NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Fiasco" data-source="post: 3411928" data-attributes="member: 15187">The stairs were white marble with discolouration reminiscent of a decayed tooth. The steps were slick with moisture making footing precarious. Stravarius joined Moxadder at the head of the party and together they descended the broad, shallow steps as they wound their way downward.  Abruptly, the Black Elf motioned for the others to stop. In the quiet, they heard the faint muttering of voices from below. “It sounds Gerechian”, said Stravarius.Morgan’s mask rippled faintly as he cocked his head to catch the voices.“It is”, he said after a pause. “Ancient Gerechian. Valentine says they are complaining that there hasn’t been a service in years.”The Hydra looked at each other, then with a shrug continued downward. The floor at the bottom of the stairs was covered in an inch of water. The light from Gerard’s torch cast a faint illumination over a cluster of five Gerechians, though whether their milk filmed eyes registered the light was questionable. Readying sword and shield, Stravarius approached them. Much like their brethren upstairs, they were garbed in the aged robes of the Gerechian faith though in this case they were damp and covered in mould. In a mucus filled voice one of them addressed the Black Elf in ancient Gerechian. Not understanding, Stravarius merely shrugged his shoulders, which frustrated the speaker. It spoke more urgently but when that also failed to get the desired reaction the group moved disappointedly away. “They were asking if you had come to give a sermon”, Morgan translated.“If they keep botherin us Ah’ll give them a service they’ll nowt forget”, said Argonne darkly as he hefted his axe.By now all of them had stepped off the stairs except for Gerard, who stood on the lowest step and looked with dismay at the slimy water that covered the floor. Seeing the others continue on, he held a kerchief to his nose and then stepped into the slushy muck with an exaggerated grimace.Keeping a watch in all directions, the Hydra advanced into an enormous hall supported by two ranks of towering pillars. A large rectangular pool dominated the centre of the room. It was filled with water so foul it was a viscous yellow green in colour. A powerful stench clawed the companion’s nostrils as they took in the sight and smell of the feature. Despite its noisome qualities, a dozen swimmers bathed in the pool, as if they were enjoying the purest of spring water. Gerard crammed a scented cloth to his face as he convulsed at the horror of what he saw. Unable to take his eyes off the swimmers, he did a double take when one of them was suddenly dragged beneath the surface. Gerard looked to his companions, but their attention had been drawn by a Gerechian in the robes of a priest  who wore a phylactery strapped to his head. Shuddering, the effete nobleman backed away from the pool.The rest of the adventurers listened as Morgan spoke ancient Gerechian with the priest. Whatever his words, they angered the Gerechian for without warning he raised his hands and shouted words of dark power. A flowing black web shot from the priest’s hands and engulfed the party. They felt the unnatural strands begin to leech the vitality from their bodies as they desperately tried to tear their way free. Gerard, who had been too far away to be affected cried out a warning as the bathing Gerechians abandoned their sport and swam straight for the party. By the time the Hydra had broken free of the webs, they were close to being surrounded by over a dozen swimmers who shuffled forwards dripping viscous fluids onto the marble floor. Though naked and unarmed, they bared sharp toothed grins that horrified the adventurers. Worse, their long sharp nails dripped a thick black substance that boded ill for those who were struck. Grimly, the Hydra prepared to defend themselves, already in a bad way from the effect of the priest’s spell.Despite his web induced weakness, Morgan quickly lunged forward and skewered the priest with his rapier. Gerard swiped ineffectually at one of the Gerechians while shouting at it to keep away. Hefting his great axe, Argonne also tried to cut at the priest but it dodged nimbly out of the way.Mortec was closest to the pool and found himself under intense attack before he could collect his wits. Acting on instinct, he drew a dagger and slashed at a Gerechian. On the other side of the battle, Moxadder drew his daggers with a lightning quick move and then dodged, dived and tumbled into a position behind the priest. With a vicious swing, he hooked a dagger deep into its shoulder blade. Seeing the dire position his companions were in, Stravarius bravely held his ground. Drawing on his hatred he summoned a bolt of arcane energy and lanced it into the priest.Disregarding the damage being done to it, the priest raised its frost rimed black mace, and struck Argonne in the head. The woodsman reeled from the powerful blow but managed to keep his footing. Silently the Gerechians completed their encirclement of the companions, eyeing them hungrily with their filmy eyes.“Look out!” Cried Morgan. “These are Gerechians no longer, they have become ghouls, eaters of flesh!” The warning came to late to do the Hydra much good.Mortec was clawed in the shoulder and felt the chill paralysis sweep over him. Gritting his teeth, he managed to fight off the unnatural weakness. Others attacked Gerard and Morgan but they managed to evade the blows. Moxadder was not so fortunate, his position behind the priest left him open to several ghouls and he was nearly buried in a flurry of claws. The Irudeshian dodged nimbly but one of the claws ripped into his back. For a second the undead paralysis raced through his drug weakened system but then the Eyes of Thuus glowed an intense white and the weakness passed.Perceiving the peril enclosing them, Mortec cast a spell of consecration to bolster his powers and weaken that of the enemy. Crying out to his companions to hold the undead off for just a little longer, he began to open a conduit to his deity. Trying to buy the gnome time, Morgan lunged at the high priest while Gerard slashed wildly at a ghoul. Neither found their mark. Still hurt from the blow he had taken, Argonne raised his axe high and brought it crashing down at the priest. Unfortunately, the blow missed completely and thundered into the floor, where the axe head was smashed to pieces. Staring dumbly at the haft of his axe, he failed fend off the claws of two of the Gerechians. Battered to the point of death and paralysed to boot, he collapsed to the ground.Sneering in triumph, the high priest raised its mace high in anticipation of striking the killing blow when another crackling bolt of power drilled through its head. The mace clattered to the ground and the body swiftly followed. Stravarius’ eyes blazed red and in that moment his companions found him just as frightening as the undead surrounding them. Making the most of the priest fall, Moxadder tumbled away from his numerous opponents a second ahead of their slashing claws. The final part of his manoeuvre ended up as a lunge which plunged his dagger into the side of one of the unsuspecting creatures. It clawed at the tattooed man in retaliation but his leather armour kept out the blows. Others attacked the rest of the companions, missing most but hitting Morgan. Accustomed from early boyhood to battling the undead, the young warrior refused to succumb to the paralysis and neatly stabbed his assailant in the throat. Despite the priest’s fall the Hydra’s position was dire. They were heavily outnumbered; Argonne was down and most of the rest of them were injured. Though they had so far avoided the worst of the ghouls attacks  they were completely surrounded. The battle promised only one, grim conclusion. Fortunately for the Hydra, they had managed to hold out long enough for gnome to act. Bolstered by his spell of consecration, Mortec called on the power of his dark Goddess. A tremendous wave of energy radiated from the tiny figure and swept through the surrounding ghouls. Casting their arms up in terror, fully seven of them broke off their attack and stood rooted to the spot in awe. The small gnome commanded their attention utterly, standing proudly and fully revealed as a priest of Nachtigal, for it was she he had called upon. His deception of masquerading as a priest of Todesmagie had come to an end.Inspired by the gnome, the rest of the companions roared in triumph before attacking the remaining ghouls with renewed vigour. Standing over Argonne’s body, Stravarius and Morgan strove to drive back the ravening ghouls with the sharp points of their rapiers. Once of them slipped Morgan’s guard and jagged a claw into his thigh. The warrior turned pale and then slumped paralysed to the ground. Feeling the momentum begin to shift back to the Gerechians, Moxadder stepped up his offence and cut down a ghoul with a wild flurry of blows. Another advanced and clawed the dagger-man but his eyes glowed bright in defiance of the unnatural chill. Before the remaining ghouls could attack, Mortec called again on the might of Nachtigal. The dark energy that radiating from him momentarily blackened the sight of his companions as the remaining undead were forced to cower at his feet.The Hydra looked on Mortec in awe.“Quickly”, he commanded. “Hack them down before they shake free.”Even Gerard leapt to obey, cowed by the authority radiating from his small companion. It was grisly work, but none questioned its necessity. They had not been in such peril since the pirate’s lair. It was a wearisome business, and by the time they had finished Mortec had been forced to expend more of his energies to renew his power over the ghouls.. With the stench of slaughter upon them they set about binding their wounds, hoping that no virulence had infected them through the claws of the dead. Mortec was forced to burn more divine essence to restore some health to Argonne, who had been sorely battered.Having recovered his strength, Stravarius began to explore the rooms leading off from the massive hall. The first was occupied by four figures. Two lay naked on low stone tables while two others in loin cloths rubbed rancid oil onto their backs. The Black Elf, hung back, wondering if they were alive, dead or something in between. One of the masseurs reached for a bone knife and began to scrape off the oil. Unnoticed by either party, skin was being shaved off along with the oil. With a grimace of distaste, Stravarius moved onto the next room. It was filled with steam and not even his supernatural sight could pierce its confines. The silent form of Moxadder came up to join him. His platinum eyes glowed once more, piercing the fog to lay bare the contents of the room. Abruptly he retreated, pulling Stravarius with him.“What is it?” Snapped the Black Elf, annoyed a the contact.“Something shadowy in the far corner, I didn’t like the look of it. Stravarius nodded. He had no wish to face any strange peril either.Back by the pool, Mortec had finished examining the priest’s belonging when the paralysis left Morgan’s limbs. Screaming in fury, the Fastendian leapt to his feet and began hacking ineffectually at the dismembered corpses with his rapier. With an irritated sigh, the gnome called once more upon his powers and healed the Fastendian of the worst of his wounds. With a great shudder, Morgan regained control of himself and embarrassed, began to see to his weapons. Meanwhile Gerard stood with his back to the pool, feverishly working to clean his rapier of the gore of the battle. Unnoticed by him, a slimy tentacle emerged with slick smoothness from the scummy waters and began to slide towards him...</blockquote>

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