell food. Good food, too. And the nest needed food; food was good, good food was good good! Where was it? Aha! It was through this little crack!

The ant moved into this crack, and to its surprise, found a large cavern ahead. Well, large by ant standards. It was really only a couple square feet, but to the ant it was as large as the Burthope games room – only not nearly as empty. For the whole small cavern was green, like a colony of moss that decided that the outside world was too noisy and moved there. But it wasn’t moss. A human or other giant being such as us would identify the green carpeting as a moss or a slime, but the ant was a respectably small fellow, and she could just barely make out that the whole area was actually carpeted in very, very, very, VERY tiny grass.

The ant was puzzled by this, but soon forgot about it as it realized that the sweet smell of food was drifting up from the carpet of miniscule grass. So, she gathered whatever wits ants have and moved over to the green cover. As she got closer she realized the grass was cut into tiny squares, and in the middle of each of these miniature squares there was what looked like, though the ant wouldn’t have known it, a (usually) large house. And there were MILLIONS of them. Also, it realized it was not all green grass: there was dirt, and even sand, too.

Just as the ant was about to walk up to these little plots of land, she hit something. She looked up to see what it was, and pressed her feelers on it. Something was there… but it was invisible! The ant was getting mad now. She banged her head against the force field a few more times, but to no avail. The ant even tried biting the invisible block. Eventually she was forced to tear away from her lust for the food.

Deep down, in the tiny world of the POHs, all adventurers took no heed of this disturbance. They were all insane, and all were inside their houses for no apparent reason, doing mostly nothing except killing friends, and even if they did see the ant they all thought nothing of it. All but one that is.

This one adventurer was looking out his window while making tea and, to his surprise, saw a giant ant whose bristles on her leg would make the Empire State Building cry and run for its mommy. This one adventurer was sane enough to realize that something really bad was happening. And this one adventurer was actually scared.

“Oh, no..." Wizard2878 murmured.

----Chapter 1----

“So let me get this straight,” said the house agent in Varrock, “You say you saw an ant about the size of Mars while in your house, and that it tried to get into your house but was blocked by a gigantic invisible force field?”

“Uh… yes.” Wizard2878 said.

“Yeah. Get out.”

Wizard2878 got out of the agent’s office, sighed, and looked at his list. He crossed out “Varrock,” and muttered “Time for Falador!” Wizard2878 wished he could be confident that the house agents weren’t all the same person. As it happens, they were all identical twins whose destinies were linked by Saradomin when he was having a bad day.

Wizard2878 sprinted down to the bank. As he opened the wooden doors he noted that there were some blood stains on the otherwise beautifully polished black-and-white, chess board tiled floor. “Financial troubles, I assume,” Wizard2878 thought with a smile.

“Hello, Wiz!” Larry called. Larry was Wizard2878’s banker, and they had become good friends over the year since Wizard2878 went on a trip with a disgruntled couple, Generico and Generica, and gained the ability to be liked by normal people. Since then he had a trip to the makeover mage to become a man again; with a touch of sanity in his mind he felt rather odd being a man in a woman’s body.

“Hello Larry!” Wizard2878 called, “I need teleport runes to Falador, please.”

“Mighty adventure going on, hm?” Larry asked.

“No, my house just almost got attacked by a gigantic ant. Need some help with that.”

Larry shook his head. “I won’t ask anymore,” he said with a Twinkie, er, twinkle in his eyes. Larry then handed Wizard2878 a handful of small stones with colored etches in them.

“Ah, thank you.” Wizard2878 said, and took out his magic book, flipping to a dog-eared, worn-down page labeled “Teleports.” He knew the spell by heart, but he thought it looked more impressive when he took out his book. He then chanted the sacred text: “Yo Saradomin, I need a lift! Main square Falador, eh?” (Of course, this was in an ancient and mystical language. Otherwise it would sound stupid. Duh.)

After flying through the sky just under the speed of sound (so people don’t complain about all the sonic booms), Wizard2878 landed safely in the Falador central square. Since his last visit with Generico and Generica, protests had taken place to try to dim down the blinding light caused by all the white paint. The Faladorian Painting Society refused, but was obliged to hand out free sunglasses. Wizard2878 put a pair on, and set off a short walk east to the Falador House Agent’s office.

As he entered the office, Wizard2878 took off his sunglasses. “Hello, Wizard2878 here to file a complaint?” he called.

“Complaints? That’s all we get these days…” a gruff voice muttered. “Come in, wad’ya want?”

Wizard2878 came in and sat on a chair. The House Agent seemed identical to all the others he had visited before: top hat, business suit, and that almost royal Construction Skillcape. “Uh, two days ago, at around 5:00 P.M, I saw from my house a gigantic ant, that was, oh, a million times bigger than my plot of land?”

“So?” the agent said bluntly.

“So… I’m worried it might kill me or destroy my house?” Wizard2878 said, a bit surprised by the agent’s reaction.

"Look, I’m not the right guy for this,” the agent said in an exasperated voice, “Go talk to the fairies. They’re the ones that fold space into itself so they can store millions of houses into a small area, or something.”

“May I ask where these particular fairies are?” Wizard2878 said, relieved to finally be getting somewhere, but at the same time disheartened that this whole trip had to go on even longer.

“Yes you may.” The agent said with a smile.

“Oh,” Wizard2878 said, annoyed now, *Ha ha. Where are these particular fairies?”

"Zanaris, duh!” the agent replied, “Where else do fairies live?”

“Right. Zanaris. Of course.” Wizard2878 said, and hurriedly left the room.

It had been a while since Wizard2878 had last visited Zanaris. It had been to clear up some trouble he had with copyright issues when he had introduced his slogan to his Construction Supplies business: “Wizard’s fantabulous supplies: They’ll make you feel like an otherworldly being!” Later he had to take down the slogan anyway as he felt people thought he was a drug dealer.


A few hours later, after a couple teleports and much walking that I will not go into, Wizard2878 was standing outside a fairy ring, holding a magical Dramen staff in his hand. He took a deep breath, and then stepped into the middle. “I always hated this kind of teleport,” Wizard2878 thought bitterly, as he watched his entire body dissolve into individual molecules.

Then came the horrible part of it. The tiny flick of time after he had dissolved but before he was rebuilt, when he was dead. Stone cold dead. He wondered how he even remembered that period, with his brain gone and memory storage gone with it.

Then, as soon as it had gone, Wizard2878’s vision returned to see his body rematerializing. He choked down puke, and thought that the only reason it did*’t hurt must be that his nerves were dissolved first.

But no matter, here he was in Zanaris.

----Chapter 2----


Wizard2878 looked approvingly at Zanaris. The NEW Zanaris. Last time he was here there was an ugly blue shade wherever you looked. Now everything looked much greener and… tree-y. The adventurer thought this makeover was long overdue, and that it reflected the fairies’ personalities much better.

It was after he surveyed the area that he realized that he had no idea where the actual group of fairies controlling the POHs where. Zanaris was a big place, after all. His adventurer instinct kicking in, Wizard2878 talked to a nearby sheep. “Hello,” he said, “Do you know where the fairies running the POHs are?”

“Up your butt and around the corner!” the sheep replied rudely.

Wizard2878 sighed and made a show of slowly turning around. “Well, I gotta go get my shears, then...”

“Wait!” the sheep cried desperately. Wizard2878 turned around as the sheep continued, “They’re two miles west, turn north at the bank go straight for a while you’ll find an elevator you can’t miss it go down turn right walk 200 yards climb down the tree make the third exit you have arrived at your destination!” After what was probably the longest comment in its life, the sheep fell over panting.

“Thank you!” Wizard2878 chimed, and went on his way.

Yet again, the next couple of hours were filled with much walking but with not much happening, so I’ll skip the tree-filled scenery and get right to the part when Wizard2878 reached the elevator. And when the sheep said “you can’t miss it,” it was probably understating, to say the least. For this elevator was maybe twenty feet high, ten feet wide and made of solid gold, trimmed with the finest ivory that came from wherever in RuneScape elephants live. As Wizard2878 walked up to this colossal feat of craftsmanship and saw the “up” or “down” buttons, which where puny in comparison to the rest of the elevator, he felt as if he were deciding whether he would go to heaven or hell. And, he thought grimly, it looks like hell it would be.

Almost as soon as he had pressed the “down” button, the enormous doors opened to reveal a room somewhat resembling a (slightly) scaled down cathedral, packed full of at least a hundred fairies, all transporting between the various layers of Zanaris. Rather awkwardly Wizard2878 stepped into the elevator, uncomfortably aware that everyone else around him was hovering a good foot above his head.

Soon the great elevator doors had opened again, and Wizard2878 stepped out into the basement of Zanaris. This is where all types of agencies and businesses had their headquarters, and it was generally not visited by adventurers. Unlike the green tree-filled upper level, this basement was brown; being dug out of the ground, its walls were made of soil. Occasionally one could see a large tree root dangling out of the ceiling or walls. All around there were buildings made by packing soil into bricks like adobe, and due to this instability of building material, none of the said buildings got very large.

Wizard2878 turned right, and began walking the 200 yards. He wondered what “tree” the sheep would be talking about, as there seemed to be none in sight. That is, there wasn’t any until he reached the 200 yard mark, exactly. Because right then, Wizard2878 was suddenly wavering at the edge of a fifty foot cliff. And right below the cliff was the big, green canopy of a tree.

“Well,” Wizard2878 thought, still trying not to fall in, “I have to get down to the bottom any way...” And with that thought he jumped into the pit, bellyflop style. Within one second he was getting scraped, bruised, battered, and even punched as he fell through the tough blanketing of branches. For the first time in a year he wished he had his armor on. Then, with a loud and painful THUMP, Wizard2878 hit the ground. The stone ground. He groaned and wondered how insane he still was.

Slowly he staggered to his feet, and realized he was at the base of the large tree. In front of him was the trunk, with what appeared to be a door in it. On this door was a sign saying: POH Management Department. Wizard2878 stumbled inside, where he saw a wooden desk with a fairy in a business suit scribbling behind it. He pulled up a chair.

The fairy agent looked up, flew away for a second, and came back struggling with a large tuna. He handed it to Wizard2878. Slowly Wizard2878 ate the tuna, and before he knew it, the fish was completely gone, along with most of his scratches and bruises. Wizard2878 shook his head and wondered how on RuneScape that even worked.

“Now then,” the fairy agent said, breaking the silence, “What is it you want?”

Wizard2878 told the fairy his story of the ant, and hoped it was the last time he’d have to say it. Throughout the recollection the fairies eyes grew more and more interested. Soon, Wizard2878 finished his tale, and silence fell. After what seemed like a long time, the fairy agent spoke.

“I think you have to see the boss.” The fairy said quietly, and pressed a button on his desk. At first, nothing seemed to happen. Then, in the background, mechanical wheels started turning ominously. Wizard2878 looked down at his feet to find that in front of him a large trapdoor was opening up.

*So, do I have to go down th—” Wizard2878 began, only to have his chair be pushed forward by the agent. Before he knew it, the adventurer was sliding headfirst through the trapdoor into a long, dark, cold, and cramped metal tunnel.

“Ahhh!” Wizard2878 cried as he realized he was claustrophobic, afraid of the dark, and apparently afraid of going at breakneck speed through an underground tunnel all in one second. Then suddenly, he stopped. Just as a bit of relief followed by fear was creeping through his body, the tunnel opened up underneath him, and he fell about 10 feet onto a metal floor, this time on his back.

----Chapter 3----

Half an hour and several quickly-disappearing tuna later, Wizard2878 was sitting on a comfortable black leather spinning chair in front of a metal desk similar to the wooden one he had seen upstairs. Also similar to the scene upstairs was that behind the desk was a single suited fairy. Unlike the upstairs, this room was solid steel, which Wizard2878 found to feel unnervingly like a giant cage.

The single suited fairy, Wizard2878 had realized, was “the boss.” He had the look of someone who had single-handedly reversed a nuclear missile’s direction, causing it to explode right in front of an asteroid which otherwise would’ve hit Earth, but now was directed at an attacking alien mothership. And based on the various scars on his small face, it was very possible that he might have done just that. Currently Wizard2878 was shaken from his thoughts, as the dominant fairy was speaking.

“Hello, Wizard2878,” he said, “I am Culet. I am the head of the POH Management Department. I heard your story through a speaker my assistant up stairs had in his office, and it looks like I’ll be sending you on a quest.” Wizard2878 groaned for the first time in his life about the prospect of a quest.

“Let me start by filling you in,” Culet continued, “A couple years ago, the High Council said that adventurers should have the ability to own a house. Dutifully we folded space into a small area that allowed millions of players to have houses without crowding out the world. We needed a few square feet to put this, though. Anywhere on land would be too much of a disturbance, so we decided to put it in the middle of Ice Mountain.

“For a while, everything was fine, and people built up their houses happily. Then, one day, we received reports that dwarves were mining in Ice Mountain, and that they were getting dangerously close to the patch of houses. We immediately began launching operations to cease their expansion. Finally, just as they were about to break through into our small cavern, our best agent Miral managed to bankrupt their efforts. The ant that you saw was a reminder of just how close they got to breaking in.

“So for the moment everything seemed fine enough. But now, we have reports that show that the dwarves have been getting money again, and will soon be mining. If they get just an inch further in their mine, trillions, maybe even quadrillions of gold pieces will be ruined, not to mention the lives of many adventurers. We can take no chances this time. I’m sending you in with Miral, because all the other agents we have are way too chicken. Besides, she’s human while they’re all fairies, and I think they’ll clash.”

Silence fell as Wizard2878 drew in the situation. There was an anonymous agreement between the two figures that Wizard2878 was going: one, he basically had no choice as he was stuck there; and two, nobody argues with Culet when he looks at you like that. Eventually Wizard2878 had gathered his thoughts and said, “Okay, when do I go?”

“As soon as Miral gets here,” Culet said. Just then, they heard a thump, and Wizard2878 spun around to see a body crumpled, right underneath the end of the entrance chute. “There she is!” Culet said with a smile.

As Miral stood up, it was all Wizard2878 had in him not to drop his jaw. She was beautiful! Her hair was as black as a moonless night, with her blue-grey eyes shining out like spotlights watching for potential wooers. Her skin was a healthy flesh color, and she had a lean but strong build.