u/Kilroy898

Having recently dealt with an ai scam, this hit home.

Im sure its pretty obvious which is which. I was just kinda doodling. So like.... which do yall like better? And why?

Deep in the bowls of a dungeon below one of the older council buildings, something stirred... something ancient and Terrible...

For three thousand years, the heavy Admantine doors of Vault 13-C had remained sealed, bound by specialized sealing runes.

Unfortunately even the best, most well made runes need to be maintained, and the council had long forgotten the thing that last within... or more likely they had gotten lazy... or killed in a wizard war... point is, the runes had not been maintained for some time.

The runes on the door began to crackle with energy Not shattered by a counter-spell, flashing blinding shades of neon green and *error-code* crimson before dissolving into nothing.

The massive admantine doors groaned, then slammed into the opposite wall as they were blown off their hinges. From the absolute darkness of the threshold, a figure stepped into the everburning torchlight. His robes were all but rags, frayed, half orange, half purple, as was his widely brimmed hat. His beard reached his knees, and his eyes, unaccustomed to any amount of light for the past three millenia were hardly able to open at first.

He stood there for a long moment, blinking violently against the offensive glare of the everburning torches. He rubbed his eyes, his gnarled hands shaking slightly from the disuse of time.

​"Idiots," he rasped, "Absolute, incompetent buffoons."

​He looked down at the massive, multi-ton adamantine doors currently embedded six inches deep into the opposite stone wall. He hadn't even meant to blow them off their hinges. He had simply cast Knock. Unfortunately his magic, Strong as it was, had rended the doors from their hinges.

​he sighed, a heavy sigh, adjusted his absurd hat, and began his trek out of the sad attempt at a labyrinth.

Needing something to lean on, he reached out and ripped one of the everburning torches straight out of its stone wall bracket. Holding the sconce in his hand, he channeled his raw power into it. The short handle elongated, stretching out and thickening until the wall torch had formed into an imposing staff, topped with a perpetual flame that burned a blinding white.

​Leaning heavily on the staff, he shuffled out of the vault. His first few steps were shaky, but with every stride, his posture straightened. The raw, oppressive weight of his arcana began to bleed into his unused muscles, causing them to slowly but surely regrow.

​He followed the corridor until it opened up into the lower rotunda of the council building. And there, right in the center of the grand hallway, was the first thing to greet him after three millennia.

A fountain, massive and are inspiring, the statues depicting the end of one of the first wizard wars, the auspicious figure in a victory pose.. and then it flickered, only slightly.... but it was enough.

His hand tightened bone white on his new staff.

"Three thousand years, and the absolute pinnacle of your achievement is wasting perfect mana on a worthless, lying heap of theatrical garbage! Couldn't even be bothered to craft a real fountain.. infernal Illusion magic."

He waved his hand and dispelled it, leaving the grand room empty, as several guards approached him.

"Drop the staff, and come with us."

"Heh... youngin, do you know who I am?"

Ignoring him, he demanded again "Drop. The. Staff."

"My name is Ophelious Philoneous, and I answer to no one!"

---

***BREAKING NEWS***

*COUNCIL BUILDING 37 HAS BEEN DISINTEGRATED, IF ANYONE HAS INFORMATION ABOUT THIS MAN, REPORT IT IMMEDIATELY. HE IS ARMED AND EXTREMELY DANGEROUS.*