Cord Loses His Hair
We're back in the Pomarj, and I'm back on guard duty. Cord is rubbing his newly bald head. More on that later. Flipping through these pages, I realized I left out an incident from the night I wrote those limericks. Recall the shuffling among the rocks? Well, this is what the shuffling was all about.
The night I wrote those limericks, I was on guard duty alone. Ebon, Shadra, Mupp, Glyth, and Zara were all dozing. Ebon, normally the least talkative member of our group, is the loudest when he sleeps. It isn't quite as noisy as timpani players banging away on their instruments, but his snoring does share some of that rumblesome quality. Zara and Glyth are somewhat disturbing to observe in their elf trance, eyes open but not seeing. Shadra curls up on her side and makes strange mewing noises in her throat. Almost infant-like. Mupp just sleeps, usually with his mouth hanging open, breathing raggedly. Captain Lorence and his cavalry are camped several yards away from us. It is obvious that we are an unwelcome presence. At this time, Cord and Merik still traveled with Lorence, having not been formally inducted into our group, although this would change the very next evening.
Anyway, there was this shuffling noise near the rocks. A small, furtive noise, like an animal rooting around. It certainly didn't sound like anything worth waking up the party, so, rapier and buckler at the ready, I stealthily padded across the campsite toward the source of the noise. As I learned from the encounter with those demon-chickens, or cockatrices, even a small creature can be a big threat, so caution was in order.
The cluster of rocks I approached was comprised of several roundish stones worn nearly smooth by the passage of time, arranged very much like a giant child's pyramid of blocks that had been knocked down and left to gather dust, only instead of dust, these blocks were covered with dirt, lichen, and had scraggly hill thistles growing between them. As I've mentioned before, I am exceptionally stealthy, which is only sensible. As is recorded in The Analects of Garl the Trickster, "Silence is the beginning of victory." As it turned out, silence can also be the beginning of wonder.
Peering through a crack between the rocks, I spied a faint light, like a distant candle flickering in a window. Then, the light moved, tracing an oval in the air only a few inches above the ground. Then, another light appeared, also tracing a similar oval, and in the dim glow my gnomish eyes could see that the little lights were lightning bugs tied to gossamer threads which in turn were anchored to curved splinters of wood forced into the earth. Standing near both curved splinters was a tiny creature like a cross between a cricket and an elf, both wearing pointy caps and armed, so to speak, with slender needles no longer than my hand. More of these diminutive beings were busy working in the thistles growing in and around the rocks. The lower stems of the thistles were covered with a white down that resembled somewhat a spider's web, and the cricket-elves were pulling this thready substance away from the plants. They would then wrap into clumps, and stuff the clumps in tiny bags slung across their chests. What strange harvest ceremony had I accidentally discovered?
I'll probably never know. One of the guards, if that is what they were, spotted me peering at them through the crack between the rocks. It raised its pointy chin defiantly and chittered. Then, in the next instant, as in the blink of an eye, they were all gone. The thistles were stripped of their down, the curved splinters had been uprooted, the lightning bugs were not to be seen, and the cricket-elves had all vanished. As near as I can figure, that keen-eyed guard must have placed me under some sort of temporary enchantment that wore off only after those fey beings had completed their appointed tasks.
Today's events were considerably less wonderful. We again left Gyrax several days ago, returning the Pomarj's borders to seek out the Nerullite temple. We've left Lorence and his band of butchers behind. Back when Mupp and me helped Zara and Glyth free Florin from orcish slavers, we defeated a cleric of Gruumsh. On the cleric was a map indicating to where Florin would've been delivered had we not delivered him to another place. Letters on the orcish cleric indicate that Florin's original destination was a Nerullite temple. Given that Nerull's lackeys are behind the thralldom of the mountain peoples, and that Nerull is a loathsome and hateful deity, I've insisted that we lance this festering wound.
The orcish cleric's map proved accurate, and we found the site without incident. The temple isn't really much a temple. From a distance, it appears to be nothing more than a ruined hill fort. A crumbling stone wall surrounds a single box-like structure. It is no more than one hundred feet to a side. The building is also damaged, most notably a gaping hole in its northern face. Ebon, using sign language, pointed out that this would be a good time for me to take the lead in order to impress Zara with my bravery. It seems as if I have another ally in my mission to earn Zara's love!
We all approached cautiously, but Mupp, Moonshot, and I moved all the way to the building while the rest stayed near the crumbling stone wall. I first snuck to the entrance door, and searched it for tell-tale pressure plates, trip wires, and so forth, but found nothing ominous. With the other two following, I crept around to the hole in the northern facade. The interior was dark and apparently empty. My gnomish eyes had a hard time piercing the darkness even with the faint twilight's assistance. This struck me as odd, but I thought little of it at the time.
Fortunately, we gnomes are an innately magical race, and Mupp sent some lights dancing across the large entry chamber. Smashed furniture, dirty floors and walls, and other signs of abandonment were prevalent. So to was the animated skeleton guarding an interior door some fifty feet away. So to was the damnably loud clanging of an alarm. It must've been some sort of magical alarm, for we never found the source of the noise. The animated skeleton fired a crossbow bolt in my direction, but I ducked out of harm's way. We then retreated from the hole in the wall, expecting Nerullites and their undead minions to rush into the room to attack.
But they didn't. After a while, the alarm ceased, and still no attack came. Moving silently, Mupp and I returned to the hole and made our way down the inside front wall toward the closed exterior door. I wanted there to be more than one exit available if a retreat was necessary. Cord and Moondoggy entered through the hole and moved across the chamber toward the opposite interior door. By this time, the animated skeleton was gone, having retreated deeper into the building. When I opened the exterior door, the interior portal, almost directly opposite, burst open and a volley of crossbow bolts sped my way. By Garl's luck, every one missed me. I heard someone give an order in a tongue I could not make out, and the door slammed shut again.
Not wanting the enemy to have more time to prepare, Cord and Moonshine quickly moved to the door. Moonshine found a secret door along the way. Zara came to my side, and she, Mupp, and I advanced as well. Glyth moved to the hole in the wall to cover us with his bow. Shadra held back, and Ebon was nowhere to be seen. I worried aloud about my monkish friend, and Zara told me that Ebon had climbed to the roof of the building. There, through a hole, he observed the skeletons retreat down a flight of stairs, and that the room beyond the interior door was now empty of foes.
I carefully checked the secret door for traps, but found none. Cord opened the other door and ventured through shortly after Ebon found a way into the room through the roof. Cord cried out in pain as some sort of profane energy coursed through his body. An evil cleric must have warded the door with some sort of glyph. While I owed Cord some payback for his foolishness in the battle against the Nerullite cleric and the ogre, I didn't want him to die. His wounds were bad, but not mortal, and Moonblind cured him. Behind the secret door was a storage room with mining tools, dry foods, and several barrels of passable ale. Obviously, not all of the creatures in that cursed place were undead.
We next opened the trapdoor covering the stairs down which the skeletons had retreated. Even with our light sources, we could only see about fifteen or so feet down the stairs. After that, darkness. Some malevolent force was feeding on the light, reducing its radiance and hampering our progress as a result. I sent lights dancing down the stairs, but when they got to the edge of the darkness they simply winked out of existence. Cautiously, I crawled down the stairs. As I approached, I found I could see a bit farther. The stairwell crumbled away, but there was a knotted rope fastened to a piton which obviously served as a ladder of sorts. I climbed down the rope. Mupp and Cord followed next, and then the rest of the party.
Down below we found ourselves in a largish square chamber. The strange, light-consuming effect continued. Even with two sunrods and an everburning torch, we couldn't see more than twenty feet in any direction. I noticed a hallway nearby, and so I moved in that direction to come face-to-face with four crossbow-wielding skeletons! I called on the divine energy of Garl and channeled it in their direction, sending all four skeletons scurrying away from me. The hallway they were in had been subjected to a cave-in some time ago, and none of the skeletons could go far. Cord raced in after them, but found his sword less than effective. Thank Garl that Ebon's quarterstaff proved a more formidable weapon. Soon, all four skeletons were destroyed. We split up a bit to explore the rest of the room, heading in two directions so as to blanket as large an area as possible with light. Ebon found two other hallways. We picked one, set off down it, and blundered right into terrible danger.
Cord, Zara, and Ebon were in the lead when the bear's skeleton burst from a side passage and attacked. It savaged Cord. I doubt the archer even knew what hit him. It happened that fast. One second, Cord was standing and ready to fight. The next, he had been mauled and smashed headfirst into the fall, and had slumped to the floor an unconscious, bloody heap. Better him than me, that's for certain! Such a fearsome attack would've killed me outright.
Mooncalf moved to fight alongside Ebon and Zara. Then, from our rear flank, we heard Glyth and Shadra call out. We were being attacked from another direction! I pushed past Mupp back into the room in time to see four ghouls lope into the chamber from the other hall. Glyth was quickly surrounded by slashing claws and snapping fangs. A clap of thunder from Zara's direction turned my head back that way. Mooneye lay on the floor, stunned by the sonic attack. By Garl's axe, we now had a spellcaster to fight as well!
Mupp moved to help Shadra and Glyth fight the ghouls, starting one of his inspiring songs as he did. I raised Garl's holy symbol toward the ghouls and channeled divine energy toward them, but to no avail. Some profane power was opposing me, and my faith was not up to the task of winning that contest. Fortunately, Shadra's psionics were not so hampered, and she burst one of the ghouls into flame. Behind me, Ebon and Zara fought desperately against the terrible, undead bear. Ebon was already bleeding from a nasty set of claw marks. Then the Nerullite fanatic racing down the corridor behind me joined the fray.
I'm not above tossing alchemist fire at a foe. Alchemist's fire is a great weapon, and easy to use too. But this fanatic did not toss his alchemist fire. Oh no, he did not. Instead, flask clutched tightly in his fist, he rushed Zara and smashed the vial against her shoulder as if the vial were a hammer. The flammable alchemical burst to life, burning Zara and the fanatic alike, and splashing a bit onto Ebon. In the next instant, Ebon was felled by the skeletal bear. Ebon! Our mightiest fighter. Sure, his quarterstaff had struck several good blows to the undead beast, but it had not been enough. This left Zara fighting the fanatic and the bear skeleton, and Zara's rapier was a poor weapon against the latter.
By this time, Moonfish had recovered from being stunned. I yelled for him to move over Ebon's unconscious body, and he did, putting him directly in front of the undead bear. I rushed into the corridor behind him, grabbed Ebon's shoulders, and strained with all my might to drag him out of harm's way. Meanwhile, Shadra, Glyth, and Mupp were engaged in desperate combat with the ghouls. At such close range, Glyth's bow was useless, and his prowess with a sword is considerably less noteworthy. Shadra continued to use her psionics to burn through them, but the undead do not feel pain or deprivation, at least not like we do. Burn off a ghoul's face, and it can still bite. Run your rapier through its black heart, and it can still claw.
I applied what healing I could to Ebon, and he regained feeble consciousness. I helped him farther way from the bear skeleton and yelled for Mupp. My twin brother broke off the ghouls. Two of them had been destroyed, mostly due to Shadra's psionics. While Mupp cast more healing magic for Ebon, I surrounded him with a shield of faith. About the time was fit to return to combat against the skeletal bear, Moonflower succumbed to injuries. The undead monster swatted him aside, sending him crashing into the to slide to the floor while leaving a smear of blood on the wall behind him. Shadra and Glyth finished off the other two ghouls. The fanatic tried to smash another vial of alchemist's fire against Zara, but she nimbly side-stepped him while thrusting upward and twisting with her rapier. Zara's weapon slid between ribs and undoubtedly inflicted horrible internal injuries. The fanatic died for his cause.
There then followed a loud clattering of bones as Ebon's quarterstaff destroyed the undead bear. Mupp used healing magic to revive Moongate. He and Mupp then applied further healing to everyone they could, but Mupp and I insisted that Cord be saved but not returned to consciousness. Although it was difficult for the party to get him back up the rope, we managed well enough. We then retreated from the temple to a safe-seeming campsite. While the others scouted the area and what not, Mupp and I shaved Cord's head, eyebrows, chest, arms, and legs, except for Garl's rune, which we sculpted from short-cropped hair on the back of his head.
Judging by the look in Cord's eyes as he rubs his newly bald head, I think he'll hesitate before firing blindly into an area where one of his own can be hit by a wayward arrow.