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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Medriev" data-source="post: 4804213" data-attributes="member: 21864">Chapter 9 - Beasts and Mazes (Part 1)Lavren reached for the new wand at his belt as the companions entered the room to the south of the corridor that held the mirrors. Telkya had found it and a potion that she had decided was a healing draught under the mattress of one the beds in the chamber that the cambions had fallen defending. Dulvarna had taken the potion and Lavren the wand which he had quickly determined to be more powerful than the one he currently wielded. As he drew the wand, the elf looked up the statue of a robed figure that stared down the length of the wide hallway. A short passage had led south and then east from the mirror hall before ending at the doors to this wide chamber. At the far end, an exact duplicate of the closer statue stood, regarding its counterpart with eyes of stone that had likely looked out sightlessly for centuries.“I don’t like this,” Lavren hissed without knowing why he spoke quietly.“Neither do I,” Enlishia whispered from beside him.The ranger raised her bow, nocking an arrow to the string as she did, and then moved past Telkya into the room itself. She crossed almost to the centre of the room before a loud grinding sound filled the hallway and the floor began to tilt. Enlishia looked back plaintively at the others and then the floor tilted over sharply along with the south wall of the room and hurled the ranger bodily across into the stone wall. Before any of the companions could react, the wall tilted further and threw Enlishia out of sight as the floor took the wall’s place and another floor rotated up to take its place. As this floor appeared, it threw out a scattering of rats the size of small dogs that turned to hiss at the companions while glaring at them with fierce red eyes.Telkya raised her amulet and loosed a bolt of golden light toward the rats but they scattered and the divine fire struck the new stone floor. Dulvarna stepped in front of the closest statue careful not to stray onto the area that had tilted and lashed out with her blade. The nearest rat squealed as her sword struck it and hurled it across the floor to lie in a bloody heap amongst its companions. The other rats glanced towards the body of their fellow as though contemplating it as a meal but then seemed to decide that the adventurers represented more tasty fare and started toward them. They rushed at the companions in a swarm, snapping at the legs of Telkya, Erlmoor and Dulvarna. Erlmoor gagged as the overpowering stench of rot reached him along with the rats. He retched but raised his blade anyway and drove it through the nearest of the horrible creatures. To the dragonborn’s left, Lavren vanished from the doorway in a shower of light motes only to reappear to the south of the statue with his wand raised. The warlock cursed the nearest rat and loosed a searing black bolt from his wand only for the creature to dart aside. The bolt struck the floor where the rat had been leaving the rat unharmed. Litiraan raised his own wand but from where he stood in the doorway, his companions blocked his sight of the rats and he dared not risk loosing a spell. Instead, he moved closer to the statue and held up his blade, ready to aid Telkya should she need it.Enlishia fell hard into a pit at the end of what had felt like a chute of smooth stone and felt things crunch beneath her. She lay still for a breath or two but then realised that she was not alone in the pit. A terrible odour of rot filled her nostrils and as she gagged, she realised that the things that had crunched beneath her were bones. She struggled to rise but before she could get fully to her feet, something lashed into her side and flung her into the wall of the pit. Desperately, she cried out and tried to scramble up the wall but the sides were too small and she fell back. Fear took hold of her then but still she shouldered her bow and drew her sword from her back. Using sense rather than sight in the darkness that surrounded her, she stabbed out at the creature that she knew lurked close by. Her blade struck nothing but air and as she heard the creature move, she felt tears run down her cheeks.“Dulvarna!” she cried out. “Erlmoor!” But no one answered.</blockquote>

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