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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Wicht" data-source="post: 498207" data-attributes="member: 221">Chapter 21– Brightstone KeepDawn came and with it healing.  Tilliana tended to the remaining wounds from the previous evening and then they set about breaking camp.  Or at least Kall and Tilliana set about breaking camp.  Jozz, who had decided to claim the troll’s chain shirt was busy trying to get the smell of Troll out of it.  Tilliana had determined the shirt, like the ring the troll was wearing, had some magic in it and Jozz thought a magical chain shirt would be worth owning.  But no matter how he scrubbed it, it still smelled of the troll.“Here,” said Tilliana with a smile after she had let Jozz work at it a while.  She uttered a small prayer under her breath and then grasped the chain shirt.  Almost immediatelly the grime disappeared and it sparkled as if new.  Furthermore, its insidious odor was gone.“Wow, thank you Tilliana,” said Jozz amazed.“You are welcome,” said Tilliana, “now why don’t you help us clean up the camp site a bit.”“We should leave the caltrops and rope where they are,” said Kall, “In case anybody else attacks the camp here.”“But we need to go back to the keep,” said Jozz.“Oh, right, well in that case I guess we should pick them up.”They gathered up their equipment, stripped the orcs of their armor and weapons and then piled up the bodies.  Finally they were done.“Let’s go adventure and let’s find Sawtooth,” said Kall“He might be in the other tower,” said Jozz.“The other tower?” asked Kall.“You know, the third tower in the keep, the one we did not clear out.”“We might have already killed Sawtooth,” said Tilliana, thinking of the trolls in particular.She went to where the orcs were laying and muttering a prayer she touched one on the head.“Where is Sawtooth,” asked Tilliana in the merchant tongue.The orc’s lifeless jaw opened and out came the dead reply, “He sleeps in the mines.”“How would I know Sawtooth if I saw him?” asked Tilliana.Once more the dead corpse replied, “He wields a fearsome scythe and raises the dead.”“Is Sawtooth alive?” Jozz asked the dead orc.“Can I talk to the troll?” asked Kall.“The spell is over,” said Tilliana, “and besides we burned the troll, there are no remains to talk to.”“Oh, yeah.”“Can you only do that once a day?” asked Kall“Yes, if I prepare it at dawn, or at least I can do it once for each time I prepare it at dawn when Naemae gives me renewed spiritual strength.”Tilliana mulled over what the dead orc had said concerning the possibility of Sawtooth raising the dead.“We burn the orcs,” she announced.They headed back towards the keep when Tilliana was satisfied the orcs were not going to be raised as zombies, skeletons or anything else.  As they rode near the keep they saw no guards atop the towers this time.  Despite the absence of visible threats they still tied their horses away from the keep and walked the rest of the way.  No-one and nothing challenged them and they entered the first tower.  The towers smelled of orc but no orcs could be found.  Even the bodies from the day before had disappeared.  “What happened to them,” asked Jozz.“He probably raised them,” said Tilliana.They searched and looted all three towers and then turned their attentions to the rest of the keep.  They descended out of the third tower into the keep yard.  Two large buildings were connected to the keep wall to the north.  In the southern half of the yard, a large roofed area seemed suited for the storage of wagons and horses.  In the center of the keep yard was a well.  Emerging from the well were two heavy chains.  They appeared to be made to tether something but nothing was attached to the chains.“I am going to look in those buildings,” said Jozz.“Do you want to be ambushed?” asked Tilliana.“No.”“Then stay with us, its safer together.  Don’t split up.”“Ok, lets all go see whats in those buildings then.”“Ok.”The buildings smelled of troll but there were no trolls left in the buildings.  There were people but they were not a threat.  In both buildings, sorted into various rooms, an assortment of captives lay chained.   They looked to be physically weak and somewhat malnourished.  There were humans, dwarves, gnomes, halflings and even an elf.  But the majority of the prisoners were goblins, doubtlessly from the mountains.  Jozz was able to pick the locks and they loosed all of the captives from their chains, even the goblins.  As he did this, Tilliana worked to comfort and question the captives and Kall gathered together two chests worth of assorted coins.  Excepting the goblins, the captives were eager to talk.  The orcs and the trolls it appeared had been making them work in the mines.  There they quarried crystals and gems for the orcs and their boss.“Would that be Sawtooth?” asked Jozz.“Yes,” said one of the captives, “that is his name.  He is a foul worshiper of the harvester and can kill with a touch.  He is surrounded with skeletons and zombies and they would mind us as we worked for him.”  As the three companions conversed with the former captives, Tilliana noticed that the goblins were not involving themselves in the conversation.  Instead they were slyly easing their way towards the door which led out of the building.  “Stop right there!” said Tilliana to the goblins.  The goblins sheepishly obeyed.“We are here to kill Sawtooth,” Kall said to the captives.“Do any of you want to help us?” asked Tilliana.“We are farmers and simple laborers,” complained one of the men, “We do not want to fight the dead.”“I can point out the mine entrance,” volunteered one of the men, “but I do not wish to enter those dark corridors again if I need not.”“You can leave then,” Kall said to the assembled captives, “We will fight and kill Sawtooth for you.”Hearing permission to leave the goblins bolted for the door.“Thank you for freeing us,” said the elf, “We are not fighters but we are thankful for what you have done.  We will journey to Terfiindel where we will tell of what you have done and maybe we will meet you there soon.”“We will be back there soon,” said Tilliana confidently.The mine entrance was not hard to find.  A well traveled path led straight from the keep to the large cavernous opening in the cliff wall behind the keep.  The three adventurers  made there way towards the mine entrance where they immediately noticed the large iron gate just past the opening.  It appeared to be locked.  “No problem,” said Jozz and he pulled out his lockpicks, “I can open this.”Soon enough the lock opened and Jozz proudly swung open the gate.  Beyond it was dark.  They stared for a moment into the darkness.“Tilliana!” said both of the boys at the same time.“How about a light!” said Kall.“Yeah, that magic light thing you can do,” said Jozz.“It’s not prepared.  I did not plan on using it this morning and did not prepare it.  Don’t you have torches?”“No, I have candles,” said Jozz.“Don’t you have a torch?” Kall asked Tilliana.“No, you don’t have anything?”“Wait, I guess I do have an oil lamp,” said Kall and he shrugged off his backpack to pull it out.They lit the lamp and entered through the gate.  The mine tunnel was wide and smooth from years of miners traveling through it.  The walls were fairly smooth and every few feet wooden supports helped hold up the ceiling of rock.  The entrance tunnel stretched out for some distance until at last the tunnel split.  A “y” in the tunnel led to the left and the right.“Which way?” asked Tilliana.  She and Kall were in the lead, Jozz followed behind them.“I hear something coming,” said Jozz, readying his crossbow.“Sounds like something clicking on the stone,” said Kall and he set the oil lamp on the stone.“I don’t hear anything…” began Tilliana.“There they are,” said Jozz and he fired his crossbow over Kall’s shoulder.  The bolt sailed into the darkness, and they heard it bouncing off the stone wall of the mine.  Kall gripped his ax and then Tilliana heard it too, the sound of bones rapidly striking the rock.The three skeletons charged into the lamp light from the right hand passage.  They bore no weapons but their eye sockets glowed with an unholy light.  One ran at Tilliana, its claws futily striking at her armor.   Another scratched at Kall, drawing blood.  Kall retaliated by smashing it apart with his ax.  Jozz, letting his crossbow drop to his side, drew his dagger and charged forward at the third skeleton.  He scratched it and then ducked underneath its claws and out and away from its reach.  Its bony fingers scrapped across his leather armor.  Tilliana evaded the reach of the first skeleton once more and then brought her heavy sword up and then down, literally tearing the skeleton apart.  Kall leaped forward and did the same to the skeleton trying to claw at Jozz.  “I say we go down after the skeletons,” said Jozz.“Let’s go this way,” argued Kall pointing to the left hand passage.“I say we go after the skeletons,” said Tilliana, “Down the right hand passage.”Outvoted, Kall smiled and shrugged and picking up the lamp he once more led the way through the dark mine.  They were more alert now though, bracing themselves for another attack.  A short ways further and they spied a chest on the side of the mine tunnel.  It was a stout wooden chest and it was locked.“Jozz,” said Tilliana.“I can open it, no problem.”“It might be trapped,” chided Tilliana as Jozz hunched down to look at the lock.Jozz searched it over.“I don’t see any traps,” he said, “I can look again though.”“Just open it then,” said Tilliana impatiently.Jozz inserted a lockpick into the lock and giving it a twist he popped opent he lock.  Opening the chest Jozz gazed in.  Tilliana looked over his left shoulder with interest and Kall lifted the lamp for better illumination.  Inside the chest was filled with raw gemstones, uncut and unpolished.  Still, they sparkled in the fire light.Tilliana stood and thought.“Might as well leave the chest here.  We can get it easy enough on our way out.”Jozz closed the chest and relocked it.  Then with Kall leading the way with the oil lamp, they made their way further down the tunnel.  They did not notice that there was a room in front of them until they were almost in it.  The dim light of the oil lamp only let them see about fifteen feet forward.  One moment the tunnel closed in on either side of them and then the next, they found the tunnel ending and in front a wide expanse of stone floor.  They could not see any walls, just the floor and the ceiling of stone.  And then they saw the walking corpses to either side.A voice called out into the darkness from somewhere in front of them, “W’ash kulling targkit!” and then the zombies lurched at them.  One of them swung at Tilliana and another at Kall and two more of the foul things stumbled forward into the lamp-light.Jozz, behind his brother, readied his dagger and looked for an opportunity to rush forward.  Kall, in a moment of panic, ducked away from the zombie attacking him and threw his lamp at it.  The lamp burst and flames engulfed the zombie, illuminating the room, revealing an orcish looking figure on the other side of the room holding a large black scythe.  The flaming zombie swung a fiery fist at Kall who moved aside to avoid it and was subsequently punched by one of the other zombies.The orc moved a step back, further into the shadows and spoke a powerful divine word, pointing at Kall.  The muscles in Kall’s body froze and he stood still as a statue as the two zombies moved in for the kill.  Tilliana, keeping her wits, held up her divine focus and as she moved away from the dangerous dead fists of a zombie she prayed to Naemae and golden light shone forth from the eye of her focus.  With a hoarse scream the zombie in front of her started to bubble and then it collapsed into a dead heap on the ground.  The other three zombies did likewise.  But as the flaming zombie collapsed tot he ground, the flames covering it’s body went out.  The room was plunged into blackness.Jozz, thinking quick, pulled out a flask of oil and poured it into a depression on the ground.  Then grabbing his flint and steel he quickly struck a spark.  A fire blaze up from the oil, illuminating a portion of the tunnel and room.They could not see the orc now, but they could hear him.  He chanted out in a strong harsh voice and suddenly, in the air in front of Tilliana there appeared a grotesque flying head.  Strange tentacles squirmed from the neck’s head and large bat wings propelled it.  The head let out a piercing shriek, a shriek that would have scared the daylights out of the majority of men.Undaunted Tilliana held aloft her silk focus and once more the divine light of Naemae poured forth.  But it washed over the strange flying head without affect.Bravely, Jozz rushed forth into the room, dagger drawn and he stabbed at the hideous thing.  His dagger cut true and as suddenly as it had appeared, the head vanished.A rock flew out of the darkness and struck Jozz.  Tilliana strained to see the attacker but she could not.  She muttered a prayer to Naemae and holding up her focus, another beam of light shot forth.  But this one was more focused, a searing light that sped through the room and struck a wall on the other side.  For a brief moment the whole room was illuminated and they saw the orc for a second once more.  But the beam, which Tilliana had tried to aim at the orc, had missed him.Jozz, once more thinking quickly reached back and pulled out a candle from his backpack.  Then he ran back to the burning patch of oil and lit the candle wick.The orc called out from the darkness in the merchant tongue, “Quench!”Jozz felt a sudden compulsion to put out the candle, but he fought it.  Tilliana, not seeing her enemy and feeling frustrated prayed.“Naemae, give me strength.”Jozz, carefully holding his candle to protect the flame, ran out towards where he had last heard the orc’s voice.  The orc appeared in the dim candlelight to the right of Jozz.  His scythe was poised and the orc looked mad.“May the Harvester’s black fury take you!” screamed the orc and he stepped forward and cleaved into Jozz with the heavy blade.  There was a flash of blackness and Jozz felt ill.  He fell to the ground, somehow managing to keep the candle from extinguishing.  The orc raised its scythe and brought it down at Jozz who barely managed to roll out of the way.  But Tilliana had a target now.  With a shout she charged forward at the orc and her great sword cleaved through the air.  The orc barely managed to roll away from the attack, but still a part of Tilliana’s blade found its mark.  On the floor of the room, Jozz, every fiber of his body hurting, wedged the candle into the ground and then slowly moved away from the fight.The orc cried out in rage and swung at Tilliana.  Tilliana managed to catch the blade with her sword, but still the impact jarred her and the scythe blade’s tip pressed into her arm.  Tilliana pushed forward with her sword and then brought it around and into the orc.  More of the orc’s blood flowed.  A fierce cry sounded from the entrance to the room and Kall charged forward, his axe swinging.  The orc’s dark energy had worn off and he could move once more.  Kall rushed the orc and before the orc could properly defend himself, Kall brought his axe down with tremendous energy on the orc’s head.  The orc gave a cry and sank to its knees.  Tilliana, paused and then with a deadly aim brought her sword around and decapitated the prone orc.Weakly Jozz sat up and stared at the other two.  He let out a groan.“So that I take it,” said Tilliana as she headed over to heal Jozz, “was Sawtooth.”</blockquote>

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