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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 163996" data-attributes="member: 143">I created S'reth as a deeply flawed villain; more of her motives and shortcomings will come out in the next few posts, I hope.  Still, it would have been interesting if she had asked the group for their (voluntary) assistance (of course, Cal never would have gone along with such a plan, and Lok would have backed him up)!As for the magic circles, yes, Horacio has it right.  In fact, one story hour author (Kid C, IIRC) had one trapped demon released by a trap that rolled marbles across the edge of the circle!  Since this one was actually a part of the stone, it took a more physical effort to break.  But they are invulnerable to attacks from within, as Horacio noted.Maldur: yeah, it feels good to be writing TttWW again!  Thanks!* * * * * Book IV, Part 2The six companions traveled warily down the corridor, following the trail of the fleeing lamia.  They didn’t have very far to go; about forty feet down the passageway, their route ended in a narrow opening blocked by a heavy slab of solid stone.   Lok didn’t wait for encouragement, immediately crossing to the opening.  After briefly probing at the stone he placed his axe down against the wall below the opening and pushed, his compact frame exerting the full force of his considerable strength against the massive stone.  His efforts were to no avail, as the stone did not budge.  Benzan moved to join him, using his height to push above where the genasi was braced, and while the were able to feel the slightest shift in the stone under their combined efforts, it wasn’t nearly enough to move it. “Maybe there’s more stone piled up against it on the other side,” Delem offered.  Benzan pulled back from the narrow opening.  “Yeah, well, that doesn’t help us get out of here.  Can’t you magic it open or something?”“Our spells aren’t really suited for that sort of thing,” Cal said, but Delem had a thoughtful look on his face as he regarded the barrier.  “What about digging our way out?” Dana said.  “There were some breaks in the stone walls back in the chamber.”“We could try that,” Lok said, “But I sense that we’re under a fair heap of earth between us and the open sky above.  And I don’t smell any fresh air—with each breath, we’re using up what’s left in here, and when it’s gone…”  He didn’t finish, as the implication of his words was obvious to all of them.“Well then, what can we do?” Elly asked.  “I’ve got an idea,” Delem said.  When the others turned to face him, he seemed to shrink slightly under their scrutiny, but he quickly dug into a pouch at his belt, searching for something.  “I know we agreed that we would wait, but…” he said, finally producing a ring—the bronze ring they’d found in the cavern back on the Isle of Dread.“How can it help us?” Cal asked.  “Well, I tried it on,” Delem admitted, “when we were back on the island.  I’m not completely sure, but I think it has the power to move things.”“Telekinesis,” Cal said.  “Yes.  I don’t know if it can move that rock…”“Well, let’s give it a try!” Benzan said.  They made a space for Delem, who put on the ring and regarded the implacable barrier.  The sorcerer raised his hand slowly and took on a look of intense concentration, but nothing obvious happened to indicate that anything was happening.  Delem held his position for almost half a minute, then he lowered his hand and let out a tired sigh.  “I can’t move it…  It’s… it’s just too heavy,” he said.“So much for your new toy,” Benzan snapped, his frustration at being trapped here clearly wearing on him.“Wait,” Cal said.  “Don’t give up just yet; perhaps if you and Lok push, while Delem uses the ring…”Benzan’s look was skeptical, but the suggestion was too practical not to try.  Lok paused to take a vial from his pouch—a potion of strength given to him by the phanatons back on the Isle of Dread—and quaffed it before returning to his place before the stone.  Benzan stepped up behind him to add his strength, and Delem stood behind them, ready again with the ring.  “All right then, all together!” Cal cried.At first it looked as though even their combined efforts would be of no use against the implacable barrier.  Then, however, the stone began to move.  At first it just shifted slightly, resisting their efforts as it scraped against the edges of the opening, and then with a final great heave it tumbled outward, falling to the side and letting in a sudden gust of cold air from outside.  Several large stones that had been piled against the slab were jumbled haphazardly around the opening, but there was still enough space for one of them at a time to escape.  Lok went first, squeezing his armored body through the opening into the open air beyond.  He found himself in ruined chamber, perhaps thirty feet square, open to the gray skies above.  The place was apparently below ground level, for Lok could make out more extensive ruins above the fifteen-foot walls of the chamber.  Opposite the opening to the subterranean passage there was a rubble-choked stair that led up to the ground floor.  Only that route was blocked by the two ogres who shouted a cry of alarm and then hefted massive spears to hurl at the genasi.  * * * * * S’reth heard the shout, and knew then that the tiefling and his… allies… had somehow pushed through the slab and the rocks that the ogres had hastily piled against it.  She still wasn’t sure what had happened, but she felt fear, and that feeling drove her as she tore through the stash personal items she’d left in the ruined chamber she’d turned into a dwelling since they’d arrived here.  From what little she knew about the art of summoning, the lamia fully believed that the demon-spawn she’d called would not stop until it had caught up to her and slain her, or she would have fled at that moment and not looked back, leaving her allies to buy her whatever time their deaths could purchase.  She knew it was here, somewhere… she hadn’t even dared to carry it, the final item she’d stolen before her flight from her kin.  It’s power was well beyond her, she knew, and she didn’t like the reminder that deep down, T’roth was right, that she wasn’t much more than a novice as a sorceress, that for all of the considerable innate abilities of her race that she possessed, she would never be more than that.  Certainly, she would never be able to command the power of T’roth and the others who led beside him, the power of mighty sorcerers who could shape the very world around them with their mighty magics…That reminder of her situation brought a renewed surge of anger and resentment that almost—almost—overcame the realities of her current plight.  She tossed aside a leather satchel holding supplies, and saw it, saw what she was looking for.  She could hear the sounds of battle from nearby in the ruins, but her attention was on the small tube of worn leather that she lifted from a crevice in the rocks.  Her hands trembled as she pulled it open.</blockquote>

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