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Story Hour
Bitterness Overcome: (Now A Completed Story!)
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<blockquote data-quote="Nonlethal Force" data-source="post: 2813879" data-attributes="member: 35788"><p><strong>Chapter Two: INTO THE DEPTHS BETWEEN HERE AND THERE</strong></p><p></p><p>The party saddled up just before dawn the next morning and managed to escape the other side of the small town before the sun crested over the horizon. Each of them felt a bit on the weary and tired side already, but Semeion understood this to be a normal feeling for the morning the party headed into Quehalost. As the sun rose, Semeion looked for the first time to the south and saw the massive mountain range rising up out of the ground.</p><p></p><p>Ischarus smiled as he noticed where Semeion’s attention rested. He spoke, breaking Semeion’s concentration. <span style="color: LightBlue">“They say that the good gods of the world drove the mountains up on the northern and eastern border of Quehalost to keep its denizens in. I’m sure there is some truth to that, because the mountains are nearly impassable via an overland route. There are a few places where they say that it is possible to pass when the weather is right. But for the most part the best way past the mountains is to go through them underground or over them in the air. Even then the air is so thin because the mountains are so tall that an aerial route is not always open.</span></p><p></p><p>Semeion looked to his right towards Ischarus as he explained the next portion of their trip. Elistra and Thana walked side by side behind Shauvry. <span style="color: Plum">“And by ‘through them’ I assume you mean under them?”</span> Semeion asked in reply.</p><p></p><p>Ischarus smiled. <span style="color: LightBlue">“Indeed. In traveling under the mountains we can stay away from the cold winds of the mountain tops while enjoying the subtle warmth of the hot springs rumored to be deep in the ground. The tunnels are passable for the most part, but only to those with their wits about them. I doubt many animals or mindless minions could navigate the passageways successfully without it being completely luck.”</span></p><p></p><p>Semeion looked ahead at their route. <span style="color: Plum">“It isn’t the mindless minions that I am worried about. We’ll be without the light of day to protect us down there. And don’t they typically say that the deep places of the earth contain more evil than the places where the light of the sun can reach?”</span></p><p></p><p>Rhema chuckled from the front of the group as she eavesdropped on the conversation of the men. <span style="color: PaleGreen">“That’s what Ischarus is for, dear. His sword has been able to fend off any attempts of foul play by the denizens of the mountain depths so far. Of course, we have a route that takes a bit longer to navigate but allows us to stay away from the majority of the truly deep passageways. We try to be safe. After all, if we don’t even get into Quehalost, how can we even hope to change the land and bring justice to its most unholy ground?”</span></p><p></p><p>Ischarus replied quickly on the heels of Rhema’s speech. <span style="color: LightBlue">“The worst opponent we ever face is a few random gnolls. You need to be careful of their shamans; they wield some powerful magic. But for the most part their fighters can be handled by my threats and Rhema’s tongue. With the addition of your magical powers we should have an even better advantage over them.”</span></p><p></p><p>Semeion looked once more toward the imposing mountains. Rhema added to Semeion’s thoughts as she said, <span style="color: PaleGreen">“Remember, Semeion. We’ve made this trip what seems like countless times. The mountain deep is not what you should fear. The powers of Quehalost that are contained by the mountains are what should be feared. When we get to the other side you’ll have cause to truly be afraid. There isn’t a single time that I enter that land that I don’t get shivers up and down my back when I exit the underground mountain passage.”</span></p><p></p><p>Semeion didn’t reply back. He merely looked ahead at the coming mountains. He realized that Rhema’s words were originally meant to ease his mind about spending so much time underground. Instead, they only brought home the reality of how dangerous this mission was which he had signed on. It seemed like death had haunted him from the time that his master was consumed by the dragon. Before that life-changing trip his life had seemed so enjoyable. Suddenly he discovered that the life of a wizard was much more serious than the life of a wizard’s apprentice.</p><p></p><p>After several hours of riding the mountains drew much more close. The horses were now forced to pick their way toward the mountains along deer trails, for no right mind would conceive of making roads this close to the mountains of Quehalost. This meant that they traveled in a single file line with Shauvry leading the way and Thana in the back learning the route. This marching order settled just fine with Semeion’s stomach.</p><p></p><p>The ground had taken to a significant climb as the party approached the looming mountains. Their peaks were tall and quite pointed, not at all like the rounded hills near Reignsburg that Semeion was accustomed to. The closer Semeion drew to the mountains the more the mountain spires reminded him of a large portcullis drawn across the land. He remembered the story that Ischarus had told him about the mountains being drawn up out of the land as a defense against the evil forces. This close to the tall spires, Ischarus’ creation myth seemed all the more plausible.</p><p></p><p>Another hour in the shadow of the mountain spires led them slowly to a large yawning cavern in the side of the mountain. There was a small trickle of water that flowed out of the mouth of the cave and down the outside of the mountain. From this position on the side of the mountain the party was able to look northward into the land. They could only barely make out the town of Scarhaus where they had spent the night on account of the fog nestled up against the mountain. Semeion was able to trace the trickle of water down the mountain, however. The water flowed out of the cave and over the edge of the narrow trail the horses had found. Once over the edge of the trail, the trickle of water plummeted several hundred feet into a small lake nestled among the trees. The lake had not been visible except from above since the vegetation around the water’s edge was so dense. Semeion looked up from the lake and felt himself dizzied by the realization of how high they had come as they picked their way along the deer trails.</p><p></p><p>Rhema pulled back on Shauvry’s reigns to bring the horse to a stop. Ischarus mirrored Rhema’s stop and turned to explain to Semeion as he dismounted. <span style="color: LightBlue">“We go by foot from here, Semeion, though we’ll lead our horses. We’ll need them on the other side. The caverns are low in some places and many of the ceilings have edges that could kill you if you are not careful about it. But if we go by foot we won’t have to worry about it. Besides, Shauvry likes to lead when we ride. When we go by foot, I can take the lead without having Shauvry get made at the fact that Elistra is in front of her.”</span></p><p></p><p>Semeion nodded and watched as Ischarus ascended into the darkness of the cave. Rhema lightly tugged on Shauvry’s reigns and her horse began to follow her into the cave. Thana, however, had not been through this routine before. She was considerably hesitant to enter into the cave and leave the sun behind.</p><p></p><p>Semeion sensed the hesitation from the horse and turned back to encourage her. <span style="color: Plum">“I know, girl. I don’t particularly like the idea either. But they’ve done this many times before. You’ve just got to trust me on this one.”</span> Semeion spoke softly while trying to coax the horse to move forward into the cave. Thana didn’t budge; she wasn’t having anything to do with the underground tunnel. Semeion turned around to peer into the cave, but it was clear that neither Ischarus nor Rhema had noticed his lagging behind. Semeion turned around once more and lifted his hand up to stroke the horse on the side of her neck. Thana instinctively shifted her weight forward so as to lean her neck onto Semeion’s shoulder. As she leaned forward she stepped to balance her weight. Semeion patted his horse on the neck and coaxed her some more. <span style="color: Plum">“C’mon, girl. You can do this with me. I don’t know what I’m getting us into, but Shauvry and Elistra have learned to trust Ischarus and Rhema. You can trust me on this, I won’t lead you astray.”</span></p><p></p><p>Slowly Thana allowed herself to be led into the cavern, only once hesitating at the sudden drop in temperature. Semeion also noticed how damp the air was inside the cavern, which of course didn’t help the cool feeling that surrounded them. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness of the cavern he spotted Ischarus and Rhema about 50 paces in front of him. Ischarus had stopped far enough into the cave so that the outside light couldn’t be seen from the inside of the cave. He struck his flint and steel together and managed to catch a spark. Slowly he lifted the spark to the wick of his lantern and raised the lantern up to the level of his head. As Semeion approached the other two he could tell that further down the tunnel there were several more tunnels that plunged deeper into the mountain. The tunnels each looked to be naturally made by condensing moisture that joined with long diverted underground springs. The tunnels looked old and not particularly well traveled.</p><p></p><p>Semeion smiled slightly as he approached Ischarus. <span style="color: Plum">“Your flint and steel work well enough. But if you are even in a pinch for emergency light, all you need to do is ask. I can get you as much light as that lantern can put out. Of course my light won’t last near as long, either.”</span></p><p></p><p>Ischarus replied, <span style="color: LightBlue">“I’ll remember to keep that in mind. Any other tricks you can do that I should know about?”</span></p><p></p><p>Semeion smiled once more. <span style="color: Plum">“Not that I can think of. But as they come up, I’ll let you know.”</span></p><p></p><p>Rhema giggled at Semeion’s response. Both Ischarus and Semeion turned towards the sound of Rhema’s giggle and Rhema gave Semeion and approving grin until she spied Ischarus looking at her too. As soon as she saw Ischarus her face took on a false serious look as if to say to Ischarus that she certainly wasn’t giggling at Semeion’s playful response to Ischarus.</p><p></p><p>Ischarus held the lantern in front of himself and led the party to the back of the cavern. He had come this way often enough to know which tunnel to take. No sooner than Ischarus turned into the tunnel than his ears were accosted with a hiss and the skittering of several feet moving in a rhythmic dance. With a flash Ischarus had his blade drawn and his hand pushed Elistra back into the main tunnel. Rhema reached out to stop Shauvry from rearing back as Elistra backed out of the tunnel.</p><p></p><p>Rhema called out to Ischarus at the sudden movement. <span style="color: PaleGreen">“Ischarus, what is it?”</span></p><p></p><p>Before Ischarus could reply, his eyes caught a flash of movement and he directed the beam of his lantern in the direction of the movement. What he saw made a grim smile fall upon his lips as he lowered the tip of his blade to a defensive position in front of his chest. Ischarus stared into what seemed like a thousand points of light – a point for each fractal eye on the face of the large spider that crouched before him. The spider held its position, ready to pounce at the slightest movement; and it looked unhindered by the sudden brightness of the light.</p><p></p><p>As Ischarus prepared himself, the spider uncoiled its legs and sprang out in a mighty leap towards the sword wielding Ischarus. As the spider uncoiled from its crouch, Ischarus prepared for an attack he faced many times in coming through this tunnel. This was no ordinary spider; it was magically enhanced to grow to unbelievable proportions. This spider had a leg span of slightly more than five feet. Its fangs were as long as daggers and quite capable of delivering its poisonous venom through Ischarus’ armor. The fangs shot straight for the face of Ischarus, but the fighter crouched and raised his shield to deflect the spider’s blow. The fangs of the spider only found the unsatisfying taste of the cold steel of the shield as Ischarus used the spider’s momentum against the creature. As Ischarus crouched, the spider slid over top of his shield and landed on the other side. Unfortunately for Ischarus, now the creature was between himself and his allies.</p><p></p><p>Ischarus returned the spider’s strike with a blow of his own. Before the spider could turn and face Ischarus, the sharp steel blade hacked downwards in a sweeping strike against the rear legs of the large beast. The blade caught the first legs and snapped through the hard exoskeleton. Fragments of the spiked chitin sprayed across the tunnel. The blow carried Ischarus’ sword through the final rear leg on the other side of the spider’s body and cracked the large arachnid’s exoskeleton covering that leg. The beast pivoted in pain as Ischarus realized that he had impaired the creature and deprived it of the full use of most of its legs.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: LightBlue">“Gnolls, Rhema. There are gnolls about in the tunnel today,”</span> Ischarus replied as he watched the spider turn and prepare another strike. He was able to recover enough from his devastating blow to plan a counterattack against the strike that he knew was coming.</p><p></p><p>Rhema turned the corner only a fraction of a second before the spider pounced again. Seeing the large spider focusing on Ischarus, Rhema focused her thoughts much like she had against the half-orc in the <em>Cachinnating Roadhouse</em> a few nights before. The spider crouched in what Ischarus thought was a precursor to a strike until he looked and saw Rhema approaching the beast from behind. As Rhema approach slowly the beast crumpled to the floor under pain. A few seconds later the spider collapsed completely in a motionless lump on the floor. Its remaining legs lay in awkward positions in varying directions from under the massive spider body.</p><p></p><p>Ischarus spun on his heels as he saw Rhema defeat the large spider. He held his lantern out in front of him and thoroughly shined the light throughout the immediate tunnel. When he was convinced there was nothing to see, he stowed his shield and picked up the lantern with his left hand. In his right hand he once more drew his sword.</p><p></p><p>Rhema saw Ischarus take an aggressive stance and scan the tunnel ahead. Suddenly Ischarus sprang into a run away from her. As Ischarus began to run frantically down the hall Rhema yelled after him. <span style="color: PaleGreen">“Where are you going?”</span> Her eyes widened as he quickly ran away from her.</p><p></p><p>Ischarus called back over his shoulder, <span style="color: LightBlue">“Bring Elistra and Shauvry down the tunnel. That was a shaman’s intimate, and where the intimate is the shaman is not far. I’m going after the shaman before he can get back to his village as raise help!”</span></p><p></p><p>Rhema exhaled heavily at Ischarus’ rash charge. She quickly turned to face Semeion, who had come up behind her to support her in case the fight with the spider had gone poorly.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: Plum">“What’s going on?”</span> Semeion asked innocently, hearing the frustration in her sigh.</p><p></p><p>Rhema smiled as she grabbed Shauvry’s reigns. <span style="color: PaleGreen">“That fool,”</span> she said with a laugh in her voice, <span style="color: PaleGreen">“is headed after a gnoll shaman. He’s right in that he had to hurry, but I wish just once he’d at least think before charging down tunnel.”</span></p><p></p><p>Semeion grabbed the reigns of Thana and added with some concern, <span style="color: Plum">“Will he need our help?”</span></p><p></p><p>Rhema nodded in the affirmative. <span style="color: PaleGreen">“We should hurry. Push Elistra into the tunnel after I take Shauvry. The shamans fight with magic and that is Ischarus’ weak point.”</span></p><p></p><p>Rhema began to jog down the tunnel, careful to lead Shauvry away from any major rocks and holes on the ground that could pose a danger to the horse’s legs. Semeion pulled Elistra into the tunnel and with a swat on the hind-quarters he sent Elistra into a trot behind Shauvry. He turned to encourage Thana, but she appeared to understand the need for urgency. Without any encouragement needed she began to trot through the tunnel following Elistra.</p><p></p><p>Ischarus charged down the tunnel with much more speed than Rhema, Semeion, and the trio of horses. Within seconds the light from Ischarus’ lantern was out of view and Ischarus was a turn or two ahead of the rest of the party. With the light source gone, Rhema slowed. <span style="color: PaleGreen">“We can’t follow him quickly if we are blind,”</span> she added in a tone that hinted at disgust.</p><p></p><p>In the darkness, Semeion crept up slowly behind Rhema. Unable to see, he placed his hand on Elistra’s side to feel his way forward. Passing Elistra, his touch startled Rhema from out of the darkness. Rhema let out a simple yelp at being startled. Semeion quickly shushed her and added, <span style="color: Plum">“I have a solution to our problem. Give me the cords at the end of Shauvry’s reigns.”</span></p><p></p><p>Rhema complied quickly and she could hear the quiet magical utterings of her new friend. Semeion said a simple word, <span style="color: Plum">“Arack.”</span> The leather cording at the end of the reigns lit up as if it were a lantern in its own right. The tunnel was now lit and Rhema could see several paces in front and behind of her. </p><p></p><p>Rhema smiled and reached her hand behind Semeion’s neck to pull him forward. Stepping up to her tiptoes so she could reach his face with her own lips she gave Semeion a kiss on the cheek. <span style="color: PaleGreen">“I knew I liked you from the moment I saw you. It’s the simple things like this that will make you a valuable member to our team. You don’t know how many times I have been left in the dark by Ischarus, and I don’t mean intellectually!”</span></p><p></p><p>Semeion blushed at the gesture of the kiss and smiled. He couldn’t find the words to utter in response, so he merely nodded as if to probe Rhema forward. She smiled in return, understanding that she had slightly embarrassed him. She turned quickly and began to jog once again in the direction Ischarus had gone. Elistra followed Shauvry without needing encouragement. Semeion quickly jogged alongside Thana in the final position.</p><p></p><p>Ahead of the party, Ischarus continued to charge hard. As he ran, twice he could swear that he saw a faint outline of a running gnoll ahead of him, although each time it lasted only for an instant. As the faint outline of the gnoll appeared a third time, Ischarus heard the gnoll yell in a guttural voice, <span style="color: Red">“Cathra soon-Utal”</span> A sudden chill came over Ischarus and he could sense the humidity of the surrounding area increase dramatically. A mist began to rise up from the floor, but Ischarus knew there were no turns in the immediate vicinity so he continued to charge hard through the mist. He burst forth on the other side of the mist and wiped the condensation away from his forehead. He also noticed that he was beginning to gain on the gnoll shaman.</p><p></p><p>The gnoll could hear Ischarus behind him and knew that the spell had not worked to slow down his pursuer. The gnoll tried one more spell that it had in its arsenal. <span style="color: Red">“Granchus,”</span> it called out with a glance over its shoulder.</p><p></p><p>Ischarus heard a slight rumble – although not a rumble as if an earthquake or a cave-in were about to happen. Instantly he saw the source of the sound. The moss and the roots of the nearby plants grew forth in a quickened magical growth. The roots and the moss grew so quick as to catch him mid stride. Ischarus attempted to hack at the roots as they grabbed his legs, but the roots grew back even more quickly when he hacked at them. Before he could get a second swing the roots from the ceiling had grown down enough to entangle his arms and suspend him as if he were on a stretching torture device. The roots from above pulled up while the moss and the roots below kept his feet flat against the ground. </p><p></p><p>The gnoll could tell from the sound that its spell had worked. The shaman stopped his retreat and approached Ischarus for a moment. <span style="color: Red">“You lose this time, surface dweller.”</span></p><p></p><p>Ischarus breathed heavily and struggled to keep from being torn in two. <span style="color: LightBlue">“You better run, dog-man. This spell can’t last forever, and when it ends I’ll be after you.”</span></p><p></p><p>The look in Ischarus’ eyes must have been enough to convince the gnoll to turn tail and flee. The shaman quickly spun around and scampered down the tunnel, leaving Ischarus to struggle against the plant growth. A full half minute of struggling later Ischarus could hear the sound of horses coming up from behind. </p><p></p><p>Ischarus heard the familiar voice of Rhema. <span style="color: PaleGreen">“Ischarus? Is that you?”</span> In a more panicked voice once she figured out that it was indeed Ischarus she yelled, <span style="color: PaleGreen">“Are you injured?”</span> She left Shauvry and ran to the edge of the plant growth. Shauvry slowed and stayed about twenty feet behind Rhema.</p><p></p><p>Ischarus groaned under the strain of the plants but managed to add, <span style="color: LightBlue">“I’m uninjured, although the gnoll got away. He better hope I don’t catch up to him another day!”</span></p><p></p><p>Semeion approached slowly and tried to comfort Ischarus. <span style="color: Plum">“If it makes you feel any better, Ischarus, the magic is nearly spent. A few more seconds and you’ll be freed of the magical trap.”</span></p><p></p><p>Ischarus groaned as Semeion spoke. As predicted, about ten seconds later the plants began to ease their strain on Ischarus’ midsection. The roots and the moss began to recede back into the walls of the tunnel. Ischarus was finally able to lower his arms, and upon being free he dropped to the ground and doubled over.</p><p></p><p>Rhema ran to his side. <span style="color: PaleGreen">“Ischarus,”</span> she said with the tone of a worried lover, <span style="color: PaleGreen">“Are you sure you are not injured?”</span></p><p></p><p>Ischarus nodded as he lay doubled over in pain. <span style="color: LightBlue">“I’m fine, just a bit overstretched. I’m all cramped up now, I’ll need a bit of a rest.”</span></p><p></p><p>Semeion smiled as he looked down at the struggling man. He remembered Rhema’s earlier words about Ischarus and magic. This time, magic had won.</p><p></p><p>[Sblock=Color Free Speech Section]</p><p>Chapter Two: INTO THE DEPTHS BETWEEN HERE AND THERE</p><p></p><p>The party saddled up just before dawn the next morning and managed to escape the other side of the small town before the sun crested over the horizon. Each of them felt a bit on the weary and tired side already, but Semeion understood this to be a normal feeling for the morning the party headed into Quehalost. As the sun rose, Semeion looked for the first time to the south and saw the massive mountain range rising up out of the ground.</p><p></p><p>Ischarus smiled as he noticed where Semeion’s attention rested. He spoke, breaking Semeion’s concentration. “They say that the good gods of the world drove the mountains up on the northern and eastern border of Quehalost to keep its denizens in. I’m sure there is some truth to that, because the mountains are nearly impassable via an overland route. There are a few places where they say that it is possible to pass when the weather is right. But for the most part the best way past the mountains is to go through them underground or over them in the air. Even then the air is so thin because the mountains are so tall that an aerial route is not always open.</p><p></p><p>Semeion looked to his right towards Ischarus as he explained the next portion of their trip. Elistra and Thana walked side by side behind Shauvry. “And by ‘through them’ I assume you mean under them?” Semeion asked in reply.</p><p></p><p>Ischarus smiled. “Indeed. In traveling under the mountains we can stay away from the cold winds of the mountain tops while enjoying the subtle warmth of the hot springs rumored to be deep in the ground. The tunnels are passable for the most part, but only to those with their wits about them. I doubt many animals or mindless minions could navigate the passageways successfully without it being completely luck.”</p><p></p><p>Semeion looked ahead at their route. “It isn’t the mindless minions that I am worried about. We’ll be without the light of day to protect us down there. And don’t they typically say that the deep places of the earth contain more evil than the places where the light of the sun can reach?”</p><p></p><p>Rhema chuckled from the front of the group as she eavesdropped on the conversation of the men. “That’s what Ischarus is for, dear. His sword has been able to fend off any attempts of foul play by the denizens of the mountain depths so far. Of course, we have a route that takes a bit longer to navigate but allows us to stay away from the majority of the truly deep passageways. We try to be safe. After all, if we don’t even get into Quehalost, how can we even hope to change the land and bring justice to its most unholy ground?”</p><p></p><p>Ischarus replied quickly on the heels of Rhema’s speech. “The worst opponent we ever face is a few random gnolls. You need to be careful of their shamans; they wield some powerful magic. But for the most part their fighters can be handled by my threats and Rhema’s tongue. With the addition of your magical powers we should have an even better advantage over them.”</p><p></p><p>Semeion looked once more toward the imposing mountains. Rhema added to Semeion’s thoughts as she said, “Remember, Semeion. We’ve made this trip what seems like countless times. The mountain deep is not what you should fear. The powers of Quehalost that are contained by the mountains are what should be feared. When we get to the other side you’ll have cause to truly be afraid. There isn’t a single time that I enter that land that I don’t get shivers up and down my back when I exit the underground mountain passage.”</p><p></p><p>Semeion didn’t reply back. He merely looked ahead at the coming mountains. He realized that Rhema’s words were originally meant to ease his mind about spending so much time underground. Instead, they only brought home the reality of how dangerous this mission was which he had signed on. It seemed like death had haunted him from the time that his master was consumed by the dragon. Before that life-changing trip his life had seemed so enjoyable. Suddenly he discovered that the life of a wizard was much more serious than the life of a wizard’s apprentice.</p><p></p><p>After several hours of riding the mountains drew much more close. The horses were now forced to pick their way toward the mountains along deer trails, for no right mind would conceive of making roads this close to the mountains of Quehalost. This meant that they traveled in a single file line with Shauvry leading the way and Thana in the back learning the route. This marching order settled just fine with Semeion’s stomach.</p><p></p><p>The ground had taken to a significant climb as the party approached the looming mountains. Their peaks were tall and quite pointed, not at all like the rounded hills near Reignsburg that Semeion was accustomed to. The closer Semeion drew to the mountains the more the mountain spires reminded him of a large portcullis drawn across the land. He remembered the story that Ischarus had told him about the mountains being drawn up out of the land as a defense against the evil forces. This close to the tall spires, Ischarus’ creation myth seemed all the more plausible.</p><p></p><p>Another hour in the shadow of the mountain spires led them slowly to a large yawning cavern in the side of the mountain. There was a small trickle of water that flowed out of the mouth of the cave and down the outside of the mountain. From this position on the side of the mountain the party was able to look northward into the land. They could only barely make out the town of Scarhaus where they had spent the night on account of the fog nestled up against the mountain. Semeion was able to trace the trickle of water down the mountain, however. The water flowed out of the cave and over the edge of the narrow trail the horses had found. Once over the edge of the trail, the trickle of water plummeted several hundred feet into a small lake nestled among the trees. The lake had not been visible except from above since the vegetation around the water’s edge was so dense. Semeion looked up from the lake and felt himself dizzied by the realization of how high they had come as they picked their way along the deer trails.</p><p></p><p>Rhema pulled back on Shauvry’s reigns to bring the horse to a stop. Ischarus mirrored Rhema’s stop and turned to explain to Semeion as he dismounted. “We go by foot from here, Semeion, though we’ll lead our horses. We’ll need them on the other side. The caverns are low in some places and many of the ceilings have edges that could kill you if you are not careful about it. But if we go by foot we won’t have to worry about it. Besides, Shauvry likes to lead when we ride. When we go by foot, I can take the lead without having Shauvry get made at the fact that Elistra is in front of her.”</p><p></p><p>Semeion nodded and watched as Ischarus ascended into the darkness of the cave. Rhema lightly tugged on Shauvry’s reigns and her horse began to follow her into the cave. Thana, however, had not been through this routine before. She was considerably hesitant to enter into the cave and leave the sun behind.</p><p></p><p>Semeion sensed the hesitation from the horse and turned back to encourage her. “I know, girl. I don’t particularly like the idea either. But they’ve done this many times before. You’ve just got to trust me on this one.” Semeion spoke softly while trying to coax the horse to move forward into the cave. Thana didn’t budge; she wasn’t having anything to do with the underground tunnel. Semeion turned around to peer into the cave, but it was clear that neither Ischarus nor Rhema had noticed his lagging behind. Semeion turned around once more and lifted his hand up to stroke the horse on the side of her neck. Thana instinctively shifted her weight forward so as to lean her neck onto Semeion’s shoulder. As she leaned forward she stepped to balance her weight. Semeion patted his horse on the neck and coaxed her some more. “C’mon, girl. You can do this with me. I don’t know what I’m getting us into, but Shauvry and Elistra have learned to trust Ischarus and Rhema. You can trust me on this, I won’t lead you astray.”</p><p></p><p>Slowly Thana allowed herself to be led into the cavern, only once hesitating at the sudden drop in temperature. Semeion also noticed how damp the air was inside the cavern, which of course didn’t help the cool feeling that surrounded them. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness of the cavern he spotted Ischarus and Rhema about 50 paces in front of him. Ischarus had stopped far enough into the cave so that the outside light couldn’t be seen from the inside of the cave. He struck his flint and steel together and managed to catch a spark. Slowly he lifted the spark to the wick of his lantern and raised the lantern up to the level of his head. As Semeion approached the other two he could tell that further down the tunnel there were several more tunnels that plunged deeper into the mountain. The tunnels each looked to be naturally made by condensing moisture that joined with long diverted underground springs. The tunnels looked old and not particularly well traveled.</p><p></p><p>Semeion smiled slightly as he approached Ischarus. “Your flint and steel work well enough. But if you are even in a pinch for emergency light, all you need to do is ask. I can get you as much light as that lantern can put out. Of course my light won’t last near as long, either.”</p><p></p><p>Ischarus replied, “I’ll remember to keep that in mind. Any other tricks you can do that I should know about?”</p><p></p><p>Semeion smiled once more. “Not that I can think of. But as they come up, I’ll let you know.”</p><p></p><p>Rhema giggled at Semeion’s response. Both Ischarus and Semeion turned towards the sound of Rhema’s giggle and Rhema gave Semeion and approving grin until she spied Ischarus looking at her too. As soon as she saw Ischarus her face took on a false serious look as if to say to Ischarus that she certainly wasn’t giggling at Semeion’s playful response to Ischarus.</p><p></p><p>Ischarus held the lantern in front of himself and led the party to the back of the cavern. He had come this way often enough to know which tunnel to take. No sooner than Ischarus turned into the tunnel than his ears were accosted with a hiss and the skittering of several feet moving in a rhythmic dance. With a flash Ischarus had his blade drawn and his hand pushed Elistra back into the main tunnel. Rhema reached out to stop Shauvry from rearing back as Elistra backed out of the tunnel.</p><p></p><p>Rhema called out to Ischarus at the sudden movement. “Ischarus, what is it?”</p><p></p><p>Before Ischarus could reply, his eyes caught a flash of movement and he directed the beam of his lantern in the direction of the movement. What he saw made a grim smile fall upon his lips as he lowered the tip of his blade to a defensive position in front of his chest. Ischarus stared into what seemed like a thousand points of light – a point for each fractal eye on the face of the large spider that crouched before him. The spider held its position, ready to pounce at the slightest movement; and it looked unhindered by the sudden brightness of the light.</p><p></p><p>As Ischarus prepared himself, the spider uncoiled its legs and sprang out in a mighty leap towards the sword wielding Ischarus. As the spider uncoiled from its crouch, Ischarus prepared for an attack he faced many times in coming through this tunnel. This was no ordinary spider; it was magically enhanced to grow to unbelievable proportions. This spider had a leg span of slightly more than five feet. Its fangs were as long as daggers and quite capable of delivering its poisonous venom through Ischarus’ armor. The fangs shot straight for the face of Ischarus, but the fighter crouched and raised his shield to deflect the spider’s blow. The fangs of the spider only found the unsatisfying taste of the cold steel of the shield as Ischarus used the spider’s momentum against the creature. As Ischarus crouched, the spider slid over top of his shield and landed on the other side. Unfortunately for Ischarus, now the creature was between himself and his allies.</p><p></p><p>Ischarus returned the spider’s strike with a blow of his own. Before the spider could turn and face Ischarus, the sharp steel blade hacked downwards in a sweeping strike against the rear legs of the large beast. The blade caught the first legs and snapped through the hard exoskeleton. Fragments of the spiked chitin sprayed across the tunnel. The blow carried Ischarus’ sword through the final rear leg on the other side of the spider’s body and cracked the large arachnid’s exoskeleton covering that leg. The beast pivoted in pain as Ischarus realized that he had impaired the creature and deprived it of the full use of most of its legs.</p><p></p><p>“Gnolls, Rhema. There are gnolls about in the tunnel today,” Ischarus replied as he watched the spider turn and prepare another strike. He was able to recover enough from his devastating blow to plan a counterattack against the strike that he knew was coming.</p><p></p><p>Rhema turned the corner only a fraction of a second before the spider pounced again. Seeing the large spider focusing on Ischarus, Rhema focused her thoughts much like she had against the half-orc in the Cachinnating Roadhouse a few nights before. The spider crouched in what Ischarus thought was a precursor to a strike until he looked and saw Rhema approaching the beast from behind. As Rhema approach slowly the beast crumpled to the floor under pain. A few seconds later the spider collapsed completely in a motionless lump on the floor. Its remaining legs lay in awkward positions in varying directions from under the massive spider body.</p><p></p><p>Ischarus spun on his heels as he saw Rhema defeat the large spider. He held his lantern out in front of him and thoroughly shined the light throughout the immediate tunnel. When he was convinced there was nothing to see, he stowed his shield and picked up the lantern with his left hand. In his right hand he once more drew his sword.</p><p></p><p>Rhema saw Ischarus take an aggressive stance and scan the tunnel ahead. Suddenly Ischarus sprang into a run away from her. As Ischarus began to run frantically down the hall Rhema yelled after him. “Where are you going?” Her eyes widened as he quickly ran away from her.</p><p></p><p>Ischarus called back over his shoulder, “Bring Elistra and Shauvry down the tunnel. That was a shaman’s intimate, and where the intimate is the shaman is not far. I’m going after the shaman before he can get back to his village as raise help!”</p><p></p><p>Rhema exhaled heavily at Ischarus’ rash charge. She quickly turned to face Semeion, who had come up behind her to support her in case the fight with the spider had gone poorly.</p><p></p><p>“What’s going on?” Semeion asked innocently, hearing the frustration in her sigh.</p><p></p><p>Rhema smiled as she grabbed Shauvry’s reigns. “That fool,” she said with a laugh in her voice, “is headed after a gnoll shaman. He’s right in that he had to hurry, but I wish just once he’d at least think before charging down tunnel.”</p><p></p><p>Semeion grabbed the reigns of Thana and added with some concern, “Will he need our help?”</p><p></p><p>Rhema nodded in the affirmative. “We should hurry. Push Elistra into the tunnel after I take Shauvry. The shamans fight with magic and that is Ischarus’ weak point.”</p><p></p><p>Rhema began to jog down the tunnel, careful to lead Shauvry away from any major rocks and holes on the ground that could pose a danger to the horse’s legs. Semeion pulled Elistra into the tunnel and with a swat on the hind-quarters he sent Elistra into a trot behind Shauvry. He turned to encourage Thana, but she appeared to understand the need for urgency. Without any encouragement needed she began to trot through the tunnel following Elistra.</p><p></p><p>Ischarus charged down the tunnel with much more speed than Rhema, Semeion, and the trio of horses. Within seconds the light from Ischarus’ lantern was out of view and Ischarus was a turn or two ahead of the rest of the party. With the light source gone, Rhema slowed. “We can’t follow him quickly if we are blind,” she added in a tone that hinted at disgust.</p><p></p><p>In the darkness, Semeion crept up slowly behind Rhema. Unable to see, he placed his hand on Elistra’s side to feel his way forward. Passing Elistra, his touch startled Rhema from out of the darkness. Rhema let out a simple yelp at being startled. Semeion quickly shushed her and added, “I have a solution to our problem. Give me the cords at the end of Shauvry’s reigns.”</p><p></p><p>Rhema complied quickly and she could hear the quiet magical utterings of her new friend. Semeion said a simple word, “Arack.” The leather cording at the end of the reigns lit up as if it were a lantern in its own right. The tunnel was now lit and Rhema could see several paces in front and behind of her. </p><p></p><p>Rhema smiled and reached her hand behind Semeion’s neck to pull him forward. Stepping up to her tiptoes so she could reach his face with her own lips she gave Semeion a kiss on the cheek. “I knew I liked you from the moment I saw you. It’s the simple things like this that will make you a valuable member to our team. You don’t know how many times I have been left in the dark by Ischarus, and I don’t mean intellectually!”</p><p></p><p>Semeion blushed at the gesture of the kiss and smiled. He couldn’t find the words to utter in response, so he merely nodded as if to probe Rhema forward. She smiled in return, understanding that she had slightly embarrassed him. She turned quickly and began to jog once again in the direction Ischarus had gone. Elistra followed Shauvry without needing encouragement. Semeion quickly jogged alongside Thana in the final position.</p><p></p><p>Ahead of the party, Ischarus continued to charge hard. As he ran, twice he could swear that he saw a faint outline of a running gnoll ahead of him, although each time it lasted only for an instant. As the faint outline of the gnoll appeared a third time, Ischarus heard the gnoll yell in a guttural voice, “Cathra soon-Utal” A sudden chill came over Ischarus and he could sense the humidity of the surrounding area increase dramatically. A mist began to rise up from the floor, but Ischarus knew there were no turns in the immediate vicinity so he continued to charge hard through the mist. He burst forth on the other side of the mist and wiped the condensation away from his forehead. He also noticed that he was beginning to gain on the gnoll shaman.</p><p></p><p>The gnoll could hear Ischarus behind him and knew that the spell had not worked to slow down his pursuer. The gnoll tried one more spell that it had in its arsenal. “Granchus,” it called out with a glance over its shoulder.</p><p></p><p>Ischarus heard a slight rumble – although not a rumble as if an earthquake or a cave-in were about to happen. Instantly he saw the source of the sound. The moss and the roots of the nearby plants grew forth in a quickened magical growth. The roots and the moss grew so quick as to catch him mid stride. Ischarus attempted to hack at the roots as they grabbed his legs, but the roots grew back even more quickly when he hacked at them. Before he could get a second swing the roots from the ceiling had grown down enough to entangle his arms and suspend him as if he were on a stretching torture device. The roots from above pulled up while the moss and the roots below kept his feet flat against the ground. </p><p></p><p>The gnoll could tell from the sound that its spell had worked. The shaman stopped his retreat and approached Ischarus for a moment. “You lose this time, surface dweller.”</p><p></p><p>Ischarus breathed heavily and struggled to keep from being torn in two. “You better run, dog-man. This spell can’t last forever, and when it ends I’ll be after you.”</p><p></p><p>The look in Ischarus’ eyes must have been enough to convince the gnoll to turn tail and flee. The shaman quickly spun around and scampered down the tunnel, leaving Ischarus to struggle against the plant growth. A full half minute of struggling later Ischarus could hear the sound of horses coming up from behind. </p><p></p><p>Ischarus heard the familiar voice of Rhema. “Ischarus? Is that you?” In a more panicked voice once she figured out that it was indeed Ischarus she yelled, “Are you injured?” She left Shauvry and ran to the edge of the plant growth. Shauvry slowed and stayed about twenty feet behind Rhema.</p><p></p><p>Ischarus groaned under the strain of the plants but managed to add, “I’m uninjured, although the gnoll got away. He better hope I don’t catch up to him another day!”</p><p></p><p>Semeion approached slowly and tried to comfort Ischarus. “If it makes you feel any better, Ischarus, the magic is nearly spent. A few more seconds and you’ll be freed of the magical trap.”</p><p></p><p>Ischarus groaned as Semeion spoke. As predicted, about ten seconds later the plants began to ease their strain on Ischarus’ midsection. The roots and the moss began to recede back into the walls of the tunnel. Ischarus was finally able to lower his arms, and upon being free he dropped to the ground and doubled over.</p><p></p><p>Rhema ran to his side. “Ischarus,” she said with the tone of a worried lover, “Are you sure you are not injured?”</p><p></p><p>Ischarus nodded as he lay doubled over in pain. “I’m fine, just a bit overstretched. I’m all cramped up now, I’ll need a bit of a rest.”</p><p></p><p>Semeion smiled as he looked down at the struggling man. He remembered Rhema’s earlier words about Ischarus and magic. This time, magic had won.</p><p>[/Sblock]</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Nonlethal Force, post: 2813879, member: 35788"] [B]Chapter Two: INTO THE DEPTHS BETWEEN HERE AND THERE[/B] The party saddled up just before dawn the next morning and managed to escape the other side of the small town before the sun crested over the horizon. Each of them felt a bit on the weary and tired side already, but Semeion understood this to be a normal feeling for the morning the party headed into Quehalost. As the sun rose, Semeion looked for the first time to the south and saw the massive mountain range rising up out of the ground. Ischarus smiled as he noticed where Semeion’s attention rested. He spoke, breaking Semeion’s concentration. [Color=LightBlue]“They say that the good gods of the world drove the mountains up on the northern and eastern border of Quehalost to keep its denizens in. I’m sure there is some truth to that, because the mountains are nearly impassable via an overland route. There are a few places where they say that it is possible to pass when the weather is right. But for the most part the best way past the mountains is to go through them underground or over them in the air. Even then the air is so thin because the mountains are so tall that an aerial route is not always open.[/Color] Semeion looked to his right towards Ischarus as he explained the next portion of their trip. Elistra and Thana walked side by side behind Shauvry. [Color=Plum]“And by ‘through them’ I assume you mean under them?”[/Color] Semeion asked in reply. Ischarus smiled. [Color=LightBlue]“Indeed. In traveling under the mountains we can stay away from the cold winds of the mountain tops while enjoying the subtle warmth of the hot springs rumored to be deep in the ground. The tunnels are passable for the most part, but only to those with their wits about them. I doubt many animals or mindless minions could navigate the passageways successfully without it being completely luck.”[/Color] Semeion looked ahead at their route. [Color=Plum]“It isn’t the mindless minions that I am worried about. We’ll be without the light of day to protect us down there. And don’t they typically say that the deep places of the earth contain more evil than the places where the light of the sun can reach?”[/Color] Rhema chuckled from the front of the group as she eavesdropped on the conversation of the men. [Color=PaleGreen]“That’s what Ischarus is for, dear. His sword has been able to fend off any attempts of foul play by the denizens of the mountain depths so far. Of course, we have a route that takes a bit longer to navigate but allows us to stay away from the majority of the truly deep passageways. We try to be safe. After all, if we don’t even get into Quehalost, how can we even hope to change the land and bring justice to its most unholy ground?”[/Color] Ischarus replied quickly on the heels of Rhema’s speech. [Color=LightBlue]“The worst opponent we ever face is a few random gnolls. You need to be careful of their shamans; they wield some powerful magic. But for the most part their fighters can be handled by my threats and Rhema’s tongue. With the addition of your magical powers we should have an even better advantage over them.”[/Color] Semeion looked once more toward the imposing mountains. Rhema added to Semeion’s thoughts as she said, [Color=PaleGreen]“Remember, Semeion. We’ve made this trip what seems like countless times. The mountain deep is not what you should fear. The powers of Quehalost that are contained by the mountains are what should be feared. When we get to the other side you’ll have cause to truly be afraid. There isn’t a single time that I enter that land that I don’t get shivers up and down my back when I exit the underground mountain passage.”[/Color] Semeion didn’t reply back. He merely looked ahead at the coming mountains. He realized that Rhema’s words were originally meant to ease his mind about spending so much time underground. Instead, they only brought home the reality of how dangerous this mission was which he had signed on. It seemed like death had haunted him from the time that his master was consumed by the dragon. Before that life-changing trip his life had seemed so enjoyable. Suddenly he discovered that the life of a wizard was much more serious than the life of a wizard’s apprentice. After several hours of riding the mountains drew much more close. The horses were now forced to pick their way toward the mountains along deer trails, for no right mind would conceive of making roads this close to the mountains of Quehalost. This meant that they traveled in a single file line with Shauvry leading the way and Thana in the back learning the route. This marching order settled just fine with Semeion’s stomach. The ground had taken to a significant climb as the party approached the looming mountains. Their peaks were tall and quite pointed, not at all like the rounded hills near Reignsburg that Semeion was accustomed to. The closer Semeion drew to the mountains the more the mountain spires reminded him of a large portcullis drawn across the land. He remembered the story that Ischarus had told him about the mountains being drawn up out of the land as a defense against the evil forces. This close to the tall spires, Ischarus’ creation myth seemed all the more plausible. Another hour in the shadow of the mountain spires led them slowly to a large yawning cavern in the side of the mountain. There was a small trickle of water that flowed out of the mouth of the cave and down the outside of the mountain. From this position on the side of the mountain the party was able to look northward into the land. They could only barely make out the town of Scarhaus where they had spent the night on account of the fog nestled up against the mountain. Semeion was able to trace the trickle of water down the mountain, however. The water flowed out of the cave and over the edge of the narrow trail the horses had found. Once over the edge of the trail, the trickle of water plummeted several hundred feet into a small lake nestled among the trees. The lake had not been visible except from above since the vegetation around the water’s edge was so dense. Semeion looked up from the lake and felt himself dizzied by the realization of how high they had come as they picked their way along the deer trails. Rhema pulled back on Shauvry’s reigns to bring the horse to a stop. Ischarus mirrored Rhema’s stop and turned to explain to Semeion as he dismounted. [Color=LightBlue]“We go by foot from here, Semeion, though we’ll lead our horses. We’ll need them on the other side. The caverns are low in some places and many of the ceilings have edges that could kill you if you are not careful about it. But if we go by foot we won’t have to worry about it. Besides, Shauvry likes to lead when we ride. When we go by foot, I can take the lead without having Shauvry get made at the fact that Elistra is in front of her.”[/Color] Semeion nodded and watched as Ischarus ascended into the darkness of the cave. Rhema lightly tugged on Shauvry’s reigns and her horse began to follow her into the cave. Thana, however, had not been through this routine before. She was considerably hesitant to enter into the cave and leave the sun behind. Semeion sensed the hesitation from the horse and turned back to encourage her. [Color=Plum]“I know, girl. I don’t particularly like the idea either. But they’ve done this many times before. You’ve just got to trust me on this one.”[/Color] Semeion spoke softly while trying to coax the horse to move forward into the cave. Thana didn’t budge; she wasn’t having anything to do with the underground tunnel. Semeion turned around to peer into the cave, but it was clear that neither Ischarus nor Rhema had noticed his lagging behind. Semeion turned around once more and lifted his hand up to stroke the horse on the side of her neck. Thana instinctively shifted her weight forward so as to lean her neck onto Semeion’s shoulder. As she leaned forward she stepped to balance her weight. Semeion patted his horse on the neck and coaxed her some more. [Color=Plum]“C’mon, girl. You can do this with me. I don’t know what I’m getting us into, but Shauvry and Elistra have learned to trust Ischarus and Rhema. You can trust me on this, I won’t lead you astray.”[/Color] Slowly Thana allowed herself to be led into the cavern, only once hesitating at the sudden drop in temperature. Semeion also noticed how damp the air was inside the cavern, which of course didn’t help the cool feeling that surrounded them. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness of the cavern he spotted Ischarus and Rhema about 50 paces in front of him. Ischarus had stopped far enough into the cave so that the outside light couldn’t be seen from the inside of the cave. He struck his flint and steel together and managed to catch a spark. Slowly he lifted the spark to the wick of his lantern and raised the lantern up to the level of his head. As Semeion approached the other two he could tell that further down the tunnel there were several more tunnels that plunged deeper into the mountain. The tunnels each looked to be naturally made by condensing moisture that joined with long diverted underground springs. The tunnels looked old and not particularly well traveled. Semeion smiled slightly as he approached Ischarus. [Color=Plum]“Your flint and steel work well enough. But if you are even in a pinch for emergency light, all you need to do is ask. I can get you as much light as that lantern can put out. Of course my light won’t last near as long, either.”[/Color] Ischarus replied, [Color=LightBlue]“I’ll remember to keep that in mind. Any other tricks you can do that I should know about?”[/Color] Semeion smiled once more. [Color=Plum]“Not that I can think of. But as they come up, I’ll let you know.”[/Color] Rhema giggled at Semeion’s response. Both Ischarus and Semeion turned towards the sound of Rhema’s giggle and Rhema gave Semeion and approving grin until she spied Ischarus looking at her too. As soon as she saw Ischarus her face took on a false serious look as if to say to Ischarus that she certainly wasn’t giggling at Semeion’s playful response to Ischarus. Ischarus held the lantern in front of himself and led the party to the back of the cavern. He had come this way often enough to know which tunnel to take. No sooner than Ischarus turned into the tunnel than his ears were accosted with a hiss and the skittering of several feet moving in a rhythmic dance. With a flash Ischarus had his blade drawn and his hand pushed Elistra back into the main tunnel. Rhema reached out to stop Shauvry from rearing back as Elistra backed out of the tunnel. Rhema called out to Ischarus at the sudden movement. [Color=PaleGreen]“Ischarus, what is it?”[/Color] Before Ischarus could reply, his eyes caught a flash of movement and he directed the beam of his lantern in the direction of the movement. What he saw made a grim smile fall upon his lips as he lowered the tip of his blade to a defensive position in front of his chest. Ischarus stared into what seemed like a thousand points of light – a point for each fractal eye on the face of the large spider that crouched before him. The spider held its position, ready to pounce at the slightest movement; and it looked unhindered by the sudden brightness of the light. As Ischarus prepared himself, the spider uncoiled its legs and sprang out in a mighty leap towards the sword wielding Ischarus. As the spider uncoiled from its crouch, Ischarus prepared for an attack he faced many times in coming through this tunnel. This was no ordinary spider; it was magically enhanced to grow to unbelievable proportions. This spider had a leg span of slightly more than five feet. Its fangs were as long as daggers and quite capable of delivering its poisonous venom through Ischarus’ armor. The fangs shot straight for the face of Ischarus, but the fighter crouched and raised his shield to deflect the spider’s blow. The fangs of the spider only found the unsatisfying taste of the cold steel of the shield as Ischarus used the spider’s momentum against the creature. As Ischarus crouched, the spider slid over top of his shield and landed on the other side. Unfortunately for Ischarus, now the creature was between himself and his allies. Ischarus returned the spider’s strike with a blow of his own. Before the spider could turn and face Ischarus, the sharp steel blade hacked downwards in a sweeping strike against the rear legs of the large beast. The blade caught the first legs and snapped through the hard exoskeleton. Fragments of the spiked chitin sprayed across the tunnel. The blow carried Ischarus’ sword through the final rear leg on the other side of the spider’s body and cracked the large arachnid’s exoskeleton covering that leg. The beast pivoted in pain as Ischarus realized that he had impaired the creature and deprived it of the full use of most of its legs. [Color=LightBlue]“Gnolls, Rhema. There are gnolls about in the tunnel today,”[/Color] Ischarus replied as he watched the spider turn and prepare another strike. He was able to recover enough from his devastating blow to plan a counterattack against the strike that he knew was coming. Rhema turned the corner only a fraction of a second before the spider pounced again. Seeing the large spider focusing on Ischarus, Rhema focused her thoughts much like she had against the half-orc in the [I]Cachinnating Roadhouse[/I] a few nights before. The spider crouched in what Ischarus thought was a precursor to a strike until he looked and saw Rhema approaching the beast from behind. As Rhema approach slowly the beast crumpled to the floor under pain. A few seconds later the spider collapsed completely in a motionless lump on the floor. Its remaining legs lay in awkward positions in varying directions from under the massive spider body. Ischarus spun on his heels as he saw Rhema defeat the large spider. He held his lantern out in front of him and thoroughly shined the light throughout the immediate tunnel. When he was convinced there was nothing to see, he stowed his shield and picked up the lantern with his left hand. In his right hand he once more drew his sword. Rhema saw Ischarus take an aggressive stance and scan the tunnel ahead. Suddenly Ischarus sprang into a run away from her. As Ischarus began to run frantically down the hall Rhema yelled after him. [Color=PaleGreen]“Where are you going?”[/Color] Her eyes widened as he quickly ran away from her. Ischarus called back over his shoulder, [Color=LightBlue]“Bring Elistra and Shauvry down the tunnel. That was a shaman’s intimate, and where the intimate is the shaman is not far. I’m going after the shaman before he can get back to his village as raise help!”[/Color] Rhema exhaled heavily at Ischarus’ rash charge. She quickly turned to face Semeion, who had come up behind her to support her in case the fight with the spider had gone poorly. [Color=Plum]“What’s going on?”[/Color] Semeion asked innocently, hearing the frustration in her sigh. Rhema smiled as she grabbed Shauvry’s reigns. [Color=PaleGreen]“That fool,”[/Color] she said with a laugh in her voice, [Color=PaleGreen]“is headed after a gnoll shaman. He’s right in that he had to hurry, but I wish just once he’d at least think before charging down tunnel.”[/Color] Semeion grabbed the reigns of Thana and added with some concern, [Color=Plum]“Will he need our help?”[/Color] Rhema nodded in the affirmative. [Color=PaleGreen]“We should hurry. Push Elistra into the tunnel after I take Shauvry. The shamans fight with magic and that is Ischarus’ weak point.”[/Color] Rhema began to jog down the tunnel, careful to lead Shauvry away from any major rocks and holes on the ground that could pose a danger to the horse’s legs. Semeion pulled Elistra into the tunnel and with a swat on the hind-quarters he sent Elistra into a trot behind Shauvry. He turned to encourage Thana, but she appeared to understand the need for urgency. Without any encouragement needed she began to trot through the tunnel following Elistra. Ischarus charged down the tunnel with much more speed than Rhema, Semeion, and the trio of horses. Within seconds the light from Ischarus’ lantern was out of view and Ischarus was a turn or two ahead of the rest of the party. With the light source gone, Rhema slowed. [Color=PaleGreen]“We can’t follow him quickly if we are blind,”[/Color] she added in a tone that hinted at disgust. In the darkness, Semeion crept up slowly behind Rhema. Unable to see, he placed his hand on Elistra’s side to feel his way forward. Passing Elistra, his touch startled Rhema from out of the darkness. Rhema let out a simple yelp at being startled. Semeion quickly shushed her and added, [Color=Plum]“I have a solution to our problem. Give me the cords at the end of Shauvry’s reigns.”[/Color] Rhema complied quickly and she could hear the quiet magical utterings of her new friend. Semeion said a simple word, [Color=Plum]“Arack.”[/Color] The leather cording at the end of the reigns lit up as if it were a lantern in its own right. The tunnel was now lit and Rhema could see several paces in front and behind of her. Rhema smiled and reached her hand behind Semeion’s neck to pull him forward. Stepping up to her tiptoes so she could reach his face with her own lips she gave Semeion a kiss on the cheek. [Color=PaleGreen]“I knew I liked you from the moment I saw you. It’s the simple things like this that will make you a valuable member to our team. You don’t know how many times I have been left in the dark by Ischarus, and I don’t mean intellectually!”[/Color] Semeion blushed at the gesture of the kiss and smiled. He couldn’t find the words to utter in response, so he merely nodded as if to probe Rhema forward. She smiled in return, understanding that she had slightly embarrassed him. She turned quickly and began to jog once again in the direction Ischarus had gone. Elistra followed Shauvry without needing encouragement. Semeion quickly jogged alongside Thana in the final position. Ahead of the party, Ischarus continued to charge hard. As he ran, twice he could swear that he saw a faint outline of a running gnoll ahead of him, although each time it lasted only for an instant. As the faint outline of the gnoll appeared a third time, Ischarus heard the gnoll yell in a guttural voice, [Color=Red]“Cathra soon-Utal”[/Color] A sudden chill came over Ischarus and he could sense the humidity of the surrounding area increase dramatically. A mist began to rise up from the floor, but Ischarus knew there were no turns in the immediate vicinity so he continued to charge hard through the mist. He burst forth on the other side of the mist and wiped the condensation away from his forehead. He also noticed that he was beginning to gain on the gnoll shaman. The gnoll could hear Ischarus behind him and knew that the spell had not worked to slow down his pursuer. The gnoll tried one more spell that it had in its arsenal. [Color=Red]“Granchus,”[/Color] it called out with a glance over its shoulder. Ischarus heard a slight rumble – although not a rumble as if an earthquake or a cave-in were about to happen. Instantly he saw the source of the sound. The moss and the roots of the nearby plants grew forth in a quickened magical growth. The roots and the moss grew so quick as to catch him mid stride. Ischarus attempted to hack at the roots as they grabbed his legs, but the roots grew back even more quickly when he hacked at them. Before he could get a second swing the roots from the ceiling had grown down enough to entangle his arms and suspend him as if he were on a stretching torture device. The roots from above pulled up while the moss and the roots below kept his feet flat against the ground. The gnoll could tell from the sound that its spell had worked. The shaman stopped his retreat and approached Ischarus for a moment. [Color=Red]“You lose this time, surface dweller.”[/Color] Ischarus breathed heavily and struggled to keep from being torn in two. [Color=LightBlue]“You better run, dog-man. This spell can’t last forever, and when it ends I’ll be after you.”[/Color] The look in Ischarus’ eyes must have been enough to convince the gnoll to turn tail and flee. The shaman quickly spun around and scampered down the tunnel, leaving Ischarus to struggle against the plant growth. A full half minute of struggling later Ischarus could hear the sound of horses coming up from behind. Ischarus heard the familiar voice of Rhema. [Color=PaleGreen]“Ischarus? Is that you?”[/Color] In a more panicked voice once she figured out that it was indeed Ischarus she yelled, [Color=PaleGreen]“Are you injured?”[/Color] She left Shauvry and ran to the edge of the plant growth. Shauvry slowed and stayed about twenty feet behind Rhema. Ischarus groaned under the strain of the plants but managed to add, [Color=LightBlue]“I’m uninjured, although the gnoll got away. He better hope I don’t catch up to him another day!”[/Color] Semeion approached slowly and tried to comfort Ischarus. [Color=Plum]“If it makes you feel any better, Ischarus, the magic is nearly spent. A few more seconds and you’ll be freed of the magical trap.”[/Color] Ischarus groaned as Semeion spoke. As predicted, about ten seconds later the plants began to ease their strain on Ischarus’ midsection. The roots and the moss began to recede back into the walls of the tunnel. Ischarus was finally able to lower his arms, and upon being free he dropped to the ground and doubled over. Rhema ran to his side. [Color=PaleGreen]“Ischarus,”[/Color] she said with the tone of a worried lover, [Color=PaleGreen]“Are you sure you are not injured?”[/Color] Ischarus nodded as he lay doubled over in pain. [Color=LightBlue]“I’m fine, just a bit overstretched. I’m all cramped up now, I’ll need a bit of a rest.”[/Color] Semeion smiled as he looked down at the struggling man. He remembered Rhema’s earlier words about Ischarus and magic. This time, magic had won. [Sblock=Color Free Speech Section] Chapter Two: INTO THE DEPTHS BETWEEN HERE AND THERE The party saddled up just before dawn the next morning and managed to escape the other side of the small town before the sun crested over the horizon. Each of them felt a bit on the weary and tired side already, but Semeion understood this to be a normal feeling for the morning the party headed into Quehalost. As the sun rose, Semeion looked for the first time to the south and saw the massive mountain range rising up out of the ground. Ischarus smiled as he noticed where Semeion’s attention rested. He spoke, breaking Semeion’s concentration. “They say that the good gods of the world drove the mountains up on the northern and eastern border of Quehalost to keep its denizens in. I’m sure there is some truth to that, because the mountains are nearly impassable via an overland route. There are a few places where they say that it is possible to pass when the weather is right. But for the most part the best way past the mountains is to go through them underground or over them in the air. Even then the air is so thin because the mountains are so tall that an aerial route is not always open. Semeion looked to his right towards Ischarus as he explained the next portion of their trip. Elistra and Thana walked side by side behind Shauvry. “And by ‘through them’ I assume you mean under them?” Semeion asked in reply. Ischarus smiled. “Indeed. In traveling under the mountains we can stay away from the cold winds of the mountain tops while enjoying the subtle warmth of the hot springs rumored to be deep in the ground. The tunnels are passable for the most part, but only to those with their wits about them. I doubt many animals or mindless minions could navigate the passageways successfully without it being completely luck.” Semeion looked ahead at their route. “It isn’t the mindless minions that I am worried about. We’ll be without the light of day to protect us down there. And don’t they typically say that the deep places of the earth contain more evil than the places where the light of the sun can reach?” Rhema chuckled from the front of the group as she eavesdropped on the conversation of the men. “That’s what Ischarus is for, dear. His sword has been able to fend off any attempts of foul play by the denizens of the mountain depths so far. Of course, we have a route that takes a bit longer to navigate but allows us to stay away from the majority of the truly deep passageways. We try to be safe. After all, if we don’t even get into Quehalost, how can we even hope to change the land and bring justice to its most unholy ground?” Ischarus replied quickly on the heels of Rhema’s speech. “The worst opponent we ever face is a few random gnolls. You need to be careful of their shamans; they wield some powerful magic. But for the most part their fighters can be handled by my threats and Rhema’s tongue. With the addition of your magical powers we should have an even better advantage over them.” Semeion looked once more toward the imposing mountains. Rhema added to Semeion’s thoughts as she said, “Remember, Semeion. We’ve made this trip what seems like countless times. The mountain deep is not what you should fear. The powers of Quehalost that are contained by the mountains are what should be feared. When we get to the other side you’ll have cause to truly be afraid. There isn’t a single time that I enter that land that I don’t get shivers up and down my back when I exit the underground mountain passage.” Semeion didn’t reply back. He merely looked ahead at the coming mountains. He realized that Rhema’s words were originally meant to ease his mind about spending so much time underground. Instead, they only brought home the reality of how dangerous this mission was which he had signed on. It seemed like death had haunted him from the time that his master was consumed by the dragon. Before that life-changing trip his life had seemed so enjoyable. Suddenly he discovered that the life of a wizard was much more serious than the life of a wizard’s apprentice. After several hours of riding the mountains drew much more close. The horses were now forced to pick their way toward the mountains along deer trails, for no right mind would conceive of making roads this close to the mountains of Quehalost. This meant that they traveled in a single file line with Shauvry leading the way and Thana in the back learning the route. This marching order settled just fine with Semeion’s stomach. The ground had taken to a significant climb as the party approached the looming mountains. Their peaks were tall and quite pointed, not at all like the rounded hills near Reignsburg that Semeion was accustomed to. The closer Semeion drew to the mountains the more the mountain spires reminded him of a large portcullis drawn across the land. He remembered the story that Ischarus had told him about the mountains being drawn up out of the land as a defense against the evil forces. This close to the tall spires, Ischarus’ creation myth seemed all the more plausible. Another hour in the shadow of the mountain spires led them slowly to a large yawning cavern in the side of the mountain. There was a small trickle of water that flowed out of the mouth of the cave and down the outside of the mountain. From this position on the side of the mountain the party was able to look northward into the land. They could only barely make out the town of Scarhaus where they had spent the night on account of the fog nestled up against the mountain. Semeion was able to trace the trickle of water down the mountain, however. The water flowed out of the cave and over the edge of the narrow trail the horses had found. Once over the edge of the trail, the trickle of water plummeted several hundred feet into a small lake nestled among the trees. The lake had not been visible except from above since the vegetation around the water’s edge was so dense. Semeion looked up from the lake and felt himself dizzied by the realization of how high they had come as they picked their way along the deer trails. Rhema pulled back on Shauvry’s reigns to bring the horse to a stop. Ischarus mirrored Rhema’s stop and turned to explain to Semeion as he dismounted. “We go by foot from here, Semeion, though we’ll lead our horses. We’ll need them on the other side. The caverns are low in some places and many of the ceilings have edges that could kill you if you are not careful about it. But if we go by foot we won’t have to worry about it. Besides, Shauvry likes to lead when we ride. When we go by foot, I can take the lead without having Shauvry get made at the fact that Elistra is in front of her.” Semeion nodded and watched as Ischarus ascended into the darkness of the cave. Rhema lightly tugged on Shauvry’s reigns and her horse began to follow her into the cave. Thana, however, had not been through this routine before. She was considerably hesitant to enter into the cave and leave the sun behind. Semeion sensed the hesitation from the horse and turned back to encourage her. “I know, girl. I don’t particularly like the idea either. But they’ve done this many times before. You’ve just got to trust me on this one.” Semeion spoke softly while trying to coax the horse to move forward into the cave. Thana didn’t budge; she wasn’t having anything to do with the underground tunnel. Semeion turned around to peer into the cave, but it was clear that neither Ischarus nor Rhema had noticed his lagging behind. Semeion turned around once more and lifted his hand up to stroke the horse on the side of her neck. Thana instinctively shifted her weight forward so as to lean her neck onto Semeion’s shoulder. As she leaned forward she stepped to balance her weight. Semeion patted his horse on the neck and coaxed her some more. “C’mon, girl. You can do this with me. I don’t know what I’m getting us into, but Shauvry and Elistra have learned to trust Ischarus and Rhema. You can trust me on this, I won’t lead you astray.” Slowly Thana allowed herself to be led into the cavern, only once hesitating at the sudden drop in temperature. Semeion also noticed how damp the air was inside the cavern, which of course didn’t help the cool feeling that surrounded them. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness of the cavern he spotted Ischarus and Rhema about 50 paces in front of him. Ischarus had stopped far enough into the cave so that the outside light couldn’t be seen from the inside of the cave. He struck his flint and steel together and managed to catch a spark. Slowly he lifted the spark to the wick of his lantern and raised the lantern up to the level of his head. As Semeion approached the other two he could tell that further down the tunnel there were several more tunnels that plunged deeper into the mountain. The tunnels each looked to be naturally made by condensing moisture that joined with long diverted underground springs. The tunnels looked old and not particularly well traveled. Semeion smiled slightly as he approached Ischarus. “Your flint and steel work well enough. But if you are even in a pinch for emergency light, all you need to do is ask. I can get you as much light as that lantern can put out. Of course my light won’t last near as long, either.” Ischarus replied, “I’ll remember to keep that in mind. Any other tricks you can do that I should know about?” Semeion smiled once more. “Not that I can think of. But as they come up, I’ll let you know.” Rhema giggled at Semeion’s response. Both Ischarus and Semeion turned towards the sound of Rhema’s giggle and Rhema gave Semeion and approving grin until she spied Ischarus looking at her too. As soon as she saw Ischarus her face took on a false serious look as if to say to Ischarus that she certainly wasn’t giggling at Semeion’s playful response to Ischarus. Ischarus held the lantern in front of himself and led the party to the back of the cavern. He had come this way often enough to know which tunnel to take. No sooner than Ischarus turned into the tunnel than his ears were accosted with a hiss and the skittering of several feet moving in a rhythmic dance. With a flash Ischarus had his blade drawn and his hand pushed Elistra back into the main tunnel. Rhema reached out to stop Shauvry from rearing back as Elistra backed out of the tunnel. Rhema called out to Ischarus at the sudden movement. “Ischarus, what is it?” Before Ischarus could reply, his eyes caught a flash of movement and he directed the beam of his lantern in the direction of the movement. What he saw made a grim smile fall upon his lips as he lowered the tip of his blade to a defensive position in front of his chest. Ischarus stared into what seemed like a thousand points of light – a point for each fractal eye on the face of the large spider that crouched before him. The spider held its position, ready to pounce at the slightest movement; and it looked unhindered by the sudden brightness of the light. As Ischarus prepared himself, the spider uncoiled its legs and sprang out in a mighty leap towards the sword wielding Ischarus. As the spider uncoiled from its crouch, Ischarus prepared for an attack he faced many times in coming through this tunnel. This was no ordinary spider; it was magically enhanced to grow to unbelievable proportions. This spider had a leg span of slightly more than five feet. Its fangs were as long as daggers and quite capable of delivering its poisonous venom through Ischarus’ armor. The fangs shot straight for the face of Ischarus, but the fighter crouched and raised his shield to deflect the spider’s blow. The fangs of the spider only found the unsatisfying taste of the cold steel of the shield as Ischarus used the spider’s momentum against the creature. As Ischarus crouched, the spider slid over top of his shield and landed on the other side. Unfortunately for Ischarus, now the creature was between himself and his allies. Ischarus returned the spider’s strike with a blow of his own. Before the spider could turn and face Ischarus, the sharp steel blade hacked downwards in a sweeping strike against the rear legs of the large beast. The blade caught the first legs and snapped through the hard exoskeleton. Fragments of the spiked chitin sprayed across the tunnel. The blow carried Ischarus’ sword through the final rear leg on the other side of the spider’s body and cracked the large arachnid’s exoskeleton covering that leg. The beast pivoted in pain as Ischarus realized that he had impaired the creature and deprived it of the full use of most of its legs. “Gnolls, Rhema. There are gnolls about in the tunnel today,” Ischarus replied as he watched the spider turn and prepare another strike. He was able to recover enough from his devastating blow to plan a counterattack against the strike that he knew was coming. Rhema turned the corner only a fraction of a second before the spider pounced again. Seeing the large spider focusing on Ischarus, Rhema focused her thoughts much like she had against the half-orc in the Cachinnating Roadhouse a few nights before. The spider crouched in what Ischarus thought was a precursor to a strike until he looked and saw Rhema approaching the beast from behind. As Rhema approach slowly the beast crumpled to the floor under pain. A few seconds later the spider collapsed completely in a motionless lump on the floor. Its remaining legs lay in awkward positions in varying directions from under the massive spider body. Ischarus spun on his heels as he saw Rhema defeat the large spider. He held his lantern out in front of him and thoroughly shined the light throughout the immediate tunnel. When he was convinced there was nothing to see, he stowed his shield and picked up the lantern with his left hand. In his right hand he once more drew his sword. Rhema saw Ischarus take an aggressive stance and scan the tunnel ahead. Suddenly Ischarus sprang into a run away from her. As Ischarus began to run frantically down the hall Rhema yelled after him. “Where are you going?” Her eyes widened as he quickly ran away from her. Ischarus called back over his shoulder, “Bring Elistra and Shauvry down the tunnel. That was a shaman’s intimate, and where the intimate is the shaman is not far. I’m going after the shaman before he can get back to his village as raise help!” Rhema exhaled heavily at Ischarus’ rash charge. She quickly turned to face Semeion, who had come up behind her to support her in case the fight with the spider had gone poorly. “What’s going on?” Semeion asked innocently, hearing the frustration in her sigh. Rhema smiled as she grabbed Shauvry’s reigns. “That fool,” she said with a laugh in her voice, “is headed after a gnoll shaman. He’s right in that he had to hurry, but I wish just once he’d at least think before charging down tunnel.” Semeion grabbed the reigns of Thana and added with some concern, “Will he need our help?” Rhema nodded in the affirmative. “We should hurry. Push Elistra into the tunnel after I take Shauvry. The shamans fight with magic and that is Ischarus’ weak point.” Rhema began to jog down the tunnel, careful to lead Shauvry away from any major rocks and holes on the ground that could pose a danger to the horse’s legs. Semeion pulled Elistra into the tunnel and with a swat on the hind-quarters he sent Elistra into a trot behind Shauvry. He turned to encourage Thana, but she appeared to understand the need for urgency. Without any encouragement needed she began to trot through the tunnel following Elistra. Ischarus charged down the tunnel with much more speed than Rhema, Semeion, and the trio of horses. Within seconds the light from Ischarus’ lantern was out of view and Ischarus was a turn or two ahead of the rest of the party. With the light source gone, Rhema slowed. “We can’t follow him quickly if we are blind,” she added in a tone that hinted at disgust. In the darkness, Semeion crept up slowly behind Rhema. Unable to see, he placed his hand on Elistra’s side to feel his way forward. Passing Elistra, his touch startled Rhema from out of the darkness. Rhema let out a simple yelp at being startled. Semeion quickly shushed her and added, “I have a solution to our problem. Give me the cords at the end of Shauvry’s reigns.” Rhema complied quickly and she could hear the quiet magical utterings of her new friend. Semeion said a simple word, “Arack.” The leather cording at the end of the reigns lit up as if it were a lantern in its own right. The tunnel was now lit and Rhema could see several paces in front and behind of her. Rhema smiled and reached her hand behind Semeion’s neck to pull him forward. Stepping up to her tiptoes so she could reach his face with her own lips she gave Semeion a kiss on the cheek. “I knew I liked you from the moment I saw you. It’s the simple things like this that will make you a valuable member to our team. You don’t know how many times I have been left in the dark by Ischarus, and I don’t mean intellectually!” Semeion blushed at the gesture of the kiss and smiled. He couldn’t find the words to utter in response, so he merely nodded as if to probe Rhema forward. She smiled in return, understanding that she had slightly embarrassed him. She turned quickly and began to jog once again in the direction Ischarus had gone. Elistra followed Shauvry without needing encouragement. Semeion quickly jogged alongside Thana in the final position. Ahead of the party, Ischarus continued to charge hard. As he ran, twice he could swear that he saw a faint outline of a running gnoll ahead of him, although each time it lasted only for an instant. As the faint outline of the gnoll appeared a third time, Ischarus heard the gnoll yell in a guttural voice, “Cathra soon-Utal” A sudden chill came over Ischarus and he could sense the humidity of the surrounding area increase dramatically. A mist began to rise up from the floor, but Ischarus knew there were no turns in the immediate vicinity so he continued to charge hard through the mist. He burst forth on the other side of the mist and wiped the condensation away from his forehead. He also noticed that he was beginning to gain on the gnoll shaman. The gnoll could hear Ischarus behind him and knew that the spell had not worked to slow down his pursuer. The gnoll tried one more spell that it had in its arsenal. “Granchus,” it called out with a glance over its shoulder. Ischarus heard a slight rumble – although not a rumble as if an earthquake or a cave-in were about to happen. Instantly he saw the source of the sound. The moss and the roots of the nearby plants grew forth in a quickened magical growth. The roots and the moss grew so quick as to catch him mid stride. Ischarus attempted to hack at the roots as they grabbed his legs, but the roots grew back even more quickly when he hacked at them. Before he could get a second swing the roots from the ceiling had grown down enough to entangle his arms and suspend him as if he were on a stretching torture device. The roots from above pulled up while the moss and the roots below kept his feet flat against the ground. The gnoll could tell from the sound that its spell had worked. The shaman stopped his retreat and approached Ischarus for a moment. “You lose this time, surface dweller.” Ischarus breathed heavily and struggled to keep from being torn in two. “You better run, dog-man. This spell can’t last forever, and when it ends I’ll be after you.” The look in Ischarus’ eyes must have been enough to convince the gnoll to turn tail and flee. The shaman quickly spun around and scampered down the tunnel, leaving Ischarus to struggle against the plant growth. A full half minute of struggling later Ischarus could hear the sound of horses coming up from behind. Ischarus heard the familiar voice of Rhema. “Ischarus? Is that you?” In a more panicked voice once she figured out that it was indeed Ischarus she yelled, “Are you injured?” She left Shauvry and ran to the edge of the plant growth. Shauvry slowed and stayed about twenty feet behind Rhema. Ischarus groaned under the strain of the plants but managed to add, “I’m uninjured, although the gnoll got away. He better hope I don’t catch up to him another day!” Semeion approached slowly and tried to comfort Ischarus. “If it makes you feel any better, Ischarus, the magic is nearly spent. A few more seconds and you’ll be freed of the magical trap.” Ischarus groaned as Semeion spoke. As predicted, about ten seconds later the plants began to ease their strain on Ischarus’ midsection. The roots and the moss began to recede back into the walls of the tunnel. Ischarus was finally able to lower his arms, and upon being free he dropped to the ground and doubled over. Rhema ran to his side. “Ischarus,” she said with the tone of a worried lover, “Are you sure you are not injured?” Ischarus nodded as he lay doubled over in pain. “I’m fine, just a bit overstretched. I’m all cramped up now, I’ll need a bit of a rest.” Semeion smiled as he looked down at the struggling man. He remembered Rhema’s earlier words about Ischarus and magic. This time, magic had won. [/Sblock] [/QUOTE]
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