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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Spider_Jerusalem" data-source="post: 2455771" data-attributes="member: 5507">Interlude Number Seven: A Tale of MisfortuneCallum Eelhold sighed as his lank hair slipped from beneath his mage’s hat and fell into his eyes again. Brushing it away, he adjusted his wizards robes and cast a look over his companions. They sat as all traveller’s do at night, huddled in a circle round a small fire. Brakkat sat proud, the half-orc’s sinew-laden neck aching as he bellowed out drunken thoughts at their new found companion. They had picked up the elf in the nearby forest. The elf had shown admirable restraint and retained his silence. Poor lad, thought Callum, though he was probably older than all the rest of us put together.“Eat more elf! You are so thin!” yelled Brakkat, spraying chunks of bread across the rest of the party. The abrasive laughter echoed like a mad ghost in the ruins of the town hall. The half-orc’s humour had quickly become something of a sorespot in the past few days. Callum tried to smile, but wondered inwardly if he could lose the barbarian at the next town. The dynamics of his team would be thrown to the winds, but mercenaries were dime a dozen, well at least they were a little further south. And the Elf was good with a bow of course, so that was something to be thankful for. Callum thought that despite being such a fledgling band of heroes, and still with a lot to prove, he could be given a break at some point. He had heard tales of a bard in Ilinvur, capable of fighting with three swords at once. This seemed ludicrous to the mage, but could be worth checking out. Just in case. Whichever it was, he wanted out of this burnt out ruin as soon as morning came. Two dead ettin bodies are never the best omen for a nights rest.Juddon Morningbeam, adept-priest of Lathander, wiggled a finger in his ear and went to interject to Brakkart’s shouting, but Callum caught his eye across the campfire and waved a finger to say ‘no’. Juddon, never the one to argue that much anyway, returned to his ecclesiastical sulk.“Well, It’s about time I let Limo off the hook,” laughed Callum, “his watch was over a while ago.”The elf looked up as Callum pulled himself to a stand, “my companion, I wish to earn my share and I shall go on watch. My ears are keener than a fox and my sight like that of an owl, I can…”“Whatever,” interrupted Callum, “Look, you’ve joined with us and I’m quite happy for you to put the work in, but I do things just the way I like them and that’s that.” Before the elf could answer, Callum turned on his heel and stalked into the night air. A persistent rain slapped him in face and he felt his robe’s grow heavy. Perhaps he shouldn’t have been that blunt, but then again a new recruit needs to know his place. Anyway, where in Hades was Limo? That damn halfling never stayed still.“Limo?” called Callum, his voice lost in the surrounding trees as he stepped from the hall steps and strained to see any further. A tinny smell hit the back of his throat. “Limo?”Callum went to call again, but his voice shrivelled as a head-splitting howl bayed across the deserted village. A heart beat later, another grinding howl greeted the mage, this time from his other side. Callum turned to run. His sodden robes caught beneath his feet and he fell onto the steps. Looking sideways through the rain streaked gloom, Limo’s dead face stared back at the mage. From his neck down the halfling was a bloody wreck. His body had been torn asunder and thrown onto the steps. Callum had walked right past his gutted corpse.Three howls chorused in unison and Callum saw Brakkart silhoutted at the top of the steps. Callum went to rise but instead slid backwards, his foot pulled from beneath him. A brilliant pain crashed up his leg and Callum saw an immense wolf crouched over him. The beast's body whirred and hissed, metal and fur equally dank fron the rain. His leg was being swallowed as he watched. Two more wolves pounded up the steps, Callum thought their bodies were sleek and beautiful. A fourth wolf padded out of the night and tore the mage’s head from his body.At the top of the steps, Brakkart slammed the doors closed. They were thin at best, and he only just managed to keep them together as a vicious weight thudded against the wood. His companions were up in seconds, their weapons ready. Brakkart joined his companions in a defensive line as the door thundered twice more, splinters showering from the hinges. Howls filled the hall. Suddenly, the door fell silent.The adventurers stood as any three companions could. An axe, a bow and a mace ready for whatever came through the door. Nothing was said between them. Brakkart saw a shadow glide across the fractured door. An eye shone brilliant in the firelight, then backed away. A moment later, a small black coin dropped through the gap and span on the floor.- - - - - - - - -Arkella Noreth stepped back as a sudden frenzy of snarls and horrific laughter erupted within the hall. A number of screams vaulted free, but were quickly silenced. Onyx cowered back, sensing whatever it was that had been summoned. Idiot animal. She considered opening the door to see what it was that had forced its way into being, but thought better of it. She had no cause to ask what was in the coins, just accept what she had been given and be thankful for it.Thick white fingers crept from the gaps of the hall door and began to pry the wood apart. Arkella was reminded of maggots bursting through dead flesh. Arkella clapped her gloves together and Onyx bounded down the steps. She had found the trail of the staff again, that was what was important. All she had to do was catch up. Sometimes she thought she could sense the staff, but that was her imagination, she was quite sure. She pulled her veil tighter about her mouth. A taloned hand punched through the door, accompanied by a violent thrash of anticipation. Arkella turned and followed her Onyx, her form silently slipping away into the dark and back onto the trail of Erifeci.</blockquote>

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