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!
Litiraan cried out as the ettercap drove its spear into his hip but he had only one focus now as the bugbear turned away from him and, grimly, he started towards the creature with his sword in his hand. He lashed out with the blade and drew blood from the creature’s shoulder. It gave a high-pitched screech and backed away from him a step. With a fierce look in his eyes, the elf followed.
Behind Litiraan, an arrow clattered into the wall above the drake and then a second from Enlishia’s bow drove into the beast’s neck. The drake roared and snapped at Erlmoor but the paladin dodged away from its jaws. The bugbear came at him then with an overhand blow but he raised his sword and parried crossways above his head. Before twisting the blade away and slashing out at the bugbear. His enemy leapt back and his blade passed in front of it, inches away from the bugbear’s chest. The bugbear snarled and Erlmoor snarled back.
Lavren loosed another blast of black energy from his wand but again it flew wide of the bugbear and again he cursed. The bugbear lashed out at Telkya and again she ducked under the swing. While still ducked low, Telkya drove her sword forward into the bugbear’s thigh and drove it back and away from her. The creature roared in pain and anger and then came forward at the elf maid again but Lavren loosed another black bolt and this struck the bugbear in the side. It staggered to its left, away from Lavren and then lashed out again with its morning star. This time Telkya was forced to parry, raising her blade above her head to block the descending spiked weapon but still she held the bugbear at bay. It snarled at her and she smirked back at it, as though daring it to do better.
Dulvarna ducked low and drove her blade into the top of the drake’s weakened right foreleg and this time the leg did give way. The drake roared and clumsily tried to leap back from the warrior woman but it was already doomed. An arrow flew forth from Enlishia’s bow and drove into its skull, piercing its brain and dropping it to the corridor floor. A second arrow struck the door frame next to the bugbear behind the drake and the creature looked around in panic, realising its peril. Desperately it lashed out at Erlmoor and caught the paladin a glancing blow on the shoulder that he simply shrugged off. The dragonborn thrust forward with his own sword and the bugbear parried but as it did so, Erlmoor moved along the passage towards Litiraan, almost reaching the elf.
The ettercap saw his peril too and stabbed out with its spear to try and keep the elf and the others at bay. Litiraan dodged left and the spear grazed the side of his right shoulder, wounding him and drawing yet more blood but barely halting him. The elf stabbed out with his blade, into one of the ettercap’s shoulders and forced it back another step. The creature looked behind it as though to check its path of retreat was clear and then darted towards the elf once more.
Telkya ducked another clumsy swing of the bugbear’s morning star and then thrust her blade into its hip before leaping up again. The creature came back at her quickly this time but the blow was clumsy and she dodged to her right to throw the creature off balance. Its morning star struck the wall and it all but fell over as it pitched forward. A black bolt from Lavren’s wand seared through the air where the creature’s head had been and struck the wall next to the chamber entrance. Telkya and Lavren shared a glance, knowing they had the measure of their foe and then both turned their attention back to the battle.
Dulvarna advanced slowly on the remaining bugbear in the corridor, weaving her blade before her in a dance that she knew well but that this opponent had not yet seen. As the bugbear tried to watch her approach while also waiting for Erlmoor to strike, Dulvarna dived forward, driving Aecris deep into the creature’s thigh. Two more arrows flew past the bugbear and it lashed out wildly at Dulvarna, all but blinded by pain and rage. She ducked back and parried with her blade pointed downwards before her as the morning star came across towards her. Erlmoor thrust his sword at the bugbear from its left but it twisted away towards the doorway and evaded the sword. Desperately, the bugbear looked towards the ettercap as though seeking counsel or aid but none were forthcoming. The bugbear roared defiantly and raised its morning star to face its enemies once again.
Telkya stabbed forward again with her sword as the bugbear reached out for the wall to stop itself falling over. At the last, it twisted around to avoid the elf maid’s sword thrust and pushed itself off the wall towards the centre of the room again. Lavren was ready for this, though, and from his wand a blast of black energy lanced out to strike the bugbear in the chest and drive him back towards the door. Telkya rushed at the bugbear and he lashed out desperately with his morning star. She parried above her head and then moved forward to finish her foe.
Dulvarna drove the bugbear back with a slashed cut across its belly and then Enlishia found her mark with an arrow that drove into the bugbear’s shoulder. Beyond the bugbear, Litiraan was keeping the ettercap’s spear at bay now and as the bugbear looked that way again, it retreated from Dulvarna towards the spider-kin creature. Turning suddenly, the bugbear lashed out with its morning star and struck Litiraan in the back, pushing him towards the ettercap. Erlmoor slammed the hilt of his sword into the side of the bugbear’s head and distracted it from what would surely be a killing blow. The bugbear reeled to the left into the wall of the passage and Litiraan ducked right to the opposite wall to try to summon his second wind. The ettercap eyed the elf warily and then levelled its spear at his heart and came forward.
Telkya feinted low and then brought her blade up high while the dazed bugbear barely even tried to raise his morning star. The elf maid’s sword drove into the bugbear’s throat and the creature fell to its knees before her as blood gushed forth. She drew the blade out and the bugbear fell, showering the hem of her robes in deep red blood. She rushed to the doorway as Dulvarna charged the bugbear again and drove her blade into his back as he reeled from Erlmoor’s blow. Litiraan cried out and as Telkya looked she saw that her brother bled from several wounds and had been stabbed again in the side with the ettercap’s spear. The creature retreated down the passageway and as it did so, Enlishia’s bow sang again and the bugbear fell with an arrow through its throat from one side to the other. A second arrow flew forth and drove into the ettercap’s shoulder and then Lavren rushed out of the side chamber into the passageway. He glanced at Telkya and smiled before cursing at the ettercap and raising his wand Flames burst from the ettercap’s skin and it screeched in pain as the fire seared its flesh. Erlmoor charged at the creature with a roar and lashed out with his sword but the creature ducked at the last moment and his blade struck the stone wall above the ettercap’s head. The creature screeched and tried to back away but then Litiraan, wounded but still standing raised his own wand in his left hand and loosed a bolt of silver into the creature, throwing it back against the wall.
The ettercap screeched again and looked back along the corridor as Telkya came forward to protect her brother. With a guttural cry, she rushed at the ettercap and with the same high thrust that had slain the bugbear, she drove her blade into the ettercap’s throat. It half-screeched and then gurgled before collapsing on the floor before her.
“Think I’m starting to get the hang of sword craft,” Telkya said and Lavren and Litiraan both smiled with pride and love for the fair and spirited elf maid.
They passed through the Seven-Pillared Hall quietly and took a western path that Rendil had called the Deep Stair. Not far beyond the hall the reason for its name became obvious as it began to descend sharply into the depths of the mountain. Following the map, they took a side passage back to the east that zigzagged left and right until it turned south and opened into a large, square chamber. Five columns, three set near the room’s corners and two in the middle of the chamber rose up at least twice the height of the tallest man to the ceiling and into each was carved the face of a leering, fanged minotaur. There was a well in the southeastern corner of the room, and two passages led away, one to the east and the other to the south.
No sooner had they entered the chamber than the deep voice, seemingly of a powerful minotaur, began to come from the columns that each heard in their own tongue, the elves in elven, Enlishia and Dulvarna in the Common tongue and Erlmoor in the ancient tongue of the dragons.
“Greetings, seekers of Baphomet’s boundless glory,” said the voice. “Those who prove unworthy of his attention shall be claimed forever as his slaves.” Suddenly Dulvarna saw something to her left, skulking figure behind one of the columns.
“Those who prove worthy,” the voice continued. “Shall be granted power beyond mortal reckoning. Mask, bell blade and tome.”
As the voice finished speaking, the crouched figure rushed forward and Dulvarna shouted a warning to the others. Telkya turned towards the creature first, drawing forth her sword and reaching out with her hand. A bolt of light lanced out and struck the rushing humanoid which had long, flexible limbs, almost like tentacles that ended in starfish-shaped pads covered with hundreds of tiny bone spikes. The grey-skinned creature lurched to one side and fixed Telkya with its black eyes before rushing on towards her.
“A choker,” Telkya spat as she recognised the creature. “A creature of the deeper, dark places beneath the world.”
Lavren raised his wand and loosed black, crackling energy towards the creature that struck the top of its chest and pitched it over to the right. It half-rolled and twisted to shrug the wound off and kept coming. A cry came from the front of the group then as Enlishia saw another creature, a pallid undead creature that they had seen before under the Keep north of Winterhaven, emerged from behind the far column and rushed at the group.
“A ghoul!” Enlishia cried out. “A ghoul comes from the front.”
The ghoul reached Dulvarna and Enlishia in moments and leapt at them with claws flailing. Both stepped aside and let the creature land between them, hissing and snarling as it reached out ravenously for their living flesh. Enlishia nocked an arrow to her bow and drew back from the flailing arms of the ghoul. She loosed the first arrow into the ghoul’s chest and reached for another, loosing it after the first into the body of the terrible undead creature. Erlmoor rushed forward and came at the creature from the other side, lashing out with his blade and gouging a wound across the creature’s back. The ghoul scampered around on the spot and hissed at this newcomer while Erlmoor snarled in response.
Behind Enlishia, the choker darted to the right and scampered up the north wall of the chamber and then out onto the ceiling. It reached out with a tentacle and lashed its limb around Enlishia’s neck. The ranger gasped as the choker lived up to its name and tried to lift her from the ground. Litiraan raised his wand and loosed a silver bolt from it but the choker swayed to one side and the bolt missed.
Dulvarna looked over her shoulder at the choker as she drew her blade and decided that her companions could deal with that threat. She lashed out with her sword and slashed the blade across the top of the ghoul’s chest above Enlishia’s arrows and the creature reeled away before turning back towards her. Suddenly, she sensed movement from the left and as she glanced that way, Dulvarna saw another slate-grey tentacle reach out from the ceiling close to the westernmost corner pillar. It seized Erlmoor around the neck and started to drag him towards the pillar. The dragonborn opened his mouth to roar but a weak, almost plaintive sound came out instead of the usual deep power. Dulvarna cursed and then she felt the floor shake. Behind her, tentacles exploded from the floor of the chamber, one reaching out towards her and seizing her around the waist. Small toothed mouths on the inside of the tentacle tore into her flesh and she cried out as the creature’s grip tightened.
Telkya reached out her hand and loosed another bolt of light that struck the choker clinging to the ceiling above the north wall. It seemed to loosen its grip on the ceiling and on Enlishia for a moment and almost fell. Lavren loosed a bolt of black energy but it flew wide of the choker and struck the stone ceiling next to it. Both elves cursed together and then began their prayers and spells to attack the choker again.
The ghoul leapt at Dulvarna as the tentacle tightened its grip with claws tearing at her face and neck. She felt a chill spread from the wound and suddenly her legs became weak as though the cold of the grave had sapped her strength. The tentacle dragged her a few feet towards it and the mouths tore painfully at her flesh. Beside her, Enlishia tried to duck out of the choker’s tentacle but found that she was held fast and so she raised her bow and fired at the choker on the ceiling. The choker jerked her towards it and she loosed her first arrow against the floor at her feet. Her second flew upwards but struck the wall next to the choker. Enlishia cursed silently and gasped as the creature tightened its grip.
Erlmoor tried to free himself from the tentacle around his neck too but found he too was held firmly. Instead he twisted back towards the ghoul and lashed out at the ghoul. The undead creature leapt back beyond the reach of the dragonborn’s blade and Erlmoor cursed silently himself as the choker dragged him back towards it.
Litiraan turned around as the tentacles burst from the floor and seized Dulvarna and he recognised the creature at once. It was a phalagar, a burrowing predator that grasped and crushed its enemies in the deeper darkness beneath Faerun. He drew his blade and stabbed at it desperately while retreating towards the passage which had led them to the chamber. As he drew back he saw Dulvarna duck down and wriggle out of the grasp of the tentacle while raising her blade. She lashed out with the sword but the tentacles rose and writhed out of her reach. No sooner had they done this than tentacles lashed out in all directions, searching for prey. It seized Litiraan around the waist and then grabbed Dulvarna and Erlmoor as well, the tiny toothed mouths tearing at the flesh of their victims. Litiraan looked around at his companions then and wondered whether for the first time in a long while whether they were beaten and would die here.
Telkya loosed a bolt of light from her hand and this time, the divine energy seared through the choker’s chest, finding what passed for a heart within the creature and dropped it to the chamber floor. She looked around for the now familiar smile from Lavren but as she did he vanished into a cloud of light motes. He reappeared next to one of the central pillars, cursing the ghoul and loosing black energy from his wand. The blast burst through the ghoul from back to front, narrowly missing Dulvarna and shattering the ghoul into dust and bone. Suddenly free, Enlishia loosed an arrow towards the tentacles of the phalagar
Though the choker was throttling him, Erlmoor managed at last to roar and as he did so, he sprayed acid onto the tentacles of the phalagar and up to the choker on the ceiling. The nearest tentacles of the phalagar recoiled as the acid burned them but the choker scampered away from the acid, trying to drag Erlmoor with it. The paladin resisted and prayed quietly until his blade glowed brightly and he lashed out at the tentacle that held him. He felt strength flow up his blade and to his right he saw a glow rise up Dulvarna’s form and restore some of her strength as well. He thanked Lathander and then began a new prayer to the Morninglord for deliverance from the terrible predators of Underdark that they now battled.
Litiraan tried desperately to wriggle free of the tentacle that held him but he found that he was held firm and resorted to slashing at the limb with his sword. He cut into the flesh but still it held him firmly and even began to drag him back towards the phalagar itself but looking up, he saw Dulvarna duck free of the tentacle that held her again. She weaved her blade back and forth as though feinting left and right toward the tentacles and then she dived forward, driving her blade into one of the flailing limbs. It recoiled and as it did so, the remaining choker turned its small head towards Dulvarna, its eyes drawn by the sudden movement. It lashed out with the other of its long limbs but Dulvarna leapt back beyond its reach. The phalagar lashed out again then and seized Dulvarna with one of its wounded tentacles. She cursed her ill luck and then began to try and wriggle free once more.
Telkya uttered a prayer and from her hand leapt another beam of light that seared into the choker. The creature shrank back and as it did so, Lavren uttered a curse and loosed his own bolt, this one of black, crackling energy. The eldritch blast burned into the choker’s shoulder and it shrieked loudly in an alarm call that would have sent others of its kind fleeing into the dark passages of the Underdark if any of its companions remained. Enlishia lifted her bow and loosed an arrow into the choker drawing another shriek from its wounded form. She fired again but the arrow clattered against the ceiling and fell to the floor and this time the choker cackled maniacally as though mocking the ranger.
Erlmoor roared his own defiance then and lashed out at the nearest tentacle with his own, glowing blade. His sword hacked through the flesh of the flailing limb and left a piece the length of his arm on the floor of the chamber while the rest of the dying limb flapped close by like a fish out of water. Across from the dragonborn, Litiraan saw his chance and ducked out of the grasp of the phalagar. With his wand clasped tightly in his left hand and his sword in his right, he ducked back into the northern passage.
Dulvarna likewise, saw her chance as the phalagar was wounded and ducked free of the tentacle that had grasped her. She raised her blade over her head and slashed down on another tentacled, severing it. Beside her, Erlmoor ducked as the choker shot another tentacle out at him and then the phalagar lashed out desperately towards Dulvarna. She ducked herself and a tentacle lashed over her head and to her right, Telkya vanished in a cloud of light motes. An instant later, a column of light descended from the ceiling and surrounded the choker. With a final screech, it plummeted to the floor and landed with a dull thud.
Lavren rushed to Telkya’s side as the choker fell, winking at her as he drew near in acknowledgement of another victory for her. He extended his hand and uttered a curse in elven then that loosed another blast of black, eldritch energy into the phalagar. Enlishia loosed two arrows quickly that struck the same tentacle and drove it back beneath the floor but another flailing limb lashed out at the ranger. She leapt back beyond its reach and as she did so, Erlmoor and Dulvarna rushed at the tentacled creature. Litiraan loosed a silvery bolt into the creature but a tentacle grabbed him and then Dulvarna came forward and hacked through the only other tentacle that remained. The limb that had grabbed Litiraan fell limply to the floor and a deep silence fell over the well chamber.
Once those with hurts had bound their wounds, the companions talked for a few moments and then headed past the well and into the dark of the southern passage. By the dim light of Litiraan’s wand, they saw a side passage open up on the left and decided quickly to pass it by. The passage ahead then turned sharply to the right and then bent to the left before emerging into a wider hallway where blood stained the floor. Crimson trails ran from a set of double doors in the east, down the corridor, and into a door to the west. All six companions felt a sudden chill wash over them as cold seemed to reach into them to their very bones and cause involuntary shivers. Three spectral figures rose then from the bloodstains before the group. Before any of the adventurers could react, each of the ghostly figures raised a hand in apparent greeting.
“Well met strangers,” said the middle figure, once a burly man with a thick, black beard. He seemed to have been clad in a mail coat but its spectral image was now torn and gashed as though he had suffered a terrible death at the hands of some great beast.
“What do you seek in the Well of Demons?” the man’s ghost asked.
“We seek the gnolls who dwell here,” said Enlishia, the chill refusing to leave her bones and seeming to slow her mind as well. “we have followed captured innocents into Thunderspire and through the holds of hobgoblins and duergar and now we have come here.
“And which gnolls are these,” answered the spirit on the right, once a beautiful but cold-seeming elf maid in long robes. “We met no gnolls when first we came here and you are poor warriors if you know not your enemies. We knew our enemies and vanquished all but one before we fell. Demons and devils, dragons and worse all fell to our might.”
“Our strength lies in our hearts as well as in our blades and our Art,” said Erlmoor. “We seek slaves taken by the Blackfang gnolls. They are friends and companions of Telkya and Litiraan and we have followed them into this mountain to save them. Already, most of their band make their way back to Cormanthor walking free under the sun and the stars.”
“Then perhaps you are stronger and wiser than you seem,” rumbled the third spirit, apparently once a dwarf garbed in plate armour and wearing a helm with the faceplate closed. “But then again perhaps you seek to trick us. As Mendara said, we saw no gnolls when first we came here. How did you learn of the Blackfangs and this place?”
“We defeated the duergar of the Horned Hold, slaying their chieftain and freeing the prisoners that they held,” answered Lavren. “We took a skull-capped rod back to the heart of the mountain with us.”
“And yet you do not know its purpose,” sneered the elf called Mendara. “Instead you have followed breadcrumbs around the dark of the mountain until you have come here.”
“It’s purpose was not relevant to us,” Litiraan bristled, staring at the elf. “We have sought to rescue our kin and that quest has led us here. The staves the duergar carry are of no concern to us.”
“Ah, but perhaps they should be,” answered Mendara. “My companions and I piled duergar staves five and six high in the Seven Pillared Hall before we came to this place and then we broke each every one lest they once more return to the hands of a gray dwarf.”
“But our cause is just,” Telkya pleaded. “We seek no power or spoils. We seek only to save the lives of those who were brought here.”
“And do you do that truly for the sake of those you save?” questioned the dwarf. “Or simply because duty compels you to save them?”
“It was not for duty that we threw down the gates of the Horned Hold,” said Dulvarna, her voice rising. “It was not for duty that we slew Murkelmor himself. We came here to save lives and for nothing more.”
“Great feats both I am sure,” answered the black bearded man. “Though the gates of the Horned Hold have been thrown down before and Murkelmor when last we saw him was balding and fat. Age has no doubt slowed him further while we have been doomed to wander this dark place.”
“Age has not slowed Murkelmor and his hold was strong when we came to it,” Enlishia responded. “We faught there strongly for two days but the duergar and their orc allies were vanquished in the end. It lies empty still, I’d wager, and the duergar will not soon be coming back to it.”
“Perhaps, perhaps,” mused Mendara seeming to look upon Enlishia with some form of respect. “The duergar are perhaps stronger now than we remember them. Murkelmor’s father though, was truly a mighty dwarf. We struck him down four times before he finally fell.”
“Pardon me, Lady,” interrupted Erlmoor before Mendara could meander into another boast. “But we surely did not come here to share tales and you, surely, do not keep us here to learn of our exploits. We have told you why we have come here and now we would continue on our way for surely every moment delayed takes the captives we seek further away from us.”
“You are right, of course,” answered the spirit of the dwarf. “But so few come as far as here and none have yet prevailed in this dark place and so we would discern whether you deceive us with your tales. If you deceive us then perhaps you mislead us about the strength of your arms and your Art. We would not see you fail as we did.”
“And we shall not,” answered Lavren quickly. “I am a warlock who has studied the fey mysteries of my kind. Many have tasted the power of my eldritch assaults and fallen to them. Litiraan and Telkya are strong in Art and faith and Erlmoor, Dulvarna and Enlishia wield their arms with rare skill. We shall prevail.”
“Perhaps you shall,” answered Mendara. “But we were strong as you were and had vanquished far more powerful foes when we fell here.”
“Could you hurl balls of flame as I can, or grip a foe in an icy hand?” asked Litiraan. “My wand and the amulet at my neck are enchanted as is my blade. Were you as well armed and as skilled when you came here? And more than that, I seek the captives not out of duty but because they are friends and kin. I will not let them die!”
“Well spoken elf lord,” answered Mendara. “Our kin are too often humble and reserved but you show the true power of the Fair Folk that raised up Myth Drannor and crafted a kingdom in fair Evermeet that I shall never see.”
She looked sad then and the others found their gazes torn between the sad and proud elf maid and the elf lord who seemed to have found the determination and strength that had first set him at the head of his war band.
“My brother speaks truly,” said Telkya after a pause. “And I for my part have vowed to stand beside him as we search for our kin.” Despite Mendara watching her with her cold, piercing eyes, Telkya could not help but sneak a sideways glance at Lavren. For a moment, she thought that Mendara had looked into her heart and seen the omission in what she had said. She stayed for Lavren too, she admitted to herself for the first time. She felt a faint nervous excitement in her stomach as she allowed herself the thought despite the danger of her surroundings and the chill that still held all of them. She looked up at Mendara and to her surprise, the elf’s face softened.
“This place is called the Proving Grounds,” said the robed elf. “And it was a testing place for worshippers of the demon lord Baphomet when minotaurs yet ruled under the mountain. Still, some cultists come here to prove their mettle but none have passed through it since we have been here.”
“You must find four items,” said the dwarf. “A knife, a mask, a bell and a book. You must place each of these items on one of the four circles of runes found within this place.”
“Alas if it were only that easy,” said the black-bearded man and the companions noticed as he straightened that as well as the other cuts and gouges, his mail coat was torn in half across his waist. “The items must be placed on the runes at the exact same time.” Mendara nodded sternly.
“Three of the items are held within chambers built to test Baphomet’s worshippers,” said the elf maid. “You can find these chambers to the north, west and south of where we now stand, through the eastern double doors and then through another set of doors that lead to the west. The fourth item, the book, is on an altar in a small shrine to the east.”
“We wish you well,” said the dwarf, his form, along with the others, beginning to fade. “We truly do. May you prevail where we did not.”
“Wait,” pleaded Dulvarna. “Is there not more you can tell us.”
“We have told you all we can,” said Mendara, her voice now sounding distant and her form barely visible. “I hope it will be enough.”
An instant later the spirits were gone and the chill that had heralded their appearance was lifted. The six companions shared nervous glances and then turned towards the eastern doors.
They passed through the doors with their blades drawn and spells and prayers ready. Taking care to avoid treading on the blood trails they emerged into a long chamber that extended to the south. More blood stained the floor further into the room, one wide stain seemingly the source of the trail that led through the doors. A circle of runes was carved in the floor and dyed with orange powder while beyond the circle was a plain altar block of stone. Atop the altar rested a tarnished jug, and beside it were some half-burned scraps of parchment. The doors that they had been told of led westward and slowly, almost unwillingly, Dulvarna turned towards them. Beyond the portals, a passage led north and south, its floor seemingly worn smooth as though by the passage of many feet or of some war engine.
Dulvarna turned north and then followed the passage in a sharp turn to the west. A dark opening yawned on her left and she peered into it warily before passing it by. The passage turned left again just beyond the opening and led them southward to another set of double doors that led west. Dulvarna looked at the doors and then made to move past them but Erlmoor halted her with his deep voice.
“Why do we pass these by,” the paladin rumbled. “These must surely lead to one of the items that the spirits bade us seek.”
“And if they do,” Lavren spoke up. “What good will they do us. We have learned little that will take us to the kindred of Litiraan and Telkya and I know not why we seek these items if we know not what they do.”
“Then what would you have us do?” asked Dulvarna. “We are all but lost in the dark, deep beneath this mountain and as you have said, we have learned little of the fate of the remaining captives. All we know if that they are here.”
“We go back and search this place room by room,” said Lavren. “We passed two branches before we came to this place and explored neither. We have seen no gnolls and yet we are venturing deeper and deeper into this dark place of cultists and minotaurs. We go back and we try to find the elves.”
“Alright then, we go back” said Dulvarna. She paused for a moment. “But you can explain it to the ghosts when they ask.”
The ghosts did not ask, nor even appear as the companions made their way back through the darkness to the well chamber through which they had entered the Well of Demons. They paused before the eastern passage and readied their weapons, spells and prayers. Dulvarna surveyed the bodies of the enemies they had laid low in the chamber for a moment and then started forward. Double doors blocked the corridor a short way in but Dulvarna grasped the handles and pushed them open. Beyond, the stench of rotting food and worse – struck the companions like a wave as they passed through the portals. Several torches illuminated thee hallway, and as soon they stepped forward, laughter-like barks echoed from just beyond the light.
Dulvarna started forward with her blade held vertically in front her. A side passage opened up on the left and she turned down it. A short passage led to a mess hall with two long tables surrounded by chairs. At the far table sat two dog-headed humanoids with great black manes of fur down their necks and upper backs. Dulvarna knew them to be gnolls at once and as they saw her they both began to growl softly. Both tossed aside the hunks of meat they had been gnawing at and reached for the spears and shields that lay on the table close to them. As they rose, Dulvarna saw that a slightly curved, black canine facing downwards had been crudely painted on each shield. They had found the Blackfangs.
Erlmoor watched Dulvarna turn to the left and then started forward himself, his sword held up before him as hers had been. Another passage yawned on the right, beyond the one on the left that the warrior woman had taken and he gestured to it, intending that someone else should watch or explore the opening. Beyond, he made his way almost to the end of the corridor and peered ahead into a wide chamber with a fenced off pen area filling the far side. Behind the fences, hyenas whooped and cackled and as the paladin watched, a tall gnoll emerged from a side chamber to the right and crossed to the pen. The gnoll cast a sidelong glance towards the dragonborn and seemed to smile, showing huge wolf-like teeth. As he reached the pen, he reached down to a gate in the fence, undid the catch and swung it open. With apparent whoops of joy, the hyenas rushed to taste their new-found freedom and to defend their masters from the invaders that had come.
The gnolls rushed at Dulvarna almost at the same time, coming around the tables from opposite sides. From the left a spear drove at her leg and she twisted around to bring her sword down to parry. From the other side came another spear thrust, this one aimed high and her throat and she ducked, the point of the weapon missing the top of her head by mere inches. She stepped back towards the passageway entrance then to give herself more room and settled back to studying the gnolls’ attacks. So far they seemed clumsy and brash but she knew that it was never wise to underestimate an enemy. Not even this one.
A hyena leapt through the gate and covered the width of the chamber in a few short bounds. It leapt as it reached Erlmoor, its jaws open and questing for the dragonborn’s throat. He twisted aside and slammed his shoulder into the beast’s flank as it passed him, sending it yelping to the floor next to him. The beast twisted quickly and growled while sixing up the dragonborn and the challenge that this new prey presented. Erlmoor growled in response and the hyena back away a step, seemingly biding its time until the rest of its pack came to its aid.
Litiraan rushed after Dulvarna and Erlmoor, his sword in one hand and his wand in the other. He heard sounds of battle from the left hand passage almost at once and turned aside. There, at the far end, her saw Dulvarna battling two gnolls and he raised his wand. Uttering an incantation, he loosed a silver bolt towards the gnoll on the right. The arcane energy seared into the gnoll’s shoulder and with an unmistakably canine yelp, the creature shrank back, before turning to regard this new threat. Litiraan met its gaze without wavering. These beasts were slavers and they had his kin. They would pay with their lives.
Telkya rushed forward after her brother and spared the left passage only a brief glance. Dulvarna seemed to be holding off two gnolls and with Litiraan’s help, Telkya decided that she would prevail. Remembering Erlmoor’s signal, she paused as the right hand passage opened up beside her. She turned down it and made her way cautiously into the shadowy darkness. The torchlight lit up a set of double doors on the right and showed the passage continuing beyond her vision ahead. Telkya stopped and listened for a moment but heard only the sounds of battle behind her. Deciding that nothing had been alerted in whatever chambers lay further down the passage, she turned back to join the battle. Suddenly, as she turned a figure was in front of her and she raised her sword but then she recognised the form before her.
“Thought you’d got lost in the dark,” said the elf with a faintly embarrassed smile.
“It seems I could not even had I wanted to with you to protect me,” Telkya answered, more harshly than she had intended.
Lavren’s face hardened as he turned away and headed back up the hallway without another word. Knowing that she had upset him and angry at herself for doing it, Telkya followed.
Enlishia nocked an arrow to her bow and rushed forward, passing both passage entrances without pausing. Dulvarna could always hold her own, she knew, and what Lavren and Telkya busied themselves in the shadows of the right hand passage was for them alone. As she passed the second, right hand opening, she raised her bow as she could see the hyena beside Erlmoor clearly now. She took a bead on its flank and loosed the arrow but at the last it twisted and darted away from her. The arrow tore through the fur of the beast’s shoulders and drew blood but did little else. The ranger raised her bow again and fired quickly but this time her shaft flew wide of the mark and clattered into the floor of the chamber beyond. She followed the arrow’s path with her gaze only to find it obscured from view by a flurry of movement. The rest of the hyenas were coming to join their companion.
The hyenas rushed at Erlmoor but only one could reach him in the confines of the corridor. This beast darted forward and snapped at his leg but the dragonborn leapt back beyond its reach. The last two rushed out with a clarion call of yips and barks but when they realised they could not reach the paladin, they looped around the chamber outside the pen, all the while seeking an opening where they could reach their prey. Erlmoor roared his own challenge and the two creatures he faced shrank back from him. He roared again and unleashed his acid breath with his blade singing out behind.
Dulvarna stepped back into the passage entrance and drew the gnolls on. The first that came forward was met by her blade lashing out to swat aside its spear and then thrusting forward into its shoulder. The gnoll yelped and leapt back, wounded now as its companion had been and then with a howl of defiance, the gnolls came on again.
The hyena closest to Erlmoor ducked under his spray of acid but the others were seared by the burning liquid. A chorus of yelps and whines followed while the tall gnoll who had freed them unshouldered a longbow and nocked an arrow to the string. He leveled the bow towards Erlmoor but as the two hyenas leapt and darted the gnoll could not find a clear shot that would not risk the animals he had raised and cared for. With the bow still held ready, the gnoll huntmaster stalked forward seeking a place where he could strike at his enemies. Erlmoor lashed out with his blade and cut across the chest of the first hyena that had come at him. For a moment, he looked up to watch the new threat that the huntmaster presented and as he did so, the hyena he had just wounded leapt at him and sank its teeth into his leg. With a roar, he shook it off and then raised his blade, ignoring the huntmaster and the bow that he held so menacingly.
The gnolls darted forward at Dulvarna almost at the same time again and again she reacted quickly. Her blade came down to the left and slammed the spear of one gnoll into the stone floor before slashed across and knocking aside a thrust towards her stomach from the other gnoll. The gnoll ducked back as a flash of silver came from its left and Litiraan’s second silver bolt flew past the creature to strike the far wall of the room. Dulvarna decided then to retreat further towards her companions and draw the gnolls onwards. Perhaps then, Litiraan’s aim would improve, she mused.
Telkya rushed past Lavren to reach the main passage ahead of him. Looking right, she saw Erlmoor battling hyenas while a gnoll and more hyenas stalked behind his enemies. To the left she heard the sounds of battle and once again decided that her brother and Dulvarna would prevail against the gnolls. She rushed to Enlishia’s side with her sword in her right hand and a prayer on her lips. She looked back as Lavren emerged from the southern passage and without a glance in her direction, moved to aid Litiraan and Dulvarna against the gnolls.
Beside Telkya, Enlishia glanced once at the elf, raised an eyebrow and then nocked an arrow to her bow. When she let loose the shaft it drove into the flank of one of the hyenas that Erlmoor faced and with amazing fluidity, the ranger reached for, nocked, and then loosed, another arrow a moment later. This drove into the same hyena and with a yelp, the creature staggered and all but fell. Half-heartedly, it snapped at Erlmoor but the dragonborn dodged backwards and then brought down his blade, putting the creature out of its misery. Then an arrow drove into Enlishia’s shoulder and Erlmoor, Telkya and the ranger herself realised that the huntsman had found his aim.
Dulvarna lashed out a little too wildly and then stepped back towards Lavren and Litiraan. Unsurprisingly her blade cut nothing but air and with a cackle, the gnolls came forward. Troubled by her wild attack, Dulvarna parried in front of her as the first gnoll came at her but as the second came, her parry was a fraction too slow. The spear drove past her blade and seared into her right leg like a heated poker, just above the knee. Dulvarna cried out before she could stop herself and the gnolls howled as though they had won the day. They heard not the chants in elven that came from behind Dulvarna and too late, they saw the bolts, silver and black that lanced out towards them. Both struck the gnoll that had wounded Dulvarna, searing the creature’s arm and side. With a yelp, the gnoll shrank back and with a nod to her companions, Dulvarna recovered and raised her blade once more.
Telkya uttered the now-familiar prayer that she had called to mind and extended her hand. A bolt of golden light reached out from her hand towards the huntsman but he ducked back as the light reached him and it struck the door of the chamber from which he had first come. Enlishia tore the shaft from her shoulder and loosed an arrow that drove into the hindquarters of the remaining hyena before Erlmoor. The creature helped and leapt just as the ranger’s second arrow, the shaft that would surely have killed the beast, flew towards it. The arrow clattered into the passage wall and then the floor of the chamber and for a few more moments, the hyena lived. Another of its companions rushed at Erlmoor then but the dragonborn was ready and he leapt back, bringing his blade down to fend off the creature. The other hyena, wounded by arrow and blade darted at the dragonborn then and he twisted his blade to the left. The sword drove into the beast’s side and it fell with a whimper beside its pack-mate. The huntmaster seized his chance again, raising his bow and loosing an arrow with a speed that compared with Enlishia’s. The shaft drove into Erlmoor’s arm and a roar of pain echoed through the halls of the gnolls.
Dulvarna stepped back for a moment and then danced forward, ignoring the wound to her leg now. She weaved her blade before her for a moment and then plunged forward, driving Aecris into the hip of the gnoll before her. The gnoll yelped and whined as it fell back against the wall of the hallway and Dulvarna stepped forward again thinking it beaten. Only then did its spear come up, driving forward and finding her shoulder with its point. She grunted, staggering back and as she did so, the second gnoll drove its spear forward, its point piercing her side just above her hip. Dulvarna fell sideways against the wall of the corridor as the gnoll had done and felt sure that the killing blow would come next. A silver bolt hurled by Litiraan flashed past the gnoll’s as it took a step towards Dulvarna and the gnoll cackled but then black, crackling energy struck its chest and ended its moment of victory.
Telkya prayed fervently to Corellon and raised her hand, bringing down a column of burning light upon the hyena but for a moment the beast faught on. Two arrows from Enlishia’s bow drove into its chest moments apart and the hyena collapsed beside its companions, leaving the huntmaster alone with his last charge. With a chorus of yapping laughter, the last beast rushed at Erlmoor, leaping at him and seizing his left arm as he raised his blade to defend himself. He shook the beast free but not before its teeth had torn into the flesh and muscle of his arm. With a grimace, he brought his sword up and then, with a prayer on his lips he brought it down. The sword glowed white and then struck the hyena just as the beast dodged aside, drawing blood along its shoulder but barely slowing it. The huntmaster cackled and loosed an arrow that nicked Erlmoor’s shoulder and the dragonborn roared. Both sensed that their final reckoning was at hand.
Dulvarna took a step back and surveyed her opponents, all the while summoning what remained of her strength for one final effort. When she came forward, she weaved her blade back and forth before her until she was sure that both gnolls had focused their attention upon it. Suddenly, she darted forward and drove her the point of Aecris into the shoulder of the gnoll before her, driving it back against the corridor wall again. The gnoll stabbed out desperately with its spear but Dulvarna swatted the thrust aside. The other gnoll came in from the right, thrusting its own spear forward but she twisted quickly and parried easily. A silver bolt from Litiraan’s hand struck the gnoll then and threw it back against the opposite wall to its companion. Black, crackling energy followed but the gnoll ducked back against the wall and survived but with a cowardly whimper, it acknowledged that it did not have long.
Telkya extended her hand and loosed a bolt of light to strike the huntmaster as he nocked another arrow to his bow. Enlishia glanced towards the gnoll and then took aim at the last hyena as it danced back and forth at Erlmoor’s feet. One arrow flew high over the beast’s back and clattered into the wall but the second drove into its side and drew a yelp of pain from the creature. It leapt desperately at Erlmoor but the dragonborn elbowed the hyena aside despite its teeth that tore into his arm once more. His blade came down and the hyena’s head fell free of its body. The beast died without a whimper and the huntmaster howled. Raising his bow once more, he aimed at Erlmoor’s throat and let fly. The dragonborn raised his arms and his blade desperately and somehow, his sword deflected the arrow. Instead of his throat, the arrow flew lower and drove into the dragonborn’s chest. With a gasp, Erlmoor fell back against the corridor wall and then drew in a ragged, painful breath.
Dulvarna slashed out with her blade as the gnoll to her left tried to pushed itself away from the wall. Aecris slashed into her foe’s left shoulder and slammed the gnoll back into the wall. It stabbed out clumsily with its spear but only scraped the weapon along the wall. Dulvarna almost smiled but then she saw a flash of movement from her right. She moved her blade around and parried the spear of the other gnoll down but the point drove into her thigh nonetheless. The gnoll followed its weapon forward and Dulvarna was forced to dodge backwards as it snapped its wolf-like teeth close to her face. A silver bolt struck the gnoll then and spun it away from Dulvarna. The now-familiar black bolt from Lavren’s wand followed but flew wildly and struck the ceiling above the gnoll. Both gnolls cackled, seemingly in desperate jubilation. Victory was far from certain for either side and Dulvarna knew this as well as the gnolls did.
A bolt of light from Telkya’s hand struck the huntmaster and drove it back a step and then one arrow and then another followed. Both flew wide of the gnoll, one driving into the fence that surrounded the hyena pen and the other clattering into the wall beyond that. Erlmoor paused and drew in a few ragged breaths before raising his blade and charging at the gnoll. He raised the sword, his deep, baritone voice intoning a prayer to Lathander. His blade glowed brightly as he swung out crossways with it but at the last, the gnoll ducked and the paladin’s sword whistled through the air just above his foe’s head. The huntmaster threw down his bow and drew a small, jagged-bladed axe from his belt. He lashed out with the weapon and struck Erlmoor in the jaw, drawing blood and tearing the flesh down to the white bone beneath. The paladin’s head jerked away to the right and again the dragonborn let forth a pained gasp.
Breathing heavily, Dulvarna raised her blade again and lashed out from left to right, the point tearing at the chest of the gnoll on the left before cutting into the right arm of her other foe. Both staggered back, the last of their strength being summoned as well. They dived forward together, their spear points leading but Dulvarna parried left and then right with a speed that she was amazed that she could muster. A silver bolt seared through the chest of the gnoll on the right and the creature fell to the stone floor without another sound. Lavren’s voice uttered a quiet curse in elven, black lightning lanced out and the other gnoll fell as the terrible, eldritch energy seared its face and neck. Dulvarna looked down at them both, her breaths coming quickly and then turned towards the tow elves. Together, they turned back towards the main passageway to aid their friends.
Light struck the huntmaster again and drove it back a step but as it retreated, it evaded two more arrows that Enlishia quickly loosed from her bow. Erlmoor lashed out wildly at the gnoll but the huntmaster swayed the top of his body back beyond the reach of the dragonborn’s sword. Swaying forward again, the gnoll lashed out with its axe and Erlmoor in turn ducked back to avoid the wicked edge of the axe blade. A silver bolt missed the gnoll’s arm by a hands-breadth and Erlmoor roared his triumph for he knew then that his companions were behind him. A bolt of light from Telkya’s hand followed, striking the door frame beside the gnoll and then Lavren loosed black, crackling flame that struck the huntmaster in the chest. Two arrows zipped past the gnoll from Enlishia’s bow and with real fear in its eyes now, the huntmaster retreated towards the hyena pen. Dulvarna surged forward beside Erlmoor, her blade drawing blood from the gnoll’s arm and with the last of his strength, the huntmaster lashed out with its axe. The blade clove into the side of the dragonborn’s skull and the paladin fell beside Dulvarna. A searing bolt of silver energy pierced the chest of the gnoll and felled it a moment later but the damage had been done. As one, the companions rushed forward to Erlmoor’s side and despite their own hurts and exhaustion, they knelt beside their fallen friend.
Once the companions had tended to their wounded and Erlmoor had risen unsteadily to his feet, they turned down the southern passage that Telkya and Lavren had explored. They turned aside at the double doors that Telkya had found and once they had readied weapons, they pushed open the portals. The walls of the chamber within were covered with faded murals that depicted minotaurs in combat. The images showed the horned bull-men fighting each other, as well as battling demons, dwarves, men, and dragonborn. In all the pictures, the minotaurs lacked weapons and armour and used only their horns, teeth and bare hands to rend their opponents from head to toe.
Dulvarna and Enlishia, as the first into the chamber looked to the south and saw that a barrier of hay bales divided the room. In the larger northern part, a large boar was chained to the floor inside a pen. Arrows jutted from the trapped creature and the floor around it was covered in spatters of blood. Hyenas encircled the pen, trying to bite the boar. One by one, the hyenas became aware of the presence of the newcomers and turned their attention towards the doors.
Telkya was the first to react, rushing past Dulvarna with her sword in one hand and her amulet in the other. She held forth her holy symbol and loosed a bolt of light towards the nearest hyena. The light seared into the beast’s shoulder and drew a yelping bark from the creature. An arrow whooshed past Telkya coming from the southern end of the room and clattered into the room next to the priestess. She looked to her left and saw gnolls with bows taking aim from behind the barrier of hay bales. A hyena circled the boar pen and leapt past the beast that Telkya had wounded. It darted at the elf maid but with a slash of her sword, she kept it at bay. Erlmoor rushed forward to aid her then, his sword coming down to strike the hyena’s muzzle. It darted back from Telkya with a surprised and pained yelp.
The hyena behind, wounded by Telkya could only yap at the companions but another came around the pen from the south, leapt past one of its pack-mates and dived at Erlmoor. The dragonborn turned to his left and raised his boot to knock the hyena against the chamber wall. Enlishia, behind Erlmoor, shouldered her bow, drew her sword from her back and brought the blade down on one of the hyena’s flailing legs. With a yelp, the creature pushed itself back from the paladin and the ranger so that their fierce blades could not reach it. A fourth hyena barked and yapped behind its newly wounded pack-mate promising a fierce attack if it could only reach these intruders on its territory. Erlmoor roared in response and the hyenas fell back another step but then their barks renewed and they came forward once again.
Lavren watched the beginnings of the battle and decided that the cramped quarters of the chamber entrance were not for him. With his sword in one hand and his wand in the other, he turned aside and started off down the southward passage, hoping to find another way into the chamber. Torches lit the passage but he stayed to the shadows of the western wall as he picked his way cautiously along the passage. A passage mouth opened up in the eastern wall and he regarded it nervously for a moment before continuing past it. He could see a bend to the right ahead of him that he felt sure would lead him to the southern end of the room. With his blade before him, he mad his way carefully on down towards the turn.
Two arrows drove into the wooden fencing of the boar pen and Dulvarna could not help but flinch at the loud thuds. Something had to be done about the archers and she knew that she could not reach them from here. Turning around, intending to speak to Lavren and Litiraan, she found that the former had already vanished and the latter was looking down the southern passage as though considering whether to follow him.
“Come on,” Dulvarna urged, starting down the passage. “The others can hold things here.” Together, the woman and the elf started after Lavren, hoping as he did that the passage truly did lead to another way into the chamber. Otherwise it would likely bring more trouble upon them all.
An arrow drove into Erlmoor’s left arm and he cried out as burning pain seared up the limb. Telkya glanced over her shoulder, concerned that her companion was badly hurt but as the dragonborn tore the shaft from his flesh with a grimace, she turned back to the hyena before her. It darted to her left and then made to move right but she anticipated this move and stabbed out with her blade. The sword tore into the fur and flesh of the beast’s left shoulder and it yelped again. Another arrow clattered into the wall beside Telkya and as she glanced towards it, the hyena sprang. Telkya raised her arm to fend off the beast but it sank its teeth into her wrist and tore a wound before she shook it from her and it dropped to the floor. She swung out with her sword to make sure that her arm was still useable and was pleased to find that it was. For how long, she wondered. If the hyenas did not bring her down then surely the gnoll archers would. She looked behind for the reassuring presence of Dulvarna and saw that the warrior woman, her brother and Lavren were gone. Hoping that this was a good sign, she turned back to the creature before her and raised her sword.
Erlmoor roared again, partly in pain and partly in anger, and then raised his deep voice in prayer to Lathander. he brought his blade down then and as he did so, it glowed with bright, golden light, and then clove into the hyena’s shoulders, laying it low. With a yelp, the beats twisted aside at the last moment and avoided being cut in half but it was sorely wounded now. When it turned back to Erlmoor it was desperate and growled defiantly. With what must have been the last of its strength, it leapt at the dragonborn, only to be knocked aside by one of the tall paladin’s elbows. Again the hyena rolled to its feet but it was shrinking back now and Erlmoor knew that it was all but beaten. As it came forward once more, Enlishia stepped forward and met the beast with her blade.
Lavren turned the bend in the passage and was confronted by thick, wooden double doors identical to the ones led into the chamber to the north. Hoping that these led to the same place, the elf turned the iron handles as softly as he could and gently pulled the doors open. Sure enough, beyond the doors lay the southern end of the chamber with four gnolls crouched behind a barrier of hay bales with bows in their clawed hands. Lavren raised his wand and, picking the nearest gnoll, began to curse it softly in elven. Black, crackling energy lanced out and at this, the gnolls reacted. The one that Lavren had aimed at twisted to one side and the eldritch energy blasted into the hay bale barrier, knocking one bale forward and setting a part of it alight. The gnoll turned and loosed the arrow that it had nocked to its bowstring towards Lavren. The elf could barely react and the shaft drove painfully into his shoulder. Lavren slumped against the left hand side of the door frame as the gnoll clambered over the hay bale barrier to the other side. Another gnoll turned and raised its bow. A second arrow flew straight and true, driving into Lavren’s left leg and drawing a pained cry from his lips. His leg gave way and he slid down the wall a little as blood poured from both wounds. The second gnoll clambered over the barrier and Lavren cursed himself silently for his recklessness. Only then did he see Dulvarna and Litiraan coming down the passage towards him and he knew he was saved.
Dulvarna nodded at Lavren as she passed him and then charged into the chamber with her sword held high. Litiraan rushed into the room behind her, leveling his wand at the nearest gnoll and loosing a silver bolt that drove into the hay bales next to the canine creature. The gnoll cackled and then clambered over the barrier after its companions. It raised its bow once it was crouched on the other side and loosed an arrow that drove into Litiraan’s shoulder. The elf fell back against the south wall of the chamber and with a grunt of pain, looked sympathetically towards Lavren. The warlock smiled at the wizard and together, they reached for the shafts that protruded from their bodies, ready to yank them from their flesh.
Enlishia’s blade came down but the wounded hyena darted back with surprising speed and evaded the heavy sword. Behind her, Telkya lashed out with her sword but her own foe leapt back and evaded the blow. The priestess’s blade struck the stone wall and she waited for the arrow that inevitably followed but it did not come. Glancing to her left, Telkya saw that the gnolls now faced the rest of her companions and were hard pressed. One lashed out wildly with a hand-axe and gouged a wound in Dulvarna’s shoulder but the rest had clambered over the barrier to escape from this new attack. Telkya sensed movement from the hyena then and turned back to face her foe. It leapt at her and she ducked low, slamming her shoulder into the beast’s chest and knocking it back to the floor before her. She took a step forward and raised her blade, ready to finish off her foe.
Erlmoor brought his blade down again as the wounded hyena lunged at him desperately again. His blade struck its flank and threw the beast against the wall but still it dived forward and seized his leg. As it bit into his calf, the dragonborn raise his leg and shook the beast off but though it was even more sorely hurt now, the creature rolled to its feet and made ready to come forward again. With a clang, Enlishia threw down her sword behind Erlmoor and unshouldered her bow, retreating from the ravenous hyena. As the beast came forward, first one arrow, and then a second, drove into its skull and it fell forward to land at Erlmoor’s feet. The paladin said a prayer for the desperate creature and then raised his blade to face the next hyena as it rushed at him.
Lavren yanked the arrows from his shoulder and his leg and despite the terrible pain, he limped forward into the chamber with his wand and his sword in hand. With a few words, he loosed more black, crackling energy towards his foe on the far side of the barrier and this time, his aim was true. The black lightning drove into the shoulder of the gnoll and threw him back from the barrier. The gnoll loosed an arrow but the shaft flew over the elf’s head and clattered into the wall behind him. Another gnoll levelled its bow over the barrier and loosed an arrow into Dulvarna’s hip from close range, drawing a pained cry from the warrior woman. Dulvarna turned her pain into a guttural roar and then lashed out low with her blade, cutting into the thigh of the gnoll before her. He pitched to the right and fell back against the barrier as Litiraan and another gnoll exchanged missiles across the barrier, neither hitting their target. Dulvarna stepped forward grimly, heedless to the battles that her companions fought. Her foe would die at her feet, her eyes promised, and the gnoll shrank back with its axe held desperately before it.
Telkya lashed out with her sword but the hyena darted forward under the blade and then leapt, its teeth seizing her arm above the elbow. The force of its leap drove her back a step but she managed to twist to the right and shake the hyena from her arm. To her left, Erlmoor roared and leapt over the fallen hyena to get at its pack-mate behind it. His blade sang out and tore into the beast’s muzzle drawing a yelp from it and driving it back. The hyena growled, crouched low and then rushed at the dragonborn, leaping up to seize his arm. Erlmoor twisted to the left and slammed the hyena into the chamber wall and forced it to release its grip. With another yelp, the beast dropped to the floor and twisted around to face its enemy once more.
Lavren loosed another bolt of black energy but the gnoll crouched down below the bales and the blast flew over its head, striking the fence of the boar pen behind. The gnoll rose again with an arrow nocked and let fly, the shaft flying straight and true. It drove into Lavren’s hip and twisted him around to the right into the wall beside him. He grunted and looked down to his new wound before raising his wand and sword again.
Dulvarna ducked right as the gnoll beyond the hay bales loosed another arrow towards her. The shaft flew past her and clattered into the wall uncomfortably close to where Litiraan stood. Dulvarna raised her blade and wove it back and forth before her as the gnoll she faced held its axe before it. Suddenly, she darted forward, Aecris before her, thrust high towards the gnoll’s throat. He foe raised his axe too slowly and Dulvarna drove her blade drove through his throat. The gnoll fell at the warrior woman’s feet with blood spewing from its mouth.
A second arrow clattered into the wall next to Litiraan and he ducked right instinctively. Raising his wand, he loosed another silver bolt quickly towards the gnoll but his aim was wild and the bolt flew high and wide into the left wall of the chamber. Suddenly, a bold idea struck the elf and with a smile, he started forward towards the hay bales. His enemies were lined up before him and he knew exactly what to do when that happened.
Enlishia stepped back through the doorway with an arrow nocked to her bow and looked around for a target to strike at. She picked out the hyena battling Telkya at once and raised her bow. She took aim for a moment and then loosed the arrow, the shaft driving into the shoulder of the beast. Swiftly and fluidly, she reached for another arrow, nocked and released with barely a pause. This time, the hyena ducked forward and the arrow flew an inch high over the beast’s back. Telkya did not even look back to acknowledge the aid that the ranger had provided. Instead, she simply dived forward herself, her blade leading, and drove the point into the hyena’s spine. With a pained, final yelp, the hyena slumped to the floor and the priestess’s feet. Only now turning to nod her thanks to Enlishia, Telkya stepped over the fallen hyena and raised her blade to meet the next beast behind the fallen one.
Erlmoor lashed out at the hyena before him but the beast ducked low and dived at his leg, seizing the limb with its teeth. The dragonborn cursed and twisted the leg left and right until finally the hyena let go. Looking back quickly to see how Telkya and Enlishia fared, the dragonborn strode forward, determined to drive back the last of his foes. With a roar of defiance he lashed out with his blade and to his satisfaction, the hyena backpedalled away from him.
Lavren uttered a new curse as he pushed himself off the wall and as he raised his wand, two mauve bolts seared from it. One struck the gnoll before him and sent it reeling while the second flew towards another gnoll beyond the hay bales. The second bolt missed and as the elf cursed, the gnoll before him recovered and levelled its bow. It let fly an arrow that drove into Lavren’s right shoulder and drove him back a step. Gritting his teeth through the pain, he stepped forward again and raised wand and sword before him.
Dulvarna sheathed her sword and ducked to the right as an arrow flashed past. She unshouldered her new bow and nocked an arrow to it before taking aim on the gnoll across the bales from her. She loosed an arrow and the gnoll ducked down but it was just not quick enough. The arrow tore through the gnoll’s left ear and drew a yelp of pain from the creature.
Litiraan loosed a silver bolt over the head of another gnoll but this foe came up again with its bow in its hands. It took a bead on the wizard and then loosed the arrow towards him. He tried to dodged but the shaft flew straight and true and drove into his left hip, forcing him back into the wall of the chamber. Litiraan cursed and looked down at the shaft before gritting his teeth and reaching for it, ready to tear this new missile from his flesh.
Enlishia came forward to the fence around the boar pen and raised her bow again. She aimed at Telkya’s new foe and loosed and arrow, the shaft droving into the side of the beast. The creature yelped and twisted around to the right, just as Enlishia loosed a second arrow. This shaft flew low and struck the inside of the fence around the pen. The boar squealed nervously and pulled on its chain towards the southern end of the pen. Telkya dived forward with a prayer on her lips and as her blade glowed brightly, she extended her left hand towards Erlmoor. A tendril of golden energy reached out and touched the paladin just as Telkya’s blade drove into the skull of the hyena before her. The beast fell and Erlmoor felt renewed strength flowing into him. Erlmoor turned and nodded his thanks to Telkya before stepping towards the hyena and bringing his blade down. His sword slashed down onto the hyena’ back but before it could be fatally wounded, the hyena wriggled out from under the blade. It darted at the dragonborn and he leapt back beyond the reach of the beast’s snapping jaws. Again he roared at the hyena and again the beast quailed before him.
Lavren loosed black energy again and again the gnoll ducked down behind the hay bales. A moment later, the gnoll rose from behind the barrier again and loosed and arrow but this time, its own aim was awry and the arrow clattered into the wall of the chamber behind the elf. A second gnoll rose form behind the barrier and loosed an arrow, this shaft aimed towards Dulvarna. The warrior woman dodged to her right but the arrow drove into her side, above her hip. She gasped and staggered but managed to raise her bow but when she loosed the arrow, the shot was weak and low. The arrow drove into the hay bales in front of the gnoll and the creature answered with cackling laughter.
Litiraan forward to stand beside Dulvarna then and began to chant a spell while weaving his wand before him. As the incantation reached its climax, he extended his wand and from it poured a curtain of flame that engulfed the hay bales and the gnolls beyond them. With yips and yelps of pain, the hyenas ducked down and slapped at their armour and clothes as they caught fire but the hay barrier they could not save. Dulvarna looked over at Litiraan and smiled, knowing that he had removed the barrier. She threw down her bow and reached for her blade but as she did so, an arrow drove into the elf’s chest and drove him staggering back from her. He wanly smiled back and then nodded, urging her forward. With her own nod, she raised her blade and charged the gnolls.
Enlishia and Telkya rushed around the boar pen, stepping over the fallen hyenas as they went. Enlishia paused and turned back towards Erlmoor, raising her bow towards the beast he battled. She loosed an arrow and then a second with out watching where the first went. Both flew straight and true into the throat of the hyena and dropped it at Erlmoor’s feet. Again dragonborn nodded his thanks and then raised his blade to charged at the gnolls. As he started forward, Telkya crossed the chamber ahead of him, a prayer on her lips. She raised her left hand and a bolt of light seared out to strike on of the gnolls in the back and pitch it forward. Erlmoor charged the gnolls and roared as he came, unleashing a spray of acid from his mouth. The gnolls half-turned and then threw their arms over their heads in desperate efforts to protect themselves. Realising they were being attacked from both sides now, panic set in. Some reached for the jagged-bladed axes at their belts while others raised their bows, determined to keep loosing arrows for as long as they could.
Lavren loosed more black energy over the head of one gnoll while another threw down its bow and ran at Telkya with a wicked-looking axe in its right hand. The priestess raised her blade but at the last moment, the gnoll twisted its axe under her guard and slashed the jagged blade into her side. She gasped and staggered back towards a pair of doors in the chamber’s western wall. Another gnoll rose before Lavren and loosed an arrow towards the elf. Lavren saw the shaft being let fly and he knew he could do nothing to escape it. An instant later, the arrow drove into his throat and drove the air from his mouth. With a gasp, he felt blood filling his throat and collapsed sideways into the wall of the chamber.
Dulvarna let out another guttural roar and leapt forward onto the dying embers of the hay bales. The barrier collapsed beneath her and landed on her feet amongst the hot ashes. She swung out with her blade, splitting the breastplate of the gnoll before her and driving the point on into the chest of the nearest gnoll. With a gasp and a strangled yelp, the gnoll sank to his knees and then fell down face first into the burning ruin of the hay bale barrier.
Behind Dulvarna, Litiraan summoned the last of his strength and loosed another silver bolt from his wand. It lanced out and seared into the chest of the last gnoll at the barrier, driving it back and away from the burning hay. The gnoll growled and raised his bow as panic rose in Litiraan. Just as he felt he would surely fall to the next arrow, a feathered shaft drove through the gnoll’s throat from the back and the creature pitched forward into the blackened and burning hay. At the far end of the chamber, Enlishia smiled and started off around the boar pen once more.
Telkya stabbed and slashed at the gnoll but each time her enemy parried her attacks expertly and she realised quickly that she was outclassed. The gnoll grinned for a moment but then it looked to its right and its toothy grin vanished. Erlmoor’s blade came in high from the gnoll’s right and it simply ducked without parrying. He lashed out at Telkya again, the jagged blade tearing into her left arm and spinning her away. The gnoll twisted to the right then as it sensed a knew enemy and Dulvarna’s blade stabbed past its left side mere inches away. The gnoll grinned again, enjoying outwitting its opponents but it knew it could not last. A moment later an arrow flew in from the left and drove deep into its stomach. It yelped and gasped but even as it bent forward, a second shaft flew in and this drove into the side of its neck. The gnoll gasped again and then pitched forward onto the floor at the feet of its enemies.
Lavren woke to a smiling Telkya leaning over him and despite the pain of his wounds and the dry soreness of his throat, he felt his heart sing.
“We prevailed then,” he said as loudly as his torn throat could muster.
“Aye, we prevailed,” Telkya answered. “And you played your part as you always do.”
“And now we go on,” said Enlishia, shouldering her bow. “More doors lead east from the passage we came down. We need to see what lurks there before we can rest.”
“Enlishia is right,” said Litiraan to Lavren. “If you can go on, we must.”
Lavren rose unsteadily with Telkya’s help, clinging to her for as long as he reasonably could before he bent to gather up his sword and wand that lay where they had fallen. Once he was ready, Dulvarna and Enlishia led them out of the eastern doors beyond the burned hay barricade and into the hallway beyond. They crossed the passage and Dulvarna pulled open the doors that led east to reveal the passageway beyond. With weapons and spells at the ready, the six companions started into the torch-lit hall. The corridor, hewn from black rock, seemed to connect three different areas and ahead it opened into a chamber , while along the eastern wall, closed doors could be seen, one single door and a set of double doors. Made of black wood, each door had an iron knocker carved in the shape of a minotaur’s snarling face while the flagstones on the floor each bore the symbol of a bull’s horned skull worked into them in blood red stone.
“Watch the doors,” hissed Dulvarna quietly. “We’ll check the far chamber first. If anything’s there we might surprise it.”
With wary looks towards the side doors to the east, the six companions crept southward down the torch-lit passageway and as they reached the chamber at the end, they rushed forward. There was a clattering of chairs as the chamber’s two occupants fell back from the table and for a moment, they seemed about to reach for the jagged-bladed short swords at their belts. Then, the two tieflings thought better of fighting when outnumbered and held up their hands, palms outward. Both were clad in close-fitting leather armour with crimson cloaks over their backs and the wicked-looking short swords they had almost drawn on their belts.
“We yield,” said the one on the left.
“Then tell us what awaits us in the side chambers,” hissed Telkya, stepping forward with her sword raised.
“In the far chamber lurks a gnoll who tends the shrine in the next chamber,” answered the same tiefling. “She is powerful in the dark arts and can call forth demons from the shrine. Beware her.”
“And why should we not beware you?” Enlishia challenged. “Surely you serve this gnoll and guard her shrine.”
“We serve the coin she pays us,” spoke the second tiefling honestly. “We do not seek death here, only gold.”
“Then be gone from here,” growled Erlmoor. “And may you choose your causes more carefully in the future lest we not be so forgiving when next we meet.”
The tieflings gathered up a backpack each and then moved warily past the companions. When they were out of the chamber, they fled northward and turned left through the double doors out of the complex without pausing or looking back. Grimly, Dulvarna nodded towards the northern door and started towards it.
Dulvarna raised her blade and leaned it against her left shoulder when she reached the northern door. She paused for a moment and then glanced at each of her companions in turn. When she decided all were ready, she reached out with her right hand and turned to iron handle to open the door. The handle creaked faintly and then Dulvarna had pulled the door open to reveal the chamber within. It was sparsely furnished with a bed and table with a wash basin and the remains of some food upon it. In the far corner was a chest while beside the bed, a black-furred gnoll was kneeling as though deep in prayer. Dulvarna raised her sword and started forward but as she did so, the gnoll turned and snarled, revealing an ornate bone headdress that covered her head and intertwined with the fur of her ebony mane.
Dulvarna charged and lashed out with her blade, striking the kneeling gnoll in the right shoulder and pitching her over to her left. Enlishia followed, nocking an arrow to her bow as she came. She crossed the room behind Dulvarna and turned as she reached the far wall to loose her arrow. The first shaft drove into the straw mattress of the bed but the second pierced the gnoll’s arm and drew forth a screech of pain from the creature. Litiraan was next into the chamber, lashing out with his left hand as he came and loosing a silver bolt from his wand into the gnoll. Telkya came behind her brother and circled around the gnoll before darting forward with her blade before her. The elf-crafted blade drove into the gnoll’s shoulder but still, the terrible creature pushed herself to her feet. With both hands raised above her, the gnoll screeched out what could only be an entreaty to the dark power she served while Dulvarna and Telkya stabbed at her anew.
Lavren rushed into the chamber and uttered a curse as he came, loosing a bolt of black energy at the gnoll as she twisted around, still screeching her prayer. The bolt flew wide and struck the wall behind the gnoll but Erlmoor followed the elf into the chamber with his blade held high. He roared and showered acid onto the gnoll before lashing out with his sword. The blade glowed brightly as it slashed into the gnoll’s belly and the priestess, if that was what she was, fell back towards the wall between her bed and the table. The gnoll looked down at her wounded belly but seemed unworried. While still screeching her terrible entreaty, she reached over her shoulders with both hands and drew forth a large, two-handed flail. Then, as her prayer reached its conclusion, the gnoll began to howl.
Dulvarna watched the flail as the gnoll began to twist it before her and weaved her blade back and forth between her and the gnoll. When she saw the smallest of chances, she darted forward and plunged Aecris into her enemy’s side. The gnoll lurched to her left and almost fell over onto her bed. On the other side of the cot, Enlishia appeared with her bow leveled. The gnoll half-turned towards the ranger and as Enlishia let fly an arrow, she ducked to her right. The shaft flew past the gnoll and clattered into the west wall of the chamber. The gnoll snarled and looked up to face the next arrow but she was too slow. Enlishia had already loosed the shaft and as the gnoll looked up, the arrow drove through her eye into her brain. With a gasp, the gnoll slumped over sideways onto the bed and lay still in a growing pool of her own blood.
“That was too easy,” said Litiraan as he started warily back towards the doorway. “Didn’t the tieflings say this gnoll could conjured demons from the shrine.”
The elf made his way out into the corridor and turned left towards the double doors that the tieflings had said led to the gnoll’s shrine. Telkya watched her brother leave the room, looked around at the others and then started nervously after him. As she reached Litiraan’s side in the corridor there was a loud noise from beyond the doors to the shrine that sounded almost like a whip cracking and the smell of brimstone wafted out from beneath the doors.
“I have a bad feeling about this,” said Telkya as a puff of smoke emerged from under the black wooden doors to the shrine.
Lavren rushed from the northern chamber and rushed toward the shrine doors. He reached out with both hands, seized the iron handles and pulled open the doors. Within was a creature from nightmare. The creature seemed at first to be a lumbering ape with mangy russet fur but as its oversized arms rippled with fiendish muscle, Lavren, Litiraan and Telkya knew that they faced something truly demonic. Its tusked visage was filled with the hate and fury of the Abyss and as it roared it flexed deadly claws and showed terrible fangs. It fixed its blood red eyes upon the three elves and began to lumber forward.
Lavren cursed desperately in elven but his hands shook as he raised his hand and the black blast of energy flew past the hulking demon to strike the far wall of the shrine. Erlmoor roared his own answer to the terrible creature and charged past Lavren to meet the demon inside the shrine but the beast was ready for him. It lashed out backhand with a huge clawed fist but Erlmoor ducked under the blow. The other claw swung in from the right forehand and the dragonborn leapt back beyond the reach of the swing. Dulvarna reached the entry to the chamber behind Lavren and looked around the corner. Before she started forward, she paused.
“Strike at it with arrow and spell while you have a chance,” she urged her companions. And they did as she bade them.
Litiraan loosed a silver bolt that flew past the raging demon while Telkya hurled her own golden bolt of divine energy that somehow, also missed the demon.. Lavren hurled another bolt of black, raging energy that struck the terrible creature but it seemed to be heedless to the wound and faught on. Only as Erlmoor raised his voice in prayer and swung out with his blade glowing with divine power did the demon pause. The blade slashed across the belly of the huge creature and the demon roared in anger and pain. It fixed its wrathful eyes on Erlmoor despite the pain of its wound and lashed out with one claw to slam the dragonborn into the wall of the shrine’s entryway. As the dragonborn reeled, the demon struck him with its other claw and sent him staggering back along the wall. Erlmoor staggered and all but fell but then Dulvarna charged to join the battle and he raised his blade to fight on beside her.
Dulvarna waited for another few moments as her friends loosed arrows and spells at the demon and she smiled with a mixture of pride and satisfaction as each missile struck home. The demon reeled and roared as a silver bolt, a golden one and then a blast of crackling black energy struck it in turn. Then an arrow from Enlishia’s bow drive into its chest and splintered there, driving shards of wood deep into its flesh. The demon let out a howl of pain and rage and in that moment, Dulvarna charged. She darted in low beneath the demon’s flailing arms and ducked around its mighty legs before slashing her blade across the backs of its thighs. Muscle, sinew, vein and artery tore open as Aecris did its bloody work and with the last of its how dying as it was, the demon pitched forward onto its knees. Dulvarna plunged her blade into the back of the demon’s head and it fell forward to land with a thud next to Erlmoor. The nervous visages of battle erupted into smiles on the faces of all six companions and with a deep sigh, Dulvarna finally allowed herself to feel how utterly tired she was.
Erlmoor held his blade before him as the heat of his surroundings assailed him. He stood on an island of black basalt linked by bridges of the same rock to other islands and between all flowed lava and flame. Sulphur-laden smoke belched from the molten rock and seared his mouth and nostrils but he stood with his head held high. From his left came a terrible bloated creature with a tooth-filled maw and a black sword in one hand. It rushed at him and Erlmoor saw that more came behind the ferocious creature. He sang out deeply to Lathander, knowing that the Morninglord would protect him as he always had, even here. It was the Morninglord that had steered him south from Io’vanthor to Cormyr and it was the Morninglord who had brought Erlmoor to his house in Eveningstar as a youngling to find his faith and his purpose.
The dragonborn roared and breathed acid, felling three of the demons but more were coming now, crossing other bridges, some larger, some smaller and some that resembled beasts. Some even came that resembled the ape-demon that Dulvarna had slain in the shrine to Baphomet. Surely he could not stand here, the dragonborn thought to himself but still he sang out and his blade swung left and right, cutting down a demon with each blow. Blood and severed limbs covered the basalt island but still Erlmoor swung out left and right with his blade while his enemies kept coming.
Without realising, he slew every enemy before him and began to look around for more. He turned left and right desperately but could find no more foes. Just as he began to turn his mind to escaping the terrible place he had found himself in, a huge shadow fell over him. He turned and looked up to behold a vision from his worst nightmares. A foul and corpulent demon stood over him on powerful goat legs with a desiccated that looked like the horrific distortion of a ram’s head. The creature’s great black wings stirred up a reeking cloud of diseased air and Erlmoor knew that this terrible creature was somewhere between life and undeath. The beast’s body was sore-ridden and reeked of disease but his head and glowing red eyes reminded the dragonborn of the undead he had faught in the Keep and beneath Thunderspire. Behind the creature, its thick, spiny tail was in constant motion while in its right hand it carried a huge mace tipped with an enormous skull. Erlmoor raised his blade to face his worst nightmare and then he jerked awake, realising with sudden relief that his worst nightmare was all that the creature was.
Erlmoor looked around trying to quickly shake off the confusion of his dream and gauge where he was. The doors at the end of the corridor beyond the gnoll mess hall were still barred with the two tables and pile of chairs that the companions had dragged from the chamber the night before. He looked toward the southern corridor and listened for any sound of disturbance or battle but he heard nothing. He sat up on the mattress that had been dragged from the gnoll bunk room to the east and looked over to where Telkya and Lavren had been sleeping on their own mattresses, close together but not too close. Both were awake and Telkya was clutching Lavren in her arms while the warlock wept like a child.
“Bad dreams?” Erlmoor asked.
“You could say that,” answered Lavren, wiping tears from his eyes with his sleeve as he realised the dragonborn was awake.
“Who’s Sumith?” Telkya asked, drawing back a little from Lavren as he began to recover. “You were calling the name.”
“An old friend,” answered Lavren. “I’ll explain another time.”
“When you’re ready,” answered Telkya softly. “We should probably go and check on the others.”
The southern chamber, where the boar was still penned and the hay barricade had been was also secure but Dulvarna, Enlishia and Litiraan who had rested there were as shaken as the rest. Dulvarna seemed to have had the most terrible dreams and her face was tear-streaked as Lavren’s had been. None would talk about all that they had seen but they shared enough to learn that each saw demons and glimpses of the Abyss.
“This is a dark and terrible place,” rumbled Erlmoor. “The sooner we leave here, the better it will be for all of us.”
“Then we must go back to the chamber of blood where the spirits spoke to us,” said Telkya quietly. “And choose our onward path from there.”
“Agreed,” said Erlmoor.
Dulvarna only nodded, seemingly still stunned by the visions that had plagued her during the night. Without a word, she started towards the doors and began hauling down the table and chairs that had been used to bar the western doors.
“We must free the boar before we leave,” said Enlishia then, surprising them all. “I have tended to its wounds during the dark watches of the night, before the dreams came to me as well. It knows we are not enemies.”
“Then free it and bid it find its way home or out of the mountain,” said Telkya. “It will die if we leave it here.”
While the others brought down the barricade, Enlishia unfastened the chain that held the huge boar. When it was free, she leaned on it and stroked it softly, speaking quiet words and making gentle sounds. Once the doors were pulled open, the huge beast lumbered towards the portals. With a last turn of its head to look back at Enlishia and thank her, the boar walked away into the shadowy darkness of the western tunnel. Drawing their weapons and readying spells and prayers, the companions started forward after the mighty beast.
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