he ark ateway - art III

Jodotha waited at the hole with the others. Twice, in the few moments since they had crawled back out of the cellar Darkhawk had had to stop the rogue from sticking his head through the hole to see what was happening.
"We will return once he has cast the spell." Said Darkhawk.
"But how will we know when the spell has been cast?" Asked Jodotha.
"Oh we will know." Said Ako. "A fireball in a room that size will make a lot of noise, and smoke. But if things go to plan we will hear Trimus from up here. In fact we may never hear the end of it. You know what he is like Jodotha, he will get us meals from here to Sundsvall with tales of his bravery!"
"But.." began Jodotha but he was cut off by a muffled thud from the room below before he could say anything else.
A cloud of dust billowed up from the cellar closely followed by Trimus, dusty but unhurt, a look of disappointment upon his face.
"It didn't work." He said. "I sent the fireball into the void and ducked. I could see a bright light inside the hole then a huge gust of hot wind knocked me over. When I had dusted myself down I could see the darkness still there and another one of those shadowy figures is coming out.
They all squeezed through the tight opening as swiftly as they could arriving just as a sword wielding shadow dropped from the ring. Trimus drew a wand and pointed it at the figure. A cone of blue light and icy wind enveloped the figure who frayed a little around the edges as it fought against the magical storm. Darkhawk attacked it with his sword while Ako drew his wand of negation and approached the disk of darkness. The shadow had turned Darkhawk around with some skilful swordplay, so Jodotha leapt from the stairs and passed straight through the shadowy fighter tearing at it with his blade as he did so. Rolling to his feet he slashed out again rending the figure in two causing it to flutter and disperse.

An piercing scream and a flash of actinic light stopped everyone in their tracks. Ako had plunged his rod into the darkness and the two were destroying each other. The rod was glowing brighter and brighter while the opening was getting darker and darker as it shrunk. Ako had retreated once he had plunged the magic item into the gateway leaving the opposing forces to fight each other. The hole shrunk till it was barely the diameter of the rod then with a wet popping sound it sucked Ako's rod inside and winked out of existence, spitting a charred finger length of rod out as it did so.

Everyone clapped the cleric on the back and Darkhawk gave a whoop of triumph. Only Trimus was more subdued.
"We don't know if it is gone for good." He said walking around the perimeter of the circle that had held the ring of darkness. "It may just need time to build up strength."
"Don't be such a doombringer." Said Jodotha. "Anyway, if it comes back we will be far away from here. It will be none of our concern."
Trimus, Colloran and Ako raised their eyebrows at this comment but decided that for the time being it would be better to let it pass.
Jodotha then turned his attention to the other of the large chests. The lock was badly bent and twisted after being struck by a falling stone during the tower's destruction leaving Jodotha with no way of opening it normally. Ako stepped up and smote it with his mace breaking the lock easily. Inside were a handful of gems including a diamond and an emerald, a pair of potions and a scroll. The scroll contained drawings of a cloak, a lamp, a flask of oil, a plate of iron rations, a tinderbox and a waterskin.
"It appears to be a scroll of equipment." Said Trimus. "It could be most useful if we are caught unprepared." He handed the yellowing parchment to Ako who added it to his collection of scrolls. Meanwhile Jodotha and Colloran were sampling the potions. Jodotha's was a pale violet colour and tasted of peppermint and even a mere sip made the rogue feel stronger. Colloran's was a silvery colour and tasted rich and sweet and the paladin recognised it instantly as a potion of fire resistance.

They searched the remaining chests but found nothing of interest much to Trimus' disappointment.
"The wizard's books must have been kept in the tower itself." He mused. "A shame that he was not reading one down here the night he died. Though having seen what he was working on, perhaps it was better that one was not left behind when all else was destroyed."

They returned to the village and Trimus sought out the village elder. Rhesa welcomed them and thanked them profusely for their help.
"You will always be remembered here." She said, "Perhaps we should have a statue carved in your likeness brother Ako, for your bravery."
Ako blushed and shook his head. "I was only doing what was right, madam. We were all brave today, it would not be fair to single one of us out for special treatment."
"There must be something we can do." She continued.
"There is." Said Trimus after a short pause. "I suggest a fire is kept burning in that cellar at all times and a watch kept in case the darkness should return." Seeing the concern on the elder's face, he added in a reassuring tone. "I don't believe it will, but in cases such as this you can not be too careful."
"That may be for the best. We shall do that. Brother Ako may we have the stump of your rod as a talisman and symbol for the order?"
Ako handed over what remained of his rod of negation with a bow before leaving with the others for the inn.

In the peace and quiet of his room Trimus analysed the staff that the mage had left in his workroom that fateful evening. Studying the runes and symbols carved into the wood, alongside more arcane methods Trimus ascertained that this was a staff of water elementals, a powerful item indeed.

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