Chapter 4: The Calm Within the Storm
Chapter 5: New Blood
Chapter 6: The Story
Chapter 7: The Exploration Begins
Last Updated: 6/29/99
Return to Atrias | Index | Page-1 | Page-3 | Top
Chapter 4: The Calm Within the storm
For a long moment, no one dares to move.The human in all black relaxes as he realizes all threats have gone.
The shadows move again as the plain faced elf, emerges from the shadows, unwrapping his cloak from around him. He quickly moves over to the fighter he last killed and begins to search the body.
The human in strange armor moves over to the where Aladfar lay and begins to remove the rubble covering the valiant ogre.
A moan in heard coming from near the iron wall. The elf with the amber locks attempts to get up and immediately grabs his chest and rolls over moaning in pain.
A sigh escapes the lips of the elf with the silver necklace, as he lies battered, bruised upon the ground.
For a time there is little sound except that of the wounded gasping and moaning. The plain faced elf, after checking the body of the fighter, heads towards the body of the archer, recovering his lost weapons along the way.
As he passes near where the elf with the silver necklace lay, the elf calls out to him and thanks him heartily for saving his life.
After clearing the rubble off of Aladfar and determining that the ogre still lived. The human in strange armor searches the area attempting to salvage some of his arrows. Upon examining the archer, he finds the orc's stash of arrows and claims them for himself.
The blood splashed elf hears a moan and Rasalas begins to move. As he moves his injured arm, he breaks out in a stream of low curses that sounds like an avalanche. Rasalas gets himself to one knee and bellows, "Hey, Is anyone still alive out there are am I alone again!" Blood wells up in the wounds and begins to stain the ground.
With that the ogre collapses again.
One of the two remaining magi moves out from hiding behind the iron wall. The other, either because of extreme cautiousness or extreme cowardice, still watches from behind it.
Several voices reach out to reassure the ogre unaware that he has lapsed into
unconsciousness, "We still live, but some are wounded."
"Here we are Rasalas! Behind the Iron Wall!
"Hoy still alive, just barely though!"
Some voices come out weak, some strong, there is a note of relief in all of
them.
The words are echo around the chamber and moments later the hooded one comes from around the iron wall. The hooded one moves over to the newly unburied Aladfar. After checking to see the severity of his wounds, he places his hand over the ogre's head and says a short prayer a greenish glow envelops his hands. The glow seems to slide off his hands and cover the ogre. As it touches the ogre the glow turns golden as it envelops the ogre and seems to sink into him. Aladfar's breathing grows less labored and his pop eyes open and focus upon the hooded one. He gives a weak smile and whispers his thanks.
The next to attract the hooded ones attention is the elf with the silver necklace who manages to stand up despite his injuries. The hooded one immediately sets to bandaging and tending to his many bleeding cuts and scrapes. He asks, "Are there any other clerics in our group?"
The elf with the amber locks rolls over and finally manages to raise himself to a sitting position. He tries to say something, but it seems he can't take a deep enough breath to be heard beyond a few feet. He leans back looking around for something.
The plain-faced elf quickly sorts through a small pile of things he has gathered together. At one point he holds up the orcs stone war hammer with the metal ends and says, "This isn't my style, anyone else want it?" But he finds no takers.
His eyes are drawn to a small sack, which he examines both it and its contents quite closely. Looking around he picks up a small pebble and drops it inside the bag. After a moment he turns the bag upside down and the stone drops out. For some reason this seems to please him.
The hooded one now speaks another short prayer as he touches the arm of the elf with the silver necklace.
Again the green glow envelopes his hands and flows to the elf. This time the glow turns a deeper shade of green before seemingly being absorbed in. The glow is absorbed into this skin, cuts begin to heal quickly and wounds start to close and bruises fade.
After satisfying himself that the elf will live in relatively little pain, he makes the journey over to help the elf with the amber locks leaning up against the iron wall.
The plain faced elf begins to fiddle with a small box he has picked up.
After refilling his quiver, paying special attention to one arrow in particular, the human in the strange armor heads around the bend in the iron wall, passing the elf with the amber locks.
After listening to the chorus of shouts reassuring them that they are not alone, the colorful elf drags himself over and attempts to bandage Rasalas wound. Unfortunately the elf knows next to nothing about bandaging wounds and the ogres blood still flows freely. The elf is soon covered in the ogres blood as well as his own.
Within a few moments, the human in strange armor appears to assess the situation.
The colorful elf looks up and greets him, "Hey! It's all over? Good work. Perhaps it's time for a presentation? I'm Fandaliel, and I'm an archer from outside Forest Heart. I call my bow here "Fireflow". Yeah, and as I hope you have noticed, I'm an elf." He flashes a silly smile.
Taking in the sight, the human shouts, "More wounded on this side of the wall, anyone with healing ability, can you assist me."
The human in strange armor attempts to rebind the ogres wounds with only slightly better success than the blood soaked elf. After tending to the ogre, the human attempts to tend to the elf's wounds as well. Unfortunately he seems to know as much about healing wounds as the elf does, which is to say almost none.
While the human attempts to rebind the ogres wounds, the blood soaked elf gathers his scattered equipment picking up a sword here, a bow there. After moving a small pile of rubble aside he pulls out a big wide-brimmed floppy hat.
From back where the human just came from there is a loud gush as if a windstorm had just started.
The hooded one relaxes and drops against a wall and sighs wearily, "Maybe now would be a good time for a quick introduction before continuing? I am Silverleaf, warrior priest of Gaea. I wear this hood to hide my countenance - it is scarred horribly from a childhood accident. I will lower the hood if you prefer, but be warned it is not a pretty sight."
There is a cry from behind the iron wall, "More wounded on this side of the wall, anyone with healing ability, can you assist!"
With a heavy sigh Silverleaf stands up with a grunt of extertion, even though plainly exhausted, and using his staff to support him he heads toward those who need him.
The mage standing back near the iron wall mutters a rune and looks around with interest. The box in the hand of the plain-faced elf begins to glow. As does just about everyone in the room.
The tall red-haired mage searches around the spot where the two orcs disappeared, but finds nothing at all.
At the same moment the box begins to glow the elf manages to spring the top open, and it reveals its contents to the plain-faced elf. Unfortunately it's contents seem to be a rather strong gust of wind as the elf is catapulted into the air and back into the far wall where he is held there by the strong gust coming from the box. The box itself starts to move in the opposite direction, since nothing is holding it still.
A bright golden glow appears to light the room. The light comes from behind the iron wall. A few moments later a high pierced screech is heard, even over the gusting wind as a large falcon swoops up into the air over the wall. It circles for a moment before landing on the wall near the elf with the amber locks and screeches again. The glow disappears.
Chapter 5: New Blood
In a great empty room stands two figures. One a tall elf with Jet black hair
and a long gray cloak. The other much more diminutive, a short human female
with blonde hair and green eyes. The room shows recent signs of habitation by
a rather large number of people. But for the moment everything is silent and
the chamber is empty.
The two came looking for adventure, but apparently showed up a little late.
Luckily for them the door to the chamber is still open....
A tall man strides by the door, he is only in view for an eyeblink and he
didn't even look in the door, but a moment later he is back. At over six feet
the man in the doorway towers over both his visitors. He wears a robe that seems
to be made of many shades of blue. It almost looks like water flowing quickly
downward. The man raises his hat and for the first time they see his face. His
skin is tanned dark, as one who has seen quite a lot of sun. His lips curl slightly
to one side in a smile that could be a smirk, "Ah, a pair of late comers, I
see."
He seems to whisper but his voice is heard all over the chamber. "I take it
you were lured here by adventure and gold. Well mind you, you will be paid quite
well, if you succeed. Remember this......your primary mission is to keep me
alive. Without me you don't get paid!" Throughout his little speech, he seems
on the verge of laughing, as if he just heard a funny joke.
He takes a closer look at the two before him, "Hmmm, a Harmonist....excellent
we will have need of your... special services before this is done. But I'd better
take precautions first." He takes off his hat revealing curly jet black hair
cropped close. Holding his hat in front of him he reaches into it. His arm going
far beyond what it should have. He seems to be feeling for something. "Ah, there
it is!" He pulls out a necklace with a very small medallion on it. From their
distance it is impossible for either of the two visitors to see what it is.
He puts the necklace on and places it under his now forest green shirt. The
robes have vanished and he now stands in a form fitting forest green shirt with
a matching pants. "Come now quickly, you may introduce yourselves in a moment,
once we joined the others. They should have cleared the staging area by now.
Hopefully we didn't lose too many of them."
He turns, placing his hat upon his head, the hat and his clothing promptly
turns into full plate armor with horned helm and he starts moving noisily down
the hallway. After a few moments he gets in stride and the noise goes down quite
quickly.
The puzzled pair hurry to follow him and quickly enter another much larger,
much plainer room than the other one. The ceiling however is very high and the
room is completely circular.
"Stand here in the center of the black circle, everything should be ready
now", he says gesturing grandly as he takes his place.
A screech is heard off to one side as a falcon sits perched on a ledge. The
man looks over at the bird and says, "Well, if you want to see him again, this
time come with us instead of perching off to one side." He holds one mail-covered
arm up.
The falcon launches itself into the air and lands a moment later on the falconers
glove that appears on his arm.
They notice that several circles are engraved into the floor and outer gold
circle a middle blue circle and an inner black circle. Just outside the circles
stand five magi in purple robes with green and blue arm circlets.
Once everyone is ready. The magi spread out and in unison chant their runes.
Even to those only vaguely familiar with the magic the runes sound rushed. Suddenly,
a ring of light seems to lift from the golden circle creating a golden wall
obscuring everything. Just as suddenly the wall disappears and they are in a
chamber similar to the one they just left. The circles in this room are next
to a one wall. This chamber is much larger, and it seems like nature is trying
to reclaim it, as weeds and vines are everywhere. And the except for those three
group the room is empty... If no one counts the body of the dead mage laying
at their feet with a rather large hole in his middle. And the body of two snakes
nearby.
One of the next things they notice is the sound of a strong gusting wind,
but there isn't even a hint of gentle breeze blowing.
Also, there seems to be an iron wall in a semi-circular shape blocking off
the view of most of the room. The iron semi-circle stops just shy of the crumbling
wall behind them in two locations, several dozen yards to the left and to the
right are openings to the rest of the room. Off to their right they see a man
in black robes moving behind the wall.
The falcon almost immediately launches itself into the air. It is not until
it is in full flight that they realize the falcon's wingspan is enormous. The
creature circles above for a moment then flies over the wall. Letting out a
loud screech, that can be heard over the driving wind, the falcon perches itself
on one section of the iron wall looking over the other side.
"Well, where are they?", the man looks about, "There aren't enough bodies
around for all of them to have been killed already."
The tall elf reacts quickly, drawing an arrow from his quiver and readying
his bow.
The tall man looks down at the corpse of the mage at his feet and shakes his
head. "That poor boy should have paid attention to what was going on. Time to
see what is going on." He begins to mutter a rune.
The woman looks around worriedly then begins to pray to her goddess. With
one hand on her holy symbol, she reaches out and touches the tall elf. For a
brief moment the elf seems to shimmer in the air, then all is normal.
Apparently having been through this before, the elf thanks her for the protection
and heads off to his right peeking cautiously around the edge of the iron wall.
As he finishes his rune, the eyes of the tall man seem to glaze over and he
looks around as if not really seeing anything.
The young woman at his side, begins to check the body of the dead elf, putting
aside a few items. After doing so, she looks around them.
The tall man, now wearing something akin to monks robes, moves confidently
toward the right side following the tall elf. "By the way, my name is Torana.
You can introduce yourselves to the others. Pick up your trinkets and lets go,
most of them are over here."
The woman hastily grabbing the few items she scavenged from the body, joins
the tall man as he and the elf turn the corner.
Around the corner they see, several people in front of them.
Bending over a pile of glowing items is a mage in all black. Staring over
his shoulder is a tall red-headed mage.
Near him lies a weak ogre, vainly trying to reach his feet.
Standing near the iron wall watching the scene stands a human also dressed
in all black.
Toward the farthest wall, where the wall of iron almost meets the wall of
stone there is a human in very strange armor. Near him, collapsed on the wall
clutching his side is an elf with amber hair. Perched above him is falcon who
is currently looking rather curiously at another elf, with an unusual silver
necklace, who seems to be trying to talk to it.
In the middle of all this is the reason for the sound of the wind. A small
box lodged between some rocks is spewing out wind magically. The wind is focused
upon one point on the iron wall. And on that point is a elf, who except for
the fact he has a large bruise over one eye, is rather unremarkable. The poor
elf is pinned several feet above the ground by the driving wind.
From around the corner where the iron wall and stone walls are closest comes
a human in strange armor.
*************** Eyeing the Falcon, the elf with the silver necklace, moves cautiously toward
it. "Who are you? Are you friend or enemy?", he asks. After receiving only a
curious glance from the creature, the elf speaks in a language that most can
only partially understand. But once again he gets the same reaction.
The elf with the amber locks suddenly seems relieved.
The box that spews out wind finally slams up against a couple of rocks and
continues to blow out the wind. The unfortunate plain faced elf lies pinned
against the far wall by the torrent. Dust and dirt are beginning to stir up
all over.
Upon seeing the falcon, the red haired mage shouts, "Don't attack yet, it
MIGHT be Torana! But otherwise, prepared if it does." Even as he speaks,
the mage seems prepared to blast the bird with a choice rune.
The human in strange armor comes from around the corner and looks out upon
the scene grimly.
The mage in black bends over the glowing pile that the now pinned plain-faced
elf has left behind. He holds up a glowing scroll with runes upon it and begins
to examine it.
The red-headed mage, overcome by curiosity looks over his shoulder and the
two study the scroll intently completely, ignoring the elf in distress.
From beyond the iron wall comes a man apparently ready for trouble. He is
a tall elf with jet black hair and a gray green cloak. Judging from the bow
in his hand he is obviously an archer.
Following him is a tall man in monks robes, and a breathtakingly beautiful
blonde human woman following him with her arms full of supplies.
The three take a moment to study the scene, then the man in monks robes moves
forward, his clothing changing as he moves. He reaches the point where the box
is jammed into the rocks and shuts the lid closing off the wind.
The plain-faced elf drops nimbly to his feet as if the occurrence left him
none the worse for wear.
Around the corner comes the human with the strange armor. Now wearing the
outfit of a wealthy merchant, the tall man looks around and the others recognize
him as their benefactor, Torana. "What is going on here? Where is Rasalas?"
After doing a quick look around he says, "We are missing three more people,
are they dead as well as that incompetent mageling I saw earlier?"
The hooded one comes around the corner and takes a moment to assess the situation.
He moves over to the ogre and after examining the wound, hesitantly touches
the staff to the ogres shoulder. There is a flash on the staff and it glows
blue for a moment. The glow seems to be sucked into the ogres wound, which closes
after a moment.
The hooded one jumps back as the ogre gives a low pitched yell and rolls over.
For a moment there is a wild look in his eyes, then they focus and he calms
down.
The ogre sits up and tests his arm and says, "Thank you."
Looking around he continues, "I must have lost a lot of blood. That would
explain why I am so tired. How are the others? Has Torana come yet? I called
out before, but I think I passed out before I heard an answer. How many are
left alive?" "No he has not arrived yet and most of the others are alive." The
hooded one after making sure the ogre was okay, tends to the wounds of the once-colorful
elf. Within moments, all bleeding is stopped.
"What is all that noise?", Rasalas says, "It sounds like a hurricane. We'd
better get back to the others and consolidate our position before the boss gets
here."
No sooner that he says that, than the sound of wind cuts off and a familiar
voice is heard. "What is going on here? Where is Rasalas? We are missing three
more people, are they dead as well as that incompetent mageling I saw earlier?"
Chapter 6: The Story
A moment of silence follows Torana's speech. The room takes on strange shadows
as most of the people in the room give off a strange blue glow from one portion
of their bodies or another.
The plain faced-elf dusts himself off and walks toward the group saying, "Ahhh...
you missed the action. This buzzard a friend of yours?," Pointing to the falcon,
"By the way... Snazzy garb."
The amber-haired elf speaks up, "My Falcon." The tone in his voice suggests
that even speaking is difficult for him.
The beautiful woman, Torana appeared with asks demurely, "If any one is badly
hurt and needs some minor healing, I can help. But I'm afraid that I am not
very good at it."
The human in strange armor walks toward Torana saying, "All present and accounted
for, little banged up but everyone should be O.K." Pointed back the way he came,
"The rest of the party is behind there, including Rasalas."
The woman moves over to the amber-haired elf.
A moment later, Rasalas, Silverleaf and the colorful elf, now covered in blood,
make their way slowly around the corner. It is apparent that Rasalas and the
elf were seriously injured.
The two magi suddenly look up as if just noticing what is going on and watch
with interest.
Muttering a silent prayer over the body of the amber-haired elf, the woman's
hands begin to glow a light pinkish color. The glow seems to move from her hands
and envelope the elf. Within a moment the glow seems to be absorbed into him.
The elf takes a deep breath and smiles. He manages to stand up and apparently
is no longer in pain.
Relaxing only slightly the gray clad elf looks around and introduces himself
as Laerin.
The elf with the silver necklace says, "Yo, Mr. Torana. My name is Danyx Adubileth.
I don't know exactly what is going on here, and I want some explanations. Who's
the incompetent dead, and who are you exactly?" His features take on a severe
note as he growls, "What IS GOING ON AROUND HERE?!?!?!?"
Torana looks absently at the box in his hand, before tossing it at the plain-faced
elf, "Here I think you lost this."
Torana states matter-of-factly, "The incompetent dead, is that little mageling
back there," he points toward the iron wall, "with the rather large hole in
his middle. Apparently he didn't even bother to duck."
His wealthy merchant clothing slowly turns into a brown robe and he suddenly
has a pair of thin wire glasses. Looking much like a librarian or an monkish
teacher he begins, "Ras, make sure we aren't disturbed." Rasalas shambles back
around the iron wall. With a frowning glance toward the iron wall he continues,
"This nice little temple that we are now strolling in used to be, believe it
or not an ogre temple to Assyir. Whatever happened to them, I don't know maybe
there was a disaster or maybe they just got bored and left to setup at another
location." This last comment, elicits a growl from Aladfar. "In any case, they
left behind a temple filled with nasty traps, transplanted creatures and one
item that must be recovered at all costs! I'm sure all of you know how this
valley was founded, how most of the races are incapable of harming each other
and except for that piddling problem with the orcs, it has kept us safe and
happy, free from the true scourge of war that turns brother against brother.
It has come to my attention that, there are Outsiders who have somehow entered
the valley. I haven't managed to locate how they got in, but they are here and
they are dangerous. They bring with them something that nullifies the magic
of the valley, thus causing chaos and mistrust amongst those who would be allies.
Now on the eve of the escalation of the war with the orcs, we need to be united.
If their interference is allowed to continue they will destroy the alliance
and the orcs will crush each race separately. Despite our opinions of the orcs
being brutal savages, I have done some checking and I don't like what I see.
In many cases the orcs have a civilization superior in to our own. In addition
to the fact that they breed as fast as humans and many seek knowledge as avidly
as any mage seeks new spells, they seem to have been actually coddling us before.
After studying them for several years, it seems those horrible raids we've been
used to were nothing more than a rite of passage to manhood. I fear if all out
war comes to the valley, if the races are not united, we are surely doomed."
"Somewhere in this temple is a sceptre with special powers granted by Assyir.
If the rumors are correct, those powers will help me stop the Outsiders from
nullifying the valleys magic. Somehow these Outsiders have found out about my
attempts to stop them and are hunting me. That is why I made finding my meeting
place so hard to find." His face takes on a worried look, "My apprentice is
currently leading them on a wild goose chase, hopefully he will survive to continue
his studies. You wanted to know why I am willing to risk so many lives, now
you have found out. Maybe the knowledge that you are doing something so vital
will give you the needed edge to survive."
Looking around, "For now it looks like you guys need a rest. Laerin, that's
what you said your name was. You and Danyx, you look to be in good condition,
relieve Ras, he'll be at the only exit to this chamber." He gestures to beyond
the bend in the iron wall. "You two take the first shift." He peers at the group,
"You and you will take the next watch." He points to the human in strange armor
and the plain-faced elf. The final watch will be taken by, you two." He points
to the human in all black and the mage in black silk robes.
He pauses for a moment and his garments change into a golden shirt, with black
loose fitting pants. His eyebrows arch as he ask inquisitively "What exactly
did happen here anyway? There wasn't a wall here before."
Oddly enough everyone seems a bit hesitant to answer the question.
The black clad human looks around for a moment then relaxes. The others apparently
follow his example, except for Laerin and Danyx who walk around the bend in
the wall to relieve Rasalas.
The amber-haired elf thanks the lady for her assistance. He steps away from
the iron wall. Some signal passes between the elf and falcon as the bird launches
itself from its perch and lands with ease on the elf's outstretched arm. He
begins to talk quietly with the bird.
Silverleaf moves over and introduces himself privately to the colorful elf
and woman, before moving over to talk to Torana.
After healing the elf, the young lady moves over to the colorful, blood splashed
elf examining his wounds. She takes his head in her hands and speaks a soft
prayer. Again her hands glow with the light pinkish color. The glow slides off
her hands and covers the elf, turning blood red. Within moments the glow begins
to be absorbed into the elf, where it disappears, cuts heal and open wounds
close, leaving only a few scars.
He gazes up at her dreamily as he marvels at the softness of her hands.
Rasalas returns from around the corner moving even more slowly than before.
He is plainly exhausted.
The colorful elf, now much recovered and surprisingly much less bloodstained
says, "Greetings, everyone. As I told Rasalas and ,er, that fellow with the
strange armor, I am Fandaliel Starshooter, archer." He bows deeply, swinging
his hat before him.
The two magi settle in next to each other, both begin pulling out their spell
books and studying the lone scroll between them.
The beautiful woman moves over to huge ogre taking his arm and again reciting
a small prayer. The customary glow from her hand is hidden this time, but its
effects soon come out as the huge ogre begins glowing in a bright golden light
that briefly shines brighter than the fading light in the chamber.
As she lets him go she is approached by the plain faced elf. After a short
conversation, she heals him as well. Oddly, her light pinkish glow turns black
as it envelops the elf.
The newly recovered plain faced elf introduces himself to the group at large,
"Hi, I'm Halfstep. If you need me, look to the next shadow, and I'll see what
I can do." He flashes a wide grin that splits his face from ear to ear.
The amber-haired elf finishes talking to his falcon and the falcon launches
itself into the air circling around the group once before returning to perch
upon the wall. Looking around the elf, seems to remember something and heads
back around the iron wall.
Silverleaf moves relaxes and moves to a spot and begins praying.
The light in the room begins to fade quickly as the bluish glow that seemed
to come from everyone begins to fade all at once. It seems that whatever light
filtered into this chamber from outside, through the cracks is fading.
The amber-haired elf returns a moment later carrying a bow.
When the healing is done, the woman looks around and returns to her pile and
asks, "Was anyone friends with that poor dead mage, and would like an item from
his inventory to remember him by. Otherwise, I think that all personal items
of his should be buried with him. And will some of you help with the burial?"
After Rasalas heads back around the corner toward the others leaving Laerin
and Danyx on guard duty, Laerin asks, "How did you guys meet Torana if he just
showed up with me and Mirelle?"
Danyx replies, "Well, he called for experienced adventurers for a dangerous
mission, and hired us all. We met secretly, and he transported us here by means
of teleportation."
Curious Laerin asks, "What kind of information did you guys get when you gathered
in the chamber before teleporting here?"
Again Danyx replies, "That we were coming to an ancient temple, but nothing
else more than warnings and advice..."
Apparently trying to get as much information out of Danyx as he can he asks
yet another question, "Let's see, there isn't much to tell. We were all joined
in a small room, waiting. Then Rasalas appeared and told us what we were going
to experience, then Torana continued and then we were teleported and came into
battle immediately!"
Now it's Danyx turn to make small talk as Laerin checks out the room, "MBy
the way my name is Danyx, Danyx Adubileth, as I've already said, I come from
a hunters family. I have faced many battles, and here I am now, again surrounded
by dangers and trouble, well, I might say I just love to fight for a good cause,
specially against that scum that orcs are. What can you tell me 'bout yourself
brother. Were do you come from? What are you doing here?".
While watching the entrance Laerin looks around and finds that the room he
is in has, as Torana says, only one entrance, secret or otherwise. Also that
the entrance leads to a wide hallway whose walls are decorated with strange
designs. One looks like a golden ogre standing on a mountaintop. The rest are
lost in the shadows. He realizes that before too long, night will fall and what
little light that filters in through the cracks will be gone.
Laerin answers, "My name is Laerin, and I have seen one hundred and twenty
winters in my time. I have traveled to the great white plains of the north and
beyond. Been the captives of orcs, Giants and worse. I have seen battle and
death, war and peace, and so I wander, place myself in the forefront of the
waves that shall in the end bring peace. In recent years I have traveled with
a young woman, and now we are here, in response to a call for adventurers, for
what is life without a little excitement."
After talking, Laerin suddenly falls silent. His mood changes and he seems
more subdued and doesn't talk again.
Before too long Halfstep and human in strange armor come to relieve them.
Chapter 7: The Exploration Begins
After giving her little speech the woman remembers belatedly,
"Oh by the way my name is Mirelle."
Moved by Mirelle's speech, the mage in black robes looks up his face somber,
"I knew him when he was but an apprentice. I would like to examine his belongings
to find his books and certain special items he possessed. I will guard them
well and this way we may retain some of his knowledge, which would otherwise
be lost. And his sacrifice would not be in vain."
Torana looks at the mage apparently unconncinced and says, "Well since we
won't be going anywhere soon, we will find some rocks and make a cairn as this
floor is too hard to dig into. "Here lies one of our fallen comrades." She begins, "He was stolen from us
long before his time. But we know that he gave his life for a great cause and
now his battle with the forces of chaos are over and he will rest eternally
and peacefully with Tara." She bows her head in silence. The night passes quietly for all shifts and in the morning as the rays of
sunlight filter into the cracks and crevices of the room, the group wakes up
to Torana's voice, "A quick breakfast and lets be on our way." This morning
he is wearing a loose outfit that looks like a short red robe that doesn't even
cover his knees.
After a quick breakfast, the group moves on around the bend in the iron wall.
Throughout the rest of the room, the bodies of orcs and wolf-like creatures
lay sprawled everywhere.
The room connects with a large hallway that leads off to thier right. The
walls are decorated with scenes of a golden ogre in various postures and there
seems to be a tension in the air. A ball of light appears floating above Torana's
head further banishing the gloom. The ball of light floats higher and forward
revealing more of the area ahead.
Ahead the left wall curves off to the right creating a relatively narrow doorway.
With everyone cautious, Rasalas sends the amber-haired elf and the Halfstep
to scout just past the doorway.
Time seems to slow down as second stretch on forever until the two scouts
return.
They report that just beyond the doorway is another doorway on the immediately
on the left, which leads into an empty room.
Otherwise, there is a long empty hall.
Rasalas looks at Torana, neither of them seem happy with the report. "The
last two times we went down that hall, hydras were waiting for us. Are you sure
you found nothing?"
After receiving confirmation, Rasalas ponders for a moment then says, "We
shall proceed with caution. I want to search every inch of that corridor for
traps. I know they are there somewhere. You", he points to the amber haired
elf, "take the left side of the corridor, Danyx you search the right. I'll take
point. Aladfar I want you on my right and you," he points to the human in all
black, "on my left."
He looks at the others, "In the center is Torana, I want Silverleaf on his
left and Mirelle on his right at all times. You two stick close to him as well."
He points to the red-haired mage and the mage in black silk robes.
"Fandaliel, I assume you're good with that bow, so I want you just in front
of them and just behind Danyx here. You see anything suspicious, shoot it."
Pointing to the human in strange armor he says, "You and Laerin will take
rear guard, make sure nothing sneaks up on us. If anything moves, give a shout
before you attack.
Turning to the plain-faced elf, "Halfstep, you vanished pretty early on in
the first battle, that ability will be very useful. You will be the scout, keep
ahead of us and out of sight. If there is anything moving out there, if anything
even smells funny I want to know about it. Let's move out!"
With a brief flash of light, Halfstep disappears.
The group heads out slowly and moves along the long corridor. The light illuminates
the golden ceiling and tiled walls and floors which depict scenes of battles
with club, staffs, maces, etc. In every picture there is a golden figure in
the background with a look of weighing upon his face.
Nearly halfway down the corridor, the amber-haired elf finds something. Unfortunately,
so do Halfstep and the human in strange armor.
Halfsteps' bodiless voice whispers nearby, "Ahead hiding in the shadows are
a pair of rather large black spiders hanging from the roof in the shadows."
The human in strange armor shouts from behind, "Carrion Crawler." As they
turn to look a creature comes out of a shadowed crevice, but it immediately
moves down the hall they just vacated ignoring them completely.
The focus returns to the amber haired elf who finds what looks to be a doorway
without a way to open it.
The door has a picture of a child ogre playing a game with boxes. He is smiling
and happy. Which is a marked contrast between the scenes of battle on one side
and that of ogres writing on the other side. In the background of the door as
with all the scenes show here, stands the golden ogre. After nearly everyone
in the group has had a look at the door, the way to open it is still a mystery.
Brute force is useless and there seems to be no lock or other opening mechanism.
Which is probably just as well, because a muffled whining starts to come out
from behind the door followed by multiple barks.
Suddenly the air comes alive as an arrow bursts into flames after leaving
Fandaliel's bow. The arrow travels almost straight up and pierces the armor
chitin of one of the two giant black spiders that are now above the group and
were attempting to stealthily drop down upon them. The other spider shoots a
long white filament out which catches Rasalas on the arm. The creature gets
more than it bargained for as Rasalas give a mighty pull and the creature comes
falling down. It lands with a crash between Torana and the magi, and Rasalas
and the other leaders. It's shell cracks open, but it still moves. From the
shadows, a dozen smaller creatures come. These look like giant shiny black beetles.
Seven from the front and five from the rear. They move quickly making little
noise in their passage.
Top | Index | Page-1
| Page-3 | Return to Atrias
.
.
.
.
Several minutes later Mirelle stands at the head of the improvised grave. The
fading light shows that on one of the rocks is the picture of a rose in bloom.
.
.
.
.
.
After the burial ceremony, the magi study and others get some sleep. Torana
casts a light spell on a stone and gives it to Halfstep. "Use that to light
your way, in the darkness." Shortly after they leave Laerin and Danyx return
and sleep.