# Medriev's FR Thunderspire Labyrinth - Concluded Apr 13



## Medriev

*This is the second thread of my continuing solitaire campaign. It continues where my Keep on the Shadowfell story hour left off with the same PCs. For those who are interested, the PCs at the start of this adventure are as follows:

Dulvarna  Human Level 4 Fighter
Litiraan    Eladrin Level 3 Wizard
Lavren     Eladrin Level 4 Warlock
Telkya     Eladrin Level 3 Cleric
Enlishia    Human Level 4 Ranger
Erlmoor    Dragonborn Level 4 Paladin

As usual grateful for any comments or feedback and hope others enjoy reading this as much as I have enjoyed playing and writing this. Anyway, here is.....

Chapter 1 - Into the Mountain (Part 1)*

A swirling thunderhead of black clouds, rumbling thunder, and bright flashes of lightning obscured the peak of the mountain ahead of the travelers. They had turned aside from the Immerflow Valley where an ancient road headed further up into the mountains and followed an equally ancient cobbled path beside a stream that locals called the Khel. At the top of the vale, the stream disappeared into the rock and there, ahead of the small group was a wide gateway carved into the mountainside. Whatever doors had once barred had been long since broken down and had rotted away but the gate was no less impressive for their absence. A bull-headed creature with the body of a man was carved into the stone on either side of the high gateway, each holding a huge sword in a downward, guard position with the point between its feet. The gateway itself was easily the height of eight men and from either side, the bull-headed statues glowered menacingly.

“The Minotaur Gate,” said the dark haired warrior woman who led the group. She pulled a torch from her belt and struck a light to it. A tall elf lord called light to the tip of the wand her held and at the back, a black-scaled dragonborn lit his own torch.
“Shall we go in,” said a woman near the back of the group. She had short, brown hair and carried a sword on her back and a bow over one shoulder.
“I think we shall,” answered Dulvarna, the warrior woman who led the group. She started forward and the others followed her into the darkness.

They followed the wide passage a short way into the mountain but then it splintered into numerous other passages. A wide tunnel with several smaller tunnels leading off it seemed to cut a path towards the mountain’s deep centre. They followed the wide tunnel a little way further on until Dulvarna raised her hand to halt the companions behind her. Light spilled from a partially open door a short way down one of the side passages and as the six companions stopped and listened, they heard coarse laughter and guttural voices from the side passage.

“You’re ours now, halfling,” said one voice. “We’ll easily get ten gold for you!”
“That’s a shame,” another voice responded. “Cause I’m worth twenty. I’ll buy myself if you let me go.”
“Hobgoblins,” growled Erlmoor, drawing his sword quietly. “Just what we came here for.”


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## Medriev

*Chapter 1 - Into the Mountain (Part 2)*

Each of the six drew their weapons or implements of power and together, the group started forward. Dulvarna put down her torch on the floor outside the doors, and with her sword leaning against her shoulder, she pulled open the double doors to the side chamber with one hand. Within, four hobgoblin warriors faced a halfling who was crouched on the floor between them and a hobgoblin shaman in clad in furs and a skull headdress.
“Intruders!” called the shaman and the hobgoblins turned towards the door just as Dulvarna rushed into the room with her sword held high in two hands now.

Dulvarna reached the first hobgoblin and twisted to the left, drawing her blade across the left of the warrior’s abdomen and twisting him around towards her. Light flared from the doorway as Telkya raised her holy symbol and a beam seared into the first of a row of huge tuns against the east wall. It blasted a hole and sprayed dust into the air. Litiraan loosed a silver bolt from the doorway that drove into the hobgoblin’s side and forced it back into the room. Enlishia darted through the doorway, firing an arrow as the came, the shaft flying the length of the room to clatter against the wall beyond the halfling. The hobgoblin drew his flail from his belt and lashed out at Dulvarna, catching her right arm and spinning her backwards against the west wall of the chamber. He snarled and moved forward menacingly as though to finish her.

“Kill them all,” snarled the shaman from the back of the chamber as he advanced. “Teach them the price of interfering with Bloodreaver business.”
“I’ll look forward to that,” sneered Lavren as he entered the chamber. “Because interfering with Bloodreaver business is precisely what we’re here for.” The elf spat a curse at the first hobgoblin and loosed crackling black energy into the warrior’s side, spinning him away from Dulvarna. Then, with snarls and roars, the three remaining warriors came forward with shields raised and flails twirling above their heads.

Dulvarna parried the flail of the second hobgoblin as it reached her and glanced left as Erlmoor charged into the room. His blade lashed out and the wounded hobgoblin ducked back beyond the dragonborn’s reach. The paladin roared and sprayed acid over the gathered hobgoblins and as they retreated, Dulvarna rushed forward, lashing out with her sword. A flail parried her blade and twisted it aside but she tried to recover and drive her blade into the wounded hobgoblin. He turned, sensing the attack and held his flail over his head, two handed to parry the blow. As he stood there, silver bolt flew from the doorway and drove through his body from one side to another before jolting the shield of the hobgoblin behind. The struck warrior opened his mouth in one last gasp and then collapsed to the floor of the chamber. 

Enlishia saw her chance and loosed an arrow through the gap into the shoulder of the hobgoblin behind the one that had fallen. The shaman shoved that hobgoblin aside and surged into the gap himself, throwing out a hand and uttering a short, guttural chant. A wave of force struck the four companions, hurling Dulvarna back against the south wall of the chamber and throwing Enlishia from her feet and dumping her out into the corridor beyond the doors.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 1 - Into the Mountain (Part 3)*

Lavren turned to see if Telkya had been hurt by the shaman’s spell but she was nowhere to be seen. He looked towards the barrels and saw a faint, fading cloud of light motes there, the telltale sign of an eladrin’s teleport. He drew his sword and rushed towards the barrels and as he neared them, he concentrated on a spot beyond them, behind the hobgoblins. He felt the dizzying sensation of rushing forward and then appeared where he had willed himself, just behind the shaman. He glanced to his right and saw that Telkya had appeared just beyond the barrels. She turned to him and winked and Lavren smiled back. He turned then and with a curse, he loosed black, crackling energy into the back of the nearest hobgoblin. The creature cried out and turned with a hiss towards this new enemy. It nudged its neighbour and together, the two hobgoblins started towards the elf.

Dulvarna shook the confusion from her head and pushed herself to her feet. She raised her blade unsteadily and concentrated on getting her breath back. As she did so, Erlmoor slashed his blade left and right while praying loudly to Lathander. His sword glowed with divine light but each time it struck at the shaman, the hobgoblin met the blade with his gnarled staff. The warrior woman looked around for Lavren and Telkya and wondered where they had got to but then she saw a commotion behind the first rank of hobgoblins and knew the answer. Cursing the reckless elf, she started back to join Erlmoor in battle once more. From the right, Litiraan loosed a silver bolt that struck the shaman in the shoulder while Enlishia, similarly dazed, reentered the room. She leveled her bow and loosed an arrow at the shaman but the hobgoblin docked to its right and the arrow clattered harmlessly against the far wall of the chamber. The shaman roared and struck out with its staff, uttering another incantation as he did so. Lightning crackled along the stave and as it struck Erlmoor’s shoulder, it sent the dragonborn reeling.
“Arte you learning yet?” sneered the shaman. “The Bloodreavers punish any who interfere in their plans.”

Lavren ducked one flail and then parried the second with Lifestealer low and to his left. He lashed the sword back around and slashed it across the left shoulder of the hobgoblin above his shield. The hobgoblin raised his flail above his head and brought it down but Lavren raised his blade crossways over his head and met the descending flail. The ball flew on downwards and whistled past the elf’s nose as he moved his head backwards out of its way. He twisted his blade to the right, throwing the hobgoblin’s flail down and to the right while moving his blade up again to meet the other hobgoblin’s weapon. He twisted his arm back in a desperate parry, keeping the other flail at bay. Telkya rushed in then on Lavren’s left and the hobgoblin leapt back a step to meet this new threat. The elf maid turned and flashed a beautiful smile and a wink at Lavren. His heart soaring, he turned back to his own foe and pushed forward.

Dulvarna and Erlmoor had each flurry of attacks parried as they tried to push the shaman and the other hobgoblin warrior back into the chamber. Silver bolts from Litiraan’s wand and arrows from Enlishia’s bow flew past the hobgoblins but none struck home and the shaman sneered broadly at the enemies before him. The shaman lashed out with its stave and Erlmoor ducked low under the blow but at the same time, the hobgoblin facing Dulvarna surged forward. The warrior shoved its shield into Dulvarna’s sword and twisted it down and to her right while bringing its flail down in a high overhand blow. Dulvarna ducked back but she was not quick enough and the spiked ball cracked painfully into her shoulder. Beside her, Erlmoor stabbed out low with his blade but the shaman leapt the blow and danced backwards.
“If you yield now, you’ll be worth more when we sell you on,” sneered the shaman. Erlmoor responded with a growl and rushed at the hobgoblin again.

Telkya looked over at Lavren and then retreated from the hobgoblin she faced, confident he could keep both from her. Raising her silver star amulet of Corellon, she uttered a prayer and called down a column of searing light on the hobgoblin she had just been battling. She grasped her sword firmly in her right hand and her amulet in the other and prayed fervently. The light came down and the hobgoblin cried out as it seared his flesh. The creature staggered and fell back towards the front of the room.

Litiraan found his aim at last as he loosed another silver bolt from his wand and watched it sear into the hip of the shaman. The bold hobgoblin staggered and lurched to the left just as Enlishia loosed an arrow from her bow. The shaft pierced his right arm and threw him backwards. The shaman lashed out wildly and Erlmoor simply leaned back to evade the swing. He lunged forward then while the shaman was still off balance and plunged his blade into the hobgoblin’s chest.
“You’ll be selling no one here,” snarled Erlmoor into the hobgoblin’s face as the last light faded from its eyes. 	

Lavren ducked left as one flail descended towards him and then raised his sword to parry the second only for the ball to loop over his raised blade and strike him painfully on the shoulder. He twisted his arm free and looked over his shoulder for aid from Telkya. She loosed a beam of light from her star amulet but the hobgoblin it was intended for ducked to one side and the divine fire blasted a hole in the wall next to it. Telkya uttered a decidedly unladylike curse in elven and drew a shocked look from Lavren before she began to utter another prayer. Lavren hoped it was a good one. They needed all the help they could get, divine or otherwise. Even as the thought passed through his mind, Lavren saw a flash of silver light behind his enemies and another hobgoblin fell beside the shaman. Suddenly, the way was clear for Dulvarna and Erlmoor to come to his aid. Who needed Corellon, Lavren thought to himself. Steel and muscle would serve him greater here. An arrow drove into the back of the hobgoblin before him, pitching the warrior forward a step. Lavren lashed out at the hobgoblin and then darted back as it lashed out angrily with its flail, roaring as it did so. The spiked ball smashed into his side, piercing his leather armour and cracking at least one of his ribs. The other hobgoblin swung his flail high at the elf’s head and Lavren ducked beneath chain and ball easily. Then, Erlmoor and Dulvarna came upon the hobgoblins from behind and Litiraan appeared beside Telkya in a shower of white light motes. The hobgoblins died quickly then in a hail of silver and white light and a terrible onslaught of bloodstained blades.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 1 - Into the Mountain (Part 4)*

“What is this place?” Dulvarna asked the halfling once they had tended to their wounds and Telkya had checked that the halfling was unhurt.
“Pleased to meet you too,” came the answer. “I am Rendil Halfmoon and I live here. This is the Labyrinth, the untamed region in the depths of Thunderspire Mountain. We’re not too far from the Seven Pillared Hall where my home is. Adventurers such as yourselves should be able to easily find employment in the Hall, if that’s what you’re looking for. Just stay on Brugg’s good side – you don’t want him or the Mages of Saruun to pay too much attention to you, if you know what I mean.”

“You live here?” questioned Enlishia. “Why would you live here?”
“Many do,” answered Rendil. “Well, not here, in the Seven Pillared Hall, as I said. Thanks so much for helping me. Come with me to the Halfmoon and I’ll buy you an ale or four. It’s the best inn – well, the only inn – this side of the Labyrinth.”
“Why are you here then, if you live in this Hall?” rumbled Erlmoor.
“Those hobgoblins grabbed me a few hours ago,” answered the halfling. “I was tailing them ‘cause they were hanging around my family’s inn yesterday. I wanted to figure out what they were up to, but they caught me.”

“The Halfmoon’s your inn then,” said Dulvarna with a smile. “I think we’ll take you up on those ales then.”
“Room and board as well, if you want it,” the halfling said then. “And if you want to find more of those Bloodreavers like you said, I can help you out. I can tell you how to find the Chamber of Eyes. I’d like to see someone teach those slavers a lesson.”
“We might just take you up on that,” said Telkya.
“Then you’d best follow me,” said Rendil, rising to his feet. He started towards the doorway, waving the others to follow him. They gathered up their weapons and gear and started after the halfling.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 2 - The Seven-Pillared Hall (Part 1)*

Beyond the side passage, the wide passage into the mountain was dimly lit by green light from copper lanterns. Rendil led them onwards as the passage turned left and then right and then left again while descending steadily into the heart of Thunderspire. Eventually, the path leveled out and emerged into a mighty chamber. A stream bisected the wide cavern and seven stone pillars connected floor to ceiling, perhaps once stalactites and stalagmites. At the heart of the chamber, just to the east of the stream stood a statue of a minotaur on a stone platform while everywhere, creatures great and small, more varied than any that would be seen on the streets of Arabel wandered between various stone buildings that were scattered across the floor of the cavern. Various side openings seemed to lead to other residences and businesses and were just as frequented as the others.

“Where is your inn?” Enlishia asked.
“Over there,” answered Rendil, gesturing towards the southern wall on the western side of the stream.
“And what of the other places here,” said Litiraan. “What do they offer?”
“they are traders mostly,” answered the halfling. “This is a trading outpost for the most part but others, less desirable folk, live in other parts of the mountain.”
“We go to the inn and then we find the Bloodreavers,” rumbled Erlmoor. “We want no trouble here.”
“Very sensible, master dragonborn,” said the halfling, starting across the open space towards the inn. “Very sensible.” Lavren and Telkya started after the halfling and the others followed.
“You faught well back there,” said Lavren to the elf maid once they had moved ahead of the others.
“As did you,” she answered with a smile.

The Halfmoon Inn was a large building that sat against the side of the Hall and seemed to serve as a trading post, taproom and inn. Rendil quickly introduced them to his aunt, Erra Halfmoon who ran the inn and soon had rooms arranged for them upstairs. They took seats near to the fire for the dark of the mountain was cold and as soon as they had done so, ale began to flow as Rendil had promised. The six companions ate well and drank their fill of ale before retiring to rooms upstairs and sleeping for the first time under the mountain.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 2 - The Seven-Pillared Hall (Part 2)*

“We should explore the Hall first,” said Lavren over breakfast as he shoveled a mouthful of meat that he hoped was bacon into his mouth.
“Agreed,” said Telkya and Lavren looked at her suspiciously then. Since they had left Winterhaven, the two had seemed to become closer with each passing day but still he had not yet discerned the relationship between her and Litiraan. Perhaps he should just ask, he mused, but then his thoughts were interrupted by Erlmoor’s rumbling voice.

“We passed a dwarf trading company,” the dragonborn said. “I for one would like to see what armour and weapons they have on offer.”
“And there is a trading post in the eastern part of the cavern, so Rendil tells me,” said Litiraan. “They are said to trade alchemical reagents that may be useful.”
“We have little time for brewing potions, alas,” said Dulvarna. “We shall visit the dwarves and see what they have to offer and then we shall seek the Chamber of Eyes.” None would argue with the warrior woman and so it was agreed. They all finished their breakfast in silence and then made their way out of the inn.

Two large stone friezes of stern dwarf faces adorned the façade of the Deepgem Company and as Erlmoor stepped inside the entrance chamber off the main cavern, he was not disappointed. Fine swords and axes hung in racks to left and right and several wooden dummies displayed finely wrought armour, some even carved with runes that indicated enchantments to protect the wearer.

“Too fine for my purse,” said Enlishia as she surveyed the wears of the place.
“Are ye sure?” said a dwarf who seemed to suddenly appear behind the counter. Enlishia looked over and saw that the dwarf had a long, black beard and bushy black hair and eyebrows. He regarded the six warily as if not sure what to make of them.
“She’s sure,” rumbled Erlmoor. “As am I. But I may be back once we have dealt with those we came here for.”
“Oh really,” said the dwarf. “And who might you be?”
“We’re the Defenders of Winterhaven,” answered Erlmoor, drawing curious glances from the others. “And we have work to do.” At that, the dragonborn turned and walked from the chamber while the others looked askance after him. One by one they filed out behind him and followed him back to the Halfmoon Inn.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 2 - The Seven-Pillared Hall (Part 3)*

Dulvarna led them up wide steps and into a large antechamber. If Rendil’s directions were right, this as the Chamber of Eyes, the lair of the Bloodreavers. She looked ahead and saw two fearsome-looking statues of winged demons squatting on either side of a stairway leading up to double doors to the right. Inscribed upon the doors was an image of a great eye with multiple eye stalks, as well as a symbol of a circle with a crossbar rising out of it. Heaps of rubble were scattered across the floor, and to the north a balcony overlooked the room.

“Shht,” hissed Lavren, holding up his hand. All six companions paused and as they stopped, they heard high, rasping voices and the footsteps of several creatures beyond the double doors.
“Goblins!” Telkya hissed. “We should try the balcony.”
“Why not bluff our way in?” Enlishia whispered. “Goblins are stupid enough to fall for it.”
“Worth a try,” said Dulvarna with a shrug. Enlishia strode forward and banged on the double doors loudly.
“Let us in,” called Enlishia. “Khurbok sent us.”
“Really?” came a goblin voice in reply, speaking perfect Common. “We weren’t expecting anyone.”
“Does Khurbok usually send warning?” Litiraan called out.
“Not usually,” answered the goblin. “But then word is he’s dead so I doubt he sent you.” The goblin barked something then in its own tongue.
“I don’t think they’re going to let us in,” said Lavren, drawing his wand and his sword.
“Agreed,” said Dulvarna, drawing her sword.

Telkya rushed towards the balcony and desperately tried, to no avail, to scrabble up the wall that led up to it. Litiraan knelt down and to the surprise of all, began to try to pick the lock with the point of his sword. Dulvarna turned away and rushed towards the balcony while Erlmoor charged, shoulder first, into the double doors. Enlishia rushed to join the others at the foot of the balcony and Lavren turned away from the doors to follow her. The door to the right of the balcony opened and two goblins armed with small hand crossbows rushed out onto the raised platform.

Telkya drew back, praying to Corellon as she did so, and loosed a bolt of bright light from her holy symbol. It struck the wall neck to the head of one of the goblins and drew a surprised yelp from the creature. Litiraan turned away from the door as he heard Telkya chanting a prayer and rushed to help her. Raising his wand, he loosed a silver bolt from it that struck one of the goblins in the chest and hurled it back against the wall behind the balcony. Lavren retreated beside Telkya, cursing the nearest goblin and leveling his wand at the creature. He loosed a blast of crackling, black energy that seared into the goblin and hurled it back against the wall for the second time. Both goblins loosed bolts from their hand crossbows nonetheless but the shots were rushed and the bolts clattered against the stone between Telkya and Lavren. A blast of light from Telkya’s amulet struck the unwounded goblin and a silver bolt struck the other for a second time. Staggering on the balcony above, the goblins desperately tried to reload their crossbows but then Dulvarna climbed up beside them. She swept out her sword and panic possessed the goblins.

Enlishia drew back and began firing arrows up at the balcony, further panicking the goblins. A black bolt from Lavren’s wand struck a goblin again and the creature fell back across the balcony, throwing down its crossbow and fumbling for the axe at its belt. Dulvarna parried as the axe finally swept out at her and behind the first foe, the second goblin’s crossbow bolt shattered in the groove of the weapon as the hand crossbow jammed. Seemingly cursing in its own tongue, the goblin darted back through the door at the eastern end of the balcony and disappeared form sight. A bolt of radiant light struck the stone just behind the remaining goblin and then a silver bolt seared through its side and pitched it from the balcony to the floor of the chamber below. Dulvarna nodded her thanks to Litiraan and rushed off after her fleeing enemy.

Dulvarna dashed through the door and saw that the landing corridor continued through a switch to the left to another door at its far end. To the right, the fleeing goblin had darted down a staircase and as Dulvarna started down the stairs, she slashed out with her blade, cutting across the creature’s back and pitching it forward. From the left she heard a roar and a fierce, fur-covered goblin, twice the height of the one she had been pursuing rushed in at her. It swung out with a spiked morningstar and Dulvarna darted back two steps up the stairs to evade a bone-breaking blow. Dulvarna caught a glimpse of light behind her and glanced back to see Lavren appear from a shower of light motes.
“Trouble?” the elf half-asked.
“You think so,” answered Dulvarna with a sarcastic smile before turning back to her enemies. The goblin she had pursued lashed out with his axe and she pulled her body back out of the way. The goblin leapt from the stairs and toppled a chair in the chamber below as it tried to reach a doorway in the southern wall. Dulvarna turned towards the huge furred goblin, temporarily distracted from her prey and slashed her blade across the huge monster’s chest.

At his fourth attempt, Erlmoor crashed through the double doors into the hallway beyond his sword came up at once and he came face to face with a goblin warrior with an axe held ready. Erlmoor prayed, his blade glowed white and he swung the sword out, only for it to clash against the steel of a goblin axe. Enlishia appeared in the doorway behind him, an arrow nocked to her bowstring. She loosed the missile and it drove into the shoulder of a second goblin standing behind the one that Erlmoor faught. Erlmoor parried the goblin’s counter and twisted its axe down towards the floor but then the second goblin came forward, bringing its axe in from his right and driving it into his hip before he had any chance to parry. Erlmoor staggered and fell against the left wall of the corridor, warm blood running down his leg.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 2 - The Seven-Pillared Hall (Part 4)*

Dulvarna raised her blade to parry the high blow from the large goblin but at the last, the morningstar dipped and crashed into her ribs, hurling her back against the wall beside the stairs. From the top of the stairs, Dulvarna dimly heard elven words and then a black bolt struck the furred goblin and drove it back from her, allowing her to move down the stairs towards the chamber floor. Her goblin foe turned then at the bottom of the stairs and lashed out again with its axe but again, she ducked back and the goblin retreated past a table that dominated the centre of what seemed to be a guard room. Dulvarna turned back towards the huge goblin she faced and leveled her sword once more.	

Telkya came down the steps behind Dulvarna, her sword in her hand. She recognised the huge goblin as a brutal bugbear as soon as she saw it and stabbed her blade into its shoulder, driving it back a step. Litiraan came to the top of the steps behind Telkya and loosed a silver bolt at the bugbear, only for it to strike the table behind the creature. Dulvarna leapt from the steps, weaving her blade in front of her before lashing out at the bugbear. It stepped back and toppled over a chair behind it. It growled a curse and roared at the goblin to its left which was still retreating towards the chamber door. Another roar answered the bugbear and Dulvarna knew it was Erlmoor. He was in the corridor outside and he was coming to aid them.

Erlmoor sprayed acid over the two goblins before lashing out with his sword to cut it across the chest of the goblin on the left. He heard a thud and saw an arrow from Enlishia’s bow drove into the shoulder of the other goblin and send it staggering back a step. Erlmoor parried a high axe swing from the goblin before him but the one with the arrow in its shoulder came back surprisingly quickly. Its axe swung in at his right side and though he brought his blade down, he could only deflect it downwards into his thigh. He gave a roar of pain then and fell back against the wall of the passage. Pushing himself away from the wall, he came back at his enemies once more.

The bugbear swung out with its huge morning star, smashing it into Dulvarna’s left arm as she raised her blade to parry. She fell back against the wall of the room and held her blade up, expecting a killing blow. To her amazement, the bugbear retreated into the chamber and gave her a chance to recover. It also gave Lavren a chance to squeeze past Litiraan and make his way down the steps. The elf uttered a curse in elven and loosed a black, crackling bolt that flew past the bugbear and struck the far wall of the chamber. The goblin in the chamber reached the door then and peered out into the corridor. It called something in its own tongue to the bugbear and then sheathed its axe to draw forth a small hand crossbow from its belt. Telkya leapt to the floor of the chamber and stabbed at the bugbear but the huge creature just swatted the blade aside. Litiraan loosed a silver bolt of energy from his wand that struck the bugbear in the right shoulder and Dulvarna charged across the room at the creature. The goblin raised its crossbow in a panicky way, moving his aim from Dulvarna to Telkya and then to Lavren. As it made up its mind, another draconic roar filled the corridor behind it.

Erlmoor plunged his blade into the hip of the goblin facing him and drove it back further from him. It lashed out with its axe and he ducked back to evade the swing. As he did so, two arrows flew past the other goblin and it snarled its amusement despite the wounds it had already suffered. It swung its axe at the dragonborn and he brought his blade down to parry the blow, close to his right leg.

Dulvarna stabbed out at the bugbear and nicked its leg above its knee only drawing a wrathful roar from it. It slashed out with its morningstar before she could recover and struck her painfully in the chest, cracking ribs as it did so. The blow sending her reeling backwards and as it did so, the bugbear barked a command at the goblin, who shrugged off a blast of black energy from Lavren’s wand and obligingly loosed a bolt from its crossbow. The bolt drove into Dulvarna’s neck and as she felt blood fill her throat, blackness took her.

Telkya panicked as Dulvarna fell and stabbed out at the bugbear desperately. Again her blow was swatted aside with almost casual ease and she knew that she would likely fall beside Dulvarna very soon. Litiraan loosed another silver bolt from the top of the stairs that struck the bugbear and drew another angry roar from it but it barely staggered as it was struck. Their only hope lay in Erlmoor now. If only he could reach them in time.

Erlmoor lashed out with his blade and cut into the shoulder of the goblin before him driving it back further. It lashed out low with its axe and cut into his already wounded right thigh. The leg buckled and almost gave way beneath him. An arrow struck the other goblin just as it swung at him and he dodged away from the creature’s weakened swing easily. He slashed out with his blade and cut the throat of the goblin before him while it was still unbalanced from its own swing. It fell back on its behind, blood spurting from its neck. Dropping its axe, it reached up to stanch the flow but it was hopeless. An arrow took the other goblin in the throat then and felled it. Erlmoor roared his triumph, kicked over the dying goblin before him and rushed down the corridor towards the sounds of battle.

Telkya backed away towards Lavren and began to pray, her star symbol held up before her. The bugbear leapt forward just as a column of light descended upon it and seared its flesh. Its back singed, it rushed at the two elves at the bottom of the stairs. A silver bolt struck it from the top of the stairs and it faltered but it staggered on to reach its foes. The bugbear lashed out wildly with its morningstar forcing both Telkya and Lavren to duck under the blow. Lavren stabbed his sword into the creature’s left side and then Telkya drove her blade into the creature’s lung on the other side. With a gasp, the bugbear toppled and fell. 

At the doorway, the goblin turned to flee but it was met by a roaring dragonborn. It slashed its axe into Erlmoor’s chest, knocking him back into Enlishia who was behind him and desperately sought a way past the wounded foe. A silver bolt struck the goblin in the back and pitched it forward while Erlmoor, his breath coming in ragged gasps, met it with his blade. The goblin skewered itself on the dragonborn’s blade and died there, face to face with its enemy. 
Enlishia rushed past Erlmoor and knelt at Dulvarna’s side, desperately applying cloth strips to the wound in the woman’s throat.
“She will live,” said the ranger at last. “But only just.” The others breathed a sigh of relief.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 3 - The Chamber of Blood (Part 1)*

Dulvarna led them back up the steps once the worst of her hurts had been tended and healed, turning right along the landing there until she reached another door. Leaning her sword against her shoulder, she turned the iron ring handle of the door and pushed it open. Within, two dwarves with dark grey skin and thick, black beards and hair turned towards the door. Telkya rushed at them before they had time to react, darting right with her blade before her while Enlishia darted left, loosing an arrow into one of the dwarves as she went. Dulvarna followed the elf and the ranger into the chamber, lashing out with her blade at the nearest grey-skinned dwarf and drawing blood from his forearm. Lavren appeared against the south wall of the room and cursed the nearest dwarf in elven before loosing a bolt of black energy that seared into the fireplace built into the north wall. Sparks burst from the flames and as the others shrank back, the first dwarf, wounded by Dulvarna, surged forward and slammed his hammer into the woman. She fell back into the doorway towards Litiraan who was at her back. The elf concentrated for a moment and burst into a shower of light motes that reappeared beside Lavren against the south wall. He loosed a silver bolt into the nearest dwarf and then spat the name of their kind.

“Duergar,” the elf sneered. “Dark dwarves who make pacts with infernal powers. Beware their hair and beards for they hide poisonous quills.”
“Good to know,” answered Dulvarna with a wink at the elf. From a corridor that led east from the room, the companions heard doors open and then voices, hobgoblin voices.
“More are coming,” rumbled Erlmoor from behind Dulvarna.
“Seems about normal,” answered Enlishia with a smile.

A tall hobgoblin with a wolf-skin headdress appeared in the entrance of the eastern corridor and called something over his shoulder in the goblin tongue. One of the duergar lashed a hand from its beard and hurled a sharp quill at Dulvarna that drove into her arm. She staggered back, feeling numbness spreading from the wound. She cursed and then the duergar was upon her, smashing her arm with his warhammer. She cried out and fell back into Erlmoor who now stood right behind her.
“Let my blade reach him,” he growled in her ear.
“It shall,” she answered in a whisper.

Telkya stabbed out with her blade and darted right to allow Erlmoor into the chamber. As she did so, Enlishia shouldered her bow and drew forth her sword. She drove her blade into the hip of the nearest duergar, the one who had hurled a poison quill, and drove him back from Dulvarna. The warrior woman in turn forced herself forward but as her left arm grew increasingly numb, her swing was slow and easily parried by the duergar. Black energy from Lavren’s wand seared over both duergar and then they came forward again. One swung his hammer at Telkya and as the elf ducked back and tried to parry, he caught her right hand a glancing blow. She recoiled and seemingly in anger, Litiraan loosed a silver bolt at the dwarf that seared into the side of the creature. The elf smiled at Telkya and Lavren looked from one to the other, wondering even in the heat of battle what connected the two. Then, he saw a leash of black energy snake out from the stave that the wolf-skin clad hobgoblin carried and wrap around Litiraan’s waist. The elf cried out and then was yanked towards the hobgoblin. Even as Lavren watched, another hobgoblin, a huge creature wearing scale armour and carrying a shield and spear, entered the room. He stabbed his spear into Litiraan’s side and all thoughts of jealousy were banished from the elf’s mind. Survival became more crucial and saving Litiraan was surely a part of that.

Erlmoor entered the chamber with a roar, driving his blade into the shoulder of the nearest duergar and praying as he did so. Lavren felt some strength return to her and parried the next hammer blow from the duergar she faced. Telkya darted right and held forth her holy symbol, loosing a bolt of light from it that missed the nearest duergar and seared into the mantle beyond both. Dulvarna and Enlishia drove back the farthest duergar with combined attacks and dancing blades, wounding the dwarf twice as it retreated. Meanwhile, Lavren sent a searing bolt of crackling, black energy into the other duergar that burned into its side and sent it reeling. It lashed out at Erlmoor but the dragonborn ducked back beyond its reach and roared his defiance.

Litiraan lashed out desperately with his sword as both hobgoblins came at him. The wolf-skin clad creature lashed out with its staff, chanting a dark prayer as it did so and conjuring blue lighting to the end of the stave. The elf ducked under the wide swing but as he did so, the other hobgoblin came forward and drove its spear into the top of his hip. He gasped and staggered back further, sorely wounded. Telkya stood beside him then, lashing out with her blade but even together, the two elves could not hold off the two hobgoblins for long. They glanced at each other and shared a brief look of compassion and what Lavren realised could only be descried as love. Lavren decided that he would ask Telkya what Litiraan meant to her if they survived this. Alas survival here was by no means certain for any of them. The elf drew his blade and rushed forward as Dulvarna and Enlishia drove their blades into the other duergar again. Both dwarves fell back and as they did so, the hobgoblins came forward.

The duergar before Erlmoor lashed out with its hammer and struck the dragonborn on his left arm above the elbow. The paladin paid the blow no mind but saw that Litiraan was drawing further back, trying desperately to summon what was left of his strength as the two spear wounds soaked his tunic in blood. The hobgoblin shaman prayed again and lashed out with a lightning tipped staff and again Litiraan ducked the blow but again, the huge hobgoblin’s spear came in at him. This time it drove into his belly and Litiraan gasped and staggered once more. This time, he dropped his sword, the blade clattering dimly to the floor as the elf’s senses quickly dulled. He sank to his knees, looked up once at Telkya and then fell forward on the stone floor of the chamber. Erlmoor roared and with a huge blow, he beheaded the duergar before him. It fell beside Litiraan to the blood-soaked floor.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 3 - The Chamber of Blood (Part 2)*

Telkya cried out and loosed a searing bolt of light into the large hobgoblin while Enlishia came forward and plunged her blade into the side of the duergar before her. The dwarf gasped, staggered and collapsed beside his headless companion. Dulvarna surveyed the fallen dwarves while Lavren spat a curse in elven at the shaman. He raised his wand and loosed purple rays at both hobgoblins that struck them and threw them back a step. The shaman lowered his stave and uttered a dark prayer that loosed a wave of black energy across the room. It struck the companions and hurled them all backwards but Litiraan’s fallen form was hurt the worst of all. His already wounded body struck the west wall of the chamber next to Telkya with an audible crack and then fell like a broken doll to the floor. Telkya cried out again but before she could kneel to check on her companion, the huge hobgoblin rushed at her and drove his spear into her shoulder. She gasped and cried out again.

Erlmoor roared and sprayed acid at the two hobgoblins but both covered their heads with shields or furs to evade the acid. He lowered his blade to point at the shaman and then charged at it, uttering a prayer to the Morninglord as he came. His blade glowed bright and he swung it out but the hobgoblin ducked under the blow and the blade struck the stone behind the foe’s head. Dulvarna rushed at the same hobgoblin and stabbed out with her blade but the shaman dodged to one side to evade the blow. The shaman lashed out with his stave and Dulvarna similarly ducked but the blow glanced the top of her head and sent jolts of pain through her.

Lavren meanwhile, stabbed his sword into the leg of the big hobgoblin and then darted back to give Enlishia a chance. Only as he retreated did he realise how much he had left Telkya on her own, standing over Litiraan’s fallen form. The huge hobgoblin darted forward, feinted high and then drove his spear in low, into the belly of the elf maid. She gasped, staggered back against the wall and then collapsed beside her fallen friend. Enlishia loosed arrows into the room from the doorway and Lavren looked back helplessly at the two fallen elves. Even as he watched, the huge hobgoblin twisted his spear in his hands and drove it down into Telkya’s body. Lavren cried out, thinking that she was surely dead and loosed more black energy at the hobgoblin.

Dulvarna heard Lavren’s cry and surged forward, driving back the shaman with fierce blows to the shoulder and arm. The hobgoblin seemed to smile then and began to chant one of its dark prayers. Lightning wreathed its staff and it swung out, striking Dulvarna in the chest and throwing her backwards into Lavren. The large hobgoblin stabbed at her and she brought her blade down just in time to parry his spear but she was weakened and all but beaten. Erlmoor cried out a desperate prayer and as light engulfed his sword, he stabbed out at the shaman. His blade drove into the hobgoblin’s chest and with a  gasp, the creature fell to the floor of the blood-soaked chamber.
Dulvarna and Erlmoor charged the last hobgoblin together but he met their charge with parries and dodges. Arrows clattered against the wall at his back and while Lavren cursed him, even his most powerful incantation had no effect. When he saw his chance, he feinted left and then drove his spear into Dulvarna’s belly, felling her beside her companions. 

Erlmoor roared and stabbed his blade into the hobgoblin’s leg but the burly creature seemed to pay the wound no mind. Suddenly, as Lavren completed an incantation, ravenous fangs appeared around the hobgoblin, snapping at its flesh wherever they could. They seemed bestial with the sharp canines of wolves or dogs and their ferocity was unrelenting. The hobgoblin leapt back to the door in the south wall of the chamber, twisted the handle to open it and ducked through, disappearing into the shadows beyond.

******

Enlishia watched the eastern passage with an arrow nocked to her bow while Erlmoor barred the southern door with the chieftain’s spear.
“They are both close to death,” said Lavren finally from where he knelt beside the two elves, tears in his eyes. “But we carry enough gold to save them if we can get them to priests in time. We cannot leave them to die here”
“You’re right of course,” answered Dulvarna. “Though I remember other discussions where you were less willing to offer up gold.”
“Then where will we go?” asked Erlmoor. “I doubt any in Thunderspire will offer to save two elves.”
“You’re likely right,” said Dulvarna. “Which means we must travel out of the mountains at least as far as Arabel to seek aid once more.”
“The Tymorans will help us for gold, surely?” said Erlmoor.
“Like as not they will,” replied Dulvarna. “We shall need litters to carry them out of here.”


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## Medriev

*Chapter 4 - Hidden Light and Brazen Darkness (Part 1)*

“There’s a shrine to Torm next to the Deepgem Company,” said Rendil Halfmoon when the battered band returned to his inn in the Seven Pillared Hall. “Phaledra will surely raise the elves if you have the gold.”
The six left the common room straight away and headed across the wide cavern to the western wall where the shrine was said to lie. Dulvarna saw the dwarf party first, a female with a large sword on her belt and four armed warriors, all with the grey skin of the duergar.
“Duergar are here,” she said to the others. “What brings them into this place?”

She lowered her end of Telkya’s litter to the ground and started towards them while Enlishia lowered the other end and unshouldered her bow. Erlmoor and Lavren put down Litiraan and started towards the duergar as well.
“What brings you here, duergar?” asked Erlmoor as they reached the gray dwarves. “We have met your kind in battle recently and it did not bode well for them.”
“Any battle here would end badly for you,” said the female duergar. “We are welcome here whilst you are strangers and the Mages rarely tolerate unruly behaviour.” Rendil had mentioned the mysterious Mages of Saruun as the rulers of the Hall and had intimated that they were to be feared.
“My friend merely asked you a question,” said Dulvarna. “Will you answer or not?”
“I have no need to explain my business to you,” answered the duergar. “Nor to I have time to stand and dally with you. If you wish to continue this conversation then seek me at the Grimmerzhul Trading Post in the east wall.”

At that, the duergar moved off towards the bridge over the river that divided the cavern in two, paying the companions no further mind. Enlishia made to nock an arrow to her bow but Erlmoor held out his arm and stopped her.
“Let them go,” he rumbled. “There’ll be time for them later.” They continued on to the shrine, drawing glances from others in the Hall as they went. Seemingly few risked confrontation with the duergar in this strange place. 

The doors to the shrine were open and within was a hall no bigger than the shop of the trading company next door. At its far end, the wall was curved and enclosed an altar stone with the gauntlet symbol of Torm carved into the wall behind it. In front of the altar, three shallow steps descended to the shrine floor and benches for perhaps two dozen people filled the nave in two blocks to the left and right of an aisle. A side aisle led in front of the benches to a door in the south wall while before the altar knelt a priestess with close-cropped blonde hair in a chain jerkin and with a morningstar strapped to her back.

“Hail and well met,” said Erlmoor, setting down his end of Litiraan’s litter. “We seek the aid of Torm the True.”
“Torm only helps the deserving, the loyal and the obedient,” answered the priestess without rising or turning around. “Which are you, strangers to Thunderspire?”
“We are the survivors of a battle in need of aid for our fallen companions,” answered Lavren. “We bring gold to donate to Torm’s service but whether that makes us deserving, loyal or obedient, I know not.”
“Well spoken,” answered the priestess rising at last and turning to reveal the lined face of a middle-aged woman and streaks of grey in the front of her short hair. “You are loyal, for you did not abandon your companions to their fate and seek aid for them now. Not all act as you do in this world.”
“Will you aid us?” asked Erlmoor.
“I will,” answered the priestess. “I am Phaledra and you are welcome in Torm’s house.”


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## Medriev

*Chapter 4 - Hidden Light and Brazen Darkness (Part 2)*

“She wakes,” rumbled Erlmoor as Telkya’s eyes opened. Phaledra had applied sacramental unguents to the fallen elves all night while praying before the gauntlet altar behind them until, as dawn brightened the surface world somewhere above them, Telkya woke.
“My brother,” she said softly, reaching across to Litiraan. The realisation struck Lavren like a blow. The two were truly close and did feel love for each other because they were siblings. He could not help but break into a wide smile for so much more than the fact that Telkya lived and breathed again. Litiraan stirred as his sister’s hand touched his and his eyes too opened.

“The hobgoblins and the duergar are allied,” Telkya said weakly. “We must finish them and save our kin.”
“And so we will,” said Dulvarna, kneeling beside the elf maid. “Are they strong enough?” The last was asked of Phaledra, who now stood over the elves as they sat up warily.
“They should be,” answered the priestess. “Though they will suffer the effects of what they have been through for several days. Their souls went on beyond this life and were called back. No one can endure such trauma unaffected.”

“You have our gratitude,” said Erlmoor, facing the priestess. “Though my service is pledged to Lathander, my blade is yours to call upon whenever you may need it.” 
Erlmoor bowed to the priestess and turned to leave the shrine. The others took their leave in their own ways and made their way out of the chamber. In the cavern outside they did not pause but crossed the cavern to the eastern passage and the hobgoblin lair that yet lurked in the darkness.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 4 - Hidden Light and Brazen Darkness (Part 3)*

The companions drew quiet as they neared the double doors at the end of the entry hall, thinking to surprise the hobgoblins they knew to be behind them. They had decided that this way would allow for the best chance of surprise for surely their enemies would not expect them to come from this direction, even if they expected them to return at all. Dulvarna drew her sword and the others followed suit and then they watched as their leader drew near to the doors, leaned her sword against her shoulder with one hand and reached out for the door handles. She turned one iron ring as Erlmoor turned the other and then both hurled the doors open.

Carvings of eyes covered the walls, floor and ceiling of the chamber beyond the doors. An idol of a horrible toad-like creature dominated the area while in the centre of the floor, chains were affixed to the flagstones, though no prisoners were chained there. A huge black wolf lay on the floor nearby, its ears back and its eyes on the door as the companions entered. It raised its head and issued a low growl of warning.

Suddenly, a hobgoblin appeared on a balcony above the southern side of the room and loosed an arrow that drove into Dulvarna’s shoulder. She yanked the arrow from her shoulder and charged at the dire wolf, slashing her blade across the beast’s shoulder. Litiraan followed her into the chamber and loosed a silver bolt from his wand towards the archer, forcing the hobgoblin to duck back. The sound of shouting came from the southern balcony as the wolf leapt at Dulvarna. She dodged aside and slashed out with her blade as she realised what the shouting meant. More enemies were coming!

Erlmoor darted right and rushed up the stairs to the southern balcony with his sword in his hands. Telkya followed him into the chamber, chanting as she came. A bolt of light flew from the amulet in her hand and struck the floor close to the wolf. 

Outside the chamber, Lavren heard the shouting and turned aside, heading up steps to his left that he hoped would lead to the chamber where they had last entered the lair. He threw open the door at the top of the steps and surprised a hobgoblin who was just gathering up his bow in response to the alarm from the main chamber. The elf uttered a word of power and loosed a blast of black, crackling energy towards the hobgoblin. The blast flew high over the hobgoblin and struck the wall above its head. The hobgoblin leveled his bow and loosed an arrow that drove into Lavren’s arm and the elf ducked back out of the doorway.

Enlishia watched Lavren go and decided to attempt her own flanking maneuver. Turning right, she made her way down the southern passage, past a torch burning on the wall and a side passage to the end of the passage where a door led eastward. Hearing a small clattering sound, followed by a burst of coarse laughter and angry muttering, she nocked an arrow to her bow and ducked back around the corner. As more clattering and low, guttural voices reached her through the door, she leaned forward flung the door open. The room appeared to be a combination of kitchen, storeroom, and mess hall. Several barrels and a woodpile rested in the kitchen area, where a large cooking fire burned. Hobgoblins, goblins, and a pair of humans were gathered around battered old tables. The room’s occupants looked up in alarm and reached for their weapons.

Erlmoor reached the archer and the hobgoblin threw down its bow in favour of the sword that it drew from its belt. It slashed at him and he parried the blow before roaring and spraying acid on the hobgoblin. The creature reeled back along the balcony and the dragonborn brought his sword in from the left to cut into the hobgoblin’s leg. A silver bolt seared into the side of the hobgoblin and drove it back another step. He looked down to nod his thanks to Litiraan and saw that Dulvarna and Telkya were driving back the wolf with sword and prayer but across from him, he saw a new threat. The chieftain had emerged onto the north balcony and was heading for the stairs.
“The chieftain comes,” he called out.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 4 - Hidden Light and Brazen Darkness (Part 4)*

Dulvarna looked up and nodded as she dodged another lunge from the wolf. Behind the chieftain came another archer, presumably the one who had sounded the alarm. This hobgoblin came to the edge of the balcony and loosed an arrow at Telkya, the shaft driving into her arm and forcing her back a step. She yanked the arrow free without flinching and loosed another bolt of light towards the wolf.

Lavren cursed the hobgoblin in elven and called forth flame with his wand that burst from the creature to sear its flesh. He charged then, his sword in his right hand and his wand in his left. He only hoped that there were no more enemies lurking close to this chamber. 
Enlishia loosed another arrow into the closest hobgoblin and then darted back up the corridor towards her friends. The hobgoblins and their allies roared their anger and rushed after her and as she fled, she began to yell too.

“More to the south,” she called out. “More come from the south.” She turned as she reached the double doors, sharing a glance with Telkya who looked back at her shouts of alarm. Turning back towards her foes, she nocked an arrow to her bow but then thought better of it and tossed the weapon aside. Drawing her sword, she raised it to meet her enemies. An arrow flew from the far end of the corridor and drove painfully into her shoulder. Without a free hand to snap it free, she left the shaft there. Another arrow flew past her heads and clattered against the steps that Lavren had taken.

Dulvarna heard the warning shouts behind her and knew she had to finish the wolf quickly. Weaving her blade before her she darted left and then twisted on the spot to bring her blade around in a wide swing that clove into the side of the wolf, shattering ribs and piercing the lung beneath. The wolf snarled and bit at her but she dodged back just as the hobgoblin chieftain reached the bottom of the stairs. He hissed at her and stabbed out with his spear, feinting left and then driving it in from Dulvarna’s right and into her thigh. She cried out and staggered back, retreating before both foes now as the wolf wheezed forward, blood pouring from its ruined side. An arrow flew past Dulvarna and clattered into the wall behind Telkya as she completed another prayer. A bolt of searing white radiance lanced out from her holy symbol and drove through the wolf’s chest. With a yelp, the huge beast collapsed to the chamber floor. 

Erlmoor slapped aside the blade of the hobgoblin before him and stepped towards the creature but even as he lashed out with his blade, a silver bolt struck the hobgoblin in the chest of pitched it from the balcony to the chamber floor below. Erlmoor looked around for another enemy and started forward along the balcony thinking to circle around to the other archer. Just as he started forward, s trap door opened on the ledge beside the toad-like statue and from it emerged a goblin with a small crossbow in its hand. The dragonborn roared as loudly as he could and charged the newcomer. His blade slashed out and caught the goblin in the shoulder as it threw aside its crossbow and reached for the short, jagged-bladed sword at its belt. Erlmoor roared again and saw that another goblin followed the first up the ladder from the trapdoor below.	

Another arrow drove into Enlishia, piercing her hip this time but still she stood form. The hobgoblin archers were jostling in the corridor for the next shot. The ranger put away her sword, picked up her bow again and loosed an arrow into the lead hobgoblin. The shaft drove through the creature’s throat and threw it back into the next of its companions. The next archer shrugged its fallen companion aside and loosed its own arrow at the ranger but it only clattered off the corridor wall as Enlishia ducked back out of sight. Another loosed an arrow as she ducked out from the corner again but it flew harmlessly past her head. She ducked back, nocked another arrow to her bow and prepared to leap out and fire again.

Erlmoor drove his blade into the shoulder of a second goblin as it clambered out of the trapdoor but it rolled to its feet and came up with sword in hand. A man in black leather armour with a mace in his hand emerged next and the dragonborn stabbed at him as well, nicking his cheek as he clambered from the trapdoor. One of the goblins stabbed at the paladin but he parried the thrust and twisted the goblin’s sword out to one side. Another man clambered up to Erlmoor’s right and he slashed out at him then, missing his chance to attack the goblin. He drew blood from the man’s back but still the warrior got its his feet with a mace in his hand. Erlmoor roared, lashed out wildly with his sword and retreated back along the southern ledge to restrict the enemies he would have to fight. The men followed but the goblins knelt to retrieve their crossbows. They had other plans for him.

Telkya flinched as another arrow struck the stone next to the double doors and began praying again. She raised her holy symbol and loosed light from it that seared into the chieftain’s shoulder as he and Dulvarna parried each other’s blows. She looked to Litiraan who was already uttering another incantation of his own. The two of them, brother and sister, together with Dulvarna, would surely defeat the hobgoblin chieftain this time.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 4 - Hidden Light and Brazen Darkness (Part 5)*

Lavren slapped aside the hobgoblin’s sword and whipped his own blade across his enemy’s chest, drawing blood from a deep wound and forcing the hobgoblin back into the passage entrance. The creature stabbed out again but again the elf parried and moved forward for the killing blow. Plunging forward, he drove his blade into his foe’s belly and as the hobgoblin fell, he felt the creature’s strength flow into him from his sword and fey magic of his warlock powers fill his soul. He gasped as he transformed into a silver mist that moved along the corridor and then reformed into his elven form halfway down the hall. With sword and wand in hand, he moved cautiously along the hall until the sounds of battle grew louder and the corridor turned to the south. There, at the end of the southern passage, stood a hobgoblin archer, his attention fixed on the battle in the wide hall below him. Lavren turned towards this new foe and leveled his wand at the creature.

Enlishia ducked back around the corner of the passage and loosed one arrow and then a second into the chest of the next hobgoblin coming up the southern corridor. It fell back with both shafts through its breastbone and another stepped over its companion. This was the last archer, though, and Enlishia knew its accuracy was no match for hers. She ducked back around the corner as the hobgoblin started forward, seeking a better shot. The ranger waited for the hobgoblin to round the corner but it never did. Instead, she heard the twang of a bowstring and an arrow drove into Telkya’s shoulder blade from behind. The elf priestess reeled forward and staggered as Litiraan looked around to see where the shot had come from. Enlishia cursed her poor judgment, nocked an arrow to her bow and moved forward to the corner once again.

A small goblin crossbow bolt drove into Erlmoor’s thigh but he paid it no mind. Of more concern were the two human warriors he now faced, blade to blade at the corner of the narrow balcony. Erlmoor parried a mace swing and twisted the warrior away from him but as he did so, another goblin bolt drove into his hip and threw him off balance. Erlmoor lashed out with his blade anyway and struck the man under the arm, almost throwing him off the balcony and forcing him two twist awkwardly to maintain his footing. Erlmoor roared his defiance for all to hear and surged forward again.

Dulvarna feinted low and as the hobgoblin chieftain moved his blade down, she twisted on the spot and brought her blade up high. The sword came down with all the momentum of her spin and all the weight of its mighty blade. Had the chieftain not moved, it would have cloven his skull but although he did it still smashed through the collar bone of his left shoulder and almost severed his arm. A silver bolt from Litiraan’s wand seared into the chest of the hobgoblin and drove him back a step. With a panicked and pained grimace, the hobgoblin looked back over his shoulder, up the steps. With his spear held awkwardly in one hand, the hobgoblin stepped back and then darted away up the steps. He pushed his way past the archer at the northern doorway, jolting the hobgoblin so that his next arrow flew straight downwards into the floor of the lower chamber. The huge hobgoblin turned through the doorway but was met by an elven curse. A searing black bolt lanced out and struck him in the chest. He staggered back onto the balcony and as the archer watched helplessly, he pitched over backwards to land with a dull thump amidst the chains below.

Telkya ducked back through the double doors, a prayer on her lips and her amulet in her hand. She loosed a bolt of light from the symbol that struck the archer in the southern corridor in the shoulder and sent him reeling backwards. Enlishia ducked around the corner and loosed two arrows, both of which missed the hobgoblin and at that, the creature hissed its defiance at the ranger. Raising its bow, the hobgoblin loosed another arrow that drove into Enlishia’s leg and then retreated back a step down the corridor.

The goblins on the ledge looked anxiously at the fallen chieftain on the floor of the main chamber and turned their attention away from Erlmoor. One rushed across to stand before the toad-like statue and leveled its crossbow at Dulvarna. It let fly the bolt but the missile clattered harmlessly into the stone at the feet of the warrior woman. She pointed her blade at the goblin and then rushed up the stairs towards the archer who still stood in front of the northern doorway, stunned by the fall of his chieftain. Dulvarna’s blade lashed out and brought the hobgoblin back to its senses as it tore into his chest and spun him around to face her. The hobgoblin let his bow clatter to the floor and drew his curved sword from his belt. The archer lashed out and drew blood from Dulvarna’s cheek as she recoiled to evade the blow. A silver bolt struck the stone above the hobgoblin’s head and the archer visibly flinched. Then it heard elven cursed from the corridor to its right and it knew it was doomed.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 4 - Hidden Light and Brazen Darkness (Part 6)*

Erlmoor glanced over at the goblins as they turned their attention to Litiraan and Dulvarna on the floor of the main chamber and smiled as he saw the fallen chieftain, lying broken amongst the chains. He parried one mace blow then but then felt a painful blow strike the top of his right arm before he could bring his blade back across to parry the second blow. The dragonborn snarled and lashed out with his blade, forcing the warrior back from him but missing him by several inches. The dragonborn glanced over at the far balcony just as black, crackling energy flew past the hobgoblin, crossed the room and struck the balcony behind Erlmoor.
“Can’t the elf be a bit careful,” he grumbled to himself before turning his attention back to his enemies.

Enlishia loosed an arrow and then both she and Telkya ducked to the left back into the main chamber. Telkya loosed a bolt of light at the hobgoblin that Dulvarna faught while the ranger turned back to the doorway, another arrow already nocked, waiting for the last archer. It came soon enough, loosing an arrow into Enlishia’s shoulder as it rushed past the double doors. The ranger fell back and coughed, blood filling her mouth. She was more sorely wounded than she had thought. She only hoped that her strength would last. Telkya looked over at Enlishia as blood began to run down her chin and began a healing prayer. Even as she did so, a goblin crossbow bolt drove into her side and almost knocked her from her feet. She staggered and leaned against Enlishia before pushing herself back to her feet and beginning her healing prayer once more.

Erlmoor reeled back again as a mace connected painfully with his forearm as he tried to parry the blows of both his enemies. He lashed out wildly again to drove them back but as he did so, flame filled the balcony before the toad statue and engulfed one of the warriors and one of the goblins. They cringed from the searing fire and Erlmoor took his chance. With a prayer on his lips, he feinted at the warrior wounded by the flame and then swept hiss blade back around to strike at his other foe. The warrior ducked but that only saved him from being beheaded. The paladin’s sword slashed into the side of the warrior’s skull, splitting it open and felling him where he stood. Divine power flowed out from the paladin then, restoring his strength and even reaching Telkya on the floor of the main chamber below. Erlmoor roared his triumph and then, uttering another prayer, he drove his blade into the chest of the other warrior as the paladin’s blade glowed with a golden light. The warrior fell beside his companion and Erlmoor turned towards the goblin before the statue. With another roar, he charged at the creature.

Telkya finished her healing prayer, her strength restored a little by Erlmoor’s prayer, above her on the balcony. Divine light reached out to Enlishia and healed the worst of the ranger’s hurts. She nodded her thanks to the elf and then loosed an arrow at the hobgoblin near the doors. The shaft drove into the shoulder of the archer but it simply turned its head aside tore the arrow from its flesh with its jagged teeth. It loosed an arrow but the missile clattered into the stone next to Enlishia. She smiled with an enthusiasm that she did not feel and the hobgoblin snarled back at her. One would die here, both knew, and both prayed that it would be the other.		

Litiraan retreated from the balcony and loosed a silver bolt into the goblin that Erlmoor now faced. The creature had drawn its jagged sword and stabbed at the paladin but the dragonborn had swatted the small blade aside with his own, huge blade. Litiraan heard the click of a crossbow and turned towards the other goblin just as a bolt struck the floor close to his feet. He raised his wand towards the goblin and the creature shrank backwards. Nervously it glanced to its left as Erlmoor drove his sword into its companion’s belly and then hurled the goblin over the balcony to the floor of the chamber below. The dragonborn was upon the goblin a moment later and as it fumbled for its sword, Litiraan began another spell.

Telkya loosed a bolt of light from her amulet at the hobgoblin near the door and as the divine fire struck its chest she saw fear mixed with its pain for the first time. It turned its eyes towards Enlishia as it raised its bow again but it knew that the ranger would be quicker. It drew back its bowstring but as it did so, Enlishia let fly her arrow. The hobgoblin was transfixed as the arrow flew towards it and drove straight through its forehead and into its brain. It bow and the unspent arrow clattered to the floor of the chamber and it collapsed to the chamber floor.

Lavren leveled his wand again and began his most powerful spell, determined to bring down the hobgoblin this time. He uttered the incantation and as he completed it, the hobgoblin screamed and began to shrink from invisible enemies. It dropped its sword on the balcony before Dulvarna while clawing at its own face. Blood poured from self-inflicted wounds and then it reached the balcony edge. With a final scream, it fell over the stone balustrade and landed with a thump next to its fallen chieftain. 

Dulvarna stepped over the sword of the fallen archer and rushed at the last goblin. Her blade slashed out and cut into the chest of the creature as it shrank back against the wall. A silver bolt of energy hurled it back against the wall and it lashed out with its sword one last time before Erlmoor swept its head from its shoulders.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 5 - Gray Dwarves and Dark Elves (Part 1)*

“They have been sold,” said Lavren, reading the letter that they had recovered along with other treasures from the hold of the Bloodreavers. He read on. “Sixteen elves taken on the East Way, sold to someone who has signed themselves as Murkelmor Grimmerzhul.” They were gathered in Dulvarna’s room in the Halfmoon Inn and sorting through the chest of treasure they had brought back from the hobgoblin lair.
“How much did they pay?” asked Dulvarna as she held up a chainmail coat which seemed finely made but was incredibly light.

“A thousand gold,” rumbled Erlmoor, reading over Lavren’s shoulder. “A bit more than sixty each.” He turned away with a bitter grimace on his face. He tried a practice swing with the greatsword that they had recovered from the hobgoblins while Dulvarna began removing her scale armour to try on the chainmail.
“Any price would be too little,” said Enlishia. “We have to find this Grimmerzhul.”

“Perhaps we already have,” said Dulvarna. “The duergar we met this morning were from the Grimmerzhul Trading Post were they not. And we were invited to see them there.” The others nodded as they realised the truth of Dulvarna’s words.
“But first we shall rest and eat,” Dulvarna added. “We shall want to face them fresh and well fed.” The others nodded again and as Dulvarna tried some practice swings with her sword in the chainmail coat, the others rose to go down to the common room. Eventually, when she was satisfied that the armour would serve, she followed on behind.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 5 - Gray Dwarves and Dark Elves (Part 2)*

The trading post was a sturdy building of grey stone carved into the cavern’s east wall. A sign above the door displayed an emblem of a hammer and manacles. The front door led to a counter, where two dwarflike creatures stood. They had skin of a sooty hue, bald heads, and stiff beards of rusty orange. “You don’t look like merchants or mages,” said one of the duergar in heavily accented Common. “”What’s your business here?”

“We seek Murkelmor Grimmerzhul,” said Lavren. “You know of him?”
“Can’t say that I do,” answered the same duergar. “We can ask around and see if we can get a message to him.”
“A message?” rumbled Erlmoor, and the others could tell that he was only just restraining himself. “Tell him we want to buy some elves.”
“Buy elves?” answered the other duergar. “Don’t know what ye’ve heard about this Murkelmor but we sell no elves in our clan.”
“Of course not,” said Telkya. “We must be mistaken. What do you sell here?”
“What ye see, elf,” answered the duergar. “Ye want to buy any of our wares?”
“A nice front,” snarled Telkya, starting forward suddenly. “Now tell us where we you take the slaves or I start smashing things.” She drew her sword from her belt.

The duergar reacted immediately, both reaching into their beards for the quills with one hand and drawing warhammers from their belts with the other. They opened their mouths to call out but Lavren began to curse them before they had chance. Purple rays lanced out from his wand, one striking the nearest duergar and the other striking the wall behind the other. Litiraan darted left and with an uttered incantation loosed flame from his wand as the duergar ducked down behind the counter. Telkya began chanting, loosing a searing bolt of flame at the nearest duergar and blasting him back against the shelves behind the counter. Erlmoor circled around to the left of the counter and with a roar, unleashed a spray of acid at the duergar. He draw his sword and lashed out but the dwarf brought up his warhammer and parried. Dulvarna ducked behind the dragonborn as the duergar lashed out at her but she drew her sword and parried the hammer. She twisted the hammer to one side and then brought her blade back but the dwarf, more agile than his form suggested, leapt back beyond the reach of her blade. An arrow from Enlishia’s bow drove into the shelves above the counter and the duergar began shouting in their own tongue, presumably summoning aid.

The second duergar threw a quill from its beard that drove into Lavren’s arm and then turned to face Dulvarna and Erlmoor beside his companion. The other dwarf lashed his warhammer in low to strike Erlmoor’s leg painfully and force him back a step. The door beside Lavren opened then and another gray dwarf stood there, its warhammer at the ready. It lashed out and struck the elf’s already wounded arm, sending him reeling back from the doorway. A second duergar appeared beside the first as Lavren struggled to put some distance between himself and the doorway. He turned and loosed black, crackling energy from his wand that struck the lead dwarf in the chest. Litiraan moved to aid Lavren, loosing a silver bolt into the duergar and Enlishia turned her bow upon him but the dwarf came through the door undaunted anyway.

Erlmoor brought his blade down beside the counter and smashed the collar bone of the duergar before him. The dwarf staggered and fell back his warhammer drooping in his hand. Dulvarna saw her chance, swept her blade out and beheaded the duergar. The other dwarf roared and lashed out with his hammer but Dulvarna drew back and the weapon only glanced off her sword hilt and bruised her hand. She ducked to her left to allow Erlmoor to round the counter next to her and together, the two warriors drove back the duergar.

The wounded duergar rushed to the right as he came through the southern door and lashed out with his hammer to strike Litiraan in the side and send the elf reeling away from him. The second dwarf came through the door and rushed at Lavren, lashing out with his hammer and bringing it down in a crushing blow on Lavren’s shoulder. The elf sagged and all but fell, his left arm falling limp at his side. Desperately, he tried to draw his sword from his left him with his other hand while retreating before the relentless duergar. He limped back from the gray dwarves and raised his wand as best he could, trying to conjure flames from within the gray dwarves but none would come. In front of Lavren, Litiraan drew his sword, slashing the blade at the wounded duergar he faced. The dwarf ducked and grinned, recognizing the wand in the elf’s left hand and knowing that Litiraan would likely rather use that than a blade. 

Behind her brother, Telkya called a column of light down on the remaining duergar behind the counter and as the divine light burned it, Erlmoor and Dulvarna surged forward, the dragonborn chanting a prayer as he came. His blade glowed gold as he plunged it into the shoulder of the duergar and the gray dwarf fell back. Dulvarna thrust her blade in low, piercing the leg of the duergar just above the knee. The gray dwarf grunted as the leg gave way and he all but fell before his enemies. Behind him, the duergar heard the door open and he knew his leader had come. With a roar, he lashed out with his hammer but Dulvarna leapt back out of his reach. The gray dwarf glanced back over his shoulder, saw his leader enter the chamber and knew that he was saved.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 5 - Gray Dwarves and Dark Elves (Part 3)*

“Ye came to see us then,” snarled the duergar female with shoulder length red hair as she strode into the room. The sword that she held in her hands had hung at her belt when last the companions had seen it and they knew at once that this was the same dwarf that they had met on the way to the temple of Torm. She lowered her sword and pointed it at Erlmoor.
“You shall be first to pay for this effrontery,” she snarled and with a word, she summoned a coiling stream of lightning that lanced out and wrapped around Erlmoor. With a pull of her hands, she dragged the dragonborn across the chamber in an instant until he stood before her. The dragonborn roared but he was helpless until he stood before the duergar, within reach of her blade.

Lavren continued his retreat, desperately working his wounded arm while binding the worst hurts there with cloth. Litiraan retreated with him loosing two bolts of blue white energy from his wand towards the duergar. A thin path of frost appeared on the floor of the chamber beneath each one before fading away and as one struck the wall near the end of the counter, it froze the stone. The other struck the duergar nearest the door and limned its left shoulder in ice. Telkya looked to her brother with admiration, having never seen him cast that spell before and then drew her sword. She charged the nearest duergar, praying as she advanced. Her blade glowed with divine radiance and for a moment, Lavren’s body glowed behind her as healing energy flowed through him. He glanced towards Telkya with a smile as he flexed his formerly wounded arm and then leveled his wand at the closest duergar.	

Erlmoor feinted to the left and then brought his blade in from the right, deceiving the duergar female and landing a painful blow to her ribs beneath her left arm. She cursed and staggered and then looked up in alarm as Dulvarna drove her blade through the throat of the remaining duergar guard and came to join the dragonborn. The duergar, called Kedhira by those who knew her, looked to the left and mentally willed her warriors forward, for she would need their aid. As she looked, the duergar, both wounded, drove the elf and the brown haired woman back from the doorway. They would prevail, Kedhira decided and in her own tongue, she bound the dragonborn to her and then lashed out backhand with her blade, tearing into the top of the dragonborn’s chest. He staggered back and with a smile, Kedhira started forward.

Lavren came forward, renewed strength flowing through him from Telkya’s prayer. He leveled his wand at the nearest duergar and uttered a curse and then a spell. Black, crackling energy lanced out and struck the wall next to the gray dwarf he had aimed at. Beside Lavren, Litiraan loosed a silver bolt from his wand that struck the duergar that Lavren’s spell had missed. The gray dwarf reeled back against the door frame and Telkya and Enlishia surged forward at the same time. Telkya thrust forward with her blade but the other duergar parried the attack with his hammer while Enlishia slashed her blade towards the head of the duergar wounded by Litiraan. The dwarf recovered enough to duck under her blow and her blade struck only the door frame.
	Erlmoor surged at the duergar female chanting a prayer as he came and as his blade glowed brightly, he thrust it into the gray dwarf’s shoulder. Dulvarna came in from the other side, her blade weaving a hypnotic dance until she thrust it towards the belly of the duergar. The dwarf darted left and Dulvarna’s blade jarred into the stone beside the doorway. Dulvarna cursed and stumbled forward only to be met by the hilt of the duergar’s sword punched into her face. Her nose broke with a crack and she reeled away, blood pouring down her face.

Lavren loosed another blast of black energy that struck the wall close to the nearest duergar. Litiraan loosed another silver bolt and again struck the duergar in the chest, forcing him backwards. Telkya drove her blade into the hip of the duergar before her but Enlishia again struck the stone above the head of the gray dwarf she faced. The duergar snarled their resentment and hatred and came forward again, one striking Telkya’s leg with his hammer and the other smashing the haft of his weapon in Enlishia’s chest and forcing her back. The elf and the ranger braced themselves for the next flurry attacks, parrying desperately as they waited for aid from Erlmoor and Dulvarna.

Erlmoor roared and surged forward, smashing the hilt of his blade into the face of the female duergar. Dulvarna followed the dragonborn forward and as the duergar reeled from his blow, she drove her sword into the dwarf maid’s chest. She staggered, sank to her knees and as she did so, Dulvarna drove her blade through her throat. Kedhira the duergar fell forward in a spray of blood to die at Dulvarna’s feet and together the warrior woman and the dragonborn turned away to aid their companions.

Another black bolt from Lavren’s wand seared into the wall beside the door and another curse escaped from the lips of the elf. Litiraan loosed another unerring silver bolt into the duergar closest to the door and Lavren glared at the wizard as though his poor aim were the elf lord’s fault. Suddenly, Erlmoor appeared in the doorway behind the duergar and plunged his blade into the dwarf’s back. With a gasp, the duergar fell to the floor at the feet of his enemies. Dulvarna rushed around from behind the counter and charged at the last duergar. The dwarf desperately tried to bring his hammer across from his right where he had parried Telkya’s sword but he was too slow. Aecris pierced his chest and drove through his left lung into his heart. He fell beside his companion.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 5 - Gray Dwarves and Dark Elves (Part 4)*

“We should go, quickly,” said Enlishia, as they tended their wounds in the outer chamber of the duergar trading post. “Even here, and even with duergar, such attacks are likely not looked upon favourably.”
“We should search the place first,” said Telkya. “Let us not forget that we came here seeking our kin. I would learn their fate while we are here.” She immediately began searching the shelves while Litiraan moved into the room to the south, apparently a dining room. The others, excluding Enlishia, spread out to other rooms to search for clues. The ranger remained behind in the outer chamber with an arrow nocked to her bow, once she had barred the door to the trading post.

“I have a map and a letter,” Lavren called eventually from the southeastern chamber of the trading post.
“And a passage leads south from here,” Litiraan called from the southern end of the large back room that formed the heart of the trading post. 
The companions gathered, Enlishia included at the southern doorway that opened onto a corridor that led away into the darkness.
“A way that leads deeper into Thunderspire,” said Dulvarna. “But where does it go to.”
“The southern way is named the Road of Shadows on the map,” said Telkya, leaning over the map with one hand on Lavren’s shoulder. “And this letter is also from Murkelmor Grimmerzhul. It requests provisions to feed new merchandise.”

“Then your kin yet live,” said Enlishia. “But where are they to be found?”
“The Road of Shadows leads to the Horned Hold, according to this map,” said Telkya, leaning forward over Lavren now. “Our kin must be there.”
“It would make sense for the duergar here to have a passage that leads them towards their kin,” said Dulvarna.
“Perhaps,” rumbled Erlmoor who had been silent so far. “But perhaps we should ask around the Hall first.”

The others looked to him, Telkya visibly slumping down to drape herself over Lavren’s shoulder. The moon elf tried to pay her no mind but the closeness of her distracted him from the matter at hand. He thought of Thira and how she would feel about him desiring someone else so soon after her death but he knew she would not mind. She was a creature of whim, fancy and desire as he was. She would understand.
“We will ask around,” said Dulvarna. “But we will be quick about it. If some react badly to what we have done here, we would do well to be away from the Hall when they do.”


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## Medriev

*Chapter 5 - Gray Dwarves and Dark Elves (Part 5)*

“This is the place,” said Dulvarna with a wary glance towards the duergar trading post in the east wall. Rendil Halfmoon has directed them to the shop before them, a structure seemingly built from a stalagmite mound in the eastern half of the cavern. It was called Gendar’s Curios and Relics and was said to be run by a drow exile. Dulvarna led them cautiously through the doorway into a rambling shop filled with shelves of random treasures and curios ranging from amulets to daggers to the dried limbs and heads of creatures known and unknown. Larger items including a golden structure of revolving spheres set on frames stood on the floor of the outer chamber while through it all, at the back of the room, the companions saw a counter, behind which stood a dark skinned male elf poring over a scroll spread out on the counter. He wore a patch over one eye and looked up to regard the newcomers as they entered. His face cracked into a truly predatory grin as he saw the adventurers enter his shop.

“Welcome, strangers,” he said then. “To my humble establishment. And how can I assist you today?”
“Where do you get these treasures?” asked Telkya, her curiosity genuinely aroused by the strange shop.
“People bring them to me,” answered the dark elf. “I am always on the look out for new curios to sell and folk are always looking to buy the treasures of the Labyrinth.”
“And who brings them to you?” persisted Telkya. “Few travel the Labyrinth simply seeking treasures to bring back to you.”
You’re right of course,” the drow responded. “But people can be motivated to seek out such things. You, for example, are likely not here to discuss the wares I sell but have some other purpose in coming here.”
“We seek duergar,” said Lavren then. “And would know if they inhabit the Horned Hold. They have some things that are not theirs.”
“Indeed,” answered Gendar. “And something that I desire as well. Perhaps we can aid each other.”
“Perhaps we can,” said Erlmoor. “Does that mean they can be found at the Horned Hold.”
“They can,” Gendar answered. “And one of them has something that I once possessed, a skull scepter. I will pay for its safe retrun.”
“How much?” Lavren asked at once.

“Three hundred gold,” answered the drow just as quickly. “No more no less. If you refuse I will find someone else to recover it. From you if necessary.”
“Don’t threaten us,” Enlishia snarled in response. “I dislike dealing with drow as it is. How will we know that you will pay?” 
“You will not,” answered the dark elf. “But since you seek the duergar anyway I give you a chance to make some gold. As I said, if you refuse or take the scepter for yourselves then I will send others to recover it. Plenty come through here seeking gold. Someone will take on the task.”
“We will do it for you,” Erlmoor answered. “Though I too mislike your threats. Know that we are called the Defenders of Winterhaven and it would take powerful sellswords indeed to take anything from us.”
“Fair enough,” said the drow, nodding. “Bring me the scepter and you shall have your gold but if you’re not back here in a tenday, I’ll be hiring the next likely band to come through here to find it in your stead.”

The companions nodded and as one, turned to leave the curio shop. They crossed over the eastern side of the cavern to the duergar trading post and walked inside as though they were customers. Barring the door behind them, they headed for the passage at the southern end of the back room. Litiraan conjured light to an unlit torch and together, the six companions started back out into the darkness.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 6 - The Horned Hold (Part 1)*

The map led them southward through the tunnels beneath Thunderspire Mountain until they took a side branch that led eastward and bent across a bridge that spanned a deep chasm. They stopped on the bridge and marveled at the deep abyss beneath them and the stone span that crossed it before Dulvarna led them on into the darkness. They turned south as the map directed a little way beyond the chasm and followed a narrower way that soon led them out onto the chasm edge and followed the abyss with a steep drop on their right and a high cliff on their left. The path wound along the edge of the chasm for several hundred feet, before rounding a corner to reveal several large bastions clinging to the side of the chasm. Two bridges spanned the chasm’s depths, linking the bastions together. The path ended at the nearest fortress, where a portcullis blocked the way. Two orcs were visible behind the portcullis, keeping watch.

Dulvarna rushed forward and grabbed the portcullis bars with both hands, seeking to wrench the thing open. She saw hinges that indicated that it apparently did not rise or lower but swung outwards and so she pulled towards her, seeking to strain and break the hinges or the stone that held them. The portcullis creaked and seemed to give a little but would not come free. Telkya moved to stand at Dulvarna’s shoulder, chanting a prayer as she went. A ray of light lanced out and struck one of the orcs behind the gate, drawing a hiss of pain from the creature as it took up a spear to defend the hold. Erlmoor charged past the priestess and lent his own strength to the efforts to pull the portcullis down but still it would not move. The orcs rallied to the gate then, jabbing spears through the bars and driving one into Dulvarna’s shoulder. Still she held firm to the portcullis. Enlishia moved out to the left and began firing arrows through the bars at the orcs within. An arrow pierced the shoulder of one orc and sent it reeling away from the gate but it recovered quickly and came back with its spear in its hands. 

Lavren joined the ranger against the cliff wall, furthest from the chasm edge and cursed at the nearest orc in elven. With another word, he loosed black, crackling energy from his wand that seared between two of the orcs and struck the far wall of their chamber. Litiraan joined Lavren and Enlishia next to the cliff wall and loosed a silver bolt into the orc nearest the gate but, though he recoiled, the creature came back quickly, jabbing forward with his spear. Another joined the battle at the gate and jabbed its spear through into Erlmoor’s side. The dragonborn roared his anger and strained all the more at the portcullis. The dragonborn moved aside as another spear stabbed at him and then with another roar, he showered the portcullis and the orcs beyond in a spray of acid. The orcs shrank back but then came forward, their spears stabbing through the bars again. Dulvarna and Erlmoor fell back from the bars, wounded by spear points but as Enlishia loosed another arrow into an orc and Lavren hurled more crackling black energy through the bars, they charged back to the gates and tried again to hurl them down. Litiraan loosed a silver bolt from his wand but two more spears stabbed through the bars into Erlmoor as he charged back in. The dragonborn let out a roar of pain and staggered away from the gate, bleeding. Dulvarna tried to pull down the gate once more but then backed away beside Erlmoor as Telkya loosed searing light to keep the orcs at bay.

An arrow from Enlishia’s bow drove through the throat of one of the orcs and felled him at the gate while the others stabbed at Dulvarna and wounded her yet more even as she retreated. Another orc came to the gate to replace the one that fell while Lavren loosed black eldritch energy into the chamber to try to keep the foul creatures at bay. Litiraan called flame from his wand that seared though the portcullis bars and burned the orcs within but still they were unbowed. Each put aside his spear and pulled loaded crossbows from their backs. The weapons clicked and bolts flew forth, one driving into Lavren’s leg, another nicking Telkya’s cheek and another striking the cliff wall next to Litiraan.

Telkya prayed again and called down a column of light that burned the skin of one of the orcs close to the gate while beside her, Erlmoor began his own prayer. Searing ribbons of light engulfed the same orc and sent it reeling away from the portcullis. A crossbow bolt narrowly missed Telkya but Enlishia and Lavren answered with arrows and terrible, searing black energy. The orc staggered back and reached for cloth at its belt to bind its wounds but even as it did so, Litiraan loosed a silver bolt into its side that spun it back towards the gate. A hail of crossbow bolts was the orc response which wounded Enlishia and Lavren but they paid the small hurts no mind. Then, a whirring sound filled the ledge and all looked towards Dulvarna. Above her head, she twirled her sling, a weapon she rarely used. She let loose a missile that struck the stone next to the portcullis and orcs jeered in response.
“I think I need a bow,” she announced and the others could not help but smile.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 6 - The Horned Hold (Part 2)*

Erlmoor lent his own sling to the barrage while the orcs answered with crossbow fire. A bolt nicked Telkya again while she sent searing light in amongst the orcs. Enlishia split the skull of the reeling and wounded orc with an arrow and felled him beside his companion while Lavren seared another with his black flame. Litiraan conjured two rays of ice from his wand, one of which froze only the bars of the portcullis while the other struck the shoulder of another orc behind the gate. Telkya staggered back as a bolt struck her in the shoulder and Lavren reeled back against the cavern wall as he was struck in the hip. Telkya’s response was to raise her voice in prayer and loose a ray of golden light into the nearest orc. Enlishia loosed an arrow into the chest of the same orc and then Lavren unleashed a crackling, black bolt that seared through the orc’s head and felled it beside its companions. 

The orcs seemed to waver then but still they unleashed another barrage of crossbow bolts. Another struck Telkya while one clattered into the stone beside Lavren. The elf looked down at where the missile had struck and smiled to himself. Telkya unleashed another bolt of light that struck an orc and Erlmoor finally found accuracy with his sling, loosing a stone with the whirring weapon to strike the same orc in the leg. It hissed its pain and staggered back from the gate. A crossbow bolt nicked Lavren’s shoulder and drove the smile from his face. He cursed the orc who had wounded him and loosed crackling black energy at his foe. It struck the shoulder of the orc and sent it reeling backwards. Litiraan loosed a silver bolt at the same orc but the missile struck the bars of the portcullis and ricocheted down to the floor of the inner chamber. Another bolt struck Telkya then and Litiraan cursed loudly, looking anxiously at his sister. Telkya turned towards him and half-smiled but he saw the strain on her face and knew that her strength was weakening. She began another prayer and Litiraan tried to banish his worries as his sister faught on.

Dulvarna cursed as badly as she had ever cursed as she loosed another sling stone and this time, the missile found the chest of an orc and knocked the creature backwards. Elation filled her as she reached for another missile and for a moment she reconsidered her decision to buy a bow. She shook her head. She had the gold and knew how to fire a bow. She would go to the trading post as soon as they returned to the Seven Pillared Hall. Beside Dulvarna, Erlmoor loosed a stone and demonstrated himself another candidate for buying a bow, although Dulvarna suspected he could not shoot one. The stone he fired struck the stone beside the gate and ricocheted to struck the ledge at Litiraan’s feet. The elf jumped back in shock but beside him, Lavren and Enlishia held firm. The ranger loosed and arrow from her bow that struck an orc in the chest. Lavren sent purple rays searing through the bars and struck the same orc as Enlishia had wounded. Litiraan added his own enchantment to the barrage and the orc staggered as though suddenly weary. Crossbow bolts struck the stone around the companions or flew out over the abyss but none came near to striking a target.
“They are all but beaten,” Dulvarna called out and she charged at the gate.

Telkya loosed a ray of light at an orc and sent it reeling as Dulvarna grabbed hold of the bars and Erlmoor loosed sling stone as he hesitated in deciding whether to join the warrior woman. One of the orcs shot Dulvarna with his crossbow from close range, the bolt driving into her side. She staggered but still pulled on the gates. Enlishia loosed an arrow at the orc and Lavren unleashed black, crackling energy but both flew wide of the mark. A silver bolt from Litiraan’s wand struck the creature and it screeched in pain but held firm at the gate. The other two orcs took up their spears again and stabbed at Dulvarna. A spear pierced her hip and she staggered back with a gasp, blood pouring down her leg. She rushed at the gates again with the last of her strength and heaved at them and with a loud crack, the portcullis was torn from its hinges. It clattered to the ground beside Dulvarna, who twisted out of the way of the heavy metal gate and beyond it, the orcs panicked.

Telkya unleashed light from her amulet while Erlmoor threw down his sling and charged with a prayer on his lips. He drew his sword, which now glowed brightly, and drove it into the chest of an orc. The creature gasped and fell beside its companions. Enlishia rushed after Erlmoor, firing an arrow from her bow as she ran and behind her came Lavren and Litiraan. Black energy felled another orc and the last bolted for double doors in the eastern wall of the room beside the chamber’s fireplace. Dulvarna rushed after him, catching the orc at the doors and slashing her blade across the back of one of its legs. It stumbled and fell against the double doors as it tried to pull them open. Telkya rushed into the room, loosing light from her amulet but striking only the half-opened doors and Erlmoor followed her. 

The dragonborn drove his blade into the orc’s shoulder and the creature slumped forward. An arrow from Enlishia’s bow drove into its left shoulder and then a blast of black, crackling energy spun it around it face its pursuers. It reached out desperately for the half-open doors but as it did so, Litiraan completed his spell and a silver bolt of energy seared through its chest, piercing its heart and felling it where it stood. Telkya rushed up and pushed the double doors shut.
“We are in no state to go wandering blindly,” she said firmly. The others could not disagree.


----------



## Medriev

*Chapter 6 - The Horned Hold (Part 3)*

Dulvarna led them through the double doors once they had tended to their wounds. A wide hallway with doors off it in every direction lay beyond the doors and the ring of hammers striking anvils came from the southern end of the hall where double doors seemed to lead to another chamber.
“Check the side rooms,” said Dulvarna quietly. “And be careful.”
“An armoury here,” Erlmoor hissed from the northern door to the left of the double doors.

“A barracks here,” Telkya whispered. “For the orcs by the smell of it.”
“And a well here with a door to the south,” said Erlmoor as he drew up behind Dulvarna near the western door and the southern double doors.
“The southern doors it is then,” said Telkya as she joined the others from the barracks room to the east.

“Maybe for most of us,” said Lavren. “But I for one think I’ll go through the well room. We should end up in the same place.”
“Or you hope you will,” rumbled Erlmoor. “The rest of us are going through the double doors. Good luck.”

The others glanced over at Lavren with nervous looks, hoping as he was that he wasn’t walking into a trap. Telkya winked at him and he winked back and at a nod, they flung both sets of doors open. Lavren and the others all saw the same thing – a large furnace burning loudly the far side of a large chamber, stoked by an orc at the bellows. A dwarf with sooty black skin and a stiff, rust-coloured beard worked at an anvil nearby, beating a glowing blade into shape. Racks full of recently finished weapons lined the walls while orcs stood on guard near the two doors that led out of the chamber.

Dulvarna rushed at the duergar at the anvil, her blade swinging out as she reached him and cutting into his shoulder. He spun against the anvil, spilling the hot blade he had been working on but keeping hold of his hammer. Dulvarna looked right and saw that another duergar had been working at an anvil in the western portion of the room where Lavren had entered. This gray dwarf was now looking aghast at the warrior woman and her blood stained blade. Enlishia came into the room behind Dulvarna, loosing an arrow into the nearest orc. The creature wheeled around, reaching for a huge axe on its back as it spun. 

Lavren stopped in the doorway and realised that he had made a big mistake. The orc at the bellows turned towards him as did the duergar working at the anvil and another orc at a door in the southwestern wall. He cursed the duergar and uttered a spell quickly, loosing purple rays of fire at the nearest orc and duergar but both flew high and wide to strike the far walls of the chamber. Lavren stepped back as his enemies turned towards him but as he did so, a fierce, roaring form, clad in armour and black scales surged past him. With a roar, Erlmoor rushed into the chamber ahead of the elf and sprayed acid from his mouth. He slashed out with his blade and struck the anvil, driving the duergar away from it. The dragonborn looked back over his shoulder at Lavren.
“Well who else was going to save you from yourself,” he snarled and Lavren could only shrug in response.

Telkya rushed into the chamber behind Dulvarna, chanting a prayer as she ran. Light lanced from the amulet in her left hand to strike the orc that Enlishia had already wounded and send him reeling away. Litiraan loosed a silver bolt towards the orc as he came into the room but it flew wide and struck double doors in the southeastern wall. Dulvarna slammed the hilt of her sword into the duergar’s face and Enlishia fired wildly at the orc again. Finally, the orc drew his axe and snarled its anger at the companions. It started forward with deliberate steps, barely flinching as Telkya called another bolt of light from her amulet to strike its chest. Litiraan hurled a more accurate bolt of silver fire into the orc’s chest but still it kept coming though its flesh was burned and it bled from several wounds. Suddenly, with a roar, it charged at Telkya with its axe raised and the elf maid desperately tried to raise her sword.

Lavren stepped into the room behind Erlmoor and hurled black energy from his wand but again it flew wide and struck the wall above a torch close to the southwestern door. Erlmoor lashed out with his blade, praying loudly as he did so and as the blade glowed white, it cut deep into the duergar’s arm. The gray dwarf fell across his anvil and then twisted away to avoid any killing blow that followed. Erlmoor roared his derision and pursued his enemy, stepping forward. The orcs, meanwhile, drew axes from their backs and moved to attack the newcomers. Lavren turned towards them and wondered whether, even with Erlmoor beside him, he had not taken on more than he could handle.

Dulvarna lashed out again at the duergar as the dwarf turned to face her but then her foe vanished. She turned left and right and then felt a hammer blow narrowly miss her right leg. She turned around and the dwarf was there but as she turned, the orc charged, coming at her from behind. She twisted to one side but its axe cut painfully into her shoulder blade and forced her to turn on the spot to face both of her enemies. In the northeastern corner of the room, Dulvarna thought she saw a door open but nothing emerged and so she turned her attention back to her enemies. It was only when a bone-like quill clattered into the stone next to the forge that she knew another duergar was in the room.
“They can become invisible,” Dulvarna called to the others. “Another lurks close to the orc.”

Lavren raise his sword in his right hand as the orc came at him, seeking to parry its huge axe as it brought it down towards his head. He deflected the blow to one side but the blade still tore down his left arm, tearing cloth, scoring leather and then cutting the flesh beneath. The elf cried out and drew back but as he did so, he heard the duergar chanting as he retreated from Erlmoor. Suddenly, Lavren’s sword grew painfully hot and the skin of hiss hand began to smoke. He wanted to drop the sword but knew he could not stand defenseless before the axe-wielding orc he faced. He gritted his teeth and looked to Erlmoor who was looking down at his own sword in puzzlement more than pain. The dragonborn roared his defiance and Lavren took heart from that. The second orc ran at Erlmoor then raising its axe high and bringing it down. The paladin raised his sword and in a spray of sparks, blade met axe and held it at bay. Once more Erlmoor roared his defiance but as Lavren parried another axe blow, he wondered still how long the two of them could last without aid.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 6 - The Horned Hold (Part 4)*

Dulvarna weaved her blade before her and retreated towards the southern wall of the chamber. Suddenly, she thrust her blade towards the orc but as the creature moved its axe down to parry, she twisted the heavy blade in her hands and swung it across to slash into the ribs of the duergar. An arrow flew past the orc and struck the wall behind Dulvarna’s right shoulder before clattering to the floor. The warrior woman cursed under her breath. Already they were hard pressed and it was likely that Lavren and Erlmoor faced still greater odds. She cursed again and then danced forward to battle her enemies.

Lavren momentarily considered whether it was disloyal to retreat but then the burns that now covered the palm of his right hand throbbed and he knew he could not fight one with he sword. He ducked back through the doorway and called forth witchfire to engulf the orc that he had faced. Flame seared the orc and sent it staggering back into the chamber for a few moments. Erlmoor took his chance and smashed the hilt of his sword into the orc’s face, sending it staggering back and away. Then he turned on the other orc as it came at him with its axe.

Telkya called a column of light down on the orc that Dulvarna faught and watched as the divine fire burned its flesh. It staggered but kept its axe high to defend itself as Dulvarna came at it with a flurry of blows. The duergar meanwhile, darted right towards the forge and lashed out with its hammer but Dulvarna stepped back and twisted to parry the low swing with her blade. The orc rushed at her from the other side but she twisted away and his heavy axe struck the floor where the warrior woman had been standing moments before. A silver bolt from Litiraan’s wand seared past the orc then and drew its attention back towards the doors but then the second duergar, invisible until now, appeared behind Dulvarna. He lashed out with his hammer as the woman leapt out of his reach.

Erlmoor parried the axe of the orc to his left and then pushed the enemy away from him as he turned to deal with the other. Dimly, he saw the duergar smith moving around to stand before the forge and heard the dwarf begin chanting again. The gray dwarf extended his hand and a searing bolt of flame lanced out to strike Erlmoor in the chest and hurl him backwards against the door frame. The orc came at him then, slashing his axe out wide and driving the blade into the dragonborn’s left leg. Erlmoor roared his anger and pain for all to hear. The other orc started forward but Lavren was quicker, loosing black, crackling energy into the creature and keeping it back from Erlmoor while the dragonborn recovered from the double blow. Erlmoor nodded his thanks to the elf, pushed himself off the door frame and stepped forward to meet his enemies again.

Dulvarna turned slowly on the spot, weaving her blade before her and daring her enemies to come forward. They watched her, the two duergar and the orc, circling and moving back and forth as she moved. She darted at one of the duergar and then the orc before finally driving her blade into the hip of the other duergar. The gray dwarf fell back, staggering and Dulvarna followed, raising her blade over her head and bringing it down on the skull of the dwarf. She turned back to face her other two foes but even as she did an arrow drove into the orc’s chest. It staggered back, falling sideways over the anvil before righting itself. Then a second arrow from Enlishia’s bow drove through its neck and it fell to the floor, gurgling its last breath as blood filled its throat. Telkya loosed light from her amulet that struck the wall beside the last duergar and then she charged at the gray dwarf with her sword in her hand. A silver bolt struck the wall above the head of the dwarf and it cringed, putting its back to the wall and holding its hammer before it. With a steely determination in its eyes, the duergar gave a guttural snarl and prepared to face its death.

Erlmoor intoned a prayer loudly in his deep baritone as he parried axe blows to the left and to the right. Finally, as his sword glowed with a golden light, he thrust it at the orc to the left, driving the tip into the orc’s side above its hip. The orc snarled and fell back and Erlmoor slashed out with the sword to cut deep into the flesh of the orc’s shoulder. The orc reeled back from the dragonborn and lashed out with its axe only for Erlmoor to step back himself beyond the orc’s reach. He ducked left as the duergar near the furnace loosed another bolt of fire at him and then raised his blade crossways above his head to parry the axe blow of the other orc. Another black bolt from Lavren’s wand flew past the wounded orc and kept it back for a moment but then it hissed and snarled its defiance and came back at the dragonborn once more.

Dulvarna stabbed her blade into the leg of the duergar as an arrow clattered into the stone above the dwarf’s head. 	Telkya came at it from the other side, driving her blade into the shoulder of the gray dwarf and a silver bolt struck the stone beside it. The duergar let out a guttural roar and rushed at Telkya, smashing his hammer across her arm as she raised her blade to parry the blow. She cried out and fell back and as she did, the duergar vanished. Telkya felt a rush of air past her left side and then the dwarf was gone.

Dulvarna cast around looking for the unseen duergar and then started towards the orcs that Erlmoor faught. No sooner had she done so than she felt a hammer whoosh past her back and she knew that the duergar was now behind her. She slashed her blade across the back of the nearest orc and then turned on the spot to face her duergar enemy, visible once more. Telkya rushed at the dwarf from the other side and, cornered once more, the dwarf raised his hammer and snarled his defiance.

Lavren saw Dulvarna slash at the wounded orc and felt his hopes soar once again. His companions were close and would soon come to his aid. Focusing on the orc, he uttered a spell and loosed more black, crackling energy but this time he found his mark. The bolt seared into the orc’s chest where it’s heart should be and with a gasp, the orc fell to the floor, smoke rising from its ruined chest. Erlmoor roared in triumph and rushed at the remaining orc, driving his sword into the creature’s shoulder. It fell back from the fury of the dragonborn and for the first time, even the duergar beside the forge seemed worried. Desperately, the duergar chanted an incantation and hurled a bolt of fire at the dragonborn. The flame struck the black-scaled Erlmoor in the chest and sent him staggering back from the orc. The orc cackled at this small victory and came forward to finish his foe.

Litiraan loosed a silver bolt from his wand that seared into the duergar and the dwarf roared in anger and pain. He spun on the spot and swung out with its hammer to strike Telkya in the hip and send her reeling back and away from him. Dulvarna came at the duergar from the other side and drew the dwarf’s attention while Enlishia loosed an arrow that clattered into the anvil beside the dwarf. Then, Telkya rushed in at the dwarf again and drove her blade into the dwarf’s shoulder blade. The duergar staggered but then spun around to rush at the priestess one last time.

Erlmoor parried the orc’s flurry of blows and then stabbed out with his sword again, driving the tip into the creature’s thigh. Lavren moved into the room behind him and began to hurl black energy at the duergar close to the forge. His first bolt struck the mantle of the wide forge but within moments, the elf was aiming another at the gray dwarf. Erlmoor snarled at the orc before him and silently promised it the same fate as its companion. A bolt of fire flew past his head and he knew the duergar smith was worried now. With a smile, he parried the orc’s axe and advanced.

Litiraan loosed a silver bolt over the head of the duergar as the dwarf rushed at his sister again. She raised her sword to parry but the dwarf’s hammer struck her shoulder a painful blow. The dwarf smiled for a brief moment but then it let out a long gasp. Looking down, it saw the point of Dulvarna’s sword protruding from its chest and then, with a look of resignation it slid off the blade to the stone floor. Telkya stopped for a moment, panting while she nodded her thanks to Dulvarna and between them, Enlishia ran, her bow in her hands. The ranger turned as she passed the anvil and aimed her bow at the duergar smith. She let fly the arrow and watched with satisfaction as it drove into the dwarf’s shoulder with a  dull thud. Lavren saw the arrow strike and hurled his own bolt of black energy towards the smith. It struck the dwarf in the chest and drove him back a step. A searing bolt of light struck the duergar then and he staggered, uncomfortably close to the forge. The dwarf reached one hand out to the mantle to steady himself and then pushed away from the stone with a roar of defiance.
“You shall never take me!” the gray dwarf cried out. “Urwol, son of Urdek dies here or his enemies die around him.”
“So be it,” Erlmoor answered from the doorway as he parried another axe blow. “Die here then.”

The dragonborn smashed the hilt of his sword into the face of the orc before him and stepped forward but as he did so, Litiraan loosed a silver bolt from his wand. It seared through the throat of Urwol, son of Urdek and felled him beside his forge. The orc lashed out at Erlmoor desperately, seeking to escape now, but there was no way through. Dulvarna was upon the orc a moment later, driving it back with a blow to the shoulder and then an arrow from Enlishia’s bow drove into its chest. The orc staggered and with a word, Lavren hurled a bolt of black energy that seared through the orc’s skull and finally ended the battle.


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## Medriev

*House Rule Note*

*For those who are following this (if any are!) from this point on I decided to remove the Raise Dead ritual from 4E. I've always found it very difficult, in its various previous forms, to fit into D&D beyond the obvious game balance reasons. At this point, I'm not convinced that even these reasons justify it in 4E. Death needs to be a threat in the world and realistically, if everyone with 500gp (at Heroic Tier) could pay to come back from the dead, the game worlds (FR and Greyhawk for me) would look a lot different IMHO.

Anyway, from here on in, death will be very real and very final for our six heroes.*


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## Medriev

*Chapter 7 - Beyond the Gate (Part 1)*

“We should rest here,” said Telkya as she surveyed the blood-soaked chamber. “The duergar cannot be allowed to reclaim this hold else we will have to battle through it again when we return.”
“And if the duergar come while we rest?” questioned Dulvarna as she carried a small chest of gold coins from a side room into the main chamber. In her other hand she held a skull-capped scepter. “We would be hard pressed to repel them if they came upon us as we slept.”
“And if we bar the doors?” suggested Lavren. “We could hold them at bay as the orcs held us at the gate.”
“And if they come in numbers,” said Litiraan. “With magic or a battering ram. How will we hold them then?”
“These dwarves had magic,” Telkya said with a winning smile and a wink at Lavren. “And a battering ram is no more than a big log.” The others looked at her and could argue no more. Dulvarna let out a resigned sigh while Lavren’s face split in a wide grin.
“Erlmoor and Litiraan, gather weapons and thick wood to bar the doors,” said Dulvarna finally. “The rest of us will deal with these bodies and gather what food we can. Be quick and tarry not for our enemies could come here at any time.”

“Urwol must be busy,” said Rundarr, tearing a mouthful of the hunk of meat he held in his hand while leaning over to the duergar chieftain beside him. He noticed with horror that he had spat a small chunk of the meat into his companion’s beard as he had spoken but if Murkelmor noticed, he did not show it.
“E’s always busy,” snarled the duergar chief then, gesturing vehemently with the hunk of rothé meat he held in his own right hand. “S’why you’re here. If I left South Gate to Urwol e’d have ‘em all forging warhammers and none watching the gate.”
“Want me to send for ‘im?” snarled Rundarr as he put down the hunk of meat he had been eating and raised his tankard with his right hand. He took a long gulp of the bitter mushroom ale as he waited for the reply.
“Nah,” answered Murkelmor. “But send someone fer ‘im mid morning. He should know that when’s I sends a summons, I expect ‘im to answer.”
“E’ll like that,” answered Rundarr with a broad grin. “’Specially if e’s bin up all night at the forge.”
“I’m sure e’ will,” snarled Murkelmor through his next mouthful of meat. “An’ I’m sure ye’ll enjoy tellin’ ‘im.” Rundarr smiled in response and Murkelmor had his answer.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 7 - Beyond the Gate (Part 2)*

The companions took the southeastern double doors out of the forge when they woke the next morning, leaving the other door, the one that faced the chasm, barred against anyone who may cross on the bridge that presumably lay beyond it. The southwestern doors opened onto a wide passage that bent right a little way along and then proceeded straight on before ending at another set of double doors. All drew swords, and readied spells and prayers as Dulvarna reached out for the double doors and pushed them open but beyond them was another hallway that forked, a left passage leading south and a right hand way leading south west. Dulvarna took the left hand passage after only a moment’s hesitation, pausing to throw open a door to the left. Within lay a barracks with five beds and a fire blazing in a fireplace in the far corner but it was otherwise empty and without a second glance, Dulvarna turned to the double doors that marked the end of the left hand passage. She sheathed her sword and strode forward unarmed and grasped the iron ring handles of both doors. Turning them, she threw them open and revealed an expansive chamber that appeared to be a dining hall. Three large tables were arranged on the floor, and against the far wall a fire crackled in a large fireplace. Two grey-skinned dwarves sat at separate tables, finishing their meals while near a small door to the east stood a man wearing tattered clothes and carrying a tray of dirty dishes.

Dulvarna rushed right towards one of the duergar, drawing her sword as she ran. She lashed out with her blade and sent the duergar spinning from his seat at the table and tumbling to the floor. Telkya followed Dulvarna into the chamber, drawing her sword and uttering a prayer as she came, she extended a hand and loosed a bolt of light at the other duergar, toppling him from his seat at the far table before the fire. He roared as he rose to his feet.
“Who dares disturb Rundarr, son of Roleth,” he bellowed and draw a warhammer from his back. The dwarf charged around the table, toppling a chair as he came and rushed at Telkya. She raised her sword but the dwarf smashed his hammer down on the arm that held the blade and then swept the weapon in from the side, smashing it into Telkya’s ribs. With a gasp, she staggered and reeled away from the duergar.

Enlishia came into the room behind Telkya and immediately darted right, loosing an arrow into the shoulder of the burly gray dwarf. Rundarr paid the hit now mind and simply continued to batter at Telkya’s defenses as the priestess desperately defended herself.
“Another enemy lurks behind the door,” called Telkya then, looking towards the door in the southwestern corner of the room. As the others looked, it slammed shut and they knew at once that more enemies were coming to join the battle.

Litiraan came into the room next, loosing a silver bolt from his wand that struck the duergar called Rundarr in the hip but again he paid the wound no mind. Lavren darted left as he entered and hurled a bolt of black, crackling energy towards the duergar only for the missile to strike the table next to the dwarf. The elf cursed him in his own tongue but then Erlmoor charged into the room with a roar and Telkya was no longer alone.

Dulvarna thrust her blade into the shoulder of the duergar before her and forced the dwarf back but Telkya retreated from the other dwarf. She prayed as she drew back and loosed a bolt of light that struck the wooden table next to the dwarf and then cursed her inaccuracy as Lavren had. Rundarr came forward, his warhammer raining blows on Erlmoor now but the dragonborn was ready and parried each one. Enlishia loosed an arrow that flew past the dwarf and clattered against the far wall and at that, the duergar that Dulvarna faced roared its anger and surged forward. Its hammer struck the warrior woman’s arm painfully and she retreated a step but as she did so, Lavren and Litiraan both uttered their own spells. A silver bolt struck Rundarr from one side and a black bolt of crackling energy struck him from the other. For the first time, the duergar reeled and staggered back a step. Erlmoor roared, spraying the duergar in acid and then thrust his blade into the dwarf’s shoulder, forcing him further back. The duergar snarled his anger and the dragonborn answered but both knew that the other would not break. Only hammer and blade would settle the battle.

Telkya called down a column of light to sear the gray dwarf but at the last the duergar moved aside and the light descended beside him. Rundarr roared his defiance and lashed out at Erlmoor but the dragonborn stepped back and the dwarf’s hammer struck his thigh as he did so instead of shattering skull or collarbone as the duergar had intended. Enlishia loosed an arrow at the dwarf and the duergar ducked, evading the missile but also retreating from Erlmoor for a moment. The dragonborn surged forward but as he did so, more roars came from the double doors. More duergar were coming.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 7 - Beyond the Gate (Part 3)*

Dulvarna lashed out at the dwarf she faced but her blade struck only the table beside the duergar and as she tried to pull Aecris free, the dwarf brought his hammer down on her right arm. She cried out and drew back as pain lanced up her arm. She heard shouts from behind her and knew that more dwarves were coming into the chamber behind them. Dulvarna dared not look back as she yanked her sword free and parried the next blow from the duergar. As she did so, an icy ray struck the wall above the dwarf, freezing part of the stone and she knew Litiraan was trying to aid her. She wanted to turn and thank the elf but instead she could only parry the next hammer blow from the gray dwarf.

Lavren loosed another black bolt at Rundarr but this time struck the west wall of the chamber as the bolt flew wide of the dwarf. The duergar flinched nonetheless and Erlmoor surged forward, slashing out with his sword only to have it parried by the hammer of the mighty gray dwarf. Behind the dragonborn, Telkya felt sudden pain as a quill drove into her back. She staggered forward, fell to her knees and then, with a gasp, she fell to the floor of the chamber. Another quill flew past Erlmoor and drove into the wood of the table next to him and the companions knew then that they were surrounded. They would triumph or die in this chamber.

Dulvarna surged forward, weaving her blade before her and then striking only for the duergar to parry. She thrust her blade in low but again the dwarf met her blade with his hammer. She cursed the skill of her enemy then while also, deep down, feeling some admiration for the dwarf. She saw Erlmoor step back and half parry a blow from the duergar her faced but the hammer struck the dragonborn’s hand nonetheless and must have hurt him though he showed no sign. Dulvarna turned her attention back to her own foe as the fierce dwarf came at her once more. She parried desperately but the duergar’s warhammer came down painfully on her shoulder.

Enlishia turned as three more duergar entered the chamber behind her. She loosed two arrows in quick succession, one striking the stone beside the double doors and the other driving into one of the dwarves and forcing it back a step. One of the dwarves rushed through the doors and charged at Lavren. The elf rushed to draw forth his sword and leapt back as the duergar swung its hammer out at him. Litiraan turned towards the doors then and loosed flame from his wand that filled the northern end of the chamber and the hallway beyond the doors. The duergar in the hallway ducked back, using the doors as cover but the dwarf that had charged at Lavren was seared by the flames and driven against the east wall. Lavren came forward with his sword and began to drive the duergar back.

Erlmoor feinted left and then slashed his blade around to come in from the right. The duergar parried but then the dragonborn twisted his blade away from the dwarf’s hammer to cut up from below and into the thigh of his foe. The duergar roared his anger and as he did so, he grew larger, his muscles bulging and his legs growing thicker. He roared again but this time the sound seemed to shake the very walls of the stout stone chamber. Erlmoor stepped back from the monstrosity that Rundarr had become and then rushing back in to battle his now-huge foe.

Litiraan reeled back as the next duergar into the chamber hurled a quill from his red beard at him that drove painfully into his shoulder. He felt numbness spread from the wound and the arm grew limp as the duergar rushed in at him with its hammer in its hands. The heavy weapon swung out and struck Litiraan’s other arm as he raised it to protect himself and he staggered back, reeling from the pain in both his limbs. Another quill zipped past the elf’s ear and then a second duergar rushed in from the right. The dwarf’s hammer lashed out crosswise and smashed into Litiraan’s side with an audible crack of a rib. The elf gasped as the wind was driven from his lungs and scrambled desperately back from the foes he faced. He looked down at his sister and knew there was little time to save her 

Dulvarna glanced over her shoulder and knew that she too had little time if she was to aid her companions. She gave a guttural cry of sheer fury and raised her sword over her head. She brought the blade down in a huge blow that was aimed at the head of the duergar she fought. At the last moment, the dwarf moved and raised its hammer but Aecris smashed through anyway, missing his head by half a hand-width and cleaving through his collarbone and into the shoulder beneath. The dwarf staggered and lashed out wildly with his hammer as he began to retreat from the fiercesome warrior woman before him. Dulvarna plunged her blade forward above the duergar’s hammer and pierced his heart. With a rattling gasp, the dwarf staggered back, fell to his knees and then fell forward on the stone, his hammer clutched tightly to his chest.

The huge creature that was Rundarr surged forward at Erlmoor and slashed out with its hammer, knocking the dragonborn back across the floor and off his feet. The paladin went to rise but a second, devastating blow to his chest smashed him back down again. He tried to rise again, praying softly as he did so but the huge dwarf-creature was unforgiving and stepped forward to stand over him, raising its hammer for a killing blow. As the duergar did so, Erlmoor’s blade glowed white and he drove it upwards into Rundarr’s groin. Blood gushed forth and with a roar, the duergar staggered back from Erlmoor allowing the paladin to leap to his feet and let out his own powerful roar. Suddenly, he noticed movement at his feet and looking down, he saw Telkya stir a little as some of the white glow from Erlmoor’s blade drifted over her. She opened her eyes and smiled faintly and hope returned to the paladin as he rushed at Rundarr once more.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 7 - Beyond the Gate (Part 4)*

Enlishia retreated from the advancing duergar and loosed an arrow deep into the shoulder of one of the dwarves that then shattered to send splinters of wood deep into the flesh of the duergar. The dwarf fell back against the wall dropping one hand from the haft of its warhammer. Litiraan took his chance and retreated from the duergar, loosing a silver bolt from his wand as he backed away. The missile of eldritch energy struck the wall beside the gray dwarf and the duergar snarled at it as though it were an enemy itself. Taking up his hammer again, the dwarf came forward.

Lavren retreated from his own foe, uttering powerful curse as he did so. The dwarf staggered then lashing out at invisible enemies with its warhammer and grasping its head with the other as terrible visions assailed it. The elf loosed a black bolt then that struck the wall next to the duergar. The duergar flinched and then threw himself to the left in a delayed reaction that only slammed him against the wooden door in the east wall. Lavren looked to the left and a sudden movement drew his eyes downward. There, under the table next to him, the man who had been carrying the tray of dirty dishes when they had entered the room cowered. He held a finger to his lips and looked meaningfully at the duergar as the dwarf recovered and started forward.

The two duergar rushed past Telkya’s fallen form and rushed at Litiraan and Enlishia. The first, wounded by Enlishia’s arrow, swung his hammer weakly and struck the wall beside the ranger but the second came on in a terrible fury, lashing out with his hammer. The blow struck Litiraan’s shoulder and drove him back until he bumped against the table and had nowhere else to go. He reached for the sword on his belt and prepared to make his last stand and die beside his sister if he had to. Then he saw a blur of movement as Telkya rolled over on the ground with her sword glowing bright with divine power in her hand. She stabbed out with her blade, driving the sword into the leg of the duergar who had struck Litiraan. She leapt to her feet and with a roar the duergar turned on her. Telkya flashed a smile and a wink at her brother and his heart soared. In that moment, Erlmoor was struck in the chest by Rundarr’s hammer and smashed back across the chamber towards the door. He lay where he fell, unmoving, and Litiraan’s fleeting hope for victory was dashed. Desperately, he plunged his sword into the shoulder of the duergar and held him at bay for a moment. But it could only ever be a moment and then his own doom would come.

The duergar hurled a quill from its beard at Lavren and then rushed at him as the missile drove into the bench next to the elf with a thud. The man beneath the table let out a squeal that he quickly muffled with a hand and Lavren looked down, distracted just as the dwarf reached him. The elf twisted aside at the last moment, realising his peril and as he did so, the duergar’s hammer struck his shoulder a glancing blow. Lavren leapt back, leveled his wand and with a word, loosed another black bolt, this one more accurate than the last. The searing eldritch fire drove through the duergar’s chest and hurled him back against the wall at his back. He fell to the floor then like a broken doll and lay still. Lavren turned towards the centre of the room and saw that Erlmoor had fallen and that Rundarr was a huge monstrosity grown from his previous form. All sense of triumph died within the elf then and he leveled his wand at the huge duergar 

Enlishia drew her sword and lashed out at the duergar she faced but the dwarf parried expertly, twisted its hammer and struck her a glancing blow on the hip. She retreated towards Dulvarna and as she did so, Litiraan ducked towards her and a warhammer struck the table behind the elf. Enlishia looked over her shoulder and saw Dulvarna circle around the far end of the table and rush at the back of the huge Rundarr. She raised her sword above her head and struck the dwarf’s back a huge blow that actually drove the huge duergar forward a step towards Telkya. Rundarr twisted around to face this new threat while behind him, Telkya retreated and knelt beside Erlmoor while uttering a healing prayer. Golden light washed over the paladin and he opened his eyes. His right hand reached for his blade and slowly he began to rise. As he did, he saw Rundarr’s warhammer smash into Dulvarna’s shoulder and send her reeling. A second blow struck her in the chest from the other side and sent her flying back against the west wall of the chamber. Gasping for breath, the warrior woman struggled to raise her sword as the huge gray dwarf stepped towards her.

Litiraan and Enlishia faught desperately side by side, striking out with their swords when they could but for the most part parrying urgently. Litiraan drove back his own foe with a stab to the shoulder and bought himself enough time to bind the poisoned quill wound in his own shoulder. Still the numbness was spreading and weakening him reminding him that he could not stand and fight for much longer. Suddenly, he heard Rundarr roar again and saw that Lavren was chanting as unseen jaws tore at the huge duergar. The gray dwarf raged towards Dulvarna but even as he did so, Erlmoor rose slowly behind him. With a roar of his on, the dragonborn charged, his sword leading. He plunged the blade into the base of the duergar’s spine and drove it in up to the hilt until the point burst out of the dwarf’s belly. Rundarr, son of Roleth roared one last time, looked down at the blood soaked steel protruding from his belly and then fell forward, sliding off Erlmoor’s blade to strike the floor hard. He lay there unmoving and died in a growing pool of his blood.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 7 - Beyond the Gate (Part 5)*

The two duergar that remained panicked then, one disappearing before Enlishia’s eyes and the other fleeing back through the open double doors. Dulvarna rushed after the duergar as did Telkya who unleashed a bolt of light at the dwarf she could see. The bolt struck the back of the gray dwarf’s shoulder and spun him into the passage wall but he continued his flight. Enlishia loosed an arrow after the dwarf while Lavren and Litiraan took a different course, darting through a door in the western wall and into the side chamber there. Both thought that it would bring them into a position to head off the fleeing dwarf but as they emerged from the other door in the side chamber they saw that they were too late. Across a large ruined hall, double doors were being opened by unseen hands and they could only open onto the chasm.

Erlmoor joined the pursuit with his sword in his hands but the dwarf continued his flight. The dragonborn lashed out with his blade and caught the duergar’s shoulder blade with the tip of his sword but still the dwarf did not stop. Lavren and Litiraan entered the ruined hall just as the dwarf they could see crossed the hall before them and rushed through the double doors. Beyond them a bridge crossed the chasm and he started across but he was not quite fast enough. Dulvarna burst into the chamber through double doors on the far side and rushed to catch the dwarf, her blade in her hands. As she reached the doors that led out onto the bridge the second duergar reappeared next to her and lashed out with its hammer. Dulvarna was struck soundly on the back of the head and in a shower of blood, she collapsed before the doors.

Telkya entered the room through the far double doors, praying as she came. Light lanced out from the amulet she held and struck the left hand door that led out onto the bridge. Enlishia ran into the chamber next, pulling two arrows from the quiver on her back and nocking them to her bow. She took aim and loosed them but they flew past both dwarves and disappeared into the dark of the chasm beyond the doors. Litiraan crossed the ruined chamber to the centre and loosed a silver bolt out onto the bridge towards the furthest ahead of the dwarves but this too missed and was consumed by the darkness of the chasm. 

Lavren appeared beside Litiraan, uttering a curse and a spell in quick succession before leveling his wand at the duergar. Two purple rays shot out, one striking the duergar on the bridge and searing through his back to burst out of his chest. He screeched and tottered sideways before falling over the side of the bridge and disappearing into the depths of the chasm. The other bolt struck the remaining duergar and threw him back against the open door beside him. Erlmoor charged into the room then with a roar and the last duergar bolted. Erlmoor’s blade rose and fell and the duergar fell in the doorway in a spray of blood.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 8 - Across the Chasm (Part 1)*

“We should fortify this place as we did the last hold and post watches in both,” said Erlmoor once they had all tended to their wounds and Dulvarna had been wakened.
“Agreed,” said Enlishia. “We are too weak to attack the far side of the chasm but if we retreat we will likely have to fight through both holds once again. We camp here and cross the chasm in the morning.”
“Will you stay with us?” said Erlmoor directing the question to the man who had cowered under the table throughout the battle and the man and the woman who had hidden themselves in the kitchen to the east of the dining hall where they were now gathered. They said that they were from Arabel, taken in a goblin raid along the East Way several months ago. They nodded nervously but without enthusiasm.
“We will wait with you if that is your course,” said one of the men. “We could not seek to return to the Seven Pillared Hall alone.”
“Then it is settled,” said Erlmoor. “I will watch from the northern hall with Litiraan and Enlishia. The rest of you stay here.”

Dulvarna nodded her agreement and was grateful that Erlmoor had taken on the mantle of leadership while she lay propped against the head table. Her head wound was bandaged and her ribs would mend in time but she needed rest most of all. Laying her head back against her folded cloak, she let herself drift off into sleep.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 8 - Across the Chasm (Part 2)*

Dulvarna was woken by the smell of frying bacon and felt refreshed almost as soon as she opened her eyes. She began to rise but pain lanced across her ribs and she winced, leaning against the table for a moment. Enlishia steered her towards a seat at the high table just as Erlmoor and Litiraan came in from through the double doors to the north. The men and the woman began bringing out platters of breakfast fare and soon all were eating heartily.
“All was quiet,” rumbled Erlmoor in between mouthfuls.
“Likewise here,” said Lavren.

“Then which way do we cross the chasm?” said Telkya. “They will likely have seen the end of yesterday’s battle from the far side so the bridge from the northern hold would give us a better chance of surprising our enemies.”
“Agreed,” said Lavren. “We could be picked off while still on the bridge if we venture forth from this hold.”
“The bridge there is narrow, we must remember,” said Litiraan. “I watched it for some of the last night and it would not be easy to evade attackers once we were crossing.”
“Fear not brother,” said Telkya. “Like as not our enemies will be too busy watching the southern bridge to pay any mind to the northern one.” Dulvarna and Erlmoor nodded then and it was decided.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 8 - Across the Chasm (Part 3)*

When breakfast was done, the six companions led the three former prisoners to the gates of the northern hold and told them to flee northward if they failed to return or if anything troubled them. Then the six made their way to the barred doors of the northern hold that led out of the smithy. The fire of the forge was dying away now and the smell of death filled the place as the smith and his guards bloated and began to putrefy. In silence, the companions dismantled the makeshift bars that they had put on the doors and opened them. With blades and wands at the ready they made their way out onto the bridge.

They reached the single door at the far side untroubled by any enemies but found the single door at the other end of the bridge locked. Dulvarna slammed her shoulder hard into it and with a  crack, the door fell inwards, hanging off one hinge. Within was a ruined chamber that bent around from west to south east with piled of rubble in the western half. Doors led out of the chamber to the south and southwest while double doors led to the north. Dulvarna led them along the wall to the left and opened the southwestern door. Beyond was a hallway that followed the outer wall of the fortress and then opened up in a foyer to the south. Two statues depicting stern-looking female minotaurs in ornate gowns stood in the southeastern corner of the room while two duergar stood beside double doors, accompanied by a pair of strange clockwork mechanisms that resembled crossbows on articulated legs.

Enlishia ducked into the room and darted left, loosing an arrow from her bow as she did so. It flew past the nearest duergar and the mechanical crossbow behind his to drive into the nearest minotaur statue. The duergar began shouting the alarm and behind the companions a door opened to admit another dwarf warrior into the ruined chamber. Litiraan turned and moved along the wall before loosing a silver bolt from his wand that struck the newcomer in the shoulder. One of the crossbows marched jerkily forward and loosed a bolt that drove into Dulvarna’s right arm. She fell back and ash she did so, the duergar before her charged with its hammer held high. The weapon swung out and Dulvarna raised her sword to parry it with a loud clang. A second duergar charged in then and his hammer came in low, too low for Dulvarna to parry. The hammer struck her ribs hard and winded her, forcing her back another step into the doorway.

Lavren moved to aid Litiraan, cursing the duergar in the southern doorway as he did so. He leveled his wand and loosed a bolt of crackling black energy at the gray dwarf. The bolt struck the enemy in the chest and hurled him back against the doorframe once more. Erlmoor rushed at the duergar then with his blade before him. He thrust the blade forward but at the last the duergar raised his hammer and parried the sword thrust. Telkya sent a bolt of light to strike the dwarf and it fell back into the chamber from which it had emerged.

Dulvarna slashed her blade across the chest of the dwarf before her and drove its point into the hip of the other gray dwarf. Both fell back for a moment and gave her some breathing space while the mechanical crossbow creatures stood back, their weapons loaded and ready to fire. Enlishia slashed out with her sword but the blow was parried and then a furious exchange of blows resumed as the duergar came forward again.

Erlmoor saw another duergar moving within the chamber, this one wearing robes under his armour. He extended his hands and uttered a chant that the dragonborn felt sure that he had heard before. Sure enough, a bolt of fire lanced out from the outstretched hand and seared into Erlmoor’s side, throwing him back from the doorway. The duergar before him smashed the hilt of his hammer into the paladin’s chin and sent him reeling. The duergar came through the door but as he did so, Litiraan loosed a silver bolt from his wand that blasted the gray dwarf back again. A bolt of black, crackling energy struck the doorframe next to the dwarf and Erlmoor surged forward with a roar. He sprayed acid into the room from his mouth and lashed out with his sword, forcing the duergar to parry desperately. The dwarf twisted the dragonborn’s blade aside and snarled as the acid seared his skin. He staggered back a step and Erlmoor pressed forward as light from Telkya’s amulet struck the wall behind his foe. Another bolt of flame struck Erlmoor then and halted his advance. He roared his defiance and pushed on nonetheless.

The duergar before Enlishia struck her leg with his hammer but she paid the painful blow no mind. She was more concerned with Dulvarna and even as she looked over to her companion she saw the warrior woman struck in the jaw by a hammer blow and sent reeling. Dulvarna spat out the blood in her mouth and then drove her blade in low, piercing the leg of the duergar just above the knee. The leg gave way and the duergar fell back from his fierce enemy. Enlishia meanwhile darted back to avoid a wild swing from her duergar foe and then leapt forward again, thrusting out with her sword. The point drove into the dwarf’s side and he fell back from her. The duergar lashed out with his hammer but Enlishia jumped back again evading the blow by mere inches. Dulvarna fell back as the hammer of the dwarf she faced struck her shoulder but as the dwarf came on she raised her blade and wove it in a dance before her. Suddenly, she darted forward, driving Aecris into the dwarf’s hip and forcing him back from her. The duergar staggered again and seemed about to fall but then he came forward again.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 8 - Across the Chasm (Part 4)*

The duergar rushed at Erlmoor and smashed its hammer overhand into the base of the dragonborn’s neck. Gasping for breath, Erlmoor fell back and Litiraan loosed another silver bolt to keep the gray dwarf at bay. It flew high and wide and struck the wall beyond the dwarf and a moment later, a black bolt from Lavren’s wand struck close by. The duergar roared its defiance and came forward but then Erlmoor’s blade swept out and took its head from its shoulders. He roared himself then and charged into the chamber to meet the duergar magic-wielder within. Telkya followed him, praying as she went. Skirting the western wall of the chamber, she held forth her amulet and brought a burning column of light down upon the robed dwarf. Suddenly, the dwarf uttered an incantation and the chamber was suddenly filled with thick, noxious fumes. Telkya and Erlmoor bent over coughing while their enemy disappeared into the thick smoke. Blindly, they leaned on whatever furnishings they could feel nearby and waited, hoping and praying that the smoke would clear.

Enlishia slashed out with her blade at the duergar in front of her but his hammer came up quickly and parried. He twisted his weapon then and brought his hammer in low but Enlishia drew back, pulling her body out of his reach. Beside her, Dulvarna tried to duck but the hammer of the duergar she faced glanced off the top of her head and sent her reeling back. She slashed out wildly with her sword but the duergar ducked easily under the swing and moved forward for the kill with a broad, yellow-toothed smile on his face.

Litiraan rushed through the door into the side chamber and found a large room with three double bunks and a fire place. Two doors led to the west, and a third led to the east while a duergar retreated past the fire. Smoke filled most of the room and Erlmoor and Telkya were still rubbing their eyes to clear their vision but Litiraan could see the retreating robed duergar perfectly clearly. He loosed a silver bolt from his wand but at the last moment, the duergar darted aside and the bolt struck the mantle of the fire, shattering a portion of the stone. Lavren came into the chamber behind Litiraan, cursing the retreating duergar as he came. He leveled his wand and loosed black, crackling energy that struck the duergar in the side and threw him towards the fire. The gray dwarf reached up and grabbed the mantle to stop himself falling into the flames. He turned towards both elves and snarled a spell before bringing his hand down in a strangely fierce motion. Fire erupted from the dwarf’s hand then in searing balls of half molten rock. They pelted the four companions in the chamber who were knocked to the floor and forced to duck behind, beside and under the beds. 

Only Erlmoor was too slow and as Lavren glanced at him, he saw the paladin struck hard on the head by a burning ball of rock. The dragonborn staggered, sank to his knees and then fell face forward on the stone floor of the chamber. Just as Erlmoor fell, Telkya’s sight returned and she dashed over to him, crouching low behind a bed as she tended to his head wound. She uttered a healing prayer and the paladin’s eyes flicked open. He let out a low rumble from his chest and pulled himself to his feet. Raising his sword, he rushed at the duergar.

Enlishia exchanged parries with the duergar she faced and then looked over anxiously to Dulvarna who was still reeling from the head wound she had suffered. The duergar feinted low then and as Dulvarna moved her sword slowly to parry, the hammer came up and struck the woman under the chin. Her head snapped back and she fell over backwards to land on her back in the doorway of the northern chamber. Enlishia looked from one dwarf to the other as they advanced on her snarling and wondered where her companions might be.

A silver bolt from Litiraan’s wand struck the robed duergar, driving him back another step towards the fireplace and then a black bolt from Lavren struck another part of the mantle, splintering the stone. Erlmoor’s deep voice intoned a prayer to Lathander and as his blade glowed, he drive it into the arm of the dwarf. White light flowed up the dragonborn’s arm and then burst out from him in quick pulse, filling the room and seemingly passing through the walls. Light from Telkya’s amulet seared through the flames in the fireplace and struck the back wall and the duergar ducked away from Erlmoor again, chanting as he retreated. More noxious smoke burst from his hand and filled the chamber leaving the companions doubled over coughing and blinded. Unseen by them all, the robed duergar darted towards the eastern door.

Dulvarna opened her eyes as the pulse of divine energy washed over her from the neighbouring room. She still felt woozy but as she looked up, she saw that Enlishia was being driven back towards the doorway in which she lay. Her friend needed her aid and so Dulvarna focused and gathering all of her remaining strength. When she was ready, she pushed herself to her feet and raised her blade. The duergar looked at her in amazement and as they did so, she surged forward.

Litiraan loosed flame into the smoke without knowing whether he had come anywhere near hitting the robed duergar. He heard a door open close to the fireplace and as his vision cleared he saw that the duergar had gone but beyond the door, the strange contraptions with crossbows atop them were turning towards the open door. Lavren rushed to the corner of the fireplace and loosed a black through the doorway but he did not hear it hit anything. 

Erlmoor rushed to the doorway to keep the crossbow constructs at bay with his blade and Telkya moved to follow him, uttering another healing prayer as she went. The nearest of the strange constructs turned towards the doorway as it sensed this new threat and then it retreated. Erlmoor burst into the corridor after the construct and both retreated before him. The robed duergar lurked in the southern foyer of the hall and from there he loosed a bolt of fire that struck Erlmoor in the shoulder. The dragonborn roared his defiance and the constructs seemed to shrink back before his wrath. He took up his blade and started after them.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 8 - Across the Chasm (Part 5)*

At the northern end of the hall, Enlishia lashed her blade across the shoulder of the duergar she faced and forced him back for a moment. The dwarf lashed out with his hammer but she parried the riposte easily and twisted his hammer aside so that she could parry the attack of the other dwarf and keep him at bay long enough for Dulvarna to rejoin the battle. Enlishia shoved the duergar back from her just as Dulvarna rushed through the doorway, her blade held high. The duergar realised his danger too late and started to turn and raise his hammer but he stood no chance. The tip of Aecris drove into his throat while his hammer was still at waist level and the blade drove through his neck from one side to the other. With a gurgle of blood, the dwarf collapsed before Dulvarna and the warrior woman burst into the corridor triumphantly. The other dwarf began to retreat then and Enlishia knew that they had all but won their small battle. She saw Litiraan beyond the duergar loosed a silver bolt from his wand and as it struck the back of the dwarf, panic filled her enemy’s eyes.

The construct retreated before Erlmoor again and loosed two bolts quickly from its crossbow. One clattered into the wall beside Erlmoor but the other flew down the hall and drove into Litiraan’s back, jolting him forward a step. He gasped and staggered as blood seeped down his back within his robes. Lavren emerged into the corridor next, leveling his wand at the nearest construct and loosing a bolt of black energy that flew wide and struck the minotaur statue behind his foe. Erlmoor charged the two constructs, lashing out at one and scoring the metal of its body close to the crossbow. Telkya drew her sword and charged from the barracks room to join the dragonborn and together the two drove back the clockwork constructs until a bolt of flame struck the elf maid’s arm. She staggered and the construct before her retreated out of her reach.

Enlishia tossed her sword behind her and unshouldered her bow as she retreated back into the ruined room. She loosed an arrow at the duergar that Dulvarna faught and distracted him long enough for Dulvarna to half parry his hammer blow. The hammer glanced off her shoulder as the parried high and deflected it away and downwards. Litiraan loosed another silver bolt that struck the duergar in the side and the dwarf reeled away giving Dulvarna a chance to push forward at her foe. The warrior woman slashed her blade into the dwarf’s belly and as he bent forward she brought her blade back up and drove the point through the dwarf’s chin and up into his brain. The duergar buckled at the knees and collapsed beside his companion. Dulvarna drew out her blood and brain soaked blade and rushed off down the corridor to aid her companions.

A crossbow bolt from the retreating construct drove into Telkya’s shoulder and halted her jubilant advance. Lavren was chanting behind her but whatever spell he cast seemed to have no effect while Erlmoor was still pursuing the construct he faced. The dragonborn slashed out with his blade and tore out some of the mechanism that drove the construct and Telkya drove her own blade into one of the strange creature’s legs. With a clunking whir, the construct retreated past the minotaur statue and fired its crossbow. Erlmoor slashed out with his sword and swatted the bolt out of the air as it flew towards him before continuing his advance. Telkya made to follow him but as she did so, the robed duergar chanted a spell again and a bolt of flame seared her hip. She staggered again but Dulvarna rushed into battle then and slashed her blade across the face of the duergar and drove him back.

A bolt flew from the nearest construct and drove into Dulvarna’s stomach, halting her advance. She gasped and staggered, reaching one hand down to the wound. Erlmoor surged at the other construct, his blade lashing out and severing one of its legs. Still the clockwork creature tried to leap back from him. Lavren came forward then though and with an incantation loosed black, crackling energy at the construct. It seared through its body and shattered it where it stood, felling it in a shower of gears and metal. Telkya charged at the other construct, praying as she advanced. She lashed out with her blade and struck the top of the creature’s body and drove it back and as she did so, her blade glowed white and from her other hand she directed the white light towards Dulvarna. Divine healing washed over the warrior woman restoring some of her strength and driving the crossbow bolt from her stomach. She rushed at the robed duergar then, taking him by surprise. Her blade swept out wide and took his head from his shoulders as he tried to raise his warhammer.

The remaining construct retreated until its back was against the southern wall and from there it loosed one more bolt wildly before it was felled by Erlmoor’s blade after Lavren had struck it with a black bolt of eldritch energy.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 9 - The Deeper Hold (Part 1)*

When each had tended to their wounds and explored the side rooms off the hall and the barracks they found that they had two ways open to them. Double doors led west from a corridor that led out of the entry foyer while another pair of doors led north from the ruined hall. They opted for the latter as the least conspicuous route into the deeper hold and beyond the doors they found a curving passage that ascended stairs and then bent around to the west before ending at another set of double doors. With their blades leaning against their shoulders, Dulvarna and Erlmoor pushed the doors open. 

Within, cold shadows seemed to cling to the long-ruined chapel that was revealed. In the centre of the room stood a damaged statue that depicted a fierce demonic minotaur. One arm had broken off and lay in pieces at the statue’s feet and portions of the ceiling had fallen in, partially filling several small chambers behind the statue. A rusty iron door stood in the far, western wall. Dulvarna moved into the room cautiously guided only by the light of Litiraan’s wand. As she passed close to the statue something moved ahead of her and suddenly, from out of the rubble lurched the body of a long-dead warrior in tattered black mail. Sunken flesh clung to its bones, and its lips had drawn back from its black teeth. It raised a rotting hand, revealing jagged claws as it hissed and attacked.
“Wights!” Dulvarna called out. “Ware their touch for they have the chill of the grave within them!”

Even as she shouted her warning she tried to raise her sword but was too slow and the wight that had risen before her slashed a claw across the top of her chest as it swept past her towards the doors. She saw another stirring in the rubble behind her and to the right and another close to the western wall. She raised her blade and charged the furthest wight. She reached the creature in three strides and slashed out with Aecris. The blade tore into the rotten side of the creature and it faltered as it tried to rise.

Behind Dulvarna, Telkya strode into the chamber, praying loudly to Corellon as she came. Divine light burst from the amulet in her hand and seared the undead creatures as they tried to rise, driving two of them back from the priestess to the far corner of the chamber. Erlmoor strode into the chamber and immediately turned left to clamber over the rubble towards the back of statue where he had seen movement. With a roar, he sprayed the wight there with acid and then lashed out with his blade, praying as he lashed out with his sword. The blade glowed brightly for a moment and then clove the shoulder of the wight that lurked there as it rose from the rubble.

Litiraan was next into the chamber and he strode past Telkya, uttering a spell as he came. Flame erupted from his wand as he leveled it at the wights and the undead creatures cowered back into the northwest corner of the room. Lavren moved into the chamber beside Litiraan, cursing the nearest wight in elven and then uttering an incantation. Black, crackling energy seared out from his wand and struck the nearest undead creature, hurling it back against the stone wall of the chamber. The two wights in the northwest corner hissed their hatred but would not come forward while Telkya still held her amulet in her hand.

Dulvarna heard a movement behind her and with a  glance over her shoulder she saw another wight rising from the rubble in what was once an antechamber behind the statue. The creature lurched forward and lashed out with a clawed hand that tore open the back of Dulvarna’s shoulder and jerked her around towards the creature. Dulvarna raised her blade and retreated between the two wights but even as she did so, an arrow flew in from the left and drove into the shoulder of the wight that had just risen. Dulvarna glanced left and saw that Enlishia stood at the foot of the statue’s dais and was nocking another arrow to her bow. The other wight came at Dulvarna from the right and she turned her attention back to her enemies, retreating another step and parrying desperately but knowing now that aid was near. She slashed low at the legs of one of the wights but the creature leapt back out of reach and Dulvarna was forced to parry once more.

Telkya rushed up onto the dais to stand next to the statue and began another prayer, grasping her star amulet tightly as she did so. Light seared out and struck the wall next to one of the cowering wights and she knew then that her power over them was broken. They hissed now in derision at her ineffectual powers that had driven them back but failed to slay them. Together the two started forward. Litiraan loosed a silver bolt from his wand desperately but that flew just wide of the nearest wight and struck the wall behind the creature. Lavren loosed another crackling black bolt but this too missed the wights and struck the stone behind them. The wights came forward but instead of rushing at their attackers, they turned towards Dulvarna, seeking to surround the warrior woman and bring her down in a flurry of tearing claws. One clawed at her and then the other while the wights in front of Dulvarna rushed at her, tearing at her flesh. Enlishia fired desperately at the wights as Dulvarna spun around on the spot and slashed at them with her blade trying to keep them at bay. Blood poured from several wounds on the warrior woman’s body and with each swing her strength was visibly waning. She staggered and wight lunged in but at the last she parried, twisted on the spot and drove her blade into the belly of one of the wights behind her. The creature collapsed into a heap of armour and bones and Dulvarna retreated towards her companions.

In the chamber behind the statue where Erlmoor faught, the wight came at him fiercely and tore at his arm, opening a deep wound that rapidly numbed as the chill of the grave infected it. He fell back and lashed out wildly with his sword to try to keep the wight at bay. The creature paused for a moment and then advanced once more.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 9 - The Deeper Hold (Part 2)*

From the dais, Telkya knew she had to aid Dulvarna somehow and so she began a new prayer that would call down a column of searing divine light upon the wights. It descended on the closest wight to Dulvarna and seared the undead creature’s flesh until it shrank back against the iron door in the western wall but still it did not fall. Litiraan loosed a silver bolt at the same wight seeing what his sister was trying to achieve and as the magic burst through the breastplate of the wight, the creature collapsed into inanimate grave matter before the iron door. Lavren uttered his own incantation then and the next wight burst into flames and staggered as it tried to advance but it came on nonetheless. As the eldritch flames died the wight mounted the dais and lashed out a clawed hand at Telkya but the elf ducked back beyond its reach. Enlishia retreated from the dais and loosed one and then a second arrow into the creature but still it kept coming and Telkya fell back before it.

Erlmoor reeled again as one of the wight’s claws slashed his shoulder and he lashed out wildly again, too wildly he knew, with his sword. The creature stopped its advance for the instant it took his sword and then came on at him again and as the grave-chill spread from the wound in his shoulder he retreated a step, wondering how his companions yet fared.

Dulvarna ducked back from the slashing claws of the wight before her and then struck the creature a mighty blow in the side that caved in its armour and its ribs but still it kept advancing. She retreated towards Lavren and as she did so, Telkya leapt off the dais and loosed a beam of light from her amulet towards the other wight still in the main chamber. The divine flame missed and the wight hissed its contempt at the priestess but then Litiraan loosed a silver bolt from his wand that seared through its chest and dropped it as a heap of bones and armour to the chamber floor. 

The last of the wights started forward, still seeking Dulvarna but as it did so, Lavren cursed it in his own tongue and then loosed his familiar bolt of crackling black energy at the creature. It seared into the wight’s shoulder and halted it for a moment but then it started forward again only to be stopped once and for all by an arrow from Enlishia’s bow that shattered as it struck the wight and splintered within its body. The creature collapsed beside its companions as armour and bone.

The companions turned toward Erlmoor as the paladin was struck again by the claws of the last wight and reeled back from the alcove. Dulvarna started forward and staggered but still she circled around the western side of the statue to aid the dragonborn. Telkya went with her and as she scrambled atop the rubble of the western anteroom, she began to pray loudly. Light seared from the amulet in her hand but struck only the wall beside the wight. Erlmoor prayed fervently then, offering up a sacrifice to Lathander of his ability to heal in exchange for divine strength. His blade glowed with white light and he plunged it into the chest of the wight. The creature shrieked its tormented agony and the paladin retreated, seeking to bring it into the main chamber where his companions could reach it. The wight screeched again and followed him but Litiraan and Lavren were waiting for it. A silver bolt flew past the wight and struck the wall behind it but the black bolt from Lavren’s wand struck it full in the chest and hurled it back amongst the rubble scattering its armour and its bones amidst the ruin of its chapel.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 9 - The Deeper Hold (Part 3)*

“Dulvarna at least cannot go onwards or back from here without rest,” said Litiraan as the companions tended their wounds. Dulvarna had become pale as death and had all but collapsed once the battle was ended, her breathing now ragged and laboured.
“Litiraan is right,” said Enlishia, turning to the warrior woman herself. “You cannot leave here without rest and so we will all stay with you.” Dulvarna nodded without uttering a word.
“Bar both doors,” said Litiraan. “We stay here for the night.”

The others hurried to do as the elf bade while Dulvarna was laid on a bedroll near the dais and tended to by Telkya and Erlmoor in equal measure.
“What of the three from Arabel?” asked Dulvarna weakly at last. “They will leave as we told them if we do not return.”
“Then let us hope that they reach the Seven Pillared Hall without us,” said Enlishia.
“Or have more faith in our return,” put in Lavren.

When a fire was built from some of the wooden rubble of the chapel and the doors were barred, all six companions settled down to rest for the night. They cooked what meager rations they had and slept with one always on watch until they thought that the dawn had come to the world above the mountain.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 9 - The Deeper Hold (Part 4)*

“They are not coming back,” said Calder, the older of the two men, as they peered out warily at the bridge across the chasm. They had rested warily where they had been left near the gate to the Horned Hold but once several hours had passed they had returned to the smithy from which the six companions had departed.

“We should have more faith,” said the matronly woman Bessa who had seen more than sixty winters and seen many a warrior and adventurers go off to war or to seek his fate from Arabel where she had dwelled in better times. “They defeated Rundarr and they will defeat the others. I say we stay and wait.”
“Agreed,” said Arum who had cowered beneath the table in the dining hall as the battle had raged around him. “These will not fall as others have fallen here. They are powerful and not to be defeated easily. Even if they rest this day across the chasm they will fight on and return to us. Besides, would any of us wish to return through the darkness to the Seven Pillared Hall.”

Calder nodded slowly for he truly did not wish to venture back through the dark tunnels to the Seven Pillared Hall.
“We stay then,” he said. “But we restore the gates if we can and we bar the inner doors so that none can come for us.” He surveyed the hall for a moment.
“And we get rid of the dead,” he added, wrinkling his nose. The others nodded and together, the three former captives got to work.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 9 - The Deeper Hold (Part 5)*

Dulvarna stopped before the south facing door at the end of the passage and held her blade ready in two hands while reaching out for the iron ring handle. They had rested for the night in the ruined chapel with the fallen wights and eaten a bland breakfast of trail rations before heading on westward through the iron door. The passage beyond had led them to a dark crypt where as many as two dozen minotaur warriors lay in burial niches along the east and west walls while near the entrance in an alcove to the west, a skeletal minotaur with a greataxe, perhaps a minotaur depiction of Myrkul the Lord of Bones, stood guard over the fallen. 

The only way out was a passage that led to the south and ended at the door which Dulvarna now stood before. Slowly, Dulvarna reached out for the door handle but then she stopped. She heard harsh, hissing laughter. 
“Look Durkkel,” said one voice. “It doesn’t like me! Should I be afraid?”
“It needs to earn some respect, Marshk,” another voice answered. “If I pluck out one of its eyes, it might think twice about glaring at you.”

Without a second thought, Dulvarna turned the iron ring and pulled open the door. With her blade in her hands, she rushed into the chamber beyond and found that the huge place contained three wells. One, the nearest to the door, held a pool of water, but two were simply deep pits with ladders leading down and a large brazier full of coals sat near a rubble pile in the southeastern part of the chamber. Three gray dwarves stood guard in the place, along with two humanoid creatures with lashing tails and bodies covered in sharp spines.

Telkya pushed past Dulvarna and was first into the chamber, her holy symbol before her. She raised her voice in prayer to Corellon and loosed a beam of light towards the nearest of the spine-covered creatures. She recognised them at once as spined devils, some of the weakest of their terrible kind but powerful creatures nonetheless. They served as aerial scouts and skirmishers for the armies of the Hells from which they came and lived for the torment of others. As her bolt of divine energy struck the creature she knew that it would not be deterred from its purpose on this plane. It had been summoned for a reason and it would serve its masters until it was banished back to the Hells. 

Litiraan entered the chamber next and loosed a silver bolt towards the nearest of the devils only for the missile to fly wide of its target. The second devil extended its short wings and glided across the pit before it, setting down beside the pool and lashing an arm at Litiraan. Spines flew from the extended limb, igniting into flames as they were unleashed. They drove into Litiraan’s arm as he held it up to defend himself and seared into his flesh. Even as they did so, he felt the numbness of poison spread up his arm and he knew that he had been struck a terrible blow. The other devil loosed spines of its own then and he darted to the right with a speed that he felt sure had been taken from him. The spines clattered harmlessly against the stone wall behind the place where he had stood.

Erlmoor surged into the chamber with his blade before him and charged to the left at the nearest duergar. Behind him came Enlishia followed him, firing arrows from her bow towards the nearest devil as she came. Lavren came behind her, cursing in elven at the foul devil-kind that had plagued his homeland of Cormanthor for centuries beyond remembering. He loosed a black bolt from his wand that flew straight and true across the pool to strike the devil that Telkya had already wounded and force it back a step to the edge of the pit behind it. Dulvarna was the last to rush into the chamber once her companions had found their places and she had seen the enemies she faced. She rushed to the left and joined Erlmoor against the nearest duergar. Her blade sang out and the gray dwarf fell back, twisting away with blood pouring from a wound to his shoulder.

With a roar a second duergar came forward, reaching into its beard and hurling a quill at Erlmoor that drove into his thigh. The dragonborn staggered back a step and cursed as he felt the numbing poison enter his blood. The third duergar began chanting then and with its hammer held in both hands over its head, the dwarf called down a hail of fiery stones that struck Erlmoor, Lavren and Litiraan and knocked them to the ground. Enlishia ducked and dodged and evaded the spell but her companions were wounded and burned while the devils surveyed the scene and cackled.

Telkya prayed fervently and called down a column of searing light just as the wounded devil leapt aside. The light burned the ground where he had been while Litiraan uttered his own incantation and loosed a silver bolt into the creature. It spat at the elf and loosed more spines that seared into Litiraan’s chest and felled him beside the pool. The other devil lashed out with its right arm and loosed its own barrage of spines that drove into Telkya’s left arm as she raised it to fend them off. She fell back against the west wall of the chamber as the poison began to number her arm and dull her senses.

Erlmoor roared with terrible fury and sprayed acid from his mouth that seared the skin of the duergar before him and the devil on the far edge of the pool. He shouted out a prayer to Lathander and as his blade glowed brightly he slashed out at the duergar before him only for the dwarf to parry the divinely blessed blade. Behind the dragonborn, Lavren loosed another black bolt that struck the devil across from him and as it struck, the elf spoke more curses though they were unnecessary for the power of his spells. The devils had brought down Myth Drannor, the City of Song as it was called amongst the elves, and each and every one would pay for that.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 9 - The Deeper Hold (Part 6)*

A quill bounced off Erlmoor’s shoulder plate and then the second duergar was upon him. The dwarf’s hammer slashed out from the right and cracked into the dragonborn’s leg, almost knocking him from his feet. He staggered but managed to keep his footing until the noxious fumes that had blinded him in the barracks chamber rose around him. The dragonborn slashed his blade back and forth, closed his eyes and held his breath until the fumes passed but Lavren and Enlishia found their eyes and lungs burning as the terrible vapours assailed them.

Telkya raised her voice in prayer and loosed another bolt of light into the closest devil but still the horrible creature refused to fall. Both devils loosed fiery spines at her then and she fell back against the wall beside her as they drove into her left leg and arm. Erlmoor roared as he saw Telkya fall back and uttered a prayer to Lathander that brought a golden glow to his blade. He lashed out at the duergar in front of him but the dwarf ducked back and the sword only cut a shallow wound across the top of the warrior’s chest. Even though the strike was not deep a wave of bright light burst out from the sword to wash over all the companions. Telkya felt renewed strength, as did Erlmoor and on the floor beside the pool, Litiraan’s eyes flicked open.

Enlishia loosed an arrow into the devil across the pool from her and then loosed a second missile. This flew just over the creature’s left shoulder and shattered against the far wall of the chamber. Lavren called forth flame to surround the other devil, the one wounded again by Telkya, but the creature simply cackled for the terrible denizens of the Nine Hells could not be harmed by even warlock-conjured flames. The duergar roared their own defiance then and surged forward, driving Erlmoor and Dulvarna back while the sorcerer loosed a bolt of fire from his hand that struck the wall beside Dulvarna.

Telkya shrank back from the edge of the pool and began a healing prayer but still the devils would not grant her peace. Lashing out with their arms, they loosed more flaming spikes but Telkya ducked down and they struck the wall above her harmlessly.
“The power of the Hells cannot avail you,” Telkya called to them across the pool.
“Amen,” echoed Erlmoor and as he said the word, he called out to Lathander and sacrificed some of his own strength for the power to drive back the duergar. His sword rang out and smashed into the side of the gray dwarf before him, driving the warrior back from him.

Enlishia drew two arrows from her quiver and nocked both to her bow at the same time. Taking aim at the closest devil but with an eye on the other, she loosed both shafts out across the pool. One drove into the shoulder of the closest devil while the other flew past the other diabolic foe to clatter against the western wall of the chamber. Beside her, Lavren loosed a bolt of black energy into the farthest devil, knocking him back a step Dulvarna surged forward then, raising her blade above her head and bringing it down in a mighty blow but at the last, the duergar before her raised his hammer and parried. Twisting his weapon around, he slammed it into Dulvarna’s jaw and knocked the warrior woman away from him. She staggered back reeling and then a bolt of flame from the duergar sorcerer struck her shoulder and spun her dangerously close to the edge of the pit. Erlmoor reached out and pulled Dulvarna back from the edge but as he did so, the duergar before him slammed the haft of his weapon into the dragonborn’s belly. Together, he and Dulvarna fell back further from their gray dwarf foes.

Telkya rose and loosed a beam of light towards the nearest devil but the divine bolt struck only the stone at the creature’s feet. Litiraan rose beside her then, though and with an uttered incantation he loosed a silver bolt at the devil across from him that seared through the devil’s chest. The creature let out a terrible screech and then pitched forward into the pool. The other devil screeched itself and lashed out with its right arm to loose spikes towards the elf. One drove into Litiraan’s chest just below his shoulder and he fell back against the wall behind him, gasping for breath. The elf staggered and almost fell but his sister reached out to him and held him upright as the remaining devil fixed its predatory eyes on them.

Erlmoor roared again and feinted to slashed his blade in low as the duergar he faced came at him. At the last, he raised the angle of his blade and while the gray dwarf desperately tried to adjust his parry, the sword clove through the duergar’s neck and beheaded him. Behind the dragonborn, Lavren moved left and leveled his wand at the duergar that Dulvarna still faught. With a curse and a spell, the elf loosed another black bolt and the duergar staggered back reeling as the eldritch energy seared into his side. Dulvarna saw her chance and came forward, leading with her blade. She plunged Aecris into the chest of the duergar and drove the sword through the dwarf’s body until the point drove out through his spine. With a gasp, the duergar fell sideways into the pit. Dulvarna rushed forward once the duergar had slid off her blade and charged at the remaining gray dwarf, the sorcerer who had targeted her so much. The gray dwarf retreated before the fierce warrior woman and as he did so, he chanted another incantation. Fiery hail rained down on Dulvarna. She fell as red hot rocks struck her and for a moment, the duergar sorcerer gained a reprieve.

The remaining devil reeled back as Telkya’s next bolt of divine light struck it Litiraan’s silver bolt flew wide and with a snarl, it lashed out with its arm to hurl more spines at the elf. Litiraan darted to the right and the fiery bolts struck the wall next to the door. The devil looked bemused for a moment but then in a furious roar, Erlmoor was upon it and the paladin’s blade had driven into its shoulder. An arrow from Enlishia’s bow drove into its belly then, splintering as it struck home and then a black bolt from Lavren’s wand seared through the creature’s chest. The devil pitched forward and joined its companion in the water of the well.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 9 - The Deeper Hold (Part 7)*

Dulvarna slashed out with Aecris and smashed the blade into the side of the breastplate that the duergar sorcerer wore. The gray dwarf retreated nonetheless and uttered another incantation. This time, poisonous fumes rose up from the floor of the chamber behind Dulvarna and engulfed Erlmoor. The paladin staggered and bent over, coughing and blinded by the fumes but Dulvarna pressed on undaunted, seeing only her prey.

A bolt of light struck the wall beside the duergar and then a silver bolt struck the floor at his feet. The dwarf laughed but Enlishia began to loose arrows at him nonetheless and from the far side of the eastern pit, Lavren began to curse the duergar. The dwarf responded with a chant in his own language and gestured with his hand, drawing vile fumes seemingly from the floor of the chamber. Dulvarna began to cough and doubled over as the smoke seared her eyes but Erlmoor closed his eyes, held his breath and charged through the could of vapour. Telkya loosed a beam of light from the amulet in her hand and jolted the duergar back against the west wall of the room. Beside her, Litiraan loosed a silver bolt from his wand that drove into the dwarf’s shoulder and then Erlmoor was upon him.

Blade clashed with hammer as the duergar pulled forth a large warhammer from his belt. Enlishia loosed an arrow from her bow that flew high over the duergar’s head and Lavren loosed a black bolt from his wand that smashed into the dwarf’s side. Meanwhile, Dulvarna desperately tried to clear her vision as she staggered into the pile of rubble that filled the south eastern corner of the room. The duergar glanced over at her and Erlmoor followed his gaze. At that moment, the dwarf brought its hammer up and smashed it into the underside of the dragonborn’s jaw. Erlmoor staggered back reeling and then fell to his knees. With a dazed look on his face, he pitched forward on the floor facing away from the gray dwarf. 

The duergar darted towards the double doors, ducking past the blinded Dulvarna and twisting the iron ring of one of the portals to drag it open. Dulvarna heard the sound and as she looked towards the doors, her vision seemed to clear. With a cry, she rushed at the duergar with her sword in her hands. Telkya came forward behind her, raising her holy symbol and chanting as she came. Another bolt of light lanced out and struck the duergar’s back, hurling him against the door and half shutting the portal. A silver bolt from Litiraan’s wand struck the half-open door as he too came forward and behind him came Enlishia and Lavren.

An arrow drove into the dwarf’s left arm and then a black bolt from Lavren’s wand struck the wood of the door, throwing splinters across the floor. Dulvarna charged at the duergar and slashed her blade across his back, spinning him around. She drove the point into his shoulder as he raised his warhammer to parry and then he ducked through the doors, rushing off a little way down a wide, torch-lit hall before turning aside towards more doors in the north wall of the corridor.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 10 - Reunion and Reckoning (Part 1)*

“We should return to the wight chamber and rest,” said Erlmoor as he woke with Telkya kneeling and praying beside him.
“Lord Litiraan,” came a voice from one of the pits and the elf looked down.
“Kelathann,” he said as he realised that the faces looking up from the pits were those of the band he had taken forth from Cormanthor into the Hullack Forest. They had found their companions at last!
“We must go back,” said Litiraan. “We came here to save our people and we have found them. They must at least be taken across the bridge to the other side of the chasm.”

“We are not all here,” said Kelathann then as Telkya pulled keys from the belt of one of the duergar. “Two were taken by gnolls.” Litiraan looked around and counted quickly, concluding at once that  were only fourteen elves here. With a sick feeling in his stomach, he knew that his companion was right.
“Then we are not finished here,” said Litiraan. “We take them across to the other hold and rest there but then we come back.”

“Agreed,” said Dulvarna. “We cannot give them chance to recover.” Together, they gathered their weapons and headed back through the passage to the wight chamber and on to the bridge over the chasm from the ruined chapel. From the smithy and the storerooms they armed the elves and the three former servants who had stayed despite their instructions and then they settled down in the hold for the rest of the day and the night that followed.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 10 - Reunion and Reckoning (Part 2)*

Thane Murkelmor looked down from the raised platform on which he stood and slowly took in what his most trusted theurge had told him. How could he not have seen this? How could his hold have been attacked while he sat here and knew nothing until his immediate guards were all that remained.
“Where are they now?” asked Murkelmor. “If they have not followed you here then where are they?”

“I know not mighty Thane,” answered Framarth, wincing as his wounds pained him once more. “Do you want me to seek them, Lord.”
“Someone must,” answered Murkelmor. “And since you have gifted our current stock to them, it would seem fair for you to repay your debt to me in some way.”
“I am wounded, Lord Thane,” said Framarth then. “At least allow me to rest and tend to my wounds before I venture forth.”
“Very well,” answered Murkelmor. “But when day comes, you go forth to find them.”


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## Medriev

*Chapter 10 - Reunion and Reckoning (Part 3)*

“Someone is on the bridge,” said Telkya suddenly as the three former servants cleared away the breakfast dishes the table that they had moved to the smithy. The door across the bridge had opened and a squat figure that could only be a duergar had stepped out warily. From the left a crossbow bolt flew out and clattered against the side of the bridge. Ten of the elves manned the southern part of the hold while the companions, the four remaining elves and the humans had spent the night in the northern hold. Telkya drew back from the arrow slit in the door as Lavren bent forward to take a look.

“We should go out and meet him,” said Lavren as he watched the dwarf pause and look towards the southern hold.
“No need,” said Enlishia taking up her bow and striding towards the other arrow slit. She nocked an arrow to the string and loosed it towards the dwarf. The shaft drove into the duergar’s shoulder and he staggered. The duergar looked down at the fletching of the arrow and then yanked the arrow from his flesh with a grimace.
“Stay in yer rat hole,” the duergar called out then as he began to retreat. “We’ll be waiting for ye over here.” 

As the dwarf turned and strode back towards the door, Dulvarna took up her blade and strode towards the door.
“We are ready to venture back, are we not?” she asked the others. They took up their own weapons and wands in answer and Dulvarna nodded to one of the elves who stood next to the door. The elf threw the door open and Dulvarna strode out onto the bridge just as the duergar reached the door at the far side. Seeming to panic now, Framarth fumbled with the iron ring of the opposite door before pulling the portal open. Pulling it shut behind him, he disappeared into the darkness.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 10 - Reunion and Reckoning (Part 4)*

“We must be ready for battle, Lord Thane,” said Framarth without preamble as he rushed into Murkelmor’s chamber. “They hold the eastern side of the chasm and came forth across the north bridge behind me.”
“Then you will go for aid from Oldukr,” said Murkelmor as he turned towards Framarth. “While we hold them here.”
“But surely my place is at your side Lord Thane,” said Framarth. “Together we can defeat them and retake the hold with aid from Oldukr once they are beaten.”
“Your place is to do as I say,” roared Murkelmor suddenly. “And I say that you go to Oldukr and summon aid on my behalf. Do not let on how badly we have thus far been defeated but bring aid nonetheless.”
“Yes, Lord Thane,” answered Framarth with a bow. He turned and left the chamber.

Once he was gone, Murkelmor donned his armour carefully and then picked up his huge warhammer. He examined the runes on its head and then turned towards the doors again. As he did so, the double portals were thrown open and his enemies strode into the chamber.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 10 - Reunion and Reckoning (Part 5)*

Dulvarna surveyed the wide hall, taking in the two fireplaces – both filled with roaring flames – one on either side of the chamber. A short staircase flanked by statues of leering gargoyle-like monsters led up to an area furnished as a bedroom. Several grim-looking dwarves with grey skin and bristling orange beards glared at her but one grabbed her attention. He stood at the top of the steps wearing armour of black plate and carrying an enormous maul.

“So you think to challenge the Grimmerzhul?” Murkelmor snarled. “It’s your last mistake, fools! I think I’ll sell the lot of you to mind flayers and count my gold while they feast on your brains.”
“I hear they prefer dwarf,” said Lavren as he strode into the chamber past Dulvarna. 

The elf uttered a curse in elven and loosed a bolt of black energy at the nearest duergar but the dwarf ducked and the bolt struck the gargoyle statue behind him instead. Dulvarna moved left to meet the grim warrior there while Telkya came through the doors behind her. She chanted a prayer and held forth her amulet, loosing a beam of searing light that struck the duergar that Dulvarna now battled. Murkelmor reached into his beard and pulled forth a poisoned quill. He hurled it towards Dulvarna but she saw his movement and moved back from her enemy to let the quill pass between her and the dwarf. With a word of command the duergar Thane called flames to the head of his huge hammer and charged at Dulvarna. He raised the weapon over his head and brought it down only for the warrior woman to twist towards him and parry his blow with her blade.

The other duergar warrior met Erlmoor in the doorway, lashing out with its hammer but the dragonborn parried and twisted the hammer downwards. An arrow drove into the duergar’s shoulder as Enlishia began firing and it staggered back from Erlmoor but the dragonborn would not let it retreat. He stepped forward and thrust his blade into the duergar’s shoulder close to where Enlishia’s arrow protruded and the dwarf fell back another step. A silver bolt from Litiraan’s wand seared over the dwarf’s head to strike the wall next to the gargoyle that Lavren had struck with his bolt of energy. The duergar growled his defiance and held his hammer before him.

The remaining duergar within the chamber made her way to the top of the steps and then turned to face the chamber, chanting as she turned. Fiery rocks rained from the ceiling of the chamber, striking Dulvarna and Lavren and knocking them to the floor. Lavren rolled to his feet almost at once and drew his sword from his belt. He pointed it at the duergar woman and hurled a chair out of his way as he started forward. The thane moved to intercept him and he stabbed out with his blade, forcing the dwarf to parry. Beside him, Dulvarna slashed her blade into the arm of the duergar before her and drove the dwarf back. A bolt of light flew through the doors and struck the other duergar and then Dulvarna twisted to her right as the thane came at her. She raised her blade as his hammer came down and again she parried his mighty blow.

Erlmoor parried a low blow from the duergar before him as an arrow from Enlishia’s bow flew past the dwarf’s shoulder. The dragonborn roared and surged forward, thrusting his blade forward into the duergar’s hip. The dwarf staggered and fell back but then, with a roar, his form began to expand as the duergar in the eastern hall had before him. A chair toppled behind the duergar as he expanded and then he stood before Erlmoor, the size of an ogre and wielding his large hammer ferociously. Again the duergar roared but then it was silenced as Litiraan hurled a silver bolt into its chest. Erlmoor rushed forward and the duergar raised it hammer again.

From the top of the steps, the duergar woman began chanting again and as she did, noxious fumes rose from the floor of the chamber and engulfed Dulvarna and Lavren. The elf staggered and bent over as his eyes began to burn and the poison filled his lungs but Dulvarna was ready. She held her breath and covered her eyes with an arm as she held her sword high above her head. Lavren lashed out wildly with his sword and stumbled past the fallen chair in front of him while behind him, Dulvarna wiped her arm over her eyes 	and lashed out high with her blade. As the duergar parried, she reversed the swing and brought the blade in low to cut into the side of the dwarf’s knee. The duergar roared as the leg buckled beneath him and then, he too began to expand into a bigger form. Dulvarna retreated from the now-huge duergar, keeping her blade up before her but then the huge hammer of the thane came down on her shoulder and she crumpled and fell to her left.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 10 - Reunion and Reckoning (Part 6)*

Erlmoor held his own foe at bay despite his increased size and now the huge duergar was a much better target. An arrow drove into its arm and as the dwarf flinched, Erlmoor prayed and then advanced. His blade glowed white and he plunged it into the belly of the dwarf. The duergar staggered, reaching one hand down to the wound and then a silver bolt from Litiraan’s wand seared through its skull and felled it.

The duergar in front of Dulvarna struck her a mighty blow in the chest while she still reeled from the thane’s blow and sent her staggering away from him. On the steps, the theurge loosed a bolt of fire from her hand that struck Lavren in the shoulder and halted his stumbling advance. He looked towards her and found hiss vision clearing and so he slashed his blade wildly at the thane and skipped past the fierce dwarf. Telkya was beside him then, darting past the right hand fireplace to join him in his advance on the duergar woman. She chanted a prayer to Corellon and a bolt of light lanced out to strike the dwarf in the left arm. She spat a curse at the elf maid and began another spell.

Dulvarna twisted away from the huge duergar before her as he parried her blow. As she twisted the point of her blade nicked the dwarf’s leg and drew blood. She turned towards the thane and parried as his huge hammer came down again but as their weapons clashed, Dulvarna felt pain lance through her crushed shoulder. Then an arrow bounded off the aide of the duergar’s breastplate and hope returned to Dulvarna as she realised that her friends were with her. A moment later, Erlmoor was beside her and with a roar, he sprayed acid from his mouth to burn the huge duergar and the thane that faught beside him. The dragonborn’s sword lashed out and tore a wound in the duergar’s left bicep. A silver bolt flew over the dwarf’s head and the duergar roared again lashing out with his hammer to strike Dulvarna in the left side. She gasped and staggered and knew that she did not have the strength to carry on for much longer.

The theurge loosed another bolt of fire at Lavren that blasted into the elf’s chest and hurled him back into the round table in front of the eastern fireplace. Lavren uttered a spell to conjure flame around the duergar but the dwarf moved aside and the flames burst up on the floor next to her. A bolt from Telkya’s amulet struck the wall behind the theurge and the duergar woman laughed out loud.

The thane took a step forward and lashed his hammer sideways into Dulvarna’s right side. She heard ribs crack and gasped as the air was driven out of her lungs. When she did breath in, it was slow and rasping and she knew that she was sorely wounded. Two arrows flew past both duergar and clattered into the wall above the western fireplace. Erlmoor came forward but the huge duergar held him at bay and even Litiraan’s silver missile of magic flew wide of the large gray dwarf. The gray dwarves senses that the battle had turned and surged forward together. The large dwarf smashed his hammer up underarm into Dulvarna’s face and the warrior woman’s head snapped back. She turned around on the spot and then collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut.

Another bolt of fire struck Lavren and he fell against the table for a second time. He lay there, unmoving for a little while, breathless and burned while the battle raged on around him. Telkya moved past him, praying as she advanced and as she reached the foot of the steps, a column of burning light descended on the theurge. Her smile vanished and her laugh became a hiss of anger as she began another spell, this one aimed at Telkya.

Murkelmor stepped over Dulvarna and lashed his hammer into Erlmoor’s side, knocking the dragonborn against the frame of the double doors. Another arrow flew past both duergar and with a roar, Erlmoor surged forward but each of his blows was met with a parry. Only when icy rays from Litiraan’s wand struck each dwarf did were the duergar driven back. The large dwarf roared his anger and lashed out at Erlmoor but the dragonborn leapt back beyond his reach. The huge duergar staggered then and Erlmoor charged back at him intending to finish the dwarf there and then.


----------



## Medriev

*Chapter 10 - Reunion and Reckoning (Part 7)*

A bolt of fire flew past Telkya and struck the wall behind her and as he saw the bolt miss, Lavren recovered a little. He pushed himself off the table and leveled his wand at the theurge, uttering a curse as he did so. A black bolt of crackling energy lanced out and struck the duergar in the shoulder, forcing her back a step. Telkya loosed a bolt of light that struck the floor near the dwarf woman’s feet and the theurge retreated another step from the enemies before her. Lavren and Telkya advanced towards her seeking to end their battle with the theurge.

The thane’s hammer struck Erlmoor’s right shoulder and drove him back into the door frame once again. He staggered but then he rushed at the large duergar again his blade before him. He drove the sword through the duergar’s breastbone and into his heart and the dwarf collapsed to the floor, shrinking as he died, at the feet of the dragonborn. Litiraan moved forward to the doorway and loosed a silver bolt towards the duergar thane only for the bolt to fly over the dwarf’s head and strike the back wall of the chamber beyond the steps.

Another bolt of fire struck Lavren as he still lay recovering on the table before the fireplace. He rose and cursed at the duergar woman before loosing a bolt of black lightning towards her. She dodged to one side and the eldritch energy struck the wall behind her. Summoning all of his strength, the elf loosed a second bolt then and this, the duergar was not ready for. It struck her full in the chest and drove her back from the top of the steps. Telkya loosed her own bolt of light from her amulet and then rushed up the steps at the duergar. Her blade glowed brightly as she swung it at the dwarf but at the last, the theurge raised her warhammer and parried the descending sword. Telkya pushed on her sword and drove the duergar back another step while Lavren came forward behind the elf maid.

Dulvarna’s eyes opened and she saw at once that the duergar thane stood over her. As she watched, the dwarf stepped forward and slammed his huge hammer in to Erlmoor’s chest, driving the dragonborn back into the doorway. An arrow struck the wall in the corner above the slain duergar and then Erlmoor came forward with a mighty roar. His blade struck out at the duergar, smashing into its ribs on the thane’s left side and as it struck home, white light burst out from the sword blade, invigorating Erlmoor, Lavren and Dulvarna. Dulvarna pushed herself to her feet then, rising behind the duergar thane and as he realised his peril, fear seized Murkelmor for the first time.

The duergar woman lashed out with her warhammer and stuck Telkya on the hip below her parry. The elf maid reeled away from her enemy but as she did so, Lavren uttered a curse and black, crackling energy seared through the chest of the gray dwarf theurge and felled her where she stood. Telkya turned towards the battle against the thane and started down the steps again just as Dulvarna rose behind the dwarf. He half turned and ducked left, evading a killing blow from Aecris as the sword descended but the blade smashed through his collar bone nonetheless and drove part way into his chest beneath. Dulvarna withdrew the blade and wove it back and forth in front of her before stabbing it forward into the thane’s side. Telkya loosed a beam of light from her amulet that struck the chair next to the duergar and then he roared his defiance, wreathing himself in flames. He lashed out at Dulvarna wildly but she leapt back and evaded the blow.

Enlishia loosed two arrows at once then that drove into the shoulder of the duergar and the gray dwarf began to retreat towards the western fireplace. Erlmoor rushed at him then and slashed his blade into the dwarf’s belly, sacrificing some of what little remaining strength he had to strike a powerful blow. Murkelmor staggered and all but fell and the a silver bolt from Litiraan’s wand seared into his leg. Black eldritch fire from Lavren’s wand struck the mantle behind the duergar and he knew then that he would not escape the chamber. Dulvarna drove her blade into his side and he sank to one knee just as Telkya came to the bottom of the steps. Light lanced out from her holy symbol, seared into the duergar’s side and found his heart. With a gasp, Murkelmor, Thane of the Grimmerzhul fell face down on the chamber floor.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 11 - Loose Ends (Part 1)*

Dulvarna listened carefully at the door and heard voices speaking in a guttural tongue. A rumbling voice interrupted the speakers and the first speaker laughed harshly and then resumed talking.

“This one’s not empty,” she whispered to the others. They had crossed the found all the rooms of the hold now empty apart from this one, across the corridor from the thane’s chamber. Dulvarna drew her sword and held it in one hand, propped against her shoulder, as she reached out for the iron ring door handle. Erlmoor, his sword similarly propped against his shoulder, reached for the handle of the other door. Together they turned the handles and pulled open the portals.

Within, a tall double door of solid iron stood in the southwest corner of the irregularly shaped chamber. Four orc warriors were milling about, talking and keeping watch while in a corner of the room, a hulking ogre with an iron collar was hunkered down. 

Enlishia rushed into the chamber with an arrow nocked to her bow and began firing while Telkya followed, light issuing forth from the amulet in her hand. The orcs picked up huge axes with jagged blades and started forward, one meeting Dulvarna in the doorway and another rushing at Telkya. The orc swung his axe low at the priestess and as she turned to face her foe, the jagged blade drove into her side. She staggered back, bleeding and sorely wounded. Another came at her from her right and smashed the haft of its weapon into the side of her head sending her reeling into Enlishia. Dulvarna smashed her sword hilt into the face of the orc before her and as its staggered back, she forced her way into the room. Behind her, Lavren and Litiraan took the chance that she had given them and loosed black and silver magic at the orc, forcing it back another step into the room. Then there was a roar from the southeastern corner of the room and all knew that the ogre was coming.

The huge ogre loped surprisingly quickly across the room and with another roar swung its club at Telkya who was only now recovering her senses. She ducked and the huge club whooshed over her head, missing by a mere hands-width. To her right, another orc rushed at Dulvarna, slashing its axe into her arm and driving her back against the wall of the room but then Telkya saw Erlmoor coming into the room to aid her. The dragonborn roared his anger and slashed his blade across the chest of the nearest orc sending it reeling away from him. Beside the paladin, Enlishia threw her bow out into the corridor where Litiraan stood and drew her sword from her back. She started towards Dulvarna, her blade singing out and slashing into the shoulder of the wounded orc between her and her friend.

Telkya began to pray to Corellon as she drew her sword from her belt and as she prayed, divine healing flowed through her and stopped the terrible wound in her side from bleeding. She stabbed out with her blade at the orc that Erlmoor faught, driving the point into the warrior’s leg and pushing it away from her. Again, divine healing flowed through her, taking away the dizziness from her head wound and all but closing the wound in her side. She thanked her god then and turned her attention back to the orc before her, just as his axe descended towards her head. At the last moment, she dodged aside but the jagged blade still cut down the side of her arm, tearing her robes and the flesh beneath. Telkya staggered back and faught as she had never faught before.

An orc came at Dulvarna from her left, slashing his axe in low to strike her thigh just below where her mail coat covered her. She staggered as the leg gave way beneath her for a moment but lashed out with her sword anyway. The blade clove through the neck of the orc and beheaded it where its stood. Head and body tumbled to the floor leaving Dulvarna to turn to the second orc she faced while Lavren and Litiraan now had a clear path to loose their magic at the ogre. Both took the chance and the ogre roared in response as black, crackling energy struck it in the chest and silver bolts began flying at it. Again the creature lashed out at Telkya with its club and again the priestess ducked under the wild swing of the huge weapon. Lavren and Litiraan desperately began more spells, seeking to distract the ogre before it landed a killing blow on Telkya and Erlmoor followed suit, roaring again and surging at the orc before him.

Enlishia stabbed at the orc that Erlmoor faught and as he blow was parried, she twisted away and ducked back through the double doors. She sheathed her sword and reached for her bow while Telkya did the same, stabbing her blade into the side of the orc and then retreating towards the doors. The other orc she faught came after the priestess, lashing out high with his axe. Telkya raised her sword to parry and deflected the blow but the jagged axe blade still tore down her forearm and forced her back against the doorframe. Lavren and Litiraan struck the ogre with silver and black bolts and again the creature roared, lashing out with its club. Again Telkya ducked and this time, the club struck the door frame with earth shaking force. Telkya forced the orc in front of her away and glanced up nervously at the cracked and chipped stone above her head. She thanked Corellon again that her skull had not been in the way of that huge blow.

Erlmoor felt the ogre’s blow shake the stone floor and knew he had to reach the huge creature. With another roar, he sprayed acid over the orcs and the ogre and then plunged his blade into the face of the orc before him. It fell to the floor, sliding from the paladin’s blood-soaked blade and Erlmoor strode forward, trying to reach the ogre. As he did so, the ogre battling Telkya slashed his axe towards the dragonborn and he parried. It seemed he would have to deal with another orc before he reached the ogre.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 11 - Loose Ends (Part 2)*

Enlishia picked up her bow and darted across the doorway, loosing an arrow as she went. It drove into the ogre’s shoulder, drawing forth another roar from the creature and while it was distracted, Telkya stabbed at the orc before her and ducked through the doors out into the corridor. The orc snarled its anger but turned on Erlmoor instead, lashing out with its axe and smashing the jagged blade into the dragonborn’s hip. He roared in pain this time and staggered and the orc came forward to finish the dragonborn.

Dulvarna wove her blade before her and then stepped forward suddenly, driving Aecris into the orc’s shoulder. The creature hissed and reeled back from her towards the ogre that stood behind it. Black, crackling energy seared past the ogre then followed by a silver bolt that struck one of the iron doors behind the creature. Wildly, it cast around, seemingly seeking Telkya but when it found her beyond the doors and out of reach, it lashed out at Dulvarna with its huge club. The warrior woman saw the blow coming and raised her blade to parry but such was the power of the blow, she was thrown back painfully against the wall anyway. The orc came forward then, smashing the haft of his axe into Dulvarna’s face and shattering her nose in a spray of blood. Her head flew backwards and struck the wall and for a moment she saw only white light. Dulvarna staggered as her knees buckled and felt blackness reaching for her but then she heard a familiar roar of defiance and pulled herself back from the abyss.

Erlmoor roared and drove the orc back with a flurry of brutal blows that cut at the creature’s chest and shoulders. An arrow flew past the orc then and it glanced back over its shoulder. As its did so, one arrow and then another drove into its throat and it fell to the stone floor at Erlmoor’s feet. The dragonborn nodded his thanks to Enlishia and then let forth another roar as he charged the ogre. He heard Telkya praying behind him and as he reached the creature, a bolt of searing light struck it in the hip. It roared its own response and readied its club to meet the charging paladin.

Dulvarna shook off her dizziness just as the orc came at her again, its axe raised high for a killing blow. The warrior woman raised her sword and parried the blow, forcing the orc away from her. As it stepped back, she brought her blade in low, slicing into the creature’s hip, splintering the bone and driving her blade through into the orc’s guts. With a pained gasp, the creature staggered back another step, tearing Aecris free from its belly and then fell over backwards on the stone floor at the feet of the ogre. Dulvarna looked up at the fierce ogre then, expecting it to strike at her but suddenly, it staggered lashing out at imaginary foes while clawing at its own head with one hand. As it reeled from the effects of one of Lavren’s most powerful curses, a silver bolt from Litiraan’s wand struck the creature in the chest. It roared and lashed out angrily at Erlmoor. The dragonborn leapt aside and the huge club struck the floor beside him, cracking the stone there. 
“Kill it!” roared Erlmoor as he drove his blade into the ogre’s side. “Kill it now!”

An arrow drove into the ogre’s neck and it staggered and then a bolt of golden light seared into its chest, piercing its heart. The ogre looked down at the blackened and burned wound dimly for a moment as the last life faded from it and then it pitched over backwards on the floor of the chamber.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 11 - Loose Ends (Part 3)*

Enlishia looked up from her breakfast as a kobold, small even by the standards of its kind, entered the inn. They had returned to the Seven Pillared Hall the previous afternoon and now the Halfmoon Inn was filled with the rescued elves and thralls. Erra Halfmoon was fretting at the extra lodgers but Dulvarna had paid her handsomely once they had returned from the Deepgem Company each wearing an amulet that protected them and Dulvarna carrying a longbow on her shoulder. This morning, the companions had been the first to come down for breakfast and so there was no one else in the common room when the kobold entered other than Rendil Halfmoon who bustled back and forth with platters and jugs.

“A message for you,” said the kobold haltingly as it reached the table where the companions ate. It proffered a rolled scroll of parchment, unsealed.
“A message from who?” asked Dulvarna.
“I know not,” answered the kobold. “A cloaked figure met me in the shadows of the hall and paid me in silver to deliver this.”
“Then you have earned your pay,” said Enlishia and the kobold, grateful to be dismissed, turned and ran from the inn.
“Your actions against the duergar are commendable,” Lavren read aloud once he had unrolled the parchment. “I am in a position of power in the organisation behind the duergar’s actions and I wish to help you defeat my comrades. I have been seeking a way out of the organisation, and I believe you can help me. Follow the map so that we can meet in secret.” A second parchment within the first showed a small chamber off the Road of Shadows not far from the Seven Pillared Hall.

“We should go now,” said Lavren at once. “This should surely lead us to the gnolls and the last of your band, Litiraan.”
“Agreed,” said Enlishia. “The longer we wait, the further away the remaining captives are taken from us.”
“You are right of course,” said Litiraan. “But if we wait until tomorrow then the others will be rested enough to come with us, We can take them to the door out of the mountain and then visit this chamber as we return to the Hall.”
“That would seem to be a sensible course,” rumbled Erlmoor. “If whoever wishes to meet us will wait that long.”
“And like as not he will not,” Enlishia said. “We have to go now for the message was brought this day. We have no choice.”
“Agreed,” said Dulvarna at last. “Make ready. We leave at once.”


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## Medriev

*Chapter 11 - Loose Ends (Part 4)*

The Road of Shadows was the wide passage that led south eastward from the Seven Pillared Hall and not far inside, the companions turned aside towards the place marked on the map. At the end of the passage, at the place marked on the map was a natural cave with a ten-foot high ledge that ran around its interior perimeter. Several large boulders crowded the area. At first there was no sign of anyone waiting to greet the companions, but then suddenly creatures sprang out of hiding to attack and all six knew that they had walked into a trap!

Telkya drew her sword and then reached out her left hand towards the ledge on the left where a tiefling stood. A bolt of light shot out from her hand and struck the rock close to the tiefling’s head and the devil-blooded creature flinched while beginning his own spell. Another tiefling on a rocky outcropping that extended from the ledge into the heart of the cavern hurled pale flame that struck the ground near Enlishia. Litiraan loosed a silver bolt at the tiefling to the left and in answer, the tiefling hurled pale flame itself towards Enlishia. The ranger ducked and it struck the wall beside Dulvarna. Lavren rushed ahead into the cavern but stopped a little way into the chamber as he saw something else moving behind a boulder to the right. There, he saw a bronze likeness of a minotaur with a huge bronze axe that he would have taken for a statue had it not been moving. He recalled their like from an ancient tome he had studied before he left Cormanthor. It was called a bronze warder, a magically created construct that would obey the orders of whoever wore the amulet that commanded it. He looked up at the tiefling on the outcropping and could see no amulet around his neck. Only when he looked back to the other tiefling did he see the chain of an amulet around his neck. It mattered not, the warder had to be destroyed and so Lavren uttered a spell and unleashed black, crackling energy.

Enlishia rushed into the cavern behind Lavren, firing at the tiefling on the outcropping as she came. Dulvarna and Erlmoor followed, the dragonborn moving to the ledge against the south wall and starting to scramble up to it. Dulvarna charged around the boulder and rushed at the bronze warder, lashing out with her blade only for it to clang off the leg of the construct and strike the floor. A ball of pale flame struck her in the shoulder then and set light to the jerkin Dulvarna wore beneath her armour.
“Take care of him,” Dulvarna called back to the others, pointing up at the tiefling on the outcropping.

In the cavern entrance, Telkya and Litiraan loosed bolts of silver and gold at the tiefling on the ledge above them but each time he ducked back and their spells struck only stone. Suddenly, the tiefling seemed to panic and looking along the ledge, the brother and sister saw why. Erlmoor had clambered up onto the ledge and was rushing along it towards the tiefling. The devil-blood drew forth a curved dagger from its belt and prepared to defend itself. As Erlmoor reached him, the tiefling lashed out with the dagger and drew blood from the dragonborn’s face. The paladin roared his contempt for the small wound and raised his blade.

Lavren loosed black, eldritch fire towards the tiefling on the outcropping and smiled as the bolt seared into the devil-blood’s shoulder, knocking him back a step. Then the boulder began to move as the bronze warder shoved its shoulder against it and Lavren panicked. He looked towards Telkya and Litiraan in the entrance and could see that they were retreating, but nevertheless they would be cut off from the others. The boulder rolled into place, lodging in the entrance and Litiraan and Telkya disappeared behind it. Dulvarna slashed at the back of the warder’s leg to try and distract it and this time, she gouged a small cut in the metal. There was no need to distract the construct, though, for its work with the boulder was done. Raising its huge axe, the bronze minotaur turned towards Dulvarna with all its power and fury and she fell back, afraid of the doom that faced her.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 11 - Loose Ends (Part 5)*

Telkya threw herself against the boulder and with strength she did not know she had, she moved it! She shoved again and it moved enough so that there was now a way past it into the cavern on either side. She ducked through to the left and rushed to join the others. From the outcropping the tiefling uttered another spell and Dulvarna suddenly began swatting at her own arms and legs with her sword.
“Snakes!” she cried out. “Get these snakes off me!”
“An illusion,” said Litiraan with a sneer as he too, rounded the boulder and saw what was happening. He lashed out with his wand and loosed a silver bolt wildly at the tiefling on the outcropping. The missile flew wide and struck the cavern wall behind the devil-blood. The tiefling laughed in response.

On the ledge, Erlmoor came back at his foe, slashing his blade to the left and then, when it was parried, twisting the sword and driving its point into the tiefling’s shoulder. His enemy vanished an instant later and as a ball of pale flame struck the dragonborn from the left he saw that the tiefling now stood in the ledge across the entrance from him. Cursing, the dragonborn began to judge whether he could jump the gap.	

Dulvarna ducked as the warder swung its axe towards her and lashed out at the back of its thigh as she twisted around to her left. She rose and saw Enlishia loose an arrow into the tiefling on the outcropping. The devil-blood cried out and then staggered as a bolt of searing light struck him in the arm. He hurled pale fire desperately at Telkya but it struck the boulder beside her and Litiraan answered with a silver bolt that seared into the tiefling’s hip. Hard pressed now and weakening, the tiefling staggered and retreated a step but there was nowhere for him to go. He began another spell desperately as Lavren leveled his wand.

Erlmoor ran towards the edge of the ledge and hurled himself into space. He cleared the cavern entrance easily and barreled into the tiefling, forcing it back from him. He slashed out with his sword while uttering a prayer and as the blade glowed brightly, it clove into the tiefling’s side. The tiefling vanished again and this time appeared further along the ledge. It hurled a ball of flame that struck the dragonborn on the arm as he tried to fend it off. His sleeve caught fire but still he started after the tiefling.

Lavren loosed black, crackling energy into the tiefling on the outcropping and he staggered again but then he smiled for the bronze warder had turned on the spot and lashed out with its axe. Dulvarna was struck in the chest and hurled away from the construct to land on the floor several feet away. In two strides the warder was upon her once more, raising its axe for the killing blow. The axe fell and Dulvarna rolled aside, rising to her feet and lashing out with her sword. The blade clanged against the bronze creature and bounced into the floor again. Enlishia raised her bow to the smiling tiefling as she tried to ignore the brutal drama unfolding before her. She held two arrows in her fingers and then let fly. One drove through the throat of the tiefling and the second split its forehead. Its grisly smile fixed forever on its face, the tiefling pitched forward from the outcropping and landed with a dull thud on the cavern floor.

Dulvarna struck the bronze warder once and then again, great ringing blows that chipped lumps from the metal of the huge minotaur body but seemed still not to weaken the creature. A column of searing light descended just to the right of the bronze minotaur, summoned by the prayers of Telkya but the warder paid it no heed, striding at Dulvarna once more. A silver bolt from Litiraan’s wand seared into the left arm of the bronze creature and it turned its glowing red eyes on the elf lord. Suddenly, it altered its course and turned aside, rampaging towards Litiraan, Lavren and the others.

Erlmoor charged along the ledge towards the tiefling who flourished his dagger and seemed to be ready to teleport away once again. The dragonborn roared fiercely and thrust his blade to wards the right of the tiefling. The devil-blood brought his dagger across to parry but at the last, with a mighty prayer to Lathander on his lips, Erlmoor redirected his thrust towards the tiefling’s heart. It pierced his enemy’s chest before he had chance to react and drove through his heart and out of his back. With a gasp, the tiefling died with its eyes wide in surprise and fear and as his enemy slid from his blade, Erlmoor turned to clamber down from the ledge.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 11 - Loose Ends (Part 6)*

Lavren held his ground as the bronze minotaur started towards him and with a curse in his own tongue, he loosed a bolt of black, crackling energy into the warder’s chest. The construct strode on, unfazed by the blast, and knocked Lavren and Litiraan aside as it came. When it reached Enlishia, it lashed out with its huge axe and knocked the ranger to the floor before spinning and lashing out at the two elves who now lay against the south wall of the chamber. Lavren and Litiraan both ducked and threw their arms above their heads and the axe nicked their flesh and clove into the stone above them, spilling small rocks down upon them.

Enlishia scrambled away from the bronze warder, loosing arrows as she retreated but only one drove home into the metal of the construct. A searing bolt of light from Telkya’s amulet flew past the warder and struck the cave wall above Lavren and Litiraan and as more rocks began to fall, the two elves scrambled away from the construct. Behind the bronze minotaur, Erlmoor reached Dulvarna and with a prayer, he healed the worst of her hurts as she gathered her strength to charged the construct again. Then, when both were ready, they charged the bronze minotaur with their swords held high.

Lavren pushed himself to his feet as Litiraan scrambled away and, as quietly as he could, he darted around behind the minotaur, his back to the boulder that now all but filled the cavern entrance. Just as he thought he had evaded the creature’s notice, his foot scuffed a stone and the minotaur turned around toward him. The huge bronze axe came down and Lavren raised his arm hopelessly to defend himself. The axe haft struck his forearm painfully but miraculously he kept the blade away from his head. Twisting away, he scrambled along the boulder while nursing his now wounded arm with the hand that held his arm. The warder turned towards him but then an arrow ricocheted off the back of its shoulder and the minotaur turned away towards Enlishia instead.

Dulvarna slashed out with her sword as she reached the minotaur but her blade only clanged off the back of the construct’s thigh as it turned towards Enlishia. A bolt of light from Telkya’s amulet struck it in the shoulder and it turned towards her but she was beneath the promontory of rock now and beyond the minotaur’s reach. A silver bolt from Litiraan’s wand flew close to the bronze construct and then Erlmoor reached the creature and with a roar, he struck at it. There was a loud clang and his blade, too, was thrown aside. Lavren drew his sword and stabbed at the creature but the battle seemed hopeless to him now. The foe was beyond them. Even then it turned towards him, the huge axe lashed out and he was thrown from his feet as it smashed his sword aside and struck his chest.		
“Retreat towards to the north into the chamber,” called Litiraan as he loosed another silver bolt that flew wide of the mark. 

The elf darted around the back of the boulder and emerged on the far side. Erlmoor stabbed his blade into the thigh of the bronze construct, barely nicking the metal and drew back from the minotaur, trusting that the elf had some new way to fight the warder. Lavren scrambled away, pushed himself to his feet and retreated past Litiraan. Wildly, the construct turned towards Dulvarna and Erlmoor and lashed out towards the dragonborn with its axe. The paladin raised his blade but the axe smashed it back against his face and sent him sprawling back across the cavern floor. 

Enlishia loosed more arrows and one struck home in the shoulder of the minotaur drawing the construct back towards her. She ducked around the boulder next to her and emerged on its far side next to Telkya. As she leveled her bow again, Dulvarna lashed out at the bronze warder, cleaving a chunk of metal from its hip. The warrior woman retreated as the others had done and as a beam of light from Telkya’s amulet seared past the minotaur’s face, a globe of orange flame coalesced in Litiraan’s hand. The elf brought his hand forward and the orb flew past the minotaur before bursting into searing flame against the wall at the warder’s back. The bronze construct staggered as the fire rolled over it and then Erlmoor charged at it with a roar.
Acid sprayed from the dragonborn’s mouth as he reached the minotaur and then his blade sang out and gouged a line across the bronze belly of the construct. The warder staggered back from the blow and then began to flail wildly with its axe as Lavren uttered a curse and unseen jaws began to snap at it. Then, the jaws were gone and with a high swing it brought its axe down on Erlmoor’s shoulder. Flesh and bone were cloven apart and with a gasp, the dragonborn crumpled to his knees before the minotaur. With another barely audible gasp the paladin pitched forward and lay face down and unmoving at the feet of his enemy.

Enlishia cried out and began firing again, an arrow glancing off the bronze but then a second driving into the side of the warder’s head. Dulvarna charged into battle and lashed out wildly, missing the warder completely. Telkya prayed loudly then and from her amulet, another bolt of light seared forth, this one striking the minotaur and searing a hole in its chest. Litiraan stepped forward and loosed fire from his left hand that engulfed the minotaur and drove it back towards the cavern wall. Lavren uttered a curse and from his wand came black, crackling energy that flew straight and true towards the head of the warder. It seared through the beautifully carved bronze face of the construct and drove a hole through the heated bronze before bursting from the back of the minotaur’s head to strike the cavern wall. The warder’s head seemed to collapse in upon itself then and the construct toppled backwards and fell against the cavern wall with a boom that shook the cavern. It lay there unmoving, half sitting up and propped against the wall but beaten at last.

*Next..... The Red Eye Gang*


----------



## Medriev

*Chapter 12 - The Red Eye Gang (Part 1)*

“It was certainly a trap then,” said Enlishia as she examined the parchment they had taken from the tieflings once more. She read it to herself one last time. I don’t care how you do it, but deal with these adventurers, she read silently. Take one of the bronze warders if you must. If they remain in the Labyrinth they could disrupt my plans. Once you’ve dealt with them, deliver their bodies to our gnoll friends along with the other scroll I have sent you. It was signed simply Paldemar.

“The other offers our corpses to Maldrick Scarmaker, Exalted Chieftain of the Blackfangs and Chosen of Yeenoghu,” said Dulvarna, raising the second parchment they had recovered. “Apparently our corpses were to be given as a token of ongoing friendship from Paldemar to the gnoll chieftain. It was sealed with an ornate P rune which must be the mark of this Paldemar.”
“Agreed,” said Enlishia. “And he seems to have left a map to the lair of the Blackfangs.” She pointed towards a third parchment that lay on the table before them. They sat in the common room of the Halfmoon Inn having just finished another of Rendil’s sumptuous breakfasts.
“We should set out now,” the ranger said with unusual impulsiveness. “Before they have chance to move the two remaining elves.”

“According to this, we need to go west from the hall and descend into the lower levels,” rumbled Erlmoor while unconsciously flexing the shoulder that the bronze warder’s axe had crushed. Telkya had restored the bones and the flesh but it still pained him a little.
“Enlishia is right,” said the dragonborn at last. “We cannot wait. We must go forth now.”
“And what of the elves and thralls we rescued from the Horned Hold?” asked Dulvarna. “We have yet to take them from the mountain. The longer the stay here, the more likely it is that they will become slaves once again. I would hear Litiraan speak on this.”
“You are right, of course,” said Litiraan. “We cannot set out for this place that is called the Well of Demons while leaving my kin behind in this inn. We must take them to the Minotaur Gate and then seek our reckoning with the gnolls. It will delay us little.”

“It will delay us enough,” said Erlmoor. “If we take this course then we must return here and wait another day. We will likely meet some dark denizens of the mountain while we march to or from the gate and will need to recover before facing the gnolls.”
“And perhaps we shall not,” said Litiraan. “We have seen little of the mountain’s denizens when we have walked the dark halls since we have arrived. Only in their holds do the denizens of Thunderspire seem to dwell.”
“Then we will take that chance,” said Dulvarna and as she said it, Erlmoor nodded his consent. He would bow to her wisdom as he often did. “Make the former thralls ready. We make for the Minotaur Gate as soon as they are able.” With a  scraping of chairs, the companions rose from their breakfast table and set about busying themselves with their own preparations for travel. The name of their goal, the Well of Demons, hung heavy upon them all as they made ready to leave.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 12 - The Red Eye Gang (Part 2)*

Erlmoor was the first to emerge from the Minotaur Gate and stand in the warm sunshine of the spring morning. He looked over to the rising sun as it crested the highest point of the Immerflow Vale and he knelt to pray. Dulvarna joined him while Litiraan and Telkya said farewell to their former companions.

“The weather seems pleasant enough,” said Litiraan. “Take the high pass beyond the source of the Immerflow back to Cormanthor. It will be quicker and less troubled than the Thunder Gap to the south. Fare you well and take word of us to our kin.” Lavren watched the farewells and thought for a moment of asking for word to be taken to his kin but then he knew that he could not. He would not let his family be known to Litiraan and Telkya lest it taint their view of him. Better to let his kin hear of him on their own. His father had eyes enough to learn of his son.

“Lathander’s blessing goes with you,” said Erlmoor as he rose from his prayers and watched the three human thralls make their way down the steep valley beneath the gate toward the Immerflow Vale. The woman turned and waved and then the dragonborn turned away from the growing dawn. The others turned away as well and made their way back into the darkness of Thunderspire Mountain.


----------



## Medriev

*Chapter 12 - The Red Eye Gang (Part 3)*

The six companions had almost reached the Seven-Pillared Hall again when they saw two figures blocking the lantern-lit passage ahead of them. One was a strange bipedal creature with a spider-like visage that had two black eyes and six other tiny eyes  along with prominent fangs . Two of its four arms were long and gangly, ending in a hand-like appendage with three digits, including a thumb. A useless pair of vestigial arms sprouted from the lower portion of its ribcage. One of its three-fingered hands held a spear while the other rested easily on the head of a snaky, spiky, and wingless drake about the size of a riding horse with bright, crimson scales. It had a frill around the back of its head, and its tail was short while its powerfully muscled forelimbs ended in feet tipped with wicked talons.
“You pay toll to Red Eye Gang,” the creature called out in a scratchy, insect-like voice.
“We pay nothing,” answered Telkya, drawing her sword and striding forward with her hand extended.

A bolt of white light lanced out towards the insect-like creature but at the last moment, the creature ducked to one side and the bolt flew past to strike the wall beneath one of the copper lanterns that hung there. Suddenly a grinding sound came from the left wall of the passage and a portion of the wall slid aside to reveal two huge bugbears, each wielding an equally large morning star. One cast around for a moment until its eyes settled upon the companions and it lumbered towards them.
“Not yet fools,” said the insect-creature in its scratchy, clicking tones. The bugbear paid it no mind and charged at Telkya.

The bugbear swung out wildly with its morning star and Telkya ducked under the blow with an ease that surprised her. Dulvarna rushed forward to join Telkya, her sword before her. She stabbed Aecris into the bugbear’s leg, driving it back from the priestess and drawing a pained grunt from the creature. Dulvarna looked up then as the insect-like creature lashed out with one of its limbs and as a web of spider silk flew towards her she knew that they faced an ettercap, a strange creature that had a kinship with spiders and scorpions. She ducked and the web-net engulfed one of the copper lanterns sending it rocking and the green light it cast dancing back and forth across the passage. 

With a roar, the drake charged, rushing out at Dulvarna and lashing out with both claws as it reached her. She ducked under one but the other claw came in low and struck her hip, throwing her against the passage wall painfully. Another bugbear charged into the corridor past the one that Dulvarna but it found quickly that its companion and the drake blocked the way to its enemies. Litiraan watched it come forward and then uttered a phrase in his own tongue. He vanished suddenly into motes of light only to reappear behind the bugbear and between it and the ettercap. The elf drew his sword and spun around to lash at the bugbear but as he did so, the creature sensed the threat and spun around itself. The swing missed and the bugbear raised its morning star as it advanced on Litiraan.

Telkya stabbed out at the bugbear before her and as it parried her thrust she drew back, retreating from her enemy. The bugbear stepped forward but found Dulvarna blocking its path and it lashed out at her instead with its morning star. She raised her blade and parried with her sword held downward towards the passage floor. She twisted her blade then and lashed it across the bugbear’s shoulder before carrying the blow onwards into the flank of the drake that snarled at her beside the bugbear. The drake reared backwards and let out a roar of anger. Then it came at her again.

The ettercap lashed out with another of its limbs and hurled a net of spider silk over Litiraan that pinned him to the right hand wall of the passage beneath another copper lantern that was now swaying and throwing dancing light over the elf. The bugbear to the left of the elf staggered back as two arrows drove into it from Enlishia’s bow and then Lavren vanished in his own cloud of light motes and disappeared from the corridor altogether. Only when a bolt of black, crackling energy struck the bugbear still in the alcove in the back was his presence revealed. The bugbear roared its anger, raised its morning star and turned back into the chamber from which the hidden door had opened to take its revenge upon the elf.

The drake roared and lunged at Dulvarna but she ducked back and its powerful jaws snapped shut on empty air. The bugbear behind it lashed out at Litiraan who was pinned against the wall in the ettercap’s web but the elf managed to twist his body downwards and the morning star struck the lantern above him. The blow stove in the copper lantern but its magical light did not go out and it swung even more wildly sending dancing shadows across the corridor.

Lavren looked around the room desperately for somewhere he could evade the bugbear but the chamber was an ancient storeroom similar to the chamber where they had rescued Rendil Halfmoon and while it had a side chamber where the bugbears apparently slept, he could not reach it in time. He drew his sword and held it before him but the bugbear was too strong and as he raised the blade to parry, the creature’s morning star drove the blade out of its path and smashed down on the elf’s shoulder. Lavren reeled away from the bugbear and raised his sword again, cursing his own recklessness hoping against hope that his friends would reach him in time.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 12 - The Red Eye Gang (Part 4)*

Erlmoor charged past Telkya with his blade before him and roared as he met the bugbear, showering acid over the enemies before him. Litiraan shrank back against the wall in the web that pinned him there and avoided the acid but both bugbears and the drake were burned. Erlmoor’s deep voice intoned a prayer as the bugbear parried his first overhead blow and then he twisted his blade to the right and drove it into the creature’s side. Blood sprayed out and the bugbear fell back a step, tiring and sorely wounded.

Imprisoned within his web, Litiraan twisted around and stabbed out at the bugbear before him clumsily. His blade drove into the creature’s shoulder and drove it back a step, allowing the elf to pushed himself off the wall and try to free himself from the web. With a huge effort, he tore the thick silk strands from the wall and dodged back from the bugbear as it came at him again. Then he saw movement from the right and with horror he saw that the ettercap was coming for him with its spear before it.

Telkya closed her eyes and silently asked Corellon to guide her way as she uttered a word and vanished into a cloud of light motes. She reappeared in the chamber where Lavren faught, against the left wall and behind the bugbear. She stepped forward and stabbed out with her blade but her boot scuffed the floor and at the last, the bugbear twisted to one side and dodged her blow. He put his back to a stack of jars and barrels against the opposite wall and raised his morning star, looking from one opponent to the other as though trying to decide which to deal with first. Telkya raised her blade warily and stood ready to parry.

The bugbear before Erlmoor lashed out desperately as the dragonborn came forward and smashed its morning star into the paladin’s jaw. His head was jerked around and he staggered away as his mouth filled with blood. Dulvarna stepped to her right to meet the bugbear and swung out with her sword, cutting through the place where Erlmoor had been moments before. Aecris clove into the bugbear’s neck from the front and right and took its head from its shoulders before driving into the top of the drake’s shoulder and drawing blood there. The bugbear fell to the floor of the passage, the drake roared and then Erlmoor added his own roar of pain and triumph to the cacophony of battle. He rushed at the drake then, knowing that it would be the next to fall.		

Beyond the drake and the bugbear, Litiraan watched the ettercap stepping forward and waited for the thrust but it came too quickly when the creature seemingly was still out of reach. The steel point drove into his leg painfully and he staggered back and nearly fell into the web that was still attached to the wall. The bugbear came at him from the other side but again he ducked and the spiked head of the morning star struck the stone above him with a dull thud. Te bugbear cursed and Litiraan stabbed at him desperately, knowing he was doomed if no one came to his aid. The bugbear parried and snarled but then Erlmoor was behind him and he was forced to step back towards the doorway. Litiraan had surely been saved!

Lavren retreated from the bugbear knowing that Telkya could hold her own against it for a little while. He reached out with the wand in his left hand and loosed black, crackling energy but the blast flew wide and struck the frame of the hidden door to the chamber. Lavren cursed and the bugbear sneered as it turned on Telkya and lashed out with its morning star. Telkya ducked the blow easily and rose, smiling at the creature as though the battle were already won. She stabbed her sword into the bugbear’s hip and drew an angry snarl from it. Desperately, Lavren began another curse as the bugbear raised its morning star again.

The drake darted at Dulvarna with surprising quickness and seized her left arm in its jaws. She tore the limb free but as she did so, the dagger-sharp teeth of the beast ripped open her flesh painfully and left her arm bleeding. Erlmoor stabbed his sword into the drake’s flank then before turning to face the bugbear that Litiraan faught and then Enlishia loosed an arrow and then another into the beast’s left shoulder. It roared its pain and defiance and staggered as its left front leg threatened to give way beneath it. Then it snarled, baring its terrible teeth and promising death to any who came near to it.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 12 - The Red Eye Gang (Part 5)*

Litiraan cried out as the ettercap drove its spear into his hip but he had only one focus now as the bugbear turned away from him and, grimly, he started towards the creature with his sword in his hand. He lashed out with the blade and drew blood from the creature’s shoulder. It gave a high-pitched screech and backed away from him a step. With a fierce look in his eyes, the elf followed.

Behind Litiraan, an arrow clattered into the wall above the drake and then a second from Enlishia’s bow drove into the beast’s neck. The drake roared and snapped at Erlmoor but the paladin dodged away from its jaws. The bugbear came at him then with an overhand blow but he raised his sword and parried crossways above his head. Before twisting the blade away and slashing out at the bugbear. His enemy leapt back and his blade passed in front of it, inches away from the bugbear’s chest. The bugbear snarled and Erlmoor snarled back.

Lavren loosed another blast of black energy from his wand but again it flew wide of the bugbear and again he cursed. The bugbear lashed out at Telkya and again she ducked under the swing. While still ducked low, Telkya drove her sword forward into the bugbear’s thigh and drove it back and away from her. The creature roared in pain and anger and then came forward at the elf maid again but Lavren loosed another black bolt and this struck the bugbear in the side. It staggered to its left, away from Lavren and then lashed out again with its morning star. This time  Telkya was forced to parry, raising her blade above her head to block the descending spiked weapon but still she held the bugbear at bay. It snarled at her and she smirked back at it, as though daring it to do better.

Dulvarna ducked low and drove her blade into the top of the drake’s weakened right foreleg and this time the leg did give way. The drake roared and clumsily tried to leap back from the warrior woman but it was already doomed. An arrow flew forth from Enlishia’s bow and drove into its skull, piercing its brain and dropping it to the corridor floor. A second arrow struck the door frame next to the bugbear behind the drake and the creature looked around in panic, realising its peril. Desperately it lashed out at Erlmoor and caught the paladin a glancing blow on the shoulder that he simply shrugged off. The dragonborn thrust forward with his own sword and the bugbear parried but as it did so, Erlmoor moved along the passage towards Litiraan, almost reaching the elf.

The ettercap saw his peril too and stabbed out with its spear to try and keep the elf and the others at bay. Litiraan dodged left and the spear grazed the side of his right shoulder, wounding him and drawing yet more blood but barely halting him. The elf stabbed out with his blade, into one of the ettercap’s shoulders and forced it back another step. The creature looked behind it as though to check its path of retreat was clear and then darted towards the elf once more.	

Telkya ducked another clumsy swing of the bugbear’s morning star and then thrust her blade into its hip before leaping up again. The creature came back at her quickly this time but the blow was clumsy and she dodged to her right to throw the creature off balance. Its morning star struck the wall and it all but  fell over as it pitched forward. A black bolt from Lavren’s wand seared through the air where the creature’s head had been and struck the wall next to the chamber entrance. Telkya and Lavren shared a glance, knowing they had the measure of their foe and then both turned their attention back to the battle.

Dulvarna advanced slowly on the remaining bugbear in the corridor, weaving her blade before her in a dance that she knew well but that this opponent had not yet seen. As the bugbear tried to watch her approach while also waiting for Erlmoor to strike, Dulvarna dived forward, driving Aecris deep into the creature’s thigh. Two more arrows flew past the bugbear and it lashed out wildly at Dulvarna, all but blinded by pain and rage. She ducked back and parried with her blade pointed downwards before her as the morning star came across towards her. Erlmoor thrust his sword at the bugbear from its left but it twisted away towards the doorway and evaded the sword. Desperately, the bugbear looked towards the ettercap as though seeking counsel or aid but none were forthcoming. The bugbear roared defiantly and raised its morning star to face its enemies once again.

Telkya stabbed forward again with her sword as the bugbear reached out for the wall to stop itself falling over. At the last, it twisted around to avoid the elf maid’s sword thrust and pushed itself off the wall towards the centre of the room again. Lavren was ready for this, though, and from his wand a blast of black energy lanced out to strike the bugbear in the chest and drive him back towards the door. Telkya rushed at the bugbear and he lashed out desperately with his morning star. She parried above her head and then moved forward to finish her foe.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 12 - The Red Eye Gang (Part 6)*

Dulvarna drove the bugbear back with a slashed cut across its belly and then Enlishia found her mark with an arrow that drove into the bugbear’s shoulder. Beyond the bugbear, Litiraan was keeping the ettercap’s spear at bay now and as the bugbear looked that way again, it retreated from Dulvarna towards the spider-kin creature. Turning suddenly, the bugbear lashed out with its morning star and struck Litiraan in the back, pushing him towards the ettercap. Erlmoor slammed the hilt of his sword into the side of the bugbear’s head and distracted it from what would surely be a killing blow. The bugbear reeled to the left into the wall of the passage and Litiraan ducked right to the opposite wall to try to summon his second wind. The ettercap eyed the elf warily and then levelled its spear at his heart and came forward.

Telkya feinted low and then brought her blade up high while the dazed bugbear barely even tried to raise his morning star. The elf maid’s sword drove into the bugbear’s throat and the creature fell to its knees before her as blood gushed forth. She drew the blade out and the bugbear fell, showering the hem of her robes in deep red blood. She rushed to the doorway as Dulvarna charged the bugbear again and drove her blade into his back as he reeled from Erlmoor’s blow. Litiraan cried out and as Telkya looked she saw that her brother bled from several wounds and had been stabbed again in the side with the ettercap’s spear. The creature retreated down the passageway and as it did so, Enlishia’s bow sang again and the bugbear fell with an arrow through its throat from one side to the other. A second arrow flew forth and drove into the ettercap’s shoulder and then Lavren rushed out of the side chamber into the passageway. He glanced at Telkya and smiled before cursing at the ettercap and raising his wand  Flames burst from the ettercap’s skin and it screeched in pain as the fire seared its flesh. Erlmoor charged at the creature with a roar and lashed out with his sword but the creature ducked at the last moment and his blade struck the stone wall above the ettercap’s head. The creature screeched and tried to back away but then Litiraan, wounded but still standing raised his own wand in his left hand and loosed a bolt of silver into the creature, throwing it back against the wall. 

The ettercap screeched again and looked back along the corridor as Telkya came forward to protect her brother. With a guttural cry, she rushed at the ettercap and with the same high thrust that had slain the bugbear, she drove her blade into the ettercap’s throat. It half-screeched and then gurgled before collapsing on the floor before her.
“Think I’m starting to get the hang of sword craft,” Telkya said and Lavren and Litiraan both smiled with pride and love for the fair and spirited elf maid.

*Next....The Well of Demons*


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## Medriev

*Chapter 13 - The Well of Demons (Part 1)*

They passed through the Seven-Pillared Hall quietly and took a western path that Rendil had called the Deep Stair. Not far beyond the hall the reason for its name became obvious as it began to descend sharply into the depths of the mountain. Following the map, they took a side passage back to the east that zigzagged left and right until it turned south and opened into a large, square chamber. Five columns, three set near the room’s corners and two in the middle of the chamber rose up at least twice the height of the tallest man to the ceiling and into each was carved the face of a leering, fanged minotaur. There was a well in the southeastern corner of the room, and two passages led away, one to the east and the other to the south.
No sooner had they entered the chamber than the deep voice, seemingly of a powerful minotaur, began to come from the columns that each heard in their own tongue, the elves in elven, Enlishia and Dulvarna in the Common tongue and Erlmoor in the ancient tongue of the dragons.

“Greetings, seekers of Baphomet’s boundless glory,” said the voice. “Those who prove unworthy of his attention shall be claimed forever as his slaves.” Suddenly Dulvarna saw something to her left, skulking figure behind one of the columns.
“Those who prove worthy,” the voice continued. “Shall be granted power beyond mortal reckoning. Mask, bell blade and tome.”

As the voice finished speaking, the crouched figure rushed forward and Dulvarna shouted a warning to the others. Telkya turned towards the creature first, drawing forth her sword and reaching out with her hand. A bolt of light lanced out and struck the rushing humanoid which had long, flexible limbs, almost like tentacles that ended in starfish-shaped pads covered with hundreds of tiny bone spikes. The grey-skinned creature lurched to one side and fixed Telkya with its black eyes before rushing on towards her. 
“A choker,” Telkya spat as she recognised the creature. “A creature of the deeper, dark places beneath the world.”

Lavren raised his wand and loosed black, crackling energy towards the creature that struck the top of its chest and pitched it over to the right. It half-rolled and twisted to shrug the wound off and kept coming. A cry came from the front of the group then as Enlishia saw another creature, a pallid undead creature that they had seen before under the Keep north of Winterhaven, emerged from behind the far column and rushed at the group.
“A ghoul!” Enlishia cried out. “A ghoul comes from the front.”

The ghoul reached Dulvarna and Enlishia in moments and leapt at them with claws flailing. Both stepped aside and let the creature land between them, hissing and snarling as it reached out ravenously for their living flesh. Enlishia nocked an arrow to her bow and drew back from the flailing arms of the ghoul. She loosed the first arrow into the ghoul’s chest and reached for another, loosing it after the first into the body of the terrible undead creature. Erlmoor rushed forward and came at the creature from the other side, lashing out with his blade and gouging a wound across the creature’s back. The ghoul scampered around on the spot and hissed at this newcomer while Erlmoor snarled in response.

Behind Enlishia, the choker darted to the right and scampered up the north wall of the chamber and then out onto the ceiling. It reached out with a tentacle and lashed its limb around Enlishia’s neck. The ranger gasped as the choker lived up to its name and tried to lift her from the ground. Litiraan raised his wand and loosed a silver bolt from it but the choker swayed to one side and the bolt missed.

Dulvarna looked over her shoulder at the choker as she drew her blade and decided that her companions could deal with that threat. She lashed out with her sword and slashed the blade across the top of the ghoul’s chest above Enlishia’s arrows and the creature reeled away before turning back towards her. Suddenly, she sensed movement from the left and as she glanced that way, Dulvarna saw another slate-grey tentacle reach out from the ceiling close to the westernmost corner pillar. It seized Erlmoor around the neck and started to drag him towards the pillar. The dragonborn opened his mouth to roar but a weak, almost plaintive sound came out instead of the usual deep power. Dulvarna cursed and then she felt the floor shake. Behind her, tentacles exploded from the floor of the chamber, one reaching out towards her and seizing her around the waist. Small toothed mouths on the inside of the tentacle tore into her flesh and she cried out as the creature’s grip tightened.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 13 - The Well of Demons (Part 2)*

Telkya reached out her hand and loosed another bolt of light that struck the choker clinging to the ceiling above the north wall. It seemed to loosen its grip on the ceiling and on Enlishia for a moment and almost fell. Lavren loosed a bolt of black energy but it flew wide of the choker and struck the stone ceiling next to it. Both elves cursed together and then began their prayers and spells to attack the choker again.

The ghoul leapt at Dulvarna as the tentacle tightened its grip with claws tearing at her face and neck. She felt a chill spread from the wound and suddenly her legs became weak as though the cold of the grave had sapped her strength. The tentacle dragged her a few feet towards it and the mouths tore painfully at her flesh. Beside her, Enlishia tried to duck out of the choker’s tentacle but found that she was held fast and so she raised her bow and fired at the choker on the ceiling. The choker jerked her towards it and she loosed her first arrow against the floor at her feet. Her second flew upwards but struck the wall next to the choker. Enlishia cursed silently and gasped as the creature tightened its grip.

Erlmoor tried to free himself from the tentacle around his neck too but found he too was held firmly. Instead he twisted back towards the ghoul and lashed out at the ghoul. The undead creature leapt back beyond the reach of the dragonborn’s blade and Erlmoor cursed silently himself as the choker dragged him back towards it.	 

Litiraan turned around as the tentacles burst from the floor and seized Dulvarna and he recognised the creature at once. It was a phalagar, a burrowing predator that grasped and crushed its enemies in the deeper darkness beneath Faerun. He drew his blade and stabbed at it desperately while retreating towards the passage which had led them to the chamber. As he drew back he saw Dulvarna duck down and wriggle out of the grasp of the tentacle while raising her blade. She lashed out with the sword but the tentacles rose and writhed out of her reach. No sooner had they done this than tentacles lashed out in all directions, searching for prey. It seized Litiraan around the waist and then grabbed Dulvarna and Erlmoor as well, the tiny toothed mouths tearing at the flesh of their victims. Litiraan looked around at his companions then and wondered whether for the first time in a long while whether they were beaten and would die here.

Telkya loosed a bolt of light from her hand and this time, the divine energy seared through the choker’s chest, finding what passed for a heart within the creature and dropped it to the chamber floor. She looked around for the now familiar smile from Lavren but as she did he vanished into a cloud of light motes. He reappeared next to one of the central pillars, cursing the ghoul and loosing black energy from his wand. The blast burst through the ghoul from back to front, narrowly missing Dulvarna and shattering the ghoul into dust and bone. Suddenly free, Enlishia loosed an arrow towards the tentacles of the phalagar 

Though the choker was throttling him, Erlmoor managed at last to roar and as he did so, he sprayed acid onto the tentacles of the phalagar and up to the choker on the ceiling. The nearest tentacles of the phalagar recoiled as the acid burned them but the choker scampered away from the acid, trying to drag Erlmoor with it. The paladin resisted and prayed quietly until his blade glowed brightly and he lashed out at the tentacle that held him. He felt strength flow up his blade and to his right he saw a glow rise up Dulvarna’s form and restore some of her strength as well. He thanked Lathander and then began a new prayer to the Morninglord for deliverance from the terrible predators of Underdark that they now battled.

Litiraan tried desperately to wriggle free of the tentacle that held him but he found that he was held firm and resorted to slashing at the limb with his sword. He cut into the flesh but still it held him firmly and even began to drag him back towards the phalagar itself but looking up, he saw Dulvarna duck free of the tentacle that held her again. She weaved her blade back and forth as though feinting left and right toward the tentacles and then she dived forward, driving her blade into one of the flailing limbs. It recoiled and as it did so, the remaining choker turned its small head towards Dulvarna, its eyes drawn by the sudden movement. It lashed out with the other of its long limbs but Dulvarna leapt back beyond its reach. The phalagar lashed out again then and seized Dulvarna with one of its wounded tentacles. She cursed her ill luck and then began to try and wriggle free once more.	

Telkya uttered a prayer and from her hand leapt another beam of light that seared into the choker. The creature shrank back and as it did so, Lavren uttered a curse and loosed his own bolt, this one of black, crackling energy. The eldritch blast burned into the choker’s shoulder and it shrieked loudly in an alarm call that would have sent others of its kind fleeing into the dark passages of the Underdark if any of its companions remained. Enlishia lifted her bow and loosed an arrow into the choker drawing another shriek from its wounded form. She fired again but the arrow clattered against the ceiling and fell to the floor and this time the choker cackled maniacally as though mocking the ranger.


----------



## Medriev

*Chapter 13 - The Well of Demons (Part 3)*

Erlmoor roared his own defiance then and lashed out at the nearest tentacle with his own, glowing blade. His sword hacked through the flesh of the flailing limb and left a piece the length of his arm on the floor of the chamber while the rest of the dying limb flapped close by like a fish out of water. Across from the dragonborn, Litiraan saw his chance and ducked out of the grasp of the phalagar. With his wand clasped tightly in his left hand and his sword in his right, he ducked back into the northern passage. 

Dulvarna likewise, saw her chance as the phalagar was wounded and ducked free of the tentacle that had grasped her. She raised her blade over her head and slashed down on another tentacled, severing it. Beside her, Erlmoor ducked as the choker shot another tentacle out at him and then the phalagar lashed out desperately towards Dulvarna. She ducked herself and a tentacle lashed over her head and to her right, Telkya vanished in a cloud of light motes. An instant later, a column of light descended from the ceiling and surrounded the choker. With a final screech, it plummeted to the floor and landed with a dull thud.

Lavren rushed to Telkya’s side as the choker fell, winking at her as he drew near in acknowledgement of another victory for her. He extended his hand and uttered a curse in elven then that loosed another blast of black, eldritch energy into the phalagar. Enlishia loosed two arrows quickly that struck the same tentacle and drove it back beneath the floor but another flailing limb lashed out at the ranger. She leapt back beyond its reach and as she did so, Erlmoor and Dulvarna rushed at the tentacled creature. Litiraan loosed a silvery bolt into the creature but a tentacle grabbed him and then Dulvarna came forward and hacked through the only other tentacle that remained. The limb that had grabbed Litiraan fell limply to the floor and a deep silence fell over the well chamber.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 13 - The Well of Demons (Part 4)*

Once those with hurts had bound their wounds, the companions talked for a few moments and then headed past the well and into the dark of the southern passage. By the dim light of Litiraan’s wand, they saw a side passage open up on the left and decided quickly to pass it by. The passage ahead then turned sharply to the right and then bent to the left before emerging into a wider hallway where blood stained the floor. Crimson trails ran from a set of double doors in the east, down the corridor, and into a door to the west. All six companions felt a sudden chill wash over them as cold seemed to reach into them to their very bones and cause involuntary shivers. Three spectral figures rose then from the bloodstains before the group. Before any of the adventurers could react, each of the ghostly figures raised a hand in apparent greeting.

“Well met strangers,” said the middle figure, once a burly man with a thick, black beard. He seemed to have been clad in a mail coat but its spectral image was now torn and gashed as though he had suffered a terrible death at the hands of some great beast.
“What do you seek in the Well of Demons?” the man’s ghost asked.
“We seek the gnolls who dwell here,” said Enlishia, the chill refusing to leave her bones and seeming to slow her mind as well. “we have followed captured innocents into Thunderspire and through the holds of hobgoblins and duergar and now we have come here.

“And which gnolls are these,” answered the spirit on the right, once a beautiful but cold-seeming elf maid in long robes. “We met no gnolls when first we came here and you are poor warriors if you know not your enemies. We knew our enemies and vanquished all but one before we fell. Demons and devils, dragons and worse all fell to our might.”
“Our strength lies in our hearts as well as in our blades and our Art,” said Erlmoor. “We seek slaves taken by the Blackfang gnolls. They are friends and companions of Telkya and Litiraan and we have followed them into this mountain to save them. Already, most of their band make their way back to Cormanthor walking free under the sun and the stars.”

“Then perhaps you are stronger and wiser than you seem,” rumbled the third spirit, apparently once a dwarf garbed in plate armour and wearing a helm with the faceplate closed. “But then again perhaps you seek to trick us. As Mendara said, we saw no gnolls when first we came here. How did you learn of the Blackfangs and this place?”
“We defeated the duergar of the Horned Hold, slaying their chieftain and freeing the prisoners that they held,” answered Lavren. “We took a skull-capped rod back to the heart of the mountain with us.”
“And yet you do not know its purpose,” sneered the elf called Mendara. “Instead you have followed breadcrumbs around the dark of the mountain until you have come here.”

“It’s purpose was not relevant to us,” Litiraan bristled, staring at the elf. “We have sought to rescue our kin and that quest has led us here. The staves the duergar carry are of no concern to us.”
“Ah, but perhaps they should be,” answered Mendara. “My companions and I piled duergar staves five and six high in the Seven Pillared Hall before we came to this place and then we broke each every one lest they once more return to the hands of a gray dwarf.”
“But our cause is just,” Telkya pleaded. “We seek no power or spoils. We seek only to save the lives of those who were brought here.”
“And do you do that truly for the sake of those you save?” questioned the dwarf. “Or simply because duty compels you to save them?”


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## Medriev

*Chapter 13 - The Well of Demons (Part 5)*

“It was not for duty that we threw down the gates of the Horned Hold,” said Dulvarna, her voice rising. “It was not for duty that we slew Murkelmor himself. We came here to save lives and for nothing more.”

“Great feats both I am sure,” answered the black bearded man. “Though the gates of the Horned Hold have been thrown down before and Murkelmor when last we saw him was balding and fat. Age has no doubt slowed him further while we have been doomed to wander this dark place.”
“Age has not slowed Murkelmor and his hold was strong when we came to it,” Enlishia responded. “We faught there strongly for two days but the duergar and their orc allies were vanquished in the end. It lies empty still, I’d wager, and the duergar will not soon be coming back to it.”
“Perhaps, perhaps,” mused Mendara seeming to look upon Enlishia with some form of respect. “The duergar are perhaps stronger now than we remember them. Murkelmor’s father though, was truly a mighty dwarf. We struck him down four times before he finally fell.”

“Pardon me, Lady,” interrupted Erlmoor before Mendara could meander into another boast. “But we surely did not come here to share tales and you, surely, do not keep us here to learn of our exploits. We have told you why we have come here and now we would continue on our way for surely every moment delayed takes the captives we seek further away from us.”
“You are right, of course,” answered the spirit of the dwarf. “But so few come as far as here and none have yet prevailed in this dark place and so we would discern whether you deceive us with your tales. If you deceive us then perhaps you mislead us about the strength of your arms and your Art. We would not see you fail as we did.”

“And we shall not,” answered Lavren quickly. “I am a warlock who has studied the fey mysteries of my kind. Many have tasted the power of my eldritch assaults and fallen to them. Litiraan and Telkya are strong in Art and faith and Erlmoor, Dulvarna and Enlishia wield their arms with rare skill. We shall prevail.”

“Perhaps you shall,” answered Mendara. “But we were strong as you were and had vanquished far more powerful foes when we fell here.”
“Could you hurl balls of flame as I can, or grip a foe in an icy hand?” asked Litiraan. “My wand and the amulet at my neck are enchanted as is my blade. Were you as well armed and as skilled when you came here? And more than that, I seek the captives not out of duty but because they are friends and kin. I will not let them die!”

“Well spoken elf lord,” answered Mendara. “Our kin are too often humble and reserved but you show the true power of the Fair Folk that raised up Myth Drannor and crafted a kingdom in fair Evermeet that I shall never see.”

She looked sad then and the others found their gazes torn between the sad and proud elf maid and the elf lord who seemed to have found the determination and strength that had first set him at the head of his war band.
“My brother speaks truly,” said Telkya after a pause. “And I for my part have vowed to stand beside him as we search for our kin.” Despite Mendara watching her with her cold, piercing eyes, Telkya could not help but sneak a sideways glance at Lavren. For a moment, she thought that Mendara had looked into her heart and seen the omission in what she had said. She stayed for Lavren too, she admitted to herself for the first time. She felt a faint nervous excitement in her stomach as she allowed herself the thought despite the danger of her surroundings and the chill that still held all of them. She looked up at Mendara and to her surprise, the elf’s face softened.

“This place is called the Proving Grounds,” said the robed elf. “And it was a testing place for worshippers of the demon lord Baphomet when minotaurs yet ruled under the mountain. Still, some cultists come here to prove their mettle but none have passed through it since we have been here.”
“You must find four items,” said the dwarf. “A knife, a mask, a bell and a book. You must place each of these items on one of the four circles of runes found within this place.”

“Alas if it were only that easy,” said the black-bearded man and the companions noticed as he straightened that as well as the other cuts and gouges, his mail coat was torn in half across his waist. “The items must be placed on the runes at the exact same time.” Mendara nodded sternly.
“Three of the items are held within chambers built to test Baphomet’s worshippers,” said the elf maid. “You can find these chambers to the north, west and south of where we now stand, through the eastern double doors and then through another set of doors that lead to the west. The fourth item, the book, is on an altar in a small shrine to the east.”

“We wish you well,” said the dwarf, his form, along with the others, beginning to fade. “We truly do. May you prevail where we did not.”
“Wait,” pleaded Dulvarna. “Is there not more you can tell us.”
“We have told you all we can,” said Mendara, her voice now sounding distant and her form barely visible. “I hope it will be enough.”

An instant later the spirits were gone and the chill that had heralded their appearance was lifted. The six companions shared nervous glances and then turned towards the eastern doors.

*Next.....Lost in the Dark*


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## Medriev

*Chapter 14 - Lost in the Dark (Part 1)*

They passed through the doors with their blades drawn and spells and prayers ready. Taking care to avoid treading on the blood trails they emerged into a long chamber that extended to the south. More blood stained the floor further into the room, one wide stain seemingly the source of the trail that led through the doors. A circle of runes was carved in the floor and dyed with orange powder while beyond the circle was a plain altar block of stone. Atop the altar rested a tarnished jug, and beside it were some half-burned scraps of parchment. The doors that they had been told of led westward and slowly, almost unwillingly, Dulvarna turned towards them. Beyond the portals, a passage led north and south, its floor seemingly worn smooth as though by the passage of many feet or of some war engine.

Dulvarna turned north and then followed the passage in a sharp turn to the west. A dark opening yawned on her left and she peered into it warily before passing it by. The passage turned left again just beyond the opening and led them southward to another set of double doors that led west. Dulvarna looked at the doors and then made to move past them but Erlmoor halted her with his deep voice.

“Why do we pass these by,” the paladin rumbled. “These must surely lead to one of the items that the spirits bade us seek.”
“And if they do,” Lavren spoke up. “What good will they do us. We have learned little that will take us to the kindred of Litiraan and Telkya and I know not why we seek these items if we know not what they do.”
“Then what would you have us do?” asked Dulvarna. “We are all but lost in the dark, deep beneath this mountain and as you have said, we have learned little of the fate of the remaining captives. All we know if that they are here.”

“We go back and search this place room by room,” said Lavren. “We passed two branches before we came to this place and explored neither. We have seen no gnolls and yet we are venturing deeper and deeper into this dark place of cultists and minotaurs. We go back and we try to find the elves.”
“Alright then, we go back” said Dulvarna. She paused for a moment. “But you can explain it to the ghosts when they ask.”


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## Medriev

*Chapter 14 - Lost in the Dark (Part 2)*

The ghosts did not ask, nor even appear as the companions made their way back through the darkness to the well chamber through which they had entered the Well of Demons. They paused before the eastern passage and readied their weapons, spells and prayers. Dulvarna surveyed the bodies of the enemies they had laid low in the chamber for a moment and then started forward. Double doors blocked the corridor a short way in but Dulvarna grasped the handles and pushed them open. Beyond, the stench of rotting food and worse – struck the companions like a wave as they passed through the portals. Several torches illuminated thee hallway, and as soon they stepped forward, laughter-like barks echoed from just beyond the light.

Dulvarna started forward with her blade held vertically in front her. A side passage opened up on the left and she turned down it. A short passage led to a mess hall with two long tables surrounded by chairs. At the far table sat two dog-headed humanoids with great black manes of fur down their necks and upper backs. Dulvarna knew them to be gnolls at once and as they saw her they both began to growl softly. Both tossed aside the hunks of meat they had been gnawing at and reached for the spears and shields that lay on the table close to them. As they rose, Dulvarna saw that a slightly curved, black canine facing downwards had been crudely painted on each shield. They had found the Blackfangs.

Erlmoor watched Dulvarna turn to the left and then started forward himself, his sword held up before him as hers had been. Another passage yawned on the right, beyond the one on the left that the warrior woman had taken and he gestured to it, intending that someone else should watch or explore the opening. Beyond, he made his way almost to the end of the corridor and peered ahead into a wide chamber with a fenced off pen area filling the far side. Behind the fences, hyenas whooped and cackled and as the paladin watched, a tall gnoll emerged from a side chamber to the right and crossed to the pen. The gnoll cast a sidelong glance towards the dragonborn and seemed to smile, showing huge wolf-like teeth. As he reached the pen, he reached down to a gate in the fence, undid the catch and swung it open. With apparent whoops of joy, the hyenas rushed to taste their new-found freedom and to defend their masters from the invaders that had come.

The gnolls rushed at Dulvarna almost at the same time, coming around the tables from opposite sides. From the left a spear drove at her leg and she twisted around to bring her sword down to parry. From the other side came another spear thrust, this one aimed high and her throat and she ducked, the point of the weapon missing the top of her head by mere inches. She stepped back towards the passageway entrance then to give herself more room and settled back to studying the gnolls’ attacks. So far they seemed clumsy and brash but she knew that it was never wise to underestimate an enemy. Not even this one. 

A hyena leapt through the gate and covered the width of the chamber in a few short bounds. It leapt as it reached Erlmoor, its jaws open and questing for the dragonborn’s throat. He twisted aside and slammed his shoulder into the beast’s flank as it passed him, sending it yelping to the floor next to him. The beast twisted quickly and growled while sixing up the dragonborn and the challenge that this new prey presented. Erlmoor growled in response and the hyena back away a step, seemingly biding its time until the rest of its pack came to its aid.

Litiraan rushed after Dulvarna and Erlmoor, his sword in one hand and his wand in the other. He heard sounds of battle from the left hand passage almost at once and turned aside. There, at the far end, her saw Dulvarna battling two gnolls and he raised his wand. Uttering an incantation, he loosed a silver bolt towards the gnoll on the right. The arcane energy seared into the gnoll’s shoulder and with an unmistakably canine yelp, the creature shrank back, before turning to regard this new threat. Litiraan met its gaze without wavering. These beasts were slavers and they had his kin. They would pay with their lives.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 14 - Lost in the Dark (Part 3)*

Telkya rushed forward after her brother and spared the left passage only a brief glance. Dulvarna seemed to be holding off two gnolls and with Litiraan’s help, Telkya decided that she would prevail. Remembering Erlmoor’s signal, she paused as the right hand passage opened up beside her. She turned down it and made her way cautiously into the shadowy darkness. The torchlight lit up a set of double doors on the right and showed the passage continuing beyond her vision ahead. Telkya stopped and listened for a moment but heard only the sounds of battle behind her. Deciding that nothing had been alerted in whatever chambers lay further down the passage, she turned back to join the battle. Suddenly, as she turned a figure was in front of her and she raised her sword but then she recognised the form before her.
“Thought you’d got lost in the dark,” said the elf with a faintly embarrassed smile.
“It seems I could not even had I wanted to with you to protect me,” Telkya answered, more harshly than she had intended.

Lavren’s face hardened as he turned away and headed back up the hallway without another word. Knowing that she had upset him and angry at herself for doing it, Telkya followed.

Enlishia nocked an arrow to her bow and rushed forward, passing both passage entrances without pausing. Dulvarna could always hold her own, she knew, and what Lavren and Telkya busied themselves in the shadows of the right hand passage was for them alone. As she passed the second, right hand opening, she raised her bow as she could see the hyena beside Erlmoor clearly now. She took a bead on its flank and loosed the arrow but at the last it twisted and darted away from her. The arrow tore through the fur of the beast’s shoulders and drew blood but did little else. The ranger raised her bow again and fired quickly but this time her shaft flew wide of the mark and clattered into the floor of the chamber beyond. She followed the arrow’s path with her gaze only to find it obscured from view by a flurry of movement. The rest of the hyenas were coming to join their companion.	

The hyenas rushed at Erlmoor but only one could reach him in the confines of the corridor. This beast darted forward and snapped at his leg but the dragonborn leapt back beyond its reach. The last two rushed out with a clarion call of yips and barks but when they realised they could not reach the paladin, they looped around the chamber outside the pen, all the while seeking an opening where they could reach their prey. Erlmoor roared his own challenge and the two creatures he faced shrank back from him. He roared again and unleashed his acid breath with his blade singing out behind.

Dulvarna stepped back into the passage entrance and drew the gnolls on. The first that came forward was met by her blade lashing out to swat aside its spear and then thrusting forward into its shoulder. The gnoll yelped and leapt back, wounded now as its companion had been and then with a howl of defiance, the gnolls came on again.

The hyena closest to Erlmoor ducked under his spray of acid but the others were seared by the burning liquid. A chorus of yelps and whines followed while the tall gnoll who had freed them unshouldered a longbow and nocked an arrow to the string. He leveled the bow towards Erlmoor but as the two hyenas leapt and darted the gnoll could not find a clear shot that would not risk the animals he had raised and cared for. With the bow still held ready, the gnoll huntmaster stalked forward seeking a place where he could strike at his enemies. Erlmoor lashed out with his blade and cut across the chest of the first hyena that had come at him. For a moment, he looked up to watch the new threat that the huntmaster presented and as he did so, the hyena he had just wounded leapt at him and sank its teeth into his leg. With a roar, he shook it off and then raised his blade, ignoring the huntmaster and the bow that he held so menacingly.

The gnolls darted forward at Dulvarna almost at the same time again and again she reacted quickly. Her blade came down to the left and slammed the spear of one gnoll into the stone floor before slashed across and knocking aside a thrust towards her stomach from the other gnoll. The gnoll ducked back as a flash of silver came from its left and Litiraan’s second silver bolt flew past the creature to strike the far wall of the room. Dulvarna decided then to retreat further towards her companions and draw the gnolls onwards. Perhaps then, Litiraan’s aim would improve, she mused.

Telkya rushed past Lavren to reach the main passage ahead of him. Looking right, she saw Erlmoor battling hyenas while a gnoll and more hyenas stalked behind his enemies. To the left she heard the sounds of battle and once again decided that her brother and Dulvarna would prevail against the gnolls. She rushed to Enlishia’s side with her sword in her right hand and a prayer on her lips. She looked back as Lavren emerged from the southern passage and without a glance in her direction, moved to aid Litiraan and Dulvarna against the gnolls. 

Beside Telkya, Enlishia glanced once at the elf, raised an eyebrow and then nocked an arrow to her bow. When she let loose the shaft it drove into the flank of one of the hyenas that Erlmoor faced and with amazing fluidity, the ranger reached for, nocked, and then loosed, another arrow a moment later. This drove into the same hyena and with a yelp, the creature staggered and all but fell. Half-heartedly, it snapped at Erlmoor but the dragonborn dodged backwards and then brought down his blade, putting the creature out of its misery. Then an arrow drove into Enlishia’s shoulder and Erlmoor, Telkya and the ranger herself realised that the huntsman had found his aim.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 14 - Lost in the Dark (Part 4)*

Dulvarna lashed out a little too wildly and then stepped back towards Lavren and Litiraan. Unsurprisingly her blade cut nothing but air and with a cackle, the gnolls came forward. Troubled by her wild attack, Dulvarna parried in front of her as the first gnoll came at her but as the second came, her parry was a fraction too slow. The spear drove past her blade and seared into her right leg like a heated poker, just above the knee. Dulvarna cried out before she could stop herself and the gnolls howled as though they had won the day. They heard not the chants in elven that came from behind Dulvarna and too late, they saw the bolts, silver and black that lanced out towards them. Both struck the gnoll that had wounded Dulvarna, searing the creature’s arm and side. With a yelp, the gnoll shrank back and with a nod to her companions, Dulvarna recovered and raised her blade once more.

Telkya uttered the now-familiar prayer that she had called to mind and extended her hand. A bolt of golden light reached out from her hand towards the huntsman but he ducked back as the light reached him and it struck the door of the chamber from which he had first come. Enlishia tore the shaft from her shoulder and loosed an arrow that drove into the hindquarters of the remaining hyena before Erlmoor. The creature helped and leapt just as the ranger’s second arrow, the shaft that would surely have killed the beast, flew towards it. The arrow clattered into the passage wall and then the floor of the chamber and for a few more moments, the hyena lived. Another of its companions rushed at Erlmoor then but the dragonborn was ready and he leapt back, bringing his blade down to fend off the creature. The other hyena, wounded by arrow and blade darted at the dragonborn then and he twisted his blade to the left. The sword drove into the beast’s side and it fell with a whimper beside its pack-mate. The huntmaster seized his chance again, raising his bow and loosing an arrow with a speed that compared with Enlishia’s. The shaft drove into Erlmoor’s arm and a roar of pain echoed through the halls of the gnolls.

Dulvarna stepped back for a moment and then danced forward, ignoring the wound to her leg now. She weaved her blade before her for a moment and then plunged forward, driving Aecris into the hip of the gnoll before her. The gnoll yelped and whined as it fell back against the wall of the hallway and Dulvarna stepped forward again thinking it beaten. Only then did its spear come up, driving forward and finding her shoulder with its point. She grunted, staggering back and as she did so, the second gnoll drove its spear forward, its point piercing her side just above her hip. Dulvarna fell sideways against the wall of the corridor as the gnoll had done and felt sure that the killing blow would come next. A silver bolt hurled by Litiraan flashed past the gnoll’s as it took a step towards Dulvarna and the gnoll cackled but then black, crackling energy struck its chest and ended its moment of victory.

Telkya prayed fervently to Corellon and raised her hand, bringing down a column of burning light upon the hyena but for a moment the beast faught on. Two arrows from Enlishia’s bow drove into its chest moments apart and the hyena collapsed beside its companions, leaving the huntmaster alone with his last charge. With a chorus of yapping laughter, the last beast rushed at Erlmoor, leaping at him and seizing his left arm as he raised his blade to defend himself. He shook the beast free but not before its teeth had torn into the flesh and muscle of his arm. With a grimace, he brought his sword up and then, with a prayer on his lips he brought it down. The sword glowed white and then struck the hyena just as the beast dodged aside, drawing blood along its shoulder but barely slowing it. The huntmaster cackled and loosed an arrow that nicked Erlmoor’s shoulder and the dragonborn roared. Both sensed that their final reckoning was at hand.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 14 - Lost in the Dark (Part 5)*

Dulvarna took a step back and surveyed her opponents, all the while summoning what remained of her strength for one final effort. When she came forward, she weaved her blade back and forth before her until she was sure that both gnolls had focused their attention upon it. Suddenly, she darted forward and drove her the point of Aecris into the shoulder of the gnoll before her, driving it back against the corridor wall again. The gnoll stabbed out desperately with its spear but Dulvarna swatted the thrust aside. The other gnoll came in from the right, thrusting its own spear forward but she twisted quickly and parried easily. A silver bolt from Litiraan’s hand struck the gnoll then and threw it back against the opposite wall to its companion. Black, crackling energy followed but the gnoll ducked back against the wall and survived but with a cowardly whimper, it acknowledged that it did not have long.

Telkya extended her hand and loosed a bolt of light to strike the huntmaster as he nocked another arrow to his bow. Enlishia glanced towards the gnoll and then took aim at the last hyena as it danced back and forth at Erlmoor’s feet. One arrow flew high over the beast’s back and clattered into the wall but the second drove into its side and drew a yelp of pain from the creature. It leapt desperately at Erlmoor but the dragonborn elbowed the hyena aside despite its teeth that tore into his arm once more. His blade came down and the hyena’s head fell free of its body. The beast died without a whimper and the huntmaster howled. Raising his bow once more, he aimed at Erlmoor’s throat and let fly. The dragonborn raised his arms and his blade desperately and somehow, his sword deflected the arrow. Instead of his throat, the arrow flew lower and drove into the dragonborn’s chest. With a gasp, Erlmoor fell back against the corridor wall and then drew in a ragged, painful breath.

Dulvarna slashed out with her blade as the gnoll to her left tried to pushed itself away from the wall. Aecris slashed into her foe’s left shoulder and slammed the gnoll back into the wall. It stabbed out clumsily with its spear but only scraped the weapon along the wall. Dulvarna almost smiled but then she saw a flash of movement from her right. She moved her blade around and parried the spear of the other gnoll down but the point drove into her thigh nonetheless. The gnoll followed its weapon forward and Dulvarna was forced to dodge backwards as it snapped its wolf-like teeth close to her face. A silver bolt struck the gnoll then and spun it away from Dulvarna. The now-familiar black bolt from Lavren’s wand followed but flew wildly and struck the ceiling above the gnoll. Both gnolls cackled, seemingly in desperate jubilation. Victory was far from certain for either side and Dulvarna knew this as well as the gnolls did.

A bolt of light from Telkya’s hand struck the huntmaster and drove it back a step and then one arrow and then another followed. Both flew wide of the gnoll, one driving into the fence that surrounded the hyena pen and the other clattering into the wall beyond that. Erlmoor paused and drew in a few ragged breaths before raising his blade and charging at the gnoll. He raised the sword, his deep, baritone voice intoning a prayer to Lathander. His blade glowed brightly as he swung out crossways with it but at the last, the gnoll ducked and the paladin’s sword whistled through the air just above his foe’s head. The huntmaster threw down his bow and drew a small, jagged-bladed axe from his belt. He lashed out with the weapon and struck Erlmoor in the jaw, drawing blood and tearing the flesh down to the white bone beneath. The paladin’s head jerked away to the right and again the dragonborn let forth a pained gasp.

Breathing heavily, Dulvarna raised her blade again and lashed out from left to right, the point tearing at the chest of the gnoll on the left before cutting into the right arm of her other foe. Both staggered back, the last of their strength being summoned as well. They dived forward together, their spear points leading but Dulvarna parried left and then right with a speed that she was amazed that she could muster. A silver bolt seared through the chest of the gnoll on the right and the creature fell to the stone floor without another sound. Lavren’s voice uttered a quiet curse in elven, black lightning lanced out and the other gnoll fell as the terrible, eldritch energy seared its face and neck. Dulvarna looked down at them both, her breaths coming quickly and then turned towards the tow elves. Together, they turned back towards the main passageway to aid their friends.

Light struck the huntmaster again and drove it back a step but as it retreated, it evaded two more arrows that Enlishia quickly loosed from her bow. Erlmoor lashed out wildly at the gnoll but the huntmaster swayed the top of his body back beyond the reach of the dragonborn’s sword. Swaying forward again, the gnoll lashed out with its axe and Erlmoor in turn ducked back to avoid the wicked edge of the axe blade. A silver bolt missed the gnoll’s arm by a hands-breadth and Erlmoor roared his triumph for he knew then that his companions were behind him. A bolt of light from Telkya’s hand followed, striking the door frame beside the gnoll and then Lavren loosed black, crackling flame that struck the huntmaster in the chest. Two arrows zipped past the gnoll from Enlishia’s bow and with real fear in its eyes now, the huntmaster retreated towards the hyena pen. Dulvarna surged forward beside Erlmoor, her blade drawing blood from the gnoll’s arm and with the last of his strength, the huntmaster lashed out with its axe. The blade clove into the side of the dragonborn’s skull and the paladin fell beside Dulvarna. A searing bolt of silver energy pierced the chest of the gnoll and felled it a moment later but the damage had been done. As one, the companions rushed forward to Erlmoor’s side and despite their own hurts and exhaustion, they knelt beside their fallen friend.

*Next.....Blackfangs*


----------



## Medriev

*Chapter 15 - Blackfangs (Part 1)*

Once the companions had tended to their wounded and Erlmoor had risen unsteadily to his feet, they turned down the southern passage that Telkya and Lavren had explored. They turned aside at the double doors that Telkya had found and once they had readied weapons, they pushed open the portals. The walls of the chamber within were covered with faded murals that depicted minotaurs in combat. The images showed the horned bull-men fighting each other, as well as battling demons, dwarves, men, and dragonborn. In all the pictures, the minotaurs lacked weapons and armour and used only their horns, teeth and bare hands to rend their opponents from head to toe.

Dulvarna and Enlishia, as the first into the chamber looked to the south and saw that a barrier of hay bales divided the room. In the larger northern part, a large boar was chained to the floor inside a pen. Arrows jutted from the trapped creature and the floor around it was covered in spatters of blood. Hyenas encircled the pen, trying to bite the boar. One by one, the hyenas became aware of the presence of the newcomers and turned their attention towards the doors.

Telkya was the first to react, rushing past Dulvarna with her sword in one hand and her amulet in the other. She held forth her holy symbol and loosed a bolt of light towards the nearest hyena. The light seared into the beast’s shoulder and drew a yelping bark from the creature. An arrow whooshed past Telkya coming from the southern end of the room and clattered into the room next to the priestess. She looked to her left and saw gnolls with bows taking aim from behind the barrier of hay bales. A hyena circled the boar pen and leapt past the beast that Telkya had wounded. It darted at the elf maid but with a slash of her sword, she kept it at bay. Erlmoor rushed forward to aid her then, his sword coming down to strike the hyena’s muzzle. It darted back from Telkya with a surprised and pained yelp.

The hyena behind, wounded by Telkya could only yap at the companions but another came around the pen from the south, leapt past one of its pack-mates and dived at Erlmoor. The dragonborn turned to his left and raised his boot to knock the hyena against the chamber wall. Enlishia, behind Erlmoor, shouldered her bow, drew her sword from her back and brought the blade down on one of the hyena’s flailing legs. With a yelp, the creature pushed itself back from the paladin and the ranger so that their fierce blades could not reach it. A fourth hyena barked and yapped behind its newly wounded pack-mate promising a fierce attack if it could only reach these intruders on its territory. Erlmoor roared in response and the hyenas fell back another step but then their barks renewed and they came forward once again.

Lavren watched the beginnings of the battle and decided that the cramped quarters of the chamber entrance were not for him. With his sword in one hand and his wand in the other, he turned aside and started off down the southward passage, hoping to find another way into the chamber. Torches lit the passage but he stayed to the shadows of the western wall as he picked his way cautiously along the passage. A passage mouth opened up in the eastern wall and he regarded it nervously for a moment before continuing past it. He could see a bend to the right ahead of him that he felt sure would lead him to the southern end of the room. With his blade before him, he mad his way carefully on down towards the turn.

Two arrows drove into the wooden fencing of the boar pen and Dulvarna could not help but flinch at the loud thuds. Something had to be done about the archers and she knew that she could not reach them from here. Turning around, intending to speak to Lavren and Litiraan, she found that the former had already vanished and the latter was looking down the southern passage as though considering whether to follow him.

“Come on,” Dulvarna urged, starting down the passage. “The others can hold things here.” Together, the woman and the elf started after Lavren, hoping as he did that the passage truly did lead to another way into the chamber. Otherwise it would likely bring more trouble upon them all.

An arrow drove into Erlmoor’s left arm and he cried out as burning pain seared up the limb. Telkya glanced over her shoulder, concerned that her companion was badly hurt but as the dragonborn tore the shaft from his flesh with a grimace, she turned back to the hyena before her. It darted to her left and then made to move right but she anticipated this move and stabbed out with her blade. The sword tore into the fur and flesh of the beast’s left shoulder and it yelped again. Another arrow clattered into the wall beside Telkya and as she glanced towards it, the hyena sprang. Telkya raised her arm to fend off the beast but it sank its teeth into her wrist and tore a wound before she shook it from her and it dropped to the floor. She swung out with her sword to make sure that her arm was still useable and was pleased to find that it was. For how long, she wondered. If the hyenas did not bring her down then surely the gnoll archers would. She looked behind for the reassuring presence of Dulvarna and saw that the warrior woman, her brother and Lavren were gone. Hoping that this was a good sign, she turned back to the creature before her and raised her sword.

Erlmoor roared again, partly in pain and partly in anger, and then raised his deep voice in prayer to Lathander. he brought his blade down then and as he did so, it glowed with bright, golden light, and then clove into the hyena’s shoulders, laying it low. With a yelp, the beats twisted aside at the last moment and avoided being cut in half but it was sorely wounded now. When it turned back to Erlmoor it was desperate and growled defiantly. With what must have been the last of its strength, it leapt at the dragonborn, only to be knocked aside by one of the tall paladin’s elbows. Again the hyena rolled to its feet but it was shrinking back now and Erlmoor knew that it was all but beaten. As it came forward once more, Enlishia stepped forward and met the beast with her blade.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 15 - Blackfangs (Part 2)*

Lavren turned the bend in the passage and was confronted by thick, wooden double doors identical to the ones led into the chamber to the north. Hoping that these led to the same place, the elf turned the iron handles as softly as he could and gently pulled the doors open. Sure enough, beyond the doors lay the southern end of the chamber with four gnolls crouched behind a barrier of hay bales with bows in their clawed hands. Lavren raised his wand and, picking the nearest gnoll, began to curse it softly in elven. Black, crackling energy lanced out and at this, the gnolls reacted. The one that Lavren had aimed at twisted to one side and the eldritch energy blasted into the hay bale barrier, knocking one bale forward and setting a part of it alight. The gnoll turned and loosed the arrow that it had nocked to its bowstring towards Lavren. The elf could barely react and the shaft drove painfully into his shoulder. Lavren slumped against the left hand side of the door frame as the gnoll clambered over the hay bale barrier to the other side. Another gnoll turned and raised its bow. A second arrow flew straight and true, driving into Lavren’s left leg and drawing a pained cry from his lips. His leg gave way and he slid down the wall a little as blood poured from both wounds. The second gnoll clambered over the barrier and Lavren cursed himself silently for his recklessness. Only then did he see Dulvarna and Litiraan coming down the passage towards him and he knew he was saved.

Dulvarna nodded at Lavren as she passed him and then charged into the chamber with her sword held high. Litiraan rushed into the room behind her, leveling his wand at the nearest gnoll and loosing a silver bolt that drove into the hay bales next to the canine creature. The gnoll cackled and then clambered over the barrier after its companions. It raised its bow once it was crouched on the other side and loosed an arrow that drove into Litiraan’s shoulder. The elf fell back against the south wall of the chamber and with a grunt of pain, looked sympathetically towards Lavren. The warlock smiled at the wizard and together, they reached for the shafts that protruded from their bodies, ready to yank them from their flesh.

Enlishia’s blade came down but the wounded hyena darted back with surprising speed and evaded the heavy sword. Behind her, Telkya lashed out with her sword but her own foe leapt back and evaded the blow. The priestess’s blade struck the stone wall and she waited for the arrow that inevitably followed but it did not come. Glancing to her left, Telkya saw that the gnolls now faced the rest of her companions and were hard pressed. One lashed out wildly with a hand-axe  and gouged a wound in Dulvarna’s shoulder but the rest had clambered over the barrier to escape from this new attack. Telkya sensed movement from the hyena then and turned back to face her foe. It leapt at her and she ducked low, slamming her shoulder into the beast’s chest and knocking it back to the floor before her. She took a step forward and raised her blade, ready to finish off her foe.

Erlmoor brought his blade down again as the wounded hyena lunged at him desperately again. His blade struck its flank and threw the beast against the wall but still it dived forward and seized his leg. As it bit into his calf, the dragonborn raise his leg and shook the beast off but though it was even more sorely hurt now, the creature rolled to its feet and made ready to come forward again. With a clang, Enlishia threw down her sword behind Erlmoor and unshouldered her bow, retreating from the ravenous hyena. As the beast came forward, first one arrow, and then a second, drove into its skull and it fell forward to land at Erlmoor’s feet. The paladin said a prayer for the desperate creature and then raised his blade to face the next hyena as it rushed at him.

Lavren yanked the arrows from his shoulder and his leg and despite the terrible pain, he limped forward into the chamber with his wand and his sword in hand. With a few words, he loosed more black, crackling energy towards his foe on the far side of the barrier and this time, his aim was true. The black lightning drove into the shoulder of the gnoll and threw him back from the barrier. The gnoll loosed an arrow but the shaft flew over the elf’s head and clattered into the wall behind him. Another gnoll levelled its bow over the barrier and loosed an arrow into Dulvarna’s hip from close range, drawing a pained cry from the warrior woman. Dulvarna turned her pain into a guttural roar and then lashed out low with her blade, cutting into the thigh of the gnoll before her. He pitched to the right and fell back against the barrier as Litiraan and another gnoll exchanged missiles across the barrier, neither hitting their target. Dulvarna stepped forward grimly, heedless to the battles that her companions fought. Her foe would die at her feet, her eyes promised, and the gnoll shrank back with its axe held desperately before it.

Telkya lashed out with her sword but the hyena darted forward under the blade and then leapt, its teeth seizing her arm above the elbow. The force of its leap drove her back a step but she managed to twist to the right and shake the hyena from her arm. To her left, Erlmoor roared and leapt over the fallen hyena to get at its pack-mate behind it. His blade sang out and tore into the beast’s muzzle drawing a yelp from it and driving it back. The hyena growled, crouched low and then rushed at the dragonborn, leaping up to seize his arm. Erlmoor twisted to the left and slammed the hyena into the chamber wall and forced it to release its grip. With another yelp, the beast dropped to the floor and twisted around to face its enemy once more.

Lavren loosed another bolt of black energy but the gnoll crouched down below the bales and the blast flew over its head, striking the fence of the boar pen behind. The gnoll rose again with an arrow nocked and let fly, the shaft flying straight and true. It drove into Lavren’s hip and twisted him around to the right into the wall beside him. He grunted and looked down to his new wound before raising his wand and sword again.


----------



## Medriev

*Chapter 15 - Blackfangs (Part 3)*

Dulvarna ducked right as the gnoll beyond the hay bales loosed another arrow towards her. The shaft flew past her and clattered into the wall uncomfortably close to where Litiraan stood. Dulvarna raised her blade and wove it back and forth before her as the gnoll she faced held its axe before it. Suddenly, she darted forward, Aecris before her, thrust high towards the gnoll’s throat. He foe raised his axe too slowly and Dulvarna drove her blade drove through his throat. The gnoll fell at the warrior woman’s feet with blood spewing from its mouth.

A second arrow clattered into the wall next to Litiraan and he ducked right instinctively. Raising his wand, he loosed another silver bolt quickly towards the gnoll but his aim was wild and the bolt flew high and wide into the left wall of the chamber. Suddenly, a bold idea struck the elf and with a smile, he started forward towards the hay bales. His enemies were lined up before him and he knew exactly what to do when that happened.

Enlishia stepped back through the doorway with an arrow nocked to her bow and looked around for a target to strike at. She picked out the hyena battling Telkya at once and raised her bow. She took aim for a moment and then loosed the arrow, the shaft driving into the shoulder of the beast. Swiftly and fluidly, she reached for another arrow, nocked and released with barely a pause. This time, the hyena ducked forward and the arrow flew an inch high over the beast’s back. Telkya did not even look back to acknowledge the aid that the ranger had provided. Instead, she simply dived forward herself, her blade leading, and drove the point into the hyena’s spine. With a pained, final yelp, the hyena slumped to the floor and the priestess’s feet. Only now turning to nod her thanks to Enlishia, Telkya stepped over the fallen hyena and raised her blade to meet the next beast behind the fallen one.

Erlmoor lashed out at the hyena before him but the beast ducked low and dived at his leg, seizing the limb with its teeth. The dragonborn cursed and twisted the leg left and right until finally the hyena let go. Looking back quickly to see how Telkya and Enlishia fared, the dragonborn strode forward, determined to drive back the last of his foes. With a roar of defiance he lashed out with his blade and to his satisfaction, the hyena backpedalled away from him.

Lavren uttered a new curse as he pushed himself off the wall and as he raised his wand, two mauve bolts seared from it. One struck the gnoll before him and sent it reeling while the second flew towards another gnoll beyond the hay bales. The second bolt missed and as the elf cursed, the gnoll before him recovered and levelled its bow. It let fly an arrow that drove into Lavren’s right shoulder and drove him back a step. Gritting his teeth through the pain, he stepped forward again and raised wand and sword before him.

Dulvarna sheathed her sword and ducked to the right as an arrow flashed past. She unshouldered her new bow and nocked an arrow to it before taking aim on the gnoll across the bales from her. She loosed an arrow and the gnoll ducked down but it was just not quick enough. The arrow tore through the gnoll’s left ear and drew a yelp of pain from the creature. 
Litiraan loosed a silver bolt over the head of another gnoll but this foe came up again with its bow in its hands. It took a bead on the wizard and then loosed the arrow towards him. He tried to dodged but the shaft flew straight and true and drove into his left hip, forcing him back into the wall of the chamber. Litiraan cursed and looked down at the shaft before gritting his teeth and reaching for it, ready to tear this new missile from his flesh.

Enlishia came forward to the fence around the boar pen and raised her bow again. She aimed at Telkya’s new foe and loosed and arrow, the shaft droving into the side of the beast. The creature yelped and twisted around to the right, just as Enlishia loosed a second arrow. This shaft flew low and struck the inside of the fence around the pen. The boar squealed nervously and pulled on its chain towards the southern end of the pen. Telkya dived forward with a prayer on her lips and as her blade glowed brightly, she extended her left hand towards Erlmoor. A tendril of golden energy reached out and touched the paladin just as Telkya’s blade drove into the skull of the hyena before her. The beast fell and Erlmoor felt renewed strength flowing into him. Erlmoor turned and nodded his thanks to Telkya before stepping towards the hyena and bringing his blade down. His sword slashed down onto the hyena’ back but before it could be fatally wounded, the hyena wriggled out from under the blade. It darted at the dragonborn and he leapt back beyond the reach of the beast’s snapping jaws. Again he roared at the hyena and again the beast quailed before him.

Lavren loosed black energy again and again the gnoll ducked down behind the hay bales. A moment later, the gnoll rose from behind the barrier again and loosed and arrow but this time, its own aim was awry and the arrow clattered into the wall of the chamber behind the elf. A second gnoll rose form behind the barrier and loosed an arrow, this shaft aimed towards Dulvarna. The warrior woman dodged to her right but the arrow drove into her side, above her hip. She gasped and staggered but managed to raise her bow but when she loosed the arrow, the shot was weak and low. The arrow drove into the hay bales in front of the gnoll and the creature answered with cackling laughter.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 15 - Blackfangs (Part 4)*

Litiraan forward to stand beside Dulvarna then and began to chant a spell while weaving his wand before him. As the incantation reached its climax, he extended his wand and from it poured a curtain of flame that engulfed the hay bales and the gnolls beyond them. With yips and yelps of pain, the hyenas ducked down and slapped at their armour and clothes as they caught fire but the hay barrier they could not save. Dulvarna looked over at Litiraan and smiled, knowing that he had removed the barrier. She threw down her bow and reached for her blade but as she did so, an arrow drove into the elf’s chest and drove him staggering back from her. He wanly smiled back and then nodded, urging her forward. With her own nod, she raised her blade and charged the gnolls.

Enlishia and Telkya rushed around the boar pen, stepping over the fallen hyenas as they went. Enlishia paused and turned back towards Erlmoor, raising her bow towards the beast he battled. She loosed an arrow and then a second with out watching where the first went. Both flew straight and true into the throat of the hyena and dropped it at Erlmoor’s feet. Again dragonborn nodded his thanks and then raised his blade to charged at the gnolls. As he started forward, Telkya crossed the chamber ahead of him, a prayer on her lips. She raised her left hand and a bolt of light seared out to strike on of the gnolls in the back and pitch it forward. Erlmoor charged the gnolls and roared as he came, unleashing a spray of acid from his mouth. The gnolls half-turned and then threw their arms over their heads in desperate efforts to protect themselves. Realising they were being attacked from both sides now, panic set in. Some reached for the jagged-bladed axes at their belts while others raised their bows, determined to keep loosing arrows for as long as they could.

Lavren loosed more black energy over the head of one gnoll while another threw down its bow and ran at Telkya with a wicked-looking axe in its right hand. The priestess raised her blade but at the last moment, the gnoll twisted its axe under her guard and slashed the jagged blade into her side. She gasped and staggered back towards a pair of doors in the chamber’s western wall. Another gnoll rose before Lavren and loosed an arrow towards the elf. Lavren saw the shaft being let fly and he knew he could do nothing to escape it. An instant later, the arrow drove into his throat and drove the air from his mouth. With a gasp, he felt blood filling his throat and collapsed sideways into the wall of the chamber.
Dulvarna let out another guttural roar and leapt forward onto the dying embers of the hay bales. The barrier collapsed beneath her and landed on her feet amongst the hot ashes. She swung out with her blade, splitting the breastplate of the gnoll before her and driving the point on into the chest of the nearest gnoll. With a gasp and a strangled yelp, the gnoll sank to his knees and then fell down face first into the burning ruin of the hay bale barrier. 

Behind Dulvarna, Litiraan summoned the last of his strength and loosed another silver bolt from his wand. It lanced out and seared into the chest of the last gnoll at the barrier, driving it back and away from the burning hay. The gnoll growled and raised his bow as panic rose in Litiraan. Just as he felt he would surely fall to the next arrow, a feathered shaft drove through the gnoll’s throat from the back and the creature pitched forward into the blackened and burning hay. At the far end of the chamber, Enlishia smiled and started off around the boar pen once more.
Telkya stabbed and slashed at the gnoll but each time her enemy parried her attacks expertly and she realised quickly that she was outclassed. The gnoll grinned for a moment but then it looked to its right and its toothy grin vanished. Erlmoor’s blade came in high from the gnoll’s right and it simply ducked without parrying. He lashed out at Telkya again, the jagged blade tearing into her left arm and spinning her away. The gnoll twisted to the right then as it sensed a knew enemy and Dulvarna’s blade stabbed past its left side mere inches away. The gnoll grinned again, enjoying outwitting its opponents but it knew it could not last. A moment later an arrow flew in from the left and drove deep into its stomach. It yelped and gasped but even as it bent forward, a second shaft flew in and this drove into the side of its neck. The gnoll gasped again and then pitched forward onto the floor at the feet of its enemies.

*Next......Baphomet's Shrine*


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## Medriev

*Chapter 16 - Baphomet's Shrine (Part 1)*

Lavren woke to a smiling Telkya leaning over him and despite the pain of his wounds and the dry soreness of his throat, he felt his heart sing.
“We prevailed then,” he said as loudly as his torn throat could muster.
“Aye, we prevailed,” Telkya answered. “And you played your part as you always do.”
“And now we go on,” said Enlishia, shouldering her bow. “More doors lead east from the passage we came down. We need to see what lurks there before we can rest.”
“Enlishia is right,” said Litiraan to Lavren. “If you can go on, we must.”

Lavren rose unsteadily with Telkya’s help, clinging to her for as long as he reasonably could before he bent to gather up his sword and wand that lay where they had fallen. Once he was ready, Dulvarna and Enlishia led them out of the eastern doors beyond the burned hay barricade and into the hallway beyond. They crossed the passage and Dulvarna pulled open the doors that led east to reveal the passageway beyond. With weapons and spells at the ready, the six companions started into the torch-lit hall. The corridor, hewn from black rock, seemed to connect three different areas and ahead it opened into a chamber , while along the eastern wall, closed doors could be seen, one single door and a set of double doors. Made of black wood, each door had an iron knocker carved in the shape of a minotaur’s snarling face while the flagstones on the floor each bore the symbol of a bull’s horned skull worked into them in blood red stone.
“Watch the doors,” hissed Dulvarna quietly. “We’ll check the far chamber first. If anything’s there we might surprise it.”

With wary looks towards the side doors to the east, the six companions crept southward down the torch-lit passageway and as they reached the chamber at the end, they rushed forward. There was a clattering of chairs as the chamber’s two occupants fell back from the table and for a moment, they seemed about to reach for the jagged-bladed short swords at their belts. Then, the two tieflings thought better of fighting when outnumbered and held up their hands, palms outward. Both were clad in close-fitting leather armour with crimson cloaks over their backs and the wicked-looking short swords they had almost drawn on their belts.
“We yield,” said the one on the left.
“Then tell us what awaits us in the side chambers,” hissed Telkya, stepping forward with her sword raised.

“In the far chamber lurks a gnoll who tends the shrine in the next chamber,” answered the same tiefling. “She is powerful in the dark arts and can call forth demons from the shrine. Beware her.”
“And why should we not beware you?” Enlishia challenged. “Surely you serve this gnoll and guard her shrine.”
“We serve the coin she pays us,” spoke the second tiefling honestly. “We do not seek death here, only gold.”
“Then be gone from here,” growled Erlmoor. “And may you choose your causes more carefully in the future lest we not be so forgiving when next we meet.”

The tieflings gathered up a backpack each and then moved warily past the companions. When they were out of the chamber, they fled northward and turned left through the double doors out of the complex without pausing or looking back. Grimly, Dulvarna nodded towards the northern door and started towards it.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 16 - Baphomet's Shrine (Part 2)*

Dulvarna raised her blade and leaned it against her left shoulder when she reached the northern door. She paused for a moment and then glanced at each of her companions in turn. When she decided all were ready, she reached out with her right hand and turned to iron handle to open the door. The handle creaked faintly and then Dulvarna had pulled the door open to reveal the chamber within. It was sparsely furnished with a bed and table with a wash basin and the remains of some food upon it. In the far corner was a chest while beside the bed, a black-furred gnoll was kneeling as though deep in prayer. Dulvarna raised her sword and started forward but as she did so, the gnoll turned and snarled, revealing an ornate bone headdress that covered her head and intertwined with the fur of her ebony mane. 
Dulvarna charged and lashed out with her blade, striking the kneeling gnoll in the right shoulder and pitching her over to her left. Enlishia followed, nocking an arrow to her bow as she came. She crossed the room behind Dulvarna and turned as she reached the far wall to loose her arrow. The first shaft drove into the straw mattress of the bed but the second pierced the gnoll’s arm and drew forth a screech of pain from the creature. Litiraan was next into the chamber, lashing out with his left hand as he came and loosing a silver bolt from his wand into the gnoll. Telkya came behind her brother and circled around the gnoll before darting forward with her blade before her. The elf-crafted blade drove into the gnoll’s shoulder but still, the terrible creature pushed herself to her feet. With both hands raised above her, the gnoll screeched out what could only be an entreaty to the dark power she served while Dulvarna and Telkya stabbed at her anew.

Lavren rushed into the chamber and uttered a curse as he came, loosing a bolt of black energy at the gnoll as she twisted around, still screeching her prayer. The bolt flew wide and struck the wall behind the gnoll but Erlmoor followed the elf into the chamber with his blade held high. He roared and showered acid onto the gnoll before lashing out with his sword. The blade glowed brightly as it slashed into the gnoll’s belly and the priestess, if that was what she was, fell back towards the wall between her bed and the table. The gnoll looked down at her wounded belly but seemed unworried. While still screeching her terrible entreaty, she reached over her shoulders with both hands and drew forth a large, two-handed flail. Then, as her prayer reached its conclusion, the gnoll began to howl.

Dulvarna watched the flail as the gnoll began to twist it before her and weaved her blade back and forth between her and the gnoll. When she saw the smallest of chances, she darted forward and plunged Aecris into her enemy’s side. The gnoll lurched to her left and almost fell over onto her bed. On the other side of the cot, Enlishia appeared with her bow leveled. The gnoll half-turned towards the ranger and as Enlishia let fly an arrow, she ducked to her right. The shaft flew past the gnoll and clattered into the west wall of the chamber. The gnoll snarled and looked up to face the next arrow but she was too slow. Enlishia had already loosed the shaft and as the gnoll looked up, the arrow drove through her eye into her brain. With a gasp, the gnoll slumped over sideways onto the bed and lay still in a growing pool of her own blood.
“That was too easy,” said Litiraan as he started warily back towards the doorway. “Didn’t the tieflings say this gnoll could conjured demons from the shrine.”

The elf made his way out into the corridor and turned left towards the double doors that the tieflings had said led to the gnoll’s shrine. Telkya watched her brother leave the room, looked around at the others and then started nervously after him. As she reached Litiraan’s side in the corridor there was a loud noise from beyond the doors to the shrine that sounded almost like a whip cracking and the smell of brimstone wafted out from beneath the doors.
“I have a bad feeling about this,” said Telkya as a puff of smoke emerged from under the black wooden doors to the shrine.

Lavren rushed from the northern chamber and rushed toward the shrine doors. He reached out with both hands, seized the iron handles and pulled open the doors. Within was a creature from nightmare. The creature seemed at first to be a lumbering ape with mangy russet fur but as its oversized arms rippled with fiendish muscle, Lavren, Litiraan and Telkya knew that they faced something truly demonic. Its tusked visage was filled with the hate and fury of the Abyss and as it roared it flexed deadly claws and showed terrible fangs. It fixed its blood red eyes upon the three elves and began to lumber forward.

Lavren cursed desperately in elven but his hands shook as he raised his hand and the black blast of energy flew past the hulking demon to strike the far wall of the shrine. Erlmoor roared his own answer to the terrible creature and charged past Lavren to meet the demon inside the shrine but the beast was ready for him. It lashed out backhand with a huge clawed fist but Erlmoor ducked under the blow. The other claw swung in from the right forehand and the dragonborn leapt back beyond the reach of the swing. Dulvarna reached the entry to the chamber behind Lavren and looked around the corner. Before she started forward, she paused.
“Strike at it with arrow and spell while you have a chance,” she urged her companions. And they did as she bade them.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 16 - Baphomet's Shrine (Part 3)*

Litiraan loosed a silver bolt that flew past the raging demon while Telkya hurled her own golden bolt of divine energy that somehow, also missed the demon.. Lavren hurled another bolt of black, raging energy that struck the terrible creature but it seemed to be heedless to the wound and faught on. Only as Erlmoor raised his voice in prayer and swung out with his blade glowing with divine power did the demon pause. The blade slashed across the belly of the huge creature and the demon roared in anger and pain. It fixed its wrathful eyes on Erlmoor despite the pain of its wound and lashed out with one claw to slam the dragonborn into the wall of the shrine’s entryway. As the dragonborn reeled, the demon struck him with its other claw and sent him staggering back along the wall. Erlmoor staggered and all but fell but then Dulvarna charged to join the battle and he raised his blade to fight on beside her.

Dulvarna waited for another few moments as her friends loosed arrows and spells at the demon and she smiled with a mixture of pride and satisfaction as each missile struck home. The demon reeled and roared as a silver bolt, a golden one and then a blast of crackling black energy struck it in turn. Then an arrow from Enlishia’s bow drive into its chest and splintered there, driving shards of wood deep into its flesh. The demon let out a howl of pain and rage and in that moment, Dulvarna charged. She darted in low beneath the demon’s flailing arms and ducked around its mighty legs before slashing her blade across the backs of its thighs. Muscle, sinew, vein and artery tore open as Aecris did its bloody work and with the last of its how dying as it was, the demon pitched forward onto its knees. Dulvarna plunged her blade into the back of the demon’s head and it fell forward to land with a thud next to Erlmoor. The nervous visages of battle erupted into smiles on the faces of all six companions and with a deep sigh, Dulvarna finally allowed herself to feel how utterly tired she was.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 16 - Baphomet's Shrine (Part 4)*

Erlmoor held his blade before him as the heat of his surroundings assailed him. He stood on an island of black basalt linked by bridges of the same rock to other islands and between all flowed lava and flame. Sulphur-laden smoke belched from the molten rock and seared his mouth and nostrils but he stood with his head held high. From his left came a terrible bloated creature with a tooth-filled maw and a black sword in one hand. It rushed at him and Erlmoor saw that more came behind the ferocious creature. He sang out deeply to Lathander, knowing that the Morninglord would protect him as he always had, even here. It was the Morninglord that had steered him south from Io’vanthor to Cormyr and it was the Morninglord who had brought Erlmoor to his house in Eveningstar as a youngling to find his faith and his purpose.

The dragonborn roared and breathed acid, felling three of the demons but more were coming now, crossing other bridges, some larger, some smaller and some that resembled beasts. Some even came that resembled the ape-demon that Dulvarna had slain in the shrine to Baphomet. Surely he could not stand here, the dragonborn  thought to himself but still he sang out and his blade swung left and right, cutting down a demon with each blow. Blood and severed limbs covered the basalt island but still Erlmoor swung out left and right with his blade while his enemies kept coming. 
Without realising, he slew every enemy before him and began to look around for more. He turned left and right desperately but could find no more foes. Just as he began to turn his mind to escaping the terrible place he had found himself in, a huge shadow fell over him. He turned and looked up to behold a vision from his worst nightmares. A foul and corpulent demon stood over him on powerful goat legs with a desiccated that looked like the horrific distortion of a ram’s head. The creature’s great black wings stirred up a reeking cloud of diseased air and Erlmoor knew that this terrible creature was somewhere between life and undeath. The beast’s body was sore-ridden and reeked of disease but his head and glowing red eyes reminded the dragonborn of the undead he had faught in the Keep and beneath Thunderspire. Behind the creature, its thick, spiny tail was in constant motion while in its right hand it carried a huge mace tipped with an enormous skull. Erlmoor raised his blade to face his worst nightmare and then he jerked awake, realising with sudden relief that his worst nightmare was all that the creature was.

Erlmoor looked around trying to quickly shake off the confusion of his dream and gauge where he was. The doors at the end of the corridor beyond the gnoll mess hall were still barred with the two tables and pile of chairs that the companions had dragged from the chamber the night before. He looked toward the southern corridor and listened for any sound of disturbance or battle but he heard nothing. He sat up on the mattress that had been dragged from the gnoll bunk room to the east and looked over to where Telkya and Lavren had been sleeping on their own mattresses, close together but not too close. Both were awake and Telkya was clutching Lavren in her arms while the warlock wept like a child.

“Bad dreams?” Erlmoor asked.
“You could say that,” answered Lavren, wiping tears from his eyes with his sleeve as he realised the dragonborn was awake.
“Who’s Sumith?” Telkya asked, drawing back a little from Lavren as he began to recover. “You were calling the name.”
“An old friend,” answered Lavren. “I’ll explain another time.”
“When you’re ready,” answered Telkya softly. “We should probably go and check on the others.”

The southern chamber, where the boar was still penned and the hay barricade had been was also secure but Dulvarna, Enlishia and Litiraan who had rested there were as shaken as the rest. Dulvarna seemed to have had the most terrible dreams and her face was tear-streaked as Lavren’s had been. None would talk about all that they had seen but they shared enough to learn that each saw demons and glimpses of the Abyss.
“This is a dark and terrible place,” rumbled Erlmoor. “The sooner we leave here, the better it will be for all of us.”
“Then we must go back to the chamber of blood where the spirits spoke to us,” said Telkya quietly. “And choose our onward path from there.”
“Agreed,” said Erlmoor.

Dulvarna only nodded, seemingly still stunned by the visions that had plagued her during the night. Without a word, she started towards the doors and began hauling down the table and chairs that had been used to bar the western doors.
“We must free the boar before we leave,” said Enlishia then, surprising them all. “I have tended to its wounds during the dark watches of the night, before the dreams came to me as well. It knows we are not enemies.”
“Then free it and bid it find its way home or out of the mountain,” said Telkya. “It will die if we leave it here.”

While the others brought down the barricade, Enlishia unfastened the chain that held the huge boar. When it was free, she leaned on it and stroked it softly, speaking quiet words and making gentle sounds. Once the doors were pulled open, the huge beast lumbered towards the portals. With a last turn of its head to look back at Enlishia and thank her, the boar walked away into the shadowy darkness of the western tunnel. Drawing their weapons and readying spells and prayers, the companions started forward after the mighty beast.

*Next.....The Howling Pillars*


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## Medriev

*Chapter 17 - The Howling Pillars (Part 1)*

“Nice place,” Lavren remarked, his dark humour slowly returning after the terrors of the night’s sleep. They had returned to the chamber where the blood stained the floor and when the spirits had not appeared, they had turned eastward. Passing though another blood stained shrine chamber, they had taken doors that led west into a passage and at the southern end of that passage, they had found the chamber in which they now stood.

A portcullis that had rusted open barred the western end of the chamber that opened onto the passageway while the room curved around to the south and then back to the west. Throughout, skeletons were chained to the walls, seemingly having died from terrible tortures and injuries. Though they had entered warily, fearing more undead such as they had faced in the crypt below the Keep, the skeletons remained unheeding and unmoving of the presence of the companions. In the eastern wall stood an iron door with a stone minotaur’s head protruding like a gargoyle from the lintel. Small runes were engraved around the edges of the door but no sign of any handle or way of opening it could be seen.

“Perhaps some magical trigger opens the door,” said Telkya as she examined the runes by the light of Litiraan’s wand. “We need to know more of this place before we come back here. Let us move on.”
“Agreed,” answered Lavren. “Whatever opens this door is not here.”
“Or perhaps part of it is,” said Dulvarna. “The Book of Wrath Unveiled that we found on the altar of the Shrine of Baphomet. If that were the book that the ghosts spoke to us of then we need to find the three other items to trigger whatever should happen here. Perhaps the door opening is part of that.” 

The others looked over at Dulvarna with sudden realisation. They had all forgotten the book they had recovered from the altar of the shrine the night before. The night’s dreams had driven such thoughts from them. Lavren looked down at the black gloves he now wore which they had found in the chest next to the bed of the gnoll priestess. Litiraan was convinced that they were enchanted with the power of the Shadowfell and so refused to where them. Lavren had no such compunctions.
“You may be right,” said Enlishia. “Regardless, we have no need to stay here.”
“This way,” rumbled Erlmoor and he started off down the western branch of the room towards another set of double doors.

The doors emerged into a corridor leading south from the place that the ghosts had called the Proving Grounds. Erlmoor turned left down it and the others followed the dragonborn’s lead. The passage ended at a set of double doors made of dark wood with iron ring handles set in them. He leaned his sword against his shoulder and grabbed one ring while Dulvarna seized the other. Together, they turned the iron rings and pulled the doors open. 
A hot blast of damp air washed over the six companions as the doors opened. The room beyond the doors was carved from black rock while here and there, pillars formed of piled bodies stretched from floor to ceiling. Gibbering mouths, darting eyes, and squirming arms that ended in taloned hands moved within the strange and terrible columns of flesh. As one, the forms within the pillars let loose a mournful howl.
“Our nightmares have become real,” said Enlishia as she drew back her bowstring and started forward into the chamber.
“Mine were much worse,” said Lavren as he started forward after her, sword in one hand and wand in the other.

For the moment, Dulvarna seemed rooted to the spot, unable to drive her feet forward to walk into the nightmare that now faced her. Enlishia and Lavren meanwhile, passed through the first chamber beyond the doors and moved southward through an archway into another chamber beyond. Litiraan followed them, clutching his own sword and wand and Telkya went after her brother leaving only Erlmoor and Dulvarna still in the doorway.
“Come, friend, this is reality not dreams,” rumbled the dragonborn as started forward. “Our blades can make reality bleed far better than they can in our dreams.”

The dragonborn turned left towards an eastern chamber and as he looked back over his shoulder, he saw Dulvarna smile and turn to follow him. They passed into an irregularly shaped room to the east and saw that another archway opened to the south of this chamber and led into another shrine. Atop the altar which was carved with bull’s heads and minotaurs, sat a large golden bell, engraved with glyphs.
“The bell,” said Dulvarna. “The second of the treasures the ghosts said we must recover.” 

She started forward but as she did so, the pillar nearest the altar gave forth a terrible roar. From within its flesh burst a huge demonic figure that was familiar to both woman and dragonborn. It was orange-furred and ape-like as the one at the shrine the night before had been. It roared and turned its terrible red eyes upon the two intruders. Elsewhere, Dulvarna heard another roar and knew that at least one other demon had come forth to battle them. Then all the pillars began to scream with rage and the very air around the terrible structures of flesh warped. Dulvarna felt herself wrenched forward and was suddenly standing next to the pillar from which the ape-demon had emerged. The terrible creature roared and fixed its red eyes on her as it raised its terrible clawed hands to strike her down. Dulvarna looked back, expecting Erlmoor to be rushing to her aid but the dragonborn was gone, apparently hurled from the chamber and leaving Dulvarna alone.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 17 - The Howling Pillars (Part 2)*

Enlishia heard a roar erupt from the pillar behind her and turned just as a demon burst from the closest pillar in the entry chamber. Though it walked on two legs, the creature that emerged seemed more beast than biped. Its arms were too large for its body and ended in enormous claws while sharp tusks jutted from its lower jaw. In its eyes an unholy fire burned while its skin was an angry shade of crimson. With another roar, it rushed at Enlishia, lashing out with one of its clawed hands. The ranger ducked and leapt back a step, desperately trying to draw back her bow. Then, the pillars began to scream in rage and the air around them began to warp. 

Enlishia glanced over her shoulder and saw Telkya and Litiraan vanish before her eyes and retreated another step from the demon before her. She drew back her bow and loosed an arrow at the creature and before it had struck home, she was reaching over her shoulder for another shaft. As the first arrow drove into the demon’s shoulder, she loosed a second that pierced its left arm. The creature roared and rushed towards her but Lavren was still beside Enlishia and he raised his wand. The elf uttered a curse in elven and black, crackling energy seared into the demon’s left side, driving it off balance. It staggered to its right and then lurched towards the ranger and the warlock with carnage in its eyes. Enlishia panicked and reached for another arrow but she new she could not loose it in time.

When the nauseating warping of the pillars stopped, Litiraan found himself standing beside Erlmoor near the first of the pillars close to the doors to the entry chamber. The pillar roared, almost as though it were reacting to the return of these two interlopers and from its writhing flesh, it disgorged another of the crimson-skinned demons. The creature turned on the spot and lashed out at Litiraan, catching the disorientated wizard on the side of the head and slamming him into the pillar. Other roars resounded around the complex of chambers as more terrible demons erupted from the pillars of flesh.

Light exploded before Litiraan’s eyes but he reached out for the pillar with both hands nevertheless, keeping hold of sword and wand as he did so. Using hands, blade and wand, he pushed himself away from the pillar and reeled back towards the entryway where the double doors stood open. Leveling his wand to where he thought the demon was, he mumbled a spell and loosed a silver bolt. A scream from the many mouths of the pillar told him that he had struck the unsightly column of flesh and not the demon he had hoped to hit. As his eyes cleared, he saw the demon turn its red eyes towards him but then Erlmoor roared and for a moment, Litiraan was spared.

Erlmoor rounded the pillar and roared again, spraying acid over the demon and forcing it to recoil. He raised his voice in a chanted prayer to Lathander then and brought his blade down to cleave open the demon’s shoulder. The red-skinned creature roared its anger and leapt back beyond the reach of the dragonborn’s next blow. Litiraan silently thanked Corellon for the dragonborn’s intervention and felt some hope return. But then he remembered that Telkya had vanished.

Telkya reeled as she reappeared between two of the pillars of flesh with Dulvarna just ahead of her. An ape-like demon much as the one they had slain in the shrine faught the warrior woman and was pressing her back. A moment later, Telkya heard roars from the pillars next to her and knew that her own doom had come to claim her.

A crimson skinned demon burst from the pillar to Telkya’s right first and she ducked as a clawed hand swung out but she was too slow. The claw struck the back of her head and sent her staggering forward into the archway that led through to the shrine. She turned, raising her sword, as another demon burst from the other pillar and leapt at her. This creature, too, swung out with a clawed hand but this time, Telkya was quicker and ducked under the blow. She stabbed her sword into the armpit of the demon on the left and then leapt back towards Dulvarna. 

Telkya wondered for a moment whether she was right to draw her enemies towards Dulvarna’s blade. She could be dooming them both. Just as quickly as the doubts arose, she decided that this was her only chance. Even with all the help that Corellon could give her, she could not slay two demons alone. Telkya looked back over her shoulder and saw Dulvarna dart forward and twist around the back of the ape-demon. She slashed across one hamstring but before she could slash the other, the beast turned and slammed a shovel-sized claw into the warrior woman’s shoulder, sending her reeling. It lashed out with its other claw and Dulvarna ducked. Wounded and dazed, Dulvarna lifted her blade and faught on.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 17 - The Howling Pillars (Part 3)*

The demon leapt at Enlishia but even as it did, she heard a roar from the pillar behind her and knew what was coming. Another of the crimson-skinned creature burst forth from the flesh there and leapt at the ranger. A claw lashed out and Enlishia ducked, the huge limb stirring her short hair as it passed over her head. The demon in front of her saw its chance and rushed at her, leading with its shoulder. The creature slammed into the ranger, driving the breath from her and forcing her back towards her other enemy. At the last, Enlishia ducked and twisted away to her right just as the demon behind her, reached out for her. She turned on the spot, put her back to the wall next to an archway that led eastward into the shrine chamber and let loose an arrow.

The shaft drove into the leg of the closest demon but it was barely slowed and leapt towards her. Lavren raised his wand and uttered a curse, loosing a bolt of black, crackling, eldritch energy at the other demon. The blast struck the demon in the chest but it did not even falter. Instead it laughed, a terrible, menacing laugh that promised death to all it mocked. The two demons leapt forward together as Enlishia nocked another arrow to her bow and Lavren raised his sword. Then the pillars of flesh opened their mouths and disgorged streams of acid. A burst of acid struck Enlishia’s left arm and as pain seared up the limb, she screamed and fell back against the wall behind her. The demon to her left was upon her a moment later but his claw flailed wildly, striking the stone above her head. She had survived, she realised dimly through the dizzying pain of her wounded arm. The only question was for how long.

A stream of acid struck Litiraan’s left arm as he raised it to protect himself and he fell back into the doorway as pain tore through him. Two streams struck the demon but it seemed to ignore the acid and roared as Erlmoor ducked one stream only to be hit by a second from the southern of the chamber’s two pillars. Erlmoor channeled the pain into rage and roared back the demon as the terrible, crimson-skinned creature rushed at him again. The creature lashed out with its left arm and the dragonborn ducked under the clawed hand that reached out for him. 

Beyond the pillar, Litiraan raised his shaking left arm despite the pain of the burned skin and flesh. He pointed his wand at the demon and uttered a spell that unleashed a curtain of flame to engulf the demon. As the fire burned the crimson-skin of the demon, Erlmoor leapt back and began to utter his own prayer. As the flames cleared and the demon began to roar his defiance he held his sword up with one hand and reached out with the other. Searing ribbons of light engulfed the demon and it screamed then in true pain as the divine power of Lathander touched its Abyss-spawned flesh. It turned its head and fixed Erlmoor with its piercing red eyes, promising a painful death to the dragonborn for the pain that he had inflicted.

Telkya was still retreating towards Dulvarna when the mouths of the two flesh pillars in front of her opened and began to spray acid. More spayed from the pillar behind her and though she held up her arms to protect herself, it did her no good. The burning liquid seared into the flesh of her arms, splashed her face and tore into her back as the pillar behind her, close to where Dulvarna faught the ape-demon, vomited forth its own terrible bile. She looked up as tendrils of vapor rose from the flesh of her right cheek and drew some satisfaction from the fact that the demons before her were cringing and cowering themselves as the acid struck them. They roared in pain and as another roar joined them from behind her, Telkya knew that the ape-demon had been similarly wounded. She risked a glance over her shoulder and saw that Dulvarna’s right arm had been blackened and burned by the acid but the warrior woman was gritting her teeth and holding her sword up before her. Then another roar drew Telkya’s attention back to the demons she faced and grimly, despite the pain she felt, she raised her sword to defend herself.

The demon from the left came first and leapt upon Telkya in a fierce fury, slapping her to the ground with its clawed hand and then plunging its fiercesome teeth into her arm as she tried to defend herself. Telkya heard her acid-burned arm break with a loud crack and cried out as more pain lanced up to her shoulder. Desperately she shuffled backwards along the floor as the second demon came forward and as it brought its clawed hands down, she leapt to her feet and beyond its reach. It lunged at her with its teeth, apparently sensing that she was badly hurt. Telkya was still quick enough, though, to leap back again and the demon’s teeth slammed into the wall as it was thrown off balance. Telkya’s voice sang out in a prayer to Corellon and as it reached a conclusion, her blade glowed brightly and she stabbed at the unbalanced demon. The blade drove into the creature’s side and it reared back while a glowing radiance enveloped Telkya and gave her back a small amount of her strength. She raised her voice in another healing prayer as she retreated towards Dulvarna and felt another sting of pain as the bone in her arm cracked back into place and began to knit back together. The pain of her burns began to fade and some strength returned to her. Dulvarna glanced over at her and Telkya smiled. The warrior woman smiled back and then turned back to her demon enemy.

Dulvarna roared her own defiance and rushed at the ape-demon, her blade weaving back and forth in a dance to deceive the creature’s fiendish mind. As her blade moved left, Dulvarna suddenly darted right and brought Aecris with her, driving the greatsword into the demon’s hip. It staggered and fell back against the wall behind it. Dulvarna came forward after it and slashed out with her blade, cutting into the beast’s belly, leaving a deep and bleeding wound. The ape-demon roared in pain and anger and lashed out with a huge backhand that smashed Dulvarna hard into the wall of the archway. As she still gasped for breath, the demon came forward and smashed down with its other fist onto Dulvarna’s chest. Pain exploded through her body and she felt ribs crack beneath the huge blow. The demon roared its triumph and raised both fists for a killing blow. Dulvarna lay at its feet, helpless to prevent her own doom.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 17 - The Howling Pillars (Part 4)*

Lavren reeled backwards as the crimson-skinned demon rushed at him and struck him forehand with its clawed hand. He reached out to the wall next to him to steady himself and felt a wave of nausea assail him. He struggled through the urge to vomit and pushed himself upright just as the terrible flesh pillars began to scream in familiar rage once more. Lavren looked over at Enlishia just as the air began to shimmer around her and then in an instant, both the ranger and the demon she had been fighting had vanished.

Lavren returned his attention to the demon that shared the chamber with him and raised his sword. As he did so, he saw two arrows drive into the side of the red-skinned creature and throw it to the right a step. Enlishia had to have reappeared in the entry chamber, he realised, and as he leapt back to put his back against the wall, he knew he had a chance to fell this demon as it stood alone against he and the ranger.

Hastily, Lavren hissed a curse in elven and loosed a bolt of crackling black energy from the wand in his left hand, infused with the power of the Shadowfell that flowed through the gloved he wore. The bolt seared into the demon’s chest and sent it staggering back away from the elf. He stepped forward and loosed another bolt, this one of eldritch fire but the demon was not strong enough to resist a second spell. The bolt seared through its breastbone and pierced whatever dark ember served the creature as a heart. The demon let forth one last anguished roar and then fell forward to land at Lavren’s feet. The elf smiled to himself and rushed through the archway into the entry chamber. His arrival was greeted by a fiercesome roar even greater than that of the demon that had just fallen. Enlishia glanced towards Lavren as she retreated into the archway and Lavren stopped, sword and wand wavering in his hands as he looked upon the might of the ape-demon, shifted by the pillars as the companions had been.

Erlmoor felt the nauseating shift as the pillars screamed in rage and found himself a heartbeat later facing an archway with an altar beyond it. On the altars sat the glyph-covered, golden bell and before it, Litiraan had appeared, seemingly as dazed as the others. Erlmoor started to call out to the elf but as he did so, a demon appeared before him and roars filled the air behind him. He turned on the spot and saw that her was surrounded. To his left, close to the flesh pillar against the eastern wall of the chamber, Telkya and Dulvarna had appeared but they were beyond his reach. For now, the dragonborn stood alone.

Erlmoor ducked as a claw lashed out towards his neck and felt the tearing weapons whistle through the air above his head. He rose quickly but as he did so, another demon rounded the pillar next to him and backhanded him across the face, sending him reeling. Another struck him across the back, its claws driving his armour into his flesh and spinning him back towards the other demons. More claws lashed out, one grabbing his arm and dragging him towards the slavering maw of one of the demons. Erlmoor pushed out with both elbows and freed himself leaving the jaws of the demon to snap shut on empty air.
“Take the bell and get it out of here,” Erlmoor called out to Litiraan desperately and the elf heard him.

Litiraan reached out for the bell and grasped its bone handle, carefully avoiding the sharp, steel spikes set along its length. Even as he grasped it, the spikes seemed to change position and stab outwards, driving themselves into his hand as though to secure themselves there. Litiraan’s blood flowed down over the bone handle and he cried out but he knew he had to escape with the bell and turned to flee westward, staggering out of the altar chamber.

Erlmoor saw the elf leave and smiled to himself before raising his voice in prayer to Lathander. He thanked the Morninglord for Litiraan’s bravery and offered up his own life to save his companions from this terrible place. As his blade glowed brightly, he plunged it into the chest of one of the demons and with a terrible roar, the creature stumbled backwards and fell against the archway that led into the altar chamber. The other demons roared their anger and moved forward to bring down the troublesome paladin once and for all but then Telkya and Dulvarna joined the battle.

Telkya raised her left hand high and chanted a prayer to Corellon that brought down a column of divine light upon the nearest demon. The creature roared and spat as the divine fire burned it and then Dulvarna rushed at it with her blade raised above her head. Aecris came down and split the creature’s shoulder, driving down into its chest but still the demon would not fall. With a roar that mixed pain and defiance, the creature turned its terrible gaze on this new foe and prepared to smite her with its terrible claws.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 17 - The Howling Pillars (Part 5)*

Enlishia raised her bow and nocked an arrow as the ape-demon towered over her but she knew that she did not have enough time. A club-like fist swung out and she ducked but when the other fist came in from the left she was too slow. The claws struck her shoulder, tore into the flesh and spun her around into the archway that led southwards out of the room. Despite the pain, Enlishia raised her bow and took aim at the demon, but then the pillars of flesh began to scream in rage again and the ranger braced herself for what she knew was coming next. Trying desperately to root herself to the spot through force of will alone, Enlishia saw and felt the air around her warp and this time, she did not move. 

As the warping cleared, she saw that Lavren had not moved either and that Litiraan now stood beside her with a golden bell clutched in a sticky, blood-soaked hand. The ape-demon had vanished but in its place, in the corner of the room behind the closest howling pillar, stood a bemused and wounded crimson-skinned demon. Enlishia raised her bow and fired but the demon recovered from its confusion quickly and ducked behind the pillar. The arrow smashed into the wall and shattered leaving the demon to emerge with a vengeful roar.

Lavren raised his wand and uttered a powerful fey curse that assailed the demon with terrible dreams. It began to bite and claw at the empty air, tearing open its own flesh as it did so and slamming into the walls next to it. Suddenly, the demon howled and leapt at Lavren, lashing out with one of its claws to strike the elf’s left shoulder. The warlock was spun sideways into the wall of the archway but he kept his feet and turned on the spot to face the demon again. Litiraan loosed a silver bolt of energy from his free hand into the side of the demon and drew its gaze but then he retreated back through the doorway to the chambers and out into the corridor beyond.
“We have the bell!” he called out as loudly as he could manage with his pain-wracked voice.
“We have the bell!” Lavren echoed and then Enlishia took up the call.
“We have the bell!!” the ranger called out. “We can leave this place!”
	If anyone heard them then, they gave no sign.

Erlmoor heard his companions calling and smiled to himself. The warping had not moved him this time, nor had it shifted two of the demons that stood close to him. He grinned at his enemies and raised his sword to defend himself. The ape-demon had reappeared beside the paladin’s two opponents in front of where Telkya had been standing and Erlmoor had turned a sardonic smile upon this new foe too. Now that Litiraan had taken the bell, the dragonborn was determined to make sure the rest of his companions escaped this terrible place even if he did not.

The first demon came at him in a rush of flailing claws and gnashing teeth but he ducked each mighty swing of the deadly clawed fists and leapt back to evade the vicious teeth. The other demon came forward then from the paladin’s right then before he had chance to turn and the creature bore him to the ground. A claw grabbed his cheek and tore it open while teeth ripped into his shoulder while questing for his neck. Desperately he tried to pull himself free until he finally surged to his feet with the last of his strength and shoved the demon away by raising his arms.

Erlmoor raised his voice in what he fully expected be his last prayer and as his blade glowed brightly, he struck out at the demon before him, cutting a deep wound across its belly. Divine energy flowed along the blade and gave a small amount of strength back to its wielder but Erlmoor knew that it would not be enough to save him. He retreated towards the altar chamber seeking to lure the demons after him and away from his friends but as he did so, he saw a shimmer of bright light out of the corner of his eye. Glancing back, he saw Telkya appear in the archway with sword in hand.
“That ape thing nearly cornered me,” the elf maid said with a smile.

She raised her sword above her head with both hands then and began a prayer to Corellon that would infuse the sword with his divine power. The blade glowed brightly and then faded to a shimmering luminescence as Telkya lowered it and held it before her, ready to face the demons. From around a corner in the shrine chamber came Dulvarna, her own blade held up before her. She came forward to stand beside Erlmoor and looked over at the dragonborn.
“Time to go, my friend,” she said. “We have the bell.”
“After you,” said Erlmoor and then the two turned back to face the demon onslaught as they retreated.

The ape-demon came forward in a fierce rage, still pained by the belly wound that Dulvarna had given it. One huge claw slashed out and she ducked but the other slammed Dulvarna back against the corner of the archway. She gasped as her breath fled her lungs but twisted away as a clumsy blow intended to kill her smashed the stone above her head. Then, the mouths of the twisted pillars of flesh opened and disgorged acid once more, spraying burning liquid on all around.

Enlishia ducked as a spray of acid shot out towards her and it seared the wall behind her but Lavren was not so lucky. He tried to dodge aside but as he turned, acid burned his right arm and he cried out in pain, almost dropping his sword. The pillar nearest the door sprayed its own acid and this time, Enlishia was burned in the leg by a spurt of the foul liquid and she stumbled before her demon foe. Only the fact that the demon had been burned across its back by acid and still writhed in pain, saved her from death. Desperately, the ranger pushed herself to her feet and darted for the doorway where Litiraan waited with the bell.

Lavren looked at the demon and made his own decision to leave a heartbeat after Enlishia had done. He concentrated on his fey nature, reached out to the eaves of Cormanthor beyond the mountains and disappeared into a cloud of silver motes. He reappeared next to the first of the flesh pillars that the companions had seen and rushed through the open doors and into the passage. He had passed Litiraan before he stopped and looked back to see if any of the others were following. Only then did Lavren think of poor, sweet Telkya, still trapped somewhere amongst the demons and the terrible pillars. He cursed his selfishness and started back towards the doors but then he saw the way that Litiraan’s shoulders had slumped. He had already given up what little hope he had had left for his sister. Then, beyond Litiraan, Lavren saw the demon rushing at Enlishia.

Enlishia was holding the terrible wound in her leg when she glimpsed a red flash of movement ahead of her. She looked up as the demon surged around the pillars and reached out to close the doors but she knew she would be too late. She ducked back as a claw slashed out and it gouged only the black wood of the door next to her. The demon lunged, its teeth snapping but again Enlishia drew back and its teeth closed on nothing but air. Desperately, she scrambled backwards but the demon kept coming and the ranger knew that she did not have enough strength to evade the creature for long. Only when Litiraan hurled a ball of flame into the entry chamber to burst behind the demon did Enlishia dare to hope that she may live.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 17 - The Howling Pillars (Part 6)*

Telkya watched as the demons came forward in a tide of red skin and fur. Erlmoor ducked under a flailing claw but then the demon was upon him and its teeth sank into his throat. The dragonborn sank to his knees, gave out one last strangled roar and then fell beneath the demon’s onslaught. The second red-skinned demon rounded the nearest pillar and leapt over the fallen Erlmoor to lash out at Dulvarna. Its claw swung high and she ducked easily and as it followed with its teeth, she elbowed it in the face and kept it at bay.
“I can save him, you cannot!” Telkya called as if sensing Dulvarna’s indecision.

The elf maid uttered a prayer to Corellon for healing then and reached out with her left hand towards Erlmoor’s fallen form. Her hand glowed with a golden light and the light reached out to Erlmoor and closed the tear in his neck. Telkya saw the dragonborn’s eyes open as he lay behind one of the crimson skinned demons and her heart sang. 
Dulvarna looked down and saw the dragonborn move and she too felt miraculous hope return to her. She stabbed her blade into the thigh of the nearest demon and leapt back, beyond the reach of the ape-demon. The red-furred creature roared its anger at its enemies and allies alike as its enemies retreated. Then the eyes of the faces embedded in the howling pillars glowed with a terrifying energy and struck Dulvarna as though with a huge blow. She was driven back by their unholy power into the altar chamber, truly beyond the ape-demon.

When the eyes of the faces in the pillars glowed in the entry chamber, they decided upon Litiraan as their enemy and drove him further back up the corridor from the doors. Enlishia leapt back from the doors as the demon turned its gaze towards Litiraan for a moment and in the time she had, she raised her bow and fired. The first arrow drove into the creature’s chest and the second, loosed before it could take a step, drove through its throat and felled it.

Enlishia let her bow clatter to the floor as she pulled cloth strips from her belt pouch to bind her wounds. Lavren began to do the same, leaning against the corridor wall with his wand in his teeth and his sword leaning against the stone beside him. He looked up after a few moments.
“We have to go back for them,” he said.
“Agreed,” said Litiraan. “But we leave this accursed bell here.”
Enlishia and Lavren nodded their agreement and Litiraan began the painful task of prizing the bell from the grip it had on his hand.

The two demons leapt into the archway and rushed at Telkya. A claw lashed out and slammed her into the wall to her right while another came up under her chin and sent her reeling back into the altar chamber. She heard a roar then and knew that it was not made by a demon. Behind the two red-skinned creatures, Erlmoor rose with his blade in his hand. He plunged its point into the spine of the nearest of his enemies and as it sank to its knees, he drew his blade back. He swept his sword across as the demon knelt facing Telkya and clove its head from its shoulders with one blow.

Telkya leapt forward as the remaining red-skinned demon roared in anger and plunged her own, blade, still shimmering with the blessing she had placed on it, into the creature’s side. It roared again but as it did so, Dulvarna rushed towards it and plunged her own blade into its belly. It staggered back towards Erlmoor who raised his blade for the killing blow, but then the ape-demon roared. It lashed out with a single, huge fist and drove the dagger-like claws into the dragonborn’s back. Erlmoor gasped and fell forward onto the stone floor between the feet of his demon foes. Dulvarna and Telkya cried out but then the pillar behind then in the altar chamber began to bite at Telkya with its many mouths and both women were forced to leap clear.

Enlishia skirted the northern wall of the entry chamber and rushed into the eastern archway to where she hoped she would find her companions. The ape-demon stood over the fallen form of Erlmoor but was desperately trying to free itself from the snapping teeth of the faces within the pillar next to it. The ranger raised her bow and loosed an arrow into the red-furred beast’s side. It roared in anger and pain but before it had even found the source of this new torment, Enlishia loosed another arrow that drove into the side of the creature’s neck.

Lavren came up behind Enlishia and with a  string of curses in elven, he loosed black, crackling energy at the creature. The ape-demon knew its doom too late and looked towards the western archway just as the black, eldritch energy seared into its chest of out of its back. It looked down at the wound stupidly for a few moments and then keeled over onto its back. Litiraan rushed past them into the chamber and turned towards the southern archway where the last red-skinned demon had hold of Dulvarna’s arm in its teeth. Even as he looked, Litiraan saw his sister appear beside Dulvarna and drive her blade up into the demon’s throat. With a gurgle, the demon staggered and then fell backwards to lie next to Erlmoor.

Dulvarna rushed to the dragonborn’s side, dragging him beyond the reach of the terrible mouths of the pillars. She felt for his lifebeat and paused for a moment before looking up at the others and nodding.
“He lives,” she announced, before turning him onto his side to begin binding the terrible wounds that the ape-demon had inflicted on Erlmoor’s back. After what had seemed like an eternity, victory finally belonged to the Defenders of Winterhaven.

*Next.....The Face of Baphomet*


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## Medriev

*Note for DMs - The Howling Pillars*

*Thought I would add a quick note here for those who are in the process of running, or are thinking of running this module. This encounter was the first in Thunderspire that for me raised the serious possibility of a TPK. The random element of the pillars coupled with the powerful demon enemies makes the encounter hugely unpredictable and potentially very dangerous. The 6 PCs here only just survived so if DMs are running this with smaller groups then I'd recommend caution. As I quickly discovered, more danger was to follow......*


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## Medriev

*Chapter 18 - The Face of Baphomet (Part 1)*

Telkya looked nervously towards the double doors to the to the west and fingered the blade of her sword as she did so. She disliked watching alone but had insisted on taking her turn as everyone needed as much rest as they could after the battle with the demons and the terrible pillars. Now, they had withdrawn their camp to the gnoll’s shrine complex, though none camped in the altar chamber itself, and the doors were barricaded to the west with the table and chairs from the southern room.

Telkya looked down the corridor to towards the southern chamber where Erlmoor, Lavren and Litiraan slept. Though she had taken her reverie earlier in the night, she had still not discerned how she truly felt about Lavren. He was a wild free spirit, a kindred to her own when she had the chance to get away from her brother, but she was still not sure whether she could allow him to court her. He had mentioned Sumith and called her an old friend but Telkya was sure that there was more to it than that. A roguish elf such as Lavren, who had made a fey pact that was now forbidden in Cormanthor surely had other lovers in his past. Sumith was surely one of them but Telkya was surprised that she had not heard the name before. House Strongbow was influential and the dalliances of its young scions would surely be the talk of the Elven Court. It seemed that House Strongbow had ways of keeping such matters quiet. Telkya mentally added this to her list of worries about Lavren. She would not be some brief dalliance for the elf that would be forgotten in a year or a decade. Telkya furrowed her brow and looked back to the western doors.

As she did so, the elf maid felt rather than heard a terrible roar from beyond the barred portals. As she leapt to her feet with her sword in hand, a huge minotaur barrelled through the doors and into the corridor. Telkya raised her sword but without heeding her, the minotaur rushed through the elf maid, leaving a cold feeling that pierced her heart. She glanced at the door and saw that the doors and the furniture used to barricade them were untouched by the minotaur’s passage. Whatever the creature was, it had passed straight through the wood as it had passed through her. Telkya turned around to her the left to follow where the minotaur had gone and found that it had rushed into the chamber where the gnoll priestess had slept. There, it stopped before Dulvarna who slept on the bed and Enlishia who slept on the floor. Raising it huge fists to the ceiling, the minotaur let forth a tormented wail of rage and anguish. Dulvarna and Enlishia jerked awake and stared at the creature but no sooner had it finished its tortured wail, it vanished as if it had never been.
“What was that?” Telkya gasped as she stepped into the room.
“I have no idea,” answered Enlishia groggily.
“Well let us hope it does not come back,” said Telkya.

Dulvarna and Enlishia nodded their agreement and smiled comfortingly at Telkya. Nervously, the elf maid made her way back to her position just inside the double doors and sat back down. She spent the rest of the night with her gaze fixed on the doors and her ears keenly listening for the sound of any more disturbances but none came.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 18 - The Face of Baphomet (Part 2)*

Dulvarna and Erlmoor pulled open the double doors to the chamber and revealed a ten foot wide room. Jet black curtains hung from hooks set into the ceiling, forming a wall ahead of the companions. They had returned to the chamber of blood where they had met the ghosts that morning and turned westward this time, turning aside to the north to the double doors that they had just opened.
“This chamber makes no sense to me,” Erlmoor rumbled in his deep baritone. “These curtains must hide something.”

The dragonborn started forward and raised his blade. He lashed out at the curtain ahead of him and cut it down. Beyond was a wide chamber with stout square pillars that were covered on each face by mirrors framed in brass. Leering, demonic faces were carved along the top of each frame and Erlmoor immediately felt a sickly sense of foreboding in his stomach. As Erlmoor paused, Enlishia raised her bow, nocked an arrow to its string and weaved her way through the group. She strode out across the floor of the chamber, raising her bow as she did so, ready for any threat. 
Lavren started forward just after Enlishia, glancing warily towards the nearest pillar and the mirrors that adorned it. Each showed only pure darkness rather than a reflection of the room and the companions as they moved forward. Lavren sensed some terrible power within the mirror and tried to turn away but he was too slow. A sudden nausea ceased him and the chamber spun around him. As his vision cleared, he found himself in a dungeon-like chamber lit by dim, magical light. At the far end of the chamber, a gnoll with golden fur crouched but looked up as the elf appeared. The gnoll snarled and reached out for a spear that lay next to it. The creature rose with a crazed look in its eyes and Lavren raised his wand, uttering a curse and loosing black, crackling energy towards the creature that was apparently his his cell mate.
“The mirrors are enchanted,” shouted Litiraan as he saw Lavren disappear. “We cannot look at them! Destroy them if you can!”

Even as he said it, Litiraan glanced towards the nearest mirror without thinking and, though he turned away as quickly as he could, he felt the room spinning with nauseating speed around him. Suddenly, the chamber was gone and he stood in a dimly lit chamber facing a wild gnoll with golden fur. The creature rushed forward and the elf raised his wand to loose a bolt of magical energy.

Dulvarna rushed at the nearest pillar with her blade held before her and her eyes averted but as she reached the mirrors, she looked up and was drawn to the blackness. The room around her swirled and suddenly she stood in a dimly lit chamber with a gnoll before her. She raised her blade and charged, slashing Aecris across the chest of her foe and sending the creature reeling.

Telkya raised her hand to send searing light towards the mirror but as she looked up to her target, she saw the utter blackness in the mirror and felt the world spinning around her. She appeared next to Litiraan and Lavren in the dimly lit prison and loosed her bolt of light as soon as she saw the ravenous gnoll. The creature staggered back as the bolt struck it and then Erlmoor appeared in front of Telkya. He roared his anger and defiance at the fate that had brought them here and then charged the gnoll. The paladin’s blade sang out, clove into the gnoll’s shoulder and with a yelp, the creature leapt back. It raised its spear and snarled at Dulvarna and Erlmoor.

Enlishia appeared beside Telkya a heartbeat later and the trap was complete. She raised her bow towards the gnoll but quickly realised that she could not get a clear shot at the creature. Looking around at the others, she smiled weakly and then looked the walls over for any sign of a way out. There was none.

The gnoll roared furiously and stabbed out with its spear at Dulvarna but just as the point seemed about to pierce her side, she glanced it aside with Aecris. Lavren closed his eyes and concentrated for a moment before vanishing into a shower of light motes. He reappeared behind the gnoll and with an uttered curse, he loosed black, crackling energy into the creature’s shoulder. The gnoll roared again and spun on the spot to regard this new threat. As it did so, Litiraan appeared next to Lavren and loosed a silver bolt of magical energy into the creature’s chest. The gnoll staggered and Dulvarna stabbed her blade towards it. At the last, the gnoll twisted around again and Aecris only nicked its back but it was desperately wounded and weak now. Still, it would not yield.

The gnoll roared one last time and then Telkya appeared behind it with her sword in her hand. She stabbed out with the blade, driving it into the gnoll’s back and out through its belly. With a strangled gasp, the creature collapsed to the floor between Dulvarna and Telkya. The companions were alone in the darkness.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 18 - The Face of Baphomet (Part 3)*

“No way in and no way out,” said Enlishia finally as she finished searching the walls of the prison chamber. “Only those accursed mirrors can bring you here and only the gods know how we could get out.”

She looked around at the others but they had long since given up. The gnoll had died perhaps as much as five hours ago. They had no wood for a fire so the five companions sat around the light of Litiraan’s wand disconsolately eating the meagre trail rations that they carried everywhere with them.
“So we just wait?” Enlishia asked. “Sit here until the food runs out and then watch each of us die one by one.”

The others looked up at her and then turned their attention back to the trail bread and dried meat that they were eating. Their shoulders slumped and Enlishia felt the sudden urge to cry out, to protest to the gods at the unfairness of the fate they had been dealt. They had come so far and faught so bravely and yet it would end like this. They would die in a sealed dungeon, undone by the magic mirrors that had trapped them. Turning, Enlishia stalked away to the far end of the chamber, close to where the gnoll lay dead. She wanted to be alone with her thoughts but as she walked, she felt tears well up in her eyes. She needed to be alone as well so that the others did not see here crying.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 18 - The Face of Baphomet (Part 4)*

“This is a forlorn hope but I must say it,” said Lavren as he stared into Telkya’s eyes. His keen elven vision picked out every beautiful feature of her slender features and her eyes were pools of deepest blue-green. They sat at the edge of the light in a shadowy alcove as they had done many times since the terrible captivity had begun. For the first time, Lavren and Telkya had shared more than just furtive glances and had found that they truly did enjoy each other’s company. They shared a passion for stepping beyond the boundaries of their ancient culture but Lavren found that with Telkya’s rebelliousness there was also an innocence that her found entrancing. She for her part had found him to be unusually sensitive beyond his brash and roguish exterior. The fact that they were doomed had brought an urgency to their conversations and they had discovered more about each other in the days of captivity than some elven couples discovered about each other in years of courtship.

“Though the last of the rations are all but done,” Lavren continued softly. “I must tell you that you have become the dearest thing in this world to me. I truly love you and would have you be my wife in spirit if not in fact for you are the only priestess here and cannot bless your own union.”

Telkya returned Lavren’s deep and piercing gaze while her heart fluttered at the words that he had just spoken. Never had anyone confessed love for her and now, the elf that she had come to love herself had asked her to be his wife. A sadness settled on her heart then that this marriage would not be a true one as her suitor rightly said and that it would last only for whatever days remained to them in this terrible place.
“I would be your wife even if we stood on the edge of the Abyss itself and endured our last moments together,” answered Telkya. “I love you too, Lavren Strongbow.”

Suddenly, she gave a shocked scream and Lavren panicked, wondering what had provoked such a reaction. She was looking over his should and as he glanced around, he saw that an unarmed gnoll had appeared in the chamber just a few feet from where he and Telkya sat. From around the corner, Erlmoor roared and rushed at the gnoll, drawing his blade as he charged. Even as he reached the gnoll, the companions all felt a nauseating spinning as the chamber around them seemed to blur and twirl. Then it vanished altogether and the companions found themselves sitting in the once-curtained entrance to the chamber with Erlmoor and the gnoll, standing amidst them with blade and claw ready.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 18 - The Face of Baphomet (Part 4)*

Lavren leapt to his feet and looked left and right. The chamber with the mirrored columns was spread out to his right but all the mirrors had been smashed. Two gnolls stood a short bow-shot away and immediately turned towards the new arrivals. One had viciously sharp claws much as the one that Erlmoor faught did, while the other wore a headdress of bone. The elf knew that he had seen such before and that the headdress denoted a priest of Yeenoghu, the foul gnoll god. Looking to his right, Lavren saw that he was behind the gnoll that Erlmoor faught and so he drew his sword and move to stab at the creature.

The others leapt to their feet with similar surprise, amazed that they had escaped their terrible prison but conscious too that they faced enemies who could just as easily condemn them to death or captivity. On the other side of the gnoll from Lavren, Enlishia unshouldered her bow, nocked an arrow and retreated back through the open double doors to the chamber. Dulvarna leapt up beside Erlmoor, drew her sword and lashed it into the gnoll’s shoulder. Yelps and whoops filled the chamber to the north and around the corner from the western wing of the hall ran a hyena the like of which none of the companions had ever seen before. This beast stood almost as tall as a man at the shoulder and its mouth was so large that it seemed exaggerated. Its teeth were like thick daggers, its eyes blazed with green fire and spittle that smoked as though it were acid dripped from its jaws. The beast’s black hide was striped with dark green, and a ridge of curving spikes jutted from its backbone. With yelps that sounded like canine laughter, the terrible creature rushed at Litiraan as he leapt to his feet.

Litiraan drew his sword as he got to is feet and stabbed out at the hyena, keeping it at bay for a moment. Beside him, Telkya leapt up and drew her own blade, stabbing it into the beast’s shoulder and forcing it away from her and her brother for a little longer. Behind her, the gnoll facing Erlmoor recovered from its confusion and leapt at the dragonborn, slashing a claw into his shoulder. Beyond the hyena, the other unarmed gnoll growled and rushed at Telkya with ferocious speed. As it reached her, Telkya ducked the first claw attack but the creature lashed at her with its left claw and struck her across the face, spinning her away to her right towards Lavren.

Another gnoll rounded the corner from the western part of the room and this one held a long, black bow with an arrow nocked to its string. The gnoll raised the bow and fired, loosing the arrow towards Lavren who saw it too late. The black shaft drove painfully into his shoulder and twisted him away from the gnoll that he had been trying to attack with his sword. Erlmoor roared and slashed his blade across the chest of the gnoll and drove him back towards Lavren but the elf had decided upon a new enemy now. Turning towards the gnoll archer, he prepared a curse but before he could unleash it, the gnoll priest advanced towards him, raising a huge flail in its right hand. The creature blocked his view of the archer and he stepped back, deciding to use his curses upon this new foe. Behind the priest, he saw another archer emerge from the western part of the chamber but he paid the creature no mind. Retreating until his back was against the south wall of the chamber, Lavren unleashed his curse upon the priest and loosed back, crackling energy from his left hand. The gnoll ducked to the right and the eldritch blast struck one of the ruined mirrors on a stone pillar behind the gnoll.

Enlishia loosed her arrow towards the gnoll that Erlmoor faught but it drove into the leather shoulder armour that the gnoll wore without piercing its flesh. She loosed another shaft quickly but this flew past the gnoll and Telkya before clattering into one of the pillars of the chamber beyond. The ranger cursed and reached for another arrow from her quiver. The gnoll glanced towards Enlishia then and Dulvarna took her chance, driving her blade into the creature’s arm and forcing it back a step. The gnoll snarled its defiance despite the fact that it was surrounded as it knew that its companions had come to aid it. Then it leapt at Dulvarna with its claws slashing out before it and the warrior woman was forced back in turn as she evaded the furious attack.

The hyena leapt at Litiraan while the elf desperately raised his sword to fend the beast off. The hyena paid it no mind and seized the elf’s sword arm, dragging it down and tearing open the flesh between hand and elbow. Litiraan cried out as he felt searing acid enter the wound and burn his raw, bleeding flesh. With his sword arm hanging down to one side he retreated from the gnoll until he stood against the south wall as Lavren did on the other side of the chamber entrance. Uttering one of his most powerful spells, Litiraan called forth a globe of orange flame that coalesced in his hand. He hurled it beyond the hyena and watched as it exploded, showering flame over his enemies. The hyena yelped and leapt clear of the burst but one of the archers and both the gnolls beside the hyena were burned by the flames. Telkya looked over at her brother and winked before retreating to stand beside Lavren. As she did so, she stabbed out to her left with her blade and drove it into the back of the leg of the gnoll that Erlmoor faught. The creature snarled and looked back over its shoulder at her but it knew it could not turn away from the dragonborn and warrior woman that it faced.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 18 - The Face of Baphomet (Part 5)*

Litiraan looked over at his sister with pride and then looked down at his right arm as the pain of the acid lanced through him again. He thought he could see the white of bone through his ruined flesh and almost swooned at the prospect. Deciding to concentrate on his enemies, he looked up, just as the archer that his flames had seared advanced around the nearest pillar. The gnoll raised his black bow and fired leaving Litiraan no chance. The arrow drove into his left leg and threw him back against the wall as red blood flowed all too swiftly from this new wound. Another archer appeared around the other side of the pillar, raised his bow and loosed an arrow. Litiraan dodged to the left but the arrow drove into his right shoulder, sending more waved of pain through the limb. Nausea and dizziness assailed the elf as he fell back against the wall. As blackness took him, he hoped with all his heart that Telkya and Lavren would be happy together.

Erlmoor roared his defiance and thrust out with his blade, driving it into the thigh of the gnoll before him and forcing the creature back. From his left, more gnolls and a huge, black hyena were coming and he knew he had little time to defeat this first enemy. He saw the headdress-wearing priest rush at Telkya and land a glancing blow on her shoulder that drove her back. They did not have much time, the dragonborn decided. This gnoll had to fall quickly or they would all be overwhelmed by these newcomers. Lavren ducked away from the priest and loosed more black energy from his left hand that seared into the gnoll to drive it away from Telkya for a moment. It was a reprieve, Erlmoor knew, but it would not be a long one. He looked back to the foe before him and as he did, an arrow from Enlishia’s bow drove into the creature’s side. A second arrow flew between the dragonborn and his foe but Dulvarna was already advancing again. She came forward fiercely, feinted left and then brought her blade across high from the right. Aecris clove through the gnoll’s neck and sent its head spilling to the floor while its body collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut. Erlmoor had no chance to acknowledge his companion’s success as the hyena leapt at him and seized his left arm.

As the gnoll priest came forward again, Telkya jabbed her blade out into its shoulder and then leapt back along the wall beside Lavren. The remaining unarmed gnoll leapt towards Dulvarna but she was ready for it and ducked back beyond the reach of its vicious claws. Telkya looked for her brother beyond her companions but Erlmoor’s huge form blocked her view of her brother. She prayed to Corellon that he faught on and would survive the battle.

Erlmoor shook the hyena from his arm by slamming it against the wall beside him and as he did so, he looked down and saw Litiraan half-sitting, slumped against the wall. The elf’s eyes were closed and from the terrible wound in his arm and the bloodstain spreading from the wound in his leg, he knew that the elf was sorely wounded. Beyond him, Erlmoor saw an gnoll archer creeping into the corner of the chamber and raising his bow. The gnoll loosed the shaft and Erlmoor tried to duck back into the entryway of the chamber but still the shaft drove into his calf as he did so. The dragonborn roared his defiance and began a prayer to Lathander that he hoped might still save Litiraan. His blade glowed brightly for a moment and as it did so, Erlmoor brought it down on the hyena’s back. As the huge beast yelped and leapt away, white light burst out and touched Litiraan’s arm. The wound there seemed to close a little and the white bone was covered by new flesh. Slowly, without moving lest his enemies see, Litiraan opened his eyes and looked up at Erlmoor, smiling weakly. The dragonborn smiled back for a moment but then a second arrow drove into his side and he fell back into the entryway.

Telkya raised her sword and parried the huge flail of the priest as it came down towards her head. Lavren hurled more searing black energy into the gnoll’s side and drove it back from Telkya then, allowing her to retreat towards the eastern wall of the chamber where he now stood. The gnoll snarled its anger but even as it did so, an arrow and then a second drove into its chest from Enlishia’s bow. Dulvarna saw her chance and darted forward, swinging Aecris in a wide arc and cleaving the head from the gnoll priest as she had done with the first gnoll to fall. The priest fell in a crumpled heap beside its companion and Dulvarna turned on this new enemy. Her blade lashed out low and cut into the side of the gnoll’s leg drawing a yelp of pain forcing it to back away from the warrior woman. 

The hyena came forward then, cackling terribly and Dulvarna stopped her advance as fear took her for a moment. Telkya and Enlishia felt it too but Erlmoor roared his defiance and as the beast came at him, he dodged backward and evaded its terrible jaws. He looked down to smile at Litiraan but the elf’s eyes were closed again and smoke rose from the wound on his arm as the acid continued to sear his flesh.
“Telkya,” Erlmoor cried out. “Your brother needs your aid!”


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## Medriev

*Chapter 18 - The Face of Baphomet (Part 6)*

Telkya answered by raising her voice in a brief prayer. White light engulfed Litiraan and his eyes opened as the wound on his arm was partly healed once more. Erlmoor looked down at the elf and was pleased but then an arrow clattered into the wall beside him and he turned his attention back to his enemies. With a roar he breathed acid over the hyena and the gnoll that he and Dulvarna still faced and then began a new prayer to Lathander. His blade glowed with white light and he lashed out with it, tearing a wound across the hyena’s neck as it fell back before his acid breath. The beast yelped but as it did so, acid blood sprayed out of the wound. It covered Litiraan’s right arm and seared it anew sending the elf back into blackness for a second time while the spray struck Erlmoor’s face and neck. The dragonborn roared but the defiant sound was strangled off as the acid burned into his throat. He felt his breath fail him and collapsed to the left against the wall next to Litiraan.

Dulvarna felt the acid burn her left arm but paid the pain no mind until she saw Erlmoor slump to the left and collapse against the wall. Beyond him, Litiraan was slumped unmoving once more and she knew then that they were all in trouble. Three gnolls and the terrible hyena yet faught them and they had already lost two of their number. An arrow struck the wall behind her and Dulvarna glanced to her left to see that the two archers stood against the west wall and had chosen her as their next target. Risking a glance to the right, she saw that Telkya and Lavren remained as defiant as ever. Even as she looked, the warlock cursed the nearest gnoll and slavering fangs appeared around the gnoll, snapping and tearing at the flesh of the warrior. Telkya raised her left hand to the heavens and gestured downwards as she prayed. A column of searing light engulfed the gnoll, burning its flesh and searing its fur. It howled once and then collapsed to the ground, laid low by the two who had seemingly found happiness together. 

Dulvarna turned towards the hyena and as she did so, an arrow drove into the beast’s neck. It yelped and staggered, almost falling. Dulvarna leapt forward and brought Aecris down on the beast’s head, splitting open its skull and felling it where it stood. She turned her fierce, vengeful gaze upon the two archers who stood next to the west wall and strode towards them. Desperately, they reached for arrows before throwing their bows aside and drawing axes with curved blades from their belts. One lashed at Dulvarna from the left and she parried too slowly, the blade tearing a gash from her shoulder to her elbow. The other gnoll came at her from the right and she moved Aecris over the meet the axe and parried solidly. Lavren came to her aid then, loosing black energy into the gnoll on the right and forcing it back against the wall. Two arrows drove into the other gnoll and hurled it back beside its companion and as Dulvarna came forward, both had fear in their eyes. Aecris sang out and  lashed across the chest of one of the gnolls and it lashed out desperately with its axe to keep the warrior woman at bay.

Telkya surveyed the battle against the last gnolls quickly and decided that Erlmoor and Litiraan needed her aid more urgently. She rushed to her brother’s side and laid her sword beside him while laying her left hand on his chest. She uttered a prayer to Corellon and as golden light washed over him, his eyes opened. She smiled at him and turned to Erlmoor while glancing up at the battle against the last gnolls. Dulvarna was parrying their axes with typical skill while Lavren and Enlishia added magical and archery support. Even as she looked, an arrow from Enlishia’s bow took one of the gnolls through the throat and felled it where it stood. Dulvarna turned her fury on the last of the gnolls while Telkya began to pray over Erlmoor as she felt his heartbeat fade beneath her fingers.

Dulvarna felt the pain of the acid burn to her arm from the hyena’s blood fading and turned on the remaining gnoll. She lashed out with her blade and cut deep into its right arm as it tried to raise its small axe to parry. It lashed out wildly with sudden ferocity and caught Dulvarna’s shoulder, spinning her away. A blast of black energy struck the wall next to the gnoll as it howled its defiance and then it dodged to the right as first one arrow and then another struck the wall where it had been standing. Dulvarna thought for a moment that the gnoll would put up a defiant stand but then she heard Litiraan’s voice behind her chanting a spell. A silver bolt seared into the gnoll’s shoulder and drove it back against the wall. Around the pillar to Dulvarna’s right came Telkya and with the words of a prayer, the priestess loosed a bolt of golden light into the wall next to the gnoll. The gnoll lashed out once more with its axe but Dulvarna parried and from behind her came a familiar roar. Erlmoor had recovered. The gnoll died quickly after that, an arrow from Enlishia’s bow felling it.

“Fierce fighter,” Erlmoor rumbled as he looked down at the fallen gnoll.
“Maybe he faught for this,” said Dulvarna as she reached down and took something carved from black wood from the gnoll’s belt. It was a mask, carved to resemble the face of a fierce minotaur.
“It is Baphomet’s face,” said Litiraan. “This must be the mask we are looking for. We should go back to the gnoll hold and rest now that we have only one item to seek.”
“Agreed,” said Dulvarna. “We go back to the gnoll hold. But we go cautiously. It seems that there are more gnolls abroad here than those that dwelled in the eastern chambers.”

*Next.....Tides of Blood*


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## Medriev

*Note for DMs - The Face of Baphomet*

*I felt that this encounter was also deserving of a note to DMs running or likely to run this adventure.

The PCs here fell victim quickly to the trapping mirrors close to the door of the chamber and, despite using the escape clause written into the adventure, I felt they would likely fall victim to them again. This could therefore have been a frustrating encounter so I decided that the gnolls, searching for their missing companion, smashed the mirrors in anger and frustration. This did, of course, make the encounter much easier and so the PCs only got xp for defeating the gnolls. I would advise DMs to look at this encounter carefully lest an annoying cycle of PCs being trapped result. There are only so many times that gnolls or other creatures can luckily happen by here before this gets implausible and boring!*


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## Medriev

*Chapter 19 - Tides of Blood (Part 1)*

Dulvarna looked over at the others who slept in the former quarters of the gnoll priest and debated whether to wake them. She felt sure that she had heard something from the shrine and anything that appeared there would likely bring trouble upon them but her companions had little sleep remaining to them this night and it seemed a shame to wake them. Drawing her sword quietly, she made up her mind and left the small chamber through the open doorway. Turning left, she made her way towards the shrine but before she had drawn near to the doors she stopped, sniffing the air. The smell of brimstone was unmistakeable and the last time she had smelt such here it had heralded the arrival of the first ape-demon they had faught.
“To arms! To arms!” she called out. “A demon is among us.”

Dulvarna retreated from the double doors to the shrine and raised her blade as she heard her companions begin to stir but even as she did so, a demonic form came through the doors as though it were a mere spirit. It was a small creature that resembled a goblin with dark red skin and large ears. It bore no weapons that Dulvarna could see and as she raised her blade, it raised its hands to show they were empty.
“I seek to aid you not to attack you,” said the creature and Dulvarna lowered her blade.
“Then you will not mind if I call my allies,” Dulvarna answered.

She called out to the others and then stood warily across from the creature with her sword still in her hands. When the others emerged from the side chamber, they also raised weapons and wands but Dulvarna put up her sword and waved for them to lower their weapons.
“This creature claims to wish to aid us,” she said. “Though I know not where it comes from.”
“It is a quasit,” Litiraan spoke up. “Likely a messenger and servant of some higher demon.”
“You are clever elf,” answered the quasit. “But as I said, I am here to aid you. Those I serve would see you prevail here.”
“And how will we know that we can trust anything you say or any aid you give,” said Litiraan. “You surely would serve your own ends and those of whatever you serve.”
“I do,” answered the creature. “But I am instructed to answer three questions for you in exchange for payment.”
“What payment?” asked Lavren.
“I will accept a hundred gold coins for each question,” the creature replied. “Or a portion of your life energy.”
“Then we will have no truck with you, demon,” Telkya spoke up. “If you would drain our lives then we can prevail without your aid.”
“Are you certain?” asked the quasit. “I am tasked with offering you this aid.”
“Take what you need from that,” Lavren said, tossing his pouch of gold to the floor at the quasit’s feet. “I for one will not turn down aid that can be bought with gold.”

Telkya glared at him and he deliberately avoided her gaze as the quasit counted out its payment in gold and tossed the much lighter pouch back to Lavren. No sooner had the demon done so than Litiraan spoke up.
“Where will we find the fourth item we seek to take into the Proving Grounds?” asked Litiraan and Telkya turned towards him, glaring furiously.
“It lies to the west of the chamber of spirits and south of the place of mirrors,” the quasit answered and Litiraan nodded in response.
“And what will happen when we place all the items in the circles at the same time?” Lavren asked.
“The Inner Sanctum will open and you will face the final enemies here,” the quasit replied.
“Will we find the last of the slaves here?” Enlishia asked.
“They are within the Inner Sanctum,” the quasit answered as it finished scooping Lavren’s gold into a sack that hung on its belt. “Farewell.”

A puff of sulphurous smelling smoke rose from the floor of the corridor and the quasit vanished. Telkya turned towards Lavren and Litiraan and glared at each in turn. Then she folded her arms and marched brusquely back towards the side chamber.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 19 - Tides of Blood (Part 2)*

“This looks to be the place we seek,” Erlmoor rumbled as the group stopped before a pair of dark, wooden double doors that faced west. The companions had spoken little since the visit of the quasit and Telkya was determinedly ignoring the efforts of Lavren and Litiraan to speak with her. Dulvarna and Erlmoor looked back at their troubled group and with their blades held against their shoulders, they each reached out for an iron ring handle attached to one of the doors. They both pulled the doors back together and taking their blade sin both hands stepped forward into a chamber that seemed to hold a scene torn from the Abyss. They stood on a small stone platform overlooking two large pools of blood. A stone walkway divided the room and sat just above the surface of the pools while on opposite sides of the room, large bronze statues of snarling minotaurs faced each other. Each minotaur statue held a long, barbed whip, as if about to strike while a smaller minotaur statue stood beside the doors and beside another set of double doors further south along the east wall. Flanking the large statue on the far side of the room were two pedestals that rose out of the blood. On one rested a grey dagger-sized blade while on the other rested a matching hilt.

Lavren was the first to start forward, his wand in his left hand and his sword in his right. He moved past Erlmoor and Dulvarna and started down the steps into the blood pool. The blood came up to his waist and the metallic smell was almost overpowering. As he started to wade forward, he felt a burning pain around his legs and his waist and terrible nausea threatened to overwhelm him.
“The blood is poison,” he called back to the others through gritted teeth.

Despite this he strode forward and then he realised that he was not alone in the pool. The eerie magical light in the chamber showed a dark form close to him beneath the surface of the blood. As he watched, it began to move and he held up his wand and his blade, ready to defend himself.
“We have no choice if we are to retrieve the dagger,” said Dulvarna, starting down the steps.

She felt the same terrible burning and nausea as she waded into the pool and as she drew near to Lavren, she saw the same dark form moving beneath the surface. Raising her blade, she brought it down towards the creature but struck nothing but blood.
“Something dwells within here,” she called out but then she saw a more dangerous menace.

Beyond the walkway, the farthest minotaur statue was beginning to move, lashing out with its whip in each direction as if seeking any nearby enemies. Dulvarna looked nervously towards the nearest statue that could easily reach her with its whip and Enlishia, still back on the ledge, followed her gaze. Nocking an arrow to its string, the ranger raised her bow and loosed an arrow at the nearest statue. It drove into the bronze but still the minotaur construct began to move. Enlishia loosed another arrow but this shaft bounced aside and splashed into the crimson pool at the statue’s base.
Telkya closed her eyes and vanished in a cloud of light motes. She reappeared on the plinth next to the closest statue and lashed out at it with her sword. Her blade clanged off the bronze of the statue and struck the stone of the plinth. She cursed and looked up at the statue as it began to swivel at the waist.

Erlmoor rushed forward into the pool of blood and felt the same burning and nausea that the others had felt. He waded to join the others as quickly as he could and lashed out at the form moving beneath the water. His blade struck flesh and with a roar, a crimson skinned demon of the kind that had plagued the companions so terribly in the chamber of the howling pillars, rose from the blood pool. It lashed out with one of its claws and Erlmoor drew back, evading the blow. Then, the scourge that the bronze statue wielded cracked over the head of the dragonborn and he knew that he faced a more terrible danger.

The statue’s whip cracked out again and struck Dulvarna, dragging her from her feet to fall face down in the blood. Lavren was struck next and similarly pitched forward before Litiraan was dragged from his feet by the scourge and pulled towards the steps into the blood pool. The statue turned towards Telkya and struck her with the handle of the whip, pitching her from the plinth into the blood pool. The whip cracked again and this time, the red-skinned demon was struck and dragged from its feet. Litiraan pushed himself to his feet as the statue swivelled again and uttered the words of a spell that he had only penned to his spell book the previous night. He added a silent prayer to Corellon that the spell would work and then uttered the final phrase. As he had expected, the room around him twisted and vanished and he reappeared on the ledge between the two blood pools and next to the north wall. He reckoned he would be safe from the whips of the statues where he was and took a moment to pause and survey the scene so as to plan his next move.

Lavren saw Litiraan’s travelling spell take him across the chamber and could not help but be impressed. As he watched the whips of the statues lash out, he realised that Telkya’s brother had discovered a place where they could be safe from the terrible scourges. Concentrating, he closed his eyes and vanished into a cloud of light motes. An instant later, he appeared next to Litiraan with a  wink and a smile.
“What do we do now, then?” he asked the elf.
“No idea,” answered the other. “I was hoping you might know.”


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## Medriev

*Chapter 19 - Tides of Blood (Part 3)*

Dulvarna pushed off the bottom of the blood pool and rose to her feet, spitting out a mouthful of the crimson liquid as she did so. She glanced left towards the platform in the centre of the chamber, looked towards Erlmoor and nodded, and then darted left towards the place that she hoped would be their salvation. The demon lashed out as she fled but she ducked under the blow and struggled through the crimson liquid towards the central platform.

Enlishia nocked an arrow to her bow and leaned around the corner, taking careful aim at the nearest statue. After a moment she let the arrow fly and as she had planned, the shaft drove into the body of the minotaur stature and shattered, sending splinters into the intricate mechanisms that drove it. There was a grinding sound as the statue turned again and Enlishia nocked another two arrows to her bow before letting fly. The two shafts separated as they flew and drove into the shoulders of the statue. Another grinding sound came from the statue and then it stopped, its scourge falling loosely into the blood pool between Dulvarna and Erlmoor. Litiraan and Lavren looked back and smiled at the ranger and as she pulled herself to her feet in the blood pool, Telkya nodded her thanks.
“Destroy the other statue,” Dulvarna called out from close to the middle ledge. “It’s our only chance.”

Telkya turned away from the statue and waded towards the central set of steps that led up to the middle ledge. Erlmoor roared his own response and breathed acid on the demon in front of him before turning away after Dulvarna and Telkya. A claw lashed across his back but he paid it no mind as he surged towards the steps with the elf maid. He heard the demon roar its own defiance and surge after Dulvarna. The dragonborn opened his mouth to shout a warning but the demon was too quick and it leapt on Dulvarna before she had a chance to turn. The warrior woman fell forward and she and the demon splashed into the blood pool as a mess of flailing limbs.

On the middle platform, Litiraan made a decision and began one of his most powerful spells. As the words reached their conclusion, a glowing orange ball of flame flew forth from his hand and crossed the blood pool towards the statue. The construct lashed out with its scourge in each direction mindlessly, unaware of the fire that was coming for it. The fireball exploded against the statue’s belly and tore off a hunk of metal that splashed into the blood pool. Beneath, the mechanism that turned the intricate trap was exposed and the flames seared the gears and cogs too. Still, the statue turned and lashed out with its scourge as though it had barely been touched. Suddenly, a  roar came from the blood pool beneath the centre platform and Litiraan looked down. From the pool, two demons were emerging and making for the steps before them, one close to the northern end of the platform and the other close to the southern end. Beside Litiraan, Lavren saw the new threat at the same time as Litiraan and raised his left hand to level his wand at the demon. With an uttered curse, he sent black, crackling energy towards the demon but the blast flew wide and the demon growled up at the two elves in response.

Dulvarna pushed off the bottom of the blood pool and pulled her feet underneath her before pushing off again more fiercely and throwing the demon back into the blood behind her. She emerged from beneath the surface and dived forward towards the centre platform only for the demon to recover its footing and grab at her. Claws tore down her back but she escaped the creature’s terrible grasp and grabbed the edge of the platform. With an effort that seemed to take the last of her strength, she hauled herself up onto the centre platform and lay there, gasping for breath and hoping that the demon would not follow her too quickly. She heard the scourge of the second statue crack out and she flinched but she was beyond its reach. Slowly, she pushed herself to her feet and raised her sword, ready to meet her enemy beyond the poisonous blood pool.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 19 - Tides of Blood (Part 4)*

Enlishia moved to the edge of the platform by the door and took aim at the farthest statue just as its scourge cracked out again. She heard demonic roars beyond the centre platform but could not decide whether they were roars of defiance or of pain. Slowly, she took aim and then, letting her breath out, she let fly. The first arrow drove into the shoulder of the statue but before it had even struck, Enlishia had nocked another to her bow. She loosed this a heartbeat later and it too, flew straight and true, driving into the hip of the statue. The grinding that she had heard from the first statue before it stopped moving, filled the chamber as the mechanism of the far statue struggled to cope with the damage that had been done to it.

With an effort that she did not know she could muster, Telkya dragged herself out of the blood pool and up the steps to the centre platform. She heard the grinding from the far statue and knew that it too had been damaged by Enlishia’s unfailing accuracy with her bow. Telkya raised her left hand weekly and uttered a prayer, calling down a column of golden light that seared the statue. The construct ground more loudly for a moment and half-turned as the heat seized its innards but then it was still Telkya added her own thanks to Corellon for his aid and then turned to the left as a demon rose from the blood pool and started forward for the second time towards the steps at the southern end of the platform. 

Even as Telkya turned, Erlmoor rose from the blood pool behind her and made his own way up the steps. As he crested the centre platform he let forth another roar of defiance and then started towards the southern steps where the demon would climb up from the pool. Raising his blade, the dragonborn uttered his own prayer, calling on the Morninglord to aid him. Ribbons of searing golden radiance engulfed the demon and it cried out the pain pierced it to its heart. Fixing the dragonborn in its gaze, it started forward again and began to climb slowly up the steps. Then the dragonborn heard a startled cry and a roar behind him and as he glanced back, he saw that the first demon, the one that had nearly felled Dulvarna, had climbed the steps behind Telkya. The demon lashed out with one of its claws and the elf maid ducked but then it lunged forward, seeking to seize her sword arm in its terrible teeth. Telkya stepped back and slammed the hilt of her sword into the side of the demon’s head. She had prevailed for the moment but Erlmoor feared that she could not lat long alone against such a foe.	

At the northern end of the ledge, Litiraan loosed a wave of flame from his wand that engulfed the advancing demon close to the northern steps but the creature did not even break its stride. It reached the steps and climbed them quickly before rushing at the two elves with a roar. A claw struck the side of Litiraan’s head and sent him reeling while Lavren raised his sword and slashed it into the arm of the creature, turning its attention away from Litiraan for a moment. With a snarl, it started towards the warlock and Litiraan recovered but both elves knew that they were trapped against the wall. Their place of safety from the scourges of the statues had become a trap and without aid, it would be the place where they would fall.

Dulvarna watched Telkya fend off the demon for a moment while she gathered her strength and then she raised her blade and charged at the demon. She raised her blade above her head as she drew near and then brought it down, thinking to cleave open the demon’s skull. At the last, the creature turned towards her and her blade missed its head by a finger’s breadth cleaving instead into the creature’s shoulder. The demon roared and turned to face the enemy it had fought in the blood pool. From her left, Dulvarna heard Enlishia’s bow release and knew that the ranger was lending aid to Lavren and Litiraan. Grimly, she turned back to the demon before her and raised her blade, determined to finish her foe this time. She nodded to Telkya, signalling the priestess to withdraw and the elf maid did as she was bade but as she did so, she began another prayer. Golden light washed over Dulvarna and restored her strength while healing the worst of her hurts. The warrior woman nodded her thanks to the elf and turned back to the foe before her as the demon came at her, lashing out with its claws.

Erlmoor roared again at the demon before him and then uttered a short prayer to Lathander. His blade glowed with divine light as a portion of his own strength filled it and he swung out at the demon, tearing a wound across the creature’s chest and driving it back. Erlmoor stepped forward and uttered another prayer. Again his blade glowed and again it sang out but this time, the demon ducked under the swing. From a crouched position it snarled at Erlmoor and then leapt forward. A claw lashed out and struck the paladin’s hip, spinning him to his right and forcing him back in turn, away from his enemy. Demon and dragonborn roared then, challenging each other and defying each other, and knowing that only one would survive the battle.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 19 - Tides of Blood (Part 5)*

Litiraan turned back to the demon and stabbed out with his sword, driving it into the creature’s hip. The demon snarled and turned, lashing out at the wizard with a clawed hand. He struck Litiraan’s arm above the elbow and spun him back into the wall for a second time. Lavren took his chance, darting in from the demon’s right and stabbing his sword into its side and then its thigh. The demon snarled again and turned back towards the warlock. Litiraan pushed himself off the wall and turned back towards the demon, preparing to do the same again and give his companion yet another chance to strike at their shared foe. As he turned, a second arrow drove into the demon and with a smile, Litiraan realised that he had been foolish to doubt himself and his companions. The demon would fall to the three that now faught it and the knife that rested on the two platforms at the far end of the chamber would be theirs.

Dulvarna leapt back as the demon came at her and then feinted to the left with her heavy blade. As the demon dodged, she reversed her swing and slashed Aecris into her foe’s right side. The creature lurched to the left and roared with pain as dark blood began to pour from the wound. To her right, Dulvarna heard Telkya praying once more and as golden light engulfed the elf, she knew that the priestess had been sorely wounded and was now healing herself. Then, with a roar, the demon came forward again and Dulvarna was forced to turn her attention back to her foe. A claw lashed out and she ducked under it while raising her blade to strike at the demon again.

Erlmoor raised his voice in a hymn to Lathander and as he did so, he stepped forward towards the demon he faced. His blade sang out and smashed into the creature’s shoulder sending it spinning around to the left as it did so. The creature roared but Erlmoor’s hymn was louder and as the others heard it, strength that had fled returned to them. The demon roared again as Erlmoor sang and, mustering a sudden recovery from its terrible wound, it leapt at the paladin. Its claw lashed out and tore into the side of Erlmoor’s throat, driving the hymn from his lips. The demon tried to bite at his arm but it met only the hard, scaled elbow of the dragonborn and was sent reeling back once more. Silently now, Erlmoor turned on the demon and promised it death with nothing more than his fierce eyes.

Litiraan leapt at the demon and stabbed his blade into the side of its chest before darting back. It turned towards him and he stabbed out again, driving his sword into the creature’s shoulder. The creature twisted around the blade and back-handed Litiraan across the side of the face, sending him spinning to the left and filling his mouth with blood. He turned back but he was too slow this time and the demon leapt upon him. Teeth found his throat and tore at it but as warm blood flowed down his neck, Litiraan saw Lavren drive his blade into the demon’s side. An arrow drove through the creature’s throat then and with a gasp, the demon let Litiraan go. It fell to its knees and then collapsed on the floor. Satisfied that he had played his part, Litiraan let blackness take him.

Dulvarna wove her blade in front of her as the demon looked for an opening and then she darted forward. The demon reacted quickly and dodged to the left, leaving Aecris to only graze its hip as it slipped past. The demon snarled and turned to slashed at Dulvarna but as it did so, Telkya’s voice rose in prayer again and the priestess drove her blade into the demon’s left side. The demon snarled and turned away from Dulvarna towards this new foe, but as it lashed out wildly at the priestess, she ducked and leapt away. The demon roared its defiance one last time and then Dulvarna and Telkya came forward together to finish their foe.

As Telkya’s blade struck her foe, a shower of light motes descended on Erlmoor at the southern end of the platform and the dragonborn felt new strength flow through him. Despite his torn throat, he found his voice and roared defiance once again. He rushed at the demon and lashed out with his blade but his enemy ducked under the blow. The demon leapt at the dragonborn, slashing its claws across his belly and then seizing his throat once again in its terrible jaws. Erlmoor pushed at the demon with all his strength and forced it away from him but it snarled and spat in response. The paladin staggered, sorely weakened and bleeding from his throat but raised his blade anyway. The demon roared its own defiance then, sensing victory and rushed forward once more.

Dulvarna darted forward and struck at the demon first, slashing her blade across its belly and driving it back to the bottom of the steps at the edge of the blood pool. Telkya stepped forward to finish the creature but as she did, an arrow drove through its throat from back to front and with a gasp, the demon fell backwards into the blood pool. 

Telkya looked up at Enlishia and nodded her thanks before turning away from the top of the steps and rushing to aid Erlmoor. As she reached the dragonborn, she placed a hand on his shoulder and uttered a powerful healing prayer. White divine light flowed from her hand and washed over him, closing the wound in his throat and restoring his strength. The dragonborn roared again, his voice restored and his blade sang out after it as he advanced on the demon and drove it back. Dulvarna was beside him a heartbeat later and then behind him, Erlmoor heard Enlishia’s bow sing out. An arrow drove into the demon’s shoulder and then another pierced its side. It staggered and Telkya rushed at it with her blade before her. She stabbed at the demon’s shoulder but it twisted aside and she barely nicked its flesh but every wound was weakening the creature now. Again the demon staggered and this time, Erlmoor was the one who took advantage. The dragonborn stepped forward and drove his blade point-first into the chest of the demon. It opened its mouth but no air came forth and it slid slowly off the paladin’s blade to the floor.

Only then did the three companions remember fallen Litiraan and as the demon bodies began to smoke and collapse into the Abyssal ash from which they had been formed, they turned as one towards the northern end of the platform. There, Lavren was tending to the wizard’s wounds but Litiraan looked pale as death and the front of the white tunic he wore was stained red with blood down to his waist.
“He will live,” said Lavren as he looked towards the others. “But only just.”

*Next.....Proving Ground*


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## Medriev

*Chapter 20 - Proving Ground (Part 1)*

Litiraan woke quickly once Telkya began to use her healing prayer upon him and then she and Lavren used their fey ability to teleport to reach first the platform of the second statue and then the platforms on which rested the hilt and the blade of the knife they sought. When they returned to the centre platform, Lavren took the blade solemnly to Telkya and held it out towards her flat across his hands.

“My gift to you, my Lady,” he said with a half smile. “They had not spoken properly since the imp had visited them the night before.
“I am honoured, Lord,” she said and smiled back at him.

Taking the blade carefully, she inserted it into the hilt and found that it locked in place easily, forming and ornate and finely wrought dagger with runes that circled blade and hilt alike.
“We should rest here,” she said, her eyes fixed on Lavren. “We all need rest and time to recover from what has happened here.”
“Are we safe here?” Lavren responded. “And would it not be best if we took the items to the Proving Grounds now that we have them.”

Lavren’s heart, that had been singing as Telkya had smiled, suddenly grew cold as the elf maid’s gaze turned frosty and she turned away from him.
“Lavren is right,” said Erlmoor in his deep voice. “We have the four items now and can open the Inner Sanctum. Every moment of delay could take the slaves away from there or worse.”

Dulvarna nodded slowly and looked around at each of the companions in turn. Her eyes were sorrowful as she weighed up the courses before the company. When she finally spoke, all eyes were fixed upon her and the companions heeded every word.

“There is danger in each course,” she said grimly. “But we have known danger with every step that we have taken since first passing the Minotaur Gate. We must think of Telkya and Lavren’s kin who we came here seeking and put all thought of our own safety from our minds. We go on and return to the Proving Grounds to save the elves that remain to be saved. May the gods go with us.”

The others nodded at the last sentiment and set about gathering their belongings. The elves could pass over the blood pool unharmed using their fey powers but Erlmoor and Dulvarna knew the pain that they would have to face to escape the chamber. Grimly, Dulvarna and the dragonborn started down the steps.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 20 - Proving Ground (Part 2)*

Enlishia looked over at the iron bound doors beyond the rusted-open portcullis and then lowered her gaze to the chained skeletons on the floor of the chamber. At the very least, the skeletons represented the horrible fate of some unfortunates who had gone before the companions. Beyond that, they could represent a trap or vengeful undead much as those that had lurked beneath the Keep on the Shadowfell. Nervously, she nocked an arrow to the string of her bow and began to draw the string back.
“Ready,” Dulvarna called out from the circle of runes just around the corner beyond the skeletons to the right of the iron bound doors.
“Ready,” Enlishia called out towards the double doors to the north where Telkya waited in the bloody shrine chamber. 

Enlishia called out a second time towards the west where Erlmoor and Lavren waited beside their own rune circles with Litiraan relaying messages to them. Four calls of ‘ready’ came back to her and in her head she counted up towards a hundred as Dulvarna had agreed with all of them when they had entered the shrine chamber. As they reached a hundred count at the same time, the four companions at the rune circles would place the item they carried within the runes as the spirits had told them to do. Enlishia and Litiraan relaying messages was an extra precaution that allowed the companions to gather quickly if they encountered danger before they placed their items in the rune circles. Silently, Enlishia counted ninety eight, ninety nine and then, as she reached a hundred, she waited for something to happen as elsewhere, Dulvarna placed the mask, Telkya the book, Erlmoor the knife and Lavren the bell. Suddenly, all of the doors in the area banged open at the same time and from somewhere behind Enlishia to the west came a roar that echoed throughout the complex.

“Are the doors open?” Telkya asked as she rushed out into the central circle corridor where Enlishia stood. 
She rushed towards Enlishia who shrugged and looked around towards the iron bound doors. They were shuddering and moving very slowly but it would be some time before they opened widely enough to allow anyone to get through.
“Not yet,” Enlishia answered. “But they are starting to move.”

The ranger turned around on the spot, drawing back her bow string and searching for enemies, particularly whatever had made the terrible roar. As she looked to the north she saw a black sphere of eldritch energy forming at the far northern end of the passageway where in turned left.
“We should move from this place,” she said to Telkya who turned and looked at the sphere before nodding her agreement. 

Then, the roar sounded again, closer and from the north this time. Enlishia and Telkya turned towards the sound and watched with horror as a lithe and sleek green dragon swept around the corner on emerald wings. A crown of five horns ringed the back of its skull and a pronounced spike jutted from the tip of its narrow snout. More spikes ran down the creature’s neck and back, shrinking to a studded ridge along the top of tail that lashed back and forth behind it. Its mouth was filled with needle-like teeth, and poisonous fumes issued from its mouth and nostrils. An acrid odour surrounded the wyrm and stung the nose and eyes of the paralysed ranger and priestess. Forlornly, Enlishia raised her bow and drew back the string, wondering whether her arrows could even harm the terrible green monster.

Erlmoor heard roars to the north and west and turned towards the eastern doors of the chamber. Following the sound, he turned right and saw Enlishia raising her bow towards an enemy that remained out of sight for the dragonborn. Then he heard the creature roar again and he knew what enemy they faced.
“Dragon!” he called out loudly to any who could hear. “To me, Defenders of Winterhaven, to me!”

Litiraan heard Erlmoor’s call and looked towards Lavren who stood over the still-glowing runes of the circle from which the bell had vanished a few moments earlier. The warlock nodded to the wizard and Litiraan started southward along the circular corridor to where he had heard the dragonborn’s call. Lavren rushed out of the rune circle chamber and followed Litiraan southward down the corridor. Ahead of him, Litiraan rounded the corner and then Lavren heard him cry out. A moment later, a huge sphere of black force energy with spikes protruding from every direction rounded the corner and Lavren pulled up short. Desperately he looked around for some way to dodge the terrible weapon and started towards a western side passage, hoping he could reach it in time.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 20 - Proving Ground (Part 3)*

Dulvarna heard Erlmoor’s shout followed by pained cries from her companions and started towards them. She passed the iron bound doors and saw that they were opening painfully slowly. As she rounded the corner, she saw that Telkya had been thrown to the floor in the corridor while Enlishia had ducked into a gap in the rusted portcullis. Beyond her, Litiraan and Erlmoor had been slammed against the walls of the corridor by the black, spiked sphere that was now rolling around the western corner to turn back to the north. 

Dulvarna rushed to join Enlishia but as she started forward, one of the chained skeletons, lashed out with an arm and grabbed her leg. Ragged fingernails dug into the flesh of Dulvarna’s leg but she twisted to the left and dragged her leg free, leaping beyond the reach of the skeleton. Another of the skeletons reached out from the floor close to the right wall but Dulvarna skipped over its arm and took another step towards the portcullis. Just as she thought she would reach it, she stumbled and the questing skeletons reached out for her once more.

Telkya rose and reached out with her left hand. She uttered a prayer that unleashed a blast of golden light into the chest of the green dragon as it hovered close to the ceiling of the corridor where it had been forced to evade the black sphere. Desperately, she scrambled back along the corridor and ducked through the portcullis. She saw Dulvarna struggling through the skeletons and kept close to the rusted stubs of the bars themselves so that she was beyond the reach of the undead. Enlishia looked back over her shoulder and saw Telkya’s intention. She raised her bow and loosed an arrow that flew past the dragon and then reached back to her quiver to draw another arrow. She nocked this, aimed and fired, the shaft driving into the dragon’s foreleg. It roared again and then, as Enlishia retreated through the portcullis, the dragon dived toward with its teeth bared. The dragon swept past the portcullis with a rush of air and as it past, it craned its neck through the bars to bite at Enlishia. The ranger leapt back and the teeth snapped shut on empty air as the dragon turned the corner and swept towards Erlmoor and Litiraan.

Erlmoor pressed himself against the south wall of the corridor as the dragon swept towards him and then, as it turned northward through an archway that led to the central chamber of the complex, the dragonborn lashed out with his blade. He drew blood from the dragon’s back leg as his blade pierced the flesh and again the dragon roared. Erlmoor roared his own response and slid left along the south wall towards the passage entrance from which he had emerged, seeking shelter from the terrible black sphere that would surely pass this way again. He looked to the left and saw Litiraan stab his blade at the dragon’s tail as it swished past before retreating the same way as Erlmoor intended, towards the southern passage.

Around the corner, Lavren darted across the corridor in front of the rolling black sphere. He rushed down the western passage and turned south through the open doors of the chamber in which Erlmoor had placed the knife on the circle of runes. As soon as he entered the chamber he realised his mistake for inside the room where four stone-rimmed pools. One, against the west wall bubbled and swirled while tendrils of animated, elemental water reached out blindly from its surface as though seeking prey. Lavren steeled himself for a moment and then called on his fey ability to move from place to place. He vanished into a cloud of light motes and then reappeared next to a pool of pale green liquid on the far side of the room. He looked back and saw a tendril of water turning towards him. Turning his back on it, Lavren started around the green pool towards the eastern doors of the chambers, hoping he could escape in time.

Telkya extended her hand and loosed another bolt of light at the disappearing hindquarters of the dragon and watched with satisfaction as the bold seared a hind foot. Beside her, Enlishia loosed an arrow and then a second into the same leg and then the dragon vanished into the centre chamber for a few heartbeats. Then, with a roar, it came forth again through the southern entrance and swept over Erlmoor and Litiraan. As it passed over the elf, it swept its jaws down and seized the elf’s arm, throwing him against the south wall of the corridor. He cried out and fell back against the stone as the dragon swept around the corner to the north and vanished from view.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 20 - Proving Ground (Part 4)*

Erlmoor roared himself and then rushed after the dragon, rounding the corner and catching up to it as it slowed to turn. He breathed out and sprayed acid upon the hindquarters of the dragon before lashing out with his blade as he prayed to Lathander. His sword glowed brightly for a moment and then tore into the flesh of the dragon’s tail, drawing a screech of pain from the wyrm. Litiraan rushed to the corner behind the dragonborn and reached out with the wand in his left hand. He uttered a spell and a silver bolt of energy lanced out but the dragon twisted in the air as it started to turn and the missile flew harmlessly past the wyrm as it did so.

Lavren looked back again and as he did so, a tendril of elemental water lashed out at him. He ducked forward and ran for the door and by some miracle, the tendril lashed at the air above his head. He rushed out into the corridor and turned left towards the circular passage around the central chamber, slowing as he reached it. He looked left and saw the dragon starting to turn while Erlmoor and Litiraan challenged its might. Raising his wand in his left hand, he loosed a blast of black, crackling energy that flew past the dragon’s left wing and blasted into the stone close to the corridor ceiling. A heartbeat later, the terrible black sphere rolled around the corner to the right and forced Lavren to duck back into the southern passage entrance. He looked out once it had passed and saw Erlmoor throw himself against the wall to his left and avoid the sphere. Litiraan threw himself into the corner of the passage and the sphere rolled past him around the corner, missing him by barely a hands-breadth. As the sphere blocked his view of the dragon, Lavren heard it screech either in alarm or pain as the sphere rolled towards it.

Another hand grasped Dulvarna’s right leg as she tried to reach the portcullis and again, claw-like nails dug into her flesh. She twisted her leg free and strode forward but the skeleton reached out with its other arm to try to grab her. She leapt over this limb and reached the portcullis beside Enlishia. She looked back for a moment to be sure that she was beyond the reach of the undead and when she was satisfied, she turned to Enlishia and smiled.
“How do we defeat the dragon?” Telkya asked, looking to Dulvarna for an answer.
“We wait for it to come to us,” Dulvarna answered.
“Agreed,” said Telkya with a nod.

Erlmoor pushed himself away from the corridor wall and turned back to look at Lavren. The dragonborn gestured towards the entrance to the central chamber in the northern wall of the corridor and started towards it intending to wait for the dragon to pass again. As soon as he reached the archway into the central chamber, he realised that fate had chosen a different course for him. As Erlmoor reached the southern entrance, the dragon swept through the northern one and flew towards him. He roared in defiance and raised his blade before him, waiting for the inevitable attack.
“It comes through here,” he called out to the others.

Litiraan heard Erlmoor call out but as he started forward, he realised that the wound in his arm was bleeding more seriously than he had first thought. His arm down to his hand was soaked in blood while the wound had turned black as though it were poisoned. As he felt a numbness spread from the wound, he realised that he had to take care of the wound before he could attack the dragon again. He ducked into the southern passage where Lavren stood and reached to his belt for the strips of cloth that he kept in his pouch to dress wounds. He pulled one forth and began to bind it around his arm. Lavren looked to him and realised the pain he was in. With a nod, he crossed the corridor to where Erlmoor stood and raised his wand to conjure fey beasts that would tear at the dragon from their own realm. He uttered the curse but the dragon slowed and the fangs that appeared, snapped on nothing but air. Dissatisfied, they vanished quickly and the dragon swept across the chamber towards the elf and the dragonborn.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 20 - Proving Ground (Part 5)*

Dulvarna heard Erlmoor’s call and ducked through the portcullis. Looking right, she saw the black, spiked sphere roll around the north-western corner of the circular central corridor and begin to roll down towards her. She rushed across to the southern entrance to the central chamber and ducked inside, squeezing between Lavren and Erlmoor and rushing over to take up position against the western wall. She raised her blade and braced her feet as the dragon swept down the chamber.  

Telkya rushed across the central corridor and ducked past Lavren into the central chamber. She raised her left hand and brought down a column of light onto the dragon as it passed over the pit in the middle of the chamber. Telkya’s prayer was too slow and the column descended behind the dragon as it swept forward. Enlishia ducked into the chamber on the other side and raised her bow, loosing an arrow towards the dragon. The shaft flew wide and clattered into the far wall beyond the wyrm. The dragon beat its wings to slow its flight over the pit and as it did it drew in a deep breath. When it let the breath out, it came as noxious fumes but the companions had already turned away from the dragon and covered their mouths and noses with their cloaks. 

Erlmoor roared and charged the dragon with his blade before him but as he reached it, it beat its wings and took itself back beyond his reach. Litiraan came into the chamber behind the others and loosed a silver bolt from his wand that seared past the dragon. Lavren loosed black, crackling energy towards the dragon but this too flew wide of the mark. The sphere rolled past the archway behind him and he glanced back for a moment as Dulvarna rushed forward to join Erlmoor before the dragon. She weaved her blade before her as she reached the wyrm, drawing it towards her and then she lashed out. Aecris tore across the dragon’s nose and drew blood but the wyrm paid the wound little mind as it beat its wings and hovered over the pit. 

Telkya loosed a bolt of light that flew wide of the dragon and then Enlishia loosed two arrows quickly. One flew wide but the second drive into the dragon’s shoulder and drew a shriek of pain from the wyrm. The dragon beat its wings back once more and then swept forward, diving for the archway that led out of the room. As it reached the portal, it reached down with its jaws and tore at Lavren’s left shoulder, spinning him into the wall next to him. The elf looked left to follow the dragon’s path and saw the wyrm, gracefully turn right and then left to swoop into the southern passageway from which he and Litiraan had come. No sooner had it turned into the passage than it banked left sharply and turned through the eastern doors of the southern passage that led to the circle of runes where Dulvarna had stood with the mask a scant few moments ago.
“Where did it go?” Erlmoor roared as he turned around towards the southern archway.
“Into the prison where the skeletons lie,” answered Lavren.
“Then we meet it at the portcullis,” Erlmoor snarled and rushed past his companions and out into the circular corridor.

Behind the dragonborn, Litiraan and Lavren raised their wands and turned to face the portcullis from the archway where they stood. Dulvarna rushed past them and overtook Erlmoor to duck through the portcullis and raise her blade for when the dragon came around the corner towards her. She glanced left as the black sphere rounded the north western corner once more and rolled down towards the portcullis just as she ducked through it. Behind the others, Telkya darted across the corridor and ducked into the southern passageway ready to attack the dragon as it swept though the portcullis. Enlishia rushed across the central corridor to join her just as the dragon swept around the corner past the iron bound doors and bore down on Dulvarna and Erlmoor. 

For the first time, the dragon landed, setting down midst the litter of bones that surrounded the chained skeletons. It lashed out at Dulvarna with its right claw but she ducked under the swing only to be caught by the wyrm’s left claw as it swept in and cuffed her shoulder. She spun to the left and threw her momentum into the turn to spin on the spot. She rose with her blade in her hands before her and stepped towards the dragon. Erlmoor surged past her with a roar and charged into the midst of the twitching skeletons that lay on the floor. A skeleton reached out and grabbed his right leg but he paid it no mind and lashed out at the dragon. The wyrm screeched and reared back to evade the blow but as it did so, Litiraan ducked through the portcullis behind Erlmoor. He raised his wand and loosed a silver bolt into the dragon’s chest. It screeched and reared back again raising its head to the high ceiling of the chamber. Lavren rushed into the room beside Dulvarna and loosed a bolt of black energy that struck the ceiling behind the dragon. The wyrm roared and lowered its front feet to the floor once again. It began beating its wings as though it intended to take flight once more and as it did so, Dulvarna charged. A skeleton reached out and grabbed the leg of the warrior woman but she drove her blade forward despite the hindrance and the pain. Aecris pierced the right foreleg of the dragon at the mid-joint and drew another screech of pain from the creature. Then, as the screech ended, the dragon loosed its terrible noxious breath for a second time.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 20 - Proving Ground (Part 6)*

Litiraan, Lavren and Erlmoor all covered their faces but Dulvarna was not fast enough. As she breathed in, burning, searing poison tore at her chest and she staggered, her blade faltering in her hands before her. The dragon leapt forward then and swooped over Dulvarna and Erlmoor, snapping at the warrior woman as it passed overhead. Dulvarna ducked down and raised her blade, recovering her strength and her senses just in time to evade the dragon’s attack. The green wyrm dipped through the gap in the portcullis and flew down the central corridor before dipping right into the pit chamber. Telkya and Enlishia watched it pass and then darted forward across the corridor in pursuit of the dragon.

Telkya stopped short of the pit and watched as the dragon turned easily at the far end of the chamber. Enlishia came into the room behind her and loosed an arrow towards the dragon that tore through its left wing. She reached over her shoulder and drew another shaft from her quiver, nocked it to her bowstring and let fly again. The dragon screeched and dipped as this arrow streaked towards it and the shaft flew over its body to clatter into the far northern archway.

Another skeleton reached out for Erlmoor but he leapt back and turned away, rushing after the dragon. He crossed the central corridor quickly and then turned right into the pit chamber, passing Enlishia and Telkya as he rushed towards the dragon. Litiraan came into the chamber behind the dragonborn and loosed a silver bolt from his wand, held in his left hand. It struck the dragon in the shoulder and drew another pained screeched from the wyrm. Lavren came into the chamber next and loosed black, crackling energy towards the dragon. The wyrm swooped downwards and ducked under the bolt before beating its wings to dive at the companions.

Dulvarna made to follow the others but as she did, a skeleton lunged at her and seized her with two hands around the thigh. She cried out as claws dug into her flesh and turned back towards the undead creature. Twisting to her left, she pulled her leg free but tore her flesh painfully as she did so. She rushed toward the entrance to the pit chamber with her blade before her but the pain in her legs slowed her and she knew she would not reach the room before the dragon turned. Raising her blade, she prepared for the moment when the dragon would emerge and prayed that her companions could hurt it sorely in her absence.

Inside the central chamber, Telkya rushed forward, turning right to circle the pit. As the dragon dove forward, she raised her holy symbol and unleashed a bolt of light towards the wyrm. It struck the creature in the side and forced it to lurch to its right as it swept down towards the companions. The dragon was almost upon Enlishia when she loosed an arrow from her bow and it flew wildly past the dragon. She nocked and loosed another quickly but this clattered off the dragon’s scales as it veered to the left and landed beside Erlmoor. The dragon lashed out with its claws but the dragon born ducked left and then right to evade both huge weapons and then roared his defiance. He lashed out with his sword but the dragon reared back and evaded the blow. Dragon and dragonborn roared together then in challenge before rushing at each other once more.

As the dragon surged towards Erlmoor, Litiraan loosed another silver bolt form his wand that seared into the wyrm’s left flank, burning into its chest. It screeched and reared back before turning towards the elf that had so wounded it. Lavren raised his own wand and loosed another blast of black, crackling energy into the dragon’s chest, drawing a roar of defiance from the wyrm.

In the corridor outside, Dulvarna heard the roar and started forward again but as she did, the terrible black sphere rolled around the corner behind her. She looked back and froze for the precious moment she needed to dive to one side. The sphere struck her and hurled her into the wall. Dulvarna felt her head slam into the stone and then saw blinding light, followed by peaceful, merciful, blackness.

Telkya loosed another bolt of light at the dragon but it flew wide and struck the wall behind the wyrm. Enlishia let fly another arrow towards the dragon that drove into the creature’s chest. It screeched  again and she released another shaft only for this to fly high and clatter into the ceiling above the wyrm. The dragon drew in its breath and then roared more loudly than it had ever done before, sending a shiver of fear through the companions. Enlishia, Erlmoor and Lavren fell back against the walls of the chamber, stunned by the power of the dragon. Litiraan raised his wand with a shaking hand and uttered the words of a spell to again unleash a silver bolt towards the dragon. The arcane fire seared into the dragon’s throat and as it did, a great booming came from the south east where the iron bound doors stood. The dragon screeched again and began to beat its wings, clearly intending to take flight once more.

Telkya stepped towards the dragon and raised her amulet to unleash another bolt of light but again her divine fire flew past the wyrm and struck the stonework of the western wall. Enlishia raised her bow them and loosed an arrow into the dragon’s neck. It reared and screeched as it beat its wings and she loosed a second shaft into its throat behind its jaws. Again the dragon screeched and now it did take flight, swooping towards the southern archway to leave the room. Litiraan raised his blade in his right hand and as the dragon swept over him, he drove the sword forward into the wyrm’s throat. The creature’s momentum carried it onward and dragged Litiraan’s sword along its neck. Blood gushed out, covering Litiraan and Enlishia and the dragon opened its mouth to screech but no sound came forth. Instead, the dragon careened across the central hallway and crashed into the southern wall where it collapsed in an ungainly heap. The wyrm twitched once and then lay still.

*Next......The Inner Sanctum*


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## Medriev

*Chapter 21 - The Inner Sanctum (Part 1)*

Erlmoor rushed out of the central chamber and knelt beside Dulvarna, praying fervently to Lathander. He laid a hand on the shoulder of the warrior woman and as divine light glowed in his palm, her eyes opened. Only then did  the dragonborn look up and see that the iron bound doors were what had made the booming noise a few moments before. They stood wide open while the twitching skeletons slowly grew still before them.
“The doors are open,” Erlmoor called out. “But Dulvarna for one needs rest. We will stay in the central chamber for a few hours and then pass through the doors.”

The companions did as he bade and rested in the central chamber while they watched in pairs from the southern and northern archways. Nothing disturbed their rest and the terrible, spiked black ball of force never passed the middle chamber while they rested. When they set off after a meagre meal, they drew near to the skeletons cautiously but as Dulvarna stepped amongst them, they remained unmoving. A thick grey mist obscured the passageway beyond the iron bound doors blocking all sight and seeming to eerily muffle the sounds of the companions’ footfalls. They followed Dulvarna into the mist, blinded by it for a moments until they emerged at another set of double doors. Dulvarna and Erlmoor pushed these open and strode boldly into the chamber beyond.

The hall within was dominated by a leering idol that depicted a howling minotaur warrior armed with a massive axe. Before the idol was an iron cauldron filled with a bubbling liquid that gave off a thick mist. A short staircase led to a raised area that overlooked the idol and three more cauldrons were set on this upper area along with a stone altar. To the east of the altar, a series of green, ghostly runes had been scribed into the floor. Two elves stood within the glowing runes apparently in some sort of trance. 
A gnoll with large bat wings and curved horns stood behind the altar, grasping a rod in one hand and a sheaf of parchment in the others. A massive ape-like demon stood beside him while a small pack of red-skinned carnage demons snarled at the intruders from atop the raised platform. Looming over all was a massive skeleton if a minotaur clutching a greataxe. With a shrill howl from the gnoll, the monsters moved to attack.
Enlishia darted right and began firing arrows, loosing two into one of the red-skinned demons on the raised platform. Litiraan followed her, raising his wand in his left hand and uttering a spell as he ran. An orange ball of flame flew forth from the wand and darted towards the skeleton before bursting into a shower of searing flame. The fire charred black the ribs and left arm of the skeletons but the demons and the gnoll threw themselves away and avoided the fireball. Erlmoor roared and sprayed acid, but this time the skeleton lurched to the left to avoid harm. The gnoll ducked down beside the altar but one of the red skinned demons was burned by the deadly spray. The dragonborn called out a challenge and charged then, rushing up the steps to meet the skeleton at the top. His blade sang out and smashed into the side of the skeleton’s leg, chipping the bone but scarcely slowing the terrible creature.

The ape demon roared its response to Erlmoor then and leapt over the cauldron next to it and landed on the floor below the ledge. It rushed at Erlmoor’s back as the paladin tried to turn to meet this new threat. A huge arm swung out and struck the dragonborn, spinning him towards the demon just as the other arm came up and slammed him under the chin, He reeled back and fell back, sprawling on the steps at the feet of the minotaur skeleton. Telkya saw Erlmoor’s plight and raised her amulet high while raising her blade in her other hand. She called on Corellon and brought down a column of searing light to engulf the ape demon. The creature roared its anger as the divine light seared its flesh and staggered back a step from Erlmoor, giving the dragonborn chance to get up. Telkya saw a flash of movement from the left then and as she looked, the gnoll raised its left hand and loosed a bolt of black, crackling energy towards her. She dodged to the left and the bolt struck the wall beside her but she gained no satisfaction from her escape. The gnoll would try again to strike her down if it was not dealt with quickly.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 21 - The Inner Sanctum (Part 2)*

One of the carnage demons leapt down from the ledge to land in front of Dulvarna but she lashed out at it as it jumped and tore a gash along its right thigh with her blade. It landed and turned with a snarl to lash out at her with a backhand but Dulvarna was ready and ducked under the swipe easily. She rose with her blade in hand and slammed the hilt of Aecris into the face of the demon to drive it away from her. She looked up then and saw a second demon land on the steps next to Erlmoor. The dragonborn ducked under its first wild swing but the paladin needed help, Dulvarna knew. Now if only she could get the troublesome demon from her path, she could aid him.

Lavren joined Litiraan and Enlishia against the west wall of the chamber with wand and blade in hand. He raised his wand and loosed black, crackling energy into the back of the ape demon, distracting it for a moment and buying Erlmoor a few more moments as he battled his three foes. Lavren saw a flash of movement beyond the huge ape demon then and looking up, he saw the third red-skinned carnage demon leap from the ledge in front of a cauldron and rush across the floor towards he and Litiraan. The demon lashed out with its clawed hand and struck the wizard across the face spinning him around and slamming him into the stone wall. Enlishia leapt away from the demon and raised her bow, loosing first one arrow and then a second into the side of the demon. Litiraan raised his blade and lashed out at the demon. The demon leapt back to evade the sword and snarled at Litiraan before leaping forward again.
“Taste the blade of Dragonbane,” Litiraan cried out as the demon came forward with a ferocity that the others had rarely heard from him.

Erlmoor lashed out at the skeleton while calling out to Lathander and then, as his blade clove into the creature’s ribs, he leapt down from the steps to face the ape demon. The demon lashed out at him with one claw and he ducked under it but the other smashed into his left arm and spun him towards the carnage demon that Dulvarna faced. The dragonborn roared his defiance and Telkya reached out her left hand towards him while uttering a healing prayer. Golden light cascade over Erlmoor for a moment and new strength filled him. He nodded his thanks to the priestess and then turned around to face the ape demon once more. Erlmoor smiled for a moment but then a bolt of black energy unleashed by the gnoll struck the wall above her head and she returned her mind to the battle before her.

The demon before Dulvarna lashed out with a clawed hand and tore at her forearm but she faught through the pain and lashed out with her blade again. The demon ducked back but Dulvarna followed up, lunging forward to drive her blade into the demon’s knee. It roared its pain and lurched back from her, beyond the reach of Aecris. She looked up to where Erlmoor was desperately trying to retreat towards her and saw that the dragonborn had not yet escaped the reach of the skeleton. The minotaur raised its huge axe and brought it down towards the paladin who parried to drive the blade away from his head. The axe still tore down the side of Erlmoor’s right arm and the dragonborn let forth his own roar of pain. Dulvarna decided then to dispose of the foe before her more quickly so that she could move to aid her friend. As she looked, the carnage demon on the steps, rushed across the stairway and lashed out with a clawed fist at Erlmoor, striking the dragonborn across the cheek. As he reeled away, the demon leapt but Erlmoor raised his blade and both arms to fend it off and send it tumbling back onto the steps. Erlmoor stopped for a moment, breathing heavily, and then he raised his blade once more.

Lavren leapt back from the demon that had come at Litiraan and raised his wand while uttering another curse. He called forth fire within the demon to burn it but rather than the bursts of searing flame from the creature’s skin, instead only small motes appeared and they died quickly. The demon snarled towards Lavren and then leapt forward at Litiraan once again. The demon lashed out with its right hand this time and struck the elf’s left arm, tearing several ragged wounds in it above the elbow. Litiraan reeled away as Enlishia loosed more arrows, one driving into the demon’s shoulder. Litiraan lashed out wildly once he had recovered from the blow and only succeeded in striking the stone wall beside him as the demon leapt back. The creature snarled again at the elf, promising a gruesome death, before rushing at him once more.

Erlmoor retreated a few more steps until he was beside the demon that Dulvarna faught. He called out a challenge to this new foe and then stabbed his blade into the demon’s hip. It hissed and snarled at him but he paid it no mind for the ape demon had taken another step forward after him. The first blow struck him in the left shoulder and spun him away from the carnage demon beside him. He ducked then as the left arm swung out at him at the limit of the ape demon’s reach. The clawed hand missed the top of the dragonborn’s head by a hand’s breadth and the paladin rose quickly, stepping back again. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Telkya loose a bolt of light towards the demon that her brother faught and as he turned his gaze back to the enemies before him, a dark bolt of crackling energy flashed in from his left and struck him in the side. Erlmoor grunted and gasped as the eldritch energy tore into his ribs. He staggered to the right and almost fell. Sensing his weakness, the carnage demon that Dulvarna faught turned aside and leapt on the dragonborn. Its claws tore at his face while its vicious questing teeth tore open his throat. With a final, strangled roar, Erlmoor fell beneath the demon as his blood spread out in a pool around him.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 21 - The Inner Sanctum (Part 3)*

Dulvarna cried out and rushed at the demon in a wild fury. She slashed her blade across the demon’s side and as it turned to face her, she raised her sword above her head and brought it down in a huge blow. Aecris split open the skull of the carnage demon, spilling blood and brains over poor, fallen Erlmoor before the creature crumpled and collapsed to lie atop the paladin. Dulvarna desperately wanted to move the demon aside but she had no time as its red-skinned companion leapt from the steps and rushed at her. It swung out with its right hand and she ducked under the blow before raising her blade and lashing out to keep the creature at bay. Dulvarna looked down sadly at Erlmoor for a moment and then turned her attention back to the foe before her.

Lavren loosed a black, crackling bolt into the side of the demon that Litiraan faught. It reeled and staggered back fro a moment before lashing out at the elf wizard. He ducked under the wild swing and rose just as Enlishia let fly from her bow once more. One shaft and then a second drove into the demon’s side, forcing it to lurch back to its right unsteadily. Before it had chance to recover, Litiraan came at the demon ina  furious rage, his blade slashing left and right and tearing deep wounds across the creature’s chest. It staggered again and fell backwards this time, sorely wounded. Litiraan followed with the blade he had named Dragonbane in hand. The demon snarled its defiance but it knew in its black heart that it was doomed.

The ape demon leapt forward and lashed out with a backhand swing towards Dulvarna. She Ducked back to evade the blow and then ducked under the forehand swing of the demon’s left arm. Telkya began to pray again while reaching out towards Erlmoor. Pale motes of divine light rained down on the dragonborn and, though he lay beneath the gore-covered carnage demon, he opened his eyes and began to breath more strongly. Telkya smiled again and the dragonborn winked at her without attracting the notice of the demons that fought around him. From the high platform, the gnoll loosed another dark blast of crackling energy and this time, he found a target. The blast seared into Dulvarna’s left shoulder and hurled her back towards Telkya. The huge minotaur skeleton lumbered forward then until it stood beside the ape demon. Its huge axe swung out over the head of the carnage demon before Dulvarna and slammed her away from Telkya, smashing her into the wall of the entry passageway. She cried out as her shoulder slammed into the stone but lashed out with her blade nonetheless to draw blood from the hip of the demon before her. The creature snarled, hissed and leapt at Dulvarna, tearing at her with claws and needle-like teeth as its companion had done to Erlmoor.

Lavren loosed a bolt of black eldritch energy into the staggering demon that pierced its chest and threw it back from Litiraan. The creature staggered again and then fell to its knees before pitching forward on its front, its face on the stone floor. Enlishia nodded to the elf and then raised her bow. She loosed an arrow and then a second almost at once into the ape demon, driving it back a step and away from Dulvarna and Erlmoor. Litiraan raised his wand and loosed a curtain of flames to engulf the ape demon but the creature ducked left behind the cauldron it stood next to and evaded the fire. Litiraan cursed but then he heard a familiar roar and his heart sang. He looked to his left and saw Erlmoor rise to his feet with a song to Lathander on his lips. He raised his deep baritone voice to the ceiling of the chamber and then, as his blade glowed brightly, he slashed it into the hip of the skeleton. The huge minotaur skeleton staggered and the risen dragonborn roared in triumph.

The ape demon roared its own response to the return of the dragonborn and then lashed out with its right hand to backhand Erlmoor in the chest. The paladin reeled and staggered to his left as the creature lashed the same hand back across forehand and struck Erlmoor in the face, spinning him back around to his right. He staggered and almost fell as his strength faded again. Telkya rushed forward, seeing the plight of her companion again and raised her holy symbol towards the minotaur skeleton.
“Begone foul undead!” she cried out and as her symbol glowed brightly, light lanced out to strike the skeleton. 

It staggered and raised its arms before its skull as it staggered back and away from the priestess’ terrible light. The gnoll watched as the skeleton retreated up the steps and past the altar and then he reached out with his left hand towards Dulvarna. A black bolt lanced out and struck the warrior woman in the side but though it seared her flesh it did not vanish then. As the gnoll held out his hand, he lifted it and the black lightning lifted Dulvarna until she was almost her own height off the ground and there she was held.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 21 - The Inner Sanctum (Part 4)*

The lightning died and though she remained suspended in the air, Dulvarna managed to raise her blade and keep the carnage demon at bay for a few moments. She summoned all her strength and concentrated on the moment that she was sure would come when she would fall to the floor where her enemies fought once more. The demon leapt and tore at her right leg with its teeth but Dulvarna slashed down with her blade and forced it away from her. She cursed her fate and prayed to Lathander that she would be freed from her terrible suspension before the demon below her tore her apart.

Lavren stepped forward beside Telkya and levelled his wand at the ape demon. He called forth one of his most powerful curses and as he finished it, terrible teeth appeared around the demon and snapped at it, tearing at its flesh. The demon staggered and began to howl as the teeth snapped at it. Enlishia took careful aim with her bow and then loosed an arrow that shattered as it drove into the ape demon’s chest sending splinters of wood though the creature’s body. It staggered again and seemed about to fall. Litiraan loosed a silver bolt of light past the creature’s head and then Erlmoor turned towards it, his blade held before him. He sang a hymn to Lathander as he lashed out at the demon and cut open the demon’s belly with a blow that struck with a clap of thunder. The creature staggered back a step and then fell backwards to land on its rump. It looked down at its cloven belly and its guts that it held in its hands and then fell over on its back, unmoving.

Telkya rushed at the demon before Dulvarna, praying to Corellon as she did so. Her sword glowed brightly as she lashed out and the blade clove into the arm of the red-skinned demon. As it did so, a tendril of light reached up to touch Dulvarna and heal the worst of her wounds. Even as the healing took effect, the gnoll reached out his hand and sent a bolt of black, crackling energy forth to strike Dulvarna in the side. She cried out and spun in mid air before dropping to the ground heavily as the enchantment of the previous bolt ended. 

Dulvarna looked up as the enchantment ended and saw that the skeleton was coming forward again. The huge undead creature lumbered down the steps and lashed out with its axe to strike Erlmoor in the chest and send the dragonborn flying back towards Lavren. The paladin landed hard at the warlock’s feet and lay still, blood pooling once more around him. Dulvarna roared her defiance and grief as she charged forward and lashed out with her blade. Aecris clove into the side of the creature, tearing into its ribs and throwing it to the right. The demon staggered but then righted itself suddenly to leap at Dulvarna. It lashed out with a claw and tore open her throat, spinning her around on the spot and felling her beside Erlmoor.

Lavren stepped past Telkya and moved back to stand against the western wall as he raised his wand and cursed the minotaur skeleton. He loosed a  bolt of black energy that struck the creature in the chest and shattered its rib cage before driving into its spine and cleaving it in two. The skeleton collapsed in a clatter of shattered bones. Enlishia stepped forward and turned her bow on the demon that had felled Dulvarna, loosing two arrows quickly that flew past the red-skinned creature and clattered into the stone of the raised area. The demon turned its blood-stained mouth towards the ranger and snarled as though promising her the same fate as her companions had suffered.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 21 - The Inner Sanctum (Part 5)*

Beside Lavren, Litiraan raised his wand and loosed a silver bolt followed by another. These found their marks in the demon’s chest and drove it back against the stone platform behind it. Telkya retreated from the demon’s fury and knelt beside Erlmoor. She uttered her most powerful healing prayer and laid a hand on the dragonborn’s chest as light filled her palm. It flowed into the dragonborn, closing the terrible wound in his chest and as she prayed, Telkya saw Erlmoor’s eyes open once more. She smiled for a moment but then a bolt of black, crackling power lanced out from the gnoll near the altar and struck her in the shoulder, hurling her back against the wall. 

The demon leapt forward after the priestess, snarling as it came but Erlmoor rolled over on the floor as it drew near and stabbed his blade into its leg. The demon turned and lashed a claw across the dragonborn’s back but he paid it no mind. He could feel little pain now and began to push himself to his feet. Even as he rose, Lavren cursed the demon and loosed a bolt of black energy that drove it back from Telkya. Enlishia loosed an arrow from her bow that nicked the demon’s cheek and then another, that flew past to strike the cauldron at the far end of the raised platform. The demon snarled for the last time and then Litiraan raised his wand to loose a silver bolt at the demon. It seared through its chest, pierced its foul heart and felled it against the platform from which it had come. Litiraan vanished in a shower of light motes and reappeared on the platform a few feet from the gnoll who turned towards him while behind the elf, Erlmoor rose again with a roar. He rushed up the steps and moved to meet the gnoll with his blade before him.

Telkya watched her brother and the dragonborn advance on the gnoll and knew that she had a chance now to tend to Dulvarna. She knelt beside the warrior woman and uttered a healing prayer while resting her hand on the terrible wound at her throat. Again golden light filled her hand and flowed into her companion to close the wound before finally, Dulvarna’s eyes flicked open.

The gnoll growled at Erlmoor and lashed out with its tail which bore sharp spikes. The tail struck the dragonborn’s right knee and drove its spikes deep into his leg. He staggered and lurched to the right as the gnoll threw down its rod and drew a large mace from its belt. It lashed out at the paladin while still reading from the parchment in its left hand and Erlmoor parried desperately, stopping the mace mere inches from his head. The gnoll’s voice rose to a crescendo for a moment and to his right, Erlmoor saw one of the elf prisoners consumed in a flash of bright light. He roared his defiance again and shoved the gnoll’s mace away from him though he knew that his knee would not hold him for much longer. 

As Erlmoor roared, Dulvarna rushed up the steps behind him with Aecris before her and behind her came Lavren, loosing black lightning at the gnoll to drive it back from the others. Enlishia came next, loosing arrows one after the other and wounding the gnoll twice and then Litiraan unleashed a silver bolt into the gnoll’s side. For the first time, the terrible creature staggered and seemed to falter in its reading of the parchment in its left hand. As he saw his companions arrive, Erlmoor summoned the last of his strength and channelled it into his blade before swing out at the gnoll. The sword glowed brightly and clove into the creature’s left shoulder, tearing through flesh and bone. The gnoll howled and its grip on the parchment loosened but it continued to chant the ritual phrases. Erlmoor roared and rushed forward and the gnoll raised its mace to meet him.

Telkya watched the battle on the platform unfold for a moment and then focused her fey energy on moving to join her companions. She vanished in a shower of motes and reappeared next to the gnoll as it moved to meet Erlmoor. Despite its distractions, it seemed to sense her presence and lashed its spiked tail around towards her. She could not avoid the terrible weapon and it struck her in the wide, driving the breath from her body and audibly cracking several ribs. The priestess staggered to the right and uttered a short blessing to enchant her sword before rushing in at the gnoll and stabbing at it. The gnoll twisted away from her and brought its mace down to parry her thrust with amazing speed. It whipped the mace back up and struck the side of the elf’s head before turning back towards Erlmoor and Dulvarna. Telkya staggered away in a daze but saw the gnoll feint low towards Erlmoor before raising the mace over his head and bringing its down on the dragonborn’s skull. Erlmoor crumpled and fell for the third time in a shower of blood.


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## Medriev

Dulvarna cried out as Erlmoor fell again and rushed at the gnoll while sweeping her blade out to the right. It slashed into the gnoll’s hip and sent it lurching towards Telkya. The gnoll lifted its head as Lavren uttered a new curse that would fill its head with terrible images and dark dreams. The gnoll turned towards the warlock as he finished the curse and snarled its defiance, refusing to be beaten by the images that filled its head. From the other side of Dulvarna, Enlishia raised her bow with two arrows nocked to its string and loosed both at the same time. They separated in the air but both flew straight and true towards the gnoll and drove into its right side. It staggered again and it faltered in its chanting for a second time.

Instead, Litiraan’s voice filled the chamber and as his chanting reached its conclusion, a cloud of chill fog appeared behind the gnoll that coalesced into a hand of ice almost as tall as a man. The hand rushed forward and seized the gnoll around the waist in a crushing grip. Again the gnoll howled and as it did so, Telkya stabbed at it with her blade. It parried and lashed out at her head again. The mace struck the elf’s cheek and spun her away towards Litiraan and Enlishia. For a moment, Telkya saw blinding light and then there was blackness.

Dulvarna and Lavren cried out together and both surged at the gnoll. Dulvarna lashed her blade across the gnoll’s chest and Lavren loosed a black bolt that passed close to the creature’s head. It growled fiercely but then an arrow from Enlishia’s bow drove into its throat and finally silence it. The gnoll slumped forward, held upright for a moment by Litiraan’s ice hand but then he dismissed the conjured appendage and the gnoll collapsed beside Erlmoor and Telkya. The battle was won and the last survivor of Litiraan’s band of elves was safe.

*Next......The Tower of Mysteries*


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## Medriev

*Chapter 22 - The Tower of Mysteries (Part 1)*

Once the companions had tended to their wounded, Telkya moved over to the fallen gnoll and checked his belongings for clues to who he was. At his belt was a pouch of letters that she took from him and put to one side while in another pouch she found a silver key. She reached out and took it but as she touched it, a powerful sensation of motion struck her and she reeled. Before herm, she saw a passage behind a hidden door that she knew lay to the north of the Seven Pillared Hall. She knew as well that she could find the tunnel again from the vision that she had been granted. She reeled again and her view of the chamber and the dead gnoll returned.

“What happened?” asked Lavren, kneeling beside her and placing his arm around her shoulders.
“This is not over,” Telkya answered. “There is a hidden tunnel under the northern flank of the mountain that we must seek. The letters there will likely tell us why.”
“And what of the last of our band,” said Litiraan from close to the circle of runes where he comforted the elf maid that had survived the ritual. “We cannot let Tahlvinae find her way back to Cormanthor alone”
“You are right, Litiraan,” said Erlmoor softly from where he sat against the altar. “We must go with her to ensure she arrives home safely.”
“Could we not take her there once our business here is done?” Lavren put in. “Telkya and I have business at our homes if she is still willing to be my wife.”
“I am,” Telkya said with a warm smile at Lavren.
“Then we set out for Cormanthor once we have brought an end to whatever darkness is behind all of this,” said Erlmoor.

The companions nodded their agreement and Litiraan softly whispered to the traumatised elf maid what had been decided. Once they had made their decision, the companions settled down to rest and recover for the remainder of the day before returning to the Seven Pillared Hall when morning came.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 22 - The Tower of Mysteries (Part 2)*

“All letters are from this Paldemar whose name has crossed our path before,” said Erlmoor as the companions finished their breakfast in the common room of the Halfmoon Inn. “He has sought to trap us before and may seek to do so again but he also says that he seeks to topple the other Mages of Saruun. I have not heard of these mages before.”
“They rule the Hall and the Mountain and keep order,” piped up Rendil Halfmoon as he reached up to take away the dragonborn’s platter. “It is said that they came here from the east two decades and more ago and founded this Hall as a trading post. They all wear red robes and are rarely seen so I know not if this Paldemar is one of them.”
“We are lucky you listen in on our conversations,” said Lavren with a smile at the halfling. “Do the letters say more that may give us a clue to Paldemar’s plans.”

The elf pulled the letters across the table and read through them again as they all had several times, seeking some hidden lore that might guide their way ahead.
“He has sacrificed demonic relics from the Well of Demons to Bane and gained access to an ancient hold of the Black Lord,” Lavren read out.
“The Tower of Mysteries,” Erlmoor finished, having memorised the name.
“That must be the place that the silver key showed me,” said Telkya. “I can lead us there.”
“Then we go at once,” said Erlmoor grimly. “The sooner we rid this mountain of the last of its evils, the better.”


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## Medriev

*Chapter 22 - The Tower of Mysteries (Part 3)*

Guided by Telkya, the companions left the Hall behind once more and set out along the Road of Lanterns, back towards the Minotaur gate. At one of the double backs where the passage turned left to slope upwards, the priestess gestured that they should turn aside down an unremarkable side passage that they had not noticed before and led northward into the darkness.
“It is almost pulling me toward the Tower,” said Telkya as the six entered the tunnel.

They travelled onward, their path lit only by the dim light of Litiraan’s wand and by torches that Dulvarna and Erlmoor carried. Finally, the passage ended at a dead end and here the key began to glow with a pale blue light. Telkya stepped forward, the key dragging her towards the wall. She held it out before her and it guided itself into a barely visible keyhole that had seemed to be nothing more than a shadowy aberration in the rock. Telkya staggered forward and fell against the wall but as she did so, the pull of the key was gone. She reached out and pulled the key from the keyhole and a grinding sound followed as the rock wall of the dead end, slid to one side. Within, another passage led away into the darkness. Dulvarna and Erlmoor handed their torches to Lavren and Litiraan and drew their sword while the warlock and the wizard drew their wands from their belts. Enlishia drew an arrow from her quiver and nocked it while Telkya drew her sword in her right hand while clasping her amulet of Corellon in her left. Together, they started forward.

The passage led on into the darkness until the secret door through which they had come vanished into the blackness behind them. Finally, it emerged into a wide, square chamber with a glowing circle of pale blue runes at its centre.
“A teleportation circle,” said Litiraan as he recognised the pattern of the runes.
“Which must lead us into the Tower,” said Enlishia, lowering her bow and starting forward.
“Enlishia is right,” said Lavren. “But we should enter it together. We know not what lies on the other side.”
“And we know not where it leads yet,” said Dulvarna. “We should be cautious.”

Suddenly, as Enlishia neared the circle, it flared with blinding energy for a moment and when the light faded away, a spectral figure in black armour was standing within the circle. Its face was hidden beneath the faceguard of a black helmet and a cloak of ebony silk flowed down from the creature’s shoulders. It raised a gauntleted hand to indicate that Enlishia and Lavren should stop and then it spoke in a deep, booming voice.
“The secrets of the tower come at a price,” said the figure. “You must each pay for the right to enter this place. What can you offer to the Black Lord? I seek lore, power, and your souls.”

“My soul is my own to keep,” said Litiraan. “And my lore will only frustrate you. Know you, Black One that the fey of Cormanthor are not yet defeated by the darkness. The mythal of Myth Drannor remains strong and unbroken despite the demons and devils that haunt the ancient ruin.”
“Bravely spoken, elf,” answered the spirit of Bane. “But your lore does not frustrate me. Those who serve me in Myth Drannor will only have to try harder to break the power of the mythal.”
“From me you will learn nothing and take nothing,” Dulvarna hissed. “My blade speaks for me and for Lathander. I spit on you, Dark One and command you to let us into the circle.”
“No one commands me,” the apparition said and then laughed deeply, mocking Dulvarna. “Your blades cannot defeat me, nor can your pitiful spells. I ask for lore and power and then your souls. Nothing else will let you pass here.”

“My friend spoke rashly, mighty Bane,” said Erlmoor then. “We seek enemies here and merely ask that you let us pass so that we may face them.”
“I have named my price,” the spirit laughed again. “And the enemies you seek are my servants. I will not let you pass through without a price. I will take your souls and my servants will take your lives when you pass within.”
“We do not die easily but we will pay your price,” said Enlishia. “I am poorly blessed in the lore of the Realms beyond the forests and trails of Cormyr but my companions are learned and wise. We will give you that which you seek.”
“Then you had best be swift about it,” said the spirit. “My patience wears thin and I have heard little of value beyond the news of Myth Drannor that the elf has given. Speak quickly oh wise and learned ones or my price will be steep indeed.”
“My brother spoke lore that was valuable to you and now I shall, too,” said Telkya quickly. “Know you that we are descended from a great house and that our father stood with the Emerald Enclave when the druids of that circle defeated your dark servant Borran Klosk at the Battle of Morningstar Hollows. He aided the magic that brought flood to the Alaoreum River and brought low your foul undead general.”

“Of course I knew that, foolish elf maid. “Do you think that the Dark One does not study his enemies? Especially those that score victories, however minor, against him. Your house is known to me but insignificant unless it stands against me again. Now, I grow tired of this and my price rises with every passing moment. Speak well, each of you, or pay with your souls.”
“We have spoken well and will continue to do so,” said Lavren then. “It is merely difficult for us to outwit an apparition that possesses the knowledge of such a powerful and wise god. Give us more time, Dark Lord, lest we may speak lore worthy of you.”
“Well spoken at last, elf,” said the spirit. “You at least show some appreciation for who you face here. I will contain my patience for a little longer.”


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## Medriev

*Chapter 22 - The Tower of Mysteries (Part 4)*

“You say that you know of our house, Dark One,” spoke up Litiraan then. “But know you that my great grandsire stood at the Standing Stone when we first made our Compact with the Dalesmen. Maidar Zysel lived later in the City of Song until its fall and fell there in the last defence. Powerful enemies you face here, Dark One.”

“Indeed,” answered the spirit with a grim nod. “Your house is greater than even I knew but will fall just as easily as the other elven houses have fallen.”
“Perhaps they will and perhaps they won’t,” Dulvarna answered. “You are truly mighty among the gods of the Realms and worthy of the praise of your worshippers here.”
“Good,” the spirit answered. “Another among you recognises the unstoppable power that stands before you.”

“We all recognise it,” said Erlmoor, recognising the flattery that seemed to calm the apparition. “We shall provide for you the lore that you seek so that we may pass by to confront your mighty followers. Perhaps then, we will become sacrifices for you or we shall cull the weak from amongst the ranks of your servants.”
“I am glad that you all seem to be finally seeing sense,” answered the black-armoured creature. “Now who will provide me with more lore for me to use against my enemies.”

“I will,” spoke up Enlishia though she knew that she had precious little to offer. “My kindred too have a great history and were once huntmasters to the mighty Palaghard the First of Cormyr. We still hold knowledge of the hidden trails of the King’s Forest that few know of.”
“You lie!” the spirit roared immediately. “Palaghard despised hunting and employed no huntmasters. You know nothing of the King’s Forest and its hidden trails.”

Enlishia retreated before the wrath of the apparition, knowing the truth of its words. Her lie had been a desperate one that she had crafted quickly to try and fool the manifestation before her.
“Know you then that we have recently defeated a great evil in the Thunder Gap,” Telkya said. “There the town of Winterhaven lies and the Keep that once guarded the eastern boundary of Cormyr with Sembia is now a place of goblins, undead and fouler things. Still the border holds and Cormyr’s lords guard it.”

“They shall not forever and I know of the evil that you speak,” answered the spirit. “Though not the eastern border that the town and Keep mark. When last I ventured forth into the realm of mortals, Cormyr and Sembia yet squabbled over their borders. This is the useful lore that I seek from you.”
“My own kin have power themselves and are a great house,” Lavren said next. “We made a pact with powerful fey nearly thirteen centuries ago when Cormyr and the Dalelands were young realms. They aid us still with magical power that has made my father and my family strong amongst the elves of Cormanthor. Myth Drannor may lie in ruins but the Elven Court lives on.”

“Also well spoken elf,” the manifestation of Bane answered. “Though as hopeless as the words of your kin. The elven houses of Cormanthor are shadows of their former selves and doomed before the might of my servants.”
“On that we cannot agree,” said Litiraan fiercely. “Surely your greatest servant was the lich, Szass Tam who was defeated by the Harpers at the end of the Harpstar Wars a century and more ago. If your greatest servant is no match for the power of the Dales and Cormanthor then you will never prevail.”
The apparition seemed to pause and behind the faceplate of the helm, a faint smile was visible.

“Szass Tam yet lives though,” it answered softly. “And he may yet return to plague your lands. But I grow tired of this talk. You may now enter the Tower of Mysteries. May its secrets intrigue you.”
	The apparition vanished and as it did so, the companions felt a sudden weakness overcome them as a portion of their strength was sapped away. Each staggered but then made their way slowly forward into the teleportation circle.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 22 - The Tower of Mysteries (Part 5)*

With a flash of light, the teleportation circle activated. Suddenly, the six companions were standing in a room, perhaps twenty feet by twenty feet, with two exits, one to the north and the other to the west. The walls of the chamber were covered with carvings that depicted human faces with each face wearing a blindfold or gag. No sooner had the companions appeared in the chamber than the blindfolded faces animated and began to chant while the eyes of the gagged faces glared at the newcomers with rage.

Enlishia was the first to move from the circle, raising her bow and leaving the chamber through the northern exit. Beyond, she found herself in a wide, columned hall that seemed to circle the central chamber As she turned right to circle to the east, a hobgoblin-like creature with black, warty skin, scarred leather armour and a notched battleaxe, rounded the corner coming towards her.
“Norkers!” she called out as she identified the creatures from a story that her father had once told her. “They will bite and gnaw so keep your distance.”

The ranger raised her bow and loosed an arrow that flew past the norker and then in one fluid motion, nocked and loosed a second shaft. This one flew true and drove into the goblin’s shoulder, stopping it in its stride. As she raised her bow again, Enlishia saw another of the goblin creatures coming up the columned hallway from the south behind its companion.
“There’s more than one,” she shouted back to others and as she did, Dulvarna emerged from the chamber with her sword in her hands.

The warrior womon rushed forward to meet the first of the norkers as it started forward once again and then Telkya emerged from the chamber. Raising her symbol of Corellon, she uttered a prayer and unleashed towards the leading creature that struck the wall behind it. The creature snarled and came forward in a rush then to meet Dulvarna blade to blade. Suddenly, from a pillar to the left of Dulvarna, a bolt of lightning crackled out, missing the warrior woman by bare inches. She stepped back and the norker rushed on, trying to seize its chance.

At the southern end of the hallway another norker appeared but Lavren had joined the group at the northern end and with a chanted curse, he loosed black, crackling energy into the nearest of the goblin creatures. Erlmoor came forth next and rushed to join Dulvarna in battle with the first Norker. He roared and sprayed acid from his mouth over both of the nearer creatures, driving them back a step and pushing their furious assault back for a few more previous moments. Litiraan emerged to stand beside Lavren, raising his wand and seeking a target for his spells but Erlmoor and Dulvarna blocked his sight as they raised their blades and parried the first blows from the norkers.

A fourth norker rushed to join its companions in the eastern hallway and rushed to join the battle and as it did so, the lead goblin creature lashed out with its axe and nicked Dulvarna’s left arm. She fell back, bleeding but barely hurt and gave Enlishia the opening she needed. The ranger raised her bow and loosed first one and then a second arrow into the chest of the goblin. It staggered and fell back from the battle with the woman and the dragonborn but from behind, its companion rushed forward to aid it. The second norker swung out with its axe but Erlmoor saw its rushing attack and leapt back. The jagged blade nicked his right arm as he dodged out of reach, drawing blood but causing the dragonborn little hurt. He roared his defiance and Dulvarna joined in the battle cry as she swept her blade out wide. Aecris clove through the neck of the first norker and dropped it art her feet.

Another norker rushed along the east wall of the hallway with a flail in its hand but Telkya saw it coming and loosed another bolt of light. This bolt flew true and seared through the chest of the norker before burning the wall behind it. The creature stopped, looked down at the gaping hole in its body and then pitched forward, face down on the floor. Telkya smiled for a moment but then, as if an unseen force sought to punish her for her triumph, a bolt of lightning lanced out from the pillar behind her and struck her back, throwing her to her left against the north wall of the corridor. Telkya looked back towards the pillar and as she did so, a dark mist seeped out and enveloped Lavren’s legs. The elf cried out as a sudden cold assailed him and staggered towards his betrothed. She looked at him pleadingly and he leapt clear of the mist but as though again directed by some unseen foe, the mist turned aside and drifted gently towards Litiraan.
“Stay away from the pillars!” Lavren called out to Litiraan in particular but to his companions also.

Cursing under his breath, he raised his wand and pointed it at the next norker that he could see rushing up the eastern hallway towards him. With an uttered curse he loosed more black, crackling energy at the norkers but this time his aim was awry and the bolt seared into the pillar next to the goblin creature he had been aiming at. Behind him, he heard Litiraan cry out as the mist sought to engulf him. He too, leapt clear within a heartbeat and rushed past Lavren to the eastern wall. There, he turned towards the advancing norkers and with a few words, he unleashed flame from his wand that engulfed the nearest of the creatures. The norkers cried out in pain and fell back for a moment but more were coming. Litiraan quickly counted half a dozen of the creatures massing before him in the hallway now and wondered if there was any end to the horde of creatures. Then a bolt of lightning lanced out from the pillar behind him and he was forced to duck as it struck the wall above him. Putting aside his thoughts, he raised his wand once more as three more norkers rushed up the hallway from the south.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 22 - The Tower of Mysteries (Part 6)*

Enlishia raised her bow and loosed an arrow into the next norker as it came forward. It lurched backward but then snarled and came forward again. She loosed another arrow but this time the creature lashed out with its axe and swatted the arrow from the air. The goblin creature fixed the ranger with a predatory glare and then started forward again. As it did, it hollered a high, ululating battle cry that the other goblins took up. The one facing Erlmoor surged forward and lashed out with its axe, driving the blade down on the dragonborn’s shoulder. The paladin roared in pain but as it did, Dulvarna came forward and lashed out with her blade. Aecris cut into the norker’s right arm and it turned on her with a sudden ferocity, snapping at her with its teeth. She leapt back beyond its reach and it snarled at her, seeming to promise bloody revenge.	

Two more norkers rounded the corner to the south and rushed up the hallway, one pushing through its companions to charge at Litiraan. Telkya came forward to aid her brother, uttering a prayer and unleashing another bolt of golden light at this new enemy. The goblin creature slowed its charge and the bolt struck the wall between it and Litiraan. With a snarl it raised its flail and came on while from the pillar in front of Telkya came more revenge from the unseen enemies that plagued the companions. This time, a pale white bolt flashed out and struck Telkya, dazing her for a moment but leaving her otherwise unharmed. The priestess shook her head and then turned her attention back to the battle, silently thanking Corellon for a lucky escape.

Another norker pushed forward, raising an axe above its head and bringing it down towards Dulvarna. She raised her blade and parried deftly, turning the axe aside. Another pushed forward and rushed at Litiraan, lashing its axe around to its left. He brought his blade down and half-parried but the axe drove on and tore into his right thigh. He staggered to the left, lurching into the wall next to him. Lavren cursed the goblin again and loosed more black, crackling energy that seared into the creature’s chest and drove it away from the wizard for a few moments. The creature snarled as it staggered back and then raised its axe to come forward again.

Erlmoor roared and clashed blades with the norker before him as he tried to find a way through its wild and ragged defences and Litiraan took heart from the dragonborn. He raised his own blade and met the norker before him as it came forward, parrying its flurry of axe blows and slashing low toward its belly. It leapt back and again, the elf gained a few moments of breathing space. Behind the two foes he now faced, Litiraan saw others snarling and with spittle dripping from their vicious teeth. They surged forward as one and pushed the front line towards the companions once more, forcing Litiraan to parry desperately again. Then a  bolt of lightning lanced out from the pillar behind Litiraan and struck the wall next to him. The norkers surged forward again and again, the elf raised his sword.

Enlishia raised her bow and took aim at a norker in the front row that she had already wounded. She let fly but at the last, the goblin ducked to the left and the arrow flew through the ranks to clatter into the eastern wall of the hallway. Calmly, the ranger nocked another arrow and took aim again, loosing the shaft a heartbeat later. This time, the arrow drove through the throat of the norker that had wounded Litiraan, throwing it back into its companions before it fell to the floor amongst them. The norkers snarled their derision and came forward again, one lashing its axe high towards Erlmoor. The dragonborn parried and as he did so, Dulvarna stepped forward and lashed her blade into the side of the goblin before her. The creature shrieked and fell back before being pushed forward again by its companions.

Another norker came forward to replace the one that Enlishia had felled, raising its flail above its head and then bringing it down towards Litiraan. The elf leapt back beyond its reach but as he did, his remaining foe came forward, lashing its flail across towards his wounded thigh. He brought his blade down at the last moment and parried the chain and spiked ball down into the stone floor. The norker snarled but as it did so a bolt of light seared out from Telkya’s amulet and blasted into its side, throwing its against the wall. It let out one last gasp and slid down to the base of the wall beside the other goblin that the priestess had slain. Once again the pillars let loose the revenge of the hidden enemies and this time, lightning lanced out at Telkya. It struck her left shoulder and threw her back against the corner of the wall where the passage bent around to the south. She cried out and Lavren looked over to her with concern until she pushed herself away from the wall and half-smiled at him through the pain.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 22 - The Tower of Mysteries (Part 7)*

The norkers came forward again then as though drawing inspiration from the power of their unseen allies. Dulvarna’s wounded foe feinted left and then brought its axe around to the right to slash it across the front of the warrior woman’s hip. She staggered back a step but then black, crackling energy lanced out again from Lavren’s wand and blasted through the chest of the goblin next to Dulvarna’s foe. The creature was hurled like a doll against the pillar behind it before it collapsed on the floor amongst the bodies of its companions. Erlmoor roared and surged forward as the norker fell, lashing his blade across the chest of the foe he faced. The norker snarled in response and seized his arm as he swept his blade past, tearing flesh from the dragonborn’s elbow. Erlmoor slammed his arm into the creature’s face and forced it away but both had been hurt in the exchange of blows. The dragonborn roared again and in response, the norkers took up their ululating battle cry.

Litiraan looked at the norkers before him and realised that he had a chance to use his spells once again while the goblins mustered another attack. Raising his wand, he uttered an incantation and let fly a small orange ball that flew between the goblins and past the pillar in their midst. When it passed their back rank it exploded and fire filled the hallway, searing the goblin creatures. New screams filled the corridor then as the terrible flame burned the norkers. Five fell with their armour burned away and their dark flesh blistered and melted. The three that remained staggered and all but fell as the flames died away to leave them only barely alive. One of the creatures mustered a weak ululating battle cry and then with a snarl, it rushed at Litiraan. It lashed out with its axe and the elf parried with his sword but the blow was strong and the jagged blade nicked the elf’s calf. Then lightning struck him from behind and he fell against the wall next to him, helpless before his enemy.

Enlishia saw Litiraan’s plight and raised her bow. She loosed an arrow and then another but both were hasty shots and struck the wall next to the goblin. She cursed but as she looked towards the other norkers, she could see that this part of the battle at least was won. Dulvarna swept her sword out and lashed a deep wound across the chest of the norker she faced. It snarled and came at her with its teeth bared but she kept it at bay, meeting axe with sword while moving towards Litiraan. 

As Dulvarna moved, Telkya saw her chance and loosed a bolt of light towards the goblin creature. It seared through the chest of the norker and threw it back to land in the pile of burned and bloodied bodies that filled the hallway behind it. Again, lighting flew out from one of the pillars and threw the elf maid against the wall but this time, Lavren this time dismissed his concern for Telkya and with an act of will, vanished into a cloud of light motes. He appeared amongst the smoking bodies of the slain norkers, behind the two remaining goblins. He raised his wand and loosed a black bolt fo energy into the back of the nearest enemy, throwing it forward towards Erlmoor. The dragonborn threw the norker to one side and let it fall to the stone floor of the hall, already dead.

Erlmoor rushed across the hallway to where the remaining norker snarled and lashed out at Litiraan and Dulvarna. He lashed out with his blade but the goblin twisted on the spot and brought its axe down to parry the dragonborn’s blow. Litiraan saw his chance and thrust his sword into the goblin’s hip. The creature turned back towards him and leapt forward, seizing his sword arm in its vicious teeth. Litiraan recoiled but as he did so, the norker tore flesh from his arm and snarled its continued defiance at him. It lashed out with its axe, cleaving the jagged blade into the elf’s shoulder and throwing him sideways into the wall once again. A bolt of lightning lanced out from the pillar behind Litiraan and struck him in the back, throwing him face first into the wall. He gasped once and then slid down the wall to lie awkwardly next to the enemies that had fallen before him.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 22 - The Tower of Mysteries (Part 8)*

Enlishia came forward with her bow raised and loosed one and then a second arrow into the norker’s side. It lurched to its right and hissed through its teeth in obvious pain. Dulvarna lashed her blade across the creature’s shoulder and it staggered back just as Telkya raised her amulet and unleashed another bolt of light. The golden missile seared into the creature’s neck blasting through flesh and bone before striking the wall beyond the norker. It staggered again and then fell to the floor, its head lolling grotesquely on its all but severed neck. Lightning leapt out from the nearest pillar and again threw the priestess back against the wall. 

Lavren looked towards Telkya and then with a grim and vengeful expression he turned away from the bodies of the norkers and headed southward along the hallway to seek the unseen enemies that remained. He rounded the corner at the southern end of the hall and there, lurking against the north wall of the passage where it turned westward, stood two terrible creatures. Each was dressed in black armour as the apparition of Bane had been but these showed their faces beneath their round helms. Each was a terrible undead parody of a man with fierce, glowing green eyes and vicious, sharp teeth. They held daggers in their right hands and snarled at him when he rounded the corner as the norkers had. He raised his wand and cursed the nearest creature, unleashing a black bolt towards it but the creature was surprisingly fast. It shrank away from the bolt and it struck the wall next to it.
“I have found our hidden foes,” he called out to the others, and then raised his wand again.

Erlmoor heard Lavren’s cry as he knelt beside Litiraan. He uttered a swift healing prayer and as light flowed from his hand to the elf, he rose and started southward after the warlock. Behind him, Litiraan rose, paused for a moment to recover his strength and then started after the dragonborn. Before he had reached the corner, he saw a pale white bolt throw Lavren back a step and leaving him shaking his head in momentary dazed confusion. Enlishia rushed past them, rounding the corner to stand beside Lavren and raise her bow. She loosed an arrow towards the nearest of the armour creatures but it bounced off its armour. She nocked a second shaft and let fly, this one flying true and driving into the chest of the nearest creature. The undead warrior snarled and hissed in response before raising its hand to loose another bolt of energy.

Dulvarna ran the length of the corridor and moved to stand on Lavren’s left with her blade before her. Telkya followed, squeezing between Lavren and Dulvarna to stand in the entrance of a wide southern atrium with glowing runes decorating the floor at its centre, surrounded by four of the carved pillars. She raised her amulet and began a prayer but then the second of the creatures moved away from the north wall and started towards her. It raised its left hand and with an uttered word, unleashed the terrible lightning at the elf maid. It struck her in the chest and again she was hurled back painfully into a stone wall, to lean there, gasping as she desperately heaved breath painfully into her lungs.

Lavren glanced to the left as Telkya was struck and for a moment contemplated going to her aid. Dismissing the idea, he turned his attention back to the foe before him and spoke another curse that loosed black, crackling energy towards the creature. This time, the undead foe could not avoid the blast and was struck in the shoulder, lurching back a step as it was struck. Erlmoor rushed around the corner before the creature had chance to recover.
“Black Warriors of Bane,” the paladin spat as he saw the foes that confronted him. “This is how the Black Lord rewards loyalty, by trapping fiends in human form. Ware them if they are sorely hurt, for they will become terrible clawing berserkers.”

At that, he rushed forward, raising his sword and his voice at the same time. He chanted a prayer as his sword descended until it glowed bright gold just before it struck. It clove into the shoulder of the black warrior, splitting its armour and the bone beneath. Sure enough, the creature snarled, hissed, and then threw aside its dagger. In a swirling rage, it leapt at the dragonborn, seeking to rend his flesh from his bones.

Litiraan appeared in a shower of light motes beside Telkya just as the first black warrior began its terrible rage. He raised his wand towards the foe that had wounded his sister but Enlishia was far quicker. She loosed one arrow and then another, the first missing its mark but the second driving into the side of the black warrior. Dulvarna rushed forward to meet the terrible foe then, her sword dancing before her until she came forward suddenly. The creature parried desperately with its dagger and kept the warrior woman at bay while from the pillars, the dark mist crept forth seemingly to reach for Erlmoor and Dulvarna. The dark warrior retreated before the warrior woman’s onslaught and unleashed lightning from its left hand. The bolt struck Dulvarna’s left shoulder and threw her back a step but she shrugged off the pain and numbness to raise her blade again. The black warrior snarled at her as though goading her to come forward and she did as she was bade.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 22 - The Tower of Mysteries (Part 9)*

Lavren loosed black energy into the first black warrior and threw it away from Erlmoor against the north wall of the passage and the dragonborn saw his chance. Despite the cold, cloying mist about his legs, he surged forward and lashed out with his blade form left to right. The huge sword clove into the side of the black warrior, stoving in its armour and the bones beneath. It clove all the way through to its black heart and with one last hiss of derision, the creature slumped down to lean against the wall, all but cut in half.

Litiraan moved between the pillars, evading the tendrils of mist until he stood against the south wall of the atrium. There, he raised his wand and with a word, loosed a silver bolt of energy into the side of the remaining black warrior. It snarled in annoyance and turned its fierce, green eyed gaze upon him but then an arrow cracked into the pillar beside it and the creature realised it had more immediate foes to deal with. A second arrow from Enlishia’s bow drove into the black warrior’s shoulder. The creature became a wrathful horror in a heartbeat, throwing aside its dagger and reaching both hands up to claw at its own face. It drew flesh back to expose white bone and then let out a terrible shriek of agony. 

Dulvarna felt the shriek inside her head as the others did but as she was closest to it, it caused her very real pain. She staggered away from the creature, reeling from the agony it had inflicted on her. Only when she realised that she stood beside a pillar at the southern end of the north-south hallway did she recover. The cloying mist reached out to her from the pillar and she regained her senses. Raising her blade, she charged at the creature, crying out as she reached the creature and lashing out with her blade. The black warrior ducked under the wild swing and leapt at the warrior woman as a bolt from Telkya’s amulet struck the pillar behind it. The creature clawed ferociously at Dulvarna but she held it at bay with her blade until it spent its initial fury. It stood for a moment, snarling and spitting while Dulvarna desperately tried to banish the memory of its terrible shriek from her mind.

Lavren circled around the battle to the north as Telkya had now done and joined her against the north wall of the atrium. She smiled at him and he smiled back before raising his wand and cursing the black warrior as the fey had done for millennia. Black energy burst from his wand and struck the creature in its left side, forcing it to lurch to the right. It snarled at the elf but Lavren knew that it was beaten now and could not harm him. With a roar, Erlmoor charged at the creature with his blade above his head. He brought the sword down but the creature dodged aside and the blow glanced off its ebony shoulder plate. It snarled and hissed as it crouched down to leap at both its enemies but its time was at an end. To its right, Litiraan raised his wand again, uttered a word of eldritch power and loosed a silver bolt. The arcane missile seared into the side of the creature’s head and shattered it into fragments. The light vanished from the black warrior’s eyes and it crumpled to the floor at the feet of Erlmoor and Dulvarna.

*Next......Secret Knowledge*


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## Medriev

*Chapter 23 - Secret Knowledge (Part 1)*

“The runes will teleport us somewhere else as the circle did,” said Litiraan as he examined the space between the four pillars. The companions had tended to their wounds and rested and now felt strong enough to venture further into the tower.
“Then should we not rest here for longer before we go on,” Erlmoor said.
“I for one would welcome a rest,” Litiraan answered. “The hurts of the battle still pain me and I am weaker than I was when we came here.”
“As are we all but we have no time to rest here,” spoke up Dulvarna. “We have ventured into the heart of our enemies’ hold here. If we stay here we will likely get little rest.”

All saw the sense of Dulvarna’s words and though they were hurt and far from fully rested, they followed her as she made her way into the runes. They stood within the glowing runes for a few moments and then blue light flared and they appeared suddenly amongst a similar set of four pillars but unlike the pillars on the previous level, these were smooth and unadorned. A set of iron double doors stood to the east while a corridor, perhaps ten feet wide led off to the south.

Enlishia moved out of the runes first, passing between the two northern pillars and then turning south to make her way warily into the entrance to the southern passage. She stopped almost at once and raised her bow.
“A bronze warder coming this way,” she called out and drew back her bowstring.

The companions felt a feeling of dread fill them as they remembered their last encounter with the terrible axe-wielding bronze minotaurs that were called bronze warders. They were powerful and their bronze skin was all but impregnable. Even one alone would be tough to defeat. Sure enough, as Enlishia let fly with a first and then a second arrow, she could only watch as both shafts clattered to the stone floor off the metal body of the warder. The construct paid the missiles no mind and started towards the ranger, raising its axe before it. Dulvarna rushed forward to meet the creature beside Enlishia, lashing out with her blade but even Aecris could not penetrate the bronze hide of the minotaur. With a clang, the blade glanced off the warder’s body leaving Dulvarna and Enlishia helpless before it.

Telkya rushed to the iron doors and pulled them open, seeking another way to attack the warder. Within, three tables covered with alchemical materials were scattered around the room while to the south stood a large, glass container with tubes and metal pipes attached to it. Inside, the head of bronze warder floated in an acrid, glowing liquid. At the nearest table, a norker put down the vial in its hand and reached for the axe across its back while at the farthest table, a cloaked black warrior of Bane turned to regard the intruder with its fierce, green eyes. It spoke a command to the norker and the creature started forward, drawing its axe as it came. Raising the jagged weapon over its head, the goblin brought it down clumsily and Telkya leapt back out of reach.
“More enemies in here,” she called out to the others without looking back to see if any were coming to her aid.

Lavren was the first to react to Telkya’s cry, circling around the pillars and then raising his wand as soon as he could see the norker. He cursed it in his own tongue and a black bolt shot out from his wand to strike the goblin creature in its right shoulder. It reeled back and away from Telkya giving her more time to ready her defence. Litiraan rushed to Lavren’s side and raised his wand to unleash a silver bolt of energy that struck the norker in the side. It staggered back further from Telkya and she retreated, trying to draw it toward her. Erlmoor roared and charged at the goblin creature, slashing his blade into the norker’s already wounded side. It lurched to the left into the stonework of the doorframe and then leapt at the dragonborn in a snarling ferocious fury. Its teeth tore into the dragonborn’s left arm just above the shoulder and only by slamming his sword hilt down on the back of the norker’s neck, could he free himself from its grip. By then, its teeth had torn a deep wound and the paladin staggered back himself as warm blood flowed down his arm. 	The black warrior turned away from its work at the table and crossed the room to the north wall. Extending its left hand, it hurled lightning at Erlmoor but the bolt struck only the stone of the doorframe. 

Enlishia leapt back from the bronze warder, firing arrows as she went. Both found their marks this time and pierced the metal skin of the warder at the bottom of its neck. The creature bellowed its anger at the mortal that had dared to harm it and surged forward. It knocked Dulvarna aside with its right leg as it came and then slammed an elbow towards Enlishia forcing her to leap backwards and throw herself to the floor. The warder swung around then with its axe before it. Telkya sensed the blow from behind and ducked under it but Enlishia was not so lucky. As she scrambled back against the wall, the axe swept past and slashed open the calf of her right leg. She cried out and looked around desperately to see if any of her companions could aid her. Dulvarna rose unsteadily to her feet and then raised her blade before rushing at the warder again.

Telkya looked back at the warder and darted back towards Lavren and Litiraan, leaving Erlmoor to fight the norker alone. She raised her amulet and with an uttered prayer, she hurled a bolt of golden light at the minotaur construct. The divine fire seared into the warder’s arm and again it bellowed its anger, turning on the spot to swipe at any enemy that got too close.

Behind the creature, Dulvarna sought an opening to strike but before she had a chance to attack, a crackling bolt of lightning seared into the stone beside her. Looking back over her shoulder, she saw that a cloaked black warrior of Bane now stood at the southern end of the corridor. She was trapped between two enemies!

Lavren and Litiraan decided quickly that the warder had become their target and almost together, they hurled silver and black bolts at the huge bronze construct. Both then cursed in unison as Lavren’s bolt struck the wall bounced off the warder’s bronze skin while Litiraan’s struck the wall behind the minotaur. The battle seemed to be turning quickly against the companions and in the doorway, the norker decided that this was its chance. It surged forward suddenly, lashing its axe out to its right to cut at Erlmoor. The dragonborn brought his blade down and parried the blow neatly before reversing his blade and slashing it up across the goblin creature’s throat. With a gasp and a gurgle of blood, the norker fell to the floor at the paladin’s feet. The black warrior hissed its derision and hurled another lightning bolt wildly at Erlmoor before rushing off towards a pair of iron doors in the southern wall of the room. Erlmoor ducked back as the lightning struck the stone beside him and then started after the creature.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 23 - Secret Knowledge (Part 2)*

In the corridor, Dulvarna heard a familiar ululating battle cry and turned again to see that a norker now rushed towards her in front of the black warrior. By now, Enlishia had seen these new threats as well and she put down her bow in favour of drawing her greatsword from her back. She stabbed at the warder’s leg, her blow almost piercing the bronze but at the last glancing aside and then darted away from the construct to join Dulvarna facing these new foes. The ranger nodded to her warrior companion and then raised her blade in salute to her enemies.

Behind the two women, the warder seemed to decide to leave them for later and started towards Telkya, Lavren and Litiraan. Its axe swept down towards Telkya and slammed into the priestess’ chest throwing her backwards into the wall beside her brother. Dulvarna looked back over her shoulder and winced as Telkya was wounded but seeing her chance, she leapt forward to meet the norker as it advanced up the corridor. Her blade swept out and clove into the goblin’s side, throwing it against the east wall of the hallway. Immediately, it leapt to seize Dulvarna’s sword arm in its teeth but she was ready and smashed her elbow into the side of its face to slam it back into the wall.

Telkya pushed herself away from the wall and heaved in a breath despite the stabbing pain in her ribs. Summoning all her strength, she prayed to Corellon and called a column of divine light down upon the bronze warder. The bronze of its right arm and shoulder blackened and blistered as the divine fire burned it and once again the construct bellowed its anger. Beyond the warder, Telkya saw another bolt of lightning strike the wall close to where Dulvarna and Enlishia stood. They had to hold the warder off here for more enemies were coming, she decided.

Beside Telkya, Lavren and Litiraan decided the same thing. Lavren hurled a blast of black energy into the construct’s chest and moments later, Litiraan called flame from his wand that engulfed the left side of the bronze minotaur. Erlmoor turned away from the fleeing black warrior and with a prayer on his lips, he lashed his blade into the right leg of the warder. Again it bellowed as divine light flared from the paladin’s blade and then the construct seemed to lurch to the right as though it had been truly damaged. Erlmoor felt a surge of triumph but as he did, a bolt of lighting struck the bottom of his back on the left side. Pain lanced up to his shoulder and he himself lurched forward towards Telkya. Looking over his shoulder he realised that his fleeing enemy had returned and that victory was far from certain.

In the corridor, the norker came back at Dulvarna fiercely but she parried each axe blow with the skill that she had learned in the bare three months that she had been adventuring. An arrow flew past the norker then and Dulvarna knew that Enlishia had taken up her bow again. A second shaft drove into the goblin’s right hip, throwing it back a step and giving Dulvarna a chance to come forward once more. She lashed out with her blade from right to left and drove it into the norker’s side. Again it lurched to the right and fell into the corridor wall and again it leapt, snarling at Dulvarna, forcing her to leap back beyond its reach.

The bronze warder turned its head left and right, seeming to survey the enemies before it and then swept its axe out to the right towards Erlmoor. The axe struck the dragonborn a huge blow in the chest and hurled him back painfully into the stone of the door frame. He gasped and leaned back against the wall for a few moments as he regained his strength. The warder loomed over him and seemed ready to finish him but then it turned as Telkya called out to the others.
“This way,” she called out. “It cannot fit between the pillars.”

The elf maid darted to the right past Lavren and Litiraan and circled around the four pillars with the runes at their centre. When she reached the far, western, side, she raised her amulet and unleashed a bolt of light into the bronze minotaur’s side. The creature bellowed and turned towards the priestess but she was right, the gaps between the pillars were too big for the construct to easily fit through. Lavren and Litiraan glanced at Erlmoor but at a nod from him, they moved to follow Telkya. 

Erlmoor looked beyond the warder then to see how Dulvarna fared just as the warrior woman was struck by a pale white bolt of light that sent her reeling back away from the black warrior and the norker. Dulvarna staggered as though dazed and Erlmoor longed to be able to go to his friend’s aid but looking up at the bronze minotaur before him, he knew that to be impossible. Instead he raised his blade and prepared to attack it once again. As he gathered his strength, Lavren and Litiraan moved into positions to the north and south of the four pillars. Once there, they unleashed black and silver bolts at the warder. Lavren’s black bolt flew wide of the warder but Litiraan’s silver bolt scored the back of the construct’s left leg. The minotaur turned to the left and Erlmoor charged at it from the other side. His blade slashed out and struck the warder’s knee only to clang harmlessly off the bronze hide of the construct and strike smash into the floor nearby. Slowly, the warder turned back towards Erlmoor and as it did so, a bolt of lightning flashed in from the paladin’s left. It hurled him back against the stone again and in that moment, the dragonborn knew that he was doomed.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 23 - Secret Knowledge (Part 3)*

The norker rushed at Dulvarna and lashed its axe downward. She twisted and moved to parry but she was too slow and the axe blade tore down the top of her left arm, ripping open her flesh. She cried out and fell back but Enlishia was ready with her bow. She loosed one arrow and then another, both flying straight and true and driving into the norker’s face. The shafts burst through the goblin’s skull and emerged halfway from the back before stopping. The norker opened its mouth as its last breath fled its body and then collapsed at Dulvarna’s feet. Still dazed from the black warrior’s bolt of energy, Dulvarna fixed the armoured creature in her gaze and rushed towards it, half staggering as she went. She lashed out with her blade and cut open the creature’s shoulder just before it could leap away to its right. The black warrior raised its left hand and hurled lightning again striking Dulvarna in the left side and throwing her against another set of iron doors set in the western wall of the corridor. The warrior woman shook her head to try to clear the confusion from her mind but as she pushed herself away from the doors, she staggered again. The black warrior snarled and hissed its derision as it raised its left hand once more.

The bronze warder raised its axe over its head and brought it down for a killing blow on Erlmoor. The dragonborn looked up and leapt away to his right, into the chamber where the black warrior still lurked. The warder moved to follow the paladin but then Telkya loosed another bolt of golden light into its left side and drew the construct’s attention. Lavren loosed a blast of black, crackling energy into the warder a moment later and then Litiraan loosed a silver bolt into the construct’s chest. It bellowed its familiar cry of alarm but then turned back towards Erlmoor. The dragonborn prayed fervently and then stabbed out with his sword towards the leg of the warder. At the last moment, it moved its right leg away and Erlmoor’s blade stabbed only air. He leapt away as the construct turned to follow him into the chamber but then the black warrior hurled another lightning bolt that struck his left arm. Once more Erlmoor reeled to his right into the stone and wondered how much longer he could stand against these terrible foes.

Enlishia rushed down the corridor after Dulvarna, firing arrows wildly as she ran. The shafts clattered into the stone around the black warrior but distracted it enough to give Dulvarna a little more time to recover. The warrior woman lurched almost drunkenly away from the iron doors and lashed out wildly with her blade, cutting only the air a blade’s length in front of her foe. She stopped and shook her head as the dazed feeling finally cleared and then fixed her eyes on her foe. The black warrior leapt back further into a wide chamber with four more pillars around a set of glowing runes. The cloaked creature raised its left hand and hurled lightning that seared into Dulvarna’s chest and threw her back another step. Still, the warrior woman fixed her gaze on the black warrior, determined not to be beaten by this enemy.

The bronze warder turned its back on the four pillars and stepped towards the doorway to the laboratory chamber, lashing out with its axe as it did so. Erlmoor ducked just under the huge blade and it struck the stone of the doorframe above his head. He roared his defiance and as he did so, Telkya, Lavren and Litiraan assailed the bronze minotaur with more bolts of divine and arcane energy. All but Litiraan’s silver bolt struck the stone around the warder but the wizard’s missile seared into the warder’s back. It half-turned back towards the pillars and Erlmoor lunged forward, stabbing wildly at the construct’s leg and missing again. He retreated further into the room, moving towards the north wall and one of the alchemical tables. The paladin glanced to his left as the black warrior came forward and one again, it lashed out with its left hand and hurled lightning. Erlmoor ducked back towards the table and bolt struck the stone of the doorframe close to the bronze warder. This seemed to draw the warder’s attention back to its dragonborn quarry and with lumbering steps, it ducked its head and entered the chamber.

Enlishia loosed two more arrows but again they struck only the stone next to the black warrior. Dulvarna turned to the ranger and nodded her thanks before rushing at her enemy. She stabbed out low with her blade towards the black warrior’s right leg but the creature twisted aside and leapt back, evading the blow. Again the creature extended its hand and again the lightning flew at Dulvarna. She ducked to her right but it struck her left shoulder and chest hard, spinning her around and slamming her back into the south wall of the passage. Dulvarna looked down at her blackened and smoking armour and wondered for the first time whether this would be her last battle.

The bronze warder stepped into the doorway and lashed out to the left with its axe, slamming the huge weapon into Erlmoor’s left shoulder and smashing him back against the chamber wall. He roared his defiance but knew that it would likely be his last battle cry. Again a silver bolt struck the minotaur in the back and golden and black bolts struck the stone of the doorframe but this time, the warder paid them no mind. Even within its dim spark of intelligence, it seemed to realise that its foe was doomed. Those who plagued it with minor hurts could wait until this enemy was beaten. Erlmoor leapt back behind the table and with the last of his strength, he chanted one of his most powerful prayers to Lathander. As the divine energy coursed through him he knew that he had called forth as much power as he could muster. Searing ribbons of light engulfed the bronze minotaur and it bellowed its alarm once more. The divine light seared its bronze skin and scorched it black in a dozen or more places. Erlmoor roared his triumph and breathed acid on the warder and the black warrior as he did so. The black warrior shrank back as the acid burned its armour and the flesh beneath and the dragonborn paladin roared his defiance once more as it hurled lightning into the stone wall above his head. The bronze warder took another step into the chamber and Erlmoor decided that he had done enough. If he fell now he had faught with every muscle and sinew in his body to aid his companions. It would be a good death.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 23 - Secret Knowledge (Part 4)*

Enlishia came forward in w wild fury as the black warrior snarled its derision at both its enemies. The ranger loosed one arrow after the other and this time each found its mark with deadly accuracy. One drive into the black warrior’s neck while two more pierced its chest. Another drove into its belly and this drew forth the terrible shriek that the black warrior had unleashed on the lower level. Casting aside its dagger it pulled the flesh back from its mouth and shrieked with a terrible, demonic power. Dulvarna staggered back, all but beaten by the terrible shriek but she knew that the chance to finish this terrible enemy was before her. She charged with her blade above her head and swept it out as she reached the black warrior. Aecris clove through the dark creature’s neck and cut its head from its shoulders with one huge blow. The creature crumpled to the floor like a doll and the light vanished from its eyes.

The bronze warder lashed out with its huge axe but Erlmoor ducked down behind the table and the axe clove into the wood instead. The table was split in half from the mighty blow and acids from smashed vials sprayed the warder, eating into its bronze skin. The construct staggered and a golden bolt of light hurled by Telkya flew past its head. It half-turned towards the enemies that had menaced it for so long and as it did so, a bolt of black, crackling energy struck the side of its head and seared through it, bursting forth from the other side. The warder stood in the doorway for a few moments as if its dim spark of intelligence could not comprehend its death. Finally, the construct pitched forward onto the broken table and clanged into the stone to lie still. Erlmoor watched unbelieving as Litiraan rushed into the doorway of the room and raised his wand towards the black warrior. With a  word, he sent a silver bolt of energy into the creature and drove it back toward the south wall. Erlmoor roared again and charged at the black warrior, his blade singing out as he lashed it towards the creature’s throat. The black warrior leapt back away from the paladin and with a snarl, hurled lightning into the dragonborn’s face. Erlmoor felt blinding pain and smelt his own flesh burning and then there was blackness and he fell before his enemy.

Enlishia turned away from the fallen black warrior and rushed back to the iron doors. She stepped into the chamber with an arrow nocked to her bow and picked out the black warrior standing beyond fallen Erlmoor. Raising her bow, she aimed and let fly, reaching for another arrow before the first shaft drove into the shoulder of the dark creature. She loosed the second shaft quickly and it drove into the chest of the black warrior. The black armour figure threw aside its dagger and tore at the flesh of its face while letting forth the familiar terrible shriek. 

In the hallway outside, Dulvarna heard the cry and saw another set of iron doors in the north wall of the southern pillared chamber. She rushed to the portals and hauled them open to reveal the laboratory within and the black warrior standing next to a strange, liquid-filled machine. She started into the chamber as Telkya arrived at the western door and began chanting healing prayer for Erlmoor. Lavren rushed past the elf maid and crossed the chamber past the fallen bronze warder and the broken table. As he reached a table close to the eastern wall he turned and levelled his wand at the last servant of Bane. Litiraan stepped further into the chamber behind Lavren and hurled a silver bolt from his wand that struck the wall next to the black warrior. The creature snarled and hissed as it started forward but then Erlmoor rose in front of it and it paused for a moment. Then it leapt at the dragonborn seeking to tear his flesh from his bones and fell him once more.

Erlmoor leapt back from the black warrior’s onslaught and raised his blade to fend it off. Behind him, Enlishia moved further into the chamber and raised her bow. She took aim at the terrible creature and then let fly with an arrow. The shaft drove into the creature’s throat and then the ranger loosed another that followed the first and drove into the side of the black warrior’s skull. The creature staggered, lurched to left and then collapsed on the stone floor before Erlmoor.

*Next......The Shrine of Bane*


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## Medriev

*Chapter 24 - The Shrine of Bane (Part 1)*

“We must go on now,” said Erlmoor once all had tended to their wounds. “Our enemies surely know that we are here and will not let us rest here.
“And what of Telkya,” said Lavren. “Her strength wanes and we have a chamber here that we can fortify.”
“They will not let us rest,” Erlmoor reiterated. “And the runes in the southern chamber lead us onwards. We have to go on while we still can.”
“Agreed,” said Dulvarna, who always had the casting vote. “We go now to the southern chamber and ready ourselves for whatever enemies lie ahead.”

The six companions did as their leader had bade and made themselves ready before making their way to the four pillars in the southern chamber where more runes glowed. They stepped into the runes and after a few moments, familiar light flared once more. They appeared in a small room surrounded by four unadorned pillars with doors to the north, west and east emblazoned with a black, gauntleted fist.

Lavren stepped towards the north door and pulled it open to reveal a wide chamber adorned as a shrine with a huge black skull on an altar at the far end and a black, gauntleted first worked into the stonework of the floor. Three norkers and a cloaked black warrior of Bane knelt facing the altar apparently praying to the Black Lord. Lavren raised his wand and cursed at the black warrior before unleashing purple rays towards the dark creature and the norker closest to it. The rays struck their targets in the back and sent them sprawling onto the floor of the shrine. The norker rose and roared a guttural cry before drawing forth a flail from its belt and rushing towards the southern door.

Telkya stepped past Lavren into the shrine chamber and raised her symbol of Corellon just as the black-skinned goblin rushed past a statue of Bane in black armour. She uttered a prayer and hurled a bolt of golden light into the norker’s shoulder, slowing it for a moment but not stopping it. From somewhere to her right, Telkya heard doors slam open and as she raised her blade to face the norker, a bronze warder from around a corner of the shrine chamber to the east.
“Hold them here,” said Erlmoor and turned aside to the western door.

He pulled at the portal but it refused to open and instead, changing his mind, he rushed forward to battle the norker and the warder. With a prayer on his lips, he swung out with his blade and cut a wound in the goblin’s side, spinning it away to its right. One of the other norkers rose and rushed to aid its companion, circling to the western side of the chamber, close to a crystalline pillar that supported the roof of the shrine. Drawing a sling from its belt, it placed a stone in the weapon and whirled it quickly over its head before letting fly. The stone slammed painfully into the dragonborn’s leg making him stagger to the right and giving the norker before him a chance to recover. As it came forward again though, Enlishia emerged from the southern chamber with an arrow nocked to her bowstring. She loosed the shaft quickly and then fired another, both driving into the norker’s right leg and forcing it back and away from Erlmoor again. 

In the entry chamber, Litiraan turned toward the eastern door and tried to open it, seeking another way to reach his enemies. The door pulled open easily and inside he found a bare, empty chamber with double doors flung open in the north wall. He crossed the room quickly and raised his wand as he reached the open double doors. Levelling his wand at the black warrior, he uttered an incantation and sent a silver bolt towards his foe. It drove into the creature’s back as it started to rise from where it had been sent sprawling by Lavren’s eldritch bolt. The creature turned on the floor and snarled towards Litiraan before reaching both hands up to its face and tearing at its own flesh. It let out a terrible shriek and pushed itself to its feet, its terrible gaze never leaving the elf wizard who had so hurt it.
More doors slammed open to the left of the shrine entrance but Dulvarna paid them no mind as she raised her blade and rushed to Erlmoor’s aid. As she reached the dragonborn, the norker came forward again and she lashed out with her blade at it, tearing a wound in its cheek. The norker snarled and snapped at Dulvarna’s sword arm as she drew back from the goblin creature, seizing her forearm in its teeth and tearing a chunk of flesh out with its terrible bite. Dulvarna cried out and fell back from her foe, wounded and bleeding.

The black warrior rose to its feet before Litiraan and then in a snarling rush, it charged at him. The creature leapt forward as it reached him but Litiraan was ready, stepping to one side and bringing the hilt of his sword down on the back of its head. The foul creature reeled and spun away before turning around to face the elf again with a snarl.

Another norker raised a sling above its head and let fly a stone but this missile cracked harmlessly into the stonework above the southern doorway. Lavren stepped into the shrine chamber and levelled his wand at the nearest slinger before unleashing a bolt of black energy towards the norker. It struck the goblin in the chest and flung it back towards a large bowl of burning oil that stood near the western wall. Telkya saw her betrothed’s intention and raised her amulet, loosing a golden bolt of light towards the same norker. The bolt struck it in the shoulder and it fell back against the bowl of oil, reeling and dazed.

The bronze warder reached the battle then, slamming its axe into Dulvarna’s chest and throwing her back into Enlishia. Erlmoor roared his defiant response and breathed acid on the norker and the warder. His blade sang out next, accompanied by a prayer on the dragonborn’s lips. The sword glowed with bright light as it drove into the norker’s left hip and sent it staggering away again. A sling stone skipped off the paladin’s shoulder but he paid it no mind. As his enemy fell back from him, he followed.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 24 - The Shrine of Bane (Part 2)*

Finding the quarters cramped and seeing the eastern door open behind her, Enlishia slipped back into the entry chamber and followed Litiraan into the empty side room. There, in the wide doorway to the north, she found the elf fighting fiercely against a black warrior. She raised her bow and fired, once and then a second time. Both arrows flew straight and true, driving into the chest of the black warrior and driving it away from the elf. Litiraan took his chance and stepped forward, driving his sword point first into the chest of the foul creature where he guessed its heart shoulder be. The black warrior gasped and snarled one last time and then collapsed on the floor in front of the elf.

As Erlmoor advanced on the wounded norker he suddenly saw movement to the left. There, next to one of the crystal pillars stood a red robed man with a stave in his right hand. His left hand was touched to the crystal pillar and pulses of blue energy were flowing up his arm from the crystal. As he let go of the pillar, he levelled his staff at Erlmoor and with a word, unleashed a silver bolt of energy that flew with terrible accuracy to slam into the dragonborn’s side. He gasped and reeled to the right and as he did so, the norker came forward to follow its wounded foe.

Dulvarna saw Erlmoor lurch towards her but knew she could do nothing to aid him. Instead, with a guttural cry, she pushed herself away from the wall at her back and charged at the bronze warder with her blade before her. She slashed Aecris left and right, feinting this way and that and then landed a flurry of blows that scored the bronze of the minotaur construct’s hide. A sling stone skipped off the of wall above her head but she paid it no mind. The warder bellowed its response to her attacks and then came forward fiercely.

Lavren saw another sling stone skip off the stone close to Dulvarna and raised his wand again. Cursing the foul goblin, he loosed more black energy towards the creature. It struck the norker in its shoulder and sent it staggering back a step. Telkya uttered a prayer then and loosed her own bolt of golden light at the wounded creature. It seared into its chest as it righted itself from Lavren’s attack and this time, the norker fell and did not get up again.

The norker came back at Erlmoor with renewed ferocity once it had seen him wounded by the red robed wizard. Its flail lashed his right arm and then the goblin slammed the handle into the paladin’s face. He staggered back and bumped into Lavren behind him. Looking to his right, he saw the bronze warder come forward again and lash out with its axe to strike Dulvarna in the chest again. The warrior woman was hurled backwards into the stone wall next to the southern door and stayed there for a few moments, slumped against the stone and gasping for breath. Erlmoor roared his usual defiant response while reaching out a hand towards Dulvarna. A tendril of light reached out to the warrior woman and as it touched her, it healed the worst of her hurts and restored some of her strength. Dulvarna smiled at the dragonborn but he was not looking. Already, a prayer was on his lips as he rushed to meet the norker again. The paladin’s blade glowed brightly and he slashed it into the goblin’s side, sending the creature staggering away from him. A sling stone flew over the dragonborn’s head and he raised his head to roar at the ceiling, defiant as always before his enemies.

Enlishia rushed through the open double doors ahead of Litiraan and turned towards the bronze warder. She raised her bow and with an arrow nocked to the string, she drew it back as far as it would go. When she let fly the arrow, she drew another and again pulled the string back as far as she could. The first arrow drive into the side of the warder and the second followed it, driving into the bronze construct inches from the first. The creature bellowed and reeled back away from the southern doorway while seeming to cast around, seeking this new threat. Litiraan emerged from the doorway and raised his left hand to brandish his wand towards the warder. With a few words, he unleashed a curtain of flame from his wand towards the warder and the norker. The norker staggered and reeled away while the warder bellowed again before starting forward towards the southern doorway again.
Erlmoor started after the norker again as it reeled away, burned by Litiraan’s flames but before he could take a step, a bolt of lighting seared in from the left and struck his side, throwing him to the right and back into the wall next to Dulvarna. The bolt seared into Telkya and Lavren then, throwing them back against the wall next to the paladin. 

As the others fell back, Dulvarna pushed herself away from the wall and rushed at the norker, deciding to aid Erlmoor while the warder still reeled from Enlishia and Litiraan’s attacks. She swept her blade out to the left and drove it into the goblin’s belly before sliding it black towards her to free the blade. The norker gasped, reached down to clutch at its spilling intestines and then collapsed on the stone floor in front of the statue of Bane.

Lavren pushed himself off the wall quickly, deciding that he was not sorely hurt, and raised his wand towards the remaining norker wielding a sling. He cursed at the creature and then loosed a bolt of black energy that seared into the creature’s chest. It staggered backwards and as it did, Telkya stepped forward with her amulet in hand. She prayed to Corellon and loosed one and then a second golden bolt of light towards the norker. The first struck its chest and then the second seared through its body hurling it back to lie with its companion close to the bowl of burning oil. Telkya turned and winked and Lavren and he smiled. Together they would triumph here, he decided.


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## Medriev

*Chapter 24 - The Shrine of Bane (Part 3)*

The warder rushed at Dulvarna and swept out with its axe but she ducked under the blow this time and it struck the stone above her head. She smiled to herself and as Erlmoor stepped forward beside her, she nodded to the dragonborn. Together, they surged forward to attack the warder. Erlmoor sang out a prayer and as a portion of his strength infused his blade, it glowed brightly. He lashed out and clove three fingers from the hand of the warder. It bellowed and reeled back as its primitive mind realised that it had been damaged again. An arrow drove into the side of its neck from Enlishia’s bow and then a silver bolt flashed past its head. Erlmoor and Dulvarna both felt a surge of triumph as the construct reeled from the many wounds but then, the red robed wizard unleashed more lightning and Erlmoor was hurled into the wall behind Dulvarna.

Dulvarna looked over her right shoulder to where Erlmoor was slumped and then over her left to where Telkya and Lavren had been thrown by the lightning bolt. She glanced over at the wizard, silently promising death to the man that must surely be Paldemar and then she charged at the warder again. Her blade clanged off the metal skin of the warder and she cursed under her breath Lavren rushed to her left and circled around the statue with his wand in hand. He raised it and loosed a bolt of black energy that seared past the warder and into the wall beside it. Next, Telkya unleashed a bolt of golden light at the construct but this struck only the ceiling above its head. The creature bellowed again and lashed out with its axe. Dulvarna ducked and raised her blade to parry, deflecting the axe high and almost over her head. The blade nicked her scalp and drew blood but she held her ground. 
From behind her, Dulvarna heard Erlmoor roar as the paladin pushed himself away from the wall and charged at the warder. His blade sang out but clanged off the warder’s leg and struck the stone floor. He twisted on the spot and swung his blade out wide, cleaving it into the side of the warder’s knee. The construct lurched towards the dragonborn and seemed about to fall but then it regained its balance. An arrow clattered off the warder’s shoulder but a second drove into its side and it lurched back away from Erlmoor. Litiraan hurled a silver bolt into its back but still the construct would not fall. The elf cursed their ill luck and raised his wand again but then he saw a silver bolt lance out from the red wizard’s staff beyond the warder and Lavren lurched to the right into the statue of Bane.

Lavren pushed himself away from the statue and ignored Paldemar who he knew stood behind him. Instead, he raised his wand at the bronze warder and unleashed more black energy. The bolt struck the construct’s neck and it lurched away from the elf. He raised his wand again and unleashed another black bolt but as he did so, the construct lurched back towards him and the eldritch blast flew over the head of the minotaur. Telkya loosed a bolt of golden light that flashed past the warder’s side but as she did so, Dulvarna charged in. She lashed out with an overhead swing and clove open the chest and belly of the warder. It staggered back from her and then fell over on its back. 
“You’re next Paldemar,” Erlmoor called out as he turned towards the red robed wizard.

The dragonborn strode across the floor to reach the wizard in a few heartbeats and lashed out with his blade but Paldemar raised his stave in both hands parried skilfully. Enlishia crossed the room behind him and when she reached the middle of the chamber, she raised her bow and loosed an arrow. It nicked the wizard’s arm, drawing blood and forcing him to flinch away. The ranger raised her bow and fired again but this time her aim was awry and the shaft clattered into the stone behind the wizard. Litiraan joined Telkya in the doorway and raised his wand to hurl a silver bolt at the wizard. The missile flashed past Paldemar’s right arm and again the wizard flinched.
“You can never defeat me, fools!” Paldemar cried out. “My masters are more powerful than you can ever imagine.”


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## Medriev

*Chapter 24 - The Shrine of Bane (Part 4)*

At that, the wizard leapt away from Erlmoor and fled through double doors to the south. Dulvarna rushed past the dragonborn and into the chamber which seemed to be the inner sanctum of the wizard. A bed, partly hidden by curtains in the south west corner and an alchemical work table in the north west corner were its principal furnishings. Paldemar had crossed the chamber to a single door in the eastern wall and had pulled the portal open. Lavren came into the chamber behind Dulvarna and began to utter his most powerful curses. A faint sound of growling hounds filled the doorway in front of Paldemar and he pulled up short but then he staggered and grasped at his head with his left hand. Lavren continued the curse, assailing the wizard with more and more terrible images while drawing him towards him. Paldemar staggered past Dulvarna into the centre of the room and cried out in pain and terror.

Telkya stepped through the double doors and began to pray to Corellon while brandishing her amulet. A blast of golden light burst forth and struck the bed next to the wizard but the elf maid continued her prayer and another bolt seared into Paldemar’s side. He staggered to his right and then turned to glare at the priestess. Erlmoor rushed into the chamber past the elf and moved towards the eastern door to block the wizard’s escape route. He lashed out with his blade but Paldemar raised his stave again and parried. The wizard snarled derisively at the dragonborn but then gasped as an arrow drove into his hip from where Enlishia stood at the doorway. She loosed another shaft and this drove into the man’s left shoulder. He staggered and lurched to the right but kept his footing but turned his gaze on the eastern doorway again. Only when Litiraan appeared in the doorway did the wizard realise that all hope of escape was lost.

Litiraan raised his wand and loosed a silver bolt and then a second at Paldemar. The wizard ducked to the left, putting Dulvarna in Litiraan’s way and the bolts struck the far wall fo the chamber beyond a crystal orb on an iron stand next to Lavren. Paldemar looked towards Litiraan again as though sizing him up and then made a decision. He rushed past Dulvarna with his stave in both hands and charged at Litiraan. The stave end came up from the left and slammed into the side of the elf’s head sending him reeling one way but then Paldemar brought the other end of the stave up and slammed it into Litiraan from the other side. He staggered in the doorframe and fell to his right while Paldemar sneered at him.

Dulvarna turned to her left and brought her blade over her head in a huge blow. As it came down, Paldemar leapt backwards and Aecris struck the stone floor between the red robed wizard and Litiraan. A black bolt of energy seared past the wizard’s head and struck the wall in the corner of the room followed by a bolt of golden light from Telkya’s amulet that also flew wide of the mark. Paldemar laughed and fixed Litiraan with a fierce gaze.
“You’re mine elf,” snarled the wizard. “Too weak your kind are. Mankind rules Faerun now.”
“Yield, wizard,” said Litiraan, ignoring the jibes. “And you may be spared.”
“A red wizard of Thay yields to no one,” Paldemar snarled back.

Erlmoor twisted around Dulvarna then and brought his own blade in towards Paldemar’s back. With lightning speed, the red wizard turned on the spot and brought his stave down to parry the blow. Enlishia crossed the chamber from the doorway and swept aside the curtains around the bed as she turned her bow towards the Paldemar. She loosed one arrow wildly that clattered into the stone of the doorframe but the second flew straight and true, driving into the wizard’s left shoulder. He staggered and fell back towards Litiraan who held his blade in his right hand. He stabbed at the wizard but Paldemar dodged to his left only for Litiraan to follow him with a second thrust that drove into the man’s left leg above the knee. He staggered as warm blood flowed down his leg and turned on the spot to face the elf again. His stave came up quickly, slammed into Litiraan’s chin and sent him reeling into the doorframe. As blackness took the elf and he fell to the stone floor, Paldemar leapt through the doorway and into the glowing runes between the pillars. The magic of the runes flared and Paldemar, the red wizard of Thay, was gone.


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## Medriev

*Note for DMs - The Shrine of Bane*

*As many have posted on other message boards, this is a very tough encounter and potentially a TPK.

Paldemar is a tough foe and at the end of this battle he still had enough hit points to potentially kill the PCs here. I decided, both for story reasons and for tactical reasons that Paldemar would prefer to flee to fight another day rather than battle to the bitter end.*


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## Medriev

*Epilogue - The Plans of Paldemar*

“The maps show a place that seems to be in the Hullack Forest,” said Lavren as the companions ate breakfast in the Halfmoon Inn and considered the spoils of their recent victory. “Paldemar has marked it as with several phrases, Place of power, Vast magic for the taking and Seek the Lost King.”
“But the Lost King is Gondegal,” said Dulvarna. “His rebellion failed and it is said that he fled to the east.”
“What would Paldemar want with him?” Litiraan asked.
“And more to the point,” said Erlmoor. “What would he want with trolls?”

The dragonborn pushed forward the second map that they had found in Paldemar’s chamber. It showed an area to the south of a forest marked with the word Trolls and then had arrows pointing from the area towards what seemed to be a walled town.
“It seems that he planned to gather power and then encourage trolls to attack this town,” said Telkya. “And if he escaped we must assume that he still plans to. Where is this town? It seems to me that this map shows the area to the south of the Hullack Forest so what town is that?”
“It is called Sunset Hill if I remember rightly,” said Lavren. “Mandratan and I stopped there once. And the area to the south of the Hullack was once known as the Trollhaunt.”
“Then we must venture into the Hullack next and then to Sunset Hill if we are to stop him,” said Litiraan determinedly. “Though first we must return to Cormanthor.”

The elf looked up to where Tahlvinae waited tables across the common room of the inn. She had befriended Rendil Halfmoon easily and had made herself busy during their expedition to the Tower of Mysteries by helping out around the inn. Litiraan looked over at a table of dwarves tucking into the delicious cooked breakfasts that Tahlvinae had served them and realised that he would miss the inn.
“This had been a good home to us while we have been here,” he said to the others.
“It has,” said Lavren, reaching out to hold Telkya’s hand. “It has indeed.”

He smiled at the elf maid and she smiled contentedly back. They would return to Cormanthor and be married and then they would venture forth again to halt the plans of an enemy who had escaped them.

*Next.....A New Story Hour - Pyramid of Shadows*


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## Caldarion

*Well done!*

Hi Medriev!

I've just read through all your solo campaign write-ups, and it has really inspired me as I am doing exactely the same thing with my Mythgara campaign.  I haven't worked on it for awhile, but I'll get back to it.  Good work, guy!  Questions: 1) What system did you use for intitiative?  All good guys go, then all bad guys go? Vice-versa? Or did you roll each one separately? and 2) In combat, know some powers push, pull etc. In your combats, it seemed there was always movement from the hit combatant, such as twisting away into a wall, etc.  So did you house rule that, if a combatant is hit, he would be pushed 1 square because of the blow's force, and the pain (which absolutely makes sense to me), or was it for the sake of the narrative?

Again, very enjoyable!  My e-mail is dcpev@shaw.ca Looking forward to hearing from you!


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## Medriev

Caldarion said:


> Hi Medriev!
> 
> I've just read through all your solo campaign write-ups, and it has really inspired me as I am doing exactely the same thing with my Mythgara campaign.  I haven't worked on it for awhile, but I'll get back to it.  Good work, guy!  Questions: 1) What system did you use for intitiative?  All good guys go, then all bad guys go? Vice-versa? Or did you roll each one separately? and 2) In combat, know some powers push, pull etc. In your combats, it seemed there was always movement from the hit combatant, such as twisting away into a wall, etc.  So did you house rule that, if a combatant is hit, he would be pushed 1 square because of the blow's force, and the pain (which absolutely makes sense to me), or was it for the sake of the narrative?
> 
> Again, very enjoyable!  My e-mail is dcpev@shaw.ca Looking forward to hearing from you!




Caldarion

Sorry not to reply to this quickly but have been busy with various other things and not been to EnWorld for a while.

Glad you have enjoyed reading this. Have seen some of your early stuff and it looked good so if you enjoy it, I'd keep going. As to your questions, I used individual initiative in the three threads I've posted although I am now using the excellent Masterplan software and using group initiative for monsters in that. The movement in combat is a bit of artistic license based on how I would see the combat unfolding with no real game effects taking place. Just wanted to illustrate that someone struck by a weapon, particularly a big weapon wielded by an ogre or some such, is likely to be thrown back even if the rules don't say that. As far as the combat went, I left them in the same place but wrote it as I saw it happening. Essentially, what I had in mind was combat in the vein of the Lord of the Rings movies where if a troll hits you, you know about it!

Medriev


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