The Library
Ashimar was the first through the gate, followed quickly by Kellron. Jallarzi was next, then Panther, and finally Kestral. The five found themselves in a darkened hallway, illuminated only dimly by the faintly glowing gray mist behind them. Jallarzi invoked a spell of light and the others blinked at the sudden illumination. They found themselves in a wide hallway made of well-fitted stone blocks; empty wall sconces dotted the hallway. A short ways down the hallway on their left was a doorway, opposite that on the right was a hall.
“Well, it looks peaceful enough…”
“Shhhh! Did you hear that?”
“Huh?”
“Rarrag!!!”
All but Ashimar was surprised as the distinctive snap of crossbows being fired filled the air; but then Ashimar had taught himself the language of the abyss from the book he had stolen and understood that ‘rarrag’ meant ‘attack’.
Following up with the crossbows, the attackers then made their way into Jallarzi’s sphere of light with jagged, curved swords. At first glance they appeared to be orcs, but their eyes were a solid scarlet red with no pupils, and instead of skin they were covered with delicate scales. The stench of sulphur and the demonic tongue confirmed for Ashimar that these things were from someplace far worse then the depths of a mountain. The young rogue quailed momentarily before finding his resolve.
Fortunately, demonic or not, the fight was over quickly. Both Ashimar and Kellron rushed to meet their attackers whilst Panther and Kestral tried to look for shots of their own with shortbow and crossbow respectively. Jallarzi took careful note of her targets and laid down a barrage of mystic bolts. In the aftermath Kellron prayed to Sarath for healing for both himself and Kestral while Ashimar drank from one of their precious healing potions.
“What are they?”
“Not orcs.”
“Demons. That’s all they could be.”
“What summoned them?”
“Master Laaris?”
“There might be more, we better check the hallway out first.”
The hallway extended about eighty feet, ending in a small sitting room with the remains of many, large books scattered about it. The furniture looked as if something had attacked it with swords. Just before the sitting room was another hallway leading to the left. The five companions conferred for a moment and eventually decided on exploring the door and then the short hallway first.
The door opened up into a kitchen and preparation room. Plates and pots and utensils were whirling madly about the room. Ashimar quickly shut the door. “I didn’t see anyone.” He declared.
The hallway across from them was short and ended at an ornate wooden double door. Both Ashimar and Kestral looked the doors over, thinking they were too inviting and then cautiously opened one of the doors. It was impossible to tell what the room really looked like as nearly every inch was covered in a riot of multi-colored molds. In the center of the room was a large mound, on top of which was a mushroom standing almost four feet tall and covered with even more mold. That door was closed slowly lest the displaced air disturbed something.
Another quick conference and the party decided to head down the last hallway. They proceeded cautiously down the stone corridor, expecting an attack at any moment; but none came. The corridor soon split and they chose the left hand path and went through the heavy stone door at the end.
It was a lab. Strange glassware filled with all sorts of colored liquids, were laid out on the tables and the scent of chemicals hung thick in the air. In one corner there was a pit of discolored sand filled with discolored bits of glass. On the far side of the chamber was an archway leading to another room. A dim, pulsating red light emanated from that far room.
Ashimar nodded towards the archway. “I’ll go check it out.” He whispered. So saying he moved forward, ghosting nearly silently over the discolored stone floor stones. He slowed downed as he reached the archway and peeked beyond. He saw a short hallway that opened up into another chamber, from which strange colored bits of string and metal were hanging from the walls and ceiling. A definite sense of something wrong filled the rogue. Mustering his courage though Ashimar crept past the hallway and into the chamber.
It was a summoning chamber. The book he had stolen had depicted several explicit diagrams that looked quite similar to the one in the far corner. Thought to be fair, the one in the far corner seemed to be inlaid with some black metal and not blood. The chamber itself was about thirty feet square and the strange bits of string and metal covered nearly every inch of the ceiling and walls.
The circle itself occupied the corner opposite the entrance and was about ten feet in diameter. The circle and the runes surrounding and entwining the circle had been carved into a solid slab of dull gray rock; then they had been filled in with the black metal. What really drew his attention however was the pulsating orb of red smoke, about four feet in diameter, hovering over the center of the circle. As he looked at it in fascination Ashimar saw a half dozen eyes form within the smoke; one of them looking directly at him. He nearly gasped as vicious claws also formed in the orb and raked outwards to the inner edge of the circle. Shaking his head a bit Ashimar looked the room over closely. Besides the creature in the circle the chamber appeared to be empty of life.
Noting a comfortable stuffed chair next to the circle, Ashimar cautiously entered the room. He was about halfway across when he heard a low chuckle and a pair of harsh sounding words. Suddenly an elf appeared as two missiles formed from raw magic streaked from his outstretched hand. The elf, dressed in strange black leathers, was positively demonic looking with bright red eyes, and the scales embedded in its skin reflected the pulsating red light darkly. The elf smiled, showing razor sharp teeth and shrugged his shoulders. Ashimar started as he realized that the elf wasn’t wearing a cloak, but instead had a pair of massive bat like wings folded in close to his body.
“Who are you, little human?” Asked the elf as he stepped forward. Again he let fly another pair of magic missiles. “Not that I care of course.”
“Guys!” Bleeding, Ashimar decided the better course of valor was back the way he came. Drawing his rapier he backed away out of the chamber. Meanwhile Kellron was already drawing his sword and Jallarzi’s hands raised up a little as they started towards their friend.
The elf miscalculated. He had heard a number of creatures enter, especially one in armor, but given his demonic heritage he was prone to over estimating his abilities. Concentrating he stepped sideways, vanished, and reappeared in the laboratory – nearly on top of Kellron.
The chosen of Sarath only had to look at the elf and then see the bleeding Ashimar round the corner to know what he had to do, and the battle was joined.
The demonic elf was tough, preternaturally so. Kellrons’ first blow failed to penetrate the creature’s hide and Jallarzi’s magic missile flowed off its scaly hide like water. The elf chuckled with amusement as he invoked another pair of magic missiles.
Then Ashimar got into position and taught the creature that distraction could be painful. As the elf roared in pain Kellron swung with all his might yelling Sarath’s name. The elf tried to get away at this point, trusting to luck to get away. Ashimar followed up with another attack at the distracted elf though and the distraction allowed Kellron to score a hit across the elf’s delicate neck, breaking it. The demonic elf fell to the ground, quite dead.
