Ambrosia Software Web Board: The Missing Sorceress (TS) - Ambrosia Software Web Board

Akheron hurried over and peeked out the hole, to see everyone who'd dashed through it clinging desperately to the cliff face. Far below, the ocean surged tempestuously.

"You know, since my home is built underground, don't you think it'd be easier to use the stairs?" He pointed back inside, over his shoulder. He then examined the thickness of the rock between the cliff face and his interior wall. "Cursed erosion," he muttered. "I'm sure there should have been at least six feet of solid rock behind that wall. Ah, well, I guess I'll have to move, soon, or my entire home will get washed into the sea."

This post has been edited by cache22: 27 January 2007 - 04:25 PM

Moonlight bathed a massive cliff side as the ocean rolled and swelled below, waves shattering against the base of the cliff and spraying a fine white mist up over the shadowed rocks. Over the sounds of the tide few things could be heard, but one carried down from above with a quick violent rhythm. A black pair of blades plunged into the rock face, as a shadowed figure garbed in shredded onyx robes made fast upwards progress. Rythan blended into his dim surroundings as he scaled the rocky surface unseen, though is repeated stabs would be heard easily by any below.

As the assassin reached the end of his upwards journey he grabbed the ledge and nimbly swung himself upwards. No one else had yet made it to the top, so the plateau’s sweeping view was his alone. Across the writhing sea Rythan saw the outline of a distant ruined citadel, cloaked in darkness where it rested at the edge of a small cove. Turning to his right Rythan could see a weathered path of dirt and crumble stone that was displayed by the fleeting light of the moon. Tracing it with his eyes Rythan could see that the long sweeping path led down a shallow incline and eventually curved towards the ominous stronghold.

His path chosen Rythan set forth along the road, hearing the murmur of familiar voices off behind him as the others had used a different route to reach the same goal…

Uzsuy entered the area, larger than his normal size because he happened to be running earlier and longer legs make you run faster. He thought he recognized the hole everyone was staring at.

Zallbyn had been standing by the hole but for some reason no one noticed him. He noticed the arrival of a man very similar to Uzsuy, but much taller. He dismissed him and caught up because he didn't like being at the back of the group.

“Who are you?” Uzsuy said suddenly, talking to Rythan who had just started moving.
“And you? I recognize you,” Uzsuy said, this time facing Zallbyn.

Smiling, Rapierian followed the others. He recognized the building in front of him and was quite pleased. This quest would give him a chance to do some damage to his old mentor: the arch-lich Tavara. It might also give him a chance to attend to some other things. The necromancer decided to keep his knowledge of the building to himself for now. Granted, that could be both good and bad for him: he needed the others to help him escape if he entered these buildings and they might get captured without his knowledge of the building. Still, he'd take a risk on it: he had no intention of getting captured.

The rest of the group caught up with Rythan and carefully approached the fortress, trying to decide whether to do a frontal attack as Bellerophon had done or to sneak in...


On his silent wings, Kitran hovered high above the group. He saw their destination and realized their intent. The daemon smiled: he had several ideas based on this new information. He could approach the group with some story about Tavara enslaving daemons and offer a temporary truce because the daemons didn't want to serve Tavara. Of course, no one would probably believe him, and, since he'd be lying, they'd be right not to. However, since it'd serve his own purposes, he could create a diversion to let them in...

This post has been edited by Selax: 09 March 2007 - 01:16 AM

Adrian had been stunned by the entrance of the demon. He had fought breifly with ruffians, and fended off rat lizards in his youth. He had lived to see his father dragged into the ocean by tentactles, legs chewed by a single great maw- but this! This demon was far beyond his comprehension. For a moment he palled, breathing heavily to drive the stench of sulfur from his nostrils. A hand steadied him, and he sat heavily.
For a while the group questioned the wizard, Akheron, their tone becoming more venemous as the truth was revealed.
When the interrogation was complete, many of the groups members rushed through the hole the demon had created. Adrian stood shakily and, using the table for support, looked towards the hole.
This group of adventurers seemed far more intent on action and magic than finding his granddaughter, but he could not let Olivia just dissapear. It was her seventh birthday when the accident at the Tavern occured. Adrian wrapped his cloak tightly around his frail body, warding off a deep cold born of guilt and worry.
He was about to proceed through the hole when the Scribe caught him gently by the arm.
"I know it seems that your granddaughter is lost, but we will all do our best to find her. Try not to despair."
Adrian nodded. "It's just... it seems that this missing assistant has nothing to do with Olivia. I thought the Tavern had just collapsed, and then a demon comes charging through? I'm not meant for this kind of work. All I want is to find Olivia."
The Scribe walked a few feet to the bottom of the staircase and paused, turning to face the old man again. "More improbable things have happened. We will try to find your granddaughter and, perhaps, this Katherine too."
With that the Scribe ascended the stairs, followed closely by those members of the group who had not vanish through the tunnel bored by the demon's escape. Adrian drew his breath sharply and resolved to follow the group until he had found Olivia.
She was only a child, after all.

When Silverfish realised that he was sitting on a small jag in a cliff side, he made a safety net over the hole, so people wouldn't accidentally rush out into empty space. It worked, and Cat, Starfall, and Kerran ended up going up the stairs with the others, once they realised that the web was there to protect people, and not to interfere with them.

Silverfish followed Rythan, ostensibly to keep him out of trouble. They soon met the others coming up out of a hole under one of the huge trees in the forest, and the party continued on to the walls of the Stronghold.

This post has been edited by Jehezekel: 28 January 2007 - 08:49 AM

Earlier, Wizard had hesitated a long while before following the others down the hole in the floor. Selax wasn't coming along, and the old man had a feeling that something was amiss. It was that same feeling that had been bothering him for some time now.

After taking a few minutes to consider, he decided he was really obliged to follow, if not only to keep a wary eye on Rapierian, but to help an old man find his grand daughter. Wizard dropped down the hole with a quick jump, but as he raced near the bottom, his descent slowed. He set down on the ground next to the tome that the Scribe had read from.

* * *

Wizard stood by the bookshelf in Akheron's home, examining the vast collection of books the mage had compiled. "This is quite a set," he commented under his breath to no one in particular. As he stood erect, a daemon appeared from the portal they had all gone through. It shrieked, a deafening cry, and spread its massive wings, sending Wizard flying very rapidly across the room. He banged into the corner, knocking over a distiller and smashing a table beneath his weight.

"Wow, I didn't know a man your age could do that many flips in mid-air," Rapierian joked.

"You might be surprised," Wizard retorted, examining himself for damage. "I could help you perform a few flips if you like..."

After mostly everyone had cleared the room, some through the hole in the wall, others up the stairs, Wizard turned to Akheron. "Just make sure you're still here when we get back," he half-smiled, even though he barely knew the man. "I have a few more questions I would like answered."

* * *

It was virtually a maze outside, wandering around a forest under the cloak of night. Yet, Wizard knew they wouldn't get lost; there were several elves with them and he was relying on some light from his staff as a guide. They travelled along for some time, steadily approaching the stronghold's gates.

"Now, how do we get inside?" Adrian asked, panting for breath, "I'm not really cut out for this sort of thing."

Before anyone could answer, Kitran, the daemon they had encountered earlier, dropped down in front of the gates. Rythan nearly moved to attack him, but stopped when he saw the daemon's next move. Kitran lifted his massive foot and kicked in the front gate with a tremendous crash. Skeleton's poured out to destroy the foe, but Kitran slashed them apart.

"What's he doing?" several people exclaimed in surprise.

"I don't know," Wizard muttered.

"I would like to know what his angle in all this is, and just who he's working for," the Scribe finished Wizard's thought.

Before another moment passed, the daemon ran into the trees before leaping into the sky.

"He's successfully drawn off a majority of them," Wizard stood. "I suggest we go in the front door..."

Cat looked wary. "First it... he... attacks us, and now he's helping us! That's a little suspicious, from my point of view."

Quietly and quickly, the group slipped in through the entrance that Wizard had suggested. The mages carefully made sure that no spells could detect them, and they had all slipped in by the time that the guards had normalized. The rulers of the Stronghold must have feared that the daemon's attack had been a diversion and security was even heavier than normal, with nearly three times the ordinary number of undead and skeletons roaming about. The group quietly made their way along the side of the inner wall, avoiding detection and trying to decide how best to enter the actual building and where to start their search...

Night crept in around the ancient citadel, the darkness caressing it like a lost lover. Rythan and Brianna led the group of adventurers stealthily around the perimeter of the fortress, their eyes helping to serve as guides since the mages could not use magic to light the way for the rest, lest they attract the attention of the masses of teeming undead. Rythan had faced many enemies far darker and more formidable than the creatures who guarded this place, but the sheer number of the things was enough to give him pause. No matter how skilled he was he had no delusions of defeating an entire army.

Dark clouds were beginning the form high overhead, the whipping wind carrying with it the scent of rains to come as it tugged upon the robes of the adventurers. So far Brianna had been able to spot distant patrols from far enough away for Rythan to help the main group hide, but travel was slow with some, like Adrian, not being able to move nimbly over the harsh terrain, or speedily with any semblance of stealth. Rythan understood the old man’s motives for being with them, and in his position would have done the same, however the fact remained that, for now at least, the grandfather was hindering the search.

Rythan pushed the thoughts away, he would fault no one for that kind of bravery and determination, instead he needed to focus on a way into the stronghold that would not get everyone killed. “What’s this?” Rapierian’s voice just barely made it to Rythan and Brianna as he was being careful not to speak too loud. However it appeared the core of the group heard him perfectly well. To Rythan’s eyes the black mage was studying an odd design along the fortress wall, seemingly very interested in what looked to be little more than poor masonry. Reaching out tentatively Rapierian touched a stone that was jutting ever so slightly out of the wall. Reacting to the pressure the stone receded into the wall and mere feet away that odd design rose into the stone above revealing a hidden passage.

Rapierian jumped back in surprise, but seeing that his prodding had accomplished the group’s goal he smiled triumphantly. Several of the others congratulated him, or at least nodded to him respectfully for a job well done, which indeed it was, however there was something there, something in the mages smile… It didn’t truly matter, so Rythan tried brush it off. As he passed the black mage the shadowy warrior inclined his head briefly and stepped ahead into the shadows of the citadel’s passage, but he was unable to shake that odd feeling…

Katerei followed the group through the opening, the hem of her dress brushing lightly across the ground. So far, she had managed to stay entirely silent while maintaing a constant vigil. Many of these people she did not know, and felt uneasy. The knowledge of the presence of an undead army around them was doing nothing to assauge her fears. Shivering a little, she drew her cloak around herself tighter to ward off the onset of nighttime chill.

The group had filtered through the narrow passage into the building, where they clustered together, studying their surroundings. It was a stone-walled corridor, cold, grey, and shadowy. To the left, it stretched on into darkness, and to the right, it turned a sharp corner very near them.

There was the sudden sound of a sword being drawn from a sheath, followed by the swish of a blade. Everyone whirled around just as the sound of bones clattering on stone echoed loudly throughout the corridor.

"What?" Alice said impatiently, standing with his sword out next to a pile of bones lying pell-mell on the ground. It seemed that a skeleton had just walked around the corner and inadvertently stumbled upon them. The others glared at him balefully for having destroyed their chances at stealth. "Well? It's not like we were going to get away with it forever," he muttered. "Most of you folks aren't that quiet, you know."

Brianna shook her head in exasperation. "Well, I guess we don't go that way," she muttered, and moved toward the dark corridor.

"Wait! Sideline whispered, desperately.

"What, do you see something?"

"You kidding? In that darkness? No, it's just that if I was going to rig a trap, that's exactly where I'd put it. Just watch your step!"

The Scribe noticed Adrian was almost petrified with fear. "It seems we've brought you on a wild goose chase, sir - it's exceedingly unlikely that we'll find your granddaughter in this place. She must still be somewhere in the tavern. If you wish, perhaps Brianna could escort you back to Akheron's domicile - although we'll miss her skills, I dare say."

"Perhaps you're right," Adrian quavered.

The Scribe whispered quickly in Brianna's ear. She nodded, and beckoned to Adrian.

"Stay close," she whispered.

They retraced their steps to the secret door by which they'd entered. Brianna fumbled around for a moment, then took a couple of steps back towards the rest of the group.

"Rapierian!" she hissed. "The door's closed, and I can't find the latch!"

"It's not my problem," he whispered back. "Ow! All right, all right. But when I find out who kicked me..." He limped back to the door, spending no more time in inspection than Brianna had. "Um, it's no good - there doesn't seem to be any way to open it from this side."

"You mean we're stuck here!?" Adrian exclaimed.

"Sssh!" Brianna tugged on his arm, leading him back to the group.

"It doesn't mean we're stuck," Sideline murmured in his ear, "it just means we keep going forward."

"We can go, now," Rythan softly reported. "I've found Sideline's trap. We can avoid it, but be alert for more."

"Told you so," Sideline murmured, smugly.

This post has been edited by cache22: 29 January 2007 - 05:19 AM

Seeing that Adrian was not able to leave, Silverfish handed him something that he had been working on, almost since entering the stronghold; a light-weight chain-mail shirt.

Rapierian was quite pleased. Although they had built most of them, Tavara and his minions had failed to remove the series of secret entrances and tunnels that he had once used to go from fortress to fortress. Of course, they might have done that on purpose to be able to track Rapierian if he returned, but he had known better than to return alone. He remained alert for any sign of trouble, prepared to disappear into the darkness if any appeared; he was certain that, with his knowledge of the fortresses, he'd be able to dodge capture even if the rest were caught. However, Tavara and his assistants may have added more traps to the strongholds after Rapierian had left: they had after Bellerophon and his party had stormed both strongholds and killed all inside. Tavara's spells had proven strong enough to reanimate all the dead again after their death (again). Thus, Rapierian stayed with the group, at least for now; although he knew full well that Tavara was in the other stronghold, he also knew that many of his lich lieutenants were here and they too would love to kill the necromancer for his betrayal.

"I suggest that we see if we can find the dungeon level that Hector spoke of, when he told how he and Bellerophon and the others stormed these fortresses," he whispered quietly to the others.

Through the darkness of the aging passage, Brianna and Rythan led the group of adventurers forward slowly so that they did not stumble into the myriad traps that had been built into the foul place. When such things could not be simply avoided the pair set about disarming them, often enlisting the help of either Sideline or Silverfish, as their unique skills proved invaluable in overcoming the obstacles set before the group.

Turning yet another corner the group set down a long hall, dust rising in small clouds with every step taken and footfalls whispering softly through the corridor. At its very end, Rythan could see a large oak set of double doors, banded with heavy black steel, a thin stream of light flowing into the hall from beneath the ancient portal; the entrance to the citadel proper. Sideline saw the small ray of light quickly and easily deduced its origins even though it was too dark for him to see the actual door, as he informed the rest of the group Rythan could hear their soft murmurs drifting from behind.

Brianna grabbed Rythan’s attention with silent gesture to a patch of the wall to their left which rested little over halfway down the hall. The deathly robed figure held up his right hand without turning around to let those behind know to stop while he and Brianna carefully made their way forward. A dark stain was splashed across the stones, a red that spoke of blood. Rythan’s eyes went to the floor before him, studying the heavily dusted surface intently, until he caught a glimpse of a thin slivery wire brought taught directly across their path, suspended mere inches above the ground. Brianna had seen it as well; she raised her chin slightly for Rythan to look to the ceiling. Above the wire, in a darkened crevice set in the stone overhead, rested an assortment of wicked curved blades drenched in dark stains, each attached to a black chain. Should someone snap the wire the blades would swing down to ensure that was the last thing the fool ever did.

Rythan looked back over his shoulder, holding up his hand to Scribe, as the Elvin man was one of the few in the group who could even see him. Quietly the elf informed the group that he and Brianna were about to disarm another trap. Stepping forward slowly the two advanced steadily towards the hidden path’s final obstruction. Rythan’s eyes caught a series of designs etched into the wall to their right, taking in the fact that they were in reasonable condition, save for the patch directly opposite the blood that they were about to draw parallel to, which was worn by several small shadowed pock marks.

The warrior’s eyes went wide as the stone beneath his and Brianna’s feet lowered ever so slightly. Moving as a shadowed blur Rythan grabbed the back of Brianna’s tunic roughly when he heard a low click coming from the right wall and savagely flung the woman back down the hall towards the rest of the group. Surprise and anger battled across her face as the elf flew back through the air, nimbly flipping to land on her feet several yards away. But the look faded as she heard a low series of whistles and saw Rythan’s hands blurring in a weave of defensive motions.

Pi-pi-pi-ping ping ping ping Shink!

A hail of darts burst from the small holes in the wall in rapid succession, and it was all Rythan could do to use his gauntlets in an attempt to deflect them, his shredded robes whipping wildly with the speed of his movements. The shadowed warrior stepped away from where he stood, back towards the group, as the assault ended. It was a clever trick, to use one trap to hide the presence of a second. A drop of blood fell to the dust covered floor as it dripped from the end of a dart that was lodged in Rythan’s left shoulder, “Careless.” He scolded himself as he removed the weapon from his wound. Under the red flood of his blood the dart was coated by a sickly yellow liquid, poison. The image of the dart shifted in Rythan’s hand, and he let it slip from his fingers and fall to the floor.

He could see some of the others quickly approaching him as he fell to his knees, but with his night vision bleeding away he couldn’t tell who was who. While darkness claimed his sight he fell and rolled to his back. He could make out faintly a face framed by hair like honeyed gold and eyes of emerald green, “Jena…” he whispered as he slipped out of consciousness.

This post has been edited by Ragnar0k: 29 January 2007 - 03:15 PM

Through a dark haze Rythan felt a cool liquid flow over his tongue, “Drink.” A feminine voice commanded. As ordered he drank of the sweet potion; and as he did the numbness that had wrapped his body began to melt away. He opened his eyes slowly, blinking as his sight slowly returned. His hood was down, revealing his short cropped dark hair, and the cloth that masked his face was gone as a small dark flask was pressed against his lips. Rythan was a handsome man, holding years that numbered just over a score if one judged by his appearance. His eyes of ruby and sapphire found the azure eyes of a blue skinned beauty while she studied his shoulder, though she appeared upside down to him as his head rested in her lap. As he looked upon her with her cerulean hair flowing over her shoulders he knew that he had seen her before… but where?

The warrior tried to sit up but the woman laid a hand on his right shoulder and roughly forced him back down, “Finish the vial, and if you think you’re strong enough to get up you can hold it yourself too.” As he attempted to lift his left she sighed in aggravation, “You’re other hand fool; I’m trying to tend this wound.” Again Rythan complied, holding the flask and finishing the cool drink as he tried to piece his memories together through the fog. The healer spread a light paste over a small gash on Rythan’s left shoulder, upon the surface of his skin there appeared to be dark veins spreading ominously from the angry red stab wound.

When she finished spreading the paste Rythan set the flask she gave him down upon the dust covered stone floor, remembering where he was and why, “Have you finished?” as he spoke his canines showed themselves to small fangs, almost vampiric in size.

“Yes, you—“

Rythan rose quickly, giving Katerei no chance to stop him, “Thank you.” He refitted the dark cloth upon his face to once again hide his features and drew up his hood, “We need to keep moving.” The blue skinned woman with Elvin features frowned, but fast approaching sounds cut off what she was about to say.

A chorus of moans and gruesome cries rang out from behind the group, from the direction of the corridor where Alice had dispatched a scouting skeleton. It appeared that his comrades had found him and were less than happy as their cries grew louder and closed. Rythan narrowed his eyes, “Everyone move now, Silver, the trap ahead.”

The silvery figure smiled confidently from where he stood already before the trip wire, “On it.” Rotating his hands around a small orb no one else could see he began to weave an intricate pattern, causing the space between his hands to fill with myriad loops of intertwined metallic thread. Throwing the ball upwards he caused it to expand into a net whose edges embedded themselves into the stone ceiling. Hastily he snapped the wire on the floor before him. The trap was released and the chains rattled, but the blades fell barely an inch with his net to hold them at bay. The roars and screams grew louder, so close now, “I think it’s time to go guys.”

Rythan nodded, walking through the group behind, he stopped before Rapierian, lowering his voice so only the mage could hear, “Guide them through safely.” For a moment the mage gave him a quizzical look, but when it was apparent Rythan had seen a glimmer through his ruse he merely nodded. Inclining his head to him Rythan stepped passed, “I’ll slow them down and meet you further in, go.”

“What?!” Sideline’s voice came through above others who mirrored his sentiments, “We aren’t going to leave you here—“

“You don’t have a choice.” Rythan broke in, “Not all of you can fight these things, and some like Adrian cannot at all. Just as well we can’t send those of us ahead because there will be doubtless more inside, and they will overtake us if we advance without slowing them down. Go, now there is no time.”

Katerei called from where she still stood halfway down the tunnel, “Idiot, you—“

He looked back to her over his shoulder, “I will handle this, go.” As he turned back flames of crimson and black enveloped his arms and legs in a fiery rush, dissipating to reveal all of the cruel blades he had worn before. The onyx gauntlets which held his hands mounted with a pair of wicked black serrated blades laid flat across the backs, their serrated edges faced away from each other and their points extending a hand’s length past the knuckles of his closed fists. Another serrated blade ran from the backs of his wrists nearly the entire length of his forearms while a thumb sized spike which curved back protruded from a special guard upon each elbow. On his legs his shins were protected by guards of the same metal, each holding a razor thin serrated blade that faced outward and ran the entire length of the guard. A spike that curved upwards, slightly larger than those upon his elbows, topped a separate guard on each of his knees.

“Fine.” Sideline said with an air of quiet finality.

A skeleton burst from around the bend, wielding a sword and swinging wildly. Rythan dipped below the first swing, swiping with the blades on his right to cleanly sever the dark creature’s spine. Three more appeared as the first fell to the floor in two halves, and Rythan went on the defensive, parrying blows from sword and axe and spear. He was fast, but not nearly as fast as he should have been, and his left arm still felt numbed by the effects of the poison.

From behind he heard the sound of a blade sliding from its sheathe and suddenly Sideline was fighting beside him, the blade he wielded little more than a black blur as he started to cut the ever growing number of angry undead. Rythan’s slammed his elbow across the face of an Undead, the spike upon his elbow tearing into and obliterating the creature’s skull in a spray of bone and rotted flesh, “I told you to go.” He said as he deflected an attack from skeleton’s blade with his gauntlet, summoning a brief spark of light.

Sideline smiled as he parried an attack from an Undead, through the creature off balance. The rogue performed a spinning slash and as the dark wind that was his blade passed over his target the Undead’s head was separated from its body, “No, you told them to go, and they’re leaving.” He grunted as he blocked a blow from an axe, “Besides, I don’t remember electing you leader of our merry band.”

Behind them Silverfish was ushering everyone to head through the door, and Adrian was the last to step through. When he looked back to the heroes fighting the undead who chased the group he saw as several simply ran passed while their opponents were busy fighting others. As a group of five skeletons ran down the hall Silver simply shook his head, “I don’t think so.” With a simply flick of his wrist he pulled upon a thread he had kept attach to the netting mounted on the ceiling. The barrier collapsed instantly and the cruel heavy blades swung down upon the charging skeletons, smashing them to pieces and sending their scattered remains down the hall.

A voice called insistently from beyond the doorway, “Silverfish, hurry!”

Hesitantly he turned away from the scene of the battle and sprinted out after the others, he looked back over his shoulder into the corridor, “Good luck.”

Within the small dark cavern a furious battle raged on. For every one of these creatures Rythan put down two more rushed in to pick up the fight. He stood at the center of the hall, breathing heavily with fatigue with his back to Sideline as they battled enemies on every side. His robes were cut cleanly in places; stained with red from various cuts he had earned in the battle.

From behind the milling forms of the skeletons there appeared another. Taller than the rest a skeleton, crowned with small twisted horns and wearing flowing dark robes, seemed to float into view, a dark red light glowing out from the empty sockets of his eyes, his ivory teeth like wicked fangs. Twin trails of fire rose from the ground on either side of him, rising to sinuously flow around him as a strange wind began to howl through the cavern. He held his skeletal hands out before him, his palms facing Rythan and Sideline both, and the swirling flames collected into an orb of fiery death.

The fireball blasted out towards them, consuming the Undead unlucky enough to stand in it path. Rythan dashed in front of Sideline, crossing his blades before him as the orb erupted towards him. Just as it closed in Rythan slashed with both of his gauntlet blades. The orb erupted around him, splashing the walls with flame as he cut through the magic that held the fireball together.

The Lich who had attacked gazed on in surprise, though it recovered quickly. It was not long before the undead that surrounded them finally brought both Rythan and Sideline down. As the two men lay upon the ground, barely conscious, the evil creatures raised their weapons for the final blows.

A rasping voice like crumbling autumn leaves spoke, {{Hold.}} The Lich looked down upon the defeated adventurers with a grim satisfaction, {{Take them to the dungeons}}.

**

The sound of dripping water roused Rythan back to consciousness. He could feel a cold stone floor beneath him, as he tried to move his arms, only to meet resistance and the sound of heavy chains clattering. He opened his eyes to see himself laying in a dark cell, mere feet from where he lay was a heavy metal door, no doubt bolted from the other side, with only a small slit open, letting in a sliver of torch light.

“Sideline?” he called out.

There were several moments of silence, “Hmm… ugh my head…” Rythan could hear Sideline’s muttering from the cell opposite his own, “What happened?”

Rythan struggled to rise to his feet, surveying the sheer rock walls that encased his cell, “I think we succeeded.”

This post has been edited by Ragnar0k: 29 January 2007 - 08:09 PM

Rapierian followed Brianna and Wizard through the Stronghold's passages. Inwardly, he was laughing: no one seemed to have remembered that he was a necromancer or consulted him on the dead. Instead, they'd just let him run with the rest. That was okay though; if they'd tried to make him fight, he probably would have been forced to disappear and proceed on his own. Rapierian supposed he was indebted to Rythan: by making sure that only Rapierian had heard Rythan give him the order to guide the rest, he'd made it easy for the necromancer to not do it. The group was trying to find the way down: in his tales, Hector had said the dungeons were down. Although the stronghold seemed to have changed somewhat since then, the group was confident that the cells were still below.


Suddenly, the wall in that Rythan was staring at wavered and something stepped through it. The daemon stretched, as it entered the cell. It looked at Rythan with undisguised curiosity.

"For many ages have I served my master, slaughtering those he willed, but I haven't seen you or your kind before. You are an intriguing creature...tell me: what are you and where are you from?"

Rythan jerked back to awareness again, to find himself alone in his cell - no sign of the daemon. There must still have been a trace of poison in his system, but surely not enough to make him hallucinate like that.

"The daemon must have been probing my mind while my defenses were low," he concluded. "I must be even more on my guard."

He heard a dull scraping sound, mingled with the jangling of heavy chains, from the next cell.

"Sideline? What are you doing?"

"Getting my boot off," came the reply. "I've got something in it."

"We're locked in a dungeon, and you're worried about a pebble in your shoe?"

"A guy's got to have priorities."

Rythan shook his head in disbelief. Sideline had seemed hardy enough in battle, if a bit lacking in skill compared to others Rythan knew, but his behaviour otherwise seemed questionable.

Rythan tested his chains, finding them quite solid, and firmly fixed to the wall. Both the chains and their moorings had apparently been designed to restrain something even stronger than himself. If only he had his blades...

The jangling in the next cell stopped. "Ah, that's better."

"I'm so glad you're comfortable," Rythan snorted.

"Who said anything about getting comfortable?" came Sideline's reponse, accompanied by the sound of a stamping foot. It was shortly followed by a metallic scraping noise.

"Now what are you doing?" Rythan queried, curious despite himself.

"Hang on, I'm a bit busy - be with you in a sec."

"Busy? You're chained to a wall. How can you possibly be 'busy'?"

There was a metallic 'click'.

"Sideline?"

No response.

"Sideline, are you alright?" Rythan was becoming concerned. His companion had taken quite a knock to the head when they were overrun, and his erratic behaviour since suggested he might still be addled.

Something moved outside his cell door. The lock clicked, and the door groaned open. The light from the flickering torches outlined a dark, menacing silhouette standing in the frame.

"Just give me half a minute and I'll have those chains off," Sideline commented, tossing a lockpick up and down as he strolled into the cell.

This post has been edited by cache22: 04 March 2007 - 04:57 AM

Brianna and Silverfish pretty much led the way after Sideline and Rythan split off. Brianna watched for traps, and Silver disarmed them to the best of his unguided ability. By the time they reached an actual doorway, most of the party was coughing and wheezing from the noxious fumes of the poisons that Tavara et al. had created.

They stepped through the door and into a small, well-ventilated library. The Party of adventurers, and Adrian, crowded through the doorway. Adrian, poor fellow, was on the verge of a nervous breakdown, worrying that Olivia might be down here, killed by a trap, or captured by the undead. Silver crawled behind the books, and fell asleep, he did not want to miss the end of the Quest, like last time.

Heavy metallic chains clattered to the stone floor within a dark cell. In view of what little light there was Rythan tested the use of his left arm, flexing the muscles, tightening his fist. It did feel better than it had before, his metabolism was several times faster than a normal human, giving him a small degree of accelerated healing. He shook his head, there was not nearly enough time for him to heal properly, such would take at least a day, perhaps two or even three.

He wondered about the demon he had seen. In his haze it was likely he answered the simple questions, as they were innocent enough, but why would the beast want to make pleasant conversation? When it had approached Rythan could feel the difference between that creature and the horrifying Blood Demons he had devoted his life to destroying. He concentrated, attempting to break through the poisonous fog that clouded his mind… What had happened?

"For many ages have I served my master, slaughtering those he willed, but I haven't seen you or your kind before. You are an intriguing creature...tell me: what are you and where are you from?"

Rythan met the dark creature’s steady curious gaze, replying simply “I am Hyperian.” The creature returned an odd look at that statement, believing it true but not knowing what to make of the name. Rythan continued to meet its eyes with his ruby and sapphire orbs, “A child of the Dragon.” He said to clarify, however the creature still did not know what he meant. Rythan remembered he was a stranger here… Where was here? A strange mist clouded his thoughts and memories. How? He could remember a dark hall, Jenadel, fire… and nothing. Why…The dark figure shook his head in an attempt to clear his addled thoughts. Where do you come from, that was the question, “The plains of Daraken.”

The demon seemed to become slightly agitated by Rythan’s lack of coherence, “I have never heard of any of this before. How is it that you came here?”

What an odd question, when the answer was so simple. Didn’t everyone know? Rythan looked to the daemon questioningly, “I traveled the roads of Ygg—“ abruptly he stopped himself.

“Ygg?” The daemon asked curiously, “What is this place, how does one reach it?”

Rythan’s eyes attained a chill of icy crystal as some semblance of clarity was restored to him, “You are unworthy to hear its name, but I can bring you there if you are not partial to which pieces of you I take.”

The daemon narrowed its eyes and spoke darkly, “Insolent fool.” It drew back its right fist and slammed it across the side of Rythan’s face with a savage blow that rocked his body to the side. Everything went dark…

Sideline knelt on the ground briefly, placing his lock pick back into his boot; the rogue’s nature had served the pair well. He spoke without looking up, “How’s the arm?”

Sideline’s words tore Rythan out of his reverie, “Better now.” he replied. He reached up with his right hand and touched where the blow had been struck; at least the creature hadn’t left a mark, still there was now a debt of blood to be repaid. As he clenched his fists onyx flames washed of the assassin’s tattered robes, with flecks of crimson lapping at the air and casting a dim light through the cell. The fires dissipated, leaving behind the dark blades mounted upon Rythan’s gauntlets and shin guards.

As Sideline stood he looked to Rythan quizzically, “If you could do that, why didn’t you free yourself?”

The shadowy figure looked back to the chains built into the stone wall behind him, “With my hands bound I couldn’t summon them easily, and I still suffer from poison weakness.”

Sideline made his way over to the heavy door, quietly opening it and peaking out, “We’re clear for now,” he whispered back, “You’re still well enough to fight?” Rythan nodded as he approached the door himself, “Good, because they took my sword, and I’ll want that back before we leave.”

The pair entered the hall, closing the cell door behind them. It was empty, silent save for the crackling flame of the corridor’s single wooden torch. To their right was a dead end, to their left… More cells lined the walls, at least a dozen on either side. Rythan stepped towards one of them and, motioning Sideline to check its opposite, peered through the steel door’s single opening. The pungent sickly sweet smell of rot was the first thing that greeted Rythan as he gazed inside. Within the dark cell was a lone figure in worn brown clothes, with flesh that was a shade of gray tinged with green and missing in places. The now dead prisoner was kneeling, leaning forward with his arms outstretched behind him, still chained to the wall.

That amount of decay should have taken weeks, so whoever the poor victim was, at least it wasn’t Katherine. “Empty.” Sideline whispered from behind, quickly moving to check the next cell.

With a last glance Rythan said a small blessing for the passing of the soul, “May Mana's light embrace you.” Slightly louder he replied, “Same.” And in silence he moved to the next cell.

This post has been edited by Ragnar0k: 30 January 2007 - 04:27 PM

"Now that's good air," Retsy breathed, then collapsed on the floor to rest her feet.
Retsy picked up a book out of curiosity, and paged through it. "Bleh," she mumbled to herself, "people can read all this? When I rule Cythera, I'll make people to read to me all day long. Then I'll never be bored again."
Retsy noticed that the others were now talking about the wall opposite the door through which they had entered; a wall which apparently "looked suspicious." Retsy crawled over to eavesdrop.
"Is it even a wall?" Kerran asked.
"Is this even a room?" Retsy asked.
"This is a room, because we're inside of it," Brianna assured her, being the closest.
"I can plainly see a wall, and you're debating it's existence," Retsy argued.
"I don't think it is actually a wall," Wizard said.
And the group began checking for traps and inching forward toward the wall.
Retsy leaned against a bookshelf to rest her eyes. "How could a place this comfy have traps anyway?"

On the other side of the "wall," a lich sat working on a table, working on a large alchemy set. It hadn't noticed the adventurers in the next room mostly because a lot of the liches had gone quite madand might not have cared if it had. After all, the enchantments on the Strongholds reanimated the dead within, so it wasn't terribly important to the lich if it died again or not. It might, however, get angry if its experiment were ruined.


"Wizard, I really don't think that you want to go poking around that wall. Perhaps, we should leave?" Rapierian suggested.

"Why?" Adrian asked, looking at the necromancer nervously.

"Because this place reeks of lich and from his 'scent' I'd hazard that he is still over there," he stated simply. "Might I suggest we search for an exit before he or someone else notices us?"

As the group debated, Retsy, out of boredom, pulled another book off of the shelf. Suddenly, the bookshelf groaned and slid back, revealing a flight of stairs leading down.

"Wow!" she said, pleased that her powers had helped her find the exit.

After a quick debate, the group agreed to head down into the darkness...


In another part of the Stronghold, Katherine sat on the hard bed in her cell, thinking hard. The liches' madness was readily apparent to her: most of them didn't seem to know that she had even come to the Stronghold. This was rather fortunate, since it meant that they did not try to interrogate her. However, they had told her that they would soon send her to Tavara and that he would make her talk. She guessed that it was Tavara that had noticed her at first and made the undead attack her, in spite of her charm. Her mission had been going quite well, until she'd stumbled onto a small room filled with scrolls. They had been spell processes, theoretical outcomes, etc. What she'd seen had chilled her to the bone: Tavara was developing a spell to convert the living directly to the undead and to his servants. He planned to use the magical artifact that controlled the legions of undead that had attacked Cademia some years ago and to use it to cast his spell on Pnyx, turning all the mages into liches and into his slaves. He'd then raise the undead army once more and would sweep across Cythera.

No sooner had Katherine deduced this, however, then something had hit her on the head. Next thing she knew, she was here in this cell. A few liches had come by and rambled on about their revenge, but she had not seen much. She wished that she could get a message out; she hoped that, at least, Akheron had come here and been captured too...

This post has been edited by Selax: 09 March 2007 - 01:17 AM

Brianna carefully led the way down the dark staircase, doing her best to spot any traps before she accidentally set them off. Indoors wasn't really her strong suit, and she was missing Sideline's skills. She was beginning to realise just how good at his job he really was.

"Oops!" She carefully pulled her foot back from the glinting wire she'd almost stepped on. "Found another one! Is Silverfish awake, yet?"

"Regrettably, we seem to have left him behind in the library, with the others," the Scribe replied.

Brianna sighed. "Well, we can step over it, then. Watch your step." She nimbly hoped over the low-strung wire. "See? Nothing to i - urk!"

She stared, speechless, at the single blade protruding from her upper chest. A dark stain was spreading across her tunic. There was no pain - in fact, there was an unsettling numbness spreading out from the centre of the wound.

"Grand... grandfather... Kat...erei... help..."

She coughed once, and slumped to the floor.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

Sideline and Rythan moved swiftly along the row of cells, pausing briefly to check each one. Sideline glanced through the window in the next door, then started to move to the next - then stopped, and went back for another look.

"Found her?" Rythan asked.

"No, but there's something..." Sideline pushed open the unlocked door and entered the cramped, forbidding room. He knelt down, ran his hand across the wall; then leaned forward to look under the sleeping bench. He emerged from the cell holding a shoe.

"Just an old shoe?" Rythan queried.

"Not so old," Sideline commented, "and it belonged to a woman. Also, someone's scratched a 'K' on the wall. Unless the liches have caught another female prisoner recently, whose name also begins with 'K', Katherine was here. I guess they must have moved her."

"We'd best press on."

"Agreed."

This post has been edited by cache22: 31 January 2007 - 04:47 AM

Before the party descended into the darkness, Starfall came running up to Rapierian, carrying a few books.
"Is is morally wrong to take books from this library?" she asked.
The mage pondered this for a moment, then replied, "It is an undead stronghold, and I doubt skeletons read much." Noticing the nature of the books she had found, he added, "And I also doubt that even liches would read about copper, gemstones or trees. If you carry them, you can take them."
The elf was about to squeal with delight when she remembered the need for silence. She ran back over to a section of shelving and started investigating.
Cat sighed, and said, "I'd better stay with her until she's happy with what she's got. She tends to forget where she is if she spends too much time with books, and it looks like she'll be a while. And I just might have a look myself. We'll catch up with you later."
Kerran opted to stay behind too, as the elves represented everyone he knew and trusted in Cythera. He was also casting glances at a section of shelving about music.
The rest of the party decended into the dark. Cat noticed Silverfish still asleep behind a book, and woke him up, telling him the party had left.

This post has been edited by CrazyChick: 03 March 2007 - 02:44 PM

Silverfish jolted awake, and thanked Cat profusely, before rushing out after the others, forgetting completely that Cat, Starfall, and Kerran were part of the party too.

Silver knelt, on the verge of tears, beside Brianna. He felt along the length of the blade, grimacing from the pain which the enchantment caused him. The blade was clean, so Silver began to slowly pull it out, carefully splicing her flesh together as the blade retracted, his mind within the wound, as if it was his own body, and not another's, which Silver was repairing. To those who watched, it seemed that he was pouring his life's essence into the wound, to safely remove the accursed blade; and they set a guard around them.