Medriev's FR Pyramid of Shadows - Concluded Nov 1

[Medriev]

DM Note - Halls of Madness

At the beginning of this encounter and as part of the previous one, the PCs had to contend with the Gates of Agony which, as written, I found to be an extremely frustrating but ultimately harmless obstacle. I also could not see how the dungeon dwellers would use the three gates at the same time in order to pass through to their inner chambers. I therefore amended the encounter so that the Gates could be opened one at a time by a character facing the challenge. Other DMs may disagree but this is how I decided to resolve this potentially annoying interlude.

 

[Medriev]

Chapter 22 - Howls From Beyond (Part 1)

A passage led eastward from the maze of flesh-like corridors and the companions rested in its entry before making their way onward. When they were ready to go on, they followed the eastern passage in a serpentine course that led them left and right before ending at double doors leading eastward. Dulvarna pushed opened the doors onto a wide chamber filled with howling winds that swept past the doorway. Before the companions, a rushing vortex of energy whirled around the centre of the room and within the vortex could just be seen the form of a humanoid figure. Before Dulvarna could take a step into the room, a figure appeared before her, seeming to be the same tiefling as had appeared when the companions had first come to the pyramid, the being they now knew as Draxius. He appeared insubstantial as he had before and spoke before anyone could react.
“Not all of us appear as we did,” Draxius said. “One of us has become an abomination. Kill us three times and win your freedom.!”

The image began laughing and slowly faded away until all the companions saw was the terrible room beyond. Enlishia raised her bow and rushed past the others, battling through the winds until she had passed through into the centre of the chamber. There, she a being more terrible than anything else she had ever beheld before. It had once been a man, or perhaps a tiefling, for two small, twisted horns grew from its oversized, bulging head. Its skin was grey-blue and while its upper body seemed to be that of a man, its lower body ended in several, long, ropey tentacles. In place of arms, it had two long tentacles that ended in cruel barbs and was chained by these to two stone menhirs that held it in place.

“We have found the abomination,” she called to the others though she doubted they had heard her through the howling winds.
She nocked an arrow to her bow and took aim at the chained creature as it began to manically strain at its bonds. A shower of light brought Lavren to the ranger’s side and as soon as he saw the creature, he raised his wand to hurl a spell at it. Before he could, the creature cried out as it summoned all of its strength and snapped the bonds that held it.
“That is a shard of Draxius,” Lavren said in amazement.
“So it would seem,” Enlishia answered. “And it seems angry.”

Dulvarna burst through the vortex next, moving toward the dais on which the abomination stood with her sword raised. Erlmoor came next and then Thorn and Telkya followed, the druid already in wolf form. Thorn rushed up the single step onto the dais to challenge the abomination while Telkya appeared as Lavren had, in a shower of light on the far side of the dais from her husband. The freed creature lashed out with a tentacle and hurled Thorn back off the dais and toward the swirling winds. It lashed out with its other tentacle a moment later and struck Erlmoor in the chest, flinging him back into the vortex. Enlishia raised her bow and then paused as she looked from one menhir to the other.
“The vortex is fed by the menhirs,” she called to the others. “If we topple one then it will end.”

She looked toward Dulvarna, who nodded, and then she made her way past Lavren to where she could clearly aim at the abomination. She raised her bow and fired but the arrow flew past the creature and into the vortex where it swirled away as it was snatched by the powerful winds. She loosed another shaft and this one flew straight and true, only to bounce harmlessly off the blue-grey skin of the creature.

Lavren slammed his shoulder into the menhir and began pushing on it but just as it started to shift, the abomination lashed out with a tentacle and threw the elf back into the vortex. Dulvarna moved to lend her own strength to the effort but as she stepped toward the menhir, the room shifted suddenly and nauseatingly around her. Suddenly, she stood before the doorway through which she had entered the room as though she had never battled through the winds.

The prismatic vortex battered Erlmoor and he fell to the stone floor of the chamber, bruised and shaken. He rose again at once and battled through the winds to emerge by the dais once more, heading toward the menhir that Lavren had tried to topple. He heard a growl from Thorn as he was sucked into the terrible winds but then a moment later, the druid emerged in human form and rushed over to the menhir where Erlmoor stood. He shoved his weight against the stone and it moved a little more away from vertical as though it were about to topple. Telkya circled around the dais and lent her own strength to the struggle but still the stone would not fall and the abomination had at last seen what the companions were doing. It lashed out with its tentacles and struck Telkya and Erlmoor, hurling them both back from the dais and into the swirling prismatic winds.

Shouldering her bow, Enlishia moved to aid Telkya, throwing her body against the menhir and pushing with all her strength. It moved further away from the vertical and then toppled with a loud crash next to the abomination. The vortex faded to a whine before dying away altogether and Lavren turned back toward the dais, raising his wand toward the abomination. He loosed a black bolt of energy into the side of the creature and it roared in anger lashing out a tentacle toward the elf. From the end of the appendage, a bolt of prismatic energy lanced out and struck the warlock in the chest, throwing him back a step toward where the vortex had been.

From the doorway, Dulvarna rushed forward but circled to the right as she did, seeking to come at the creature from the opposite side to her companions. Erlmoor rushed forward himself from where he had been thrown and leapt atop the dais, lashing out with his blade as he did so. The abomination twisted and parried his blade with the barb at the end of one of its tentacles and then shrank back as the dragonborn roared and sprayed acid from his mouth. Thorn shifted to wolf form and leapt atop the dais, snapping at the flailing appendages of the creature but as he lunged, the creature twisted away from him. Behind the druid wolf, Telkya circled around the dais, uttering a prayer as she did so and then stopping to brandish her amulet. A column of burning light descended on the abomination, burning its ugly blue-grey flesh and drawing another roar of anger from it. Suddenly, the creature whirled around, lashing out in every direction with its tentacles and hurling Enlishia, Thorn and Lavren back from it. A tentacle lashed out at Erlmoor but he ducked under it and thought for a moment he had escaped. As he raised his blade to strike at the creature again, another tentacle lashed in from his right and threw him back off the dais.

 

[Medriev]

Chapter 22 - Howls From Beyond (Part 2)

Enlishia recovered quickly, and unshouldered her bow as she circled around behind Telkya. When she decided that she was beyond the abomination’s reach, she raised her weapon and fired an arrow and then a second, one after the other. The abomination spun and swatted aside the first shaft but the second drove into the side of the creature, causing it to spin around, seeking the source of this new pain. As its eyes fixed on Enlishia, a bolt of energy from Lavren’s wand seared into it and it roared in anger once more, turning its gaze toward the elf. It lashed out with a tentacle and loosed another blast of prismatic energy that struck Lavren in the chest and threw him back toward the north wall of the chamber. The creature seemed to exult for a moment but then Dulvarna rushed onto the dais and plunged her blade into its side.

Erlmoor roared and circled around the dais before rushing at the creature from the opposite side. With a huge thunderclap, his blade clove into the creature’s back and knocked it face down on the stone. Thorn circled around toward the east wall and Telkya made to follow but as she did, the chamber swirled around her and she found herself standing next to the north wall. The priestess recovered quickly and rushed after Thorn anyway. As she reached him, she uttered a prayer and raised her amulet to hurl ribbons of light toward the abomination’s eyes. At the last, it twisted away and the light flashed past its eyes to strike the far wall. The creature turned toward Telkya but in that moment, it warped and then vanished only to reappear close to the southern wall.

The creature reeled as though dazed for a moment and then lashed out a tentacle toward Dulvarna, loosing a bolt of prismatic energy that struck the unaware warrior in the side. She turned toward the creature and it lashed out its other tentacle, hurling another bolt that struck her in the chest. She staggered backward as pain assailed her but then raised her blade, ready to rush at the creature again. From the far side of the room, Enlishia’s bow sang out and an arrow flashed past the abomination to strike the southern wall. A second arrow flew a moment later and drove into the creature’s shoulder, throwing it back toward the wall. It roared its anger and then lurched forward on its tentacled legs toward Dulvarna. As it neared her, it lashed out with a tentacle that struck her in the side and spun her off the dais toward the western wall.

Dulvarna spun with the force of the blow and then rushed at the creature with her blade before her. She ducked under a lashing tentacle and plunged her sword into the creature’s flank drawing another roar of pain and anger from it. On the dais, Erlmoor held out his sword and from it streamed ribbons of light that tore across the chamber to strike the creature in the chest. It fell back and as it did, Thorn rushed in from the creature’s right to tear at the tentacles beneath its torso. The abomination seemed to stagger and a moment later, a column of flame, called down by Telkya, descended from the ceiling and engulfed the creature. It lashed out a tentacle at Thorn but the druid wolf ducked under the flailing appendage and once again, the creature roared in anger and pain.

Enlishia moved along the eastern wall and then turned to raise her bow. She aimed for a heartbeat and then let fly an arrow, reaching for another before seeing if the other had struck its target. The first arrow flashed past the abomination and clattered into the far wall and the second followed a moment later, hitting the creature but bounding off its thick skin. The ranger cursed her poor luck but then a bolt of black energy from Lavren’s wand seared into the abomination and it roared again. It lashed out at Dulvarna, striking her in the side and throwing her away from it but it seemed to be faltering now. Its flesh still smouldered from the fire that Telkya had called down and it bled from half a dozen or more wounds. Dulvarna rushed back at it defiantly and lashed her blade into the tentacles that held up the creature’s body. Again the creature roared and again it faltered.

Erlmoor crossed the dais and leapt down onto the floor of the chamber, rushing at the abomination. His blade glowed as he swung it and as it struck the creature’s side, a burst of golden light exploded from it. Erlmoor and those around him felt new strength surge into them and with a growl, Thorn leapt at the abomination. It twisted away and lashed out a tentacle to keep the druid wolf at bay but as it did, a blast of light from Telkya’s amulet flashed past its head, reminding it of the other enemies it faced. The creature lashed out at Thorn and struck him in the chest, throwing him back toward Enlishia before turning around to face Dulvarna. The creature’s other tentacle lashed out and threw the warrior woman back toward the dais. The creature roared again but this time, it was clear that it was defiant and triumphant. It refused to be beaten and would make the companions suffer before they felled it.

Enlishia loosed another arrow and then a second but both flew past the twisting form of the abomination. A black bolt from Lavren’s wand flashed past the creature and struck the southern wall and again the creature roared its defiance. It lashed out at Erlmoor, smashing the dragonborn in the chest and throwing him back onto the dais. He stumbled up the step onto the platform but kept his footing and raised his blade before him. Dulvarna paused for a moment to get her breath back and then rushed at the abomination again. Her blade sang out and the creature turned, parrying the sword with one of the barbs on the end of its tentacles. Erlmoor followed his friend, rushing at the creature and lashing his blade into its body. The creature swayed backward and Thorn rushed in from its right. The abomination twisted away from the wolf druid as he leapt but the dodge moved it into the path of a bolt fo light from Telkya’s amulet that struck it in the chest. Again the creature roared and again its wrath followed.

 

[Medriev]

Chapter 22 - Howls From Beyond (Part 3)

The creature lashed out with its tentacles hurling Erlmoor and Dulvarna back onto the dais. Enlishia loosed two more arrows that flew past the twisting abomination and then Lavren hurled a bolt of energy that seared into its chest. It swayed backwards and then raised its tentacles to unleash a swirling vortex of howling faces. The vortex spun out from the creature and assailed all around, sending Dulvarna and Thorn reeling away as terrible images tore through their minds.

Erlmoor roared and rushed at the creature, thrusting his blade into its side as he reached it. It roared in response and reeled backwards itself. Telkya felt the room shift around her but as she appeared next to the eastern wall, she hurled another bolt of light at the creature. The blast flashed past the creature’s body and it lashed out angrily at Erlmoor. Its tentacle struck him in the chest and the barb drove into his flesh as it flung him away. He landed on the dais, tried to stand and then collapsed on the stone, blood pouring from his side. The abomination lashed out with its other tentacle at Thorn, hurling a bolt of swirling prismatic energy at the wolf druid. It struck him in the face and threw him back across the floor. He landed hard and lay unmoving where he had fallen.

Two more arrows from Enlishia’s bow flashed past the creature and then a bolt from Lavren’s wand flew past it to strike the wall behind it. Sensing victory, the creature seemed to smile before lashing out a tentacle to strike Dulvarna and hurl her into the fallen menhir. She smashed into the stone and lay there, bleeding and unmoving as the three companions who still stood looked on in horror. Telkya rushed to the dais and knelt beside Dulvarna and Erlmoor while uttering a healing prayer. She reached her hand out to the dragonborn and as light flowed from her hand to the dragonborn, his eyes opened. She smiled down at him but then looked up as a flash of light burst from the abomination. A prismatic bolt seared into Lavren and with a cry, he staggered back from the menhir he stood beside. Telkya knew that the next bolt would be aimed at her and raised her eyes to look straight at the creature that was somehow a part of Draxius the Neverdying. The creature vanished for a moment before reappearing next to the southern wall and then light flashed out from the creature’s tentacle. Telkya threw herself forward over Erlmoor’s body and the bolt seared over her head to strike the northern wall behind her. Somehow, the elf maid managed to smile as she moved to kneel next to Dulvarna and began another healing prayer.

Enlishia drew and loosed arrows as rapidly as she could, knowing that her life depended upon it. She had seen three of her companions fall and knew that only she could bring the creature down now. Two arrows flew past the creature but two more found their mark and the creature roared again in pain giving the ranger some hope. She saw Lavren hurl another bolt of black energy from his wand and this too struck home, forcing the creature back against the wall. It answered by lashing out with a tentacle and hurling another bolt of colourful prismatic energy at the elf. It struck Lavren in the chest and he fell back another step toward the centre of the dais. With a roar, Erlmoor rose to his feet on the dais and for a moment, hope returned to Enlishia. The dragonborn rushed across the floor and lashed out with his blade, cleaving deep into the abomination’s belly. It roared and swayed, seeming as if it would fall but then it righted itself, despite the blood that poured from the terrible wound it had suffered. On the dais, Telkya prayed over Dulvarna while on the floor of the chamber, the creature lashed out at Erlmoor.

Despite the pain he felt, Erlmoor ducked under the first tentacle that was swung at him but as the second came in from his left, he knew he would not be quick enough. It lashed into his side, the barb raking his flesh between the plates of his armour and then he felt himself hurled across the chamber toward the dais. Somehow he kept his footing and managed to roar his defiance at the abomination but he knew in his heart that he had the strength for only one more charge at the creature. He looked toward Enlishia and saw the ranger disappear before his eyes as the strange shifts in the chamber moved her closer to him. She appeared next to Thorn and then rushed up beside the dragonborn. The ranger raised her bow, aimed and let fly, nocking a second arrow before the first had found its mark. She let fly the second and then cursed as both missiles clattered into the wall behind the creature. A black bolt of energy from Lavren’s wand lanced out over the dragonborn’s head and struck the wall close to where the arrows had struck and the paladin cursed. The abomination would surely have its revenge.
A tentacle lashed out toward Erlmoor a few moments later. Hurling the dragonborn into the southern menhir. His head cracked back and as blood poured from his skull, blackness took the paladin for the second time.

Dulvarna rose to her feet on the dais and looked around her. Erlmoor had fallen again and Thorn lay unmoving where he had been thrown. She knew that she could not reach the abomination before it attacked again and so she sheathed her sword and pulled her bow from her shoulder. Nocking an arrow to the string, she took aim at the creature as it flailed about with its tentacles, seeking enemies. Dulvarna took aim at the creature’s head, drew back the string and let fly. As soon as the arrow flew from the string, Dulvarna knew that she had never before performed such a shot. It flew straight and true, past the flailing tentacles of the warped creature, and drove into the abomination’s left eye. The arrow buried itself up to its fletching into the socket, the point driving into the tortured brain of the monster. It cried out and then fell over onto its back where it lay twitching for a moment. Then, into the silence, it spoke in Common with its last breath.
“I am Galaghard, son of Galaghard,” it said. “I should not be here.”

Next......Lost Souls

 

[Medriev]

Chapter 23 - Lost Souls (Part 1)

“That creature claimed to be Galaghard, son of Galaghard,” said Lavren as the companions made ready to leave their resting place in the western passage entrance overlooking the wide hall where the vortex and the abomination had nearly laid them low.
“Which would make him Draxius’ father, Galaghard II of Cormyr,” Dulvarna concluded as she buckled her sword onto her back.
“And yet he held a key,” said Enlishia, pulling the mithral key that she had found in the ruins of the northern menhir from her pouch. “Which means he must also be Draxius.”
“He was Draxius,” Vyrellis spoke up from Lavren’s belt. “Whoever he claimed to be.”
“So did his curse run through his family from his grandfather to his father and down to him,” said Erlmoor. “Or are the grandfather, the father, and the son, one and the same.”
“That cannot be,” Enlishia said with some indignation. “The annals of Cormyr tell of no king who ruled for so long or a curse that runs through the royal line.”
“And yet we have met and battled those who claim otherwise,” Thorn said quietly. “Perhaps we will learn more on the third level. We can ascend now, can we not?”
“We can,” Dulvarna answered. “But we must go northward. The burning gas and the walls of flesh lie behind us.”

With that, the warrior woman rose and stepped into the vortex chamber, heading for the northern double doors that seemed to be the only other way out. The others rose behind her and followed. When they reached the doors, Erlmoor and Dulvarna raised their swords and pushed the portals open to reveal a passageway that led north and then bent to the right a little way in. They led the companions in and turned the corner and then turned another corner back to the north again before the corridor opened up into another wide chamber that looked like a camp of refugees from war. Several small buildings crafted from scrap wood, crumbling stone blocks and other debris had been erected in the chamber. The statue of a strange, four armed creature carrying several weapons stood in middle of the room in an open square between the makeshift buildings. Two men came forward from the square dressed in ragged peasant clothes, one with the bandaged hands and face of a leper and the other with an apparently useless third arm growing from his right side.

“Welcome strangers,” said one in a rural Cormyte accent. “Come to our chapel and be welcomed by us all.”
“I mislike this,” Telkya said to the others quietly. “The statue looks like a foulspawn and these folk cannot have survived here for long without allies.”
“Agreed,” Lavren said softly from behind his wife. “We should be cautious and whilst I have no desire to hurt these people, they are surely allied with something that means us harm.”
“And if they are not?” Erlmoor rumbled quietly over his shoulder. “They could need our help to escape this place.”
“We cannot trust them, paladin,” Thorn said sharply. “Telkya is right about the statue and the alliance they have likely struck. We are in danger here as we are everywhere else in this place.”
“Agreed,” said Dulvarna. “Make ready your weapons, prayers and spells. There will be battle here before long.” The warrior woman turned to the two men and shook her head.
“This is a dark place,” she said to them. “And we have no wish to stay. If you will let us pass, then we will bring down this place and set you free.”
“We are free,” the second man answered. “But you must meet the rest of us to see the nature of our freedom.”
“Then you shall remain free here and we shall go on in peace,” said Erlmoor, starting off to the left toward a passage entrance in the western wall of the chamber.

Enlishia rushed after the dragonborn and reached the passage entrance ahead of him. She turned to put her back to the chamber wall and raised her bow lest any pursuit come. The others followed, passing between the wall of the largest of the ramshackle buildings and the southern wall of the chamber. They heard shouts from behind them as they reached the passage entrance and two more human figures appeared around the northern end of the large building a few moments later. The three armed man appeared to the east and moved warily down the gap between the building and the wall.
“You cannot go until you have spoken with Medragal,” he called out.
“Tell Medragal we are sorry but we cannot tarry,” Erlmoor called back and then he led the companions into the western passage.

Enlishia loosed an arrow and then a second over the heads of the small crowd before ducking into the corridor after the dragonborn A four armed foulspawn armed with the familiar bone daggers appeared behind the three humans who had now gathered to the north and the companions that remained looked at one another.
“We still go,” Thorn said firmly and ducked into the passageway after Enlishia and Erlmoor.

Lavren and Dulvarna followed and then, as more foulspawn appeared to the east and to the north, Telkya finally turned away and followed her companions.

 

[Medriev]

Chapter 23 - Lost Souls (Part 2)

The western passage led the group back to the chamber of three gates and they made their way back through the western doors that they had come through. Passing the slain medusa and ogre and the chamber of demonic faces, the adventurers turned east and made their way at last to the staircase that led up to the third level of the pyramid. At the top of the stairs, a corridor led east to west and another staircase led upward across the passageway.
“There is a fourth level, it seems,” said Enlishia.
“That way must lie Draxius’ sanctuary,” said Vyrellis. “There you will defeat him a final time and win your freedom. If only it were the same for me.”
“If we can find a way to free you once we escape this place then we will,” Enlishia answered solemnly.

Dulvarna looked east and then west and then east again before turning back to the west and leading the companions down a long hallway. The passage turned northward after a while and then ended at a set of double doors. In a now familiar routine, the adventurers made ready weapons and implements and spells and then Erlmoor and Dulvarna pushed the doors open. Beyond lay another short hallway that ended at another set of double doors. Dulvarna and Erlmoor moved forward and pushed these doors open and found before them a well-appointed study lit by two candle holders close to the doors. In the south east and south west corners stood statures of elegantly clad tieflings while a table piled high with books stood in the north east corner. Heavy, purple curtains hid the room’s north west corner but at the table sat a tiefling that could only be Draxius the Neverdying. He seemed younger than the images that had spoken to the companions but there was no doubt that it was him.
“That’s him!” shouted Vyrellis as if to confirm this. “That’s Draxius!”

Enlishia rushed into the chamber, raised her bow and fired, the arrow flying over the tiefling’s head and clattering into the wall. She nocked another shaft and fired again but this arrow flew wide of the mark and drove into the wooden table. Draxius began to scream in terror but by then, Telkya was already in the room and chanting a prayer. She raised her amulet and hurled a bolt of light that seared into the tiefling’s back and toppled him from the chair on which he sat. He clambered to his knees, seeming to reach out for the Telkya and then he fell face down on the chamber floor, apparently dead.
“Too easy,” said Dulvarna and as she did, a black wall appeared in the doorway, sealing the room and blocking all sight of Enlishia and Telkya.
“A trap!” she exclaimed a moment later as the realisation struck the others.

Immediately, Dulvarna raised her blade and struck at the wall but her blade only sent golden sparks across the surface of the barrier. Lavren watched the sparks, looking for some floor in the enchantment while Thorn and Erlmoor set about the wall with their own weapons. Sparks arced across the surface but still no flaw appeared as the companions began to wonder what had befallen Enlishia and Telkya within the chamber.

As soon as the wall had appeared, a thick green gas began to billow from the candle holders. Enlishia and Telkya began to cough and choke almost at once and as the ranger cast around, looking for another way out, she realised that she knew the poison that was killing them.
“Stranglemist gas,” she said to Telkya. “It will choke us unless we can stop its flow. Strike at the candle holders.”

The ranger raised her bow and began loosing arrows into the nearest candleholder while Telkya began hacking at it with her blade. Stone chipped away from the holders with each hit but the flow of gas showed no sign of stopping. The friends looked at each other for a moment as they realised that they could be doomed and then they turned their attention back to the task in hand. Enlishia fired volley after volley of arrows into the candle holder and Telkya chipped away at the stone while around the two, the green mist filled the room and thickened. The companions paused every few moments to cough as the gas tightened their throats and lungs, making it more and more difficult to breathe. Finally, as both felt their strength waning, an arrow from Enlishia’s bow shattered the stone stem of the candleholder and it collapsed into rubble on the floor. The gas flow stopped from that outlet at once but the other candleholder still spewed the noxious vapour into the room. Grimly, Enlishia turned her bow on the other candleholder and fired while Telkya made her way unsteadily across the chamber to hack at the other ornament.

In the corridor outside, Dulvarna, Erlmoor and Thorn hacked at the barrier, spreading arcs of golden energy across the black wall of magic. Still Lavren studied the patterns, focussing now on one corner of the enchantment where he thought he had seen a weakness. Suddenly, Erlmoor stumbled and struck his blade on the floor in front of the wall as the ferocity of the blows he had been striking began to weaken his limbs.
“Find the weakness, elf,” he growled at Lavren. “Else your wife will likely not come out alive.”

Enlishia staggered and coughed as she aimed her bow and the arrow flew out and clattered into the floor at the foot of the candleholder. She nocked another arrow but could only draw back her bowstring halfway before her weakened limbs let loose the shaft. It struck the wall behind the holder and Telkya looked over at her companion, truly worried that they would both die in the chamber with a false Draxius. The ranger raised her bow and loosed another arrow that nicked the stone of the holder and then she fired again, this shaft nicking the bowl of the holder. Telkya lashed out with her sword but in that moment, her strength failed her as well and her blade cut the air above the holder before striking the wall with a clang. Enlishia loosed another arrow that drove into the shaft of the candleholder and chipped the stone but as she drew back her bow to fire again, her breath rattled in her throat and she staggered. The arrow flew from the bow and skittered across the floor of the chamber to land close to Telkya’s feet.
“We have to hold on,” Telkya gasped. “The others will come for us.” Enlishia managed a smile in response and then raised her bow again.

Dulvarna struck at the barrier for what she felt was the hundredth time and again all she saw was the cascade of golden energy lancing across the surface of the night black magical wall. Thorn raised his scythe but as he did, Lavren held up a hand.
“Here,” he said, gesturing at the bottom left corner of the wall. “Strike here and it will shatter.”

Thorn brought his scythe around underarm and smashed it into the barrier where Lavren had pointed. Again, lines of golden energy cascaded across the wall but this time, in the corner where the druid had struck, the lines stayed as though the fabric of the barrier had cracked. Erlmoor stepped over and swung his sword with all his strength at the same point. The blade struck home and as it did, the golden lines spread across the wall until it shattered into shards of black, shadowstuff. The shards dissipated and the room, filled with green gas lay open to the companions. Enlishia turned toward her friends and managed a faint smile before, with a gasp, she collapsed on the floor of the chamber. Telkya staggered but reached an arm down to try and drag her friend out of the gas.
“Help me,” she gasped to the others and as one, they rushed into the chamber.

 

[Medriev]

Chapter 23 - Lost Souls (Part 3)

Telkya prayed over Enlishia until she woke and then sat back to recover from the choking gas herself. As she sat, leaning against the wall, she looked across the corridor to the opposite wall and saw a passageway leading east that had not been there when the companions had first come to the chamber.
“A passage has opened up,” she said to the others. “Perhaps the true Draxius can be found that way.”
“You may be right,” Enlishia said. “A trap and a misdirection to fool the unwary.”
“Then we go that way,” Dulvarna announced. “If you are both able.”

Enlishia and Telkya both nodded and rose slowly to their feet. Making ready their weapons, they stood ready until Dulvarna started off down the passageway. The others followed in turn, making their way down a short passageway until it ended at double doors. In a familiar routine, Dulvarna and Erlmoor put up their blades and pushed the portals open.

Beyond the doors, a narrow passage led crossways to the north and south. The walls of the place were black stone with hideous, tormented forms seeming to writhe within them. A horrifying, soul-wrenching shriek emanated from the trapped souls and at the sight of the companions, they pointed at them and banged on the walls, desperate to escape. As if in response to the agony of the souls, from somewhere ahead of the companions came a desperate wailing as of another spirit in torment and from the left, another wail answered the first.
“Some in this place may require Corellon’s comfort,” Telkya said as she raised her amulet and started forward. “Others may require his wrath.”

The elf maid stepped into the corridor and turned right, making her way to a corner where the southern passage turned to the left. As she reached the corner, she stopped suddenly and threw down the torch she held in her right hand. Before her, a skeleton advanced down the corridor, its feet clacking on the hard stone floor as it came forward. From its body spread four skeletal arms and in the bony hand of each, it held a rusty scimitar, each stained dark with old blood. As it saw the priestess, its mouth cracked open into a predatory grin and it raised its blades high. Telkya raised her amulet and began to chant the Litany to Banish the Undead. Light flared from her amulet and the skeleton raised its arms in front of its face. It staggered back around another corner to the east and vanished from sight but Telkya knew that it had not been slain.
“Undead!” she called to the others. “Skeletons and likely spirits lurk here.”

Lavren rushed to his wife’s aid, holding up his own torch and wand as he rounded the corner where she stood. He started down the eastern passageway but he saw no enemies and looked back to his wife quizzically.
“It has retreated,” Telkya said. “But it will return.”

Thorn bounded past the pair in wolf form and then Dulvarna came forward with her blade held ready. Then, the four companions heard a clacking sound from back toward the doors and looking back, Telkya saw another of the four armed skeletons advancing to meet Erlmoor. As it reached the dragonborn, the undead creature lashed out with all four of its scimitars’ gouging the paladin’s chest armour and cutting his arm. Erlmoor roared, spraying acid over the skeleton and as it stepped back, he slashed his blade across and into its ribs, shattering one of the bones there. From in front of Telkya came a growl and as she looked, the priestess saw another of the skeletons, or possibly the one she forced back, round the corner to attack the wolf druid. Its blades lashed down and with a yelp, Thorn retreated, blood matting the fur on his back and flank.

Enlishia stepped into the corridor and turned to face the skeleton that Erlmoor battled. She raised her bow and loosed an arrow that drove into the creature’s spine. As it staggered back, she nocked another shaft and let fly, this missile shattering another of the skeleton’s ribs. The creature took another step back but then Enlishia’s gaze was drawn to something else that was rounding a corner some way behind the four armed monster. It was the translucent form of an elf whose face was twisted in unimaginable torment. It hovered a little way above the floor and drifted silently down the corridor toward the battle at the doorway. Enlishia raised her bow again wondering what good it would do against such a foe but before she could draw back the string, another of the elf spirits burst from the wall to her right and lashed out at her. As the creature’s icy touch passed through her arm, Enlishia fell back, knowing that the time had already come to find out if her bow could harm the elf spirits.

Telkya looked to her left as the elf spirit burst from the wall and attacked Enlishia but found herself plagued by indecision. She did not know how she could help her companions from where she stood and the souls in the wall screamed inside her head, distracting her from the battle. She looked back to her right and saw Lavren holding his left hand up to his head, the wand he held and his enemies forgotten for the moment. Only Thorn, focussed on the bestial part of his nature, seemed to have been able to banish the screams. The wolf druid leapt forward with a growl, snapping and clawing at the skeleton he faced while it slashed at him with its rusty, blood-covered blades. Behind the druid, Dulvarna pushed past Lavren and rushed at the skeleton, slashing her blade low into the creature’s right leg and gouging a shard of bone from the limb. The skeleton staggered and as Telkya saw it step back, she realised what needed to happen.
“Enlishia, retreat through the doors,” she called out. “Like as not they will not follow.”

Enlishia looked back over her shoulder as Telkya called to her and knew the elf maid was right. In front of her, beyond the elf spirit that flailed at her, Erlmoor clashed blades with the skeleton again and then swept his own sword up into its ribs for a second time. The blade glowed brightly as it found its mark and three more of the undead creature’s ribs shattered. As it staggered back, Enlishia raised her bow, thrust it toward the elf spirit as a shield and then darted to her left through the doors. She turned to face the ghost as she passed the doors, raising her bow as she did to take aim. She leapt back beyond the ghost’s reach and then let fly the arrow, the shaft passing through the side of the spirit. The shaft clattered into the wall beyond the ghost but instead of despair, Enlishia felt hope. The ghost had flinched as the arrow had struck it, showing true physical pain beyond the torment of its existence. Her arrows could hurt the spirit and that meant that it could be slain.

 

[Medriev]

Chapter 23 - Lost Souls (Part 4)

Telkya saw Enlishia retreat and raised her amulet, chanting a prayer to call divine light down on the elf spirit. The column of light descended and the creature shrieked as the power of Corellon Larethian burned its insubstantial body. Lavren moved to stand beside his wife, throwing down his torch as he did and raising his want. He shouted a curse and an incantation in one swift cascade of words and a bolt of black, crackling energy burst from his wand to sear through the body of the ghost. Again the elf spirit shrieked as the magic tore at her form. Then the creature turned toward Telkya and lunged forward, letting out a terrible howl as it did so. The flesh of its translucent face seemed to shrink back and a leering, skull-like visage was revealed that chilled Telkya’s heart and shocked her utterly. She fell back against the wall and Lavren reached out a comforting hand to her.
“It seems we have angered the ghost,” he said softly and Telkya nodded though tears rolled down her cheeks.

Erlmoor parried desperately as the skeleton came at him again, blocking one scimitar to his left and then another to his right. Then the creature raised its two upper arms and slashed both scimitars in at him, one from either side. The paladin, twisted and parried to his left but the scimitar to his right clove into his shoulder and spun him back a step into the corridor. He looked back at Enlishia and smiled before turning back to his foe and parrying again. To his right, he saw ribbons of light flash past the elf spirit and then a black bolt from Lavren’s wand tore through the ghost. As the spirit shrieked again, the dragonborn decided that his companions were holding his own. He parried another scimitar to his right and then swept his blade across toward the skeleton’s spine, a prayer of thunder on his lips. The skeleton leapt back with surprising agility leaving the paladin’s sword to sweep through nothing but air. The undead creature snarled and then came forward again.

Thorn snarled and leapt at the skeleton before him though he bled from several wounds that its vicious scimitars had inflicted. He snapped his jaws at the creature’s leg but at the last it drew back and moved the limb beyond the druid’s wolf jaws. To Thorn’s right, Dulvarna slashed at the skeleton’s other leg but again it retreated and the warrior woman’s sword struck only the stone wall. The skeleton stepped forward as quickly as it hand retreated and before Thorn could react, it plunged all four of its scimitars downwards and into the wolf druid’s back. He yelped in pain and staggered back until the wall of the corridor was behind him. Knowing he could not survive for much longer, Thorn began to seek a way to retreat from the battle.

Enlishia raised her bow and loosed another arrow and then another at the elf spirit, both tearing through its body and causing it to shriek in pain. The ranger reached for another shaft and nocked it to her bowstring but as she did, the second spirit, the one that had appeared around the corner to the north, burst through the wall next to its companion. It turned toward Lavren and Telkya and let out a terrible shriek unlike anything that Enlishia had ever heard. From the corridor, the ranger heard Telkya and Lavren cry out as the terrible voice pierced their minds and then, for a moment, there was silence. Trying to put the fate of her companions out of her mind, Enlishia raised her bow and took aim at the spirit before her.

Dulvarna watched Thorn start forward again despite the terrible wounds he had suffered and admired the courage of the druid but before he had taken more than two steps, he collapsed unmoving on the stone floor. Behind her, the warrior woman saw Lavren and Telkya stagger back around the corner as the elf spirit’s shriek tore at them and she wondered whether there could be victory in such a terrible place. Banishing such thoughts as best she could, Dulvarna raised her blade and moved to take Thorn’s place before the fierce skeleton. Weaving her blade before her, she sought an opening and when she saw one, she lunged forward, driving her blade though one of the creature’s ribs and out through its back. The skeleton staggered back but then lashed two scimitars downward to knock Aecris aside. The other two came in from left and right in quick succession but Dulvarna was ready and brought her sword across to meet first one and then the other blade. Then the skeleton drove its other two scimitars forward together in a double thrust and Dulvarna knew she could not keep both at bay. She swept Aecris across and knocked both away from her chest but one tore into her side as it flashed past her. The warrior woman gasped and staggered back but kept her blade before her, determined to keep her undead enemy from besting her.

In the doorway, Erlmoor found himself retreating step by step as the skeleton came at him with renewed fury. It lashed one blade into his arm as he tried desperately to parry and then, as he parried another blade to his left, another scimitar plunged into his hip. He roared and staggered back another step, looking back over his shoulder as he did to see where Enlishia stood. As he looked, the ranger raised her bow and loosed another arrow at the elf spirit in the corridor. Even as the ghost shrieked in pain, Enlishia drew, nocked and loosed another arrow toward her enemy. This shaft flew past the undead creature and clattered into the wall next to it, drawing a snarl of derision from the ghost. Then it lunged forward at Erlmoor and Enlishia, shrieking as the other spirit had done. The dragonborn fell back, reeling from the terrible shriek and with pain tearing through his head. When he stopped moving, Erlmoor realised that he and Enlishia stood in the north-south passage that had led them to the trapped gas room. From back down the corridor, the paladin and the ranger heard the howling of the other elf spirit and knew that their companions needed them but for the moment at least, they could not move.

Lavren held his wife up with one arm as they both tried to make their numbed limbs move after the shock of the spirit’s terrible shriek. Suddenly he saw movement and as he looked over Telkya’s shoulder at the corner, he saw the ghost float into sight. It lashed out a translucent arm at the elf maid and Telkya shrank back from the creature’s chilling touch. At last he felt strength return to his limbs and raised his wand as Telkya shrank back against the wall. At least they would fall together, Lavren thought grimly. What Corellon had joined, nothing could tear apart.

 

[Medriev]

Chapter 23 - Lost Souls (Part 5)

Dulvarna looked back toward the two elves and the ghost beyond them and knew that the battle was becoming increasingly desperate. She felt the voices of the souls trapped in the black walls tearing at her mind while blood flowed down her side from the scimitar wound she had suffered. The skeleton before her snarled as she parried another of its blows but then Dulvarna swept her blade around to the right and smashed it into the creature’s side. It lurched into the wall but then brought the two scimitars in its left arm sweeping down and into Dulvarna’s hip. The warrior woman lurched to her left and into the wall herself, the skeleton’s other scimitars sweeping down where she had been standing. Then she sensed movement to her left and, looking down, she saw Thorn, now in human form, stirring. His eyes opened and his face sharpened into the half-wolf features of his ancestry. For a moment, Dulvarna though that the battle was not yet over but then a terrible shrieking filled her head from the other end of the corridor. She looked past Lavren and Telkya and met the eyes of the elf spirit and knew that she faced her doom.

Enlishia managed to raise her bow and fire at the ghost at the far end of the passage, sending an arrow and then another through its insubstantial form. Still she could not make her legs move her forward to aid her companions. Beside her, Erlmoor stood similarly paralysed but softly, he was uttering prayers to Lathander to save their friends. As Enlishia raised her bow again, she saw the elf spirit pass from view only for the four armed skeleton that Erlmoor had faught to step across into the opening. It snarled at the ranger and the paladin and as it did, another of the creatures passed behind it and then moved to stand beside it. If they were to reach their friends, Enlishia realised, there would be a fierce battle. Suddenly, a shower of light motes lit up the dark corridor before the ranger and then another just in front of it. Telkya and Lavren appeared in the passageway and promptly slumped against the wall, as tired and shaken as Erlmoor and Enlishia were.
“We had to get out,” Telkya said in a weak voice, turning toward Enlishia with tears in her eyes. “We had to get out.” Enlishia could only nod as tears filled her own eyes. Dulvarna and Thorn were trapped beyond the doors and surely lost.

Dulvarna looked down at Thorn as he tried to gather the strength to stand and knew that she had to defend him for as long as she could. She lashed out at the skeleton, smashing more of its ribs and driving her blade into its spine. It staggered back a step and snarled as a chip of bone fell from its back but then it lashed its scimitars downward and though Dulvarna parried quickly, one nicked her left shoulder and another cut open her left arm. She fell back again, desperately trying to get her legs to move but they would not. The warrior woman nodded and silently thanked Lathander for the life that she had had, however short it had been. She would die here beside a druid of the Hullack in the fervent hope that her companions escaped this terrible prison.

Erlmoor raised his voice in prayer and propped his sword up against his right shoulder. Raising his left hand, he finished the prayer and from his outstretched fingers, poured ribbons of light. The skeletons in the doorway shrank back from the divine power and the ribbons seared between them to strike the black wall of the passage at their backs. Both raised their scimitars and snarled what might have been a challenge to the four adventurers that had escaped. Erlmoor tried desperately to get his legs to drive him forward but still they would not obey him and he knew that every moment he could not move took Thorn and Dulvarna closer to their end. Enlishia’s bow sang again and again, sending arrows along the corridor. One drove into the neck of one of the skeletons but still the creatures snarled at the helpless friends. Then, from down the corridor came another terrible shriek from one of the elf spirits and the four companions shrank back, fearful for the fate of their friends.

Dulvarna staggered back as the second ghost shrieked again. The sound tore at her mind and dimly, she felt a trickle of blood flow from her left ear. To her left, she saw a flash of flame engulf one of the ghosts and realised that her companions still fought for her despite the hopelessness. She smiled to herself as she parried another of the skeleton’s scimitars but then she heard the howl of the other ghost. She looked to her left and saw the creature lunging forward, its skin peeling back from its face and the white of its skull beneath. Dulvarna staggered again and from somewhere near the doors she heard a crack as another spell assailed her enemies. It would not be enough, she knew, and looked down at Thorn, who would die beside her. The druid shifted to wolf form as she watched and leapt at the skeleton but the undead creature danced back easily, beyond the reach of Thorn’s snapping jaws. Dulvarna roared in anger and surged at the skeleton, raising her blade above her head as she did so. She twisted around the thrust of a scimitar and then brought her blade down, smashing through the creature’s skull and cleaving into its neck beneath. The skeleton wobbled and then collapsed into a pile of loose bones. With faint hope suddenly returning to her, Dulvarna turned and roared at the ghosts that blocked her path to her friends.
“For Eveningstar!” she called out, and charged the translucent figures.

Erlmoor heard Dulvarna’s battle cry and knew that it signalled a last, desperate charge. He roared and forced his legs to move as he bade them. Raising his sword, he roared again and then charged at the skeletons.
“For Eveningstar!” he shouted, and around him, the others took up the cry.

Enlishia moved in front of the dragonborn, loosing arrows as she advanced that drove into the skeletons. From somewhere ahead of the companions, the elf spirits howled again and almost as though she stood near them, the friends heard Dulvarna’s battle cry die away into a scream of agony. The skeletons beyond the doors twirled their scimitars about them in anticipation of the renewed battle to come and one by one, the battle cries of the four faded as Dulvarna’s had. Telkya hurled a bolt of divine light from her amulet that flashed past the skeletons and then she turned to block Erlmoor’s path, tears flowing freely down her cheeks.
“We have to go,” she said softly. “They died so that we might escape.”

The dragonborn paused and let his sword drop toward the floor. Behind Telkya, Lavren hurled another blast of eldritch energy into one of the skeletons and drove it back into the far wall of the passage. He turned back to look at his wife and the paladin, tears filling his eyes as well.

“We cannot leave them,” he said desperately. “Dulvarna has led us from the beginning.”
“And she has saved us now,” Telkya answered, her voice breaking.
“That she has,” Erlmoor said quietly. “That she has.”

The dragonborn raised his head to the ceiling and let out a terrible roar of grief, of anger and perhaps of promised vengeance. Then he turned away from the others and made his way slowly back up the passageway and away from his oldest friend.

 

[Medriev]

Chapter 23 - Lost Souls (Part 6)

Thorn shifted back to his human form and sat down beside Dulvarna, his back against the wall. His legs would barely support him and he knew that the battle was lost. He looked down at the warrior woman who he had known for only a few days and felt tears fill his eyes. She barely breathed now and blood flowed freely from her ears and from the deep wound in her side. Her eyes flicked open and she looked up at him, a strangely peaceful expression on her face.
“Did they go back?” she said softly.
“They went back,” Thorn answered, for the battle cries and the sounds of battle at the far end of the corridor had faded away.
“Do we join them now?” Dulvarna asked, nodding toward the tortured souls that still banged on the walls of the corridor.
“I think not,” Thorn answered. “I think the gods have another place kept for you.”

Dulvarna smiled and closed her eyes while Thorn looked over at the elf spirits that hovered at the end of the corridor, apparently watching the tragic tableau unfold before them.
“Finish it!” the druid roared, and as if to oblige, the ghosts came forward, howling as they came.

Next......The Hungry Dead