Last Stand of the Dorinthians- Dead Secrets

[Deuce Traveler]

Silas' horse is still nowhere to be found, although Barok believes they safely fled up the trail towards the peak. Silas examines the potions, taking care to test a few on his skin before allowing himself to carefully put a few drops on his tongue. The dark, thick liquid doesn't seem to have any effect on the skin, but when Silas tastes a few drops it causes the tip of his fingers to become more adhesive. He realizes that this is a potion of spiderclimb. When he puts a few drops from the yellowish liquids on his skin he notices a small cut seems to disappear. He recognizes these each of the two as a potion of cure light wounds.

In a slow manner, Nefius explains that he doesn't sense any more servants of Festios in the area and urges you to move on towards the top.

 

[GlassEye]

Silas will carefully tuck the potions into his pouch and secure the book and scroll in his pack. He looks at the other stuff and decides that it is just too heavy for him to carry, though he will tell Barok and Nefius what else was found so that they can take any of it that they might want. Straightening and securing his grip on his staff Silas looks up the trail. "Well, Barok, if you think the horses ran up that way and that's the way we want to go anyway..." He shrugs. "Then I guess that's the way we go. No time like the present." With a half smile he begins trudging up the mountain.

 

[Deuce Traveler]

You climb up the remainder of the peak and end up at an odd clearing that your horses are standing in. The clearing is next to a mountain face covered in frosted ivy, while the floor of the clearing is covered in thick broken tiles that have sprouts of grass growing through the revealed cracks. In a ring around the clearing is a circle of twelve tall stones carved with the images of winged figures and the sun, and also showing similar signs of wear to that of the tiles. The path is behind you to the south, the mountain face to the left, but to the north and east of the clearing is a drop off that you take care to avoid lest you fall down the mountain. Above you the night sky is clear, with the stars shining in astonishing clarity while the mountain to your left peaks only fifty more feet above you.

Nefius explains in his slow, dying voice how he read about references to this mountain during the conquests of Dorinthia and in the Tallione Empire's own libraries, but that he never took the tales to heart until he saw the mosaic in the chambers you had recently escaped. The tales were too sporadic and references to this mountain were by description and not name. He continues to search the rock wall, then begins to pound the stone in frustration as he fails to find an entrance. The effort seems to be too much for Nefius, and he collapses coughing up blood, his retching echoing through the clearing.

"Tsk... stop that now. You'll die before I get what I've come for," the crone says, surprising you with a start as she walks up the path you had come from. This time she holds a twisted black knife in her hands as she walks towards Nefius with a strange smile on her face. "The ancestors of your 'friends' here had a certain artifact that they placed inside a niche of the door in order to enter, but that key was lost long ago. You've come all this way for nothing, poisoner, and now your desperation falls into despair. You feel it in your heart, don't you?" The crone leans down towards Nefius and almost tenderly kisses his cheek as she whispers something you cannot hear into his ear. Nefius wails pitifully as her words reach him, and he seems a pitiful thing in his final moments as if her words are more painful than what she plans for him with the knife.

 

[GlassEye]

Silas startled from his examination of the clearing jumps at Ulavree's quiet approach. He looks at Nefius lying in agony of the ground and feels a surge of guilt. Quickly he walks over to the man and kneels at his side opposite the old woman. Quietly he begins to speak, "Nefius, I'm sorry. I tried to use you." And now you're dying. "I don't know what to do next and I can't heal you; I don't have the skill or the magic." He pauses before continuing with a rush of words. "But it's not too late. Festios may have laid claim to your body but the Mother can still heal your spirit..." His words trail off and he looks up at Ulavree.

"What are you going to do to him?"

 

[Deuce Traveler]

The crones breath reaks of rot as she speaks, "What do you think I intend to do, my lovely child? His heard is a ripe fruit to be plucked, and I mean to have it. Now back away, dearie. I wouldn't have you hurt." So saying she nudges Silas away and begins to cut into Nefius' chest.

 

[GlassEye]

Silas wipes his face with the sleeve of his robe as he backs away. Closing his eyes he says, "So, do it then." With an effort of will he forces his eyes open. Despite feeling that he doesn't understand what is happening and is unable to stop it, he is determined to watch Nefius' end.

 

[Deuce Traveler]

Blood flies, staining Silas' already road-worn robes with new crimson streaks as the crone holds a struggling Nefius down with one arm and cuts with the other. The mage looks pleading at the abjurer before gasping once more futilely for breath and then collapses as his heart is grasped and removed. He does not die well, nor does he look noble in death, but instead appears as if a scrawny, broken doll tossed neglectfully to the ground. Instead of the heart, however, you see a bright gemstone in the hands of the crone... or the hands of what was the crone, for now in front of you is a raven-haired maiden in her mid-30s wearing the crone's rags. You might even consider her stunningly attractive if not for the blood-soaked arms and frightening smile of triumph. "And for a moment, I thought you might try to stop me. You are not the same man you started this journey as, are you? I think a reward of some kind is in order for allowing me to take this trifle unhampered. What is it you seek, son of Dorin?"

 

[GlassEye]

Silas chokes back the bile that roils through his stomach at the site of Nefius split open and lying disregarded on the ground in front of him. He bleakly meets the now beautiful woman's gaze and feels a coldness of spirit settle over himself. "When first we met I told you I would do nearly anything to ensure the safety of my family. What I seek is a cure to this plague." Silas looks back down at the husk of the man that was Nefius and feels as stained as his blood-streaked robe.

 

[Deuce Traveler]

The woman checks her sleeves and pockets mockingly and says, "No. No cure, here, although your companion was right that this was at least the right direction. But you won't be able to go in through the front door. Instead, those that had built this structure could fly and an alternate means of entering and exiting was through the ceiling of this peak. I can climb us up there, and we can throw a rope down to your companion."

Barok gets a coil of long rope from his pack, and the woman presents her back to you so you can hold onto her as she grips the rock face. She is lithe yet amazingly strong, climbing easily with the rope coiled around her shouler and you holding onto her back. When you reach the top of the rock face, just below the outcropping of the peak, she tosses an end of the rope down and helps Barok up.

Walking along the dome-like top of the rock face, the woman clears a section of brush and loose dirt to reveal an opening that goes down into unknown, dark depths. The woman takes the rope, ties an end to an small, withered tree that somehow grew into the rock and smiles at you as she gets ready to go down the opening. "To fight the plague you will need answers. That can be found in there, but I'm hoping you have some way to see down there." She then drops the rope down the hole, and disappears into the darkness as she climbs down.

Barok begins to rummage through his pack as you consider the situation.

 

[GlassEye]

"Very well," says Silas in rather abrupt tones. Then he turns and moves to Nefius' corpse. He'll straighten the legs, fold the arms up and across the man's ruined chest and close the eyes. Standing again, he looks down at Nefius and sighs. Ignoring Barok and Ulavree he'll begin collecting stones and building a caern over Nefius' body. He works without speaking and only when he is finished will he go to his mount to collect the gear that he has stowed and might need and then allow Ulavree to carry him up the mountain face.

Once Ulavree has climbed down Silas will cast Light upon his staff then tie it to his pack. With a tentative look down the dark hole Silas takes a deep breath and begins to climb.

Light will last 50 minutes barring unforeseen circumstances.