Story HourPost your ongoing tales from your campaigns, and read those from others for inspiration. Lots of other RPG boards post "Story Hours", but this is where it started!
Dulvarna stopped before the south facing door at the end of the passage and held her blade ready in two hands while reaching out for the iron ring handle. They had rested for the night in the ruined chapel with the fallen wights and eaten a bland breakfast of trail rations before heading on westward through the iron door. The passage beyond had led them to a dark crypt where as many as two dozen minotaur warriors lay in burial niches along the east and west walls while near the entrance in an alcove to the west, a skeletal minotaur with a greataxe, perhaps a minotaur depiction of Myrkul the Lord of Bones, stood guard over the fallen.
The only way out was a passage that led to the south and ended at the door which Dulvarna now stood before. Slowly, Dulvarna reached out for the door handle but then she stopped. She heard harsh, hissing laughter.
“Look Durkkel,” said one voice. “It doesn’t like me! Should I be afraid?”
“It needs to earn some respect, Marshk,” another voice answered. “If I pluck out one of its eyes, it might think twice about glaring at you.”
Without a second thought, Dulvarna turned the iron ring and pulled open the door. With her blade in her hands, she rushed into the chamber beyond and found that the huge place contained three wells. One, the nearest to the door, held a pool of water, but two were simply deep pits with ladders leading down and a large brazier full of coals sat near a rubble pile in the southeastern part of the chamber. Three gray dwarves stood guard in the place, along with two humanoid creatures with lashing tails and bodies covered in sharp spines.
Telkya pushed past Dulvarna and was first into the chamber, her holy symbol before her. She raised her voice in prayer to Corellon and loosed a beam of light towards the nearest of the spine-covered creatures. She recognised them at once as spined devils, some of the weakest of their terrible kind but powerful creatures nonetheless. They served as aerial scouts and skirmishers for the armies of the Hells from which they came and lived for the torment of others. As her bolt of divine energy struck the creature she knew that it would not be deterred from its purpose on this plane. It had been summoned for a reason and it would serve its masters until it was banished back to the Hells.
Litiraan entered the chamber next and loosed a silver bolt towards the nearest of the devils only for the missile to fly wide of its target. The second devil extended its short wings and glided across the pit before it, setting down beside the pool and lashing an arm at Litiraan. Spines flew from the extended limb, igniting into flames as they were unleashed. They drove into Litiraan’s arm as he held it up to defend himself and seared into his flesh. Even as they did so, he felt the numbness of poison spread up his arm and he knew that he had been struck a terrible blow. The other devil loosed spines of its own then and he darted to the right with a speed that he felt sure had been taken from him. The spines clattered harmlessly against the stone wall behind the place where he had stood.
Erlmoor surged into the chamber with his blade before him and charged to the left at the nearest duergar. Behind him came Enlishia followed him, firing arrows from her bow towards the nearest devil as she came. Lavren came behind her, cursing in elven at the foul devil-kind that had plagued his homeland of Cormanthor for centuries beyond remembering. He loosed a black bolt from his wand that flew straight and true across the pool to strike the devil that Telkya had already wounded and force it back a step to the edge of the pit behind it. Dulvarna was the last to rush into the chamber once her companions had found their places and she had seen the enemies she faced. She rushed to the left and joined Erlmoor against the nearest duergar. Her blade sang out and the gray dwarf fell back, twisting away with blood pouring from a wound to his shoulder.
With a roar a second duergar came forward, reaching into its beard and hurling a quill at Erlmoor that drove into his thigh. The dragonborn staggered back a step and cursed as he felt the numbing poison enter his blood. The third duergar began chanting then and with its hammer held in both hands over its head, the dwarf called down a hail of fiery stones that struck Erlmoor, Lavren and Litiraan and knocked them to the ground. Enlishia ducked and dodged and evaded the spell but her companions were wounded and burned while the devils surveyed the scene and cackled.
Telkya prayed fervently and called down a column of searing light just as the wounded devil leapt aside. The light burned the ground where he had been while Litiraan uttered his own incantation and loosed a silver bolt into the creature. It spat at the elf and loosed more spines that seared into Litiraan’s chest and felled him beside the pool. The other devil lashed out with its right arm and loosed its own barrage of spines that drove into Telkya’s left arm as she raised it to fend them off. She fell back against the west wall of the chamber as the poison began to number her arm and dull her senses.
Erlmoor roared with terrible fury and sprayed acid from his mouth that seared the skin of the duergar before him and the devil on the far edge of the pool. He shouted out a prayer to Lathander and as his blade glowed brightly he slashed out at the duergar before him only for the dwarf to parry the divinely blessed blade. Behind the dragonborn, Lavren loosed another black bolt that struck the devil across from him and as it struck, the elf spoke more curses though they were unnecessary for the power of his spells. The devils had brought down Myth Drannor, the City of Song as it was called amongst the elves, and each and every one would pay for that.
A quill bounced off Erlmoor’s shoulder plate and then the second duergar was upon him. The dwarf’s hammer slashed out from the right and cracked into the dragonborn’s leg, almost knocking him from his feet. He staggered but managed to keep his footing until the noxious fumes that had blinded him in the barracks chamber rose around him. The dragonborn slashed his blade back and forth, closed his eyes and held his breath until the fumes passed but Lavren and Enlishia found their eyes and lungs burning as the terrible vapours assailed them.
Telkya raised her voice in prayer and loosed another bolt of light into the closest devil but still the horrible creature refused to fall. Both devils loosed fiery spines at her then and she fell back against the wall beside her as they drove into her left leg and arm. Erlmoor roared as he saw Telkya fall back and uttered a prayer to Lathander that brought a golden glow to his blade. He lashed out at the duergar in front of him but the dwarf ducked back and the sword only cut a shallow wound across the top of the warrior’s chest. Even though the strike was not deep a wave of bright light burst out from the sword to wash over all the companions. Telkya felt renewed strength, as did Erlmoor and on the floor beside the pool, Litiraan’s eyes flicked open.
Enlishia loosed an arrow into the devil across the pool from her and then loosed a second missile. This flew just over the creature’s left shoulder and shattered against the far wall of the chamber. Lavren called forth flame to surround the other devil, the one wounded again by Telkya, but the creature simply cackled for the terrible denizens of the Nine Hells could not be harmed by even warlock-conjured flames. The duergar roared their own defiance then and surged forward, driving Erlmoor and Dulvarna back while the sorcerer loosed a bolt of fire from his hand that struck the wall beside Dulvarna.
Telkya shrank back from the edge of the pool and began a healing prayer but still the devils would not grant her peace. Lashing out with their arms, they loosed more flaming spikes but Telkya ducked down and they struck the wall above her harmlessly.
“The power of the Hells cannot avail you,” Telkya called to them across the pool.
“Amen,” echoed Erlmoor and as he said the word, he called out to Lathander and sacrificed some of his own strength for the power to drive back the duergar. His sword rang out and smashed into the side of the gray dwarf before him, driving the warrior back from him.
Enlishia drew two arrows from her quiver and nocked both to her bow at the same time. Taking aim at the closest devil but with an eye on the other, she loosed both shafts out across the pool. One drove into the shoulder of the closest devil while the other flew past the other diabolic foe to clatter against the western wall of the chamber. Beside her, Lavren loosed a bolt of black energy into the farthest devil, knocking him back a step Dulvarna surged forward then, raising her blade above her head and bringing it down in a mighty blow but at the last, the duergar before her raised his hammer and parried. Twisting his weapon around, he slammed it into Dulvarna’s jaw and knocked the warrior woman away from him. She staggered back reeling and then a bolt of flame from the duergar sorcerer struck her shoulder and spun her dangerously close to the edge of the pit. Erlmoor reached out and pulled Dulvarna back from the edge but as he did so, the duergar before him slammed the haft of his weapon into the dragonborn’s belly. Together, he and Dulvarna fell back further from their gray dwarf foes.
Telkya rose and loosed a beam of light towards the nearest devil but the divine bolt struck only the stone at the creature’s feet. Litiraan rose beside her then, though and with an uttered incantation he loosed a silver bolt at the devil across from him that seared through the devil’s chest. The creature let out a terrible screech and then pitched forward into the pool. The other devil screeched itself and lashed out with its right arm to loose spikes towards the elf. One drove into Litiraan’s chest just below his shoulder and he fell back against the wall behind him, gasping for breath. The elf staggered and almost fell but his sister reached out to him and held him upright as the remaining devil fixed its predatory eyes on them.
Erlmoor roared again and feinted to slashed his blade in low as the duergar he faced came at him. At the last, he raised the angle of his blade and while the gray dwarf desperately tried to adjust his parry, the sword clove through the duergar’s neck and beheaded him. Behind the dragonborn, Lavren moved left and leveled his wand at the duergar that Dulvarna still faught. With a curse and a spell, the elf loosed another black bolt and the duergar staggered back reeling as the eldritch energy seared into his side. Dulvarna saw her chance and came forward, leading with her blade. She plunged Aecris into the chest of the duergar and drove the sword through the dwarf’s body until the point drove out through his spine. With a gasp, the duergar fell sideways into the pit. Dulvarna rushed forward once the duergar had slid off her blade and charged at the remaining gray dwarf, the sorcerer who had targeted her so much. The gray dwarf retreated before the fierce warrior woman and as he did so, he chanted another incantation. Fiery hail rained down on Dulvarna. She fell as red hot rocks struck her and for a moment, the duergar sorcerer gained a reprieve.
The remaining devil reeled back as Telkya’s next bolt of divine light struck it Litiraan’s silver bolt flew wide and with a snarl, it lashed out with its arm to hurl more spines at the elf. Litiraan darted to the right and the fiery bolts struck the wall next to the door. The devil looked bemused for a moment but then in a furious roar, Erlmoor was upon it and the paladin’s blade had driven into its shoulder. An arrow from Enlishia’s bow drove into its belly then, splintering as it struck home and then a black bolt from Lavren’s wand seared through the creature’s chest. The devil pitched forward and joined its companion in the water of the well.
Dulvarna slashed out with Aecris and smashed the blade into the side of the breastplate that the duergar sorcerer wore. The gray dwarf retreated nonetheless and uttered another incantation. This time, poisonous fumes rose up from the floor of the chamber behind Dulvarna and engulfed Erlmoor. The paladin staggered and bent over, coughing and blinded by the fumes but Dulvarna pressed on undaunted, seeing only her prey.
A bolt of light struck the wall beside the duergar and then a silver bolt struck the floor at his feet. The dwarf laughed but Enlishia began to loose arrows at him nonetheless and from the far side of the eastern pit, Lavren began to curse the duergar. The dwarf responded with a chant in his own language and gestured with his hand, drawing vile fumes seemingly from the floor of the chamber. Dulvarna began to cough and doubled over as the smoke seared her eyes but Erlmoor closed his eyes, held his breath and charged through the could of vapour. Telkya loosed a beam of light from the amulet in her hand and jolted the duergar back against the west wall of the room. Beside her, Litiraan loosed a silver bolt from his wand that drove into the dwarf’s shoulder and then Erlmoor was upon him.
Blade clashed with hammer as the duergar pulled forth a large warhammer from his belt. Enlishia loosed an arrow from her bow that flew high over the duergar’s head and Lavren loosed a black bolt from his wand that smashed into the dwarf’s side. Meanwhile, Dulvarna desperately tried to clear her vision as she staggered into the pile of rubble that filled the south eastern corner of the room. The duergar glanced over at her and Erlmoor followed his gaze. At that moment, the dwarf brought its hammer up and smashed it into the underside of the dragonborn’s jaw. Erlmoor staggered back reeling and then fell to his knees. With a dazed look on his face, he pitched forward on the floor facing away from the gray dwarf.
The duergar darted towards the double doors, ducking past the blinded Dulvarna and twisting the iron ring of one of the portals to drag it open. Dulvarna heard the sound and as she looked towards the doors, her vision seemed to clear. With a cry, she rushed at the duergar with her sword in her hands. Telkya came forward behind her, raising her holy symbol and chanting as she came. Another bolt of light lanced out and struck the duergar’s back, hurling him against the door and half shutting the portal. A silver bolt from Litiraan’s wand struck the half-open door as he too came forward and behind him came Enlishia and Lavren.
An arrow drove into the dwarf’s left arm and then a black bolt from Lavren’s wand struck the wood of the door, throwing splinters across the floor. Dulvarna charged at the duergar and slashed her blade across his back, spinning him around. She drove the point into his shoulder as he raised his warhammer to parry and then he ducked through the doors, rushing off a little way down a wide, torch-lit hall before turning aside towards more doors in the north wall of the corridor.
“We should return to the wight chamber and rest,” said Erlmoor as he woke with Telkya kneeling and praying beside him.
“Lord Litiraan,” came a voice from one of the pits and the elf looked down.
“Kelathann,” he said as he realised that the faces looking up from the pits were those of the band he had taken forth from Cormanthor into the Hullack Forest. They had found their companions at last!
“We must go back,” said Litiraan. “We came here to save our people and we have found them. They must at least be taken across the bridge to the other side of the chasm.”
“We are not all here,” said Kelathann then as Telkya pulled keys from the belt of one of the duergar. “Two were taken by gnolls.” Litiraan looked around and counted quickly, concluding at once that were only fourteen elves here. With a sick feeling in his stomach, he knew that his companion was right.
“Then we are not finished here,” said Litiraan. “We take them across to the other hold and rest there but then we come back.”
“Agreed,” said Dulvarna. “We cannot give them chance to recover.” Together, they gathered their weapons and headed back through the passage to the wight chamber and on to the bridge over the chasm from the ruined chapel. From the smithy and the storerooms they armed the elves and the three former servants who had stayed despite their instructions and then they settled down in the hold for the rest of the day and the night that followed.
Thane Murkelmor looked down from the raised platform on which he stood and slowly took in what his most trusted theurge had told him. How could he not have seen this? How could his hold have been attacked while he sat here and knew nothing until his immediate guards were all that remained.
“Where are they now?” asked Murkelmor. “If they have not followed you here then where are they?”
“I know not mighty Thane,” answered Framarth, wincing as his wounds pained him once more. “Do you want me to seek them, Lord.”
“Someone must,” answered Murkelmor. “And since you have gifted our current stock to them, it would seem fair for you to repay your debt to me in some way.”
“I am wounded, Lord Thane,” said Framarth then. “At least allow me to rest and tend to my wounds before I venture forth.”
“Very well,” answered Murkelmor. “But when day comes, you go forth to find them.”
“Someone is on the bridge,” said Telkya suddenly as the three former servants cleared away the breakfast dishes the table that they had moved to the smithy. The door across the bridge had opened and a squat figure that could only be a duergar had stepped out warily. From the left a crossbow bolt flew out and clattered against the side of the bridge. Ten of the elves manned the southern part of the hold while the companions, the four remaining elves and the humans had spent the night in the northern hold. Telkya drew back from the arrow slit in the door as Lavren bent forward to take a look.
“We should go out and meet him,” said Lavren as he watched the dwarf pause and look towards the southern hold.
“No need,” said Enlishia taking up her bow and striding towards the other arrow slit. She nocked an arrow to the string and loosed it towards the dwarf. The shaft drove into the duergar’s shoulder and he staggered. The duergar looked down at the fletching of the arrow and then yanked the arrow from his flesh with a grimace.
“Stay in yer rat hole,” the duergar called out then as he began to retreat. “We’ll be waiting for ye over here.”
As the dwarf turned and strode back towards the door, Dulvarna took up her blade and strode towards the door.
“We are ready to venture back, are we not?” she asked the others. They took up their own weapons and wands in answer and Dulvarna nodded to one of the elves who stood next to the door. The elf threw the door open and Dulvarna strode out onto the bridge just as the duergar reached the door at the far side. Seeming to panic now, Framarth fumbled with the iron ring of the opposite door before pulling the portal open. Pulling it shut behind him, he disappeared into the darkness.
“We must be ready for battle, Lord Thane,” said Framarth without preamble as he rushed into Murkelmor’s chamber. “They hold the eastern side of the chasm and came forth across the north bridge behind me.”
“Then you will go for aid from Oldukr,” said Murkelmor as he turned towards Framarth. “While we hold them here.”
“But surely my place is at your side Lord Thane,” said Framarth. “Together we can defeat them and retake the hold with aid from Oldukr once they are beaten.”
“Your place is to do as I say,” roared Murkelmor suddenly. “And I say that you go to Oldukr and summon aid on my behalf. Do not let on how badly we have thus far been defeated but bring aid nonetheless.”
“Yes, Lord Thane,” answered Framarth with a bow. He turned and left the chamber.
Once he was gone, Murkelmor donned his armour carefully and then picked up his huge warhammer. He examined the runes on its head and then turned towards the doors again. As he did so, the double portals were thrown open and his enemies strode into the chamber.
Dulvarna surveyed the wide hall, taking in the two fireplaces – both filled with roaring flames – one on either side of the chamber. A short staircase flanked by statues of leering gargoyle-like monsters led up to an area furnished as a bedroom. Several grim-looking dwarves with grey skin and bristling orange beards glared at her but one grabbed her attention. He stood at the top of the steps wearing armour of black plate and carrying an enormous maul.
“So you think to challenge the Grimmerzhul?” Murkelmor snarled. “It’s your last mistake, fools! I think I’ll sell the lot of you to mind flayers and count my gold while they feast on your brains.”
“I hear they prefer dwarf,” said Lavren as he strode into the chamber past Dulvarna.
The elf uttered a curse in elven and loosed a bolt of black energy at the nearest duergar but the dwarf ducked and the bolt struck the gargoyle statue behind him instead. Dulvarna moved left to meet the grim warrior there while Telkya came through the doors behind her. She chanted a prayer and held forth her amulet, loosing a beam of searing light that struck the duergar that Dulvarna now battled. Murkelmor reached into his beard and pulled forth a poisoned quill. He hurled it towards Dulvarna but she saw his movement and moved back from her enemy to let the quill pass between her and the dwarf. With a word of command the duergar Thane called flames to the head of his huge hammer and charged at Dulvarna. He raised the weapon over his head and brought it down only for the warrior woman to twist towards him and parry his blow with her blade.
The other duergar warrior met Erlmoor in the doorway, lashing out with its hammer but the dragonborn parried and twisted the hammer downwards. An arrow drove into the duergar’s shoulder as Enlishia began firing and it staggered back from Erlmoor but the dragonborn would not let it retreat. He stepped forward and thrust his blade into the duergar’s shoulder close to where Enlishia’s arrow protruded and the dwarf fell back another step. A silver bolt from Litiraan’s wand seared over the dwarf’s head to strike the wall next to the gargoyle that Lavren had struck with his bolt of energy. The duergar growled his defiance and held his hammer before him.
The remaining duergar within the chamber made her way to the top of the steps and then turned to face the chamber, chanting as she turned. Fiery rocks rained from the ceiling of the chamber, striking Dulvarna and Lavren and knocking them to the floor. Lavren rolled to his feet almost at once and drew his sword from his belt. He pointed it at the duergar woman and hurled a chair out of his way as he started forward. The thane moved to intercept him and he stabbed out with his blade, forcing the dwarf to parry. Beside him, Dulvarna slashed her blade into the arm of the duergar before her and drove the dwarf back. A bolt of light flew through the doors and struck the other duergar and then Dulvarna twisted to her right as the thane came at her. She raised her blade as his hammer came down and again she parried his mighty blow.
Erlmoor parried a low blow from the duergar before him as an arrow from Enlishia’s bow flew past the dwarf’s shoulder. The dragonborn roared and surged forward, thrusting his blade forward into the duergar’s hip. The dwarf staggered and fell back but then, with a roar, his form began to expand as the duergar in the eastern hall had before him. A chair toppled behind the duergar as he expanded and then he stood before Erlmoor, the size of an ogre and wielding his large hammer ferociously. Again the duergar roared but then it was silenced as Litiraan hurled a silver bolt into its chest. Erlmoor rushed forward and the duergar raised it hammer again.
From the top of the steps, the duergar woman began chanting again and as she did, noxious fumes rose from the floor of the chamber and engulfed Dulvarna and Lavren. The elf staggered and bent over as his eyes began to burn and the poison filled his lungs but Dulvarna was ready. She held her breath and covered her eyes with an arm as she held her sword high above her head. Lavren lashed out wildly with his sword and stumbled past the fallen chair in front of him while behind him, Dulvarna wiped her arm over her eyes and lashed out high with her blade. As the duergar parried, she reversed the swing and brought the blade in low to cut into the side of the dwarf’s knee. The duergar roared as the leg buckled beneath him and then, he too began to expand into a bigger form. Dulvarna retreated from the now-huge duergar, keeping her blade up before her but then the huge hammer of the thane came down on her shoulder and she crumpled and fell to her left.
Erlmoor held his own foe at bay despite his increased size and now the huge duergar was a much better target. An arrow drove into its arm and as the dwarf flinched, Erlmoor prayed and then advanced. His blade glowed white and he plunged it into the belly of the dwarf. The duergar staggered, reaching one hand down to the wound and then a silver bolt from Litiraan’s wand seared through its skull and felled it.
The duergar in front of Dulvarna struck her a mighty blow in the chest while she still reeled from the thane’s blow and sent her staggering away from him. On the steps, the theurge loosed a bolt of fire from her hand that struck Lavren in the shoulder and halted his stumbling advance. He looked towards her and found hiss vision clearing and so he slashed his blade wildly at the thane and skipped past the fierce dwarf. Telkya was beside him then, darting past the right hand fireplace to join him in his advance on the duergar woman. She chanted a prayer to Corellon and a bolt of light lanced out to strike the dwarf in the left arm. She spat a curse at the elf maid and began another spell.
Dulvarna twisted away from the huge duergar before her as he parried her blow. As she twisted the point of her blade nicked the dwarf’s leg and drew blood. She turned towards the thane and parried as his huge hammer came down again but as their weapons clashed, Dulvarna felt pain lance through her crushed shoulder. Then an arrow bounded off the aide of the duergar’s breastplate and hope returned to Dulvarna as she realised that her friends were with her. A moment later, Erlmoor was beside her and with a roar, he sprayed acid from his mouth to burn the huge duergar and the thane that faught beside him. The dragonborn’s sword lashed out and tore a wound in the duergar’s left bicep. A silver bolt flew over the dwarf’s head and the duergar roared again lashing out with his hammer to strike Dulvarna in the left side. She gasped and staggered and knew that she did not have the strength to carry on for much longer.
The theurge loosed another bolt of fire at Lavren that blasted into the elf’s chest and hurled him back into the round table in front of the eastern fireplace. Lavren uttered a spell to conjure flame around the duergar but the dwarf moved aside and the flames burst up on the floor next to her. A bolt from Telkya’s amulet struck the wall behind the theurge and the duergar woman laughed out loud.
The thane took a step forward and lashed his hammer sideways into Dulvarna’s right side. She heard ribs crack and gasped as the air was driven out of her lungs. When she did breath in, it was slow and rasping and she knew that she was sorely wounded. Two arrows flew past both duergar and clattered into the wall above the western fireplace. Erlmoor came forward but the huge duergar held him at bay and even Litiraan’s silver missile of magic flew wide of the large gray dwarf. The gray dwarves senses that the battle had turned and surged forward together. The large dwarf smashed his hammer up underarm into Dulvarna’s face and the warrior woman’s head snapped back. She turned around on the spot and then collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut.
Another bolt of fire struck Lavren and he fell against the table for a second time. He lay there, unmoving for a little while, breathless and burned while the battle raged on around him. Telkya moved past him, praying as she advanced and as she reached the foot of the steps, a column of burning light descended on the theurge. Her smile vanished and her laugh became a hiss of anger as she began another spell, this one aimed at Telkya.
Murkelmor stepped over Dulvarna and lashed his hammer into Erlmoor’s side, knocking the dragonborn against the frame of the double doors. Another arrow flew past both duergar and with a roar, Erlmoor surged forward but each of his blows was met with a parry. Only when icy rays from Litiraan’s wand struck each dwarf did were the duergar driven back. The large dwarf roared his anger and lashed out at Erlmoor but the dragonborn leapt back beyond his reach. The huge duergar staggered then and Erlmoor charged back at him intending to finish the dwarf there and then.
A bolt of fire flew past Telkya and struck the wall behind her and as he saw the bolt miss, Lavren recovered a little. He pushed himself off the table and leveled his wand at the theurge, uttering a curse as he did so. A black bolt of crackling energy lanced out and struck the duergar in the shoulder, forcing her back a step. Telkya loosed a bolt of light that struck the floor near the dwarf woman’s feet and the theurge retreated another step from the enemies before her. Lavren and Telkya advanced towards her seeking to end their battle with the theurge.
The thane’s hammer struck Erlmoor’s right shoulder and drove him back into the door frame once again. He staggered but then he rushed at the large duergar again his blade before him. He drove the sword through the duergar’s breastbone and into his heart and the dwarf collapsed to the floor, shrinking as he died, at the feet of the dragonborn. Litiraan moved forward to the doorway and loosed a silver bolt towards the duergar thane only for the bolt to fly over the dwarf’s head and strike the back wall of the chamber beyond the steps.
Another bolt of fire struck Lavren as he still lay recovering on the table before the fireplace. He rose and cursed at the duergar woman before loosing a bolt of black lightning towards her. She dodged to one side and the eldritch energy struck the wall behind her. Summoning all of his strength, the elf loosed a second bolt then and this, the duergar was not ready for. It struck her full in the chest and drove her back from the top of the steps. Telkya loosed her own bolt of light from her amulet and then rushed up the steps at the duergar. Her blade glowed brightly as she swung it at the dwarf but at the last, the theurge raised her warhammer and parried the descending sword. Telkya pushed on her sword and drove the duergar back another step while Lavren came forward behind the elf maid.
Dulvarna’s eyes opened and she saw at once that the duergar thane stood over her. As she watched, the dwarf stepped forward and slammed his huge hammer in to Erlmoor’s chest, driving the dragonborn back into the doorway. An arrow struck the wall in the corner above the slain duergar and then Erlmoor came forward with a mighty roar. His blade struck out at the duergar, smashing into its ribs on the thane’s left side and as it struck home, white light burst out from the sword blade, invigorating Erlmoor, Lavren and Dulvarna. Dulvarna pushed herself to her feet then, rising behind the duergar thane and as he realised his peril, fear seized Murkelmor for the first time.
The duergar woman lashed out with her warhammer and stuck Telkya on the hip below her parry. The elf maid reeled away from her enemy but as she did so, Lavren uttered a curse and black, crackling energy seared through the chest of the gray dwarf theurge and felled her where she stood. Telkya turned towards the battle against the thane and started down the steps again just as Dulvarna rose behind the dwarf. He half turned and ducked left, evading a killing blow from Aecris as the sword descended but the blade smashed through his collar bone nonetheless and drove part way into his chest beneath. Dulvarna withdrew the blade and wove it back and forth in front of her before stabbing it forward into the thane’s side. Telkya loosed a beam of light from her amulet that struck the chair next to the duergar and then he roared his defiance, wreathing himself in flames. He lashed out at Dulvarna wildly but she leapt back and evaded the blow.
Enlishia loosed two arrows at once then that drove into the shoulder of the duergar and the gray dwarf began to retreat towards the western fireplace. Erlmoor rushed at him then and slashed his blade into the dwarf’s belly, sacrificing some of what little remaining strength he had to strike a powerful blow. Murkelmor staggered and all but fell and the a silver bolt from Litiraan’s wand seared into his leg. Black eldritch fire from Lavren’s wand struck the mantle behind the duergar and he knew then that he would not escape the chamber. Dulvarna drove her blade into his side and he sank to one knee just as Telkya came to the bottom of the steps. Light lanced out from her holy symbol, seared into the duergar’s side and found his heart. With a gasp, Murkelmor, Thane of the Grimmerzhul fell face down on the chamber floor.
Dulvarna listened carefully at the door and heard voices speaking in a guttural tongue. A rumbling voice interrupted the speakers and the first speaker laughed harshly and then resumed talking.
“This one’s not empty,” she whispered to the others. They had crossed the found all the rooms of the hold now empty apart from this one, across the corridor from the thane’s chamber. Dulvarna drew her sword and held it in one hand, propped against her shoulder, as she reached out for the iron ring door handle. Erlmoor, his sword similarly propped against his shoulder, reached for the handle of the other door. Together they turned the handles and pulled open the portals.
Within, a tall double door of solid iron stood in the southwest corner of the irregularly shaped chamber. Four orc warriors were milling about, talking and keeping watch while in a corner of the room, a hulking ogre with an iron collar was hunkered down.
Enlishia rushed into the chamber with an arrow nocked to her bow and began firing while Telkya followed, light issuing forth from the amulet in her hand. The orcs picked up huge axes with jagged blades and started forward, one meeting Dulvarna in the doorway and another rushing at Telkya. The orc swung his axe low at the priestess and as she turned to face her foe, the jagged blade drove into her side. She staggered back, bleeding and sorely wounded. Another came at her from her right and smashed the haft of its weapon into the side of her head sending her reeling into Enlishia. Dulvarna smashed her sword hilt into the face of the orc before her and as its staggered back, she forced her way into the room. Behind her, Lavren and Litiraan took the chance that she had given them and loosed black and silver magic at the orc, forcing it back another step into the room. Then there was a roar from the southeastern corner of the room and all knew that the ogre was coming.
The huge ogre loped surprisingly quickly across the room and with another roar swung its club at Telkya who was only now recovering her senses. She ducked and the huge club whooshed over her head, missing by a mere hands-width. To her right, another orc rushed at Dulvarna, slashing its axe into her arm and driving her back against the wall of the room but then Telkya saw Erlmoor coming into the room to aid her. The dragonborn roared his anger and slashed his blade across the chest of the nearest orc sending it reeling away from him. Beside the paladin, Enlishia threw her bow out into the corridor where Litiraan stood and drew her sword from her back. She started towards Dulvarna, her blade singing out and slashing into the shoulder of the wounded orc between her and her friend.
Telkya began to pray to Corellon as she drew her sword from her belt and as she prayed, divine healing flowed through her and stopped the terrible wound in her side from bleeding. She stabbed out with her blade at the orc that Erlmoor faught, driving the point into the warrior’s leg and pushing it away from her. Again, divine healing flowed through her, taking away the dizziness from her head wound and all but closing the wound in her side. She thanked her god then and turned her attention back to the orc before her, just as his axe descended towards her head. At the last moment, she dodged aside but the jagged blade still cut down the side of her arm, tearing her robes and the flesh beneath. Telkya staggered back and faught as she had never faught before.
An orc came at Dulvarna from her left, slashing his axe in low to strike her thigh just below where her mail coat covered her. She staggered as the leg gave way beneath her for a moment but lashed out with her sword anyway. The blade clove through the neck of the orc and beheaded it where its stood. Head and body tumbled to the floor leaving Dulvarna to turn to the second orc she faced while Lavren and Litiraan now had a clear path to loose their magic at the ogre. Both took the chance and the ogre roared in response as black, crackling energy struck it in the chest and silver bolts began flying at it. Again the creature lashed out at Telkya with its club and again the priestess ducked under the wild swing of the huge weapon. Lavren and Litiraan desperately began more spells, seeking to distract the ogre before it landed a killing blow on Telkya and Erlmoor followed suit, roaring again and surging at the orc before him.
Enlishia stabbed at the orc that Erlmoor faught and as he blow was parried, she twisted away and ducked back through the double doors. She sheathed her sword and reached for her bow while Telkya did the same, stabbing her blade into the side of the orc and then retreating towards the doors. The other orc she faught came after the priestess, lashing out high with his axe. Telkya raised her sword to parry and deflected the blow but the jagged axe blade still tore down her forearm and forced her back against the doorframe. Lavren and Litiraan struck the ogre with silver and black bolts and again the creature roared, lashing out with its club. Again Telkya ducked and this time, the club struck the door frame with earth shaking force. Telkya forced the orc in front of her away and glanced up nervously at the cracked and chipped stone above her head. She thanked Corellon again that her skull had not been in the way of that huge blow.
Erlmoor felt the ogre’s blow shake the stone floor and knew he had to reach the huge creature. With another roar, he sprayed acid over the orcs and the ogre and then plunged his blade into the face of the orc before him. It fell to the floor, sliding from the paladin’s blood-soaked blade and Erlmoor strode forward, trying to reach the ogre. As he did so, the ogre battling Telkya slashed his axe towards the dragonborn and he parried. It seemed he would have to deal with another orc before he reached the ogre.
Enlishia picked up her bow and darted across the doorway, loosing an arrow as she went. It drove into the ogre’s shoulder, drawing forth another roar from the creature and while it was distracted, Telkya stabbed at the orc before her and ducked through the doors out into the corridor. The orc snarled its anger but turned on Erlmoor instead, lashing out with its axe and smashing the jagged blade into the dragonborn’s hip. He roared in pain this time and staggered and the orc came forward to finish the dragonborn.
Dulvarna wove her blade before her and then stepped forward suddenly, driving Aecris into the orc’s shoulder. The creature hissed and reeled back from her towards the ogre that stood behind it. Black, crackling energy seared past the ogre then followed by a silver bolt that struck one of the iron doors behind the creature. Wildly, it cast around, seemingly seeking Telkya but when it found her beyond the doors and out of reach, it lashed out at Dulvarna with its huge club. The warrior woman saw the blow coming and raised her blade to parry but such was the power of the blow, she was thrown back painfully against the wall anyway. The orc came forward then, smashing the haft of his axe into Dulvarna’s face and shattering her nose in a spray of blood. Her head flew backwards and struck the wall and for a moment she saw only white light. Dulvarna staggered as her knees buckled and felt blackness reaching for her but then she heard a familiar roar of defiance and pulled herself back from the abyss.
Erlmoor roared and drove the orc back with a flurry of brutal blows that cut at the creature’s chest and shoulders. An arrow flew past the orc then and it glanced back over its shoulder. As its did so, one arrow and then another drove into its throat and it fell to the stone floor at Erlmoor’s feet. The dragonborn nodded his thanks to Enlishia and then let forth another roar as he charged the ogre. He heard Telkya praying behind him and as he reached the creature, a bolt of searing light struck it in the hip. It roared its own response and readied its club to meet the charging paladin.
Dulvarna shook off her dizziness just as the orc came at her again, its axe raised high for a killing blow. The warrior woman raised her sword and parried the blow, forcing the orc away from her. As it stepped back, she brought her blade in low, slicing into the creature’s hip, splintering the bone and driving her blade through into the orc’s guts. With a pained gasp, the creature staggered back another step, tearing Aecris free from its belly and then fell over backwards on the stone floor at the feet of the ogre. Dulvarna looked up at the fierce ogre then, expecting it to strike at her but suddenly, it staggered lashing out at imaginary foes while clawing at its own head with one hand. As it reeled from the effects of one of Lavren’s most powerful curses, a silver bolt from Litiraan’s wand struck the creature in the chest. It roared and lashed out angrily at Erlmoor. The dragonborn leapt aside and the huge club struck the floor beside him, cracking the stone there.
“Kill it!” roared Erlmoor as he drove his blade into the ogre’s side. “Kill it now!”
An arrow drove into the ogre’s neck and it staggered and then a bolt of golden light seared into its chest, piercing its heart. The ogre looked down at the blackened and burned wound dimly for a moment as the last life faded from it and then it pitched over backwards on the floor of the chamber.
Enlishia looked up from her breakfast as a kobold, small even by the standards of its kind, entered the inn. They had returned to the Seven Pillared Hall the previous afternoon and now the Halfmoon Inn was filled with the rescued elves and thralls. Erra Halfmoon was fretting at the extra lodgers but Dulvarna had paid her handsomely once they had returned from the Deepgem Company each wearing an amulet that protected them and Dulvarna carrying a longbow on her shoulder. This morning, the companions had been the first to come down for breakfast and so there was no one else in the common room when the kobold entered other than Rendil Halfmoon who bustled back and forth with platters and jugs.
“A message for you,” said the kobold haltingly as it reached the table where the companions ate. It proffered a rolled scroll of parchment, unsealed.
“A message from who?” asked Dulvarna.
“I know not,” answered the kobold. “A cloaked figure met me in the shadows of the hall and paid me in silver to deliver this.”
“Then you have earned your pay,” said Enlishia and the kobold, grateful to be dismissed, turned and ran from the inn.
“Your actions against the duergar are commendable,” Lavren read aloud once he had unrolled the parchment. “I am in a position of power in the organisation behind the duergar’s actions and I wish to help you defeat my comrades. I have been seeking a way out of the organisation, and I believe you can help me. Follow the map so that we can meet in secret.” A second parchment within the first showed a small chamber off the Road of Shadows not far from the Seven Pillared Hall.
“We should go now,” said Lavren at once. “This should surely lead us to the gnolls and the last of your band, Litiraan.”
“Agreed,” said Enlishia. “The longer we wait, the further away the remaining captives are taken from us.”
“You are right of course,” said Litiraan. “But if we wait until tomorrow then the others will be rested enough to come with us, We can take them to the door out of the mountain and then visit this chamber as we return to the Hall.”
“That would seem to be a sensible course,” rumbled Erlmoor. “If whoever wishes to meet us will wait that long.”
“And like as not he will not,” Enlishia said. “We have to go now for the message was brought this day. We have no choice.”
“Agreed,” said Dulvarna at last. “Make ready. We leave at once.”
The Road of Shadows was the wide passage that led south eastward from the Seven Pillared Hall and not far inside, the companions turned aside towards the place marked on the map. At the end of the passage, at the place marked on the map was a natural cave with a ten-foot high ledge that ran around its interior perimeter. Several large boulders crowded the area. At first there was no sign of anyone waiting to greet the companions, but then suddenly creatures sprang out of hiding to attack and all six knew that they had walked into a trap!
Telkya drew her sword and then reached out her left hand towards the ledge on the left where a tiefling stood. A bolt of light shot out from her hand and struck the rock close to the tiefling’s head and the devil-blooded creature flinched while beginning his own spell. Another tiefling on a rocky outcropping that extended from the ledge into the heart of the cavern hurled pale flame that struck the ground near Enlishia. Litiraan loosed a silver bolt at the tiefling to the left and in answer, the tiefling hurled pale flame itself towards Enlishia. The ranger ducked and it struck the wall beside Dulvarna. Lavren rushed ahead into the cavern but stopped a little way into the chamber as he saw something else moving behind a boulder to the right. There, he saw a bronze likeness of a minotaur with a huge bronze axe that he would have taken for a statue had it not been moving. He recalled their like from an ancient tome he had studied before he left Cormanthor. It was called a bronze warder, a magically created construct that would obey the orders of whoever wore the amulet that commanded it. He looked up at the tiefling on the outcropping and could see no amulet around his neck. Only when he looked back to the other tiefling did he see the chain of an amulet around his neck. It mattered not, the warder had to be destroyed and so Lavren uttered a spell and unleashed black, crackling energy.
Enlishia rushed into the cavern behind Lavren, firing at the tiefling on the outcropping as she came. Dulvarna and Erlmoor followed, the dragonborn moving to the ledge against the south wall and starting to scramble up to it. Dulvarna charged around the boulder and rushed at the bronze warder, lashing out with her blade only for it to clang off the leg of the construct and strike the floor. A ball of pale flame struck her in the shoulder then and set light to the jerkin Dulvarna wore beneath her armour.
“Take care of him,” Dulvarna called back to the others, pointing up at the tiefling on the outcropping.
In the cavern entrance, Telkya and Litiraan loosed bolts of silver and gold at the tiefling on the ledge above them but each time he ducked back and their spells struck only stone. Suddenly, the tiefling seemed to panic and looking along the ledge, the brother and sister saw why. Erlmoor had clambered up onto the ledge and was rushing along it towards the tiefling. The devil-blood drew forth a curved dagger from its belt and prepared to defend itself. As Erlmoor reached him, the tiefling lashed out with the dagger and drew blood from the dragonborn’s face. The paladin roared his contempt for the small wound and raised his blade.
Lavren loosed black, eldritch fire towards the tiefling on the outcropping and smiled as the bolt seared into the devil-blood’s shoulder, knocking him back a step. Then the boulder began to move as the bronze warder shoved its shoulder against it and Lavren panicked. He looked towards Telkya and Litiraan in the entrance and could see that they were retreating, but nevertheless they would be cut off from the others. The boulder rolled into place, lodging in the entrance and Litiraan and Telkya disappeared behind it. Dulvarna slashed at the back of the warder’s leg to try and distract it and this time, she gouged a small cut in the metal. There was no need to distract the construct, though, for its work with the boulder was done. Raising its huge axe, the bronze minotaur turned towards Dulvarna with all its power and fury and she fell back, afraid of the doom that faced her.
Telkya threw herself against the boulder and with strength she did not know she had, she moved it! She shoved again and it moved enough so that there was now a way past it into the cavern on either side. She ducked through to the left and rushed to join the others. From the outcropping the tiefling uttered another spell and Dulvarna suddenly began swatting at her own arms and legs with her sword.
“Snakes!” she cried out. “Get these snakes off me!”
“An illusion,” said Litiraan with a sneer as he too, rounded the boulder and saw what was happening. He lashed out with his wand and loosed a silver bolt wildly at the tiefling on the outcropping. The missile flew wide and struck the cavern wall behind the devil-blood. The tiefling laughed in response.
On the ledge, Erlmoor came back at his foe, slashing his blade to the left and then, when it was parried, twisting the sword and driving its point into the tiefling’s shoulder. His enemy vanished an instant later and as a ball of pale flame struck the dragonborn from the left he saw that the tiefling now stood in the ledge across the entrance from him. Cursing, the dragonborn began to judge whether he could jump the gap.
Dulvarna ducked as the warder swung its axe towards her and lashed out at the back of its thigh as she twisted around to her left. She rose and saw Enlishia loose an arrow into the tiefling on the outcropping. The devil-blood cried out and then staggered as a bolt of searing light struck him in the arm. He hurled pale fire desperately at Telkya but it struck the boulder beside her and Litiraan answered with a silver bolt that seared into the tiefling’s hip. Hard pressed now and weakening, the tiefling staggered and retreated a step but there was nowhere for him to go. He began another spell desperately as Lavren leveled his wand.
Erlmoor ran towards the edge of the ledge and hurled himself into space. He cleared the cavern entrance easily and barreled into the tiefling, forcing it back from him. He slashed out with his sword while uttering a prayer and as the blade glowed brightly, it clove into the tiefling’s side. The tiefling vanished again and this time appeared further along the ledge. It hurled a ball of flame that struck the dragonborn on the arm as he tried to fend it off. His sleeve caught fire but still he started after the tiefling.
Lavren loosed black, crackling energy into the tiefling on the outcropping and he staggered again but then he smiled for the bronze warder had turned on the spot and lashed out with its axe. Dulvarna was struck in the chest and hurled away from the construct to land on the floor several feet away. In two strides the warder was upon her once more, raising its axe for the killing blow. The axe fell and Dulvarna rolled aside, rising to her feet and lashing out with her sword. The blade clanged against the bronze creature and bounced into the floor again. Enlishia raised her bow to the smiling tiefling as she tried to ignore the brutal drama unfolding before her. She held two arrows in her fingers and then let fly. One drove through the throat of the tiefling and the second split its forehead. Its grisly smile fixed forever on its face, the tiefling pitched forward from the outcropping and landed with a dull thud on the cavern floor.
Dulvarna struck the bronze warder once and then again, great ringing blows that chipped lumps from the metal of the huge minotaur body but seemed still not to weaken the creature. A column of searing light descended just to the right of the bronze minotaur, summoned by the prayers of Telkya but the warder paid it no heed, striding at Dulvarna once more. A silver bolt from Litiraan’s wand seared into the left arm of the bronze creature and it turned its glowing red eyes on the elf lord. Suddenly, it altered its course and turned aside, rampaging towards Litiraan, Lavren and the others.
Erlmoor charged along the ledge towards the tiefling who flourished his dagger and seemed to be ready to teleport away once again. The dragonborn roared fiercely and thrust his blade to wards the right of the tiefling. The devil-blood brought his dagger across to parry but at the last, with a mighty prayer to Lathander on his lips, Erlmoor redirected his thrust towards the tiefling’s heart. It pierced his enemy’s chest before he had chance to react and drove through his heart and out of his back. With a gasp, the tiefling died with its eyes wide in surprise and fear and as his enemy slid from his blade, Erlmoor turned to clamber down from the ledge.
Lavren held his ground as the bronze minotaur started towards him and with a curse in his own tongue, he loosed a bolt of black, crackling energy into the warder’s chest. The construct strode on, unfazed by the blast, and knocked Lavren and Litiraan aside as it came. When it reached Enlishia, it lashed out with its huge axe and knocked the ranger to the floor before spinning and lashing out at the two elves who now lay against the south wall of the chamber. Lavren and Litiraan both ducked and threw their arms above their heads and the axe nicked their flesh and clove into the stone above them, spilling small rocks down upon them.
Enlishia scrambled away from the bronze warder, loosing arrows as she retreated but only one drove home into the metal of the construct. A searing bolt of light from Telkya’s amulet flew past the warder and struck the cave wall above Lavren and Litiraan and as more rocks began to fall, the two elves scrambled away from the construct. Behind the bronze minotaur, Erlmoor reached Dulvarna and with a prayer, he healed the worst of her hurts as she gathered her strength to charged the construct again. Then, when both were ready, they charged the bronze minotaur with their swords held high.
Lavren pushed himself to his feet as Litiraan scrambled away and, as quietly as he could, he darted around behind the minotaur, his back to the boulder that now all but filled the cavern entrance. Just as he thought he had evaded the creature’s notice, his foot scuffed a stone and the minotaur turned around toward him. The huge bronze axe came down and Lavren raised his arm hopelessly to defend himself. The axe haft struck his forearm painfully but miraculously he kept the blade away from his head. Twisting away, he scrambled along the boulder while nursing his now wounded arm with the hand that held his arm. The warder turned towards him but then an arrow ricocheted off the back of its shoulder and the minotaur turned away towards Enlishia instead.
Dulvarna slashed out with her sword as she reached the minotaur but her blade only clanged off the back of the construct’s thigh as it turned towards Enlishia. A bolt of light from Telkya’s amulet struck it in the shoulder and it turned towards her but she was beneath the promontory of rock now and beyond the minotaur’s reach. A silver bolt from Litiraan’s wand flew close to the bronze construct and then Erlmoor reached the creature and with a roar, he struck at it. There was a loud clang and his blade, too, was thrown aside. Lavren drew his sword and stabbed at the creature but the battle seemed hopeless to him now. The foe was beyond them. Even then it turned towards him, the huge axe lashed out and he was thrown from his feet as it smashed his sword aside and struck his chest.
“Retreat towards to the north into the chamber,” called Litiraan as he loosed another silver bolt that flew wide of the mark.
The elf darted around the back of the boulder and emerged on the far side. Erlmoor stabbed his blade into the thigh of the bronze construct, barely nicking the metal and drew back from the minotaur, trusting that the elf had some new way to fight the warder. Lavren scrambled away, pushed himself to his feet and retreated past Litiraan. Wildly, the construct turned towards Dulvarna and Erlmoor and lashed out towards the dragonborn with its axe. The paladin raised his blade but the axe smashed it back against his face and sent him sprawling back across the cavern floor.
Enlishia loosed more arrows and one struck home in the shoulder of the minotaur drawing the construct back towards her. She ducked around the boulder next to her and emerged on its far side next to Telkya. As she leveled her bow again, Dulvarna lashed out at the bronze warder, cleaving a chunk of metal from its hip. The warrior woman retreated as the others had done and as a beam of light from Telkya’s amulet seared past the minotaur’s face, a globe of orange flame coalesced in Litiraan’s hand. The elf brought his hand forward and the orb flew past the minotaur before bursting into searing flame against the wall at the warder’s back. The bronze construct staggered as the fire rolled over it and then Erlmoor charged at it with a roar.
Acid sprayed from the dragonborn’s mouth as he reached the minotaur and then his blade sang out and gouged a line across the bronze belly of the construct. The warder staggered back from the blow and then began to flail wildly with its axe as Lavren uttered a curse and unseen jaws began to snap at it. Then, the jaws were gone and with a high swing it brought its axe down on Erlmoor’s shoulder. Flesh and bone were cloven apart and with a gasp, the dragonborn crumpled to his knees before the minotaur. With another barely audible gasp the paladin pitched forward and lay face down and unmoving at the feet of his enemy.
Enlishia cried out and began firing again, an arrow glancing off the bronze but then a second driving into the side of the warder’s head. Dulvarna charged into battle and lashed out wildly, missing the warder completely. Telkya prayed loudly then and from her amulet, another bolt of light seared forth, this one striking the minotaur and searing a hole in its chest. Litiraan stepped forward and loosed fire from his left hand that engulfed the minotaur and drove it back towards the cavern wall. Lavren uttered a curse and from his wand came black, crackling energy that flew straight and true towards the head of the warder. It seared through the beautifully carved bronze face of the construct and drove a hole through the heated bronze before bursting from the back of the minotaur’s head to strike the cavern wall. The warder’s head seemed to collapse in upon itself then and the construct toppled backwards and fell against the cavern wall with a boom that shook the cavern. It lay there unmoving, half sitting up and propped against the wall but beaten at last.
“It was certainly a trap then,” said Enlishia as she examined the parchment they had taken from the tieflings once more. She read it to herself one last time. I don’t care how you do it, but deal with these adventurers, she read silently. Take one of the bronze warders if you must. If they remain in the Labyrinth they could disrupt my plans. Once you’ve dealt with them, deliver their bodies to our gnoll friends along with the other scroll I have sent you. It was signed simply Paldemar.
“The other offers our corpses to Maldrick Scarmaker, Exalted Chieftain of the Blackfangs and Chosen of Yeenoghu,” said Dulvarna, raising the second parchment they had recovered. “Apparently our corpses were to be given as a token of ongoing friendship from Paldemar to the gnoll chieftain. It was sealed with an ornate P rune which must be the mark of this Paldemar.”
“Agreed,” said Enlishia. “And he seems to have left a map to the lair of the Blackfangs.” She pointed towards a third parchment that lay on the table before them. They sat in the common room of the Halfmoon Inn having just finished another of Rendil’s sumptuous breakfasts.
“We should set out now,” the ranger said with unusual impulsiveness. “Before they have chance to move the two remaining elves.”
“According to this, we need to go west from the hall and descend into the lower levels,” rumbled Erlmoor while unconsciously flexing the shoulder that the bronze warder’s axe had crushed. Telkya had restored the bones and the flesh but it still pained him a little.
“Enlishia is right,” said the dragonborn at last. “We cannot wait. We must go forth now.”
“And what of the elves and thralls we rescued from the Horned Hold?” asked Dulvarna. “We have yet to take them from the mountain. The longer the stay here, the more likely it is that they will become slaves once again. I would hear Litiraan speak on this.”
“You are right, of course,” said Litiraan. “We cannot set out for this place that is called the Well of Demons while leaving my kin behind in this inn. We must take them to the Minotaur Gate and then seek our reckoning with the gnolls. It will delay us little.”
“It will delay us enough,” said Erlmoor. “If we take this course then we must return here and wait another day. We will likely meet some dark denizens of the mountain while we march to or from the gate and will need to recover before facing the gnolls.”
“And perhaps we shall not,” said Litiraan. “We have seen little of the mountain’s denizens when we have walked the dark halls since we have arrived. Only in their holds do the denizens of Thunderspire seem to dwell.”
“Then we will take that chance,” said Dulvarna and as she said it, Erlmoor nodded his consent. He would bow to her wisdom as he often did. “Make the former thralls ready. We make for the Minotaur Gate as soon as they are able.” With a scraping of chairs, the companions rose from their breakfast table and set about busying themselves with their own preparations for travel. The name of their goal, the Well of Demons, hung heavy upon them all as they made ready to leave.
Erlmoor was the first to emerge from the Minotaur Gate and stand in the warm sunshine of the spring morning. He looked over to the rising sun as it crested the highest point of the Immerflow Vale and he knelt to pray. Dulvarna joined him while Litiraan and Telkya said farewell to their former companions.
“The weather seems pleasant enough,” said Litiraan. “Take the high pass beyond the source of the Immerflow back to Cormanthor. It will be quicker and less troubled than the Thunder Gap to the south. Fare you well and take word of us to our kin.” Lavren watched the farewells and thought for a moment of asking for word to be taken to his kin but then he knew that he could not. He would not let his family be known to Litiraan and Telkya lest it taint their view of him. Better to let his kin hear of him on their own. His father had eyes enough to learn of his son.
“Lathander’s blessing goes with you,” said Erlmoor as he rose from his prayers and watched the three human thralls make their way down the steep valley beneath the gate toward the Immerflow Vale. The woman turned and waved and then the dragonborn turned away from the growing dawn. The others turned away as well and made their way back into the darkness of Thunderspire Mountain.
The six companions had almost reached the Seven-Pillared Hall again when they saw two figures blocking the lantern-lit passage ahead of them. One was a strange bipedal creature with a spider-like visage that had two black eyes and six other tiny eyes along with prominent fangs . Two of its four arms were long and gangly, ending in a hand-like appendage with three digits, including a thumb. A useless pair of vestigial arms sprouted from the lower portion of its ribcage. One of its three-fingered hands held a spear while the other rested easily on the head of a snaky, spiky, and wingless drake about the size of a riding horse with bright, crimson scales. It had a frill around the back of its head, and its tail was short while its powerfully muscled forelimbs ended in feet tipped with wicked talons.
“You pay toll to Red Eye Gang,” the creature called out in a scratchy, insect-like voice.
“We pay nothing,” answered Telkya, drawing her sword and striding forward with her hand extended.
A bolt of white light lanced out towards the insect-like creature but at the last moment, the creature ducked to one side and the bolt flew past to strike the wall beneath one of the copper lanterns that hung there. Suddenly a grinding sound came from the left wall of the passage and a portion of the wall slid aside to reveal two huge bugbears, each wielding an equally large morning star. One cast around for a moment until its eyes settled upon the companions and it lumbered towards them.
“Not yet fools,” said the insect-creature in its scratchy, clicking tones. The bugbear paid it no mind and charged at Telkya.
The bugbear swung out wildly with its morning star and Telkya ducked under the blow with an ease that surprised her. Dulvarna rushed forward to join Telkya, her sword before her. She stabbed Aecris into the bugbear’s leg, driving it back from the priestess and drawing a pained grunt from the creature. Dulvarna looked up then as the insect-like creature lashed out with one of its limbs and as a web of spider silk flew towards her she knew that they faced an ettercap, a strange creature that had a kinship with spiders and scorpions. She ducked and the web-net engulfed one of the copper lanterns sending it rocking and the green light it cast dancing back and forth across the passage.
With a roar, the drake charged, rushing out at Dulvarna and lashing out with both claws as it reached her. She ducked under one but the other claw came in low and struck her hip, throwing her against the passage wall painfully. Another bugbear charged into the corridor past the one that Dulvarna but it found quickly that its companion and the drake blocked the way to its enemies. Litiraan watched it come forward and then uttered a phrase in his own tongue. He vanished suddenly into motes of light only to reappear behind the bugbear and between it and the ettercap. The elf drew his sword and spun around to lash at the bugbear but as he did so, the creature sensed the threat and spun around itself. The swing missed and the bugbear raised its morning star as it advanced on Litiraan.
Telkya stabbed out at the bugbear before her and as it parried her thrust she drew back, retreating from her enemy. The bugbear stepped forward but found Dulvarna blocking its path and it lashed out at her instead with its morning star. She raised her blade and parried with her sword held downward towards the passage floor. She twisted her blade then and lashed it across the bugbear’s shoulder before carrying the blow onwards into the flank of the drake that snarled at her beside the bugbear. The drake reared backwards and let out a roar of anger. Then it came at her again.
The ettercap lashed out with another of its limbs and hurled a net of spider silk over Litiraan that pinned him to the right hand wall of the passage beneath another copper lantern that was now swaying and throwing dancing light over the elf. The bugbear to the left of the elf staggered back as two arrows drove into it from Enlishia’s bow and then Lavren vanished in his own cloud of light motes and disappeared from the corridor altogether. Only when a bolt of black, crackling energy struck the bugbear still in the alcove in the back was his presence revealed. The bugbear roared its anger, raised its morning star and turned back into the chamber from which the hidden door had opened to take its revenge upon the elf.
The drake roared and lunged at Dulvarna but she ducked back and its powerful jaws snapped shut on empty air. The bugbear behind it lashed out at Litiraan who was pinned against the wall in the ettercap’s web but the elf managed to twist his body downwards and the morning star struck the lantern above him. The blow stove in the copper lantern but its magical light did not go out and it swung even more wildly sending dancing shadows across the corridor.
Lavren looked around the room desperately for somewhere he could evade the bugbear but the chamber was an ancient storeroom similar to the chamber where they had rescued Rendil Halfmoon and while it had a side chamber where the bugbears apparently slept, he could not reach it in time. He drew his sword and held it before him but the bugbear was too strong and as he raised the blade to parry, the creature’s morning star drove the blade out of its path and smashed down on the elf’s shoulder. Lavren reeled away from the bugbear and raised his sword again, cursing his own recklessness hoping against hope that his friends would reach him in time.
Erlmoor charged past Telkya with his blade before him and roared as he met the bugbear, showering acid over the enemies before him. Litiraan shrank back against the wall in the web that pinned him there and avoided the acid but both bugbears and the drake were burned. Erlmoor’s deep voice intoned a prayer as the bugbear parried his first overhead blow and then he twisted his blade to the right and drove it into the creature’s side. Blood sprayed out and the bugbear fell back a step, tiring and sorely wounded.
Imprisoned within his web, Litiraan twisted around and stabbed out at the bugbear before him clumsily. His blade drove into the creature’s shoulder and drove it back a step, allowing the elf to pushed himself off the wall and try to free himself from the web. With a huge effort, he tore the thick silk strands from the wall and dodged back from the bugbear as it came at him again. Then he saw movement from the right and with horror he saw that the ettercap was coming for him with its spear before it.
Telkya closed her eyes and silently asked Corellon to guide her way as she uttered a word and vanished into a cloud of light motes. She reappeared in the chamber where Lavren faught, against the left wall and behind the bugbear. She stepped forward and stabbed out with her blade but her boot scuffed the floor and at the last, the bugbear twisted to one side and dodged her blow. He put his back to a stack of jars and barrels against the opposite wall and raised his morning star, looking from one opponent to the other as though trying to decide which to deal with first. Telkya raised her blade warily and stood ready to parry.
The bugbear before Erlmoor lashed out desperately as the dragonborn came forward and smashed its morning star into the paladin’s jaw. His head was jerked around and he staggered away as his mouth filled with blood. Dulvarna stepped to her right to meet the bugbear and swung out with her sword, cutting through the place where Erlmoor had been moments before. Aecris clove into the bugbear’s neck from the front and right and took its head from its shoulders before driving into the top of the drake’s shoulder and drawing blood there. The bugbear fell to the floor of the passage, the drake roared and then Erlmoor added his own roar of pain and triumph to the cacophony of battle. He rushed at the drake then, knowing that it would be the next to fall.
Beyond the drake and the bugbear, Litiraan watched the ettercap stepping forward and waited for the thrust but it came too quickly when the creature seemingly was still out of reach. The steel point drove into his leg painfully and he staggered back and nearly fell into the web that was still attached to the wall. The bugbear came at him from the other side but again he ducked and the spiked head of the morning star struck the stone above him with a dull thud. Te bugbear cursed and Litiraan stabbed at him desperately, knowing he was doomed if no one came to his aid. The bugbear parried and snarled but then Erlmoor was behind him and he was forced to step back towards the doorway. Litiraan had surely been saved!
Lavren retreated from the bugbear knowing that Telkya could hold her own against it for a little while. He reached out with the wand in his left hand and loosed black, crackling energy but the blast flew wide and struck the frame of the hidden door to the chamber. Lavren cursed and the bugbear sneered as it turned on Telkya and lashed out with its morning star. Telkya ducked the blow easily and rose, smiling at the creature as though the battle were already won. She stabbed her sword into the bugbear’s hip and drew an angry snarl from it. Desperately, Lavren began another curse as the bugbear raised its morning star again.
The drake darted at Dulvarna with surprising quickness and seized her left arm in its jaws. She tore the limb free but as she did so, the dagger-sharp teeth of the beast ripped open her flesh painfully and left her arm bleeding. Erlmoor stabbed his sword into the drake’s flank then before turning to face the bugbear that Litiraan faught and then Enlishia loosed an arrow and then another into the beast’s left shoulder. It roared its pain and defiance and staggered as its left front leg threatened to give way beneath it. Then it snarled, baring its terrible teeth and promising death to any who came near to it.
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