Medriev's FR Thunderspire Labyrinth - Concluded Apr 13

[Medriev]

Chapter 7 - Beyond the Gate (Part 5)

The two duergar that remained panicked then, one disappearing before Enlishia’s eyes and the other fleeing back through the open double doors. Dulvarna rushed after the duergar as did Telkya who unleashed a bolt of light at the dwarf she could see. The bolt struck the back of the gray dwarf’s shoulder and spun him into the passage wall but he continued his flight. Enlishia loosed an arrow after the dwarf while Lavren and Litiraan took a different course, darting through a door in the western wall and into the side chamber there. Both thought that it would bring them into a position to head off the fleeing dwarf but as they emerged from the other door in the side chamber they saw that they were too late. Across a large ruined hall, double doors were being opened by unseen hands and they could only open onto the chasm.

Erlmoor joined the pursuit with his sword in his hands but the dwarf continued his flight. The dragonborn lashed out with his blade and caught the duergar’s shoulder blade with the tip of his sword but still the dwarf did not stop. Lavren and Litiraan entered the ruined hall just as the dwarf they could see crossed the hall before them and rushed through the double doors. Beyond them a bridge crossed the chasm and he started across but he was not quite fast enough. Dulvarna burst into the chamber through double doors on the far side and rushed to catch the dwarf, her blade in her hands. As she reached the doors that led out onto the bridge the second duergar reappeared next to her and lashed out with its hammer. Dulvarna was struck soundly on the back of the head and in a shower of blood, she collapsed before the doors.

Telkya entered the room through the far double doors, praying as she came. Light lanced out from the amulet she held and struck the left hand door that led out onto the bridge. Enlishia ran into the chamber next, pulling two arrows from the quiver on her back and nocking them to her bow. She took aim and loosed them but they flew past both dwarves and disappeared into the dark of the chasm beyond the doors. Litiraan crossed the ruined chamber to the centre and loosed a silver bolt out onto the bridge towards the furthest ahead of the dwarves but this too missed and was consumed by the darkness of the chasm.

Lavren appeared beside Litiraan, uttering a curse and a spell in quick succession before leveling his wand at the duergar. Two purple rays shot out, one striking the duergar on the bridge and searing through his back to burst out of his chest. He screeched and tottered sideways before falling over the side of the bridge and disappearing into the depths of the chasm. The other bolt struck the remaining duergar and threw him back against the open door beside him. Erlmoor charged into the room then with a roar and the last duergar bolted. Erlmoor’s blade rose and fell and the duergar fell in the doorway in a spray of blood.

 

[Medriev]

Chapter 8 - Across the Chasm (Part 1)

“We should fortify this place as we did the last hold and post watches in both,” said Erlmoor once they had all tended to their wounds and Dulvarna had been wakened.
“Agreed,” said Enlishia. “We are too weak to attack the far side of the chasm but if we retreat we will likely have to fight through both holds once again. We camp here and cross the chasm in the morning.”
“Will you stay with us?” said Erlmoor directing the question to the man who had cowered under the table throughout the battle and the man and the woman who had hidden themselves in the kitchen to the east of the dining hall where they were now gathered. They said that they were from Arabel, taken in a goblin raid along the East Way several months ago. They nodded nervously but without enthusiasm.
“We will wait with you if that is your course,” said one of the men. “We could not seek to return to the Seven Pillared Hall alone.”
“Then it is settled,” said Erlmoor. “I will watch from the northern hall with Litiraan and Enlishia. The rest of you stay here.”

Dulvarna nodded her agreement and was grateful that Erlmoor had taken on the mantle of leadership while she lay propped against the head table. Her head wound was bandaged and her ribs would mend in time but she needed rest most of all. Laying her head back against her folded cloak, she let herself drift off into sleep.

 

[Medriev]

Chapter 8 - Across the Chasm (Part 2)

Dulvarna was woken by the smell of frying bacon and felt refreshed almost as soon as she opened her eyes. She began to rise but pain lanced across her ribs and she winced, leaning against the table for a moment. Enlishia steered her towards a seat at the high table just as Erlmoor and Litiraan came in from through the double doors to the north. The men and the woman began bringing out platters of breakfast fare and soon all were eating heartily.
“All was quiet,” rumbled Erlmoor in between mouthfuls.
“Likewise here,” said Lavren.

“Then which way do we cross the chasm?” said Telkya. “They will likely have seen the end of yesterday’s battle from the far side so the bridge from the northern hold would give us a better chance of surprising our enemies.”
“Agreed,” said Lavren. “We could be picked off while still on the bridge if we venture forth from this hold.”
“The bridge there is narrow, we must remember,” said Litiraan. “I watched it for some of the last night and it would not be easy to evade attackers once we were crossing.”
“Fear not brother,” said Telkya. “Like as not our enemies will be too busy watching the southern bridge to pay any mind to the northern one.” Dulvarna and Erlmoor nodded then and it was decided.

 

[Medriev]

Chapter 8 - Across the Chasm (Part 3)

When breakfast was done, the six companions led the three former prisoners to the gates of the northern hold and told them to flee northward if they failed to return or if anything troubled them. Then the six made their way to the barred doors of the northern hold that led out of the smithy. The fire of the forge was dying away now and the smell of death filled the place as the smith and his guards bloated and began to putrefy. In silence, the companions dismantled the makeshift bars that they had put on the doors and opened them. With blades and wands at the ready they made their way out onto the bridge.

They reached the single door at the far side untroubled by any enemies but found the single door at the other end of the bridge locked. Dulvarna slammed her shoulder hard into it and with a crack, the door fell inwards, hanging off one hinge. Within was a ruined chamber that bent around from west to south east with piled of rubble in the western half. Doors led out of the chamber to the south and southwest while double doors led to the north. Dulvarna led them along the wall to the left and opened the southwestern door. Beyond was a hallway that followed the outer wall of the fortress and then opened up in a foyer to the south. Two statues depicting stern-looking female minotaurs in ornate gowns stood in the southeastern corner of the room while two duergar stood beside double doors, accompanied by a pair of strange clockwork mechanisms that resembled crossbows on articulated legs.

Enlishia ducked into the room and darted left, loosing an arrow from her bow as she did so. It flew past the nearest duergar and the mechanical crossbow behind his to drive into the nearest minotaur statue. The duergar began shouting the alarm and behind the companions a door opened to admit another dwarf warrior into the ruined chamber. Litiraan turned and moved along the wall before loosing a silver bolt from his wand that struck the newcomer in the shoulder. One of the crossbows marched jerkily forward and loosed a bolt that drove into Dulvarna’s right arm. She fell back and ash she did so, the duergar before her charged with its hammer held high. The weapon swung out and Dulvarna raised her sword to parry it with a loud clang. A second duergar charged in then and his hammer came in low, too low for Dulvarna to parry. The hammer struck her ribs hard and winded her, forcing her back another step into the doorway.

Lavren moved to aid Litiraan, cursing the duergar in the southern doorway as he did so. He leveled his wand and loosed a bolt of crackling black energy at the gray dwarf. The bolt struck the enemy in the chest and hurled him back against the doorframe once more. Erlmoor rushed at the duergar then with his blade before him. He thrust the blade forward but at the last the duergar raised his hammer and parried the sword thrust. Telkya sent a bolt of light to strike the dwarf and it fell back into the chamber from which it had emerged.

Dulvarna slashed her blade across the chest of the dwarf before her and drove its point into the hip of the other gray dwarf. Both fell back for a moment and gave her some breathing space while the mechanical crossbow creatures stood back, their weapons loaded and ready to fire. Enlishia slashed out with her sword but the blow was parried and then a furious exchange of blows resumed as the duergar came forward again.

Erlmoor saw another duergar moving within the chamber, this one wearing robes under his armour. He extended his hands and uttered a chant that the dragonborn felt sure that he had heard before. Sure enough, a bolt of fire lanced out from the outstretched hand and seared into Erlmoor’s side, throwing him back from the doorway. The duergar before him smashed the hilt of his hammer into the paladin’s chin and sent him reeling. The duergar came through the door but as he did so, Litiraan loosed a silver bolt from his wand that blasted the gray dwarf back again. A bolt of black, crackling energy struck the doorframe next to the dwarf and Erlmoor surged forward with a roar. He sprayed acid into the room from his mouth and lashed out with his sword, forcing the duergar to parry desperately. The dwarf twisted the dragonborn’s blade aside and snarled as the acid seared his skin. He staggered back a step and Erlmoor pressed forward as light from Telkya’s amulet struck the wall behind his foe. Another bolt of flame struck Erlmoor then and halted his advance. He roared his defiance and pushed on nonetheless.

The duergar before Enlishia struck her leg with his hammer but she paid the painful blow no mind. She was more concerned with Dulvarna and even as she looked over to her companion she saw the warrior woman struck in the jaw by a hammer blow and sent reeling. Dulvarna spat out the blood in her mouth and then drove her blade in low, piercing the leg of the duergar just above the knee. The leg gave way and the duergar fell back from his fierce enemy. Enlishia meanwhile darted back to avoid a wild swing from her duergar foe and then leapt forward again, thrusting out with her sword. The point drove into the dwarf’s side and he fell back from her. The duergar lashed out with his hammer but Enlishia jumped back again evading the blow by mere inches. Dulvarna fell back as the hammer of the dwarf she faced struck her shoulder but as the dwarf came on she raised her blade and wove it in a dance before her. Suddenly, she darted forward, driving Aecris into the dwarf’s hip and forcing him back from her. The duergar staggered again and seemed about to fall but then he came forward again.

 

[Medriev]

Chapter 8 - Across the Chasm (Part 4)

The duergar rushed at Erlmoor and smashed its hammer overhand into the base of the dragonborn’s neck. Gasping for breath, Erlmoor fell back and Litiraan loosed another silver bolt to keep the gray dwarf at bay. It flew high and wide and struck the wall beyond the dwarf and a moment later, a black bolt from Lavren’s wand struck close by. The duergar roared its defiance and came forward but then Erlmoor’s blade swept out and took its head from its shoulders. He roared himself then and charged into the chamber to meet the duergar magic-wielder within. Telkya followed him, praying as she went. Skirting the western wall of the chamber, she held forth her amulet and brought a burning column of light down upon the robed dwarf. Suddenly, the dwarf uttered an incantation and the chamber was suddenly filled with thick, noxious fumes. Telkya and Erlmoor bent over coughing while their enemy disappeared into the thick smoke. Blindly, they leaned on whatever furnishings they could feel nearby and waited, hoping and praying that the smoke would clear.

Enlishia slashed out with her blade at the duergar in front of her but his hammer came up quickly and parried. He twisted his weapon then and brought his hammer in low but Enlishia drew back, pulling her body out of his reach. Beside her, Dulvarna tried to duck but the hammer of the duergar she faced glanced off the top of her head and sent her reeling back. She slashed out wildly with her sword but the duergar ducked easily under the swing and moved forward for the kill with a broad, yellow-toothed smile on his face.

Litiraan rushed through the door into the side chamber and found a large room with three double bunks and a fire place. Two doors led to the west, and a third led to the east while a duergar retreated past the fire. Smoke filled most of the room and Erlmoor and Telkya were still rubbing their eyes to clear their vision but Litiraan could see the retreating robed duergar perfectly clearly. He loosed a silver bolt from his wand but at the last moment, the duergar darted aside and the bolt struck the mantle of the fire, shattering a portion of the stone. Lavren came into the chamber behind Litiraan, cursing the retreating duergar as he came. He leveled his wand and loosed black, crackling energy that struck the duergar in the side and threw him towards the fire. The gray dwarf reached up and grabbed the mantle to stop himself falling into the flames. He turned towards both elves and snarled a spell before bringing his hand down in a strangely fierce motion. Fire erupted from the dwarf’s hand then in searing balls of half molten rock. They pelted the four companions in the chamber who were knocked to the floor and forced to duck behind, beside and under the beds.

Only Erlmoor was too slow and as Lavren glanced at him, he saw the paladin struck hard on the head by a burning ball of rock. The dragonborn staggered, sank to his knees and then fell face forward on the stone floor of the chamber. Just as Erlmoor fell, Telkya’s sight returned and she dashed over to him, crouching low behind a bed as she tended to his head wound. She uttered a healing prayer and the paladin’s eyes flicked open. He let out a low rumble from his chest and pulled himself to his feet. Raising his sword, he rushed at the duergar.

Enlishia exchanged parries with the duergar she faced and then looked over anxiously to Dulvarna who was still reeling from the head wound she had suffered. The duergar feinted low then and as Dulvarna moved her sword slowly to parry, the hammer came up and struck the woman under the chin. Her head snapped back and she fell over backwards to land on her back in the doorway of the northern chamber. Enlishia looked from one dwarf to the other as they advanced on her snarling and wondered where her companions might be.

A silver bolt from Litiraan’s wand struck the robed duergar, driving him back another step towards the fireplace and then a black bolt from Lavren struck another part of the mantle, splintering the stone. Erlmoor’s deep voice intoned a prayer to Lathander and as his blade glowed, he drive it into the arm of the dwarf. White light flowed up the dragonborn’s arm and then burst out from him in quick pulse, filling the room and seemingly passing through the walls. Light from Telkya’s amulet seared through the flames in the fireplace and struck the back wall and the duergar ducked away from Erlmoor again, chanting as he retreated. More noxious smoke burst from his hand and filled the chamber leaving the companions doubled over coughing and blinded. Unseen by them all, the robed duergar darted towards the eastern door.

Dulvarna opened her eyes as the pulse of divine energy washed over her from the neighbouring room. She still felt woozy but as she looked up, she saw that Enlishia was being driven back towards the doorway in which she lay. Her friend needed her aid and so Dulvarna focused and gathering all of her remaining strength. When she was ready, she pushed herself to her feet and raised her blade. The duergar looked at her in amazement and as they did so, she surged forward.

Litiraan loosed flame into the smoke without knowing whether he had come anywhere near hitting the robed duergar. He heard a door open close to the fireplace and as his vision cleared he saw that the duergar had gone but beyond the door, the strange contraptions with crossbows atop them were turning towards the open door. Lavren rushed to the corner of the fireplace and loosed a black through the doorway but he did not hear it hit anything.

Erlmoor rushed to the doorway to keep the crossbow constructs at bay with his blade and Telkya moved to follow him, uttering another healing prayer as she went. The nearest of the strange constructs turned towards the doorway as it sensed this new threat and then it retreated. Erlmoor burst into the corridor after the construct and both retreated before him. The robed duergar lurked in the southern foyer of the hall and from there he loosed a bolt of fire that struck Erlmoor in the shoulder. The dragonborn roared his defiance and the constructs seemed to shrink back before his wrath. He took up his blade and started after them.

 

[Medriev]

Chapter 8 - Across the Chasm (Part 5)

At the northern end of the hall, Enlishia lashed her blade across the shoulder of the duergar she faced and forced him back for a moment. The dwarf lashed out with his hammer but she parried the riposte easily and twisted his hammer aside so that she could parry the attack of the other dwarf and keep him at bay long enough for Dulvarna to rejoin the battle. Enlishia shoved the duergar back from her just as Dulvarna rushed through the doorway, her blade held high. The duergar realised his danger too late and started to turn and raise his hammer but he stood no chance. The tip of Aecris drove into his throat while his hammer was still at waist level and the blade drove through his neck from one side to the other. With a gurgle of blood, the dwarf collapsed before Dulvarna and the warrior woman burst into the corridor triumphantly. The other dwarf began to retreat then and Enlishia knew that they had all but won their small battle. She saw Litiraan beyond the duergar loosed a silver bolt from his wand and as it struck the back of the dwarf, panic filled her enemy’s eyes.

The construct retreated before Erlmoor again and loosed two bolts quickly from its crossbow. One clattered into the wall beside Erlmoor but the other flew down the hall and drove into Litiraan’s back, jolting him forward a step. He gasped and staggered as blood seeped down his back within his robes. Lavren emerged into the corridor next, leveling his wand at the nearest construct and loosing a bolt of black energy that flew wide and struck the minotaur statue behind his foe. Erlmoor charged the two constructs, lashing out at one and scoring the metal of its body close to the crossbow. Telkya drew her sword and charged from the barracks room to join the dragonborn and together the two drove back the clockwork constructs until a bolt of flame struck the elf maid’s arm. She staggered and the construct before her retreated out of her reach.

Enlishia tossed her sword behind her and unshouldered her bow as she retreated back into the ruined room. She loosed an arrow at the duergar that Dulvarna faught and distracted him long enough for Dulvarna to half parry his hammer blow. The hammer glanced off her shoulder as the parried high and deflected it away and downwards. Litiraan loosed another silver bolt that struck the duergar in the side and the dwarf reeled away giving Dulvarna a chance to push forward at her foe. The warrior woman slashed her blade into the dwarf’s belly and as he bent forward she brought her blade back up and drove the point through the dwarf’s chin and up into his brain. The duergar buckled at the knees and collapsed beside his companion. Dulvarna drew out her blood and brain soaked blade and rushed off down the corridor to aid her companions.

A crossbow bolt from the retreating construct drove into Telkya’s shoulder and halted her jubilant advance. Lavren was chanting behind her but whatever spell he cast seemed to have no effect while Erlmoor was still pursuing the construct he faced. The dragonborn slashed out with his blade and tore out some of the mechanism that drove the construct and Telkya drove her own blade into one of the strange creature’s legs. With a clunking whir, the construct retreated past the minotaur statue and fired its crossbow. Erlmoor slashed out with his sword and swatted the bolt out of the air as it flew towards him before continuing his advance. Telkya made to follow him but as she did so, the robed duergar chanted a spell again and a bolt of flame seared her hip. She staggered again but Dulvarna rushed into battle then and slashed her blade across the face of the duergar and drove him back.

A bolt flew from the nearest construct and drove into Dulvarna’s stomach, halting her advance. She gasped and staggered, reaching one hand down to the wound. Erlmoor surged at the other construct, his blade lashing out and severing one of its legs. Still the clockwork creature tried to leap back from him. Lavren came forward then though and with an incantation loosed black, crackling energy at the construct. It seared through its body and shattered it where it stood, felling it in a shower of gears and metal. Telkya charged at the other construct, praying as she advanced. She lashed out with her blade and struck the top of the creature’s body and drove it back and as she did so, her blade glowed white and from her other hand she directed the white light towards Dulvarna. Divine healing washed over the warrior woman restoring some of her strength and driving the crossbow bolt from her stomach. She rushed at the robed duergar then, taking him by surprise. Her blade swept out wide and took his head from his shoulders as he tried to raise his warhammer.

The remaining construct retreated until its back was against the southern wall and from there it loosed one more bolt wildly before it was felled by Erlmoor’s blade after Lavren had struck it with a black bolt of eldritch energy.

 

[Medriev]

Chapter 9 - The Deeper Hold (Part 1)

When each had tended to their wounds and explored the side rooms off the hall and the barracks they found that they had two ways open to them. Double doors led west from a corridor that led out of the entry foyer while another pair of doors led north from the ruined hall. They opted for the latter as the least conspicuous route into the deeper hold and beyond the doors they found a curving passage that ascended stairs and then bent around to the west before ending at another set of double doors. With their blades leaning against their shoulders, Dulvarna and Erlmoor pushed the doors open.

Within, cold shadows seemed to cling to the long-ruined chapel that was revealed. In the centre of the room stood a damaged statue that depicted a fierce demonic minotaur. One arm had broken off and lay in pieces at the statue’s feet and portions of the ceiling had fallen in, partially filling several small chambers behind the statue. A rusty iron door stood in the far, western wall. Dulvarna moved into the room cautiously guided only by the light of Litiraan’s wand. As she passed close to the statue something moved ahead of her and suddenly, from out of the rubble lurched the body of a long-dead warrior in tattered black mail. Sunken flesh clung to its bones, and its lips had drawn back from its black teeth. It raised a rotting hand, revealing jagged claws as it hissed and attacked.
“Wights!” Dulvarna called out. “Ware their touch for they have the chill of the grave within them!”

Even as she shouted her warning she tried to raise her sword but was too slow and the wight that had risen before her slashed a claw across the top of her chest as it swept past her towards the doors. She saw another stirring in the rubble behind her and to the right and another close to the western wall. She raised her blade and charged the furthest wight. She reached the creature in three strides and slashed out with Aecris. The blade tore into the rotten side of the creature and it faltered as it tried to rise.

Behind Dulvarna, Telkya strode into the chamber, praying loudly to Corellon as she came. Divine light burst from the amulet in her hand and seared the undead creatures as they tried to rise, driving two of them back from the priestess to the far corner of the chamber. Erlmoor strode into the chamber and immediately turned left to clamber over the rubble towards the back of statue where he had seen movement. With a roar, he sprayed the wight there with acid and then lashed out with his blade, praying as he lashed out with his sword. The blade glowed brightly for a moment and then clove the shoulder of the wight that lurked there as it rose from the rubble.

Litiraan was next into the chamber and he strode past Telkya, uttering a spell as he came. Flame erupted from his wand as he leveled it at the wights and the undead creatures cowered back into the northwest corner of the room. Lavren moved into the chamber beside Litiraan, cursing the nearest wight in elven and then uttering an incantation. Black, crackling energy seared out from his wand and struck the nearest undead creature, hurling it back against the stone wall of the chamber. The two wights in the northwest corner hissed their hatred but would not come forward while Telkya still held her amulet in her hand.

Dulvarna heard a movement behind her and with a glance over her shoulder she saw another wight rising from the rubble in what was once an antechamber behind the statue. The creature lurched forward and lashed out with a clawed hand that tore open the back of Dulvarna’s shoulder and jerked her around towards the creature. Dulvarna raised her blade and retreated between the two wights but even as she did so, an arrow flew in from the left and drove into the shoulder of the wight that had just risen. Dulvarna glanced left and saw that Enlishia stood at the foot of the statue’s dais and was nocking another arrow to her bow. The other wight came at Dulvarna from the right and she turned her attention back to her enemies, retreating another step and parrying desperately but knowing now that aid was near. She slashed low at the legs of one of the wights but the creature leapt back out of reach and Dulvarna was forced to parry once more.

Telkya rushed up onto the dais to stand next to the statue and began another prayer, grasping her star amulet tightly as she did so. Light seared out and struck the wall next to one of the cowering wights and she knew then that her power over them was broken. They hissed now in derision at her ineffectual powers that had driven them back but failed to slay them. Together the two started forward. Litiraan loosed a silver bolt from his wand desperately but that flew just wide of the nearest wight and struck the wall behind the creature. Lavren loosed another crackling black bolt but this too missed the wights and struck the stone behind them. The wights came forward but instead of rushing at their attackers, they turned towards Dulvarna, seeking to surround the warrior woman and bring her down in a flurry of tearing claws. One clawed at her and then the other while the wights in front of Dulvarna rushed at her, tearing at her flesh. Enlishia fired desperately at the wights as Dulvarna spun around on the spot and slashed at them with her blade trying to keep them at bay. Blood poured from several wounds on the warrior woman’s body and with each swing her strength was visibly waning. She staggered and wight lunged in but at the last she parried, twisted on the spot and drove her blade into the belly of one of the wights behind her. The creature collapsed into a heap of armour and bones and Dulvarna retreated towards her companions.

In the chamber behind the statue where Erlmoor faught, the wight came at him fiercely and tore at his arm, opening a deep wound that rapidly numbed as the chill of the grave infected it. He fell back and lashed out wildly with his sword to try to keep the wight at bay. The creature paused for a moment and then advanced once more.

 

[Medriev]

Chapter 9 - The Deeper Hold (Part 2)

From the dais, Telkya knew she had to aid Dulvarna somehow and so she began a new prayer that would call down a column of searing divine light upon the wights. It descended on the closest wight to Dulvarna and seared the undead creature’s flesh until it shrank back against the iron door in the western wall but still it did not fall. Litiraan loosed a silver bolt at the same wight seeing what his sister was trying to achieve and as the magic burst through the breastplate of the wight, the creature collapsed into inanimate grave matter before the iron door. Lavren uttered his own incantation then and the next wight burst into flames and staggered as it tried to advance but it came on nonetheless. As the eldritch flames died the wight mounted the dais and lashed out a clawed hand at Telkya but the elf ducked back beyond its reach. Enlishia retreated from the dais and loosed one and then a second arrow into the creature but still it kept coming and Telkya fell back before it.

Erlmoor reeled again as one of the wight’s claws slashed his shoulder and he lashed out wildly again, too wildly he knew, with his sword. The creature stopped its advance for the instant it took his sword and then came on at him again and as the grave-chill spread from the wound in his shoulder he retreated a step, wondering how his companions yet fared.

Dulvarna ducked back from the slashing claws of the wight before her and then struck the creature a mighty blow in the side that caved in its armour and its ribs but still it kept advancing. She retreated towards Lavren and as she did so, Telkya leapt off the dais and loosed a beam of light from her amulet towards the other wight still in the main chamber. The divine flame missed and the wight hissed its contempt at the priestess but then Litiraan loosed a silver bolt from his wand that seared through its chest and dropped it as a heap of bones and armour to the chamber floor.

The last of the wights started forward, still seeking Dulvarna but as it did so, Lavren cursed it in his own tongue and then loosed his familiar bolt of crackling black energy at the creature. It seared into the wight’s shoulder and halted it for a moment but then it started forward again only to be stopped once and for all by an arrow from Enlishia’s bow that shattered as it struck the wight and splintered within its body. The creature collapsed beside its companions as armour and bone.

The companions turned toward Erlmoor as the paladin was struck again by the claws of the last wight and reeled back from the alcove. Dulvarna started forward and staggered but still she circled around the western side of the statue to aid the dragonborn. Telkya went with her and as she scrambled atop the rubble of the western anteroom, she began to pray loudly. Light seared from the amulet in her hand but struck only the wall beside the wight. Erlmoor prayed fervently then, offering up a sacrifice to Lathander of his ability to heal in exchange for divine strength. His blade glowed with white light and he plunged it into the chest of the wight. The creature shrieked its tormented agony and the paladin retreated, seeking to bring it into the main chamber where his companions could reach it. The wight screeched again and followed him but Litiraan and Lavren were waiting for it. A silver bolt flew past the wight and struck the wall behind it but the black bolt from Lavren’s wand struck it full in the chest and hurled it back amongst the rubble scattering its armour and its bones amidst the ruin of its chapel.

 

[Medriev]

Chapter 9 - The Deeper Hold (Part 3)

“Dulvarna at least cannot go onwards or back from here without rest,” said Litiraan as the companions tended their wounds. Dulvarna had become pale as death and had all but collapsed once the battle was ended, her breathing now ragged and laboured.
“Litiraan is right,” said Enlishia, turning to the warrior woman herself. “You cannot leave here without rest and so we will all stay with you.” Dulvarna nodded without uttering a word.
“Bar both doors,” said Litiraan. “We stay here for the night.”

The others hurried to do as the elf bade while Dulvarna was laid on a bedroll near the dais and tended to by Telkya and Erlmoor in equal measure.
“What of the three from Arabel?” asked Dulvarna weakly at last. “They will leave as we told them if we do not return.”
“Then let us hope that they reach the Seven Pillared Hall without us,” said Enlishia.
“Or have more faith in our return,” put in Lavren.

When a fire was built from some of the wooden rubble of the chapel and the doors were barred, all six companions settled down to rest for the night. They cooked what meager rations they had and slept with one always on watch until they thought that the dawn had come to the world above the mountain.

 

[Medriev]

Chapter 9 - The Deeper Hold (Part 4)

“They are not coming back,” said Calder, the older of the two men, as they peered out warily at the bridge across the chasm. They had rested warily where they had been left near the gate to the Horned Hold but once several hours had passed they had returned to the smithy from which the six companions had departed.

“We should have more faith,” said the matronly woman Bessa who had seen more than sixty winters and seen many a warrior and adventurers go off to war or to seek his fate from Arabel where she had dwelled in better times. “They defeated Rundarr and they will defeat the others. I say we stay and wait.”
“Agreed,” said Arum who had cowered beneath the table in the dining hall as the battle had raged around him. “These will not fall as others have fallen here. They are powerful and not to be defeated easily. Even if they rest this day across the chasm they will fight on and return to us. Besides, would any of us wish to return through the darkness to the Seven Pillared Hall.”

Calder nodded slowly for he truly did not wish to venture back through the dark tunnels to the Seven Pillared Hall.
“We stay then,” he said. “But we restore the gates if we can and we bar the inner doors so that none can come for us.” He surveyed the hall for a moment.
“And we get rid of the dead,” he added, wrinkling his nose. The others nodded and together, the three former captives got to work.