Once
again, the night is without incident and they rise early.
Yaz is the first to wake in
order to begin his devotions as the sun rises for the dawn. Today
Jihan also rises and the two of them sing their devotions to Prirodna
together. During the devotions, Yaz blesses the retrieved Elven
chainmail in the name of their lady, purifying the armor from the
taint of undeath.
Once the task has been
performed, Jihan takes the armor and puts it away in the hope that he
can decipher the markings on the armor and reunite it with the family
of the dead elf.
They then all set off on
their fifth journey towards the tower. As usual, the advance scouting
party of Will and Jihan come across no living, or formerly living,
creature during their hour and a half long journey to the
tower.
The tower is now familiar to
them, but still brings them all the same sense of foreboding as the
first time that they entered it. As on the previous day, Hrust casts
Blesk's blessing upon them, to give them courage during their
inevitable fight with the death knight.
As always, before continuing
to clear the tower, they start off by making a check on all of the
lower levels of the tower, but all is exactly the same as they left
it. Satisfied that nothing is going to attack them from the rear,
they climb the staircase up to the fourth level. Of the five rooms on
this level, they have already checked two of them. Continuing in the
clockwise direction, they move up towards the middle room facing
them.
Jihan goes through his
regular series of checks at the door, but determines that there are
no traps on the door, nor is it locked, nor does there seem to be
anyone inside it. Winnacer, Hrust and Bennett take their regular
position at the door before Winnacer starts the countdown and opens
the door quickly.
To their relief, you see
that the room is uninhabited. It is similar to the one to the left of
it that was the one where you encountered Zsolt, in that it is
another living area for a resident, although it is slightly larger
than Zsolt's room. It is furnished more sparsely than the other room,
despite the fact that it is larger. It contains a bed, a simple
wooden chair and a large wardrobe. You eyes, however, fall upon a
small altar at the back of the room. The altar is situated on a large
three-legged table of black mahogany that has survived the centuries
of decay without seemingly a sign of rot. On the wall above the
table, there is the sign of the inverted pentagram, daubed in a
crimson color, probably blood. Underneath the sign, there is a large
ram's skull, which also has the pentagram symbol burned into it. To
each side of the skull are two large and ornate candlestick-holders.
The candles that were held by them have long since burned away and
heavy globs of candlewax have spilled down their sides, before
forming a waxen pool on the table. In front of the skull, there is a
large bowl.
Jihan asks Faewen'il to
check out the items on the altar to see if any of them are magickal.
After checking with the Witchfinder rod, however, she determines that
they are not. Jihan picks up one of the candlesticks and feels the
weight of it:
'Solid gold' he says. 'Two
hundred gold pieces each, I would put them at.'
He then looks at the bowl
that has a similar design to that of the candlesticks. Inside the
bowl, he can see that it is filled with what was once blood. Over the
centuries, however, the blood has coagulated to an extent that it is
now just a red/black lump stuck to the bottom of the bowl.
'The bowl's probably worth
another 150' Jihan says as he appraises it.
Having finished with the
altar, they look at the wardrobe. Inside it are a number of plum and
charcoal gray robes, although they are tinged green through mildew.
"This must be the living
quarters of the priest that we encountered in the temple" says
Winnacer as he looks at the robes.
Will sees that there are
five books at the bottom of the wardrobe. He picks them up to see
that they are large and covered in a material that looks suspiciously
as if they are encased in human flesh. Each one of them has a
different rune printed on the front cover. Will picks them up and
puts them in a sack without opening them:
'More information for Father
Konan' he says.
After checking a second time
to ensure that they haven't missed anything, they file out of the
room and take up their positions outside the next door. Once more,
Jihan makes his checks:
'There are no traps to my
knowledge, nor is it locked. However, I could just make out the
chinking of metal plate in there.'
'It looks as if we could
very well have found Zsolt's slayer' Winnacer states solemnly. 'We
should all prepare ourselves so that we may see that justice is
served upon this abomination.'
They take a few moments to
compose themselves. Hrust goes to the rear and Xavier comes up to
take his place at the head of the party, standing next to Winnacer
and Bennett. Will and Jihan stand behind the three warriors. The
three spellcasters take up the rear. Both Hrust and Yaz cast
flameblades so that they might be able to help out the warriors if
necessary. Knowing that her magickal missiles had no effect upon the
creature in your last confrontation, Faewen'il readies a piece of
cobweb in her hand in order to try and restrain the death knight
should things not go to plan.
Winnacer checks that
everyone is ready. Once he obtains the OK from everyone, he starts
the countdown, and then flings the door open.
As he and the rest of them
expected, inside the room is the blackened form of the death knight,
standing motionless inside the room.
As they enter the room, the
death knight starts to laugh in his terrible deep voice that
reverberates around the room:
'Ha! Ha! Ha! How good of you
to return to my Lord's tower, as I appreciated the sport of our last
encounter. I was very disappointed at your slaying of our latest
recruit, however, and taking his body out of the tower. But it was no
great loss. I look forward to taking another of you to replace him
with.'
They ignore the death
knight's taunts and rush towards him in order to try and overwhelm
it. Winnacer is the first to charge towards the creature, hoping that
his courage will not desert him again. Blesk's aid has worked,
however, and he is not repulsed from the attack.
Wielding 'Old Bohavia', he
lashes out at the death knight, but the abomination's armor is thick
and neither of his attacks find their mark.
Xavier too is able to resist
the terror of the creature and rushes to assist the young lord, but
he is also unable to penetrate the creature's mail.
The sight of the horrific
creature, together with the knowledge of what it did to Zsolt and
Raaka, is too much for Bennett to handle, however, and he turns upon
his heels and rushes out of the room as soon as he gets close to the
death knight. Will is similarly terrified and follows hard on the
heels of Bennett.
Jihan ignores his rapidly
departing colleagues, however, and rushes in to stand at the side of
Winnacer and Xavier. He lashes out at the abomination with both his
new shortsword and Todtaenzer, but he is unable to find a way through
the metal plates that protect the knight's body.
Hrust is soon at Jihan's
side wielding his flameblade, but he cannot find a way to strike the
creature either. Yaz joins him, fighting his fear as he sees that
most of his colleagues have been able to conquer theirs. He too
attempts to strike at the unliving creature before him, but he has no
more success as the rest of them in finding a way to strike the
creature.
Faewen'il cannot control her
fear and dashes off after Bennett and Will, leaving just the five of
them to face the creature.
In retaliation, the death
knight strikes out at Hrust. Its longsword easily manages to pierce
the thin protection given by the bugbear's brigandine and the shaman
takes a deep cut from the weapon. The death knight follows up
immediately with another shot aimed at Xavier. The Saxon is unable to
parry the blow and the longsword cuts into him deeply also.
Realizing what a tough
opponent the death knight really is, they try desperately to hit back
at it.
Winnacer's strike is
parried, but Xavier manages to strike home a blow from Sorrow upon
the creature, although the damage is not severe. Jihan's blows are
both on target, but neither of them can penetrate the creature's
armor still. Neither Hrust not Yaz are able to strike the creature
with their flameblades.
The death knight strikes
back, at Yaz this time, inflicting a serious wound upon the
unfortunate druid.
Winnacer suddenly finds his
form and strikes the creature twice, inflicting some serious damage
from the first blow, but little from the second. Xavier is so close,
but still cannot find a way through to strike the abomination.
Jihan also makes up for lost
time. He fails to hit with his new sword, but manages to find his way
under the knight's arm and pushes Todtaenzer up into it with all of
his might. He is rewarded with a rattling sound as the death knight's
boney arm is hacked away and falls out of the arm of the platemail,
landing on the ground along with its shield.
'It's only a bone wound' the
death knight's booming voice says and carries on fighting
regardless.
Hrust and Yaz both lash out
with their flameblades and Yaz is quite impressed as he actually
manages to hit the thing, adding to its rapidly hastening
demise.
The death knight is getting
rather unhappy about the situation now and lashes out at Xavier
again, inflicting some fairly serious damage upon the Saxon.
Winnacer makes up for it by
aiming 'Old Bohavia' at the abomination's remaining hand and strikes
down upon it hard. As a result of the blow, the creature lets go of
its longsword, which flies through the air before landing on the
floor of the room with a loud 'clang'
'Oh f*ck!' the death knight
booms, obviously getting a little fed up now, regretting his words
about the party's impending doom earlier.
Before he has a chance to
retrieve the sword, Xavier adds to its woes with another hit upon it,
although the damage is mild.
Jihan gets in close to the
creature in order to get a good blow upon the creature. He manages to
get an incredibly powerful slash in on the creature, nearly felling
it, but as he does so, the death knight grabs him with his skeletal
hand. The death knight tries to push Jihan over, but the nimble elf
manages to side step the creature and the lumbering form of the death
knight trips over the elf's foot and goes flying towards the floor,
landing with an even louder 'CLANG'
'BOLLOCKS!' the death knight
bellows in fury, sensing that his end is nigh.
Indeed it is.
Hrust cannot get close
enough to the fallen form of the death knight, but Yaz is right in
front of it. The abomination raises its blackened skeletal head to
see Yaz bringing his flameblade down upon it with as much strength as
the skinny druid can muster. Yaz' eyes go wide in amazement as he
sees the fiery blade neatly separate the death knight's head from its
body and the creature is still.
The others look at Yaz in
amazement, not having seen him kill anything for quite a long
time.
Hrust goes to retrieve the
threesome of Bennett, Will and Faewen'il that ran out of the tower in
terror. He finds them outside, quivering in fear. After seeing Hrust
miming the fact that the death knight is now no more, the three of
them calm down a little and, shame-faced, go back into the tower to
meet up with the rest of the party.
With the death knight now
finally dead and justice having been done, they take a while to look
round the room. It is the same size as the priest's room, but is much
better appointed. There is a large bed and two comfortable chairs
that were formerly upholstered in red velvet, although most has now
rotted away. There is also a large wardrobe, containing what was once
some very fine clothes, many of them made of silk and velvet,
although these too have been reduced to rotting rags over the
centuries.
Of particular interest to
Will and Faewen'il is the fact that there is a fairly well stocked
bookcase in the room. The two of them look through the books to see
that many of them have been destroyed through the centuries of
neglect, with many of them having been badly damaged by bookworms to
an extent where they are almost unreadable.
The books cover a wide range
of subjects and are written in several different languages, many of
them in the runic writing of the Far East. There are also some bound
bundles of papyrus with even more ancient writings on them. Three of
the books come to their particular attention. One of them Will
immediately recognizes as the holy book of Kitry, a book of essential
knowledge that all followers of Kitry possess and are required to
read and learn off by heart before they can be accepted as members of
the Church. Right next to it, making an odd juxtaposition, is a large
tome, covered in the same human flesh as the books in the room next
door, with the title 'Ultimate Power through Everlasting Life.' The
third book is smaller and is bound in leather. Will looks through it
to see that it is a diary. He opens it at the first page and
reads:
'The diary of TruthSeeker
Libor Zeman, 2890 - ' he reads as his eyes open wide in surprise. 'He
was a TruthSeeker? They are the holy warriors of Kitry. However did
he end up like this?'
He thumbs through the book
and sees that the diary is very comprehensive:
'I'm sure that I'll find out
after reading through this' he says, putting the books into a
sack.
Faewen'il scans the contents
of the room with her Witchfinder rod, watching as the gem at the end
glows:
'Tha sword, an the armor,
they both be havin magick. This book too' she says, pointing towards
'Ultimate Power'
Then a confused look comes
over her face:
'Th…there be somethin else
here as well. It…it must be invisible…it's in the air…it's movin…it's
left the room now.'
Faewen'il follows it out of
the room, following it with the rod, but she returns just a few
seconds later.
'It went up the
staircase.'
'Have you any idea what is
was?' asks Winnacer.
Faewen'il just shakes her
head sadly.
'No, I nae be seein, or not
seein, nothin like it afore.'
They look at the armor first
of all. Will kneels down besides it and wets a cloth and runs away at
the soot that is covering the breastplate. As he does so, the symbol
of an open book is revealed over the abomination's heart:
'The symbol of Kitry' Will
says.
They examine the armor
carefully, sizing it up:
'It's a bit big for any of
us' Winnacer says. 'Xavier, it looks closest to your size, but it
would still need a lot of re-sizing to make it fit properly and I
don't know whether it would retain the magick if it were to be
altered.'
They then look at the sword.
It is obviously a fine longsword and it still sparkles despite he
fact that it was obviously forged many centuries ago. Not a mark
blemishes the blade, although the death knight was parrying you hard
with it. They see that the pommel of the sword is forged from silver
and takes the form of an owl. Etched into the blade of the sword is
the name 'The Educator'.
Bennett looks at the diary
and then mumbles in Will's direction:
"I also would be interested
in reading the story, a man forsaken by his god. Could prove
educational. Perhaps while you are digesting the rest of the works, I
could peruse this? Also, someone should read that Kitry claptrap to
see if there is anything deviated from it that might give us some
knowledge."
Will's eyes sparkle in anger
as he hears Bennett's words. Quite a rarity for the mild-mannered
bard:
"I would like to remind you,
Bennett, that if it were not for Kitry's 'claptrap', then Lord
Winnacer would be dead by now, as it forms the basis of knowledge for
all followers of Kitry. I can assure you that if Konan had not read
this 'claptrap' and learned it all many years ago, then he would
never have gained the knowledge that would have saved Winnacer from
the poison. There is no need for me to read the 'clap trap' as I
learned it, word for word, during my upbringing at the Kitry
Monastery just outside Podyebrad, and carry a concise version of it
with me wherever I go."
"The book contains all of
the most essential facts about the world we live in and no one can
justifiably call themselves educated until they have learned this
basic knowledge. Perhaps you would do well to read it
yourself."
Bennett then goes to Jihan
to view the candlesticks and bowl. He regards the bowl with total
disdain:
"Such an artifact is evil
and must be destroyed. I will have nothing to do with holding or
selling it. Something thats purpose was holding the blood of
innocents can never be redeemed."
Jihan nods his head,
thinking the same thoughts as Bennett. He leaves the gold bowl where
it was.
Meanwhile, Winnacer picks up
'The Educator' and inspects it's fine crafting before handing it to
Will:
"With your education about
Kitry, perhaps the story of this blade has crossed your path. Perhaps
I can use it now to 'teach' me how to properly strike at the evil
that has been avoiding my blade. I am sure Konan may have a few words
to say about it once we return it to Hradetz."
Will takes a look at the
blade:
'The owl is one of the
ancient symbols of Kitry and the name of the blade certainly leads me
to believe that it belonged to a TruthSeeker, but I would imagine
that the story of Libor Zeman has been lost in the mists of time or
has not been known to the Church. I was certainly not taught anything
of him or his actions during my education. Until Konan can take a
look at the materials that we have discovered, I am sure that he
would not mind your using this blade for the benefit of helping our
party determine more of the truth about the Tower and its
inhabitants.'
Winnacer hangs on to the
sword, sheathing 'Old Bohavia' for the meantime. His eyes are alight
at the possibilities of using a sword of possible renown.
He then looks at the body of
the undead TruthSeeker on the ground beneath him:
"Perhaps it would be best if
we were to remove this knight from this cursed place. It seems if he
was once the TruthSeeker mentioned in Will's book and should be
either put to rest or delivered to Konan for an internment proper for
his station. It will also give us a chance to figure out perhaps the
best way to deal with an invisible foe, and to remove the artifacts
we have left behind. We can return in a few hours to scour the rest
of this floor."
Bennett, as usual, disagrees
with the young lord's suggestion:
"You may do as you wish with
this creature, but I will have nothing to do with it. It took the
easy path, once its gods forsook it, and was too weak to find the
power within to keep to it's motives. Such is the case with many
religious fanatics, no strength within, only that given to them by
their "gods", once that evaporates, as it does for all men, they seek
other things to give them meaning, instead of looking within. This
creature is equally foul with Boscobelous, and deserves not a moment
for thought or concern."
Once more Bennett's words
arouse anger within Will and he replies to him:
'You are jumping to
conclusions, I feel. How can you know the true story of what befell
this man? Hopefully, clues to the true story of his demise will be
found within this diary, but it will take several hours to read it in
order to find out whether this is so.'
'So what would you have done
with the body of Zsolt had you not known his story and he had not
fought at his side? Would you have left him here in this accursed
Tower believing him to have joined Boscobelous of his own free will?
And what if it was you instead of he that had been slain by one of
the undead? Would you wish for another party of adventurers to jump
to the same conclusions as you have done and despise you in your
death as a soulless denizen of the tower?'
Winnacer nods his head in
agreement and then gives his own reply to Bennett:
"This knight of death was
once most likely a man with much more integrity and faith than you
will ever know, Bennett. It seems very plausible to me that he died
fighting the evil that we now face, and his body was warped by the
necromantic magicks of Boscobelous in a similar manner as the brave
Zsolt. To call him weak is to devalue the life he sacrificed to
restore the natural order to this cursed place. Let the spirit which
was once a man find an eternal rest."
Winnacer's eyes fall upon
the 'Ultimate Power' tome and his face grows stormy:
"Such tomes are abhorred by
all who seek to walk a righteous path. Such knowledge is best used as
tinder."
Winnacer lights a torch in
order to set the tome aflame
"May this fire purge the
sins that this book empowered."
"For once we are in
agreement, Lord Winnacer" adds Bennett. "This abomination must be
burned. You can burn that Kitry book along with it, as it did this
foul creature just as little good."
Once again, Will disagrees
with the thoughts of the two warriors and snatches up the two
books:
'Burning books, even what is
likely to be one of extreme evil, is one of the greatest sins against
Kitry and I cannot stand by and stop you while you perform such an
act, as it makes us no better than the Nyemetz which ransacked the
libraries. All knowledge is useful to the Church, even evil
knowledge, as it is only with the understanding of such things that
countermeasures can be found. While I have no desire to read it
myself, I wish to take it to Konan for his verdict upon the tome
rather than simply burning them without a second thought.'
'As for burning the holy
book of Kitry, it makes no sense to me at all.'
He looks towards
Winnacer:
'If this were the corpse of
a LawBringer before us rather than a TruthSeeker, and a copy of the
teachings of Spravedelna in my hand rather than of Kitry, then would
you burn them? I think not.'
Winnacer makes a note of
this place so that they can return to it after the Death Knight is
dealt with to 'purify' it with flame, mace, and holy water.
"No such abominations shall
be allowed to remain to mock Spravedelna!" he says with
conviction.
As the rest of the party
begin to pick up the pieces of the undead TruthSeeker, Faewen'il
speaks out:
'But what o the invisible
creature that was here?'
Bennett replies:
"Of course, Boscobelous must
have been keeping track of his servants, and was most likely
interested in gaining some new ones."
Bennett begins the journey
upstairs, but Winnacer stops him:
'I'm sure that we will
encounter Boscobelous' invisible servant in good time, so there is no
point in our rushing to meet it. The day is yet young. Let us return
the TruthSeeker's body to our camp so that we may bury it. We can
then return afterwards to finish investigating this floor and make a
start upon the one above.'
Bennett is very much against
returning to camp in order to bury the TruthSeeker's remains, but is
obliged to follow them when he sees that all of the others are
assisting in the task.
While Winnacer and Xavier
take the form of the TruthSeeker, Jihan takes the candlesticks,
leaving the bowl as per Bennett's request. Not wanting the amassed
knowledge contained in the books on the bookcase to be destroyed,
Will, Jihan and Faewen'il quickly look through the titles and take as
many of the interesting ones as they can physically carry.
They then all exit the Tower
and make towards the camp. After the two-hour journey, they arrive
once more at the camp. As usual, Robert and Min are waiting for them,
Robert shaking his head as he sees them carrying yet another
body.
They start to build another
cairn for the latest addition to the ever-growing burial site, it
taking a little longer than the previous ones as all of the rocks in
the nearby area have been taken. Bennett refuses to assist in the
task out of principle. As he sits close to the cairn containing the
remains of Zsolt, Yaz comes up to him:
'So have you decided what
you would like me to ask Zsolt on your behalf?' the druid asks
him.
Bennett nods his
head:
'Yes, I have, if you would
be willing. I would like you to ask Zsolt what type of ceremony he
would like, from this point and back home or wherever he would like
to be memorialized. I would like to assure Zsolt that I will travel
to his home and tell them, through Will, what a great hero he was and
how much he did for Bohavia's independence. No simple mercenary, but
a man fighting for a cause, fighting and dying, when it was only
idealism at stake for him. I would also like to assure him that his
death, and subsequent undeath, will be avenged, and that I will not
eat or rest until such is accomplished. This I swear upon my very
life. I would also wish him well, knowing that whatever god he
worships will be well pleased to have him enter its realm, and his
goodness will surely be rewarded in life as it wasn't in death. I
would also like to thank him for the gift of his weapon and shield
and assure him that they will be used only for actions befitting
their owner.'
Yaz nods in
agreement:
'Very well, I shall tell him
all that you have told me, and ask him how he would like to be
remembered. However, I shall only have a minute to speak with him and
so I must be brief.'
With that, Yaz begins to
cast twice. The first spell is quick to cast and allows him the
ability to speak Pannon. The second spell takes him 10 minutes to
cast, kneeling before the cairn containing Zsolt's remains.
Eventually, the spell is completed and Yaz begins to speak in Pannon
to the cairn. Zsolt cannot hear any response, but from the pauses in
Yaz's speech tell him that Yaz has been successful in speaking to
him. After just a minute, Yaz falls silent and comes out of the
trance-like state that he was in. He gives his findings to
Bennett:
'So, I asked him what he
would like to be done about burial and he told me that he would like
his mortal remains to be cremated and for his ashes to be taken back
to Gyor, so that they may be sprinkled into the River Donau from the
banks. He doesn't want us to do it straight away, just if we are ever
going in that direction, as he realizes that it is a long way from
here and that we have much more important tasks to perform, the most
important of which is to free Bohavia from the Nyemetz.'
'He thanks you for the kind
words that you said to him, but he does not want you to grieve for
him any longer. He appreciates your efforts to rid the world of the
evil of the tower in his name and wishes us all well in our task. He
hopes that his sword and shield will aid you in the task. He tells
you, however, that it makes no sense to go without sleep and food
until the task has been performed as you will become weak and unable
to perform the task to the best of your ability. He says that it
would truly be a tragedy were you to be slain such as he was.
Finally, he thanks you for cleaning his armor so that he can make a
good entry when he goes to meet his god. He says that he does no know
what awaits him in the afterlife, but he hopes that he will one day
meet with you again, although many, many years from now, so that you
can spar together once more, as you did on this plane.'
Bennett looks toward the
cairn and says quietly:
"It will be so,
brother."
Bennett digs up the body and
begins to build a pyre underneath it, which he lights and then he
stands watching while it burns. He then collects the ashes and
gathers them in a bag, which he puts in another bag and then puts it
in his pack, tying both bags securely first.
Jihan looks on gravely as
Bennett digs up the cairn of Zsolt and burns the remains to ashes.
Already having sung the Journeysong, he can only remain silent as the
grim task goes on. He tries to give the man whatever aid he can,
though expecting to be rejected outright for preference of handling
it in solitude.
Unexpectedly, Bennett is
thankful for the assistance:
"I am weary, my friend, and
your help is much appreciated. A blood vow is something I do not take
lightly, as those close enough to me to evoke it are very few, and
most do not live long enough to become that close. I also grow weary
of the constant anger the group seems to feel for my rejection of
their beliefs, or any beliefs. Though strong in your faith, I am glad
that you have been open to my lack of such."
There is a weariness in
Bennett's eyes above the days of no sleep or food and he seems to be
somewhat manic-depressive lately.
"Blood is the strongest of
binding ties, brother" replies Jihan. "I have sworn on blood but a
few times in my life, yet each decision represented by such has been
sacrosanct to me. I know what it is to be under blood-debt, and I can
respect what it is you must be feeling right now. This tower has not
been kind to any of us, but you have lost the most. From what you
have told me of your life before, friends were not easy to come by.
To see one fall, and not be able to do anything about it..."
Shaking his head, he helps
move stones off of the cairn to allow for digging into the soft earth
beneath it.
"You have been one of the
most forthright of all of us with your opinions, and though I may not
agree with some of them, I still respect them. Do not think that you
are alone or helpless, for you at least have one brother here..."
Looking the man straight in
the eye, the elf extends his slender hand to clasp forearms in the
time-honored tradition of the Warders of old.
Shortly afterwards, the
cairn for the TruthSeeker is completed and Will and Winnacer both say
a few words as the body of the TruthSeeker is finally laid to
rest.
It is early afternoon by the
time that these tasks have been performed. Yaz casts healing spells
upon himself and Hrust and then two upon Xavier who took the brunt of
the death knight's attacks. Once the healing spells have been cast,
Yaz is back up to full strength and Xavier and Hrust both have only
minor wounds to show.
'Well it seems that our
health is still good and we still have several hours before darkness'
Winnacer says. 'Shall we return to the Tower in order to finish off
the fourth level and to see what the fifth has in store for
us?'
Jihan is the first to
reply:
"Again, I would leave this
choice up to our priestly brothers. Their abilities are what guide us
through this place."
He looks on at Yaz and Hrust
for agreement or otherwise, and adds:
"I will follow any who
choose to re-enter the tower this day. Makanuru still has much work
to do..."
Although the thought of
another five-mile walk to and from the Tower is less than appealing,
they all want to finish the Tower as quickly as possible. As a
result, the others agree with Jihan and Winnacer in wanting to return
immediately. Bennett rises up and leads the way back to the Tower,
not speaking.
On the way back to the
Tower, Jihan approaches Bennett cautiously, unsure of whether or not
the subject he is about to bring up would be within his boundaries:
"My brother, I notice that
there is a darkness in you that goes well beyond the loss of your
friend. You have spoken many times of family and the importance of
it, but all that I have been able to piece together is that they were
abused by the Nyemetz and separated from you... Is there more to this
story? I know that it eats you from inside, but sharing the pain may
help relieve it some. I will not pry if you do not want me to, but I
would like to know what I can do to help..."
After Jihan has had chance
to speak with Bennett, Winnacer speeds up and walks alongside of
Bennett before speaking with the sullen warrior:
"We may have many
differences in what we think and what we believe Bennett. And while
it does wonders in generating interesting and often heated
conversation, we must remember it is just that. What we all think, is
as you say 'clap-trap' compared to what is really important."
Winnacer points 'The
Educator' towards the tower.
"We can all agree that this
abomination needs to be effaced, one way or another. Let us put our
arguments away and do what you and I know how to do best, and do it
side-by-side."
Winn then gives him a
friendly pat on the back:
"Let's give Boscobelous a
good thrashing."
As the conversations end,
they see that they are back once more at the base of the
Tower.
A quick check of the
completed levels once again proves that there is no one occupying the
emptied rooms and so they carry on up to the fourth level.
Winnacer starts off by going
back to the rooms of the priest and the TruthSeeker and begins to
dowse them with oil and holy water. He then throws a torch into both
rooms, setting them alight.
There is just one room left
unchecked, which is obviously a small room in the north-western
corner of the floor. Jihan once more takes on the task of checking
the door of the room. Upon coming close to the door, Jihan begins to
gag:
'By the gods. If that isn't
the most unholy stench that I have ever had the misfortune to
breathe' he exclaims.
He wraps a piece of cloth
around his face in order to try and lessen the stench, but it makes
little difference. He takes a deep breath and checks the door to see
whether it is locked or whether there are any inhabitants
within.
'Everything seems normal,
apart from the stench of evil' he reports.
'We better get prepared for
another of those tentacled bastards that bit Zsolt' says Bennett,
readying his axe.
'Or some more mold or ooze,
perhaps' adds Jihan.
Hrust moves to the rear, as
it looks unlikely that any of the living dead are within. The
bugbear's more sensitive sense of smell has proved a disadvantage to
him in this instance, and he has already deposited Robert's rabbit
stew into the corridor. Xavier takes his place in the front
rank.
All get their arms ready,
and Winnacer flings the door open wide. As the full extent of the
abominable smell is released and everyone starts to cough their guts
out and gag, he wishes that perhaps he hadn't.
Looking into the small room,
15' by 20' in dimension, it is obvious that the room is nothing more
than a midden, untouched for more than five millennia. It is
immediately obvious that nothing resides there and so Winnacer shuts
the door again quickly. They all move as far away from the source of
the stench as possible.
'It would appear that we
have now cleared the fourth floor, which means that there are just
two more left to go. We should be extremely cautious as we
investigate these two floors, as I have a terrible feeling that what
we have faced to date is nothing compared to what we shall encounter
at the top.'
Jihan once again takes the
lead in advancing up the stairs. As he goes, he checks each stair
carefully in case of traps, but there are none. As they reach the
top, they see that there is a wide corridor leading from the stairs,
some 15' wide and 35' long. At the end of the corridor is a door and
there are also doors halfway along either walls.
'Let me see if there are any
traps around here' says Yaz.
He begins to cast another of
his spells for finding traps and scans around him.
'Well, someone definitely
doesn't want us in these rooms. All three of these doors have
fire-traps on them. There are also a couple on the stairs up to the
top level. We should be very careful while we're moving around
here.'
Jihan listens to Yaz's words
and takes note of them. Carefully, he approaches each of the doors in
turn, checking to see whether they are locked and whether he is able
to hear anything behind the doors. After spending five minutes at
each door, he comes back to report his findings.
'You're definitely right,
Yaz, someone definitely doesn't want us in any of these three rooms.
Each of them is magickally locked. I couldn't hear anything behind
the door to the left or straight ahead. Behind the door to the right,
however, I definitely heard some moaning and some chains
clanking.'
'Is there any way that you
can get us past those magickal locks, Yaz?' asks Winnacer.
'Not today' Yaz replies as
he shakes his head. 'I should be able to get us past them tomorrow
after I've asked Prirodna for the right spells, but I've asked for
nothing today that's going to get us through.'
Bennett goes up to the door
to see if there is any chance of hacking through them with axes. He
too shakes his head as he sees them:
'It could take us forever to
get through those doors' he says sadly. 'They seem to be as solid as
the day that they went up, unlike the door to the sarcophagus room
that was so rotten. There's nothing that I can do to get us through
there.'
Winnacer is quiet for a
moment, considering the possibilities, and then he speaks:
'Well, has anyone got any
ideas as to how we can get through any of these doors? Or shall we
call it a day at this point and return to camp so that we can carry
on tomorrow after Yaz has asked Prirodna to provide him with the
right spells to get through the door?'
Bennett asks Yaz to mark out
the site of the firetraps on the staircase so that they can avoid
them, even while running, which he fears will happen again in the
near future.
'No problem' replies Yaz.
'The traps are on the fourth and eighth step going up from
here.'
'We have quite a number of
heavy stones, spears and the ilk at our disposal' states Winnacer. He
moves quite a bit away, knowing full well how much getting fireballed
sucks.
'We should toss them at the
trapped stairs. With everyone at safe distance, it should leave the
path clear if it works. It also may draw out some of these
bastards.'
'That should certainly set
off the traps' replies Yaz. 'But I wonder whether we really want to
draw all of the bastards out at the same time? Oh well, I guess if
we're going to finish our expedition for the day and come back
tomorrow, then we can always make a swift exit if bad guys start to
emerge from behind all of the doors.'
'As for the doors', Winnacer
wonders out loud, 'are the traps set off upon opening or upon
tampering? Perhaps sticking a spear in the keyhole and jiggling it
around may be of some help, perhaps done behind a shield wall. Maybe
we should go so far as to attach wire to the spears and do it around
the bend.'
Winnacer is more concerned
with the firetraps than the actual door opening - figuring the mages
and priests can deal with that problem in the morning. He is not
anxious to get broiled again.
'The danger of the firetraps
come more from the fact that they are usually impossible detect'
answers Jihan. 'Now that Yaz has identified them, then I don't think
that they should be a problem for us. As you may have noticed, the
range of the explosion is very limited. If Yaz was able to set them
off from a distance of just a few feet, then we would come to no
harm. Firetraps are usually set to go off upon the opening of a door,
unless the right password is said, so Yaz should be able to set them
off as he breaks open a door. Mind you, any element of surprise will
be lost what with the noise.'
'Well it looks as if we will
have to wait until tomorrow to find out for sure' replies Winnacer,
'as it doesn't look as if we have any way of getting past the doors
today. Let's set off the traps on the stairs up to the top level and
then finish here for the day.'
They all move to the
staircase and hide around the corner. Then Winnacer takes a large
stone in his hand and hurls it at the eighth step. As the stone lands
upon the step, it moves, obviously attached to some hinge mechanism,
and there is a loud 'BOOOM!' as a fireball engulfs the area.
As the smoke subsides, Jihan
peers round to see whether the explosion has alerted the attention of
anyone or anything, but all seems quiet. Winnacer then repeats the
operation by hurling a stone at the fourth step. The results are the
same as the last attempt and another fireball is released upon the
staircase. Once again, Jihan views the stairs and the corridor once
the smoke has dissipated in case there is any movement there, but all
remains quiet.
'I can't imagine that those
explosions went unnoticed' says Winnacer, as it becomes evident that
nothing is coming. 'I can only guess that they would rather wait to
fight us on home ground. Come, let us leave this place for today and
return tomorrow when we have the correct mixture of magick so that we
may gain entry to one of these rooms.'
With that, they make their
way out of the Tower for the second time that day and make their way
back to the camp.
As they arrive there, they
see that Robert is busy building yet another cairn:
'Who's that for?' Winnacer
asks curiously and a little nervously.
Robert is quite startled by
their arrival, being so engrossed in his work that he didn't hear
them coming. The squire just shrugs in response:
'I don't know' he answers.
'It just seems that every time that you return from the Tower you
bring a body or a skeleton with you. I thought that I would save some
time by getting one ready for the next unfortunate that will make
this his last resting place.'
He then leaves his task and
goes to make them supper using the last of the two rabbits that Will
brought him and the roots that Jihan and Yaz collected. It is already
getting dark by the time that dinner is served and so they all retire
to their tents immediately afterwards, apart from those that are on
watch.
Once again, Bennett stays up
all night and did not eat anything at the meal. The result of his
fast and his lack of sleep are now starting to have a serious effect
upon him. Large bags can be seen under his eyes and his face has
taken on a somewhat ashen color. He has to fight to stay awake during
the night.