nowbound

Part Seven - The Lifestone - Cold And The Barbarians

They rested for the night, cold and hungry but out of the wind. Despite searching all the rooms they could find nothing to burn. Jodotha threatened that if it got any colder he would start on Trimus' spell book. It seemed only half in jest.

When they judged that morning had come and they were as rested as they were going to be, they retraced their steps to the entrance of the ancient temple. The sun had been up for a couple of hours and the snow was brilliantly blue-white. They headed north-west, the direction of the crashed skyship and after a short time the sun was obscured by clouds and a light flurry of fresh snow was driven by a strong gusting wind that whipped cloaks and capes against cold-numbed legs and cheeks. With Ako at the front, breaking trail through the thick squeaky snow they continued single file. Trimus could hardly drag his eyes away from Jodotha's booted feet, becoming almost hypnotised by the white landscape and bitter cold. Jodotha, Cain and Darkhawk however kept their eyes on the horizon and the sky, searching for anything that could bring them warmth, shelter or danger.

A couple of hours of this trudging passed before Jodotha called for a halt. Over to the north he pointed out a thin curl of smoke which was almost instantly shredded by the wind. As the gusts of wind changed direction they brought the sounds of voices and the howls of dogs, or was it wolves to their ears.
"Why not?" Shrugged Trimus at the unspoken question, "Any direction is as good as another as long as we don't travel in circles.
Trimus cast a spell of invisibility upon himself while Jodotha drew his crossbow and checked it before following the others at a ponderous jog towards the source of the sounds.

They crested a low rise and saw before them three men dressed in animal pelts and armed with spears, surrounded by four large white wolves, similar to those Trimus and the others had faced but a day or so earlier. The men are protecting a fallen comrade whose blood has stained the snow.
Jodotha launched a crossbow bolt strike a wolf that broke off from the attack to gnaw at his wounded haunch. Darkhawk and Ako moved in to aid the men while Jodotha changed targets and struck another wolf with a bolt. A grin creased the rogue's face, the fates were smiling on him today, his aim had been true despite the cold numbing his fingers.

"Waste of a spell." Muttered Trimus who cast a trio of magic missiles at one of the wolves becoming visible as he did so. The wolf yelped and was knocked over by the force of the magical assault.
One of the wolves attacked Darkhawk with a blast of icy breath. A rime of green-grey ice formed on the fighter's armour. One of the wounded wolves leapt forward and started to chase Trimus who set off at a run away from the beast. Jodotha turned and fired at the one chasing Trimus striking it in the hindquarter with a crossbow bolt slowing it to a speed barely greater than the mage.
Ako killed one of the wounded wolves with a mace blow to the head. Cain struck with his hands while Darkhawk ganged up with the barbarians but not before the wolf blasted two of them with its icy breath. Trimus kept running, the wounded wolf dogging his heals. Jodotha hit it again with a crossbow bolt and the creature turned around and made for Darkhawk who stood his ground and felled it with a swinging blow. Trimus stopped and panted hard as Ako and Cain finished off the other wolves, but not before both were chilled by the creatures' icy breaths.

"Thank you." The barbarian’s voice was heavily accented but easily understood. "The wolves would have had us if you had not aided us. They have grown bolder and we have grown weaker."
"Your friend appears to be injured, can we help him?" Asked Ako kneeling beside the fallen barbarian. "I don’t think he will survive the journey back to your camp, wherever it is."
"Thank you again." Replied the largest of the men, "You are kind strangers to help us without asking anything in return."
Ako cast a healing spell upon the wounded barbarian, restoring him to full health. The newly restored man checked his body for wounds before clasping Ako in a rough bear hug.
"Thank you! You may share my hearth from this day on." He grinned and washed the dried blood from his body with handfuls of snow.
"Actually." Replied Trimus after Ako had healed the barbarian, "There is something you could do for us. We are looking for our skyship. Did you see something large and fiery fall from the sky a few days ago?"
"Yes we did. We thought it was an omen as misfortune has plagued our tribe in the days since."
"Misfortune?"
"Yes, the Lifestone of our tribe has been lost. It gave us heat and light in this desolate waste, without it we will die. Maybe the cold will take us or starvation or the wolves."
"Could we help in any way?"
"Possibly, come back with us and speak with our leader."
"Will there be a fire and hot food?" asked Trimus.
The barbarians chuckled. "Not as much as we would like."
The other barbarians had not been idle. They had skinned two of the wolves and jointed the carcasses of the others while Trimus had been conversing with their comrade.

Trimus and the others followed the barbarians towards the thin spirals of smoke they had seen earlier, all the time keeping a watchful eye on the snow in case more of the wolves should appear.
After an hour or so they land became more hilly and grey, shattered rocks poked through the snow breaking the white monotony of the landscape. The climb ended at a ruin atop a narrow promontory of stone. The ruin appeared to have been a watchtower that fell into ruin many years before. The walls still stand but only to about six feet, the rest of the tower appears to have topped down the side of the hill, carved fragments can still be seen above the snow. The barbarian tribe have cannibalised the tower, using it as a quarry for building their round huts that stand clustered about the ruined tower.

You are led into the tower by one of the barbarians while the others take the wolf meat and skins to the huts. Inside, the tower shows some little sign of its original purpose. The stone walls are devoid of plaster or wood panelling but the masonry is of a high quality, there are few places into which a knife blade could be stuck. A large shelter has been constructed inside the tower where animal skins have been stretched over a bone and stone framework. A large grizzled man with a necklace of claws and bones seated on a pile of furs nodded his head in greeting and indicated that Trimus and the others should sit. The barbarian who brought them here bent over the older man and whispered something to him. Trimus looked about him. The people had a haggard look to them, far thinner than they should be. They wore pelts of bear and wolf drawn tightly around gaunt shoulders.
"It seems that we have you to thank for the return of my sons. I am Grenden, leader of the White Wolf tribe. Please share what meagre food and warmth we have." The leader spread his arms wide in a welcoming gesture.
An old woman, bones, beads and stones in her hair, stepped out from the shadows and studied Trimus and the other strangers, paying particular attention to Ako. Ako responded to this study by casting a protective aura about the shelter. Instantly the biting cold didn’t seem to be quite so piercing. The cleric of Normanus then looked into the stew pot and wrinkled his nose. He drew a scroll from his pack and opened it out. The barbarians leant closer to see what the stranger would do. He pointed to a picture on the scroll and instantly hard biscuits and dried meat appeared on the ground beside the scroll. Ako crumbled the biscuits and cut chunks of jerky into the stew until it appeared more wholesome and sustaining.
"That is powerful magic." The woman said as she ate her portion of the stew. "I am Vish, shaman of the tribe. You are not the first strangers to come to us since the fiery omen flashed across the heavens." She points to a figure lying unnoticed on a pallet of straw and pelts. You suddenly recognise the insignia on the armour stacked up beside the figure.

"The Iron Fist!" Spat Trimus. "It is they that stole our skyship and tried to kill us. We ill not harm him while he is under your protection, but neither will we aid him." His eyes flicked to Jodotha and Ako as he spoke.
"He arrived two days ago. We have tried to heal him with mundane means but he has remained unconscious since last night. Normally we would have used the Lifestone to aid him but it vanished yesterday." Vish pointed up to a crude woven basket hanging from the roof, it has been ripped apart."
"The Lifestone is about the size of my head and the colour of the sun at noon. It gave us heat as well as light. It vanished after the most recent collapse, Tevel was lifting stone from the pile over there to build a new hut when the rocks shifted and buried his foot. That night the Lifestone vanished."

Trimus moved to where Vish had been pointing and studied the rock pile.
"Now that is interesting." He mused, "Take a look at this and tell me what you think."
The others crowded around the mage and looked at what Trimus was pointing at.
"It’s a stairwell." Darkhawk said almost immediately. "Not much of it left above ground now but it looks like it might go downwards."
"Shall we see?" Trimus grinned and then cast a spell. He shut his eyes and sighed.
"What’s happening?" Darkhawk whispered.
"Shh!" Jodotha hissed.
"The stairs are choked with rubble. Going down will be difficult and dangerous. That’s strange, I can see light ahead. I’m in a corridor then a four way junction, lots of dust and rubble, ahead is a door. I’m going right; the corridor turns after a bit. Blast! The way’s blocked with a door, there’s no way through. I’m heading back to the crossroads, now there’s a side passage on my left which ends in a door, barred on this side, I wonder what’s behind it?. Corridor continues, and then turns right." Trimus’ speech starts to speed up and he starts to sweat despite the coldness of the air. "Another door on the left then one straight ahead, passage leads right going along it, blast another door. That’s it."
Trimus shook his head and rubbed his face. "That is hard work, you have to concentrate on what you are doing or the vision starts to blur."
"Did you say it was lit down there?" Jodotha asked.
"Yes, magically lit, I saw no torches or lamps. Anyway they would have been extinguished years ago."
Trimus returned to Vish and Grenden. "We accept your offer of shelter for the night. In the morning we will search the passages below this ruin for your Lifestone."
"Thank you all." Grenden replied. He clapped his hands and two of the clan ushered Trimus and his companions to one of the round huts where furs had been laid out and a fire lit. It was surprisingly snug and it was not long before everyone dozed off. Trimus’ last thought before slipping into slumber was "I’m not sure how we are going to get through that rubble, it looked like a tight squeeze. Thinking about it I’m not sure the Lifestone would have fitted through the gaps. I will talk to the others in the morning. I’m too sleepy now."

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