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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Emperor Valerian" data-source="post: 1485580" data-attributes="member: 15043">This is the start of one of the best sessions I think we’ve had.  It went long, but it was indepth, with a great deal of fun fights and character development.  Basically echo drag n fly's statements.  Oh, and before things even start...Yes, I'm a dirty bastard <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" />Coup de Grace“Alexander’s dead?! “ Tess gasped in shock, voicing what ran through the party’s collective mind.Alexander’s dead...No, it can’t be true.. Siabrey’s breathing picked up, her eyes wide with fear. Reflexes kicked in, and she began to clutch Kelir tighter than before.  Slowly, her mind pushed away its fear, and replaced it with her guard instincts.“W...who killed Alexander?” she voice asked, only a trace of the fear in her mind showing.  “How did he die?”  “We don’t know yet, Your Majesty,” the same well dressed guardsman replied.  By now the group had broken into a jog, drawing ever closer to the large cliffs on the city’s eastern edge.  “We received word from Illyant that assassins had struck down the Emperor.  Nothing has been confirmed,” the man added, “but we thought it safest to bring Your Majesty and His Majesty to safety.”So there’s a chance he might be alive... merely wounded, they’re just taking precautions, Siabrey’s mind reflected.  Please, Hieroneous on High, make sure Alexander is not dead!As the guards dragged the party through the dead streets of the city, the party could see, in rows all around, the twinkling orange of bonfires burning on the roofs of the towers of the city wall.  “What do those mean?” Shaun asked Tess quietly.“There’s an emergency... like they’re planning for an attack,” Tess whispered back, dread in her own voice.  Her sense of dread increased as she noticed more of the guardsmen peeling off, away from the party.  Something big and bad is going to happen out here... I hope this place they’re taking us is really safe...None paid any attention to the small fly, which now clung in the midst of the longer locks of Lucius’ hair... watching... waiting.Within ten minutes, the party had drawn nigh to the massive hollowed out cliffs.  In ancient times, Irulas had been the capital of the local dwarven kingdom, who had hollowed out this massive, stark white cliffs to form his palace and capital.  Dwarves had not ruled here for almost two millenia, but their masterwork remained, with innumerable passageways and rooms hidden away.  It was here the new Emperor, Empress, and Imperial retinue would be stored...The party was led down through winding, sometimes narrow passageways, the orange flickering light of torches along the wall giving the place an eerie glow.  Finally, after twisting around several sharp curves, the ten remaining guardsmen with the party stopped, the well dressed man motioning towards what seemed to be a stone wall.“Otkrutis,” he said quickly, and with a massive grating sound, a ten foot wide section of the wall lifted up, revealing a large, sumptous room, outlaid with carpets, fine wines on a table, and three enormous, hand carved beds.  Hurriedly put in one corner were four additional mattresses.“This is where we’ll have to shut you up in for a bit... until we can figure out what’ss happening, Your Majesties,” the man offered.  “In here, you’ll find accommodations fit for your station... fine wines, fruits magically preserved.”As the party slowly walked in, the well dressed guard dismissed the others.  “This door is airlocked to the outside.  You’ll get air in from tiny holes along the floor.  The system is quite ingenious.  If something should happen,” the guardsmen said, as he turned from them and started to leave, “do not worry.  A fireball couldn’t break through this door.  Sit tight, and the Imperial guard will get you.”“Thank you, kind sir,” Tess called, as the door began to grate shut.  “Could you please let us know the first news you hear?!” she added.“I will let your Majesties know as soon as I do!” the guardsman called back.  The door was nearly shut, before an important question sprung into Siabrey’s mind.“What is your name sir?  And who is the commander of this unit?”  Just before the door closed, she thought she saw the man merely turn away, before the massive chunk of stone hitting stone signaled the fact that they were truly locked away... safe from harm... they hoped.“Alexander’s dead,” Tess repeated slowly, quietly a few minutes later.  No one in the party had spoken in that time... all had merely stared straight ahead, or at the floor in solemn remembrance.“Dammit, I liked him... first noble outside of Luke that acted decent!” Shaun snarled. Meanwhile, Siabray saw Luke merely staring at the wall.  She walked over and gave him a hug, and a gentle kiss on the cheek, her own fears pushed back now that she saw his.“Don’t worry,” she whispered, “We’ll be fine.  We’ll do just fine.  You heard him!  They don’t know... he’s fine, Luke,” she lied through her teeth.  He looked at her, and the fear in his eyes made her want to hold him closer. “Now what the hell do we do?” Shaun asked quietly.  “Luke, can’t you order them to let us out of here?  So at least we can know what’s going on?  Seriously, you people and your security arrangements,” he started.“Shaun brings up a point,” Tess said quietly.  “Did they tell us how to contact them from in here?  Because something about this just doesn’t seem right.”  Locked deep down inside a mountain in a room with a massive stone door... sounds more like a prison than a...“Wait...” Tess started walking over towards the door, and then Shaun heard it.A slight, very quietly hissing.  Just about a quiet whisper... a whisper of death.“Um... where’s that noise coming from?” Shaun asked no one in particular, memories of the Hextor Temple filling his mind.“What noise?” Tess stopped dead in her tracks, alarm on her face.“That noise!” Shaun shouted as the hissing became louder and louder... and the air in the room started to eeriely take on a greenish tinge...  From the sides of the room, numerous small holes had opened up, and from the depths poured green, poisonous gas... a gas that quickly overwhelmed the tiny fly that was Anias, who with his last conscious thoughts, dug himself deep into Luke’s hair. He wanted to make sure no matter where his charge went, if the gas stopped he’d be there to defend him.“Poison!” Tess cried loudly, and with a shriek, she attempted to shatter the stone door to the room.  A few pieces of the massive rock fell off, but the rock itself sat, immovable.  “Help!” she screeched to the rest of the party. All dashed over, blades and hammers drawn.  For the next few seconds, the noise of crashes from Grumki’s warhammer, shrieks from Tess, and the clang of numerous swords against the immovable stone echoed through the air, the noise of the hissing gas soon rivaling it.  Siabrey noticed that magic radiated from it, every time she swung, even with all of her might, less stone broke away than should’ve.“Its got something magic on it, keeping it together!” Siabrey called as the party continued to swing, kick, and hammer.  This happened for another few seconds, before the concentrations of gas in the room started reaching critical levels, and Shaun and Tess began to stumble.“Shauny!  Stay with me!” Elenya screamed, not knowing she too was inhaling more of the gas.  She shook the rogue repeatedly, causing Shaun to wobble, nearly falling over.“I’m so sleepy,” he slurred, as she shook him again.  This time, he did lose his balance, and feel to the ground, unconscious.  As Siabrey looked around, she saw quickly that Luke too was now sprawled on the ground, out cold.  As was Tess.  With a quick glance to the right and left, she saw no magic coming from the walls.“Grumki!  Keep hitting that door!” she shouted as the half orcs hammer blasted away another chunk.  “There was a room next door to this!  I’m going to try and break through the walls!  They can’t be much thicker than that door!”  She then dashed over towards the left wall, and began whaling away with Kelir.She didn’t know what was going on, or why this was happening. All she knew was that someone was trying to trap them, maybe to kill them, and they could only be after one thing:Lucius.“Come on, Kelir!” she shouted out loud, whipping her sword frantically in and out of the quite deep hole she had made in the wall. Her arms were getting sore from working at this angle, and sweat trickled down her back and neck. “We have to get out of here, or we’re all dead!”I’m doing the best that I can. This wall is very thick….wait, watch out!The sword’s warning came too late, as Siabrey swung her sword back into the hole. A loud “Chconk!” erupted from the hole, and now the gas was blowing directly into her face. She took a deep breath of it, choked, and began to feel her eyes grow heavy.“What happened!?” she yelled, fighting hard to stay awake. You cut one of the lines of the gas entering the room Maybe you’re almost through! her sword answered.I must keep going!  I must protect the others!  I must protect Luke! she kept telling herself, as her lungs started to burn, and sleep clawed and her mind, desperately calling her to close her eyes in surrender.Blinking hard, Siabrey swung her sword again into the hole. Her swings were slowing and becoming clumsier as the gas began to take effect. She managed to cut a couple more lines of gas, though, before her strength fully gave out.I failed….I can’t free us…. Siabrey slipped to the ground, her eyes barely open. Kelir fell from her nerveless fingers and clattered to the ground.I’m so sorry… her mind muttered. The last thing she saw as she slipped unconscious was Kelir. Suddenly, the sword leapt upright and hovered over her form, then began to cut at the wall again.Don’t worry, Siabrey, I will protect you… was the last conscious thought that she heard.It was perhaps ten minutes later as Kelir was still swinging that the door to the room opened, and the same ten guardsmen entered the room.  As one reached for Siabrey, the sword spun around to defend its master.  The unfortunate guardsman took a stab through the belly, and began to stumble away from Siabrey. Kelir was unfortunately only one blade,  and there were nine other guardsmen, now all focused on his moves.  As he danced, trying to get into position to prevent any of them from reaching his master, a warhammer caught him at the right angle.Cracked neatly in two, Kelir’s hilt landed near Siabrey’s sprawled form, his blade tip cartwheeled to the far side of the room...Siabrey was having a dream. In it she was sparring with Lucius in the desert sands. His body moved, flawless and beautiful, a smiling flickering across his lips as they engaged over and over in their second most favorite past-time. Their swords flashed, dancing together, seeming to take on a life of their own. Lucius, still smiling in that gorgeous way of his, let go of his sword and it continued to move in the air in front of him, waving and cutting patterns. Her own sword too, she released, and together watched as Kelir and Ik Matar swayed together in a breeze, cutting patterns too intricate for the mind too follow.Suddenly, it was as though someone had wrapped a hand around the sun. Everything around them faded to grey.Siabrey looked confused over at Lucius, but her love was gone. In his place stood a demon, fiery-skinned and eyes burning as white as ice. She opened her mouth to scream as a terrible wrenching in her gut split her body in two, and then she was falling, falling, down into an unforgiving abyss, and the demon-that-was-Lucius laughed.</blockquote>

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