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-----The dim purplish light beyond in the Dark flickers and is slightly eclipsed. A few man-sized forms are silhouetted and appear to be moving slowly forward toward Raven.
-----Thalog reaches into his robes. Now he holds some glowing moss as he says, "lerethak," the moss vanishes and... the Darkness remains untouched!
-----Sol stands shocked, "Oh crap. Um...Thalog, we may need one of those magic protections scrolls." Sol now looks ready to spring in after Raven. Suddenly wrenching his blade free, Sol leaps into the Darkness saying, "Get away from him you bastards and worry about me!"
-----Instantly, a kind of convulsion seems to rack Sol’s body as he also falls to his knees beside Raven. As the shadowy forms continue to slowly advance toward the two men, retching sounds are heard from Sol.
-----Rand draws forth his holy sun symbol. With a look of alarm, he glances at both Sarah and Thalog, saying, "By the gods, Sol may be right! If you have a protection scroll, use it now! They could be dying!"
-----Sarah suddenly becomes focused and starts looking for her protection scroll. "Why didn't I move quicker," she growls at herself..."C'mon, where are you?" she says, looking through her many pockets.
-----Finding her scroll, Sarah unrolls it and for a moment scans over the arcane writing. She then begins reading the magic symbols.
-----Raven tries to get to his feet and defend himself, just as the shadowy forms reach him and Sol. Raven finds his feet very wobbly. Luckily as he collapses back to the ground, the shadowy form misses him as it swings its arm. Sol tries to roll back as another dark one comes toward him.
-----As Sarah finishes reading, Rand directs Thalog and Zentil to gather around her. "Now, let us see if this will protect us from the darkness," Rand says as he urges the others forward.
-----Inside the Dark, a quick cold hand grasps Raven by the throat and begins to lift him to his feet. The ranger feels his air leave him as he looks into chilling dead eyes. A thud is heard off to his left as a dark one connects with Sol’s back with a bony fist.
-----Sarah and the other three edge carefully across the threshold of Darkness. As they do, the blackness seems to close off the light from the outside, but they feel no ill sensations. As they push forward, they can see just a few feet away, Sol and Raven struggling to get away from the dark forms.
-----When they close within five feet of their companions, the form that has a hold on Raven lets go, letting him collapse once again to the ground. Likewise, the form that attacks Sol retreats from them. Rand rushes forward checking over both men. Sol and Raven seem to relax somewhat, although they remain shivering and rubbing their arms.
-----Looking up to tell his other friends that the two will recover, Rand suddenly emits a gasp. "By the warming wisdom of Solarius," he says as he stares all around them. As the others look, they find it hard to see in this darkness. However, the light from beyond the blackness casts just enough light to cast gray shadows.
-----There, surrounding them in a circular perimeter with a five-foot radius, stand about ten dark forms. As the eyes of the six adventurers adjust to the dimness, they can see the pale lifeless eyes staring back at them. The figures sway as if waiting and some of the mouths move but no sign of breathing is apparent. Shockingly, two of the figures appear to be, or once were, small children.
-----"Undead," Rand says disgustedly. He immediately raises his holy symbol and intones, "By the Holy and Healing Light of Solarius, I command ye turned!" Even as he strongly presents the sun symbol, the staggering and swaying forms remain, not moving any closer to the party.
-----"Either my symbol has no effect through our protection, which I doubt, or the dead here draw strength from this darkness," Rand says as he drifts back toward the middle with his friends.
-----Ahead in the Darkness, about fifty feet, looms the source of the dark violet glow.
-----Raven rubs his neck and snarls at the dark figures. Raven shakes one of his swords at the darkness and blurts out, "Damn your soulless hides, you'll pay for that!"
-----Raven turns to Sarah, "Thanks for the help, I don't want to think what those things would have done to us. Now let’s go meet whoever is behind this madness. Let’s go towards those eyes." Raven waits for Sarah to start moving. He then walks in front of Sarah, making sure not to leave the globe that protects them.
-----Sol arches his back in a generous stretch...just before realizing his mistake, and breaks out of it painfully. He mutters to himself in disgust, "That was smart." Sol then moves over to walk by Raven's side.
-----Sarah makes sure everyone is around her, "That’s right, guys, just stay near me, I'm the source of the protection. Thalog has one too, in case this one runs out." She starts to examine Sol and Raven, "Are you guys hurt? How badly?" She asks. Her voice is trembling somewhat at the sight of these new undead things. "What did they do to you?" She gasps, her hands involuntarily seek her darts.
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