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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 3719065" data-attributes="member: 143">Chapter 237RETURN TO THE FIRST TEMPLEDar drew a rag along the length of Valor, cleaning off bits of gore that hadn’t sloughed off the magical blue steel.  “How many, do you think, Selanthas?”The elf scanned the room.  “Thirty seven.  By the stench, I would estimate that approximately three-quarters were ghasts.”  “Not a bad day’s work,” Dar said, sheathing the blade.  He looked over at Talen, who was returning from the far side of the room.  “Any more signs of that wraith-mage?”  “Nelan said it was a spectre,” the knight said. “Whatever.  You think it’ll come back?”“I won’t assume either way.  Help get these bodies clear; we’re going to be here for a while.  Nelan says it will take a full day, twenty-four hours, to hallow the temple.”Dar grimaced; the undead that were scattered across the floor were even more repulsive now than they had been when they’d been alive.  Smoke still rose from some of them, where the mage’s spells had seared them.  “Well, it was much easier than the last time we were here, no?”Talen nodded absently, and looked around.  Objectively, there wasn’t much apparent change in the first temple of Orcus since their last visit.  The place was dominated now, as before, by the tall platform in the center, suspended above a pit of glowing lava atop four slender and treacherous stone staircases.  In the back of the room there was a large statue of Orcus, but it seemed less malevolent now, especially since Dar had stolen the gemstones it had had for eyes last time.  The fact that they were all more or less intact this time might have also had something to do with it; on their last trip here several of them had been on the brink of death after they’d only just barely overcome the mixed human and demonic defenders of the temple.  Alderis stood quietly, staring up at the platform.  Mehlaraine and Selanthas shared a look as they dragged a roasted ghoul over to the side of the room, but they did not approach him.  Perhaps they sensed that he needed a moment’s space, as he confronted a particularly traumatic memory, reduced to a haze through magic and time, but not fully forgotten. Allera and Shay were talking to Nelan, who was standing near the edge of the lava pit, gesturing with his hands.  Probably working out the details of his spell.  Dar knew that their ultimate success depended on destroying these temples, in sundering whatever foul magic gave the demon lord his power on this plane.  He didn’t understand the details, and he didn’t want to know.  But he also realized that the light resistance they’d had thus far would only grow stronger as the demon rallied its forces against this latest intrusion into its lair.Orcus was not going to go down without a fight.“We have been fortunate, thus far.”Dar turned and saw Letellia, putting his thoughts into words.  For a moment he wondered if the sorceress had been reading his mind, but then realized that they all had to be thinking the same thing.  “It’ll get harder,” he said.  He reached down and grabbed a pair of ghasts by the ankles, dragging them over to the small heap gathering on the side of the chamber.  Dar had suggested just tossing the undead into the lava, but Talen had vetoed that idea, concerned that the fumes from the burning creatures might foul the air in the chamber.  Already the pit was putting off a considerable plume of ash and fumes, enough so that it made the head swim to stand too near to it for more than a few moments.  Fortunately there were cracks and crevices in the rough ceiling above them, allowing most of the toxic gases to depart.  Even so, they had set up their camp as far from the pit as they could, without leaving the room. Letellia was watching him.  “You fight... with great conviction.”Dar cracked a grin.  He wondered what she’d been about to say before she’d caught herself.  “You did pretty well yourself.  The archmage... well, he’s got some pretty impressive magic, but you can make with the fire and lightning on your own.”“My powers are trivial in comparison to his,” the sorceress demurred.  But she seemed to take pleasure in the compliment. Despite Talen’s pushing them, it had taken them several hours to get here, well beyond the time that Honoratius could remain in possession of Letellia’s body.  They had lingered a bit over the river, eager to cleanse away the worst of the blood and filth from their latest encounter with the dung monster.  There had been no sign of the wererats that had populated the tunnels in the river cavern on their first visit, and no other creatures had taken up occupancy in the space since then.  Given the proximity of the dung monster, that was perhaps understandable. On their last expedition through that first level of the dungeon, they had traveled along the river to the second temple of Rappan Athuk, on a mission to rescue Allera from the clutches of the cult of Orcus.  This time, they took the stairs down to the second level.  They had been alert for new guardians, but the level was quiet, closed off from the rest of the dungeon complex by a series of collapses.  Some of those disruptions had been precipitated by the Doomed Bastards on earlier visits.  But this level remained the best route to the first temple, and so they had devised a plan to reopen one of the exits.  It was Honoratius who had actually completed the deed, using her magic to transform herself into an umber hulk.  It had been more than a little bizarre to watch the slender form of Letellia shift and reform into the alien visage of the hulk, and even more astounding to watch the creature dig into the packed earth and stone of the collapse, burrowing through it with the same felicity with which a dog might tunnel into loose dirt to recover a bone.  It took the better part of an hour, especially since they had to be wary of causing another collapse when they used the newly excavated tunnel.  Honoratius greeted them in her own form at the bottom of the shaft, the spell having expired well before they finally were able to join her.  The archmage had not been alone when they had finally reunited... although there hadn’t been much more than ugly black smears left of the three trolls that had been drawn to investigate by the noise.Honoratius had been forced to depart again shortly thereafter.  But Letellia proved her mettle in the encounters that followed.  On their last visit, they had made their way to the first temple by means of an elaborate detour, along another underground river, through a cavern populated by trolls and giant spiders, and then through a complex of tunnels claimed by a band of ogres and a relatively good-natured otyugh.  However, Varo’s annotated maps indicated that there was a more direct route connecting the third level and the fourth.  They did not have the details of that connection, but Nelan had resolved that through the use of a find the path spell, cast from one of the scrolls taken from the vaults of the Great Cathedral of Soleus in Camar.  Their route down to the Temple had been fairly easy from that point, and almost entirely unopposed.  They battled a small horde of giant rats, but a lightning bolt from Letellia had incinerated at least a score of the creatures, and the remainder managed barely a few seconds against Talen and Dar before the survivors fled.  A wight leapt from the shadows to attack Shay a bit later, but Selanthas had two arrows in it before the creature even lifted its claws, and Shay got her spear in time around to impale it before it could strike.They had grown more cautious when they entered the outskirts of the temple precinct, familiar chambers that had once held alert clerics of Orcus.  Now the rooms were empty of all but old bloodstains and the occasional fragment of bone; even the wrecked furnishings of that former garrison had vanished. They’d been ready for a fight when they got to the temple proper, and the large pack of ghouls and ghasts that they’d found there had been poised to give it to them.  But numbers alone had been little proof against the devastating firepower that Letellia and Alderis could muster.  There had been a moment of worry when the incorporeal wizard, hovering in the shadows near the ceiling above the platform, had hit them with a confusion spell.  The minds of Dar, Talen, and Mehlaraine had been clouded by the hostile magic, but it ultimately didn’t matter; Letellia drove the spectre off with another lightning bolt, and Nelan had been able to dispel the confusion before their befuddled companions could threaten their own allies.  Those few ghasts that had gotten close enough to melee had found that lightly armed and armored women with pale hair were nothing to be trifled with, at least not when said women were capable of unleashing multiple mass cure spells with devastating effect.  Dar tugged off his helmet and wiped his forehead.  Behind him, a considerable pile of dead ghouls and ghasts formed a macabre mound against the wall of the chamber.  The stench rising from them would make the chamber unpleasant, but the place was big enough so that the companions could deal with it.  In any case, they had no choice, not if they wanted to give Nelan the time needed to conduct his ritual.  The cleric had staked out a small space midway between the lava pit and the statue of Orcus.  The hallow spell had considerable accompaniments, including herbs, oils, and candles that had been specially prepared and consecrated in the sanctum of the Shining Father in Camar.  Some of those items were over two hundred years old.  Nelan had also spread out an antique scroll, which contained the actual incantantion that he would use for the ritual.  The cleric was now taking his rest, preparing for the long and grueling casting of the spell.  He would begin by consecrating the area, weakening the dark power of the temple, and would conclude with another casting of that spell, locking the hallow in place and sundering utterly the dark energies that flowed through this chamber. That was the plan, anyway. Talen organized their defense around protecting the cleric.  They wedged both doors shut with iron spikes, and kept a double watch, with one of the sharp-eyed elves pairing with a human for each shift.  The spellcasters were given priority on sleep, so they could recover their spells; that left Talen, Dar, Shay, Mehlaraine, and Selanthas pulling shifts on guard.  The first shift passed without inident, and Talen woke Dar for the second shift.  He was partnered with Mehlaraine, who rose without a word at Selanthas’s touch, and began walking the perimeter of the chamber, moving with the smooth grace of a hunting cat. After about an hour, Dar walked over to her.  “Would you stop that pacing?  You’re driving me batty.”The elven woman looked up at him quizzically.  She lowered her voice to match his. “How can you be alert to threats if you do not remain vigilant?”“Look, if they’re going to come, they’re going to... what?”She had raised a hand to forestall him, her fingers impossibly slender, belying her not inconsiderable physical strength.  Dar already knew that the aelfinn were not as frail as they looked.  Well, most of them anyway. For a moment, she said nothing.  He looked around, but there was nothing to be seen, nothing moving save the swirling columns of smoke coming up off the lava pit.  “Well?” he asked, his hand stealing to the hilt of Valor.  “Do you not hear that?” He strained, and after a few fruitless moments his gaze drifted toward the south door, the one that led down to the next deeper level of the dungeon.  His memories of that level were not pleasant; that was where they had battled Banth. He started in that direction, the elven woman close on his heels.  He moved quickly, his armor clattering slightly with each step. There.  He stopped, and listened again.  It was clearer now, a faint scratching, like a cat begging to be let in.  Except that this door was a slab of solid stone, secured with iron spikes, and Dar strongly doubted that a benign housecat waited on the far side. He drew Valor, letting his own instincts blend with the familiar and reassuring feel of the hilt in his hand.  “Wake the others,” he told the elf.She skipped off in a flash, her soft boots barely seeming to touch the ground as she ran.  Nelan was the only other one of them still awake, and the cleric paid her no heed as she darted past him, lost as he was within the depths of his ritual. Dar focused on the doorway.  The scratching noises had disappeared, but the tickling sensation he felt on the back of his neck hadn’t gone with it.  He had learned long ago to trust his instincts. Valor gleamed blue in his hand, shining in the reflected glow coming off the lava pit.  The door was silent, but Dar felt a preternatural sense of urgency, punctuated by the pulses of his heart beating in his chest.  Seconds passed.  He could hear the noises of his companions, as they stirred.  Talen was issuing orders.  Too slowly...He was expecting it, but he still jumped when a loud crash sounded directly ahead of him; something heavy striking the door.  His iron wedges held, but the attack on the door continued; a second heavy blow, then a third.  The stone slab moved incrementally.  The fourth impact was followed by a metallic clatter as one of the spikes was knocked free, and fell hard onto the stone floor.  “Come on, you bastards,” Dar hissed, lifting his sword into a ready position. And then the door blasted open, and a horde of slavering wights poured into the room.</blockquote>

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