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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Rel" data-source="post: 1900828" data-attributes="member: 99">Marcus and Marius stood a silent watch.  There seemed little to say at this point and the few attempts at conversation by Marcus were uncharacteristically left alone by Marius.  Their Everburning Torches cast a flickering light across the room leaving shadows in the lees of their sleeping companions.  Marius thought for a moment that his eyes were growing tired as he saw one of these shadows seem to deepen and spread but a moment experienced simultaneous revelation and pain.  It wasn’t fatigue or imagination.The Damning Darkness enveloped all of them and the sleepers were immediately awakened by the prickling pain that enveloped them.  Lazarius didn’t even hesitate as he rolled instantly from his pallet and made himself Invisible before he was fully on the stone floor.The two men on guard moved to flank the entrance to the room, fearing an attack by the Blue Demoness and more Ogres.  Speaks put his back to the rear wall of the room and peered up the darkening hallway to see what they would be confronted with.  The badly wounded Albius attempted to rise from his bedroll but never made it to his feet as he was overcome by pain.  Cathal jumped to his feet and drew his sword in one smooth motion, ready to charge any enemy that presented itself.  A breath later one did.Marius could not quite make out the details of the man as he was obscured by the shadows filling the room but his rapier struck home regardless and dealt a minor wound.  He struck again as the black form moved out of his reach but his blade seemed to pass through the foe without making contact.  The Imperial Explorer was forced for a moment to entertain the idea that his strike had simply missed.But this idea was dispelled as he watched Marcus strike the form squarely and then stagger forward as his swing passed directly through the shadow-man.  Cathal added confusion to the matter by charging forward and delivering a blow that seemed to strike and cause damage.  Marius was about to call out his observations when the room seemed to suddenly fill with more of the shadowy foes.They seemed to simply emerge from the shadows in all direction and begin striking at any within reach.  Marius and Cathal managed to avoid the first few blows but the less agile Marcus fell victim to a flurry of them.  As each shadowy strike landed he felt his mind and body weaken.  A moment later Marius was subjected to the same sensations as another pair of Shadowmen emerged from the darkness to assault him.  Another of the attackers halted in the entryway and a ray of blackness shot from its arm, striking Speaks and weakening him.Lazarius suddenly sprang into view as a blast of Lightning flew from his hands and struck a half dozen of their assailants as well as Marcus.  The Shield of St. Cuthbert felt like his teeth would explode as his jaw clenched involuntarily at the sudden jolt of electricity.  As to whether it significantly harmed the Shadowmen he could not know.Speaks shrank and sprouted wings and his hawk-form flew toward the entrance to try and see if other attackers followed these but he could not pierce the veil of darkness that surrounded them, continuing to cause them pain at every moment.  As he did so he saw Marius strike twice at one of his foes but could not be sure whether they found purchase on the ethereal Shadowman.  But he did see Cathal’s blade lodge itself in one of them if only briefly, only to see him follow with a second strike that passed through his foe harmlessly.  Clearly the shifting, ephemeral nature of these creatures made physical attacks far from certain.As Speaks continued to flutter just above the fray, he saw Marcus raise his mace and call to his deity to Turn away these creatures of darkness.  Two of them seemed to falter and attempt to flee.  Speaks swooped and his claw seemed to mildly scratch one of them in passing.  Cathal on the other hand sent his bastard sword blasting through the other and the shreds of darkness that composed it drifted away like wisps of smoke.  He spun from the momentum of his strike and managed to land another powerful blow on one of the swarm of Shadowmen that surrounded them.Two more of the creatures moved in on Lazarius and attacked him, sapping him of his physical strength.  He could feel the weight of his own body pushing down heavily on him and recalled too clearly the tales that Speaks had told him of the fate of Raven the dwarven Cleric.  More of the creatures swarmed around Marcus and Cathal, striking through their armor and with each chilling touch draining more of their strength and will.Lazarius stepped back from his attackers and loosed another blaze of crackling blue electricity.  He managed to destroy one of the Shadowmen that faced him but his bolt seemed to have no effect on the others caught by its blast.Within the swirling darkness of the melee, Marius struck out again in desperation but managed only a feeble strike at one of his foes.  But Cathal and Marcus both connected hard enough to drive the unlife force from a foe, cutting their numbers down a bit.  They now only faced two of them as well as the Shadowmage who continued to shoot black beams of weakness at Speaks and now Lazarius.  Thankfully few of these had connected.Just as the party seemed sure of victory, it was theirs.  All the remaining Shadowmen vanished into the surrounding walls and floor.  But the piercing pain of the darkness remained and none of the others felt that they had seen the last of their shadowy enemies…</blockquote>

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