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Dr. Midnight in the Tomb of Horrors
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<blockquote data-quote="Dr Midnight" data-source="post: 7256" data-attributes="member: 69"><p>Tombstones, Tacky Clothes and The City that Waits </p><p></p><p>Sometime in the course of the evening Silk stole off, perhaps the rogue in him was drawn to the promise of treasure. Although Dr. Midnight was upset at the loss of Roundy, the rest of the Band convinced him that most likely Silk was lost to the Tomb’s evil machinations. Faced with the choice of going through a secret door and continuing on down the hall, Rainsong vehemently argued that they still had four secret doors to travel through and they should move in that direction. It was obvious that she was getting tired of wandering aimlessly through the tomb and wanted this nightmare to end. It definitely seemed this was the right choice as this hallway led through several more secret doors and after going through a mithril door that three bladed weapons were needed to open they came upon the room of pillars mentioned in the riddle given them by the High Priest of Yahr. Surely they were close now. The room of pillars was massive and with each pillar being almost 3 feet wide it was difficult to see very far. Realizing that it might be best to avoid the floor, Skippy cast a fly spell on everyone and the proceeded to fly across the threshold. They were not prepared for the dispelling screen that not only dropped them skidding across the floor, but extinguished their continual light gems. Rainsong and Skippy slid into one of the pillars and both started floating towards the ceiling. Since no one could see anything, all Theran heard was Rainsong talking about bad Magic. Dr. Midnight used the darkness to turn into a bat and fly up towards the ceiling where he proceeded to hang upside down. </p><p></p><p>Theran realized that Rainsong was moving up and away judging by the sound of her voice. He quickly grabbed a rope from his pack and threw it towards where he thought Rainsong was. The rope dropped to the floor and he tried again. Her voice was getting farther away and he cautiously moved closer as his eyes adjusted to the darkness. As he threw his rope up one last time he heard Rainsong scream, and then suddenly cut out. Theran finally got a torch lit and looked up towards the ceiling and saw nothing of Rainsong, but there was another of the green mouth’s He feared that she was lost. Dr. Midnight spied Skippy floating towards another one of the green mouths. He didn’t notice much in the way of panic on Skippy’s face ("Must be all that wacky weed" Dr. Midnight thought) and he watched as Skippy was sucked in through the blackness of the green mouth. Dr. Midnight put one and one together and realized that he was alone with Theran now, and just then the door slammed shut, there was no mechanism located inside the room to open it. He and Theran then moved about the room seeing what was located in this vast room of pillars. They found 3 doors on the same wall as the green mouths and a throne upon which rested a crown and scepter. They also came across an eerie glowing gem around which was scattered bones, clothes and other adventuring gear, apparently individuals that approached the gem were blown apart. Theran and Dr. Midnight stayed away from the gem. </p><p></p><p>Rainsong found herself in the entry hall, stripped of all clothes and personal belongings. She was determined to not let the tomb beat her so she moved back towards the room of pillars. The going was slow in the dark and luckily she remembered where the traps were. Remembering the candelabras in the temple she found a striker and lit one. She made her way to the great mithril door only to find it closed. She pounded and yelled, but to no avail, obviously it’s thickness (about a foot thick) didn’t allow sound to pass through. Realizing that she would need three edged weapons she backtracked to the rooms and passages they hadn’t entered, as she could not recall anything useful in the rooms she had already been in. Coming to the first door she opened it and fell asleep breathing in the gas contained within the room. This would be her last sleep, as the juggernaut she feared rolled over her in her slumber. </p><p></p><p>Meanwhile Skippy was transported to a blank room. A thunderous voice boomed out a warning" Stay in this and starve to death or move through that door and die quickly." Never one to back down from a challenge, rather more appropriately, being Skippy, he immediately walked towards the door, wherein he was immediately assaulted by 18 animated swords. He did the best he could with his magic and actually dropped 8 of them, but the blindingly fast flurry of steel was too much and he died, not 10 feet from Dr. Midnight and Theran who lay just on the other side of the door in the room of pillars. </p><p></p><p>Theran and Dr. Midnight decided to investigate the rooms at the one end and entering the first they found a corpse wrapped in cloth with the skull partially exposed. In the eyesocket of the skull lay a beautiful gem. Perhaps curiosity got the best of these two cats, but upon touching the gem, the mummy animated and Dr. Midnight bolted from the room, fleeing due to magical fear (or so he would have anyone believe). Theran lifted his great maul and engaged this unholy monster. Reaching towards Theran it cast a spell and Theran felt like he had been in the desert for weeks without water. He finally smited the creature and found Dr. Midnight cowering in a corner, tears streaming from his eyes. Tears of fear. It was not the first time the good Dr. had been reduced to a quivering mound. Finally calming him down they moved on to the next room and found a bloody mass of goo with remains of equipment easily identified as having been Skippy’s. Eventually they made their way to the great obsidian throne. Dr. Midnight took out his whip and pulled off the crown and scepter and flung them towards Theran who easily caught them. Examining the scepter they noticed it had one gold and one silver end. He touched the scepter to the crown and was instantly turned to dust. Dr. Midnight was all alone. The voices in his head were almost deafening. Examining the scepter and crown he remembered Rainsong’s persistent reminder that they were looking for a key of silver on silver. Examining the throne Dr. Midnight saw a silver crown inlay and closing his eyes he touched the silver end of the scepter to the crown inlay. He opened his eyes to gleefully discover that he was alive and saw the wall behind the throne sliding downward. Dr. Midnight continued onward "For Justice!" he yelled out to no one. Most likely just so he could drown out the silence. There steps beyond the wall, rainbow colored each made of a different stone. On the third step up lay a gold key. Dr. Midnight took out his trusty whip and again used it to grab the item without touching it. He summoned up the courage (it’s hard to be superheroic without someone present to notice your super-coolness) and moved up the steps. At the top was huge door with a keyhole. Problem was the keyhole looked able to fit either end of the scepter or either of the two keys they had found. Dr .Midnight tried two combinations which both gave him an electrical shock. He then inserted the gold end of the scepter into the door and was instantly transported to the entry hallway, buck-naked and without any equipment, not even his mask. It was chilly. Not remembering exactly where the trap doors were located he stood for awhile scratching his head when he saw people approaching. He looked for a place to hide, but finally turned his back to the Tomb’s entrance and awaited his fate. </p><p></p><p>He heard a woman giggle softly. "Would you like something to cover up?" she asked. "What are you doing, it could be a ruse?" he heard a man’s voice. "Don’t be silly, the Tomb holds no living dangers, and I don’t really see a naked man as much of a threat. Come on Tasgi get out a cloak or something he looks... cold." She giggled again. Dr. Midnight blurted out "Traps." The two newcomers to the Tomb finally made their way to the back of the Tomb by flying and handed Dr. Midnight a cloak which Dr. Midnight quickly ripped and tied a small piece over his eyes. "I am Dr. midnight" he quietly introduced himself. "Do you have any rapiers." The two elves shook their heads and the male, who had red-tinted skin and a shock of red down the middle of his black hair pulled forth a camp-knife from his pack. Dr. Midnight swung it around with a defeated look. "Are you here for Justice?" he asked. "Yeah, sure." The woman responded. "Follow me." Dr. Midnight directed them into the portal after deactivating it’s killing mists. They made their way through the tomb with ease, Dr. Midnight remembering where all the traps were and what doors and passages they needed to journey through. Dr Midnight was very quiet, decked out in a loin-cloth, a cloak and armed with a simple knife. He briefly gave them a rundown of what had happened to him and his friends, mentioning nothing of an individual named Roundy. The two newcomers were named Moritasgus, called Tasgi by the elf-maiden, Tariel. These two had journey from Qush to investigate the great uprising of evil emanating from the Dire Fen. Originally their group numbered 6, but their comrades perished along the way. Dr. Midnight was very quiet. When they came to the key-hole hat had taken away Dr. Midnight’s clothes and items he shook his head as they were about to try all the combinations but the last one. Trying this last key the great door opened and revealed a large room with four horrific statues, a large stoppered urn, and a casket. Tasgi cast a spell searching for secret doors, (they went through 5 and needed to go through 7 Dr. Midnight quietly told them). Figuring this casket was another diversion, they found a secret door located beneath one of the giant statues. Tasgi disintegrated the metal behemoth and they ventured below. With his spell still active Tasgi immediately found another secret door. Everyone took in a deep breath and they opened it. Inside they found a black room with a circular indentation in the floor examination revealed another keyhole. Taking out the silver key that Dr. Midnight had retrieved from the laboratory he turned it in the keyhole. A jolt of electricity rocked his body. Tariel briefly communed with her goddess to ask the best way to open this and she told Dr. Midnight to turn the key three times to the left. In doing so the whole room began shaking and the ceiling was getting closer, or wait, the room itself was rising. Everyone quickly jumped back and watched as a hidden room was revealed. The room was generously littered with treasure, Dr.Midnight immediately recognized his own clothes and equipment and rushed over to them and quickly dressed himself and pulled out his rapiers. He also noticed the belongings of Rainsong and swore vengeance on Acheronius for killing her. After he finished changing, he was a new man. He leaped around the room, swinging his rapiers yelling "Justice!" and "I’m the one they call Dr. Midnight, I’m the one they call to crime-fight!" Tasgi and Tariel found this alternately funny and frightening. </p><p></p><p>Dr. Midnight’s shenanigans were not distracting enough to allow the two of them to take their eyes off the skull lying on a black table at the end of the room. The skull had gems for eyes and teeth and a large pile of dust lay next to it. This sight coupled with the unnatural feeling of fear they each felt made them realize that they indeed looked upon Acheronius. Cautiously looking around the rest of the room the saw the gigantic treasure pile, and they found The Amulet with a piece of paper under it off to one side. Tasgi very cautiously approached and picked up the amulet and paper. The paper was written by Desatysso and explained that he was heading towards the City That Waits and briefly described the horrors he had faced in the tomb. Realizing the Amulet was the main thing they came for they began to depart. Tasgi reached towards the treasure pile and picked up a handful of gems and platinum. Just then the skull started to vibrate. Tasgi quickly dropped the treasure and with a look of abject horror on his face teleported them outside the city. While Tasgi and Tariel examined the runes on the amulet and the notebook of Desatysso that Dr. Midnight had been sure to grab from Rainsong’s belongings a bald vampire formed from teh mist covering the ground of the swamp. With the sun being high in teh sky, this certainly bothered everyone involved. Dr. Midnight leaped into action with a cry of "Justice!", viciously attacking the foul beast with his twin rapiers. Just as he plunged his rapier into the beast’s black heart they heard a female voice behind them: "Hand over the amulet and I will let you live." They slowly turned to see a woman with ivory skin floating above the ground. Dr. Midnight rushed at her and in his haste for justice lost hold of one of his rapiers. The woman raised her hand and a rainbow of energy streamed from her fingers. One beam struck Tariel who turned to stone and one struck Tasgi whose eyes glazed over in the look of death for a moment. Dr. midnight moved towards his rapier as Tasgi shouted for him to hold onto him. Tasgi grabbed hold of the statue of his traveling companion and Dr. midnight grabbed Tasgi and tried to drag all three of towards his rapier and just as Tasgi finished casting his spell a bolt of white energy shot forth from the woman’s fingers. The bolt ripped Tasgi apart, but the three of them teleported... to safety? </p><p></p><p>Dr. Midnight appeared on a dock with the statue of Tariel and a smoldering mass that was once Tasgi. He looked out at a great ocean teaming with all manner of ships and boats. He heard a voice behind him" Hey you!" He spun dramatically raising his remaining rapier into the air ad responded with "Yes." "Did you just teleport here." Dr. Midnight looked around, a bit confused and responded, less emphatically this time "Yes". Well don’t you know that teleporting into the city is forbidden under the order of the High Mook?" "Umm, no." Dr, Midnight meekly responded. "Well, the High Mook will certainly want to see this." The man, who it seemed was a city guardsman approached with several others. They asked Dr. Midnight to lay down his weapons. Dr Midnight looked at them defiantly "But... justice!... Don’t you have law-breakers in this city." The guards responded with a definitive no. "Very well then I will lay down my arms, but if anyone does break the law, please allow Dr. Midnight to thwart them." The guards nodded in response to this. "Is this yours" one of them asked referring to the statue of Taril. "Yes, that is my companion and that" he pointed at the pile that was Tasgi "is my other companion." The guards shackled Dr. Midnight and finally a wagon arrived and they loaded up the statue and carefully scooped up the remains of Tasgi. </p><p></p><p>After a short time in a holding cell, Dr. Midnight was taken before the High Mook, and his council. With blu-black skin, decked out in fringe white leather draped over the pillows that spread over the floor and with several women attended to him on either side. Dr. Midnight introduced himself and one of the High Mook’s counselor’s whispered to him who he was. The mood definitely relaxed. Dr. midnight explained who he was and what he was doing in Qush and what had happened to his new companions. Hearing that Dr. midnight had been in Acheronius’ Tomb, the High Mook shuddered when he heard this. Dr. midnight asked if there was any crime in Qush, seems he had an aching to go crime-busting. The High Mook calmed him down and said that Qush was a running just fine without the assistance of the more-than capable Dr. Midnight. The High Mook called for assistance and Tasqi was brought back to life and Tariel was turned back to flesh. That evening they had a great feast and throughout the evening the High Mook was quite amused by Dr. Midnight’s tales. He definitely seemed to have taken a liking to the singularly stylish Dr. Midnight. After dinner Tasgi and Tariel began studying the amulet trying to decipher it’s riddle. Dr. Midnight stayed up late with the High Mook and his lady-friends. In teh morning Dr. Midnight found several suits of clothing taht had been ordered for him by the High Mook. Over breakfast Tasgi and tariel informed teh Dr. that tehy had not yet figured out the runes on the amulet, so the High Mook took this as an invitation to have more clothes made for Dr. Midnight. The tailors were exceptional and fast. At lunch, the High Mook was actually attired in an outfit very similar to Dr. Midnight’s ensemble "For Justice!" he proclaimed. Over lunch Tasgi and Tariel pulled Dr. Midnight aside and told him tehy figured out the runes and they must return to the Tomb as soon as possible. Dr. Midnight agreed, even though he was enjoying himself with the High Mook, he must return to the Tomb "For Justice!" The High Mook offered each of them warm winter clothes and bid them farewell. </p><p></p><p>They teleported to the City gates outside the Tomb and once again made their way through the city of undead. Their goal was to get some of the dust of Acheronius, as this was the necessary key to allow them passage to the enigmatic City that Waits. Once again all the traps in the Tomb had been reset, but they made their way through without any difficulty. Remembering that the door to the room of pillars closed after a short time Tariel waited at the door while Dr. Midnight and Tasgi went to recover demi-lich dust. Returning to the entry hallway they heard a familiar voice and turned to see not only Lady Ferranifir but two vampire escorts as well. "Hand over the amulet and you will not die so painfully." The two other vampires closed to attack. Dr. Midnight, always one for a challenge stepped forward while Tariel readied her flail and Tasgi began casting a spell. Ferranifir had the jump on them and unleashed a concussive blast at Tasgi. The blast shot him through the green mouth; he happened to be the one holding the dust and with a cut-off scream vanished. He did however drop the amulet. The two vampires closed with Dr. midnight and Ferranifir vanished (so did the amulet). After taking many hits from these undead beasts and considerably weakened Tariel and Dr. Midnight did defeat them. But both the amulet and the dust of Acheronius were gone. Shrugging their shoulders they headed back into the Tomb once again and retrieved more dust. Making sure to dust themselves generously with this despicable dust (think about it, they are sprinkling themselves with the dust of one of the most powerful and evil creatures known, the dust itself is at least 1,000 years old. Yuck! It makes a trip to my basement seem like a day at the park.) Crossing their fingers, they stepped through the portal and found themselves instantly transported to somewhere else. A sign immediately facing them told them they were in the city that was once Moil, the City that Waits. Yet another riddle by Acheronius challenged them. The sky was filled with electrical energy. They stood on a 10 bridge spanned between three pillar-like buildings with many more in the distance. Most disturbing was teh fact that there was no sign of Tasgi anywhere. Had he made it through. They looked towards each of the buildings, each over 500 feet away and barely visible under the black sky, illuminated by the frequent flashes of lightning. At the building to their left they saw a light emanating and not seeing any other clues, they headed in that direction. As they got closer they saw that teh light was from a dagger of Tasgi’s. How did they know this? Because Tasgi lay sleeping beside it. They tried to rouse him with no success, so Dr. Midnight slung him over his shoulder. They made their way into teh building looking for any place that might have more warmth. They finally holed up in a room practically filled with ice, apparently thinking the ice might provide some insulation. Tariel told Dr. Midnight that she needed to sleep in order to gain more spells, Dr. Midnight swore he would stay up to protect her and Roundy while they slept. Tariel was unsure why Dr. Midnight called Tasgi Roundy. They all cuddled together to keep warm and Tariel closed her eyes hoping to get some sleep and not wake up so cold.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Dr Midnight, post: 7256, member: 69"] Tombstones, Tacky Clothes and The City that Waits Sometime in the course of the evening Silk stole off, perhaps the rogue in him was drawn to the promise of treasure. Although Dr. Midnight was upset at the loss of Roundy, the rest of the Band convinced him that most likely Silk was lost to the Tomb’s evil machinations. Faced with the choice of going through a secret door and continuing on down the hall, Rainsong vehemently argued that they still had four secret doors to travel through and they should move in that direction. It was obvious that she was getting tired of wandering aimlessly through the tomb and wanted this nightmare to end. It definitely seemed this was the right choice as this hallway led through several more secret doors and after going through a mithril door that three bladed weapons were needed to open they came upon the room of pillars mentioned in the riddle given them by the High Priest of Yahr. Surely they were close now. The room of pillars was massive and with each pillar being almost 3 feet wide it was difficult to see very far. Realizing that it might be best to avoid the floor, Skippy cast a fly spell on everyone and the proceeded to fly across the threshold. They were not prepared for the dispelling screen that not only dropped them skidding across the floor, but extinguished their continual light gems. Rainsong and Skippy slid into one of the pillars and both started floating towards the ceiling. Since no one could see anything, all Theran heard was Rainsong talking about bad Magic. Dr. Midnight used the darkness to turn into a bat and fly up towards the ceiling where he proceeded to hang upside down. Theran realized that Rainsong was moving up and away judging by the sound of her voice. He quickly grabbed a rope from his pack and threw it towards where he thought Rainsong was. The rope dropped to the floor and he tried again. Her voice was getting farther away and he cautiously moved closer as his eyes adjusted to the darkness. As he threw his rope up one last time he heard Rainsong scream, and then suddenly cut out. Theran finally got a torch lit and looked up towards the ceiling and saw nothing of Rainsong, but there was another of the green mouth’s He feared that she was lost. Dr. Midnight spied Skippy floating towards another one of the green mouths. He didn’t notice much in the way of panic on Skippy’s face ("Must be all that wacky weed" Dr. Midnight thought) and he watched as Skippy was sucked in through the blackness of the green mouth. Dr. Midnight put one and one together and realized that he was alone with Theran now, and just then the door slammed shut, there was no mechanism located inside the room to open it. He and Theran then moved about the room seeing what was located in this vast room of pillars. They found 3 doors on the same wall as the green mouths and a throne upon which rested a crown and scepter. They also came across an eerie glowing gem around which was scattered bones, clothes and other adventuring gear, apparently individuals that approached the gem were blown apart. Theran and Dr. Midnight stayed away from the gem. Rainsong found herself in the entry hall, stripped of all clothes and personal belongings. She was determined to not let the tomb beat her so she moved back towards the room of pillars. The going was slow in the dark and luckily she remembered where the traps were. Remembering the candelabras in the temple she found a striker and lit one. She made her way to the great mithril door only to find it closed. She pounded and yelled, but to no avail, obviously it’s thickness (about a foot thick) didn’t allow sound to pass through. Realizing that she would need three edged weapons she backtracked to the rooms and passages they hadn’t entered, as she could not recall anything useful in the rooms she had already been in. Coming to the first door she opened it and fell asleep breathing in the gas contained within the room. This would be her last sleep, as the juggernaut she feared rolled over her in her slumber. Meanwhile Skippy was transported to a blank room. A thunderous voice boomed out a warning" Stay in this and starve to death or move through that door and die quickly." Never one to back down from a challenge, rather more appropriately, being Skippy, he immediately walked towards the door, wherein he was immediately assaulted by 18 animated swords. He did the best he could with his magic and actually dropped 8 of them, but the blindingly fast flurry of steel was too much and he died, not 10 feet from Dr. Midnight and Theran who lay just on the other side of the door in the room of pillars. Theran and Dr. Midnight decided to investigate the rooms at the one end and entering the first they found a corpse wrapped in cloth with the skull partially exposed. In the eyesocket of the skull lay a beautiful gem. Perhaps curiosity got the best of these two cats, but upon touching the gem, the mummy animated and Dr. Midnight bolted from the room, fleeing due to magical fear (or so he would have anyone believe). Theran lifted his great maul and engaged this unholy monster. Reaching towards Theran it cast a spell and Theran felt like he had been in the desert for weeks without water. He finally smited the creature and found Dr. Midnight cowering in a corner, tears streaming from his eyes. Tears of fear. It was not the first time the good Dr. had been reduced to a quivering mound. Finally calming him down they moved on to the next room and found a bloody mass of goo with remains of equipment easily identified as having been Skippy’s. Eventually they made their way to the great obsidian throne. Dr. Midnight took out his whip and pulled off the crown and scepter and flung them towards Theran who easily caught them. Examining the scepter they noticed it had one gold and one silver end. He touched the scepter to the crown and was instantly turned to dust. Dr. Midnight was all alone. The voices in his head were almost deafening. Examining the scepter and crown he remembered Rainsong’s persistent reminder that they were looking for a key of silver on silver. Examining the throne Dr. Midnight saw a silver crown inlay and closing his eyes he touched the silver end of the scepter to the crown inlay. He opened his eyes to gleefully discover that he was alive and saw the wall behind the throne sliding downward. Dr. Midnight continued onward "For Justice!" he yelled out to no one. Most likely just so he could drown out the silence. There steps beyond the wall, rainbow colored each made of a different stone. On the third step up lay a gold key. Dr. Midnight took out his trusty whip and again used it to grab the item without touching it. He summoned up the courage (it’s hard to be superheroic without someone present to notice your super-coolness) and moved up the steps. At the top was huge door with a keyhole. Problem was the keyhole looked able to fit either end of the scepter or either of the two keys they had found. Dr .Midnight tried two combinations which both gave him an electrical shock. He then inserted the gold end of the scepter into the door and was instantly transported to the entry hallway, buck-naked and without any equipment, not even his mask. It was chilly. Not remembering exactly where the trap doors were located he stood for awhile scratching his head when he saw people approaching. He looked for a place to hide, but finally turned his back to the Tomb’s entrance and awaited his fate. He heard a woman giggle softly. "Would you like something to cover up?" she asked. "What are you doing, it could be a ruse?" he heard a man’s voice. "Don’t be silly, the Tomb holds no living dangers, and I don’t really see a naked man as much of a threat. Come on Tasgi get out a cloak or something he looks... cold." She giggled again. Dr. Midnight blurted out "Traps." The two newcomers to the Tomb finally made their way to the back of the Tomb by flying and handed Dr. Midnight a cloak which Dr. Midnight quickly ripped and tied a small piece over his eyes. "I am Dr. midnight" he quietly introduced himself. "Do you have any rapiers." The two elves shook their heads and the male, who had red-tinted skin and a shock of red down the middle of his black hair pulled forth a camp-knife from his pack. Dr. Midnight swung it around with a defeated look. "Are you here for Justice?" he asked. "Yeah, sure." The woman responded. "Follow me." Dr. Midnight directed them into the portal after deactivating it’s killing mists. They made their way through the tomb with ease, Dr. Midnight remembering where all the traps were and what doors and passages they needed to journey through. Dr Midnight was very quiet, decked out in a loin-cloth, a cloak and armed with a simple knife. He briefly gave them a rundown of what had happened to him and his friends, mentioning nothing of an individual named Roundy. The two newcomers were named Moritasgus, called Tasgi by the elf-maiden, Tariel. These two had journey from Qush to investigate the great uprising of evil emanating from the Dire Fen. Originally their group numbered 6, but their comrades perished along the way. Dr. Midnight was very quiet. When they came to the key-hole hat had taken away Dr. Midnight’s clothes and items he shook his head as they were about to try all the combinations but the last one. Trying this last key the great door opened and revealed a large room with four horrific statues, a large stoppered urn, and a casket. Tasgi cast a spell searching for secret doors, (they went through 5 and needed to go through 7 Dr. Midnight quietly told them). Figuring this casket was another diversion, they found a secret door located beneath one of the giant statues. Tasgi disintegrated the metal behemoth and they ventured below. With his spell still active Tasgi immediately found another secret door. Everyone took in a deep breath and they opened it. Inside they found a black room with a circular indentation in the floor examination revealed another keyhole. Taking out the silver key that Dr. Midnight had retrieved from the laboratory he turned it in the keyhole. A jolt of electricity rocked his body. Tariel briefly communed with her goddess to ask the best way to open this and she told Dr. Midnight to turn the key three times to the left. In doing so the whole room began shaking and the ceiling was getting closer, or wait, the room itself was rising. Everyone quickly jumped back and watched as a hidden room was revealed. The room was generously littered with treasure, Dr.Midnight immediately recognized his own clothes and equipment and rushed over to them and quickly dressed himself and pulled out his rapiers. He also noticed the belongings of Rainsong and swore vengeance on Acheronius for killing her. After he finished changing, he was a new man. He leaped around the room, swinging his rapiers yelling "Justice!" and "I’m the one they call Dr. Midnight, I’m the one they call to crime-fight!" Tasgi and Tariel found this alternately funny and frightening. Dr. Midnight’s shenanigans were not distracting enough to allow the two of them to take their eyes off the skull lying on a black table at the end of the room. The skull had gems for eyes and teeth and a large pile of dust lay next to it. This sight coupled with the unnatural feeling of fear they each felt made them realize that they indeed looked upon Acheronius. Cautiously looking around the rest of the room the saw the gigantic treasure pile, and they found The Amulet with a piece of paper under it off to one side. Tasgi very cautiously approached and picked up the amulet and paper. The paper was written by Desatysso and explained that he was heading towards the City That Waits and briefly described the horrors he had faced in the tomb. Realizing the Amulet was the main thing they came for they began to depart. Tasgi reached towards the treasure pile and picked up a handful of gems and platinum. Just then the skull started to vibrate. Tasgi quickly dropped the treasure and with a look of abject horror on his face teleported them outside the city. While Tasgi and Tariel examined the runes on the amulet and the notebook of Desatysso that Dr. Midnight had been sure to grab from Rainsong’s belongings a bald vampire formed from teh mist covering the ground of the swamp. With the sun being high in teh sky, this certainly bothered everyone involved. Dr. Midnight leaped into action with a cry of "Justice!", viciously attacking the foul beast with his twin rapiers. Just as he plunged his rapier into the beast’s black heart they heard a female voice behind them: "Hand over the amulet and I will let you live." They slowly turned to see a woman with ivory skin floating above the ground. Dr. Midnight rushed at her and in his haste for justice lost hold of one of his rapiers. The woman raised her hand and a rainbow of energy streamed from her fingers. One beam struck Tariel who turned to stone and one struck Tasgi whose eyes glazed over in the look of death for a moment. Dr. midnight moved towards his rapier as Tasgi shouted for him to hold onto him. Tasgi grabbed hold of the statue of his traveling companion and Dr. midnight grabbed Tasgi and tried to drag all three of towards his rapier and just as Tasgi finished casting his spell a bolt of white energy shot forth from the woman’s fingers. The bolt ripped Tasgi apart, but the three of them teleported... to safety? Dr. Midnight appeared on a dock with the statue of Tariel and a smoldering mass that was once Tasgi. He looked out at a great ocean teaming with all manner of ships and boats. He heard a voice behind him" Hey you!" He spun dramatically raising his remaining rapier into the air ad responded with "Yes." "Did you just teleport here." Dr. Midnight looked around, a bit confused and responded, less emphatically this time "Yes". Well don’t you know that teleporting into the city is forbidden under the order of the High Mook?" "Umm, no." Dr, Midnight meekly responded. "Well, the High Mook will certainly want to see this." The man, who it seemed was a city guardsman approached with several others. They asked Dr. Midnight to lay down his weapons. Dr Midnight looked at them defiantly "But... justice!... Don’t you have law-breakers in this city." The guards responded with a definitive no. "Very well then I will lay down my arms, but if anyone does break the law, please allow Dr. Midnight to thwart them." The guards nodded in response to this. "Is this yours" one of them asked referring to the statue of Taril. "Yes, that is my companion and that" he pointed at the pile that was Tasgi "is my other companion." The guards shackled Dr. Midnight and finally a wagon arrived and they loaded up the statue and carefully scooped up the remains of Tasgi. After a short time in a holding cell, Dr. Midnight was taken before the High Mook, and his council. With blu-black skin, decked out in fringe white leather draped over the pillows that spread over the floor and with several women attended to him on either side. Dr. Midnight introduced himself and one of the High Mook’s counselor’s whispered to him who he was. The mood definitely relaxed. Dr. midnight explained who he was and what he was doing in Qush and what had happened to his new companions. Hearing that Dr. midnight had been in Acheronius’ Tomb, the High Mook shuddered when he heard this. Dr. midnight asked if there was any crime in Qush, seems he had an aching to go crime-busting. The High Mook calmed him down and said that Qush was a running just fine without the assistance of the more-than capable Dr. Midnight. The High Mook called for assistance and Tasqi was brought back to life and Tariel was turned back to flesh. That evening they had a great feast and throughout the evening the High Mook was quite amused by Dr. Midnight’s tales. He definitely seemed to have taken a liking to the singularly stylish Dr. Midnight. After dinner Tasgi and Tariel began studying the amulet trying to decipher it’s riddle. Dr. Midnight stayed up late with the High Mook and his lady-friends. In teh morning Dr. Midnight found several suits of clothing taht had been ordered for him by the High Mook. Over breakfast Tasgi and tariel informed teh Dr. that tehy had not yet figured out the runes on the amulet, so the High Mook took this as an invitation to have more clothes made for Dr. Midnight. The tailors were exceptional and fast. At lunch, the High Mook was actually attired in an outfit very similar to Dr. Midnight’s ensemble "For Justice!" he proclaimed. Over lunch Tasgi and Tariel pulled Dr. Midnight aside and told him tehy figured out the runes and they must return to the Tomb as soon as possible. Dr. Midnight agreed, even though he was enjoying himself with the High Mook, he must return to the Tomb "For Justice!" The High Mook offered each of them warm winter clothes and bid them farewell. They teleported to the City gates outside the Tomb and once again made their way through the city of undead. Their goal was to get some of the dust of Acheronius, as this was the necessary key to allow them passage to the enigmatic City that Waits. Once again all the traps in the Tomb had been reset, but they made their way through without any difficulty. Remembering that the door to the room of pillars closed after a short time Tariel waited at the door while Dr. Midnight and Tasgi went to recover demi-lich dust. Returning to the entry hallway they heard a familiar voice and turned to see not only Lady Ferranifir but two vampire escorts as well. "Hand over the amulet and you will not die so painfully." The two other vampires closed to attack. Dr. Midnight, always one for a challenge stepped forward while Tariel readied her flail and Tasgi began casting a spell. Ferranifir had the jump on them and unleashed a concussive blast at Tasgi. The blast shot him through the green mouth; he happened to be the one holding the dust and with a cut-off scream vanished. He did however drop the amulet. The two vampires closed with Dr. midnight and Ferranifir vanished (so did the amulet). After taking many hits from these undead beasts and considerably weakened Tariel and Dr. Midnight did defeat them. But both the amulet and the dust of Acheronius were gone. Shrugging their shoulders they headed back into the Tomb once again and retrieved more dust. Making sure to dust themselves generously with this despicable dust (think about it, they are sprinkling themselves with the dust of one of the most powerful and evil creatures known, the dust itself is at least 1,000 years old. Yuck! It makes a trip to my basement seem like a day at the park.) Crossing their fingers, they stepped through the portal and found themselves instantly transported to somewhere else. A sign immediately facing them told them they were in the city that was once Moil, the City that Waits. Yet another riddle by Acheronius challenged them. The sky was filled with electrical energy. They stood on a 10 bridge spanned between three pillar-like buildings with many more in the distance. Most disturbing was teh fact that there was no sign of Tasgi anywhere. Had he made it through. They looked towards each of the buildings, each over 500 feet away and barely visible under the black sky, illuminated by the frequent flashes of lightning. At the building to their left they saw a light emanating and not seeing any other clues, they headed in that direction. As they got closer they saw that teh light was from a dagger of Tasgi’s. How did they know this? Because Tasgi lay sleeping beside it. They tried to rouse him with no success, so Dr. Midnight slung him over his shoulder. They made their way into teh building looking for any place that might have more warmth. They finally holed up in a room practically filled with ice, apparently thinking the ice might provide some insulation. Tariel told Dr. Midnight that she needed to sleep in order to gain more spells, Dr. Midnight swore he would stay up to protect her and Roundy while they slept. Tariel was unsure why Dr. Midnight called Tasgi Roundy. They all cuddled together to keep warm and Tariel closed her eyes hoping to get some sleep and not wake up so cold. [/QUOTE]
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