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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 3702128" data-attributes="member: 143">Chapter 232A HERO’S GRAVEThe creature hovered a foot above the ground, vague and insubstantial.  It was clearly recognizable as the fallen warrior, however, armed and armored in the gear that was now strewn about his remains.  “Hold your attacks!” Talen urged, even as Dar started forward to engage.  “It could have struck already...”“A friendly ghost, that would be a new one,” Dar muttered, but he held his ground, Valor at the ready.  Talen glanced back and verified that the others were prepared, especially Nelan.  The cleric met his gaze and nodded.  The ghost had made no notice of their presence, although the empty hollows of its eyes seemed to be focused in their general direction.  Talen stepped forward to address it.  “Who are you?”The ghost shifted, slightly, and a look of vague comprehension crossed its face.  “Thou... art real?”  It spoke in an archaic form of the Camarian language, but one which they could clearly understand. “Real enough to blast you into oblivion, spectre,” Dar said.  “Where’s Allera?  What have you done with the others?  What is this place?”The ghost wavered, and Talen shot Dar a cautionary look.  “Spirit... We are from Camar, come to do battle with a great evil.  Who were you, in life?”The ghost seemed to become slightly more distinct as it focused on the knight’s words.  “Camar... Camar... be that one of the kingdoms beyond the sea?”“Great, it’s crazy to boot,” Dar muttered. “We do not know how long it has been here,” Nelan said, coming forward to join them.  “This place, it may have been here for thousands of years.”“Is there a way out of this vault?” Talen asked. A look of grief crossed the spirit’s face.  “No... no escape... I... I starved to death, here.”“Ah, damn,” Dar said. “Why did you come here?” Talen asked. “I... the memories, so... distant... I came... with my companions... to seek the origins of a terrible beast... it decimated the lands, laid waste to Ravalsber...”“Let me guess.  Big red bastard with black eyes?” Dar said. Something flashed in the spirit’s eyes.  “Yes!  Yes!  We slew the monstrosity, tracked it here, to this place...  Celedros deduced a way to open the vault, and we progressed inside, in the traces of the creature...”“Apparently you had about as much luck as we did,” Dar said. “Traps... guardians... misdirections... we overcame them all, but the final guardians... the undead servitors of this place, they defeated us, decimated mine brethren... I alone survived... I sought to flee, but she caught me, banished me to this place... where I drew my last breath...”“Who caught you?” Talen asked. “Amurru,” the ghost replied.  “Ancient... so powerful... devoid of mercy...”“My father...” Mehlaraine said, the words heavy with dread.  Selathas placed a hand on her shoulder, his own face grim. “We’ll find a way out of here,” Shay said.  “There’s air to breathe; there must be a vent or some other access.”  She bent down at the edge of the pool that surrounded the island.  “This water, it’s not hot.  The bubbles must be trapped air coming up from below.”“There would also have to be an egress point, for the air to escape,” Mehlaraine noted.  “Else the pressure would build up, and the bubbles would have stopped.”“Who are you?” Talen asked the spirit again. The spirit paused a moment, as if searching its memory for a nugget of long-lost data.  “In life, I was Mailliw Catspar,” he said at last.  “I was a soldier of the Order of the Dragon, adventurer, traveler of the seven-fold paths.  Many were the foes I battled and defeated in the name of the Light, and the creatures of the under-realms had reason to fear my spear.”“You served the Shining Father?” Nelan asked.  “The god, Soleus?”“Yes...”  The ghost shifted its gaze from Talen, registering the cleric for the first time.  “Yes, holy one... but to my people he was Arad-Uhn, Bringer of the Dawn.” The ghost drifted closer to them, oblivious to the not-so-subtle shift in Dar and Talen as they brought their weapons up in readiness.  But its entire attention was focused upon Nelan now.  “Please... I beg of you, grant me release from this place.  Take my bones from this prison, see that I am buried with the rites of passage...”“Yeah, small problem there,” Dar said.  “If we escape, I give you my word that it shall be done,” Nelan said. The ghost nodded, and disappeared. “Wait, we have more questions!” Talen asked.  “Your questions will be answered,” came a familiar voice from behind them. They turned, and saw Allera standing there, flanked by Honoratius and Alderis.  The healer stood there with an oddly distant expression.  “Allera!” Dar said.  He hurried toward her, but something in her stare stopped him before he could take her in his arms.  His fist tightened around the hilt of his sword, and growled deep in his throat.  Behind her, Alderis moved over to join his daughter and her consort, but Honoratius did not move at all, watching them with intent eyes that missed nothing. For a moment, Dar and Allera shared a deep stare. “What’s wrong?” Shay asked.  She started to move around him, but Dar lowered Valor, blocking her. “Release her,” he said. “What?” Shay asked, but Dar wasn’t looking at her.  His stare had not shifted from Allera.“Dar?” Talen asked.  “I mean no harm to your beloved,” Allera said, in that same voice that was both hers, and not at the same time. “Amurru, I presume,” Nelan said.</blockquote>

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