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JollyDoc's Way Of The Wicked
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<blockquote data-quote="JollyDoc" data-source="post: 6818118" data-attributes="member: 9546"><p><strong>The Cruel Lessons Of Master Thorn</strong></p><p></p><p>22 Desnus, 4716 - 22 Arodus, 4716 </p><p></p><p>"So do you trust our new patron, Miss Zadaria?" Kelvin asked the young woman sitting across from him on one of the overstuffed chairs in the manor's study.</p><p>"Please, call me Elise," she smiled, though there was no mirth in her eyes. "As for trust, that is a thing hard-earned. Suffice it to say that I have no reason to distrust Cardinal Thorn at the moment."</p><p>Kelvin nodded thoughtfully. "It just seems to me that a man such as he would have no qualms about eliminating tools when they were of no further use to him."</p><p>"Then we'd best be sure that we don't outlive our usefulness," Elise smiled again and sipped from the brandy snifter one of the slaves had brought her.</p><p>"I'm afraid I've strayed from our original topic," Kelvin returned the smile. "You were telling me about how you and the White Ravens came to the attention of the cardinal."</p><p>"There's really not much to tell," she shrugged. "We come from the northlands of Talingarde, a place you southerners affectionately call 'savage.' We were recruited by Thorn after we successfully raided a paladin's tomb."</p><p>"Well done," Kelvin raised his glass. </p><p>"Yes, well," she replied, "I suppose it doesn't compare to breaking out of prison...assuming one allowed oneself to be caught in the first place."</p><p>The subtle barb was well placed, and a sour expression passed briefly across Kelvin's face.</p><p>"So you are not, in fact, a follower of Asmodeus?" he asked.</p><p>"No," Elise shook her head. "I serve The Endless Winter."</p><p>"Not familiar with that one, I'm afraid," Kelvin said, a bit dismissively. "What of your companions? Any Asmodeans among them?"</p><p>"You'd have to ask them," Elise said flatly.</p><p>"That big half-elf is not much of a conversationalist," Kelvin said. </p><p>"Dostan?" Elise asked. "No, not really, but he does love his mead, and he is definitely someone you want by your side if a scrap breaks out."</p><p>"What about the twins?" Kelvin asked.</p><p>"The Rackburn brothers," Elise nodded. "An interesting pair. Tallus, or Trak as he calls himself, was a bounty hunter when I first met him. Preferred to bring his quarry back dead when given the choice."</p><p>"He seems smitten with you," Kelvin teased.</p><p>"He has his uses," Elise quipped.</p><p>"And his brother? Titus is it?" the wizard pressed.</p><p>"Calls himself Trik," she said, bemused. "A priest, devoted to Asmodeus actually, now that I recall. Nice enough boy, though a bit too jovial for my tastes."</p><p>"Well, it seems as if our lot has been cast together," Kelvin said, rising to his feet. "Let us hope that it is to our mutual benefit."</p><p>He held out his glass, and she tapped with her own.</p><p>"Here, here," she smiled.</p><p></p><p>_________________________________________________________________</p><p></p><p>"Cardinal Thorn requests the pleasure of your company," Tiadora said without preamble as she walked into the dining room where the Dannisters were supping with Lemmy and Roger. "You'll want to bring any gear and equipment that you feel may improve your chances of survival."</p><p>The ex-convicts glanced at one another uneasily, not certain if the woman was joking. She didn't seem the type. They scrambled from the room, hurried back to their quarters to gather their arms and armor, then assembled where Tiadora awaited them outside the same study where they had originally met their host.</p><p></p><p>"Have you enjoyed your gifts?" Thorn asked as soon as they were escorted into his presence. He was seated and relaxed, as if he'd never left the room, though he had not been seen around the manor over the past three days. "The iron circlets allow you to move amongst your enemies as one of them. The silver amulets will remind you of your true loyalties. And the other items...well, you need them now."</p><p>Kelvin tensed visibly.</p><p>"You have done well to escape Branderscar, and to accept my offer," Thorn continued, seeming not to have noticed the wizard's discomfort. "However, you are still not ready for my service. Tiadora will lead you to the basement of this domicile. There you will find nine chambers, each more dangerous than the last. Somewhere hidden within these chambers is a pendant of silver and sapphire. Recover the pendant and bring it to me. Let nothing and no one stand in your way."</p><p>He stood and looked out the window across the grey moor. </p><p>"It's almost dusk," he said. "You have until dusk tomorrow to bring me my prize. Do not fail me."</p><p>He turned back and reseated himself behind his desk. Tiadora entered the room right on cue.</p><p>"This way," was all she said.</p><p></p><p>______________________________________________________</p><p></p><p>"So is this some sort of test?" Kelvin asked Tiadora.</p><p>She did not answer.</p><p>"Should we be ready for a fight?" he persisted.</p><p>"You are servants of Asmodeus in Talingarde," she said curtly. "You should always be ready for battle."</p><p>"Well what does this pendant look like?" Kelvin asked.</p><p>"You will know it," Tiadora said.</p><p>She led them to a set of stairs.</p><p>"Below, you will find the Nine Lessons," she pointed down the stairs.</p><p>"What's down there?" Kelvin asked.</p><p>"The Master has already told you all you need to know," she replied, her voice tightening.</p><p>Kelvin didn't take the hint. "No, really. What's down there?"</p><p>"Monsters. Death. Worse." Tiadora's eyes had begun to glow ever so slightly.</p><p>"Hmmm," Kelvin mused, nodding. "Can we leave the basement to rest and come back later?"</p><p>"You may go wherever you wish within the manor," Tiadora said, her voice as cold as ice. "But the pendant is in the basement, not in your bed chambers. I will warn you...our master takes failure...poorly."</p><p>She turned and left without another word.</p><p></p><p>Kelvin looked at his companions.</p><p>"That could have gone better," Tardaesha smirked.</p><p>"I'm tired of being jerked around like a puppet on a string," her brother snapped. </p><p>"It's better than being impaled on a rack," Dakota shrugged. </p><p>"You shouldn't push a high priest of the faith," Dorian warned. </p><p>"Makes no difference to me," Katarina yawned. "I was getting bored hanging around this place anyway."</p><p>"Let's just get this over with," Lemmy growled. "I been itchin' to kill somethin' since we left prison."</p><p>Roger patted his friend on the shoulder. "Something tells me your going to get your wish."</p><p></p><p>_____________________________________________________________</p><p></p><p>The stone stairs led down, through an archway, and into an unfurnished chamber. Inscribed upon the archway in the common tongue were the words: "Deception is a tool. Self-deception is death. Deceive always thy enemy, but never thyself."</p><p>The room itself was lit by a small oil lantern that hung from the center of the ceiling. A single door stood at the opposite side of the chamber. </p><p></p><p>Katarina walked across the room and bent to examine the door closely. </p><p>"See anything?" Tardaesha asked as she came up behind. </p><p>"Looks clear," Kat shrugged, and then pulled it open.</p><p>Suddenly, with an audible click, a ten-foot section of the floor in front of the portal simply fell away, revealing a pit studded with iron spikes at the bottom. Katarina instinctively leaped to one side as the trap sprung, narrowly avoiding a fall. On the opposite side of the pit, Tardaesha caught herself on the edge and quickly pulled herself up. Lemmy and Roger, however, who had been coming towards the door as Kat opened it, preparing to back her up should any danger lay beyond, both stumbled directly into the pit. They struck the bottom, hard, and each was jabbed even more painfully by several of the spikes. The fact that the spikes had been blunted was small comfort, though it probably saved their lives.</p><p></p><p>The others quickly lowered ropes to pull the dwarf and half-orc out of the pit, and then Dorian drew a thin bone wand from his belt and touched each of them. Their wounds began to close, slowly, but inexorably as the infernal healing magic contained within the wand took effect.</p><p>"I thought you said it was clear!" Lemmy shouted into Kat's face as he hauled himself out of the hole.</p><p>"I said it looked clear!" she snapped back. </p><p>She glanced over at the open door, which held only a blank stone wall behind it. She whirled sharply away from the dwarf and made her way slowly around the perimeter of the room. Twice she paused, at sections of the wall opposite one another. She traced a finger around the cracks in the masonry at those points.</p><p>"There and there," she indicated. "There are hidden doors in each location. I've checked them both."</p><p>"Yeah?" Lemmy barked. "And what do you think about those??"</p><p>Kat just shrugged again. "Looks clear."</p><p></p><p>_____________________________________________________________</p><p></p><p>The two secret doors did, indeed, prove to be trap-free. Behind the first was concealed a small niche. Inside was a low pedestal that held a jewel which glowed with a pale blue light. It was cold to the touch, and there was another inscription on the pedestal: "Thou hast seen through deception to uncover a useful tool."</p><p>Kelvin lifted the jewel and carefully appraised it.</p><p>"Alchemical ice," he said after a moment. "Similar in principal to alchemical fire. If the glass is smashed, the reagent will be released and cause quite an uncomfortable frost burn."</p><p>He tucked the gemstone away in one of his belt pouches.</p><p></p><p>The other door revealed a short passage which ended at another wooden portal bearing yet another inscription: "Following the herd is for fools.Fear not their icy derision. Instead, fear only thy Infernal Lord."</p><p>"You see?" Kelvin patted his belt pouch. "Ice."</p><p>Inside the stone chamber beyond the door, there were three more doors, each facing one of the other cardinal directions. The entire chamber seemed strangely cold, and the ground was dirty and dusty. </p><p>"Hold on a moment," Kat held one hand up before any of the others could enter the room, then crouched down to examine the floor more closely. </p><p>"There are a lot of footprints in the dust here," she observed, "but they all lead to the south and east. None of them go west."</p><p>"Then that's the way we go," Kelvin said. "Don't follow the herd."</p><p>He stepped into the room and headed towards the western door, but paused several feet away. There was something on the surface of the door. It looked like some sort of strange, pulsating violet mold. He held out one hand towards it, cautiously.</p><p>"The air is colder the closer to the growth," he said. "Almost as if it's sucking the warmth out of the air. Hmmm. I wonder..."</p><p>Kelvin pointed one finger towards the mold and spoke a single word.</p><p>"Freezare!"</p><p>A thin, blue ray shot from the digit and struck the growth. Instantly it shriveled and flaked off to dust. Underneath where it had clung, a second inscription was visible on the door: "Thou hast made thy own path."</p><p></p><p>_________________________________________________________________</p><p></p><p>The western door led to a vaguely u-shaped passage. It twisted around before ending at another wooden door. Not surprisingly, it was inscribed.</p><p>"Know your enemy. Shatter all that blinds you and then burn thy adversary to ashes."</p><p>Once Kat was confident that the door was not rigged, she pulled it open. The chamber beyond was completely dark. Even the magical globe of light that Kelvin held aloft did not penetrate it. Still, Katarina could see clearly into the room. She alone of her siblings carried within her a trace of outsider blood. Some ancestor down the line had apparently dallied with with a member of the Heavenly Host. Though the thought sickened Kat, she did not mind the supernatural gifts she had inherited, such as her darkvision. Roger and Lemmy could see as well, thanks to their own heritage, and what all three of them saw was a globe of obsidian resting on a podium in the center of the chamber. As they stared, a semisolid red mist rose from cracks in the floor. It appeared to have a consistency similar to thick foam, and it floated through the air swiftly towards them. As it drew near, it snaked out a tendril which latched onto Roger's arm. The half-orc cried out in disgust as the mist grew a deeper shade of crimson, siphoning the blood directly through his skin. It pulled swiftly away and sank back into the floor cracks, leaving Roger feeling weak and light-headed.</p><p></p><p>"What's happening?" Kelvin shouted, seeing the pale half-orc stagger back from the door.</p><p>"The orb!" Lemmy yelled at Kat. "We need to bust it like the writin' said!"</p><p>Kat nodded and leaped into the room. She brought the pommel of her dagger down on the black glass, only to have it rebound harmlessly off.</p><p>"Get back!" Lemmy elbowed her out of the way. </p><p>He flung his hands out, hurling a blast of stoney debris towards the orb, and shattering it into a thousand pieces. Instantly, the darkness vanished. A moment later, like a serpent, the red mist rose up again. Kelvin's eyes grew wide as he recognized the nature of the thing.</p><p>"It's vampiric!" he warned. "Fire! We need to use fire against it!"</p><p>"I'm a little short on flames!" Roger snarled as he swung his sword at the mist. </p><p>The blade cut into the creature, but not nearly as much as the half-orc would have thought, given the force of his swing. Before he could pull it loose, the mist struck him with another tendril, drinking in even more of his life's blood. </p><p>"Get away from it!" Kelvin commanded.</p><p>He didn't wait to see if Roger would, or could obey. His hands and fingers moved quickly as he conjured up a flurry of mystical bolts of pure force and hurled them at the mist. It recoiled from the impact in obvious pain, but before it could retreat into the floor again, He threw a second barrage of missiles at it. It dissipated into harmless ooze.</p><p></p><p>____________________________________________________________________</p><p></p><p>There was nothing to be done for Roger. </p><p>"I'm not a healer," Dorian said when the half-orc asked. "If you want that type of priest, go find a sun-worshipping Iomedaean." </p><p>Roger gave him a dark look, but it was the truth. </p><p>"Just don't come hiding behind me next time your god doesn't protect you from the business end of a sword," he grumbled.</p><p>"He's your god too now," Dorian smiled.</p><p></p><p>Two doors led from the chamber of darkness, one to the north, and one to the east. Beyond the first was a short hall that ended at another door, while the second revealed a longer hall that curved away beyond sight. To leave no stone unturned, the acolytes chose the first route. </p><p>"Cruelty is a tool not a pastime," read the inscription on the far door. "Be ruthless to thy enemy but reward those who serve thee well."</p><p>Kat assured them the door was safe, and Tardaesha threw it open. There was only one thing in the small room on the other side: a torturer's rack. It appeared functional and ready for use, but was unoccupied. A single oil lantern hung from the ceiling above it. </p><p>"I like it," Dakota smiled as she walked around the rack, trailing her fingers lovingly along it, and winking at Tardaesha.</p><p>"Maybe the Cardinal will let you try it out on one of the slaves once we've retrieved his bauble," Tardaesha laughed.</p><p>"So what's waitin' to jump out at us in here?" Lemmy asked as he walked around the room's periphery. </p><p>He paused as he reached a certain spot at one wall, and reached out to touch the stone.</p><p>"Heads up ladies and gents," he rumbled. "If there's one thing I know, it's stonework, and there's somethin' different with this."</p><p>Kat came to stand beside him and peered at the spot he indicated.</p><p>"There's a seam," she said, tracing a thin line with one finger. "It goes all the way around...a door!"</p><p>"Get back," Tardaesha said, drawing her sword. "I sense...something...,"</p><p>"Hrmm," Roger growled. "Me too."</p><p>"Open it," Tardaesha nodded to Kat, who touched another spot on the wall, causing a section to spring open.</p><p>"Well, well, what have we here?" Tardaesha grinned evilly as she looked inside.</p><p>There was a small room on the other side of the secret door, bare and dark. Cowering in a corner was a teenage boy. He wore a chain shirt beneath a dirty tabard, and an empty sheath hung at his side. </p><p>"I recognize the heraldry," Kelvin said softly to his sister in Shadowtongue. "It's House Balentyne. They're a noble family with holdings near the Watch Wall."</p><p>Tardesha nodded, then sheathed her sword and softened her smile. </p><p>"Easy boy," she said soothingly. "You're safe now. We are agents of House Balentyne sent to rescue you."</p><p>The boy looked incredulous, a flicker of hope in his eyes, but fear and distrust warring there as well. His gaze fell upon Dorian, and the Asmodean symbol that hung around the priest's neck. </p><p>"Why does he wear the sign of the Dark One?" the boy asked in a tremulous voice.</p><p>"He's our prisoner," Tardeasha replied without hesitation. "We're taking him back with us for interrogation."</p><p>"We're wasting time here, boy!" Roger snarled, looming over the lad. "Are you coming with us or not?"</p><p>"Tell me your name, dear," Tardaesha feigned annoyance with Roger as she held out a hand to the young man. "We need to be sure we've got the right person."</p><p>"Ti...Timeon," he stammered. </p><p>"That's right," Tardaesha smiled. "Timeon. We will take you home, Timeon, but first we need to find an item hidden somewhere in this dungeon. It's vital that we not let it fall into the hands of the Asmodeans. Have you seen a silver pendant, studded with sapphires?"</p><p>Timeon shook his head. "What about Sir Balin?" he asked. "Surely you're hear for him as well!"</p><p>"Sir Balin?" Kelvin asked, his voice ice. "Of Karfield?"</p><p>"Yes!" Timeon nodded emphatically. "Have you found him?"</p><p>"A member of the Alerion order," Kelvin said in an aside to Tardaesha, using Shadowtongue once again. "It was he who captured me!"</p><p>"We have not found him yet," Tardaesha said to Timeon, "but we are here for him as well. When was the last time you saw him?" </p><p>"We were out on patrol," Timeon replied. "We were ambushed by armed men. I was knocked out, and when I awoke, I was in a chamber with a cruel, bald man. He wore the symbol of the Dark One as well! He attacked me, and I was wounded, but I managed to flee. I found this hidden redoubt and have been hold up here ever since."</p><p>"What have you seen since you've been here?" Tardaesha asked. "Anything you can tell us will help us."</p><p>"In a room nearby I saw vicious metal cobras," Timeon said breathlessly. "Past that there is a room with stairs leading up, but a secret door across from them hides the way out! Be careful, though. Beyond that is a chamber with a shrieking mushroom! Worse, when it cries, it awakens drowned men in an adjoining room!"</p><p>"Truly, this is a house of horrors," Tardaesha nodded sympathetically. "Which is exactly why you need to remain here, in hiding. We need to find the pendant, as well as Sir Balin. I promise you, we will come back for you."</p><p></p><p>__________________________________________________________</p><p></p><p>Leaving Timeon behind, the Dannisters, Lemmy and Roger returned to the chamber where they'd fought the vampiric mist, and then went through the second door and into the corridor beyond. It turned a corner and ended at another door. Written upon the door were the words: "The chosen are revealed by their might. The weak deserve no sympathy."</p><p>"If our boy Timeon's information is to be trusted," Tardaesha said, "then we have a pair of metallic serpents waiting for us on the other side. Prepare yourselves."</p><p></p><p>She pushed open the door, revealing a bare room illuminated by a hanging oil lantern. Coiled beneath it were two very large cobras, their skin a glittering, silvery alloy. They raised their hooded heads at the presence of intruders and hissed in unison, venom dripping from their metal fangs. Uncharacteristically, Dorian shouldered Tardaesha aside. He touched his thumbs together and then fanned his fingers. A sheet of fire splayed out from his hands and washed over the oncoming snakes. Once the fire died, however, only one of the constructs showed signs of scorching. The other was unscathed. </p><p>"They are resistant to magic!" the priest shouted in dismay. </p><p>"But not immune, apparently," Kelvin said from beside him as he released a salvo of magic force missiles. They unerringly struck the same snake Dorian had managed to damage, denting and cracking its metal hide. Then Tardaesha stepped in front of her brothers and reached out a bare hand towards the cobra. When she touched it, a flash of dark energy sparked from her fingers, and the snake instantly went inert. </p><p></p><p>Unfortunately for the fallen paladin, the second cobra had managed to draw dangerously close, and it struck with blinding speed. Its fangs sank into Tardaesha's forearm, and as the poison burned through her veins, she stumbled back, dizzy and disoriented. Katarina and Roger leaped to her aid, flanking the serpent and drawing its attention. Kat stabbed twice with her dagger, and though she managed to graze its carapace, the brunt of her blows were deflected aside by the enchanted metal. Her equilibrium returning, Tardaesha reentered the fray, her corrupting touch blackening the cobra's skin, but not before it bit her hand. Cursing, she touched it again, and once more it struck back. She wavered, unsteady on her feet. Kat tried to penetrate the serpent with her dagger again, not faring much better than she had on her first attempt.</p><p>"Step aside ladies!" Roger roared as he raised his sword above his head with both hands.</p><p>He brought it down in a powerful stroke that completely severed the cobra in two. Its halves writhed for a few moments more before going still. </p><p></p><p>"Hmm," Kelvin murmured as he knelt down over the wreckage of the snakes. "This is mitrhil. Most of these types of constructs are made of iron. Our host spared no expense. We should take the remains with us. They should fetch a good price."</p><p>"Good," Dorian said sourly. "We're going to need all the money we can get to replace my wands if we keep running through them like this."</p><p>He finished applying the infernal healing magic to Tardaesha, and she smiled and patted his cheek affectionately. </p><p>"Always the worrier, Dory," she said. "You must have faith little brother. Asmodeus will provide."</p><p></p><p>__________________________________________________________________</p><p></p><p>Their linear progression continued, with only a single door exiting the serpent chamber, giving onto another short hallway that ended at another door. </p><p>"Suffer not the fool," read the inscription. "Stupidity is our faith's cardinal sin."</p><p>The room it guarded looked similar to all the others, plain with a single oil lantern providing illumination. There was a single podium in the center of the room, and upon it lay a pendant of silver...a dragon with sapphire eyes. There appeared to be no way out of the room save for a stairway leading up to the east.</p><p></p><p>"It can't be this easy," Kelvin shook his head, taking in the details of the scene.</p><p>He approached the podium cautiously and looked appraisingly at the pendant. After a moment, he picked it up, testing its heft.</p><p>"Just as I thought," he smiled triumphantly. "While the silver is authentic, the sapphires are merely cheap costume jewelry. Little more than cut glass."</p><p>He tossed it to the floor and stomped on it with one boot heel, crushing the stones to dust.</p><p>"Timeon mentioned a secret door in here," Tardaesha pointed out. "Across from the stairs, he said."</p><p>"Yep, I see it," Lemmy replied. "Right there. Plain as the nose on yer face."</p><p>It was not plain to anyone else, but when Kat went to examine the place the dwarf indicated, she was able to find the seam of the door. </p><p></p><p>The door opened onto a corridor running south, before hooking east after a dozen yards. Around the corner it ended at another door, but just as they passed the bend, Lemmy halted them.</p><p>"Look!" he bellowed. "Here's another one!"</p><p>He pointed to the corner and traced the outline of another hidden door. Kat ascertained its safety and opened it, revealing a short hall that ended at a blank wall. There, however, was the backside of yet another hidden door, obvious from this side. It too bore an inscription: "Beware the fallen for they may rise once more to threaten you."</p><p>"The drowned men Timeon reported," Tardaesha said. "I have a feeling that boy is going to prove very useful."</p><p></p><p>The square stone chamber beyond the secret door was lit by a single lantern. Around its perimeter lay eight battered wooden coffins encrusted with salt brine, barnacles and dried sea weed. Tardaesha dashed into the room immediately, and leaped atop the nearest coffin.</p><p>"They can't get out if we hold them down like this!" she shouted to her companions. "Come on! Everybody pick one!"</p><p>Before any of the others could act, however, the lid of one of the coffins across the room suddenly exploded outwards. From inside rose a barnacle-encrusted corpse, dripping with water and exuding a nauseating stench. It was dressed in rusted armor, and gripped a pitted greataxe in its rotting hands. </p><p>"I'm on it!" Roger cried as he charged across the room.</p><p>His sword cleaved into its sodden flesh with a sound like a fist striking raw meat. Trying to keep his gorge from rising, the half-orc wrenched the blade free just as Tardaesha came running to his side. The corpse moved with a speed that belied its decomposed state, turning to meet the onrushing woman and driving the blade of its axe into her belly. Her mail held, preventing her from being disemboweled, but the blow was powerful, and knocked the wind from her lungs. She struck back weak and reflexively, scoring a glancing blow, but that provided an opportunity for Roger to step in and sweep the thing's head from its shoulders. It toppled to the floor just as a second coffin erupted in another corner of the room. </p><p></p><p>Tardaesha, still clutching her bruised belly, hurried towards the second draugr, scoring a solid hit across its back before it could ready its axe. It whirled towards her, and that's when Katarina leaped at its exposed flank. Almost with a sixth sense, it spun back towards her, the huge axe defining a wide arc. Kat jumped back at the last second, but the rusty blade still bit through her leathers, and carving out a sizable divot of flesh from her thigh. She reversed, ducked under the creature's backswing, and drove her dagger up towards its heart. The point of the blade merely rebounded off of the draugr's flesh, almost as if she'd stabbed a tree trunk instead of skin. She darted back a safe distance before it could swing at her again, blood running in thick rivulets down her leg.</p><p>"Hold still!" Dorian snapped as he applied the tip of his wand to her wound. "Your bleeding to death isn't going to do any of us any good!"</p><p>"Thank y...," she began, but then her eyes went wide and her mouth slack.</p><p>Dorian looked up, just as the draugr yanked the axe blade from between Kat's shoulders. She crumpled to the floor at his feet.</p><p></p><p>A third coffin blew open as Roger drove his sword point through the second draugr's back and out its chest as it stood over Kat.</p><p>"Hope she's ok," he said to Dorian, glancing down at the fallen rogue, his eyes not conveying hope. "Need to finish this first."</p><p>He and Tardaesha closed the distance with the newest undead arrival, and between the two of them, took it down before it could even retrieve its weapon. When a fourth and, as it turned out, final undead bursts forth, the duo made quick work of it as well.</p><p></p><p>Just to be on the safe side, Lemmy, Roger and Tardaesha threw open the lids to the other four coffins, exposing dead bodies laying within. It didn't matter. They proceeded to blast, hack and stab the corpses until they were thoroughly sure they would not be rising any time soon. Katarina still breathed, though only barely, by the time Dorian was able to assess her. He applied infernal healing to her, slowly closing the terrible wound and returning her to consciousness. After a couple of more applications of the wand, he pronounced her right-as-rain, though the look in her eyes told a different story. Her near-death experience had shaken her confidence badly.</p><p></p><p>____________________________________________________________</p><p></p><p>Two doors led from the chamber of the risen, but one of them, the easternmost, seemed to lead back the way they'd come.</p><p>"We still haven't found the shrieking fungus that Timeon mentioned," Tardaesha said. "Perhaps it lies back that way."</p><p>"Which means we bypassed it with Lemmy's timely discovery of that hidden door," Roger said, patting his friend on the back. </p><p>Kat shuddered.</p><p>"I hate to think of what we would have found in this room if we had triggered such a racket. Perhaps all of the undead would have been waiting for us instead of slumbering."</p><p>Dakota wrapped an arm around her sister's shoulder as they left the morgue behind.</p><p></p><p>The western door gave onto another short hall which, predictably, ended at another door. What set this portal apart, however, was the fact that it was reinforced with iron bands, and was secured with a well-made lock. Hanging beside it on a peg was a heavy iron key.</p><p>"Serve thy master well, and be rewarded," read the inscription. </p><p>"Wait," Tardaesha warned the others, holding up one hand. "I sense it again. The same aura when we found Timeon."</p><p>She bowed her head, concentrating, and pressed one palm against the door.</p><p>"Me too," Roger sniffed the air, growling low in his throat. "Sickeningly sweet."</p><p>Tardaesha drew away from the portal. "There is a strong presence of goodness coming from the other side," she said. "Perhaps it's the knight Timeon serves."</p><p>"Balin," Kelvin sneered. "Then I suggest we put these circlets the Cardinal gave us to good use."</p><p></p><p>One by one the seven of them touched the metal bands upon their brows and focused. Instantaneously, all of their appearances altered, making them look like a company of Alerion knights, complete with emblazoned tabards and holy symbols of Iomedae. </p><p>"Sir Balin!" Tardaesha called through the door. "Are you in there, my Lord?"</p><p>A moment's silence, then, "Who's there?" a voice replied.</p><p>"We're here to rescue you, Sir!" Tardaesha called back. "Stand clear!"</p><p>At a nod from her sister, Kat used the key to unlock the door, then pushed it open. In a sparse cell on the other side stood a man in full plate armor, carrying a heavy steel shield. A longsword was gripped in one hand, and his tabard bore the symbol of the Knights of Alerion. Around his neck hung a holy symbol of Iomedae...crafted of silver and sapphires.</p><p>"Who are you?" He demanded, staring suspiciously at the group gathered at the door.</p><p>"We are a covert operations unit of the Order, Sir," Tardaesha replied. "We were sent here to find you, and your squire. Timeon, I believe?"</p><p>"I have not seen the boy since my imprisonment," Balin shook his head. </p><p>"How did you come to be here, Sir?" Tardaesha asked, the soul of respect.</p><p>"Timeon and I were ambushed two days ago," Balin replied. "We were separated in the battle, and I was sorely wounded. I awoke in this cell, but all my wounds had been healed, and I still held my arms and armor. Who is responsible for this outrage!?"</p><p>"Asmodeans," Tardaesha said. "A hidden sect we only recently discovered."</p><p>"Filthy devil worshippers!" Balin snarled. "We shall make them pay for their heresy! Come, I am taking command of this unit, but we are not leaving without Timeon!"</p><p>"As you say, Sir," Tardaesha bowed and stepped aside.</p><p></p><p>The others parted for him as Balin left the room...that is until he was in the midst of them. That was when Tardaesha made her move. Calling upon Asmodeus she raised her sword where she stood behind the knight, and brought it down upon his right shoulder, smiting with the power of Hell at her command. Sir Balin cried out as the blade found an opening at the joint of his armor plates and bit deeply into flesh and bone. He turned, bringing up his shield, which is when Kat drew both of her daggers and, now that his back was to her, drove them both into his flanks, piercing his kidneys. </p><p>"What base treachery is this!?" Balin cried out, rage and pain warring over his features.</p><p>He spun in a wide arc, his sword extended fully. The sheer power of his swing cut through Tardaesha's chain mail like it was nothing, and carried through into her chest. One lung ruptured, and blood frothed from between her lips as her eyes rolled up into her skull and she collapsed, insensate and bleeding out. Balin tore his weapon loose and, with a vicious thrust, plunged it into Roger's gut. The knight whirled back towards the others, his skin pallid from blood loss, staggering on his feet. His eyes widened when he saw Kelvin, his disguise dropped, standing right in front of him, his index finger pointed at Balin's head from less than six inches away.</p><p>"House Dannister always pays its debts!" the wizard snarled, and then he put three force missiles into Balin's skull.</p><p></p><p>___________________________________________________________________</p><p></p><p>Adrastus sat in his study seeming almost as if he had not moved an inch from where he had given his orders at dusk. </p><p>"You've returned," he said to his minions as Tiadora escorted them into the room.</p><p>They were battered and bloodied, but the most potentially lethal of their injuries had been tended to before they were brought before him. The half-orc, Roger, dragged the limp form of Sir Balin behind him. Kelvin came forward and presented the silver and sapphire pendant. The high priest held the trinket and paused as if in deep contemplation. He watched the holy symbol glitter in the light.</p><p>"A pretty enough thing, eh?" he mused. "This is the symbol of Iomedae, in particular the sort favored by the Knights of Alerion. Perhaps you already knew that. Remember it. This is the mark of those who destroyed our faith and sought to banish all trace of the worship of our Father from these shores. These, my friends, are your enemies."</p><p>He tossed the pendant back to Kelvin.</p><p>"Keep it," he said. "It may aid you in disguising yourself. Now, what else have you brought me?"</p><p>"Sir Balin yet lives," Kelvin said, "but only just. What would you have us do with him?"</p><p>Thorn arched an eyebrow. "Is mercy one of our virtues?"</p><p>Kelvin smiled thinly. "No, it is not."</p><p>He turned and drew the knight's own sword from its scabbard, and then slit Balin's throat with it.</p><p>Thorn smiled. "You have done well. Escaping from Branderscar, slaughtering Sir Balin...yes, you are worthy. Now, let us complete your training."</p><p>"There is...another matter...," Tardaesha wheezed, clutching her side painfully as she clung to Dakota. "The squire, Timeon. He remains in his hidey hole, awaiting our return."</p><p>"I pose to you the same question I did your brother," Thorn replied testily. </p><p>"And I agree whole-heartedly," she nodded. "However, Dakota and I would like to first try our hand at...conversion..."</p><p>The cardinal smiled. "Clever girls."</p><p></p><p>_________________________________________________________________</p><p></p><p>Over the next three months, Cardinal Thorn worked with each of his acolytes intensely, honing them into his perfect weapons. They were kept sequestered, though all of their physical needs were taken care of. Tiadora assisted in the training, and was revealed again and again as a cruel sadist who reveled in their failure and suffering. Their lessons were focused and never wasteful. They were drilled not only individually, but also as a team, forging them into a cohesive unit. </p><p></p><p>During this time, Tardaesha and Dakota pursued their own endeavors as well. Shortly after gaining Thorn's permission to do with Timeon what they would, the twins returned to the squire bearing a gift...Balin's head. The boy was horrified when they flung open the door to his hiding place and flung the gory tableau at him.</p><p>"Such is the fate of heretics," Tardaesha grinned down at him. "Now you have a choice, lover: convert or join your former master. I assure you, however, that if you make the wrong choice, your death will not be so quick and merciful as Sir Balin's"</p><p>As they closed the door back on him, leaving him in darkness with only Balin's head for company, Timeon wailed:</p><p>"Iomedae! Why have you forsaken me?!"</p><p></p><p>The next three months for Timeon were great peaks and valleys of tortuous agony, and mind-shattering ecstasy. The twin sisters could deliver pain and torture unmatched by few, but they could also reward with equal vigor, and this they did to and for the boy...over and over, unpredictably, and without rhyme nor reason, until he was driven to the very edge of sanity, and then ripped back again. Ultimately, though his faith was strong, Timeon was still just a boy, and a naive one at that. His will broke, and by the time Tardaesha and Dakota were done, he had sworn his undying fealty and devotion to both them and Asmodeus.</p><p></p><p>__________________________________________________________________</p><p></p><p>When their time of training had been declared complete, Adrastus pronounced them ready, and held a great banquet in their honor. He conferred upon them the title of his Nessian Knot in an infernal ritual that involved blood and fire. During the ritual, he summoned forth a barbed-skin devil and offered to it a slave chosen by the Knot. The fiend gleefully ripped the slave apart and feasted on his blood. Adrastus then drew forth some of the devil's blood with a silver athame. He traced the unholy symbol of Asmodeus on the foreheads of each of the Nessians in the mingled blood of fiend and sacrifice. </p><p></p><p>"Behold!" Thorn proclaimed. "The Nessian Knot is forged! And just in time! My ship has arrived."</p><p>On the river dock behind the manor house, under cover of darkness, a square-sailed longship sailed into the slip. It sat heavily in the water, laden with a substantial cargo.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="JollyDoc, post: 6818118, member: 9546"] [b]The Cruel Lessons Of Master Thorn[/b] 22 Desnus, 4716 - 22 Arodus, 4716 "So do you trust our new patron, Miss Zadaria?" Kelvin asked the young woman sitting across from him on one of the overstuffed chairs in the manor's study. "Please, call me Elise," she smiled, though there was no mirth in her eyes. "As for trust, that is a thing hard-earned. Suffice it to say that I have no reason to distrust Cardinal Thorn at the moment." Kelvin nodded thoughtfully. "It just seems to me that a man such as he would have no qualms about eliminating tools when they were of no further use to him." "Then we'd best be sure that we don't outlive our usefulness," Elise smiled again and sipped from the brandy snifter one of the slaves had brought her. "I'm afraid I've strayed from our original topic," Kelvin returned the smile. "You were telling me about how you and the White Ravens came to the attention of the cardinal." "There's really not much to tell," she shrugged. "We come from the northlands of Talingarde, a place you southerners affectionately call 'savage.' We were recruited by Thorn after we successfully raided a paladin's tomb." "Well done," Kelvin raised his glass. "Yes, well," she replied, "I suppose it doesn't compare to breaking out of prison...assuming one allowed oneself to be caught in the first place." The subtle barb was well placed, and a sour expression passed briefly across Kelvin's face. "So you are not, in fact, a follower of Asmodeus?" he asked. "No," Elise shook her head. "I serve The Endless Winter." "Not familiar with that one, I'm afraid," Kelvin said, a bit dismissively. "What of your companions? Any Asmodeans among them?" "You'd have to ask them," Elise said flatly. "That big half-elf is not much of a conversationalist," Kelvin said. "Dostan?" Elise asked. "No, not really, but he does love his mead, and he is definitely someone you want by your side if a scrap breaks out." "What about the twins?" Kelvin asked. "The Rackburn brothers," Elise nodded. "An interesting pair. Tallus, or Trak as he calls himself, was a bounty hunter when I first met him. Preferred to bring his quarry back dead when given the choice." "He seems smitten with you," Kelvin teased. "He has his uses," Elise quipped. "And his brother? Titus is it?" the wizard pressed. "Calls himself Trik," she said, bemused. "A priest, devoted to Asmodeus actually, now that I recall. Nice enough boy, though a bit too jovial for my tastes." "Well, it seems as if our lot has been cast together," Kelvin said, rising to his feet. "Let us hope that it is to our mutual benefit." He held out his glass, and she tapped with her own. "Here, here," she smiled. _________________________________________________________________ "Cardinal Thorn requests the pleasure of your company," Tiadora said without preamble as she walked into the dining room where the Dannisters were supping with Lemmy and Roger. "You'll want to bring any gear and equipment that you feel may improve your chances of survival." The ex-convicts glanced at one another uneasily, not certain if the woman was joking. She didn't seem the type. They scrambled from the room, hurried back to their quarters to gather their arms and armor, then assembled where Tiadora awaited them outside the same study where they had originally met their host. "Have you enjoyed your gifts?" Thorn asked as soon as they were escorted into his presence. He was seated and relaxed, as if he'd never left the room, though he had not been seen around the manor over the past three days. "The iron circlets allow you to move amongst your enemies as one of them. The silver amulets will remind you of your true loyalties. And the other items...well, you need them now." Kelvin tensed visibly. "You have done well to escape Branderscar, and to accept my offer," Thorn continued, seeming not to have noticed the wizard's discomfort. "However, you are still not ready for my service. Tiadora will lead you to the basement of this domicile. There you will find nine chambers, each more dangerous than the last. Somewhere hidden within these chambers is a pendant of silver and sapphire. Recover the pendant and bring it to me. Let nothing and no one stand in your way." He stood and looked out the window across the grey moor. "It's almost dusk," he said. "You have until dusk tomorrow to bring me my prize. Do not fail me." He turned back and reseated himself behind his desk. Tiadora entered the room right on cue. "This way," was all she said. ______________________________________________________ "So is this some sort of test?" Kelvin asked Tiadora. She did not answer. "Should we be ready for a fight?" he persisted. "You are servants of Asmodeus in Talingarde," she said curtly. "You should always be ready for battle." "Well what does this pendant look like?" Kelvin asked. "You will know it," Tiadora said. She led them to a set of stairs. "Below, you will find the Nine Lessons," she pointed down the stairs. "What's down there?" Kelvin asked. "The Master has already told you all you need to know," she replied, her voice tightening. Kelvin didn't take the hint. "No, really. What's down there?" "Monsters. Death. Worse." Tiadora's eyes had begun to glow ever so slightly. "Hmmm," Kelvin mused, nodding. "Can we leave the basement to rest and come back later?" "You may go wherever you wish within the manor," Tiadora said, her voice as cold as ice. "But the pendant is in the basement, not in your bed chambers. I will warn you...our master takes failure...poorly." She turned and left without another word. Kelvin looked at his companions. "That could have gone better," Tardaesha smirked. "I'm tired of being jerked around like a puppet on a string," her brother snapped. "It's better than being impaled on a rack," Dakota shrugged. "You shouldn't push a high priest of the faith," Dorian warned. "Makes no difference to me," Katarina yawned. "I was getting bored hanging around this place anyway." "Let's just get this over with," Lemmy growled. "I been itchin' to kill somethin' since we left prison." Roger patted his friend on the shoulder. "Something tells me your going to get your wish." _____________________________________________________________ The stone stairs led down, through an archway, and into an unfurnished chamber. Inscribed upon the archway in the common tongue were the words: "Deception is a tool. Self-deception is death. Deceive always thy enemy, but never thyself." The room itself was lit by a small oil lantern that hung from the center of the ceiling. A single door stood at the opposite side of the chamber. Katarina walked across the room and bent to examine the door closely. "See anything?" Tardaesha asked as she came up behind. "Looks clear," Kat shrugged, and then pulled it open. Suddenly, with an audible click, a ten-foot section of the floor in front of the portal simply fell away, revealing a pit studded with iron spikes at the bottom. Katarina instinctively leaped to one side as the trap sprung, narrowly avoiding a fall. On the opposite side of the pit, Tardaesha caught herself on the edge and quickly pulled herself up. Lemmy and Roger, however, who had been coming towards the door as Kat opened it, preparing to back her up should any danger lay beyond, both stumbled directly into the pit. They struck the bottom, hard, and each was jabbed even more painfully by several of the spikes. The fact that the spikes had been blunted was small comfort, though it probably saved their lives. The others quickly lowered ropes to pull the dwarf and half-orc out of the pit, and then Dorian drew a thin bone wand from his belt and touched each of them. Their wounds began to close, slowly, but inexorably as the infernal healing magic contained within the wand took effect. "I thought you said it was clear!" Lemmy shouted into Kat's face as he hauled himself out of the hole. "I said it looked clear!" she snapped back. She glanced over at the open door, which held only a blank stone wall behind it. She whirled sharply away from the dwarf and made her way slowly around the perimeter of the room. Twice she paused, at sections of the wall opposite one another. She traced a finger around the cracks in the masonry at those points. "There and there," she indicated. "There are hidden doors in each location. I've checked them both." "Yeah?" Lemmy barked. "And what do you think about those??" Kat just shrugged again. "Looks clear." _____________________________________________________________ The two secret doors did, indeed, prove to be trap-free. Behind the first was concealed a small niche. Inside was a low pedestal that held a jewel which glowed with a pale blue light. It was cold to the touch, and there was another inscription on the pedestal: "Thou hast seen through deception to uncover a useful tool." Kelvin lifted the jewel and carefully appraised it. "Alchemical ice," he said after a moment. "Similar in principal to alchemical fire. If the glass is smashed, the reagent will be released and cause quite an uncomfortable frost burn." He tucked the gemstone away in one of his belt pouches. The other door revealed a short passage which ended at another wooden portal bearing yet another inscription: "Following the herd is for fools.Fear not their icy derision. Instead, fear only thy Infernal Lord." "You see?" Kelvin patted his belt pouch. "Ice." Inside the stone chamber beyond the door, there were three more doors, each facing one of the other cardinal directions. The entire chamber seemed strangely cold, and the ground was dirty and dusty. "Hold on a moment," Kat held one hand up before any of the others could enter the room, then crouched down to examine the floor more closely. "There are a lot of footprints in the dust here," she observed, "but they all lead to the south and east. None of them go west." "Then that's the way we go," Kelvin said. "Don't follow the herd." He stepped into the room and headed towards the western door, but paused several feet away. There was something on the surface of the door. It looked like some sort of strange, pulsating violet mold. He held out one hand towards it, cautiously. "The air is colder the closer to the growth," he said. "Almost as if it's sucking the warmth out of the air. Hmmm. I wonder..." Kelvin pointed one finger towards the mold and spoke a single word. "Freezare!" A thin, blue ray shot from the digit and struck the growth. Instantly it shriveled and flaked off to dust. Underneath where it had clung, a second inscription was visible on the door: "Thou hast made thy own path." _________________________________________________________________ The western door led to a vaguely u-shaped passage. It twisted around before ending at another wooden door. Not surprisingly, it was inscribed. "Know your enemy. Shatter all that blinds you and then burn thy adversary to ashes." Once Kat was confident that the door was not rigged, she pulled it open. The chamber beyond was completely dark. Even the magical globe of light that Kelvin held aloft did not penetrate it. Still, Katarina could see clearly into the room. She alone of her siblings carried within her a trace of outsider blood. Some ancestor down the line had apparently dallied with with a member of the Heavenly Host. Though the thought sickened Kat, she did not mind the supernatural gifts she had inherited, such as her darkvision. Roger and Lemmy could see as well, thanks to their own heritage, and what all three of them saw was a globe of obsidian resting on a podium in the center of the chamber. As they stared, a semisolid red mist rose from cracks in the floor. It appeared to have a consistency similar to thick foam, and it floated through the air swiftly towards them. As it drew near, it snaked out a tendril which latched onto Roger's arm. The half-orc cried out in disgust as the mist grew a deeper shade of crimson, siphoning the blood directly through his skin. It pulled swiftly away and sank back into the floor cracks, leaving Roger feeling weak and light-headed. "What's happening?" Kelvin shouted, seeing the pale half-orc stagger back from the door. "The orb!" Lemmy yelled at Kat. "We need to bust it like the writin' said!" Kat nodded and leaped into the room. She brought the pommel of her dagger down on the black glass, only to have it rebound harmlessly off. "Get back!" Lemmy elbowed her out of the way. He flung his hands out, hurling a blast of stoney debris towards the orb, and shattering it into a thousand pieces. Instantly, the darkness vanished. A moment later, like a serpent, the red mist rose up again. Kelvin's eyes grew wide as he recognized the nature of the thing. "It's vampiric!" he warned. "Fire! We need to use fire against it!" "I'm a little short on flames!" Roger snarled as he swung his sword at the mist. The blade cut into the creature, but not nearly as much as the half-orc would have thought, given the force of his swing. Before he could pull it loose, the mist struck him with another tendril, drinking in even more of his life's blood. "Get away from it!" Kelvin commanded. He didn't wait to see if Roger would, or could obey. His hands and fingers moved quickly as he conjured up a flurry of mystical bolts of pure force and hurled them at the mist. It recoiled from the impact in obvious pain, but before it could retreat into the floor again, He threw a second barrage of missiles at it. It dissipated into harmless ooze. ____________________________________________________________________ There was nothing to be done for Roger. "I'm not a healer," Dorian said when the half-orc asked. "If you want that type of priest, go find a sun-worshipping Iomedaean." Roger gave him a dark look, but it was the truth. "Just don't come hiding behind me next time your god doesn't protect you from the business end of a sword," he grumbled. "He's your god too now," Dorian smiled. Two doors led from the chamber of darkness, one to the north, and one to the east. Beyond the first was a short hall that ended at another door, while the second revealed a longer hall that curved away beyond sight. To leave no stone unturned, the acolytes chose the first route. "Cruelty is a tool not a pastime," read the inscription on the far door. "Be ruthless to thy enemy but reward those who serve thee well." Kat assured them the door was safe, and Tardaesha threw it open. There was only one thing in the small room on the other side: a torturer's rack. It appeared functional and ready for use, but was unoccupied. A single oil lantern hung from the ceiling above it. "I like it," Dakota smiled as she walked around the rack, trailing her fingers lovingly along it, and winking at Tardaesha. "Maybe the Cardinal will let you try it out on one of the slaves once we've retrieved his bauble," Tardaesha laughed. "So what's waitin' to jump out at us in here?" Lemmy asked as he walked around the room's periphery. He paused as he reached a certain spot at one wall, and reached out to touch the stone. "Heads up ladies and gents," he rumbled. "If there's one thing I know, it's stonework, and there's somethin' different with this." Kat came to stand beside him and peered at the spot he indicated. "There's a seam," she said, tracing a thin line with one finger. "It goes all the way around...a door!" "Get back," Tardaesha said, drawing her sword. "I sense...something...," "Hrmm," Roger growled. "Me too." "Open it," Tardaesha nodded to Kat, who touched another spot on the wall, causing a section to spring open. "Well, well, what have we here?" Tardaesha grinned evilly as she looked inside. There was a small room on the other side of the secret door, bare and dark. Cowering in a corner was a teenage boy. He wore a chain shirt beneath a dirty tabard, and an empty sheath hung at his side. "I recognize the heraldry," Kelvin said softly to his sister in Shadowtongue. "It's House Balentyne. They're a noble family with holdings near the Watch Wall." Tardesha nodded, then sheathed her sword and softened her smile. "Easy boy," she said soothingly. "You're safe now. We are agents of House Balentyne sent to rescue you." The boy looked incredulous, a flicker of hope in his eyes, but fear and distrust warring there as well. His gaze fell upon Dorian, and the Asmodean symbol that hung around the priest's neck. "Why does he wear the sign of the Dark One?" the boy asked in a tremulous voice. "He's our prisoner," Tardeasha replied without hesitation. "We're taking him back with us for interrogation." "We're wasting time here, boy!" Roger snarled, looming over the lad. "Are you coming with us or not?" "Tell me your name, dear," Tardaesha feigned annoyance with Roger as she held out a hand to the young man. "We need to be sure we've got the right person." "Ti...Timeon," he stammered. "That's right," Tardaesha smiled. "Timeon. We will take you home, Timeon, but first we need to find an item hidden somewhere in this dungeon. It's vital that we not let it fall into the hands of the Asmodeans. Have you seen a silver pendant, studded with sapphires?" Timeon shook his head. "What about Sir Balin?" he asked. "Surely you're hear for him as well!" "Sir Balin?" Kelvin asked, his voice ice. "Of Karfield?" "Yes!" Timeon nodded emphatically. "Have you found him?" "A member of the Alerion order," Kelvin said in an aside to Tardaesha, using Shadowtongue once again. "It was he who captured me!" "We have not found him yet," Tardaesha said to Timeon, "but we are here for him as well. When was the last time you saw him?" "We were out on patrol," Timeon replied. "We were ambushed by armed men. I was knocked out, and when I awoke, I was in a chamber with a cruel, bald man. He wore the symbol of the Dark One as well! He attacked me, and I was wounded, but I managed to flee. I found this hidden redoubt and have been hold up here ever since." "What have you seen since you've been here?" Tardaesha asked. "Anything you can tell us will help us." "In a room nearby I saw vicious metal cobras," Timeon said breathlessly. "Past that there is a room with stairs leading up, but a secret door across from them hides the way out! Be careful, though. Beyond that is a chamber with a shrieking mushroom! Worse, when it cries, it awakens drowned men in an adjoining room!" "Truly, this is a house of horrors," Tardaesha nodded sympathetically. "Which is exactly why you need to remain here, in hiding. We need to find the pendant, as well as Sir Balin. I promise you, we will come back for you." __________________________________________________________ Leaving Timeon behind, the Dannisters, Lemmy and Roger returned to the chamber where they'd fought the vampiric mist, and then went through the second door and into the corridor beyond. It turned a corner and ended at another door. Written upon the door were the words: "The chosen are revealed by their might. The weak deserve no sympathy." "If our boy Timeon's information is to be trusted," Tardaesha said, "then we have a pair of metallic serpents waiting for us on the other side. Prepare yourselves." She pushed open the door, revealing a bare room illuminated by a hanging oil lantern. Coiled beneath it were two very large cobras, their skin a glittering, silvery alloy. They raised their hooded heads at the presence of intruders and hissed in unison, venom dripping from their metal fangs. Uncharacteristically, Dorian shouldered Tardaesha aside. He touched his thumbs together and then fanned his fingers. A sheet of fire splayed out from his hands and washed over the oncoming snakes. Once the fire died, however, only one of the constructs showed signs of scorching. The other was unscathed. "They are resistant to magic!" the priest shouted in dismay. "But not immune, apparently," Kelvin said from beside him as he released a salvo of magic force missiles. They unerringly struck the same snake Dorian had managed to damage, denting and cracking its metal hide. Then Tardaesha stepped in front of her brothers and reached out a bare hand towards the cobra. When she touched it, a flash of dark energy sparked from her fingers, and the snake instantly went inert. Unfortunately for the fallen paladin, the second cobra had managed to draw dangerously close, and it struck with blinding speed. Its fangs sank into Tardaesha's forearm, and as the poison burned through her veins, she stumbled back, dizzy and disoriented. Katarina and Roger leaped to her aid, flanking the serpent and drawing its attention. Kat stabbed twice with her dagger, and though she managed to graze its carapace, the brunt of her blows were deflected aside by the enchanted metal. Her equilibrium returning, Tardaesha reentered the fray, her corrupting touch blackening the cobra's skin, but not before it bit her hand. Cursing, she touched it again, and once more it struck back. She wavered, unsteady on her feet. Kat tried to penetrate the serpent with her dagger again, not faring much better than she had on her first attempt. "Step aside ladies!" Roger roared as he raised his sword above his head with both hands. He brought it down in a powerful stroke that completely severed the cobra in two. Its halves writhed for a few moments more before going still. "Hmm," Kelvin murmured as he knelt down over the wreckage of the snakes. "This is mitrhil. Most of these types of constructs are made of iron. Our host spared no expense. We should take the remains with us. They should fetch a good price." "Good," Dorian said sourly. "We're going to need all the money we can get to replace my wands if we keep running through them like this." He finished applying the infernal healing magic to Tardaesha, and she smiled and patted his cheek affectionately. "Always the worrier, Dory," she said. "You must have faith little brother. Asmodeus will provide." __________________________________________________________________ Their linear progression continued, with only a single door exiting the serpent chamber, giving onto another short hallway that ended at another door. "Suffer not the fool," read the inscription. "Stupidity is our faith's cardinal sin." The room it guarded looked similar to all the others, plain with a single oil lantern providing illumination. There was a single podium in the center of the room, and upon it lay a pendant of silver...a dragon with sapphire eyes. There appeared to be no way out of the room save for a stairway leading up to the east. "It can't be this easy," Kelvin shook his head, taking in the details of the scene. He approached the podium cautiously and looked appraisingly at the pendant. After a moment, he picked it up, testing its heft. "Just as I thought," he smiled triumphantly. "While the silver is authentic, the sapphires are merely cheap costume jewelry. Little more than cut glass." He tossed it to the floor and stomped on it with one boot heel, crushing the stones to dust. "Timeon mentioned a secret door in here," Tardaesha pointed out. "Across from the stairs, he said." "Yep, I see it," Lemmy replied. "Right there. Plain as the nose on yer face." It was not plain to anyone else, but when Kat went to examine the place the dwarf indicated, she was able to find the seam of the door. The door opened onto a corridor running south, before hooking east after a dozen yards. Around the corner it ended at another door, but just as they passed the bend, Lemmy halted them. "Look!" he bellowed. "Here's another one!" He pointed to the corner and traced the outline of another hidden door. Kat ascertained its safety and opened it, revealing a short hall that ended at a blank wall. There, however, was the backside of yet another hidden door, obvious from this side. It too bore an inscription: "Beware the fallen for they may rise once more to threaten you." "The drowned men Timeon reported," Tardaesha said. "I have a feeling that boy is going to prove very useful." The square stone chamber beyond the secret door was lit by a single lantern. Around its perimeter lay eight battered wooden coffins encrusted with salt brine, barnacles and dried sea weed. Tardaesha dashed into the room immediately, and leaped atop the nearest coffin. "They can't get out if we hold them down like this!" she shouted to her companions. "Come on! Everybody pick one!" Before any of the others could act, however, the lid of one of the coffins across the room suddenly exploded outwards. From inside rose a barnacle-encrusted corpse, dripping with water and exuding a nauseating stench. It was dressed in rusted armor, and gripped a pitted greataxe in its rotting hands. "I'm on it!" Roger cried as he charged across the room. His sword cleaved into its sodden flesh with a sound like a fist striking raw meat. Trying to keep his gorge from rising, the half-orc wrenched the blade free just as Tardaesha came running to his side. The corpse moved with a speed that belied its decomposed state, turning to meet the onrushing woman and driving the blade of its axe into her belly. Her mail held, preventing her from being disemboweled, but the blow was powerful, and knocked the wind from her lungs. She struck back weak and reflexively, scoring a glancing blow, but that provided an opportunity for Roger to step in and sweep the thing's head from its shoulders. It toppled to the floor just as a second coffin erupted in another corner of the room. Tardaesha, still clutching her bruised belly, hurried towards the second draugr, scoring a solid hit across its back before it could ready its axe. It whirled towards her, and that's when Katarina leaped at its exposed flank. Almost with a sixth sense, it spun back towards her, the huge axe defining a wide arc. Kat jumped back at the last second, but the rusty blade still bit through her leathers, and carving out a sizable divot of flesh from her thigh. She reversed, ducked under the creature's backswing, and drove her dagger up towards its heart. The point of the blade merely rebounded off of the draugr's flesh, almost as if she'd stabbed a tree trunk instead of skin. She darted back a safe distance before it could swing at her again, blood running in thick rivulets down her leg. "Hold still!" Dorian snapped as he applied the tip of his wand to her wound. "Your bleeding to death isn't going to do any of us any good!" "Thank y...," she began, but then her eyes went wide and her mouth slack. Dorian looked up, just as the draugr yanked the axe blade from between Kat's shoulders. She crumpled to the floor at his feet. A third coffin blew open as Roger drove his sword point through the second draugr's back and out its chest as it stood over Kat. "Hope she's ok," he said to Dorian, glancing down at the fallen rogue, his eyes not conveying hope. "Need to finish this first." He and Tardaesha closed the distance with the newest undead arrival, and between the two of them, took it down before it could even retrieve its weapon. When a fourth and, as it turned out, final undead bursts forth, the duo made quick work of it as well. Just to be on the safe side, Lemmy, Roger and Tardaesha threw open the lids to the other four coffins, exposing dead bodies laying within. It didn't matter. They proceeded to blast, hack and stab the corpses until they were thoroughly sure they would not be rising any time soon. Katarina still breathed, though only barely, by the time Dorian was able to assess her. He applied infernal healing to her, slowly closing the terrible wound and returning her to consciousness. After a couple of more applications of the wand, he pronounced her right-as-rain, though the look in her eyes told a different story. Her near-death experience had shaken her confidence badly. ____________________________________________________________ Two doors led from the chamber of the risen, but one of them, the easternmost, seemed to lead back the way they'd come. "We still haven't found the shrieking fungus that Timeon mentioned," Tardaesha said. "Perhaps it lies back that way." "Which means we bypassed it with Lemmy's timely discovery of that hidden door," Roger said, patting his friend on the back. Kat shuddered. "I hate to think of what we would have found in this room if we had triggered such a racket. Perhaps all of the undead would have been waiting for us instead of slumbering." Dakota wrapped an arm around her sister's shoulder as they left the morgue behind. The western door gave onto another short hall which, predictably, ended at another door. What set this portal apart, however, was the fact that it was reinforced with iron bands, and was secured with a well-made lock. Hanging beside it on a peg was a heavy iron key. "Serve thy master well, and be rewarded," read the inscription. "Wait," Tardaesha warned the others, holding up one hand. "I sense it again. The same aura when we found Timeon." She bowed her head, concentrating, and pressed one palm against the door. "Me too," Roger sniffed the air, growling low in his throat. "Sickeningly sweet." Tardaesha drew away from the portal. "There is a strong presence of goodness coming from the other side," she said. "Perhaps it's the knight Timeon serves." "Balin," Kelvin sneered. "Then I suggest we put these circlets the Cardinal gave us to good use." One by one the seven of them touched the metal bands upon their brows and focused. Instantaneously, all of their appearances altered, making them look like a company of Alerion knights, complete with emblazoned tabards and holy symbols of Iomedae. "Sir Balin!" Tardaesha called through the door. "Are you in there, my Lord?" A moment's silence, then, "Who's there?" a voice replied. "We're here to rescue you, Sir!" Tardaesha called back. "Stand clear!" At a nod from her sister, Kat used the key to unlock the door, then pushed it open. In a sparse cell on the other side stood a man in full plate armor, carrying a heavy steel shield. A longsword was gripped in one hand, and his tabard bore the symbol of the Knights of Alerion. Around his neck hung a holy symbol of Iomedae...crafted of silver and sapphires. "Who are you?" He demanded, staring suspiciously at the group gathered at the door. "We are a covert operations unit of the Order, Sir," Tardaesha replied. "We were sent here to find you, and your squire. Timeon, I believe?" "I have not seen the boy since my imprisonment," Balin shook his head. "How did you come to be here, Sir?" Tardaesha asked, the soul of respect. "Timeon and I were ambushed two days ago," Balin replied. "We were separated in the battle, and I was sorely wounded. I awoke in this cell, but all my wounds had been healed, and I still held my arms and armor. Who is responsible for this outrage!?" "Asmodeans," Tardaesha said. "A hidden sect we only recently discovered." "Filthy devil worshippers!" Balin snarled. "We shall make them pay for their heresy! Come, I am taking command of this unit, but we are not leaving without Timeon!" "As you say, Sir," Tardaesha bowed and stepped aside. The others parted for him as Balin left the room...that is until he was in the midst of them. That was when Tardaesha made her move. Calling upon Asmodeus she raised her sword where she stood behind the knight, and brought it down upon his right shoulder, smiting with the power of Hell at her command. Sir Balin cried out as the blade found an opening at the joint of his armor plates and bit deeply into flesh and bone. He turned, bringing up his shield, which is when Kat drew both of her daggers and, now that his back was to her, drove them both into his flanks, piercing his kidneys. "What base treachery is this!?" Balin cried out, rage and pain warring over his features. He spun in a wide arc, his sword extended fully. The sheer power of his swing cut through Tardaesha's chain mail like it was nothing, and carried through into her chest. One lung ruptured, and blood frothed from between her lips as her eyes rolled up into her skull and she collapsed, insensate and bleeding out. Balin tore his weapon loose and, with a vicious thrust, plunged it into Roger's gut. The knight whirled back towards the others, his skin pallid from blood loss, staggering on his feet. His eyes widened when he saw Kelvin, his disguise dropped, standing right in front of him, his index finger pointed at Balin's head from less than six inches away. "House Dannister always pays its debts!" the wizard snarled, and then he put three force missiles into Balin's skull. ___________________________________________________________________ Adrastus sat in his study seeming almost as if he had not moved an inch from where he had given his orders at dusk. "You've returned," he said to his minions as Tiadora escorted them into the room. They were battered and bloodied, but the most potentially lethal of their injuries had been tended to before they were brought before him. The half-orc, Roger, dragged the limp form of Sir Balin behind him. Kelvin came forward and presented the silver and sapphire pendant. The high priest held the trinket and paused as if in deep contemplation. He watched the holy symbol glitter in the light. "A pretty enough thing, eh?" he mused. "This is the symbol of Iomedae, in particular the sort favored by the Knights of Alerion. Perhaps you already knew that. Remember it. This is the mark of those who destroyed our faith and sought to banish all trace of the worship of our Father from these shores. These, my friends, are your enemies." He tossed the pendant back to Kelvin. "Keep it," he said. "It may aid you in disguising yourself. Now, what else have you brought me?" "Sir Balin yet lives," Kelvin said, "but only just. What would you have us do with him?" Thorn arched an eyebrow. "Is mercy one of our virtues?" Kelvin smiled thinly. "No, it is not." He turned and drew the knight's own sword from its scabbard, and then slit Balin's throat with it. Thorn smiled. "You have done well. Escaping from Branderscar, slaughtering Sir Balin...yes, you are worthy. Now, let us complete your training." "There is...another matter...," Tardaesha wheezed, clutching her side painfully as she clung to Dakota. "The squire, Timeon. He remains in his hidey hole, awaiting our return." "I pose to you the same question I did your brother," Thorn replied testily. "And I agree whole-heartedly," she nodded. "However, Dakota and I would like to first try our hand at...conversion..." The cardinal smiled. "Clever girls." _________________________________________________________________ Over the next three months, Cardinal Thorn worked with each of his acolytes intensely, honing them into his perfect weapons. They were kept sequestered, though all of their physical needs were taken care of. Tiadora assisted in the training, and was revealed again and again as a cruel sadist who reveled in their failure and suffering. Their lessons were focused and never wasteful. They were drilled not only individually, but also as a team, forging them into a cohesive unit. During this time, Tardaesha and Dakota pursued their own endeavors as well. Shortly after gaining Thorn's permission to do with Timeon what they would, the twins returned to the squire bearing a gift...Balin's head. The boy was horrified when they flung open the door to his hiding place and flung the gory tableau at him. "Such is the fate of heretics," Tardaesha grinned down at him. "Now you have a choice, lover: convert or join your former master. I assure you, however, that if you make the wrong choice, your death will not be so quick and merciful as Sir Balin's" As they closed the door back on him, leaving him in darkness with only Balin's head for company, Timeon wailed: "Iomedae! Why have you forsaken me?!" The next three months for Timeon were great peaks and valleys of tortuous agony, and mind-shattering ecstasy. The twin sisters could deliver pain and torture unmatched by few, but they could also reward with equal vigor, and this they did to and for the boy...over and over, unpredictably, and without rhyme nor reason, until he was driven to the very edge of sanity, and then ripped back again. Ultimately, though his faith was strong, Timeon was still just a boy, and a naive one at that. His will broke, and by the time Tardaesha and Dakota were done, he had sworn his undying fealty and devotion to both them and Asmodeus. __________________________________________________________________ When their time of training had been declared complete, Adrastus pronounced them ready, and held a great banquet in their honor. He conferred upon them the title of his Nessian Knot in an infernal ritual that involved blood and fire. During the ritual, he summoned forth a barbed-skin devil and offered to it a slave chosen by the Knot. The fiend gleefully ripped the slave apart and feasted on his blood. Adrastus then drew forth some of the devil's blood with a silver athame. He traced the unholy symbol of Asmodeus on the foreheads of each of the Nessians in the mingled blood of fiend and sacrifice. "Behold!" Thorn proclaimed. "The Nessian Knot is forged! And just in time! My ship has arrived." On the river dock behind the manor house, under cover of darkness, a square-sailed longship sailed into the slip. It sat heavily in the water, laden with a substantial cargo. [/QUOTE]
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