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<blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 3939976" data-attributes="member: 143"><p>Heh, check back after next week and ask if I'm taking it too easy on our heroes then. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /> </p><p></p><p>* * * * * </p><p></p><p>Chapter 314</p><p></p><p>THOSE STILL STANDING</p><p></p><p></p><p>“Tullus was a servant of the Light, who dedicated his life to the service of the Father. Xenos lived and died as a Dragon Knight, sworn to protect the people of Camar from the darkness. May both of them lie sheltered within the blessed glow of Soleus, who brings life to this world, and who drives back the shadow wherever he shines.”</p><p></p><p>There were a few acknowledgements around the circle that stood in quiet attention around the cairn where they had laid the remains of Tullus. The pile of stones was not large; they had cremated the body. Of Xenos there had not been anything more than part of his skull and a few half-dissolved bones, but those too had been added to the grave that held the remains of two of their company. </p><p></p><p>“All right, get your gear together,” Dar said. The companions prepared quietly. There had been little conversation of any sort in the last few hours, and even Allera’s <em>heroes’ feast</em> that “morning” had not eased the somber mood that clung to them like an unpleasant scent. </p><p></p><p>They were in one of the small rooms near the caverns where they’d battled the dung monster and then the demons. They had camped in this complex before, on past visits; the rooms were situated not far from the Second Temple of Orcus, and had seemingly been abandoned for quite some time. They picked a room where the door was mostly intact, and braced it with both iron spikes and with some extra boards that they had salvaged from one of the other rooms. </p><p></p><p>Allera had tried to resurrect Tullus, using the magical rod that they’d found near the First Temple above. She had reported that the device functioned as intended, but Tullus had not stirred. </p><p></p><p>“<em>Resurrection</em> only works if the soul is willing to return,” Nelan had said. None of them had put words what was on all of their minds, that it was far more likely that the failure of the spell lay with the agency of the Demon. It put a hard edge on what they were doing here, the knowledge that the fate of the cleric and the knight could be theirs at any moment. </p><p></p><p>Honoratius had been compelled to leave shortly thereafter. Though clearly reluctant, Dar had agreed that they should hold their ground and rest for the remainder of the day, allowing the spellcasters to recover their magic and the archmage to regain enough strength to return. Letellia was grave, worried about the strain that each casting of the <em>transposition</em> was placing upon her uncle. But they had no choice; without the archmage they would have almost certainly already been annihilated. </p><p></p><p>After the debacle with Tullus, Dar had taken Alderis aside for a few minutes, and spoke to him quietly. The fighter gave the elf something, but neither spoke of it when they returned to the group. </p><p></p><p>They remained close together. When someone needed to attend to private functions, they used a corner of the room, shrouded by a cloak. No one paid heed to the smell, even though it was a clear reminder of their battle with the dung monster. After what they’d experienced in Rappan Athuk already, such things had become trivial. </p><p></p><p>Their clothes had been ruined; what was left was gathered together and discarded. Fortunately they had brought extra clothes for each of them in Letellia’s magical pouch. They also had an ample supply of leather cords, linen thread, and metal wire, which they used to make repairs to their damaged gear. Dar spent a long time carefully rewrapping the hilt of <em>Valor</em>, staring at the spiked door, as if expecting visitors at any moment. </p><p></p><p>But no attack came, and the companions took their rest uneasily. It was impossible to gauge the passage of time, down here, especially since their magical fires did not consume fuel. They rested, and prayed, and read, and tended to their gear. They were wating for Honoratius to return, and it happened shortly after they finished Allera’s <em>feast</em>. Letellia started shaking as the <em>transposition</em> settled upon her, and then she toppled over. Marcus and Zahera barely caught her in time. Allera was there in a flash, and held up the groaning woman’s head, peering into her eyes.</p><p></p><p>“Archmage... archmage, is that you?” she had asked. </p><p></p><p>After a few moments, the vague look in Letellia’s brown eyes had slowly focused on the healer. “Yes... yes, thank you. I am... I am here.”</p><p></p><p>Once she had recovered enough to speak to them, Honoratius had related grim news from Camar. Neither she nor Patriarch Jaduran were able to <em>scry</em> Rappan Athuk or its environs at all; their efforts revealed only a pure blackness that seemed to pulsate within their viewing devices. Another wave of harsh storms had blown in off the ocean, slowing the progress of the army southward, but they main force had still managed to reach Highbluff a half-day ahead of schedule. The dwarves were driving the march, covering more ground per day than the taller humans, spending upward of sixteen hours a day trudging through mud and wind and rain. </p><p></p><p>The combined Camarian and Razhuri fleet heading south had outrun the storms, but it had met its own disaster. Honoratius reported that a red dragon had assaulted the fleet as it sailed down the coast. Six ships had been utterly destroyed before Tendaji Jaddo’s crews, assisted by the steel-eyed bowmen of Sukat Koth’s Emorite contingent, were able to drive off the creature. Several of the remaining ships had suffered heavy damage in the attack, and the fleet had been forced to seek refuge in one of the sheltered coves that dotted the coast, and attempt repairs. </p><p></p><p>Honoratius also related that she had not been successful in finding a spell that would allow them to penetrate the barrier that surrounded Rappan Athuk. “For the moment, I can still pass back and forth, using the <em>transposition</em>, she said. “But it is becoming... difficult.”</p><p></p><p>“Is there any <em>good</em> news, wizard?” Dar had asked. </p><p></p><p>“We still live,” she had responded dryly. </p><p></p><p>Now it was time to set out again, into the dungeon. Nelan’s ritual farewell to their fallen comrades had been the last thing holding them back. Weapons were tested, pouches examined to verify that spell components were near at hand. As Alexion and Marcus hammered the spikes free of the door, Dar glanced back at the small cairn. “What is it?” Allera asked. </p><p></p><p>“I had suspected of Tullus...” The fighter shook his head. “It is nothing. Let’s get moving.”</p><p></p><p>Once the door was open, and the knights had confirmed the corridor outside remained clear, Nelan began incanting a spell. They would be guided forward by two sources; the passages that Honoratius had been able to divine from the <em>Codex Thanara</em>, and the insight provided by Nelan’s <em>find the path</em> spell. The latter was facilitated by the former, as the archmage’s researches had clued them in on what they needed to find. </p><p></p><p>“Show me the way to the doorway that leads from the Gates of Hell to the Portal of Darkness,” Nelan said, as he completed his casting. The others watched the cleric expectantly. </p><p></p><p>There was a slight flash from his divine focus. The cleric nodded, and said, “This way.” Alexion moved out ahead of him, taking the lead as they resumed their progress forward deeper into Rappan Athuk. </p><p></p><p>They made their way down the corridor that led to the Second Temple, but at the intersection near that huge chamber Nelan led them north instead of south. Allera’s gaze lingered for a moment on the broad corridor they left behind. It was there, in the desperate battle for the Second Temple, that they’d lost Talen. And before that, both Theodoros Zosimos and Marcus Valus had been killed, on an earlier visit. The healer still had nightmares of the time she had spent as a captive of the cultists of Orcus, and she shuddered. </p><p></p><p>The north passage led them to a round chamber that accessed three staircases, narrow, winding flights that offered access to other levels of the dungeon. Nelan did not hesitate, directing them to the first stair on the left, which descended into darkness. Alexion led the way again, and they descended single-file, with the heavy tread of Alderis’s shield guardian bringing up the rear. </p><p></p><p>The staircase descended for an interminable time, bending back upon itself several times as it took them deeper into the bowels of the world. Allera could feel a tightness in her legs by the time that the brilliant light from Nelan’s shield revealed an open space below. </p><p></p><p>The stairs deposited them on the edge of a vast underground cavern, its dimensions such that even Nelan’s <em>daylight</em> spell could not reveal its full extent. Several huge natural columns supported the ceiling high above, and forests of fat stalagmites rose from the uneven floor. Allera tasted moisture on the air, and as the companions paused to look around, she could hear the faint gurgling of water; likely another of the underground rivers that seemed to pervade the bedrock that housed the interlaced levels of Rappan Athuk. </p><p></p><p>“Which way, Nelan?” Dar asked. </p><p></p><p>“To the left, there,” the cleric replied, pointing across the cavern. From her perch on the stairs Allera could not make out what lie in that direction, save the stalagmites that rose up like broken teeth out of the cavern floor. </p><p></p><p>“All right, move out,” Dar said. </p><p></p><p>The cavern floor was rough and difficult, with fungus growing in the crevices, and in the crowded spaces where the jagged stalagmites clustered together. Nelan’s glowing shield revealed mushrooms and lichens in colors ranging from crusty browns to stark violets and shining greens. Some were streaked with the color of fresh blood, which added a garish-looking caste to the scene. It also revealed the twisting course of another underground stream, which bisected the cavern from right to left. Nelan was guiding them toward the left, where the stream disappeared into a low opening in the cavern wall. </p><p></p><p>“Looks like we may be getting wet again,” Dar said. </p><p></p><p>They made their way toward the river tunnel. They were alert for trouble, but none of them were sharp-eyed enough to distinguish the subtle distinction that would have warned them of the danger before it struck. Zahera saw something, a slight motion out of the corner of her eye, but when she turned, all she saw was a toothy row of stalagmites on the far side of the stream. Nelan and his bright light were facing toward the left, so the details of the opposite bank were vague with shadows, but she still would have seen anything creeping among the rock formations.</p><p></p><p>She had already started to turn back when one of those stony pillars <em>moved</em>. </p><p></p><p>The knight opened a mouth to shout a warning, even as she set an arrow to her bow. But her cry was beaten by an angry hissing noise, and something flew out of the shadows right at her. Zahera’s shout became a cry of alarm, but the attack was not meant for her. The missiles shot past her and struck Nelan, and Zahera could see that they were long, thin tendrils, like the tentacles of the giant squids that her father would catch in the deep blue waters of the Inland Sea. Six of them had struck the cleric, affixing to his legs, arms, and torso, and one even to his neck. Nelan reached up to grab that one, but before he could even try to free himself weakness overcame him, and he collapsed to the ground. As his shield fell, the darkness rushed in to the edges of the weaker light cast from their torches. </p><p></p><p>The tentacles holding Nelan grew taut, and the cleric was yanked roughly forward, had he was dragged over the rough ground toward the stream. But his companions were quick to respond to the attack. Dar and Marcus rushed to Nelan’s aid. The young cleric tried to pull his superior free of the sticky tendrils, but their grasp was tenacious, and he could do no more than slow the rate that he was dragged toward the stream. </p><p></p><p>Dar, however, took a more direct approach. <em>Valor</em> came down in a blinding arc, severing two of the tentacles entirely, and deeply scoring a third. <em>That</em> had an immediate effect; the remaining tendrils holding Nelan immediately detached, and shot back across the stream. </p><p></p><p>Zahera lifted her bow and fired in the direction that the tendrils retreated, but in the half-dark it was difficult to tell if she hit anything. Alexion came running back from the front of the column, his pick at the ready, but there wasn’t anything immediately obvious to attack. </p><p></p><p>Meanwhile, Alderis, aided by his elvish vision, had identified the source of the tendrils, and he hurled an empowered <em>fireball</em> across the cavern. The brilliant explosion of flames blinded them for a moment, but they could hear the high-pitched, alien shrieks of <em>something</em> on the far side of the river. </p><p></p><p>No, not something. Some <em>things...</em></p><p></p><p>Even as the flames died, their unidentified foe attacked again. But this time, there were multiple streaks of tentacles. Out of one barrage of six, only four struck Alderis, who was warded with layered magical protections. But those four were enough to completely drain his strength, and he fell to the ground. </p><p></p><p>The other barrage targeted Dar, who was hit by all six of the tentacles. For a moment, the fighter roared and yanked back against them, and it looked as though he would simply ignore the strength-draining properties of the tendrils. But as they drew taut, Dar visibly weakened, and <em>Valor</em> trembled, and dipped as the fighter struggled to keep his feet as the tentacles pulled him step by step toward the stream.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Lazybones, post: 3939976, member: 143"] Heh, check back after next week and ask if I'm taking it too easy on our heroes then. :) * * * * * Chapter 314 THOSE STILL STANDING “Tullus was a servant of the Light, who dedicated his life to the service of the Father. Xenos lived and died as a Dragon Knight, sworn to protect the people of Camar from the darkness. May both of them lie sheltered within the blessed glow of Soleus, who brings life to this world, and who drives back the shadow wherever he shines.” There were a few acknowledgements around the circle that stood in quiet attention around the cairn where they had laid the remains of Tullus. The pile of stones was not large; they had cremated the body. Of Xenos there had not been anything more than part of his skull and a few half-dissolved bones, but those too had been added to the grave that held the remains of two of their company. “All right, get your gear together,” Dar said. The companions prepared quietly. There had been little conversation of any sort in the last few hours, and even Allera’s [i]heroes’ feast[/i] that “morning” had not eased the somber mood that clung to them like an unpleasant scent. They were in one of the small rooms near the caverns where they’d battled the dung monster and then the demons. They had camped in this complex before, on past visits; the rooms were situated not far from the Second Temple of Orcus, and had seemingly been abandoned for quite some time. They picked a room where the door was mostly intact, and braced it with both iron spikes and with some extra boards that they had salvaged from one of the other rooms. Allera had tried to resurrect Tullus, using the magical rod that they’d found near the First Temple above. She had reported that the device functioned as intended, but Tullus had not stirred. “[i]Resurrection[/i] only works if the soul is willing to return,” Nelan had said. None of them had put words what was on all of their minds, that it was far more likely that the failure of the spell lay with the agency of the Demon. It put a hard edge on what they were doing here, the knowledge that the fate of the cleric and the knight could be theirs at any moment. Honoratius had been compelled to leave shortly thereafter. Though clearly reluctant, Dar had agreed that they should hold their ground and rest for the remainder of the day, allowing the spellcasters to recover their magic and the archmage to regain enough strength to return. Letellia was grave, worried about the strain that each casting of the [i]transposition[/i] was placing upon her uncle. But they had no choice; without the archmage they would have almost certainly already been annihilated. After the debacle with Tullus, Dar had taken Alderis aside for a few minutes, and spoke to him quietly. The fighter gave the elf something, but neither spoke of it when they returned to the group. They remained close together. When someone needed to attend to private functions, they used a corner of the room, shrouded by a cloak. No one paid heed to the smell, even though it was a clear reminder of their battle with the dung monster. After what they’d experienced in Rappan Athuk already, such things had become trivial. Their clothes had been ruined; what was left was gathered together and discarded. Fortunately they had brought extra clothes for each of them in Letellia’s magical pouch. They also had an ample supply of leather cords, linen thread, and metal wire, which they used to make repairs to their damaged gear. Dar spent a long time carefully rewrapping the hilt of [i]Valor[/i], staring at the spiked door, as if expecting visitors at any moment. But no attack came, and the companions took their rest uneasily. It was impossible to gauge the passage of time, down here, especially since their magical fires did not consume fuel. They rested, and prayed, and read, and tended to their gear. They were wating for Honoratius to return, and it happened shortly after they finished Allera’s [i]feast[/i]. Letellia started shaking as the [i]transposition[/i] settled upon her, and then she toppled over. Marcus and Zahera barely caught her in time. Allera was there in a flash, and held up the groaning woman’s head, peering into her eyes. “Archmage... archmage, is that you?” she had asked. After a few moments, the vague look in Letellia’s brown eyes had slowly focused on the healer. “Yes... yes, thank you. I am... I am here.” Once she had recovered enough to speak to them, Honoratius had related grim news from Camar. Neither she nor Patriarch Jaduran were able to [i]scry[/i] Rappan Athuk or its environs at all; their efforts revealed only a pure blackness that seemed to pulsate within their viewing devices. Another wave of harsh storms had blown in off the ocean, slowing the progress of the army southward, but they main force had still managed to reach Highbluff a half-day ahead of schedule. The dwarves were driving the march, covering more ground per day than the taller humans, spending upward of sixteen hours a day trudging through mud and wind and rain. The combined Camarian and Razhuri fleet heading south had outrun the storms, but it had met its own disaster. Honoratius reported that a red dragon had assaulted the fleet as it sailed down the coast. Six ships had been utterly destroyed before Tendaji Jaddo’s crews, assisted by the steel-eyed bowmen of Sukat Koth’s Emorite contingent, were able to drive off the creature. Several of the remaining ships had suffered heavy damage in the attack, and the fleet had been forced to seek refuge in one of the sheltered coves that dotted the coast, and attempt repairs. Honoratius also related that she had not been successful in finding a spell that would allow them to penetrate the barrier that surrounded Rappan Athuk. “For the moment, I can still pass back and forth, using the [i]transposition[/i], she said. “But it is becoming... difficult.” “Is there any [i]good[/i] news, wizard?” Dar had asked. “We still live,” she had responded dryly. Now it was time to set out again, into the dungeon. Nelan’s ritual farewell to their fallen comrades had been the last thing holding them back. Weapons were tested, pouches examined to verify that spell components were near at hand. As Alexion and Marcus hammered the spikes free of the door, Dar glanced back at the small cairn. “What is it?” Allera asked. “I had suspected of Tullus...” The fighter shook his head. “It is nothing. Let’s get moving.” Once the door was open, and the knights had confirmed the corridor outside remained clear, Nelan began incanting a spell. They would be guided forward by two sources; the passages that Honoratius had been able to divine from the [i]Codex Thanara[/i], and the insight provided by Nelan’s [i]find the path[/i] spell. The latter was facilitated by the former, as the archmage’s researches had clued them in on what they needed to find. “Show me the way to the doorway that leads from the Gates of Hell to the Portal of Darkness,” Nelan said, as he completed his casting. The others watched the cleric expectantly. There was a slight flash from his divine focus. The cleric nodded, and said, “This way.” Alexion moved out ahead of him, taking the lead as they resumed their progress forward deeper into Rappan Athuk. They made their way down the corridor that led to the Second Temple, but at the intersection near that huge chamber Nelan led them north instead of south. Allera’s gaze lingered for a moment on the broad corridor they left behind. It was there, in the desperate battle for the Second Temple, that they’d lost Talen. And before that, both Theodoros Zosimos and Marcus Valus had been killed, on an earlier visit. The healer still had nightmares of the time she had spent as a captive of the cultists of Orcus, and she shuddered. The north passage led them to a round chamber that accessed three staircases, narrow, winding flights that offered access to other levels of the dungeon. Nelan did not hesitate, directing them to the first stair on the left, which descended into darkness. Alexion led the way again, and they descended single-file, with the heavy tread of Alderis’s shield guardian bringing up the rear. The staircase descended for an interminable time, bending back upon itself several times as it took them deeper into the bowels of the world. Allera could feel a tightness in her legs by the time that the brilliant light from Nelan’s shield revealed an open space below. The stairs deposited them on the edge of a vast underground cavern, its dimensions such that even Nelan’s [i]daylight[/i] spell could not reveal its full extent. Several huge natural columns supported the ceiling high above, and forests of fat stalagmites rose from the uneven floor. Allera tasted moisture on the air, and as the companions paused to look around, she could hear the faint gurgling of water; likely another of the underground rivers that seemed to pervade the bedrock that housed the interlaced levels of Rappan Athuk. “Which way, Nelan?” Dar asked. “To the left, there,” the cleric replied, pointing across the cavern. From her perch on the stairs Allera could not make out what lie in that direction, save the stalagmites that rose up like broken teeth out of the cavern floor. “All right, move out,” Dar said. The cavern floor was rough and difficult, with fungus growing in the crevices, and in the crowded spaces where the jagged stalagmites clustered together. Nelan’s glowing shield revealed mushrooms and lichens in colors ranging from crusty browns to stark violets and shining greens. Some were streaked with the color of fresh blood, which added a garish-looking caste to the scene. It also revealed the twisting course of another underground stream, which bisected the cavern from right to left. Nelan was guiding them toward the left, where the stream disappeared into a low opening in the cavern wall. “Looks like we may be getting wet again,” Dar said. They made their way toward the river tunnel. They were alert for trouble, but none of them were sharp-eyed enough to distinguish the subtle distinction that would have warned them of the danger before it struck. Zahera saw something, a slight motion out of the corner of her eye, but when she turned, all she saw was a toothy row of stalagmites on the far side of the stream. Nelan and his bright light were facing toward the left, so the details of the opposite bank were vague with shadows, but she still would have seen anything creeping among the rock formations. She had already started to turn back when one of those stony pillars [i]moved[/i]. The knight opened a mouth to shout a warning, even as she set an arrow to her bow. But her cry was beaten by an angry hissing noise, and something flew out of the shadows right at her. Zahera’s shout became a cry of alarm, but the attack was not meant for her. The missiles shot past her and struck Nelan, and Zahera could see that they were long, thin tendrils, like the tentacles of the giant squids that her father would catch in the deep blue waters of the Inland Sea. Six of them had struck the cleric, affixing to his legs, arms, and torso, and one even to his neck. Nelan reached up to grab that one, but before he could even try to free himself weakness overcame him, and he collapsed to the ground. As his shield fell, the darkness rushed in to the edges of the weaker light cast from their torches. The tentacles holding Nelan grew taut, and the cleric was yanked roughly forward, had he was dragged over the rough ground toward the stream. But his companions were quick to respond to the attack. Dar and Marcus rushed to Nelan’s aid. The young cleric tried to pull his superior free of the sticky tendrils, but their grasp was tenacious, and he could do no more than slow the rate that he was dragged toward the stream. Dar, however, took a more direct approach. [i]Valor[/i] came down in a blinding arc, severing two of the tentacles entirely, and deeply scoring a third. [i]That[/i] had an immediate effect; the remaining tendrils holding Nelan immediately detached, and shot back across the stream. Zahera lifted her bow and fired in the direction that the tendrils retreated, but in the half-dark it was difficult to tell if she hit anything. Alexion came running back from the front of the column, his pick at the ready, but there wasn’t anything immediately obvious to attack. Meanwhile, Alderis, aided by his elvish vision, had identified the source of the tendrils, and he hurled an empowered [i]fireball[/i] across the cavern. The brilliant explosion of flames blinded them for a moment, but they could hear the high-pitched, alien shrieks of [i]something[/i] on the far side of the river. No, not something. Some [i]things...[/i] Even as the flames died, their unidentified foe attacked again. But this time, there were multiple streaks of tentacles. Out of one barrage of six, only four struck Alderis, who was warded with layered magical protections. But those four were enough to completely drain his strength, and he fell to the ground. The other barrage targeted Dar, who was hit by all six of the tentacles. For a moment, the fighter roared and yanked back against them, and it looked as though he would simply ignore the strength-draining properties of the tendrils. But as they drew taut, Dar visibly weakened, and [i]Valor[/i] trembled, and dipped as the fighter struggled to keep his feet as the tentacles pulled him step by step toward the stream. [/QUOTE]
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