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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Goonalan" data-source="post: 4878389" data-attributes="member: 16069">The Friday Knights in Sellswords of FallcrestPart 21: The Shadow descends.Cathal and Astaroth stride forward, into the thick of the action, two of the Beggars are cut down quickly- Cathal is all action; a third suddenly slumps onto the cobbled floor- Astaroth wrenches his axe free and moves on.In a matter of moments there are only three or four of the Beggar guards left- backing up swiftly, heading for the comforting darkness of the dilapidated warehouse. Only a pair left when they finally retreat into their lair.Cathal nods at Astaroth, who grins back- the man mountain lumbers into the warehouse to play an extremely violent game of tag.Behind the pair Ignaran is now all action, and Kullervo has at last broken his clinch with the unmoving Black Shet.The dark shadowy tentacle reaching down from the top of the tower comes on, Ignaran, for a second is reassured, bats- they're bats. The Druid fires up a bolt and burst of lightning into the swarm- that should scatter them.But it doesn't.The bats are insubstantial, wrought of shadow, not flesh and bone.“Ahhhh!” The Druid back-peddles furiously but has nowhere to go and is engulfed in the Umbral Bat Swarm, bitten and bruised. Worse, a deathly numb eats at his innards- not bloodied, his blood is instead turning to ice in his veins.Then Cathal and Kullervo are in the mix, but it’s a crude approach, the threesome in a panic are swatting furiously- doing little damage- particularly as the shadowy bats that hit disappear in a poof of dust, but are soon replaced by more of their kin. The inky trail snakes back to the top of the tower.A war of attrition.Which is made worse when...WHOOOSHThe Bat Swarm suddenly blossoms- bursts its banks, sending all three of the Friday Knights scuttling back, Cathal momentarily blinded by the inky wave.And yet they battle on, and soon after the tail is broken, the swarm at last detached from the tower- no more reinforcements are available. Thereafter the swarm is slowly, shadowy bat by shadowy bat, picked apart.Then it's over, and Cathal, Ignaran and Kullervo are well and truly spent- they lean or squat, try to catch their breath.“That was... Not good.” Ignaran confirms, gasping.“What...” Cathal tries.“Bats. Shadow bats, Gods knows where they came from- they're not... Well, natural - from the Shadowfell.” Ignaran states.“Where?” Kullervo winces, holding his side.“The Shadowfell- a land of darkness, home to twisted shades- mockeries of life.” Ignaran concludes, to raised eyebrows.Then out of the dilapidated warehouse strides Astaroth, unscathed- of course. He hefts his axe over his shoulder, stomps over and strikes a pose- lacking only a large pile of skulls or bodies at his feet.“All gone.” The man-mountain confirms and grins.The Friday Knights take a well-earned break, and make a few discoveries a little later.Black Shet, if that's who he is, is dead- he has another nice dagger, which Ignaran confirms is also magical; Kullervo adds it to his collection. There's a smattering of coin which also makes its way into the collective packs of the Knights.The bodies, nearly a dozen of them, are dragged out of the courtyard and back into the dark of the dilapidated warehouse.Within are piles of mouldy straw, the walls and ceiling charred black with soot from past fires. Streams of water drip from holes in the ceiling, cooling in cold puddles on the muddy floor. Of note is a ladder, which stands in one corner, it leads to a loft- other than that the chamber is empty.“You could have taken him alive?” Ignaran nods towards the corpse of Black Shet.“He said I should take it out on Black Shet- I reckon that's what I did.” Kullervo spits and puffs out his chest.Cathal blinks away sweat and wipes his brow, reaches out and grabs Kullervo's right shoulder, drags him into a rough embrace.“Good lad.” Cathal barks and stares hard at Ignaran, daring him to say anything more.Ignaran stares at Cathal.Cathal stares back.“Grab the body- I've an idea, he may prove useful yet” Cathal orders, Astaroth is quick to obey.Five minutes later the quartet are heading cautiously into the loft, led by Kullervo, there's an open window, the young Rogue heads on through and into the Court of the Beggar King- their journey is at an end, he thinks.</blockquote>

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