Chapter 24 - The Hungry Dead (Part 1)
The companions retreated beyond the doors that had led them to the gas room and the maze where Dulvarna and Thorn had fallen, each consumed by their own grief. Telkya and Lavren consoled each other as both shed tears while Enlishia and Erlmoor sat grim-faced against the passage wall. They slept fitfully in turns, tended to their wounds and then a ate a small breakfast of dried meat and hard trail bread. Erlmoor decided when they were ready to move on, rising stern-faced to his feet and turning eastward to face the passage that had led form the doors.
“We go on or we die here and shame the sacrifices of the fallen,” he said grimly and slowly, the others rose and gathered up their weapons and belongings.
The dragonborn led them slowly along the passageway toward the stairs but had barely gone more than a dozen steps when he stopped. He held up his hand to halt the others and then raised his sword.
“Something comes,” he hissed and behind him, the others made ready for battle.
Enlishia came forward to stand beside the paladin, an arrow nocked to her bow, while behind her, Lavren held forth his wand and Telkya her amulet. Suddenly, two figures emerged into the passage ahead from the stairway that led down to the lower level. One was short and cloaked in shadow while the other was seemingly clad in a long cloak and robes.
“There you are!” called a familiar voice suddenly as the short figure turned toward the companions. “But where are Dulvarna and Litiraan?”
Erlmoor growled and stepped forward but as he did, he recognised the diminutive form of the halfling, Rendil Halfmoon, from the Halfmoon inn in the Seven Pillared Hall stepped into the light of the torches that Lavren and Telkya held. Behind the halfling, stepped forward a tall elf with dark skin and long, flowing white hair. Erlmoor growled again as he recognised Gendar, the drow who owned a curio shop in the Hall. He had seemed a predatory and mercenary individual when the companions had first met him and Erlmoor liked him little.
“Rendil!” Telkya exclaimed. “What brings you here?”
“We came seeking you,” answered Gendar. “There have been many changes in Thunderspire since you left and Paldemar returned and wrought vengeance upon any who had consorted with you.”
“The inn?” Telkya said, with a growing sense of dread.
“Destroyed in the battle,” Rendil answered sadly. “Paldemar attacked us first, slaying my aunt when she tried to defend the place. I held him off with the blade craft and magic I learned from the elves when I was young…….and then the Mages of Saruun came to drive out the renegade. They fought with each other, hurling spells back and forth while wreaking destruction as they did. Gendar’s shop was razed to the ground.”
“And was Paldemar defeated?” Erlmoor asked.
“Surely all the Mages of Saruun must have driven him off at least,” Lavren added.
“And so they did, in a way,” Gendar said. “Paldemar retreated without being vanquished and told all that he had only visited to the Hall to wreak his revenge on those who had aided you. He retreated into the Underdark, seeking my kin who dwell below the mountains.”
“To do what?” Erlmoor rumbled. “He would not be any more welcome amongst drow than he would be elsewhere.”
“He seeks allies,” Telkya said in sudden realisation. “Whatever threat he has mustered against Sunset Hill is not enough. He seeks allies to join him in conquest.”
“Then we must stop him,” Enlishia said. “Once we have aided Sunset Hill, we must return to Thunderspire and pursue Paldemar.”
The others nodded their agreement and as the four surviving companions looked at Rendil and Gendar, they found that the drow and the halfling were nodding too. They sought revenge on the Red Wizard for the destruction he had brought down upon their home and would travel with the adventurers.
“Now that we are agreed,” Lavren said. “You must tell us how you came to be here and we must tell you dark tidings of Litiraan and Dulvarna.”
And so the companions with their new allies sat down in the corridor close to the stairs and grimly told their tales, Telkya relating the fall of her brother and of Thorn and of Dulvarna while Rendil told how he and Gendar had set out to find the companions after the attack on the Seven Pillared Hall. They had followed Rendil’s recollections of Paldemar’s map and when they had reached the clearing in the Hullack where the adventurers had battled the bandits, the pyramid had arisen around the pair and trapped them as it had Dulvarna, Erlmoor and the others. They had explored the lower levels, following the trail of slain enemies that the companions had left behind them until the stairs had led them up to the third level and their chance meeting with those they had sought.
“Where do we go now?” Gendar asked once the storytelling had ended.
“We go east from here,” said Lavren. “For behind us lies death. Are you ready for battle for that is what we face.”
“We are,” Rendil answered. “My sword has been little used of late but I was trained by the elves in sword magic when I was young and we lived in Mistledale.”
“And I learned wizardry before I left Sschindrylyn deep beneath the earth,” said Gendar.
“Then we go on,” said Lavren, rising to his feet. The others followed suit and together, the six companions set off down the passage, past the stairways leading up and down and on into the darkness.
The companions retreated beyond the doors that had led them to the gas room and the maze where Dulvarna and Thorn had fallen, each consumed by their own grief. Telkya and Lavren consoled each other as both shed tears while Enlishia and Erlmoor sat grim-faced against the passage wall. They slept fitfully in turns, tended to their wounds and then a ate a small breakfast of dried meat and hard trail bread. Erlmoor decided when they were ready to move on, rising stern-faced to his feet and turning eastward to face the passage that had led form the doors.
“We go on or we die here and shame the sacrifices of the fallen,” he said grimly and slowly, the others rose and gathered up their weapons and belongings.
The dragonborn led them slowly along the passageway toward the stairs but had barely gone more than a dozen steps when he stopped. He held up his hand to halt the others and then raised his sword.
“Something comes,” he hissed and behind him, the others made ready for battle.
Enlishia came forward to stand beside the paladin, an arrow nocked to her bow, while behind her, Lavren held forth his wand and Telkya her amulet. Suddenly, two figures emerged into the passage ahead from the stairway that led down to the lower level. One was short and cloaked in shadow while the other was seemingly clad in a long cloak and robes.
“There you are!” called a familiar voice suddenly as the short figure turned toward the companions. “But where are Dulvarna and Litiraan?”
Erlmoor growled and stepped forward but as he did, he recognised the diminutive form of the halfling, Rendil Halfmoon, from the Halfmoon inn in the Seven Pillared Hall stepped into the light of the torches that Lavren and Telkya held. Behind the halfling, stepped forward a tall elf with dark skin and long, flowing white hair. Erlmoor growled again as he recognised Gendar, the drow who owned a curio shop in the Hall. He had seemed a predatory and mercenary individual when the companions had first met him and Erlmoor liked him little.
“Rendil!” Telkya exclaimed. “What brings you here?”
“We came seeking you,” answered Gendar. “There have been many changes in Thunderspire since you left and Paldemar returned and wrought vengeance upon any who had consorted with you.”
“The inn?” Telkya said, with a growing sense of dread.
“Destroyed in the battle,” Rendil answered sadly. “Paldemar attacked us first, slaying my aunt when she tried to defend the place. I held him off with the blade craft and magic I learned from the elves when I was young…….and then the Mages of Saruun came to drive out the renegade. They fought with each other, hurling spells back and forth while wreaking destruction as they did. Gendar’s shop was razed to the ground.”
“And was Paldemar defeated?” Erlmoor asked.
“Surely all the Mages of Saruun must have driven him off at least,” Lavren added.
“And so they did, in a way,” Gendar said. “Paldemar retreated without being vanquished and told all that he had only visited to the Hall to wreak his revenge on those who had aided you. He retreated into the Underdark, seeking my kin who dwell below the mountains.”
“To do what?” Erlmoor rumbled. “He would not be any more welcome amongst drow than he would be elsewhere.”
“He seeks allies,” Telkya said in sudden realisation. “Whatever threat he has mustered against Sunset Hill is not enough. He seeks allies to join him in conquest.”
“Then we must stop him,” Enlishia said. “Once we have aided Sunset Hill, we must return to Thunderspire and pursue Paldemar.”
The others nodded their agreement and as the four surviving companions looked at Rendil and Gendar, they found that the drow and the halfling were nodding too. They sought revenge on the Red Wizard for the destruction he had brought down upon their home and would travel with the adventurers.
“Now that we are agreed,” Lavren said. “You must tell us how you came to be here and we must tell you dark tidings of Litiraan and Dulvarna.”
And so the companions with their new allies sat down in the corridor close to the stairs and grimly told their tales, Telkya relating the fall of her brother and of Thorn and of Dulvarna while Rendil told how he and Gendar had set out to find the companions after the attack on the Seven Pillared Hall. They had followed Rendil’s recollections of Paldemar’s map and when they had reached the clearing in the Hullack where the adventurers had battled the bandits, the pyramid had arisen around the pair and trapped them as it had Dulvarna, Erlmoor and the others. They had explored the lower levels, following the trail of slain enemies that the companions had left behind them until the stairs had led them up to the third level and their chance meeting with those they had sought.
“Where do we go now?” Gendar asked once the storytelling had ended.
“We go east from here,” said Lavren. “For behind us lies death. Are you ready for battle for that is what we face.”
“We are,” Rendil answered. “My sword has been little used of late but I was trained by the elves in sword magic when I was young and we lived in Mistledale.”
“And I learned wizardry before I left Sschindrylyn deep beneath the earth,” said Gendar.
“Then we go on,” said Lavren, rising to his feet. The others followed suit and together, the six companions set off down the passage, past the stairways leading up and down and on into the darkness.