| DM | You head north up the
corridor. It seems to get darker as you go. After 30 feet you see Dreylin
crouched against a wall. |
| Dreylin | Hi guys, sorry
about that, but I really didn't fancy wandering on along - especially with
that group of people lurking up ahead. |
| DM | Now that you look, the
group of people seem to be further away than they were. |
| Berillia | Hmm... I'm
not convinced. What's the chance that they're not going to get any closer as
we go on?
We should carry on up this corridor, I'd say, but quietly and paying
lots of attention to the walls and floor. I'm not planning on getting covered
in oil again... that didn't come out quite right, did it?
[Smiles] |
| Dreylin | I think it
might be a bit late for that thought... [Points back down the
corridor] |
| Shianara | One way door?
[Turns to look] |
| DM | As you all turn round,
you find that there is now a blank stone wall behind you. |
| Shianara | [Sighs]
So Dreylin, what were you saying about ponds?! |
| Narond | Ahhh the joys of
one way doors... [Looks amused. Then proceeds to look about] |
| DM | Looking around you can
see nothing of interest although a pool of light far to the north still
indicates some movement.
You head north for 20 feet and reach a four way junction.
The west passage extends for 20 feet before ending in a blank wall. The north passage continues a long way. The south passage goes back to the wall you just came from and the east passage continues into the darkness.
| |
__| |___
|__ x ___
| |
|_|
[You are at x] |
| Dreylin | There's another
corridor off to the right about 20ft further up the corridor, but I didn't go
any further than that. |
| Leanna | I wonder if that
rather stunted passage to the west is another one-way door (except the wrong
way, obviously)?
I'd vote for going eastwards, as I'm suspicious of this long corridor.
|
| Narond | I would bet on
the short corridor being the exit of another one way door. Which does mean we
will have to be careful for people coming up behind us. [Looks slightly
concerned about this]
But east seems as good a direction as any. |
| DM | You notice that you
cannot see any movement in the northern corridor now.
Heading east, you travel for some fifty feet along a fairly blank and ill-lit
corridor.
At this point you find two set of double doors, one in the north wall and one
in the south. The north wall doors are made of polished wood and have
beautiful carvings and brass fittings. The corridor continues eastward into
darkness. |
| Dreylin | I suggest south
first. |
| Narond | Seems a good
plan. |
| DM | The door swings open
into a long room. It is 10 feet north to south and 50 feet east to west. It is
fairly well lit by braziers. The door you have come from is int the centre of
the north wall. There is another identical door in the south wall. Aside from
the light sources, the room is empty. |
| Leanna | Shall we continue
southwards? |
| Shianara | Sounds fair.
|
| DM | You head through the
south door.
After a small passage (10 feet long) you arrive at a long arched hallway. It
runs east to west. The south wall is blank stone but the north wall has a
series of curtains running down it. There are three curtains on each side of
the passage you enetered from. At the east and west ends of the passage are
corners you cannot see around. |
| Narond | Hmmm, more
curtained alcoves again. Probably more candles and stuff, but we best check
them out anyway starting from this end. East first then west. |
| Dreylin | That sounds
like a good plan. |
| DM | You check the curtains
immediately to either side of the door.
Behind them are small rooms about 10 feet square. They each contain a bed, a
small lamp, a washing bowl and some robes. Nothing else is visible.
Moving on, the two western rooms are identical to the first pair, although
there is a pair of boots lying on the floor of the first.
The first of the eastern rooms is also identical. The second has a small
chest in one corner and a dark green glass bottle on a bed side table.
You notice that the corridor bends round to the south at both ands and that there are three more curtains on the far wall in each case.
__||__
/ ____ \
x| | | |x
x| | | |x
x| | | |x
Curtains marked by an x. |
| Narond | [Investigates
the bottle and the chest] |
| DM | The bottle, when opened,
smells like some sort of strong brandy. There is not much left. The chest has
no lock, just a small catch at the front. |
| Narond | This smells like
brandy, anyone want some? |
| Shianara | Based on
previous experiences with chests, perhaps this one could be investigated at a
distance? |
| Narond | Why would a
priest know or be able to put traps on a small chest?... although there is
always the trapped animal prospect.
[Looks at Shianara] Perhaps you would care to open it from a distance?
[Opens the chest] |
| Leanna | [Has a nose
round the next set of curtains clockwise] |
| DM | Fortunatly for Narond, a
needle covered with the poison of the mysterious pango-pango-aargh fish does
not spring from the lock.
Inside the chest are a few woolen clothes and a few gold coins. |
| Narond | [Puts the chest
back after looking in the direction of Dreylin and sighing] |
| DM | Leanna heads off
clockwise and you all follow.
Around the corner you find three more curtains (on the east wall). The
corridor continues round (making another corner of the ovoid). |
| Leanna | [Peers into the
first alcove] Just some bread and cheese...
[Investigates the other two alcoves] |
| Narond | Anything worth
much in those two alcoves? |
| Dreylin | [Mutters
under his breath] |
| DM | As you reach the
south-east corner of the ovoid you are in, you find a stairway heading
south-east and upwards. You also see the corridor continues west and containes
more curtained alcoves. |
| Narond | Well shall we
look at yet more thrilling curtained alcoves, or shall we wander in the
direction of up?
[Looks like he is sick of curtained alcoves]
If there is one Siswa to each alcove... there are a large number of Siswa
kicking around this temple at the moment. |
| Shianara |
...elsewhere... |
| Berillia | Not to
suggest the obvious, but shall we just go round until we end up at the
beginning of the loop, and check all the alcoves along the way? There's not
exactly been much of interest in them so far... |
| Dreylin | Let's carry on
'round. |
| Narond | Definitely a
reasonable plan. |
| DM | Ok, you continue round
the ovoid.
The first four alcoves all turn up pretty much the same thing (with some
occasional variations on that theme).
When you reach the fourth alcove (there's no southward corridor, by the way)
you find a double door on the north wall.
You also hear faint talking from the next alcove. |
| Narond | [Quietly]
Someone should creep up and try to find out who is there, and what it is they
are talking about. I suggest either Dreylin or Leanna. Any preferences?
|
| Dreylin | [Sighs
(quietly)] I'll go then.
[Creeps to the curtain and listens, then creeps back after a moment]
[Whispers] I heard three, and I think that they're Siswa. They're
having lunch, so shouldn't be too hard to catch them unawares. |
| Narond | [Turns to
Dreylin] We probably can, better to knock them out when they are least
expecting it. I am not particularly fond of this charging in swords swinging.
We could always just leave them be, but that assumes they have no way of
finding out about us and giving chase... |
| Berillia | Well, shall
we get on with it?
[Hoists her hammer in a jaunty fashion] |
| Narond | [Makes an
'after you' kind of gesture] |
| Berillia | [Advances] |
| Shianara | [Follows] |
| Narond | Can't we just
leave them be and keep searching? |
| Berillia | We look like
Siswa. Let's move on. |
| DM | Leaving the Siswa to
their morning activities, you continue around the corridor. There are alcoves
all over the place, and it becomes clear that these are the main Siswa living
quarters.
There are several exits.
1)The one in the north which you came in.
2)A door immediately opposite that one.
3)A door on the same north-south line but on the other side of the central
oval.
4)A stairway in the south-eastern corner leading up.
5)A stairway in the south-western corner leading up.
|
| Shianara | In the
time-honoured tradition of finishing off each local bit of the map first, how
about a quick look in the central oval? |
| Narond | [Goes up to the
southern set of doors leading into the middle room of this Siswa area and
attempt to have a listen at the door to see if it sounds like there is anyone
inside] |
| DM | The silence is
deafening.
You open the door and find yourselves in a large room. (Approximately the
size of the space on the map.)
It is dimly lit with candles and torches in wall sconces. There are three
large tables running the length of the room. They have wooden benches tucked
underneath them. At the west end of the room is a small alcove with a statue
of an old man in it. At the eastern end is an empty alcove. |
| Narond | Hmmmm, a food
serving hall? [Wanders over to the empty alcove to have a looksee at
it] |
| Leanna | Does it look like
there used to be a statue there - scratch marks or lack of dust?
|
| Narond | Nothing down here
but flour and grapes, I don't believe that there looks like there was a
statue, but that does indeed look like the old bloke yet again... a bit of
exciting and different decor is what this place needs...
[Briefly considers the possiblity of selling these monks some tasteful
fabrics afterwards] |
| Berillia | Well, given
the complete lack of things to do in here, shall we move on? |
| Shianara | I'd just like
to have a last look at that alcove, but then let's be off. |
| DM | There's no more there
now than there was 30 seconds ago. |
| Berillia | I'd like to
have a look around the area to the north before trying the stairs. |
| Shianara | Agreed.
|
| DM | You head out of the
other set of double doors, narrowly avoiding a group of Siswa who are walking
by.
As they round the eastern corner of the corridor, you sneak across into the
small ante-chamber.
You go through the next door back into the east-west corridor. It stretches
away from you either side. |
| Leanna | How about trying
the door we spotted to the north west? |
| Shianara | Well we're
closer to the other door... and it might even be connected. |
| Narond | Right, let's go
with this door then. |
| DM | Strong wooden doors,
ornately carved with forest scenes open into a huge natural cavern. It is
approximately round with a diameter of 70 feet. Its walls rise 30 feet before
curving into an enormous metal dome. The cavern is lit by hundreds of torches
flaming in sconces on the walls. They reflect off the inside of the dome
providing enough light to see across the whole cavern. The floor of the room
is a series of mosaics, the largest of which depicts a compass. There are
three doorways, the one you have just come through and one in each of the east
and west walls.
There is a raised platform just 30 feet out of the northern wall. At the back
of this area stands a 15 foot tall clay statue of a man with a long beard. At
the front of the platform is a large altar, carved out of some dark wood. A
man, swathed in dark, Ylari robes which cover his features, stands at the
altar burning incense. He has not yet noticed you. |
| Dreylin | [Quietly
motions for everyone to go back out of the door, while trying to keep an eye
on the figure at the altar] |
| Berillia | [Whispering, back outside] Well, he's alone, unaware of
our presence and - from all appearances - the source of the problems here.
(Though I'd be a bit wary of that. Given the level of resistance we've come
across so far, the words "lured" and "trap" sort of spring to mind.)
Nevertheless, I suggest that we twat him. |
| Dreylin | Agreed, I just
thought that we might want to split up and come at him from two sides at the
same time - which would reduce the chance of him being able to enchant us all
at the same time. |
| Berillia | In that case,
I suggest we all go in through this door and then move to different
sides of the room. Otherwise we could get the timing embarrassingly and
fatally wrong, not to mention the possibility of bumping into more Siswa on
the way. |
| Dreylin | Indeed, not to
mention one-way doors! |
| Narond | Problem is, do we
what to attempt to talk to him first? If so then the flanking effort looks a
bit suspicious from his point of view, and as well we only want to go so far,
because we could get surprised by Siswa entering through any one of the sets
of door and we don't want to be caught in the middle. |
| Berillia | [Moves back
towards the door] Shall we? |
| Dreylin | I'll take the
left with Narond and Habib, and you take the right with Leanna and Shianara.
|
| Narond | Seems reasonable.
|
| DM | You slowly re-enter the
room and spread along the left and right walls.
The man in black continues his incantations.
After you've travelled about 15 feet a small gong sounds. The man in black
looks up at you. |
| Rahib | I thought I told
you to never come in here. We'll try again shall we? |
| DM | He speaks in quite
heavily accented Darokinian. |
| Rahib | [Looks at
Dreylin] You're not Siswa. |
| DM | With that, he reaches
into his robe and drops something on the floor. A large cloud of sickly green
smoke erupts around him. It disperses after a few seconds.
The room is now empty. |
| Berillia | [Sighs,
then proceeds - carefully - towards the northern side of the room, for to see
what's there and if he left anything behind] |
| Narond | [Wanders over
to attempt to see if he can work out how he disappeared...] |
| DM | Narond and Berillia head
to the north of the room. They step up onto the platform.
From close up you can see that the altar has had some new symbols roughly
carved over the old ones. There are two large brass plates on which some
incense sits. Judging by the smell it is not of good quality.
Apart from the statue, the area looks blank. There is a red, woolen rug
behind the altar. It is at approximately the point where the man was standing.
|
| Berillia | [Frowns at
the symbols, trying to recognise them, then has a look at the statue and the
rug] |
| DM | The symbols may possibly
be familiar, but you can't recall where you've seen them before.
The statue is the same as all the others, only made of a soft clay rather
than stone.
The rug is nailed down at its edges. Close examination shows a gap between
the edge of the rug and the rest of the floor. |
| Dreylin | [Does a sweep
around the edge of the room] |
| DM | Dreylin works his way
along the western wall. Apart from the double doors, there appears to be
nothing there.
As he steps onto the podium the statue begins to move. The clay flows out of
the body to form two more arms which continue to extend into massive swords,
about six feet long each). It turns its head towards Dreylin and starts to
lumber towards him. |
| Berillia | [Readies
her hammer, defensively] |
| DM | It continues to walk
towards Dreylin. It's getting quite close now. |
| Dreylin | Um, oh dear,
not again!
[Quickly leaps back off the platform] |
| DM | The statue steps down
off it too. It advances towards Dreylin. |
| Dreylin | [Attempts to
ready his axe] Um, Guys, could you stop standing around with your mouths
open and come and give me a hand here? |
| DM | Berillia smashes her
hammer into the back of the statue's leg. It leaves a mark on the clay but
does no noticable damage. The statue, however, stops and sweeps behind it with
one of its arms. Luckily for Berillia it didn't look and so only hits with its
fist. She is thrown several feet by the force of the blow.
With another arm it takes a swipe at the retreating Dreylin. Fortunately, its
having stopped means that it is just out of range. Dreylin decides that axe
getting is not appropriate right now and begins to race down the room.
|
| Dreylin | [Runs towards
the main body of the party, getting his axe out] |
| Narond | [Looks like he
would rather do anything than fight this statue thingy, and attempts to draw
his magical dagger] |
| Leanna | [Attempts to
backstab the statue with her sword] |
| DM | As the statue lumbers
forward, Dreylin spins on his heel and swings his axe. It connects sharply
with the ankle of the beast and sinks some way into the clay. The axe sticks
there and takes some time to pull out. The giant statue seems oblivious to the
presence of the axe and swings two swords in Dreylin's direction. The hapless
hin manages to duck one of them but is caught badly on one side by the other.
He rolls to the floor.
Narond, seizing the opportunity, rushes the statue and plunges his knife into
its leg. A small piece of clay breaks off. Sadly, Narond is caught by the
third arm (whose existence he had briefly forgotten). Blood seeps through his
clothing as he crashes into the wall.
At about this point, Berillia manages to pick herself up.
Habib, stunned by the swift resistance encountered by Dreylin and Narond
falls back to consider his next move.
Leanna runs across the room to backstab the statue. Her sword easily plunges
into the statue's back, but it takes no notice. Instead, it swings its last
arm blindly behind it. Leanna swiftly ducks out of its way.
At this juncture Shianara, who has finally finished fumbling with his bow
shoots an arrow. It crashes into a random wall. |
| Narond | Run!!!! |
| Leanna | [Notes the
slowness of the statue and runs back towards the altar] |
| Berillia | [Tries
again with her (magical) hammer] |
| DM | Narond, Dreylin and
Habib, realising the danger they are in, run towards the south door.
The statue turns to face Berillia and thus is not quite where she was aiming
any longer. Fortunately her mistimed swing puts her out of the way of the
statue's arms.
Shianara manages to just miss Dreylin with his arrow, which is impressive
because at this point the halfling is 20 feet from the statue.
Leanna runs for the altar. |
| Narond | [Tries to join
Leanna at the altar] |
| DM | Narond runs in an
amusing way.
He makes it to the altar.
Dreylin and Habib are still near the south wall, Shianara is standing near
the west door and Berillia is right next to the big angry statue. |
| Dreylin | [Heads over
to Shianara, reasoning that he's much less likely to get hit by arrows if he's
standing behind him!] |
| DM | Berillia and the statue
continue to dodge each other as most of you run around in mild panic.
Upon reaching the platform, Narond runs to Leanna behind the altar. There is
a moment's pause and then both of them disappear rapidly downwards,
accompanied by surprised shouts.
Narond's voice calls to you from somewhere behind the altar. |
| Narond | Get over here
people, more stairs down here, probably where the bloke went, and away from
that... |
| Berillia | [Backs away
from the statue and towards the altar without turning] |
| Dreylin | [Dashes
across to the altar] |
| DM | Dreylin hurtles at high
speed from behind Shianara towards the altar. He is closely followed by the
young elf. Habib also rushes towards that region and arrives at the same time
as Berillia who is still facing the statue. During her retreat she was clipped
once with the tip of a sword.
At the altar, you find a large hole in the floor (big enough for two people
to fall through). Narond's head is sticking up through it.
The statue is still advancing. |
| Narond | Well... what are
you all up there waiting to be smashed for? Get down here.
[Starts retreating at the fastest possible speed and attempts to move
quickly out of the way when he gets down the bottom] |
| Dreylin | Well, I think I
might wait for the statue to come and kill me... or I could jump down the
hole! |
| DM | Dreylin waits for the
statue to...oh sorry... Dreylin jumps down the hole. |
| Berillia | [Pulls a
face at the statue, and then goes down the hole at a reasonably fast
pace] |
| DM | Berillia and Shianara
are next to jump down, landing not too heavily on Dreylin.
Habib is last to get down and, as he does, is slashed across the shoulder by
one of the statue's swords.
You are in a small room. It is plain stone with no decorations. An arch in
the west wall shows a downwards staircase beyond. There is a ladder which
leads up to the hole in the ceiling. A trapdoor (with a rug nailed to it)
hangs from one side of the hole.
Above you there is a large animated statue with four swords. It looks like it
could fit several of them through the hole. |
| Shianara | So, shall we
try to close the trapdoor? |
| Dreylin | I believe a
swift movement out of here may be called for. [Moves through the
arch] |
| DM | Dreylin escapes swiftly
thought the archway.
Shianara pushes the trapdoor back up. It swings easily into place and locks.
The opening mechanism is clearly visible from this side. |
| Berillia | Well, shall
we go? There doesn't seem to be much to do here... |
| Narond | Through the
archway and down the corridor... |
| Shianara | Agreed. I
just feel a little bit safer with that door between us. Let's go! |
| DM | You all head through the
arch onto the staircase. It descends about 20 feet as it turns southwards. At
its end you reach another archway which leads into a large octagonal room.
The walls are decorated with aged frescos and the carpet is old but clearly
of good quality.
The arch to the stairway is in the north wall. There are wooden double doors
in the east, west and south walls. |
| Shianara | [Listens
for noises, then examines the doors and the room for evidence of which route
Rahib went] |
| DM | You can't hear anything.
The doors are fairly thick wood. Not good to hear through. They're very nicely
built. This whole room looks more refined than the rest of the temple. As a
result, the doors fit very snugly, and you can't see any light at all from
under them.
The carpet is most worn around the doors, but it's not clear which one has
been used most recently. |
| Shianara | East first?
Seems as good a choice as any... |
| DM | Following Shianara's
suggestion, you go east.
The double doors open onto a small hallway (20 feet long). It is nicely
carpeted but is short on decoration.
There is another double door at its eastern end. There are also smaller doors
in the north and south walls. They are closer to the eastern doors thah the
western ones. |
| Narond | So one of these
first set of doors? [Goes to listen at the north door] |
| DM | You cannot hear anything
from beyond the door. |
| Berillia | [Pauses for
a moment to check on her injuries and to see what she can do]
[Quietly] Anyone else? |
| Narond | [Turns towards
Berillia looking somewhat bruised] I would. |
| Dreylin | I got a bit of
a scratch back there too. |
| Berillia | [Tries to
do something useful to Narond and Dreylin] |
| Berillia | So, north?
[Tries to opens the door from behind Narond] |
| Narond | [Points out
that he is behind Leanna] |
| Leanna | I'll open the
door... |
| DM | You open the door and
lean into the room beyond. It is about 20 feet square although there seems to
be more of the room around a corner in the east wall.
The room is lit with many flickering candles, some in holders on the walls,
the others on stands.
The north and west walls are all lined with books and papers. There appears
to be a very large amount of information here.
In the centre of the room is a large table. It has a red velvet table cloth
and several brass book stands on it.
In a large chair, which is behind the table from your viewpoint, sits the
dark robed man from the room with the altar.
This time, however, he has his features uncovered. It does not take you long
to recognise them. The last time you saw him was in Thyatis, where he called
himself Catharandamus. |
| Rahib | [In
Thyatian] You? [Stands] |
| Habib | [Leaps forward,
sword drawn] |
| DM | An exchange passes
between the two of them in Ylari. |
| Rahib | [Draws a long
metal wand from his sleeve and points it at Habib] |
| DM | There is a pale flash
from the wand.
Tucking the wand away he lifts a large mace. |
| Leanna | Habib? Are you
OK? [Draws her sword] |
| Narond | [Locates and
readies his dagger] |
| Shianara | [Tries to
get a quick arrow shot in, in the vain hope of actually hitting anything,
before drawing his sword] |
| Dreylin | [Knowing what
Shianara's aim is like, decides against running forward with axe drawn, and
instead draws his bow and lets fly]
[Realises that he's in front of Shianara anyway, and abandons the bow idea,
instead opting to put people between himself and wayward Elven arrows]
[Draws his axe and moves around Habib's right-hand side] |
| Habib | [Disturbingly] You heretics must get past me to attack the
divine one. |
| Dreylin | Oh for goodness
sake! [Throws his arms in the air in frustration] What's he told you
now, that the great Desert Sun shines... |
| Leanna | [Jumps at Habib
shield-first from the right in an attempt to follow his
instructions] |
| Berillia | [Runs
forward towards Rahib with hammer raised menacingly, with the intention of
running into him and preventing him from attacking rather than hitting him
with it]
[Considers trying to knee him in the knackers] |
| Dreylin | ...out of his
arse!? |
| DM | As Dreylin mutters those
sage words, Berillia makes a break for Rahib. Darting round Leanna, she leaps
at him, knee raised. There is a metallic clunk as she discovers that the robe
is not all he's wearing.
As Berillia begins her run, Narond darts over to the nearest torch and puts
his hand in the flame. Seemingly undamaged, he pulls his hand out, carrying a
small piece of the flame. He closes his eyes for a moment before the glow in
his hand erupts into a spear of intense light, several feet long.
With a low whoosh, the spear rushes across the room and strikes Rahib on his
side. Berillia is thrown aside by the impact and Rahib crashes into the far
bookshelves, scattering papers everywhere.
Shianara's arrow sticks in one of the bookshelves at this point, vibrating
not far from Rahib's head.
As soon as the spear of light passes, Leanna leaps for Habib, shield first.
She crashes into him and the two go down in a heap of arms and legs.
Rahib pulls himself away from the bookshelves and runs at Dreylin, swinging
his mace. He is about two seconds from staving in the Hin's skull when he
slips on a piece of paper and flies head over heels past the party. |
| Shianara | [Tries to
actually hit a target (Rahib) with an arrow] |
| DM | Habib is the first to
extract himself from the struggle with Leanna. He rolls away and stands up
with his sword swinging for Dreylin.
Rahib makes good use of Dreylin's momentary distraction and lands a shocking
blow with his mace. The little hin is thrown several feet before collapsing by
the wall.
Berillia launches herself forward as she sees Dreylin fall and slings a stone
at Rahib. It hits a glancing blow across his neck and he falters briefly.
Shianara also takes the opportunity and fires an arrow at close range. It
pierces Rahib's armour in his thigh and stays there. The wound begins to bleed
freely.
Narond, realising that any effort from where he stands would be futile, helps
Leanna to her feet. |
| Leanna | [Attempts to
backstab Rahib] |
| Narond | [Reaches inside
his cloak, pulls out his wand of paralysation, points it at Habib and
activates it...] |
| DM | Berillia makes the first
move by flinging another stone at Rahib. He ducks it easily and it skitters
away. Leanna, who started running once she was up, arrives at Rahib and takes
advantage of the distraction. She easily places a sword thrust and Rahib falls
back, one arm badly bruised through the armour.
Habib tries to slash at Leanna in response, but she moves aside. Rahib
however, brings his good arm into play and catches Leanna on the leg as she
moves past.
Narond reaches into a pocket and pulls out a short wand. It seems to be made
of copper with small scratches of writing on it. He points it at Habib and
sends the mental command to operate it. A pale blue light briefly surrounds
the Alaysian and he freezes. His eyes dart from side to side. While he is
conscious, it is clear that he cannot move.
Meanwhile, Shianara reaches deep into his quiver. Instead of an arrow he
pulls out a small branch of a tree, possibly an elm. Gently placing the branch
between his palms he mutters some words in elvish. The wood of the branch
seems to flow and, within seconds, he is holding an exquisite arrow. The
shaft, head and even the flights are all made of wood.
Swiftly nocking the arrow on his bow he fires at Rahib. The arrow flies true
and pierces Rahib around the shoulder of his wounded arm, its bloody head
sticking out of his back. |
| Berillia | [Is
impressed, and takes advantage of Rahib's situation by charging at
him] |
| Narond | [Ties Habib
up] |
| Shianara | Narond! Point
that at Rahib! |
| DM | Berillia, putting her
sling away, runs towards Rahib and swings her hammer. It glances off his
armour but does not appear to worry him unduly. At the same time Leanna tries
to skewer the cleric. Even with his (off hand) arm hurt, he deftly parries her
blow.
Shianara lets loose another arrow, but it's well off target and lands in the
bookshelves.
While this is happening, Narond takes the opportunity and ties up Habib,
leaning him decoratively against a wall.
Rahib, having removed the threat of Leanna's sword, ripostes with a blow to
the shoulder. It is not serious but slightly bothersome.
Ignoring Shianara's advice, Narond throws his dagger at the staggering Rahib.
He misses and it clatters off one of the walls. Equally, Shianara's arrow
flies wide.
Leanna continues her fight and manages to land a devastating cut on Rahibs
leg which begins to bleed freely.
In response, Rahib mutters some words and a slight glow erupts around him and
then settles on his skin.
Berillia, taking advantage of the moment, swings her hammer but it bounces
off the strange glow as if it were a wall. |
| Shianara | [Reiterates] Narond! Point that at Rahib! |
| Narond | [Gives Shianara
a particularly stubborn look and moves towards Rahib] |
| DM | As Shianara calls to
Narond, Rahib kicks Berillia in the shin, slowing her down. Turning his back
on you, he runs towards the part of the room to the north east that you cannot
see.
Leanna manages to catch his leg with her sword. It is turned by the glowing
shield but seems to sink into it slightly, causing a minor cut. Rahib stumbles
and drops something before continuing.
Before the rest of you can react, he is round the corner. There is a low
rumbling sound.
Looking around, you find that he is gone.
The room now contains...
Lots of books
Leanna, Narond, Berillia and Shianara
Dreylin (in a heap)
Habib (tied up and enchanted)
Whatever it was Rahib dropped
It's a squarish library with a little alcove-like bit to the north-east.
|
| Berillia | [Bandages
where appropriate, except for Habib, then checks Dreylin] |
| DM | He is breathing but
cannot be roused. He is bleeding from a nasty head wound. He will die without
aid in the near future. |
| Berillia | [Applies
the staff of healing to Dreylin] |
| DM | In doing so, the staff
warms slightly.
His breathing eases. His wounds look less serious but do not close
completely. His eyes flutter open. |
| Dreylin | [Croaks]
So I'm not dead then? |
| Berillia | Welcome back
to reality.
[Lays her hands on Dreylin's chest and mutters a prayer under her
breath] |
| Dreylin | [Looks a lot
better] |
| Narond | You know, this
guy and his disappearing act is really getting rather tedious. We should
really do something about killing him next time. |
| Shianara | So killing
him would be preferential to paralysing him and tying him up? |
| Narond | [Wanders off to
see what it was that Rahib dropped] |
| Shianara | [Follows] |
| Narond | [Picks up a
wand] |
| DM | There is writing on the
wand.
"Mental Rewrite: Non-rechargable.
Squeeze handle to fire. Touch forehead with back end to clear."
Next to the writing is a symbol. There are three rings, interlinked at the
centre. |
| Narond | Anyone know the
significane of a symbol with three interlinked rings? |
| DM | None of you have a clue
what it means. |
| Narond | [Returns and
grins at Shianara on the way past as he walks over to Habib]
This ought to clear him up. [Touches Habib's forehead with the back end of
the wand] |
| Habib | [Looks more
normal] |
| Shianara | The wand is
non-rechargeable? So how did Rahib enchant everyone? Either he's too exhausted
to cast the spell himself, or he must have a huge reservoir of wands... or
more worryingly, he might have a way of enchanting lots of people at once.
|
| Narond | Either that or
the wand had an original huge charge in it. |
| Shianara | True... So,
Narond, is that paralyse wand one use too? |
| Narond | Nope, it has an
unknown number of uses and we have already used it three times, so we are
never likely to know whether the damn thing will actually work next time,
hence we should only try and use it as little as possible and only where
needed. I deemed Habib to be a worthy target, while Catharandamus could be
killed by us for all I care... |
| Shianara | Well, while
we could just kill him, especially after all he has done, we could likely get
some information from him before doing so. I would think that would be worth a
use of the wand?
[Wanders around the corner and examines the walls near the north-east
corner] |
| DM | There is a rumbling
sound from the alcove where Shianara had wandered to. |
| Shianara | [Peeks back
from around the alcove, holding a piece of rope which looks to have been
messily torn in half]
We might want to hurry this way, given what I've just found around here.
[Beckons for everyone to come looksee] |
| Berillia | [Wanders
over, cautiously] |
| Dreylin | [Slowly joins
them, wincing as his various wounds hurt] |
| DM | The alcove has two
torches in holders on the south wall. |
| Shianara | That
[Points at the suspicious-looking torch on the south wall of the
alcove] makes that wall rotate.
Volunteers? (Other than half my rope, which was tied onto the torch on the
other side). Although Rahib might be waiting for us, I'd prefer this route to
just aimlessly wandering around looking for him again.
Oh, and who's up for trying to use the paralysation wand again, on Rahib?
|
| Narond | What would be
useful here would be to find something we can use to wedge the thing in an
open position to make it easier to get through and get back. |
| Shianara | [Attempts
to move a bookcase into a position to block the secret door open, then ties a
rope to the torch and pulls the other end of the rope] |
| DM | After a little bit of
exertion you manage to manoeuvre the bookcase into a position that should
block the revolving wall. Stepping back, Shianara pulls on the rope. The wall
half turns before lodging itself against the shelves. They wobble a bit but
hold. Through the gap, you can see a dimly lit room. After Shianara recovers
his rope you carefully enter. |
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