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The Gate Pass Irregulars: A War of the Burning Sky Campaign
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<blockquote data-quote="Cafu" data-source="post: 6138085" data-attributes="member: 6692807"><p>The door was unlocked, so Victor pushed and it swung open. John then sent his invisible friend with a torch. The most immediate impression was of a large amount of beds, bunks to be exact. It looked like a barracks of some sort; there was also a myriad of skeletons, lying as if they had been killed where they stood; and they had been fighting. John’s torch bearer flew around for some moments but we could see little else apart from a door on the wall to our left. It was just on the edge of the reach of John’s light.</p><p> </p><p>So, carefully, we entered into the room. As soon as that happened, I began to hear a noise I already recognized: a rustling sound followed by a strange clacking, as if pieces of wood were being fitted together; or bones in this case. Yes, bones were rising from the ground and forming into skeletons again. Everyone else recognized it for what it was and made ready although we could see little into the darkness. Suddenly, another wall of flame appeared behind us, cutting off Drudge and John who were in the main foyer at this point. Everyone else was already in the room with the bunks. Then the skeletons began to rush at us mindlessly; only to be met with Felix’s holy power. There were a whole series of small bursts of bone shards as skeleton after skeleton was destroyed. I lost count how many of them Felix blew up but ultimately, it left four of the orc skeletons. Along with their ability to create the walls of flame, these were a tougher proposition; another of those blasted walls appeared on top of us; it was getting very tiresome; thankfully, most of us were still protected from being burnt at this point.</p><p> </p><p>The four more powerful skeletons rushed us and they even managed to reach the warriors to engage in a flurry of axe strokes until Felix managed to use his holy power again, forcing them to retreat. He had to do it several times to make sure that they were all affected: three of them ran down the entrance foyer, all the way to the other end; another ran into the darkness of the barracks, pursued by Longhelim.</p><p> </p><p>Victor and I went after the trio that had run to the far end of the entrance hall. Victor chased them down while he was still flying, so he was much faster than I. They were trapped and cowering, rendered so by Felix’s powers; therefore Victor was able to heave mightily at them with his falchion, not worrying too much about defence. When I finally arrived there, panting from the unaccustomed run, I positioned myself and sent a powerful lightning bolt through two of them. Both Victor and I were very aware that we had to deal with them very quickly otherwise the effects of Felix’s power would dissipate and the skeletons would attack again. Victor had just finished smashing through his main opponent and then continued through to the two others; they had been sufficiently weakened by my lightning bolt that Victor dealt with them very quickly. As soon as he finished, he flew up the room, through the wall of flame, into the barracks room, very aware that Longhelim was also fighting the last of these tougher skeletons.</p><p> </p><p>Thankfully, Felix was also up there, just in case, but Victor managed to fly up there and with one blow smashed the last of them. It had obviously been badly weakened by Longhelim already.</p><p> </p><p>Still ready for more trouble, we searched the room but found little; then I did a little cantrip and found that the armour, axes and shields belonging to the skeletons were magical. I also found a small patch of magic on the ceiling; some sort of trapdoor, tucked away in the upper right corner of the room. The other corner was full of rubble; a cave in. I looked at it, but judged that it would take quite some time to clear it; more trouble that it was worth almost certainly and I sincerely doubted that the Torch was behind the rubble. The final small door that was left almost certainly led to the tunnel which allowed access to the room with the arrow slits looking from the entrance hall. That left the patch of magic on the ceiling.</p><p> </p><p>John looked at Victor:</p><p> </p><p>“Can you give me a boost?”</p><p> </p><p>With that, the rogue climbed on top of Victor’s shoulders and began looking at the patch of magic.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeeesss…..I can just see this. The faint scratching; it’s a glyph, type unknown; that means that it is going to go bang in some way or other……now where does it start and where does it finish….yes, I see…..it’s making sense now.”</p><p> </p><p>With that, the rogue jumped down:</p><p> </p><p>“There’s a magical trap up there. I can see it; getting rid of it is another matter. I’ll have a go but there’s a risk; oh, and I’ll need another boost.”</p><p> </p><p>We all retired to a safe distance while Victor helped John onto his shoulders again. I couldn’t quite tell just what the rogue was doing but it looked as if he was rubbing out the glyph with some sort of abrasive cloth; whatever he did, it worked; after a few moments, he gave the ceiling a little push and the trapdoor that was there revealed a small opening. Victor pushed John further and he slipped in and soon began to call out:</p><p> </p><p>“There’s a whole bunch of weapons up here; for a lot of people and all types; oh, and a glass case; it was trapped; got rid of that; it’s got a horn in it and its magical. Well, it’s ours now; oh, and there’s a magical mace as well. Nice room this.”</p><p> </p><p>John threw down a rope just in case anyone else wanted to come up, which we did; it was fairly much as he described; a small room containing racks upon racks of weapons all around the walls, certainly enough to supply several dozen people. There was also a now empty glass case and John showed us the horn. It was a handsome piece, engraved with runic script and with a golden mouthpiece connected to a fine gold chain which allowed it to be carried over a shoulder. Then he also showed Felix the mace and the priest decided to keep it, just in case.</p><p> </p><p>We finished searching this room and left this part of the Castle. We decided that our next destination was going to be the chapel.</p><p> </p><p>When we returned to the entrance foyer again, there was no sign of Jorine and her clan so we crept up the stairs, towards the chapel entrance. There, we looked at the doors; they were very well crafted, iron bound doors and looked very solid. John immediately went down to the lock and began to fiddle with his tools. As he was doing so, my eye was caught by the arch above the door; what I had thought initially to be gold paint actually looked like gold leaf and worth a pretty penny. I made a mental note to see if we could evacuate that gold as we left.</p><p> </p><p>“There, that’s done! Now, someone please open those doors.”</p><p> </p><p>Victor pushed them but there was no give. He tried a little harder but there was no sign of give to any of them, no matter how hard he tried. So, he took out his hammer, the one looted from the minotaur in the Forbidden Valley, and began to hammer the doors. This weapon was particularly effective against objects so the doors did not last long, although he did create a terrible racket while smashing them into splinters; however we reasoned that we had pretty much lost the element of surprise while we had had the long fight with the skeletons and golems.</p><p> </p><p>When the doors were smashed, the reason for their immovability could be discerned quite quickly; two rods were magically suspended in mid air, obviously supporting the doors. Beyond was a reasonably large hall with a pair of doors in the right corner and a single door to the left, in the middle of the wall. Straight ahead of us was another pair of double doors, not quite closed; soft music, like a hymn, was faintly audible from beyond them.</p><p> </p><p>John went into the room and first went to the two doors to the right; they both opened easily to show a pair of privies. He closed both doors and then walked up to the door on the opposite wall or to our left. That one proved to the locked, so he took out his tools and picked it although it must have been difficult as again, it took a little time. Then he called us over and Victor opened the door again. There were no inconvenient rods to hinder us this time and as it swung open, we saw a corridor in front of us, running left and right.</p><p> </p><p>John again moved into it and quickly turned right; he told us that the left turn was very short and led to a dead end. We waited for a few moments and then he came back:</p><p> </p><p>“The corridor goes right and then turns sharply left; then it ends with a door to the right, at the end. I checked the corridor with my wand and there is also a secret door just where it turns left. The hidden door is on the right wall, opposite to the turn. I came back to get the rest of you; not opening a door on my own; you never know what’s behind it.”</p><p> </p><p>So, we all marched into the narrow corridor, closing the door behind us. The corridor was only just about wide enough for one person. John went first, to the visible door; it was unlocked so his invisible friend opened it, revealing a kitchen. There was some horrible smell coming out of it and there were also two doors inside. We decided to leave that alone; the secret door seemed far more interesting.</p><p> </p><p>John fiddled a little on the wall and then he opened it; just as he did, we all saw a flash of orange light on the walls of the corridor. John whispered quickly:</p><p> </p><p>“That was a flash of fire; as if someone was using transport magic or something of that type.”</p><p> </p><p>Then he slipped inside. We waited outside in the corridor, just in case something decided to return. Then he came out again:</p><p> </p><p>“There are four glass bowls in there; they look like offering bowls; like in a church.”</p><p> </p><p>Longhelim was next to him:</p><p> </p><p>“Well, we are in a chapel.”</p><p> </p><p>At that point, Drudge shouted from the rear:</p><p> </p><p>“There is a block of ice in front of the door.”</p><p> </p><p>I ran back and looked:</p><p> </p><p>“That’s not a block of ice. It’s a wall made of ice: powerful magic; Victor, it can be smashed. Use your hammer!”</p><p> </p><p>Wordlessly, the warrior strode back and, taking out his hammer, swung it against the ice. Even such powerful magic as the wall of ice could not take such punishment for any length of time and it crumbled; however, there was still a frigid layer of air in the place where it had been. It also revealed the caster.</p><p> </p><p>I had been hovering near the doorway, to see what was beyond the wall: a tall humanoid creature, with moist, slimy skin and a horrible, scraggly beard, wielding a huge serrated glaive. We had met one of its friends before, in the Fire Forest of Innenotdar. It was a Bearded Devil, an evil outsider. He wasn’t alone either: there was also a beautiful woman with large feathery wings and glowing red eyes. She was carrying a sword and had a bow. I just managed to cast a spell of force missiles into the bearded devil when Victor shut the door, calling out:</p><p> </p><p>“There’s devils on the other side of the door: woman with wings and sword; Bearded Devil as well!”</p><p> </p><p>The door opened again and another opponent had made an appearance. This one looked like a desiccated human; all of its bones stood out prominently in skin that looked like parchment and it had a tail with a huge stinger at the end. It was also quite a bit larger than anything we had seen so far. It stuck its tail into Victor, who grunted. I could almost feel the poison pumping into him but fortunately, the warrior managed to shake it off.</p><p> </p><p>I recognized it as well, shouting:</p><p> </p><p>“That’s a Bone Devil! This place is full of devils!”</p><p> </p><p>The woman did something with her hand and a rope snaked out towards Victor but did not connect. The warrior then closed the door again. This time, I watched in horror though as one of the bearded devils appeared in the doorway, right in front of Victor. The warrior did not hesitate though, as he smoothly put away the hammer and then in a bright flash of flame, the Living Blade of Innenotdar appeared in his</p><p>hand; my eyes widened; that was new; it had certainly not done that before. I made a mental note to ask the warrior about it, but he was a little busy right now. Despite this, though, he set to with a will and began to slash the foe in front of him with fearsome strokes; the bearded devil looked surprised at this ferocity but not for long as he began to get his own back with his glaive.</p><p> </p><p>Suddenly there was a shout from Longhelim:</p><p> </p><p>“More devils up here; Bearded and Bone!”</p><p> </p><p>Just how many devils were there in his hell-damned chapel!</p><p> </p><p>Suddenly, the door opened and a stinger snaked in, hitting Victor in the chest again. The fighter staggered but apart from lots of clear poison oozing around on his armour, he did not seem the worse for this strike; then a viscous, cloying magical miasma appeared in the corridor; it was inimical to all life, some sort of hell born magic which sucked life and poisoned the very air around. All of us in the hallway contorted as it enveloped us but Victor still managed to slash the bearded devil in front of him; it was looking decidedly dejected as it attempted to swing the glaive but it was obvious that it making little headway against the warrior.</p><p> </p><p>There were also sounds of battle from ahead but it was difficult to tell what was happening. Then John shut the door that was open to the woman again and this time he locked it. Unfortunately, that did not stop the bone devil too long as the door was ripped off its hinges and the woman again sent her horrible miasma down the corridor. This time I had to stop her, otherwise she seemed to have the ability to do it endlessly. So, I put a barrier across that wall. It was one of my most powerful spells; it did not last very long, it was invisible and was not that large but for the time that it was up, it was an nigh on indestructible; only very specific magic could bypass or destroy it; not a moment too soon as the bone devil saw Victor and surged forward in a flurry of claws, teeth and stinger, all of which bounced off my spell. The woman narrowed her red eyes and hissed in controlled anger; then she made a motion to the bone devil and they both disappeared in bursts of flame.</p><p> </p><p>As that happened, I shouted:</p><p> </p><p>“I sealed the rear attack point; they’ll be coming from the front!”</p><p> </p><p>Felix and John were taking advantage of the lull in the fighting to cast some much needed healing on Victor and as soon as he was a little healthier, he quickly went to the strategically placed point at the bend of the corridor. There, he could guard the secret entrance to the offering chamber while at the same time blocking the corridor on the corner from the kitchen. It was tactically a wise choice; a bearded devil was soon attempting to attack him from the entrance of the larger chamber but Victor began to use that strange sword fighting technique again; somehow, his falchion was always in the way of an enemy blow simultaneously incorporating his little shield to ward off glaive, tooth, claw and stinger. The Living Blade was struck by the stingers of the Bone Devils so many times, it began to gleam wetly in the firelight from all the poison that spattered it.</p><p> </p><p>It was a strange sight; from where I was standing, I could not see what he was fighting; all I saw were weapons of various types striking at Victor through the doorway and his offensive blows back into the room. Another added advantage to Victor’s position was that it allowed Longhelim to move up and down the corridor as needed. Just before Longhelim moved out, I saw that John cast a spell and touched the paladin’s sword:</p><p> </p><p>“There! Now your weapon’s good! Go get ‘em!”</p><p> </p><p>Longhelim gave John a look of thanks before moving up the corridor, around the corner. There were sounds of fighting from there. More of the roiling, horrible miasma began to appear in the corridor. I heard Longhelim call out:</p><p> </p><p>“The…..nasty woman is up here!”</p><p> </p><p>Whatever it was that she was doing was affecting everyone although Drudge was already moving to the far end of the corridor. There was little I could do at this point as I couldn’t see anyone but I knew that would not last so I just held my spells back. Felix was vigilantly watching Victor, making sure that he was not being hurt too badly. The devils were certainly taking their toll on the warrior but he was obviously giving out as good as he received. I could see that he had finished however many Bearded Devils he was facing as only the much larger claws, teeth and tail of the Bone Devil were reaching out of the doorway towards him now. Again, he was dodging and weaving adroitly. Then Longhelim retreated around the corner. He had been hurt and had come for some healing:</p><p> </p><p>“The woman is round the corner; as well as another bone devil. Victor’s managed to defeat two bearded devils and is now fighting a bone devil in the offering chamber. He’s going to get surrounded by both bone devils in a moment. The only thing he’s got going for him is that one of them is going to have to squeeze into the corridor; they’re big. That one won’t find it as easy.”</p><p> </p><p>So it proved, as I saw two sets of bone devil claws, teeth and tails assaulting the warrior, one from either side; again, his defense was astonishing. What was extraordinary was that not only was he able to defend so adroitly, he was obviously hitting his opponent as well.</p><p> </p><p>That was not to say of that he was unhurt of course; no, he was slowly being ripped by the claws but Felix was able to heal him several times, just before he fell over. His armour was acquiring some very impressive dents. Then, suddenly, the attacks from the secret chamber ceased and Victor shouted to us:</p><p> </p><p>“He’s gone back to hell; I’m going after the others up the corridor.”</p><p> </p><p>We were about to follow him when suddenly the woman appeared at our end of the corridor in a flash of flame. Her eyes were blazing and she looked at us with the cold calculation of a hunter looking at her prey. We were already trophies on her wall. Drudge immediately began to shoot a steady stream of arrows at her; and John, clever John cast his spell of magical silence on the floor in front of her; when he did this, I could see her open her mouth and she seemed to scream in frustration, then she moved forward with her sword. Longhelim stepped forward and confronted her; she did not like that. It was obvious by the contortions on her face that she found the paladin a much harder opponent that she was used to. Things were just not going according to her plans.</p><p> </p><p> Drudge’s arrows constantly hitting her were annoying although not as threatening. I moved back and managed to spear her with my spell of force missiles; then suddenly, she moved out of the corridor through the shattered door. My magical wall had obviously run out. She must have been trying to get away as she was bleeding badly from Longhelim’s blows.</p><p> </p><p>Longhelim of course followed up quickly and she retreated again, but he managed to catch her as she was about to cast a spell of some sort. There was a look of utter surprise on her face as his sword transfixed her torso and she immolated and went back to wherever she had come from. Obviously, this had not been part of her plan either.</p><p> </p><p>Victor had also returned from around the corner, having dealt with the last bone devil. As Felix was healing him, he turned to me and asked:</p><p> </p><p>“Well, that was interesting; not quite what I was expecting here. Anyone have any ideas about what’s going on and why they were here?”</p><p> </p><p>John muttered: “Probably looking for the Torch of the Burning Sky; everyone else seems to be.”</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Cafu, post: 6138085, member: 6692807"] The door was unlocked, so Victor pushed and it swung open. John then sent his invisible friend with a torch. The most immediate impression was of a large amount of beds, bunks to be exact. It looked like a barracks of some sort; there was also a myriad of skeletons, lying as if they had been killed where they stood; and they had been fighting. John’s torch bearer flew around for some moments but we could see little else apart from a door on the wall to our left. It was just on the edge of the reach of John’s light. So, carefully, we entered into the room. As soon as that happened, I began to hear a noise I already recognized: a rustling sound followed by a strange clacking, as if pieces of wood were being fitted together; or bones in this case. Yes, bones were rising from the ground and forming into skeletons again. Everyone else recognized it for what it was and made ready although we could see little into the darkness. Suddenly, another wall of flame appeared behind us, cutting off Drudge and John who were in the main foyer at this point. Everyone else was already in the room with the bunks. Then the skeletons began to rush at us mindlessly; only to be met with Felix’s holy power. There were a whole series of small bursts of bone shards as skeleton after skeleton was destroyed. I lost count how many of them Felix blew up but ultimately, it left four of the orc skeletons. Along with their ability to create the walls of flame, these were a tougher proposition; another of those blasted walls appeared on top of us; it was getting very tiresome; thankfully, most of us were still protected from being burnt at this point. The four more powerful skeletons rushed us and they even managed to reach the warriors to engage in a flurry of axe strokes until Felix managed to use his holy power again, forcing them to retreat. He had to do it several times to make sure that they were all affected: three of them ran down the entrance foyer, all the way to the other end; another ran into the darkness of the barracks, pursued by Longhelim. Victor and I went after the trio that had run to the far end of the entrance hall. Victor chased them down while he was still flying, so he was much faster than I. They were trapped and cowering, rendered so by Felix’s powers; therefore Victor was able to heave mightily at them with his falchion, not worrying too much about defence. When I finally arrived there, panting from the unaccustomed run, I positioned myself and sent a powerful lightning bolt through two of them. Both Victor and I were very aware that we had to deal with them very quickly otherwise the effects of Felix’s power would dissipate and the skeletons would attack again. Victor had just finished smashing through his main opponent and then continued through to the two others; they had been sufficiently weakened by my lightning bolt that Victor dealt with them very quickly. As soon as he finished, he flew up the room, through the wall of flame, into the barracks room, very aware that Longhelim was also fighting the last of these tougher skeletons. Thankfully, Felix was also up there, just in case, but Victor managed to fly up there and with one blow smashed the last of them. It had obviously been badly weakened by Longhelim already. Still ready for more trouble, we searched the room but found little; then I did a little cantrip and found that the armour, axes and shields belonging to the skeletons were magical. I also found a small patch of magic on the ceiling; some sort of trapdoor, tucked away in the upper right corner of the room. The other corner was full of rubble; a cave in. I looked at it, but judged that it would take quite some time to clear it; more trouble that it was worth almost certainly and I sincerely doubted that the Torch was behind the rubble. The final small door that was left almost certainly led to the tunnel which allowed access to the room with the arrow slits looking from the entrance hall. That left the patch of magic on the ceiling. John looked at Victor: “Can you give me a boost?” With that, the rogue climbed on top of Victor’s shoulders and began looking at the patch of magic. “Yeeesss…..I can just see this. The faint scratching; it’s a glyph, type unknown; that means that it is going to go bang in some way or other……now where does it start and where does it finish….yes, I see…..it’s making sense now.” With that, the rogue jumped down: “There’s a magical trap up there. I can see it; getting rid of it is another matter. I’ll have a go but there’s a risk; oh, and I’ll need another boost.” We all retired to a safe distance while Victor helped John onto his shoulders again. I couldn’t quite tell just what the rogue was doing but it looked as if he was rubbing out the glyph with some sort of abrasive cloth; whatever he did, it worked; after a few moments, he gave the ceiling a little push and the trapdoor that was there revealed a small opening. Victor pushed John further and he slipped in and soon began to call out: “There’s a whole bunch of weapons up here; for a lot of people and all types; oh, and a glass case; it was trapped; got rid of that; it’s got a horn in it and its magical. Well, it’s ours now; oh, and there’s a magical mace as well. Nice room this.” John threw down a rope just in case anyone else wanted to come up, which we did; it was fairly much as he described; a small room containing racks upon racks of weapons all around the walls, certainly enough to supply several dozen people. There was also a now empty glass case and John showed us the horn. It was a handsome piece, engraved with runic script and with a golden mouthpiece connected to a fine gold chain which allowed it to be carried over a shoulder. Then he also showed Felix the mace and the priest decided to keep it, just in case. We finished searching this room and left this part of the Castle. We decided that our next destination was going to be the chapel. When we returned to the entrance foyer again, there was no sign of Jorine and her clan so we crept up the stairs, towards the chapel entrance. There, we looked at the doors; they were very well crafted, iron bound doors and looked very solid. John immediately went down to the lock and began to fiddle with his tools. As he was doing so, my eye was caught by the arch above the door; what I had thought initially to be gold paint actually looked like gold leaf and worth a pretty penny. I made a mental note to see if we could evacuate that gold as we left. “There, that’s done! Now, someone please open those doors.” Victor pushed them but there was no give. He tried a little harder but there was no sign of give to any of them, no matter how hard he tried. So, he took out his hammer, the one looted from the minotaur in the Forbidden Valley, and began to hammer the doors. This weapon was particularly effective against objects so the doors did not last long, although he did create a terrible racket while smashing them into splinters; however we reasoned that we had pretty much lost the element of surprise while we had had the long fight with the skeletons and golems. When the doors were smashed, the reason for their immovability could be discerned quite quickly; two rods were magically suspended in mid air, obviously supporting the doors. Beyond was a reasonably large hall with a pair of doors in the right corner and a single door to the left, in the middle of the wall. Straight ahead of us was another pair of double doors, not quite closed; soft music, like a hymn, was faintly audible from beyond them. John went into the room and first went to the two doors to the right; they both opened easily to show a pair of privies. He closed both doors and then walked up to the door on the opposite wall or to our left. That one proved to the locked, so he took out his tools and picked it although it must have been difficult as again, it took a little time. Then he called us over and Victor opened the door again. There were no inconvenient rods to hinder us this time and as it swung open, we saw a corridor in front of us, running left and right. John again moved into it and quickly turned right; he told us that the left turn was very short and led to a dead end. We waited for a few moments and then he came back: “The corridor goes right and then turns sharply left; then it ends with a door to the right, at the end. I checked the corridor with my wand and there is also a secret door just where it turns left. The hidden door is on the right wall, opposite to the turn. I came back to get the rest of you; not opening a door on my own; you never know what’s behind it.” So, we all marched into the narrow corridor, closing the door behind us. The corridor was only just about wide enough for one person. John went first, to the visible door; it was unlocked so his invisible friend opened it, revealing a kitchen. There was some horrible smell coming out of it and there were also two doors inside. We decided to leave that alone; the secret door seemed far more interesting. John fiddled a little on the wall and then he opened it; just as he did, we all saw a flash of orange light on the walls of the corridor. John whispered quickly: “That was a flash of fire; as if someone was using transport magic or something of that type.” Then he slipped inside. We waited outside in the corridor, just in case something decided to return. Then he came out again: “There are four glass bowls in there; they look like offering bowls; like in a church.” Longhelim was next to him: “Well, we are in a chapel.” At that point, Drudge shouted from the rear: “There is a block of ice in front of the door.” I ran back and looked: “That’s not a block of ice. It’s a wall made of ice: powerful magic; Victor, it can be smashed. Use your hammer!” Wordlessly, the warrior strode back and, taking out his hammer, swung it against the ice. Even such powerful magic as the wall of ice could not take such punishment for any length of time and it crumbled; however, there was still a frigid layer of air in the place where it had been. It also revealed the caster. I had been hovering near the doorway, to see what was beyond the wall: a tall humanoid creature, with moist, slimy skin and a horrible, scraggly beard, wielding a huge serrated glaive. We had met one of its friends before, in the Fire Forest of Innenotdar. It was a Bearded Devil, an evil outsider. He wasn’t alone either: there was also a beautiful woman with large feathery wings and glowing red eyes. She was carrying a sword and had a bow. I just managed to cast a spell of force missiles into the bearded devil when Victor shut the door, calling out: “There’s devils on the other side of the door: woman with wings and sword; Bearded Devil as well!” The door opened again and another opponent had made an appearance. This one looked like a desiccated human; all of its bones stood out prominently in skin that looked like parchment and it had a tail with a huge stinger at the end. It was also quite a bit larger than anything we had seen so far. It stuck its tail into Victor, who grunted. I could almost feel the poison pumping into him but fortunately, the warrior managed to shake it off. I recognized it as well, shouting: “That’s a Bone Devil! This place is full of devils!” The woman did something with her hand and a rope snaked out towards Victor but did not connect. The warrior then closed the door again. This time, I watched in horror though as one of the bearded devils appeared in the doorway, right in front of Victor. The warrior did not hesitate though, as he smoothly put away the hammer and then in a bright flash of flame, the Living Blade of Innenotdar appeared in his hand; my eyes widened; that was new; it had certainly not done that before. I made a mental note to ask the warrior about it, but he was a little busy right now. Despite this, though, he set to with a will and began to slash the foe in front of him with fearsome strokes; the bearded devil looked surprised at this ferocity but not for long as he began to get his own back with his glaive. Suddenly there was a shout from Longhelim: “More devils up here; Bearded and Bone!” Just how many devils were there in his hell-damned chapel! Suddenly, the door opened and a stinger snaked in, hitting Victor in the chest again. The fighter staggered but apart from lots of clear poison oozing around on his armour, he did not seem the worse for this strike; then a viscous, cloying magical miasma appeared in the corridor; it was inimical to all life, some sort of hell born magic which sucked life and poisoned the very air around. All of us in the hallway contorted as it enveloped us but Victor still managed to slash the bearded devil in front of him; it was looking decidedly dejected as it attempted to swing the glaive but it was obvious that it making little headway against the warrior. There were also sounds of battle from ahead but it was difficult to tell what was happening. Then John shut the door that was open to the woman again and this time he locked it. Unfortunately, that did not stop the bone devil too long as the door was ripped off its hinges and the woman again sent her horrible miasma down the corridor. This time I had to stop her, otherwise she seemed to have the ability to do it endlessly. So, I put a barrier across that wall. It was one of my most powerful spells; it did not last very long, it was invisible and was not that large but for the time that it was up, it was an nigh on indestructible; only very specific magic could bypass or destroy it; not a moment too soon as the bone devil saw Victor and surged forward in a flurry of claws, teeth and stinger, all of which bounced off my spell. The woman narrowed her red eyes and hissed in controlled anger; then she made a motion to the bone devil and they both disappeared in bursts of flame. As that happened, I shouted: “I sealed the rear attack point; they’ll be coming from the front!” Felix and John were taking advantage of the lull in the fighting to cast some much needed healing on Victor and as soon as he was a little healthier, he quickly went to the strategically placed point at the bend of the corridor. There, he could guard the secret entrance to the offering chamber while at the same time blocking the corridor on the corner from the kitchen. It was tactically a wise choice; a bearded devil was soon attempting to attack him from the entrance of the larger chamber but Victor began to use that strange sword fighting technique again; somehow, his falchion was always in the way of an enemy blow simultaneously incorporating his little shield to ward off glaive, tooth, claw and stinger. The Living Blade was struck by the stingers of the Bone Devils so many times, it began to gleam wetly in the firelight from all the poison that spattered it. It was a strange sight; from where I was standing, I could not see what he was fighting; all I saw were weapons of various types striking at Victor through the doorway and his offensive blows back into the room. Another added advantage to Victor’s position was that it allowed Longhelim to move up and down the corridor as needed. Just before Longhelim moved out, I saw that John cast a spell and touched the paladin’s sword: “There! Now your weapon’s good! Go get ‘em!” Longhelim gave John a look of thanks before moving up the corridor, around the corner. There were sounds of fighting from there. More of the roiling, horrible miasma began to appear in the corridor. I heard Longhelim call out: “The…..nasty woman is up here!” Whatever it was that she was doing was affecting everyone although Drudge was already moving to the far end of the corridor. There was little I could do at this point as I couldn’t see anyone but I knew that would not last so I just held my spells back. Felix was vigilantly watching Victor, making sure that he was not being hurt too badly. The devils were certainly taking their toll on the warrior but he was obviously giving out as good as he received. I could see that he had finished however many Bearded Devils he was facing as only the much larger claws, teeth and tail of the Bone Devil were reaching out of the doorway towards him now. Again, he was dodging and weaving adroitly. Then Longhelim retreated around the corner. He had been hurt and had come for some healing: “The woman is round the corner; as well as another bone devil. Victor’s managed to defeat two bearded devils and is now fighting a bone devil in the offering chamber. He’s going to get surrounded by both bone devils in a moment. The only thing he’s got going for him is that one of them is going to have to squeeze into the corridor; they’re big. That one won’t find it as easy.” So it proved, as I saw two sets of bone devil claws, teeth and tails assaulting the warrior, one from either side; again, his defense was astonishing. What was extraordinary was that not only was he able to defend so adroitly, he was obviously hitting his opponent as well. That was not to say of that he was unhurt of course; no, he was slowly being ripped by the claws but Felix was able to heal him several times, just before he fell over. His armour was acquiring some very impressive dents. Then, suddenly, the attacks from the secret chamber ceased and Victor shouted to us: “He’s gone back to hell; I’m going after the others up the corridor.” We were about to follow him when suddenly the woman appeared at our end of the corridor in a flash of flame. Her eyes were blazing and she looked at us with the cold calculation of a hunter looking at her prey. We were already trophies on her wall. Drudge immediately began to shoot a steady stream of arrows at her; and John, clever John cast his spell of magical silence on the floor in front of her; when he did this, I could see her open her mouth and she seemed to scream in frustration, then she moved forward with her sword. Longhelim stepped forward and confronted her; she did not like that. It was obvious by the contortions on her face that she found the paladin a much harder opponent that she was used to. Things were just not going according to her plans. Drudge’s arrows constantly hitting her were annoying although not as threatening. I moved back and managed to spear her with my spell of force missiles; then suddenly, she moved out of the corridor through the shattered door. My magical wall had obviously run out. She must have been trying to get away as she was bleeding badly from Longhelim’s blows. Longhelim of course followed up quickly and she retreated again, but he managed to catch her as she was about to cast a spell of some sort. There was a look of utter surprise on her face as his sword transfixed her torso and she immolated and went back to wherever she had come from. Obviously, this had not been part of her plan either. Victor had also returned from around the corner, having dealt with the last bone devil. As Felix was healing him, he turned to me and asked: “Well, that was interesting; not quite what I was expecting here. Anyone have any ideas about what’s going on and why they were here?” John muttered: “Probably looking for the Torch of the Burning Sky; everyone else seems to be.” [/QUOTE]
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The Gate Pass Irregulars: A War of the Burning Sky Campaign
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