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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lars Frehse" data-source="post: 446796" data-attributes="member: 1674">A different kind of shade, part 4of4Torn slashed at one of the shadows with his spiked chain, but the weapon passed through, as if the creature wasn't there at all. Then Ben, who had summoned a flameblade before, attacked the same shadow, and this time the humanoid shape shrieked in pain.Meanwhile, as Trepat kept on battling his opponent out in the snow, the necromancer guided his spectral hand, threatening the remaining three heroes inside. Niklas commenced fighting the remaining Slitheren. They both used the terrain for the advantage, jumping on chairs and tables, as they pummeled and kicked each other, but the human was slightly quicker and because he was calmer and more focused, he eventually defeated their last opponent in the room.Torn dropped the chain, seeing his only chance in his magical mace. In order to get to the necromancer, who was standing behind the doorway, they had to defeat the shadows. But this turned out to be harder than it looked. Even though Torn's mace had been enchanted, it still wasn't guaranteed to hurt the undead. Ben was making better progress, however after he got hit, he felt his strength getting drained from his body, and he had trouble supporting his own weight.As Torn fought on, his shield spell kept the shadows at bay, but since he had cast it when he had stormed the house, and since it was destined to expire after just one minute after having been cast, he was in a sticky situation. His shield flickered and disappeared, and the two shadows moved to flank him as the necromancer bellowed a triumphant laughter.By now, however, Ben had engulfed Niklas's fists with magical energy. The halfling went outside to help his elven friend as the monk jumped forward and hit a shadow square in the centre. There was an unearthly scream and the shadow lost it's substance.At last, there was an opening. Dodging the spectral hand, Niklas jumped into the breach and delivered a stunning attack against the mage. Torn, who had been hit by a shadow too, but still retained some of his enormous strength, bashed away at the remaning shadow.Outside, Trepat had managed to defeat the skeleton, just as a new one turned around the corner. Ben came out to aid, but they were both weakened by now and their opponent was still unscathed. He shot his crossbow at the Elf, missing him by an inch, and then as he dropped it to pull out his scimitar, he charged at them.As the halfling and the elf fought desperately outside, the necromancer inside recovered. But before he could complete his spell, his concentration slipped and the monk covered him with a flurry of blows. Staggering and at his wit's end, he guided his spectral hand to attack Niklas one last time, but he missed and collapsed. After all the damage he had received, the strain had been too much at last.At the same time, Niklas and Trepat had defeated the remaining ratman and Torn was done with the shadow. Ben came in and after making sure that the necromancer would live, he took care of his injured friends. Even though he was able to cure the wounds, it was beyond his powers for the moment to give himself or them their lost strength back. However, he was able to assure them that they would regain their full power eventually.After making sure that all enemies were defeated, the adventurers searched the house. There were some simple sleeping rooms, and one room that was fully furnished. In there, they found a chest with several golden statues depicting Corean and his steed, and a holy symbol crafted from ebony and studded with diamonds.Even though these objects weren't magical, they must have been worth a fortune. The materials used were already priceless, and the craftmanship was excellent. After searching a bit more, they discovered a secret compartment with a small note:"Expect small two carriage caravan around sunset today. Hidden among cloth you will find sacral art dedicated to Corean. As usual, leave no witnesses. D."The message was signed with a magical rune. Trepat cast a spell and after a short moment, he uttered the name that belonged to that rune:" Dar' Tan".None of them said anything for a while. Everyone had heard the name before, but all they knew were rumors. Dar' Tan was a dark elf, a race that was rumored to be extinct except for him, and he had once lead an organization called the Penumbral Pentagon that had wanted to destroy Mithril. He had been stopped by Barconius, but escaped. Noone knew much about the motivations of that organization. Some said that they were ultimately using their shadow magic to end all life while others believed that they were continuing the dark machinations of the Slarecians.Whatever the implications were, they had to get in touch with the authorities. Searching the rest of the house, they found carrier pigeons, which they took with them. They disposed of the bodies, once again puzzled about the slitheren with invisible flesh and waited in the main room until the darkness of the night was disposed by the grey light of yet another winter day. Then, they took their findings, their still unconcious hostage and the pigeons and rode back to Mithril.It looked as if they would miss out on the Gravelfists' new years celebration.They reached Mithril in the evening and went directly to Barconius. Upon hearing that hisarch enemy was active again, he smashed his fist down at his desk:" I knew it. I will have that rune checked. Unless this is a fake, this means we have definite proof that Dar' Tan is still as alive and as active as he ever had been before!""You see, at the ball, Khelarian Asuras took me and Emili Derigesh into one of the side rooms. There, under six eyes he told us that his house wanted to make a gift to the city of Mithril. I think he is still worried that we will kick them out after the incident at Mullis Town. Anyway, he told us that several icons will be brought in a small two carriage caravan, hidden among more mundane articles."He then took care of the Necromancer, but all the captive said was that Dar' Tan will take revenge eventually. Barconius had him taken to the dungeon and after a while both Emili Derigesh and Khelarian Asuras arrived in spite of the late hour.Khelarian was certain that noone in the organization could have possibly been the leak of information, since he himself had received the news about the gift from his grandfather on the day of the ball. He wasn't willing to say just how he had received the information, but he assured them that it had been direct, and there were no middlesmen involved.Likewise, neither Barconius nor Emili Derigesh had told anyone about the pieces of sacral art just yet. So, the only way anybody could have possibly found out about the valuable freight was at the ball itself. After all, the writer of the message even knew the exact time when the small caravan would be close to the raider's camp. Even if the informer would have hailed from Mullis Town, he wouldn't have been able to give such a precise estimation of time.Since they were already involved, Ben decided to talk to the pigeons on the next day. Maybe they would be able to tell them where in Mithril they had their home. Likewise they would check Barconius' manor and the room where Asuras had told them about the gift.But for now, a well deserved night of rest was waiting for the heroes. The way things looked, there would be more than enough to do on the next day.</blockquote>

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