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Message: <blockquote data-quote="arwink" data-source="post: 1137671" data-attributes="member: 2292">“Desecration,” a deep voice snarls, and there's a meaty *thunk* as a javelin flies out of the darkness of the corridor and strikes Blarth in the shoulder.  Blood streams from the wound, and the half-orc swears loudly a he pulls it free.  Within the space of a few moments, a second javelin appears from the shadows to rebound of Geoffrey’s shield.  Everyone blinks for a few moments, sluggish reflexes adapting to the sudden attack.  Fighting through the pain Blarth launches himself into a charge, war cry on his lips, only to run into a patch of caltrops blocking half the corridor.  The half-orc screams in pain, his hurried retreat leaving small spots of blood on the floor of the passageway.  Geoffrey watches his comrade’s interrupted charge and swears, hurriedly pulling a sunrod free from his pack and throwing it down the passageway.  The rod strikes the ground with a soft crack, suddenly throwing the area into illumination.The room that suddenly blinks into vision is like a nightmarish parody of a shrine, with a bloody eye painted above a black-stone alter and small patches of blood scattered about the floor.  Standing in the center, a javelin in hand, is a mangled bear-likecreature that could once have been a man.  Twisted limbs are covered with thick, clumped fur, and the humanoid face bears the traits of some wild animal – a bear-like snout and the thick fangs of a dog are prominent, as are a set of wolfish ears the poke out of a mane of black hair.  The remnants of a suit of plate armor are strapped to misshapen limbs, and the creature still wears a white surcoat that is splattered with blood and grime.  Despite its twisted features, Geoffrey recognized the face behind the corrupted flesh.“Selandar,” he shouts, surprised and slightly stunned by the fallen justicar’s warped features.Halgo emotes no such reaction, quickly loading his crossbow and opening fire.  The bolt spirals through the air, catching the Selandar in one of his brutish legs.  The fallen justicar grunts something gutteral, pulling a potion vial from his belt and swallowing its contents.  With a sudden shimmer, he disappears from view.Everyone cautiously moves through the field of caltrops strewn across the pathway, scanning the floor for metal points while they listen to the guttural sound of Selandar praying to his new god.  The Copperheads move into the room in a tight formation, weapons at the ready and wary for invisible attackers.  They can hear the sound of Selandar moving and praying, but the small chamber echoes and its hard to pinpoint his exact location until he appears by the alter, javelin in hand, and spears Halgo with a heavy blow.  The hulking Justicar is quick to follow up the attack, crossing the chamber in the wake of his thrown spear, morning star in hand.  His giant form closes in on Geoffrey and Blarth, trying to bottle them by the entryway of the temple.  They both swing wildly at the charging justicar, but Selandar's new form proves surprisingly resilient and he he remains standing despite the force of their blows.  Halgo hurriedly casts an extended daze on the warped human, but the mental training he received as a Justicar has obviously not been eradicated by his transformation.  Salandar hammer’s Blarth with his morning star, his free hand fumbling for a scroll tucked through his crude belt.  Geoffrey and Blarth attack again, but the Justicar’s training and the fury of his assault leave them unable to penetrate his defenses.  Still, Selandar is bleeding from two wounds that would fell a normal man, and his movements are slower.  The hand groping at his belt finds the scroll he’s searching for, and he fends off his opponents with the morning star as he unfurls it one handed and reads its content aloud.  The guttural words echo across the chamber, and Selandar’s hand channels black energy that he touches to Geoffrey’s chest.  The young cleric screams in pain as old wounds re-open, and as the three heroes press the attack Geoffrey punches his mace through Selandar’s mis-timed parry and opens a large gash in the fallen justicars chest. Blood splatters across the floor as Selandar’s lifeblood pumps out of the wound, but still the fallen cleric doesn’t fall.“Surrender,” Geoffrey yells.  Selandar’s only response is to stumble backwards, quickly drinking the contents of a vial he wears on a chain around his neck.Everyone swears as the fallen Justicar’s wounds heal, flesh and bone knitting together until all that is left is yellowing bruises.“Desecration,” Selandar screams through his brutish teeth, seemingly the only word he can manage in the common tongue after his transformation.  Geoffrey and Blarth move up to flank him as Halgo loads his crossbow and waits for a shot.  Selandar’s defenses prove strong as he bats away the measured blows, and the bolt that Halgo lodges in his arm seems little more than an irritant.  The fallen Justicar swings wildly at Geoffrey, battering a wide dent in his armor and punching the points of the morningstar through Geoffrey’s shoulder.  Geoffrey stumbles backwards, trying to recall the words to a healing spell through the pain and praying that Blarth can hold his own.  His vision is blurred with pain as the healing magic flows through his hands, slowly closing the wound, and when he is finished he can see Selandar's gruisome form looming over the half-orc psion with his morning star raised high.  Blarth has a large gash along one arm, making it difficult for him to hold his shield high enough to deflect the blade, and Geoffrey curses when he realises that Selandar's next blow may kill his comrade.The morning star swings down, a blow driven by fury and bestial strength that is aimed at Blarth's head.   Blarth swings his blade up in a desperate parry, and the sound of the two weapons meeting echoes loudly accross the chamber.Everyone is surprised to find that Blarth has blocked the blow, his sword holding steady against the strength of Selandar.Then Blarth's joyous cry echoes accross the cavern, as he realises that the strength sapped by the glyph has returned."Blarth not puny!" he yell joyfully, and he pushes back against Selandar and renews his assault.  Selandar’s bestial strength isn't anwwhere near enough to match an unrestrained Blarth, and between the half-orcs heavy blows and Halgo’s third bolt it’s enough to drop him to the ground.With nary a pause to recover from the battle, Blarth lops off the fallen Justicar’s head.“He not puny,” Blarth offers as the others stare at him.  “He make good kill.”After a few minutes spent healing and catching their breath, the adventurers search the room.  The alter contains Selandar’s magical holy symbol fo the justicar, although the symbol is slightly dented as though the fallen cleric had tried to damage it.  Sitting next to it as a warhammer that glows with a pale blue light – a weapon Geoffrey recognizes as the Hammer of St Gustav, one of the most respected clerics of his religion in ancient times.  The hammer bears only weak enhancement, but its powers made it impossible for it to be wielded by evil.  Halgo busies himself with the looting of Selandar’s body, recovering a small pouch filled with gold and silver as well as a small topaz of some value.  Also among the fallen justicars possessions is a note written on a scrap of parchment in orcish.  Halgo alerts Geoffrey and reads the orcish runes aloud.“When you’ve finished this simple task, join us at the rendezbvous.  The rebuilding of the alter at Skarth awaits our attention.”They barely have time to consider what this means when Halgo, searching the walls of secret passages, calls them over.  The dwarf has found the stone frame of a doorway in the back of the temple, barely distinguishable from the dirt and stone around it.  It’s made of a pearly gray stone, with a small hole the size of a coin at the height of the arch.As Geoffrey and Blarth walk over, Halgo examines it with a detect magic.“It’s magical,” he says.  “And judging by the aura, I’m guessing that it’s a portal or a gate.”</blockquote>

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