Gnish was laughing as Artimas and Welby entered the low, smoke filled room. Seated around the chamber were Zooky, Bruskin, Malobar (who looked decidely paler than when last Artimas had seen him), Tierak, Higreld, and two people he did not recognize but wore the symbol of Arawn: a gaunt, robed man and a winged dwarf with pronounced demonic features. Zooky waved for them to sit and join the gathering, "Artimas, you're just in time! Gnish was about to tell us what happened after we all dropped dead."
Gnish chuckled again, "Right. Well, the first thing as happened was that scary ghost Artimas keeps around turns to Bruskin and he says, 'Are you victim one or victim two?' Scared us right out of our wits, everyone dying like that and then him turning on us, so we took off running for our lives.
"The Mask gives chase, and he catches up to Bruskin and lunges forward to spear him on his rapier - Bruskin, being hurt real bad from his tango with the driders, closes his eyes and expects to die - and nothing. The rapier just bounced off, didn't even scratch him. In all that excitement he'd forgot that he cast his stoneskin spell, and turns out the Mask couldn't get through it. Good thing Artimas couldn't afford to give him a better weapon.
"Well, the Mask was enraged at that, and howled, and gnashed his teeth, and kept coming. We calmed down a bit and started moving a bit more careful, and the Mask keeps after us, trying to get around and stab at me, but Bruskin keeps movin' and getting in his way, really frustrating him. Then we all stopped as we saw four figures approach - and its Welby with three people I never seen before. On of 'em is this dwarf with bat-like wings, and he pulls out a holy symbol, waves it around and mutters something, and thats the last I saw of the Mask. He disappeared with a wail and never did come back."
Here the winged dwarf cleared his throat and leaned forward, "Actually, the Mask is present amongst us, but hidden and very much under control again."
He stood up and bowed to those assembled, "Greetings! For those I am meeting for the first time, I am called Raak the Breaker. My associate Lassivarius and I were dispatched from the church in Greystone to aid Artimas after having received the letter he sent detailing his quest. Unfortunately, we arrived too late to prevent your deaths.
"We followed a locator spell to Szith Morcane and stumbled upon Welby, weak still from spider venom and mournfully awaiting some sign of his friends. We provided him with an antidote but as we prepared to enter the web the locator spell died, and we knew then that we were searching for a corpse. Still, the locator had indicated that Artemis had been towards the very bottom of the city, and we resolved to make our way to the lowest level and work our way up.
"Proceeding onto the webway, we found resistance from the Drow to be minimal and reached the bottom without any difficulty."
"Minimal resistance once they saw Raak in action," interjected Lassivarius. He stood and nodded, glancing around the room, then introduced himself and began describing what happened next. As Lassivarius spoke Welby closed his eyes, the events of a few days ago replaying in his mind.
*****
Raak had jumped over the side of the cliff and spread his wings, flapping them slowly and circling to the roof of the great cavern, while Welby and Lassivarius set foot upon the web and started down. The remaining Drow were ready for further trouble and responded quickly, sending a hail of bolts at the trio. Welby responded in kind, raising his shortbow and firing at the closest dark elf. The arrow grazed his target and the barbarian smiled; sure enough, the poison he'd milked from the great spider's carcass took effect quickly and the elf staggered and fell prone. The halfling sent a mental command and shadowy fingers emerged from the stone near the stricken elf, nearly invisible, and quickly drained its life away.
Up above, the death knight grinned and folded his wings, dropping like a stone towards a group of warriors rushing the halfling and monk. He slammed into the leading Drow and sent it hurtling off of the web toward the river below, then brought his warhammer across in a wide arc, smashing through a buckler with ease and crushing the ribs of the elf who held it. Meanwhile, Lassivarius reacted by stepping in front of the halfling and knocking a bolt to the side with his hand, then picking up the little warrior and throwing him over one shoulder. "Hang on," he warned, then sprinted down the web at a terrifying pace. The wind seemed to be whistling past Welby's ears quite loudly, and his position offered him a clear view of the long drop below. He swallowed hard and closed his eyes, holding on for dear life.
Raak caught a blow on his shield and at the same time felt a blossoming fire as another dark elf's sword entered his side. He whirled as the Drow pulled back for another strike, catching the swipe on the head of his hammer and shattering his foe's blade. Before the stunned dark elf could recover, a heavy mailed boot shot out and caught it in the midsection, knocking it backwards and off of the web. The Boneguard turned back to his first opponent as he saw Lassivarius speed past. He lowered his head, raised his shield, and charged forward, accepting another stinging hit in the process. The dark elf before him's eyes widened as three hundred pounds of armored dwarf bore down upon it and dove to the side, and then the death knight was airborne again, spreading his wings and diving down, down to the bottom of the web.
By the time the Drow had regrouped, the trio had reached the lowest cave and disappeared from view. Lassivarius put the halfling down and entered first, coming into an apparently abandoned guard post after a short entry tunnel. Welby saw the gaunt man turn and motion that all was clear, then cry out and stagger to the side, blood beginning to well up and fountain from a gash in his side. Welby ran forward to confront the attacker, then stopped as the pale skinned elf turned and -
"Malobar!" Welby exclaimed. "No, stop! He friend!"
The rogue swiveled his head to face the diminutive savage, his eyes flashing red. "Ah, yes, but you see, my dear Welby, I am afraid that I am most certainly not." He smiled, parting lips to expose oversized and razor sharp canines. Welby caught movement and turned to see two dark elves coalesce from the haze slightly off to one side.
"Uh oh," he gulped.
Coming soon: Reunions
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![:]](http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/devious.png "Devious :]")
