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Story Hour
Dusk in the land of Fading Stars - Femerus' Story hour (updated 2-20-03)
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<blockquote data-quote="Femerus the Gnecro" data-source="post: 350867" data-attributes="member: 2381"><p>Okay... this has been a long time in coming, mostly because of real life issues.</p><p></p><p>The next few updates should be pretty rapid fire... I REALLY want to get to the good stuff.</p><p></p><p>Without further ado, here's a bit more of chapter 3.</p><p></p><p><em>...In her rush, she doesn’t even see the blade detach itself from the wall, cutting brutally through hair… and skin… and bone.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>As the spray of blood spatters across Damek’s upturned face, he casts his mind back to the previous day, when Saryna’s hair shone brightly against the sun, as though challenging its brilliance.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>Now all he sees is the muted reflection of wet blood, reflecting slickly in the light of the fire as the torch falls from Saryna’s nerveless fingers.</em> </p><p></p><p>...As Damek stares, in shock, Merileene rushes to Saryna’s side. Oblivious of the life’s blood pouring from Saryna’s split skull, Meri takes Sarya’s head in her arms and whispers a devout prayer to the Father. Miraculously, the flow of blood from Saryna’s wound lessens… and the rent in her skull closes. </p><p></p><p>As the icy chill of true healing burns through Saryna’s body, her body stiffens as if being stretched in myriad directions, only to go limp again as Meri finishes her prayer. Saryna’s eyes open, her lids caked in dried blood.</p><p></p><p>Saryna glances briefly at the skeleton… the one with the massive head trauma. “I think I’ve figured out how that guy died.”</p><p></p><p>***</p><p></p><p>Further above ground, Lucien and Kerim arrive at the sleepy mini-village, eager to scold the women for leaving without them. Having left only half an hour or so behind the others (with only 1 breakfast!), it is not difficult to determine where they went. Saryna’s physical description brings smiles and approving nods to the faces of the sailors by the cliff, and Pin spots the rope the others used to climb down to the hole.</p><p></p><p>Kerim, excited by the prospect of retrieving treasure from natural salt water caves, dives off the cliff like a lunatic, intending to grasp the rope on the way down. About thirty-five feet down, Kerim’s hands finally find a purchase on the rope, and he manages to slide to a stop right in front of the cave entrance, albeit with rather bloody palms. Lucien, expecting to see Kerim’s broken body on the rocks below, is relieved to see Kerim waving at him from the bottom of the red-stained rope. Taking his time, Lucien ascends to the cave entrance with little difficulty. Pin, in the meantime, amuses himself by fishing the tiny deserted beach at the bottom of the cliff, some fifty feet below the cave entrance.</p><p></p><p>Kerim bandages his hands with a couple of rags and darts like a peregrine deeper into the cave, intently hoping that he hasn’t missed anything. The scene that greets him is… unusual. Damek stands aloof in one part of a room, next to the remains of a very dead skeleton. Saryna and Meri are on the other side of the room, on the floor, the latter holding a blood stained bandage to the former’s head. Kerim’s wide smile seems oddly incongruous with the somber air in the room.</p><p></p><p>“Hey! Did I miss anything? Wow Saryna… looks like you set off the same trap as that dead guy. Next time maybe you’ll wait for us before leaving. Oh, hey Damek. I didn’t know you’d joined up with us officially. Still trying to score with Saryna? You might want to wait until her head wound heals.”</p><p></p><p>Damek turns, startled by the halfling’s presence, while Meri gives Kerim a look that could wither an oak tree. Saryna merely moans and clutches her head.</p><p></p><p>Lucien, hearing the halfling’s animated voice from the entrance of the cavern, sighs and delves deeper into the inky blackness. When visibility is no longer possible, a small pebble from one of Lucien’s pouches is produced, glowing with the power of Lucien’s magic.</p><p></p><p>After regrouping, the party decides to forego assigning blame and let Kerim do what he’s supposedly quite good at doing, namely disarming traps.</p><p></p><p>Two nasty cuts on the head later, the party decides to avoid the trap altogether by simply jumping over the pressure plate. </p><p></p><p>Another monumental task overcome by our intrepid heroes.</p><p></p><p>Further down the tunnel, the party encounters a cave-in and a suspicious pile of dirt. Only Kerim’s size allows him to fit through the small gaps in the cave in, but it isn’t until Damek searches the dirt pile that they determine the nature of the cave-in. Underneath the dirt is a scroll, apparently intended for another visitor to the cave complex. The dead man from the last room perhaps? The question is never answered.</p><p></p><p>"We've abandoned plans to set up a base here.. nice location, but we dug to something that's giving us the creeps. Decided to plug it up, and move on."</p><p></p><p>While the party argues over the next course of action, Kerim’s curiosity gets the better of him, and he wanders on down the cave. As he approaches what looks to be a grooved wall, Kerim shivers involuntarily. He can understand why the criminals opted to leave… something about the wall makes him uneasy. </p><p></p><p>Later, after several hours of backbreaking labor, the party arrives en masse at Kerim’s oddly grooved wall of creepiness. Upon closer examination, the grooves look to be the marks of a shovel blade being slammed against the wall several times. </p><p></p><p>Lucien can barely distinguish the different bricks from each other in the poor light, but he can see well enough to determine that this is a man-made wall… likely the outer wall of the very temple they’re seeking. There is no door.</p><p></p><p>Luckily, Kerim… quite possibly the most resourceful halfling ever, digs deep into his bag of backup plans and produces the most brilliant idea ever.</p><p></p><p>“Right. Let’s bash it down.”</p><p></p><p>Damek looks at Kerim as though he’s a madman. “Bash what down?”</p><p></p><p>“The bricks! Bash! Bash! Bash!” Kerim stands back and looks at the wall for a moment, then at the others. “Okay. Get to it!”</p><p></p><p>Unfortunately, nobody brought a shovel. Or a pick. Or a hammer. The only things capable of battering down the wall are Meri’s stout shield and the large rocks from the cave-in. </p><p></p><p>Later, after several <strong>more</strong> hours of backbreaking labor, the party finally succeeds in penetrating the outer wall of what they *hope* is the temple. </p><p></p><p>Another monumental task overcome by our intrepid heroes.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Femerus the Gnecro, post: 350867, member: 2381"] Okay... this has been a long time in coming, mostly because of real life issues. The next few updates should be pretty rapid fire... I REALLY want to get to the good stuff. Without further ado, here's a bit more of chapter 3. [i]...In her rush, she doesn’t even see the blade detach itself from the wall, cutting brutally through hair… and skin… and bone. As the spray of blood spatters across Damek’s upturned face, he casts his mind back to the previous day, when Saryna’s hair shone brightly against the sun, as though challenging its brilliance. Now all he sees is the muted reflection of wet blood, reflecting slickly in the light of the fire as the torch falls from Saryna’s nerveless fingers.[/i] ...As Damek stares, in shock, Merileene rushes to Saryna’s side. Oblivious of the life’s blood pouring from Saryna’s split skull, Meri takes Sarya’s head in her arms and whispers a devout prayer to the Father. Miraculously, the flow of blood from Saryna’s wound lessens… and the rent in her skull closes. As the icy chill of true healing burns through Saryna’s body, her body stiffens as if being stretched in myriad directions, only to go limp again as Meri finishes her prayer. Saryna’s eyes open, her lids caked in dried blood. Saryna glances briefly at the skeleton… the one with the massive head trauma. “I think I’ve figured out how that guy died.” *** Further above ground, Lucien and Kerim arrive at the sleepy mini-village, eager to scold the women for leaving without them. Having left only half an hour or so behind the others (with only 1 breakfast!), it is not difficult to determine where they went. Saryna’s physical description brings smiles and approving nods to the faces of the sailors by the cliff, and Pin spots the rope the others used to climb down to the hole. Kerim, excited by the prospect of retrieving treasure from natural salt water caves, dives off the cliff like a lunatic, intending to grasp the rope on the way down. About thirty-five feet down, Kerim’s hands finally find a purchase on the rope, and he manages to slide to a stop right in front of the cave entrance, albeit with rather bloody palms. Lucien, expecting to see Kerim’s broken body on the rocks below, is relieved to see Kerim waving at him from the bottom of the red-stained rope. Taking his time, Lucien ascends to the cave entrance with little difficulty. Pin, in the meantime, amuses himself by fishing the tiny deserted beach at the bottom of the cliff, some fifty feet below the cave entrance. Kerim bandages his hands with a couple of rags and darts like a peregrine deeper into the cave, intently hoping that he hasn’t missed anything. The scene that greets him is… unusual. Damek stands aloof in one part of a room, next to the remains of a very dead skeleton. Saryna and Meri are on the other side of the room, on the floor, the latter holding a blood stained bandage to the former’s head. Kerim’s wide smile seems oddly incongruous with the somber air in the room. “Hey! Did I miss anything? Wow Saryna… looks like you set off the same trap as that dead guy. Next time maybe you’ll wait for us before leaving. Oh, hey Damek. I didn’t know you’d joined up with us officially. Still trying to score with Saryna? You might want to wait until her head wound heals.” Damek turns, startled by the halfling’s presence, while Meri gives Kerim a look that could wither an oak tree. Saryna merely moans and clutches her head. Lucien, hearing the halfling’s animated voice from the entrance of the cavern, sighs and delves deeper into the inky blackness. When visibility is no longer possible, a small pebble from one of Lucien’s pouches is produced, glowing with the power of Lucien’s magic. After regrouping, the party decides to forego assigning blame and let Kerim do what he’s supposedly quite good at doing, namely disarming traps. Two nasty cuts on the head later, the party decides to avoid the trap altogether by simply jumping over the pressure plate. Another monumental task overcome by our intrepid heroes. Further down the tunnel, the party encounters a cave-in and a suspicious pile of dirt. Only Kerim’s size allows him to fit through the small gaps in the cave in, but it isn’t until Damek searches the dirt pile that they determine the nature of the cave-in. Underneath the dirt is a scroll, apparently intended for another visitor to the cave complex. The dead man from the last room perhaps? The question is never answered. "We've abandoned plans to set up a base here.. nice location, but we dug to something that's giving us the creeps. Decided to plug it up, and move on." While the party argues over the next course of action, Kerim’s curiosity gets the better of him, and he wanders on down the cave. As he approaches what looks to be a grooved wall, Kerim shivers involuntarily. He can understand why the criminals opted to leave… something about the wall makes him uneasy. Later, after several hours of backbreaking labor, the party arrives en masse at Kerim’s oddly grooved wall of creepiness. Upon closer examination, the grooves look to be the marks of a shovel blade being slammed against the wall several times. Lucien can barely distinguish the different bricks from each other in the poor light, but he can see well enough to determine that this is a man-made wall… likely the outer wall of the very temple they’re seeking. There is no door. Luckily, Kerim… quite possibly the most resourceful halfling ever, digs deep into his bag of backup plans and produces the most brilliant idea ever. “Right. Let’s bash it down.” Damek looks at Kerim as though he’s a madman. “Bash what down?” “The bricks! Bash! Bash! Bash!” Kerim stands back and looks at the wall for a moment, then at the others. “Okay. Get to it!” Unfortunately, nobody brought a shovel. Or a pick. Or a hammer. The only things capable of battering down the wall are Meri’s stout shield and the large rocks from the cave-in. Later, after several [b]more[/b] hours of backbreaking labor, the party finally succeeds in penetrating the outer wall of what they *hope* is the temple. Another monumental task overcome by our intrepid heroes. [/QUOTE]
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Dusk in the land of Fading Stars - Femerus' Story hour (updated 2-20-03)
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