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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lars Frehse" data-source="post: 1119153" data-attributes="member: 1674">Vacation- part 1Looking up to the merciless sun above them, Ben once again silently cursed himself under his breath- after all, there was no reason at all for him to be here in the Festering fields.He thought back to when the latest follies had started. It was back in the Hornsaw forest, in the camp of the Butterflies. Trepat and he had already decided that they would return to the Ganjus and go to Vera Tre. This way, Trepat would be able to look for his relatives among the elves there, and Ben could talk to his fellow incarnates, possibly even their leader.However, one night a couple of days ago, they were settled around a cosy campfire, and Niklas and Torn had been studying a map of Ghelspad the monk carried around with him at all times. They were silently talking to each other, apparently discussing something on the map, and Ben didn't pay them much heed and looked up to the stars instead, enjoying the tranquillity of the summer night.After a while, Torn called out for Ben, Jan and Trepat to join them, and when everyone had gathered around the map next to the crackling fire, Torn pointed the big and fleshy index-finger of his right hand to a spot on the map. At first, Ben didn't see what the orc was pointing at, and instead studied the cracks in the halforc’s dirty fingernail, but then Torn announced: "Hollowfaust!", and Ben saw that it was really the city of Necromancers Torn had been pointing at."You see" Torn explained "If we follow down the Hornsaw and then turn westwards, we will get there in no time at all. We had never been as close to this place before as we are now, and that would be a perfect opportunity."Ben wanted to ask why they would possibly want to go to a city that was mostly populated by skeletons and other undead, but just as he was about to speak up, Ben said:" My teacher, Brother William, should still be there, as well. At the time when we left Durrover, he had been sent there by my monastry, and I would like to see him again after these years."A breeze came up and it blew thick smoke from the fire into their direction, forcing them all to take a few steps to the right. "Alright, then" Trepat said "I had been waiting forty years to see my family, so I guess I can wait a few weeks more. I will come with you".Ben looked to Jan, hoping that at least the Paladin would want to return to Mithril as soon as possible, but the human just said:" That's fine with me. I heard they are lawful there, so it should be a nice place".Seeing that it looked like the issue was decided, Ben merely sighed and shrugged then, and on the next morning they were on the way along the banks of the Broadreach river.On the map, the distance they had to travel through the cursed forest looked small indeed, however, in reality, it had taken them eleven days to reach the edge of the forest. Eleven days in which they had been attacked by all sorts critters, for example living plants, like shambling mounds or a tendrilous, which had swallowed up both Jan and his horse, before it had been hacked to pieces and the half-digested horse and human were liberated.Then, when they had reached the edge of the forest and entered a little swamp, they had settled down for the night. Ben had been woken up rudely that night, and later Niklas had told him what had happened before that.Late at night, when a black blanket of clouds covered the moon and the stars, Niklas, who hardly needed to sleep, and his brother Jan had been on watch. The hours crawled by, and nothing happened, until the brothers noticed two glowing lights dancing gently over the moor in front of them."Looks fishy to me", Niklas said after they had been observing the lights for a little while.Jan nodded and rose to his feet. As he wrapped his right hand around the hilt of his sword which was still in it's scabbard he stepped forward and casually said over his shoulder:" Yes. I will go and take a look."Niklas nodded, and by the time he had realized just what his brother was about to do, Jan was already wading through the swamp and all the monk saw was the back of his brother's fullplate as he headed towards the lights."Stop", Niklas called, but his brother was already on his way, and he paid no heed to his smarter brother. At least, Jan's exceptional luck lasted for as long as he was wading through the muck, since he always stepped on the firmer ground.Eventually, he stood in front of the two lights, which were hanging in the air in front of him, and nothing happened. Just as he thought that maybe he was seeing a strange natural phenomenon, and wanted to turn around, arches of light and electricity shot out of the balls and hit him, almost frying him in his armour.A moment later, he had his sword in his hand and he was swinging at one of the will o' wisps, as Niklas shouted for the others to wake up. And that was when Ben had been rudely woken up. He too got up, and as he saw the Paladin fighting in the swamps, he entertained the notion of not aiding him for a short moment. Then, however, he stepped forward and joined the fray.After a while, with the aid of everyone of them, they had defeated the will o' wisps, even though they almost killed Jan, and now, on the second day after that night, they were riding into the rising sun, and Ben once again shook his head. After all, he could be in the cool shades of gentle Vera Tre right now, instead of swallowing dust with every breath.They had decided to move through the hot festering fields at night and set camp during the unbearably hot day, but since the nights were rather short, they left the camp in the late afternoon, when the air around them was noticeably cooling down and rode until shortly before noon when the desert around them exploded in heat.Every now and then, especially at nights, they encountered the residents of the Festering Fields. Skeletons, Zombies and Ghouls seemed to be everywhere, crawling out of the fissures in the ground, coming at them over the hills and dunes and attacking the friends seemingly at random. Fortunately, none of their undead opponents seemed to have any kind of organization, and so they were little more than a nuisance for the seasoned adventurers.On their fourth morning in the plains, they finally saw the sloped shape of the Faust to the north of them. The volcano was calm that day, and only the faintest orange glow in it's crater indicated that it was alive. At it's foot lay Hollowfaust, the city of the necromancers, shielded from the outside world by 30 feet thick walls.They approached the only gate that lead into the city, where they were eyed and questioned by the guards posted there. When the guards were finally content, they gave the adventurers a short introduction regarding the laws and rules of the city. One law especially caught their attention: If anyone lost his life within the city walls, the city would become the legal owners of said bodies."We should be extra-careful here", Torn said as they passed through the massive gate and entered the city. „I have gotten rather fond of my body."</blockquote>

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