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="JollyDoc" data-source="post: 4884148" data-attributes="member: 9546">THE FIRST ANCHORBeyond the porters’ hall, a wide courtyard stood at the heart of Castle Scarwall, giving an inside view of the castle’s looming walls and towers.  A chill breeze whipped through the yard, carrying a few dry leaves from scraggly scrub bushes that grew fitfully at its edges.  A wide, stone-rimmed well stood at the western end, though the stone lip was crumbling and had collapsed in places.  To the north, stairs rose to a platform fifteen feet above the courtyard.  Atop it, a black double door provided entry into the castle donjon.  Double doors to the east stood open, creaking on their hinges, as if left open by someone leaving in a hurry.  Bent, rusted, and in some cases partially broken spikes protruded from the walls of the courtyard, and in places, holes in the hard-packed soil hinted at long-missing structures or poles that once stood within.Cautiously, the companions began making their way across the yard and towards the ancient fountain.  It was only a faint scent on the breeze, the smell of attar, which warned Ratbone an instant before the attack came.  Large, dark shapes swooped out of the sky from the surrounding rooftops, like living gargoyles, but with four arms and heavily muscled.  One of them struck Asyra from behind like a battering ram.  When her spine snapped, the sound was like a lightning crack in the still air.  As she collapsed, more of the brutes landed among the group, one of them latching onto Ratbone with all four arms and then burying its curved horns in his shoulder, while another battered Michael to the ground next to the still form of Asyra.  Ratbone flexed, breaking the gargoyle’s grip, then proceeded to rend the creature limb from limb.  Katarina spun as another brute came towards her, flinging her arms out and shouting the words to a spell.  The monster froze in its tracks, paralyzed.  Raelak stepped casually behind it and fired an arrow into the back of its skull.  Meanwhile, Herc and Laori stood shoulder-to-shoulder, sword and chain flashing with deadly precision as another gargoyle fell.  Michael lay where he fell, unnoticed in the melee.  He rolled towards Asyra and passed his hands over her ruined back, channeling healing energy into the horrible wound.  When a shadow moved over him, he turned, expecting to die.  Instead, he saw Laori extending her hand towards him.  When he took it, he felt power flow out of her and into him, healing his own wounds.Two of the gargoyles still menaced the group, so it was several moments before anyone noticed the gathering cloud of darkness emerging from the partially open double doors on the far end of the courtyard.  When they finally did, the battle came to a complete standstill, with even the gargoyles starring open-mouthed at the miasma.  Suddenly, a blast of blackness emerged from the cloud, washing over friend and foe alike in a dark cone.  When it dissipated a moment later, one of the gargoyles lay dead on the ground, and next to it Michael lay as well, stricken, barely breathing, his eyes wide and staring.  The others stood pale and shaking, a numbing, bone-chilling coldness penetrating all the way to their bones.  Ratbone shook off the effects first, snarling and snapping the last gargoyle’s neck while it was still stunned.  The others began moving as well.  Laori knelt quickly by Michael’s side, working furiously to stabilize the priest.  Sial and Asyra, on the other hand, retreated quickly back inside the porter’s hall, closing one of the massive doors behind them.  Katarina knew that the darkness was of magical origin, so she wove a wave of dispelling magic through it, causing it to vanish in puff of black smoke.  She immediately wished she hadn’t.Fierce, crimson eyes gleamed from scales the shade of midnight.  A terrible, skeletally gaunt draconic visage leered at the end of a powerful, serpentine neck.  Its body was black and lithe, so dark that the sheen of its onyx scales made it appear almost indistinct; angular, backward-swept horns, wings that arced like gothic steeples, tight skin, and a thin, whip-like tail accentuated the hissing dragon’s sinister ferocity, giving it the appearance of a starved serpent ready to strike.  It hovered in the air some thirty feet above the courtyard, its wings whipping up dirt and grit as they beat downward rhythmically.  As  the companions stared in horror, the dragon hurled a volley of black light towards Raelak, the bolts striking the Shoanti unerringly.  Raelak jolted back several steps, but then almost instinctively, he brought up his bow and let fly with his own barrage.  The arrows stuck in the dragon’s scales, flaming against the black hide like burning brands.  Herc and Ratbone moved as one, the mercenary quickly downing a potion from his belt, and then lifting into the air, while the druid shifted into his avian form and followed.  As they closed with the dragon, however, it struck out, slashing at Herc with one huge forepaw, while snapping at Ratbone with its powerful jaws.  What followed was sheer brutal savagery.  Ratbone and Herc circled the wyrm, feinting and striking lightning-quick, while the dragon whirled in the air, like a great cornered cat, ripping with its claws, gnashing and crushing bones with its teeth, buffeting and slapping with its wings and tail.  Moments stretched out like hours, and then, for a moment, the combatants paused as if by mutual agreement, all panting and struggling to catch their breath.“I…yield…,” the dragon hissed at length.  “I, Belshallam, give you my word that if you spare my life, warriors, I will tell you of things that you will want to hear.  What say you?”Before either of them could answer, however, a streaking arrow flew past them and buried itself between the dragon’s eyes.  The beast looked pole-axed as it tumbled heavily to the courtyard below.  As Belshallam died, a soul-chilling moan rose from the depths of Scarwall, and a loud, metallic snap, as if an enormous chain had just given way, echoed through the still air.  “Thanks for all your help,” Ratbone snapped at Sial as the druid landed, and returned to his normal form.  “We’ll remember that next time.”_______________________________________________________The spacious west wing of the castle seemed largely given over to guest rooms as well as torture chambers, a statement of the predilections of Kazavon’s reign.  Most of these areas were abandoned and looked to have been so for some time.  It was only once they had reached the far end, an open antechamber, that they saw signs of habitation.  In fact, they thought they even detected the faint strains of orchestral music coming from beyond a set of large, ornate double doors.  A vast, grand ballroom lay beyond the doors, constructed in a floral shape with a high, vaulted roof of intricately wrought glass panes that bore a slight rose tint, but nevertheless provided a breathtaking view of the sky above.  Clover-shaped pillars supported key portions of the roof above the polished floor of stained cherry, and a wide dais provided room for an orchestra to play or stage performance to occur.  A few broken chairs had been pushed into the corners, but otherwise the room was empty.   No sooner had the companions entered the ballroom than the music rose to a crescendo.  Dozens of ghostly figures appeared in the middle of the floor, swirling and cavorting, floating through the air as the followed the steps of an ancient, rhythmic dance, seemingly keeping in time with the ebb and flow of life itself.  Amid the eerie crowd of dancing specters loomed a dark, cloaked figure wielding a scythe, and ominous wraith with the dreaded countenance of Death itself.  The group stared in combined awe and horror at the spectacle…until they saw that Asyra and Raelak had joined the dance!“Oh no…!”  Sial whispered, terror in his voice.“What?”  Kat snapped.  “What is it?  What’s happening?”“We cannot win this,” the priest said.  “It is the Danse Macabre…the dance of Death itself!  We should flee!”“Flee?”  Kat asked, incredulous.  “We’re not leaving Raelak.  And what of your minion?”“She is lost!”  Sial shouted.  “As are you all if you remain here!”He began backing quickly towards the doors.  At the same time, the robed apparition moved forward.  Almost quicker than the eye could follow, the scythe flickered, and in the next instant Herc howled as his ear was cleanly lopped off.“I do not accept this inevitability!”  Michael roared. He held out his symbol of office, and light flared from it like a small star.  For an instant, the Danse recoiled, and in that moment, holy power pulsed over Raelak, and the ranger’s mind was freed.  He blinked and shook his head, then, as the specter loomed over him once more, he raised his bow.  Force arrows hammered into the fiend’s incorporeal body, nailing it to the air as the power of Zellara’s blessing pulsed through the missiles.  The Danse began to burn, the dancers shrieking as their master died.  In moments, it was over.  Silence rained again as Asyra collapsed to the floor.</blockquote>

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