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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Rel" data-source="post: 1786094" data-attributes="member: 99">It tasted like chocolate covered honey.  Jalena’s mouth was almost exactly as perfect as Marius had guessed it would be and he knew that she could use it to conjure almost anything she wanted from him.  Almost.  The kiss lasted for either an instant or eternity and then it was over.  Jalena pulled away from him and looked into his eyes.  For the most fleeting of moments he could have sworn that she was disappointed.  Then she smiled.“Let me take you inside before you’re all spotted.”  Jalena led them up the steep, rocky slope to a stone that looked like every other blackened, pitted stone in Hell.  Except this one was different because it wasn’t really there.  She disappeared into the mountainside and the others followed her.Inside was a very small, roughly shaped room with a single, low-ceilinged corridor leading deeper into the mountain.  She led them down this corridor into a large, circular room.  In the opposite wall there was another corridor, blocked by a curtain.“Welcome to my home.  Make yourselves comfortable.  If you’d care to leave your armor and clothes in here, my bedroom is just beyond that curtain.”  She grinned at the men lasciviously.  The room filled with a deafening silence.Marcus finally replied, “Uh…I think I’ll sleep out here.”  He nervously backed toward one wall and deposited his pack there.  He made no move toward unbuckling his belt or armor.  The others began to drop their packs and pull out bedrolls, making it their clear intention to bed down in the room at hand.  Marius looked longingly at the curtain.Speaks’ voice rose above the bustle of activity.  “What is that pyramid out there that those creatures were digging at?”A smile of incredulity spread across Jalena’s perfect face.  “You mean you don’t know?”“No,” the Druid replied, “but I take it that you do.”“Well of course I do.  I’ve lived here for quite some time and I try to keep abreast of the local goings on.”  She let a pause linger in the air.“Are you going to tell us about it?” asked Speaks with a hint of irritation.“I’d be more than happy to talk to any of you…who wish to join me in there…”  She looked meaningfully at the curtain.  She turned and paraded her naked backside past them as she wiggled her way toward her bedroom.  He reached out and gently raked her fingernails across Marius’ throat as she passed him.Marius waited for a moment until both his heart and breathing had restarted before speaking.  “I’d better go find out what she knows.”“Be careful!” Marcus stage-whispered to Marius’ back.The Imperial Explorer paused at the curtain and turned back to the Cleric of St. Cuthbert and grinned.  “Relax.  It’s me!”Marcus looked around at the others, “I don’t know about the rest of you but I’m starting to think this wasn’t such a good idea.”Lazarius beat Speaks and Cathal to the retort.  “STARTING?!”The men set about making themselves as comfortable as possible on the hard stone floor.  At one point Speaks noticed a pattern of runes arrayed in a circle near the center of the room.  He regarded them carefully and then drew Lazarius’ attention to them.  “What do you make of these?”The Imperial War Wizard gave them a close look.  “Well, they have a somewhat unusual look to them but I’d guess they had to do with some kind of Summoning or Transportation magic.”  He pulled out a well-traveled wand and waved it over the circle.  “Hmm.  It doesn’t appear intrinsically magical.  So chances are we won’t have any demons popping into the middle of the room as we sleep.  Probably.”  This was of somewhat dubious comfort to the rest of the group but they did their best to settle down to rest anyway.  They desperately needed their sleep if they were going to make it out of here tomorrow.Several hours passed before Marius emerged from Jalena’s bedchamber.  (His player commented that he’d finally gotten some use out of the stupid Endurance feat he’d had to take to qualify as a Royal Explorer)  Cathal was on watch and looked at his companion.  His visage was the very definition of mixed emotions.  “Did you learn anything?”Marius turned and slowly regarded the Brigante as one of his eyebrows crept skyward.“Did you learn anything about the pyramid?” the Fodoran warrior clarified.“I learned all sorts of things.  I’ll fill all of you in after the others wake up.  Have we got any food?  I’m starving!”  Marius cobbled together a sizable meal from the leftovers of the repast the others had shared.  Then he promptly fell asleep on the floor.Cathal shook his head at this strange southerner who had become his friend along this journey that had carried them to Hell.  Hopefully it would carry them back too.  The Brigante suddenly became acutely aware that his back was beginning to ache from sitting too long on the stone.  He stood and walked over to where Marius lay and gathered the last few remaining scraps of food that had gone uneaten.  When in Hell, one always kept one’s eye on where one’s next meal was coming from.As he scooped the last pieces of biscuit and meat into his haversack, he glanced over at where Marius lay sprawled on the floor and thought he saw just the smallest of crimson smudges across the fingers of his right hand.</blockquote>

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