I had a dream
For the first time in months, I awoke to find myself in control. Not of my destiny for that I entrust to Bryle, but at least of myself. Soon, hopefully, the group would come back together and I would have a chance to regain Namarra.
We met at Star’s home, which he had purchased as part of his cover in the city of Aenith. Although I agree with Tarmus about Star’s silent disappearance at the city of Qualin not being in the party’s favor, I believe that Bryle had a hand in Star’s decision. Bryle would have known to have Star go into hiding since the Dark Wizard would be looking for him.
At the beginning of the three months that Yeric, Remus, and I had been under the influence of the Dark Wizard, we were interrogated. The Dark Wizard thus knew that Star had two amulets of the gods and that I had one. I was soon without my medallion and Namarra. Yeric and Remus did not lose much, in fact Yeric gained better equipment. For the rest of the three months, after getting tattoos affiliating us with the Mithral Blades, we did the dirty work for the Dark Wizard. We killed the governor of Kilinay, whom aspired to replace King Doombringer (the Dark Wizard’s boss… well, more like his employer) and we stopped an attempt on the Dark Wizard’s life. Most recently we were at Ralanov fighting with the Sulimarin (the secret ethnocentric elven agency apparently were taking an interest in Ralanov).
So our rescue was most fortunate, given the circumstances. I had thought that Tarmus and Star would assuredly be dead. I suppose that Tarmus was safe, since he had nothing of value and that Star was safe only because of his drastic actions.
I slept near Star, still considering his safety to be endangered. We spoke before we slept. Star had stayed at Aenith to keep an eye on Lore and Gale. If anyone had contacted them, Star would have investigated and would have responded if any of us had been doing the contacting. I trust Star, I have more dirt on him than anyone in the world and I’m not dead yet (there is a problem with being the priest for an elven thief, if they aren’t faithful you end up with 200 years worth of things to confess).
Yet for some reason, as we all sat around the table listening to Tarmus condemn Star and Star defend his actions, I could not help but think of all the bad things Star has done. How could I trust this follower of Bryle who has gone so astray. Maybe the last three months had affected me. I thought Tarmus was feeling awfully important since he believed that his loss of contact with Star condemned Star.
Yes… Star had bought a house with party gold.
Yes… Star had disappeared without a trace.
Yes… Star didn’t drop his disguise when Tarmus and Lugtee came knocking on his door.
For some reason I didn’t really care what Star did or didn’t do. He was either with us or not, and he was useful most of the time. Tarmus had the problem with him. Star proposed plans of setting a quest upon ourselves that we might hold true to one another. Tarmus replied that if half the party is mind controlled than both sides are betraying the other. After plenty of argument, I bored of the bickering and proposed that I cast zone of truth, which would mean that Tarmus would get the truth he wanted and would either accept or cast away Star. Everyone accepted the plan and soon the truth was upon the table. Tarmus didn’t trust Star. Star thought Tarmus too long winded and thought safety was not in numbers but in shadows. In the end, Star spoke his loyalty to the group and Tarmus was reassured. So I proposed we go into town to get supplies to make Remus a ring enchanted with Remove Paralysis and then go after Treespire and find Lugtee. Armathon and the Dark Wizard would come later (though being a good cleric, I certainly have a hit list).
While at Alfgar’s shop of crafting necessities, Star overheard some paladins talking about guards falling asleep on the job and the oddity of the incident. Remembering the last time something was amiss the Summersword was stolen. I approached the paladins and asked about what they had said, but they knew no more. We went to the Temple of Bryle and I asked a guard and he did not know. I then went to Olon, who was in the company of Milo, and asked him what was going on.
Apparently, and this was hush-hush, there was concern that Lugtee had keys to the portals under Aenith, since there was no reason for him to know their existence. The church placed some paladins to guard the portal. Lugtee had today popped in, looking rather worse for wear. Katrina and Olon were there quickly and tried to pry information out of him but he was evasive. One of the more zealous paladins decided to detain Lugtee and so Lugtee knocked the paladins unconscious and left (after throwing a bag of gold to be delivered to his informant whom had returned with us to Aenith the day before).
During this conversation, Milo quipped, “Gee, the moons are gonna align tonight.”
“Align? What does that mean?” I said.
“The moons align once a year in front of the constellation for one of the gods. This year it happens to be Balahnin.”
At that point I decided that I should tell everyone about the dream I’d had (Olon already knew since I confessed to him yesterday). I had dreamt of a ritual taking place with many acolytes and a main priest who looked like Armathon and sounded like Armathon. Suddenly all the acolytes died and Armathon, wielding a great purple magic, tore a hole into another plane. A dark shifting shadow that had been beside Armathon went through the portal and entered a statue on the other side and the statue started coming to life.
Then Remus spoke, “I too had a dream. My sister appeared to me and warned me that a great evil would happen when the moons align.”
At this point Tarmus gave his brother a questioning look to which Yeric replied with a shrug. Not everyone gets a visionary dream.
Olon then looked at me intently and said, “But where?”
“Tarmus, can you play that image again of the Citadel of the Eye?”
“Sure, it might be a bit fuzzy, but I can manage it. Here we go…”
“That’s it. The stonework and vague vile feeling is the same. It must be below the place where you went.”
At that point we left with all haste and I invoked the holy words that would dissipate us into clouds and whisk us away to the Citadel of the Eye.
We materialized next to the entrance to the underground temple and descended.
Star scouted ahead and found that there were many undead blocking the stairs that lead deeper into the temple. The party dealt quickly with them, many of them being vanquished simply by the holy aura I channeled against them.
Descending the stairs we saw two giant minotaur looking creatures beating a Deva into the wall. One of the minotaur things struck a mighty blow and the Deva, nearly crippled, drew a scroll and escaped through a rift that appeared. She left behind her glowing white mace. The minotaur things started dashing toward us, but the distance was great. We sat and waited while Star pumped them full of arrows. Before they reached us, they were so wounded that they turned and fled around a corner at a four way intersection far ahead. I raced over to the mace and pledged to return it. Yeric reached the intersection before the rest of us and was battered as both the minotaur-like behemoths charged him. The rest of us arrived and Yeric fell back. One of the beasts ran around me and started stomping with its tremendous hoofs. Rocks started falling atop us all and the other minotaur thing fell dead. Soon we dispatched the second minotaur creature and headed to the intersection and chose the direction that chanting could be heard from.
Laying before us was a statue with a holy symbol of Balahnin and beyond that was a large pit with a thin bridge that crossed it. Written on the statue were the words, “Unbelievers shall be burned.” Star tried to cross but intense heat rose from the walkway and scorched him. So, I channeled divine energy to create another stone bridge. We crossed unharmed and reached the chamber where the ritual was taking place. Before we opened the door, the screams of people dying could be heard.
Inside the room were four giant columns at the corners of the room and an altar at the side farthest from the door. Floating a little above the door were three gems and Namarra. Circles of cold blue flame ten feet high surrounded each column and the altar. We rushed inside to find the Dark Wizard on the left side of the room so we attacked with haste. In terrible pain, he escaped through his spellcraft. Inside the circle of flame around the altar were Armathon and a large black skinned humanoid with green eyes (a familiar face, hey… didn’t we kill him? Uglies never stay dead). The humanoid fell quickly amid the onslaught of the party, but Armathon, which I realized was no longer alive, proved a much greater challenge. After charging at him, running away from his blade barrier, shooting at him over the flame circle, and charging him when he came out of the circle, he finally fell. Armathon was now a dead lich. I had almost died during the attempt to kill (re-kill) Armathon, and yet he could easily revive if we did not find the item holding his soul. We searched, but to no avail, though I did get Namarra back. A large explosion went off as the ritual spell finally unraveled. Tarmus quickly dressed us in the robes of the dead acolytes and we rushed out of the temple.
Soon we were safe inside a hiding place for Silver Swords and wondered, “If I were Armathon, where would my soul be?”
For the first time in months, I awoke to find myself in control. Not of my destiny for that I entrust to Bryle, but at least of myself. Soon, hopefully, the group would come back together and I would have a chance to regain Namarra.
We met at Star’s home, which he had purchased as part of his cover in the city of Aenith. Although I agree with Tarmus about Star’s silent disappearance at the city of Qualin not being in the party’s favor, I believe that Bryle had a hand in Star’s decision. Bryle would have known to have Star go into hiding since the Dark Wizard would be looking for him.
At the beginning of the three months that Yeric, Remus, and I had been under the influence of the Dark Wizard, we were interrogated. The Dark Wizard thus knew that Star had two amulets of the gods and that I had one. I was soon without my medallion and Namarra. Yeric and Remus did not lose much, in fact Yeric gained better equipment. For the rest of the three months, after getting tattoos affiliating us with the Mithral Blades, we did the dirty work for the Dark Wizard. We killed the governor of Kilinay, whom aspired to replace King Doombringer (the Dark Wizard’s boss… well, more like his employer) and we stopped an attempt on the Dark Wizard’s life. Most recently we were at Ralanov fighting with the Sulimarin (the secret ethnocentric elven agency apparently were taking an interest in Ralanov).
So our rescue was most fortunate, given the circumstances. I had thought that Tarmus and Star would assuredly be dead. I suppose that Tarmus was safe, since he had nothing of value and that Star was safe only because of his drastic actions.
I slept near Star, still considering his safety to be endangered. We spoke before we slept. Star had stayed at Aenith to keep an eye on Lore and Gale. If anyone had contacted them, Star would have investigated and would have responded if any of us had been doing the contacting. I trust Star, I have more dirt on him than anyone in the world and I’m not dead yet (there is a problem with being the priest for an elven thief, if they aren’t faithful you end up with 200 years worth of things to confess).
Yet for some reason, as we all sat around the table listening to Tarmus condemn Star and Star defend his actions, I could not help but think of all the bad things Star has done. How could I trust this follower of Bryle who has gone so astray. Maybe the last three months had affected me. I thought Tarmus was feeling awfully important since he believed that his loss of contact with Star condemned Star.
Yes… Star had bought a house with party gold.
Yes… Star had disappeared without a trace.
Yes… Star didn’t drop his disguise when Tarmus and Lugtee came knocking on his door.
For some reason I didn’t really care what Star did or didn’t do. He was either with us or not, and he was useful most of the time. Tarmus had the problem with him. Star proposed plans of setting a quest upon ourselves that we might hold true to one another. Tarmus replied that if half the party is mind controlled than both sides are betraying the other. After plenty of argument, I bored of the bickering and proposed that I cast zone of truth, which would mean that Tarmus would get the truth he wanted and would either accept or cast away Star. Everyone accepted the plan and soon the truth was upon the table. Tarmus didn’t trust Star. Star thought Tarmus too long winded and thought safety was not in numbers but in shadows. In the end, Star spoke his loyalty to the group and Tarmus was reassured. So I proposed we go into town to get supplies to make Remus a ring enchanted with Remove Paralysis and then go after Treespire and find Lugtee. Armathon and the Dark Wizard would come later (though being a good cleric, I certainly have a hit list).
While at Alfgar’s shop of crafting necessities, Star overheard some paladins talking about guards falling asleep on the job and the oddity of the incident. Remembering the last time something was amiss the Summersword was stolen. I approached the paladins and asked about what they had said, but they knew no more. We went to the Temple of Bryle and I asked a guard and he did not know. I then went to Olon, who was in the company of Milo, and asked him what was going on.
Apparently, and this was hush-hush, there was concern that Lugtee had keys to the portals under Aenith, since there was no reason for him to know their existence. The church placed some paladins to guard the portal. Lugtee had today popped in, looking rather worse for wear. Katrina and Olon were there quickly and tried to pry information out of him but he was evasive. One of the more zealous paladins decided to detain Lugtee and so Lugtee knocked the paladins unconscious and left (after throwing a bag of gold to be delivered to his informant whom had returned with us to Aenith the day before).
During this conversation, Milo quipped, “Gee, the moons are gonna align tonight.”
“Align? What does that mean?” I said.
“The moons align once a year in front of the constellation for one of the gods. This year it happens to be Balahnin.”
At that point I decided that I should tell everyone about the dream I’d had (Olon already knew since I confessed to him yesterday). I had dreamt of a ritual taking place with many acolytes and a main priest who looked like Armathon and sounded like Armathon. Suddenly all the acolytes died and Armathon, wielding a great purple magic, tore a hole into another plane. A dark shifting shadow that had been beside Armathon went through the portal and entered a statue on the other side and the statue started coming to life.
Then Remus spoke, “I too had a dream. My sister appeared to me and warned me that a great evil would happen when the moons align.”
At this point Tarmus gave his brother a questioning look to which Yeric replied with a shrug. Not everyone gets a visionary dream.
Olon then looked at me intently and said, “But where?”
“Tarmus, can you play that image again of the Citadel of the Eye?”
“Sure, it might be a bit fuzzy, but I can manage it. Here we go…”
“That’s it. The stonework and vague vile feeling is the same. It must be below the place where you went.”
At that point we left with all haste and I invoked the holy words that would dissipate us into clouds and whisk us away to the Citadel of the Eye.
We materialized next to the entrance to the underground temple and descended.
Star scouted ahead and found that there were many undead blocking the stairs that lead deeper into the temple. The party dealt quickly with them, many of them being vanquished simply by the holy aura I channeled against them.
Descending the stairs we saw two giant minotaur looking creatures beating a Deva into the wall. One of the minotaur things struck a mighty blow and the Deva, nearly crippled, drew a scroll and escaped through a rift that appeared. She left behind her glowing white mace. The minotaur things started dashing toward us, but the distance was great. We sat and waited while Star pumped them full of arrows. Before they reached us, they were so wounded that they turned and fled around a corner at a four way intersection far ahead. I raced over to the mace and pledged to return it. Yeric reached the intersection before the rest of us and was battered as both the minotaur-like behemoths charged him. The rest of us arrived and Yeric fell back. One of the beasts ran around me and started stomping with its tremendous hoofs. Rocks started falling atop us all and the other minotaur thing fell dead. Soon we dispatched the second minotaur creature and headed to the intersection and chose the direction that chanting could be heard from.
Laying before us was a statue with a holy symbol of Balahnin and beyond that was a large pit with a thin bridge that crossed it. Written on the statue were the words, “Unbelievers shall be burned.” Star tried to cross but intense heat rose from the walkway and scorched him. So, I channeled divine energy to create another stone bridge. We crossed unharmed and reached the chamber where the ritual was taking place. Before we opened the door, the screams of people dying could be heard.
Inside the room were four giant columns at the corners of the room and an altar at the side farthest from the door. Floating a little above the door were three gems and Namarra. Circles of cold blue flame ten feet high surrounded each column and the altar. We rushed inside to find the Dark Wizard on the left side of the room so we attacked with haste. In terrible pain, he escaped through his spellcraft. Inside the circle of flame around the altar were Armathon and a large black skinned humanoid with green eyes (a familiar face, hey… didn’t we kill him? Uglies never stay dead). The humanoid fell quickly amid the onslaught of the party, but Armathon, which I realized was no longer alive, proved a much greater challenge. After charging at him, running away from his blade barrier, shooting at him over the flame circle, and charging him when he came out of the circle, he finally fell. Armathon was now a dead lich. I had almost died during the attempt to kill (re-kill) Armathon, and yet he could easily revive if we did not find the item holding his soul. We searched, but to no avail, though I did get Namarra back. A large explosion went off as the ritual spell finally unraveled. Tarmus quickly dressed us in the robes of the dead acolytes and we rushed out of the temple.
Soon we were safe inside a hiding place for Silver Swords and wondered, “If I were Armathon, where would my soul be?”