Lazybones
Adventurer
The rod was the "short, battered crowbar of lusterless gray metal" that they found in the ogre horde on level 4. Varo did not discern its function until after they left Rappan Athuk.javcs said:
I think it was just a regular hit, maybe crit with a few points of PA added on. The priest was already pretty beat up at that point.
That might not be necessary...
* * * * *
Chapter 101
SUFFERING AND LOSS
The dead cleric remained standing at a sharp angle over the altar, pinning Varo in place. Talen appeared over his shoulder, heaving at the body, which still refused to move. “I can’t... he’s stuck somehow.”
“One moment, captain,” Varo said. He reached down and reclaimed his immovable rod, touching the button again to disengage its power. Once it was deactivated, the dead priest slid easily to the side, landing on the ground in a loud clatter of metal.
Talen helped Varo to his feet. Dar was there, his club covered with pieces of what had been inside the Orcus priest’s head. The fighter swayed back and forth, and looked barely better off than the dead priest.
“Those extra vials of cure light wounds you insisted we each carry made the difference,” Talen said to Varo. “Shay was able to bring Dar and myself around in time to help you. But we’re all in pretty bad shape.”
Varo nodded absently to the captain. The cleric’s head felt as though a dozen dwarves were excavating inside of it, but he fought through the pain, and walked over to where Malerase lay sprawled out on the ground.
“Yeah, I’m fine, don’t mind me,” Dar said.
“He lives,” Varo said with relief. He took out his healing wand, and began channeling healing power into the stricken elf. After a moment, the elf groaned and stirred.
“Zosimos and Valus are both dead,” Shay reported, coming over to join them.
“Can you restore them to life, priest?” Talen asked.
Varo shook his head. “That sphere, whatever it was, consumed their souls. I... I will make an effort, but I do not believe that it will be successful.”
Dar turned and walked away, ignoring Varo’s proffered wand. The others watched as he walked over to where Allera’s body lay. Drawing his dagger, the mercenary cut her bonds, and laid her out gently upon the stone.
Varo came to stand behind him.
“I am going to kill every last one of those bastards,” Dar said. “Do you hear me, Varo?”
“I hear you,” the cleric said. “You need healing. You can barely stand, and this place is not safe.”
“Leave me alone.”
“Did you mean what you just said? You cannot avenge her, if you are dead.”
After a few moments of silence, Dar stood. Without turning to face the priest, he said, “Do it.” He waited while Varo poured healing energy from his wand into his body. Some of the wounds he’d taken—more specifically, the heavy blows he’d taken from the clay golem—seemed to resist the effects of the wand, but as the blue glow faded into him, he grew visibly stronger. Varo cast one of his own few remaining healing spells on the fighter, which did appear to help more. During the minute or so that it took Varo to complete his work, neither Dar’s expression nor the look in his eyes changed. When Varo was done, he walked away without a word.
Varo looked down at Allera’s body. He shook his head, and started to turn away, but hesitated. Kneeling beside her, he bent and recovered something lying close against her chest, pinned under a scorched remnant of what had been clothing.
The cleric stared intently at the green gemstone, and the two points of flickering light that glimmered faintly deep within. When he heard Dar coming back, he tucked it into a pocket, and rose to help Talen and Shay with their other fallen companions.
Once Varo had healed their wounds, the five surviving companions quickly and efficiently searched the rest of the temple area. For the moment, they laid the bodies of Allera, Zosimos, and Valus, covered with cloaks, in a quiet, shadowed corner.
The place seemed less oppressive with the absence of the crystal sphere, but none of them felt comfortable lingering here. The room quickly began to stink of death, with the bodies of over a dozen men scattered about, not to mention the vile wreckage of the fallen glabrezu. Varo collected some magical equipment from the bodies of the temple’s defenders, and took a few items from Valus as well, including his healing wands. He gave Zosimos’s arcane wands over to the custody of Malerase, instructing him to use them freely if they were attacked again.
Shay and Talen found two doors that exited the temple. One led to a small chamber crowded with hundreds of skeletons, a grim burial mound. The other led to a small chamber with beds and footlockers for a half-dozen people. After their misadventures the last time they explored living quarters of the priests of Orcus, they elected to leave that room for now. Neither of the two rooms had any other exits.
Dar and Malerase had checked the rest of the temple area, and secured the main doors as best they could. As they closed the heavy iron portals, Dar had lingered for a long minute, staring down the dark corridor that led back into the complex. But ultimately, he closed them, driving several iron spikes into the tight gap between the doors and the floor with his club.
Once they had completed their search, the five of them gathered again at the bodies of their fallen companions. Varo had remained there, examining several objects, and casting spells. He’d removed the evil cleric’s plate armor, which he said radiated a potent magic, but for the moment they left that in a pile nearby, along with several other items of potential importance.
“Well?” Dar asked.
“We have done what we came to do,” Talen said. “We must return to Camar.”
“And let those bastards get away with this?” Dar said, gesturing to the cloak that covered Allera’s body. He roughly kicked the garment back, revealing the woman’s mangled head and upper body.
“Dar, please,” Shay said.
“We have several choices open to us,” Varo said. “But first, we must verify that Allera and the others are beyond our help.”
“I thought you said that their souls had been consumed by that orb,” Talen said.
“I saw a radiant mist drawn from the bodies of those slain, both enemies and allies alike, and drawn into the sphere,” Varo said. “But for the sake of our friends, we must eliminate all doubt.”
“How do we do that?” Shay asked.
“I would recommend a commune,” the cleric replied. “I will need to rest, and prepare in a safe place. Well, relatively safe, anyway. Then I can petition Dagos for guidance.”
“What are our other options?” Talen asked. “You said that there were several choices.”
Varo indicated a pair of scrolls, one taken from Valus, the other from the enemy high priest. “Both of these scrolls contain a word of recall," he said. "The spell is a potent one; it instantly returns the caster to a prepared sanctuary, over any distance. Valus was not powerful enough to cast the spell, but he could read the scroll; I presume it returns the caster to the sanctum of the Holy Father in the Great Cathedral in Camar.”
“Can you take others with you?” Talen asked. “What about the bodies of our fallen?”
“Unfortunately, the spell is not powerful enough to take all of us,” Varo said. “I can bring three people with me; I suppose each of you could take a body, if you are strong enough to carry it.”
“We don’t leave people behind,” Shay said. She didn’t look at Talen, but a momentary spasm of guilt passed across his face at her words, as the memory of her being carried away by the river trolls under Rappan Athuk stabbed at him.
“What about the other scroll?” Malerase asked quietly.
“It would take the caster to the enemy high priest’s private sanctuary, I would presume,” Varo said.
“And there is no way of knowing where that is?” Talen asked.
“I would guess that it is in a place that would be not entirely... friendly.”
The captain glanced at Dar, who stood with his hands crossed over his chest, silent but with eyes as cold as icicles.
“What about the river tunnel?” Talen asked.
“I can recover my water walk spell at the same time that I prepare my commune,” Varo said. “If it happens that our best option is flight, then I will be prepared to take us out.”
“It will be difficult, carrying these bodies,” Shay said. “We can put Allera into the bag of holding, but it can only hold a single person.”
“Malerase has a spell in his book that can create a disk of magical force,” Varo said. “It can help us bear the burden.”
“We should find a secure place to turtle up and rest,” Talen said. “Perhaps then we can...”
He trailed off, his eyes widening in surprise as he looked beyond Varo. Shay’s hand had dropped to the hilt of her sword, and Malerase had dropped back a step.
Varo turned to see Dar standing there, his sword held to within an inch of the cleric’s throat.
“I think it’s time you cut the crap, priest, and gave us the straight story,” the fighter said. “Or so help me, I’m going to cut your freaking head off right here.”
![:]](http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/devious.png "Devious :]")
