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<blockquote data-quote="the Jester" data-source="post: 2032114" data-attributes="member: 1210"><p><strong>The Trap Closes</strong></p><p></p><p><em><strong>4/18/98 O.L.G., 1: 50 p.m., Port Lofrax, Forinthia</strong></em></p><p></p><p>The stage was set. The players were moving to the endgame. Dexter and his companions were hustling towards the address that Farenth’s defeated minions had given them. <em>Sheila!</em> Dexter thought desperately. <em>I won’t let him hurt you!</em> </p><p></p><p>Meanwhile, Chanticleer and her crew of pirates were moving towards the same place. They fully expected that a fair fight would be their end; and so they had no intention of giving a fair fight. Vosh had even wrapped himself in serpents, made friendly by his druidic powers. They might prove an invaluable asset in battle- or sufficient distraction to allow an escape. Realistically, he was ready for either one. </p><p></p><p>And the prime mover of all this? Farenth Whiteshield, fallen paladin and madman, later acclaimed as the Son of the Darkness in mockery of Dexter, paced nervously back and forth. He glanced at the supine form of the woman strapped to the altar of the Black Sun and grinned evilly. <em>Oh, I have more than one surprise for you, Dexter,</em> he promised silently, and then cackled aloud. </p><p></p><p>***</p><p></p><p><strong><em>2 p.m.</em></strong></p><p></p><p>“There’s the house,” whispered Lochenvare as the more heroic band of pcs approached the building. </p><p></p><p>It had the sort of old, creepy house look that only big houses with far too few people living in them can have. The house itself perched on a rise above the beach. The yard was overgrown, choked with weeds and clods of dirt. A week-dead cat, buzzing with flies, lay near the entrance. The building’s paint was peeling, already half-gone, and it looked like a few more good storms would throw the whole thing down in ruins.</p><p></p><p>“It’s too quiet,” murmured Malford the Magnificent. “Maybe I should scout it out.”</p><p></p><p>“Maybe,” Dexter grunted, “but we can’t waste too much time- who <em>knows</em> what Farenth’s doing to her in there!”</p><p></p><p>Rajah flexed his fingers. “No matter what he’s done to this woman,” the Tiger Prince growled, “let’s ensure that he can’t do it again.” His grin resembled that of a great hunting cat- an apt simile, as he was raised by tigers. </p><p></p><p>“Ex-<em>cuuuuuse</em> me!” cried a voice. “Did you say <em>Farenth?</em>” </p><p></p><p>The heroes whirled, blades rasping from their scabbards. Lochenvare brought his peryton-horned trident out. Lady Charlotte cranked back her crossbow and surreptitiously dropped a bolt in the slot.</p><p></p><p>Traipsing from the side yard came a young human man. He was garbed in outrageous pink-dyed leather armor. He minced towards them coquettishly, smiling an impish smile, and said, “Farenth sends his regards! If-“</p><p></p><p>The next word he would have spoken never emerged. Even as he began to parlay with the group, Lady Charlotte, paladin of Galador, leveled her crossbow at him and shot him in the middle of the chest, instantly piercing his heart and killing him. Seth fell in a gurgle of blood.</p><p></p><p><em>”What are you DOING?!”</em> cried Dexter.</p><p></p><p>“What?” Charlotte seemed entirely nonplussed. “He was working for Farenth.” She shrugged, unconcerned.</p><p></p><p>“We don’t know that!” Malford grated. “And even if he is- I mean was- he might be a dupe!”</p><p></p><p>“Too late now,” smirked Lochenvare, and gave Charlotte a thumbs-up.</p><p></p><p>“When this is all over, we need to talk,” snapped Dexter at Lady Charlotte, who looked profoundly confused at the others. But then the group cautiously entered the house. </p><p></p><p>***</p><p></p><p><em><strong>2:09 p.m.</strong></em></p><p></p><p>The villains sidled up to the house only minutes later. They had taken longer to arrive than Seth had by virtue of a quick stop to thresh out their deadly <em>rope trick</em> plan. Now, as the house came into view, they moved very carefully indeed.</p><p></p><p>“They don’t even know me. I’ll go see whether they’re visible,” suggested Vosh. </p><p></p><p>“No,” Delilah said sharply. “If we split up, we die.” </p><p></p><p>The others nodded. After a rapid discussion, they applied the <em>dust of disappearance</em> and all joined hands. Then, carefully, they edged their way up to the house.</p><p></p><p>“Ach,” commented Urdor Darkwind.</p><p></p><p>The body of Seth sprawled before the porch. From the street it was hidden by the overgrown lawn. “Alas,” Delilah said sadly, “poor Seth, we hardly knew him. Yet he seemed almost one of us...” She heaved a sigh. “Well, to the <em>rope trick,</em> then,” she added, and cast her spell. </p><p></p><p>Eagerly, the villains clambered into the extradimensional space created by the conjuress. The group began drinking what potions they had, activating magic items with lasting durations and stretching their muscles. They were, in short, extremely ready. They could see through a sort of dimensional window; when the heroes came out of the house, the pirates would ambush and slay them, emerging unseen from that same window, which hung in the air. And movement would not be a problem- not with the flying ability they had gained from the potions. Striking from an unexpected direction, unseen; they should be able to overcome any advantage Dexter and Malford and their crew might be able to seize.</p><p></p><p>Of them all, only Akakathan had second thoughts. He was no evil mastermind, or vessel of a dark power; he had no vested interest in slaying Dexter. He knew, though, that to abandon the group now would lead them to turn on him, to hunt him down and kill him. Maybe <em>after</em> they killed Dexter... He mulled his options desperately; he could not see a good one.</p><p></p><p>***</p><p></p><p><em><strong>2:23 p.m.</strong></em></p><p></p><p>Slowly, with Malford warily checking every inch of hallway, every door and every room for traps, the heroes crept through the house of Farenth. Here and there they could see an occasional dark stain on the floor- quite possibly blood. Most of the house was abandoned, with but a few ancient and brittle curtains and rotten tables to be found. Bare shelves, a fireplace long cold- and finally, after over half an hour of searching, a narrow door leading to a claustrophobic staircase that ended at a thick, stone door. </p><p></p><p>***</p><p></p><p><em><strong>2:59 p.m.</strong></em></p><p></p><p>Farenth gloated. His heart sang with joy; his <em>ring of spell storing</em> was going to prove the perfect tool for his revenge. He chuckled as he saw the door to the center of his trap start to open at last. </p><p></p><p><em>But where were the pirates?</em></p><p></p><p>***</p><p></p><p><em><strong>3:04 p.m.</strong></em></p><p></p><p>“I don’t like it.” Vosh’s voice disturbed the stillness inside the <em>rope trick,</em> seemingly emerging from nowhere. “They’re taking too long.”</p><p></p><p>“You’re right.” This was Akakathan, speaking up for the first time all day. “Our potions won’t last forever, and when they do, we lose much of our advantage.” </p><p></p><p>“Perhaps we should attack, then,” suggested Vosh. “Maybe it’s time we took the fight to them, while we still have the advantage.</p><p></p><p>“No, we should stay here,” argued Delilah invisibly. “We’ve got a great plan, if we go charging headlong we’re going to charge headlong into disaster. </p><p></p><p>“Bah! We’ve got the best kind of invisibility you can get, we can get away by flying, and most of us are undead! Why, if we have trouble, we can split up and meet again underwater- they certainly can’t mount an extended pursuit <em>there.</em>” This was the dark cleric Urdor again.</p><p></p><p>“Whereas you don’t need to breathe, and I’m perfectly at home in the water.” Akakathan, as a merellin, could shapechange into a dolphin-like form. </p><p></p><p>“Well, the decision is really the captain’s,” Delilah said. “Captain? What do you think?”</p><p></p><p>Silence.</p><p></p><p>Followed by more silence.</p><p></p><p>“Chanti?” asked Vosh tentatively.</p><p></p><p>***</p><p></p><p><em><strong>3:00 p.m.</strong></em></p><p></p><p>Let no man say that Lochenvare showed fear that day. With a surly grin on his face, his trident clutched in one hand, he cast open that fateful door at the bottom of the stairs. It stuck for a moment, then gave way, and light washed in over them from torches in sconces on all four walls. Lochenvare advanced a few paces to allow his companions in, surveying the strange dark chapel he found himself in.</p><p></p><p>“Good afternoon,” purred a voice, and Dexter gasped.</p><p></p><p><em>It’s him!</em> the Son of the Light thought, and reached out to his homunculus, looking through its eyes. Blind himself, he had not yet seen what the others, stunned, were taking in.</p><p></p><p>They were in a dark chapel to Bleak. The room itself was about 20’ high, with a central dais raised about 5’ from the floor. Upon this dais was a festering altar of black stone, strangely warped-looking about the sides but with a flat top. The flat portion was of sufficient size to hold manacles spaced or a man or elf; and spreadeagled naked on this slab, locked in place, lay the supine form of Sheila the Confessor, for whom Dexter had come. His heart leapt at the thought of rescuing her. Next to the corrupt altar of darkness stood a dark-haired man bursting with malevolent glee. Dexter recognized him instantly as Farenth. Draped across all the walls were great black tapestries. Not visible to the eye but only to the touch, the Black Sun of Bleak was stitched in the center of them all. The floor was muffled with black cloth- but despite its dark color, some stains were visible in it. </p><p></p><p>“Farenth!” cried Dexter, “Let her go!”</p><p></p><p>“Come and get her,” Farenth retorted, rubbing his hands together. He let loose a sinister laugh. </p><p></p><p>“Be careful!” urged Malford, and the group started maneuvering into the chamber, spreading out to take Farenth from all sides. Their foe leisurely plucked a dagger from the side of the altar and pointed the tip at Sheila.</p><p></p><p>The confessor, bound to the altar, let out a desperate moan.</p><p></p><p>“We seem to be at an impasse,” Farenth commented. “If you come closer, I kill her.” Our heroes drew up short.</p><p></p><p>“What do you want?” Dexter demanded. Farenth shrugged and grinned at him. </p><p></p><p>“He’s up to something!” warned Malford. <em>But what? He doesn’t look like he’s casting a spell...</em></p><p></p><p>Then, suddenly, Charlotte gave out a terrible scream of pain as blood splashed down her arm and side. Suddenly there was a great rent in her armor and she staggered back. To her horror, she found herself unable to <em>lay on hands.</em></p><p></p><p>”What...?” Lochenvare started, and gasped as an invisible blade stabbed into the seam in his armor at the knee. With a grunt, he staggered back and stabbed blindly with his trident. “Watch out, there’s someone invisible!” he shouted, limping on his wounded leg.</p><p></p><p><em>”Improved</em> invisible,” Malford corrected, drawing both his blades.</p><p></p><p></p><p><em><strong>Next Time:</strong></em> Dexter’s party vs. Chanti’s party at last! It’s on- prepare for massive amounts of death and trickery!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="the Jester, post: 2032114, member: 1210"] [b]The Trap Closes[/b] [i][b]4/18/98 O.L.G., 1: 50 p.m., Port Lofrax, Forinthia[/b][/i][b][/b] The stage was set. The players were moving to the endgame. Dexter and his companions were hustling towards the address that Farenth’s defeated minions had given them. [i]Sheila![/i] Dexter thought desperately. [i]I won’t let him hurt you![/i] Meanwhile, Chanticleer and her crew of pirates were moving towards the same place. They fully expected that a fair fight would be their end; and so they had no intention of giving a fair fight. Vosh had even wrapped himself in serpents, made friendly by his druidic powers. They might prove an invaluable asset in battle- or sufficient distraction to allow an escape. Realistically, he was ready for either one. And the prime mover of all this? Farenth Whiteshield, fallen paladin and madman, later acclaimed as the Son of the Darkness in mockery of Dexter, paced nervously back and forth. He glanced at the supine form of the woman strapped to the altar of the Black Sun and grinned evilly. [i]Oh, I have more than one surprise for you, Dexter,[/i] he promised silently, and then cackled aloud. *** [b][i]2 p.m.[/i][/b] “There’s the house,” whispered Lochenvare as the more heroic band of pcs approached the building. It had the sort of old, creepy house look that only big houses with far too few people living in them can have. The house itself perched on a rise above the beach. The yard was overgrown, choked with weeds and clods of dirt. A week-dead cat, buzzing with flies, lay near the entrance. The building’s paint was peeling, already half-gone, and it looked like a few more good storms would throw the whole thing down in ruins. “It’s too quiet,” murmured Malford the Magnificent. “Maybe I should scout it out.” “Maybe,” Dexter grunted, “but we can’t waste too much time- who [i]knows[/i] what Farenth’s doing to her in there!” Rajah flexed his fingers. “No matter what he’s done to this woman,” the Tiger Prince growled, “let’s ensure that he can’t do it again.” His grin resembled that of a great hunting cat- an apt simile, as he was raised by tigers. “Ex-[i]cuuuuuse[/i] me!” cried a voice. “Did you say [i]Farenth?[/i]” The heroes whirled, blades rasping from their scabbards. Lochenvare brought his peryton-horned trident out. Lady Charlotte cranked back her crossbow and surreptitiously dropped a bolt in the slot. Traipsing from the side yard came a young human man. He was garbed in outrageous pink-dyed leather armor. He minced towards them coquettishly, smiling an impish smile, and said, “Farenth sends his regards! If-“ The next word he would have spoken never emerged. Even as he began to parlay with the group, Lady Charlotte, paladin of Galador, leveled her crossbow at him and shot him in the middle of the chest, instantly piercing his heart and killing him. Seth fell in a gurgle of blood. [i]”What are you DOING?!”[/i] cried Dexter. “What?” Charlotte seemed entirely nonplussed. “He was working for Farenth.” She shrugged, unconcerned. “We don’t know that!” Malford grated. “And even if he is- I mean was- he might be a dupe!” “Too late now,” smirked Lochenvare, and gave Charlotte a thumbs-up. “When this is all over, we need to talk,” snapped Dexter at Lady Charlotte, who looked profoundly confused at the others. But then the group cautiously entered the house. *** [i][b]2:09 p.m.[/b][/i][b][/b] The villains sidled up to the house only minutes later. They had taken longer to arrive than Seth had by virtue of a quick stop to thresh out their deadly [i]rope trick[/i] plan. Now, as the house came into view, they moved very carefully indeed. “They don’t even know me. I’ll go see whether they’re visible,” suggested Vosh. “No,” Delilah said sharply. “If we split up, we die.” The others nodded. After a rapid discussion, they applied the [i]dust of disappearance[/i] and all joined hands. Then, carefully, they edged their way up to the house. “Ach,” commented Urdor Darkwind. The body of Seth sprawled before the porch. From the street it was hidden by the overgrown lawn. “Alas,” Delilah said sadly, “poor Seth, we hardly knew him. Yet he seemed almost one of us...” She heaved a sigh. “Well, to the [i]rope trick,[/i] then,” she added, and cast her spell. Eagerly, the villains clambered into the extradimensional space created by the conjuress. The group began drinking what potions they had, activating magic items with lasting durations and stretching their muscles. They were, in short, extremely ready. They could see through a sort of dimensional window; when the heroes came out of the house, the pirates would ambush and slay them, emerging unseen from that same window, which hung in the air. And movement would not be a problem- not with the flying ability they had gained from the potions. Striking from an unexpected direction, unseen; they should be able to overcome any advantage Dexter and Malford and their crew might be able to seize. Of them all, only Akakathan had second thoughts. He was no evil mastermind, or vessel of a dark power; he had no vested interest in slaying Dexter. He knew, though, that to abandon the group now would lead them to turn on him, to hunt him down and kill him. Maybe [i]after[/i] they killed Dexter... He mulled his options desperately; he could not see a good one. *** [i][b]2:23 p.m.[/b][/i][b][/b] Slowly, with Malford warily checking every inch of hallway, every door and every room for traps, the heroes crept through the house of Farenth. Here and there they could see an occasional dark stain on the floor- quite possibly blood. Most of the house was abandoned, with but a few ancient and brittle curtains and rotten tables to be found. Bare shelves, a fireplace long cold- and finally, after over half an hour of searching, a narrow door leading to a claustrophobic staircase that ended at a thick, stone door. *** [i][b]2:59 p.m.[/b][/i][b][/b] Farenth gloated. His heart sang with joy; his [i]ring of spell storing[/i] was going to prove the perfect tool for his revenge. He chuckled as he saw the door to the center of his trap start to open at last. [i]But where were the pirates?[/i] *** [i][b]3:04 p.m.[/b][/i][b][/b] “I don’t like it.” Vosh’s voice disturbed the stillness inside the [i]rope trick,[/i] seemingly emerging from nowhere. “They’re taking too long.” “You’re right.” This was Akakathan, speaking up for the first time all day. “Our potions won’t last forever, and when they do, we lose much of our advantage.” “Perhaps we should attack, then,” suggested Vosh. “Maybe it’s time we took the fight to them, while we still have the advantage. “No, we should stay here,” argued Delilah invisibly. “We’ve got a great plan, if we go charging headlong we’re going to charge headlong into disaster. “Bah! We’ve got the best kind of invisibility you can get, we can get away by flying, and most of us are undead! Why, if we have trouble, we can split up and meet again underwater- they certainly can’t mount an extended pursuit [i]there.[/i]” This was the dark cleric Urdor again. “Whereas you don’t need to breathe, and I’m perfectly at home in the water.” Akakathan, as a merellin, could shapechange into a dolphin-like form. “Well, the decision is really the captain’s,” Delilah said. “Captain? What do you think?” Silence. Followed by more silence. “Chanti?” asked Vosh tentatively. *** [i][b]3:00 p.m.[/b][/i][b][/b] Let no man say that Lochenvare showed fear that day. With a surly grin on his face, his trident clutched in one hand, he cast open that fateful door at the bottom of the stairs. It stuck for a moment, then gave way, and light washed in over them from torches in sconces on all four walls. Lochenvare advanced a few paces to allow his companions in, surveying the strange dark chapel he found himself in. “Good afternoon,” purred a voice, and Dexter gasped. [i]It’s him![/i] the Son of the Light thought, and reached out to his homunculus, looking through its eyes. Blind himself, he had not yet seen what the others, stunned, were taking in. They were in a dark chapel to Bleak. The room itself was about 20’ high, with a central dais raised about 5’ from the floor. Upon this dais was a festering altar of black stone, strangely warped-looking about the sides but with a flat top. The flat portion was of sufficient size to hold manacles spaced or a man or elf; and spreadeagled naked on this slab, locked in place, lay the supine form of Sheila the Confessor, for whom Dexter had come. His heart leapt at the thought of rescuing her. Next to the corrupt altar of darkness stood a dark-haired man bursting with malevolent glee. Dexter recognized him instantly as Farenth. Draped across all the walls were great black tapestries. Not visible to the eye but only to the touch, the Black Sun of Bleak was stitched in the center of them all. The floor was muffled with black cloth- but despite its dark color, some stains were visible in it. “Farenth!” cried Dexter, “Let her go!” “Come and get her,” Farenth retorted, rubbing his hands together. He let loose a sinister laugh. “Be careful!” urged Malford, and the group started maneuvering into the chamber, spreading out to take Farenth from all sides. Their foe leisurely plucked a dagger from the side of the altar and pointed the tip at Sheila. The confessor, bound to the altar, let out a desperate moan. “We seem to be at an impasse,” Farenth commented. “If you come closer, I kill her.” Our heroes drew up short. “What do you want?” Dexter demanded. Farenth shrugged and grinned at him. “He’s up to something!” warned Malford. [i]But what? He doesn’t look like he’s casting a spell...[/i] Then, suddenly, Charlotte gave out a terrible scream of pain as blood splashed down her arm and side. Suddenly there was a great rent in her armor and she staggered back. To her horror, she found herself unable to [i]lay on hands.[/i] ”What...?” Lochenvare started, and gasped as an invisible blade stabbed into the seam in his armor at the knee. With a grunt, he staggered back and stabbed blindly with his trident. “Watch out, there’s someone invisible!” he shouted, limping on his wounded leg. [i]”Improved[/i] invisible,” Malford corrected, drawing both his blades. [i][b]Next Time:[/b][/i][b][/b] Dexter’s party vs. Chanti’s party at last! It’s on- prepare for massive amounts of death and trickery! [/QUOTE]
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