NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 670634" data-attributes="member: 143">Maldur: the demon-weapon is sort of like a dire mace.Monday update:* * * * * Book VII, Part 44Benzan emerged from the dark tunnel warily, his bow held close against his body to protect the bowstring against the omnipresent damp.  It was useless; his sodden garments pressed against his flesh already, and as he stepped from the narrow cleft that led into the valley the downpour that had continued throughout the night and most of the day before greeted him once more with its full force.  The valley was much as the hobgoblin had described, a wide bowl nestled within a ring of surrounding peaks.  To his right, a mountain stream transformed into a torrent by the rain ran through a steep-sided ravine to vanish into a gaping slash in the stone cliffs, destined to emerge again somewhere lower in the mountains.  Perhaps this stream would eventually feed the River Chionthar as it poured down out of the mountains to wind its way all the way to Iriaebor, and ultimately to Baldur’s Gate and the Sea of Storms.  A long way to go, even for water...The tiefling shook his head to clear it of such idle thoughts.  He was tired.  They all were, although the companions were in far better shape than the survivors from Asbravn.  Dana, in particular, had driven herself relentlessly, calling upon her own energy and the power granted by Selûne in a battle to keep as many of those unfortunates as possible from being drawn across the line into death.  Despite her best efforts, they’d lost four the night before, and would lose more if they did not secure shelter quickly.  The rain had begun in earnest shortly after they had set out again, early yesterday afternoon.  They had shared out the arms and clothing of the slain hobgoblins among the former prisoners, and virtually all of the supplies stored in Cal’s magical knapsack.  It would take nearly all of Dana’s magical abilities to create enough food for so many, unless they were able to find game, but Targos told them that there would be at least some stores left in the valley camp, along with a handful of guards left behind from the raiding force. The hobgoblin had been very helpful, freely offering his cooperation and suggestions under the effects of Dana’s magic, but Benzan did not trust him.  He had offered to help Benzan scout, but after his initial reaction to the tiefling they had all decided that it was better to keep the two of them apart.  Targos seemed content to follow Dana around like a puppy, but Benzan did not forget the long arrows that the hobgoblin had fired into him during the battle earlier, or the way he had so casually mentioned some of the things that he had done during the raid on Asbravn.  Benzan would have preferred it if he had been tied up and guarded like the other four prisoners they had taken from the hobgoblin force.  He wouldn’t have minded if those four had been left for the carrion like the rest, but Cal and Lok had firmly overruled him on that matter.  Again he berated himself for letting his thoughts drift, and he turned his attention back to the valley.  The falling rain interfered with his view, obscuring the far side of the valley, but he could not see any signs of habitation.  From what Targos had told them, however, he could mark the probable location of the hobgoblin camp.  Turning back into the shelter of the tunnel, he hurried to alert the others.  * * * * * It took them the better part of two hours just to move their column through the narrow pass and the dark tunnel and across the valley to the hobgoblin camp.  The companions led the way, wary of the guards that Targos had warned of, but the place seemed utterly deserted, the entire valley devoid of life.  They found signs of occupancy that hadn’t been washed away by the storm, most significantly a cluster of five crude huts of stone and wood that spread out over a larger cleared area that had clearly accommodated a much larger group fairly recently.  A ditch ringed by a stockade of undressed logs formed the perimeter of the hobgoblin camp, although the gate stood open as they approached.  Benzan and Lariel continued their search while the others led the Asbravners into the simple shelters.  A few of the townsfolk possessed enough woodslore to help Lok find some wood dry enough to burn, even despite the deluge, and soon they had crammed most of the cold and tired villagers into the huts close around small but warming fires.  Targos found the stores of food he had promised, barely enough for a single meal for the gathered mass of people, but he could not explain the absence of the guards.  “Perhaps other orders were sent, recalling them to the main column,” he suggested.  “I admit, it would not be out of character for the shamans to issue strange commands without notifying the rank-and-file warriors.”As night began to fall on the camp, the companions’ eyes were drawn repeatedly to the dark opening just visible in the far cliffs that rose sharply at the rear of the valley.  “We’d better go take a look,” Cal said.  “If they’re in there, we don’t want to give them time to prepare a nasty surprise for us.”    “Shouldn’t we at least wait for morning?” Benzan said.  “We can defend this place, and at least some of us can get some rest first.”“Maybe we can just take a quick look,” Lok suggested.  “See how far back it goes.”  Targos had been unable to provide intelligence as to the contents of the cave, or tunnel, or whatever it was, since none but the human cleric and the shamans had been allowed to enter.   “I’d better stay here,” Dana said.  “Some of these people are already very sick, and even with the fire and hot food I’m not sure how many will survive the night.”  Her friends were reluctant to break up their company, the more so with each look at that dark tunnel, but ultimately they agreed.  Before they set out, however, Benzan took her aside. “Be careful with that hobgoblin,” he said.  “I don’t trust him, even with your charm.”“Don’t worry about me,” she snapped, then, recognizing the way her voice sounded, she sighed.  “I’m sorry.  It’s just that ever since... I mean, lately you’ve been... hovering a bit too much.  I haven’t suddenly been transformed into a clay doll that you need to pack in straw.  You should know me well enough by now to know that I’m not going to change what I am, not even for you.  You’re mule-headed enough without...  Look, I don’t know.  I’m sorry, I’m babbling.  Maybe I just need some rest.”  By the hard look of her jaw, however, he knew that she’d get little rest that night, not so long as these people needed her strength.  Would she save some for herself?  Not likely—she was right about one thing, anyway; he knew her.  “What’s so funny?” she asked, looking askance at his change of expression. “Nothing,” he said.  He toyed with the idea of adding a comment about her own “mule-headed” traits, but wisely decided against it.  Instead he glanced at Cal, Lok, and Lariel, who were standing a short distance off in the rain, waiting.  “I’ve got to go.  Just be careful, and let yourself get some rest.  You won’t be of any help to these people if you’re too exhausted to pray for your spells tomorrow.”Her expression tightened slightly further, but she didn’t respond.  Nonetheless, her eyes clearly bespoke her suggestion for him to mind his own affairs, and leave her to hers.  For some reason, an image popped into his mind of her using the power she’d used on Targos on him, twisting his mind around until he no longer knew anything but following her around like a puppy.  It was too late, he knew.  She’d already ensnared him with a power greater than any charm.  They might be squabbling now, but that wouldn’t change that basic fact.  Her expression hadn’t softened, so he didn’t press his luck with a kiss.  Instead, he smiled again in the way he knew infuriated her, and joined the others as they trudged through the sucking mud and over rain-slicked rocks toward the dark opening in the cliffs.</blockquote>

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