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The Mother of Dreams - Episode 5 (updated February 1st, 2005)
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<blockquote data-quote="RangerWickett" data-source="post: 1575916" data-attributes="member: 63"><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><strong>Episode One: The Song of the Deep, Section II</strong></span></p><p></p><p><em>“Iei so m menus sa. I ei sa emenus sa. Iei so mm meneus sa. Ii iei sa emeh nu uus sa.”</em></p><p></p><p>It was quiet now, and indeed, Allar could hear singing, far, far overhead. It sounded like something his parents might have sung to him as he dreamed. It was a man’s voice, low, full of lament, and though he couldn’t understand its words, Allar knew it told a tale of a long journey. The music echoed down from above, and he felt something tug at his soul. The song was beautiful, but for some reason he was afraid of it. Lest it overwhelm him, he forced himself to ignore it, focus on where he had fallen.</p><p></p><p>The place, wherever it was, was completely dark, but not claustrophobic. Babb’s breathing was wet and rasping, and David was actually snoring. Allar lay on his back, on stone. There was a heavy, soft weight on his chest. Lacy’s body, he realized. He remembered twisting in midair so that he would cushion the woman’s fall. She was breathing, so he could forgive her for the intense piercing pain from his broken ribs. He tried to focus on the warmth of Lacy’s body, not feeling strong enough yet to move.</p><p></p><p>Occasionally there would be the soft sound of dust or bits of stone raining down lightly, but mostly, the world was still. Quiet, except for the song above.</p><p></p><p>“Al, stop singing.” Babb’s voice was slurred.</p><p></p><p>“Babb?” When Allar spoke, he tasted blood in his mouth. “I’m-. I’m not singing.”</p><p></p><p>“Good. You alive?”</p><p></p><p>“Yeah.”</p><p></p><p>“Damn,” Babb groaned. “I was looking forward to proving my sister wrong about the whole afterlife thing. How far did we fall?”</p><p></p><p>Lacy began to shift. She placed a hand on Allar’s chest and started to push herself up, but Allar yelped in pain, and Lacy fell over in surprise, landing on top of him again. He coughed, and Lacy nervously moved off him.</p><p></p><p>“Who did I land on?” she asked. “I’m sorry.”</p><p></p><p>Allar chuckled. “Don’t worry, it’s just me. Be careful. I don’t know if there’s anything down here. And I don’t trust that singing.”</p><p></p><p>“What singing?” Lacy asked.</p><p></p><p>The singing had stopped. Now they could hear, softly breaking the silence overhead, something moving. Metal scraping metal, then the slight sounds of footsteps, creaking stones, debris being disturbed.</p><p></p><p>Allar tried to sit up, but the pain in his chest forced him back down. Gasping, he said, “Could that be Crassus? Or Lirensce?”</p><p></p><p>“Or ghouls,” Lacy said. “If it were Crassus or Lirensce, they’d be calling for us. I don’t think either of them made it out. Oh! What about David?”</p><p></p><p>“He’s here,” Allar groaned. “Not too far away. Can we get some light?”</p><p></p><p>Babb, still making no sounds of movement, said, “Lacy, can you help Al out? His groans of pain are getting annoying.”</p><p></p><p>“What about you?” she asked.</p><p></p><p>“I’m in pain too, but I’m not complaining. Something’s got me pinned. Don’t worry, I can still feel all my fingers and hooves.”</p><p></p><p>A few moments later, Lacy had a torch lit. Everyone squinted at the sudden light, but they quickly looked around to get their bearings. They lay at the bottom of a sloping tunnel, fifteen feet wide. The cave was mostly natural, with rough stairs tracing a path up the tunnel at a sharp angle. Debris from the destroyed trap in the tomb room lay strewn about them, and Babb was caught at the edge of the largest pile, rocks covering his back, legs, and one of his arms. Metal shafts, blades, and chains from the trap’s mechanism had lodged in the walls of the tunnel, forming a rough fence that had deflected most of the falling stones.</p><p></p><p>“Great,” Allar said. “If we try to climb out, we’ll probably bring the whole room down on us.”</p><p></p><p>“Where are we?” Lacy asked, standing up nervously, looking around.</p><p></p><p>“Worry about that later,” Allar said. “Something up there’s moving, and we might have to kill it if it comes down here. Hand me the torch and check on David.”</p><p></p><p>David lay on his side a few feet from Babb, any injuries hidden under his brown robes. Lacy knelt beside his short body and began checking for wounds. She made sure not to touch his bare skin, but after a moment she sighed in relief.</p><p></p><p>“He’s not bleeding, just bruised. I could try to heal him, but it might just end up hurting him instead.”</p><p></p><p>Allar nodded. Lacy was human, while David was Jispin, a naturally magical race. They both used magic in their own ways, but if Lacy’s human magic interacted with David’s innate aura, it could harm him if she was not careful. Babb, a Geidon – a hybrid race that resembled bull-headed men – could benefit from either type of magic. Allar, half-human, half-Elvish, found himself not suited for either.</p><p></p><p>Favoring the puncture wound on his arm, Allar said, “Get Babb first, then.”</p><p></p><p>“What about you?” Lacy said. “I’ve never had to heal a half-Elf before.”</p><p></p><p>Allar shook his head, smiling weakly. “I get the worst of both worlds. Nobody’s magic likes me. The one other half-Elf I met, even she had a hard time getting her spells to work on me. Usually when I get hurt I just have to tough it out, but if you’re good enough and you want to try. . . .”</p><p></p><p>“I’m good enough,” Lacy smiled back. She tossed her hair over her shoulder and leaned low so she could touch Babb. “I’ve had a lot of experience with my adoptive brother here.”</p><p></p><p>Lacy whispered a short incantation, then placed a hand on Babb’s forehead, between his horns. A soft green light fell over them for a moment, then faded. Shaking his head, Babb crawled free of the rubble, then stood up and stretched.</p><p></p><p>“Not the most entertaining tomb I’ve robbed,” he said, “but certainly the one that’s come closest to killing me.”</p><p></p><p>Allar said, “Don’t speak too soon. The only way out of here is either up through that mess and back to the ghouls, or, if we’re lucky, one of those crags in the wall leads to another tunnel. I think this must be some sort of foundation of the tomb, something left over from when they first built it who knows how long ago.”</p><p></p><p>“Twenty-eight hundred years,” Lacy said. “From what I read off the inscriptions in this place, it’s the tomb for some fiendishly evil sorceress, from the Ragesian Empire. I can understand why they’d want such expensive anti-magic wards.”</p><p></p><p>“Yeah, Allar,” Babb joked. “Weren’t you paying attention?”</p><p></p><p>From overhead, back in the tomb, an unfamiliar voice sang down to them. “You freed me from death / and returned my infinity. / Live you four on rot or breath / and be you now my enemy?”</p><p></p><p>The three of them exchanged nervous glances.</p><p></p><p>“Was he speaking Geidon?” Babb whispered.</p><p></p><p>“I heard Lyceian,” Lacy replied. “Must be a spell. Who is he?”</p><p></p><p>Allar shrugged. “He doesn’t sound like a fiendishly evil sorceress.”</p><p></p><p>He forced himself to his knees, then shouted back to the voice, “We are explorers, not enemies. Who are you? Is anyone alive up there?”</p><p></p><p>“Alive foes you are weak / for death sunless lives under. / Revenge now I seek / to cut the world asunder.” This was followed by the sound of rubble shifting, and a soft and quick clicking sound. “I come down now to kill you four, / as I killed these two before. / Their life will fuel my dying task, / to kill the whore who wore a mask.”</p><p></p><p>“He’s probably evil,” Babb said. “But not a monster.”</p><p></p><p>Allar frowned at Babb, then waved Lacy over. “Help me, quick.”</p><p></p><p>Lacy moved over, gritted her teeth, and placed her hand on Allar’s chest, chanting an incantation. A sharp jolt of pain flashed in Allar’s heart as Lacy’s human magic clashed with his Elvish blood, but then the pain faded, and he could breathe more easily.</p><p></p><p>“Maybe it’s just me,” Babb said. “But I don’t feel like fighting anything right now. It was probably him singing in that coffin, and so whoever he is, he’s been around for however long Lacy said it was.”</p><p></p><p>The voice overhead was singing again, indecipherable and mournful. <em>“Iei so m menus sa. I ei sa emenus sa.”</em></p><p></p><p>Allar scanned the walls, spotting a crack that might wide enough for them to squeeze through. “Babb, pick up David. My gut tells me this is one of those ancient ineffable evils that we probably weren’t supposed to disturb.”</p><p></p><p>Lacy said, “But he killed Crassus and Lirensce.”</p><p></p><p>Babb put his hand on Lacy’s shoulder and shook his head, his dark eyes sad. “They wouldn’t want us to get killed too. Well, maybe Crassus would. But we gotta go.”</p><p></p><p>Babb bent down and picked up David easily, cradling the Jispin man in one arm. In the scant torchlight, Allar waved for them to follow as he climbed through a crack in the wall near the floor. The far side opened up into a long, craggy tunnel, roughly six feet around, winding off into the distance in two directions. From behind him, Allar could hear the song moaning high and low. </p><p></p><p><em>“Iei so m menus sa. I ei sa emeh nu us sa.”</em></p><p></p><p>None of them spoke as they filed into the new tunnel. The left passage sloped more uphill, so Allar picked that direction, and they moved. Crackling torchlight cut a small field of light from the barren cavern’s darkness, and they fled the tomb and its mysterious occupant. They talked little, glancing often behind to see if they were being followed, but the song faded into the distance, and they pressed into the deep. After a long walk, over stones that may once have been man-made, but that had since been warped to resemble a natural tunnel, the tunnel stopped heading uphill, and began sloping deeper. Allar stopped, grumbling.</p><p></p><p>“We can’t just keep running. Who knows if this tunnel even goes anywhere.”</p><p></p><p>Lacy, too tall to stand upright, sat down and sighed. “Now you’re saying we should turn back?”</p><p></p><p>“Yes.” Allar nodded. “Maybe. I just don’t . . . trust caves.”</p><p></p><p>Babb looked behind them, then set David down, trying to find a space clear of jagged edges. “Lacy, can you give the gnome a look?”</p><p></p><p>Lacy sighed again. “Alright, but I don’t want to risk healing him. I barely got it to work for Allar, and he doesn’t use magic.”</p><p></p><p>She crawled across the floor and sat next to David, unslinging her shoulder pack and searching for supplies. Meanwhile, Babb walked over to Allar and lightly pushed him on his chest.</p><p></p><p>“What’s your problem, Babb?”</p><p></p><p>Babb shoved him again, lightly, then reached out and grabbed Allar’s arm as the man reached for his sword. “You’re panicking,” Babb said. “You know if we head back, even if that singing thing isn’t dangerous, the dozens of ghouls are.”</p><p></p><p>“But we don’t know what’s down here,” Allar said. “These tunnels might go nowhere, and we don’t have enough torches to risk getting lost.”</p><p></p><p>Babb shook his heavy head. “You know that’s wrong. David can light us up, and he should be coming around soon. The man’s a reliable little snot. We’ve got enough food for two days, and I’d rather go hungry than let the ghouls nibble on me.”</p><p></p><p>Allar pulled away and looked down the tunnel. It was impossible to see more than a few feet, beyond which it was black, unknown. If he had his mother’s Elvish eyes, he’d be able to at least make out some of the shapes in the darkness. He scowled, remembering his mother and why he hated being here.</p><p></p><p>“It’s too dangerous to keep going. We don’t know what could be down here.”</p><p></p><p>“What’s down here?” Babb laughed, and his deep voice echoed away in two directions. “We just had the most disastrous little adventure I’ve ever heard about, and you’re worried that something might be living down here? I hope so. We’ll need food.”</p><p></p><p>Lacy looked up from her treatment of David. “If that tomb was Ragesian, I recall that they were rumored to have used tunnels for moving supplies. I think some of the Tundanesti Elves managed to smuggle themselves out of Kequalak using old tunnels like these.”</p><p></p><p>“I know,” Allar said. “This isn’t the first time I’ve been down in these sorts of passages.”</p><p></p><p>“So,” Babb asked, “you didn’t die then, did you? What are you afraid of?”</p><p></p><p>Allar glared back at the Geidon. “I’m not afraid. But it might be days before we find another place this tunnel could reach the surface, if ever.”</p><p></p><p>“Al, we’re trapped down here. Going back is not an option. You need to think of how we’re going to survive to see sunlight again. Look, you said you’ve been in tunnels like this before. Is there any chance we might find some running water, or bats or something?”</p><p></p><p>Allar swallowed dryly, worried they might not trust him if they later found out he was hiding something. But most people didn’t even believe him when he talked about dark Elves, and this shallow they were unlikely to run into any. He didn’t speak for a moment, wondering what to say.</p><p></p><p>Babb lightly shook him. “Al, if you’re going to panic here and try to go back, let us know, alright? If you go back, you’ll die anyway, so at least give us the chance to kill you so we’ll have more to eat.”</p><p></p><p>Smiling slightly, Allar shook his head to relieve his nervousness. “No, we’ll be fine. We’ve probably got a long walk ahead of us, though.”</p><p></p><p>“Good,” Babb laughed. “We can share old adventure stories.”</p><p></p><p>Allar chuckled. “Maybe when we get out of this alive. In a place like this, we should try to stay as quiet as possible.”</p><p></p><p>From nearby, Lacy winked to Allar and said, “Yes. We need to make sure the dark Elves don’t find us.”</p><p></p><p>Allar stared at her. “You . . . you know about dark Elves?”</p><p></p><p>She shrugged. “I read a lot about monsters and myths.” At Babb’s confused expression, Lacy added, “They’re supposedly called the Taranesti. Demon Elves that live underground, fleeing from the sun. I imagine they’d look like Kohalesti, only, you know, more demon-y. They’re basically Elvish bogeymen. You don’t have to worry about them, Babb.”</p><p></p><p>Allar let out the breath he was holding. “We fought ghouls less than an hour ago. I wouldn’t write off Taranesti.”</p><p></p><p>Lacy said, “But dark Elves are a myth. Ghouls are just mindless monsters.”</p><p></p><p>Under Lacy’s ministration, David began to stir. Allar walked over to him.</p><p></p><p>“Hey there, David. Everything in one piece?”</p><p></p><p>David rubbed his eyes, favoring his right hand. He looked up at Allar and tapped the side of his head, trying to shake off the dull pain of recent unconsciousness. “You didn’t get us killed. That’s a pleasant surprise.”</p><p></p><p>Allar grinned. “Glad to hear you’re feeling better.”</p><p></p><p>“How long was I out?”</p><p></p><p>“Just an hour or so. We’re running low on torches. Can you magic up some light for us?”</p><p></p><p>“Where are we?”</p><p></p><p>Babb tapped a short beat on his armor to get their attention. “Something in that coffin came alive and started spouting off poetry at us, so we ran away.”</p><p></p><p>“Sounds reasonable,” David said.</p><p></p><p>Allar said, “Remember those tunnels under the Tunda Mountains I spent some time patrolling? I think this place is something like that. I can’t be sure, but I think we’re heading west.”</p><p></p><p>David frowned. “I thought you didn’t like the underground. Didn’t you-?”</p><p></p><p>Allar held up a hand to stop him. “It’s this or get killed by ghouls. The air here’s fresh enough, so there should be something that leads up to the surface not far away.”</p><p></p><p>“It’s just the four of us?”</p><p></p><p>They all nodded quietly. </p><p></p><p>Allar sighed. “Whatever it was that came out of that coffin in the tomb, it said it had killed Lirensce and Crassus.”</p><p></p><p>David stood up and looked around the narrow cave, which was twice as high as his head. He pulled out one of his talismans, a small glass vial filled with brown spices. He clenched it, then winced and glared at Allar.</p><p></p><p>“Warn me next time one of you touches me. I could’ve been casting something dangerous.”</p><p></p><p>Babb laughed. “You should all just wear gloves.”</p><p></p><p>“Yeah,” David said. “Harlan did a great job picking out his adventuring team. Lacy can heal everyone except me and Allar. I think I broke one of my fingers.”</p><p></p><p>“But you use more magic than Lacy,” Babb said. “Why can’t you just heal yourself?”</p><p></p><p>David was silent, but Allar laughed and said, “His mother was excellent at healing magic, so David never thought he’d need to learn it himself.”</p><p></p><p>“Momma’s boy,” Babb said.</p><p></p><p>“I’ll ask my mother the next time I see her,” David sighed. “But you’re lucky I’m a generous person who’s very forgiving.”</p><p></p><p>“The torch is dying,” Lacy pointed out.</p><p></p><p>David grumbled and nodded, then concentrated again on his talisman. A dim red light filled the tunnel around them, weaker than David’s usual light spell. David held his talisman high and glanced around.</p><p></p><p>“The walls here are riddled with that same white stone we saw in the tomb. Ugh. Is the rest of the tunnel like this?”</p><p></p><p>“Yeah,” Babb said. “Why, what’s wrong?”</p><p></p><p>“It’s antimagical. Who would make some place like this?”</p><p></p><p>Lacy shrugged. “It did say ‘death to all magic,’ and the tomb was supposed to hold an evil sorceress, but thankfully she doesn’t seem to be undead. Will we have light?”</p><p></p><p>David nodded unhappily. “Yeah, we’ll have light. Now we just need to find a way out.”</p><p></p><p>Babb stood up, taking care not to bump his head on the low ceiling. “Well, momma’s boy, you can walk on your own now, so I don’t have to carry you. Al, want to lead the way?”</p><p></p><p>Allar snorted. The tunnel had only two paths, and they had found no other turns or passages. Laughing, he started walking. “Sure. I’ll try not to get us lost.”</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="RangerWickett, post: 1575916, member: 63"] [size=3][b]Episode One: The Song of the Deep, Section II[/b][/size] [i]“Iei so m menus sa. I ei sa emenus sa. Iei so mm meneus sa. Ii iei sa emeh nu uus sa.”[/i] It was quiet now, and indeed, Allar could hear singing, far, far overhead. It sounded like something his parents might have sung to him as he dreamed. It was a man’s voice, low, full of lament, and though he couldn’t understand its words, Allar knew it told a tale of a long journey. The music echoed down from above, and he felt something tug at his soul. The song was beautiful, but for some reason he was afraid of it. Lest it overwhelm him, he forced himself to ignore it, focus on where he had fallen. The place, wherever it was, was completely dark, but not claustrophobic. Babb’s breathing was wet and rasping, and David was actually snoring. Allar lay on his back, on stone. There was a heavy, soft weight on his chest. Lacy’s body, he realized. He remembered twisting in midair so that he would cushion the woman’s fall. She was breathing, so he could forgive her for the intense piercing pain from his broken ribs. He tried to focus on the warmth of Lacy’s body, not feeling strong enough yet to move. Occasionally there would be the soft sound of dust or bits of stone raining down lightly, but mostly, the world was still. Quiet, except for the song above. “Al, stop singing.” Babb’s voice was slurred. “Babb?” When Allar spoke, he tasted blood in his mouth. “I’m-. I’m not singing.” “Good. You alive?” “Yeah.” “Damn,” Babb groaned. “I was looking forward to proving my sister wrong about the whole afterlife thing. How far did we fall?” Lacy began to shift. She placed a hand on Allar’s chest and started to push herself up, but Allar yelped in pain, and Lacy fell over in surprise, landing on top of him again. He coughed, and Lacy nervously moved off him. “Who did I land on?” she asked. “I’m sorry.” Allar chuckled. “Don’t worry, it’s just me. Be careful. I don’t know if there’s anything down here. And I don’t trust that singing.” “What singing?” Lacy asked. The singing had stopped. Now they could hear, softly breaking the silence overhead, something moving. Metal scraping metal, then the slight sounds of footsteps, creaking stones, debris being disturbed. Allar tried to sit up, but the pain in his chest forced him back down. Gasping, he said, “Could that be Crassus? Or Lirensce?” “Or ghouls,” Lacy said. “If it were Crassus or Lirensce, they’d be calling for us. I don’t think either of them made it out. Oh! What about David?” “He’s here,” Allar groaned. “Not too far away. Can we get some light?” Babb, still making no sounds of movement, said, “Lacy, can you help Al out? His groans of pain are getting annoying.” “What about you?” she asked. “I’m in pain too, but I’m not complaining. Something’s got me pinned. Don’t worry, I can still feel all my fingers and hooves.” A few moments later, Lacy had a torch lit. Everyone squinted at the sudden light, but they quickly looked around to get their bearings. They lay at the bottom of a sloping tunnel, fifteen feet wide. The cave was mostly natural, with rough stairs tracing a path up the tunnel at a sharp angle. Debris from the destroyed trap in the tomb room lay strewn about them, and Babb was caught at the edge of the largest pile, rocks covering his back, legs, and one of his arms. Metal shafts, blades, and chains from the trap’s mechanism had lodged in the walls of the tunnel, forming a rough fence that had deflected most of the falling stones. “Great,” Allar said. “If we try to climb out, we’ll probably bring the whole room down on us.” “Where are we?” Lacy asked, standing up nervously, looking around. “Worry about that later,” Allar said. “Something up there’s moving, and we might have to kill it if it comes down here. Hand me the torch and check on David.” David lay on his side a few feet from Babb, any injuries hidden under his brown robes. Lacy knelt beside his short body and began checking for wounds. She made sure not to touch his bare skin, but after a moment she sighed in relief. “He’s not bleeding, just bruised. I could try to heal him, but it might just end up hurting him instead.” Allar nodded. Lacy was human, while David was Jispin, a naturally magical race. They both used magic in their own ways, but if Lacy’s human magic interacted with David’s innate aura, it could harm him if she was not careful. Babb, a Geidon – a hybrid race that resembled bull-headed men – could benefit from either type of magic. Allar, half-human, half-Elvish, found himself not suited for either. Favoring the puncture wound on his arm, Allar said, “Get Babb first, then.” “What about you?” Lacy said. “I’ve never had to heal a half-Elf before.” Allar shook his head, smiling weakly. “I get the worst of both worlds. Nobody’s magic likes me. The one other half-Elf I met, even she had a hard time getting her spells to work on me. Usually when I get hurt I just have to tough it out, but if you’re good enough and you want to try. . . .” “I’m good enough,” Lacy smiled back. She tossed her hair over her shoulder and leaned low so she could touch Babb. “I’ve had a lot of experience with my adoptive brother here.” Lacy whispered a short incantation, then placed a hand on Babb’s forehead, between his horns. A soft green light fell over them for a moment, then faded. Shaking his head, Babb crawled free of the rubble, then stood up and stretched. “Not the most entertaining tomb I’ve robbed,” he said, “but certainly the one that’s come closest to killing me.” Allar said, “Don’t speak too soon. The only way out of here is either up through that mess and back to the ghouls, or, if we’re lucky, one of those crags in the wall leads to another tunnel. I think this must be some sort of foundation of the tomb, something left over from when they first built it who knows how long ago.” “Twenty-eight hundred years,” Lacy said. “From what I read off the inscriptions in this place, it’s the tomb for some fiendishly evil sorceress, from the Ragesian Empire. I can understand why they’d want such expensive anti-magic wards.” “Yeah, Allar,” Babb joked. “Weren’t you paying attention?” From overhead, back in the tomb, an unfamiliar voice sang down to them. “You freed me from death / and returned my infinity. / Live you four on rot or breath / and be you now my enemy?” The three of them exchanged nervous glances. “Was he speaking Geidon?” Babb whispered. “I heard Lyceian,” Lacy replied. “Must be a spell. Who is he?” Allar shrugged. “He doesn’t sound like a fiendishly evil sorceress.” He forced himself to his knees, then shouted back to the voice, “We are explorers, not enemies. Who are you? Is anyone alive up there?” “Alive foes you are weak / for death sunless lives under. / Revenge now I seek / to cut the world asunder.” This was followed by the sound of rubble shifting, and a soft and quick clicking sound. “I come down now to kill you four, / as I killed these two before. / Their life will fuel my dying task, / to kill the whore who wore a mask.” “He’s probably evil,” Babb said. “But not a monster.” Allar frowned at Babb, then waved Lacy over. “Help me, quick.” Lacy moved over, gritted her teeth, and placed her hand on Allar’s chest, chanting an incantation. A sharp jolt of pain flashed in Allar’s heart as Lacy’s human magic clashed with his Elvish blood, but then the pain faded, and he could breathe more easily. “Maybe it’s just me,” Babb said. “But I don’t feel like fighting anything right now. It was probably him singing in that coffin, and so whoever he is, he’s been around for however long Lacy said it was.” The voice overhead was singing again, indecipherable and mournful. [i]“Iei so m menus sa. I ei sa emenus sa.”[/i] Allar scanned the walls, spotting a crack that might wide enough for them to squeeze through. “Babb, pick up David. My gut tells me this is one of those ancient ineffable evils that we probably weren’t supposed to disturb.” Lacy said, “But he killed Crassus and Lirensce.” Babb put his hand on Lacy’s shoulder and shook his head, his dark eyes sad. “They wouldn’t want us to get killed too. Well, maybe Crassus would. But we gotta go.” Babb bent down and picked up David easily, cradling the Jispin man in one arm. In the scant torchlight, Allar waved for them to follow as he climbed through a crack in the wall near the floor. The far side opened up into a long, craggy tunnel, roughly six feet around, winding off into the distance in two directions. From behind him, Allar could hear the song moaning high and low. [i]“Iei so m menus sa. I ei sa emeh nu us sa.”[/i] None of them spoke as they filed into the new tunnel. The left passage sloped more uphill, so Allar picked that direction, and they moved. Crackling torchlight cut a small field of light from the barren cavern’s darkness, and they fled the tomb and its mysterious occupant. They talked little, glancing often behind to see if they were being followed, but the song faded into the distance, and they pressed into the deep. After a long walk, over stones that may once have been man-made, but that had since been warped to resemble a natural tunnel, the tunnel stopped heading uphill, and began sloping deeper. Allar stopped, grumbling. “We can’t just keep running. Who knows if this tunnel even goes anywhere.” Lacy, too tall to stand upright, sat down and sighed. “Now you’re saying we should turn back?” “Yes.” Allar nodded. “Maybe. I just don’t . . . trust caves.” Babb looked behind them, then set David down, trying to find a space clear of jagged edges. “Lacy, can you give the gnome a look?” Lacy sighed again. “Alright, but I don’t want to risk healing him. I barely got it to work for Allar, and he doesn’t use magic.” She crawled across the floor and sat next to David, unslinging her shoulder pack and searching for supplies. Meanwhile, Babb walked over to Allar and lightly pushed him on his chest. “What’s your problem, Babb?” Babb shoved him again, lightly, then reached out and grabbed Allar’s arm as the man reached for his sword. “You’re panicking,” Babb said. “You know if we head back, even if that singing thing isn’t dangerous, the dozens of ghouls are.” “But we don’t know what’s down here,” Allar said. “These tunnels might go nowhere, and we don’t have enough torches to risk getting lost.” Babb shook his heavy head. “You know that’s wrong. David can light us up, and he should be coming around soon. The man’s a reliable little snot. We’ve got enough food for two days, and I’d rather go hungry than let the ghouls nibble on me.” Allar pulled away and looked down the tunnel. It was impossible to see more than a few feet, beyond which it was black, unknown. If he had his mother’s Elvish eyes, he’d be able to at least make out some of the shapes in the darkness. He scowled, remembering his mother and why he hated being here. “It’s too dangerous to keep going. We don’t know what could be down here.” “What’s down here?” Babb laughed, and his deep voice echoed away in two directions. “We just had the most disastrous little adventure I’ve ever heard about, and you’re worried that something might be living down here? I hope so. We’ll need food.” Lacy looked up from her treatment of David. “If that tomb was Ragesian, I recall that they were rumored to have used tunnels for moving supplies. I think some of the Tundanesti Elves managed to smuggle themselves out of Kequalak using old tunnels like these.” “I know,” Allar said. “This isn’t the first time I’ve been down in these sorts of passages.” “So,” Babb asked, “you didn’t die then, did you? What are you afraid of?” Allar glared back at the Geidon. “I’m not afraid. But it might be days before we find another place this tunnel could reach the surface, if ever.” “Al, we’re trapped down here. Going back is not an option. You need to think of how we’re going to survive to see sunlight again. Look, you said you’ve been in tunnels like this before. Is there any chance we might find some running water, or bats or something?” Allar swallowed dryly, worried they might not trust him if they later found out he was hiding something. But most people didn’t even believe him when he talked about dark Elves, and this shallow they were unlikely to run into any. He didn’t speak for a moment, wondering what to say. Babb lightly shook him. “Al, if you’re going to panic here and try to go back, let us know, alright? If you go back, you’ll die anyway, so at least give us the chance to kill you so we’ll have more to eat.” Smiling slightly, Allar shook his head to relieve his nervousness. “No, we’ll be fine. We’ve probably got a long walk ahead of us, though.” “Good,” Babb laughed. “We can share old adventure stories.” Allar chuckled. “Maybe when we get out of this alive. In a place like this, we should try to stay as quiet as possible.” From nearby, Lacy winked to Allar and said, “Yes. We need to make sure the dark Elves don’t find us.” Allar stared at her. “You . . . you know about dark Elves?” She shrugged. “I read a lot about monsters and myths.” At Babb’s confused expression, Lacy added, “They’re supposedly called the Taranesti. Demon Elves that live underground, fleeing from the sun. I imagine they’d look like Kohalesti, only, you know, more demon-y. They’re basically Elvish bogeymen. You don’t have to worry about them, Babb.” Allar let out the breath he was holding. “We fought ghouls less than an hour ago. I wouldn’t write off Taranesti.” Lacy said, “But dark Elves are a myth. Ghouls are just mindless monsters.” Under Lacy’s ministration, David began to stir. Allar walked over to him. “Hey there, David. Everything in one piece?” David rubbed his eyes, favoring his right hand. He looked up at Allar and tapped the side of his head, trying to shake off the dull pain of recent unconsciousness. “You didn’t get us killed. That’s a pleasant surprise.” Allar grinned. “Glad to hear you’re feeling better.” “How long was I out?” “Just an hour or so. We’re running low on torches. Can you magic up some light for us?” “Where are we?” Babb tapped a short beat on his armor to get their attention. “Something in that coffin came alive and started spouting off poetry at us, so we ran away.” “Sounds reasonable,” David said. Allar said, “Remember those tunnels under the Tunda Mountains I spent some time patrolling? I think this place is something like that. I can’t be sure, but I think we’re heading west.” David frowned. “I thought you didn’t like the underground. Didn’t you-?” Allar held up a hand to stop him. “It’s this or get killed by ghouls. The air here’s fresh enough, so there should be something that leads up to the surface not far away.” “It’s just the four of us?” They all nodded quietly. Allar sighed. “Whatever it was that came out of that coffin in the tomb, it said it had killed Lirensce and Crassus.” David stood up and looked around the narrow cave, which was twice as high as his head. He pulled out one of his talismans, a small glass vial filled with brown spices. He clenched it, then winced and glared at Allar. “Warn me next time one of you touches me. I could’ve been casting something dangerous.” Babb laughed. “You should all just wear gloves.” “Yeah,” David said. “Harlan did a great job picking out his adventuring team. Lacy can heal everyone except me and Allar. I think I broke one of my fingers.” “But you use more magic than Lacy,” Babb said. “Why can’t you just heal yourself?” David was silent, but Allar laughed and said, “His mother was excellent at healing magic, so David never thought he’d need to learn it himself.” “Momma’s boy,” Babb said. “I’ll ask my mother the next time I see her,” David sighed. “But you’re lucky I’m a generous person who’s very forgiving.” “The torch is dying,” Lacy pointed out. David grumbled and nodded, then concentrated again on his talisman. A dim red light filled the tunnel around them, weaker than David’s usual light spell. David held his talisman high and glanced around. “The walls here are riddled with that same white stone we saw in the tomb. Ugh. Is the rest of the tunnel like this?” “Yeah,” Babb said. “Why, what’s wrong?” “It’s antimagical. Who would make some place like this?” Lacy shrugged. “It did say ‘death to all magic,’ and the tomb was supposed to hold an evil sorceress, but thankfully she doesn’t seem to be undead. Will we have light?” David nodded unhappily. “Yeah, we’ll have light. Now we just need to find a way out.” Babb stood up, taking care not to bump his head on the low ceiling. “Well, momma’s boy, you can walk on your own now, so I don’t have to carry you. Al, want to lead the way?” Allar snorted. The tunnel had only two paths, and they had found no other turns or passages. Laughing, he started walking. “Sure. I’ll try not to get us lost.” [/QUOTE]
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The Mother of Dreams - Episode 5 (updated February 1st, 2005)
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